Chapter Six- Breaking and Entering
The early morning light filtered through the open window, shining against the gauzy blue curtains. But, Emi DesCoteaux didn't wake to enjoy the Twilight Town sunrise. Instead, she slept, her sharp face twisted into an ugly grimace. Her thin lips formed a grim slace, her thick black brows pulled down. She lay sprawled on her back, quilt tangled around her slender legs after a night of kicking at nightmare creatures.
Her best friend Karen slept peacefully. It was strange to see these two conflicting personalities between best friends. Emi, angry, pessimistic and cyncical. Karem was pleasant, optimistic and trusting. Her clear blue eyes fluttered open and she smiled.Today was going to be fun.
On the roof, Sora's eyes fluttered open. A small breeze ruffled the brunette's spiky hair. He smiled, remnants of a pleasant dream still floating around in his mind. He sat up and looked around. The sky was a bright pink, orange clouds floating on the horizon. "Wow," he breathed. He combed his fingers though his hair and looked over at Riku, who was still sleeping. His silvery hair was all on his face, even in his widely opened mouth, and his jacket had slipped off one shoulder.
Sora picked up a stick lying on the shingles and poked his friend in the head. He groaned and opened his eyes slowly. "Wakey wakey," said Sora in a sing song voice. Riku spit out his hair while he swatted at Sora. He rolled over, attempting to go back to sleep, but instead he started sliding down the roof. He yelled, throwing his arms out, trying to stop his decsent. His green-blue eyes were no longer half closed with sleep, but wide open in alarm.
He slowed and stopped, clinging to the shingles, breathing hard. Sora scampered down, wobbing a little and trying to keep his balance. "Whoa," he said. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine...but, geez, let's get off this stupid roof," said Riku sitting up, slowly and carefully. Sora chuckled and nodded.
The two boys tumbled into the dorm room window. Karen was already awake, emerging from the bathroom with a mouthful of foam. Sora and Riku looked at her as strangely as she looked at them. Then, they noticed the tooth brush in her hand. "Nice of you to drop in," she said through a mouthful of toothpaste foam. Sora half smiled, half cringed. Karen realized she was dripping tooth paste and rushed back into the washroom to rinse out her mouth.
The boys stood up. As Sora strolled over to the bathroom to ask about today's plan, Riku stared at the still sleeping Emi. Her mouth was now open slightly. She lay on her back, on hand tucked under her head, the other thrown up over it. In the bathroom, Sora and Karen discussed the day's activities, as Karen brushed her hair. "Well, Emi has another all day practice, and I have dance class," babbled Karen, perfecting her hair. "So I figure you guys can do your own thing until then and then we can watch Emi down at the sandlot."
Sora frowned."I thought we were using today to 'tie up loose ends'." "Oh, silly," said Karen in a sing song voice. "We have three weeks to do that." Sora's jaw dropped."Three...three weeks? What do you need three weeks for? The future of the universe is at stake and YOU NEED THREE WEEKS!?" Karen squinted at his reflection in the mirror, and then turned. "The struggle is in three weeks. Don't you guys think you could use the practice? Not to mention I should probably strengthen up too."
Sora thought for a moment. It made sense. But three weeks seemed like an awfully long time. "I guess... what about Emi?" Karen smiled, and Sora was delighted to see she had dimples in her cute, round cheeks... just like Kairi. "Oh, she can defend herself, for sure. But the Struggle is important to her, still.The preformance of her life." Sora smiled then."OKay, fine. Three weeks.. but on one condition," he said, tapping his fingers on the counter. "Name it," replied Karen playfully."We have to practice every single time we get a chance. We can use this time to condition you for fighthing Heartless." "Agreed," said Karen, with a grin. They shook hands.
Back in the bedroom, Riku took a few steps closer to the slumbering Emi. She rolled over in bed, her thick blach hair tumbling over her shoulder.What about her seemed so familiar? Riku stared but it didn't come to him. He looked over at the bedside clock , not paying much attention to the voices in the washroom. Time for Miss DesCoteaux to join the waking.
He circled the twin sized bed until he reached the foot. He leaned over and grabbed Emi's ankles. A black crystal anklet circled her left ankle. Riku smirked. Anklets were pretty common back home, being very beachy. Even his mother wore on occasionally. But he'd never known anyone to sleep in one. It seemed like it might be uncomfortable.
