Fan Fiction ❯ Believe ❯ 003: Fear & Familiarity ( Chapter 3 )

Here we go again. The next chapter in this masterpiece of a fanfic. *rolls her eyes* Oh, didn't I mention? Sora's NOT a morning person. Hey, he can't be all happy and totally loveable ALL the time... Geez. Also, don't expect to find out anymore about The Funeral this chapter. I'll explain it all--hopefully--in chapter four. Until then… wonder at the mystery of The Funeral! (Should be capitalized, right? I mean, as ominous as it's been, hovering over Riku like that…*laughs* Great book: Armageddon Summer by Bruce Coville & Jane Yolen. ^-^ Well worth its rambling nature. Hehe, like me! … I hope. ^^;; ) One more thing, and I swear I'll stop. Please don't mind the obvious presence and OOC-ness of Squall (a.k.a. Leon from Kingdom Hearts). I'm only using his image because I really don't know all that much about him other than what I saw in KH. ^-^ Proceed!

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Sunlight poured in from the open window beside Sora's bed. He sat up groggily and rubbed at his eyes, sending a death glare at his alarm clock. "Seven already? Sheesh..." He reached over and slammed a fist on top of it, effectively cutting off the annoying beeping. Sora laid back down and closed his eyes.

He had almost drifted off to sleep again when his mother's voice echoed up the stairs: "Sora! Aren't you up yet? You're going to be late again!"

Sora got out of bed and stomped over to the doorway of his room. "I'm up! I'm going to take a shower RIGHT NOW!"

His mother appeared at the top of the stairs. "No time, grumpy. Just get dressed and come downstairs for your breakfast. I'll drive you to school."

"But I have to! I'm going with Riku to see Kairi after school." Sora crossed his arms and pouted.

"No way, mister, that pout of yours isn't working on me. You do need a shower, but you're not going to be late for school; you've been late too many times already. You can just have Riku come over here and wait on you while you take a shower. Then you two can go and visit Kairi. I'm sure she'll be fine until then, seeing as you were with her all day yesterday." Sora's mother shook her head to stop him from arguing further. "I mean it, Sora. Now get dressed and eat your breakfast."

Sora gave up and went back into his room, digging through a drawer until he found some clean clothes: dark blue jeans and a red t-shirt. He pulled them on and picked up a gray hooded sweatshirt from the floor. Putting it on as well, he hurried downstairs in his socks.

---

Sora had immediately spaced out once he got to school. He couldn't stop thinking about Saturday night.*

(-Flashback-)

{Saturday Night}

Sora didn't know what to do. He'd run with Kairi in his arms for nearly six blocks, not really knowing where to go. He looked down at Kairi, half-awake in his arms. Her skin was pale, making the blossoming bruises on her neck and arms all the more visible.

"Kairi. Kairi, are you okay?"

"Mmm... Sora?" Kairi struggled to open her eyes and looked up at Sora. She smiled faintly just then. "I knew it was you. This..." She reached up and tugged gently on his necklace, staring at the crown attached to it. "You've always worn this thing. What does it mean, Sora?"

Sora frowned, confused by her question. "Are you feeling okay?"

Kairi nodded, releasing the necklace. "Thank you." She went limp in his arms and Sora prayed that she was just unconscious again. He stared down at her lithe form. Noticing her shallow breathing, he sighed. I don't guess I have a choice. He walked the remaining three blocks to the city's only hospital.

The walls inside the hospital were a blinding white and it smelled of cleaning solution. Sora hated hospitals, he always had since... Well, as long as he cared to remember. But Kairi was more important than a childish fear, so he walked right into the emergency room, still holding the unconscious girl in his arms.

"Um, excuse me?"

The nurse at the front desk was a rather large woman wearing a light pink uniform and a variety of odd jewelry. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a tight bun and she was focusing intently on a computerized game of Solitaire.

Sora cleared his throat in an effort to get the nurse's attention. It seemed that there was no one else there. All at the funeral, he thought. Sora squinted at the woman's name tag. "Rosie?"

The woman's head snapped up at hearing her name. "Yes, dear?" She looked at Sora lazily with a warm smile on her face.

He shifted his weight, glancing down at Kairi before looking back up at the nurse. "Umm..."

"Oh, good heavens! What in the world's happened to her?" Rosie jumped up out of her chair and pressed down a button on the phone beside her. "Doctor Leon to the ER! Hurry, Squall!" She hurried around the desk to stand beside Sora. She reached for Kairi's wrist to check her pulse, and used a stethoscope to listen to her heartbeat. Rosie then looked down at Sora. "Well? Are you going to tell me what's happened to her or not?"

Sora almost cringed at the blame in her voice. It sounded almost as if she thought Sora had done this to her. His thoughts scrambled to put together a suitable lie. Whoever that man was that attacked Kairi, Sora didn't think it would be wise to tell anyone about him. It was almost like he knew who Kairi was... Sora was jolted out of his thoughts when the woman took Kairi from his arms. A tall man with shoulder-length brown hair and glasses had joined them. He was wearing a long white coat* over a gray-blue uniform and carrying a white clipboard. "Is this her?" He nodded to Kairi, who was now in Rosie's arms.

