Hi all! Me again, with another roleplay. Through Discord I found another RP partner, so this is strictly 1x1. It is a College AU, though it has some canon tidbits included.

 

Please refrain from posting in this topic, but feel free to read along and join us for this journey!

 

Thanks!

 

Hoshi, take it away!

Edited July 24, 20187 yr by Forever Love

No...not really, Lightning thought, staring at the ground. A bit of blood lingered from the jock's nose, staining the floor. She wanted to get out of here, take time to herself, but what good would that do? What kind of picture would that paint for the rest of the people in here? She didn't run away, not ever. She stood her ground and kept at it. "...Yeah," she said, closing her eyes and exhaling. "Yeah, I'm sure." She turned her head, looking up at the aquamarine eyes that startled her the first time she saw them. "Let's just...get back to it." She wanted to forget this ever happened.

Riku stepped back onto his machine and powered it up again. "Okay. Class is about to start anyway." Hopefully, when the instructor came in, things would settle down again. And people will stop staring, Riku thought. He could tell the attention was the thing Lightning wanted the least in this situation.

 

A moment later and Sora ran into the room, hair more disheveled and completely out of breath. "H-Hey, I thought you were gonna save me a machine...!"

 

"You were late," Riku said simply, trying to keep his voice nonchalant and light. 

Lightning looked over at Sora. "...You can have mine," she said, motioning to it with her hand. "I'm going to use the punching bag." She walked away then, heading in the direction of her new workout. Punching the bully hadn't been enough. She needed to take out her aggression on something other than a person.

Sora looked between Riku and Lightning for a minute. It was clear there was still tension in the air, but the brunet wasn't going to pry. He took over the machine with a small smile. "Thanks..." When she was gone, Sora whispered to his best friend. "Everything okay? She seemed upset."

 

Riku kept his gaze straight ahead but answered his friend lowly. "Some jock thought it was cute to make a pass at her. Accused me of trying to get a lay out of her. Made some obscene gestures and basically tried to force himself on her before having his ass handed to him," Riku summarized.

 

"What...? Where is he now?" Sora asked, his eyes were wide in horror. What exactly had he missed? And right before class? He certainly hoped the others were fairing better in their classes. 

 

"Don't know and don't care," Riku replied with a curl of the lip, "Just glad he has a broken nose now." Before Sora could ask, Riku added. "From Lightning. Not me. Though I sure as hell wanted to."

 

"Sounds like I missed a lot," Sora murmured, though he was glad Riku was there to help. 

Lightning reached the punching bag quickly since she was walking through the gym with adrenaline still pumping in her veins. She wrapped her hands and got to it instantly, throwing punches like she did the one to the pervert's nose. She imagined his face on the bag for a few minutes, but she got tired quickly; the adenaline was wearing off. She punched the bag one more time, though she hugged it a little with her arm to keep it from swinging too much. Lightning leaned her forehead against the surface. Normally she didn't let stuff like this bother her so much, but how closely that creep came to actually kissing her, and the way he gestured to her... And all of it in front of Riku. Lightning "tsked" at the reminder. No...she couldn't think like that. She couldn't think of him like that.

After class, Riku went to check on Lightning. She was still throwing a few loose jabs at the punching bag, so Riku stood back as she vented her frustrations. He could only imagine the thoughts running through her head. Her reaction suggested that this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, and the silver haired master found himself clenching his fists again at the thought. What was with guys and treating women like objects? Didn't anyone think they deserved respect anymore? 

Lightning stopped punching, closing her eyes as she exhaled a breath. She knew Riku was there. It was just this...feeling. Something about him, she wasn't sure, but... "Can you hand me my water bottle?" she asked him, her back still to him as she loosened the wraps on her hands a little. She probably looked less than attractive at the moment, her hair up in a ponytail and sweat covering her face and neck. But what did anyone expect? It was a gym, after all. The girls that came here all dolled up and wearing layers of makeup amused Lightning. She never understood why they dressed up to sweat.

Edited August 6, 20187 yr by Forever Love

Riku picked up the water bottle sitting on the ground and placed it in her hand gently. "Here you go." He tried not to let his eyes wander, but he couldn't help but find her more attractive than before. Sexy even. Though Riku kept the train of thought to himself, despite wanting to tell her that she should put her hair up more often. Was this normal? Riku wasn't sure.

"Thanks," Lightning panted, still winded. She gulped some water down and then leaned over, grabbing the towel by Riku's feet. She looked up at him as she dabbed at her neck. "You lost your other half again," she commented. Sora was off somewhere, she was sure. He was a little late to get here, so she assumed he was probably making up for it. If not that, he ran off to meet Kairi again.

"Oh, he's off to see how Kairi's doing," Riku said, unable to hide the amusement in his voice. Sora was so predictable that way. "What about you?" He prompted, "Where are you off to now? I think you broke the punching bag." Riku gestured towards the relatively large hole in the punching bag's fabric.