Emi's eyes flickered open just as Riku dug his heels in and heaved, pulling the six foot plus girl onto the floor, he himself tumbling backwards. She screamed until she landed on her back on the floor, with a thump. She sat up straight, her eyes narrowed at Riky, who was lounging on the floor, rubbing his head. Karen and Sora rushed in. "What happened?" they yelled in unison. Emi pointed at Riku and hissed, heavy with contempt, "He dragged me off the bed like some kind of wacked out possesed psychotic moron."
Riku stood up, offering a hand to Emi. She slapped it away and picked herself up. She stormed into the bathroom, jerking clothes from the chest of drawers as she went. Karen looked expectantly at Riku. "Just a joke," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head."Well, Emi's not much of a morning person," said Karen,with a sigh and a small smile.
Something thumped against the bathroom floor. Emi hissed in pain and muttered an expletive. Karen's brow furrowed and she slapped her hand against the door. "Hey!" she yelled to the wood. "No cursing!" "Sorry," came the muffled reply. Emi opened the door, dressed for the day, a sour look on her face. She held a curling iron in her hand. "I tripped over the ware and it fell on my foot. It was hot. I burned my foot. I don't think I can go to practice today," she explained. Karen snatched the iron from her hand and said "Fat chance." Emi walked back into the bedoom.
She picked up a pair of plain drum sticks and shoved them into her back pocket of her cut offs. Then, silently, she grabbed her quads case and left, slamming the door behind her. "Bye," said Karen, quietly, with a weak wave.
Sora accompianed Karen to her dance class a few hours later, unable to think of anything else to do. Riku, wanting to study Emi more to find out why she was familiar, said he was going to the sandlot. At the sandlot, Riku looked for Emi. It only took a few seconds to find her, because out of the three drummers, she was the tallest, and the only girl. He sat on a bench and watched the drill. He watched for an hour until the band took it's first break, a few hours early. The tuba player had succumed to heat stroke again.
Emi seemed to want to avoid him, but after glancing around, she ducked her head and shuffled over to him. Riku smirked. She shucked her drums, setting them gently on into the black velevety case. "Decide to join me?" asked Riku,still smirking.Emi looked at him blankly. "You're the only friendly face. What are you doing here?" she asked, blocking the sun as she stood in front of him, feet set apart and both hands tucked into the back pockets of her faded shorts. "I got bored," said Riku, tapping his fingers against the wooden bench. Emi shifted her weight and walked over to sit next to him.
"You're really good. How long have you been playing?" he asked. Emi cracked the tendons in her neck. "Well, a few months in the band. But I've been playing drums... for like, ever," she replied, planting her hands on her bony knees. Riku nodded slowly. The heat was getting to him. At least at home, there were ways to cool off. The ocean, swimming pools, big, cold juicy hunks of watermelon. They were both looking down at their feet when someone else blocked the light. They looked up and Emi groaned.
"What was all that crap last night, DesCoteaux?" growled Seifer. Emi stood up, backing him up. "All that crap was me telling you to leave me the heck alone!" yelled Emi into his face. Seifer wiped his forearm across his mouth. "But... you kissed me last night. You like me, some place down deep in that cold, little heart of yours."
Emi growled. She could feel her anger rising.It made her hurt, trying to keep herself from lashing out and bruising his smug face. Seifer continued to ramble, on as Emi's anger grew. She squared her shoulders, clenched her fists, and set her jaw. Seifer reached out to grasp her shoulder and shake her, But just as Emi was lifting her hand to punch him, Riku stepped in betwen them.
"Back off," said Riku, putting his hands out in a protective stance. Seifer smirked and said "Oh, now I see. This is why you won't be with me. You've got him." Then, it happened. Emi pushed Riku out of the way, and launched herself at Seifer. Riku lost his footing and fell to the ground, and then sat up and watched as Emi pinned Seifer to the ground.
She sat on his chest and grabbed the collar of his belly-bearing coat. She hauled him up and proceeded to punch his face. Several times.Then, with a sneer, she ripped off his hat and slapped him with it a few times, smacking him square in nose. With every impact, she spoke. "You. Are. Such. A. Jerk. Don't. You. Ever. Come. Near. Me. AGAIN." She stopped and huffed. She pulled Seifer's bruised and bloody face close to her own, so close their lips almost touched. She hissed,only audible to him, "Is that clear?"
