Excerpt:

"Riku! Please don't do this to me," Sora pleaded.

"Sora stop it! You know you'll regret it. I won't do that to you or Kairi." His best friend warned him.

"Damnit Riku, why can't you forget about her for once?" The brunette argued.

"Well gee, I don't know. Maybe it's because we're best friends?" Riku yelled.

Sora put a hand on his hip, pointing out, "We all stopped being best friends the day Kairi and I started dating."

"And on that note, need I remind you of the fact that you still ARE dating her!" He said to the boy, emphasizing his point by jabbing a finger into his chest.

"Yes, and I'm sick and tired of putting up with all the abuse I get from her day in and day out."

He bit his lip to try and stop himself from wrapping his companion in his arms to comfort him from that abuse. He turned away when the temptation started to build a little too much.

A heavy pause followed. His friend's next words sounded hurt. "I don't get it Riku. One minute you tell me that I can always come to you with a problem. The next you look away from me." Sora put a hand on the man's shoulder, trying to gently get him to turn back around. "Riku? Please tell me what's going on."

The older man allowed himself to be turned slightly, and Sora saw it. The heat in his eyes. A sinfully sweet desire shined in his eyes like he was dying of thirst and he could drink Sora right up. Starting to feel warmth radiate off of his friend, he cupped the pale cheek. "You know…I wouldn't try to stop you."

Visibly pained with restraint, the man leaned into the touch, his eyes closed. "That's the whole problem."

Sora's brow knit into a frown. "I don't see what makes it a problem."

His white-haired god was clearly having an internal battle between his desire and morals. It only made Sora love him more. "You're dating someone."

"Someone who doesn't give a shit about me."

"You could fix---"

"There's nothing in our relationship that we can fix. She just doesn't care about me anymore." Rather than try harder convince him verbally, he rose onto his toes and pressed a kiss to his friend's lips. The touch already raised the swell of desire in his belly, and with such a simple caress. The taste was just as sweet as before; deliciously forbidden and so, so warm. Before the other could protest, whether or not he wanted to, Sora slid the hand on his cheek to the back of his neck, bringing their mouths closer together. Softly running his tongue along warm lips he tried to gently pry the other mouth open. A tentative tongue met his, and he could feel one hand land on his hip.

He tilted his head, slipping his tongue into the warm passage.

Riku's arms wrapped around his waist, along with more of a response in his kiss. A chuckle almost came to the younger's mind when he realized that Riku was once again struck with an internal struggle: Morals, or dominance.

It seemed that dominance was taking a quick lead when the tongue softly stroking his reached into his own mouth and began to sweep over the heated cavern. He moaned against the onslaught, and a rush of breath came out of his nose when he felt the hands around his waist reach down to grip his butt, pushing their groins together. His teeth gently bit at the tongue within his lips, encouraging the touch that claimed him. Riku groaned and slowly thrust his hips against Sora's. The press of their distended jeans together caused Sora to yelp and pull away from the contact of the other's lips.

His eyes opened half-way to meet with Riku's; darkened with desire. "You sure about this Sora?"

The brunette panted, smiling open-mouthed. "Riku…please…if there's ever anything you don't want me to do…at least let me love you now."

When the eyes across from his brightened with awareness he bit his lip, immediately regretting the words.

Chapter 1

Sora hopped over the log and ducked underneath it, hoping that he'd given his friend the slip. He punched his chest and let out a whoosh of breath in relief. Just to make sure, he peeked under the log, and his eyes scanned the empty beach, save for the the cerulean waves brushing gently against the sand. Okay. No Riku in sight. Smiling, he turned around again, and leaned against the dead tree

Suddenly he was splashed overhead by a water balloon. Confused Sora shook his head and looked back and forth frantically for the adversary."Wha---?"

Nowhere else to go, his gaze turned upwards, where he caught Riku red-balloon handed. His legs were hooked over the branches of the tree for balance, like he he was on a jungle gym, and his torso was dangling in the air. "I got you Sora! We're all tied up!"

