Riku left the building, allowing himself a moment to pause and breathe. Even though he hadn't said anything, he felt more vulnerable than ever.

Forcing a facade of composure over his actions, he quickly went to pick Sora up.

As he approached the building, Riku could already see the undoubtedly-bored boy spring up and fanatically wave at him through the large glass windows. A moment later, he moved to scoop up the papers laid out on the table, running to meet him by the door.

"Riku!", he leapt in his direction with an armful of pages.

The silver boy's first instinct was to shrink away from his touch, but the next moment he was painfully aware that if he didn't catch the boy, he would fall. Breathless, he caught him.

Sora beamed up at him, melting away any annoyance he felt previously.

"Do you feel a little better?", the smaller boy asked hopefully.

Riku nodded gently, offering him a soft smile.

"That's great," Sora exclaimed, bouncing one step backwards. His face took on a hint of seriousness.

"Hey, Riku," he mumbled. "Do you want to stay the night?"

The silver boy's blue eyes widened as his body took on the characteristics of ice.

This reaction was not unnoticed by Sora, who quickly became flustered. "I, I mean at my house!" he clarified.

No, I realized that, Riku thought, his features too rigid to register his sarcasm.

Sora stared at him, his mouth a jumbled line as he fidgeted in place. "I don't want you to be alone anymore."

When Riku's gaze didn't waver, Sora blurted out further detail. "You might shut yourself away again," he explained, looking up at him before adding, "And I'm worried about you."

The stoic boy was torn between two worlds, wanting desperately to say yes but also not wanting to desire anything more than what Sora actually intended.

But I, he thought, mind turning. His features softened as he looked into Sora's worried eyes. I keep hurting you, he admonished himself.

He didn't register his own hand moving to reassuringly pet Sora's head. A fit of giggles from the younger boy set his expression upturned.

Practice, huh, he remembered Laharl mentioning.

I'll practice moving towards you, he resolved.

Even if it hurts me.

Sora peeked up at him once his tickled laughter subsided. "Is that a yes?"

Riku nodded.

"Yes!" Sora cheered, all but jumping. "Also, can I put these in your bag?" he shrugged his arms, exaggerating their weight and hindrance upon his person.

Riku removed his hand, grabbing his sketchbook from the bag, writing a quick note.

Can I see them first?

"Nope!" Sora blurted out, smiling too wide for Riku to discern whether it was all a joke or just Sora being Sora. He shook his head, deciding it was the latter and opened his bag, holding it towards the younger boy who carefully inserted his drawings.

Riku fastened the bag around his shoulders and Sora bounded beside him.

"On the way, we should grab something for dinner," he suggested.

Riku chuckled breathily, nodding wholeheartedly.

Sora was surprisingly decent at cooking, Riku mused, watching him by the counter. His place had an actual kitchen, small though it may be, so he was glad to see it received a good amount of use.

Maybe I should move to a place with a kitchen, he wondered as he let himself become engrossed in the rhythmic motion the slender boy used when adding oils to the pan.

In the end, the meal had been a messy serving of pan-fried fish with lemony rice sides, which they had on Sora's couch. After hazarding a bite, Riku couldn't help but smile at the unmistakable rainbow of flavors.

He turned to see Sora staring at him fearfully, not yet touching his own meal. "How is it?" the boy meekly asked.

Riku's only reply was a smile and a motion to take an even larger bite.

The younger boy, satisfied by this reaction, happily moved to ingest his own helping.

After the meal, Riku gathered up the plates and put them in the sink to wash. "Thank you!", Sora sprang up behind him. "You don't need to do that."

Riku paused to grab his book off from the nearby counter, offering Sora a quickly-scrawled note. I'm a guest. I need to repay you.

"That's not what guests have to do, and," Sora sighed. "Think of this as your home too," he added quietly.

Riku had to avert his eyes and calm his heart. He wrote out another note. Even still, I want to wash up.

"Okay," Sora relented, taking up a nearby dish towel. "Then I'll help you."

The silver boy happily accepted.

After the two sat back down onto the couch, a heavy silence fell over the room. Riku looked over at his unusually-silent companion, tilting his head.

"Oh, sorry," Sora breathed, looking up at him apologetically. "It's just, I was wondering," he paused.

Riku nodded for him to go on.

"You can say no if you want to, but, I was wondering if you'd be okay with talking about some stuff?"

The silver boy nearly frowned before catching himself. This was never going to be easy, he reminded, moving to hand Sora a new note.

I'll try.

Sora beamed. "Okay!"

Riku waited, breath held as his eyes locked onto Sora.

Sora looked down, intimidated by the stoic boy's long gaze. His eyes raised after an unidentified object waved in the fringes of his vision.

It was a note in the staring boy's grip.

Well?

"Even if you say that," Sora stuttered. "It's hard to organize my thoughts."

He quickly received a new note.

Take your time.

He peeked at the boy who had given him such a sentiment, calmed by his heart.

"Okay," Sora breathed.

"Riku," he began, wavering yet resolute. "I'm sorry."

