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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn	By : RotSeele Category: Kingdom Hearts > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3168 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Thirty - Twilight Town

The portal opened up into an alleyway that was tinged with the sinking shadows of the late afternoon. Kaoru, Kai, and Rinally stepped out of the rip in reality into the alley, then Kai turned and closed the door to the Paths of Darkness. With Kai walking alongside them, Kaoru could feel the Heartless actually retreating from their presence, rather than being drawn to them. Even the larger Heartless kept their distance, as if they were afraid of Kai. Perhaps they were, Kaoru decided. It made sense, considering how strong Kai was. Sanctuary also seemed to be an effective deterrent, since it seemed to thrum with power while in the place of pure darkness.
Now that they were in this new world, Kai dismissed Sanctuary after closing the portal and the black and gold of his eyes once more became white and emerald. He ran a hand through his red hair and blew out a sigh.
“You okay?” Kaoru asked, concerned.
Kai glanced at him and nodded. “Yeah. It’s strange. I feel a little tired now, but in there, I felt like I was full of energy.”
“It makes sense in a way,” Rinally said. “That place is full of darkness, with only pinches of light here and there. So, seeing as you wield Darkness, you’d find it empowering. But Kaoru wouldn’t survive for a minute if he didn’t have his armor on. Neither would I, really, not without Kaoru’s help.”
Kai nodded at Rinally’s words and looked at Kaoru. “Are you okay?”
Kaoru smiled back at him. “I’m fine. It’s only my fourth time. I’m getting used to it.”
Kai seemed to accept Kaoru’s answer, though he still gave the smaller boy a concerned look. He said nothing about it, only taking the lead and leaving the alley ahead of the other two. Rin and Kaoru quickly caught up to him, joining him in a large open area that had three paths leading off it - one to an alley, one to a spattering of buildings caught in the colors of the edge of twilight, and the last to another short alley that seemed to lead upwards to a station.
Kaoru let out a soft breath. “This place reminds me of Paradise City.” He pointed up toward one large building. “We have one of those. It’s called a train station. If you get on a train in Paradise City, it can take you anywhere you want.”
“Sounds like fun.” Rinally said.
“Sounds annoying.” Kai muttered. When Rinally glowered at him, he just folded his arms over his chest and looked away from her.
“It’s a little bit of both.” Kaoru said. “But I lived outside of town, so if I wanted to see my friends, I’d have to ride one into the city.” He started toward the station building, Kai and Rinally hurrying to keep up.
As with Traverse Town, there were no natives walking the city’s street. The three teenagers wandered through the town for hours, exploring almost everywhere with the curiosity of strangers. They eventually wandered into a maze of buildings, low streets, and bridges that got them even more lost than they had been before. At last, Kaoru had to stop to rest, leaning up against a wall on the far side of the maze. He noticed a huge hole in the wall and a dark forest beyond, but he was too exhausted to want to go explore it.
Rinally sat beside him, her knees drawn up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Kai leaned against the wall on Kaoru’s opposite side, his arms crossed over his chest as his eyes roamed the tall buildings and the shadows that never seemed to shift no matter what hour it was. Then Kai angled his head toward the giant clocktower above the train station, judging the time by the angles of the hands.
“What is it?” Kaoru asked.
“It’s almost ten at night. But it’s still light out, captured at the edge of twilight.” Kai replied. He lifted a fist and rubbed his eyes. “It’s no wonder we’re so tired. We haven’t had anything to eat since we left Lumina Cross, and we haven’t gotten any sleep, either.”
“If you have any ideas, I’m all ears.” Rinally said in a subdued tone. “I saw a few shops between here and where we started, but they were all closed. I doubt we’ll find an inn in this town, too.”
“Even if we did, we don’t have any money to pay for anything.” Kaoru pointed out. “We might be able to trade work for food, but that’s only if we can talk to the shop owner.”
“If they’re leery of strangers, then we’d be better off trying to scrounge something up.”
“And where do you suggest we do that? Find trash cans?” Kai asked.
“No!” Rin blew out a long sigh. “I don’t know, okay? I’m tired. I want something good to eat and I want a soft bed to sleep in. I’m tired of all this fighting back to back and I’m tired of traveling without finding any clues as to what we’re fighting.”
Kaoru slowly sank down to the ground and reached to put his arms around Rinally. Even a normally strong-willed girl like her could suddenly feel weak in the face of adversity, and neither of them had had much of a chance to rest and recover their strength since they’d first met Kai and talked with him in the tunnels below Lumina Cross. Between fighting their way through Secundus’s guardians, and then Secundus himself, and then using the Paths of Darkness to reach this new world, they had used up whatever reserves of energy their bodies had managed to gain back. Rinally was probably worse off than Kaoru, since her magic relied on her mana reserves, which relied on the strength of her body. If she felt weak, then she wouldn’t be able to use her magic, which made her an easy target for any enemy that might attack them. Kaoru was slightly different, considering he had Guardian. It was far easier for him to summon and wield the Keyblade now than it was when he’d first awakened the weapon, and he didn’t need to use as much energy to keep the Keyblade in hand. Still, without rest and food, it wouldn’t be much longer before he, too, became useless.
