Chapter Text
“Sora!”
“Don’t let go, Roxas! Don’t let go!”
“I c-can’t! Aaaaagh!!!”
“Roxas!!”
xxxxx
Lea bustled down the sparsely crowded streets and dodged the few pedestrians walking by. He had his face buried in his phone, texting back responses to his new roommate, Riku.
The two had known each other for years and only recently had Riku decided to leave the beautiful isles of Destiny Island behind and move out to Radiant Garden. This was all for the local university, mind you. If Riku had it his way, he’d rather not room with Lea. But alas he needed a place to stay and Lea was the only one he was familiar with that lived relatively close to his university. That and Lea was the only one he could willingly stand to be around for long periods of time.
Riku’s school year didn’t start till three months from now, so he’d have plenty of time to move into the apartment and get situated. His stuff had already been shipped and arrived the week prior, so all that was left was for him to arrive. And that was exactly what was meant to happen today.
Riku’s flight landed around when Lea was at work, so he had left instructions for the other on where to locate the apartment’s spare key. When he finally texted Lea to let him know he’d arrived and was already unpacking, the redhead was just on his way home. Lea grinned as he typed out a response. Originally he was going to head straight to the apartment but he’d been struck by a rather brilliant idea. What better way to welcome his new “roomie” than to give him a gift?
It wasn’t entirely out of the goodness of his heart. Lea was just using this as an opportunity to finally mess with Riku again. After not seeing each other for nearly 7 years, Lea really missed being able to tease his friend and see his reactions. There was only so much messaging could convey, after all.
Which was why Lea was now standing at the edge of Radiant Garden’s bustling market. He could’ve wandered to any other part of the town to find something for Riku, but the market had exciting things you just couldn’t find anywhere else. Specifically this was where the antique market was. And if Lea’s guess was correct, the antique market was where he’d find the perfect gift.
With his signature grin in place, Lea sent a quick text to Riku informing him he’d be home in about 30 minutes. Then he tucked his phone away and began his task of finding the perfect gift for Riku.
xxxxx
“I’m back!” Lea called as he kicked the front door closed with his foot. “I brought food! And I got you a gift!!”
The faint thump of music down one of the halls was abruptly cut before a door opened and a silver-haired man poked his head out. He looked to Lea, bangs pushed from his face by a small headband.
“What kind of food?”
“Burgers. Anyways, don’t you wanna know what your gift is?”
Though they hadn’t physically seen each other in over 7 years, they still sent photos and video chatted every now and again. The constant contact made it less of a wonder for Riku to be moving in. And instead of making a huge spectacle about it, Lea simply acted as if Riku had been living there the whole time. This was one of the things Riku appreciated about his friend. Lea didn’t make it awkward.
Riku huffed before making his way out of his room and following Lea to the kitchen. He began digging through the fast-food bag the moment it was sat on the island counter. However he quickly frowned when Lea took the bag and replaced it with a nondescript brown one, no indication of what shop it was from.
“A gift, huh?”
“Mmmhmm! I got you this out of the kindness of my heart!”
“Riiiight. Since when have you been known to be so generous?”
Lea might’ve been offended if Riku didn’t have a point. Lea rarely got anyone gifts. Even on people’s birthdays he usually just gave them a cheap coupon or something of that ilk. Why waste his money on someone else, right?
Lea grinned innocently which had Riku on edge. He wearily watched the redhead reach a hand into the paper bag, “Since I’ve known you for so long, I figured I’d get you something I know you’ll love!”
When Lea finally showed Riku what he’d bought, the silver-haired man visibly flinched. Lea sat down on the counter two porcelain dolls. The one on the left had blond hair and his eyes shut, a glittery gold tear painted on his cheek just beneath his right eye. On his head was a cute pointed hat that slumped from the weight of the little gold bell on its end.
The doll’s robes were the same fiery earth colours of its hat. The wine-red fabric was broken up by intricate gold and white designs. On the ornate robes was a brilliant sun design surrounded by the same white and gold swirls. The doll’s white pants were puffy and swallowed up its little legs in a sea of white. The only other sign of colour was the little black boots it wore that had tiny gold bells attached to the sides.
The other doll was almost exactly the same as the one on the left, only with a few stark differences. This doll’s hair was a dark, chestnut brown and its complexion was a few shades darker. The shiny silver teardrop was under its left eye, opposite to the doll beside it. Speaking of its eyes, they were wide open and seemed to give off a forlorn and sad expression. The way the blue glimmered made it look as if they were permanently shining with tears.
It wore a small renaissance hat made of a soft blue fabric. The feather sticking from it was still a stark white, not even yellowed from age. The brown-haired doll had robes that matched its counterpart, the only difference being the complex moon design on the front and other additions. The fabric’s colours were predominantly blue and silver and swathed over its shoulders was a little cape with the clasp being a silver bell.
