uhm , well basically honors classes are a major drag. especially when you study far too much. anyways, i've barely had time to write, but i assure you all that there will be a plethora of updates througout all my stories. hopefully. i have one down, so that's a good sign. anyway, i'd love it if you could leave a review.

INCURABLE

The clanking of pots and pans from the kitchen often drowned out the sound of the midday train that cut behind the old house. The dinners would range from pasta to steak to pizza. The meal usually deepened on the weather and day. Regardless of what the meal was, Sora's mother would begin cooking dinner, every night, at precisely five. Dinner would be served, with a smile, at six. It had been that way for as long as Sora could remember, and he hoped with every ounce of his heart that it would remain that way. Family dinners were a rarity in the brunet's age group, so having a mother who was home consecutively to cook up a home-cooked meal allowed Sora to feel all the more unique. It was something constant in his life that provided stability to his other hectic high school life.

Sora lingered uneasily by the entrance to the kitchen. His feet shuffled against the old carpet beneath him—his mother was planning on redoing the carpet, but the brunet liked the rustic blue hue and weathered feel upon his feet—it reminded him that this was their home. He shakily peeked around the doorway and held his breath. Now all those years of theater in middle school would pay off.

"Sora, is that you?" his mother questioned as she brought a cup over to the sink. Her blue eyes wandered off her task and over to her son. A smile lifted onto her thin, glossy lips. "Hey hunny," she greeted, answering her own question.

"Hey mom," Sora answered automatically. A weary smile manifested onto his lips as he ambled through the kitchen, his socked feet making it difficult not to slide. "I'm going to set the table," he explained, wandering over to the silverware drawer.

"Thanks," she responded, bringing the cup of water back to the stove. She resumed her task of cooking, the smile never leaving her lips.

As Sora was taking out a few forks and knives, she spoke again. "So, how'd it go?" There was obvious fear in her voice, just as easily detectable as how hard she was attempting to conceal it. Her gaze did not turn to Sora this time; it remained on the pans.

Sora's stomach lurched, churned, and did a flop. His heart stung—how could he lie to his mother? "Well, it went well," he stated quietly. His fingers closed around two forks and two knives. Carefully, he brought them over to the small table, doing his best to remain calm.

His mother peered over her shoulder. "That's a relief," she chuckled softly, raising her free hand to place it gently over her heart. "You had me worrying all day."

"I'm sorry," Sora apologized, his shoulders falling downward into a shrug. He placed the utensils on the table and glanced back over to his mom—she was so strong, he wished he could be like her. "I went to Riku's after we left."

"Oh…" She paused. She reached for some plates and began dishing out the pasta she had prepared. "I take it you already ate?"

"Just a bit," Sora responded, lacing his hands behind his back. "Riku's a better cook than I imagined," he joked, feeling the need to lighten the mood. It was far too heavy and dreary to withstand.

"I'll have to get him to cook for me sometime," his mother laughed. Vigilantly, she maneuvered her way across the small kitchen, over to the table. "Sit," the brunette instructed, placing the pair of plates down.

Sora did as he was told. "Looks good," he offered, adjusting to the hard wood.

"Thanks," his mother responded, grabbing a fork. She began twirling the spaghetti around but then paused. "You don't have to eat all of it," she explained, the smile never leaving, "just a bit. I know you already ate."

"Right," Sora responded. He took his fork and began eating slowly. "It's good."

"Thank you again," his mother said. She paused, swallowing. "All right, you're never this polite," she began, fixing her gaze to Sora's, "what are you going to spring on me now, Sora?" To emphasize her statement, she leaned her skinny chin onto her free palm.

"Well, uh…" Sora gulped and set his fork down beside his plate. "Riku asked me something today."

"Oh?" She arched a brow, a look of surprise crossing her face. A crafty, all-knowing look followed.

"Yeah…I wasn't really expecting it. I'm not sure what to say," Sora admitted, sighing.

"Well, it's about time," his mother pointed out, nodding fiercely. "I wasn't going to say anything, but he's been—"

"About time?" Sora repeated, now blinking in confusion. "Mom, what are you talking about?"

The brunette paused. "Oh…" she drawled, a light blush crossing her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm jumping to conclusions again," a laugh, "now, what did he ask you, Sora?" The blush grew on her face. That would have been horrible to say.

