Author's Note: Yup. Another one-shot. I love to torture poor little Sora mentally. (cackles)

-o-

"Shit!" Sora held his wounded hand and watched helplessly as his worn wooden sword fell to the ground a distance away.

"Looks like I win again, Sora," came the cocky voice of his best friend, "When will you learn that you can't beat me?"

Seemingly ignoring the boastful comment, Sora trudged over to his fallen blade. He made no move to pick it up; he kept his head bowed, gazing at it forlornly.

Riku always had to rub it in, doesn't he?

The setting sun hung low on the horizon, painting the sky many-a shade of red, orange, yellow and pink and there was not a cloud in sight. The palm leaves swayed in the gentle island breeze, their shadows dancing along the sand. The soft roaring of the waves splashing against the shore melded with the distant cries of the seagulls…

…he can't help it really. He's naturally an arrogant person…

After a moment of stillness, the brunette knelt down and reached for his sword, still ignoring his friend's words.

…but sometimes he just takes it too far…

"But I guess I really didn't expect you to win this time, either. Everyone says I'm the best on the island, after –"

…SNAP, the island serenity was shattered in an instant.

Startled, Riku snapped his head to his friend, who was now holding two pieces of the wooden sword at either of his sides. The younger boy still had his back turned to the older. Riku noted the slow, deep breaths taken by the brunette.

"Sora?" he asked tentatively. He began to step closer to the brunette – close enough to see slender shoulders shaking.

"Hey, what's wrong?" As Riku laid his hand on Sora's shoulder, the boy huffed and threw down the remains of his wooden blade and took off.

-o-

Riku walked along the beach on the back of the island, where he had last seen his friend run off to. He held the broken sword close to him as he walked, occasionally calling out the brunette's name. Where could he have gone? It was such a small island…

He had given up calling for the boy a while ago; it was obvious that Sora didn't want to be found. Instead he kept his eyes trained for any sight or sign that the boy might be around.

A soft sigh, "Why…?"

Though the voice was soft, almost inaudible, Riku caught it, followed it.

And there Sora sat, on the edge of a rather low cliff– maybe twenty feet above the water – feet dangling over and head in his hands. Rough waves crashed against the short precipice, the saltwater spray flying in every direction and looking like stardust in the air.

It was apparent, by the way his shoulders were trembling slightly, that he was trying hard not to cry.

"Why can't I win?" he was mumbling through gritted teeth, "No matter how hard I try, I always lose!" His fist lashed out, grabbing a conveniently placed rock and hurling it out to sea. He glared for a few seconds before sighing, "…I'm being so stupid." Then, slowly, he brought his knees up to his chest and buried his head in his arms – and sniffled.

After a long moment Sora sighed, resting his chin on his knees, still gazing out to sea, "I'll never beat him. I'll always suck at sword fighting; at everything! Riku was right, I'll never be good at anything!"

He withdrew further into himself, replacing his chin with his forehead on his knees. He sighed again, "I just give up."

He heard a lengthy sigh and a loud plop and someone was sitting next to him, their gaze boring into him, watching him.

A hand was suddenly on his back, effectively causing him to tense and snap his head up…

Sora didn't know what to say, what to do. Riku had probably heard his little monologue… would probably reprimand him for being such a damn baby. So he did the only rational thing his mind told him to do: he shrugged off the hand of his "best friend" and quickly averted his gaze to the ocean once again.

Riku blinked at the hostile action that wasn't like his friend's usual self at all, folding his hands in his lap and staring at the shining horizon.

After a long moment of silence, with nothing but the breeze and salty spray of the ocean for company, Riku finally spoke.

"Hey, whatever I did to make you mad," he said quietly, sincerely, "I – I'm sorry." No response. "Sora, please talk to me."

Sora didn't say anything at all. His lips would press together and then relax every now and again, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Riku sighed again, and made a move to get up from his place next to the brunette. Maybe Sora needed a bit more time to cool off and think. But before he could make a move to stand, a soft-spoken voice reached his ears.

"You always… win. Even if I try my hardest, I get beat into the dirt. How come…?"

The older boy tilted his head, brows furrowing at the… strange question, "Well, some people are just stronger than others. I'm sure if you just try a little harder – "

"How much harder do I have to try? I'm already trying my hardest!" Sora pressed, glaring at the elder boy.

"Is that what this is all about?"

Sora's glare wavered, "Huh?"

"You're so… pissy. It can't be just because I beat you. I win all the time – "

"That's it right there!" the brunette yelled, throwing his arms up.

Riku was taken aback, also irritated that Sora kept interrupting him, "What!"

Silence reigned again. The waves continued to roar below, the sounds of the gulls growing more scarce as the night drew closer. Sora's eyes had hardened as he glared back at the ocean, lips pressed into a thin line. His hands fidgeted in his lap for a bit before he graced Riku with a response.

"It's not… just the fact that you always win that bugs me, okay?"

Riku suppressed an exasperated sigh, "Then what is it?"

Sora glanced over at Riku, looking thoughtful for a moment before staring forward again. For a moment Riku thought they were going to lapse back into an awkward silence.

"'Looks like I win again,'" the brunette said, a smirk on his face that Riku couldn't help but feel didn't belong there, "'When will you learn that you can't beat me?'" His voice was deeper, his tone mocking.

"Sora, what – "

"'But I guess I really didn't expect you to win this time, either,'" Sora continued, "everyone says I'm the best on the island, after all."

And it finally clicked, "Sora…"

"You always rub it in! It isn't bad enough that I've never beaten you in a fight or game, but you have to make sure that I know it, ya know?" Sora looked positively miserable now, shoulders slumped, head hung, and back slouched, "That's what makes me mad."

"Sora, that's… a really crappy impression of me."

Sora scoffed in incredulity, crossing his arms over his chest heatedly; leave it Riku to try and be funny when he was trying to be serious.

"Sheesh, can't take a joke. Fine, I'll stop."

The brunette blinked up at his friend, some of his anger ebbing away at the sincere tone of the elder boy's voice, "What?"

His world blurred for a moment, and suddenly he was aware that Riku's arms were around his shoulders and that his face was awkwardly pressed against the older boy's chest, the heart contained within beating almost soothingly against his ear.

"I'll stop teasing you and rubbing it in, okay? Promise."

Sora nodded in defeat, tears welling up in his eyes; he was ashamed of himself for being so damn emotional, he was angry at Riku for being so damned good at everything, he was frustrated at himself for not being able to stay angry at the silver haired boy. But overall, he was strangely glad that Riku was there with him at all at that moment.

"Promise? Okay."

A whisper lost to sea with the dying light of the setting sun.

End

Edit: I fixed up an ending that didn't stink. I really didn't like the old one, so I redid the original ending and made it longer and – in my opinion – a little better.

Date Completed: Sunday, December 04, 2005

Date Updated: Monday, October 16, 2006