DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy characters… and in the future, if I happen to claim that I do, know I'm just brooding over the fact that I actually don't.

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SUMMARY: They'd been best friends since Sora was born, but couldn't be more different. Sora was a year younger, slightly short and skinny, quiet, and very shy. Riku was a year older, lean and tall, outspoken, and social. Despite their differences, they relied on one another to get through times of difficulty and tragedies of the past. But now, Riku, at age eighteen, begins to notice that he no longer harbors just friendly feelings for the younger boy, but, though he continues to deny, he becomes infatuated with him. Can he try to keep the tension from arising between the two and wave it off as nothing? Or is this something he simply cannot hide from? Either way, Sora takes notice of these changes. So what's to become of their friendship?

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Chapter 1 - Denial is only the First Step

Riku peered from behind his hiding place at the large, silver boulder on the beach, a wide grin set upon his happy face.

As childish as it may be, Sora and he had been playing hide and seek… in a way. After eating at Sora's home only moments before, Riku excused himself for a much needed trip to the washroom, intent on relieving himself on the barrels of paopu juice he and Sora had chugged as a challenge. After tending to his problems, he was about to head back to the table where Sora and his mother sat, but Sora's bedroom door, open slightly ajar, seemed to taunt him. Riku's curiosity won over and the boy stepped inside. What happened afterwards involved Sora walking in on Riku, who stood skimming a magazine he had found underneath the younger boy's bed; a quite naughty magazine; blushing and yelling on Sora's part, and Riku's teasing and ignoring Sora's protests and excuses, which had merely made it worse.

Which led to this. Riku giddily hiding from an embarrassed and angry Sora.

As his gaze left the rock's body and fixated on the scenery around him, he noticed a figure standing near the waves. Riku's aqua eyes widened and his lips parted only the slightest. Sora.

He stood beneath the darkening crimson and violet skies, a calm but almost sad, wonder-filler gaze latched onto the far horizon. The wind blew gently, seemingly caressing his soft, chestnut spikes, while the waves crashed against his ankles. The sun's last rays of the day were shot out toward Sora, bringing an orange glow to his face, lighting a fire in his deep, blue eyes. He looked so peaceful, so amazingly serene, yet full of question and curiosity.

Riku nearly forgot to breath. Or balance for that matter. In a wave of luck, he managed to catch himself before falling to the sand due to his unconscious leaning from the rock's edge.

It was Sora. And for some strange reason, it piqued inside of him something unknown to Riku. Realizing he was staring, Riku shook his head, scolding his brain for having him marvel at his best friend like that. With another grin, he slowly walked toward the beautiful boy in the water, immersed with the attempt to keep himself quiet and unseen. As he closed the distance between him and Sora's back, he felt his foot attach itself to a branch, and, before he could wrench it free and continue his journey ahead, the damn thing had him falling forward.

And right onto Sora.

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It was calm. And quiet. Sora had forgot all about the event with Riku and how he irked him so. He was looking for him, really. He just got sidetracked as he saw a glimmer of light pass across the sky. That got him to thinking. The islands were his home, sure. He'd been here since he was born, and his mother had too, and his mother's parents, and theirs too. But no one ever spoke of a world away from Destiny Islands, and he wouldn't be surprised if someone said that all the world was, was a small stump of ground, water, and the beautiful islands. Sora, however, knew differently.

His father was from outside of the islands, though he didn't know just where, since his mother didn't like to talk about him as much as Sora would have liked. She was a happy woman, and nosy at times too. But that was alright, seeing as Sora would rather have her hyper and strong willed than boring and downtrodden. She had married his father when they were rather young, he supposed, for his mother was only nineteen years older than him. And she and him had hit it off great! Until… he decided on going on short business trips back to his home.

Sora let out a sigh.