Both dolls were clearly made to be matching. And as if to emphasize this point, their hands were even grasping each other. Any attempt to try and pull them apart would surely break the delicate glass.
Despite the obvious beauty and care that went into crafting these dolls, it did nothing to shake the clear disgust from Riku’s face. He leaned away when Lea nudged the doll’s closer. “Ugh, Lea. Stop it.” Growling, Riku leveled him with a glare, “You know how I feel about dolls, asshole.”
“Which is exactly why I got them! Maybe they’re haunted. They even had this spooky paper stuck to them.” Lea said, reaching into his pocket to produce a tattered and faded piece of yellow parchment. On it was writing that was impossible to decipher and drawings that were equally faded.
That caused Riku to put more distance between him and the dolls. “And you just decided to rip it off?! Lea what the Hell!!”
Lea actually had the guts to roll his eyes. He leaned against the counter, grinning as he patted the blond doll on the head. “Oh come on, Riku. It’s not like they’re really haunted! People stick these fake seals on shit like this all the time to scare people like you and sell to paranormal finatics! Ghosts don’t exist. Chill.”
“I don’t believe in ghosts, Lea.” Still Riku looked apprehensive as he looked at the dolls, “Look if you want to keep them, fine. Just put them in your room so I don’t have to see them.”
Lea snorted, “No way! I spent like 600 Munny on them! That’s more than half of my paycheck! No, they’re going right here where everyone can enjoy them.” And with that said he marched into the living room and cleaned out a space for the dolls on one of the bookshelves. He positioned them at the very top where only he could reach without effort. If Riku really wanted the dolls gone then he’d have to drag a chair over and remove them himself. But with how adverse Riku was to touching the dolls, that probably wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
He took a step back and hummed in thought, rubbing his chin. “They’re pretty cute-looking though.”
“More like sad looking. The blue one looks ready to cry.” Riku griped as he renewed his effort to find his food and wasted no time devouring his burger.
Lea laughed and grinned at Riku over his shoulder. “That’s because you’re so mean to it.”
Riku ignored him in favor of finishing off his food. Lea returned to the kitchen and took his time enjoying his meal. Of course Riku was done before he was and tossed his trash into the bin. Satisfied, he took one more glance towards the living room where the dolls were before glaring at Lea.
“If they turn out to be haunted then I give them my permission to kill you first.”
Lea nearly choked on his mouthful of food. He could only wheeze out a strained “rude!” to Riku’s retreating back. Whatever. There was no way those dolls were haunted. Though if Lea secretly moved them around the house then Riku would for sure flip. That’d be hilarious. But… Lea didn’t really want to force Riku to move out because he was playing on his dislike of dolls. It’d be best to just leave them be.
Right. Leave them be.
xxxxx
Lea was starting to think maybe peeling off that sticker was a bad choice. At first everything had been fine. Days passed by without much change. Riku and Lea gradually got used to rooming together and ultimately fell into their own system. Sometimes they stepped on each other’s toes but that was to be expected with new roomies. It helped with some of the stress that, because Lea had the master bedroom, he had his own bathroom he could hog.
The days after Riku moved in could be classified as “ peaceful ”. Sadly as fate would have it, this morning would prove an end to that description. As he was getting ready for the day, Lea heard a crash from outside his room followed by cursing. The redhead stuck his head out and looked down the hall to Riku. He was holding his foot and hissing, glaring daggers and something in the living room.
Lea came out of his room, taking his toothbrush from his mouth in order to ask a foamy, “What?”
Riku turned his glare to him, “Not cool Lea. Fucking scared the shit out of me.”
Now Lea was confused. He stepped forward, looking past Riku and out into the living room. Instantly he felt his body jolt and his eyes widened. Laying down on the floor, hands still firmly clasped, were those two porcelain dolls.
Lea nearly choked on his mouthful of toothpaste foam. Forcing a small laugh, he looked back to Riku. “Dude, I didn’t move them.”
From the look Riku was giving him he clearly didn’t believe Lea. He pointed threateningly at the redhead, “It’s too early for this, Lea. You’d better knock it off or I’ll kick your ass.”
“Dude, it wasn’t me!”
His protest went ignored, Riku marching back into the hall bathroom and slamming the door closed. Lea rolled his eyes. Riku was always so dramatic in the mornings! As he was putting the dolls back on their shelf, Lea was too distracted to notice that the blond haired doll’s eyes were opened.
That had been the first time the dolls moved. Lea and Riku had brushed it off as a prank the other had pulled. Riku assumed it had been Lea while Lea thought the opposite. The next time the dolls moved, Lea had been the one to find them.
