Wow! I can't believe I got this chapter out so quick, lol. I hope you enjoy it!

Sora was exhausted. He flopped down onto the covers of his bed, not caring that the bottom of his sneakers were flaking with dirt. He ran a hand through his brown locks and let out a breathy sigh.

The night had been fun with the meal and movie, but his thoughts turned sour when he thought of Riku and his bizarre attitude. Sure, he was slightly embarrassed when he woke up in Riku's lap, but it's not like it has never happened before. He could remember earlier in the summer when they had been up all night playing video games and in the morning he found himself draped all over Riku's stomach. Riku had laughed and teased Sora about always needing something to cuddle with at night and why he hadn't thought to bring a teddy bear. They had brushed it off and moved on, but earlier tonight…Sora frowned…Riku had acted so differently.

Sora rolled on stomach and buried his face in the pillow. Maybe he should stop with this whole "weakness" thing, Riku was obviously affected by it and it was now at a point where his friend wasn't himself. But…then again, maybe Riku wouldn't beat him tomorrow. Sora grinned into the pillow.

As the sun rose the next morning, so did Sora's mood. The brunette was in high spirits, and was in the bathroom paying close attention to the amount of gel he squeezed into his palm. As he styled his hair the way Kairi taught him he couldn't get rid of that nagging doubt that this wasn't the smoothest way to deal with a little rivalry over wooden swords. After all he was the weakness, but for the life of him he still didn't know why.

Sora rinsed his hands of in the sink, wiping excess gel off his fingers as he twisted his head this way and that to see if his hair fell the way it should. Kairi would be proud; it looked almost the exact way it did last night. Sora toweled his hands dry and headed back into his bedroom. He dug through the pile of clothes on his window seat, keeping Kairi's words in mind. He had to find an outfit that would compliment his blue eyes.

After twenty frustrating minutes Sora settled on some black track shorts and a blue t-shirt that clung to his body in the right way so it didn't look suffocating. He threw on a thin sweatshirt just in case. Sora knew it could get pretty windy down at the beach and the air blowing inland from the sea could get quite cold. He checked himself in the mirror one more time and headed downstairs. He gaped when he saw what time it was. It took him a whole hour to get ready this morning! Good god! That had to be a record! Kairi would be bursting with pride by now.

Sora was out the door in less than ten minutes. He realized he had been hurrying when he almost knocked a whole glass of orange juice to the floor on his way out. He had to slow down. There was no extra prize if you got the beach first. He picked up his sword from where he propped it against the garage and started down the sidewalk. He began running through several moves in his head that he learned from Riku just by watching him. Riku was really an amazing fighter. He was quick and agile, his moves we're always performed to perfection and he could dodge and deflect blows easily. It made Sora slightly envious but at the same time he admired his friend's abilities very much.

The beach greeted him with warm sand beneath his toes as he kicked his sandals off and walked down towards the water. He had a feeling that Riku wouldn't be here yet; the boy was almost always late. Sora squinted at the sun's light as it reflected off the water, sending morning rays scattering throughout the treetops behind him. He breathed in the fresh air and let it out slowly, feeling more alive than ever. It really was a beautiful morning.

Ten minutes later Sora was still standing in the same spot. Riku still hadn't arrived and he was starting to get worried that his friend forgot all about it. Feeling his shoulders droop he began walking back towards the path. It wasn't until he heard footsteps to his left that he looked up. Riku was making his way towards him…slowly…very slowly…..

Sora raised an eyebrow at his friend's posture. Riku looked like he wished he could be anywhere else but here. His silver hair was bowed and his feet dragged along in the sand, the wooden sword lazily propped on his shoulder. Sora tried putting on a charming smile.

"Hey Riku."

Riku looked up startled, before relaxing his features into an uneasy grin. "Oh hey, Sora." He stopped in front of the brunette and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Sorry about being late and all. I almost over slept."

Sora shrugged. "No problem." He smiled at his friend but couldn't help notice the circles under Riku's eyes. It definitely looked like he hadn't slept well. Sora held his sword out at arms length, trying to brush the thought off. Riku probably was up late playing video games or something. "So, you ready?"