Those trips became longer and more frequent until, eventually, he just never came back. They had gotten a letter from him when Sora was seven, four years after he had disappeared. The man apologized and explained his situation, though his mother would not say what that situation was exactly, and offered to send gifts and money, but never to come home. Sora's mind worked out some details and led him to believe that his father had found himself a mistress, who was now presumably his wife. Or maybe she was long gone and forgotten. And he had a new woman in his life. Either way, it was someone other than his mother who had lured his father away from them.

Sora sighed again. And now from the way his mother acted, everyone thinks Sora has a dead father. Why he never decided to correct them was beyond him. After all, he knew his dad was still alive, and he had proof too. Letters, presents, money.

And now that he knew there was something that existed beyond the waters of Destiny Islands, he was determined to know what exactly. Ugh. But it would be such a pain to get people to agree.

On these islands, it wasn't just 'ask-your-mother-before-doing-something', it was 'ask-your-mother-but-make-sure-it's-okay-with-the-other-island-residents-before-doing-something'. So in essence, there was no way in hell Sora would be leaving his sandy prison anytime soon. But he wasn't too affected by it. He had his mother there, his friends, and of course-

THUD

Riku.

"Oof!" He groaned, what a way to get shaken out of one's thoughts. And he got a pretty unpleasant sip of seawater while he was at it. "Riku? What are you… ugh, get off!" Sora attempted to roll over, but the boy atop him would not budge.

Was he dead?

"Riku? Hey, you o-" Another unfinished sentence as Riku's long fingers dug into Sora's side in a ticklish gesture, making Sora cry out with laughter. "S-stop! Riku! Quit it!"

Sora wasn't the only one laughing, passing couples and elders watched the sight with amusement dancing in their eyes. Ahh, youth…

Riku continued his merciless punishment at Sora's sides and stomach. "This is what you get!"

Sora's eyes brimmed with tears, his arms flailing around to get the elder boy off of him. "What did I do to you!?"

Riku let out a laugh of his own, then moved away from his former prey. He sat himself down near Sora's laying form and dusted the white sand from his knees. "You dork," He shot him a grin. "I was left hiding behind a rock in this heat while you daydreamed! Seriously Sora, you've got a one-track mind."

Sora blushed in embarrassment at his laughter. "I do not, I was just thinking, that's all." He sat himself side by side with Riku and averted his gaze to the nearly night sky.

"'bout your dad again?"

Sora snapped his attention to Riku. How does he always know what's going through his mind? "How did…"

"You're always thinking about him, It's not like it's something new. I mean really Sora, someone like you can't handle anything new, it'd be like… the island flooding. Hard to grasp." He laughed again merrily, watching Sora form a pout.

Sora narrowed his eyes at his friend, but a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Without a warning, Sora pounced on him, pinning his arms above his head. He smirked. "You were saying?"

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Riku couldn't help but laugh. Sora looked rally cute when he pouted. Especially with the light blush forming on his smooth cheeks. He wanted to sigh and shake his head, ask himself what was wrong with him for thinking that, he'd never thought it before. But too bad his laughter had a mind of its own, not allowing even the slightest change to take place in his mood.

Well, until Sora jumped him.

Riku gasped, his back hitting the ground with a soft thud. His eyes widened as Sora clasped his hands over his head. What was he doing? "S-Sora…"

"I think the island's gonna flood." He said with a soft smile, his ocean blue eyes lighting up.

Riku felt strange. His heartbeat had increased gradually, and his face felt kind of hot. Here he was, laying on the hot sand practically helpless, as Sora, his best friend, straddled him.

"F-flood?" It came out barely a whisper. Riku scolded his body for reacting like this. What the hell was wrong with him!?

"Ya, you said if I ever did something new, the island would flood. Well, here it is. I've never done this before." He raised his eyebrows seductively, hoping to receive a laugh or a joke from Riku, but no success.

Riku continued staring in slight awe. He was bemused to say the least. After all, Sora was undoubtedly the shyest boy, no, person on the island. This was so unlike him!

Riku wanted to close his eyes, shut them tight and push Sora off. But his eyes moved for him instead, inching over Sora's fairly tanned cheeks, his small nose, his pretty cerulean eyes, his luscious pink li-

Whoathere!

