Three Times Riku Hurt Sora
By Rhino7
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This little ditty is mine. So I apologize for the lame title, my imagination was shot on this one. I'm still in that funk of writing in whatever mood I'm in at the time, so this oneshot happened. Lately, I've been in a Sora-rut, and I can't stop writing around him, so here's just another by-product of suddenly having a lot of free time on my hands. For the record, I'm not happy with how this turned out, but I'm rarely satisfied, so…meh…
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Sora had always been cheerful. From the first time Riku had ever laid eyes on the kid, Sora had been all smiles and laughing eyes. Anger passed quickly and grudges faded almost as soon as they'd been established. Even during the war against the Heartless and later Organization XIII, he was the first to crack a joke, make a funny face, lessen the overwhelming anguish and horror surrounding all of them.
Riku had only ever seen Sora seriously pissed off twice…well, three times now. Both of the previous times, excluding the most recent, it was like watching a tornado rip through a trailer park. All common sense, reason, and restraint was thrown out the window. Punches started flying and Riku was sure Sora had created a few of his own swear words along the way.
The third time Riku saw Sora pissed off, it had been frighteningly quiet.
"Hey." Kairi's voice was soft as she held a steaming paper cup in front of him.
Riku sighed and watched the steam waft away from the coffee, reluctantly taking it. Kairi folded her arms across her chest protectively and shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"Can I—" She cut off her question and instead sank into the plastic chair beside him. "It was an accident." She started.
Riku swung his head up and fixed her with a flat, unbelieving look.
She blushed and looked down at her hands, "Okay, so maybe it wasn't—" She glanced at him again and corrected herself, "Fine, you were totally out of line and you deserve to feel like crap. I hope you do. There." She faced forward.
Riku rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand and took a small sip of the scalding coffee.
Boys being boys, Riku and Sora had rough housed a lot when they were kids. They still rough housed now, and they were barely legal adults. Accountable. Responsible. Accusable. It was daunting. Still, they had known the line, and respected that barrier between playful wrestling and intended harm. Riku had never truly intended harm to any of his friends. Unfortunately, all barriers could be broken and the other side of that line was colored only in absolutes.
The first time Riku hit Sora, he had been 5 years old. He could still hide behind that fact that kids that young didn't know that hitting was wrong yet. Sure, he knew he shouldn't hit, but 5 year olds also possessed big, bright, innocent eyes that usually got him out of trouble. Being just a few months younger, Sora had followed Riku around like that annoying little brother who idolizes you for reasons that don't even make sense.
It was particularly hot that day, so Riku had already been irritable. It was the day his two older cousins had come in to visit for the week. Both older boys were 10 years old, which was off the Cool Scale to a 5 year old. Riku followed them around like Sora followed Riku, only more subtle and with less wide-eyed adoration. His cousins, Micah and Will, had wanted to go see the smaller island off the coast of the main island, which Riku and his friends had staked as their own personal play place. Riku's mom said it was okay to row a boat over since Micah and Will were good swimmers and old enough to watch Riku.
As sure as sunrise, Sora had tottered along after Riku, grinning that goofy grin from ear to ear as he stared up at the much older, taller boys. To his credit, Micah and Will had been jerks, still were actually, and managed to make snide remarks and send jeers to the youngest boy without him catching on. Riku didn't quite understand much of their jokes either, but he pretended to.
Anyway, the boat was only big enough for three of them, and even though Sora could have fit, being so small and skinny, Riku had staunchly protested. They were going to do big boy stuff, not the stupid little kid stuff Sora would probably want to do. Sora had shook his head so hard he'd nearly fallen over, saying he wanted to do big boy stuff too. No baby stuff, he promised. Then two big tears had softened his eyes and that lower lip trembled. Micah and Will rolled their eyes and grunted things like 'Come on' and 'Riku, hurry up and get rid of him', and Riku had had enough.
He had climbed out of the boat and shouted at Sora to leave. He wasn't allowed to come along and to stop following him around. It was annoying and he wanted him to stop. Those two big tears broke free and traced down Sora's cheeks, but his eyes were pleading with Riku. He asked again if he could come. He wanted to come and do big boy stuff. So Riku pushed him. It wasn't very hard, but Sora hadn't expected it, and he toppled backwards to the sand. Riku stood over him, only hoping Sora wouldn't start crying and get them in trouble.
Sora had stayed where he was, on his backside on the sand, two tear tracks drying on his cheeks, biting on his lower lip hard, eyes wide and hurt. With a last hard look, Riku climbed back into the boat and left with his cousins, left Sora alone on the beach. Later, he would get in trouble for leaving Sora, only 4 years old, alone on the beach like that. He never got in trouble for yelling at Sora, not letting Sora come along, or even pushing him. Sora didn't tattle on him. He didn't follow Riku around any more after that either.
"You should talk to him." Kairi said simply, her own coffee long cold in her hands.
Riku grunted and looked down the hall, white and tilted and blank.
As if it was that easy.
