Wow! Hello there, Skaterstar57 here yet again! This is my fourth one-shot on here, and my seventh story in total. :) I can't believe I've posted that many now…it's amazing. Anyway, I wrote this because I wanted to write a one-shot about a holiday, and since I totally forgot about Valentine's Day, I decided to do this. I am mostly Irish, so yeah, St. Patrick's Day is a big deal for me. And for what Riku wears in this chapter? Typically what I wear. Save the earrings, don't have my ears pierced, y'know. Happy early St. Patrick's Day, all:D
Summary: One-shot. On St. Patrick's Day, Riku finally plans out a way to tell Sora about his feelings. Only problem is…
Disclaimer: Pssh. As if I own Kingdom Hearts. –Goes off secretly to steal Kingdom Hearts from Square-
Warning: This fic will contain shonen-ai (boyxboy love). If you do not care for boyxboy love, I suggest you leave. This fic will also contain language.
Reviews: Heh, all the reviews I have gotten for my stories have made me so wonderfully happy, you have no idea (though I honestly sat this to the point of death—so perhaps you do know, after all.) If you enjoy this, and especially if you add it to your favorites, please leave a few words! I'd love to know what you thought of it.
A/N:Heh, well, I don't really have anything to say about this…except that I loved writing this one-shot so much, and that's actually short compare to my other one-shots. I hope you all enjoy it!
Kiss Me, I'm Irish!
-o-
"Wherever you go and whatever you do, may the luck of the Irish be there with you." –-Anon.
It was a very certain day—a very special day, indeed. And it was particularly a special day for a certain silver-haired boy, for he had always loved this day, ever since he was little. Dressing up in green, searching for four-leaf clovers, eating cupcakes his mom had made—he had always loved everything about this day.
It was St. Patrick's Day.
Now, for some, it would seem like—why would St. Patrick's be one of your favorite holidays—perhaps even the very favorite? Well, it may seem insane by some standards. Typical favorites like Christmas or Halloween were never really as special for him, though, of course, they came close. St. Patrick's Day had always felt like a second birthday to him, and he always looked forward to March, when it was beginning to be spring again, and for when St. Patrick's Day would finally arrive.
It was true… March 17th was his favorite day of the year.
And nothing would ever change it.
Riku Sugisaki woke up early on the 17th of March, and he sprung out of bed instantly, a childish, somewhat crazy-looking grin plastered on his face. He looked at his clock. It was 6:30 A.M., and they did not even have school today, it was Saturday. Some would think he was crazy for waking up this early, but it was honestly just because sometimes when you are so excited for something, you cannot wait any longer, and you wake up early the next morning. It was the case for any holidays he loved: Christmas, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, April Fool's Day (another one of his very favorites), and so on and so forth.
He went off immediately to take a shower and get dressed and brush his teeth. Of course, all the clothes he would be wearing were green, of course. On a day such as today, he simply could not wear anything else! It was…it was impossible! It insulted St. Patrick's Day, and St. Patrick himself, of course!
Riku grinned, as he emerged from the bathroom sometime later, dressed in green from head to toe. A green Leprechaun hat, green hoop earrings, a green necklace (that had a shamrock charm), a light green shirt that said: "Kiss me, I'm Irish!" in big, darker green letters, his jeans were died green, and his sneakers and shoelaces were. His socks were green too; well, actually, they were white, but they had green four-leaf clovers printed on them. And…even though Riku would not admit it, even his boxers were green…
So, obviously telling from his clothing, Riku was all dressed up for the occasion, and was very excited. He was once again a little child, on holidays such as today—but especially today. He could not remember a single St. Patrick's Day that had not been fun or memorable—he always looked forward to today. He could hardly wait for breakfast. He ran down the stairs, excited, and in a few seconds, reached the kitchen. He found his mother there, decked all out in green clothing as well. She was wearing gigantic green glasses—and Riku suppressed the urge to laugh. Even though he loved the different stuff for St. Patrick's Day, every year he could not help but find the glasses his mother wore…utterly hilarious.
"Oh, just go ahead and let it out, Riku," said his mother dryly, flipping a pancake.
"Bwahaha!" Riku finally laughed, gripping his side and pointing at her glasses. "It's just…! It's just so damn funny!"
"Oh, as if your hat is so much cooler."