Riku laboriously turned his head, finding it hard not to look at the brunette. He wanted an answer. Why was he acting so strange, what was up with this erratic behavior of his? And why wasn't Sora moving off of him, damn it!?

To his surprise, he heard the aforementioned boy's humorous giggle and felt him slip off of Riku's quickly heating body. Nothing had happened but he felt so…

Violated.

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Sora stared down at Riku, hoping to get him to laugh with his suggestive motion. But Riku just stared.

Sora's smile wavered a bit, but he kept it in place and tilted his head. It was like Riku was watching him, but in an unseeing manner. He could probably dangle spit over his face and Riku would just watch straight ahead, not even noticing.

Sora sighed. Now who was daydreaming? But… what was he thinking about? His grin widened. Maybe he was thinking about his dad. Sora laughed. That's highly unlikely. Riku had a dad, and he lived with Riku and Riku's mother, right across the street from Sora's house.

He didn't know what was going on in Riku's head, like Riku always knew what was happening in Sora's, but he could tell Riku would much rather continue daydreaming than play a game with Sora. So he shifted his weight off of him, and stood. And Riku called him a dork.

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Riku felt like panting, his lungs felt as though they were cramped. He needed air. But where else to get air than outside? Stupid.

He slowly turned his head to meet Sora's eyes. Riku gulped. Sora was smirking. Did he notice anything? Did Riku make any involuntary noises or did his…

Riku's head shot up and looked down at his lower region, expecting to see something that was thankfully not there. He let out a breath of relief and let his head fall back to the sand, eyes closed.

Only when he felt a tickling sensation on his chin, did he open his eyes. Yes, they opened. But they widened when they saw what the sensation was.

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Sora watched in confusion when Riku's head pushed itself off the sand to look at something in the distance. Sora raised an eyebrow. The waves maybe?

But he looked immensely relieved when he lowered his head again. How strange. Was Riku feeling okay? Maybe Sora hurt him when he pounced.

He frowned in concern and kneeled in front of the laying boy. Not even bothering to hold his hair from flowing everywhere, he leaned over Riku, eyes above closed eyes.

Sora almost screamed when those eyes suddenly opened and widened. But he did scream when Riku's hard head rammed up into his as he sat up.

"Shit!"

"What was that for, Riku!?" Sora rubbed his forehead feverishly, willing the pain to subside.

Riku was doing the same. What was Sora thinking? Leaning over him like that. That's enough to scare even his father.

Sora glared at his older friend. "What were you doing, anyway? I try to have some fun and you go drifting off to dreamland. If you ask me, you're the one with the one track mind, Riku!"

Riku sat with his back facing Sora. Shut up, just shut up. That's what he wanted to shout at Sora so badly, but he couldn't.

"And another thing! If you've got something to say, say it! You're tense, don't think I can't tell."

Riku was surprised again. Sora almost read his mind. What was going on with him? First the boldness, then the understanding? There was something strange going on with one of them. Maybe Riku was getting to be more predictable, or maybe it was just that he'd been rubbing off on Sora so now he was more like Riku.

Riku's face flamed at the though. Rubbing off on Sora? "Don't get so literal you idiot…!" He rested his head in his hands.

Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.

Over and over again, like a mantra.

"Riku!? I'm talking to you!"

"Damn it, Sora!" He spun around on the sand to face him. "You're like a girl, ya know that!? Always pestering me with your stupid problems and worries. Stop it with the nagging!"

Sora's eyes widened and he glowered at him, his lips forming a taut line. "Know what? Fine. Just forget I said anything. You sit here and brood all you want. I'm goin' home!" With that, he stood from his perch upon the beach behind Riku's blazing glare and marched off home.

Riku's eyes immediately softened. He sighed and collapsed on the now wet with waves ground. "Sora… what's wrong with me?"