The brunette stuck out his tongue in a childish gesture. "Damn you Riku!"

Aqua eyes widened significantly before Sora covered his mouth with his hands. "You said the'd' word! I'm gonna tell!"

"No! Aw, come on Riku it just came out! Please don't tell."

Riku's white shirt fell on his chest until it bunched up around his underarms. "Okay Sora…I won't tell."

The boy was about to give his immense thanks, until he noticed that very smug grin on pale lips. "What's the catch?"

His silver-haired friend pretended to think it over, then said, "You say I won the game, and I won't say you cussed."

Grumbling at the seemingly lose-lose situation, the brunette said, "Deal."

In an over-exerted way his friend flipped off the tree branch; obviously showing off. "This match of the Official Riku and Sora Water Fights goes to me!"

The younger boy grinned ruefully and reached into his back pocket. "I guess so."

Riku lifted his chin in triumph, and was about to gloat some more when he was struck right in the face with slick rubber that exploded in a wet splash. "New match! Sora gets five points!"

Dumbfounded, the older boy looked at his once again soaked shirt then glared at Sora. "No fair, I have to call the new match!"

"And you said the first match went to you! That means a new match has started," his friend yelled as he frantically tried to jump up to the roof of the wooden shack just a few feet over.

Riku growled after his friend. "But I'm empty and you've only got one left."

Sora stopped at the spot where he was running on the wooden walkway. "Oh come on!"

"Come on yourself! Let's just go to my house for a quick reload then come back. Truce?"

The younger friend grumbled and dropped to the ground, his sandals interfering with his running ability anyway. "Yeah, yeah; but just a short one!"

The blond looked over at the dock across the beach and grinned at his best friend. "Race ya! First one to the mainland gets an extra balloon!"

The brunette grinned back in delight and braced himself, his sandals sinking into the yellow sand. "You're on!"

He crouched down, bracing his feet apart, and focused his aqua eyes on the dock. "On your mark…"

Sora clenched his fist.

"Get set…"

Riku smirked.

"GO!"

They were off, their cycling legs kicking up bursts of sand behind them that stuck to their wet clothes. Their arms moved like pistons, going forwards and backwards to gain speed. Sora gave a quick shout, almost like he was in pain. Riku turned his head to check, only to get hit with another balloon, this time on the side of his head, causing him to stop for a second to get his wet hair out of his eyes. He looked up and saw his friend almost to the docks. He ran after him, quickly gaining speed. "Cheat for cheat Sora," he yelled out, the selfsame phrase his own version of "Tit for Tat." He threw his arms up and tackled the younger boy. His friend briefly grumbled a protest, then kicked his leg up and whipped them around until he was pushing Riku into the sand from the top. He laughed and threw his fists up in the air.

"Victory, Sora!" He put said fists on his hips with a satisfied grin. "Okay. Fair enough. We start over, no cheating."

Naturally skeptical Riku raised an eyebrow. Sora sighed and lifted his hand, extruding his pinky. "I promise."

His friend grinned in his acceptance, and lifted his pinky as well, linking them together in a youthful vow. The brunette stood and offered his hand. When the older boy took it however, it sent them both tumbling back to the ground. They laughed at the sad attempt from the skinny one to help pull his heavier, not to mention stronger, friend to a stand. "Nice try Sora."

He giggled. "Hey, at least I did try!" Once their laughter subsided they both stood up again, ready to continue the race from where they were at.

When they reached the dock Sora ran around to the area where the wood met sand, while Riku climbed on the wooden beams and hopped over them to get to his boat. Sora laughed and jumped into his own boat. "You'll never win Riku!"

The blonde had already untied the knot in the rope that held his boat to the dock. "In your dreams Sora."

They started rowing across that little bit of sea separating their favorite play spot from their home. The water there could never be drank, it was only good for fishing some of the time, was tranquil half the time, but was a beautiful bright blue all the time. No matter what time of year, or the weather condition, the sea in that little area was always sparkling like diamonds. A superb place to race boats, but an even better place to just float along and catch some time in the sun.

