Chapter seven: D

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Thank you to EVERYONE!

THANK YOU TO!

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ManicAngel6

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PLEASE NOTE!

For the summer vacation of the students in this chapter, I'm basing it off the Japanese school vacation, which is usually about 40 days. This is to the extent of my knowledge. I went to Japan over the summer on an exchange program and the Japanese students were telling me how they only had 40 days off, when in America we have an average of 70. So, we are extremely lucky to have an extra thirty days!

Anyway, enough of rambling about that. xD

Oh, and I'm making their classes based off of American high school classes, and from my school so…yeah. I'll explain it a little bit later on.

X X X X X

Fake A Smile

Chapter Seven

A soft breeze ran across the boy's face, lightly tugging at the ends of his brown locks of hair. He inhaled deeply; the smell of the salty ocean filled his nose, calming his senses. For as long as he remembered, breathing in the salty air had always calmed him, soothing his soul and relaxing his senses. Maybe it was because he grew up for the past eleven years living right across the street from the ocean, or maybe it was just there was no other scent similar to it. But whatever it was, he did not care, for the only thing he cared about was the silver-haired male laying down next to him—his beloved, Riku.

His beloved, Sora shook his head, surprised at what he thought. He could not entirely call him that yet, but he could not deny he was indeed deeply infatuated with the male. Okay, okay, you could say he was obsessively infatuated in his friend.

"Mmmm," a soft moan escaped from Riku's throat, and Sora could not help but look over. He watched as Riku turned from lying on his back to lying on his side, now facing towards Sora. The sleeping male had some of his hair covering half of his angelic-like face.

And Sora could not resist reaching his extremely tanned hand out to gently brush the silver locks off of his friends face and tenderly push it behind his ear, the boy's hand shaking the entire time. The older male let out a sigh from the soft touch of Sora's fingers as he pushed his hair back, causing Sora's hand to jump back at his side.

Riku stirred a bit in his sleep, he was beginning to wake, but wanted to sleep more. Fighting the urge to fall back asleep, Riku opened his eyes slowly, blinking away the rays of sunlight that greeted him from the world of sleep.

"Good morning, Ri-kun," Sora spoke, watching his friend as he began to sit up. He continued to watch as Riku lay on his back, and arched it up, his arms above his head, stretching out his body. The brown-haired male stared as Riku stretched, his eyes on the arch of the older male's back. 'Oh, God,' he thought. 'Why can't I look away?'

Finishing his stretch, Riku averted his eyes to Sora, locking his eyes onto his. "Good morning," he replied, in a voice that sent butterflies racing around in Sora's stomach. "Is it really the last day of summer?" he asked, momentarily bringing a yield to the butterflies dancing in Sora's stomach.

"Yeah," Sora frowned a bit.

"Forty-days went by too fast."

Sora nodded his head in agreement. This summer had been the best he had ever experienced, he thought before speaking again. "But it was a really good summer."

"No," Riku said in a harsh voice. "It wasn't good."

Sora stared at his friend; did Riku hate spending the summer with him? Did he do something wrong to annoy his friend? Was I too clingy?

The older male looked over at Sora, his face empty of emotion. "It was amazing," he said and smiled wide at Sora.

A weak laugh escaped from Sora.

"You don't agree with me?" Riku tilted his head to the side.

"No—I mean, Yes—it was an amazing summer!" Sora rubbed at the back of his head. "You just trickled me for a second there! I really thought you hated me or something."

"Sora…" Riku sat up to be at eye level with his friend.

"WATCH OUT!" someone yelled, and as soon as it was said, a ball landed on the sand in between the two boys. As soon as it hit the sand, it bounced back up, hitting Sora in the face, causing the boy to fall backwards.

"Sora!" Riku leaned over the blue-eyed male, the ball bouncing off to somewhere else. "Are you okay?"

"Ri….kun?" Sora looked up at his friend, a dazed look on his face.

"You okay, 'mon?" Wakka ran over to the two boys.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Sora replied. He rubbed his forehead where the ball hit him, wincing as he touched the sore spot.