The beating had attracted a crowd. Emi stood, pulling Seifer with her. And then she dropped him. She looked over at Riku, who had been pushed back by the rush of people. The band director sped over, pushing people out of his way. "Miss DesCoteaux! What is the meaning of this!?" he screamed. Emi just stood there. Anger had taken her over. Riku stepped in."Self-defense," he claimed. "This creep tried to touch her, tried to start an argument. Emi was provoked."
The band teacher looked at the battered Seifer, who was sitting up shakily. "Is this true?" the band director asked Seifer. Seifer glanced up at glaring Emi and Riku. Emi's pale green eyes dared him to deny it. Seifer looked away and said "Yeah. Yeah, that's true. What are you gonna do about it?" The band director took a deep breath and huffed. "All right, get up, get out of here. I don't want to see you in the Sandlot during band practices from now on, got it?"
Seifer stood up and started to storm out, pausing for only a moment to look over his shoulder angrily at Emi. Emi raised her hand and gave Seifer the finger, but the director slapped it down.
While Riku watched Emi, Sora walked along with Karen to her dance class. Sora asked "So,what kind of dance do you do?" Karen lifted the pointed shoes she was carrying by the ribbon.She was already dressed in a black leotard, and purple tights under a black track suit. Her satiny pink pointes shoes hung around her neck and a dance bag was slung over one shoulder. The bag contained essentials, extra shoes,bottles water, pain relievers, rubber bands and leg warmers.
Sora smiled at her. They reached the dance studio, a little out of the way place in the Tram Common. A little bell jingled when they opened the door. A few of the girls greeted Karen, giggling because of Sora. There was one boy in the class. He looked disdainfully at the spiky haired brunette trailing behind Karen.
Karen skipped into a changing room to finish getting read and Sora sat on a stack of mats against the wall.The other girls stretched and did warm-ups on the barre. The boy leaned against the wall, head down. Karen emerged from the changing room in her clothes and now shoes. The leg warmers hid the laces criss-crossing up her slender legs. She waved to Sora and walked over to the barre to warm up.
The instructor, a tall slender old woman, walked in and all of the dancers rushed to the barre. After about an hour of warm-ups and positions, they started going through their dance recital. Karen and the male dancer were the star dancers of course, but the whole company danced with exquisite skill. Karen was standing at the front of a formation, arms raised above her head. She bent over to the side and lifted her leg out, standing on the very tips of her toes.
The boy dancer leapt over and took her hand delicately, lifting it over her head. She moved in a slow pirouette then, her foot resting against the inside of her leg. Sora sat forward, hands on his knees, enthralled. The dance went on, and at the end, the boy dancer lifted Karen into the air, locking his elbows and gripping her waist gingerly. The directore stopped the practice after going through the recital several times. Karen walked over to Sora, kneeling over her bag and reaching in for her water.
She was smiling proudly and glistening with presperation. Her hair was slightly frazzled, limp and wet from the dance. She plopped down tiredly next to Sora on the mats, taking a long drink of water. She excused her self to go change.While she was gone, several girls made a huge show of taking off their pointe shoes, drinking water and fanning themselves. One of them did a very showy cool-down routine in front of him, bending her body in ways that were subtley supposed to be flirtatious. Sora ignored it. When Karen returned, the girls scattered. Karen exclaimed "Boy, am I hungry! Let's go get Emi and get some lunch!"
Karen and Sora walked up to Riku. The band had resumed practice but Emi wasn't in the drum line. In fact, her quads were in their case and Riku was holding her sticks. "Where's Emi?" asked Karen, glancing from the drums to the sticks to his face. Riku sighed and gestured to the far end of the sand lot. "She got into a fight with Seifer. Rather than kick her out, which isn't really a punishment for her--" "A verbal fight or fist fight?" interrupted Karen. Riku loked at her, raising his eyebrows. "A fist fight. Anyway, the director made her run laps. She's on lap twenty."
Karen snorted, "Run laps... She may not be fast, but that girl has a crap load of stamina. She could go all day if she paced her self right." She sat next to Riku on the bench. Sora sat down too, and Riku was sandwhiched between the two of them. "She's so good at it," continued Karen, lifting an arm to block the sun. "Because other than beating people up, running is pretty much the only athletic thing she can do. She can't swim, hit or catch or throw or kick. She can dodge and run and beat things up. That's pretty much it so while the rest of the girl's gym class plays volley ball or whatever, she runs laps."
