Title: Seeking Promise

Rating: M

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Roxas/Axel, brief Sora/Kairi

Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I wouldn't be out on the streets handing out my resumes like candy. If I owned anything, I wouldn't be such a Nazi about letting people use my content in a responsible fashion. We all know I never win such battles against the government.

The rating M is mostly me hedging my bets. Things get a little sexy in this chapter, so the portion that is in bold represents cut content. For the full fanfiction chapter (with lemony freshness), I now have them all uploaded on my livejournal account. It's super easy to navigate. All you have to do is find me under the username khpengooin and click through a couple 18+ prompts for the chapter you want. The whole chapter is there, so you may either read here and switch over to the bold portion there, or read the entire chapter there. The only real difference is that there are no dividers between segments changing POV, time, etc. for this chapter on livejournal. Those changes should still be pretty clear in the writing, regardless.

And as always, thanks so much for readers/reviews/favorites/follows! I've reached over 2,000 views thanks to you!

When Friday rolled around, Sora and his friends went to Kairi's house after school to help prepare for the party. It was 5:30, and having set up long ago they sat in a circle on her living room floor. Selphie had been enthusiastically telling them the story of how she got to make out with Setzer during seven minutes in heaven at Kairi's last bash. The others tuned her out long ago, having heard the tale millions of times before.

As Sora brought out the last of the snacks, he wondered if Riku would show up. Aerith's talk still confused him, but he at least owed the guy an apology after trying to murder him. Everyone thought of Sora as the sweetest person at Destiny High and he would never hurt a fly. But, no one was able to make him so mad before. Riku had an incredible talent for ruffling feathers in more ways than Sora was willing to admit.

Kairi wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "You nervous?"

He half-smiled, "Nah, I'm okay."

"Good," she kissed his cheek. "Don't worry so much Sora."

Kairi was the only one Sora told about the storm. Like his mother, she had an incredible sense of intuition. He half-wondered if they were having secret SA (Sora Anonymous) meetings behind his back to pick apart the details of his life. Despite being his ex girlfriend, she easily accepted the possibility that Sora was in love with a guy. She was even happy for him. But like Aerith, she wanted Sora to figure out his feelings on his own.

She skipped over to Selphie and whispered something in her ear, to which the brunette grinned sinfully.

Maybe Sephie was in on those SA meetings, too.

Roxas and Sora both shifted uncomfortably for the first hour of the party as they waited for the inevitable. Ironically, they stayed together and made small talk while sitting through a couple games of hide and kiss. It was really quite remarkable how easily Sora got along with Roxas. They could sit in a comfortable silence and still feel like brothers. It was hard to speak anyway, with the music booming nearby.

"Kairi was tagged for the first game," Sora shouted over the discord. "I wonder who kissed her."

"I heard Hayner got to her first," Roxas added lazily.

"Oh," Sora was about to go on when a freshman tripped and spilt their drink on Roxas.

"Shit, I'll be back Sora," Roxas shot a glare at the kid before making his way to the kitchen.

Roxas was glad for choosing a dark shirt that night as he rubbed at the spill with a damp cloth. He sighed. Parties were so not his thing, but his friends and Axel had encouraged him to go. He started to regret his decision when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his chest.

"Miss me?"

He couldn't help the spreading warmth that enveloped his chest when he turned around to see Axel beaming down at him.

Roxas tried to scowl, but it ended up looking more like a pout, "You're late."

Axel backed him into a counter and leaned in until their breath melded. He smirked, "punish me."

"Uhh," Roxas blushed and squeezed out from between Axel and the countertop.

"No, that's okay."

Axel chuckled and tried not to envision how many things he could make Roxas do on the countertop. Despite the stains, Roxas was looking pretty delicious in that tight-fitting shirt and skinny jeans.

He decided holding hands would have to do for now.

"You want a drink?"

Roxas nodded against his better judgment, "Sure."