Between the splashing, bumping and pushing, they hit the mainland at a tie.

Sora was panting, rotating his tired arms in his boat. Riku hopped onto the brick walkway with a smile. "Hey Sora come on. You're getting weak on me."

The brunette puffed out a breath in exhaustion. "I swear that distance gets wider every time we cross it."

His elder friend laughed and held out a hand for him. "Weren't you paying attention to that lesson about plate tectonics? Of course it's getting wider. Just not at a noticeable pace."

"Yeah, to you who's actually growing with your age." He griped as he took the hand offered to him. His point was proven when with just a little tug from the one arm he was easily lifted from the boat.

His long legs jumbled as he was dropped on his feet, causing him to fall against Riku, who was busy smirking down at him. "I'm just getting some extra strength to go with my height. Meanwhile you seem to actually be losing weight."

Sora pushed him away and started the walk to his house. "I am not!"

He was pursued within seconds. "You are SO! You're getting skinnier every day!"

"I am not! You---"

The two spent the whole walk arguing Sora's weight: the ups and downs, every which way, until they were at the tall gray house and heard the unpleasantness going on inside…

"I don't give a shit about this furniture! You want to keep the goddamn junk then throw it in the basement with the rest of the trash!"

"Please keep your voice down you're scaring the kids!"

"They should be scared! And don't you dare start talking to me like that…"

Sora looked over at Riku with fear. It wasn't the first time they had come to his house like this, and he worried over his friend's feelings on the matter.

But he looked completely indifferent. The emotions were gone, and the mask was up. "He's drunk again. Can we restock at your place?"

The brunette nodded heartily. "Of course! Come on…"

They both turned away from his house and started walking to Sora's. He put his arm around Riku; trying to drown out the noise of the fighting. It had been shaping up to be a very fun day until now.

"Um…if you want we can pick up Kairi and Selphie. Boys against girls. We'll kick their butts!"

"Fun," the blonde said with a melancholy voice. His voice was just barely heard over a glass breaking. Then Riku's mom started crying. Sora frowned and tightened his grip. "You know, if you ever need a place to stay you can always come over to my house for a few days."

Riku paused for a moment then looked at his friend and smiled ruefully. "I know," he said. He then put his arm around Sora's waist.

That in itself was already a genuine thank you for future offers.

(Present)

"Hello! Oh how nice of you to come! It's great to see you! Oh…haha…you pretentious ass," Riku said with a false smile.

"Practicing again?" Sora asked teasingly from behind the door.

He sighed at the mirror and yanked on his tie. "I can't seem to get anything right with all this political crap."

Sora opened the bathroom door and stepped out with a sympathetic grin on his face. Riku looked over at him and gave his first, and probably last honest smile of the night. "You look great."

His friend was dressed in a finely-made black suit, the white shirt startling against his golden skin, and the vibrant blue silk tie accentuated his still boyish blue eyes. The only disappointment was his combed hair. When Sora was younger he would always keep his hair wild and free of product. In the past few years he'd squeeze gel into it and slicked it to the back. It completely went against his devil-may-care personality and he looked very uncomfortable wearing it. He wasn't surprised. Sora got just as anxious as Riku did in business situations; they simply weren't at ease. Of course to him the worst part of that hairstyle was that it took away from the natural cinnamon color in Sora's hair, but he would never say that out loud.

A blush was added to the brunette's smile as he came closer. "So would you if you'd learn how to put on a tie." He reached up and helped fix the flimsy knot, his minty breath blowing into Riku's face as he spoke. "I hate these things as much as you do. There's nothing more boring than going to a party where you have to stand around and guzzle champagne just to get through an hour-long diatribe about some executive's golf game only to be served food that's more suitable for a garden gnome. Followed with a boring speech from some rich yahoo about how through teamwork and perseverance we can all dream that someday we'll be rich enough to spit-shine his loafers."

