When Distant Hearts Beat As One

Author’s Notes:
Very mild sexual content (or mentions of it) in this chapter but it’s still there. For those wondering about the last chapter and Kairi, you’ll get to read Riku’s side in this installment. Enjoy!


When Distant Hearts Beat as One
Chapter Three: An Unforeseen Problem and Responsibility

Sora grumbled in his sleep, moaning softly as his eyes fluttered open. It had been maybe three weeks since the entire incident with Riku.

It had been awkward, in Sora’s opinion, when the two had seen each other after that. He and Kairi had made up later that day and ever since, she had become…clingy. And it was obvious that Riku wasn’t going to come near him as long as she was around so he hadn’t been able to spend anymore time with him. But they’d shared looks and small smiles.

Riku had even tried calling him once --he recognized the number to be from Roxas’ cell when he checked his own later--but Kairi had answered his phone and according to her, the person just “hung up in her face”.

Sora sighed as much as he could, followed by a deep breath and holding his stomach. Kairi--or Riku for that matter--never really fully explained why they no longer got along but he’d heard bits and pieces. Bad breakup = bad relationship afterwards. Yeah…that was the sum of it.

Sora groaned again softly, swinging his legs swiftly over his bed and running as fast as he could for the bathroom, actually running into his own bedroom door because he didn’t think of actually opening it, (he was still half sleep people, give him a break) before falling to the floor…and throwing up as he came crashing down.

‘Gross, projectile vomit,’ he groaned mentally as he got to his knees and continued heaving.

It was odd: he had been fine before with no signs of remotely becoming sick. And last night, his older brother’s boyfriend had made then his favorite dinner: spaghetti with marinara sauce and Swiss meatballs, with the side of the cheesiest broccoli Sora had ever had and sweet corn.

‘Maybe…ate…too much!’ his mind screamed as he felt another wave of nausea before without warning, he began throwing up all over again, a little voice in the back of his head whimpering because he knew sick or not, Cloud was going to make him clean this up off of the carpet.

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A soft whimper escaped his lips as he felt his strong thrust again, their hands entwining again. Long silver hair fanning out over his back and touching his sides, tickling him softly as the man on top of him continued to move instead of him a steady, strong pace, making sounds emit from his mouth as his legs were easily forced over his lover’s shoulders.

Another thrust.

He was seeing stars and a mewling purr erupted from his lips as his nails dug into his make, making his lover chuckle softly in his ear.

“That’s it Cloud…beg for me. . .”

“. . .Sephiroth. . .”

“…What the hell is that?”

“Uh…wha?” Cloud muttered grumpily, yawning before smacking his lips a little and making a disgusted face--he never did like his morning breath--before looking over to his right, meeting a pair of stormy gray eyes.

The dreams. He had been having them frequently lately and for the life of him, he couldn’t understand why. He hadn’t thought about that bastard since he’d been abandoned by him.

‘I wonder if Leon heard--’

“Sora, are you okay?!” they heard a bewildered voice ask from right outside their room, and footsteps trailing down the hall.

His only sister. Rikku.

“Oh, what the hell is wrong now,” Cloud grumbled and at once, he and Leon started out of the bed and out of the room.

He was the oldest of three children. The pride and joy of the family, Cloud and his siblings came from a rather well to do family, his father Luxord, having been a retired S.O.L.I.D.E.R general and opening his very own, well thriving casino. But when he and his mother said they’d have to move to a much bigger city, Cloud had demanded he got to stay on the small island that had been his home from birth: he was a top student in his school, had one too many friends there--and at the time, Sephiroth was more than enough to keep him anywhere.

So they’d agreed: they’d always trusted Cloud greatly and thought him responsible and after having a long, annoying discussion with their mother, had gotten them to agree to let his sister and younger brother stay too, for the same reasons: Rikku was all but refusing to leave anyway and threatened to literally burn their father’s casino down if they forced her and Sora, the baby of the family that could do absolutely no wrong, only had to pout and give ‘The Look’ before their mother caved in.

They’d been doing fine: his brother and sister had finally finished high school, Sora one of the top of his class while Rikku...erm…was more interested in one of his closest friends and unofficial boyfriend and the special talents of his tongue (he was really going to kill him), Reno. They’re parents still insisted on sending them monthly allowances’ (if that’s what you called getting so much money) and all were happy.

