Categories > Games > Kingdom Hearts > How to Do Dishes, Riku-Style
Doesn't Get Any Better Than This
1 reviewAnd for once, he is witnessing the phenomena of Kairi expressing irritation about something that's changed... because normally she flows with things, goes along the current without a word of compla...
1Moving
Doesn't Get Any Better Than This
...
The Mall.
Sometimes, at the barest hinges of Riku's memory where they swing to the back of his mind, he can remember a time when there wasn't any mall; where he stood in empty space with a six-year-old Sora before the grey, flat plain before them suddenly became studded with planks, and machinery, and working men over the days and weeks and years.
He remembers a few little tiny shops poking up in the square--the town centre, they called it, before it was a /mall/--small places where sugar-filled candies and other delights were smuggled out one by one through sleeves and in pockets. Riku even remembers the first time they took Kairi to the mall, back when she was still a stranger and not just the friend they'd had for years.
But that... is a story for another day.
..........
The strangest thing about the time the three teenagers spent at the mall together was the fact that they were never together at the mall. It was that, in an eerily complacent, quiet manner, they would each split off into their own seperate directions: Kairi to the east, Riku to the north, and Sora to the west side of the mall.
Kairi enjoyed hanging out at the petshop (even though her father would never let her keep one, besides maybe a fish). The first time they showed Kairi to the mall was the first time Riku had ever been bored, so bored that it had been the most boring day in the history of history for him. Sora liked the petshop, as he always tended to give things more of a chance than his silver-haired friend... but after the first few visits he got bored too and went back to his game shop.
To the retailer who knew him by name.
Actually, Sora breezed through several shops over the course of the years. It was in his nature to be mercurial, to keep moving--and yet, the path of his movement could be strangely predictable. If Riku and Kairi couldn't find him at his usual haunts, they would only have to look for the nearest, newest video game store and there he would be, chatting up a storm with the man across the counter.
Meanwhile, through Kairi's squealing at the adorable fuzzy things locked in cages and Sora's mad addiction to video games and whoever else was around, Riku would sit quietly in a corner of the bookstore and read.
Very, very occasionally--about once in a blue moon, or on every other birthday--he would buy a book and go to a cafe so he could read in the same relative silence and peace, but have a drink while he was at it.
The way Riku had found the cafe was when he had found the bookstore crowded beyond belief; his little quiet corner occupied by someone else. That very same day--floundering and impatient to get someplace silent--was the day Riku had settled for the coffee shop.
So it was terribly obvious that no one at school would ever see the three together at the mall. They were instantly recognisable as a unit, the three multicoloured heads of perfect hair (in Riku and Kairi's case); but split them apart and no one would give a second glance to the feminine girl in pink squealing at a cat behind an aisle.
Or the talkative gamer resting his elbows on the see-through glass counter.
Or the guy with silver hair and a book in his hands.
..............
Today was a different day, however, and Riku loathed change. At least, he loathed it where it counted; and when he and Kairi just happened to find each other mutually locked out of their favourite stores neither was greatly amused.
They were together, which was two-thirds of the unit combined, but they did not want to find Sora at his game shop or wherever he was, because then their traditional practise of splitting apart and being alone at the mall would be completely broken, and they both kind of liked their alone time.
The alone time... where no one would tease Kairi for being such a /girl/, however good-naturedly; or pester Riku with annoying questions like "What book are you reading? C'mon, tell me!" and cause Riku to whap him on the back of the head with the hardcover book and say, "Just look at the cover, you moron!"
So they were brooding together in silence. ...Actually, in Kairi's case she was sulking pitifully and trying not to look obvious about it (which didn't always work).
It felt decidedly strange being with Kairi at the mall.
It also felt strange being vaguely resentful towards Kairi's presence (mostly because Riku was no longer alone), and the silver-haired seventeen year old boy felt guilty about it so he cleared his throat and spoke up.
"So..." he began, indecisively, "Why'd your place get closed? Renovations?" The was the reason his store had been closed, at least, and he couldn't think of any pet-shop specific reasons for Kairi's favourite spot to close early.