"All right…." Sora trailed off, staring at his mother in perplexity. What was she thinking? Regardless, he went on. "Riku and his mom are going to Rome for a few weeks. They…wanted to know if it was all right if I come with them?" He gulped and averted his gaze. He detested asking his mother things. It was just a weird habit of his.

"That's so sweet of them," she stated with a warm, adoring smile. "They're such great people," she murmured to herself before looking to Sora. "Do you want to go?"

"I don't want to be a burden or inconvenience. Plane tickets are expensive and everything. I told Riku I'd ask you," he explained, lowering his blue gaze. He quietly began poking at his second dinner.

"You can go if you want," his mother informed her son, resuming her meal as well. "Tell Aerith that I'll pay for your plane ticket there and your hotel if she wants. I don't want to appear rude, so offer. Of course, I'll need to know when you are leaving and what day you will return and all that nitty-gritty, so make sure to figure that out as soon as possible," she instructed, taking a bite of the pasta. If it was any other family, Sora knew she would have denied his request.

"All right, I can do that," Sora said, a large smile appearing on his lips. Just for that moment, his worries and fears disappeared. He was going to Rome for the first time ever, with his best friend. How could it get any better than that? "Thanks, mom!"

"No problem," she responded, watching her son with twinkling eyes. "I've got an idea. Why don't you call Riku and have him spend the night? I can't remember the last time you two have had a sleepover. I'm always at work when he's over."

Sora blinked in surprise. "Uhm…well, I could do that," he began, averting his gaze again. It was true. He couldn't remember the last time Riku spent the night. The two usually hung out at each other's houses during the day and afterschool.

"Doesn't his mother work tonight?" Sora's mother wondered, tapping her skin with her free hand. Her bracelet jingled as she did such.

"Yeah," Sora responded with a nod. "She went to work at two, I think. She works until midnight or something."

"All the more reason to have Riku over," she laughed and gestured to her right. "Go call him now. I know you're not going to eat much." She proceeded to place her fork on her plate and lace her fingers under her chin. "Plus, I can thank him myself for the trip."

"Okay."

Sora nodded and hurried to do as his mother instructed. Never once did the thought of his disease enter his mind. Things, perhaps, were going to turn out all right after all.

xxxxxxxx

"Your mom is so nice. Makes me wonder why my mom can't learn from her," Riku noted as he dragged his sleeping bag up the stairs. His aquamarine gaze remained on Sora's back as they trekked up the small flight. Once at the top, Sora led the silveret into his bedroom, remaining silent. Riku didn't question this—he knew what was going through Sora's head, he didn't want to make it worse by nagging.

"You didn't have to sleepover if you didn't want to, you know," Sora stated as he entered his bedroom. His gaze finally lifted off the floor and drifted over to Riku's. He smiled thankfully, betraying his words. Having Riku here on this night was probably the best thing for him.

"Nah, I wanted to," Riku assured, sitting down on the bed. He placed his bag at his feet and motioned for Sora to take a seat beside him as well.

"You positive?" Sora asked, shifting onto the bed beside his friend. "Absolutely certain?"

"Of course I am. One hundred percent," Riku stated simply, flashing a dazzling smile at the brunet. "Now, what do you want to do? Watch movies? Or do you want to try your luck at Halo? That is, of course, if you feel like getting your ass kicked." He chuckled, nudging the laconic Sora in the shoulder.

Sora pouted. "Just because you beat me once—"

"Every single time we've played I've beaten you," Riku corrected, nonchalantly flipping his hair. He resisted laughing at the histrionic movement.

"Okay, fine, every time we've played," Sora repeated, the pout remaining. "I don't really want to play Halo. Not…really in the mood for death," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. His playful attitude came and went in the blink of an eye.

"Ah, right," Riku answered automatically. He sighed and folded his arms to his chest, his aquamarine eyes reimaging trained on Sora. "Then what do you want to do? We have to keep ourselves preoccupied for the entire night. Best to start throwing out ideas now, you know?"

"We can always go online," Sora suggested, nudging his head to the left. "I'm sure we can find some stupid videos online to laugh at." The brunet offered a weary smile, but then paused a bit to watch Riku's gaze. He glanced about, just to make certain that it was him that Riku was watching so intently. "Something wrong?"

"Online sounds like a good idea," Riku agreed, getting up from the bed. He lingered by it for a few moments. "And nothing's wrong. Just zoning out, that's all." The silveret chuckled and trekked across the bedroom to the desktop resting on the desk nestled in the far corner of the bedroom.