"Sorry about that," Tidus squatted down next to Sora and Riku. "Want me to get you some Advil or something?

"He doesn't like medicine," Wakka spoke in.

"Oh," Tidus whispered. "I should remember that by now, huh?"

"I'll be alright," Sora confirmed, trying to get off the topic.

Tidus stared at his friend's forehead before speaking. "If you say so," he said as he stood up, looking around for the ball. When he spotted it, he walked over to it.

Wakka followed Tidus with his eyes, standing up as Tidus left to retrieve the ball. Before he walked away to join Tidus, he ruffled Sora's hair, something he always did to the younger male. And Sora could not complain. It was Wakka's way of telling him everything will be alright; and it calmed Sora.

As soon as Wakka and Tidus were out of sight, Riku leaned in toward his friend, and traced his fingers over Sora's forehead.

"Ow," Sora whined a bit, wincing slightly in pain.

The white-haired male's eyes had a sad look as he removed his fingers. "I'll be fine, Ri-kun!" Sora confirmed, again, trying to distract his friend.

Ignoring Sora's words, Riku leaned in closer, gently lacing his fingers around Sora's neck. He bent Sora's head down as he sat up to kiss Sora's sore forehead gently.

"R-ri-kun!" Sora's face turned bright red.

"There, all better," Riku smiled.

Nodding slightly, Sora lowered his head, trying his best to hide his blushing cheeks. "Y-yeah," he stuttered once again.

"Let's go swimming," Riku stood up and stretched again before smiling down at Sora.

X X X X X

Sora stood in the soaked sand, as the tides slowly rolled in an out, in and out, in an out. As the tide came in again, it brushed over Sora's feet and barely reaching another foot into the sand before rolling back in. Sora was enjoying the motion of the tide tugging back and forth between the shore and the ocean. The repetition was soothing to him, and felt really good on his feet that were sinking deeper into the sand.

"Come in, Sora!" a warm voice called out.

Looking up, Sora looked at his friend who called out at him. A gentle wind blew and Sora watched as Riku's hair blew across his face, and then Riku attempting to fix it, which did not work out too well.

"It's really nice," Riku took another step into the crystal clear water, squeezing his toes in between the sand. He was now in water that rose up to his upper legs, about ten feet from where Sora was.

"Yeah," the brown-hair male mumbled a bit; the water was indeed warm, but he wanted to stand there and watch Riku enjoy the ocean as he walked around, with the wind teasing Sora by blowing Riku's hair around. This was starting to seduce Sora in the most awkward way he could imagine.

And then reality hit him; he was falling in love with his best friend.

He had first noticed it in the middle of summer; it was a Thursday to be exact. Riku and he were watching a movie in Sora's room on his laptop. They were watching some old movie they rented for the heck of it, and the two of them were sitting on the bed, the laptop lying on the end of the bed. Sora and Riku were leaning against the headboard, lying exactly next to each other. Sora remembered it clearly; his arm was slightly lying on top of Riku's, and Riku did not budge at all.

Even at the end of the movie, Sora was getting tired, and thus yawned. When hearing this, Riku looked over at his friend and said, 'You can sleep on me if you're tired.' The younger male hesitated, and then after thinking it over for a few moments, he put his head on Riku's shoulder, realizing how strong it was. But as strong as his muscles were, he was comfortable—really comfortable to lie on. Riku pulled the covers up onto Sora, who was falling asleep slowly but surely.

It was then Sora realized he needed Riku, and that he had this feeling in his heart. It had only been about fifteen days since they were united again, but he felt something he always felt with Riku before they were separated.

Sora felt safe in his arms.

The teen's thoughts were interrupted as a splash of water was thrown onto his face. Shaking his head to get the salty sea water off, Sora looked up at Riku, who was laughing. Riku was now deeper in the water; it was up to about his waist.

Riku held his hand out, his palm facing upward and his fingers stretched out. His eyes looked into Sora's, and Sora looked back.

"Let's go," Riku spoke out, his hand still held out.

Another tide crashed onto Sora's feet, covering up to his ankles.

A soft smile grew on Riku's lips.