Riku looked utterly heartbroken. "B-but…! But this has been my favorite hat…since I was four."
His mother Kazumi suddenly turned around to face him, grinning widely. "Oh, Riku, I was just joking! I love your hat, you crazy, Ireland-obsessed buffoon! But a loveable one, at that."
"Oh, thanks a lot, Mom!"
Kazumi went back to the stove. "Anyway, Riku, I prepared your favorites, today."
"Really?!"
"Yep," she answered. "Pancakes with green chocolate chips and green syrup, Lucky Charms cereal—of course, eggs, and lime juice—instead of orange!"
"Yay!" Riku cheered, thoroughly excited. Out of all of them, though, the pancakes were his favorite.
"All right now, eat up—and then go find your friends and have fun."
"Sure thing!"
Yes, it was true, Riku was a young kid on this day every year—even though he was now seventeen, it was true. But after all, even as we do grow older, we will always be a young, spirited kid at heart.
So, Riku had gone outside to find his friends, and he found them pretty quickly, too. Axel, Roxas, Demyx, Zexion, Marluxia, Larxene, Kairi, Naminé, Wakka, Tidus, Selphie… Yeah, pretty big group of friends, but even one of his friends was missing. Sora. Sora was the one that Riku felt the closest to, and to be quite perfectly honest, he had somewhat of a…very, very tiny crush on the boy. It had been going on for a little while now, but he just kept quiet about that. Well, until today, that is, for he had a plan. A most wonderful plan, of course. Surely, he would get Sora to like him—he was positive it would work.
When he found his friends all sitting under a cherry tree, he sat down with them, saying, "Hey, where's Sora?"
"Said he was busy and didn't feel the best," Roxas answered. "Said he'd catch up with us later."
Riku frowned. "But he can't ditch on us today. It's St. Patrick's Day!"
"We are well aware of that, Riku," said Zexion, glancing at Riku's clothes. "You would never let up about how this day was coming."
"Speaking of which…" Demyx suddenly spoke up. "You're not wearing any green, Zexy."
"So what? It's a stupid holiday," Zexion whispered to him. After all, he didn't want Riku to hear. He'd flip out, like he had a couple of years ago. Mind you, if you ever meet Riku, don't dis St. Patrick's Day. It's not a pretty picture. Not at all…
"Oww!" Zexion suddenly exclaimed, jumping up out of his seat. He stood on his feet and pointed at Demyx, accusing. "You pinched me!"
"Well, of course I had to, Zexy. You weren't wearing anything green."
"Well, that's stupid!" shouted Zexion.
"What is going on, exactly?" Riku whispered to Axel. "Why are they shouting so much?"
"Lover's spat, perhaps?" Axel suddenly turned to Roxas, grinning. "Hey, Roxas! I rhymed!"
"Congratulations," said Roxas, sarcastic.
This was a typical day for the group of friends. Riku had grown used to it by now. They all had their crazy quirks, but they liked each other, and somehow seemed to fit together as a group, even if it did not really make any sense. But it felt quite off…without Sora here. Riku wondered why he had not come out today. He missed him. And I was planning to tell him, too, thought Riku. But he's not here, what will I do? Riku suddenly furrowed his brows. Now Axel has me rhyming, too! Gack! I did it again! Riku smacked himself in the forward.
"You just realized how stupid you are, correct?" Larxene said to Riku.
"No, I have a headache," he answered. Which, was somewhat true…he was getting a headache from rhyming in thought too much.
"Well, the best way to get rid of a headache is to…y'know, keep hitting your head repeatedly like that."
"Oh, Larxene, shut up," Riku shot back. "Anyway!" said Riku, jumping up suddenly, "today is St. Patrick's Day, as you all very well know, and we should be doing something fun!"
"Like what?" asked Roxas, feeling somewhat bored. It was just an ordinary Saturday. This holiday meant nothing to him, really. Sure, he was wearing a green shirt, but it was only because it seemed blasphemous not to. His cousin, Sora, always really liked this holiday, too, for some odd reason. He was curious as to why he had not come out with them, either. He did not really seem sick, after all.
"Well, why don't we go to the place that dies their vanilla ice cream green for today? It's awesome!" Axel suggested.
