Chapter Two: Actually, I'd Be Happy To Explain

“Listen, Sora,” Riku started nervously, edging closer to the back of the sofa where Axel sat, “Axel is—”

“Axel is what, sweetie? I’m dying to know,” Sora replied, cocking his gun. “And stop moving. Now.”

Riku immediately stopped where he stood, casting fearful glances over to Axel, who only stared back in matching fear. He didn’t say a word as Sora ripped the shirt from Axel’s hands and shoved it into Riku’s arms. “I can’t believe you,” he said coldly. “Ten months, and you throw it all away for a fling with him?”

“Sora, listen to me, I need to expla—” Riku stepped back as Sora brought his hands up to height again, one gun aimed for his face, the other for his heart. “Sora, please…”

Sora shook his head. “At least now I have a good reason to kill you,” he said, and without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. Axel shouted as the bullet fired, standing up to stop Sora, but realizing he was a moment too late. The bullet flew past Riku’s face and crashed into a vase on the dining room table, shattering it and leaving the fresh flowers in a puddle.

Riku flinched as the bullet hit him, but not as much as he thought he would. He figured he’d be on the floor by now, cold and unfeeling, but that was not the case. As a matter of fact, the entire left side of his face hurt like a bitch. He raised a trembling hand to his face to feel a thin cut reaching all the way back across his ear. “Sor—”

Sora engaged the safety on both of his guns. He stared at Riku, eyes blazing and hard. “Like I said, I have good reason to kill you,” he muttered, “but I won’t. I’m giving you one chance—one chance, Riku, and you’d better have a damn good reason.”

Riku nodded numbly, trying to take everything in at once. Since when had his boyfriend become such a good shot? Never mind that, since when did Sora know how to shoot a gun?

He barely noticed as Sora left the room, returning with a few medical supplies. “Sit,” the brunet commanded, and Riku obeyed, slumping down onto the couch beside Axel. Sora worked from behind the couch, tilting Riku’s head to properly apply ointment and some bandages.

“You…shot me,” said Riku blankly.

“How observant,” Sora said dryly. He finished taping down the last of the bandages with gentle fingers, and then crossed the room to sit on the table in front of them. “Now. Speak.”

Axel was more than happy. “Look, man, I’m not sleeping with him. You might not trust him, but trust me, I’ve got one back home who could smell another man on me like a K-9 unit can smell crack. No way in hell would I risk my life like that, especially for a cocky, stuck-up, arrogant, jerk-off like Riku,” he said quickly.

“Thanks, Ax, that really means a lot,” muttered Riku. Then he sighed. “Sora, he’s telling the truth. The only time I’ve ever had sex with him was years ago, way before I even knew you existed. We’ve only been friends since.”

“Oh, really?” Sora raised an eyebrow and cocked his head. “So, you have had sex with him?”

Axel slapped a palm to his face. “Way to go, Riku,” he sighed. “Piss him off even more, why don’t ya?”

“It’s not like that,” Riku shouted in frustration. “We have no romantic relationship whatsoever!”

“Then what the hell was he doing with your shirt, Riku?” Sora, too, was shouting, desperate to get some answers.

“I had to change,” Riku said, “and before you start shouting again, no, it wasn’t because we had sex! I had to change into a different outfit so I could go on a mission!”

“A…mission?” Sora glanced between his boyfriend and the red-haired man.

“Yes, a mission. Sora, I’m…an assassin. A hitman,” Riku finally admitted. “I work with an agency called Organization XIII. There’s fifteen of us, including Axel and myself. I’ve been with them since I was a teenager.”

Silence blanketed the apartment, until Sora spoke. “An assassin, huh,” he said quietly. “So…I guess that’s what you expect me to believe.” But the moment Riku had said so, he knew; this admission made perfect sense. Riku never suspected, but Sora had caught glimpses of the blood spattered clothes when Riku thought he was asleep. Sora had found the various weapons—knives, daggers, guns, poisons—all well-hidden around the apartment. And the ones that weren’t his, well, now he knew whose exactly they were. The only thing Sora wondered was how he didn’t come up with this sooner.

“No, Sora, that’s the truth,” pleaded Riku. “I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want to drag you into it. You—you could be killed simply for the fact that you live with me, completely disregarding the fact that we’re dating. Now that you know…” Riku shook his head. “I just wanted to protect you. I didn’t want to get you involved.”

Sora wanted to cry at the ridiculousness of it all. “Too late for that, Riku,” he said with one of his trademark grins. “I’m already involved.” He started laughing.

Axel watched him curiously. “Uh, I think your boyfriend’s gone loco, hombre,” he said. Riku shoot him a glare and turned to Sora.

“Sora,” he said softly, “I’m sorry. I never meant for it to be this way.”

Sora wiped away tears from his eyes. “Oh, Riku,” he said, “you’re so silly sometimes. Didn’t you ever notice? How I’d always shout at the TV when the killer in the movies did something wrong? How I sometimes have miraculous moments of extreme dexterity that completely contradict my constant clumsiness? How I know exactly where and how to stab someone with the least amount of blood spilled? Or am I that good?”

Both Riku and Axel stared at him silently.

“Oh,” said Sora, his laughs quieting down to mere chuckles, “I guess I am. Well, then, I guess I’ll have to spell it out: I’m an assassin, too!”

At this new information, Riku burst into laughter. “Sora, I’m being serious,” he finally said as his laughter died off, “I really am an assassin.”

