Days later, Riku was gazing lazily from Sora's window. The view was cheerful, with sights of foliage and casual cafes, but Riku was paying them no mind. Their contents were his focus.
Groups of friends, happily lost in their own worlds. He let out a sigh without realizing.
"What's up, sourpuss?" a nearby Sora yawned from behind him.
"Finally awake, huh?", the older boy asked aloud without looking back.
"Yep," Sora grinned under a mess of hair, taking a seat beside him to look outside.
Riku shuffled, letting his chin rest atop those soft, brown tufts.
The younger boy chuckled at the effortless affection he received. I hope I never get used to this, he mused. "So, whatcha looking at?"
Riku was silent for a moment.
"I was thinking," he began, but didn't continue.
"Yeah?", Sora pried, keeping his tone light and cheerful. "Thinking about me?"
"Always," Riku breathed. "But not this time."
Sora's head wavered. "Don't tease me so casually," he cried.
"Then don't invite me to," Riku replied, nuzzling gently against his temple.
"So, what were you thinking about?", Sora asked again with a tinge of gloom.
"I was thinking," Riku tried again. "Maybe we should visit Kairi."
Sora's head shot up before Riku had time to react, and the taller boy nearly fell backwards.
"Do you mean it!?", Sora exclaimed with an excitement in his eyes that nearly blinded Riku. When he saw how the silver boy recoiled, he caught himself and shifted his tone to an attempt at calm. "You're ready?"
Riku mulled it over thoughtfully before nodding. "Yeah, I think so."
"Right now?", Sora asked, his face inching closer to the older boy's.
The silver boy grimaced. "Get ready first," he replied dryly, grinning when he saw how Sora took stock of his own condition. "Then, we can call her and ask if she's busy."
Before he could even get a reply, Sora took off to the bathroom to shower.
Kairi had been at home when Sora called, and they quickly arranged to have tea at her place.
On the way there, Sora was happily wagging their held hands between them.
"Should we hold hands in front of her?", Riku asked quietly. "We haven't told her, so, maybe," he trailed off awkwardly.
Sora stopped in his tracks, causing the taller boy to glance at him quizzically. He shook his head. "I'm sure she already knows. Kairi is really smart, ya know," he smiled assuredly.
"Oh," Riku blinked, looking down. "It's,"
"A little embarrassing?", Sora chuckled, but tightened his grip nonetheless.
Riku's eyes shot back to the smaller boy, at first surprised, but quickly returned his effortless smile. "Yeah."
And like that, they knocked on Kairi's door.
The red-haired girl soon appeared, stepping outside. "Sora, Riku," she grinned, craning her head while looking upon them fondly.
"Hey," Riku mumbled, soon feeling Sora's hand tighten reassuringly.
"Hi, Kairi," Sora beamed. "The bakery wasn't open today, so we couldn't bring any snacks," his face fell while delivering this information. "I'm s-"
She cut him off. "Then, how about we bake together?", she offered, smiling sweetly. "I know a quick and surprisingly delicious scone recipe."
Riku's unsure face warmed slightly. "That sounds nostalgic."
"Then, come on in," Kairi ushered, pausing at the doorway to allow her guests time to transition out of their shoes. "I'll put some flower tea on while we bake."
The red-haired girl owned two aprons. One, new and white, its edges embellished with ribbons. The other was an older, frayed material with faded blue stripes.
Riku had been volunteered for the older one, while Sora opted for neither. I have a lot of experience, he reasoned.
The other two could only concede. The usually-clumsy boy was surprisingly apt at cooking.
Kairi set out the ingredients, with Riku doing the measurements and Sora mixing them together.
"I'm so glad you're feeling better, Riku," Kairi marvelled while serving them violet tea in cups themselves resembling flowers.
"Yeah," Riku nodded, trying to force a smile to his features. Talking to you is still difficult. Without thinking, he looked to the younger boy for comfort.