Kairi shook her head. "No--they said one of the puppies had a virus and they didn't want anyone to get sick while they checked the rest of them up. Any humans, at least."
They were beginning to ease into their respective roles as best friends of the same friend timidly... but Riku's feelings weren't being helped by the fact that he kept expecting Sora to show up with his arms outstretched and yell, "Guys, they closed down every single one of my favourite shops! I need a /hug.../!"
Riku shuddered.
With as many places as Sora goes to, he is bound to find something still open...
.......
"....Agh! I cannot stand this any longer!"
Riku jerks to a halt as Kairi flings her fists up in irritation. "What? Can't stand what?"
"This! Our general /brooding/!"
....It seem that express irritation unlocks a different side of Kairi....
She sighs as she presses two fingertips to her temples. "Why can't we just hang out together at the mall without being such /idiots/?"
Riku feels his face work into a grimace as he explains slowly, "Because I need my alone time, Kairi." Without thinking about how he must sound to other people, he goes on: "And you need your alone time, too--let's face it, we can't hang out together all the time or else we'd all go crazy. This is important."
The sea of people rolls against them--schoolgirls still in uniform, boys in dark-coloured shirts and jeans that blurs the background into an indistinct collage as Riku focuses on Kairi. Some of them travel against the current, like Kairi and Riku themselves.
The two pass several slower-moving groups without a backwards glance.
Kairi visibly starts thinking about his words as they stroll along, contemplatively. For some reason the undertone of anger has completely disappeared from their little atmosphere bubble of friendship and non-anonymity.
"...You're right, Riku." Kairi smiles at him quietly. "You're always right."
"Aren't I?" he quips, causing them both to laugh.
At least, this part is semi-comfortable. There is still an aura of tension, the uncertainty of trying new things that isn't weeded out quite yet.
But still...
They don't mind.
This is only for one day, after all.... they can be flexible...
Before today, Riku hadn't realised how deeply rooted into his bookstore routine he had gotten, and now he feels surprised that he hasn't blown up unfairly in front of Kairi.
And for once, he is witnessing the phenomena of Kairi expressing irritation about something that's changed... because normally she flows with things, goes along the current without a word of complaint...
He supposes there's a first time for everything...
..........
"So, what do you do at your bookstore?" Kairi asks, having grown accustomed to Riku's unfamiliar presence at the mall.
He shrugs. "I read... ...Lots of things..." Suddenly he realises that isn't the way to go about it. Reading is what everyone does at the bookstore, and to keep conversations going he has to go deeper into his day. "Wait, hold on a second..."
They stop and sit down on a bench.
"I read bad books," Riku declares. "And I laugh at them inside."
Kairi's laughter bubbles outwards in short bursts, a quiet and slightly embarrassed murmur of a giggle. "You read bad /books/?"
"Yeah... that's what I do. Listen to me--" and Riku shifts so he's facing Kairi straight on with his body and eyes. "--The most amusing thing about writers is not when they're trying to be amusing: it's when they're trying to be better than what they really /are/."
Kairi gives off another short giggle before shaking her head disbelievingly. "That is /terrible/, Riku! Y-you're honestly saying that you like ripping apart something that people put a lot of time and dedication into?" Riku glares at her pointedly, and she amends it hurriedly but smoothly. "A lot of time and dedication into getting /published/?"
"Yes." Riku rolls his eyes and nods for emphasis. Kairi would never think of doing that, so she's practically scandalised right now... "I do that a lot, inbetween the times when I'm reading actual good literature."
He eyes Kairi warily and asks, "So what about you? What do you do at your little petshop of horrors?"
"Besides look at the kittens and stuff?"
"Yes. Besides look at the kittens and stuff."
"Well, I guess... I..." Kairi smiles and shifts uneasily--embarrassedly. "You aren't going to laugh at me or anything, right? I mean, you are a literary critic..."
"No, I'm not going to laugh at you. Promise."
"Um..." She titters and fiddles with her hair, looking down at her knees. "I... I imagine what it will be like when I finally get a real pet of my own." Then she looks him in the eye and says, "And I'm not talking about /fish/, Riku, I'm talking about..."
"...Kittens?" Riku offers, after she struggles to find the right word.
