Author's Note: I do not, nor will I ever, own the right to any of these characters. Also, I would like to apologize for any OOC content, due to the simple fact that it has been a hot minute since I've written anything for Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy. Over time, I promise it will get better and way more will be explained. Also, I only have this under the Kingdom Hearts category because of the multiple Final Fantasy characters (from more than just one of the games). Families and cliques will be explained soon. Enjoy! Criticism and suggestions are greatly appreciated and welcome!

"Did you hear the rumor going around school about Riku?" Selphie asked as she sat down with her friends, who were arranged in a circle on Kairi's floor. Sora was the first one to really register what she had asked, immediately perplexed. Who would start a rumor about Riku? Or did Selphie mean the other Rikku? It didn't matter – so long as Sora found out, and soon, who she was talking about and what the rumor was.

Kairi had the same thought as Sora, with her own confusion taking the forefront before she opened her mouth to speak, "But, which one?"

Selphie's brows raised, "Riku Hewley, of course!"

"Oh! Yeah! Is it what I think it is?" Yuffie chimed in, tapping her chin in curiosity – the theme that now clouded the entire circle, "I heard someone talking in the hallway and thought it was about Riku's girlfriend, Rikku – which is really confusing, but would have made more sense if you think about it."

"Right! Nobody ever gets it unless it's specified! It's so crazy!" Selphie agreed with a giggle, fingers over her pink mouth.

Kairi groaned, and rubbed her temples as her irritation began to bubble up to the surface in place of her still lingering confusion, "We're getting off track here, guys. What was the rumor, Selphie?"

Selphie made a noise of acknowledgement, and leaned into the group as if someone walking outside Kairi's house might hear what she had to say next. Everyone else seemed to incline with her.

"Riku's gay!"

"What?!" Sora exclaimed, grabbing either side of his head out of the initial shock. His voice cracked in the middle of it, and everyone was immediately drawn to the look of mortification on Sora's face. Who on Earth would say that about Riku? Surely Sora would have been the first one to know something like that! He and Riku were best friends. Whoever started such a rumor couldn't be more wrong!

"You're kidding me, right? Riku isn't gay." Kairi shook her head, making gestures with her hands to match the tone of her response. "He's dating a girl."

"Don't be so close-minded. He could be bisexual." Yuffie laughed under her breath.

Even so, Sora was still mortified. Not because he didn't want Riku to be gay in any shape or form, but because if he was, then Sora wasn't the first to know. Wasn't that a best friend rule or something? To tell your best friend everything first?

Kairi narrowed her eyes at Yuffie. No way, she wasn't being close-minded at all. This was all just so new. The rumor in general – about Riku… the fact that anyone would start a rumor about him when he was so reserved and never bothered anyone.

"Or pansexual. A lot of people are gay these days one way or another. If Riku is in the slightest, then who cares?" Yuffie added.

"Who started this rumor?" Kairi asked, wanting all the details. Like Sora, Kairi was one of Riku's closest, immediate friends. The three of them had known one another longer than the whole group combined.

Irvine, Selphie's boyfriend, looked up from his phone, "I heard that Seifer Almasy started the rumor."

"That's got to be another rumor, because Seifer doesn't even know who Riku is." Kairi quickly objected.

Irvine responded with a simple shrug and returned to looking back down at his phone, the sounds of a game coming from his general area.

"Well, did anybody ask or confront Riku?"

Selphie folded her arms over her chest, "I don't think asking someone if they're gay is a very good idea, especially if he isn't. Or maybe he is… who knows! Asking when the information is falsified or just not out in the open is rude, Kairi."

"How would you go about that? Walk up to Riku and be like, 'I heard you were gay, so are you'? That's not a good idea at all!" Yuffie agreed.

What was it about high school and all the unnecessary drama? All these rumors could be avoided if teenagers knew any better. Especially with Yuffie and Irvine there… they were seniors! Hadn't that phase come and gone with them by now? While Kairi thought about it, she knew that she couldn't really say anything about that when she, herself, often indulged in the gossip and debauchery. It was just far more annoying when one of her best friends was thrown into the mix.

Meanwhile, Sora fell out of the initial shock of the news about the rumor – though still looking a little green from his thoughts. What if he asked Riku? Would that be okay since they were best friends? He stood up and avoided looking at anyone that might be watching him.

"Sora?"

"Yeah… Uh, I'll catch up with you guys later. I have… I got a lot of homework to do."

Sora was in his own living room, staring out the window as he waited for Riku to arrive. As soon as he left Kairi's house, Sora called Riku in an urgent manner, which only led Riku to ultimately decide to just go over to his best friend's house to try and decipher what Sora was trying to say in such fast pace. That was typically the only way to handle Sora when he was this way – in person.

He was going to do it – Sora was going to ask Riku about being gay. If he was, fine. Good – they could be gay together!

Wait… rephrase that statement. Anyways…

If the rumor turned out to be false, then that was fine too. Who was Sora to judge? Sora really only wanted to know why Riku hadn't told him that he was gay before everyone else found out, since Riku was the first to know when Sora was questioning his own sexuality.

It'd been a good ten minutes of waiting, and still no sign of Riku. Sora was growing more and more anxious as the minutes rolled by, and was so caught up in waiting, that he didn't even hear Roxas come into the house.