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What's wrong with him!? "Him and his stupid drama… always something wrong… see if I care…" He continued mumbling as he walked through the door and past the kitchen, where his mother stood at the oven, cooking and singing the night away.

"Oh, Sora! You're back! How was…your… Sora?"

He slammed his bedroom door and jumped on his bed, burying his face deep into his pillow. That Riku. Something's wrong with him. Riku's mind had never wandered around Sora before, he was always right on track and usually was the one to snap Sora out of his reverie. But now, it was the other way. And Riku didn't seem too happy about it either.

And what did he mean, so like a girl!? Sora fumed. He was not a girl. He did not nag.

"Honey?" Came a sweet voice from the doorway.

Sora sighed. Why didn't he lock the door behind him?

She sat on his bed and rested her hand gently on his back. "Sora, what's wrong? Did something happen?" She increased the patting she was giving to him. "Did those boys pick on you again? Oh, wait until I tell their mothers. Those no-good, little brats. Why pick on my baby boy? He's sweet, and charming, and ooh… I'm gonna have to teach them a thing or two."

Sora smiled into the pillow, turning his head slightly to get a look at his spaced-out, plotting mother.

She gasped and her eyes lit up. "Oh I know, I'll invite them over and tease them. Won't that be fun, Sora?"

She of course didn't wait for his reply, and continued, "Oh, but we can't let Riku's mother find out. She'd hate me for doing such a thing. But you know what, it's worth it. Those boys need a good spank on their backsides, even if it's with just words!"

She frowned again. "How dare they, though!? Oh, I outta…"

Sora chuckled. Now that he'd blown off some steam from listening to his mother's ramblings, he felt better. "Mom, hey."

"…and then I'll take the…"

"Mom, really, it's okay."

"…we'll see if they ever…"

"Mom!"

She blinked a few times and looked at him strangely. "What honey, can't you see I'm busy? And you're not really helping, Sora."

"Mom, it's okay." He laughed. "Nothing happened, I just got into a fight with Riku, that's all."

She immediately brightened. "Oh! Well in that case," She kissed him on the forehead. "I'll be making dinner, be downstairs in ten minutes, love."

Sora gaped. What…?

"H-hey! Wait…"

She turned at the door and beamed at him. "Yes?"

"Aren't you… gonna comfort me about it? You know, tell me 'it'll be okay, honey', and 'it's just a momentary thing, you two'll be back on friendly terms with each other before you know it'?

His mother gave a gentle laugh. "Well there's no need to now, is there? Ten minutes." And she shut the door behind her.

Sora stared at the door. He sighed. This was his mother.

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Riku started in his sleep to find himself still on the beach, almost covered with water.

Great. He slept into the high tide.

Heaving a long sigh, he sat up and drained the seawater from his hair, jumping up as he felt something wiggle against his thigh. "What the… !?"

With a shake of his hips, a small fish wriggled it's way out of his pants and flopped about on the shore, carried away suddenly by another wave.

Riku ran a hand through his drenched hair and looked up at the moon. What time was it?

He scratched the back of his neck and trudged toward his house, though not as tired anymore.

He walked up the stairs of the deck and rounded the tree, passing the warm house of Selphie. Selphie's house was small, seeing as she lived there with her mother and father and no siblings. It was a pale orange color, with flowers of many varieties out front. In the yard just behind the white picket fence of the Tilmitts, there was a barrel of jump ropes. How predictable.

The next house along his way was Wakka's, Riku could even hear the snoring coming from the round bedroom window on the second floor. His house was a light yellow, and about the size of Selphie's, though Wakka only lived with his father. In the front there stood a tall sign with the words, "Go Besaid Aurochs" in big orange letters.

Finally, he arrived at his own home. His was white, plain. His father liked it that way. It was large, much larger than both Selphie's and Wakka's combined. The front yard was plain too. No signs, no barrels of anything, no flowers. It was grass, just grass. And a nice stone sidewalk leading to the door. Ugh… how depressing.