The only thing that had honestly rocked the boat was his break up with Sephiroth, followed by months of depression until his new and serious beau Leon had stepped into the role and Sora’s odd relationship with Kairi.

No one saw it coming and while no one really disagreed, there was a silent agreement between himself and his sister that something just wasn’t…right about that.

But never the less, everything had been fine. Until now.

“Sora, open the door,” they heard Rikku (and hereby, Ri) coo jokingly as she knocked on the door, pausing only to hear what oddly sounded like the younger of the household throwing up before she tried the door handle.

“Oh yeah, he never locks it,” she mumbled to herself and he and Leon appeared at her side and together, opened the door.

Ri immediately laughed and made a face, turning away. “Gross!”

Leon sighed before starting for the bathroom, the spiky haired blond looking over at him, his only reply being “I’ll go get a few towels.”

Cloud nodded thankfully before going to his brother’s side, patting him on the back gently while Ri came over and brushed his bangs out of his face, the younger smiling thankfully at the pair before making the official ‘I’m going to heave’ face and began once again, releasing the contents of his stomach.

“What you eat?” Cloud questioned and Sora shook his head once he could, trying to breath and calm down, as he was shaking a little now. “N-nothing bad. Just what Leon fixed last night.”

“Nobody else is sick,” Ri admitted softly and Sora once again began to throw up again.

“Does anyone you know have a cold? Kairi or one of your friends?” Cloud pressed and pausing as much as he could, Sora shook his head. Ri arched her brow. “Unprotected sex again, Zoey?”

Cloud could have sworn Sora looked like a deer trapped in headlights before he began throwing up again, Ri laughing her head off. “Awe, our little Zoey is preggers!”

“Rikku, men don’t get pregnant. I now you weren’t that good in school but come on,” Cloud joked and Ri looked at him with mock insult. “Pish-posh brother dear! This here is what we call morning sickness: he doesn’t have a cold, no food poisoning, but he’s throwing up all over the place out of no where. Our little Sora has, like your hair, defied the gods and gotten himself pregnant!”

“Man, you’re such a loser,” Cloud laughed, shaking his head and looked down to see Sora glaring at them both, breathing heavily. “S-stop making fun of my--misforuuu--”

“Oh now that’s just not cool!” Ri gagged as Sora threw up again, this time, right on her lap. Cloud smirked. “Serves you right.”

“Bro, nothing could have warranted this, I just got these pajama bottoms,” she sighed and ruffled Sora’s hair in a soothing manner as he finished, looking up at her with sad eyes. “I’m…sorry…”

“Don’t sweat it cause you’ll be buying me a new one. From you know, Victoria’s Secret,” she announced and Cloud snorted. “Ri, for as much money as they charge, she can keep whatever secrets she has.”

“Not when I don’t have to spend my money on it, she won’t,” Ri replied, sticking out her tongue and Cloud rolled his eyes as Leon finally reappeared with two big towels.

“Took long much?” Ri scolded playfully and Leon only stared at her. “Got a phone call, had to tell them to call back later. Plus you don’t put the towels in the right spot so I had to find them. Again.”

“You know I like to keep you guessing,” Ri smiled sweetly and Cloud rolled his eyes at the pair, taking a towel from Leon and dabbing around Sora’s mouth while Leon looked at the mess on the floor muttering. “Getting some gloves for that,” and leaving again.

“…You know, I really should make you clean this,“ Cloud announced as they waited patiently, Sora seeming to calm down for a while and simply sitting there, Ri still comforting him while Cloud was cleaning him up and whipping the stomach contents off Ri’s pants--only to have Sora once again throw up on them…and his hand.

“Alright, that’s it, you’re going to the doctor,” Cloud announced as he got to his feet quickly, refusing to look at his hand as Leon came back in, catching the pants and hand and smirking. “Nice.”

“Oh shut up you,” Cloud muttered as he left to go clean up. “So--do you just want me to let him keep barfing on me?” Ri asked nonchalantly and Cloud snickered when he heard Leon reply “He’s not throwing up all over my car, so yes, his head in your lap would be gratefully appreciated.”

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The loud ring of his house phone erupted Riku’s slumber, startling him straight into consciousness. He glared at the appliance, his pale aquamarine eyes narrowing in hatred as he thought about tossing it across the room before finally, after the forth ring, he picked it up.

“What!” he snapped harshly into the receiver and a soft, cold chuckle sounded from the other side, waking him up immediately.