Riku's eyes didn't meet his, but his voice was steady. "Ready when you are."

The two faced off like they did the other day. Sora could feel the excitement running through him and that same ol' feeling of, 'God I wanna win sooo bad!' rose in the back of his mind. He waited a split second before lunging at Riku. Riku dodged it easily and tried striking a blow at Sora's head. Sora blocked it before aiming for Riku's stomach. The move was a no brainer for Riku and he blocked it just as smoothly as Sora did.

The fight wore on for another fifteen minutes before they took a break and got a drink of water. Sora absolutely needed to get rid of the sweatshirt; it was bogged down with sweat and would definitely hinder his performance. He tugged it up and over his head, feeling his blue shirt rise a bit as well. A small-strangled sigh met his ears and he looked sharply at his friend. Riku was staring at his midsection, his eyes roaming over the flat plane of Sora's abs. Feeling very, very uncomfortable all of a sudden, Sora tugged his shirt back down and watched as Riku looked up, an almost guilty look in his eyes.

Sora cleared his throat, trying to forget that that little moment…whatever it was…never happened. "Uh..do you want to continue?"

Riku pulled his sword from the sand, his eyes glued to the ground. "Yea, sure."

Sora formed his defensive stance and watched as Riku formed his as well. Riku seemed unsteady and had to organize his position a couple of times before nodding his head. Sora attacked.

The fight continued for another ten minutes, and Sora felt like Riku was too much on the defense. The boy never tried attacking him, he was always blocking or dodging and Sora knew that it was very unlike Riku to fight like that. It started to annoy Sora and he began attacking more brutally before. Why wasn't Riku being aggressive? It didn't even look like he was trying!

Sora let out a quick series of thrusts and jabs before the unexpected happened. Riku tripped. The silver haired youth fell to the sand as Sora swiped once more finding no body or sword to come in contact with and falling as well. Right on top of him.

Sora's eyes widened as he realized that his face was lodged into Riku's neck. He immediately propped himself up on his elbows and muttered a quick apology. Riku's eyes we're wide, and he had a slightly stunned look.

Sora stumbled over his words. "Riku..I'm sorry! Are you all right…I didn't mean…" The brunette's eyes widened too when he realized what position he was in. He was straddling Riku's waist with his arms on either side of his head and his face entirely too close to those deep aqua-marine eyes. Sora sat back quickly, his thoughts immediately diverting from enjoying the warm body beneath him to worrying over whether he hurt Riku or not. Sora got up and brushed himself off, trying to look casual as possible. He held his hand out to his friend who was still on the ground, a joking remark on his tongue. Once again, Riku beat him too it. And Sora was stunned.

"Why do you have to do this to me, Sora?"

Riku's voice was soft and strained.

"What? I – "

Riku looked up, his face shattered with emotion. He never looked so broken and Sora was taken aback.

"Why Sora?"

Sora frantically searched for an answer. He only wished he knew what Riku was talking about. "I…uh…"

Riku's expression hardened. "Why would you do this to me, Sora? His eyes sparked with sadness and anger as he got up and pushed sweaty silver strands out of his face. "Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?"

Sora started panicking. "Riku…I'm sorry..I don't know –"

Riku interrupted him, a strangled laugh escaping from his lips, his voice anguished. "You don't know? How could you not know?" He ran a shaky hand through his hair and turned his back on the brunette.

Sora's mind was in overdrive. What had he done? What did he do to make him so upset? Sora reached out a tentative hand after a moment and touched Riku's shoulder gently. "Riku..I'm –"

"No, you have no idea." The voice was stern and silver hair flashed in the sunlight as Riku turned to face him. "You are so clueless Sora." Riku's voice cracked on the last word and he picked up his sword and was gone.

Hours later Sora was still standing on the beach, willing the moisture in his eyes to go away.

A/N: Oh god, sometimes I just want to strangle Sora! Oh wait...I'm the one writing him like that/facepalms/

Next chapter, Sora get's a clue...a little clue. We'll, I hope he does!

Thanks for reading! Comments much appreciated!