Riku and Sora chuckled. Karen waved at Emi, who flat out ignored her. She was too busy thinking of ways to get revenge on the directore with out getting caught.
The day was finally over. Emi was finished with her laps, collapsed on the ground at Sora,Riku and Karen's feet. She rested for about thirty seconds before the director made her get up and get her drums and start playing again. "Fifty freaking laps," she had pnted, hauling the drums to her shoulders.
After practice, they all walked back to the dorms. "This will be tricky," mused Karen, tapping her chin. "Trying to get these boys past Headmaster Hester and to the dorm." Emi frowned but then smiled sneakily. "If all else fails, we can--" "No!" interrupted Karen, slapping a hand for Emi's mouth. She had to stand on tip-toes to do it. "We can can just go up, quietly and hope the headmaster is at lunch. We shive them in the closet or bathroom if we here somethig and Emi, you can think of an excuse to get him out of the room," Karen said, poking Emi's nose.
Emi nodded and Karen put her hand down. They were at the entrance of the school. It was a large brick building in the north part of town. It had yellow shutters (yes, yellow shutters) and a sidewalk leading up to the front entrance. The sidewalk was lined with red flower. In the middle of the sidewalk was a rather ostentastious fountain. The sidewalk split two ways and went around the fountain, which featured a ring of seahorse spouting water out of their mouths.
Emi loathed that ugly fountain. As a sign of her hatred for it, she'd taken a butter knife from the kitchen and carved "THIS FOUNTAIN SUCKS" on the underside of one of the seahorses in the middle of the night. Karen held the flash light. They still hadn't caught her.
They pushed through the huge wooden and stained glass doors into the lobby. No sign of the headmaster. There were two flights of stairs, one leading up to the dorms, the other leading to the classrooms. Downstairs was the library, auditorium and stage, cafeteria, administration offices and break rooms. The cafeteria resembled more of a cathedral sanctuary than a lunch room.
They ran up the deserted stairs, on the lookout for Headmaster Hester. He was no where to be seen, but they were still walking on eggshells as Karen withdrew the key from her pocket and unlocked the door. Emi went immedietly to her bed, curling up into a ball without even taking off her shoes. She fell asleep almost instantly.
The late afternoon soon turned to twilight. Emi woke from her nap and Karen went to go get dinner. "I'm on good terms with the kitchen staff," she explained."I'll just tell them Emi isn't feeling well--" "Which I'm not," moaned Emi from under the covers. "And I'll just have them write me a note.But, I'll only be able to get two dinners,so we'll have to share," Karen continued, and then she was off to the cafeteria, leaving Emi to guard the two boys.
Sora told Emi and Riku The Plan."We'll be using the three weeks to train and get ready for our journey," he explained, twirling around in the swirly chair. Riku's lips quirked. Emi frowned. "But... I can fight," she argued. "I don't need any training. I need to get out of this prison of a town is what I need."
Riku snorted. "You could work on your technique a little, you know." Emi glared at him. "We're leaving right after the Struggle. So I hope you have everything ready by then," said Sora, ignoring the small argument. Emi squinted. "Why are we waiting for the Struggle again?" she asked. Riku chuckled. "Sora wants to show off."
"No, I don't," argued Sora, crossing his arms. "Karen said the band preformance was important to Emi." Riku looked over at Emi. "What a good friend, that Karen. But....it isn't it sort of contridicting? I thought you hated band." Emi pointed at him. "Technically I only hate certain aspects of it. I hate being forced to particapate. I hate the morons in the band who can't play. I hate practicing all day. But I like playing drums and I like showing off and preforming so..."
Riku snorted again, but he smiled again. Emi leaned down from her bed and thwaped him on the back of his head. Sora shook his head and laughed. Karen returned then, with two dinner trays, the excuse note clamped in between her perfect teeth. She put one tray on Emi's bed and handed the other down to Sora. While they ate, Karen asked "So...how exactly do you plan on training me?"
Sora looked worried. "It would be nice if you had a keyblade," he said. "But you don't." "Well, Sora, you learned how to fight with a dinky little wooden sword, just like I did," Riku pointed out, gesturing with a fork. Sora perked up. "Yeah... a wooden sword. Or one of those clubs from the Struggle. But where are we gonna get one of those?"
Emi smiled sneakily again, putting her hand to her mouth. "I know where we can get one," she said, eyes blazing.
