Shooting Star

2. Lie to me?

Riku ran like a mad man through the halls of the vacant hospital. He knew this place by heart, considering all the times he had used it as a short cut, but now he was hopelessly lost. He couldn’t help it, he was scared to death.

He just knocked out a member of the most feared gang in the Third District Slums. The most feared gang in all the slums. And now his over grown, steroid filled, probably gonna beat his ass to high heaven buddy, was after him. He couldn’t concentrate on where the exit was. No, all he could think of was ‘keep running’.

He knew he should have just gone home. Just took his mother medication and gone back to his little apartment, over looking the cruddy street, with its lousy neighbors. But, no. He had to listen to all those years of people talking about making a difference and doing the right thing. He had to suddenly feel the urge to turn around and find the cute kid in the red dress. He had to feel sorry for them when he saw them pinned to the floor.

‘Damn!’ he thought as he found himself starring at a dead end. ‘I’m such a fucking moron.’ He looker around looking for a place to hide. He could hear footsteps racing toward him, but the only hiding place he saw was in an old laundry shoot. ‘It will have to do…’

He crawled inside and closed the door. He kept himself from sliding down the tight passage by spreading his arms and legs out wide. It was a struggle to hold himself up without making a sound, but he did so anyway. He could feel it his breath catching in his chest from the strain as his purser drew nearer. He tried to take deep slow breaths, but they didn’t help.

Finally, the footsteps reached just outside his hiding place. He resorted to breathing through his nose as he heard the thug over turn beds and carts out of frustration. By now the beads of sweat running down his face were starting to annoy him. One hang off his eyelash dangling dangerously close to his eye, and blinking only seemed to help them in. It really burned, but he could do nothing to wipe them away without making a sound.

The boy outside slammed his fist into the wall before he began his retreat down another hall.

Riku breathed a sigh of relief, but not a very loud one. He waited sometime before he was sure he couldn’t hear anyone moving outside anymore, before slowly shifting his body to bring a hand around to open the slot to the passage. And just as he got his hand under the sliding door, it suddenly flew up. Riku, startled, lost his grip on the wall and fell. The only thing keeping him from following the chute all the way down was the fact that his hand grabbed onto the ledge.

He was ready to let go though, ‘Better to fall a few feet than get the shit beat out of me. But to his surprise, before he could let go, a white gloved hand reached down for him He looked up to see the brunette lid looking at him.

“Well, are you coming, or do you intend to sneak out with the laundry?” Riku shook his head and allowed the boy to assist in getting him out.

“You’re pretty sarcastic for someone who was almost raped.” He said leaning against the wall. He began rotating his shoulders, his body still felt uncomfortable.

“I guess,” he shrugged, “Now, come on, before they come back.” Sora turned and started to walk away.

“Hold on,” Riku quickly caught up to him, “I thought that other guy still had you?”

“Who, Shadow? He’s easy enough to get away from, it’s everyone else in that gang you have to worry about.” Riku just nodded.

For the rest of the walk, the two walked in silence.

‘It looks like a girl,’ Riku looked over his new companion out the corner of his eye, ‘But she’s kind of guy-ish. I want to ask…but god knows if it’s a girl, I’ll get killed.’ He silently shook his head and took the lead. He decided to take them back to his house.

Once outside the old hospital the two looked around cautiously, before making the mad one block dash to Riku’s apartment complex. He had the key out and ready when he came up to the door. After quickly unlocking it, he let the other teen run in and he came in after. The two breathed a sigh of relief once indoors, safe from the dangers of the streets, safe from the rain, safe from the Heartless.

“So,” Riku looked up at the kid he brought home, “Where do we go now?”

“Um, third floor.” Riku pushed himself off the door and walked up the stairs.

His apartment building was old and falling apart. You could hear and see the rats walking along, hugging the walls. You could smell the mildew growing behind the walls as well. The paint was faded and pealing off, and the people in the hallways were everything but the most upstanding citizens. The people in the hallways were dressed in drab, faded clothes. Most of them had messy, unkempt hair, faces distorted by life in the slums, and attitudes to match. To Riku, his neighbors were an everyday sight, but by the end of the first floor he realized he’d have to hold his guest hand.

Sora had never been in such a place, and anyone there could tell by his outfit. His clothes were clean, fresh, vibrant and new. His look gave it away, he was someone with money. And how could you miss it, he stood out like a gold coin amongst a pile of pennies. By the time he had gotten half way up the stairs, he was recoiling and cling to himself out of fear of the people in the halls and on the stairwell. One lady reached out to grab his jacket. And once she got a hold of it, Sora did the only thing he cold think of, he slipped out of it and ran.