Riku smirked; his own imagination formed that exact scenario ten minutes ago.

"But, there's a very nice plus side to this party," he said with a more serious expression, finished with the tie and now straightening the lapels on the jacket.

The older looked at the mirror, into his lost aqua eyes and fancy black suit with the stupid white tie. How could there possibly be an upside?

"This could be your chance to talk to your landlord about expanding your studio." Sora said to the reflection, both of them illuminated by the bright lights next to the mirror, their faces glowing with fright at the prospect of being in stuffy suits for three hours. But the very edges of Riku's mouth started to curve upwards at the mention of his studio. Riku ran a martial arts studio in a small part of a business complex. He was in the basement of the building, and it usually worked fine. But his classes were starting to expand, his hours had to be increased, and there was no place to figure out his budget. Fortunately, the man who occupied the space next to him decided to move out of town, giving Riku an opportunity to rent out some additional space for an office. The only catch would be he'd have to pay for the construction of the door between the two spaces. It was high time one got built there anyway; the architect did very poor building planning.

"Yeah. Who knows, maybe I can convince that sanctimonious dickhead that my studio is worth knocking down a few walls."

The brunette's smile reappeared and he tilted his head. "Well don't forget, I work in that building too. I can help."

He grinned. Shortly after they all graduated college the trio of friends---Riku, Sora, and Kairi---came to the city and found a building that had two open office spaces for rent. After they all sat down and talked about it they decided to take the rented spaces. Riku ran his martial arts studio, and occasionally used the wide open space to take pictures; photography being one of his major hobbies. Then Kairi and Sora took the space open on the first floor as a clinic. Kairi knew one of her ex-classmates had a medical degree and was looking for work, so she hired him as a doctor, became an accountant for the clinic, and Sora was a pediatrician. It didn't seem like the most fitting profession for him in Riku's opinion; Sora was great with kids and loved helping people…but it just didn't feel like Sora. He wasn't exactly sure what would be fitting, but he didn't like to pry into Sora's personal choices, so he figured it'd be a waste of time to even explore the thought. Of course all of that happened before things…changed.

"And remember, Kairi wants to meet us there."

Riku tried to smile warmly. Gee, how delightful that will be. Now not only do I have to get through the bore hoard I have to put up with Kairi stealing Sora from me. He did his best to hide his jealousy, and he usually did well until Kairi was actually with them. After all, his younger friend didn't talk about her much. Ever since the two started dating it seemed like the three of them became spaced apart in some way. Sora was either with Riku, or he was with Kairi. Rarely were the three of them together all at once, and when they were the conversations were kept light, and impersonal. Though the thought of not being…closer to Sora upset him greatly, it also upset him to think that his two best friends weren't his best friends anymore.

"Aaand," Sora said tauntingly, leaning his head on Riku's shoulder and wrapping his tiny hands around the muscular arm. "There's one more thing."

The taller man paused for a moment, trying not to get distracted by the misleading image in the mirror. There was no question. He and Sora looked like an attractive couple.

"What's the one more thing?"

Sora looked directly at him instead of the mirrored image. "You know that spare meeting room in the Plaza on the first floor?"

Riku paused for a moment, then nodded and turned back to bright blue eyes. The Plaza was where the party was being held. "Yeah, why?"

His younger friend grinned and spoke in a low voice, like he was about to say something shocking. "I got a key. There's a little kitchen in there. And I have a delivery man set to drop off an order of Chinese for us. We can sneak in there tonight and actually have edible food!" (1)

When he finished describing his plan he was practically hopping up and down he was so excited.

The taller man grinned and held a hand out. "Sora you kick ass!"

The brunette sighed and looked off into the air, refusing the high five. "Yes I know," he said loftily, as if the knowledge was commonplace.

He laughed and yanked the man over to put him in a headlock.

"Ahh! Haha! Aw come on Riku, I just got this pressed this morning!"

He laughed and released him to turn off the bedroom lights and go to the dining room. "Yeah, yeah. So when is that delivery man supposed to come by?"

