Paopu Fruit

By: Shini'chi Raine

A/N: Yes, it has been a long time since I've written something. But that's because I lost all of my information due to a motherboard failure on my old computer. TxT I've been trying so hard to get my inspiration back…! Anyway… This is the first time I've ever written a story for Kingdom Hearts! I've always been a huge fan, though, and I came to a sudden inspiration after playing through the first Kingdom Hearts. 8D Enjoy!

WARNING!! Contains SLASH a.k.a. YAOI. Don't like, don't read. I don't understand why those of you who hate SLASH tend to read these fanfictions only to flame people for it. It's stupid, if you ask me—I mean, we (those of us who write yaoi) DO warn you. ]x …'Course, this may be closer to SHOUNE-AI rather than YAOI but hey, who am I kidding? LOL.

Rated: T [PG-13]; mild language & implied sexual scenes

Summary: Riku told Sora he wanted to share the paopu fruit with Kairi if he won their contest. Sora doesn't want him to share the paopu fruit with Kairi. Riku x Sora. One-shot.

Disclaimer: DO. NOT. OWN. Either the design or the characters or the game storyline. DO own the game to play it… lol. THIS plotline, however, is mine, but the game script (which I have chosen to use for yaoi purposes… bwahahahaha…) is not mine, either. So no suing me, 'kay? :3 Read on.

"They say that if you share a Paopu Fruit with your special someone, you're fated to always be together no matter what."

Destiny Islands' infamous "paopu fruit" was shaped like a star, with many legends and stories surrounding it. As such, the story wasn't unheard of, and many of the younger teenagers were always eager to get their hands on the star-shaped fruit, if only to share it with the ones they loved. Three such teenagers were especially fond of this story, and could always be found underneath the Paopu Tree on Destiny Islands, their favorite hang-out spot.

One was a young girl of fourteen, with short, dark auburn hair, cheerful, bright emerald eyes with a kind laugh to give away. She sat along the furthest part of the sturdy, oddly angled Paopu Tree, enjoying the sunset. Kairi shifted so that she could smile at her two best friends that had rescued her years ago from when she had washed ashore on Destiny Islands from the mainland. Since then, the three were never far apart.

Next to her sat a brunette, his spiky-styled hair defying gravity as it drifted gently along the wind, with such bright, blue, blue eyes that sparkled with his ever loving smile. Also fourteen years of age, he was perhaps the most joyful and cheerful of the group. He relaxed, reclining against the tree, happy as can be, free as the wind and the sky; such was his namesake. Sora returned Kairi's smile gently as he, too, shifted, to smile at the oldest of their group, his long-time best friend from since they were practically out of their mothers' wombs.

Riku's silver hair glittered with the fading sun, making him seem as if he held a holy aura. He leaned against the base part of the Paopu Tree, deep in thought. Sora and he had never thought that there were other worlds out there, until Kairi washed ashore years ago. He and Sora had always lived on the islands, returning only to the mainland for the duration of a short school semester. Feeling the bright smiles of his friends, he glanced up at Sora, then Kairi, and then leaned even more against the tree.

"Tomorrow's the big day, guys!" he commented.

All summer long, the trio had been building a raft, collecting supplies, and basically preparing to take an adventure out into the oceans, intending to discover new worlds. It was thanks to Kairi that both Riku and Sora ever bothered to think that there might be other worlds out there, waiting to be discovered…

"Let's make sure to meet here at sunrise," Kairi exclaimed, a happy gleam in her eyes. "I'm so excited to go!!" Unnoticed (at least by Sora), she gave a quick glance towards Sora, eyes downcast. Riku, being the oldest of the three (seeing as he was a year older than both Sora and Kairi), noticed the odd look Kairi had given Sora. Pretending to stretch as he yawned, he carefully laid out his plan for the next day.

Sora would never know what hit him.

Sora woke up late the next day—the day he, Riku, and Kairi would leave to discover new worlds. For some reason, he had a feeling something big would happen today. Something different. More different, actually, than what was the usual different.

It occurred to him he was supposed to meet Riku and Kairi at the Paopu Tree. Running his hand through his messy brunette hair, Sora yawned, blinking away the rest of sleep.

"Sora!"

He jolted to full wakefulness at the sound of his voice. It was Riku, come to pick him up.

"Sora! I can't believe you. Kairi was so upset you didn't wake up to meet with us at sunrise. You lazy bum!"

Riku's teasing fired Sora up. "Oh, shut up, Riku!! I'm coming down already! Besides, I was up late!"

"Doing what, dreaming about me?"

"What!"

Sora's faced burned red at Riku, who merely laughed at him as the sight greeted him. Carefree as always, the two best friends chased each other around until they ran into Kairi, who gave Sora a rather strong lecture about not keeping promises and that if a promise is made he should keep it. Sora, of course, tried his best to defend himself, but the three ended up laughing together regardless of Sora's usual mistakes.

Sora was the light in their world, after all. Without him…

The late afternoon waned, and the three met in their usual spot to watch the sunset, all with smiles. Their activities had kept them busy, and certainly, days like today had to be treasured. However… Because of Sora, their trip had been delayed yet one more day.

"So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora commented, sitting in his usual spot on the Paopu Tree.

"Could be. We'll never know by staying here." Riku answered, leaning against the tree, relaxing.

"But how far could a raft take us?"

"Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else." Riku chuckled at Sora's innocence, knowing his best friend to be imagining all sorts of worlds out there for them to explore.

"So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?" Kairi wanted to know what her two friends were thinking, but most especially, she wished for insight on Sora's thoughts. Instead, though, Riku answered, as usual.

"Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just... I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

Sora shrugged. "I don't know."

Riku laughed, shaking his head at Sora's indifference. That was just like his best friend. "That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go."

Sora laid down across the branch, his head leaning against Riku, who twitched slightly but remained in his usual stance. Kairi pretended not to notice, thinking that Sora probably didn't think more of the gesture.

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi commented, after a short silence.

"Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks." Riku smiled gently at his female friend, though his eyes strayed to glance at Sora, who was staring off into the sunset.

"…You're welcome." Her reply barely hid the hesitant pause she made, but she knew that neither of the boys noticed. Her eyes became sad, as she realized that she would never be able to bond with Sora the way Riku bonded with the adorable brunette.

The sunset was beautiful as always; but, had they known it to be the last sunset they'd ever see together, they all probably would have treasured it more. Riku, especially, would find himself harboring and holding onto this memory forever, because it seemed it would be the last chance he would truly get to have time with Sora… and with Kairi, of course. But most especially with Sora.

"Sora."

The blue-eyed brunette turned, hearing his best friend's voice. "What's up, Riku?" His silver-haired, blue-eyed friend smiled, and tossed something towards him. Sora caught it, and stared wide-eyed.

"You wanted one, didn't you?"

"A paopu fruit…"

Sora's face was decorated slightly pink, but there was a happy expression on his face. Riku carved the image into his mind, and commented,

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what. C'mon, I know you want to try it."

Sora's pink face turned bright red at the implication Riku was talking about. Him… and Riku? That would be a dream come true. And, he could share one with Kairi, too, but Riku was more important. Riku was his best friend—

"Hahaha, your face! What, planning to share it with Kairi? Well, I'm going to do it before you are—"

Sora's happy, blushing face switched to a slight, playful rage. "What are you talking about—" He threw the paopu fruit back at Riku, who caught it in midair. Laughing, Riku waved the fruit enticingly at Sora, the two chased each other off into the distance.

It was time for the big race to see who could share the paopu fruit. Riku honestly had only wanted to share it with Sora. Only Sora. But, he figured that Sora was straight… after all, Sora would often talk to him about Kairi… though most of the time it had to do with her not being from Destiny Islands originally, but Sora would often get a glossy-eyed look as he spoke about Kairi's origins… though, Riku had no idea that Sora really didn't care for it.

"If I win, I get to be the Captain! If you win…"

"I get to share it with Kairi."

"Huh!? Wa-Wait a minute--!"

"C'mon, the winner gets to share the paopu fruit with Kairi!"

Riku didn't see Sora's frown before he gave Riku a determined grin. "Then, I'll win for sure!"

"We'll see about that!"

Kairi hadn't heard the prize as she called over to the two rather extraordinarily eager boys. "Okay, on my count… 1… 2… 3…!"

