Dive into the Horizon

Disclaimer: Nope, Sorry folks, I still don't own Kingdom Hearts. Not that I am not wishing I did every night.

Rating: pg-13… still. For now.

Author's Note: I wrote this chapter strangely. I started with Sora writing his English homework (until dinner) and then added the beginning and then finished the dinner. I think I just wanted to write about the dinner. : laughter:: I like these two, and yes, since Slashy-chan demands this is Sora Molestation Month, there is a bit of it! But Riku is still being strange. And Sora learns to meet his eyes! Replies to Reviews are at the bottom!!

Chapter Two: Cast Off

"Well? Do you like it?" Kairi asked Sora, who was just finishing a warm dumpling. Sora nodded and smiled.

"It's good, how do you find the time to make such a great lunch?" he asked interested. The two were sitting down on a bench outside, waiting for Riku to come back from the cafeteria with drinks for them. Kairi giggled and looked a little ashamed.

"Actually, I don't do it alone; my parent's run a bakery and a café, so I'm able to take some of that food for lunch everyday. Were you thinking I woke up at like four AM to make this?" she asked, her laughter ringing out when the brunette nodded.

"You're so cute, Sora! I hope it hasn't made you feel bad," Kairi teased, cleaning up the thermal bag the dumplings had been in. She looked away from the blushing Sora to spot Riku walking over, carrying some juice with him.

"What? No soda? You're cruel, Riku!" she complained loudly as Riku got within earshot.

Riku rolled his eyes handing the juice out, frowning slightly that Sora didn't even look him in the eyes to say thank you.

"Kairi you're already too hyper, no need to make it worse," Riku said, taking the seat beside Sora, avoiding Kairi's swat.

Sora flushed slightly, wondering if he was becoming in-between the two, he was quite sure there was something going on between Riku and Kairi but he didn't want to ask. Asking might shatter the delicate balance of their new friendship, the two had been so nice to him, ignoring the fact he made a fool of himself on the first day.

"What?!" Riku suddenly shouted, opening up the empty container of dumplings, they happened to be his favourite. He looked from Kairi to Sora, whom she was pointing at, placing the blame on the clueless brunette.

"Huh? What's wrong Riku?" Sora asked glancing up, not noticing the dangerous look in the boy's eyes.

Riku growled in a playful fashion and leapt at Sora. Riku pounced on the confused boy, both falling off the bench, Sora's drink flying in the air. He tackled him on the ground, pinning the brunette down.

Sora was bright red, staring up at Kairi who was laughing at the two. He looked back at Riku, not understanding what was going on. All Sora knew is that the silver haired boy had pretty much thrown him on the ground and now he was looking down at him, his eyes alit with something of a passion.

"How could you? Dumpling thief!" Riku accused, noting Sora, who was flinching, was still able to look away. He wanted revenge for the last dumpling. Grinning he reached down and started to tickle the brunette without mercy.

"Stop! Ah!" anything Sora was going to say was lost in his laughter. Riku didn't let up until Sora, lost in the tickling, was gasping for breath. Riku smirked, sitting up, but still pinning the boy down.

"I think you're sorry now," he commented, noticing both Sora and himself had fruit juice on them. He looked over to see the drink he had bought on the ground. It must have been collateral damage, Riku thought. He grabbed a napkin, wiping it off himself and then cleaning Sora up (who didn't complain, mostly likely because of the absence of normal breathing) before it got gross and sticky, he hated that feeling. Riku jumped up, pulling the breathless Sora up with him. Kairi giggled, offering Riku a square for dessert.

"That was harsh, Sora didn't know," she said, offering Sora a drink. He was still recovering from the tickle attack.

"I see you didn't clue him in," Riku pointed out, eating the dessert for compensation. Sora finally, was able to find his voice and speak without gasping and clutching his sides.

"Why didn't you say something before?" Sora pouted, glaring at Riku's shoulders, since the eyes weren't an option.

Riku shrugged and smirked to himself, Sora was more fun to tickle than Kairi. Not only was he more ticklish, he didn't fight back as nastily as the girl.

"I'm sure you learned your lesson," he said, finishing off his drink. Riku glanced at Sora and then picked a blade of grass out of the boy's hair.

