AC: yet again, this is a Christmas present. XD Well, was. This was uploaded to DeviantArt, yes, but I hadn't uploaded it here. This one was made for NanjoKoji when I still had respect for her.
He hadn't known how long he had hidden it, but he had. For what seemed like years, he had been hiding his true feelings. He had tried time and time again to hint towards it, but they were always left unnoticed. He had even begun to wonder whether or not Sora would actually return them. He had spent three years debating whether or not he should tell him. But now, he had finally decided. He couldn't keep things like this from his best friend for long, definitely not.
Riku climbed onto the paopu tree and carefully walked across the tree, reaching for the yellow fruit hanging from the top. He moved his other hand to support himself against the trunk as he carefully grabbed the oddly shaped fruit. He gave it a sharp tug, ripping it from its place. Thankfully, he hadn't broken any of the legs. He carefully climbed down with the fruit in his hands, jumping down onto the sand near the tree. He turned it over in his hands before he sighed and began walking towards the docks.
If he wanted to give this to him, he would most definitely give it to him the right way. He tossed the present into his boat and climbed inside, grabbing the oars and rowing towards the mainland. He could hardly remember the way there, but once he stepped through the door to his large house, his mother greeted him and then asked who the paopu fruit was for. He merely just told her 'someone special' before heading to his room.
There, he pulled out a small wooden box and opened it up, taking out all the seashells from inside. He carefully placed the paopu fruit inside it before he put the lid back on. He would have to wrap it... He frowned and shook his head as he stood up and walked back out. "Mom! Where's the wrapping?" he called, his voice echoing through the house.
"The wrapping paper? It's in the storage room, honey!"
"Okay! Thanks, Mom!" Riku made his way to the storage room on the lower level, walking into the small space. He instantly spotted the box of wrapping papers and grabbed out the dark blue one with snowflakes on it. This one would have to do... He took it back to his room and dropped down in front of the box. Now... Time to wrap it...
~*~*~
Riku stood outside Sora's house with the box under his arm. He had picked the fruit only a few hours ago, but now he was having second thoughts... What if Sora didn't feel the same? Would he ignore his best friend...? The silver-haired male frowned and shook his head. He couldn't think about that now. But maybe it was best if he waited for another year. Or maybe until the summer when Sora's birthday was...
He let out a sigh and turned to walk away, but stopped when he saw the door open. He tensed and looked back to see Sora standing in the doorway, looking at him with a confused expression. "Riku? Is something wrong?" he asked softly. "You've been standing out there for about thirty minutes now... You okay?"
"Err..." was all Riku could get out for now. Well, looks like he couldn't turn back now... If he did, Sora would expect something. Either way, the brunette was going to figure out. He then smiled and motioned down towards the present. "Just debating on whether you were busy or not. I didn't want to give you a present if you were busy."
Sora hesitated as he looked down at the present. He hummed a bit before he reached over and grabbed it from Riku, not noticing how reluctant Riku was to give it to him. "Oh, ok. Well, I am a bit busy, but I can open it after I'm done," he said with his normal grin. He then stepped out of the way for Riku to come in. "C'mon in. I want you to be there when I open it. It's from you, anyway." This time, he noticed the hesitation in Riku's step when he walked inside, though he decided to ignore it for now.
He closed the door once Riku was inside and led him up to his messy room, setting the present down on his bed for now. "Mom needs some help painting one of the rooms. The dining room, actually. The paint's all chipped and faded. She wants it to look better for when dinnertime rolls around," he said as he looked at the silvernette, who nodded in understanding. He reached over and grabbed his best friend's hand without thinking about it. Without saying a word, he tugged Riku down the stairs and into the dining room. There, a woman with the same shade of brown in her hair stood near the wall, picking at the paint. "Mom, look! We got someone else to help us," he said as he let go of Riku's hand and walked over to his mother.
The woman looked towards Riku and smiled sweetly at him. "Hello, Riku. I don't see you as much anymore. Sora's been wondering why you haven't been coming over lately," she said to get a whiny 'mom' from the brunette. She chuckled lightly and patted her son's head. "Calm down, Sora. I'm not trying to embarrass you. Now let's get this room painted, shall we?"
~*~*~
Riku let out a sigh as he collapsed onto Sora's bed, falling back and staring at the ceiling. Of course, he was careful not to hit the present due to the fact that he didn't want to harm the paopu fruit inside. He also didn't want to give it to Sora, but it was too late now... He couldn't wait until later because he already knew that he had a present. He couldn't turn back now. He glanced down at the present to see that it was missing. He sat up quickly and snapped his head around to face Sora, who was already tearing off the wrapping. His stomach twisted as the wrapping was casted aside.
Great... This wasn't good, it seemed... Sora had already taken off the lid and was pulling out the paopu fruit with a blank expression o his face. It almost looked as if he didn't know what it was or what it meant... "Riku..." he said softly as he looked down at the paopu fruit. "It's... It's a paopu fruit."
"Uh... Yeah... Yeah, it is."
Sora stared at it for a moment before he broke off one of the points. He hesitated before he took a bite from it, much to the surprise of Riku. He tasted the sweet fruit with a hum before he tossed the rest of the point to Riku. "Here. It tastes good," he said with a smile, watching the other catch it with a surprised expression.
"But... Sora, if I eat it-"
"I know. And I want you to eat it."
Riku examined the other's face for a moment, finding that the other was completely calm and collected as well as... happy? He raised an eyebrow lightly before he looked down at the paopu fruit in his hand. "So, you-"
"Yes. Now just eat the paopu before the world is swallowed in darkness again."
Riku chuckled lightly and took a bite out of the paopu. "I'm pretty sure it won't, Sora," he replied only to get a shrug from the brunette.
"It might. You never know. And I don't want to lose you again. It was a pain in the butt to find you."