Happy Valentine's Day
That darkness again, that swirling darkness, surrounding me, engfulging me, drowning me... I struggled against it, trying to pull it off, almost feeling dark tendrils of the shadows wrapping themselves around my wrists, around my waist, my ankles...restricting me. Holding me back. There was nothing but dark oblivion, but my eyes were clouded with white as I felt myself being choked. All breath escaped my lungs as I struggled more and more against the darkness that held me in place. I could feel myself weakening, and passing out- I couldn't breathe, I couldn't scream for help. Suddenly, I felt a gentle touch against my cheek, and something cold on my forehead.
A...
Who was that...?
Ra...
A voice...?
I heard the "whoosh" of ocean waves around me, and felt the warmth of soft material underneath me.
"Sora..." I heard it again, this time followed by, "Sora, Sora are you alright?"
"Wha...I'm fine," I said quietly, opening my eyes. The material under me appeared to be a jacket...Riku's jacket, I soon recognized. Two blurred figures came into view, both were leaning over me with concerned expressions. "Riku? Kairi? What happened?" I asked, putting a hand to my head. I didn't bother sitting up, instead pulling the jacket under me around myself as best I could.
"You passed out," Riku said, sighing slightly, "Right before we were about to go for some ice cream."
"Oh..." I bit my lip. "I-I guess I'm not completely better yet..." I lied, not wanting to say anything about the nightmare I'd just had while unconscious. What could it all mean?
"Oh, Sora," Kairi said, shaking her head, "You've always managed to overwork yourself... You should rest more when you're sick."
"Hey, I can't help it. I didn't want to miss anymore school, my marks are bad enough as it is," I protested, sitting up and laughing slightly. The cold cloth they'd placed on my head fell into my lap. "What the...?" I looked over at Riku, noticing a piece of his shirt was ripped. "You used your shirt as a cloth...? But...it's your favorite shirt..." I said, feeling guilty. But Riku just smiled and laughed, earning a confused look from me.
"It's fine, Sora. You were feverish, we had to try and get your fever down," Riku said, patting me on the shoulder.
"Huh," I said, lowering my head, "Well, now I'm fine." I stood up, brushed myself off, and handed Riku his jacket. "Here's your jacket, you can have it back now..."
Kairi cleared her throat. "Hey, guys, I should be getting home now. Later," She said, smiling slightly, "I'll see you guys tomorrow in school!" She ran off after saying this, and we both waved.
"Bye Kairi!" I called, then turned back to Riku. "She's been spending a lot of time at home lately... I think something's up," I said when I knew she was out of earshot.
"I didn't notice anything wrong with her..." Riku said quietly, "She probably just has things that need to be done."
"Oh, but Rik-"
"Sora, you worry too much. If anything was wrong, you can guarantee we'd be the first people Kairi would tell." He said reassuringly. "We're her best friends, after all."
"I-I guess so..." I said quietly.
"Let's go get some ice cream. Maybe Kairi will join us tomorrow," He said now, taking my hand and dragging me away. Since the weather was warmer, they had tables and chairs set up outside the shop. I pulled my hand out of Riku's grip, smiling slightly and draping myself over a chair.
"It's your turn to buy, Riku," I said, smiling once again.
"What? But I thoug-"
"I paid last time, and Kairi paid the time before that...now its your turn~" I said in a sing song voice. Riku was so cute when he got flustered or angry, which is the main reason I acted the way I did around him.
"Ugh, Sora... F-Fine. You're right." He said, caving in finally. He walked inside, leaving me to wait at the table. I had my legs draped over the arm of the chair, my back leaning against the other, as I watched the door of the place swing open and shut as Riku walked in. A few minutes later he walked out holding two ice cream bars- sea salt, like always. I grinned as he walked over, handing me one of them. "Here you go," He said, then sat in a chair, crossing his legs and taking a bite of his ice cream.
I took a bite of mine as well, licking it and slurping at it somewhat noisily. Riku just watched me, quietly eating the ice cream, an awkward silence growing between us. I stopped eating the ice cream, staring back at him when I realized he was staring. "Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, tilting my head slightly so that my brownish hair fell out of place in a couple places.
"Nothing," He replied, smirking slightly, "Go back to your ice cream." He took another bite, his lips staining blue from the salty-sweet treat. A soft sigh escaped his lips, and he leaned back in his chair, finishing off the rest of the ice cream.
I shrugged it off, finishing off my ice cream now. "Oh, hey! It says "WINNER" on it!" I exclaimed, grinning. "I can get free ice cream next time."
"Really? Cool," Riku said, smiling slightly.
He seemed so out of it lately, as if something were on his mind. Despite being only nine years old when all this was going on, I had realized that Riku's friendship was different than the one I had with Kairi and everyone else on the small island. But I didn't understand it just yet, despite the fact that we were far closer than any of the other younger boys on the island. Sometimes it got us strange looks, but we didn't care. We hugged the other when one of us was upset, we sat under the stars together all the time and just talked, we slept in the same bed when we had sleepovers... No one else either of us knew did any of these things. Unless it was a bunch of girls or something, Riku always said it was normal for them to be super close though.
But I didn't think it had anything to do with this at the time- I was a pretty clueless kid. Still am pretty clueless to this day, actually. "Riku? Are you alright?" I asked, placing my popsicle stick on the table and looking over at him thoughtfully. "You don't seem like yourself lately."
He shrugged in response, fiddling with his popsicle stick. "I guess so, but I'm fine," He then said, putting his arms behind his head. "Just kind of occupied with stuff, school and such, you know."
"School? But...we've only been in school for a month," I said, confused.
"Yeah, but since I'm in advanced classes I get homework more often than other students," He said, standing. "Hey, why don't we go hang out down by the beach?"