Or to be more accurate, he’d been the one to notice them.
It was around 11 pm, Lea had just gotten home from work and had a late dinner. After a quick shower he’d been more than ready to tuck himself into bed and enjoy some much needed sleep. However the moment he’d collapsed onto bed and rolled himself up into a blanket burrito, something on his windowsill caught his eye.
The next moment Riku jolted awake at the sound of a shrill shriek and crashing. Then his door was slammed open and a very pissed Lea flicked on his light.
“So not fucking cool dude! First time was funny. Ha-ha, we all got a laugh!! But putting them in my room is a low move! Violation of the bro-code! Never enter a bro’s room uninvited!”
Riku groaned, sitting up on his bed and pushing his bangs from his face. “What are you talking about?”
Lea stomped over, grabbed Riku by his shirt, and hoisted him out of the bedroom. He marched the two of them down the hall and stood in the doorway to Lea’s room, pointing accusingly at the window. There sitting innocently were the porcelain dolls.
Now Riku looked confused and a little disturbed, “I didn’t move them.”
“You were the only one home! They weren’t here when I went to work!”
“Well I didn’t move them!”
Both Riku and Lea glared at each other for a moment longer before the redhead sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed in frustration. “Ok look. It’s late, we shouldn’t yell or we’ll get noise complaints. We can just… Figure this out in the morning?”
“What’s there to figure out, Lea? You’re saying you didn’t move them and I know I didn’t, so then what? Someone broke into the apartment just to fuck with us by moving around some dolls?”
When he put it that way of course the whole thing would sound stupid. But that left the only other option to be that they moved on their own. Lea pursed his lips, casting a glance to the dolls.
“Maybe… I shouldn’t have taken off that sticker.” He wondered aloud.
And there was honestly no way Lea was going to get it back. He’d long forgotten about the little paper in his pocket. It wasn’t until he’d done his laundry and then wore the same pants again that he remembered. But by then the yellow paper had suffered through being tumbled around in both a washing machine and a drier. Meaning it was absolutely shredded and no amount of tape was putting that mess back together.
Riku hissed between his teeth, “Don’t fucking say that. The last thing I need is you hinting at the dolls being haunted.”
“Well that’s our only other option. Unless you wanna rely on aliens using science to move it.”
Riku leveled him with a blank look before turning around and marching back to his room. “I’m going back to bed. Don’t wake me up if you’re being killed.”
Lea clicked his tongue and went over to pick up the dolls. “If you do decide to kill anyone, go for Riku first.”
The dolls, of course, said nothing as they were put back on their shelf. With that done, Lea returned to his room and got back to bed. Though not before locking his door. Just a precaution, of course.
The third time the dolls moved, it was the final straw for both Riku and Lea. The two of them were going out to breakfast before picking up some supplies for the apartment. They’d been talking about it yesterday during dinner just to double-check on plans and mention other places they could stop by.
It wasn’t till they’d left the apartment and exited the main building that Lea realized he’d forgotten his phone. Riku had scolded him for that, rolling his eyes mockingly. “Come on, keys, wallet, and phone. Those are the three things you never leave the house without.”
“Well sorry I’m not a good adult,” Lea childishly stuck his tongue out at his friend.
Though Riku really didn’t have to come back up with Lea, the college student saw no reason to just wait around in the lobby. So the two made their way back to their apartment, mundane chatter slipping between the two.
“And Demyx never forgave me for that. But again I reiterate that it was not my fault.”
“You burned his eyebrows off with a firecracker.”
“How was I supposed to know they could do that?”
The two of them laughed as Lea unlocked the apartment door. “Besides, they grew back. He was just being… Dramatic…”
Lea trailed off after he pushed open the door and looked into the apartment. Riku, confused, stepped up to stand beside him.
“What is it?”
The moment he saw what Lea had been looking at Riku visibly paled. Standing just at the base of the bookshelf was that little red doll. Its arms were spread out to catch the blue doll dangling from the bottom shelf. Both had their heads turned to stare openly at Riku and Lea.
For a second no one moved a muscle. Then the blond doll opened its mouth and suddenly shouted, “Quick! Scatter!” Before turning and booking it away from the shelf.
“Ah, wait!” The brunette doll kicked its legs pitifully.
Its companion then turned back around, held its arms up and caught the other before pivoting and running away with the other doll in its arms. Them running was what spurred Riku and Lea into action. Both grappled with the door and slammed it closed, staring at the innocent looking wood before looking at each other.
“Um…” Lea started, throat suddenly dry.
“So… You really got haunted dolls, huh?” Riku sighed heavily, raising a hand and patting Lea’s shoulder. “One in a million, Lea. One in a million.”