Fabricated Affections {RepliRikuXVanitas/KH FanFiction}

Chapter 9: Twilight Town

Riku blinked hopefully towards Vanitas, keeping his gaze for as long as possible. He had no possible way to predict what was going on inside Vanitas' head with that mask on and could only stare with pleading eyes. They needed to get away from Xehanort, and Riku knew asking that was quite troublesome. Riku didn't have a timeline, but he could assume that Vanitas was stuck with the Master for a long period of time. He knew Xehanort better than anyone and knew the consequences that could come from betrayal.

And yet Riku was asking him to leave everything behind and put himself into constant danger.

The silence between them lingered on, making Riku slowly lose his smile. If only he could see under the mask, he would probably be greeted with a glare or a snide remark. Of course Vanitas wouldn't agree to such an endeavor, but after what Riku experienced he couldn't imagine how long Vanitas had to endure such a thing. The thought made Riku's heart ache.

"... Fine."

Riku blinked.

Vanitas groaned at Riku's lack of verbal response and began stretching his arms above his head. "I said fine. You're right, we should leave."

"R-Really?" Riku almost couldn't believe the words from the others mouth.

Once Vanitas finished stretching he ignored Riku's questioning, venturing towards the corner of the room nearby the bed. Riku watched curiously, a swipe of Vanitas' hand causing a stir in the darkness. A wooden chest was revealed and prompted Vanitas to open and begin rummaging through. Riku only observed in silence and allowed Vanitas to search for what he was looking for.

"Mmm... There." Vanitas grumbled as his arm retreated from inside the chest.

Riku raised his brows, noticing a small pouch inside Vanitas' hand. Vanitas stood to his feet, turning to face the Replica and show off the item. He shook it slightly inside his palm, showing off the jingling inside the pouch. Riku finally realized that Vanitas was sharing his secret stash of munny and proved he was committed to leaving.

Riku was simply flabbergasted. "You're so... Eager."

"Just so we're clear, this wasn't your idea." Vanitas retorted, hiding the pouch away inside his pocket. "I've been planning this for a while."

"Obviously." Riku scoffed. Vanitas could continue to be the grump that he was if he truly wanted.

"First, we'll go to Twilight Town to get new clothes." Vanitas began to ramble as he hid the chest away once more. "Xehanort will hunt us down relentlessly, so we'll need to transition often. Meanwhile we need to come up with a plan to defeat Xehanort permanently."

"You have this all planned out."

Vanitas froze from his knelt position next to the chest. Riku could only smirk to himself as he understood the deeper thought process behind this plan. Vanitas must have been stuck with Xehanort for a while to have things prepared and a rough draft in place for an escape plan, making Riku assume Vanitas had been through hell and back. Clearly the boy of darkness wanted to leave, but lacked the will power to do so until someone else came and encouraged him. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was some sort of dependence; the true intention was unclear.

Vanitas slowly straightened his legs and turned his body to face the Replica. "Of course I have." He growled. "That potion should have kicked in by now. Get up. We're leaving."

Riku braced himself for any sort of pain from his movement. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and felt satisfied as the only pain he felt was aching from his muscles. However his satisfaction was short lived as he was rewarded from an annoyed groan emitting from Vanitas, who watched impatiently across the room.