"Yessir. But the kid," she jerked her head toward Sora, "won't say what's happened."

The man nodded again and motioned for them to follow. Rosie turned and told Sora to stay put.

"But, I--"

"You just wait here, I'll be back in a minute and you can tell me what's going on."

Sora looked down. "Yes ma'am." Rosie smiled and followed the doctor. His exhaustion finally caught up with him and Sora sat down in an uncomfortable plastic chair, putting his head in his hands. What a wonderful night.

The next thing he knew, he was being gently shaken awake by the brown-haired man. "You okay, kid?" His voice was soft, even for being in a hospital.

Another reason why I hate hospitals: waiting.

The man laughed a little. "I don't blame you. I guess it can get pretty boring sitting here all by yourself."

Sora jumped up. "Huh? Did I just say that out loud?" He could already feel the blush creeping across his face.

"Yeah." The man smiled. "That girl, is she your girlfriend?"

Sora's eyes widened and he felt his face turn a new shade of red. "No! She's not! We're just friends, really!"

"Okay, settle down. It was just a question. Have a seat."

Sora did as he was told and looked down at his hands in his lap. "Kairi and I have been friends for as long as I can remember," he looked up, "but that's all."

"Alright. Well--"

"Oh, Squall, go on!" The nurse had appeared again and was trying to shoo the doctor away. "You're scaring the poor boy. Let me talk to him." Then, to Sora, "Doctor Leonhart is taking care of Miss Kairi. You can go in to see her as soon as you tell me what's happened to her. Seems she can't remember, herself. Either that or she won't tell." She dismissed Dr. Leonhart with a wave of her hand.

"Okay, Rosie. I'm going." He stood and left the room, smiling.

Rosie sat heavily in the chair next to Sora, looking at him expectantly. Sora shifted his gaze to the floor. "Kairi and I were on our way to the..." he trailed off.

"To the funeral?" Rosie urged him on.

He shrugged. "We were walking and this guy just came out of nowhere. He grabbed Kairi and held a knife to her throat, saying that he wanted our money." Kami! Nice going, Sora, I'm sure she'll believe that. What criminal in his right mind would attack two teenagers in a place like this? He mentally smacked himself and continued: "I took the knife out of his hand and threw it into the lake. He pushed Kairi down--that's when she hit her head--and came at me, but I picked her up and ran most of the way here." He shrugged again and looked up at Rosie, afraid she wasn't going to believe his lie.

Either Rosie bought Sora's story, or just didn't want to push the matter any further, because she nodded her head and stood, motioning for Sora to stand as well. "I suppose you want to see your friend, then?"

"Yes ma'am. But is she going to be okay?"

Rosie chuckled. "Why, of course, dear!" The warm smile had returned. "She'll have to stay here for a week or two at least, but she'll be just fine."

That was all Sora needed to hear. He let out a sigh of relief. "Can I see her now?"

(-End Flashback-)

Sora was snapped out of his reminiscence by his English teacher, who was towering over his desk. "Sora! Have you been listening at all?"

Sora looked around the room; everyone but Riku seemed to be staring at him. Sora'd made it a point to avoid Riku all day, though he wasn't exactly sure why. Just then, in his all-black outfit*, Riku appeared to be completely apathetic of his surroundings. Sora felt a familiar tinge of pain in his heart. Riku was always quiet and somewhat distant in school, but this was different. Sora could almost hear the battle raging inside of him; he was trying desperately to keep up that cold mask of his.

There was an impatient sigh above him, and Sora blinked away his thoughts. "No ma'am." This erupted a fit of laughter from the other students. Sora blushed and looked down at his desk. "I'm sorry."

The teacher glared at her students, effectively shutting them up. Her gaze then softened as she looked back down at Sora's bowed head. "I'd like to talk to you after class, Sora, if that's alright."

Sora looked at her momentarily, mumbling a quiet "yes, ma'am" before picking up his pencil and copying the homework assignment from the blackboard. The teacher returned to the front of the room and continued with her lesson.

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* "...about Saturday night." -- Chapters 1 & 2 took place on Saturday; it's now Monday.

* "...a long white coat..." -- Please forgive the common doctor stereotype. ^^;;

* "...in his all-black outfit..." -- Goth!Riku. ^-^ Yeah, I know... more stereotyping.

A/N: Yes, slightly longer chapter this time, and let me tell you… my mind kept screaming at me when I passed three pages, telling me to stop, but I didn't let it! ^-^ *laughs* I really am trying to make my chapters longer. *puts a hand over her heart* I am committed to this story. It WILL see a proper ending, and it shouldn't be anytime soon. A lot of this wasn't even part of the plot (underdeveloped as it was) when I first started writing, so there's still a lot more to come and there hasn't even been mention of my first idea for it--the reason for its inception. *grins evilly*

Riku: *yawn* Well, you should hurry up and write more about me. Everyone knows I'm your favorite, so where the hell am I?

Sakayume: Hush! You were right there, sitting across the room from Sora in the end of this chapter. *points* See? Goth!You. *smiles* You like?

Riku: Goth, huh? Well, that's original.

Sakayume: *glares* Why must you always criticize me?!!?! *throws herself onto her desk, sobbing*

Riku: *sighs* Kami, help me…