A/N: Hey everyone! Just so you all know, in a few weeks I'll be changing my screen name from emeraldLINX to RubyHawk. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up so that when I do, no one will think I'm copying my own story. That'd just be weird.

Oh, and this chapter will be interesting…

Chapter 3: Surprise

Riku smiled at the young waitress running to and fro for his sake. Not that the boy was feeling particularly sadistic, but her attraction towards him and her desperate need to please Riku was bright as day. She appeared to be in her early twenties, her hair pinned back and yet it still was a mess, as the blonde (in a tight-fitting apron) frantically searched for her customer's order.

"… You need help with that?" he suppressed a grin, as she nearly tripped at the sound of his voice.

"No, no! I've got it. An omelet with onions and cheese, some toast, strawberries, two muffins, um… oh, the oatmeal, the waffles… and then a glass of orange juice," she panted, placing each ceremoniously on a silver tray. "You sure you can eat all this? Seems to be a little over the top."

"It's not for me," he replied instinctively, but then wished he hadn't said anything as he saw the waitress' energy drop and radiant smile vanish. "A friend." Her face remained still. "He's a guy."

"Oh!" she laughed, returning to her overly exuberant personality. "Well," the woman began, leaning towards him, "he must be pretty good looking to be in the same motel room as you."

"You bet; I picked him out myself," he answered, winking at her.

The waitress, to the contrary of Riku, shrunk at the comment. He grinned, wondering the possible thoughts that could be running rampant in her mind. As amusing as it was to confuse the young woman, he decided enough was enough, rising to his feet and then hoisting up his tray with relative ease. Nonchalantly, he tossed a diamond into her hand as payment and while walking away, he laughed over his shoulder, "I should get going. He doesn't like to be in bed all alone…"

Blankly staring back at him, the waitress stood dumbfounded at his remarks, but as he gracefully sauntered out of the restaurant, she was too dazzled by him to understand his hints and was greatly disappointed at herself for forgetting to request his phone number.

After juggling with his key underneath the tray, Riku miraculously managed to open the wooden door once impeding his path. He gazed in, seeing that Sora remained fast asleep, and then placed his lukewarm food on top of a nearby table.

Sighing, the silver-haired boy wandered around the room impatiently. If Sora didn't wake up soon, his breakfast would become cold, and his journey to the restaurant would have been a complete waste of his time.

He searched his pants pocket until extracting a single jewel, resting between his fingers. His last one. Riku gazed through it, trying to distract himself from his unconscious friend nearby. He had to be careful not to spend the diamond later unless absolutely imperative. Frowning, he doubted buying such a lavish breakfast was one of his brighter ideas. Especially since his benevolence would not be rewarded or acknowledged unless Sora woke up in time to eat it. Considering the loss of his money made Riku twitch with frustration.

After all his seemingly endless searching, he found his friend only to meet him fatigued and suffering from amnesia. But Riku's luck did not stop there. Then he had to go and spend half of his money on breakfast to cheer up said friend, who ironically was asleep and had been for nearly two days now. Oh yeah, what a great reunion, he thought bitterly.

Having half the mind to shake Sora until he awoke, (so that he could appreciate Riku's selflessness) he scrunched up his face at the sleeping beauty. "Go on, sleep," he muttered, but as the boy looked at Sora, he failed to suppress a smile. Who could willingly wake up someone who was that cute?

He snatched some toast from the tray and pulled up a chair beside the bed. Sitting on it, Riku chewed the overly toasted roll, resting his chin on the head of the chair. Distressed to see Sora so fatigued, he closed his eyes for a fraction of the relaxation he deserved. Wondering who or what could put his friend in such a condition, however, did not help Riku unwind. Instead it made his thoughts go in circles.

Before he could begin blaming himself for not finding Sora sooner or wish he could aide in some way, Riku heard moaning from alongside him. His eyes flew open to see the brunette attempting to stretch his obviously sore and stiff muscles.

Sora's gorgeous blue eyes wandered around the room in a daze. He rubbed his head, attempting to sit up. Several moments passed before the boy even realized the existence of another person in the same room. Their eyes locked, the silence between them remaining constant. Riku could not help but notice the exhaustion covering his face and wanted to say something, anything, to brighten Sora's visage.

With the only words that came to him, Riku smiled with his dazzling sea green irises, "Hey you."