His friend followed him. "During dinner. That way we can skip out on that stupid speech."

"Yes!" Riku said with a sense of triumph. It was one thing to listen to the Mayor on TV. In real life he couldn't change the channel. He picked up his invitation, cell phone, and keys. "Okay, have everything?"

Sora gave him an irritated stare then placed his fingers on his chest very flamboyantly. "Oh of course, I packed my lip gloss and my compact in case I ne---"

He was cut off as a scarf was thrown in his face.

"Just shut up and get your coat on. And make sure to grab your wallet! I'm not paying for the taxi tonight."

(Outside the Plaza)

"Thanks a lot," Riku said, handing the cabbie his fee. He got out and joined Sora on the sidewalk. "You all set?"

The brunette smoothed his hair once and nodded. "Yeah."

They both turned to go inside, approaching the line at the steps. "Hey, thanks again for coming along Sora."

His friend smiled. "No problem. I'll probably end up begging you to do the same thing eventually."

He chuckled, and looked ahead. The soft light inside was shining on the dark streets. It was such a charade of optimism and merriment; a ruse to cover up the utter monotony that the corporate world really was. After the deep breath, the white-haired man stepped forward, only to be stopped by the honking of a car close by.

They both looked back at the street to see a cab door opening, and a peek of red hair coming out.

"Kairi!" Sora said happily, then ran to the cab door and held it open for his girlfriend.

Riku allowed himself a snarl since no one was looking. Yippee. Hey bitch, what took you so long? Maybe someday he'd apologize for all the evil mental stabs he took at Kairi, but for now he found it easier to wallow in bitterness. She had Sora, and until otherwise he would quietly throw insults at her.

They started walking his way, Kairi dressed in a long one-shoulder aqua dress with a black overlay. There was a turquoise flower on the strap, and she wore turquoise high heel pumps to match. She was giggling, pushing her hair out of her eyes with a black-gloved hand. "Hi Riku! Oh, it's so nice to see you again!" She opened her arms and leaned in for a hug.

He hugged back, smiling. "Hey Kairi, what took you so long?"

She laughed, smelling suspiciously of the same mint that Sora did. They both came to the party with fresh breath…he didn't like those implications.

"I know, and I'm sorry. My cab driver was new to the city. I swear they should make these guys walk the whole town before they're allowed to drive it!"

Sora laughed at the small joke while Riku scowled on the inside. He should have lied and said he was only allowed one guest. But no, he had to go and blurt out that he could bring two people. He'd just condemned himself to a whole evening of bad jokes, Sora and Kairi randomly kissing and a third party butting in on a good Chinese dinner between friends. She was still giggling, and looked like she was about to lean in for a kiss already. Riku quickly opened his mouth to intervene but before he could even get one word out Sora said, "You guys want to head in now? It's getting pretty cold out."

Riku nodded vigorously. "Oh yeah!"

There was one couple ahead of them, so they could feel the warmth from the heaters inside. He didn't want Kairi to be there and he really didn't want to go inside and face all those business moguls. A no less than crappy night lay ahead.

He felt someone nudge his elbow. "Hey, Riku. You okay?" Sora asked, noting the anguish on his face.

He looked down at the brunette with a sigh. "Yeah. Just gotta get through it." He looked back at the entrance with bluster, suddenly aware of how much he was acting like a drama queen. It was just a damn party! No need to mope about it!

Determined, he reached into his pocket to fish out his invitation. When he tried to pull his hand back out it was obstructed by a tight grip on his arm. His eyes went back to Sora, who again encircled his arm. Riku raised an eyebrow at him, "Sora?"

The younger man smiled compassionately. "Remember, you don't have to get through it alone okay?"

He paused for a moment, smirked. "I know, you weirdo."

(1) – I'm going to have to break the fourth wall a couple times; please forgive me.

My first KH fic. Hope you like it. Please review. :) Don't worry my YGO readers; I'm working hard on those stories too!