Alls Fair in Love and War
Disclaimer: I do not own "Kingdom Hearts" or any of the characters therein. It is not my intention, deliberate or otherwise, to claim otherwise.
Thoughts in italics
Warning: This fic is shounen-ai. Boy/boy. Don't like, don't read.
"Riku? Why did you choose the darkness over staying with me?" Sora was staring at the night sky as he stood next to Riku.
"What?" Riku pulled himself up from his relaxed position on the fallen palm tree next to their home.
Sora scratched the back of his head and turned slightly to conceal the blush that stained his cheeks. "I mean...well…you see…" Sora cringed as he trailed off.
"Sora?" Riku pulled on Sora's shoulder trying to get the smaller boy to look at him. "Sora, what do mean?"
Sora stayed quiet, the blush becoming worse as he tried to think of a way to rephrase his question without giving anymore of himself away. He didn't even now if Riku liked guys like that and he wasn't about to kill their friendship with a stupid mistake.
"Sora?" Riku's question brought Sora back to the present.
"I mean, you could have stayed with Kairi and me, so why did you choose the darkness? We didn't want you to leave and my quest was mostly spent trying to find Kairi and you, Riku. So why did you leave?" Sora turned to look into Riku's eyes, the pain he felt when the door to darkness closed in his face swimming back to the surface.
Riku stared in Sora's damp eyes, seeing that Sora was still very much hurt by his actions even though the younger boy pretended that everything was fine. 'Sora must not realize that he's crying.' Riku thought to himself, 'He would have turned away by now if he did.'
"Sora…" At his name an emotion passed through Sora's eyes too fast for Riku to catch.
"Never mind, stupid question. Forget I asked. You had your reasons, right?" Sora realized that his face was damp and scrubbed his sleeve across his cheeks to rid himself of the moisture before standing and turning toward the house. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning. Night, Riku."
"Sora!" Riku stood as Sora ran to the house. He let his hand fall back to his side, his confusion evident on his face. 'Was it my imagination, or is Sora acting a little…strange? I think I need to talk to Kairi.' With that thought in his mind, Riku turned to the house down the path from his and Sora's.
Kairi was watching the "Mating Habits of Ancient Kippi Raptors" for her biology report on Monday. 'Really, we fight the Heartless and Nobodies and who knows what else for who knows how many years and we end up with finals not a month after we get back. Honestly, what is a Kippi Raptor anyway?'
The knock on her front door was more than welcome. Kairi hit pause on the tape when she heard the door open and close, followed by footsteps she could barely hear. Riku and Sora were the only people who ever let themselves into her house without her answering and, since Sora couldn't be quiet to save his life, that meant Riku had decided to pay her a visit.
"Kairi." Riku paused in the doorway to make sure she was decent before coming the rest of the way into the den to sit down.
"Hey, Riku. What are you doing out so late?" Kairi's glance at the clock told her that it was almost midnight. She groaned silently in her head thinking about how long it was going to take her to finish her paper at this rate.
"Kairi," Riku stuttered, eyes drifting to the rather vulgar image on the television screen. 'Are those lizards…?' "Kairi," Riku shuddered and started again, "have you noticed anything wrong with Sora lately?"
Kairi turned back to face Riku at the question. "What do mean, Riku?"
Riku shifted, "I mean, have you noticed Sora acting strange or saying anything odd lately? I thought since you and he were seeing each other you might have noticed something."
Kairi's eyes widened and her lips parted slightly. She was truly at a loss for words. 'Me and Sora? Where did Riku get that idea?' A moment later Kairi clamped her jaw shut as another thought hit. 'Is Riku blind?!'
"Riku, where did you get the idea that Sora and I are dating?" Kairi asked.
Riku blinked at her before answering, "You're not? Every time we all get together to do something Sora gets this dreamy look in his eyes and starts tripping over himself." Riku paused in thought for a moment. "Not that he doesn't do that anyway."
Kairi stared at Riku before bursting out laughing. Riku blinked again at Kairi. "Honestly Riku, are you that blind?" Riku stared at Kairi some more.
"Are you finished yet?" Riku would have been offended, but he had known Kairi for far too long. She had a tendency to say whatever popped into her head.
Kairi composed herself and wiped her eyes before leveling Riku an amused look. "Riku, Sora doesn't think of me like that. In fact, I known straight from the source that Sora has been in love with the same person for years and it most definitely isn't me."
Riku was surprised. He had thought that Kairi and Sora were destined to be together. Why else would Sora go through so much to save her not once, but twice? Sure they were friends, but the second time wasn't even necessary since Riku had been with her the entire time. Riku knew that Sora wasn't lying when he said that he was sure Riku was more than capable of taking care of Kairi, so why all the trouble? Unless… no. Riku shook his head. Sora wouldn't. 'He couldn't feel that way about you Riku. Stop pushing your perversions onto him.'
Kairi could read everything passing across Riku's face like an open book. 'Poor Riku.' Maybe she needed to give them a nudge. "Riku."
Riku looked back at Kairi when she said his name.
"The only person Sora could ever love is the same person who stole his heart all those years ago. And now Sora is seventeen years old which means that it's getting harder for him to hide how he feels. He thinks that if he tells them that they'll reject him outright and he'll lose the friendship that they've got right now, too." Riku's face hardened at the thought of some unknown woman rejecting Sora. His fists clenched. 'How could anyone reject some one so pure and loving… Whoa back up, Riku! No thinking about Sora loving.'
"Riku, it's you." Kairi waited until Riku's attention was focused on her again.
At Kairi's words Riku froze.
"Sora is in love with you, Riku."
Riku couldn't believe what he had learned from Kairi. Now staring at Sora as he slept, her words kept ringing in his ears. 'Sora is in love with you.' How could he have been so stupid? Riku thought of all the times he had snuck up on Sora and Kairi while they were doing something only to witness Sora tripping all over himself as soon as he caught sight of Riku. Or all the times that Sora had crawled out of bed to sit with him outside when he couldn't sleep because of the nightmares about the darkness. Sora even took care of the house and made dinner for him.
Riku brushed a strand of hair from Sora's face before leaning over to place a chaste kiss on his lips.
"Sleep well, Sora. Tomorrow, everything changes." With that promise Riku claimed his own bed, a smile on his lips at the thought of what the next day would bring. 'After all, alls fair in love and war.'
[A.N.: This was originally intended to be a oneshot but I'm still undecided whether or not to make it a chapter fic. Any reviews are appreciated unless you ignored the warning at the top of the page and are only flaming because it's shounen-ai. Thanks.