Riku stared at the young man across from him, smiling as he fiddled with a sheet of paper in front of him.

"Riku?" the brunette tapped his fingers on the table.

"Hmm?"

"You seem sort of spacey," Sora reached forward and poked the silver-haired boy in the temple.

"Are you okay?

"Sorry," Riku said, trying to sound reassuring. "Bad day." Sora smiled lightly and fidgeted with the tie that encircled his thin neck.

"Sora, Riku!" they both looked up to see that head of red hair that belonged to their childhood friend, Kairi, bobbing towards them. Riku's lips quirked slightly as the redhead came to stand before them.

"How are you two?" Sora stood and pulled the girl into a tight hug, smiling.

"Fine, we were just working on homework," he glanced at Riku, grinning wildly as he turned to face him. "Right Riku?" Riku nodded and rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Until Kairi got here, that is." He poked at the redhead, smiling when Sora laughed. They laughed for a while, discussing the events of the day. Finally Kairi sighed and patted her backpack.

"Well, I guess you don't need me here," she reached over and slapped playfully at Riku's shoulder. "I'll take my leave." She made a funny face and laughed as she turned and made her way through the small crowd of mingling students. Riku's eyes fell back to the table, an unusual feeling of despair settling over him. He tried to remember, at any point in his life, when he had ever felt in any way like he was feeling now.

"Riku?" Sora's soft voice brought him out of his musings. Looking up, he quickly took in the look of concern on the brunette's face. "What's the matter?" Riku smiled sadly, leaning forward to peck Sora's forehead.

"I don't know Sora," he pressed his hand to the brunnet's cheek. "I really don't know." They were silent for a while, until Sora's phone began to ring, making them jump in surprise.

"Hello?" Sora lightly brushed Riku's fingers away, grasping them in his free hand. "Yes. What? Ok. Bye." Sora flipped his phone closed and sighed. "Roxas is out sick today, he want us to bring him his schoolwork." Riku rolled his eyes.

"Why can't Axel do it?" he folded his arms across his chest. "He's Roxas's boyfriend--" he closed his mouth when Sora frowned at him.

"Why can't we? Axels busy with his own stuff anyways." Riku scowled, narrowing his eyes as the tension between them grew.

"It's just a little out of the way, that's all." Sora's frown deepened as he threw the strap of his backpack over his shoulder.

"You don't have to come you know," Sora shoved his chair back and stood. "I'll do it myself." Before Riku could protest, the brunette had fixed his eye bandage more securely over his eye and stormed out of the room.

Riku peered up through the leaves, wincing slightly as a few heavy raindrops decided to fall on him. His mind wandered as he turned his cell phone over in his hands-the damn thing seemed to mock him while he feuded with himself over whether or not to call Sora. He glared at the pone, but it wasn't enough to distract him from remembering the emptiness that had been in Sora's free eye as he stormed away.

"Riku!" His head swiveled in the direction from which the shout had come from. Kairi and Namine were making their way through the jostling crowds towards him, shielding their heads as the rain began to fall heavier around them.

"Where's Sora?" Riku frowned at the name.

"Roxas's," he made a sound of acknowledgement in the back of his throat. Namine stepped forward and reached up, cupping his face in her small hands.

"Riku, what's wrong?" he turned his eyes to her, meeting her gaze as the rain beat down around them.

"Me and Sora had a fight," he finally said, grasping Namine's wrists.

"A fight?" Kairi asked. "Why? What happened?"

"Roxas called and asked us to bring him his schoolwork," he looked back to the ground. "I thought it was a bit out of the way, and it sort of took off from there." Namine smiled sadly.

"You need to talk to him, fix this." She insisted, smoothing the damp hair from his face. "You can't leave something like this alone, you know that." Kairi nodded and patted his shoulder.

"That's right Riku," She lowered her hands to grasp his. "Go talk to him, I've never seen you two happier then when you're together." Riku's lips quirked slightly and he sighed.

"I guess you're right," he looked at both girls before turning. "I'll go talk to him."

Sora knocked on Roxas's door, smoothing some stray hairs that had plastered themselves to his face away. He smiled when the door creaked open, revealing Roxas's paler-than-normal face.

"Hey Roxas," he stepped in as the opening widened, throwing his bag to the floor and slipping his shoes off.

"Sora?" Roxas came to sit next to the brunette, who had plopped down on the couch with a sigh. Roxas placed a hand on his shoulder. "Did you and Riku have a fight?" Sora blinked at the question.

"What?" Riku smiled sadly.

"You seem upset," he continued, staring into his friends face. "You always come to me when you're upset; you did when we were little too."

"Do you and Axel fight?" Sora blurted. He wanted to snatch the question back the moment it left his mouth, but it was too late, so he waited for a reply. The blonde's face creased slightly, his brow furrowing.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "Not lately though." He tilted his head to the ceiling, reliving fights that lay buried in the past. Sora winced guiltily, instantly sorry that he had brought something like that up. Roxas turned back to him, a small, tight smile pressing his lips together. Sora ducked his head, fixing his eye bandage and wincing as he applied pressure to the wrong place.

"You okay?" Roxas asked, concerned. "How long has it been?" Sora became still, despair gripping violently at his chest as detailed memories flooded his mind. Sora gripped his head and sobbed, groping blindly for the coffee table.

"Sora!" Roxas reached forward and caught the brunette as he slumped forward.

MAWAHAHAHAHAHA! i have finally got this up!

review my duckies! XD

review and i will attemptt write more!