Sora wanted to glare at Riku, but found he couldn't. Much like Kairi on the first day of school, he just mumbled something incoherent and went through his messy hair, hoping there wasn't anymore grass or leaves in it, that he thought, could be worse than fainting. He started listening to the conversation again, hearing that the topic had changed once again.

"No Kairi, I can't come over tonight," Riku said, ignoring the look of indignation on Kairi's face.

"Why not? You promised! We planned this days ago!" she cried out, a little annoyed.

"It's not my fault, my mom is dragging me out to a friend's," he countered, playing the 'I want to go with you but my mom says I can't' card, it was almost a 'get out of jail free card'. Riku noticed Kairi's dangerous silence, she was thinking, which was bad for him.

"I'll make it up to you later, I promise, we'll do something even better," Riku suggested hoping Kairi would take the bait. She glared at him, and he knew he wouldn't be getting out of this as nicely as he thought.

"You have a lot to make up for, Riku." Kairi complained in a threatening voice.

Riku knew the conversation wasn't over, but he noticed Sora was now listening. He stood up dragging the brunette boy with him to biology, muttering a dismissive 'whatever' to Kairi on his way by.

Sora blinked, wondering if Kairi was going to be mad at him too. He didn't want to say anything to Riku, since he was still fuming.

Biology was almost over when Sora finally gathered the courage to ask a still, rather grumpy Riku the question. He tapped the silver haired boy to wake him up.

"Kairi looked pretty mad, don't you think you should have apologized about the whole thing?" he asked, staring at his desk while Riku groaned and tried to make an answer without the first sentence being 'you woke me up for that?"

"She'll understand, I've seen her more angry than this, and I'm still alive and she's still talking to me," he commented, wanting to go back to sleep. However, he could tell by Sora's concerned expression that this wasn't going to happen.

"It's not like I'm lying to her, I really do have to go with my mom tonight," he added, glad to see Sora was a little happier with the answer, though he still wouldn't meet his eyes. He thought that he was still mad at him, or maybe there was something else that Riku did that he didn't know about.

"Hey Sora," Riku called out, causing the boy in question to turn around. He almost met Riku's eyes but glanced away quickly. Riku was puzzled by the boy's behaviour, but he realized it wasn't the best time to ask about it.

"Never mind," Sora shrugged and walked out of the classroom, heading off to his next class.

Riku let his head hit the desk. He was torn between anger that Sora was being so rude to him, and the emptiness Riku was sure he felt if there was another reason for this behaviour. He wanted to see Sora's bright blue eyes more than once in his life.

-

Sora scribbled the rest of his English homework, writing incoherent sentences, hoping the teacher would think he was just a messy writer and not just writing gibberish just to get it done. He was shoving it in his bag when his mother burst into his room, frowning at the mess.

"Sora! Get this cleaned up! I told you yesterday," she complained, the room was half clean-half messy. She frowned with Sora's indifference.

"Don't lose your head, I'll get it done," he responded, putting his pen away in his thankfully clean desk.

"But Sora, I told you to get it done; an on friend is coming over tonight for dinner," his mother said, satisfied with Sora now rushing around his room cleaning and tidying things up.

"She's bringing her son, so be good, okay?" Sora's mother smiled patting him on the head when he stuck out his tongue at her.

"Be nice, he's about your age,"

Sora glanced up, wondering if he was from school, the obvious answer being yes. He swallowed, hoping he hadn't been someone to see him faint, though he had the heavy feeling that it was. Even though, after a silent three days, Sora was still sure that the teasing would begin at some point. His mother looked down, sizing her son up.

"You should get changed too, isn't that what you wear to bed?" she asked, tugging at the t-shirt's hem. Sora flushed and pushed his mother out of his room, locking the door behind her. He changed his clothes and tidied his room. Soon enough he heard his mother's voice, greeting people at the door.

Sora left his room and tumbled down the stairs before his mother yelled out for him. He glanced up at his mom who smiled and pushed him forward.

"Oh, Harumi, this is my son, Sora. Sora this is my old friend Harumi and her son Riku, was it?" she introduced them, Sora froze mid-hand shake, glancing over, meeting a familiar face.