"Yeah... or birds. Maybe even a puppy, sometimes."
"...So why don't you just ask your dad if you can get one?" Riku sincerely cannot understand why Kairi hasn't turned on her puppy-dog eyes sooner. The logic escapes the gaze of his turquoise blue eyes...
"...B-because then... I'll know what it really feels like..." Now she is not even trying to look at him, at all. "And..."
"....."
"...It doesn't get any better than this, you know?" Her hands fold neatly into her lap as she stares at them blankly. "The dreams....? It's always different from the dreaming..."
Riku looks at her quietly. "...It could be better."
He wants to put a hand on her shoulder right now, but doesn't.
Kairi is on the edge of a great revelation right now... He can see it flash between her eyes...
"Yeah.... but it wouldn't be the /same/..."
................................
Riku smiles, a little forcedly. The energy is coming off Kairi in waves, and he doesn't think he can stand the sight of her turned away from him any longer.
"Look at you," he says, not unkindly. "You're--you're being all moody and stuff... C'mon, Kairi, that isn't /you/..." He cajoles her and urges, trying to get her to smile because she sounds dangerously close to crying and he can practically hear her sniffle now...
Kairi turns around and looks at him with such a raw expression in her eyes that Riku flinches...
...Turns his own head to look at the tide of people passing by them...
...And they pass the time in silence.
..........
.........
...Riku checks his watch and realises: "Hey, it's been forty-five minutes." He casts a glance at Kairi and clears his straining throat, just to be sure... "You think we should go hunt him down, or what?"
....
"...Thanks, Riku." It might as well explode out of her mouth, the way Kairi suddenly breaks her vow of silence. She smiles at him shyly. Slowly. "...You're... y-you're really /warm/, you know? Thanks for being so... sympathetic..."
"...Warm?" Riku absorbs it disbelievingly, then asks in mock indignation, "What happened to me being cool, calm, and collected?"
Kairi grins, and looks just like herself before suddenly--so spontaneously she must have surprised her own mind at the moment--she throws her arms around his neck and breathes, "You're warm."
If they had both been standing upright, she would have had to take a running start or something... but sitting down she is just the right height to take a lunge and hug him.
Riku feels her smile ease tepidly into his shoulder as she goes on, "You're warm and you're solid and you're friendly/, Riku." Her head nestles itself into place beside his neck. "Don't let it get to your head, this is what you were /meant to be doing."
He puts one hand between her shoulderblades awkwardly... carefully in response to her overblown grace.
....He feels....
"...K...Kairi...?" he asks suddenly--
--and he is not sure that he wants to breathe anymore--
"Yeah?" Kairi's voice is slightly muffled, and the warmth she has pressed into his right side suddenly retreats as she backs up to look at him. Holding him at arms' length, thin wrists still resting on his shoulders.
Looking into her gauzy blue eyes, Riku feels certain things vanish and other things reappear, a solid righteousness settling into his stomach... Which helps him summon up the strength to say, slowly...
"I...."
.....
He swallows, delicately. "K-Kairi, I think that I might--"
BAM!!
"Hey guys! Kairi, Riku!"
His arms settle rigidly down to his sides as Sora runs down the mall's walkway, waving to them and clearly agitated about something.
Kairi takes her wrists off Riku's shoulders to look at Sora curiously.
"Where've you two BEEN? I've been looking for you guys...!"
If Sora is good at anything, it is finding his friends.
The weight of what Riku might have said dissipates into nothing as he stares at Sora disbelievingly and feels a sudden urge to strangle the boy. To hide in a corner and vomit his insides out, all the while despising himself for being...
"They closed EVERY SINGLE ONE of my favourite stores...! It was a nightmare--!"
Kairi stands up and murmurs some words of encouragement and sympathy as Riku stands at the sidelines, numb.
In his own little fantasy world, he is beating his head to a bloody pulp against the walls and wishing that Sora had never been born...
When am I ever going to get a chance like this again? Riku asks himself miserably.
And a little voice answers perversely:
You will never get a chance like this again.
The dark laughter seeps into the cogs of his brain as he follows Kairi and Sora to their destinations:
Home.