“It’s been a while,” it retorted in a calculated, cold manner and Riku gave a deep sigh before sitting up, trying to whip the sleep from his eyes and the anger from his voice.

“Hey Seph,” he muttered groggily. “Why do you always call so early when you check in?”

“Simply, to spite you,” his retorted coldly and Riku grumbled, looking over at this alarm clock. 7:45a.m. No normal person should have to wake up that early.

“What did you say.”

“Nothing,” he said quickly, not wanting to get on his bad side--it wasn’t hard to do and his brother was very…good at holding grudges. So even if he was half way around the world, he wasn’t about to piss him off. “What time is it there?”

“3 a.m.”

“They make you get up that early?” Riku frowned “They wake us at four in the morning. I awaken at one. Paranoia and distrust of others makes you quite alert here.”

‘That’s right, my brother is insane,’ Riku thought with a mental nod. “Better you than me.”

“Let’s decease this simple banter, shall we?” his brother snapped seriously and Riku seemed to snap further awake but his voice. “I’ve called you because I am actually on the road. I’m on my way to the airport and you are not to leave that home you’re staying in for the rest of the day.”

“Sephiroth why---” And it dawned on him. And Riku’s face seemed to light up despite himself and he couldn’t hide the excitement from his tone. “You’re coming home!?!”

“Affirmative,” his elder brother muttered and Riku did a mental back flip in his head before almost immediately, it died down and he frowned again. “Wait…you just coming for a visit?”

“Negative,” Sephiroth replied coldly and Riku smirked. “I’m returning home permanently. My time here is finally over. Thank god.” That last part was muttered.

“What, do you want to eat something special or something when you get here?” Riku asked and he could visually see his brother rolling his eyes at the gesture with a cruel smirk on his features before he finally stated. “Certainly. Why not?”

“Fine, I’ll make sure to get Zexion to help me cook--”

“Is he still there.”

Riku got silent quickly. “Uh?”

“…Is he still there, Riku.”

Riku thought about his brother’s words for a moment before he realized what he was saying and with a little nod, he softly replied. “Yeah. He’s still living here.”

“Good.”

“But Seph,” Riku added, a little concerned now because he knew his brother wasn’t going to like the next thing he was about to say. “He’s…moved on. And they’re serious. Real serious.”

“How serious.”

“. . .Might be talking about marriage. Serious.”

There was a long moment of silence from the other line before he heard a slow, deliberate, cold laughter. “I see. A pity, for one to watch such time.”

“Sephiroth…I don’t think he’ll--”

“You do not know him as I do Riku,” he said coldly, cutting him off. “He may be stubborn and fool hearted but he is consistent and quite emotional. He’s never been one to shut off his emotion--and any ill will towards me will simply be forgotten and waltzed around once I return. This person, whomever they are, are a substitute and nothing more.”

Riku didn’t say a word because there was truly nothing he could say. Once his brother made up his mind, there really wasn’t much a person could do to change it. “Your going there first, aren’t you.”

“. . .Affirmative.”

Silence.

“You’re more love sick than I am,” Riku teased and this time, he got a genuine laugh from his brother. “Perhaps. A foolish emotion, I believe. But one I carry, none the less.”

“Do you really think he’ll forgive you?”

“He may refuse me for a while…but I will not go unforgiving,” his brother said softly and nodding Riku smiled sympathetically, even if his brother couldn’t see it. “When will you get here?”

“Around nine this evening. Be ready.” And with that, there was a soft click as he hung up the phone.

Riku rolled his eyes and hung up his phone. That meant his brother would be here at like, four this afternoon but when come see him until nine. He got to his feet, stretching and preparing to at least put on his pants and brush his hair down so he could go to the kitchen cereal.

Sephiroth was, to say the least, the only man Riku has ever respected. When he was born, their mother had died of horrible labor complications. Their father, who had loved their mother very much, seemed to despise the youth as he blamed him solely for her demise.

And while Sephiroth was very close to his mother, he did not fault Riku for her death--actually, it spurned a hatred for his father instead, as his mother had asked her eldest son to watch over her youngest child and with her dying breath, told Sephiroth what his name was to be.

Their father had died a few years later, when Riku was only five, though neither seemed to care how or even why--they were only thankful.

Sephiroth had then taken it upon himself to raise the youth. He’d taught Riku his studies, making Riku one of the best students at his school, he’d introduced him to Sora through Cloud--and there was no need to describe how thankful he was for that.