"Don't worry, I know Sora from school," the silver haired youth smirked, noticing that even after a few days of school Sora still refused to look him in the eye, it was getting annoying. Riku felt like the boy was ashamed of something or just didn't like him. Riku rolled his eyes as Harumi pulled Sora into a hug.

"Ah! You're so cute! Oh, I remember when you were little, it's hard to tell if you're cuter now than then!" She let a stunned Sora out of her grasp, laughing about something with Sora's mother, who turned to her son.

"Dinner's not quite ready so why don't you show Riku around the house?" she suggested turning to chat with her friend. Sora and Riku stood in that awkward silence that every child dragged into a dinner with their parent's friends knew all too well.

He cleared his throat finally, wondering how to survive an evening without meeting Riku's eyes. Sora led him around the house, carrying a rather weak conversation. Sora led Riku up the stairs, knowing his room was the next stop on the rather boring tour.

"And this is my bedroom," Sora opened the first door on the left, and once again he has accidentally opened the door to the closet. He groaned, wondering if he ever get used to the new layout. He blushed as Riku let out a chuckle.

"Wow, roomy, lots of storage space! Though I like having a bed in my room," his smirk faded when once again, Sora wouldn't meet his eyes. Riku sighed silently, wondering what exactly he did to deserve this treatment.

Sora pouted, once again he made of fool of himself. He opened up the actual door to his room.

"This is my room," he corrected himself, walking in about to point out some boring things about his room. Sora was going to point out his rather average view of the ocean when he heard the door shut and the click of the lock. Sora looked over, Riku was glaring at him.

"Uh oh," Sora mumbled, getting even more nervous to be in a room alone with Riku than when he walked into his new high school. At least then there was a place to hide at school. Here there was nothing but those intense eyes studying him.

Riku sighed, even now the brunette was looking down, even if he could tell that the boy was surprised, he thought at least Sora would look at him. He twitched; he had never met anyone like this.

"Look. What did I do to you, Sora? What horrible thing did I do to make you treat me like this? I thought I had been nice to you!" Riku ran a hand through his hair, waiting impatiently for the boy to explain the rude behaviour.

"I... no, it wasn't you. You didn't do anything, I..." Sora muttered, studying the patterns on his blanket. He was surprised to feel Riku lift his chin up, forcing him to look him straight in the eyes. The boy had covered the distance quickly and silently. Sora turned bright red and looking away, trying not to be drawn into Riku's gaze.

"Then why won't you look me in the eyes?" Riku whispered fiercely, searching for an answer. There was a heavy silence in the room, surrounding the two boys.

"I can't," Sora started.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"Last time... I... I don't want to faint," Sora mumbled, waiting for the laughter to start. When it didn't Sora looked up to see a very concerned look on Riku's face.

"What are you going on about? Why would you faint-" Riku paused, turning Sora's face, forcing the shorter boy to look him in the eyes.

Sora gasped in his mind; once again he couldn't help but search those eyes. They were brighter and richer in colour than the sea outside of his window, deeper as well. He didn't want to look away, those eyes, they tore at his soul while he slept; it was unnerving to see them while he was awake. He felt lightheaded, falling back limp.

Riku grabbed the fainted boy around the waist, holding him up. He blinked in confusion, he really did faint. Riku thought back to Sora's first day of school, they did lock eyes before the boy had fainted. Riku felt bad if he was actually the cause of the embarrassing display.

Awkwardly he set the boy down on his bed and sat down himself, poking Sora until he woke up. Eventually Sora stirred awake, looking up to see Riku's neck. He blushed, not believing that he fainted yet again.

"I... I'm sorry," he muttered, seeing an upside down smile appear on the silver-haired boy.

"Aw, I'm glad you're glad awake, I was getting worried," Riku said softly, wondering how to ask his next question, how to carry this conversation.

"So, it's me... causing this?" he asked. Sora nodded, Riku wondered for a moment exactly why.

"It's your eyes," Sora offered, wondering how to not make the explanation sound dumb and rather corny, he decided it wasn't possible, "For the longest time, since I was little, I've seen these eyes in my mind, when I saw yours for the first time... I suppose I get lost in them,"

He blushed, knowing how stupid what he said sounded like, and when he thought he felt Riku laugh. Sora looked up to see not a smirking boy but one who was flushed and trembling a bit.

