A/N: This is a play-off to the 38th chapter of "That's Why" by Talitha Koum. You might not get this one part unless you go read her story. (Cough, no I'm not advertising the best KH story ever written…)

Thanks also to Talitha Koum from fanfiction, for she has graciously allowed me the use of her original character Heaven "Nevaeh" Alexander.

The tension hanging in the air was thick and tangible, coated with the deepest loathing imaginable. Shadows flitted over two figures who eyed each other with discontent. Their bodies, silent and deadly, waited for their opponent to make the next move.

A thin sheet of sweat covered Riku's forehead, making his tanned skin appear to shine in the dim lighting. Gripping his sword tightly, he took a tentative step forward. A stressful situation combined with an overly large ego that tends to bruise easily from defeat does not make him a happy Key Bearer.

And, the next thing he knew, Riku found himself flat on his back with someone perched on top of him. And that someone was digging their pointy elbow uncomfortably into his stomach.

"Nevaeh—" he wheezed, struggling to push the clinging girl off his body. "Get—off!" The only thing he succeeded in doing was getting a mouthful of white hair as Nevaeh lost her balance and slumped down onto him.

"Mr. Riku, sir, make me a deal." She traced a thin finger down the slope of Riku's nose, her sunset eyes inches from his own.

"If you explain why you will not cease to leave my thoughts alone, I will remove myself from your body." Riku blinked. What…?

"What are you talking about?" he snapped, trying again to shift out from underneath her. "Heaven…" he tried his most threatening voice.

"Shut up, please," Nevaeh replied pleasantly, pinning his arms to his sides. "Now, tell me, why am I constantly worrying about you when you are not within my sight? Kairi says I have a crush on you," (Here, Riku's mouth dropped open.) "But I'd rather crush you than crush on you." Riku's mouth shut abruptly.

"You are absurd, you know that?" the stoic boy muttered. The response? That painful, pointy elbow jabbing deeper into his abdomen.

"Please," Heaven's voice took on a whiny, desperate tone. "It's so…disarming… to be thinking of you constantly while in battle! Look here!" she grudgingly showed him a tiny, puckered scar on her cheek. "This is what you made me do!" she hissed.

All this fuss is because she received a scar from her lack of attention... Riku growled, and sarcastically snapped, "Well, what do you want me to do about it?" A strange light appeared in his partner's fiery eyes.

"Make me a deal," she said softly, repeating her earlier words. Moving closer, she parted her lips and hovered them over Riku's mouth.

"Do you…Do you wish to crush me?" she inquired in a voice barely more than a whisper. Surprise, astonishment, and maybe something more than frustration flickered in Riku's steely, mint eyes, and he suddenly felt hot and dizzy.

"Heaven, why would I want to cru—" he was cut off by soft lips pressing to his own.

For a moment, he was too surprised to do anything, and then his hormones took over. He found himself gazing intently into Nevaeh's orange eyes a little while later, dirt sticking to his sweaty clothes and his fingers tangling in her snowy hair.

And then, Nevaeh's face split into a wide, maniacal grin.

"A-HA!" she squealed, pushing her finger into his forehead. "So you DO wish to crush me!!!" Victorious laughter poured from those pink lips, which Riku suddenly wished he had glued together, rather than kissed.

"I do not!" he retorted vehemently. Standing and brushing himself off, he glared down at the ecstatic girl. Then his voice, and his expression, softened considerably.

"Heaven," Riku said quietly. "I guess I have a crush on you, but that doesn't mean I want to crush you. There is a difference." Nevaeh's face twisted.

"Does that mean I'm in love?"

"No."

"Does that mean you're in love?"

"…Not necessarily."

"Good." And with that, the belt-clad Key Bearer sprang to her feet and prepared to leave. But she paused, turning back to Riku.

"Mr. Riku, can you make me one more deal?"

Suspicion rose on his features. "What kind of deal?"

"Mention this to anyone, and I just might crush you."

"…The feeling is mutual…"