Riku groaned. "Oh my gosh, I almost forgot! We are off to Chick-Fil-A!(1)"
The group followed Riku as he took off, Axel, Demyx, Kairi, and Marluxia seeming to be genuinely excited. Marluxia, though, was asking if they could pick up flowers on the way. Larxene replied with a flat, "No." Marluxia shot back that she was no fun.
Anyway, the group of friends soon had their ice cream, and Riku was still ecstatic, though not as much as usual—for all he could think about was Sora now. He figured by now, the brunet would have caught up with them. He had texted him, telling him where they were now. Riku ate his green ice cream, thinking it as delicious as every other year. "Gosh, I love St. Patty's Day," he said, licking his spoon.
"Don't we all?" said Roxas, still in his sarcastic mode.
"Oh, admit it, Roxy, you're enjoying your ice cream!" said Axel, poking Roxas.
"Do not poke me!" Roxas warned.
"Ooh, I'm poking you!" Axel egged him on. "It's like you're the Pillsbury Doughboy!"
"Stop poking me!" said Roxas. "And are you suggesting I'm chubby?"
"Oh, not at all, Roxas. You're perfect the way you are. I love you, Rox."
Roxas mumbled something. No one was able to hear it besides Axel, but they all already knew what he had said. "I love you." He meant it, even if he did not show it a lot.
"That's it!" said Riku, finally standing up, throwing away his empty ice cream cup.
"What is it, dare I ask?" said Larxene.
"Are we finally going to buy flowers?" asked Marluxia, excited.
"Of course not!" said Riku, stamping his foot. "I have to go and find Sora! Today just isn't the same without him. Does anyone else want to come?" Fuck! thought Riku. I didn't mean to say that! I only want to find Sora, and then I can tell him how I like him—with my perfect plan, of course! Riku continued to curse himself in thought. He knew he was stupid, incredibly so.
"No way," said Roxas.
Basically, everyone else said pretty much the same thing, saying that Riku should just go check on him, and then bring him back here. Kairi was somewhat tempted to go and see what was up with Sora, but then Riku suddenly insisted that he would just go, and then Kairi should just stay with Naminé. Kairi did so, but looked at Riku skeptically. She then began to whisper back and forth with Naminé; Riku paid no mind. Instead, he just took off, prepared to find Sora.
"Is he finally gonna tell him?" Axel asked Roxas.
"Let's hope so," he replied. "Those two are giving me a headache."
Sora's house was quite far away from the Chick-Fil-A they had just been at, and Riku cursed himself for not bringing his car. Would have saved him a hell of a lot of time, it would have, that was most definitely true. Riku cursed his stupidity in thought once more. He wondered if he would ever make it through college… Surely he was too stupid for such a thing. Riku suddenly stopped running.
"But then again," he thought aloud. "I'm not really stupid, as in the academic way, but more stupid as in I forget things, or that I should have realized something sooner. Yeah…yeah, I'll make it through college. Most definitely." Riku suddenly shook his head. "What in the hell am I doing?!" he shouted at himself. "Why have I been talking to myself this whole time instead of heading to Sora's house?! Never mind, I won't even make it through high school!"
And it would seem…that Riku was quite discouraged at the moment. But do not fret, he will cheer up soon enough. He continued to run and run, pressing on, so he would be able to see Sora. He glanced at his watch. He wanted to see Sora by about lunchtime, anyway. He really did not want to reach him later. Truthfully, he wanted to see him as quickly as possible, but unless Riku suddenly invented a teleportation machine in two seconds, that would not be happening.
Gah, why does he have to live so far away? Riku groaned in thought. I'm going to insist Sonja move on my street. Hey…actually, there's a house that's for sale right now. That's perfect! Riku grinned, thinking surely this was a most wonderful plan. Although, asking your best friend's mother to move her entire family onto your street, just so you would be able to see said best friend more, was a bit extreme, don't you think?
And just then, suddenly, there was a flash of lightning, and then a boom of thunder. Riku's shoulders slumped as rain poured forth, making him wet. He quickly dashed off for cover, so he would not get wet. After all, he could not ruin his special Leprechaun hat! That was an absolute no, to be brutally honest. He waited for a long time, hoping the rain and storm would pass. He glanced at his watch. It was so late! His stomach growled. "Damn it, I'm hungry too. Usually by now, I'd have lunch." He glanced up at the sky. It looked hopeless. It seemed like he would never make it in time to see Sora.