Lightning blinked and turned her head to look at the punching bag. "Huh...would you look at that..." she said in agreement. She hadn't even noticed. She had just been so angry and revolted and...other things. She returned her gaze to Riku, seeing that he was also a bit sweaty. His silver hair stuck to his face and forehead a bit. He was still handsome, though she thought him to be...hotter now than before. Easy, Light, she told herself. "Back to my room. I need to shower that creep's fingerprints off of me." The memory ticked her off more, but she fought it the best she could for now.

"You must hit pretty hard," Riku joked. He certainly hoped never to be on the receiving end of her fists. Riku happened to like his nose. "Yeah," Riku said,flicking a few stray strands of silver from his eyes, "I could use a shower too. No more classes today, but I'm sure the others will have some kind of plans for tonight...You should come." Riku wasn't sure if that was something she'd be interested in, but he cold hope, right?

Lightning smiled slightly, though it was in amusement. "...Are you sure?" she asked, tilting her head a little. She felt the tips of her ponytail brush her shoulderblades. Did he really want to be seen with her after what happened today? It wasn't exactly subtle. She was sure it'd be the talk of campus for the rest of the week.

"Sure, why not?" Riku asked with a shrug, "Everyone likes you." I like you...Riku wanted to say but stopped himself. Now wasn't the time. He needed to keep cool. His heart, however, couldn't follow directions; Riku hoped it wasn't too obvious. 

Edited August 7, 20187 yr by aoi hoshi

Lightning lifted an eyebrow. "Uh-huh," she said in disbelief. She motioned for him to walk with her toward the locker room. She needed to grab her things. "Are you sure Sora didn't leave because of me?" As in, he's scared of me? Thinks I'm a freak? she thought, but she would never voice that. Serah hated it when she said things like that about herself.

Riku followed, catching her stride easily. "Nah, he's just been worried about Kairi today is all. He thinks you're pretty awesome actually, especially with how you helped the girls during the party." Riku moved to hold the door open for Lightning, "Which, thanks again." Without Lightning, something bad could have easily happened. She knew how to handle Snow too, and Riku wasn't sure if he and his friends wouldn't have gotten kicked out of the party without Lightning intervening. 

Lightning stepped out alongside Riku, nodding to him faintly when he held the door open for her. Coming to her rescue and now holding the door? His mother taught him well. "We girls have to stick together," she said of herself, Kairi, and Namine. As if she was going to let those dogs get away with treating Namine so poorly, or Kairi. It wasn't right. "But I didn't do much as far as those other girls went. Kairi and Namine handled that on their own." They didn't stand for the girls touching Roxas or Sora, that was for sure. Lightning had never seen anything like it.

“Still, it means a lot,” Riku said, “and heh, they’re fighters. That’s for sure.” Riku couldn’t say that even he had seen such fire in those girls before. Especially Naminé. She could be bold, but she wasn’t typically so assertive. He could only wonder what Roxas has been thinking then.

Lightning walked with Riku in silence after that, not entirely sure how to continue. She fingered the strap of her gym bag as it hit her leg while they walked back to the dorms. He just saw her beat a guy up—a guy twice her size—and he still wanted her around? He must have been comfortable in his own skin, then. Most guys would have said she was weird and gone the other way. But not Riku.

Once they were at the dorm, Riku held the door open again and walked upstairs with Lightning. Students watched and whispered as they passed, but Riku ignored them. ‘Let them stare,’ Riku thought. He really didn’t care what anyone thought. He liked Lightning. She was his friend.

Lightning met the stares head on. A lot of the faces were familiar since she was this floor’s RA. Riku did know that by now, right? Even so, she was sure that wasn’t the only reason students were staring; it was because word got around about the squabble in the gym. Lightning sighed quietly and approached her door. At least she could get away for a while in her room.

“I’ll let you go for now,” Riku said then, “but uh...You can text me whenever.” Riku dug his phone out of his pocket and opened the contacts section. “If that’s okay with you?”

Lightning looked down at the phone and then back up at Riku. She smirked slightly. “Smooth,” she complimented him, meaning it. That was a good transition, and asking her permission? Rare. Bold as ever, she reached out and grasped his phone. Her fingertips briefly brushed his hand as she took it from him. Ignoring how that made her feel to the best of her ability, Lightning entered her contact information. Once she was done, she handed his phone back to him and pulled out her own, offering it to him.

“I try to be.” Riku accepted the compliment with a boyish grin, taking Lightning’s phone after putting his own back into his pocket. Riku entered his own information into her phone. The feel of her fingertips against his sent his heart into a frenzy. When would this stop? Did he want it to? “We’re all set then.”

Edited August 7, 20187 yr by aoi hoshi

Lightning nodded. Right, all set. “By the way, thanks for having my back earlier. You didn’t have to do that...” she said. Most guys she had encountered so far would have left her to fend for herself. She could of course, but Riku went out of his way. She appreciated that, even if she hadn’t shown it well.