My Dark Heart: Ryan's tale (a Destinies Intertwined, Riku x Oc sequel)

Chapter thirty-three: Respite

A few days later, Terra took his leave. He returned home, leaving Riku in the care of the siblings.

"Riku's been going in and out for a while now..." said Rachel, "is this normal?"

The truth was that for the past few days, Riku had been drifting in and out of consciousness.

And if Ryan remembered correctly...

"This has happened before," he muttered, "B-back when... When you... Never mind. Sorry."

His sister rounded on him, "Would you stop apologizing already!?"

On Ryan's back, Riku stirred ever-so-slightly at the noise. Rachel lowered her voice, so as not to wake him. "Look, Rye... I told you countless times, you don't have to apologize. I need to sort out my feelings on this, because you're not the only one in the wrong here. You both fought. Now can we drop this whole thing?"

"Yeah. There's a house right over there. Let's go."

Rachel knocked on the door of an old-looking hut, surprised when someone answered. A figure in black invited them in.

"We can finally rest easy," said Ryan. He turned to the stranger in black. "Our friend is hurt. Can you help him?"

"Set him down on the couch." They replied.

Ryan did as told. The figure stepped in front and began inspecting Riku. He stirred, waking from one of his nightmares again. Tired eyes regarded the figure with confusion and a hint of fear.

After all, he was injured, powerless to fight back again a potential attacker.

In Riku's eyes, there was no one around except himself and a stranger he knew absolutely nothing about.

"What's your name?" The person asked him.

"...Ri...ku..."

"Riku?" They looked towards Rachel and Ryan. The siblings nodded.

"Alright, so he's not completely messed up in the head."

"He should be able to recover faster," Ryan pointed out, "now that he's not being brought from one place to the next."

So that was where they stayed.

Ryan sighed and leaned against the wall. He folded his arms and shut his eyes. He was bored. There was nothing to do here. I need to distract myself somehow.

"Hey, Ryan?"

"Hm?" He looked up towards the other end of the small room.

While quietly listening to his sister's request, he turned his back and stared out the window.

"I understand that you don't want to leave his side yet," he said after she finished speaking, "I'll do it."

"I want to introduce you to an old friend of mine," Rachel told the still-sleeping Riku. "He's helped me get through a lot-- I'm sure he'll be able to help you."

"What's he like?"

"Aah!" Rachel yelped as the figure in black seemed to appear from nowhere. "Where did you come from!?"

"I've been standing here for a while," they replied, "You've just been too focused on him to notice. So... what's your nameless friend like?"

"He's-- well... It's hard to put into words..."

"And here I thought you were in love with this one."

"What!? I--"

Ryan stepped inside, rabbit plush in hand. "Mom said Riku's been hanging onto him ever since you left."

"That's..."

It was actually kind of adorable.

"So your old friend is... a toy?"

Rachel felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment, "I-- I mean, yeah, but... when you put it like that, it sounds sort of childish..."

"I don't think it's childish," said the stranger, "I think it's nice. And what I think of it shouldn't change anything. It's your life, after all. If you choose to sleep cuddled up to a rabbit plush, then who am I to stop you? Besides, I think he's cute."

"Super cute." Rachel agreed.

"What's his name?"

And just like that, a new friendship was formed.