Transfer Affection
Chapter Three – Training
PG-13
Disclaimer – Don't own it.
(A/N at the end of chapter)
Wooden swords clashed as the boys trained, the younger moving with unusual grace and the other with grace he exhibited even as he slept. As they stopped to take a breather, the older grinned at his friend.
"You're getting better, Sora."
"You're getting better, Sora," Riku complimented as he swung his blade over his shoulder. Sora had fallen backwards and had landed with a 'thump' on the ground. Sweat trickled down both the boys' faces, their hair was soaked, and both of them had a glow about them that could only come from training hard.
"No, you're just getting too old," Sora fired back and stuck his tongue out simultaneously as he sat up, his keyblade resting on the ground beside him. Riku sat down to face Sora, setting his blade beside him as well. Tucking his fists under his chin, he looked at Sora as if expecting the brunet to say something more.
"What are you looking at?" Sora said loudly after a long time of unnerving Riku-staring. He started rubbing at his face vigorously, his voice muffled as he spoke, "do I have something on my face?" Riku chuckled and merely shook his head, reaching forward to pull Sora's hands away from his face before standing up.
Following his lead, Sora stood up as well, the keyblade he had retrieved as well disappearing quickly from his hand. A momentary flash of envy crossed Riku's face, but he quickly banished it. He didn't want it anymore, he told himself, it caused too many problems.
"Do you want to grab something to eat?" Sora asked, completely unaware of Riku's thoughts. The older boy looked up from the ground, gave his friend a small smile, and nodded, "Sure." He spoke as he propped his blade up on its perch on the wall. The two left in silence, walking side by side to the kitchen.
As they walked through the halls of the gummi ship, Riku looked straight ahead, lost in thought. Sora frowned, glancing sideways at the silver-haired teen every once in a while. They said nothing, which Sora found strange, since five minutes ago they had just been making fun of eachother.
"Are you okay, Riku?" Sora asked. His voice laced with concern as he studied his friend's expression, tryingim vainto decipher it. It was a few moments before Riku shook his head, smiled at Sora, and spoke.
"Nah, I'm just hungry. Race you!"
"Auron, I'm worried about Sora," Yuna murmured as she sat in the seat next to Auron's, where the older man was steering the ship. He grunted inaudibly, and Yuna took that as a sign to continue, "I mean, should we really trust Riku? After all, he's tried to kill Sora… right?"
"True. Sora claims he's changed, though."
"Auron!" The teen cried indignantly, "You're supposed to be the one who doesn't trust him, not me! Why are you so calm about this?" Yuna furrowed her eyebrows, glaring at the older man who was keeping his gaze purposefully in front of him.
"He was under the influence of Ansem and Maleficient at the time, Yuna. He's realized he was wrong and that Sora would never replace him. He's not much of a threat now."
Yuna was silent for a long time, contemplating what Auron had said. Finally, accompanied with a huff, she pushed herself out of the chair, leaving the room with a flourish.
At dinner, that night, with the gummi ship safely on autopilot, the four people had gathered in the kitchen around the small table. It was laden with food that Sora and Yuna had worked hard to make, while Riku and Auron had worked on small repairs that had to be made to the ship. As the four ate the food they had well earned, they kept up lively conversation, even Yuna, who still shot a calculating glare towards Riku every ten minutes.
Riku, who knew of Yuna's glares, didn't even look her way, pretending he didn't notice them. He took a bite of his potatoes, just as Sora tapped him on the shoulder.
"Riku? You in there? I asked you if the food was okay." Sora pouted and glared at Riku at the same time. Riku grinned and ruffled his friend's hair, "It's delicious, Sora." He spoke reassuringly, and to prove his point even more, her took another bite of his potatoes and smiled, closing his eyes.
"Absolutely wonderful."
The younger boy grinned toothily at Riku's compliments, and continued to dig into his food, eating as if he hadn't eaten in months.
Much later that night, as everyone slept soundly, Riku sat by the windowsill, staring at the large expanse of the universe as it passed. He ran a hand through his long, platinum coloured hair. He looked over to Sora, who lay sprawled out on the bed, shirtless, and drool emerging from the corner of his mouth. The older boy stood up, heading over to the bed, and sat down on the edge, studying Sora.
His best friend had grown so much in the past two years, although still looked like he wasn't even ten years old, especially when sleeping. He reached forward with his gloved hand and ran a hand gently through the boy's hair. Sora groaned and turned towards Riku, reaching blindly for his stuffed moogle before drifting off to sleep again, completely unaware that Riku was sitting beside him. Riku took a deep breath through his nose and withdrew his hand, pulling off his own shirt before taking a pillow and blanket from the bed and settling down on the rug beside the bed.
There he lay with unblinking aquamarine eyes, trying to keep the realization he had come to discover while watching Sora out of his head. He was falling in love… No, he had been in love with Sora for a very, very, long time.
A/N: Well, I'm finally updating.. things have been super busy, but as summer approaches, I should be writing more. So... Yeah! Read and Review! Thanks!