He’d taught his brother how to handle all sword based weaponry, how to cook and clean. How to back people in a corner solely with your demeanor and words (but Sephiroth was still the champion of that, hands down) and had protected Riku so well that many a child, young and old were still afraid to even look at him the wrong way, even if they despised him. (Save Kairi.)

Then, just when he’d entered his high school years, Sephiroth decided to go over seized, on his (if you could call him that) best friend Zack’s request, and aid him and a small but growing company that was being attacked called ShinRa.

He’d felt abandoned…alone…Sora had stopped associating with him along his usual circle of friends for Kairi and now his brother was leaving him as well.

“I’ve taught you to be strong Riku, you will do fine,” Sephiroth had told him and Riku glared at him angrily. “What the hell am I suppose to do while your gone?! I won’t have anybody--you’re all I have left--all I ever really had probably!”

Sephiroth, who’d been walking for the door, paused finally. “I will call you Riku. Every week if I have too. Know that you are never alone as long as I am alive. And even when I am gone, I will be with you as well. I am leaving you because I know that I can for this brief time. Your strong and can survive on your own…I’m not needed here at the moment but know that I will return. To you and Cloud. So both of you: stop bitching!”

Riku snorted at that last bit of the ranted anger. Cloud had thrown a big hissy fit and down right broke up with Sephiroth, feeling abandoned as well. ’Won’t he be surprised when he’s on his doorstep,’ Riku thought to himself absently as he picked up his brush and began to run it through his hair.

The thought of his brother’s fallen relationship made him think of his own.

He could blame the entire reason that he wasn’t with Sora on Kairi. And he honestly felt that he would be justified in doing so. But in the end, he knew that his own actions, in some fashion, had brought about her hatred of him--and her sneaky, vindictive ways.

It had all started really, when he’d gotten just a tad bit jealous. He’d literally spent years competing with Sora for Kairi’s attention--not because he actually wanted it but solely because he knew that Sora did.

But then they’d gotten older and they stopped fighting so much. And somewhere along the way, his feeling for Sora had…changed. As did his feelings for Kairi. While Sora had never shown any inclining that he was interested in the red head--she had certainly shown that there was some interest there for him. How or why Sora was so naïve, he never understood it.

But he’d gotten an idea of sorts. He’d stolen Kairi away one day when they were all at the beach. He’d sat her down and simply asked her who she was interested. He’d pushed, saying that she was aware that they were always fighting for her attention and that he wanted to know if he should keep fighting.

He couldn’t fault her for her misunderstanding of his words. He’d said that “Just let me know if I should keep fighting.”…but then again, he never said for whom.

And when she said “keep fighting”…that’s when a not so decent idea popped into his mind. He could tell, just by looking her eyes, that she assumed that he had feelings for her. And Riku, to which he could admit even now wasn’t his best choices, proceeded to let her keep thinking that. With a kiss.

Originally, he’d thought that she would say she liked Sora, letting him down easily. Then he’d planned right then and there to be open and honest with Kairi and tell her that he too, would be going after Sora’s heart. But a chance like that wouldn’t come twice so he decided to use Kairi to his advantage. If Sora did like Kairi, he would use her to make him jealous. Sora may be ’nice’ but even he would confront someone after his feelings became too much and Riku would tell him then what he was doing and…well…hope for the best.

Not one of his best plans. But a plan, none the less.

But to his displeasure, Sora didn’t remotely get jealous of their union at all. He actually became happy for the pair and encouraged them being together, only saying that he didn’t want to be completely left out of their lives.

And then Riku found himself in a rut. He was dating a girl he didn’t have romantic feelings for and the one person he did have feelings for didn’t even seem to care. He was about to hurt a person that had been his best friend for years--she hadn’t done a thing to him and nothing productive would come out of it, for him, for her, or no one else.

So, Riku did the only thing he could think of…the only right thing.

He tried--complete with consulting his elder brother and his new acquaintance, at the time, Axel--to actually feel something for Kairi. Not feelings of friendship or brotherly love--but actually real, romantic feelings of love and devotion.

He’d tried spoiling her rotten, trying to make her feel like she was a princess. Spending so much time with her that everyone that knew him thought he was completely whipped.

He thought constantly of all her pros and how the girl, other than liking Sora, had no cons. How it even seemed that she was actually falling, which he could assume meant that she’d either buried those feelings or completely abandoned them---all for him.