When Roxas didn't come back from the kitchen, Sora assumed that Axel had arrived. He frowned and looked down at his feet anxiously. If Axel had arrived, that probably meant that Riku would be hanging around somewhere too. His resolve to apologize wavered as his stomach knotted up.

An older blonde man approached him and licked his lips greedily as he looked at Sora.

"Can I get you a drink?" Sora looked up briefly and recognized this man as the college guy who showed up once in a while to Kairi's parties. He was bad news. Dem- something? Sora couldn't really remember. He erred on the side of caution,

"No thanks."

The man looked disgruntled at his rejection, but gave up and walked away. Sora could see Riku's uneasy glance in his peripheral. He felt a hollow pang in his chest in seeing him. That's an embarrassing way to get noticed.

Selphie turned off the music and stood up on a chair for the third time that evening,

"It's time for our final game of hide and kiss! Gather round everyone!" Selphie's yelling rang shrill in his eardrums and he no longer cared to listen. He got up and was about to leave the room when she barked an order his way,

"It's Sora's turn to hide! I hope you're ready for a challenge because he's our very best hider! First one to find him wins and has to kiss him!"

Sora felt all his dignity fly away to some foreign galaxy as the color drained from his face. This was the first time he'd ever been called to play in one of Selphie's silly games. Before, she'd always let him sit out.

"But, Selphie please—"

"Everyone turn around!" She grinned from ear to ear in a way that chilled Sora to the bone. "You have five minutes Sora!"

"Selphie!"

"Go!"

Sora's mind raced. He was going to have to find a place where no one would ever find him, which wouldn't be too hard considering he knew Kairi's home inside out. When the party was over, it would be safe to come out.

I know the perfect place.

Roxas and Axel were getting tipsy by the time Selphie announced the game. Roxas squirmed in Axel's arms feverishly as Axel trailed kisses up the younger boy's jawbone. His head swam, his face was hot, and part of him practically screamed to be touched.

Axel grinned and got up from the couch they'd been sitting on.

"C'mon, I have an idea," he grabbed Roxas by the hand and led them outside while the rest of crowd searched for Sora.

"This had better not involve anything illegal," Roxas mumbled. He was still frustrated with the interruption and cursed himself for getting so worked up over a few kisses.

Axel looked at the pool then back at Roxas with the grin of an impish child, "We're swimming."

Roxas grimaced at the prospect of using someone else's pool, "I dunno. It's probably not the best idea Axel."

"Aw Roxy, live a little!" Axel scooped him up in his arms and strolled over to the pool's ledge.

Roxas squirmed violently and yelled, "Not funny! Let me go!"

"As you wish… darling," Axel winked

"No no no! Hey!"

and dropped him into the pool.

Roxas surfaced with his hair matted to his face and coughed up water.

Axel crouched down near the edge and laughed, "Made you wet."

His laughing was cut short when Roxas leaped up out of the water and yanked Axel down with him. Both boys emerged laughing and splashed each other playfully. Roxas tackled Axel and they wrestled under the water.

When the roughhousing was over, a beat of silence passed in which they searched each other's eyes. This was the first time Roxas saw Axel's hair wet and since his hair was flat, his eyes and the markings under them seemed brighter. The light refracted off the water and glowed in blue waves on Axel's face.

Axel was enamored with the way Roxas' hair dripped from the ends, drawing his attention to the shirt clinging to his chest. Whenever Axel was around him, he didn't think of anyone else. He put a hand on either side of Roxas' face and brushed his thumbs over his blushed cheeks.

Axel's eyes swept over him once more and the words fell out like running water,

"I love you."

He felt Roxas cheeks warm under his thumbs, and Roxas reached up for a kiss. Axel leaned down to meet him and slid his tongue in as Roxas wrapped his arms around Axel's neck. Axel squeezed Roxas' hips when he bit at his lips playfully. Roxas then tugged at Axel's tank top, who pulled it off and tossed it. It landed with a heavy slap on the water.