....Home....
.........................
..........where Riku and Kairi will--
--where I will never--!
.........................
.........................
/Where I will never be alone with her again./
...
The Mall.
Sometimes, at the barest hinges of Riku's memory where they swing to the back of his mind, he can remember a time when there wasn't any mall; where he stood in empty space with a six-year-old Sora before the grey, flat plain before them suddenly became studded with planks, and machinery, and working men over the days and weeks and years.
He remembers a few little tiny shops poking up in the square--the town centre, they called it, before it was a /mall/--small places where sugar-filled candies and other delights were smuggled out one by one through sleeves and in pockets. Riku even remembers the first time they took Kairi to the mall, back when she was still a stranger and not just the friend they'd had for years.
But that... is a story for another day.
..........
The strangest thing about the time the three teenagers spent at the mall together was the fact that they were never together at the mall. It was that, in an eerily complacent, quiet manner, they would each split off into their own seperate directions: Kairi to the east, Riku to the north, and Sora to the west side of the mall.
Kairi enjoyed hanging out at the petshop (even though her father would never let her keep one, besides maybe a fish). The first time they showed Kairi to the mall was the first time Riku had ever been bored, so bored that it had been the most boring day in the history of history for him. Sora liked the petshop, as he always tended to give things more of a chance than his silver-haired friend... but after the first few visits he got bored too and went back to his game shop.
To the retailer who knew him by name.
Actually, Sora breezed through several shops over the course of the years. It was in his nature to be mercurial, to keep moving--and yet, the path of his movement could be strangely predictable. If Riku and Kairi couldn't find him at his usual haunts, they would only have to look for the nearest, newest video game store and there he would be, chatting up a storm with the man across the counter.
Meanwhile, through Kairi's squealing at the adorable fuzzy things locked in cages and Sora's mad addiction to video games and whoever else was around, Riku would sit quietly in a corner of the bookstore and read.
Very, very occasionally--about once in a blue moon, or on every other birthday--he would buy a book and go to a cafe so he could read in the same relative silence and peace, but have a drink while he was at it.
The way Riku had found the cafe was when he had found the bookstore crowded beyond belief; his little quiet corner occupied by someone else. That very same day--floundering and impatient to get someplace silent--was the day Riku had settled for the coffee shop.
So it was terribly obvious that no one at school would ever see the three together at the mall. They were instantly recognisable as a unit, the three multicoloured heads of perfect hair (in Riku and Kairi's case); but split them apart and no one would give a second glance to the feminine girl in pink squealing at a cat behind an aisle.
Or the talkative gamer resting his elbows on the see-through glass counter.
Or the guy with silver hair and a book in his hands.
..............
Today was a different day, however, and Riku loathed change. At least, he loathed it where it counted; and when he and Kairi just happened to find each other mutually locked out of their favourite stores neither was greatly amused.
They were together, which was two-thirds of the unit combined, but they did not want to find Sora at his game shop or wherever he was, because then their traditional practise of splitting apart and being alone at the mall would be completely broken, and they both kind of liked their alone time.
The alone time... where no one would tease Kairi for being such a /girl/, however good-naturedly; or pester Riku with annoying questions like "What book are you reading? C'mon, tell me!" and cause Riku to whap him on the back of the head with the hardcover book and say, "Just look at the cover, you moron!"
So they were brooding together in silence. ...Actually, in Kairi's case she was sulking pitifully and trying not to look obvious about it (which didn't always work).
It felt decidedly strange being with Kairi at the mall.
It also felt strange being vaguely resentful towards Kairi's presence (mostly because Riku was no longer alone), and the silver-haired seventeen year old boy felt guilty about it so he cleared his throat and spoke up.
"So..." he began, indecisively, "Why'd your place get closed? Renovations?" The was the reason his store had been closed, at least, and he couldn't think of any pet-shop specific reasons for Kairi's favourite spot to close early.
Kairi shook her head. "No--they said one of the puppies had a virus and they didn't want anyone to get sick while they checked the rest of them up. Any humans, at least."
