Love Is Blind
Chapter One
Sitting on a chair near the windowsill of the tree house, Riku started to space out. He was not daydreaming though, just staring into nothing outside. He wasn't even thinking at the moment, just looking out and being blinded by the sun's constant light on the tiny island.
The sun was just rising and Riku thought that he was probably the only one awake out of all the children on Destiny Island. Well, maybe he wasn't considered a kid anymore. AT age sixteen, Riku was the eldest boy on the island.
They live on a small island, so there weren't that many people, Riku's only friends were Sora, Kairi, Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka. They were also the only kids on the island, so being called friends were inevitable. Riku didn't mind though. He was fine with it. He had known them since he was five. He was quite comfortable with them all. But there was only one thing that troubles him now that didn't when he was fourteen. This was something he could not talk about. He couldn't even sort it out in his head, nonetheless talk about it.
When a loud call was heard from the tree house, it woke Riku from his thoughtless trance.
"Riku!" he heard a cute, alto voice from below. Riku turned his attention to the caller.
Sora... It was he who called with a waving arm up at the elder boy. Sora's smile was quite noticeable from the distance and also visible was his clearly white teeth. His smile could make even the indifferent boy, Riku, want to smile back. But he did not. It would be out of character.
Riku just looked at his young friend. He was not the type to be as excited as Sora, and he was not the type to yell like him either. He waited for the fifteen year-old boy to say something else.
"Riku!" it came again. That sweet, harmonious voice. "Come down!" the brown spiky-haired boy called, the smile never left his face.
Riku sighed, not out of anything. He just simply sighed and walked away from the windowsill. He found the ladder and climbed down.
Sora waited for his friend to join him. When he saw the silver-haired boy, he smiled again.
His smiles were always so encouraging, Riku noted. A very charming smile indeed. But this smile right now was even more enchanting to Riku because it was for him, intentionally meant for him to see. He cherished these smiled because it was quite frankly rare.
"What?" Riku asked in a soft voice when he was a yard away from the cheerful boy.
"Come on Riku," the boy said, "it's your birthday. You should have some fun. Everyone's out by the shore." Sora started to turn around. "Come on," he said one last time before he began to run.
Riku, by habit, ran after the boy. Whenever it was like this, it always seemed like a race, a race to see who's faster, who's better. That was what everyone thought, and even Riku too until now. He did not want to race Sora to see who was better. No, that was not it. To the sixteen or seventeen more accurately year-old boy it had became more than that. Riku enjoyed it too. It was something they share; only they share. But Riku would not try to change other people's views because deep down he knew that Sora still thought of it as a competitive thing. After all they were still rivals, if not opponents. Even though they were friends they simply oppose each other in so many ways.
Soon, the two boys were side-by-side in front of a camp of friends. Riku may have been able to beat Sora first to the others but he hesitated.
"Riku, Happy Birthday!" Selphie exclaimed with genuine sweetness. She was the liveliest of the bunch, always smiling and always sweet. But she was especially sweet to none other than Riku. The fifteen year-old brunette had a crush on the boy since thirteen. Riku knew but tried not to encourage. He had something else to worry about.
"A very Happy 17th Birthday!" bellowed Kairi. She was a pretty brunette with shining pools of blue. It was obvious by the way Sora looked at her that he liked her in more than a friend way. Riku knew and was aware of this. Somehow, he was never able to stop the feeling in his heart every time he acknowledges this. It always seems to hurt.
"Hitting seventeen, my man," said Wakka with his hoarse voice. He was only a few months younger than Riku. Wakka is a fun guy, foolish but fun. He's always the one with the jokes. Everyone laughs at him with the exception of Riku and even he sometimes gives more than a smile.
"Before you know it, you'll be married," commented Tidus. He's always the one with smart-ass cracks. This blond, blue-eyed boy is quite cute but most of the time he needs to watch his mouth.
This time, he made Selphie blush. Riku was simply trying to ignore it. But he simply couldn't stop himself from looking towards Sora to see how he reacted to Tidus' blunt comment. He guessed that in a hopeful way, Sora may react differently. Instead as suspected, Sora just let out a carefree laugh and his eyes were on Kairi. Riku suppressed the need to gag. Awk. Riku felt something again; something in his chest choking his heart. The way Sora looks at Kairi, so loving and caring, not at all the way he looks at anyone else, not even Riku. Riku was jealous. Why couldn't Sora look at him like that? Why could he at least stop looking at her like that? Why does he feel so heart-broken?
Sora and the others continued to laugh and giggle. "Let's just see who will want him," commented Wakka good-naturedly.
"I know Selphie wouldn't mind," answered Tidus with a mockingly curious stare at Selphie. The poor girl's face was as red as a tomato.
Seeing her distressed friend, Kairi sought to somehow rescue her. "Riku's not bad," she said, not meaning much other than the words itself.
Riku could see a cock frown on Sora's face, but it soon disappeared before Riku could devise it.
Wakka laughed. "Ya, man. If I was a gal, I'd go for you too," he joked.
"Yeah, right, Wakka, like the mighty Riku would look at you twice," Tidus made a counter joke. They all laughed. Riku smiled so he would not ruin his friends' moods.
"At least I'm better looking," remarked Tidus with a pretend anger face.
At this everyone just burst into laughter. When Riku came back into his senses, he looked at Sora, who was laughing heartedly still. He was sitting on the beach sand with both hands on the back to support him. He looked so comfortable like that. He doesn't know that that is a very arousing position; his slumping makes it so sensual. / What about you, Sora? Would you want me/
The rest of the day went by without troubles. Just friends playing and joking around, celebrating one of their own's birthday. At the end of it all, they had cake and Riku received presents from each of his friends. From Kairi was the cake itself, which was delicious. She really was a good cook. From Selphie was a chain she made with great care and time of pebbles and gems she found. From Wakka was a new fishing line. Since they live on this island a fishing line was one of the most useful things. From Tidus was a ball he made himself. He calls it a bliztball and he even made up a game for it. And he is probably the best one at it. And from Sora, the one who matters the most to Riku, was a hand-carved wooden sword.
Riku looked at the sword more carefully in his room. It was carved smooth, the tip sharp to a perfect point that may hurt if a lot of force was used. Riku and Sora had always found with wooden swords like the one he was holding. Although Riku was usually the winner, Sora never gave up. His determination, too, was arousing.
Riku looked at the handle. He felt something, a carving, an engraving. Riku held it up to the light. He read it in a slight whisper. "To Riku. From Sora." Suck simple words, but it was more than enough to make this Riku happy to know that Sora had spent time on the sword, had spent time on him. And the letters were carved beautifully, well; at least, that's what he thought as he held it while laying his head on his pillow. After all, Love is too blind to see the truth.