"Um...okay!" I said, grinning childishly. "Let's go!" I grabbed his hand and before he had a chance to say anything, dragging him down to the vast body of water that seemed to stretch out for miles in front of us. "Riku, did you ever wonder what it'd be like to go for a ride on the waters? Like, in a boat?" I asked, flopping myself down in the sand.
"Not really..." Riku said, sitting next to me and laying back on the sand. Sand got into his greyish hair, but he didn't seem to be bothered by it. "It would be fun if you and me could do that someday though."
"I think there's a boat at the docks. The sign above it says you can ride for free. It's a rowboat, too," I said, "We could go now...I mean, we've got another hour and we won't have to go far."
"Uh... Okay." He got up from the sand, shaking the sand out of his hair and holding a hand out to me. I took it without hesitation, and he helped me stand. "Let's go, then."
I gave a slight nod, giggling childishly. "Race ya there!" I called as I took off running, a smile plastered on my face.
"Hey, no fair!" Riku called after me, and he took off running after me, catching up with almost no trouble at all. I looked at him and grinned, giving him a playful push. "Hey! Don't...!" He pushed me back, causing me to stumble slightly, but I regained my balance; both of us laughed at this, knowing that it was just a joke. Very rarely did we ever get into actual fights.
"Look, there is it!" I yelled, running ahead of him and heading for the docks. Seeing the small rowboat come into view, I sped up, stopping when I was just at the edge of the dock.
Riku, out of breath, came to a stop beside me. Trying his best to catch his breath, he said, "You cheated! You had a head start."
"No, you're just a slowpoke," I said, giggling and climbing into the small rowboat. "Come on, don't be a sore loser!~"
"Alright, fine," He said with a smile, as I helped him into the boat cautiously. I didn't want him to fall into the water, after all.
"That's the Riku I know, heheh..." I sighed softly, taking a paddle in each hand. "Could you untie it, Riku?"
"Sure," He said, reaching over and untying the boat from the docks, "Want me to paddle? Or do you want to?"
"Um...you can." I said, tilting my head slightly to the side and handing him the paddles.
I watched intently as he paddled us away from the shore, having only seen boats going from the shore and around the island. I'd never really been on one before. "Oh, this is amazing!" I said excitedly, watching the shore drift farther and farther away.
He paddled us a considerable way away from the shore, and stopped, placing them along the bottom of the boat. I looked at him with a questionable look, confused as to why we had stopped.
"Shouldn't we keep going? We'll drift out too far if we stop," I said, worried, "We should go back..."
"Not yet!" Riku, sounding disappointed, said. "I want to enjoy the scenery from here."
"Oh..." I had kind of been wanting to go back to shore, since after that I was starting to feel a bit seasick. "If you really want to, then," I said with a half smile, adjusting myself so that I could stare into the water at my reflection. It was so clear, and the reflection of the sun setting made the water look quite beautiful. But this was the last thing on my mind as I fought against the urge to wretch everywhere.
"Hey, you feeling okay?" Riku asked, frowning slightly when he noticed I hadn't moved from that spot for about five minutes. "You look kind of pale."
"I-I do?" I asked, looking over at him, "I, er, feel fine."
"Huh, alright."
"You don't believe me?" I sat up, and leaned against the back of the boat. "How long do you wanna stay out here?"
"Just a little longer."
I sighed tiredly, getting up carefully so as not to rock the boat and going to sit beside Riku. "I'm glad you came with me." I said, yawning slightly. "Mm, I'm tired..." I leaned my head against his shoulder without realizing it, shutting my eyes.
"Hey, don't fall asleep on me," He said, pushing me away. "You're paddling back, my arms are tired."
"O-Okay," I said, blushing slightly. "Sorry..." I rubbed my arm awkwardly, staring at the bottom of the boat and remaining completely silent. I still felt sick, but I ignored this. Paired with the nervousness I felt at being so close to Riku right now, it didn't make me feel the best. I turned to look at him, only to find him staring. "Wh-What? Something on my face...?" I asked, wiping my hand across my cheek to see if there was.
"No, I'm just admiring how cute you look when you're embarrassed." He said, smiling slightly.
"Oh...!" I felt my face turn bright red, and bit my lip, staring up at him. Our eyes met, and I found it hard to look away. "R-Riku...its not right to think another guy is cute." I had become even more aware of feelings I had for Riku recently, but I didn't think it was right for me to like another boy. I'd thought at the time that I had to like girls, just like every other guy I knew- that's why I always acted like I had a crush on Kairi.
Riku laughed at me, finding my stuttering amusing. He leaned in really close, placing a hand on my cheek gently. "Sora, its okay," He said softly into my ear, causing me to shudder from the tickling feeling I felt. He then pressed his lips against mine gently, his hands slipping down around my waist.
"Nn..." I leaned into the kiss more, returning it. I pushed away after a minute or two, requiring air. "Riku...ah..." I brought my hand across my mouth, wiping the taste of Riku away. It wasn't that I didn't like what he'd done, it just hadn't been expected. "Riku, I...I, uh..."
"Shh," He whispered, pulling me into a hug, "Sora, I love you..."
"Ah! Riku...I...love you too..." I said quietly, nuzzling into his chest and cuddling up to the taller boy.
"We better get back now, or your parents are gonna worry," Riku said, smiling down at me and placing a gentle kiss on the top of my head. I nodded into his chest, moving away from him and proceeding to pick up the paddles.
"Riku, I'm happy..." I said as I paddled the boat toward the shore.
"...Happy Valentines Day, Sora..." He said reminding me of the special day. I'd been complaining all day that I had no one, and now...I had someone. I had Riku.