MaChIcHi-cHiBi—I really like reading your reviews. They're so lively. Makes me want to write. Thanks.

MS. Nicolle—thanks for reading. I'm pretty sure that I'm writing about Sora and Riku, hehe. And I know that I have mistakes. I'm just a little lazy. Sorry if that bothers you too much.

Ayeshagirl—you crack me up, you know. But do what you want.

This one's short.

Love is Blind

Chapter Ten

There was a smile on Sora's face as his door began to open and he waited for the person or he hoped persons would come in. He forgot to not let his hopes get too high because if it falls, it falls hard and deadly.

That was exactly what happened. When Sora saw Selphie step in without Riku, his smile vanished immediately. His hopes fell, and it hurt. "Where's Riku?" he still managed to ask softly, wanting at least a good excuse for the silver-haired boy's absence instead of thinking that his friend was mad at him.

"Sorry," Selphie apologized. She felt like she failed terribly. "I couldn't convince him to come."

"So, he didn't want to come?" Sora wondered, hoping that Selphie would give him a better answer, but he was cautious this time not to get his hopes up.

"I'm sure he wanted to come," Selphie said based on her utmost opinion. She didn't want to sadden the brunet.

"It's your turn, Sora," Tidus said, interrupting.

Sora had forgotten about the game he was playing. "Hm, I don't want to play anymore," Sora said. "I think I should rest."

"I'll play," Selphie said with a smile, returning to her true self.

"Sure," Kairi said and handed her the dice.

Sora closed his eyes and didn't want to think about how disappointed he was that Riku didn't come to see him, but that was exactly what he thought about. The noise his friends were making seemed like silence since he was so distant from them in thoughts.

"But I wonder where Riku went though," Selphie wondered aloud.

Sora was interested again. "Where did he go?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know, but he ran off in some direction I'm not familiar with," Selphie replied while groaning that Wakka sent one of her ponds back to home.

"But where could he have gone?" Sora inquired.

"I don't know," Selphie answered. Then she yelped with joy when she rolled a six and could get her pond out of home again.

Sora placed his head back on the pillow. Where could Riku have gone? What could he be doing? And why didn't he want to see Sora?

As Sora closed his eyes, he hoped solemnly that Riku was alright and was not mad at him. But whatever it was, Sora swore to fix it.

The next day, Riku woke plainly, feeling not pleasant but not unpleasant. He ran to Ansem's and got the help he needed to stop his pain. The man seemed only glad to see the boy's arrival. Riku hadn't notice the man's gaze on him at all. If he did, he would have found that it looked quite devious and dangerous.

Riku got dressed and cleaned up in the bathroom. Afterwards, breakfast awaited him like always.

"Good morning, dear," Riku's mother greeted. She was internally glad that her son had gone out of his room for the past two days and counting today would be three. She hoped that her son would be alright indeed.

"Good morning, Mother," Riku returned. It made his mother smile. "Father," Riku added. His father was already sitting at the table with a newspaper and drinking coffee.

"Morning, Son," Riku's father said, equally as delighted to see that his son's behavior has returned normal. Whatever happened, he didn't want to bring it back up.

Riku ate his breakfast quietly as he did usually. His father walked off to work with a 'bye' to both Riku and his mother.

Then Riku left the house, he planned on sparring so he took his sword with him, but it wasn't the one Sora had given him. He plainly snatched one of his other ones, ignoring the polished wood that now just rested in the corner of his room. Nope, there was nothing special about it now.

Walking at a normal pace to the plateau, Riku felt the place seemed oddly unimportant, not at all like he used to feel when he came here. There was nothing special about it anymore. The sand was just sand. The sky above was not as brilliant as Riku remembered it. The sea seemed boring and just blue. The glittering of the water did not amaze or delight the boy at all. This place now guaranteed boredom more than excitement and wonderment that it had once promised. But nevertheless, Riku prepared himself to spar.

Yet, just a moment later, there came a voice, a calling. "Riku!"

Riku turned to see who was calling him. He was only surprised to see that it was Sora. The brunet smiled brightly, but Riku didn't find it tugging at his heart like it used to. He was relieved for that really. Riku waited as the other boy ran towards the plank and slowed.

Sora coughed a few times, panting for his breath, and when he spoke, his voice was still hoarse. "Riku," he began.

"If you're still sick, you shouldn't be out," Riku said, but somehow it didn't sound like he was concerned. His voice sounded oddly and unpleasantly cold to the blue-eyed teen.

"I'm sorry, Riku, if you're still mad at me," Sora said, looking sadly at his friend, hoping for forgiveness.

"Whatever," Riku said apathetically.

If it was possible, it made Sora feel even worse. "I'm really sorry, Riku," the boy almost pleaded.

"Yeah, fine," Riku said in the same tone as he did the first.

Sora never felt so much pain in his chest. It wasn't fine. Riku wasn't the same. He was so cold. "I mean it, I'm sorry," Sora said again.

Riku sat himself down on the trunk of the Paopu Tree. He looked like he didn't care at all.

Sora felt a rush of some kind of emotion when he saw that in Riku's hands was not the sword he had made for his friend. The sword he had made took Sora a great deal of time and care. He had hoped that it would make Riku happy and that the other would use it. Now, seeing that Riku wasn't using it meant that what Sora made was unimportant to him. /Riku must still be mad at me./ The brunet sensed that there was a desperate need in him to cry. /No. Please, Riku, don't be mad at me./

"You can leave now," Riku said down at the boy who was silent for the past couple of seconds.

Sora looked up bewildered. He didn't understand what was wrong, but there was something wrong. Riku wasn't like this.

"I'm sorry, Riku! What else do you want?" the blue-eyed boy raised his voice in both frustration and an immense feeling of utter dejection.

Riku jumped down and pointed his sword at the brunet. "Would for you to stay away from me be an option?" Riku said rather harshly. He already felt a bit of the pain coming back. He needed to stay away from Sora. He didn't want the pain to return.

"Why? Why? Why!" Sora exclaimed, his voice even worse and he coughed while taking the wooden sword from Riku. "I know you're still mad at me. What do you want me to do?" Sora asked, his tone sounded desperate.

Riku only turned his attention away from the brunet, who looked about on the verge of crying.

Sora moved to be in front of Riku's view. "Riku!" he exclaimed with a pout that was only there to hold his emotions and tears from exploding.

/Sora.../ Riku noted that Sora looked so...so sad with him. And that only made him feel the pain increasing. "I need to go," Riku said suddenly, and he walked away from Sora.

The brunet grabbed his arm. "Wait, where are you going?" he asked incredulously.

/I need to go. I need to go...I can't stay...not here...not with Sora...The pain./ Riku pulled his arm away from the other and proceeded to the only direction he knew he would find solace to all this.

"Riku, wait!" Sora chased after his friend. But Riku didn't stop, he ran towards the beach which he would soon cross and then head to the forest. "Riku! Where are you going!" The brunet didn't stop.

In the middle of the sandy shore, Riku stopped and turned around only to yell, "Stop! Don't follow me, Sora," at the person behind him.

"But Riku..." Sora began, his expression was that of concern.

"I'm not mad at you. So please, just...leave me alone," Riku said before he started to walk away again.

Sora found that Riku's statement sounded so very true and real. Riku was not mad at him after all. But why did he want him to leave him alone? For lack of better words, Sora didn't want to leave him alone! What he wanted was for things to go back to the way it used to be. For a reason unknown to him still, he wanted to wake up, dress, eat, and run with a smile on his face to the place he knew where Riku would be. /Would it ever be like that again/