One thing Riku had learned about Sora after all these years, hell, they'd known each other all their lives, was that true anger was hard and fierce. Sora got mad, sure, at the petty things. The little things like getting hit in the head with a coconut, getting beaten in sparring, and being the butt of jokes, but that was a superficial anger. Ten minutes later Sora would have forgotten he was ever upset at all, all giggles and grins and lame jokes.
Things got quiet when Sora was actually pissed. All the movement, the sound, and the arguing stopped, and even during battles, Riku could remember by the utter stillness and stealth by which Sora moved that some deep shit was about to hit the fan. The giggles, grins, and lame jokes went silent and the ass whipping started.
Even the ass whipping had gone still this time.
The second time Riku hit Sora, he had been 12 years old. Ever since that day when he was 5, Riku had respected that line. He promised himself he would never hit any of his friends again with the intent to hurt. He hated seeing his friends hurt, and he hated apologizing for it even more. By the time he tried to apologize to the four year old, Sora was laughing about something and had totally brushed off the conflict. So Riku let it go.
They were romping around on their island. Kairi, the new girl, was swinging her legs off the pier with Selphie. Riku thought she was cute, with her short red-brown hair and overly large blue eyes. Her laugh was crystal clear and bubbly, clashing with Selphie's high pitched, squeaky laugh. Kairi was the only girl other than Selphie close to Riku and Sora's age. Unfortunately, girls still had cooties, so Riku didn't dare try to talk to her or get close to her for fear of catching them.
Instead, he and Sora started sparring. Tidus's dad had crafted out some wooden swords for them to play with. Cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, pirates and…meaner pirates, you name it, they played it. It got rough but never too physical. The swords were mostly for banging them against each other, slapping each other occasionally on the leg or the back. The swords were pretty new to their games too, so Tidus and Wakka and even Selphie wanted their turns with the mock weapons.
Kairi never tried to join in the cavorting. She had preferred the sidelines, cheering for one side or the other, but usually both at the same time. Riku wanted to impress her, but a wooden sword could only function so well toward that goal. 'Winning' at that time had been achieved by knocking the sword out of your opponent's hands, and maybe swatting them on the shoulder or something. By the way Sora kept glancing at Kairi and grinning like a dork when she caught him at it, he wanted to impress her too.
It was out of jealousy alone that Riku challenged Sora to another sparring match, after freshly defeating Selphie, who stomped and pouted for a full ten minutes before slouching back to sit beside Kairi. Sora had instantly accepted, brandishing his own wooden sword and flashing Kairi a mock-pompous smile. Kairi smiled back, and Riku felt that green monster grow a little.
The match started out innocently enough: a smack there, a jab there. Sora hit Riku's sword once and ended up jamming him in the web of his thumb and forefinger, but it was an accident. Kairi was sitting between Tidus and Selphie, cheering and laughing for them both. Or had she cheered more for Sora? Riku wasn't counting, but it had sounded like she was cheering more for Sora. Did she want Sora to win? Did she like Sora or something? What about Riku? He could totally take Sora. Like nothing.
As if to prove his point, he swung particularly hard, the thick shaft of his sword crashing against the handle of Sora's, effectively knocking the sword out of his friend's hands and grinding against a few fingers as well. Sora yelped involuntarily as his fingers were smashed and something gripped Riku hard in the chest. Losing control of his body momentarily, Riku jerked his sword backwards in a loop. The blunt edge of the sword caught Sora under the jaw, shoving his head to the side with that compact sound of slapping skin.
Riku regretted it the second he saw Sora hit the sand, blood dropping from his mouth. He dropped his sword and gaped in horror. Kairi. Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka stared in slack jawed silence. Kairi jumped up first, followed immediately by Tidus, moving over to Sora's side. Sora was already on his knees, nursing a sore jaw and Riku winced at the angry red impact mark on his cheek. He had tried to apologize, sputtering and reaching out a hand to help him.
Kairi looked at him in disbelief and Tidus looked intimidated. Sora looked at Riku and for a moment, it was dead quiet. Then, his face turned into a smile, bloody teeth, busted lip and all. He waved a hand casually to ward off any worry, saying it was fine, it was okay, and look, Riku had even helped him lose that last loose tooth that had been bugging him for days. They had a good laugh and Sora washed his face off, setting out a round or two while everyone else rough housed.
Sora never let Riku properly apologize, so Riku let it go. After the incident, he became the one to beat, the tough guy, the cool dude. Sora never complained about it, never got mad, but Riku noticed the bruise for a few weeks afterwards, and Sora stopped pulling punches when they started wrestling.
"If you won't talk to him, at least talk to me." Kairi cut in, turning to face him.
Riku inhaled and looked straight into her eyes. There was nothing to say. Nothing he could possibly say could erase that accusing, hurt look in her eyes. She wasn't even the victim here. He had nothing to say to her.
Kairi waited for a full five second count, and then she stood up abruptly.
"Fine, don't talk to either of us, but don't even try to act like this isn't your fault."
With that, she turned in a huff and stalked off. She made it three steps before she stopped just as abruptly. Riku looked up at her halt and stiffened. Sora walked down the hallway, strides slow, fingers loose at his sides, eyes boring into Riku's. His gait emanated anger, and Kairi back stepped out of his bee line. The nurse was trailing after him, clearly too frightened to try to coerce him back into the ER. Concussions were no flippant affairs, although Sora didn't seem too affected aside from one blown pupil.