He tried to appreciate what he had. He tried to only think about her. He tried so hard, to simply love the girl.

But every time he saw round, bright ocean blue eyes--her eyes--he thought of someone else’s. Every time they kissed, he could only imagine holding a another lean person, just as short but with wild, untamable chocolate hair. The soft breath that he would breath on his lips as he breathlessly whispered his name in passion…

Riku shook his head at his lapsing train of thought, pausing to clean his brush of hair that had broken out of his head before continuing with his brushing and thinking.

Sora had become his everything--and despite how wonderful a girl Kairi was at the time, there was nothing he could do to actually change that.

And then, Axel had his stupid party.

He’d been exclusively invited (as well as his date) by the red head, which automatically made him popular within days. None of his other friends, Sora at the time included, had been invited and most of the middle school students in their year would have died to have been, since so few of them had been invited in favor of the older, high school teens.

It had been a fucking blast, to say the least--even if Riku couldn’t remember half of it. He’d finally gotten Kairi to loosen up and take a drink (though he didn’t know her drink was something so strong), as the girl had been very anal about doing anything remotely that involved drinking or smoking. She’d always been that way, he supposed, but really, it was a party, it was time to have fun and it was time to get fucking crazy.

Personally, he had been proud of her.

He did, regrettably, remember that the two had run off to the beach. They’d goofed off, wrestled a little…then they’d just started making out. In the back of his mind, he knew what they were doing would be a big problem when he was sober, but then again, since he was shitfaced, he really didn’t care at the time.

Clothing came off, he’d pinned her down gently and…

…had been all but been executed the next day.

To say Kairi was beyond pissed, was saying the least of it.

And to Riku, it wasn’t so much that she was upset about the entire thing, really he‘d been expecting to her bitch because he was aware she‘d wanted to wait, but it was the fact that she‘d tried placing the entire incident and blame on him. That he’d purposely taken advantage of the situation and made her do something she normally wouldn’t do.

And that had down right pissed him the hell off.

She was dodging her own responsibility and placing it all on him. Making him feel like he‘d been backed into a corner. And when he was backed into corners like that and angered, he became sarcastic and cold--or in this case, simply revealed how little he actually did feel for the girl.

As a result of this, they finally broke up. And he’d felt horrible. Not because he’d finally developed feelings for the girl, but because she was still his friend, and had been. And he hadn’t meant to really snap at her or seem like a complete asshole. But his stubborn pride wasn’t about to let him apologize for what it thought was unjust and unfair--and that was placing all the blame on him.

So they’d stayed angry at one another. And drifted apart.

Sora attempted for a month to put them back on good terms and while he didn’t know what Kairi was saying, he kept telling Sora not to worry about it and just drop the subject.

He didn’t really want to talk about it and he at the very least, was keeping his mouth closed on the entire incident--for her sake because he knew that it would hurt her if everyone knew what happened. She had this ‘high and mighty’ attitude and liked to think of herself as a role model and forbid him to be the one to ruin that for her too.

But then it just all came to head.

He had been minding his own business, reclining on The Wall, the popular hang out of all the smoking 8th graders--not because he smoked, but because it was usually a good place to find your own space and solitude, even if it was out in the open. And that’s exactly what he needed at the time: solitude. He’d taken Sora to the side to finally talk to him about…well…them.

But before he could remotely begin good, Kairi had stormed up, about to cry, and screaming about how awful he’d been to her.

His first instinct was to be sarcastic but then she’d started going on about some stupid bet he apparently made with Axel to sleep with her that night of the party.

To which he denied, in his own way.

Axel, who didn’t remotely like Kairi, had actually brought up (when he’d told him he wasn’t really in love with her or anything of the sort) that sleeping with her seemed to be the only good thing about being with her but there was no bet. He’d even reprimanded Axel for saying what he’d said then, because he knew Kairi wasn’t that type of girl.

But that was beside the point. He’d finally had enough of the girl and finally, just told her to shut up about the entire thing and revealed that he was well aware of the fact that she had actually like Sora and was more than likely, using him to actually make the brunette jealous.

Sound familiar?

Well what was it that Sephiroth said…’When it is you that has done this wrong, it’s a lot easier to accuse others of the same actions’? But to his credit, he had known that she liked him before this entire thing started--and it wasn’t that much of a stretch since she once brought up absently that Sora didn’t seem to ‘care’ that they were going out. She’d looked disappointed and when he pressed her about the matter, she simply waved the notion off and pretended it hadn’t happened.