Rinally leaned her head against Kaoru’s shoulder. She squeezed her eyes shut. Kai studied them both for a moment, then pushed away from the wall. “Stay here.” he said. “I’ll be back in a little while.”
Kaoru looked up at Kai as the redhead started walking away. “Don’t do anything crazy.” he called.
Kai shot a fist up into the air, gave a short wave, then disappeared among the buildings.
Rinally sniffled. “He’s still a jerk.”
Kaoru laughed softly. “You say that because he didn’t give you a hug.”
“I think he likes you. You know. Like likes you.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because, you know, the whole light and dark thing? I don’t know. He just seems... happier around you.” Rinally rubbed her eyes and sighed. “And the hug was a big tip off. The way he hugged you, it was sooo possessive.”
“Sure he wasn’t just trying to get under your skin?”
She lifted her head and met his eyes. An elegant eyebrow rose in full-on skepticism. “You’re not dense, Kaoru. Besides, I saw you blushing. You liked it.”
He stared at her for a minute, then turned his head away and knew his cheeks were turning pink. “So what?” he said defensively.
“So nothing. He likes you. You like him.”
“I like you, too.”
“Not that kind of like.” Rin waved her hand dismissively. “He likes you. And you like him. You should kiss him.”
“Rin!”
“I’m serious! Just plant a big, wet one on him. See what he does. If he punches your lights out, then obviously, its the darkness that’s just wanting to get touchy-feely with the light. If he sweeps you off your feet and goes into a full-on snog fest with you, then he’s definitely in love with you.”
Kaoru’s cheeks burned and he stared at the stones between his legs. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or to cry. “But I’m not even sure if I love him. It wouldn’t be fair to Kai if I didn’t love him.”
Rinally didn’t respond to that. Kaoru looked up toward her and found her studying him with an unreadable expression. Finally, she blew out a sigh. “Yeah,” she said lowly, “I guess you’re right. And anyway, as much as I’d love to see it,” - she ignored his muttered, indignant “Pervert.” - “I don’t think it’d do anything but put us all in danger. I mean, we’re essentially in the middle of a war. We don’t want to give our enemies an advantage over us.”
Kaoru sighed deeply and leaned his head back against the wall, staring up at the pastel-colored sky. Rin was right. If their enemies discovered that Kai and Kaoru were more involved with each other than just allies thrown together by the mechanisms of fate, they might do whatever they could to torment one boy or the other. And knowing how volatile Kai could be, Kaoru was certain their enemies could provoke him into a blind rage by hurting, or even killing, Kaoru. Despite that, Kaoru decided he wouldn’t mind if Kai wanted to kiss him, or if he wanted to get a little closer, or if he wanted them to get to know each other a little better than they did currently. Kaoru thought back to a time when he was much smaller, staring up in awe at two men who wielded the powers of Light and Darkness with such finesse it was hard to tell where one relinquished his control over his affinity and the other took control of it. During that fight, Riku and Sora always seemed able to move without communicating with each other, as if each knew what the other was going to do before he did it. Could he and Kai become as seamless as Sora and Riku were?
He had been able to sense where Kai was back on Lumina Cross. Even here, on this world, he had a general sense of where Kai was relative to him. Kai probably had the same sixth sense when it came to Kaoru, which was probably how he had located them before he and Rin had had a chance to leave Lumina Cross. Even though Kai was so far away now, he could likely sense where Kaoru was.
Which was probably why he told me to stay put, other than the obvious reason. Kaoru closed his eyes for a while. Then he said, “I think whoever decides to try and provoke Kai by hurting me, or even hurting you, is in for a big surprise.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. Kai’s passionately violent and he’s probably violently passionate. If provoked, he could be more dangerous than you when you’re pissed off.” Kaoru said, keeping his tone even.
Rinally turned her head slightly to stare at him, but he couldn’t tell if her expression was one of acceptance or one that a predator gave its prey right before the predator killed it. “You haven’t seen me pissed off.” she said at last.
Kaoru shrugged because it seemed the safest response at the moment. They sat in silence for a while after that, and Rin eventually pillowed her head on Kaoru’s shoulder and fell asleep against him, leaving him to watch the twilight-lit area for any surprise attacks and Kai’s return. His eyes felt heavy, but somehow Kaoru managed to stay awake, shifting only now and then in order to relieve aches in his legs or in his shoulders. He didn’t move too much or too quickly, considering he didn’t want to disturb Rin, but sitting was starting to take its toll on his body.