Startled at the sound in the room, Sora forced a smile in return, whispering with a raspy voice, "Hi." The brunette rubbed his eyes and then gazed again at Riku's face, apparently fixed on his eyes, with a look of disbelief.

"What?"

"Your eyes…"

"Eh?"

"N-nothing, Riku," he replied almost instantly, twiddling his thumbs and looking at the red sheets resting on him. He never remembered falling asleep in a bed. Though, as Sora concentrated harder, he only recalled the darkness and fear smothering him, as it always did. "Where are we?"

"Motel room. You passed out after--- hey wait a second. You called me Riku… so you remember now?"

"Yeah, of course I remember you," he laughed uneasily. "How could I forget a face like that?"

"Heh, I bet the waitress is thinking the same thing."

"Say what?"

"Nothing," Riku grinned to himself, especially after seeing Sora's confused expression. Before Sora had a chance to respond, the silver-haired boy snatched the tray from behind him and placed it on top of the blankets. "Look, you better eat all of this."

Never straying his eyes from Riku's, Sora absent-mindedly nodded and grabbed the closest item: a muffin. "Thanks Riku," he replied, trying to please him, despite its hardened texture. "It's…kind of cold."

Frowning, Riku looked away, "It wouldn't be if you woke up earlier." Hearing stifled laughter, he turned his head back to the brunette. "What?"

Rubbing his shoulder, the boy sat up and after several moments of silence, he responded, "nothing, nothing at all."

"Oh really," Riku snickered, crossing his arms.

"Yes really."

"Ok…." He paused, seizing a muffin from the tray (despite signs from Sora, saying "hey that's my food"), and then continued, "So, what else do you remember? You had some serious amnesia or something. Did you get into a battle and lose?"

"Yup," The brunette grinned, lying. For some unexplainable reason, Sora desperately wanted to please his friend, and confessing that he suffered from faint spells and sharp pain, failing to remember anything before it was the last thing he wanted to tell Riku. "I think I remember everything now. But some things are kind of sketchy. Well, a lot of things actually. I mean, I remember you and tons of other memories with you in it. But that's basically it."

"You… don't remember about the keyblade and kingdom hearts and the heartless…and all that other stuff?"

"Key…Blade? It sounds familiar… I think."

Riku failed to believe this, merely gaping at the boy. "How exactly did this happen? Who did this to you?"

"I don't know," he trailed off, attempting to retrace his steps. His chest was irritating him, making it difficult for him to concentrate. "Can we just change the subject?"

Looking at Sora, Riku frowned. The brunette was lying. He did not doubt Sora was fatigued or couldn't recall some of his memories, but his smiles were false. Sora was hiding something from him, and disappointed at his friend's lack of trust, Riku sighed.

"Sure, whatever. I can't afford this hotel for another day anyway, so you better get out of bed. Oh, and take a shower. When was the last time you took one? Or do you not remember that either?"

"Ha. Ha, very funny." Tossing the blankets to the side, he looked at himself from head to toe with surprise. "Did you… put me in pajamas last night?"

"Had to clean your frikkin' clothes anyway. You'd prefer to be in underwear?"

"What are you, my nurse?" Sora, done with the conversation, walked away from the bed, stopping shortly after. "Um… What's a shower again? And where is it?"

Riku merely stared at Sora for several moments. Silence separated them for quite a while, until the silver-haired boy laughed slightly, "You're joking…. Right?" He gazed deep into those innocent blue eyes and twitched slightly, barely containing his embarrassment.

"There's NO way I'm teaching you how to take a shower," he sighed with annoyance, shoving the naïve boy into the bathroom. "Figure it out yourself."

"B-but…"

"Don't be such a baby," he interrupted.

The bathroom was in good condition considering it lay inside a cheap motel room. Riku glanced across the white tiles, shower and its curtain, and finally, pearly white sink. It made him squint from the light, and his eyes were relieved as Riku shut the door in front of him before Sora could escape.

"Now I better hear that water! No WAY am I going in there!" He yelled, clutching the doorknob with both hands. Banging could be heard from the other side.

"Let me out or I swear I'll…"

"Just take the damn shower."

"I can't even remember what one is."

"Which explains why you desperately need it. It's a way to bathe. You know, hygiene?" The banging of the door finally stopped, and Riku smiled, releasing the knob.