Sora nodded and walked over as well. He laced his hands behind his back and peered over the taller's shoulder as he turned on the pc.

"Grab a chair," Riku urged, peering over his shoulder at his standing friend. "Or you can have this one. I can kneel. It wouldn't be the first time."

And Sora's mind was currently in the gutter for unusual reasons. "W-what?" he sputtered, having been caught off guard by the statement.

Riku arched a brow and then pushed at Sora from his current seat. "Pervert," he scoffed, shaking his head incredulously. His silver bangs fell in front of his sea green eyes, concealing the amusement that was drenched in them.

"Well, when you go around saying stuff like that it's hard not to take it in the wrong way," Sora argued, huffing. He crossed his arms to his chest and fixed his gaze on his best friend. "But fine, I'll get a chair from the other room. I'll be right back."

Riku chuckled and watched as the brunet left the room. He sighed to himself and looked back to the computer. With boredom, Riku began logging onto the internet, resting his chin into the palm of his hands. He knew all of Sora's passwords—why the brunet told him, Riku would never know. In return, Sora knew Riku's as well. Thankfully there were no secrets between the two. If there were…well, then they would be entirely screwed.

Sora returned a few moments later, heaving a wooden chair into the room. Riku lifted his gaze off the computer screen and over to his friend. "Come on, Sora. Be a man. It's just a chair," he teased, a smirk appearing.

"You're one to talk, girly man," Sora mumbled back as he dragged the chair over to his desk. He placed it beside Riku and promptly sat down, his chest inflating and deflating quickly. Sora was by no means an athletic person.

"Girly man?" Riku echoed, sneaking a glance over at Sora through hooded eyes. "What's with the insults today, So-ra?"

"They're not insults, they're the truth," the brunet countered, a goofy smile on his face. He arched a brow challengingly, his gaze never leaving Riku.

"Those are fighting words," Riku made know, clicking the computer mouse idly. Hell, he didn't even know what he was clicking. It was just something to keep his fingers preoccupied with.

"So, what are you doing?" Sora wondered, leaning forward in the uncomfortable chair. His blue eyes scanned the screen in attempts to discover what Riku was doing. "Livejournal? You actually have one of those?"

"Yeah, so?" Riku questioned, glancing over at Sora. "It's something to do," he explained casually with a shrug.

"Can I read what you have?" Sora asked curiously, peeking over Riku's shoulder. He quickly read what Riku had written so far—nothing of all that importance, just nonsensical ramblings. The brunet sighed and settled back down in his chair. Riku wasn't that exciting of a person. He was like an open book—Sora doubted he even had any secrets, and if he did, he surely would have told his best friend. So basically, sneaking a glance at Riku's online 'diary' was pointless.

"You've been reading it for two minutes now," Riku noted, glancing back at Sora. His thin lips curled up into a snicker as he closed the window, deleting the blog he had halfway composed. "It wasn't important, anyhow," he said quietly, turning his gaze off the computer screen and to his best friend.

"So, what are we doing now?" Sora wondered, glancing at the blank screen. No windows, no internet browsers, nada, nothing.

"Don't know," Riku answered with a shrug, hand resting on the mouse. His fingers began strumming it gingerly. "Anything is fine with me."

"Well, we can watch a movie," Sora suggested as he got up from the chair. The brunet lazily stretched his arms above his head and stared dejectedly at the chair. "Oh man, I got this thing for nothing."

"Sucks for you," Riku taunted. "If we're going to get a movie, why not get some snacks from downstairs. Do you guys have anything good?"

"We have chips?" Sora answered, his hands resting on the back of the chair. His blue eyes remained on Riku, inspecting him silently. "Sour cream and onion and plain, I think. I can double check when I'm down there."

"Any kind is fine," Riku said as he shut down the computer. His chin came to rest on his palm. "What movie do you want to watch? I can get it ready while you're getting the snacks."

"Uh…just look at the HBO channels. I'm sure something good is on," Sora responded as he trekked across his room. Once at his door, he rested his tanned hand on the doorknob and glimpsed back over his shoulder at Riku. His mouth opened, as if to say something, but instead slid shut. With a quick shake of his head, and nonsensical murmur, the brunet left his bedroom.