Roxas chucked his shoes off at the door, sighing in relief to be home from a particularly long shift at work on a Saturday evening – not to mention walking home afterwards. He was so ready to just go upstairs and wash the smell of food off his body, but he caught a glimpse of Sora in the window, and sighed heavily. Sora was practically pressed up against that window, and the sad thing was… this wasn't unusual. Maybe Roxas should just turn around and deal with his brother after a shower if Sora was still in the same place. However, Roxas didn't really want their neighbors to think that Sora was weirder than they already thought he was… Even if he was.

"Either there is a pizza coming … or, you're trying to phase through walls again. Which one is it?"

Sora wobbled against the window with a loud noise of protest, "Go away, Roxas, I'm concentrating!"

Roxas arched a curious brow, "You know Cloud is going to be upset if he has to clean your handprints off the windows again when he gets home. I'm not taking the fall for leaving you unsupervised again either. What's going on, Sora?"

Sora made another one of those noises, before he whirled around, disgruntled, "Someone said that Riku is gay and now the whole school is going to believe it!"

Roxas really wished he had just left this alone.

"And you're getting sensual with the window because…?"

"Riku's coming over here and I'm going to ask him about it, isn't that obvious!" Sora's head dropped back, arms loose at his sides.

"Wait. You're going to ask Riku if he's-"In the middle of his sentence, Roxas held both his hands up, exhaling through his nose; "You know what? I'm not in this. I'm going upstairs to take a shower, so have fun asking Riku if he's gay, I guess. I'm too exhausted to try and stop you, as if I would want to."

What happened to gaydar? Wasn't that a thing? Or was Sora just missing all the hints, if there were any, as usual? He stared at Riku in the kitchen, as Riku worked on a vanilla snack pack. Riku was hard to crack, but he wasn't too good of a liar either. If Sora could get a good look into Riku's eyes whenever he decided to confront the rumor, then he would get the truth. Riku wouldn't lie about being straight, would he? Sora didn't really consider that a lot of people who were trying to discover themselves usually tried to hide their sexuality – maybe even fool themselves. If Riku was pretending to be straight for the sole benefit of keeping him possibly being gay a secret, then Sora wouldn't realize that at first. He hadn't so far… if that was the case.

Sora laid his head on his arms against the counter as he tried to wrack his brain for a way to just come out with it. Way too much thinking… Sora was on overload.

Riku noticed, because the whole reason Riku was over, was to figure out what Sora was trying to say when he called him frantically. When he arrived, Sora opened the door so fast that Riku had no idea how Sora managed to get from the living room (having seen him in the window) to the door without somehow hurting himself. Sora looked like he might have said something to Riku at the door, but didn't – and that's when they went to the kitchen together, and Riku had decided to grab a snack while he waited for Sora to talk again.

And that's where they were now.

"Everything okay?" Riku asked, filling up a glass of water, prepared to take the first gulp.

Sora lifted his head from his arms and straightened his back as a pink tint blossomed over his cheeks. This was it, the moment of truth, "Are you gay?"

Of course, this was the moment that Riku was about to swallow a mouthful of water, and the end result was a full on spray across the counter. Riku coughed on what was left, wiping his mouth, his chin, and any other skin that had gotten wet.

"Wh-what?"

"We're best friends! If you were gay, you would have told me first! I told you first!" Sora said loudly, arms spread out, looking like he might actually cry.

Riku studied Sora, briefly, before shaking his head, "Who told you that I was gay?"

"Selphie said that she heard a rumor! And Yuffie too!"

"Ah…" Riku chuckled, much to Sora's dismay.

Sora grabbed his head, "Why is this funny?"

It was at this time that Roxas returned back downstairs, making his way into the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his neck. He was using one end of the towel against the back of his head, while his hair was still dripping. Riku looked at Roxas, noticing the smug smirk on his lips as he walked by, and grabbed a Sprite from the refrigerator. Riku narrowed his eyes – Sora was confused again.

"Wow, I didn't think you were really going to ask Riku if he was gay, Sora." Roxas' smirk grew, still pointed in Riku's direction. He cracked open the can, sipped it, and licked his lips.

Riku clenched his jaw. He and Roxas had never quite gotten along, given certain circumstances, and the fact that Riku often stole Roxas' belongings just to mess with him. Something he had done since they were in elementary school. Roxas and Riku knew how to get under each other's skin better than anyone – well, aside from Roxas' best friend, Axel.

Riku didn't want Roxas to be a part of this conversation, for reasons that Riku was not prepared to try and explain to Sora. "Roxas… Axel is looking for you. Better check on that."

He knew, if anything, mentioning Axel would get Roxas to walk away… and it worked.

Without any acknowledgement to Riku's snide remark, Roxas left the kitchen. Sora and Riku were alone again, and Sora still hadn't gotten his answer. He approached Riku, grasping his arms and shaking him with an incessant whine. Riku wasn't sure how to handle the situation to be completely honest.

So, he started with: "The day you realize that high school is a cesspool of drama, Sora, will be the day that you stop believing everything you hear."

"But…"

Riku sighed. Sora wasn't going to be content unless there was a straightforward answer, "No… I'm not gay."

Well, shit.