A/N: See Prologue for typical disclaimer.

To my reviewers!
Diechan: -chuckles- I'm going to continue, no worries there. And Riku IS a girly man. Check out his looks.
ZTX: Well if I told you if he dies or not, it would spoil the ending, wouldn't it? Guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out
KawaiiBabe: Well, a new person. Hello! (Note: I would put in the cute happy faces but FFN hates me) Thank you though. I take pride in what I write for composition classes, but you (and everyone else) are giving me confidence in my free writing.
kinky kitty: -grin- keep feeding it and you get a chapter sooner.
khdude: -sweatdrop!- Uhm, yes, here it is! Enjoy!
Faded-Justice: -smile- Trust me, I'm planning on posting often. You guys are being stellar at reviewing and it only makes me want to give you more.

Personal thanks: Thank you to Bakoneko, Sorrowful Memory, and Diechan for putting me onto your author alert list.
And, lastly but definitely not the least important: Kawaiibabe! Thank you SO much for putting me onto both your alert list and onto your favorites list. I have not once been on anyone's favorites, so it's important to me.

Chapter 2

He looked up to the door opening and closing and smiled widely, ignoring the stinging for now. "Hey Sora, did you forget to brush your hair again?"

"Oy, you always ask that Riku, so you know I have." Sora hopped down his stairs to join Riku in walking to school and they set off together, the younger of the two not failing to notice how his older friend's smile fell from his face soon after they set off. "Na, Riku? Did something happen? You're not...talkative today."

"Well I figured you would take care of that for me," he joked lightly, giving his friend a lopsided smile, finally figuring out how to conquer the problem of causing himself pain to smile.

"You're weird."

"Thanks Sora." Riku fell quiet again, a small smile lingering on his lips. When he was with Sora, he could almost forget that his father was hurting him, nearly nightly. With him, he could think that he was just a child again, nothing on his mind but the next time they could get out and have a playful fight with wooden swords on the island.

His hand brushed against his friend's and he unconsciously shifted it on the next swing back so it slipped into Sora's, causing him a raised brow. But when he didn't remove it, just walked quietly with a faint smile, the look disappeared and Sora accepted it, curling his hand around Riku's lightly.

The younger of the two could sense that something was wrong, but he couldn't pin it down. Riku hadn't willingly taken his hand like that since they were a lot younger, and usually only to make him happy. When he'd looked up to him, it had seemed like he was lost in thought. For a moment, Sora could think that he was reminiscing about their childhood and missing the free time they had, but something told him it was something else.

Just before they arrived at school, Riku seemed to notice they were holding hands and shook his free of Sora's, giving him a faint smile in explanation. "C'mon, we don't wanna be late," he said lightly before jogging into the school.

"Hey Riku, wait up!!" Sora ran after him, a smile on his face. Things seemed okay now, but he would get to the bottom of it.

TBC

So, what did you all think? Good enough or needs work? Ha, if you think it needs work, it won't get it. I'm done with it, but I'm going to wait a bit before posting the next chapter. The review button says feed me, I say critiques improve writing. –shrug- Whatever you want. If you just want me to post the next chapter, let me know! I'll try to give a line out to whoever says anything.