Young Writers Society

He gave him a look.

Of course he had been in cars before! His mom had a really nice one. He hadn’t been in it in awhile since she left for her business trip, and hadn't been in Winnie's since she went off to college.

In case the look didn't get the point across, he nodded and signed, "Y-E-S."

Matt had to bite back a sign of relief. Thank goodness. That made things much, much easier. "Okay. Great. Awesome." The lock clicked and he led the way to the street, where an old black vehicle sat. It didn't look like anything special--and it wasn't--but it worked well enough and it hadn't broken down in all its years.

He unlocked it and slipped into the driver's seat, expecting Kirux to follow. The first stop would be the local costume outlet that was in the back of the game store where all the cosplayers ended up, where they'd get some hair dye and an eyepatch, and then he could finally hit the gym.

He almost sat down in the seat behind Matt out of habit, thinking of all of the times he and Winnie had sat in the back together. But then he remembered that he was the only passenger. He - almost regretfully - went to the passenger seat instead, awkwardly closing the door behind him as he looked around the interior of the car. It wasn't exactly like what he was used to, but it was enough for him to figure out where the seat belt was.

He buckled himself in and looked expectantly at Matt. "R-E-A-D-Y."

He slipped the key into the ignition and the car roared to life, rumbling beneath them as he pulled out and started to the store. He was quiet as they travelled, preferring the silence. He'd always been the sort who only really spoke when there was something to say. Right now, he just needed to think, something he'd taken for granted back in Aeyis and the worlds that followed.

The store itself was the absolute image of 'hole in the wall.' It was on the corner, with a sign reading "Mice & Dice", though the 'd' in 'dice' had broken so it looked like "Mice & ice." He parked, slipped out of the vehicle, and gestured for Kirux to follow him in.

Kirux eagerly hopped out of the car, running over to Matt's side and looking up at the building before them with awe in his visible eye. He had never seen a place like it before! As he looked even more up at it - now looking in the direction of the roof - his hair fell out from in front of his face to reveal his golden eye.

It was only when he went to look over at Matt that he remembered, and he quickly pulled his hair back in front of his face.

A rusty bell dinged as he opened the door. It was a cozy place, with shelves full of games, miniatures, cards, models, paints, and other random knick knacks like a stuffed Cthulu and a replica of Serenity from Firefly. A Kingdom Hearts display sat in the corner with a few themed card decks and game controllers with the game itself perched on top. There was also a glass counter with a diorama displayed inside--the Battle of Five Armies--and on top of it perched a desktop with a few plastic dragons glued to it. Behind the counter was a man who seemed to be in his mid-forties, with graying hair and brown eyes. He grinned as he recognized one of his visitors.

"Mattathias, my boy!" he beamed, coming out from around the counter to greet him. "How're you doing? Your parents told me about what happened. I can't tell you how I happy I am to see that you're up and about. You holdin' up alright?"

Matt smiled. "Yeah, I'm pretty good. Takes a bit of adjusting but school's going really well and it's nice to be going out again. Uh, this is my buddy...Kyle," he introduced Kirux. "We were just hopin' to hit up your lil' cosplay section in the back."

Kirux followed Matt inside, growing almost shy as Matt and the man talked. This shyness, however, was quickly forgotten when he heard what name Matt gave. He frowned and gave Matt a very confused look.

"K-I-R-U-X-" he started to sign, only to stop when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Was that a keyblade? Eyes widening in surprise, he rushed over to the display it was a part of. He reached out a hand and instinctively grabbed onto it.

Another frown emerged. That wasn’t right! The weight was all wrong, and it felt like plastic. And there was a price tag on it, too! Was this man trying to sell fake keyblades?

He turned around, ready to sign to Matt again, but then he realized that other things were there beside keyblades. There was a rectangular, kind-of flat thing with art on it, and two words that looked incredibly familiar.

"Kingdom Hearts," it read. And underneath those words were...

His literal heart skipped a beat.

He grabbed the thing and rushed back to Matt, shoving it in his direction.

"K-A-I-R-I!" he signed, pointing wildly at her and the others after he finished. "S-O-R-A! A-N-D R-I-K-U! I K-N-O-W T-H-E-M!"

Matt didn't know what the frantic signing meant, but he could guess from the context that the boy was excited about finding...something. The people, maybe? Did he think it was an actual photograph of the people he knew? Did he think they were here?

The owner of the shop, who still stood beside Matt, raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you spoke sign language," he observed.

"I don't," was Matt's short reply as he put a hand on Kirux's shoulder and steered him towards the back. "Come on, let's get that hair dye, Kyle," he said, promptly shoving Kirux through the back door into the back room filled with a variety of contacts, dyes, wigs, dresses, shirts, shoes, and countless other accessories. "Okay," he said, dropping his voice. "Here's the deal. From here on out, you are a human. From Earth. You're my friend, and your name is Kyle. This--" he grabbed the game in Kirux's hand, "--is a video game. Fantasy. Virtual. Imaginary. It isn't real. Alright?"