Emi had a tendency to blow things out of proportion. She and Riku were in charge of getting wooden swords from the drama department. Emi insisted on herself and Riku wearing all black. Emi had no problem finding black jeans and a black spaghetti-strap tank top. Riku had a bit of a problem, though. He had the black shirt taken care off underneath his jacket, but Emi insisted he change his pants. She shoved a pair of girl's sweat pants into his chest. He held them up, wrinkling his nose. Emi shoved her hands into her back pockets. "They're mine. I have no butt to speak off and we are the same height. Yes, they are clean. Put. Them. On."
Something about the tone of her voice and the sharp gleam in her pale green eyes made him rethink arguing. And after witnessing Emi's wrath inflicted on Seifer... he shuffled into the wash room and changed his pants. After he was properly outfitted, they were off to be delinquents. Emi carried a screw driver and Riku carried a flash light. They stole down the deserted hallways of the boarding school. Riku was a little worried because Emi was too good at this.
They flew down the stairs, sticking to the shadows, and tiptoed down long dark corridors. She stopped in front of a door and said "Yes...we got lucky." "How?" asked Riku, again, slightly worried. Emi smiled, her sharp face shadowed in the yellow light of the flash light. "The hinges are on the outside," she whispered. Riku looked at her confused. "What do the hinges have to do with anything?"
Emi waved the screwdriver at him. "Surprisingly," she explained. "I'm no good at picking locks, I never learned how. So, I'm going to take the door off it's hinges. Saves me the trouble of breaking into the headmaster's office for the master key. Light please." Riku pointed the flashlight at Emi's working hands.
She worked quickly. "Help me," she hissed, letting the door lean into her. Riku helped her let the door down quietly and they leaned it against the adjacent wall. "Let's get this over with before we get caught," Emi said, walking into the room.
Karen has insisted the two deliquents meet her and Sora in the courtyard. She and Sora walked quietly down to the back entrance to the garden, which was located in the cafeteria. It was nightime now, and also a full moon. An eerie light filtered through the yellow and red stained glass windows. They walked almost reverenly through the dining hall. Sora was amazed and the size and architecture of the room. High stone ceilings with exposed beams, the huge stained glass windows. The shining granite floors. Even the tables were pretty, long pieces of dark finished cherry wood, and benches with a dark red velvety cover. "This sure is a fancy school," he remarked quietly.
Karen nodded. "Yeah, it's a private school, so Emi and I are really lucky to be here. It used to be a Catholic school, way back when Emi was first...found. Emi was actually raised by nuns, but you can't tell, the way she acts. It was a private boarding school by the time I arrived, though." "Cool," said Sora, with a smile. They came to the exit and walked out into the cool night air. The air was alive with the sound of crickets and tiny tree frogs. They walked among the the rose bushes, huge maple trees,bird baths and other various garden things.
They sat on a stone bench to wait. The stone was cool under their fingers. A light breeze ruffled the leaves. Karen sighed and smiled. "Hey...Sora?" she asked quietly. "Yeah?" "Promise me something." "Sure.""Promise you won't hurt me." Sora chuckled. "Of course," he said. They both thought, at that time, that the promise referred to the coming training. Neither of them were aware how deep it actually went.
Emi and Riku walked into the drama room, looking around. Emi spotted a basket full of wooden swords and plucked out four, throwing them to Riku. Riku caught them deftly and Emi smiled. "Nice catch, Mister Coordianate. Any more tricks?"
Riku smirked. "Oh, I have a few more up my sleeve. You'll see." "Can you pull blades out of thin air like Sora?" "I can go one step better, I can pull them out of my butt." "Ew," said Emi, slapping her forehead."Boys and their crude humor." "Yeah, whatever," huffed Riku. "You girls.. you're always talking about cute guys." He imitated a girl's voice "'Oh, Lizzy, his butt is like... so cute.'"
Emi smacked his arm and they both chuckled. They stood their for a minute and then Riku said "Hey, let's go. Sora and Karen are waiting for us." He turned to walk out, but Emi stayed where she was. "Hey, Riku?" she asked. Riku stopped and looked over his shoulder. "What?"
"Those pants make your butt look like...so cute," said Emi. Riku wasn't sure if she was joking or not, but he smiled anyway, and started walking again, swinging his hips as he walked. Emi laughed loudly and slammed a hand over her mouth. They put the hinges back on the door and walked to the courtyard.