It was around five minutes later that a clambering noise was heard. And it was a moment after that when Sora returned to the bedroom.

"What is this anyhow?" Sora questioned as he dragged the bag of chips into the room. In his right hand was the large, unopened bag, and in his left was a bottle of soda and two cups, carefully placed over the top of the soda bottle. Of course, Sora was an ungraceful person, but he amazingly managed to bring all the items up to the bedroom without spilling anything. It was a miracle, truly.

"What's what?" Riku wondered. The silveret was sprawled across Sora's bed, on his stomach. His legs bent at the knees, allowing his legs to teeter back and forth in the air. His elbows dug into the soft bed as he watched the movie with subtle interest.

"The movie," Sora explained as he plopped the bag of chips onto the bed beside Riku. With a pout, the brunet poked Riku in the side. "Move over some, fatso."

"Fatso?" Riku echoed, now stubbornly remaining where he was. "You're calling me fat?" he asked incredulously, his gaze meeting Sora's at once.

"Yeah, that's what I said. You're taking up the entire bed," the brunet complained. With a grunt, he attempted to shove Riku's body over some. It worked to no avail. His eyebrows knitted together in frustration. Carefully, Sora placed the liter of soda and empty glasses on his nightstand before returning to his perilous task of trying to move Riku.

"Take it back and I might move," Riku stated as he watched Sora with concentration. His lips curled into a crafty smile as he refused to give Sora any room on the bed.

"Never," Sora stated. His blue eyes glimmered with defiance as his hands came to rest on his skinny, but curvy, hips. His bottom lip stuck out, causing him to look more like a girl than anything. "Now, move, Riku. It's my bed. I want to lay down on it too." Huff.

Riku smirked. "You want on the bed, huh?" he wondered, a silver eyebrow arching.

"Yeah, I do," Sora agreed, his fingers tapping idly on his hips. The stubborn look disappeared when he noticed the smirk sprawled across his friend's face. "What's…with the look?" he asked uneasily, gulping slightly. Usually when Riku had that look, he was up to something. Not a small something, but a big something.

"Well, your wish if my command, Sora," Riku drawled. Without warning, the muscular teen sat up, just slightly, and stuck out his right arm. Dexterously, his arm hooked with Sora's and in result tugged the brunet towards him. With another tug administrated from Riku, Sora fumbled forward, lost balance, as predicted, and landed on his friend.

"Ow!" Sora groaned as his limbs lay spread out on top of the chuckling teenager. "Riku! You jerk! I didn't mean lay on you on the bed!"

Riku continued laughing. He was then currently lying on his back with Sora on top of him. His head rested back against the bed as laughs continued to filter from his thin lips. "The look on your face," he snorted in amusement, his face growing red from the lack of air. "It was priceless, Sora."

"Jerk!" Sora shouted again, flailing a bit. When he found that all his thrashing was in vain, he remained motionless on Riku. In fact, Riku was quite comfortable…

Riku's arms rested comfortably around Sora's waist, holding the skinner teen on him. The silveret breathed in regularly, his chest rising and falling against Sora's every few moments. His usually bright eyes were now shut, giving him a rather pensive appearance. "You done squabbling?"

"No," Sora huffed under his breath. With a defeated sigh, the brunet rested his chin on Riku's chest and watched him. He looked so at peace.

"You're lighter than I thought you would be," Riku noted, eyes remaining shut. His thin, black lashes graced his pale cheeks, providing a sinfully beautiful contrast.

"Well duh, I'm not the fatso," Sora answered. He immaturely stuck his tongue out, regardless of the fact that Riku could not see. When Sora realized that Riku wasn't arguing, he fell silent. Uncertain of what else to do, he tapped his fingers against Riku's chest. He was trapped. He had no way of getting up.

"I'm glad you're going to Rome with me, Sora," Riku murmured as his hand subconsciously began brushing along the boy's back. "I'd be so bored if I just went with my mom," he admitted with a chuckle.

Sora wasn't paying attention to Riku's words—he was paying attention to the warm, comforting hands on his back.

"No problem," the brunet whispered, allowing his own eyes to drift shut. "You're awfully calm," he added in a murmur after a moment. He wasn't complaining, though.

"So?" Riku replied indignantly, his voice edgy but yet tranquil. "I'm just tired. Today was a … strenuous day, Sora."