Riku looked perplexed as he added onto a previous note.

For what?

"I got you hurt," Sora mumbled, his voice cracking slightly. "It was because I got upset that I fell, and you got hurt," he asserted, louder.

Riku looked sullen as he wrote more.

It's not your fault. I'm the one who hurt your feelings in the first place.

Sora peered up at him. "It's because I wasn't trying to understand you," he breathed. "Notice your actions."

He scrawled another note.

My actions?

"Yeah, you express yourself differently, and I," Sora gulped. "As your friend, I should have seen it." His eyebrows furrowed. "I should have seen it all along," he sighed, looking down.

Riku stopped, his blood running cold. Does he know?, he wondered frantically as he forced his mouth to be a hard, neutral line.

"Your feelings," Sora mumbled.

Riku couldn't breathe.

"But Kairi could see them," Sora continued. "She can read us so easily, because she pays attention to how different people's hearts are expressed, I guess."

The silver boy didn't move.

"But I didn't, even after making speeches about the power of hearts," he said bitterly. "I didn't see yours."

Sora raised his face to meet Riku's eyes with a determined gaze. "You're my best friend!", he exclaimed heartily.

Huh?, Riku thought faintly, trying to ignore the icy pain freezing his heart. Is this… rejection?, he wondered, trying to hold himself together long enough to hear the rest.

"You have always been my best, closest friend, but then Kairi showed up, and you got more and more distant," Sora stumbled over his words, pausing for breath. "Until you were so far away," he whimpered.

Riku's skin jumped as he saw slight tears form in Sora's eyes, but he couldn't move to comfort him.

"I never meant to replace you," Sora cried.

The silver boy's mind could no longer focus, seemingly on a different wavelength to this person's line of thinking. He stared, waiting for clarification.

Sora suddenly took Riku's limp hand in his, gripping it tightly. "I want you to know, that you are always going to be my best friend, so," he breathed as Riku looked to him weary and worn. "Don't be jealous of Kairi, or anyone else."

What?, Riku balked inwardly, lost on what the implication was.

"Okay?", Sora asked, his hand keeping its previous position.

Riku nodded weakly, hoping to see if more words would cement just what Sora's intentions were.

"Good," Sora smiled, removing his hand. "That's a relief," he sighed. "Now we can be close again!"

Riku's head stayed in place, feeling no better from this supposed resolution. Did he misunderstand me?, he thought hollowly as his inner self's voice showed itself.

Even after he said he's trying to understand your heart, the doppelganger mocked. He completely misinterpreted your motivations, they laughed derisively. Oh, this is too good.

Shut up, Riku thought bitterly. It's for the best he doesn't know anyway. It's-

Riku's thoughts were cut-off by Sora's next sentence.

"Could I talk to you about more stuff?" he asked optimistically. "I wanted your perspective on something I've been wondering about, now that we're all good."

All good, Riku echoed emptily. He nodded, quick to ensure the happy boy had no reason to worry or doubt, kicking himself at avoiding his feelings yet again.

"Kairi told me that she likes me," Sora stated matter-of-factly.

Riku's lungs emptied and he felt no desire to refill them.

"She said she always has, and," he continued. "I told her I liked her, too," he breathed, glancing up at Riku's unreadable expression.

Smile, the inner Riku instructed. Be happy for them, or else, they laughed. He'll know just how messed up you really are.

Riku's lips twitched.

Sora kept going. "But, weirdly, she told me I don't like her," he sighed. "But you know, right? I like her, don't I?", he asked, pinning all his hopes on the older boy's perspective.

Smile, the voice repeated, but Riku didn't notice. Everything felt impossibly cold. He squinted, trying to focus on the boy whose form was fading. Everything felt darker.

Hazily, he attempted to append a note to the list, not sure how successful he was.

I can't tell you how you feel.

"But," Sora protested. "You have to have some idea, right?"

I'm sorry. I need to sleep, Riku wrote messily, quickly getting up and leaving the sketchbook on the couch.

"Riku?", he called to open air as the taller boy shakily walked towards his bedroom.

The broken boy opened the door, swiftly moving to close it behind him.

Ah, you couldn't hide it, his shadow commented mockingly, but Riku paid him no mind. His thoughts were more focused on finding where the bed was, all-too-aware of how everything around him was being swallowed by shadows.

His lungs desperately begged for air, but the silver boy couldn't find the will to try, falling forward onto the bed. He forced his eyes closed as his vision left him. It helped to forget what was happening.

Hey, his other self called, but Riku couldn't hear him, the inside of his head gouged and clawed with other voices, all fighting for dominance.

See? He would never. You're disgusting. You're wrong. Just friends. Of course he chose her. Get used to pretending. You'll be alone forever. Should have stayed away. Why did you bother?

His mouth opened soundlessly, no breath left to scream.

A way out, he begged, feeling as though soon he, too, would be devoured. His insides felt hollow, his heart shattered and gone.

Inside and out, I'll become nothing, he vowed, focusing on the darkness.

I remember this feeling, he thought dreamily, escaping into its comfort.