Sora stopped just short of Riku, roughly arms' length away, and his body language screamed at Riku to stand up, they needed to talk now, and the shit was about to hit the fan. No one else heard any of that, because Sora didn't say anything.
Instead, it was completely quiet in the hallway of the local hospital.
The third time Riku hit Sora had been three hours earlier. They had been at the dock on the main island, having just returned from their island for the day. Riku, Sora, and Kairi had been tying their boats up. Things had been tense between Riku and Sora lately. The letter from King Mickey had brought to light some darknesses that Riku hadn't had time to explain to his friends yet. Things about his involvement with Ansem the Wise and Organization XIII had come up and after a short spat, they had decided that the best way to handle the situation was to ignore it. Sora had never done well with agreeing to disagree. He couldn't just ignore things and let them fester. He was too healthy for that and wanted, needed, to get it all out into the open.
It was still a touchy subject for Riku. He didn't want to unburden himself on his friends like that. Sora and Kairi had seen him weak enough as it was; they didn't need to see him raw and burned and naked in all his sins. He didn't think he could handle that. Unfortunately, his reluctance to reveal the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth appeared to be distrust and disrespect to Sora, who immediately called him on it.
Tempers were already flairing and mutiny was already in the air. So when Sora pushed Riku in the chest, demanding an explanation. Riku reacted instinctively and in true overkill fashion. He punched Sora in the stomach hard enough that he doubled over. Kairi had cried out, telling them to stop fighting. He wanted to, he really did, but something…Maybe he could still blame Xehanort, wanted to punish Sora for daring to think he didn't trust them, didn't respect them enough to spill his guts to them.
Riku had never been the sharing and caring person. That was Sora. Riku couldn't just tell all his secrets and lies and sins and deeds and be comfortable about it. So when Sora doubled over, taken by surprise, Riku could only plead insanity for when he immediately rammed his elbow into the back of Sora's skull. Sora pitched forward into the sand and in the process, smashed his temple into the gnarled roots of the nearest coconut tree.
He didn't get up.
It took nearly three whole seconds before Riku realized he'd knocked Sora unconscious. Kairi was on her knees beside Sora, shaking him and trying to wake him up. Riku saw the blood trickling from a deep laceration at Sora's temple and hit his knees. He'd just hurt his best friend…again. Before Kairi could protest, Riku had hoisted Sora up over his shoulders and jogged to the hospital just two blocks down. He deposited Sora in the ER and retreated to a secluded section of the lobby, staring at his knuckles and wondering when he'd decided that the line was optional, when he'd accepted that intending to harm his best friend was okay.
Now here he was, looking up at Sora, who looked like he was finally fed up. The silence was hurting Riku's ears, and he stood slowly, acquiescing to Sora's threatening stare. Kairi backed off and silently urged the nurse to do the same.
Sora's temple was purple, swollen, and bloody, barely covered by a pad of reddening gauze. He was hunched forward slightly, favoring the back of his head. Regret blossomed afresh inside Riku, like salt on the wounds of already open sores of guilt and horror. There was no taking this back. There was no talking this down. There was no apologizing. He had never apologized. He had wanted to, but Sora had always made it seem unnecessary. Now it was too late. That line had been crossed. That barrier was broken.
Riku accepted that. It made him ache inside, but he could not begin to explain to Sora how terrible he felt and expect Sora to understand. He had no right to expect that of Sora. Sora had more than a right to end their friendship, for a hundred different reasons. Riku eyed him warily, waiting for the biting words he knew would never come.
Even as the cheerful one, Sora cracked sometimes. War does that to people. Riku was surprised Sora was lasting as long as he was, having seen the horrors he'd seen and endured the evil he had. But instead of screaming or drinking or picking fights, Sora was frighteningly quiet about it. That was when Riku knew the shit wasn't hitting the fan this time. No, this time shit was hitting Riku…right in the face.
So when Sora reeled back and clenched a fist without a word, Riku didn't duck. When Sora punched him, square in the cheek, he took it. He felt the knuckles break his cheek bone and his neck crack from the impact. He turned around completely and smashed into the plastic chairs, toppling unceremoniously to the floor, coffee spilling over his legs. He fully expected Sora to start kicking him in the ribs, spit on him, something more than one punch, albeit a painful blow that was intended to harm.
Riku didn't expect Sora to just stand there, fists clenched and shaking, blood starting down his face again from his temple. Kairi did not kneel down to help Riku, and Riku was glad she didn't. The colors slurred at the edge of his vision and Sora narrowed his eyes, bit his lip, and turned hard on one heel, marching back into the ER and the fussing nurse.
No chaos, no screaming, and no excessive violence. Riku dropped his head to the floor and closed his eyes, letting the tears come. There would be no laughing this one off. There would be no apology. There was only silence.
He closed his eyes and prayed for unconsciousness. More than that he wished to take back the last five hours. No one answered his prayers and when he dragged himself up off the floor several minutes later, alone, Sora had left the hospital and several new phrases for the bewildered nurse to contemplate.