-Two Years Ago-
"Hey, squirt."
The instant Sora heard that voice, even though it sounded a little different from normal, a smile spread across his face. He jumped up from his previous spot on the ground and tackled the silver-haired teenager in front of him. He would always do that when Riku would come visit. He'd glomp him in the grass and hug him til' he begged for mercy. And Riku would always laugh afterwards then ruffle up his gravity-defying chocolate locks. They would hang out for the rest of the day and just have fun. Except, none of that happened today. Nothing good at all happened today.
A sharp hiss of pain came from the older boy and he tried to lift himself up. Sora hopped off of him and looked at him with a confused expression. The twelve-year-old was about to ask what was wrong untill he figured it out for himself. A slash ripped through the left side of Riku's black T-shirt and a red liquid stained his clothes, doing the same to the once green grass. The hurt teen clutched his side in a way to stop the pain; to stop the blood from flowing out. He let out an agonizing groan. Sora stared wide-eyed and unmoving. Riku had never been hurt this bad before. He'd get into a lot of fights at school but the resulting injuries were never major. Just your typical bumps, bruises, and cuts. Except for now, this was nothing ordinary.
"Riku," Sora began softly as tears began to fill in his eyes, "what happened? What happened to you?"
"Bastard had a knife," the words came out with pure hatred. Riku closed his eyes and tried to block out the searing feeling coming from the wound. He felt light-headed as he continued to lose precious blood. He tried to get up but at hand stopped him from doing so. He opened his eyes to see what he thought of as the worst thing that could happen. Sora had his purple cellphone pressed up against his ear. Quickly, Riku knocked the device out of his hand. Moving so fast caused more of the crimson life supply to leave his body.
"What are you doing?" The question was shouted. "I was trying to call for help!"
"No!" He yelled. He didn't want help. It wouldn't help. It'd do the exact opposite.
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"I'm fine!" Riku said and grit his teeth together. It hurt so bad. Yes, his cut was very painful but that's not what was causing him the most pain.
"Your bleeding, stupid! What do you want me to do just sit here and let you die?" Water spilled out from the younger's eyes and he began to sniffle in an attempt to stop the tears. The effort was futile. And so was Riku's plan to stop all of this from happening. He gave in and didn't say anything when Sora went to retrieve his phone. He dialed in the three digits needed for emergencies and began to wait for an answer. While the phone rang, Sora looked straight into Riku's turquoise eyes.
"Don't die. Please, don't die," he whispered.
His eyes wandered over to the I.V from the ceiling. He checked out the T.V. above him which was off at the moment. He took a glance at the heart monitor, too. It's constant beeping was driving him crazy as he laid alone in the cold hospital room. But it was better than listening to what his parents had to say. Those last words. He wanted to think that this was all a dream and he'd wake up in his own bed. It'd be another lazy Saturday with Sora. His blank expression suddenly turned into a deeply saddened one.
"It's all over, huh, Sora?" He said to himself and closed his eyes.
Sora. The kid never left his thoughts. But he wouldn't be the one leaving.
"Riku?"
For a minute he figured he was just hearing things. But when he opened his eyes and gazed by the door, the brown-haired tween stood there looking very worried. He slowly approached his bedside.
"Hey."
"Don't act so casual, Riku," Sora kneeled so his and Riku's eyes leveled with each other, "tell me what happened earlier." His voice was sad and soft.
Riku averted his gaze. "I can't."
"And why not?"
"Because," he started in a voice barely above a whisper, "because, I don't want you to get hurt like I did."
Sora's breath stopped from the statement.
"Wh-what?" He didn't understand. He didn't understand why someone would hurt Riku this bad and try to do the same to him. Why? What had they ever done to deserve that?
Riku didn't respond to the question. He did however say something that he didn't want to say. He never wanted the words to come out of his mouth. Ever. But he needed to know. Maybe it was the for the best. But it didn't feel that way.
A hand reached out to cup one of Sora's tanned cheeks. At that moment, Sora felt something. Something bad. Something horrible.
"You don't have to worry, Sora. You'll be safe." But will you be happy? Riku thought. He hoped Sora would stay his natural cheery self forever, no matter what happened. That's what he liked about Sora. That's what he loved about Sora. That's what he'd miss the most about Sora.
"You'll be safe because I'm leaving."
Riku's pale finger wiped away a stray tear from Sora's face.
"Don't cry."
"Why are you telling me?" Sora asked, his voice quivering. "You're crying, too."
Riku used his free hand to wipe away the salty tears he let out.
Gaining back some of his composure, he took one Sora's hands in his own.
"I promise you, I'll see you again. Someday soon."
Author's Note: I'm so happy. I've finally written something that's over 1,000 words by its self. It may not seem like it but that's a HUGE accomplishment for me. And I'm hoping to get the next chapter out for this sometime this week.
Critiquing is welcome. I feel like this was written somewhat... awkwardly, if you'd like me to go in detail more, please say so and I'll do my best to fix this up a little...but if you like it then, YAY!