Taking one step, Sora came a few inches closer to his friend. He took two more steps and then three, until he was three feet in front of Riku. Shaking slightly, he raised his hand, reaching out to Riku, about to grab it before a wave crashed behind Riku. The wave went right passed Riku, but when it came to Sora, who was not paying attention, got pushed back into the water, screaming as he fell.

Before he could crash on the water behind him, a strong hand grabbed onto his wrist, pulling him up back to his feet.

"Be careful, Sora," Riku still had his hand on Sora's wrist, holding it gently now.

"Sorry bout that," Sora laughed embarrassedly.

Riku only smiled in return and walked further into the water, tugging on Sora's wrist to follow him.

"It's really warm today!" Sora splashed his free hand in the water.

"Yeah, it is."

Breaking free from Riku's grip, Sora jumped from him behind, locking his arms around the older male's neck and leaned on him. "This can't be the end of summer!" he leaned kicked at the water below him.

The silver-haired male pulled Sora up onto his back and swam around a bit, giving him a ride in the water. "And school starts tomorrow," Riku added.

"Don't remind me!" Sora buried his head in his friends shoulder. "I don't want to go back there!"

"Why not?"

"Some of the people there annoy me…" he trailed off. "And the classes are hard for me."

"What classes do you have this year?"

The brunette fell silent, not saying anything. Lowering his head in shame, he tried to hide it as best as he could.

"Come on, Sora, I won't laugh," Riku assuringly spoke to Sora.

"No, I'm really stupid," the younger male mumbled. "Half of my classes are below average for my age."

Riku stopped swimming around, and pondered a bit. "But that doesn't make you stupid, Sora," he began, and then went back to pondering.

"But…I can't even be at the regular level," Sora's voice began to break up a bit.

Sighing, Riku bumped Sora off of him, and then turned around to look him directly in the eyes. "Don't let the school standards say who you are, Sora-kun, because the school does not know you like I do."

Sora stared back into his eyes. "Well, what are your classes, Ri-kun?"

His friend hesitated before speaking. "I don't know yet," he warily spoke. "I, uhh…have to wait to get my schedule tomorrow."

The younger male pouted a bit. "What about in your old school?"

"Don't worry about it," Riku patted Sora on the head.

"But I do!" Sora burst out. "I do care!"

"Sora-kun, school only gives you a grade from their academic standards. It has no means in describing what makes you you, or how you wake up every day and live your life with the decisions you make. Yes, it can get you into college and give you opportunities, but it's what you learn from education that helps to define you."

Silence fell between the two boys, as Sora thought over Riku's words, trying to digest them. Riku was in fact correct, but Sora still felt like he was at loss with not being at Riku's intelligence level.

"Sora," Riku sighed out. "If it makes you feel better, I am in AP and honor classes—"

"That doesn't help," Sora interrupted him.

"I'm not finished," Riku pushed some stray hairs out of his eyes. "But the only reason I am at that level is because of the pressure I am under from my parents; in order to be free and be on my own as I am now, my grades have to be the best of the best. No, not even that—I have to be at the top or all my freedoms are gone. Do you understand, Sora-kun?"

"Ri-kun…" Sora trailed off. "I'm sorry…" his voice began to shake again as he trembled.

"Sora, it's alright," Riku tilted his friends chin up so that Sora could see his smile. "I've learned to retain all the information in class so that it's is rather easy for me."

The younger male still had his chin resting on Riku's fingers but his eyes were lowered, avoiding eye contact with the silver-haired male.

Riku pulled Sora into him, hugging him as tight as his arms would allow him. "Don't worry about anything, Sora. Whatever it is that is bothering you, tell me. And this whole thing with how you keep saying you're dumb is ridiculous."

"But—"

"No buts!" Riku pulled away to look Sora in the eye. "If you were dumb, you wouldn't have kept your promise to me, Sora-kun."

X X X X X

A girl walked down the sidewalk that bordered the beach, headphones covering her ears playing one of her favorite songs.

She sang along to the lyrics.

"You're never there, and every time I sleep, you're always there," she sang out loud, swinging her pocket book back and forward as she strolled down the sidewalk.