But then suddenly, just then, it stopped raining. Riku raised his eyebrows in astonishment. Well, he had most certainly not been expecting that. The clouds were lighter, too—they no longer looked to be storm clouds. And then, a rainbow appeared. Riku grinned madly. "Perhaps there is a pot o' gold at the end!" Riku said to himself, chuckling. He then shook his head and slapped himself. "Oh, silly me, I have to see Sora!"
So, Riku was off once more, prepared to finally reach Sora. If a storm could not stop him, nothing could. He was bent on a mission. He had been planning today…for a few weeks now, and it just had to go perfectly. It could not fail! He was sure of it. Even if Sora had not liked him before, after Riku succeeded in his brilliant plan, the boy would fall head over heals for him. Riku knew it, oh yes, he did. And he was so confident in his plan, in fact, that he did not even consider the fact that perhaps Sora would be like, "What the hell, Riku? I think of you as a brother—nothing more." If that did happen, though, Riku's heart would be crushed. But as I said before, he did not even consider it, he was just too happy—that he did not even think of his plan failing. After all, it was sobrilliant!
Though, when it really came down to it, it was not so brilliant. But shh! Don't tell Riku that. He'll freak out.
Soon, he was only about three or so minutes away from Sora's house, and his heartbeat began to quicken. Not because of the running, no, Riku did not feel tired at all—it was the thought of actually telling Sora about his feelings, it made his heart race. He felt exhilarated.
Finally, he made it to Sora's house, and Riku bent over for a minute, somewhat out of breath. He may have thought he was fine, but the truth was, that he had been running at a quick pace for quite some time now, so, in a word, he was exhausted. The sun was blazing hot, even though not too long ago, it had been storming. Riku found this quite peculiar, but did not question the weather, since he was just glad that it was nice and sunny now, instead of gloomy and rainy.
He ran up the small set of steps, and then knocked on the door loudly. A moment later, Cloud Strife, Sora's brother, answered the door. For some reason unknown to Riku himself, Cloud never cared for the silver-haired boy, and he did not hide his feelings of contempt, either. Riku laughed nervously, waving his hands tentatively. "Uh, h-hi, Cloud," he greeted. Oh, damn it! Why did he have to answer the door?! he thought
"Hello, Sugisaki."
"You know, Cloud, you can call me Riku now. You know me well enough."
"I'd rather not, thanks."
There was a moment of awkward silence. Riku attempted not to blink—he wanted Cloud to break his icy stare first! But, in the end, his eyes began to water, and it made it look like he was about to cry, so he blinked. Cloud's arms were still crossed, and he had yet to blink. Riku oddly wondered if Cloud ever had to blink. Perhaps he was a fish. (2) Riku finally decided to speak again. "Can you let me in? I need to talk to Sora."
"He doesn't feel well," answered Cloud, not moving in the slightest to let Riku through the door.
"Why do you hate me so much?" Riku asked. "I've been over tons of times before when Sora's sick or didn't feel well? What's so different this time?"
"I don't hate you," said Cloud.
"I think you do, Cloud—you don't have to cover it up, I get it, all right?"
"No, I didn't mean that. I loathe you. Anyway, if you're really curious, Sora's in the backyard, but he'd rather not see you."
"But why?" Riku asked.
"Because," was all Cloud said before he shut the door.
Riku shook his head, feeling a little odd. Whoa, he thought, I just had the door slammed in my face. Nice… He shook his head again, clearing his thoughts. After all, he could not just go into his little dreamland again, and think and think until he wanted to die—or else he would lose his chance to tell Sora! And he could not have that, now could he? So, instead, he went back down the small set of stairs and walked around to the back, opening the gate and closing it back.
At first, he did not see Sora, and he began to wonder if Cloud had tricked him into coming back here, and would lock him up forever, and refuse to let him see Sora! But then immediately realized that was not true—not only because Cloud was actually a sane man, but because he also saw Sora, sitting on a swing of his old playset. At first he did not spot Riku, for his gaze was cast downward. Then, after a moment of Riku watching him silently, he lifted his head, and his blue eyes met Riku's aquamarine ones. "Riku?" the boy questioned.
"Sora?"
The two just stared at each other for a moment, not saying another word.
"Now, why exactly are we following them again?" asked a blond girl hiding in a bush.