"Umm…"

"You can figure it out," he sighed in unexplainable relief, returning to his chair next to Sora's bed. Riku rubbed his eyes and grimaced at the mere thought of teaching his friend how to take a shower.

This was not how he last left Sora. The brunette had genuinely smiled, generally understood what he was doing, and had an air of innocence. The latter remained constant, but time seemed to have twisted his friend. Into what, he was not sure.

His eyes traveled across the room, falling onto his cloak, now resting on a hook. Sighing, he approached it, slung it over his shoulder, and revealed Sora's keyblade.

The keyblade…

Concern flared within him since the legendary sword had first appeared in his arms several months ago. He feared disaster had befallen Sora to the point that the keyblade was forced to find a new master.

Perhaps his fears were not far from the truth.

A shriek of pain emerged from the wall next to him, catching Riku by surprise. "Sora?"

The brunette rushed out the door and into the main room. "You trying to kill me?"

"What?" Truly confused, Riku rushed beside him (but not before hiding the keyblade). However, Sora, slightly wet and still fully clothed, did not answer. "You big baby; get in there."

"But---"

"Oh come on!" The silver-haired boy shoved Sora (yet again) into the bathroom. "You're just lucky you need a shower so badly. Now listen closely, you take off your clothes and get into the bathtub. This knob is for hot water and this one is for cold. When the water comes out of the showerhead, you wash your hair and…uhg, I can't believe I'm explaining this to you! What am I? Your nurse!"

He turned his head expecting a response to see Sora dropping his shirt on the floor.

"Don't strip now, you mor—," Riku muttered but halted, gawking at Sora's chest. Above his heart was black. Almost like dark ooze, it was pulsing, encompassing his shoulder and half of his torso. Its darkness made Sora appear pale white by comparison, as it drained its host of all his strength. Riku could only stare in wonderment at the boy now hunched over, almost oblivious to the shadows crawling all over him. "What happened to you?"

"It wasn't this big before…" Sora panted, with glassy eyes.

"You mean you knew about this…this thing growing on you? It… it looks like the same kind of junk the heartless are made of. Why didn't you tell me about this right away?" He shrieked, pushing the brunette into the bathtub. "We got to get it off you! Wash it off or something!"

"Wash… it off?"

"I dunno, just get rid of it!" He added, pulling the bathtub curtain between them. "And take off your pants."

"Um…."

"I'm not looking! As if I even WANTED to," he moaned, still shaking upon seeing Sora disfigured. A pair of pants came flying from over the curtain and onto his face as he heard the sound of water and a cry along with it.

"Ah it's HOT!" Sora shrilly called out, nearly jumping out of the tub, but before he could escape past the curtain, Riku grabbed his shoulders.

"I don't want to see you naked so you better STAY in there..."

"But the water hurts," he whined. "Make it stop."

"That's good… I think. It means that thing on your chest doesn't like it."

"I don't like it either!"

"Stop being such a baby. And to think I gave up teasing that waitress for this," he muttered under his breath, guarding the curtain, but his annoyance quickly evaporated, as he listened to Sora's anguished cries. "There's no way it hurts that much, stop your crying. Um …Sora?"

He sighed, blindly reaching his hand on the shower knob and halted the water. Grabbing the closest towel, he shoved it past the curtain and into Sora. "Put this on already."

The exhausted brunette emerged from the tub, looking completely disheveled. His body was about to collapse, but his eyes were furious. "If I wasn't in so much pain, I'd kill you for that."

"Sure you would," Riku smiled briefly, but soon frowned. "It's still there." Tripping out of the bathtub, Sora nearly landed on Riku before another towel caught him instead. "I ain't holding you this time."

Ignoring him, the brunette gasped for air. "My chest…"

"Don't faint on me again."

"It won't stop hurting."

"Sora? You better not faint, or else…"

"I won't," he coughed, gradually collecting all his strength to stand up, accidentally leaning to far backwards. Riku quickly grabbed his shoulder to prevent his fall, but retracted it in pain. As Sora tripped, the white-haired boy's hand twitched painfully.

"Woah…" Riku looked at the absent expression in his friend's face. Perhaps his fears concerning Sora were far tamer than the actual situation should have created.

"I'm not gonna faint," the brunette panted, clutching his heart.

"Actually, I wouldn't hold it against you if you did."