His eyes widened a fraction as he searched his pockets for a key that wasn't there, then his back pockets. In panic, he realized he must have dropped the key back at the beach. But there was no way it would still be there after how strong the waves had gotten. He rolled his head back, gripping his face in his hands to muffle the frustrated moan he emitted.

What a way to end the day. Or if it was already morning, what a way to start the day.

Standing up straight and peeking through his slightly open fingers at the house across from his, his heart lurched pleasantly. He could go see Sora… Riku could go apologize, and maybe spend the night. God knew he needed a shower too.

Riku nodded to himself and took a deep breath. He'd just go to Sora's house, even if his parents could simply unlock the door if Riku bothered to knock.

Sora's house was one of the smaller ones in their little cul-de-sac, which housed Sora, Riku, Tidus, and Seifer. It wasn't white like Riku's, but pale blue. Also unlike Riku's house, it had flowers and trees. And in the back, Riku knew there was a tall willow right in the center, the one he and Sora had climbed as kids. With a ghost of a smile on his face, Riku stepped up to the door and tried to open it, hoping it would be unlocked.

It wasn't.

He didn't want to wake everyone up, especially Kanoko, Sora's mother. She didn't get enough sleep as it was.

But despite his thoughts of how selfish it would be to wake them, he held his breath and knock silently.

Nothing.

His hand came and inch from the door, ready to knock yet again, but he changed his mind. Looking up at the tree near Sora's window, Riku grinned. He could climb up there and pray that the window was open. If it wasn't, then he'd just go home and talk to Sora tomorrow. The thought made his spirits dishearten instantly.

"Here I go." And he hefted himself onto the first branch, using his feet to walk up to the branch parallel from the one he hung on to.

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Sora turned lazily in his bed, smacking his lips together as he nuzzled into his pillow tiredly.

He didn't even notice the silver-haired, aqua-eyed boy hanging desperately off the top branch with one hand pecking frantically at his window.

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Outside, Riku panicked. He was sure that if Sora didn't wake up now and let him in, he'd either stay out there until his hands grew numb and could no longer hold on, or he would peck away until the single hand slipped from the branch. Either choice involved falling, and possibly a trip to the hospital in the morning when they found his crumpled body laying across Kanoko's dainty tulips.

With a final slam against the window, Riku decided upon the former choice of holding on until he couldn't anymore. It at least let him have a few more moments with his body fully intact and all bones in the right spot.

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Sora jolted at this though, much to Riku's gratitude and happiness.

Tired and still half asleep, Sora searched the room quickly, almost laying down again after seeing nothing wrong, before seeing Riku hanging outside his window.

He held in his scream at the shock of the sight and rushed to the window, trying to unlock it with trembling hands.

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Outside, soft pattering ensued. Riku shuddered. Great. He fell asleep on the beach, and got sandy and wet. Now it was raining, and he was cold, though not sandy, but still wet. He gasped and looked up at his fingers when he felt them begin to slip.

Curse Sora's tree and it's smooth branches.

He snapped his attention to Sora, who was fiddling with the lock on the window and shooting Riku desperate looks. Riku's eyes pleaded with his. He saw Sora return his gaze, but with a more hopeful air. Riku clenched his eyes shut, even after his hand slipped further.

Opening then just to see how far Sora had gotten, he noticed just was Sora was wearing. Riku flushed. He'd seen him in nothing more than his boxers before, but now… now it was almost unbearable to look. Sora's skin was so smooth. Riku felt the urge to reach out and-

Stop it! This was a life or… shortened life moment, and Riku was thinking about Sora's body!

He could feel the rain fall harder, and felt one of his hands come close to losing their complete grip. Riku pursed his lips and quickly shifted his grasp on the branch, but though he fixed the hold on one hand, the other slipped off, bringing more weight onto the single hand that held on tightly, until finally, Riku's fingers couldn't take it any longer. He was falling.

"Riku!"

He was safe. He didn't fall! Riku looked gratefully up at Sora's fearful face and then lowered it to where Sora held onto his wrist.

