Sora had gotten up from his bed a little while ago now and had begun to pace, a deep sense of anxiety having washed over him. Riku hadn't seemed to mind the circumstances, but now there was the very real and very tangible fact that he, yet again, was dwelling with someone else, and this time the entity wasn't content to sit idly. Now he was aware and paying attention, he could feel the restless energy, like a lion that'd been locked up in a cage for far too long.

Sora stopped in his tracks. Had he made the decision to start pacing, or had he? Pacing had felt right, so he'd started pacing.

He shuddered. If he followed what he thought felt right he'd end up on a dark path faster than he could say Keyblade.

He mind deliberately decided to then remind him of the younger Xehanort's words in the dream world, which he forcefully quashed. No, he hadn't strayed off the path of light, and he didn't care what he had to do, he wasn't going to let Riku be in the same position he'd been in, watching fruitlessly as your best friend spirals into oblivion.

Well at least he wasn't going to turn into Ansem.

…though turning into a villainous, dark suit wearing version of yourself might actually be worse.

Nah. It wasn't worse. Still bad though.

Sora exhaled, sitting back down on his bed and running his fingers through his hair. This felt absolutely nothing like what he'd felt while Roxas was still raw, when he'd cried as he'd gotten onto the train leaving Twilight Town. Those emotions were distinctly not his. They'd been separate, a barrier between two different people that had to crumble eventually.

But as much as he hated it, Vanitas didn't feel like that. The emotions that rushed his head didn't defy logic, didn't go completely against what he'd thought or felt before. He hadn't known it was Leon in the Crystal Fissure. If he had, he doubted the feelings would have been so intense.

He felt like a lost limb, almost. Something forgotten and neglected but there all the same, an extension rather than a total contrast.

And that was what terrified him.

The restless energy in him grumbled in annoyance, a garbled voice reaching his mind, but nothing he understood. Their thoughts and emotions only communicated in certain instances; like a damaged limb that was missing a tendon or a nerve.

Honestly he wasn't too eager to hear him again. While he did want to get to the bottom of this, he hated the idea of people thinking of him as dangerous, or scary. Cheerful grins at all times, save the mockery for the battlefield.

See, that is exactly why I'm here.

Dammit.

No, no, no. I've latched on and I'm not letting go this time, I'm going to make that friend of yours see reason. I've been here a lot longer than you want to acknowledge, and I have my ways.

"Oh yeah?" he hissed out loud, knowing fully well he was talking to thin air.

Oh yeah. Gotta thank those three good fairies sometime. Lemme give you a hint. What happens when you use your clothing's magic too much?

"Oh no."

Oh yes. Let's go do some convincing without your bleeding heart getting in the way, shall we?

"I won't let you" Sora growled, stumbling to his feet, but he could already feel the magic of his clothing surging forward, reaching down into the depths of his heart and reaching for something it shouldn't. That dark taint that happened in his most awful moments, where his friends were nowhere to be seen, having either vanished or not there at all. Never when someone was watching, and always with the same rabid fury, the desire to destroy, something trying to escape.

Sora let out a string of curse words entirely inappropriate and uncharacteristic of him, trying to yank his own clothing off, do anything to get away from what he knew was coming, but it was too late.

Rather than the usual burst of white-hot light that accompanied a drive form, this time it was deliberately accessed, so the burst of energy was purple and black, the air filling with the scent of darkness that wrapped back around its origin, clothing his form in a dark suit of the purest black, his hair changing to reflect the same hue.

The energy faded and he stood, a smirk playing across his lips, amber eyes glinting maliciously.

"Play time's over" he murmured, grinning as he slipped out of the room.


Riku was sitting outside the tower, letting the cool breeze wash over him as he let his thoughts fill his head. This was a problem. A really, really big problem, and it needed to be dealt with somehow.

But wouldn't he be better off not having a dark part of his heart? Sora definitely wasn't a Princess of Heart, he'd known that from the very beginning. He had his own darkness, as underplayed as it was.

Or ignored and neglected, he admitted worriedly. Perhaps it had always been there, sneaking up on him faster.

He shuddered. He didn't want to even consider such a thing. Xehanort's only reasoning for trying to use Sora was because he had a Keyblade, right? He'd just moved down the line.

Unless Xehanort knew fully well that Vanitas existed within Sora. Didn't Ven say that he'd been Xehanort's apprentice? Even if Ven had been the only one he knew to have seen Vanitas's face, that didn't rule out the fact that Xehanort might have also seen it…

So, what then? Sora's being consumed by his own darkness and doesn't even know? What was the best course of action- let him continue to go on as he was and risk him not even having an indication he was about to turn into a Heartless, or give him back that piece of his heart so he could struggle with it on his own?

Riku rubbed his forehead, trying to figure this whole thing out. Today had been an awful day, an awful, awful day. He doubted it could get any worse.