"Because, if he's finally going to tell Sora the way he feels--we have to make sure we do it right," answered a blond boy, looking through a pair of binoculars. "Besides, Marluxia wanted to see the flowers. Stop it!" he said, slapping at Marluxia's hand. "You can't just go out and touch the flowers. We must remain in hiding!"
"Ah, Rox, cut him some slack," said Axel.
"No, I will not. If Sora finds out about this…well, he'll kill you."
"Why me?!" asked Axel, indignant.
"Because I'll tell him that it was your fault—besides, he'd never kill family."
"But I'm like family!"
"That just doesn't cut it, Axel."
Back to the situation at hand, Riku was nervous. So nervous, in fact, that when he was finally able to utter anything, it was, "U-uh—uh…hi, Sora."
Yes, sadly, that was all that was able to escape his lips, and mentally, Riku smacked a hand to his forehead. Obviously, he would not do so in front of Sora; he did not want the boy to think he was a freak, after all. Truthfully, Riku knew he was a freak all along, but he did not want Sora to know that, no, he most certainly did not.
"Uh…hi, Riku," said Sora.
"I-I heard you didn't feel well?" Riku managed to get it. He cleared his throat. He was going to talk without stuttering, darn it! "So I came to check on you. Are you all right, Sora?"
"Ah, I'm fine, just feeling a little under the weather. I'm not really sick, Riku."
"Oh, well, that's good." As silence reigned once more, Riku rubbed the back of his neck nervously. His hand fell to his side limply, as he finally managed to say, (holding out his arms, prepared for a hug), "Kiss me, I'm Irish!"
Sora stared; Riku stared back, still grinning. Roxas, Axel, Larxene, and all the others stared as well, and Roxas could not help but shout, "What the hell? What is he doing?!" Axel then quickly covered his mouth, making sure Sora and Riku did not hear. Roxas was tempted to bite his hand, but decided against it. He just glared at Axel, instead.
"U-um…Riku?" said Sora tentatively.
"Yes, Sora?"
"There's just…there's just one problem, Riku."
Riku looked heartbroken, and his arms fell, and he looked down at the ground. "Problem?"
"You're not Irish," said Sora, hiding back a chuckle.
Riku suddenly looked up, then, indignant. "But I'm Irish at heart!"
"Still doesn't count, Riku." Sora then leaned in forward, and whispered in Riku's ear, "But I'll tell you one thing—I'm an eighth Irish. So, y-ya know…y-you…you can kiss me if you want," he said, trying to sound nonchalant and directly avoiding Riku's gaze.
Riku could not help but grin, as he swooped down, their lips nearly touching, saying, "Well, I might just do that." And then he kissed him sweetly.
"Well, he did it," said Roxas gruffly, crossing his arms. Axel had finally decided to uncover the blond's mouth, mainly because Roxas had indeed decided to bite his hand. "I suppose he didn't screw it up too badly."
"Can I go see the flowers closer, now?" asked Marluxia.
"No!" shouted Roxas.
Sora pulled back from Riku. "Did you hear something, Riku?"
"N-no," said Riku, his face flushed, nearly as much as Sora's. He cleared his throat. "U-um…Sora? I—I like you—I really like you a lot, I think I love you…"
"I love you too, Riku!" said Sora, as he threw his arms around his neck. "And you know, since I'm part Irish and all, you can kiss me all you want today."
"Watch out," warned Riku, grinning, "I might just have to take you up on that offer."
"They're hopeless," said Roxas, shrugging his shoulders.
And so, it would go to show, that even if you are not quite sure of what to do, and even if you think up a perfect plan for your problem, it might not go exactly the way you want it to—but perhaps it could end up even better than you first imagined.
1 – Chick-Fil-A is a fast food restaurant that really isn't a fast food place. It's actually quite a healthy place, and is the only fast food I'll eat. ;) They only have chicken as meat, too, hence their name. Chicken's the only meat I'll eat.
2 – For all who don't know (because I sometimes forget myself) fish don't have eyelids, hence, they don't have to blink. Cloud did not blink, yo.
Well, thank you all so much for reading this far, and I hope you enjoyed it. :) I love over-protective Cloud, don't you? XD And in case you didn't realize--the reason he was so mean to Riku was that he knew that Sora liked him--and it was just oh so obvious that Riku liked him, too. Hehe. Well, see ya soon! (I will be posting an April Fool's one-shot, too. XD) And don't forget to review!