Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

Kairi furrowed her eyebrows slightly, wondering when it was Sora got home. She'd fallen asleep not long before midnight, and he still hadn't been here. If he had been up for a few hours, he couldn't possibly have gotten that much sleep. "Aren't you tired?" she asked him softly, her thoughts triggering the question.

 

Sora shrugged lightly, his body aching with the motion. "Yeah, but it's alright. Somebody needed to be awake to keep an eye on you guys." Specifically, somebody needed to look after Namine and Kairi. Surely Kairi understood that was what he meant with what he just said.

 

Kairi nodded a little as she gazed at Sora, but then she let her gaze fall on her knees. Of course, he meant somebody had to stay awake to watch over her and Namine while they slept; Riku and Roxas could surely hold their own, even after just waking up.

 

Sora shifted his gaze down to the ground by Kairi's couch, the brunet exhaling a breath. He had been awake for a few hours, which had given him plenty of time to think about more places to search. Unfortunately, he still hadn't been able to think of many places to look for Smith.

 

Kairi let the silence linger around her, not finding it uncomfortable in the least. Besides, her thoughts were wandering anyway, specifically to her nightmare. Thankfully, after a small minute, she saw Riku's arm move a little, which made her look up.

Riku thought he had heard voices, but now that he didn't hear a thing, it left him slightly confused. He had always been a light sleeper, so it hadn't gone unnoticed. He moved his arm that rested over his stomach, and then he opened his eyes slowly. Things were brighter now, and he knew it was morning. Probably early too, he thought groggily as he lifted his head off his fist, blinking hard to clear his vision.

 

Sora glanced at Riku before looking down at the floor, the brunet aware that Riku was awake. Or, at least, he was starting to awaken. He wasn't too surprised at that; he had learned over the past few months that Riku never did sleep too much, even if he had the opportunity to.

 

Riku shook his head slightly, running a hand through his hair after seeing that Sora was still awake from when he had fallen asleep earlier. That was both good and bad; Riku had gotten a few hours of sleep, but Sora looked exhausted. He sensed a gaze on him and the teen turned his head to see Kairi looking at him. Riku arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "What're you doing awake so early?" he asked her as he rubbed a hand over his face.

Kairi smiled slightly at the question, remembering how Riku had always woken up before she did in the past. But then her smile turned sad at the memory of her dream. "I couldn't sleep very well," she told him softly, believing that was good enough for now. If he wanted to know more, then she would tell him, though she would rather not.

 

Sora kept his gaze on the ground, giving Riku and Kairi their privacy. He wasn't sure when he and Roxas should go out searching again; first, they would have to eat some food. He hoped Kairi had some food in her kitchen, because he hadn't eaten for a long time. However, he was afraid that eating would hurt his chest further, but he couldn't function without something in his stomach. Like always, he would just have to ignore the pain.

 

Riku nodded slightly as he lifted his arms and stretched, his shoulders sagging after a few seconds as his eyes fell forward. Kairi couldn't sleep well, and he could only assume it was because of what was going on here. Smith still hadn't been caught, which was what they needed to focus on today, other than protecting the girls.

 

Once they were ready, Sora and Roxas would have to search again. There weren't many places they could know to look at, and Smith could have been anywhere. Sora didn't like not knowing where he was; if there was a threat, he liked to see it. But this threat was very real, even if they couldn't track down their enemy.

 

Riku leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees instantly as he ran his fingers through his long silver hair again. He sighed, fully waking up now as he looked over at Sora in the chair. "You look exhausted," he pointed out bluntly. Maybe he should've allowed Sora to get more sleep...

 

Sora shifted his gaze to Riku, leaving his thoughts behind when he heard what his friend said. "Don't worry about it," he said simply, shrugging lightly out of reflex. He held back a wince at the movement, mentally scolding himself for doing that again. Any unnecessary movement sparked pain in his ribs, and that was the last thing he needed right now.

 

"Kinda hard not to," Riku said, remembering what had happened the day before. Then again, how could he forget? Sora was pretty beat up, getting the worst out of all of them. His ribs couldn't be treated here by just a potion, which meant he needed more rest than anyone.

 

Sora frowned slightly, shifting his gaze to the ground. He couldn't think of anything to say to that; he was in bad shape, but he didn't see any way for things to be different. As long as Smith was out there, somebody needed to keep an eye on the girls while everyone else was resting. For the few hours, that person had been Sora, and he knew that it was necessary, even if his physical health suffered because of it.

 

Kairi's gaze was on the same person as Riku's, the girl looking at Sora. She worried about him, but she knew he wouldn't back down because of his injuries. That was the way he was, always putting others before himself. Even if she had expressed her concerns about it in the past, she knew that Sora was too good.

 

"It can't be helped," Sora finally said, keeping his gaze on the ground as he referred to his exhaustion. Riku knew that somebody needed to stay awake with the girls, and Sora had willingly said that he would do it. The pain in his ribs was what allowed him to stay awake for the past few hours without falling back asleep due to exhaustion.

 

Riku simply lowered his gaze, knowing that Sora was right. It didn't matter now, because surely Sora wasn't going to fall asleep now, since it was already morning. Roxas would be waking up soon, no doubt. That would just convince Sora to stay awake even more, despite how tired he probably was.

 

Sora leaned his head into the back of the chair, his eyes shutting when he only heard silence. Though the pain in his ribs was still irritating him, he actually felt like he could fall back asleep. He wasn't sure when Roxas would wake up, or how long it would take for somebody to make breakfast. He figured it would be a while, and he momentarily wondered if he could get a nap during that time.

 

Kairi looked out one of the windows in the room from where she sat, silence filling the room once again. Her two blond friends did sleep longer than she or her best friends did, which was okay. They both needed the rest she was sure. Meanwhile, she probably needed to take care of Sora and Riku.

 

Sora exhaled a silent breath through his nose, denying himself the right to sleep. He needed to stay awake...what if Roxas woke up soon? But what if he doesn't? he countered. Then you'll have been awake for nothing, and you won't be able to focus later when you're too exhausted...