He frowned, reaching forward and grabbing the game back out of Matt's hands. He didn't know what Matt was talking about - he had heard about video games before, during the time he had visited Woody and Buzz - but his life wasn't a video game! It was very, very real, even if Matt didn't believe him.

He held the video game close to his chest.

"R-E-A-L," he signed, taking a step back. "K-I-R-U-X. N-O-T K-Y-L-E."

Then he turned his back to Matt. Winnie would have said he was being rude, but would have also said that Matt wasn't treating him right. His gaze swept across the abundance of costumes, wigs, hair dye and contacts. He didn't have a problem with changing his appearance, but he had a problem with changing his name. That was the name Winnie gave him - Matt didn't have the right to change it. Only Winnie and he did, and he'd never do that.

But then he caught a glimpse of clothing out of the corner of his eye, and he found himself immediately gravitating towards it. It was a black jacket with short sleeves. And even though he had never really seen it before, taking it off the rack and trying it on just felt right.

It was only when he took it off and saw the tag that he realized why.

It was supposed to be Riku's jacket.

He held it close to his chest, imagining his heart wearing it. He wished Riku was here now. Riku seemed like he always knew what to do in situations like this, even when Kirux didn't. But Riku was somewhere far, far away, and all that Kirux had was himself.

He returned to Matt and shoved his finds into his arms before hurrying back off towards the rest of the sword to return his first discovery. He didn't need it if he had Riku's jacket. But just as he was putting it down, he noticed a little plushie right nearby - it was one of Riku. He glanced back at Matt, then back down at the little Riku in front of him.

He grabbed it and returned to Matt, plopping it down at the top of the pile.

"Kirux--" he sighed, putting his head in his hands. It was like trying to deal with a little kid. Matt stifled a groan of frustration, really wishing Kartiel would just pick up his goddamn phone for once. Wasn't there any better time to go to Aeyis?

"Kirux, look, your name will draw a lot of attention. Attention that I really can't afford right now, and neither can you," he explained. "I know that your name isn't 'Kyle,' but I can't very well go around introducing you as 'Kirux.' Nor can I go around with someone saying that Kingdom Hearts is real, because people are already looking at me funny and treating me strangely and being all worried, and that really doesn't help. Just...pretend. Pretend you aren't a Nobody, and that you're from Earth, and that Kingdom Hearts is a game and that your name is Kyle. Please?"

His lips quivered. Matt didn't understand, and he had no way of conveying just how important his name was to him. It would be too hard to explain with signing letter after letter. He could try writing it out, but something told him Matt wasn't going to listen.

He managed a nod and took the pile of things from Matt's arms, ducking his head down as he turned back towards the cash register.

He stifled another sigh. He could tell that something about what he'd said had upset Kirux, but he wasn't sure what it was and the boy wasn't being very forthcoming, so instead of asking he merely accepted the fact there were some hurt feelings and moved on to the more practical side of things. That, at least, made sense. He went to the dyes section and selected a dark brown one before hunting for an eyepatch. With those found, he returned to pay. His gaze wandered across the small pile Kirux had gathered and he almost opened his mouth to request that some of the items go back before changing his mind. He'd done enough harm already.

It wasn't long before their new items were in a paper bag and they were out on the sidewalk again, striding back towards the car.

The moment they slipped inside of the car, Kirux put on his new jacket and retrieved the plush from the depths of the paper bag. He held it close to his chest after pulling the hood to the jacket up; this was the closest he had ever come to seeing Riku. And without Winnie there, or Roxas there, or anyone he cared about there, the little stuffed Riku was the only comfort he had.

He eventually let go to grab the eye patch and slip it over his fake eye, but he went right back to hugging the plush in the passenger seat when the deed was done.

Matt wordlessly revved up the vehicle and pulled out, going back home to deal with Kirux's hair. He wondered if he'd manage to hit the gym at all today. Could he maybe bring Kirux along with him?

He glanced over at the kid, who now had Riku's stuffed self in his arms and the jacket replacing his t-shirt. He wondered idly how old he was. He looked around sixteen or seventeen, but if he recalled properly, Nobodies just looked like their...heart? Something like that. So if Kirux was formed when Riku was twelve, four years ago, Kirux would look sixteen but really only be four.

Only one way to find out for certain.

"How old are you, Kirux?"

He looked over for a moment at Matt, still holding Riku close to his chest.

He stuck up a single finger.

Usually he did it with more gusto, but he still felt put out about not being able to be Kirux. "Kyle" felt fake - Winnie wouldn't know Kyle. Roxas wouldn't know Kyle. Neither would Lea or Xion or Isa. Even Kairi wouldn't know Kyle. It made him feel the same way he felt when people called him Riku, but was somehow even worse.

He put his hand down and used it to further cuddle Riku.