Sora winced. He had to agree. "Y-yeah," he practically stammered. He held his eyes closed, refusing to open them even for a moment. He had been trying his best to block the thoughts from his mind—and he had been succeeding—until Riku randomly brought those thoughts up again.

It took Riku a moment to respond. "Oh…Sora, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Sora muttered, gulping down a lump of nerves. "I mean, it's pointless to avoid the subject." He didn't feel all that comfortable anymore.

"No, really, I'm sorry. I was an ass and didn't realize what I was saying," Riku murmured. The silveret opened his eyes and frowned at the brunet. Sora was currently hiding his face against Riku's chest. All Riku could see were brown spikes sticking out haphazardly.

"It's fine," Sora reiterated, emphasizing his words. The teen kept his eyes closed and his face buried against Riku's chest. He didn't want to be seen in such a distraught state. It sickened him and he concluded that Riku probably like it either—he probably thought it was revolting.

"All right," Riku sighed. His arms fled from around Sora and rested idly against the bed beneath them. "I'm going to get my sleeping bag ready," he stated.

Sora nodded and finally slid off his friend. He squirmed around a bit on the bed and ended up off it, standing up. "…You can have the bed tonight," he offered, his arms folding across his skinny chest. "I'll take your sleeping bag."

"But—" Riku began, sitting up as well. He arched a brow at Sora. A look of hurt fluttered about in his viridian eyes.

"It's fine," Sora hummed. The brunet quietly marched around the bed and tackled Riku's sleeping bag. It took less than a minute for him to untangle it and sprawl it across the floor. "You're the guest, after all." He shot his friend a forced, weary smile.

"Right…" mumbled Riku. He averted his gaze and laid back down, his stomach touching the bed once more. He mentally sighed, feeling shitty and worthless. He hadn't meant to bring up Sora's chronic disease. That was the last thing he had wanted to do.

Riku was so lost in his thoughts of regret that he didn't even realize that Sora had fallen asleep five minutes after he got off the bed. When the light snoring reached the silveret's ears, he peered over the edge of the bed. Sora's cute face was resting against a pillow, looking like the angel he was. His lips were shaped in a small smile, even in sleep. The silveret sighed, watching his friend with an attentive look.

"I'm sorry," Riku murmured, his hand dropping off the bed. He leaned off the bed slightly and ruffled Sora's hair. The boy made a gurgle in his sleep. Riku chuckled and removed his hand and went back to quietly observing his friend. "You don't deserve any of this, Sora," he whispered, a sad smile on his face. "But…if this is fate, then I'm going to make these next few weeks the best of your life, promise."

And he would never say the words out loud, but… "Without you, I'd probably die, Sora."

The chips and soda went forgotten and unnoticed for the remainder of the night.

xxxxxxxx

"Sora…take deep breaths."

Sora sucked in a shaky breath and gripped the armrest tighter. His eyes widened triple their normal size and a violent shake danced down his spine. His toes curled and he gasped, his mind temporarily forgetting how to breathe. He took a long, deep breath through his nose and felt the nerves begin to eat away at his stomach again. Could this possibly get any worse?

"Sora," Riku repeated, looking to his friend with worry. "The plane's perfectly safe, I promise." He offered a smile and nudged Sora in the shoulder. "You have a seatbelt on, you won't fall out, promise." He sighed and then added on, "I've been on planes millions of times before. You won't die."

"B-but," Sora stuttered, his nails digging into the armrest that separated the two plane seats. "B-but what if the engine explodes?" he slurred, his breath hitching. He gulped, resisting the urge to shake more than he already was.

It was only natural that someone with a fear of heights would have a fear of planes. Riku opened his mouth to respond coolly but was interrupted by someone from a few rows away.

"Shut up!" barked whoever it was. "People are trying to sleep here. Inconsiderate pricks…"

Riku glared, stretching his neck to see who had spoken. "Mind your own business, asshole," he called back, seething as he wrenched his gaze away from the other passengers. Wearily, he turned back to Sora who was as pale as a ghost. "So…"

"You know, I thought the hardest part would have been to get my mom to say yes to this. I had no idea that this would be the hardest," the brunet murmured, his fingers shaking immensely. He felt like he was going to throw up at any moment.

"Go to sleep," Riku urged, placing his chin carefully on Sora's shoulder. "When we take off, there might be some turbulence before we level out in the sky…it's best not to go to sleep during that part. You may wake up, but you won't consciously have to deal with it."

