Just a short oneshot with multiple pairings. No real reason behind it. I must shout out to one of my RP partners on Tumblr, brokenreflection. They gave their Riku Replica the name Ryu when I suggested it, so I took the opportunity to use it here.


Riku sat disconsolately on the shore of the play island. Almost everywhere he looked there were happy couples, smiling and giggling at one another. The dock, where Selphie and new kid Irvine were holding hands and kicking their feet over the edge. The little shack, where Riku's brother Ryu and Kairi's cousin Naminé were busy staring into each other's eyes dreamily. Out in the water, where Tidus and Yuna were happily splashing each other. Even the paopu tree, where Sora and Kairi sat awkwardly beside one another.

He sighed. When would they shut up and just kiss each other? It had been obvious how they felt about one another for a few years now, so why didn't they do anything about it?

He had to admit, he was jealous. When he was much younger, he'd had a crush on Kairi. Even now, he wasn't sure if it was entirely gone.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of scrunching feet on the sand next to him, followed by a girlish sigh and the owner of the feet sitting down. Kairi herself.

"What are you doing here?" Riku asked her, somewhat churlishly.

She pouted. "Can't a girl talk to her best friend?"

"I was kidding," he chuckled. "It's just…"

"Just…what?"

"I expected you to be hanging out more with Sora than me."

Kairi's playful grin twitched downwards. "Figured it out, did you?"

"It was kinda obvious."

"What, that I was confused about whether I liked him or you?"

Riku blinked and looked at her. She was blushing deeply, and she looked nervous. "Are you serious?" he asked.

She nodded.

He chuckled quietly. "Wow. Did not see that one coming."

She giggled a little bit. "I just…need to be sure."

"Of what?"

Kairi looked at him again and blushed. "I've already kissed Sora, but…"

"But?"

Her response was to give him a chaste kiss on the lips.

His eyes widened in shock. It was a good kiss, but…it didn't seem to have…the spark that amazing kisses seem to have.

When she pulled away, Kairi smiled shyly. "You didn't feel it either, did you?"

"No. No I didn't."

"Well, that answers that, then." She stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to pull Sora off the ground and tell him he's my boyfriend now."

Riku laughed. "Did he faint or something when you kissed him?"

She giggled. "Yep."

"You really should have anticipated that."

Kairi shrugged. "See ya." She waved and practically skipped back to the paopu tree.

Riku's mind was reeling. He'd expected the kiss to be…something spectacular. And…while it had been good – very good, in fact – it just…wasn't perfect.

"What was that all about?" a sweet voice asked him.

Riku turned to see Xion, Kairi's little sister, dressed in her usual attire; purple top with white trimming, white half-gloves, long beige boots and black short shorts. She was cute, Riku had to admit, but she was sixteen to his nineteen, so a relationship between them was probably out of the question.

"That was Kairi making her choice," he replied.

"Between you and Sora?" She whistled slightly. "I don't envy her in the slightest."

"Well, if it'd been you, you would've picked Sora, too, huh? I mean, you did date his brother." For about a year, she had dated Roxas, Sora's younger brother (by a year only, the blonde loved to stress), before an argument had seen the end of it. They were still friends, they were proud to say, but any hope of a romantic reconciliation was non-existent.

Xion scoffed. "Nah. I'd have picked you." She froze and blushed. "D-did I say that out loud?"

"Yeah, you did." Riku was grinning, though even he was a little flushed.

"Oops." She sat down next to him.

He thought back over what Kairi had said before the kiss, that she "needed to be sure". He smiled. "Can I just make sure of something?" he asked Xion.

"Sure of what?"

That was when he kissed her. Startled, her eyes went wide and she patted on his shoulder for a while, as if trying to escape him. Eventually, though, she gave in and kissed him back, her arms wrapping around him.

This…this had the spark that Kairi's kiss had been lacking for him. Who'd have thought it? A girl two years his junior was – he couldn't believe he was even thinking it – The One for Him.

Around them, time seemed to stand still. They were only vaguely aware of the world around them, of the people that had begun to crowd around. Until, that is, at the bidding of Sora and Kairi, Tidus threw a bucketful of water over their heads.

The new couple gasped and pulled away from one another, while everyone else laughed uproariously.

"Come on, you lovebirds," Sora grinned. "Time to head back."

Riku glared at Sora. "I am so gonna get you back for this."