They were beginning to ease into their respective roles as best friends of the same friend timidly... but Riku's feelings weren't being helped by the fact that he kept expecting Sora to show up with his arms outstretched and yell, "Guys, they closed down every single one of my favourite shops! I need a /hug.../!"
Riku shuddered.
With as many places as Sora goes to, he is bound to find something still open...
.......
"....Agh! I cannot stand this any longer!"
Riku jerks to a halt as Kairi flings her fists up in irritation. "What? Can't stand what?"
"This! Our general /brooding/!"
....It seem that express irritation unlocks a different side of Kairi....
She sighs as she presses two fingertips to her temples. "Why can't we just hang out together at the mall without being such /idiots/?"
Riku feels his face work into a grimace as he explains slowly, "Because I need my alone time, Kairi." Without thinking about how he must sound to other people, he goes on: "And you need your alone time, too--let's face it, we can't hang out together all the time or else we'd all go crazy. This is important."
The sea of people rolls against them--schoolgirls still in uniform, boys in dark-coloured shirts and jeans that blurs the background into an indistinct collage as Riku focuses on Kairi. Some of them travel against the current, like Kairi and Riku themselves.
The two pass several slower-moving groups without a backwards glance.
Kairi visibly starts thinking about his words as they stroll along, contemplatively. For some reason the undertone of anger has completely disappeared from their little atmosphere bubble of friendship and non-anonymity.
"...You're right, Riku." Kairi smiles at him quietly. "You're always right."
"Aren't I?" he quips, causing them both to laugh.
At least, this part is semi-comfortable. There is still an aura of tension, the uncertainty of trying new things that isn't weeded out quite yet.
But still...
They don't mind.
This is only for one day, after all.... they can be flexible...
Before today, Riku hadn't realised how deeply rooted into his bookstore routine he had gotten, and now he feels surprised that he hasn't blown up unfairly in front of Kairi.
And for once, he is witnessing the phenomena of Kairi expressing irritation about something that's changed... because normally she flows with things, goes along the current without a word of complaint...
He supposes there's a first time for everything...
..........
"So, what do you do at your bookstore?" Kairi asks, having grown accustomed to Riku's unfamiliar presence at the mall.
He shrugs. "I read... ...Lots of things..." Suddenly he realises that isn't the way to go about it. Reading is what everyone does at the bookstore, and to keep conversations going he has to go deeper into his day. "Wait, hold on a second..."
They stop and sit down on a bench.
"I read bad books," Riku declares. "And I laugh at them inside."
Kairi's laughter bubbles outwards in short bursts, a quiet and slightly embarrassed murmur of a giggle. "You read bad /books/?"
"Yeah... that's what I do. Listen to me--" and Riku shifts so he's facing Kairi straight on with his body and eyes. "--The most amusing thing about writers is not when they're trying to be amusing: it's when they're trying to be better than what they really /are/."
Kairi gives off another short giggle before shaking her head disbelievingly. "That is /terrible/, Riku! Y-you're honestly saying that you like ripping apart something that people put a lot of time and dedication into?" Riku glares at her pointedly, and she amends it hurriedly but smoothly. "A lot of time and dedication into getting /published/?"
"Yes." Riku rolls his eyes and nods for emphasis. Kairi would never think of doing that, so she's practically scandalised right now... "I do that a lot, inbetween the times when I'm reading actual good literature."
He eyes Kairi warily and asks, "So what about you? What do you do at your little petshop of horrors?"
"Besides look at the kittens and stuff?"
"Yes. Besides look at the kittens and stuff."
"Well, I guess... I..." Kairi smiles and shifts uneasily--embarrassedly. "You aren't going to laugh at me or anything, right? I mean, you are a literary critic..."
"No, I'm not going to laugh at you. Promise."
"Um..." She titters and fiddles with her hair, looking down at her knees. "I... I imagine what it will be like when I finally get a real pet of my own." Then she looks him in the eye and says, "And I'm not talking about /fish/, Riku, I'm talking about..."
"...Kittens?" Riku offers, after she struggles to find the right word.
"Yeah... or birds. Maybe even a puppy, sometimes."
