Morning arose and with the sun rising ahead of him, a boy was running full sprint "Kaiu! Malakai!". Ahead two boys were walking ahead, they turned around, seeing their friend sprinting towards them "Arthur, calm down, we have a good couple of months to train!". Arthur bolted past them and grabbed their hands, pulling them along unexpectedly. He yelled "no time! If I want to be as good as Sora I need to train every day!". They soon arrived at a nearby park, where they always trained. Malakai sighed and said "you sure you don't have some kind of crush on this Sora character?". Arthur nodded and said "I just like him! He's selfless, fearless, kind, courageous, caring-" "Arthur!" Arthur snapped out of his daydreaming like phase "s-s-sorry, but I DON'T have a crush on him, you get what I mean?" The two other boys laughed at his beet red face and said "don't worry dude, we got you, now, you going to keep going on about Sora, or are you going to spar?" Arthur giggled and shouted "you're on!".
An hour or two of relentless sparing later Arthur sat down in defeat, he was beaten every single time, even his fancy two pronged sword couldn't save him from the whooping he got. Arthur did what he always did when he lost, he pouted and waited for his two friends to notice, which they did, and they got into their routine of cheering him up. Malakai jumped in "hey, you can't give up, no doubt Sora had these issues too, there's no on in this world who starts out good, we have to get good". Kaiu smiled and said "hey, if anyone can impress Sora, it'll be you, you just need to commit to it, if you continue to try, and don't give up, why, I'd bet you'd make Sora fall for you, and your fighting skills". Arthur blushed, just thinking about making Sora smile, making Sora proud, it sent a wave of euphoria surging through his being. Soon Arthur was sparring again and he was far better than before, blocking every attack, and taking every opportunity to fight back, it was good he didn't bring meta with him, he may have killed his two friends. Soon Malakai and Kaiu were panting and wanted a break, while they were both talking about Arthur and his new found skill, Arthur tackled them both "You guys are the best! I couldn't have done that without you!". They both smiled, forgetting their shame and they hugged him back, Malakai cheekily remarked "next time I need to be lifted up, maybe you could give me some of this inspirational words, Kaiu?" Kaiu chuckled and said "yeah, I could use it too you know". They all laughed and they took an hour long break, to just be.
Arthur laid his head on Malakai's lap and just fell asleep, while Malakai and Kaiu just talked, eventually they landed on the topic of the keyblade wielder, that their best friends totally didn't fall in love with, Sora. Kaiu started off "hey Mal… You ever question who this Sora really is? If he's even real? I've never seen him, but Arth is going off about different worlds, talking dogs and ducks, you ever question it? Wonder if his dad is just telling him stories just to keep him happy, you know things haven't been the same since-" suddenly Arthur stirred around in his sleep, but then, as sudden as it happened, he violently shook around, his breathing got even faster, and Arthur was now crying in his sleep. "Mom! Don't go, momma don't!" Suddenly Arthur shot up, and he began crying, Malakai was on the case, Arthur was always seen as a baby brother, and they were determined to never let him be hurt. Malakai comforted Arthur by stroking his back, while Kaiu stroked his cheek and wiped his tears away "It'll be okay Arthur, you'll see her again, everything will be okay!". Arthur smiled and nodded "thanks you guys". The two older boys nodded and Kaiu said "hey! I got an idea, let's all go to the ice cream parlor! They have this new flavor, called 'Sea Salt Ice Cream' I tried it out and it's great!". Arthur nodded and smiled, as much as he wanted to woo over Sora when the time came, he really wanted ice cream. For the rest of the day they just tried to have fun, this was occasionally done by teasing Arthur about his idolization of a potential myth, though Arthur would repeatedly claim he was a real person. At the end of the day, they all went to bid farewell, before Arthur shouted "let's have a sleepover!" Malakai and Kaiu looked confused, before they remembered the person saying that, they both laughed and agreed, as they hadn't had a sleepover in literal years.