Riku noticed Sora was looking up at him and he calmed himself down, smiling slightly.

"I won't lie, that's really weird," Riku said. He frowned, he didn't want Sora too keep fainting but he didn't want him to keep avoiding him and looking down when they talked.

He frowned, wondering how to fix the problem of the fainting. Riku pondered and then decided on a strange plan. He stood up, Sora falling down completely on his bed without the support. Riku smirked and leaned over Sora.

"You're looking at me until you stop fainting. When I talk to you, I expect you to look at me," he demanded, looking down at a very confused Sora, who was staring at Riku with wide eyes.

Sora's mind was reeling. He was thinking too much to realize he was looking into Riku's eyes. This boy was straddling him, on his bed, ordering Sora to look at him. Sora was beyond surprised and confused. He finally realized those eyes were piercing his soul, that combined with his confusion about the situation... he fainted quickly.

Riku sighed watching the fainted Sora; he knew they would have to go to dinner soon, he wondered how long this would take. He leaned over more, closer to Sora's face. He had to admit, with that messy hair and that young face, Sora was pretty cute. He had a girlish face, he thought studying the boy's long lashes; which fluttered gently as Sora reawakened.

Sora turned bright red, finding Riku this close to him. What's his damage? He asked himself, frustrated that he could move his arms enough to rub his face because of the other boy.

"Don't you think that this could be bad for me?" he complained, not being able to not look in Riku's eyes.

"I'm sure you'll live,"

Riku smirked at Sora's pout, not feeling any sympathy at the moment. He stared at Sora, as the boy under him blushed furiously, squirming a bit. Riku was sure that was a natural reaction for anyone losing a staring contest. Though, he reasoned, the whole strange bit about his eyes… Riku snorted, could Sora have a crush on him? It would explain the lack of eye contact, but, Riku glanced down at a pouting Sora, he didn't seem the type to act like that. His eyebrows contracted as he thought, gazing fiercely into Sora's eyes, maybe he was just over confident of himself. Kairi teased him saying that Riku thought everyone and their cousin worshipped him.

Sora blushed furiously having to maintain eye contact with Riku, but though he felt light headed, he had yet to faint a third time. He was getting uncomfortable, however, with having the silver-haired boy almost sitting on him. This feeling was not disappearing.

Both boys jumped when Sora's mother's voice carried up the stairs, followed by teasing from Harumi.

"C'mon you two! Time to eat!"

"Yeah, we've called you enough now!"

Riku rolled his eyes, and got off Sora, painfully slow according to the brunette beneath him, who was silently grumbling. Riku ran a hand through his hair, helping a lightheaded Sora to his feet. He noticed how red the boy was, and felt Sora's forehead.

"You look feverish, you know that?" he commented, his handed swatted away by Sora who was fixing his hair.

"It's your fault too, you know that?" Sora taunted, hoping it didn't look like he had fainted twice to his mother, no need to have that awkward conversation.

"I had to do something; I couldn't stand it, you never looked at me," Riku said, opening the door. He was sure, by Sora's faint reaction that the sentence had come out wrong. He shrugged and held the door open for Sora.

Harumi peeked out of the dining room, seeing the two boys finally come down the stairs. She laughed slightly, but covered her mouth. She glanced at Riku, as if asking him something.

"Geez you two, we called you a few times, what were you two doing?" she asked coolly, curious to his son's expression of momentary surprise and then a coy smile.

"Oh, what weren't we doing?" Riku responded to his mother, ignoring a mumbling and red Sora, "Actually Sora was showing me his fish," he lied smoothly, remembering there were fish in the boy's room.

Harumi laughed and shook her head; she wouldn't trade her mischievous, back talking son for anyone. She glanced at Sora and pinched his cheek.

"Don't mind him, he's a softie on the inside, deep, deep down," she winked, sitting down, going back to chat with Sora's mother.

Sora and Riku sat down at the small table across from each other. Sora barely listened to the conversation as he devoured his mother's chicken Kiev. He was half way through his second helping when the two women started talking about Riku and Sora's childhood.