"...So why don't you just ask your dad if you can get one?" Riku sincerely cannot understand why Kairi hasn't turned on her puppy-dog eyes sooner. The logic escapes the gaze of his turquoise blue eyes...
"...B-because then... I'll know what it really feels like..." Now she is not even trying to look at him, at all. "And..."
"....."
"...It doesn't get any better than this, you know?" Her hands fold neatly into her lap as she stares at them blankly. "The dreams....? It's always different from the dreaming..."
Riku looks at her quietly. "...It could be better."
He wants to put a hand on her shoulder right now, but doesn't.
Kairi is on the edge of a great revelation right now... He can see it flash between her eyes...
"Yeah.... but it wouldn't be the /same/..."
................................
Riku smiles, a little forcedly. The energy is coming off Kairi in waves, and he doesn't think he can stand the sight of her turned away from him any longer.
"Look at you," he says, not unkindly. "You're--you're being all moody and stuff... C'mon, Kairi, that isn't /you/..." He cajoles her and urges, trying to get her to smile because she sounds dangerously close to crying and he can practically hear her sniffle now...
Kairi turns around and looks at him with such a raw expression in her eyes that Riku flinches...
...Turns his own head to look at the tide of people passing by them...
...And they pass the time in silence.
..........
.........
...Riku checks his watch and realises: "Hey, it's been forty-five minutes." He casts a glance at Kairi and clears his straining throat, just to be sure... "You think we should go hunt him down, or what?"
....
"...Thanks, Riku." It might as well explode out of her mouth, the way Kairi suddenly breaks her vow of silence. She smiles at him shyly. Slowly. "...You're... y-you're really /warm/, you know? Thanks for being so... sympathetic..."
"...Warm?" Riku absorbs it disbelievingly, then asks in mock indignation, "What happened to me being cool, calm, and collected?"
Kairi grins, and looks just like herself before suddenly--so spontaneously she must have surprised her own mind at the moment--she throws her arms around his neck and breathes, "You're warm."
If they had both been standing upright, she would have had to take a running start or something... but sitting down she is just the right height to take a lunge and hug him.
Riku feels her smile ease tepidly into his shoulder as she goes on, "You're warm and you're solid and you're friendly/, Riku." Her head nestles itself into place beside his neck. "Don't let it get to your head, this is what you were /meant to be doing."
He puts one hand between her shoulderblades awkwardly... carefully in response to her overblown grace.
....He feels....
"...K...Kairi...?" he asks suddenly--
--and he is not sure that he wants to breathe anymore--
"Yeah?" Kairi's voice is slightly muffled, and the warmth she has pressed into his right side suddenly retreats as she backs up to look at him. Holding him at arms' length, thin wrists still resting on his shoulders.
Looking into her gauzy blue eyes, Riku feels certain things vanish and other things reappear, a solid righteousness settling into his stomach... Which helps him summon up the strength to say, slowly...
"I...."
.....
He swallows, delicately. "K-Kairi, I think that I might--"
BAM!!
"Hey guys! Kairi, Riku!"
His arms settle rigidly down to his sides as Sora runs down the mall's walkway, waving to them and clearly agitated about something.
Kairi takes her wrists off Riku's shoulders to look at Sora curiously.
"Where've you two BEEN? I've been looking for you guys...!"
If Sora is good at anything, it is finding his friends.
The weight of what Riku might have said dissipates into nothing as he stares at Sora disbelievingly and feels a sudden urge to strangle the boy. To hide in a corner and vomit his insides out, all the while despising himself for being...
"They closed EVERY SINGLE ONE of my favourite stores...! It was a nightmare--!"
Kairi stands up and murmurs some words of encouragement and sympathy as Riku stands at the sidelines, numb.
In his own little fantasy world, he is beating his head to a bloody pulp against the walls and wishing that Sora had never been born...
When am I ever going to get a chance like this again? Riku asks himself miserably.
And a little voice answers perversely:
You will never get a chance like this again.
The dark laughter seeps into the cogs of his brain as he follows Kairi and Sora to their destinations:
Home.
....Home....
.........................
..........where Riku and Kairi will--
--where I will never--!
.........................
.........................
/Where I will never be alone with her again./
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