She seemed insulted by the idea but then he revealed to her, finally, that he thought it was a bit funny and odd that they’d come up with the same plan. She’d gotten really angry then, completely with trying to attack him until Selphie had run over and hauled her away with Sora, Axel and Demyx coming over to speak with Riku about the entire incident.

He’d asked Axel then if he’d told her they’d made a bet and the red head denied it, complete with looking down right confused at the notion. “I’d have to speak with her to do that, and I have no intentions of speaking to your shitfaced whore of an ex.” where his exact words.

Really. He never officially understood why Axel didn’t like Kairi so much but he knew it only got worse after what happened next: within, maybe, a span of a few weeks, she’d somehow gotten Sora to go out with her.

In that same week, he’d discovered that Larxene told Kairi about the fake bet--just because she was bored--but truthfully he didn’t care. He had been too astounded by the fact that Kairi had landed his love interest: Sora hadn’t shown any more interest in Kairi other than a sister for the last few years and he wasn’t the type to ‘wait in the wings’ for them to break up for his chance to have her either.

It had made him angry--not at Sora--but at Kairi. Because, as Axel so delicately assessed the situation: “That bitch did that shit on purpose!”

He couldn’t really blame her, if she believed everything she did about him, but it was still a hell of a rotten thing to do and he hadn’t liked her since. And what was worse, since Sora was going out with her, the brunette had all but completely stopped hanging out with him, his inner circle following suit and all for the same reason: they didn’t want to have to bother with the ‘awkwardness’ of being around him and Kairi at once, all the time.

Sora, he could understand. Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka? He could not.

And he’d shown as much, when he had completely cut them. He’d barely looked at the trio, let alone spoke, until recently, and only because Sora had pushed him into after they had finally gotten back on sorta good terms.

The only odd man out with Kairi--and he wouldn’t mind if it stayed that way personally.

“Finally,” he muttered to himself as he smirked, approving of his hair style, flicking a stand right in front of his left eye before tossing the brush back toward his dressing, getting it to go into the small cup that held his other hair items (and very proud that he’d mastered getting there from all distances) and started for the door…

…completely ignoring the red head and blond having sex on the counter in the kitchen in favor of concentrating solely on a bowl of Fruity Pebbles.

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Sora was nervous, to say the least.

He’d always hated doctors since he was younger, when he’d gotten the flu and had to take all those stupid shots.

He didn’t think it was that big of deal really: okay, he was throwing up. And he um…still was. But that was normal--kinda--when you got sick. So maybe he caught a bug, it wasn’t hard. But he didn’t know why Cloud had insisted on pulling a ‘mom’ and rushing him to the family’s private doctor.

It wasn’t that professor (because he was a bit of a scientist as well) Ansem (or DiZ as they had grown to fondly call him) was a bad doctor or even mean: he was actually really nice and always gave them Sea Salt Ice Cream upon finishing a visit…

Sea Salt Ice Cream…

“Errmmmgrraa,” he’d moaned as he grabbed his stomach and leaning forward off of the stool so far that Cloud and Leon both had to catch him, he began throwing up again, one of the professor’s six apprentices, this one being balled Braig (Xigbar), made a face and jumped back as if he was spewing acid. “Damn kid, gross!”

“Like he can help it,” Ri scolded and he hunched. “Don’t care. New shoes.”

“Have a little more compassion for the ill,” his partner in crime (no really, whenever Sora saw one, he saw the other) Dilan (Xaldin) snapped, taking a vanilla folder and flipping it open, studying the paperwork he‘d just pulled out of a filing cabinet. “Let’s see, Sora Strife, born December 8th…” he muttered to himself before frowning.

“Hmm…”

“Hmmm what,” Braig replied in bored fashion as he walked over to the sink, looking back at Sora. “Want something to drink? Glass of water?”

Sora thought of washing down his own vomit, which made him queasy, and as he quickly declined, he began to throw up once again. Braig made a face and fixed himself a glass while muttering ‘Geez’.

“There seems to be something miss-”

“Well, all test are certainly showing negative,” Ansem announced as he swept back into the room, reviewing his own folder, being followed by his favored assistant and up and coming professor, Xehanort. The tan, silvered haired man gave Sora a sympathetic look before going to the professor’s desk and bringing him back a bag to continue throwing up in before he walked over to Braig, slapping him on the arm and pointing at a mop.

