"Sora."
On the breath of the wind, I could hear a voice calling my name. "Sora" The voice came again. I was sure I was in my room; sleeping in my bed, window wide open. I normally slept like this on the hot nights of summer here on Destiny Island. But every time the wind whispered my name, a warm breeze accompanied it.
Come to think of it, I recognized the voice. And the usual scent of that certain person's favorite chewing gum. "Sora," The tantalizing scent of Spearmint filled my nose as his mouth opened again. "Soarrr-uh" I was quite positive as to whom the voice belonged to now. No one else would dare call my name like that.
"Reeee-kuuuu" I replied, pulling my arm over my eyes. "What do you want?"
I didn't have to see his face to know there was a smirk on it. "For you to get up. It's nearly Six Thirty in the morning and I know you aren't going to sleep all day." He wriggled a hand in my hair.
He earned a swift punch in the gut. And since, I had to sit up to punch him in the first place, I decided it was as good a time as any to get up and get dressed. "Fine, fine." I made a show of my displeasure, shoving Riku off of my legs and onto the floor.
These days became repetitive, ever since we finished off Xemnas and returned home to Destiny Islands. It was early summer and school had just started again. Everyday (for the past week and a half, it wasn't too long ago when the semester started) Riku has woken me up, like this normally, to get me going for school. And Everyday, Riku showed up about an hour early. Or rather, he woke me up an hour early. I don't know how long Riku sits in my room before he wakes me up. It was always nice though. He doesn't wake me up in a loud sort of way. He just sits on my legs and breaths my name, blowing on my cheek. He does a fantastic job of getting me up; and my mother envies him. But, Riku wakes me up, then we eat breakfast and then we start our trek to Kairi's house. After picking up Kairi, we'll head to school. (We used to wait for Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka. But they've been taking longer and longer, so we ditched them.) Normally, we'll talk about the events from the past few months; the battle with Xemnas, Axel, the other Nobodies-
"Sora! C'mon, hurry up! I've got a surprise for you today!" Riku urged me, dragging me out of my thoughts.
"A surprise for me?" I repeated. Riku laughed. "What sort of surprise?"
"Just get dressed, Slacker!" Riku flicked my nose, before dashing out of my room, leaving me to my own devices. I pulled on my school uniform- Riku's developed a habit of leaving it out for me before he wakes me up- and went to meet my silver haired best friend as I tied my tie.
"Riku, help?" I looked up to him with pleading eyes. He knows I can't tie my tie. (Which makes me wonder why he unties it every morning. I try to leave it pre-tied when I take it off so I don't need his help anymore.) He took the light blue gingham printed strip of fabric between his fingers and began to work his magic. "So, what sort of surprise do you have for me? You never said..."
"That's why it's a surprise."
"Well I want to know."
Riku smirked his smirk, and drew me closer by my tie. "Calm. Down." He breathed. I blushed when I noticed how close he was. Too close, too close! "You'll find out soon enough." He released the strip of fabric and opted for my wrist as he began to pull me down the hall and down the stairs.
I came to realize what Riku's surprise was as we neared the kitchen. He made breakfast today. Made breakfast in my house? It was weird, but I didn't question it. Because it smelled amazing.
"Assorted fruit Crepes," Riku smiled placing a plate in front of me. "And a bowl of cream of wheat, nothing real special. But I figured, Hey. Something different for Sora's birthday, right?"
"Oh that's right!" I mentally smacked myself. Today was my birthday! How clueless of myself to forget. "I totally forgot."
Riku cut into his own crepe, smiling as he ate the first piece. "I had a little fight with your mom- she wanted to make you breakfast. But I ended up getting her to let me do it. She's going to make dinner for you instead." When he swallowed the piece he'd cut, he had too much of a smirk on his face.
"Why are you smirking...?"
"Taste the crepe yet, Soar?"
"Is it that good?"
"Quite."
I gave him a look. He had his eyes locked onto my crepe, the long corner was cut, prepared for my consumption He motioned for me to eat it.
The crepe was sweet as hell. I could taste strawberry, maybe raspberries, and... something really sweet. Extremely sweet, actually. About as sweet as a-
"Riku." I swallowed the food down hard.
"Yes, Soar?"
"What fruits are in this?"
He smiled. "What do you taste, Soar?"
"Paopu."
"Paopu?"
"How many did you use?"
"Only one. Perfectly proportioned." He cut another piece of his own, impaled it with his fork and stuck it in his mouth. "Half of it was in mine." Then he reached over the table, pressing his finger to my nose. "The other half in yours."
"But the race to the raft-"
"A ruse."
"And at the Door to Light-"
"Protecting you."
"And in Castle Oblivion-!"