She could have it, it was just a leather trench coat; she could have it all she liked. He ran up to Riku’s side and to his surprise, the other boy just laughed at him.

“What’s so funny?” he hissed.

“You….go get your coat.” Riku pointed to the woman now standing five steps below them, she was looking at Sora confused.

Sora shook his head, “She can have it, just take me to your place.”

Riku just laughed again and walked down the stairs. He retrieved Sora’s coat and walked back up to the other boy. He took Sora’s hand and led him to his apartment.

“Why did you get it back?” Sora asked, now he was confused.

“Because it’s a nice coat. She just wanted to touch, she probably never seen real leather before.” Riku smiled at Sora who just nodded. Riku opened the door to his place and let Sora walk in.

His apartment was relatively small. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, and the kitchen and living room connected. The bedrooms though were very compact. Actually the whole place was. Sora walked in and set his bag on the counter, the only thing that separated the kitchen from the sitting area. There was no table to have dinner at formally, just a table in front of a couch, and a TV in the corner. He looked around and saw two doors.

“Do you have a bathroom?”

“Yea,” Riku pointed to the door on the left. Sora nodded, took his bag, and left Riku on his own. Riku just sighed and walked through the door on the right. Through this door was mini hall way, it was only about five feet long and two wide. At either end was a door leading to the bedrooms. Riku walked toward one door, took a deep breath and knocked. There was no response.

He slowly opened the door and looked inside. The room was small, consisting of a window, one dresser with a mirror on it, a bed, and a TV across from it on a desk. The blinds on the window were open letting the dull light filter in and rest on the figure in the bed. The woman there couldn’t have been more than thirty, but life here had aged her to look fifty. She sat, her slim legs pulled up to her chest, her long black hair falling over her face and down her back. Her green eyes were dull and uninterested as she stared blankly at the screen. She was sucking on her lips, causing her face to scrunch up a bit. She looked up at Riku and smiled politely and held out her hand.

Riku walked in and smiled back at her. He reached into his pocket and placed the little bottle with the ten little pills in her hand. Her face lit up enthusiastically. She snatched her hand away as soon as she had the bottle and examined it carefully.

“There’s only ten?” She said hoarsely.

“We’re short on money this we-”

“What happened to your job?” She cut him off, still examining the bottle.

“I told you,” he sighed a little, “The convince store was burned do-”

“Liar. You spent your money on a whore. My medicine money on a god damn cheep thrill!” she turned to look angry at him now, but Riku kept himself calm.

“Mom, I didn’t spend the money on anything other than what we need. I bought food. Paid the bills, and bought-”

“LIAR! I HEARD YOU TALKING TO THEM!” She reached out and grabbed him around the neck of his coat. “Their in the bathroom right now! I heard them! I can’t believe you brought some damn thieving whore into my house! MY house! You brought them here to make you sick mother worse!”

“Mom, calm down” Riku put his hands on her shoulders, “Mom that’s just my friend, there is no one to worry about.”

“Liar!” She was shaking her head and crying now. “Liar. Liar. Liar. You say you want to do the right thing, to help me, and then you go and do this. You’re just like your father.” She pointed to the door, “Get out! Go back to him! Take your whore too! The both of you can roam and destroy the streets together, just stop lying to me!”

Riku looked at his mother, tears rolling down her face. He reached out for her, but his hand was smacked away. He sighed and walked out the door.


Sora walked into the bathroom. It was actually a nice size; sink, toilet, and shower, and room to move around. He closed the toilet lid and set his bag to rest on it. After looking himself over in the mirror he promptly began removing his clothes. He took off the coat, the dress, and the boots. All of these things he wore from home. He had hopped borrowing the dress from his friend Kairi would make a nice disguise, it didn’t help though that Shadow was an extreme skirt chaser. He sighed as he put it aside.

‘Can’t ware that ever again; I’ll have to donate it to a shelter. Kairi will understand.’ Sora dug through his bag and pulled out a pair of sneakers, blue jeans and a red T-shirt. He stopped for a moment when he heard a woman yelling.

‘I wonder who that is…’ Sora looked in the mirror again. Standing in his boxers he examined himself to make sure he wasn’t hurt. ‘All clear…’ he thought as he ran his fingers over his body.