"'Cause you're everywhere to me!" she sang as loud as she could, trying to stay in tune.

The girl turned to look at the beach, looking for one boy in particular. "And when I close my eyes it's you I see," she sang, scanning the beach for the spiky brown-haired boy she so desperately wanted to see.

As she opened her mouth to sing the next line of the song, her voice froze. She stopped swinging her bag and stopped where she stood.

There, walking out of the ocean was Sora, the boy she was looking for. But he was not alone; he was being carried on some silver-haired male's back.

Never had she seen this other boy before, and the way they were so friendly towards each other was driving her mad with anger. The red-haired girl stepped off the sidewalk and off the sand, making her way towards the two boys.

X X X X X

Riku tightened his grip on Sora's legs as he ran onto the sand with Sora on his back. He ran over to where there towels were and circled around them a few times before gently letting Sora down.

"That was so much fun!" Sora fell over a bit.

"Careful, there," Riku grabbed his shoulder and pulled him up.

"I'm fine, just a bit dizzy," he laughed it off.

"You sure?" Riku asked, rather concerned.

Nodding assuringly, Sora sat down on his towel, Riku sitting next to him.

"Ri-kun?" Sora looked over at his friend.

"Yeah, Sora?" Riku looked back.

The younger male bit his lip gently for a second, and averted his eyes to his feet. He looked back as he let go of his lip, and held his eyes on Riku's. "I'm so happy to be with you again."

And for the first time in eleven years, Sora's lips grew into a full smile, the beautiful smile Riku had longed to see.

Riku's feelings over came him, and he hugged Sora tightly. "Sora," he whispered, hugging him tightly.

"Well, hello there, Sora!"

Riku jumped back from Sora to look up at the owner of the voice, while Sora on the other hand just greeted the person back.

"Hey, Kairi."

"I have missed you just so much this summer!" she sat down next to Sora and leaned over to hug him tightly. As she hugged him she looked over at Riku and gave him a dirty look.

'What the hell…?' Riku thought to himself.

A weak laugh escaped from Sora. "Yeah."

"That's all you can say, my dear Sora-kun?" She pressed herself against him a bit, moving her hips so more of her legs and rear end could be seen under her extremely short skirt.

"I told you not to call me that," Sora groaned a bit.

"But it's just adorable for you, you cutie patootie!" she tugged at his cheeks a bit.

Another groan escaped from Sora.

"Aw, Sora-kun!" Kairi giggled.

"Stop calling him that," Riku spat out at the girl.

"Excuse me?" Kairi glared over at the boy again.

"I said, stop calling him Sora-kun like he is yours."

"And who are you?" Kairi's glare intensified.

"Tanaka Riku," Riku glared at Kairi as well.

"What an ugly name!" the red-head laughed. "You poor, ugly boy!"

"Kairi!" Sora shoved her off of him. "That's mean!"

"Oh, how could you disagree with me?" Kairi flipped her hair backwards. "I mean, look at him. His hair is…white for God's sake. I mean, really."

"How immature," Riku stood up. "For you to have to talk about a stranger so crudely to hide your own insecurities." He picked up his towel and bag. "That's just rather pathetic, wouldn't you agree?"

Kairi's eyes were fully wide, as she stared at the male.

"Let's go home, Sora-kun," Riku offered his hand out to Sora, who took it and pulled himself up, taking his towel with him.

The two boys walked away towards the sidewalk, and halfway to the sidewalk, Riku glared back Kairi, striking the beginning of a very intense rivalry.

X X X X X

Sorry this took a while longer to write, I got a bit busy x(

Thank you for all of your reviews!

But I'm sorry to say…that my updates might be taking longer.

My grades are slipping in math a bit.

Of course I got a student teacher that doesn't know how to teach.

Every time he tries to teach something he goes "Well, uhm. I really don't know…"

And then everyone does bad on the tests…

ANYWAY.

I need to work on getting my math grade up.

But I will be working on this story and my other one as much as I can.

I hope none of you have a student teacher EVER.

They're horrible. X.x

Thanks again, and until chapter eight!

Much love,

--Allie