I woke up that morning with a bit more confidence in 'the plan'. Avoiding him seemed like a good idea. I could be casual about it, I guess. The question was, though, what now? I could do one of two things. One: I could just hurry up and go home before anyone got there, but, since Riku was my best friend, he'd think I was sick and want to see me and, well, Riku in my bedroom was not what I needed right then. Two: I could stay here and just ignore him, mean as it sounded. I could cling onto Kairi or Tidus or someone and pretend I didn't see him if he started to come over, but the problem with that was-

"Hey, Sora."

SHIT! "Huh? Oh, hi Riku." I turned around casually and smiled at him. Dammit, dammit, dammit.

"What's up?" He asked, then noting my rumpled hair and clothes, "you didn't sleep out here, did you?"

"Yeah." I said sheepishly, avoiding his eyes.

"You really shouldn't. I don't want my dueling partner getting sick." He laughed and hit me lightly on the shoulder. Yep, he hadn't changed. That was what I wanted, but... It just didn't feel right. "Speaking of duels, you wanna go a round?"

"Maybe later..." I sighed looking down at my shoes.

"Well, we could always sit here for an hour. C'mon, Sora, you know there's nothing to do here but fight and race! Or maybe talk." His voice dropped slightly at the end of his sentence. He may have been hiding his feelings well, but they were still there.

"Riku..." I looked back up at him, into those gorgeous eyes, "You can't just pretend it didn't happen."

"I told you I would." He softened his expression. "What do you want me to do, Sora?"

What /did/ I want him to do? "I don't know... Just... Acknowledge it."

"How?" He subconsciously scooted closer to me.

"Well, what happened happened." I put my face closer to his without even realizing it.

"Do you want it to happen again?"

We moved closer and closer to each other. Riku closed his eyes and my lips brushed his as I spoke the words that seemed to be our fate.

"I don't know."

He pulled away, trying to disguise the hurt in his eyes. "Sora, please... If you want me, then tell me. Don't torture me like this."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to." I looked away.

"It's okay." He rubbed my back reassuringly. "Just... Be more mindful of your actions, okay?" I nodded and we sat in comfortable silence for a few moments.

"So... What now?" I regained my composure and looked back at him.

He sighed and leaned back. "I dunno. It's later. Wanna duel now?"

"Guess so." He stood and offered his hand to me, pulling me to my feet. We walked to the island where the Paopu tree grew, the tension so thick one could almost taste it. We both wanted to jump each other, but I was preventing that. I cursed my brain as we arrived at the end of the bridge. This should be interesting.

+++

Kinda short. Oh well. Working so fucking much. I'm working all damn day on Christmas Eve. Yaay! +do not fear the sarcasm+ Beh. With any luck, Ch 3 will be out tonight. Check out my site, more RikuSora crap. (Click my homepage and then click 'Urban Angel Productions'. I MUST HAVE KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX! X3