By far, running away was one the craziest ideas he had ever had. And to the slums no less. Oh well, if his father wanted him back, he’d have to make good on his promise. Sora reached up and held on to his crown shaped keychain. This really was the best thing to do. At home he had no voice, no say so in the way things were handled, but here...

He looked up, “If I’m here, that says more than me speaking to him directly. Even he’ll eventually notice I’m missing.” As he stared in the mirror he realized, his hair was still the same. His bangs came down around his face, and the rest down to his shoulders.

“I’ll get caught in five minutes like this…” He opened the medicine cabinet hopping to find a pair of scissors.


When Riku walked back into his living room, his guest came out of the bathroom. At first he was a little startled; the long haired girl he brought home was now a short haired boy. And mind you, he had some messy hair. It was sticking up in every direction, and his bangs were much shorter, but just as messy.

‘A guy, I knew it.’ Riku smiled at Sora who in turn nodded. “So, can I ask?”

Sora looked at him confused and nodded.

“Why the dress?” Riku motioned to the outfit now folded up in his arms.

“Oh this…I borrowed it. I needed a disguise.”

Riku raised and eyebrow but didn’t bother to ask, “So, what do you intend to do now?”

“Hm?”

“You know, what are you gonna do, about the Heartless, they’re after you, you gonna go to the cops?”

‘The cops, no!’ Sora looked at Riku and smiled softly, “I actually….hadn’t thought about it…..Can I stay here for, a while?”

Riku laughed at Sora, but after thirty seconds he realized he was the only one laughing. He slowly stopped and looked at Sora, realizing he was serious. He looked across the room at the boy before him. And in a calm, clear tone, gave his answer.

“No.”

All day the red head sat in her best friend’s room. He had been gone since this morning. He had said he was going to do it. He had said he was going to force his father to clean up the mess he’d made. But she never thought it would come to this.

“What do you think you can do down there on your own?” she whispered to the empty room. She lay back on the bed and looked at the ceiling, within five minutes, someone was that the door again. “Come in…” she murmured.

“Kairi?” She knew the voice of the man in the door way. She didn’t bother to get up to look at the blonde.

“Yes Cloud?”

“Kairi, we need you to answer some more questions…” the SOLIDER was diligent about his job.

“I already told you, I don’t know where Sora went.”

“Bullshit!” She didn’t have to get up to meet the eyes of the other either.

“Leon, calm down,” Cloud reached out to put his hand on Leon’s shoulder. Normally the two wouldn’t even talk to each other. But now they couldn’t stop. The bodyguard and the head of security, they only spoke now to blame one another.

“Oh, I’ll calm down when Kairi stops lying to everyone!” Leon stormed over to the bed, “Kairi, get up!”

She looked at him and shook her head, “You know, for years, Sora tried to get you two to be in the same room, and now that he’s done it, he’s not even here to see it.”

“That’s the point,” Cloud walked over now, “Kairi, we need some information on his location be fore Mr. Amos comes back in the evening.” Leon nodded.

“Do you only want to know where he is to please your boss?” She asked him with a questioning look on her face.

Cloud looked her over, “Yes.”

“You’re a bad liar, Cloud.”

“Fine!” Leon really didn’t have the temper to deal with Kairi today, “He wants some info so he can find Sora, he’s concerned. We ALL are. Except you, so quit hiding where he is!”

Kairi just rolled her eyes and ignored them. Leon looked like he was bout to say something, when the door opened. It was Aerith, another SOILDER. She walked in and said something to Cloud in his ear that made his face light up, and neither Kairi nor Leon missed it.

“What is it?” Leon asked.

“Aerith said they caught Sora on a security cam in the Fourth District.” Kairi’s heart speed up.

“But I’ve never take him there,” Leon shook his head, “Why would he go there? He doesn’t know the area.”

“Who knows, the point is we’ve got something now, let’s go.” Cloud nodded to Kairi and left, but Leon tossed her a dirty look. Once they were gone she found her self asking the empty the room the same question.

‘What do you think you can do?’


Cloud and Leon walked quickly down the hall, each trying to go just a bit faster than the other. The head of Security and the Bodyguard. Really they were supposed to work together on the safety of the Amos family, but it’s hard to do that, when you’re to busy think of ‘accidents’ that could befall your rival in love.

A/N: I have no idea why I chose to make a love triangle, but I thought it be fun, after all how many times do you see Leon and Cloud try to hurt each other over poor little Sora. Usually, they work together.