Sora saved him.

Riku swung his other arm up to grab Sora's own wrist and felt Sora tug. He helped, climbing up the wall of Sora's house with his legs.

It would have been much easier to just wake his parents up.

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"Riku! What were you… why are you… I'm gonna kill you!" Sora shoved him at the still opened window.

Riku caught himself and panted. "Calm down, Sora, if you push me out the window then that scratch on your ribs would be for nothing." He motioned with his head.

Sora looked down at where Riku pointed. There was a fairly long, diagonal cut, about two inches, right above where his ribs ended. It was bleeding still.

Sora sighed and fell back on the bed. What just happened?

A stinging pain shot through his chest as Sora felt something dab at his cut. He hissed.

"Calm down, ya baby. I'm just cleaning it."

Sora turned away, letting him do as he pleased. "Just go easy on it."

Riku grunted. "What are you, three?"

Sora stared pointedly at him. "No, I'm a girl. You should go easy on girls."

Riku stopped and stared at him apologetically. Oh. Right. Riku's little outburst at the beach earlier. He returned his attention to the scratch on Sora's chest, brushing it lightly with his wet shirt.

It was dirty, he remembered, and immediately stopped. "Hey, Sora, you got any antiseptic or something?"

Sora didn't look at him. "No, we're out." He replied coldly.

Riku winced as he took a closer look.

Sora could feel the boy's breath on his skin and started to lean back, gasping when Riku's hand snaked around his waist and pulled him closer.

"Stay still, I'm trying to see if it's okay."

Sora just nodded awkwardly.

For Riku, it was not awkward, but frustrating. He had his hands on Sora's bare back, his oh-so warm and smooth back. And he was only inches away from his chest. Riku's heart pounded in his chest. He wanted it to stop, but he couldn't. He wanted to lean in and-

But he couldn't. No, he wouldn't. Oh, but he wanted to! But he shouldn't. So he didn't.

He leaned away and walked out of Sora's bedroom.

Sora sat in his bed, somewhat confused. What was going on with Riku? Again with the daydreaming. He was no doctor, but he knew that a little cut like this didn't require any looking at.

He sighed.

Seems as if Sora would never really understand the enigma that was Riku.

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Riku stood above the bathroom sink, willing his body to relax, but it couldn't. He had touched Sora before, hugged him, slept near him, even swam with him in the ocean, but now, there was something wrong. How could someone wake up one day and suddenly feel differently for his best friend?

Shaking his head of any indecent thoughts he may possess, he grabbed a towel and wet it with hot water. Riku took a final glance in the mirror at himself before leaving. He looked like hell. No, worse.

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Sora swung his legs back and forth, staring at a certain point on the ground so as not to fall asleep. His eyelids were heavy, and even blinking would force him to surrender to the sandman's sweet promises of the pleasures that awaited him in his dreams.

But no.

He had a goal tonight. And that was to make Riku apologize and to give said boy a good piece of his mind.

Sora yawned. "That's what I'll do."

"What'll you do?" Riku's deep voice radiated through the room, snapping Sora from his thoughts.

"Nothing."

Riku frowned again, so Sora was still mad. He kneeled in front of Sora who sat atop his bed and pressed the hot towel to his cut.

Sora flinched at the heat, but relaxed a short moment later.

This was it. For the next ten minutes, all that went on between the two was… nothing. Riku cleaned and searched for a bandage, while Sora contemplated on Riku's behavior.

Quite, quiet night.

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Tell him.

No.

Yell at him.

No.

Do something!

Sora fought with his mind for a while, not knowing what to do. There was never tension between them like there was now. But up until now, Riku had always been the first to talk, never Sora.

He opened his mouth, ready for an argument, but the voice and words that were heard around the bedroom were not his.

"I'm sorry."

"Eh?" Sora looked up at Riku, who now stood at the window, watching the rain fall.

"I'm sorry… you know, for calling you a girl."

Sora looked down at his lap. "And for yelling at me."

"And for yelling at you."

