Author's Note: Hey all! Finally, a continuation! Sorry, but this one isn't as bad as Katsuro wanted it to be. Hehe. Well I hope you enjoy it anyways.
Disclaimer: [insert standard disclaimer here]. Yes, it all holds true still.
It had been a little over a week since the racing 'incident'. Sora had noticed a silent tension between himself and Riku, but had been unable to do anything about it since that day. Luckily for both of them, probably, Kairi had been occupied at home and hadn't spent much time with them, else she might have noticed that something was wrong. Which would have been bad, since she would have started asking uncomfortable questions. As it was, the two of them hardly spent any time together at all, and when they did, the silences were filled with sideways glances and attempted conversations.
Today was the first time since the incident Sora hoped might lessen the awkwardness that had sprung up between them. Riku owed him a race, and Sora intended to make it end quite like the previous one.
"Stop day-dreaming, Sora! We've got a race to run!" Riku had come up behind the other boy while he'd been thinking, and he jumped.
"Hey Riku. Ready to race?"
"Hell yes." Riku grinned. "Only this time, I had a slightly different idea."
"Yeah?" Sora looked up at him, curious. Riku had that slightly predatory smile on his face again...
"I'll race you around the island...only we're swimming." So saying, Riku removed his shoes, pulled his shirt off and waded into the shallows, dipping his hand in the water to test the temperature.
"Guh..." Sora told him intelligently. When Riku turned back to see what was taking him so long, he hurried to get out of his clothes, ending up shivering in his boxers.
"Okay, let's get this over with." Riku was looking at him a little funny. Self-consciously, he waded into the water waist-deep and turned to Riku. "Come on!"
They bent over, preparing to swim. "Ready...set...GO!" Like a shot, they two boys dove into the water and swam for all they were worth.
Sora didn't surface for a long while, swimming as fast as he could. When he did come up for air, Riku was already far ahead of him and pulling further and further away as he watched. With a quietly uttered curse, Sora dove under again, pushing himself until he thought his lungs might burst. Riku was still ahead, but the gap was closing slowly. The silver-haired boy didn't look over his shoulder once, but Sora had a feeling that Riku knew exactly where Sora was behind him.
They were half-way around the island before Sora started feeling the burning in his muscles. Thanks to all his previous runs around the island with Riku, he was strong enough to go for quite a while without tiring. Swimming around the island, however, was going to be painful. Biting his lip to help himself concentrate, the boy ducked his head underwater and pumped his arms again, propelling himself forward.
Sora finally saw the familiar starting shore to his left and turned toward it sharply. The feeling of solid sand under his feet was a wonderful respite from the salty water he'd treaded for what felt like forever. As soon as Sora reached a shallow enough part, he collapsed to his hands and knees, breathing hard. He didn't bother to look up; he knew Riku was already there, sitting with his feet in the water.
When he finally caught his breath, Sora looked up to find Riku looking at him, not three feet away. He was grinning triumphantly.
"I beat you."
Sora couldn't help but grin back. "I know."
The silver-haired boy leaned forward, hair falling in his eyes. "What's my prize this time?"
Sora didn't really have an answer. So, blushing slightly, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Riku's. Please don't let last time have been a fluke, was the last thought he managed before Riku grabbed him and hauled him closer, never breaking contact with his lips. Sora gasped appreciatively and seized a fistful of soft silver hair, pressing himself against Riku's chest. With a sudden deft movement, Riku flipped Sora over, pushing his back into the sand.
Sora grinned up at him through half-lidded eyes. "We're gonna get all sandy." He murmured, twisting a lock of Riku's hair through his fingers.
"Shut up, Sora." Further silencing him with a kiss, Riku slowly licked his way across Sora's jaw and down his neck, pausing at the hollow in the slighter boy's throat, tasting the racing pulse buried just below the fragile surface. Sora made a curious noise at the back of his throat, clearly urging Riku to keep moving downward. With a smile, Riku complied.
Sora gasped again as fiery kisses trailed their way down his chest, outlining his ribs, and circling the hollow of his stomach. Tingling nerves where Riku had kissed him left behind shadows of the preceding sensation. Sora felt each touch like a bolt of lightning against his skin, heightened senses giving the caresses more power over his perception.
Riku looked up at Sora, careful not to falter in his exploration, and couldn't help but pause to stare. The younger boy's normally grinning face was suffused with bliss, blue eyes shut and lips slightly parted. Riku decided he liked Sora best this way, rather powerless. At that moment, Sora finally noticed that the kisses were no longer being placed on his chest and his eyes fluttered open.
"Ri...ku?" He inquired, azure eyes questioning.
Riku smiled and slid himself upward so he was face to face with Sora. "Nothing, don't worry about it."
Sora looked at him trustingly—"Okay"—and tilted his head up to intercept a kiss.
"Riku?? Sora?!"
Two boys shot apart, eyes wide. "Shit." Riku muttered, standing up and holding out a hand to help Sora up. They brushed each other off hastily, laughing breathlessly at almost being caught by Kairi, who came into view just as they finished sweeping sand off each other's backs and arms.
She waved and ran over, smiling. "Hey you two! What've you been doing without me?"
Sora and Riku exchanged a glance and burst out laughing again. "We were...just...racing..." Sora managed between gales of laughter.
Kairi shook her head at them. "I don't know what I'm going to do with the two of you! Always racing each other."
Riku straightened finally and glanced at Sora from the corner of his eye. "You're absolutely right. Always racing. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if you didn't see us for a few days because we were so busy racing each other."
At this, Sora couldn't help but burst into more laughter while Kairi looked on in confusion. "O...kay then. Well I'm supposed to bring you back home, it's getting late." So saying, the girl turned and ran back the way she'd come, obviously expecting the two boys to follow her.
Riku checked to make sure she wasn't looking back, then leaned down and kissed Sora briefly. "We'll have to finish this with another race." With a grin, he turned and followed Kairi up the beach.
Sora laughed and gathered his discarded clothing. "Hey Riku! Wait up!"
Riku's laugh echoed across the expanse of sand. "Race you!"