This is the part where Axel makes Roxas a man.

Livejournal for the dirty deeds.

It took a good five minutes for them to find the strength to pull up Roxas' pants and find Axel's shirt. Roxas laced their fingers as they sat up and dangled their legs in the pool. He leaned on Axel's shoulder and smiled softly.

"I love you too," he said in a muted whisper.

Kairi and Selphie turned to face each other at the patio door and started laughing.

"Dude!"

"I know!"

"Gross!"

"I knooow!"

Kairi wrinkled her nose, "Well, I'm not going swimming for a while."

Sora carefully pulled the ladder up and shut the attic hatch behind him. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath from pulling up the heavy ladder.

"That mofo weighed a ton!" Sora gasped.

He tiptoed to the darkest corner of the room and climbed into one of the packing boxes. It was the most elaborate hiding spot he could think of for the moment, but he wondered if he would be able to make it out as easily as he got in.

The rest of the party grew restless downstairs. After about thirty minutes, most of them gave up looking for Sora altogether.

The only ones left looking were genuinely worried Sora was now a missing person. Selphie considered putting his face on a milk carton at this point.

"Wow Kai, you weren't kidding when you said he was good at this. You sure he'll be okay?"

Kairi nudged her friend and pointed to the stairs. Riku was on his way up. Selphie followed her gaze and clapped her hands together. Her eyes widened as she grinned,

"Are you sure you're not one of those creepy fortune tellers?"

Kairi gave her a smug nod. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, grinning,

"Tell all your troubles to Miss Cleo!"

The girls high-fived and giggled.

Riku didn't really know why he was searching for Sora. He thought it could be because he knew Sora had the troublesome habit of throwing himself from cliffs.

He didn't much care either way really, but there was nothing to do downstairs. He knew all the girls there, and they were incurably boring; and Axel was presumably busy with Roxas.

Riku winced thoughtfully as he crept from room to room. His friend was quite obviously wrapped up in something more serious than the usual fling. The way Axel looked at Roxas was almost admirable, and so cheesy it made Riku sick to watch. The relationship itself didn't bother Riku so much as the sudden loss of his friend did. There was no one to compete with for dates, and it wasn't fun without competition. Now that Axel wasn't into it, Riku just didn't care to date casually anymore. It had absolutely nothing to do with Sora.

Not a thing.

After carefully combing the few rooms that couples hadn't occupied, Riku considered giving up and going back downstairs when he heard a soft tap above him. He looked up, baffled when he didn't find the source of the noise right away.

But, there was a faint outline of a little door in the ceiling. Riku looked around for something to stand on.

tap. tap. tap.

This time the noise was unmistakably in the ceiling. He removed a vase from a small decorative stand and pulled the stand to the middle of the floor. Being careful in the distribution of his weight, Riku stood on the stand and pulled at the edges of the door until it came loose and fell open. As the stand started to crackle and wobble beneath him, he jumped up to catch the opening and pulled himself up.

Sora had grown bored and looked around the junky mess for something to keep him busy. He eventually stumbled upon Kairi's box of old toys and pulled out a paddle ball.

At first, Sora waved his arm and the ball bounced off the paddle to hit him in the face. But, after a few more tries, Sora adapted to the timing and rhythm. He had counted 32 hits when he heard the hatch open at the other end of the room. Kairi? Sora assumed his friend had come to rescue him, but just to be safe he dove back into his box.

That was way too much trouble. Riku exhaled slowly and looked around.

The space was larger than expected of an attic, but compared to the bedrooms it was tiny. Dust coated the sheet wood that made up the floor, and small slivers of moonlight leaked in through the only window at the far end of the room. The rest of the room was cloaked in shadow and silhouettes of packing boxes littered the floor. Overall, Riku thought it was a lonely room. At the same time there was something nostalgic about it.

