I do not own the rights to the Kingdom Hearts series or the characters involved.
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Chapter Three - Reaction
"Don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
Riku walked past Sora, and out the door.
"Don't look at me with such pity," said Riku. And then he ran. Sora didn't go after him. He didn't know if he should.
"I guess I shouldn't have forced it out of him after all," said Kairi.
Sora had forgotten she was there.
"Do you..." Sora hesitated. "Do you think I hurt him?"
Kairi thought about the question.
"I wouldn't blame yourself, Sora."
"Maybe I should have gone after him."
"And say what?"
"I don't know! Maybe that I don't pity him! That I don't want to lose him... That I don't want him to run away."
Kairi seemed to look sad.
"Do you think maybe you feel the same, then?"
Sora jumped.
"Huh? Uh, well, I don't know. I've never thought about it."
Kairi definitely looked sad. Had he hurt her too?
"What's wrong Kairi?"
"It's nothing. You should go to him. Try to make him feel better."
She didn't look like she meant it.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
She pushed him out the door.
"Okay, I get it!"
Sora ran towards the beach, hoping Riku would be at his usual tree.
Riku couldn't believe he'd actually said that. He hadn't meant to. He hadn't wanted to. Why had he done that?
He'd been angry. Mostly at Kairi, and that wasn't really fair. She deserved Sora. She'd wanted him much longer than Riku had. She was better for him. Maybe this was for the best. This would force Riku to give up on Sora. He'd just have to avoid seeing or talking to him for awhile.
"Riku?"
Riku automatically turned his head in response to hearing his name, and then immediately turned back when he realized it was Sora.
"Go away."
Rather then listen, Sora instead came up next to Riku, and leaned against the tree next to him. Riku supposed that Sora had come to say something, and that he probably wasn't going to convince him to go away until he said it. So Riku waited until Sora broke the silence.
"I'm sorry."
That's not what he'd expected him to say.
"Why should you be sorry?"
"Because I hurt you."
Riku forced himself to keep from looking at Sora.
"I hurt myself. It was inevitable. I'm just going to have to stay away from you for awhile is all."
Sora didn't say anything after that, and after waiting a few moments, the compulsion to look at Sora was too strong to resist. That may have been a mistake.
Sora was staring at his feet, and he looked miserable. Riku couldn't help but reach out his hand towards Sora. Riku touched his chin, and turned Sora's face towards his.
"Why do you look so sad?"
Sora made a weak attempt to smile.
"I just don't want to lose you again."
Did Sora think that he wanted to leave?
"You don't understand. If I'm around you, especially now that you know, I might end up doing things I shouldn't."
"Like what?"
Did he want an example? No, that couldn't be what he'd meant.
But Riku's hand was resting on the side of Sora's neck, and Sora was not pulling away from the touch. Riku put his hand behind Sora's neck, and slowly lowered his head towards him. When Sora still made no move to pull away, Riku lightly kissed Sora on the lips.
As Riku stood there, with his mouth half an inch from Sora, he could hear his heart beating loudly. And when Sora slightly opened his mouth, Riku responded by kissing him again. This time Sora reacted. This time he kissed Riku back.
The kiss deepened and Sora slid his hand up Riku's chest and around his neck. As Riku's hand slid around Sora's waist, and he pulled Sora closer to him, he silently wished for this moment to last forever. But Riku knew that realistically he should probably eventually end the kiss so they could talk about what this meant.
And Riku was sure that any minute now, it was possible, but not likely, that he would gain the motivation to do that.