Cross Worlds

Chapter 38: "Respect and Trust"

Riku Reality does attempt to contact Riku Fantasy once more, but to no avail. "What could be keeping him so busy?" Though he is concerned for his alternate self, he has his own issues to deal with. Namely, how to approach Chiyako without her getting the wrong idea.

"What if I sneak up on her and attack her..?" He imagines how swiftly he'd be run through with her blade if he chose to do so. "Yeah...definitely not...but if I'm too casual in my approach..." He knows she'd flirt with him and he wouldn't be able to speak his mind in his flustered state.

"Only one real choice then I guess. I have to approach her with serious intent. If I'm too violent, she'll kill me for sure, and if I'm too casual, she'll flirt. Alright..." Riku takes a deep breath, remembering how their last encounter went. "If I'm afraid of my own comrades, I'll never be able to face a real tough opponent who won't hesitate to kill me. Not everyone will go down as easily as those three bastards..."

Riku's eyes glow faintly in memory of the three "heroes" who slaughtered his family; Makou and Reina. "If the heroes are that bad, then the capital's rulers will be that much worse. I can't wait to pay them a visit..."

"Such a violent aura. What's got you in such a mood?" Riku snaps to attention, looking over at his doorway to see Raichi standing there.

"Does being a Teikoki above me mean that you don't have to knock?" Riku tilts his head.

"Your door was unlocked...so it automatically opened when I went to knock." Raichi blinks a few times, a bit stunned because he figured Riku left it unlocked on purpose.

"Ah... Right... I'm not used to my bedroom door doing that..." Riku had only just recently moved into the room after beating Kei. Thankfully all of their rooms are the same so he doesn't have to move every time he beats someone else.

"Fair enough. Anyways, your aura led me here, so I wanted to check up on you. You okay?" Raichi crosses his arms and leans on the door frame.

"Fine." Riku states quickly and averts his eyes. "Is that all you came here for? You don't seem the type to go out of your way to check on a stranger."

Raichi snickers. "You're good at reading people. There's something I wanna ask you, because I'm curious about how you're doing things. How come you don't just challenge the top Teikoki member you think you can beat?"

Riku cocks an eyebrow and tilts his head. "Huh?"

"Your goal is to make it to the top of the Teikoki so you can get close to Artemis and find out more about the old leader right? Why not just jump straight to Sorey? I initially thought that you just thought Kei was the only one you might be able to beat, which even that is cocky considering how recently your powers awakened. But now you've also beaten Esen, and you're planning on fighting Chiyako as well now I gather. Why not just aim for the top?"

"Well, for one, it was a miracle I beat Esen and Kei. I don't know how strong I am, so I wouldn't know what spot to aim for anyway. However, even if I knew I could take on Sorey and win, I'd probably still do it this way. I think..." Riku Reality sits on his bed, thinking about why he feels that way.

"I don't understand that at all. I'm constantly challenging Sorey myself. His powers are closest to mine out of everyone else's, so it's like I'm using him to train even though I know I'm not strong enough to beat him yet. I was cocky when I first attempted though. Sorey really beat my ass and taught me a lesson that day..." Raichi reminisces.

Riku listens silently, as his thoughts come to a conclusion. "Well, I think there are a multitude of reasons I want to do it this way. For one, I don't have much experience fighting people who wield magic, or even fighting in general to be honest. Yes I had Artemis, the best possible teacher, but I don't know what enemies I'm going to face at that castle. It's best I fight everyone so I can come up with new tactics and get used to fighting as many different types of magical abilities as I can. Especially ones as strong as all of yours."

"Ahhhh, that makes a lot of sense honestly. There's more to it than that though right?" Raichi tilts his head.

"Well yeah, I also need to work hard to move up to the top so I can stand by Artemis and help her out. However, I'll also be able to learn a lot more about the other Riku that way. I'm sure there's a lot she isn't telling me because she doesn't fully trust me yet either, and I get that. That's why I need to make my way to the top. And I wanna do it as fast as possible..."

"You act like you're on a time limit or something. What's the rush? Focus on your own training in between your big fights and you'll do just fine. If you rush into one big fight after the next, you'll end up killing yourself before you know it." Raichi chuckles.

Riku doesn't comment on that. He does speak up once more though. "It's not just that. I also..." He sighs and ruffles his own hair in embarrassment. "I wanna learn more about and get closer to the rest of you so you can all trust me too! I know everyone here has worked hard for their positions and have all done a lot for the resistance. All of you have to make a lot of hard decisions and do a lot of tough things almost every day I imagine. Who am I to walk right up to someone as amazing as Sorey and only challenge him when there are nine other human beings just as amazing as him? All on nearly the same level...it's not just disrespectful, but disgraceful too."

Raichi goes silent for a moment, just watching Riku with an unreadable expression. "Pfft-" It's then that he breaks out into a fit of laughter. "Man, you're hilarious! That's so cheesy I can't help but laugh!"

"Wha- Don't make me cross you off my list Raichi, I'll skip you and shoot straight for Eli!" Riku glares at him, cheeks slightly red.

"Nah, I'll jump ya if you try to do that. Then you'll have to fight me." He snickers. "But thanks. For telling me that. If everyone else heard you say that, I think they'd start trusting you more already."

"Even though it could just be a very convincing lie?" Riku cocks an eyebrow.

"I don't think you'd lie about that after all you've been through. The Teikoki may seem tough and scary, but they're all a bunch of softies at the end of the day. Even Arima! Believe it or not." Raichi grins.

"At face value, that is hard to believe." He pauses and thinks about what Arima chooses to do for the young children in the resistance who wish to fight. "But not impossible to believe..."

Raichi, suddenly by Riku's side, slaps him on the back. "Hurry up and beat the girls then so you and I can fight! After that speech, I'm starting to wanna see what you can do." Before Riku can respond, he dashes out of the room. "You know what, I'm gonna challenge Sorey to another fight right now, later!" He yells as he's running.

"Ow..." Riku mumbles as he stares toward the door. "...I really should be resting right now, but if he's gonna fight Sorey, something tells me I'm gonna wanna see that. I guess I'll take five and then see if I can find them." Riku plops face down on his bed with a sigh, letting his body relax at last.

>>>>>>>>>>

"So, what did you think?" Raichi asks, coming to a halt all of a sudden.

"Oh? You knew I was there?" Chiyako asks, standing only a few steps behind him.

"From the moment I called into his room. You can't hide from my senses Chiyako." Raichi's pupils turn to slits and faintly glow as he smirks. " I imagine you were interested in what was making his aura feel so violent too. So, I thought I'd get you the information you were looking for so you didn't have to sneak around for it. Not that I wasn't curious myself, but you owe me one now."

"I'll happily repay you in any way you like." She winks.

"I don't mean like that. I'll have a use for you in the future I'm sure." Raichi mumbles with a disinterested expression. "Anywho, do you know what it is you wanna do now?"

Chiyako's playful expression turns serious and she crosses her arms, her gaze drifting to the floor as she becomes lost in thought. She narrows her eyes ever so slightly before taking a deep breath and sighing. "Yes, I believe I do know how I'm going to test him."

Raichi grins. "Good. Hurry up with it then, the sooner you two are done the sooner I get to fight him!" And off he goes to find Sorey.

"Well, you won't be able to fight him...if he doesn't survive." She says to herself, an empty look in her eyes as she continues to smile.