He wandered between the boxes and made his way to the window. Sora peered over the edge of his box at him. Riku? What's he doing up here?

As Riku looked out the window, Sora noticed something very different about his countenance that he hadn't before. He seemed gentle, even kind.

Riku stood there for what seemed like a long time, leaving Sora free to examine him. He casted a tall shadow and his aquamarine eyes squinted thoughtfully through the window, as if he were searching the sky for some kind of divine answer. He was well built and though Sora noticed this before, it accosted him with startling clarity now.

He was in awe of how cool Riku looked. Sora in contrast, was messy, clumsy, and obnoxious; the complete opposite of the zen being standing in front of him. He was torn between staying hidden and revealing himself. Neither sounded very appealing to Sora, but a slight shifting of his hand made the decision for him.

Riku turned, "Who's there?"

Sora's head appeared over the top of the box.

"Sora," Riku approached the box and looked down at him expectantly.

"…Guilty," Sora sulked.

An awkward silence followed and then Sora crawled out of his box. He looked down at his feet.

Riku broke the silence, "We should probably talk…"

Sora nodded slowly and they sat down on the dusty floor in a patch of moonlight.

"Riku, I'm really sorry about before. I didn't mean to attack you like that, I just—"

"It's my fault," Riku sighed, then continued,

"I've been acting like an ass. I would have done the same if I were you."

Sora shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't look Riku in the eyes, but he felt them boring into him as he stared at the floor.

"Look, I don't care if you hate me and all, but you could've just told me or something."

Riku blinked, "Who ever said I hated you?"

"I thought that's why you were picking on me," Sora shrugged.

"Sora, I wasn't picking on you because I hated you. I did it because," Riku trailed off.

Sora looked up cautiously.

"You never came back to the island," Riku finished.

"What?"

Maybe it was the light playing tricks on him, but Sora could swear he saw the slightest bit of color rise in Riku's cheeks.

"Do you remember that promise we made?"

Sora mouthed a silent 'Oh'.

He went on, "You just stopped showing up out of the blue, so I guess I was still angry about it." Riku's eyes narrowed, "we promised to stick together."

Sora's cheeks warmed. I can't tell him the real reason why I stopped going to the island. I can't tell him that it hurt to see him.

"Yeah sorry, school and stuff started getting in the way and all…" Sora scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. What a lame excuse.

Riku frowned and crossed his arms. Despite the years of division, Sora's smile was still cute and contagious. He couldn't hold up his frown for very long.

"So we're okay then?"

"Yeah, I guess…"

Riku nodded, "Good. Now about that kiss…"

"W-what kiss?" Sora stammered and struggled to compose himself.

Riku had to keep himself from laughing at his reaction, "You don't remember the rules of the game? I found you first, didn't I?"

Sora opened and closed his mouth, but no words came out.

"It's just a game Sora."

Sora got nervous as Riku scooted closer, "Well yeah, but I really don't think that's a good idea, and no one's gonna know whether or not we do it."

He felt Riku's hands touch his face and lost his words again. Riku shrugged, "It's no big deal, and we've done it before. I don't mind."

Riku's lips were soft and cool to the touch, and Sora was reminded of the soft underside of his pillow at home. Their lips slid together as if they were matching puzzle pieces. Sora couldn't constrain his muffled squeak when Riku's mouth opened slightly.

He felt Riku's hair flutter over his face and he closed his eyes. It was nothing like Kairi's kisses. This time, Sora felt like he was drifting away with the passing clouds in the moonlight; but it ended much sooner than he would have liked.

"See? That wasn't too bad," Riku masked his own shock and smiled.

He stood up and made his way to the hatch. Sora helped him lower the ladder and they went back to the party without another word.

Well I was going to get Sora all drunk and jealous after that, but I no longer see it meshing well. All aboard for the fluff train!

Next Time: Sora admits to having some feelings. Whether they will be regarding food or something else? Who knows.