Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm doing this. So this is the first fanfic I've written in absolute ages, and I hope it's not crap. I really enjoyed it, though. I'm considering doing a group of one-shots all about Destiny Islands after Kingdom Hearts II, but I really don't know. I do know that reviews would be a great encouragement.
Sora did not dare spare a hand to remove the large spike of hair that had fallen over one eye. His smaller body heaving, he adjusted his footing and dug his shoe into the shallow sand. Riku did the same some fifteen feet away, and Sora grinned wildly. Water on two sides, Sora on a third, Riku had little choice but to back onto the rickety wooden bridge connecting the small island they were on to the even smaller one beyond.
Disregard the fact that Riku could easily have jumped over or around Sora. Kairi disliked it, to say the least, when the two risked property damage to the structures the islands' kids had so painstakingly built over generations. Her exact words were, "You stupid jerkwads! Do you have any idea how long it took Tidus and me to fix that thing while you two lazy bums were off together? Next time you feel the need to destroy something like this, you're making me a new clubhouse yourselves from scratch while I sit on the side and laugh!" Sora and Riku did not wish to test her on that, and so Riku was, for all intents and purposes, cornered.
Sora was silently grateful it would be over soon; the Destiny Islands mid-summer could rival the heat of Agrabah with the added nuisance of humidity. His vision was already blurring slightly at the corners. His shoulders slumped perceptibly, but he held his Keyblade before him, ready as ever. Riku had proven before that he was not above attacking Sora while the former took a moment to wipe the sweat from his face. Riku, of course, looked as obnoxiously perfect as ever, but upon closer inspection, Sora suspected that he was as exhausted as himself. Pulling one of his trademark grins, Sora dashed in.
Riku met him in a clash of Keyblades, Ultima Weapon bearing down on Way to the Dawn. Riku broke free and hopped back – almost to the beginning of the bridge, and Sora took that moment to rush forward, initiating a furious exchange of blows. The harsh sound of metal on metal rang throughout the empty island as both boys tread carefully across the haphazard spread of planks over water. Riku backed nimbly onto the boards he knew to be steadiest, deftly twirling his Keyblade to block Sora's furious jabs. Sora leapt from plank to plank wildly, twisting away from Riku's own slashes.
Riku soon found himself dead center on the islet, stopping to reevaluate his position. Sora himself halted momentarily after taking his second foot off the wavering bridge and furrowed his brow in contemplation. Riku stood stock-still opposite him (and didn't that boy ever sweat?), and the next moment, Sora had nearly closed the distance between them in one swift leap. His eyes widened as Riku suddenly took to the air, landed behind the brunet, and darted his free hand up to Sora's, which was still above his head, slackened with surprise. He delicately plucked the blade out of Sora's grip and held it high above his head, letting Way to the Dawn disappear in a flash of white light and instead carrying a wicked smirk.
Sora turned around, retorted with a small pout and halfhearted glare at his own weapon being held out of his reach, and stepped back, shoving his hand out in front of him. With another brief blaze of white, he was holding Ultima Weapon once again, his grin having returned as he held the weapon up to Riku's nose.
"You cheated," Riku accused, in reference to Kairi's fearsome decree.
"You cheated first!" Sora exclaimed indignantly, distractedly allowing the one remaining Keyblade to disappear.
"Yeah, but you're not supposed to cheat. You're the good guy."
Sora's voice lost its playfulness as his eyes narrowed dangerously. His hands balled into fists. "So are you!" he asserted, staring up at Riku fiercely. At least, it started out fierce, but quickly degenerated into a concerned frown. Hadn't they gotten past this? Riku looked away uncomfortably for a moment before giving Sora an apologetic smile. Sora's heart twinged. He hated that. Riku would make those tiny casual references to those darker days, then drop the subject before Sora could attempt to resolve it. He made the same mental note he always did to bring it up later, but at the moment, he accepted the apology wordlessly and stepped back.
"So does that mean I win?" Riku asked with a smile that bordered on a smirk.
"Sure," Sora muttered a moment before remembering that he had won. "H-Hey, wait! No you didn't!"
Riku shrugged as if that particular point were inconsequential to the argument, pulled a water bottle out of his pocket, and drank deeply. Suddenly reminded of the heat of the day and his subsequent dehydration, Sora held out his hands and gave Riku his best puppy-dog eyes, even wiggling a little for emphasis. Riku merely smirked and, as before, lifted the object of Sora's attention out of reach. The younger boy wrinkled his nose and growled quietly, straining his arm toward the oh-so-tempting water. After flailing on his toes for an amusing few moments, he switched tactics.
"Oof!" Riku gasped as a spiky brown head plowed into his stomach, sending both boys sprawling on the sand and lodging Sora's elbow in Riku's spleen, completely accidentally, of course.
Sora then proceeded to pull himself up, dust his hands on his pants, and sit himself firmly on top of his friend's stomach, receiving a deadpan stare for his efforts. Ignoring said stare, he reached for the coveted water bottle, which had tumbled a couple of feet away, and emptied it in one long gulp. With an exaggerated sigh of relief, he tossed the bottle over his shoulder and leered at the face below him. The owner of the face pushed Sora off with a snort that turned into a chuckle, until both of them were laughing hysterically at nothing in particular, except for Riku, who was laughing hysterically at the ridiculous face Sora had made at him.
After it died down, the two were left staring happily at each other, cerulean eyes meeting aqua. The quiet of the empty islands around them was disturbed by not even the slightest breeze, only the calming, monotonous lap of low tide's waves on the shore. The harsh sun had diminished somewhat, edging lazily closer to the horizon and casting the beginnings of shadows onto the ground. Riku inched closer to the other boy.
"So how'd you get so tall anyway?" Sora complained petulantly, leaning back on his elbows and completely ruining the moment. "You're only a year older than me!" He was apparently completely oblivious to his friend's homicidal glare, instead looking at the group of fluffy clouds drifting directly above him.
"What? I don't know!" Riku said irritably, inwardly cursing all that was Holy for Sora's denseness. "Maybe it's because I don't sneak all my vegetables to my dog."
Sora gaped at Riku's audacity. That was a low blow. "You know he has a folic acid deficiency! How could you make fun of his medical problems?!" Sora was now waving his arms wildly, both in defense of his dog and in his desperation to explain Riku's height. "I know! You're on steroids, aren't you?!"
"Wh-what?!" Whatever Riku had been expecting, that was not it.
"That's it! We're talking about your self-esteem problems right now!"
"I'm not on steroids!" Riku shouted defensively.
"Holy crap, are steroids contagious? It sounds like the name of an STD, doesn't it? I'm going to catch steroids now, aren't I?"
"Sora, I am not on steroids."
"And why should I believe you, huh? Steroids turn people into pathological liars! They turn your hair grey, too!"
"Sora, do have any idea what you're talking about?" After his initial bewilderment, Riku was somewhat amused by the facts that Sora was clearly making up off the top of his head.
Sora faltered. "…Not really." His face lost the mad, panicked expression it had just held, and his arms fell to his knees. He adopted a thoughtful expression. After a few moments, "So you're really not taking any drugs?"
"Really, I'm not," Riku assured him patiently.
"So you're sure it's safe to kiss you?" Sora asked warily.
"Fairly sure," Riku grinned mischievously.
"All right, then," Sora said with a devilish smirk.
"Oof!"
Yeah, Riku's got big-ass pockets. He can put a water bottle in one and it'll stay there throughout all his leapin' around the island. I didn't even have to make that up. Just to clarify, Riku's really not on steroids; I promise. Sora just gets a little illogical when his imagination gets away from him. That's about as close as I can bring myself to write romance, too.