Sora was so focused on getting the consistency correct, Riku was on his own.
He gulped, looking back to Kairi while he gathered the measuring cups to wash.
"I'll help," Kairi offered, picking up the remnants.
Riku put on a pair of brightly-colored purple dishwashing gloves. "Thanks," he smiled pleasantly.
Things were quiet for a while, with Riku cleaning the dishes and handing them to Kairi for drying. The air felt heavy, making each breath the silver boy took in feel more difficult.
No good. This is hard, he thought bitterly. Maybe it's too soon for this. Maybe I'm useless without Sora initiating things.
No, wait, he stopped himself. What was it Sora had said?
Notice other peoples' hearts...
He looked down at Kairi, whose gentle smile had felt so assured mere moments ago. But the more attention he gave to the details, he began to notice a few things.
She was looking down, focused on each piece of tableware. Her eyes were vaguely empty. Defeated, almost.
She's also…
"Kairi," Riku began, holding out the fork he spent too long washing.
Her eyes snapped back to attention, and took him in. "Yes!", she responded a little too enthusiastically, putting away the dish that had been dry for quite a while. She reached for the fork.
"I'm sorry," Riku breathed.
Kairi's hand stopped in mid-air. "Huh?"
Riku looked to Sora, still humming and lost in thought about the batter.
His eyes returned to Kairi's form, but he couldn't quite meet her questioning gaze.
"I've pushed you away," the silver-haired boy said quietly. "For a long time, I," he mumbled.
"It's okay," she offered him.
"No, please, let me say this," Riku begged.
The resolution in his eyes took her aback, and she was silent for several moments. Words failing her, she nodded curtly.
"I saw you as a rival," Riku spat out bitterly. "For Sora."
Kairi didn't move.
Riku continued. "And maybe now the only reason I'm okay with bridging the gap between us is because he has validated my feelings and, I," his words frayed and his gaze fell.
Kairi gently lifted the fork still in his hands, and put it onto the counter. She registered the imprint in his flesh from how tightly he had been gripping it.
Riku hadn't even taken notice of her action, still trying to give voice to all of the vile things he never wanted anyone to know.
But, maybe everyone has these kinds of feelings.
"I may not be worthy, but I want to be better," he continued, eyes once again meeting hers.
"I want to be your friend again," he pleaded in such a small voice, Kairi thought of the boy she first met when arriving at this island all those years ago.
She was silent for only a moment, but it felt like forever to the fragile, pale boy before her now.
Gently, slowly, she reached out her hand and took in the one he had wounded. His skin jumped.
"You know," she cooed softly. "I saw you that way, too," she admitted sadly, her eyes dropping momentarily. "I was sad." She bit her lip. "I'm still sad, but," she pressed on. "I care more about both of you being happy."
"Kairi," Riku breathed, astonished. His eyes squinted, tears threatening to spill over, and all he could do was pull her into a hug.
His trembling ceased when he felt her arms wrap around the small of his back, returning the hug.
"Hey," he heard a familiar voice say, and they both jumped back. "I want to be part of the hug too," Sora smiled with a mock-pout.
Surprised looks gave way to chuckles, and then hearty laughs as the third member of their group pulled both of them into a hug.
With hands covered in flour.
"You both have aprons. It's fine," Sora reasoned, before Riku dusted some of that flour onto his spiked hair.
"Hey!", he cried, before laughing and jumping to add flour atop both of their heads.
Kairi could barely breathe after looking up. "Ri, ku," she tried to say between hastily-taken breaths. "Your hair," she giggled. "Looks the same!"
"Oh yeah?", the eldest of the group huffed. "Then let's just see what you two would look like with a more majestic shade of hair," he finished menacingly, hands inching towards the container of flour.
Sora and Kairi playfully ran in different directions to escape their tormentor, laughing all the while.
And eventually, they baked the scones.
We won't always be the perfect version of ourselves, but, if we can try to believe in what others see-
We can reach towards it.