"I hope you're making the right decision over there, or else I might have to stick this Keyblade in your chest and get it out myself."

That would be the one thing that could make it worse.

Riku stood up, spinning on his heel and summoning his Keyblade in the same movement. The raven-haired boy laughed, cold and cruel. There was no trace of Sora in his golden eyes at this point; he was leaning against the frame of the door, playing with his Void Gear Keyblade lazily, fully clad in the black and red dark suit. His voice, though still clearly Sora's, had dropped into a darker tone, and most of the emotion had left it.

"Vanitas" said Riku firmly, and he grinned.

"Hey. Thought I'd come and make sure you were deliberating nice and hard over what I said earlier."

"While crying" Riku retorted, and Vanitas snorted.

"Sora's bleeding heart is to blame for that one."

"I thought you accept everything with duel responsibility?" the silverette quipped, and the other boy's eyes narrowed slightly, though a smirk was still on his lips.

"Attentive. Yes, that's right. I take full responsibility for those Groucho glasses, that flying hug, and weeping on our knees at the sight of you in The World that Never Was. Meanwhile, we also take full responsibility injuring Ven, Aqua, and Mickey, including attempting to kill that blonde idiot. On multiple occasions. One being fairly recent."

"Sora wasn't trying to kill him" Riku said firmly.

"Bleeding hearts, Riku. They're a terrible burden" he said, shaking his head with a tut. "Like it matters. Made your decision?"

"Not quite. Seeing you is making me favour the idea of keeping this piece right where it is."

"Oh?" inquired Vanitas, cocking his head to the side. "That'd be a shame. I'd have to rip it right out of you…and you're the only one I actually like."

Riku raised his eyebrows at this. "Wait, why?"

"Personal reasons" he replied, flicking an invisible piece of dust. "And no, you can't just ask Sora. We don't have full access to each other."

"Then how'd you know about the groucho glasses?" Riku asked.

"Think of it as two people living in houses across the road from each other. We get glimpses, especially if they're things that make the other bounce off the wall and scream at the top of their lungs." He actually looked pretty peeved as he said the sentence. "We could meet in the middle, but you've got the road."

"Why on earth should I trust you, Vanitas?!" Riku hissed, exasperated. "You clearly were a pain in the ass, you hurt people and you were Xehanort's apprentice; you don't exactly have the best track record!"

Vanitas grimaced, looking annoyed for a few moments as he dismissed his Keyblade and folded his arms. "I want Xehanort dead just as much as you do" the raven haired young man said softly.

Riku blinked in surprise, raising his eyebrows. "Are you serious?"

"I hate him. From the very bottom of my darkness-spawned heart. You can't trust me, no. What I can guarantee is two things. One- I am not going to actually harm Sora. Sora's pain is my pain, and I'm a sadist, not the other way around. Two- I am fighting on your side in this war. Xehanort can burn for all I care, and I sure as hell hope he does."

"You're Sora's darkness. How can you guarantee Sora's not going to end up a Heartless?"

"That's up to Sora. I'll do everything I can to make sure he can harness it, not let it dominate him. And no, Riku, I'm not Sora's darkness. I've just lived there for a stupidly long time. Except for that one time in Hollow Bastion but I don't count that instance."

Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Give us back that piece and I'll tell you everything" Vanitas taunted, playing on Riku's curiosity, which the silverette fully knew he was. It was one of his many weaknesses- he really did want to know more about this guy, and no, it wasn't because the black hair was surprisingly suiting to Sora's features.

"Ah, time's up" Vanitas said wistfully. "We'll talk more later. Give that piece back, and we can talk all you like."

"What a thrilling idea" Riku drawled sarcastically, and Vanitas smirked, before turning on his heel and disappearing up the tower.

Riku walked in to see no trace of either Vanitas or Sora- he must've been able to move very fast in order to get up there that quick. Riku exhaled, rubbing his hair. Vanitas, so far, had not made himself easy to actually hate. He hadn't known him twelve years ago, and so far he'd simply fit into the category they'd given him and Roxas earlier- a darker, twisted version of their original personality.

And for Riku, an occasionally aggressive Sora was nothing to complain about.

The silver-haired teen squashed the thoughts mercilessly. Bad Riku.


Notes:

-Yes, according to this fic Anti-Sora and Vanitas are the same being, just at various stages of comprehension. This includes Coded.

-Fluoricia : Yep, he does know Lea- that's why Ventus referring to him as 'Axel' is a big deal. More on that next chapter, though.

Anyway, thank you for the reviews! I was pretty surprised since I blah'd a lot. I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this fic; it actually surprises me how few fics actually deal with Sora/Vanitas's 'canonical' relationship.

Jesus, my working doc for this fic is almost 30k (revisions/cuts included). IT WAS MEANT TO BE A ONESHOT OTL. I blame Vanilla Bunny for this!