Kingdom Hearts fic: All the Necessities

[mistressofmuses]

Summary: “I need you to make a good impression at the campaign event tonight, sweetheart. The Miyano family will be there, and it would greatly help my reelection if I could count on their financial support. Their son will be there; you need to make sure the two of you hit it off.”
Kairi found out much later that Riku had gotten a strikingly similar pep-talk before they were introduced. “Do try to be charming at the party tonight. Mayor Uchida is bringing his daughter. Can you imagine how useful it would be to the family to have his political protection? So we need you to make sure she’s completely enamored with you.”
Of course Kairi’s father’s political career would benefit from the financial and underground support of the region’s oldest and most influential crime family. And of course Riku's family would appreciate any chance to add to their collection of bought politicians and law enforcement.
So Riku and Kairi were supposed to make peace with it, and join together as heirs to their families’ political and criminal empire.
Too bad they have little interest in playing along.

Day 12 of AU-gust: Crime AU
Would you believe that I've actually had a crime AU in mind for this fandom/OT3 for over fifteen years? Because I have. This is basically a super condensed version of the resolution of a much longer and more involved idea that includes mistaken identities, slow burn romance, and more actual crime. The longer version is called "Dressed To Kill" and will almost certainly never actually happen at this point, haha. So it was actually nice to get this little bit of it out of my system.

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Passport, ID cards, jewelry, cash…

Kairi pulled the last of it out of the safe and into her suitcase. The reception was tonight, and then they were leaving. It wouldn’t do to forget any of the necessities.

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Kairi and Riku waited in one of the upstairs rooms. He reached out and she took his hand, appreciating the comforting squeeze of his fingers on hers.

“You ready?” he asked.

She took a deep breath and nodded. “We’re really doing this.”

He nodded and pulled her into a hug, careful not to smudge makeup or mess up her hair.

She schooled her expression into the bland happiness she knew her father and his guests would expect to see.

Riku squeezed her hand again, and then offered his elbow. She took it, and they exited into the hallway to make their way down the stairs.

None of the guests had been their choice. It was a mix of her father’s political acquaintances and Riku’s family’s friends. That made it difficult to appreciate the applause that greeted them as they came down the sweeping stairs.

Kairi’s father stepped forward, holding up his arm to present the two of them to the gathered guests. And then he launched into a speech.

“Here they are. I wish to extend my gratitude to everyone who has come to celebrate my daughter’s engagement. And of course, Riku Miyano, her amazing fiancé. I think it’s a wonderful occasion, to celebrate the joining of our two illustrious families. Two decades ago, when I first adopted her…”

Kairi tuned him out. His political speeches felt like endurance runs to get through. And as tired as she was of hearing about her adoption as a political talking point, it chafed even more that he was turning her engagement party into opportunity for a campaign speech.

Not that it was a surprise. The engagement itself had been set up as little more than a business arrangement.

“I need you to make a good impression at the campaign event tonight, sweetheart. The Miyano family will be there, and it would greatly help my reelection if I could count on their financial support. Their son will be there; you need to make sure the two of you hit it off.”

She’d found out much later that Riku had gotten a strikingly similar pep-talk before they were introduced. Something like: “Do try to be charming at the party tonight. Mayor Uchida is bringing his daughter. Can you imagine how useful it would be to the family to have his political protection? So we need you to make sure she’s completely enamored with you.”

And who could have blamed either? Of course Kairi’s father’s political career would benefit from the financial and underground support of the region’s oldest and most influential crime family. And of course the Miyano family would appreciate any chance to add to their collection of bought politicians and law enforcement.

So Riku and Kairi were supposed to make peace with it, and join together as heirs to their families’ political and criminal empire.

Her father’s speech must have ended, because people were clapping again. She smiled and curtseyed prettily. Luckily no one seemed to expect them to say anything at their own engagement.

She looked around, and was slightly dismayed to realize that there was no one here that she would miss. Her father, to some degree. But it was painfully obvious that he had adopted her not because he wanted a daughter, but because he wanted a visible reminder for voters of how philanthropic he could be.

She wondered if Riku felt the same about his family. He’d told her he wouldn’t miss them. “I suppose I’ll always love them. But my memories of them are tarnished by what I know they’ve done to others.”

They circled the party, making sure that everyone they spoke to even briefly knew how happy and in love they were. That much wasn’t even a lie; they were in love, and they were going to be happy. It just wasn’t how any of these people expected.

“And what are the two of you looking forward to the most?” one of her father’s political friends asked. He’d obviously already had too much to drink, and was speaking far too loudly. Everyone turned to look.

“We’re going on a private cruise, just the two of us. I own a rather nice little boat.” Riku said, pulling Kairi’s hip into his own. “I know that traditionally we’d wait for the honeymoon to go on a trip together, but, well, who could resist?”

He lifted her hand to his lips, and winked. “Why not take full advantage of the opportunity to celebrate?”

She giggled, pretending fond exasperation.

“A cruise? When do you leave?” the man asked, grabbing another glass of wine from a passing server and downing most of it.

“Tonight actually,” Kairi said. “Riku was kind enough to indulge me; I just know the moonlight will be so romantic.”

The man laughed. “And I’m sure you’ll make it worth his while?”

She felt her smile tighten as she bit back any number of things she would like to have said. Riku pressed on the small of her back, reminding her to stay calm.

“Any time spent with her is worth my while, though the same can’t be said of time wasted on you. Enjoy your wine.”

They drifted to a new group of people, making small talk, and counting down the minutes until it was plausible for them to leave.

Finally, Riku glanced at the clock on the wall. “Goodness. I’m terribly sorry that we’re being so rude as to rush out of an event being held in our honor. But I’m afraid we just have to go. We’ll see everyone soon, just as soon as we return from our cruise together.”

They both waved, and rushed out to the waiting car.

They both piled in the back, and the driver headed directly for the highway.

They both glanced back at the house, watching it fade into the background, practically holding their breath.

Once it was out of sight, Riku let out a sigh.

Kairi let out a yell. “This is it!”

“How was the engagement party?” Sora asked as he smoothly merged onto the mostly-empty highway.

“Awful,” Riku said.

“We’ll have our own,” Sora said. “Whenever we get where we’re going.”

Kairi let out another cheer.

“I checked in with Tidus. He’ll take Riku’s boat out in another hour or so. No cameras, since it’s a private dock, but if anyone is watching, they’ll see it leave at the right time. Your cell phones are both on board. Sometime tomorrow, he’ll sink it. Wakka and Selphie charted course to intercept him, and they’ll pick him up. A couple days later, either someone will find it, or they’ll start searching.”

Kairi leaned forward between the seats and kissed him on the cheek. “You are amazing.”

“So are you,” he answered. “And your suitcase is back there. Does it have everything you need?”

Kairi wrestled the suitcase up from the floor and opened it up. Passports and IDs under fake names for all three of them, plus quite a lot of obscenely valuable jewelry from one of the safes in Riku’s family’s house. Not to mention the cash. Truly a ridiculous amount of cash, all of it conveniently already rendered near untraceable. The three of them would be able to go anywhere, and stay there quite comfortably for a long time to come.

“This plus the two of you? All the necessities.”

Riku reached up to rest a hand on Sora’s shoulder, and found her fingers with his other. “I agree,” he said.