"Now Sora," He seemed to laugh. "That wasn't even me. I'm offended you would get me and that replica mixed up."
I sighed, defeated. I continued to eat the crepe. "The paopu is really sweet."
Riku nodded in agreement, picking off of his as well.
"I've never actually eaten one before." I felt almost embarrassed to admit the fact.
"I have." I felt my cheeks heat up. Stomach flipping into knots. "I ate a whole one by myself over the weekend. Deciding which fruits to make this with." The heat evaporated. "Heh, No need to get all worked up, Soar." Riku chuckled, stuffing another piece into his mouth.
"I am not getting worked up!" I claimed, staring up at him intently.
The boisterous laughter erupted in my best friend's throat, busting through his mouth. "Sure, sure, Soar-uh." He laughed again. "Get your stuff; we're going to be late for school." He stood and took his plate to the sink, rinsed it swiftly and then waited at the doorway of the kitchen. A smile was lining his chin.
He had tricked me to eat a paopu fruit.
To share a paopu fruit with him.
The smug bastard.
His smirk was all over his face as we made our way to Kairi's house.
"Hey, Soar? Do you know why I'm going to remember this day?" He looked over to me, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk near the pier. He looked out to the sea.
"Because it's my birthday?" I stopped next to him, smiling in his direction.
"No," He pulled me closer to him by my wrist, and then held me in his arms; a hand at the small of my back. "Because today is the day you became forever entwined with me. No one can ever take you from me now..." He leaned closer, his breath hot on my face. "Today is the day you became mine ."
I felt the heat of his lips close to mine, but then he abruptly pulled back, releasing me save for only my hand. His fingers were locked and twisted with my own. He pulled me along as he continued on to Kairi's house. His skin was cold, and left a tingling sensation all over my hands. I was relieved when Kairi appeared at the door- usual perky attitude- and Riku released my hand. The sensation was still there.
xxxxxxxxxx
A strained laugh emitted from Tidus' lips. "He did what?" He leaned over the back of his chair during our third period Algebra class. "I can not believe you're confiding in me enough to tell me that Riku actually planted half of a paopu fruit in your food!"
"Ix-nay on the pao-nay and Riku-nay!" I made a slicing motion through my neck.
"What is that? Pig Latin?" Tidus pulled back slightly, a disgusted look on his face. "You're really bad at it."
"Be quiet!" I hissed, motioning him to stop. I, also, couldn't believe I was confiding in Tidus. Tidus; local blitzball-jock and possibly one of the least reliable people in our school. Especially in regards to secrets. "And don't tell anyone! I'm not sure how I feel about this going public, yet."
Tidus made a zipper-like motion along his lips. "Don't worry, So! Your secret is safe with me!" And with that, the bell rang and it was time for lunch. Tidus gave me a thumbs up as he headed for the door. "Trust me, So!" He smiled. "See ya at the table!"
By the time I got to my locker- Riku was already there. I felt my cheeks heat up. Why the hell was I getting nervous around Riku? My best friend for- I don't even know how long? My heart jumped around in my chest as I got closer to him.
"Hey, Soar." He said, in his velvety voice. He noticed my blush and chuckled. "What, Soar? Am I so gorgeous you can't contain yourself?"
"Shutup." I looked away from him, finding my eyes still following his graceful movements.
"Anyway," Riku leaned against the locker next to mine as I pried mine open. "I was wondering, ... if you'd like to go out with me sometime... maybe tonight?"
I threw my books in my locker and then held the door open to obscure Riku's view of me as I leaned into the space. Riku was asking me out. Me of all people. He could have any girl in school almost instantly, and probably most the guys too, if he wanted. But he asked me. I took a deep breath, let it out slowly. I then looked up into the top shelf in my locker. Back to the small corkboard on the back wall. I took in another deep breath, and reached in to pick the board off the wall. Behind it, stuck there with tape, was a picture of Riku and I. Or, I suppose more specifically it was four pictures of Riku and I. From when we went to a photo booth at the mall. Kairi hadn't come, it was just us. And we had a lot of fun together... And I started to realize that maybe... just maybe I...
I replaced the board and closed the locker door. "Soar?" Riku looked at me, hopeful. "What do you say?'
With a cock of my head and a smile, I gave him my reply. "What do you have planned for us, Riky?" I put my hands up to him, which he took and laced his fingers between mine.
With our fingers locked, Riku pulled me to him and placed a kiss on my cheek.
May or may not be considered a complete chapter.
I suppose it has a decent cut off. I'm not sure how long this is right now! But, yeah.
You need to tell me what you think of it. I may keep working on it, but I'm not sure right now.
- Sora-Hikou