"I know you two wouldn't remember. But when you guys were really little you two were closer than Harumi and I," Sora's mother said, getting puzzled looks from both boy. They glanced at each other before she launched into a story. Riku felt a little shiver run up his spine. Sora had looked him in the eyes (and wasn't down for the count!).

"Oh, remember that day on the beach?" Sora's mother began, getting a nod and a giggle from Harumi.

"Let's see, you two were three or four, we were all down at the beach. Riku was building a charming sand castle and Sora was wading in the shallows, collecting shells to decorate the castle with, since every time poor Sora tried to build a castle it fell over.

'Sora was grabbing a shell near a fish when he burst into tears. The fish has 'bit' him on the toe! Well Riku, you couldn't handle that. You rushed over to see what was wrong. Sora, still crying, pointed to the fish and his foot. You figured it out and tried to make him feel better, but Sora was too busy crying to get out of the water.

'After comforting Sora was a flop, you went after the fish wanting to catch the fish and make it apologize to Sora. Oh, it was so cute, watching you chase that fish all around the shallow water.

'Well when you finally got close enough to grab the fish, it bit you!'

Sora's mother paused to laugh a bit and then continued on with the story.

"Riku, you were fighting back tears, trying to be brave. Sora had already forgotten about his peril and came over to see what was wrong. You showed Sora where you got bit. Well, Sora smiled and kissed your finger to make it better! It was so cute!" Sora's mother smiled at the memory.

Sora couldn't help but like the story, even if he didn't remember it. He looked over to Riku, meeting his eyes a second time before smiling and joining in the laughter.

Riku felt that same shiver again watching Sora laugh and smile. It was as if it was the first time it had happened, but that glance to him, Riku blushed for a moment, hoping that Sora's wonderful smile was just for him.

He grinned with everyone, he didn't remember that time of life at all, it was strange to think he know Sora when they were young. Riku wondered if these borrowed memories of their childhood would affect the present.

Sora's mother and Harumi sat down after dinner munching on desserts and chatting. Riku figured they were going to be a while. He looked over to Sora who was finishing his fourth brownie. He rolled his eyes wondering if the smaller boy ever got full. Before the brunette could reach for fifth square, Riku grabbed him by the arm and dragged him upstairs, bored with listening to his mother talking.

Sora, complaining about, and focusing on the loss of his fifth dessert, found himself back in his bedroom with locking the door. He looked puzzled.

"De... ja... vu?" he said, thinking her said that correctly. However Riku didn't seem the same as before.

Riku chuckled a bit, and then bent down to look at Sora's fish. He tried to remember them just in case his mother questioned him on them. He glanced over at Sora who sat down on the edge of the bed smiling.

"That's Nadia. The blue one at back is Warren and that orangey one is Tree," Sora listed off, pointing the fish out. He turned to look at Riku who seemed disinterested in the fish.

"Who named them?" Riku asked, giving Sora a crooked smile. Who named their fish Warren? Sora laughed a bit; even he thought the names were a bit off.

"The day I bought them, my friends and I were really hyper," Sora explained, remembering the day quite well. Riku raised an eyebrow and Sora continued laughing a bit.

"My friend Ayame named Tree. I named Nadia and Saki named Warren," Sora started to laugh, and getting a puzzled look from Riku, Sora thought she should explain more.

"Well, we all were naming the wrong fish and we mixed up all the colours. We thought it was funny and so the names stuck," Sora's giggles quieted down when Riku stood up, looking down at Sora.

His mother was calling; it was time to go.

Riku bent over and pressed his lips to Sora's forehead. Without a word he walked out of the room leaving a stunned Sora in silence.

-

Kari: Wow! Chapter Two Done already!?

Riku: Shouldn't you be doing schoolwork?

Kari: But this is special!

Riku: No, this is folly, you are 'special'

Kari: Are you being mean again?

Riku: Maybe, how would you know?

Kari: That's it! This will not end well.

Riku: What are you going to do? You're not scary.

Kari: I control what happens to you and Sora.

Riku: :: gulp::

::Kari walks off laughing evilly ::

Sora: What'd you do now?

Riku: shuddap.

Sora: No really! What happened? I'm confused.

Riku: … -.-