“Oh hell no I just got--” one withered looked from Xehanort had him sighing and grumbling. “Getting the mop--lazy asshole.”

“What you say?”

“Nothing. Nobody,” he called back in an overly sweet tone and shaking his head, he made his way over to Dilan, who quickly showed him the contents of his folder and began chatting with him diligently.

“You don’t appear to have any kind of illnesses, whether that be a stomach bug or a common cold to the flu,” Ansem continued, seeming puzzled. “While your symptoms are…familiar…we can’t understand why on earth you would be having them,” he added curiously and that made the group look at him. “What do you mean doctor?” Cloud asked softly and Ansem looked at him as if he’d just realized he was there and being spoken too before laughing and waving him off. “Oh nothing to concern yourself with lad. The probability of such an occurrence as the one I’m speaking of is less than likely so--”

“Professor,” Dilan called in a weary tone, as Braig came over, with his mop in hand, looking over his shoulder and taking a look at the paper, a mischievous smirk forming on his lips as with each word he read. “The young man’s birth paperwork? You’d better come take a look sir.”

Ansem frowned and giving Sora an encouraging smile, he walked over to his apprentices‘, reading the paperwork for himself before taking it from them and rereading it, looking concerned. “That’s odd. Such procedure paperwork should have been included in these documents--I am his main doctor now.”

Sora and the others watched him as he closed the folder gently, looking back at his apprentice while each carried a different expression, Dilan with confusion, Xehanort with obvious interest and Braig with a Chester like grin from ear to ear.

“Who is the eldest of you three? Cloud?” Ansem began and the blond frowned. “Um what’s the problem professor?”

“I’m going to need you to get in contact with your parents as soon as possible,“ he began, already starting for his desk and looking for other paperwork. Ri and Cloud shared a look before they both glared back at him, Cloud seeming annoyed. “Again: what’s the problem sir?”

“I’m going to need Luxord to send me the rest of Sora’s paperwork,” he explained softly. “I‘ll need to know a few other things before I can proceed with a few…other test that I will need to perform.”

“Whoa, whoa, is there something really wrong with Sora? Is he going to be alright?” Cloud demanded in concern, giving his brother’s shoulder a gentle squeeze as Sora looked up at DiZ with concern of his own for a moment before feeling a wave of sickness overtake him and make him throw up once again.

“Nothing life threatening my boy, no.“ Ansem replied before pausing and thinking about it for a moment. “But then again this has never happened and if my assumptions are correct, he just might have complications…”

“What are you talking about?” Cloud snapped and Ansem waved him off. “Call Luxord. I won’t be able to perform any further test without the paperwork he as and if I am correct, then I do believe Sora is about to make history.”

“If you dodge the subject, one more time, so help me…“ Cloud began and Leon gave his shoulder a squeeze to calm him down while Ri began to call their father.

Ansem stared at him a moment before chuckling softly to himself. “Forgive, perhaps I am being a little rude. But I will admit I won’t be able to really confirm or say much of anything else until all of my test of complete.“

Sora’s eyes widened in fright as he coughed softly. More test? With needles? “What other test, I don’t like test!” he whined.

“Now, now, nothing to worry about,” Ansem soothed, taking the phone from Ri as it was offered. “It won’t be anything too taxing. Just a little blood work and maybe...a pregnancy test.”

Ri looked like she won the lottery while muttering “And here I was just joking!” while Leon and Cloud both looked after the elder man bewildered, Sora’s eyes widening. “W-wh-what?!”

Ansem simply gave a mirthful smirk before pivoting on his heel and without another word, walking into his private office, shutting the door behind him.

Sora looked down at the floor in shock, oblivious to whatever Leon was trying to tell him for comfort while Cloud quickly pulled out his own cell phone and began calling someone, glaring at Ansem’s three apprentices, who all still conversing about this, sneaking glances at the young brunette.

And Ri now looked quizzical, humming to herself thoughtful before looking over at Leon and Sora and smiling big, said: “Well since I was right about that, you think this means I will get that Reno covered in strawberry sauce like I wanted?”

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Author's Notes:
That's all for now. Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed! Happy reading!Added: I took the part out about the X-Rays, completely forgot about that. Thanks for pointing that out RxS_Lover! ::huggles::