His eyes started to close, fighting for every centimeter against his best effort to keep them open. At last, his exhaustion won its battle against his desire, and Kaoru fell into a slumber that was probably deeper than it should have been, considering their situation. He wasn’t sure how long he was out, but he was brought back into sudden, startling awareness by the cold brush of something against his mind. His eyes snapped open and Guardian appeared in his hand, ready for battle. They were alone in that twilight-lit section of the town, but his heart still slammed against his chest and his body was tight, filled with adrenaline.
Kaoru scanned the area, seeing nothing but shifting shadows. There was no reason for him to have reacted the way he had, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been watching him, or maybe, it had been someone. Rinally made a soft sound and rubbed her cheek against his thigh, where her head was pillowed. Kaoru looked down at her, dismissed Guardian, and then carefully shifted to get out from beneath her, pillowing her head on her backpack. He got to his feet and took a few steps away from Rin, looking up toward the clocktower. According to the huge timepiece, it was only four in the morning. He looked around him, but he didn’t see Kai. He could still feel him, but he couldn’t pinpoint the other boy’s location. He could only get a sense of a general direction.
He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. He looked toward the wall, and the great rent in the brick. The shadows there seemed even more ominous than before, but Kaoru found himself being drawn toward that opening despite his initial fear of it. He stopped between the side of light and the side of darkness, staring at the large trees that grew densely within their confining pen. He thought he saw a shadow moving among the trees, flickering from trunk to trunk. The shadow looked like Hiromu.
Startled, Kaoru stood frozen for a minute, torn between chasing after Hiromu and staying put.
“Kaoru!”
Kai caught his wrist before Kaoru could enter the breach fully. He yanked the little blonde back into the twilight-lit part of the town, then hooked his arm around Kaoru’s waist. Kaoru looked startled at being trapped like that, but he didn’t seem about to argue. He looked up at Kai in confusion. Kai ignored Kaoru for a moment, staring into the break in the wall with narrowed green eyes, trying to separate shadows into individual shapes and recognizable forms. When he saw nothing out of the ordinary, he focused on Kaoru.
“What were you thinking?” he hissed, giving the smaller boy a little shake. “You can’t walk off by yourself in a strange place!”
Kaoru just stared up at Kai for the longest time. Then he whispered, “I thought I saw my friends. One of them, anyway.”
Kai blinked. “From your world?”
Kaoru nodded. His eyes stung. “I lost them when my world was destroyed. Every world I’ve gone to, I’ve tried to look for them, but I haven’t had any luck.” He lifted his fist and rubbed the tears out of his peripheral. “Rin fell asleep, and you were gone for so long that I did too. I tried not to, I really did. But then I woke up and I swear I was being watched. And then I saw...”
Kai stared down at Kaoru, expressionless. Then he sighed softly and pulled Kaoru against him, enfolding the younger boy in a tight embrace. He said nothing, staring into the darkness on the other side of the wall. He’d been on his way back when he’d sensed Kaoru moving. He’d taken off at a flat run, fearing that his friends had come under attack and Kaoru was trying to lead the enemy away from Rin. But when he’d arrived, Rin was sleeping peacefully in the spot where he’d left them, and Kaoru looked like he was about to step off a cliff into the unknown. Kai had the sudden feeling that, if he didn’t stop Kaoru, he would lose his light forever. So he tapped into his power of darkness and quick-stepped through air, much like how he did for his Nightmare Raid move, and latched onto Kaoru in order to keep him from disappearing.
“I’ll help you find your friends.” Kai murmured into Kaoru’s hair.
Kaoru nodded.
Kai sighed softly, then stepped back from Kaoru and led him back over to where Rin still slept. He pushed Kaoru to the ground, then sat beside him, both leaning up against the wall. He hooked an arm around Kaoru’s shoulders, and with his other hand pulled out of his shirt pocket what little food he’d been able to find at such a late hour. It wasn’t much, but it would at least give them some sort of source of energy. Kaoru accepted his share wordlessly, leaning against Kai as he nibbled on the hard bread and a questionable piece of cheese. Kai ate his share while staring out across the twilight-lit courtyard.
“You won’t disappear without telling me first, right?”
Kaoru looked up at Kai, confused. “What?”
Kai looked down at Kaoru. “You heard me.”
Kaoru’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if he couldn’t quite figure out what Kai meant. If Kai hadn’t gotten to know the other boy as he had, he would have gotten his back up at such an expression. But on Kaoru’s face, it only meant that he was trying to puzzle out Kai’s meaning. It was his confused look. Kai kept his silence, continuing to stare into Kaoru’s blue eyes. At last Kaoru nodded, his cheeks slightly pink, and he said, “I won’t. But you have to promise me the same thing.”
Kai nodded with a satisfied smile. “I promise.”
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn