(This is for the lovely youkai chick supreme.)

--Down by a recent crush, Sora comes to Riku for advice. Dear, dear, Sora…it's called 'hormones'.--

It's rather different, hopefully. I hope I didn't fail miserably. I wrote this one night after writing down so many ideas, and this came up. Which was completely different that I had originally planned. But I'm quite proud of this! Okay, just so nobody's offended, I will say that this has one sided Riku/Sora. It's not to offend anyone or anything like that at all.

By the way, I know that in the first few paragraphs, it's present tense and the rest isn't. I suck at writing first-person, but I thought it would fit the idea of this better than third person. And I'm sorry if Riku's a little off. I tried my best. -cries-

Rating: T for language and suggestive remarks.

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- - - -crushcrushcrush- - - -

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Basically, it was just a typical school day. Long, boring, and dull as shit. Who knew that some teachers actually doze off in class themselves? Yep. That boring. I myself had trouble staying awake in physics class when, normally, I wouldn't. I mean, I'm a good student. I go to sleep at a decent hour, I study hard, and I respect the teachers. It leaves me extra time to hang out with my friends and go on dates on the weekends. If I didn't put in that extra effort, I would have my ass grounded and stuck in my room for weeks on end. So, actually, and realistically, I'm left with no choice. It pays off, though. And that's what I like.

In the midst of the crowded locker room, I managed to wrestle my way to my own, beloved metal closet and wrench out my books I would need for homework that weekend. Algebra II and World History; nice. No, I do not like either of the subjects, but I had to do it. How else would it get done? It was better to get it done on time than to slack off and be behind. And that's not fun, now is it? No, it's not. Not. At. All. I should know. I've been there. Oh, yes, I've been there…and let me tell you, it's not all that great.

First it seems so simple. You would get to it later, sure, no problem. Just watch a little TV, go hang out with friends, and just relax. The homework is easy. Shouldn't take you any time at all. Wrong. Later on you read it, and damn, you wish you didn't wait at the last minute. The teacher made it sound so simple! What the hell did this and that mean? Yeah, then you understand and it dawns on you that you are in deep shit with your parents.

So all in all, I learned the hard way to not push aside what's best to do. Simple and clean. It's basic. Just do it, Riku, and you can get on that date with Kairi. I have a goal, and that goal is to win that girl's heart. I have to get school out of the way before I could focus on that goal, though. It sucks, sure, but c'mon. That girl is so beautiful, it's so worth it. She's popular, which is okay, but then I have her girlfriends ragging onto me about how I treat her. I treat her right! What are they talking about?

Though, what stands out to me about her is her personality. And she's hot, and that's a definite added plus, but looks aren't everything. Well, maybe a little…okay, a lot. I don't want to go out with someone who breaks a mirror when she walks by it. Harsh, but true. So yeah, I'm a guy who likes to have everything. And why not? Life's short. I intend on living it. Going back to the subject, if Kairi doesn't work out for awhile, I could always ask out her sister. She's second on my list. She's more quiet, and more put together and the opposite of Kairi, popularity wise. But hey, she's nice…when she talks. I never knew what was up with Namine. I guess twins are supposed to naturally be polar opposites.

Moving on to my story…I had managed to grab my books and high-tail out of the school by 3:43, to be exact. I was in a rush. I had to be ready by six o'clock that evening. That night was my special date with Kairi at six. That left me about two hours. So I thought that I would be able to take a nice shower, get dressed in my nice clothes and fix my hair. It took me awhile to fix my hair. I had pride in it. It was the talk of the girls at school. Who could resist sexy hair like mine? Yeah. That's what I'm talking about.

Unfortunately, I was unaware that my best friend had other plans.

I looked both ways down the street as I waited on the side walk. My house was fifteen minutes away, and I was trying to make it in ten. The coast was clear. I was making my move, when suddenly-

"Riii-ku!" Oh no.

When that boy wanted to talk, he could talk for hours. And I only had ten minutes.

Stopping my foot from taking a step, I froze and breathed out a sigh. Trying to withhold the urge of rolling my eyes, I turned around slowly, only to see none other than Sora bounding towards me from the high school driveway. A lopsided grin was plastered on his boyish face as he ran up to me and then stopped. He bent over his knees and took in deep breaths. It was when he straightened himself and looked up at me before I arched an eyebrow suspiciously.

Sora was a good kid. He was a year younger than me; around Kairi and Namine's age. I, myself, was seventeen and Sora was just about to reach the fresh year of sixteen. What a wonderful age.

It wasn't that I was bothered by Sora all the time. It was just that normally his brother was with him. Let me just say that it's his brother's fault, not mine. We have always been against each other. In fact, we hated each other. I hated that douche. Just…hated. He was an asshole, and he deserved to die. No offense to Sora. I mean, Sora was my best friend. But why did he have to have a brother who was after Kairi and Namine as well? Oh, competition…I shall win this battle. He can't have either of them! Sora could, though. I don't care about that. If I ever saw Roxas talking to Kairi…I don't know, I guess I just can't control myself. I was thinking of anger management classes, though. The good news for that day was that Roxas was sick at home. So that meant one less day I had to worry about.

Back to the story, I waited until Sora caught his breath and beamed up at me.

"Hey, Riku," he gasped as he clutched his chest. I simpered.

"Hello," I replied a little too cheerfully. The boy didn't notice. Yes, I refer to Sora as a 'boy'. I'm nearing the stage of man. There's a line drawn between man and boy. I stand on one side, Sora on the other. Sora's just too hormonal sometimes. One time I caught porn magazines in his closet. But I shrugged it off. I went through that stage too. It's normal for guys like us.

Sora took in a deep inhalation of air and relaxed.

"Is it okay if I talk to you about something? I need some advice." Ah, the boy comes to the man for advice. Bring it on. If only it took a few minutes, though. If he had wanted to talk to me for even half an hour, I would have said flat out 'no'. But I had to help him out. He was my best friend.

"Sure, but I only have ten minutes," I stated to the brunette teenager. His face seemed to falter for a second before he regained his bright smile.

"Yeah, that's fine." I smiled back at him before glancing off to the side. There was a bench. How convenient. It's amazing how some things just seem to pop out of nowhere. Placing my school bag on the ground next to the seat, I sat down comfortably and motioned for Sora to follow suit. Eagerly, he sat down next to me. A little awkwardly close, but scooting a few inches away solved that problem.

"So…what's up?" I asked and rested my chin with my hand. My elbow was supported on the arm of the bench, so all was good. Sora bit his lip and craned his neck towards me. In his eyes were unheard emotions. I could tell. I could read him like a book. He was hesitant at first, but quickly got over it.

"I need advice…" he mumbled and looked in his lap. I sniffed.

"On what?"

"Attraction." I sniffed again.

"I see…"

"Of the same sex."

"Well-what?"

Sora bit his lip again, "I've been meaning to talk to you about this earlier, since it's kind of serious, and I finally found the time to, since we've both been so busy and all." I blinked a few times as I listened to my friend intently. True, we had not been talking to each other that much. I was surprised he still considered me as a best friend to share his secrets with. I had been so wrapped up with this school year's finals, and Sora had been into his basketball team. So, in our spare time, we tried to spend time with each other.

But what the hell was Sora trying to say? He seemed so nervous and on edge, and what did he mean by 'attraction of the same sex'? It took my brunette friend a moment before he answered my mental question.

"I'm gay."

Oh, that's what he meant…I nearly choked. But I didn't. I just kept my cool and continued staring at him. Though, I have to admit, I froze momentarily before clearing my throat. It was uncomfortable to be in a situation like that. Imagine your best friend (of the same sex, mind you) coming to you and randomly stating that they were gay. Yeah, it's not the most comforting thing to go through. Even though I tried to think about this reasonably, there was one phrase imprinted on my mind:

Oh. My. God. My best friend was gay.

This couldn't happen, could it? Why?! I didn't know why at the time. All I knew was that I was shocked. I was immediately reminded of the time Sora couldn't stop talking about a certain celebrity…who was a dude. But I didn't think anything of it! That was normal, right? How the hell was I suppose to tell him the differences of being gay and being straight? Did the kid even know the difference sexually? That was an odd subject to talk about…

All I did was simply say, "Oh." Why should I explain what was on my mind? Sora's eyes twitched as he took in my reaction.

"I mean, the guy is really cool, and I was wondering if you could give me some pointers." Why, oh why was he asking me for advice? I wasn't gay. He knew this. Everyone knew this. Everyone knew that I was interested in girls. I loved girls. That was the basic fact. Girls and guys are completely different. Yes, completely. That was what I believed. But Sora was my best friend…I couldn't just tell him that I thought he was a homosexual, psycho freak. I had to try to understand his viewpoint…

"Wow, um, okay…"

"You think I'm a freak, don't you?" Damn. Now he could read minds, too? I started from his remark and quickly shook my head, raising my hands in defense. So much for teenage-bonding-time…

"No! No, Sora, of course not…" I let my voice trail off as I noticed the pained expression on my friend's face. It hurt him to think that I hated him now. But I didn't hate him…Who knew? Maybe he really liked the guy. "Listen, I was just caught off guard. I'll offer my advice as best as I can, but I can't promise you anything, okay?" I looked at him cautiously. Sora blinked a few times, which, I have to admit, made me worried. But soon he smiled again.

"Okay. Sorry, I've just been really emotional lately…" Yeah, I could tell. Dear, dear, Sora…it's called 'hormones'. And life. But was it a normal phase to be confused with what your sexual interest was? Maybe, maybe not. I never went through that phase…I supposed that some people did, some people didn't. I sighed dramatically.

"So, you really like this guy…" I hinted at the obvious. Sora nodded once and gave me a disgruntled glare. "And…so…have-have you thought about telling him about it? Is he gay, too?" Sora let out a desperate scoff.

"That's the point. I don't know. How am I supposed to find out?" Touché. That was exactly the same question on my mind. How was Sora going to find out if his 'beloved' was feeling the same way? What would I do? That was what left me stumped.

"Erm, are you friends with him?"

"Yes." Aha. Step one was already completed…there had to be something else. But first of all…which guy did he like? The only other friends he had were Axel, Demyx, Hayner…Gross, even if I was gay, I wouldn't like Hayner. Pence wasn't even an option. There was Zexion, but Sora was only an acquaintance of his. Axel and Demyx were the only options, unless Sora was keeping this friendship a secret or something absurd like that.

Quickly, I looked at my watch. Five more minutes. Damn.

"Well, that's good, I guess…maybe the first thing you can do is start hanging out with him more often. Find out his interests…hopefully he's open minded and a nice guy. If not, he ain't worth it…And find out if he's gay," I shrugged, hoping that it would be the end of the conversation. It wasn't.

"What do I do then?" I thought on that for awhile before answering.

"Um, what you would normally do. If he is, ask him out and…stuff."

" 'Stuff?'"

"God, dang it, Sora, don't make this more difficult than it already is!" Sora snapped his jaw shut and laughed hesitantly and nervously, realizing the nature of his inquirement. I narrowed my eyes.

"Anyway, if he isn't gay, I'd suggest try being there for him through hard times and such. Be his best friend. Care for him. That kind of stuff. That's what I would do…" for a girl…Cough, cough.

Ahem.

Sora immediately livened up and grinned at me with his bright blue eyes. It was then when he officially made it known that it was the end of the conversation. He stood up and waited for me to do the same. Which I did, I just took my own sweet time accomplishing it as I grabbed my school bag. Grunting, I slung it over my shoulder and glanced back at him.

"Well, I take it that's it, then," I said. Sora nodded and broadened his smile. With only a 'see you later' exchanged from the both of us, I took a glimpse at my watch and noted how I still had time to run home and make it on time. The bus would be there in a minute, which was one of the reasons Sora was merely waiting on the sidewalk. He did, after all, lived a few miles away. Poor kid, though. He was the only one, besides his brother, who went home by a bus drive.

Shrugging the thought off, I made my way across the road and then stopped. I forgot to ask him one of the most important questions! I mean, what kind of friend is that? What kind of best friend is that? They tell you their deepest secret and ask you for advice. Isn't it the natural thing to do to ask your friend who their crush was? Of course it was. I guessed it slipped my mind. I did have a lot to think about, after all.

So I turned around, only to see Sora listlessly watching me. Since he was a good distance away (the road was wide, hey, c'mon), I cupped my hands around my mouth.

"Hey! Who is it?" It took a moment for Sora to fully understand the question. A mischievous grin slowly crept across his features. No answer. But the response seemed rather weird. The small school bus drove up suddenly and drew to a halt in front of him, blocking my view from him. Through the bus windows, I could see Sora boarding the vehicle and taking a seat at the front window seat. Through the glass, he threw me a small wave and another smirk before the bus drove off.

That was weird…why was he acting like that? Why couldn't he just tell me who it was? I mean, I was his best friend, right? Nobody else was around, so why couldn't he just answer me? He wouldn't keep a secret from me, would he? Unless…

That was when realization came and slapped me right in the face.

Oh. Oh.

Dang.

(A/N): Dear, dear Riku…it's called 'being sensitive to others'. Amazing how life sometimes work, hmm? Riku should have been more careful. So how was it? Hopefully it brought some awkward laughs…Reviews will be loved, of course.