Author's Note: Here's a short oneshot that randomly popped into my head yesterday. It's kinda random, but kinda cute. I think anyway. I quite like it.
Disclaimer: Don't own it.
FireFlies
Riku and Sora were always ones to have fun. Ever since they met –Sora age 6, Riku 7- their main priority whenever they were together was to have fun.
They were best friends, after all. Riku and Sora had become best friends the day Riku tricked Sora into eating a worm. And best friends always had fun.
Right?
Right.
But ever since the two became seniors, the fun just seemed to vanish. Riku was too busy preparing for college to stop and actually spend time with Sora. And Sora didn't understand why. Sure Sora had his own preparations to do, but he didn't completely throw the fun away. Not like Riku did, or so it seemed to the brunet.
Riku had tried to explain to him that he just didn't have the time to play silly games with Sora. In order to get into the college of his choosing, he had to put all his time, focus, and energy into school.
Sora tried to understand, but he couldn't. He couldn't see a life where it was all work and absolutely no play. His mind couldn't wrap around even the idea of it. The "silly games" Riku had referred to were Sora's way of relaxing and enjoying life. Relieving himself of the stress that college put onto his shoulders.
But Riku didn't see it that way. He saw these games as a waste of precious time, time he could be spending on school.
So it's needless to say that Sora didn't see much of his best friend outside of school –even then, it was only a brief meeting.
Sora began to get lonely. He missed Riku with a huge hunk of his heart. He had to get his best friend back. Had to make the silver-haired high-schooler remember what it was like to have fun. To not have to stress out about school day in and day out.
And so Sora began leaving various play things outside Riku's front door, everyday with a note attached, with hopes of Riku responding.
At first they were random things, like jacks with a note that said "Hi!" placed beneath them.
Riku never responded to those.
But one day, Sora left a basketball with a note saying more than just one worded greetings. This one said, "I miss you."
The night Sora left that one, Riku finally responded.
Riku made a paper airplane and sent it out his window and straight through Sora's, since their bedrooms were facing each other.
The airplane crashed into the brunet as he walked into his bedroom, landing immediately on the ground.
Sora picked it up and unfolded the craft where a message was written on the inside.
You see me every day.
Now it was Sora's turn not to respond.
- -
A few more days passed and a few more notes were left saying the same thing: I miss you.
Riku continuously replied the same way with the same response.
Sora began to get frustrated with his best friend, something that rarely happened to him.
It was obvious to him that Riku didn't understand his plan. Sora had always believed the silver-haired teen to be very smart, but apparently he wasn't when it came to some things.
So Sora stopped with the notes for a little while. He stopped leaving games on Riku's front steps. He was tired of wasting his time trying to get his best friend to understand something that he obviously never would.
Only when he felt even more alone than before did Sora start up with the notes and games again.
He continued on with this not only because it gave him something to do and it was fun for him, but it also kept him in contact with Riku, who he now rarely saw.
He enjoyed receiving the airplanes through his window. It was exciting and showed him that Riku had not yet forgotten about him.
- -
One evening, Sora placed a wooden sword on Riku's steps with a note saying: "Where'd Riku go?"
Twenty minutes later, while Sora was in his room trying to figure out a calculus problem, a paper airplane flew in through his window and into his door.
Sora looked up and around before finding it resting, slightly crumpled, on his rug. The brunet got up and walked over to it, picking it up and unfolding the piece of paper.
I've been here the whole time.
Sora had to scoff at this because he knew his Riku had disappeared. Sure he was still there. The Riku on the outside had not vanished, but the Riku on the inside had, replaced by some distant, cold person Sora didn't know.
Sora scribbled down a response, refolded the plane, and sent it back through his window where it skidded across Riku's sill and dropped into his room.
The brunet went back to his homework.
Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang.
Sora walked down to the front door and opened it. Looking around he saw nothing. Sora glanced down for good measure and saw resting on his steps, a glass jar with tiny holes punctured in its cover.
Resting beside it was a note.
The brunet bent down and read it.
Show you? Fine: remember how we used to catch fireflies in jars when we were younger?
Sora picked up the jar in his empty hand and stared at it. Of course he remembered. Catching fireflies was one of his favorite things to do when he was a kid. How could he forget?
The brunet tightened his grasp around the jar and stuffed the note in his pocket. He jumped down off the steps and made his way to the hill where he used to catch fireflies with Riku and Kairi.
- -
When he got there, Sora found a figure waiting at the top, watching little lights appear before fading into the darkness around him. He made his way up and realized it was Riku, holding a jar identical to his own. The silver-haired teen turned around when he heard the brunet approach him.
Riku caught Sora's eyes and stared at him until finally a smile broke out onto his face.
Riku lifted the jar up and shook it gently, smiling down at the fireflies inside as they lit up and faded out.
"See Sor, I never left. I was just… buried under all these things that seemed to be important… I lost myself in all the college prep, only focusing on that and forgetting that other things in life are important too, not just school." Riku looked up at the brunet before him. "You helped me remember that Sor."
He stared down at the jar once again, his smile spreading.
"Thanks."
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed it. The ending is a little "eh" but I like it enough. Oh and btw, Sora's response to Riku's second to last answer was "Show me then." in case you couldn't really figure that out. He didn't believe Riku that he had really been there the whole time. Thanks for reading. Please review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