Sora heard the smile in his voice, and let a small smile grace his features as well. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been leaning over you like that. It was stupid."

"Yeah, it was."

Sora felt a familiar pout take place of the smile.

Riku seemed to know it was coming too, for he came and sat next to Sora on his bed, leaning his head on the younger boy's shoulder.

Sora tensed slightly, but relaxed and patted Riku's head awkwardly.

"Guess what?"

"Hmm?"

"It did flood, like I said it would."

Sora smiled, then laughed. "Yeah, guess I tried something new after all." He stopped grinning abruptly as he felt Riku nuzzle into his neck. Sora tensed yet again, flushing at the sudden contact. Riku was going crazy, Sora had to make a mental note to call the doctor over tomorrow.

What surprised him now, was how tense Riku's body became all of a sudden. For a minute or so, Riku almost stopped breathing. Sora noticed how his fists clenched and unclenched quietly, as if Riku was fighting something inside of him. Was he in pain?

An arm trailed its way up Sora's chest and around his neck, pulling him closer to the silver-haired boy.

And he went rigid.

There was definitely something wrong with Riku. He'd never been this… affectionate before.

"Can I take a shower?"

"U-umm… yeah." He breathed, relieved when Riku's too-close-for-comfort body moved away from him and out of the room.

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He moved to sit by the boy, not really caring if he was wet or not. His head felt heavy, and without thinking, he rested it on Sora's shoulder, savoring the warmth,

They talked, but Riku hardly paid attention to what they spoke of. He unconsciously leaned in closer, shifting his head so that his nose and forehead pressed against Sora's neck. God, he smelled good.

He froze. Not again. If he were younger, he swore he would have cried. He hated not knowing what was happening around him, especially if it pertained to him. Even if it was a petty little thing, he'd need to know. But this. This wasn't in any way small. This was big thing.

Why did he suddenly feel like this around Sora? Why did he look at him now? What was so special about his best friend that Riku found himself moving closer to him, smelling him?

He couldn't take it. He didn't like it. He hated the way he felt. Despondent. As if nothing would ever brighten up again. But at the same time, he felt pleasure beyond belief in Sora's company.

But why?

He didn't give a damn how he felt. He just wanted to know why he felt it!

Riku's eyes shot open, staring at the darkness of Sora's neck. What if… what if he was acting this way because he felt… attracted to Sora?

No way.

No goddamn way.

No…

Sora was a guy, and so was Riku. What would his dad say? No. He'd say nothing, because Riku felt nothing but friendly love for the boy. That was it.

No attraction whatsoever.

None.

His heart skipped a beat as his hand skimmed Sora's stomach and wound itself around his neck, pulling him even closer to Riku.

Oh god, why didn't his body listen to him?

Another heartbeat missed as Riku's brain gave him a simple answer.

You like him.

Riku couldn't breathe.

"Can I take a shower?" He needed to get out, he needed alone time to think.

"U-umm… yeah."

And with that, he pulled himself away from Sora's sweet-smelling body and headed for the bathroom.

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Hurray! Finally I have begun. Yes, I know what you're thinking. 'Stupid Dragon, what's she thinking starting another story when she still has four others she's still not done with!?' Yes, well, the answer's quite simple. 'quiche-me' requested this story and so I agreed to it. It was originally meant to be a one-shot, but since that's both physically and mentally impossible for me, I made it so that it suited my tastes more… since I am the author. So, you can thank her (I'm only assuming you're a girl, sorry again if I'm wrong) if you end up liking/loving this story.

Oh, and as you may have realized, Sora and Riku have never been off the island. This is as if the thing with the Keyblade and Ansem never happened in the first place. Keep in mind though, the characters are still all there, even Ansem maybe, but there's no adventure they went on.

Finally, Kanoko means 'fawn'. I figured that since Sora's mom was so childish, she may as well be innocent like a fawn as well.

Reviews would be great! Some support too, since this is my first yaoi story after all. lol.

Dragon