Sora and Riku took off on the course they had set, having mastered the course after many times of practice. From the looks of things, the two might have a tie… but Sora was just a little bit faster.

"I win!"

Riku panted, grinning, somewhat painfully—he hoped Sora would think it was because he just ran a hard race—the silver-haired boy handed the star-shaped fruit over to his best friend. "There you go, Sora. You're the Captain now!"

The brunette took the star fruit with something akin to reverence, but smiled brightly at his two friends. "Yep! I'm the Captain now!"

Kairi smiled indulgently at Sora, knowing the secret he thought to have kept to himself. "Well, I gotta go! I just remembered that I need to work on that thalassa shells necklace I promised I would make for you guys! See you later, ok?"

Once the girl had left, Sora glanced over to Riku, who was staring off into space. "Hey, Riku?" The silver-haired boy snapped to attention, and grinned sheepishly. "'Sup, Sora?" Sora fiddled with the paopu fruit, and asked quietly,

"Can you meet with me at the paopu tree later?"

Riku blinked, surprised that Sora hadn't asked for Kairi. "Sure, Sora. Anything for you, man." He smiled happily at his best friend, waving at Sora as he left to finish up the rest of their preparations. Sora had already finished getting the provisions for their raft, and all they had left to do was to set sail. What he was planning to do had something to do with his best friend himself.

…Anything for you, Sora. …As long as I can have you.

Sora was nervous. Very, very nervous. So nervous, he was actually pacing. Now, Sora was hardly ever nervous. Actually, he was so carefree, often times when he showed worry or nervousness, people would wonder who he was. But, well, Sora had a real, very good reason to be nervous, and worried, and anxious, and… ah, what the hell. He was going to confess to his best friend. Kairi had unwittingly (or knowingly??) given him a chance to speak with Riku. Before they set sail, he had to do this; it was important, because he didn't ever want to lose his best friend.

…His crush.

…His first, and he believed, his only, love.

"Sora!"

Riku's voice rang clear over the air, making Sora's breath hasten its pace. Sora's heart thumped wildly as the time came, the blue-eyed, platinum-haired boy's gloved hand appearing as he climbed to their special hang-out place.

The brunette watch as Riku slowly appeared, bit by bit. The silver hair, the handsome face, the usual yellow vest he wore, and then the blue baggy cargo pants, and finally the entire body, smiling at him lovingly… He hoped it was lovingly. He hoped his feelings were returned.

"Hey, Riku," he said, managing to his anxiety.

"So, what did you want to meet up here for? And where's Kairi?"

"Kairi isn't coming…" he hesitated, wondering if this was such a good idea after all. Riku gave him a puzzled look, before shrugging and nodding. "Best friend time is good, too. So what's up? Spit it out already, I know you're hiding something!" Riku teased.

"Riku, I… I love you! A-And, I d-don't mean in a fr-friend w-way…"

The boy in question blinked. And stared. And then he took a step closer to a bright red, fidgeting Sora who was ready to take off at the slightest sign of rejection.

"Sora."

His name whispered, practically caressed by Riku's tongue, Sora looked up, curious. He soon found himself locking lips with Riku, the taller boy opening the shorter boy's mouth with easy, tasting Sora for the first time.

Finally. And I didn't even have to do anything! This is perfect!

"R-Riku?" Sora questioned, when the two broke for air.

His best friend smiled, hugging him close as he whispered into his ear. "I love you, too, Sora. I have for a long, long time."

Sora smiled, hugging him back, before something occurred to him.

"So, what was the deal with saying that you wanted to share the paopu fruit with Kairi!?"

Oops.

"Don't worry about it, Sora."

"Riku."

"I love you, ok?"

"…Riku."

"Look, just don't worry about it!"

End.

Sequel anyone? This fanfiction actually took over half a year to write. O.o; Scary, huh? Reviews and building criticism wanted while flames are unwanted. Flames tend to be annoying and rather stupid—it's different if the person is trying to point out mistakes or suggest something—that's building criticism, got it? And, I haven't written anything in so long, so bear with me if this sucks. Okay, if anyone wants a sequel, let me know. This is supposed to be one-shot, though. XD