4

Riku frowned slightly. "Volunteered? Are you kidding?" he questioned. "Do you know what this means?"

He glanced at Yuffie briefly before meeting Sora's gaze again. "It means that I'm staying here and helping you look for the princess and whoever hired those monsters that tried to kill you."

Riku scoffed. "Yeah, whatever. That's bullshit. Why are you sticking with us? Why not just join them in their attack on Radiant Garden or wherever it is that they are hiding?" He narrowed his gaze skeptically. "Who knows? I doubt you have any actual useful information anyway. You' re not gonna be doing much anyway." Sora watched as Riku pulled out his sword. Suddenly, however, Isa grabbed his arm.

The brunet blinked, confused, before turning toward the blonde. "Huh? Wait, don' t-" Isa silenced him with a glare, then moved Riku' s hand slightly so he could hold his other hand instead. "Alright, let' s talk. If he comes with us, then it's his fight whether or not he stays. Right now, we need your help. Please, help us, Sora. We're gonna need every ounce of strength we can gather."

Riku rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Well fine, whatever!" he spat angrily. "Don' t try to use your stupid 'worries about the kingdom' shit on me! I don' t give a damn what happens here, and neither should ya. All that matters is finding Kairi. Now hurry up and show us to that infirmary!" With that, he continued walking toward the door while Sora turned and walked back into the hallway, hoping desperately that no one had noticed the exchange between Riku and Isa. Once he caught up, he reached out and grabbed Riku' s shoulder, tugging gently to try and stop him from running off.

Once they arrived in front of the infirmary doors, they both stopped and turned to look at each other. They didn't say anything for a moment, and then Riku glanced back toward the doorway of the infirmary, narrowing his eyes. "Hey Without saying anything else, he shoved open the door, then gestured sharply for Sora to follow him inside. There seemed to be about ten people in the room. Two doctors. A nurse. An older woman. A few people he didn't recognize from Destiny Islands and a couple of unfamiliar girls from somewhere further south. Some others Sora didn't even recognize. Riku led him straight to a table near the middle of the room, sitting down heavily on top of it in one swift motion. He glanced up once more toward the door to check if anyone had been watching them, but he seemed to be alone. Sighing loudly, he slumped back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest irritably, shooting the young blond boy a dirty look. "I hope you've got some good news for me."

"Actually," Sora began hesitantly, shifting slightly on the spot, "there is. I managed to contact Riku's friend Roxas."

"What?"

"His friend. The one we came with."

"Yeah... I remember."

"He says…" Sora hesitated again, looking down at the ground momentarily. He glanced back up and met Riku' s gaze for a brief moment, and once he had, he continued speaking. "He says that we can come with him. We're gonna head to the Twilight Town area, and then head over to the castle."

"Really? And why can't we just head there ourselves?"

"Because he said that there is a place called the Organization that he knows of, and he wants to meet up with his brother before taking us."

"Okay, I get that part," Riku nodded, leaning forwards on his elbows, "but he's also a Nobody, and his brother's dead."

Sora swallowed. "Yes, but I've read a few books and heard stories about how his brother was supposed to defeat Organization XIII, but apparently it didn' t happen that way. Instead, it ended with him being captured and forced into the Realm of Darkness." The two boys fell silent after that, glancing toward one another once more. "Look," Sora finally blurted out, "the guy is actually trying to help us and all he wants to do is get us out of here too. I think it'd be best if we let him lead us."

Riku glanced back toward the door again and then shook his head slowly. "Alright," he agreed reluctantly, "we'll trust his word."

Sora smiled gratefully and leaned forward slightly, resting his chin in his hands. "Are you gonna come with us?" Riku snorted.

"Of course not!" He glared. "We're not going anywhere near him!" Sora laughed lightly. "Hey! I'm serious!" Riku insisted, glaring slightly at Sora.

"Alright, alright!" Sora chuckled. Riku groaned.

"Just shut up, will you?!" He grumbled.

"Fine, fine." He waved a hand dismissively. He then paused, a sudden thought coming to mind. "Um... You're probably gonna need some stuff before we head anywhere..."

"Like what?"

"Oh, uh... I guess we could take your bag?" Riku frowned. "Or maybe your sword? Maybe your coat or something?"

"My coat? Do I have a coat?" Riku asked curiously. Sora tilted his head in confusion. Did he mean clothes? Did he still wear his old clothes? Or what?

Sora bit his lip nervously as he stared at Riku. He was definitely starting to regret bringing him along. What if he hated his presence? What if he didn' t want to travel with him because he didn' t wanna get close to him?

"Uh... Do you?"

"No. Never needed it. Why?"

"Ahh... Well... I kinda forgot where I left it."

Riku raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "And how did you forget to pack your coat?"

"Well..."

"You mean to tell me that you haven't packed your coat yet?" He exclaimed incredulously. Sora flinched a little, feeling somewhat guilty. Why hadn't he packed his coat then? But then he quickly realized that he wasn't supposed to be packing. He wasn't planning to leave. No. That couldn't be it. But that had happened recently, hadn't it? Hadn' t he been thinking about leaving when Riku found him? Why would he suddenly start worrying so much now? And why hadn't he gone to Riku sooner to ask him to lend him his coat?

/~/~/~/