Another Kingdom Hearts oneshot! Hope you like this one! This one is kinda depressing. Ah, who am I kidding? It's damn depressing. xD It's good though, and took me awhile to get finished, but I think you'll like it.

The story shows RikuxKairi, but the story is actually an angst SoraxKairi. You'll see that easily. Hope you enjoy!

Tag

[rikairi/one-sided sokairi

(-It.only.hurts.just.once­-)

He stood on the beach, silent and motionless, the waves just touching his shoes as they crashed into the shore. His brunette hair was ruffled by the ocean wind, his black jacket flipping softly against his stomach. His blue eyes, once so bright with happiness, with love, with satisfaction, were dull with sadness, with pain, with longing.

Sora watched them from affar, like he always did.

They spoke across the beach, hand on hand, simply staring at each other and talking. He said something, and she laughed, that one laugh that always made Sora's heart leap in wonder, but made it drop in hopelessness as well. That smile that made his blood rush, but also froze it like ice. The one girl that could make his heart quicken, but make it stop as well. She smiled again at him, and for a moment, Sora wished it was himself that she was smiling at, not him.

Riku and Kairi, walking down the beach, hand in hand.

And with each step they took, another piece of Sora's heart chipped off.

-riku and kairi, siting in a tree-

That was supposed to be him, swinging arms with Kairi while walking down the beach with the sun setting beside them, watching the glow in her eyes. That was supposed to be him watching the sun sparkle in her hair, him kissing her gently against the lips. But it wasn't him. It was his bestfriend swinging arms with her, his best friend watching the glow in her eyes and the sparkle of sun in her hair, his best friend kissing her gently against the lips.

-k-i-s-s-i-n-g-

And that was what caused his spirit to finally crash.

For years, Riku had warned him of Kairi, warned him to stop running for her. "She's chasing you, Sora," he would tell him, his eyes glittering seriously. "She's chasing you, and you keep running from her. One day, she's going to stop, Sora. And you'll wonder why you never let her catch you." Sora would only grin at him.

But it had happened.

Sora kept running, running, running from her. And she continued to chase him for awhile. But now, the came of tag was over, and Sora was left watching as she chased after his best friend, and caught him instead of Sora.

Oh, why hadn't he listened to Riku? Why had he kept running away from her?

Why didn't he let her catch him?

Sora watched with grief-stricken eyes, his heart twisting so hard it hurt, a mental pain that was so strong it became physically, his heart throbbing as if someone had struck him in the chest. The throbbing echoed in his mind, throughout his body, making him sick with pain. How could he let her get away? Why didn't he let her know?

Riku and Kairi had stopped walking now, their faces turned toward the setting sun reflecting into the water. From afar, Sora watched as Riku layed his cheek on her forehead and gently kissed her before laying his head on hers. Sora watched, shoving his hands deep into his pockets, regretting every minute he spent running, every moment he wasted playing that game of tag with her.

Now, he was left on the sides, watching as Riku and Kairi played their own game, a different game that gave each what they wanted.

Just as the sun disappeared into the ocean, Sora turned away from his best friend and his lost love. With blue eyes glued on the ground, Sora walked away. With each step taken away from Kairi, his heart gave a single, sharp-stinging tug, the strings of his heart still attached to Kairi's hands.

The distance stretched between him and them, and with each step away, the more numb Sora felt. The strings pulling on his heart felt like a simple tug now, gently begging him to come back, to take her in his arms, admit how wrong he had been.

But it was too late for that.

Sora stopped walking, his eyes emotionless and dull, simply staring at the small island that had once been their hangout. The tree stretched out over the water, it's reflection rippling from the waves crashing against the small island. Sora stared at it a single moment longer, sticking his hand in his pocket. Then, with small and slow steps, Sora made his way across the bridge that connected the islands, feeling completely numb, his mind strangely calm as he decsion stuck out in his mind.

He swung his leg over the tree, sitting on the branch and looking out over the water. He could see Riku and Kairi, still standing side by side on the beach, watching the darkened sky fill with stars. Sora looked up, his blue eyes reflected the stars glittering above him.

(-they're.only.broken.bones-)

How ironic the stars would look so bright tonight...