"Turbulence?" Sora repeated. He gulped, trying to hide the action by coughing.

"…It's nothing too big," Riku chuckled, offering a smile. "Come on, it won't be so bad."

"Sora, Riku, are you boys doing all right?" Riku's mother cut their conversation short. She was returning from the bathroom, headed towards the vacant seat behind them.

Riku quickly moved back from Sora's shoulder, staring idly at the floor. A look of guilt spread across his face as his mother ambled down the aisle towards her seat.

"We're fine, Ms. Karada," Sora answered at once. He offered the cheery woman a smile as she passed and took a seat behind them. The brunet then proceeded to nervously look to his best friend who seemed out of it. Sora said nothing and closed his eyes.

I'm sorry, mom, for not telling you. I should have, I really should have. He figured that continuing to regret a choice already made would be unwise. Besides, this was supposed to be a vacation, not a time to grieve and complain. The brunet viciously bit his bottom lip and silently promised himself that he wouldn't think about the disease anymore during this trip. It was the least he could do.

"Think the airplane food is any good?" Sora murmured after a moment. He had calmed down considerably and now was blushing. He had acted childishly, hadn't he?

"God no," Riku groaned, shaking his head. "It's dreadful, Sora."

The brunet chuckled a bit and flexed his wrist, grimacing at how wet his palms were. "I doubt it'd be wise to eat on a plane," he laughed under his breath, stopping to think.

"Yeah. Especially if you're you," Riku taunted, a smirk appearing on his lips. Emerald eyes twinkled over at Sora as he reclined in the airplane seat, looking a considerable amount more relaxed than moments prior.

Sora rolled his eyes, grumbling something. "Yeah, well, whatever." He huffed feigningly, folded his arms to his chest, and looked out the window.

Clouds danced by, causing Sora to stare for longer than he had anticipated. A pause. "I just realized something," the brunet murmured as he gulped, this time gripping the armrest for support.

"What's that?" Riku questioned, straining his head to glance at his friend's expression.

"I can't speak Italian…"

Riku paused. "Well damn…" another pause. "Neither can I…"

xxxxxxxx

Sora bounded gleefully out of the terminal, through the airport, and then finally into the streets near Rome. He inhaled the beautiful air and placed his suitcase on the ground as he waited for Riku and his mother to leave the building. The brunet stomped his feet a few times, readjusting to the feel of solid ground. So wonderful.

Riku and his mother exited the building a few moments later, luggage in tow. The silveret glanced curiously at Sora, a smirk still present on his lips. He said nothing, though, just stared furtively at his best friend. Sora cocked a brow at this, parting his lips to question the gesture, but silenced himself when Riku's mom trotted between them and yanked out a map from her suitcase.

"Okay boys," she began, unfolding the map with difficulties. "We're headed to the hotel first. It's…about two miles from her." She buried her face in the map, inspecting it with precision of an investigator.

"Er…" Riku eyed his mom and rested his things against the wall that Sora was leaning upon. He circled his mother and stood beside his best friend instead, as earlier intended. "She doesn't get out much," he joked in a murmur.

"I heard that," his mother grunted as she traced a finger along what appeared to be a main road. She scrunched up her nose, scratched her head thoughtfully, and then pocketed the map. "All right. Let's flag down a taxi and head to that hotel!"

"You had to look at the map to decide that?" Riku asked in astonishment, staring at his mother with a bewildered look. His sharp green eyes met her hazel and he instantly shut up.

"Riku, be nice," Sora cooed, stifling a giggle as his mother continued sending her son death glares that probably could be seen from China.

"Yeah. Considering I am the one with the plane tickets back," she stated slowly, collecting her things once again. She gave her son a beautiful smirk and began tugging the suitcases towards the sidewalk,.

"We wouldn't mind if you left us here. Right, Sora?" Riku draped an arm around his friend's shoulders. His brows waggled and he leaned against his friend for support. His eyes glimmered brilliantly.

"Uhm…" Sora shrugged. "It's pretty here but I like back home," the brunet boy laughed, shrugging off Riku's arm. He quickly made his way over to the sidewalk as well, ignorning Riku's stare and a few other people who had stopped to observe them. He eventually trudged over to Riku's mom and waited patiently with her for a taxi.

Riku sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "He wouldn't want to stay here forever with me?..." Sigh. "Figures."