Sora frowned. “Me, too,” he said. “Do you really think I shot you point blank in the face and missed? Christ, a blind two-year-old wouldn't have missed.”

Axel looked hard at Riku. “He has a point, Riku,” he said. “He barely missed you. A couple centimetres, and it would have been your head instead of that vase. That takes serious skill, skill he wouldn’t have without practice…” The red-head trailed off, leaving Riku to think about it.

Sora turned to him. “Hm. You're observant. What’s your name again?”

“Axel,” he said with a wink, “A-X-E-L. Commit it to memory.”

The brunet rolled his eyes. “Sure, A-X-E-L,” he said sarcastically.

Riku interrupted them. “Wait. So let me get this straight. I’m an assassin. Axel’s an assassin. And you’re an assassin, too?”

Sora nodded.

“So, right now, everyone in this apartment is an assassin?” Riku wanted to be sure what he understood was correct.

Axel nodded.

“And none of us are dead yet,” Riku finished.

Both Sora and Axel nodded.

“How?!” Riku stood up abruptly, grabbing one of Sora’s guns and aiming it randomly around the apartment. “This can’t just be some coincidence. This has to be some sort of set up. One of us has to be a target.”

Sora fidgeted. “Actually,” he started. Riku whirled on him, and Sora held his hands up in surrender. “Just hang on a sec,” he said, running off to the bedroom.

As he waited for Sora to return, Riku turned to Axel. “An assassin? I can’t believe I missed that,” he said.

Axel shrugged. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you had such a cute boyfriend,” he said in reply. “Kinda reminds me of Roxy, don’t you think?”

Riku raised an eyebrow. “Are you kidding? Those two are exact opposites,” he exclaimed.

“Nah, nah, like, physically, I mean. If you dyed Roxy’s hair and styled it different, they’d look like twins,” Axel said.

Riku shook his head and made a face. “That’s not the point here, Axel,” he said. “The point is that Sora’s an assassin. And I missed it. Do you know how dead I could be right now?”

Oh, the irony.

Axel didn’t get a chance to reply as Sora returned with a folder in his hands. “Here,” he said, handing the folder to Riku. Riku place the gun on the table, taking the folder from Sora and rifling through. On several pages he saw his own name. “What is this?” He glanced up to Sora for an explanation.

Sora wrung his hands. “Don’t get mad at me, but…it’s a contract. On you,” said Sora. “My agency gave it to me about a week ago and said that someone had specifically requested me for the job. Leon said it was up to me what I wanted to do with it, so I took it. I’ve been trying to find out who requested the hit before doing anything on it.”

“Holy shit, two billion dollars? That a lot of fucking money,” breathed Axel as he read the files over Riku’s shoulder.

Riku wasn’t listening. The folder held a comprehensive background on him, excluding all of his dealings with Organization XIII. From his childhood life on Destiny Islands, to his current residence in Hollow Bastion, every single move was recorded in the papers. His daily routine—mapped out to the minute. Everything, his entire life, was condensed into a stack of papers, and Riku knew only one person had the power to know this much about him.

“Xemnas,” Riku growled, forming his hands into fists. “I can’t fucking believe he would do this.”

“Do what? And who?” Sora questioned Riku’s reaction, but got no answers.

“Riku, you don’t really think Xemnas—” Axel started, but Riku cut him off.

“Of course he would,” said Riku. “He planned this from the moment I let him know that I plan to quit. He found out about Sora somehow, and was willing to use him to get to me. If Sora didn’t take the contract, then he would have just eliminated Sora, and me as well, and made it look like a homicide-suicide.”

“Hello? Still feeling a little out of the loop here,” said Sora.

“Xemnas is our boss,” said Axel quickly, “the head of Organization XIII. Riku thinks it was him—”

“I know it was him,” Riku stated.

“—who put out this contract, especially since Riku told him that he was quitting the Organization sometime soon,” finished Axel.

Riku threw the folder onto the table. “I just can’t believe that he’d use Sora like that,” he murmured. “I mean, I can, I just—”

“It doesn’t seem real?” Sora suggested. Riku nodded. “Don’t worry about it,” Sora said cheerfully. “I’m not as stupid as I seem, and I’m a lot tougher than I look. I wouldn’t have killed you for no reason.”

“I guess that’s what you meant earlier, then,” said Riku, raising and eyebrow.

Sora grinned ruefully. “Yeah. Sorry about that,” he apologized. They fell silent, each trying to readjust to all of the new information.

“So…hate to break the silence, but what now? It’s not like Xemnas is just going to let this drop,” said Axel. “If you don’t kill Riku, Sora, Xemnas is going to start sending us after you. Both of you,” he said to Riku in particular.

A pained look crossed Sora’s face. “I can’t kill Riku,” he said quietly. “I love him. I couldn’t—”

A number of rapid pounds sounded at the door, and the trio glanced at each other. “I’ll open it,” whispered Axel, “you two back me up.” Drawing a gun from his waistband, Axel crept towards the door, and Riku and Sora hid behind the sofa on opposite ends.

Opening the door with weapon drawn, Axel was surprised to see who it was. “Roxas? What are you—”

“No time to talk,” said the petite blond, pushing his way into the apartment. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I’m not letting Sora get hurt. Where is he?”

The spiky-haired brunet scrambled from behind the couch at the mention of his name. “Rox—Roxas?” He asked softly, as if he couldn’t believe it.

Roxas smiled weakly. “Hey,” he said. “Long time no see, bro.”