Sora reached into his pocket, fingering the object inside. How had it all come to this? After all he had been through, how could it have led to this; his heart broken, his will to live gone. How could all of it have been for nothing?

Why did he keep running away from her? Why didn't he stop, just to let her catch up?

He took the object from his pocket, looking down at it. He turned it around and around in his palm, examining it over and over again, regretting everything he had done, everything he hadn't done.

He looked into the glass sitting in his hand, looking at his reflection in the broken mirror. One blue eye stared back at him from the small piece of glass, the reflection showing the pain and suffering he was going through. He clutched the glass in his palm tightly, feeling the jagged glass pierce his skin. He kept squeezing until drops of blood fell from his hand. He felt no pain. He was numb to all feeling. Seeing the droplets of blood drip to the ground, Sora smiled. He opened his palm, revealing the cut wounds in his palm, the blood gushing slowly from the wound. He removed the bloody piece of glass from his palm, staring at the bloodstained eye he now saw in the reflection.

"This is for you, Kairi," he whispered softly, gripping the piece of glass in one hand. "For everything I missed." He sliced the glass across his arm, watching the blood immediatly flood the surface of the wound. "For all the things I didn't say." He sliced his arm twice, this time lower and deeper, blood pouring gently down his arm. "For all the times I made you cry." A deeper, more jagged, wound was cut down his arm this time. "For running from you, for not letting the game of tag end." He cut twice more, mutilating his arm further with each whisper of of his words. Tears blurred his vision, but he still smiled at the blood pouring down his arm.

"For not letting you catch me."

A single, final deep slash across his wrist, and, with arms shaking, Sora dropped the piece of glass to the ground, his eyes only on the dark red liquid pouring from his self inflicted wounds. Tears dripped down his face, mixing with the blood pouring down his arm. He gritted his teeth, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, Kairi...I'm so sorry I can't be enough for you."

With a sigh, Sora leaned against the bark of the tree, eyes concentrated on his arm, on the wounds gashed in his arms. He still felt no pain, only a calm acceptance, only the knowledge of knowing what he had lost...that he was going to die. He watched the blood pour down his arm, forming a puddle beneath him. How strange it was, watching his life drip away, little by little.

Then, he turned his eyes to the sky, vision blurred by tears. "And like that, broken down, victim of your own lies," he whispered quietly as dots danced in front of his vision. He looked back down at his arm, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. He smiled slightly through the tears, and laughed at himself.

"And I'm letting everyone down...again..."

The last minutes of his life, Sora stared at the cuts in his arms, humming softly to himself.

-a simple game of tag-

She could only stare at the scene before her, her eyes wide with shock, and her heart skipping several beats. How could she have not seen this was going to happen? How could it all end like that, without any warning at all?

She was suddenly in someone arms, and she collasped into them, sobbing her eyes out into his shoulder. He was the only thing holding her on her feet, his strong arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She didn't want to look anymore, didn't want to feel anymore. The scene was too much for her to handle, and she felt that at any moment her heart would burst from the pain.

Riku hadn't said anything, simply held her tightly, and when she looked up, she wasn't surprised to see his face white, his eyes confused and hurt, wondering why and how, asking questions that could only be answered by looking at what was in front of them.

She forced herself to pull away from him, standing steady on her feet. She turned around, looking at what was in front of her. She felt sick, stepping toward the tree on the island. Fallen tears dripped down her face, tears that she felt would never stop falling again.

"Why, Sora?" she sobbed quietly, dropping to her knees. "Why?"

He was sitting neatly on the tree, back against the trunk. He was looking down, his eyes still open and staring lifelessly at his arm. Blood was in a puddle below him, dripping off the edge of the island and into the water, turning that part of the water into a crimson red. The cuts in his arm stood out, no longer bleeding, but crusted with dried blood.

-a deadly game of cat and mouse-

"I'm sorry, Sora," she whispered, burying her head in her hands. "I'm sorry."

Going down his arm was her name, crusted with his blood, carved forever into his arm.

Kairi...

(-hide.the.hate.inside-)

[ - Quote from 'Qwerty' by Linkin Park

[Inside the (), 'Unknown Soldier' by Breaking Benjamin