Coming Out

disclaimer - don't own it.

warnings - possible KH2 spoilers!

It was Monday again. Inevitably. Unfortunately, no matter how much one begged, it was rather difficult to get time to comply and completely bypass spans of twenty-four hours.

Sora hated Mondays. There was nothing good about them; they only signified the beginning of another long week. A long week of school, of homework, of not seeing Riku as much as he could…

He sighed, letting his head fall forward to bang lightly off the door of his locker. Mondays also started off with physics, and he hated physics. Who wanted to be doing serious mental calculations that early in the morning? Honestly, he didn't care how the light switches in his house worked, just so long as they actually worked.

Though, it could be worse. He could have calculus first period.

"Soooora!" a cheerful said from behind him. Sora made a vain attempt at pretending he hadn't heard, but when someone started tapping his shoulder he had to turn around.

"Hi, Selphie," Sora said wearily, closing his locker and leaning back against the door. He tugged at the collar of his uniform, absently wishing he could just take the damn tie off. Normally he would, but he'd been told that if he was caught out of uniform one more time, drastic measures would be taken. Sora had no idea what these 'drastic measures' were, but he wasn't exactly keen on finding out.

Selphie grinned at him. No, grinning wasn't the appropriate term here; she was positively beaming. "Have a good weekend?" she asked, adjusting the strap of her bag across her shoulder.

Sora shrugged. "It was alright." He and Riku had ended up staying in after dinner on Saturday rather than going to the island because Sora's father had shown up and decided to give them a two-hour demonstration on the proper way to clean and cut a fish. Like they didn't know how to do that already; they'd only been fishing since they were four and five years old. And then he hadn't seen Riku at all yesterday, so yeah, alright just about summed it up.

"I heard you and Kairi broke up."

"She already told you?" Sora asked.

Selphie giggled. "Well, she had to tell somebody, didn't she? And guess what?" She leaned forward, still grinning, and tapped Sora's chest as she spoke. "That's not all she told me."

Sora blinked, feeling confused for a second, and then his eyes went wide as saucers. "She didn't!" he said, a desperate edge to his voice. He could feel his face turning red.

Selphie winked at him.

"No!" Sora said quickly. "No, no, no! Selphie! Kairi wasn't supposed to tell anybody! Aw man, Riku's gonna kill me!" He pushed his hands into his hair, trying to ignore the urge to just tear it all out.

Selphie's eyes widened and, if possible, her smile got even bigger. "So it's true then? You and Riku-"

"Shhhhhh!" Sora interrupted frantically, waving his hands. "Not a word! Selphie, you have to swear you won't say anything!"

"I already swore to Kairi," Selphie said, rolling her eyes. "You think I'd spread this around?"

"Kairi apparently did!"

Selphie scoffed. "Please. The only person she told was me."

"Well she wasn't supposed to!"

"Did you tell her not to tell me?"

"I – what?" Sora blinked. "Well…no. I guess not…specifically. But still!"

"Don't worry about it, Sora," Selphie said, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Promise?" Sora asked, feeling slightly helpless. Selphie knew how to keep secrets if it was something important, Sora knew that, but sometimes you just couldn't tell with this girl.

Selphie grinned again, holding up two fingers in the shape of a 'V.' "Scout's honor!" she chirped.

Sora's shoulder slumped. "You're not a boy scout," he muttered, turning to let his head bang against the locker again.

"There is one teeny, tiny problem, though."

Sora paused. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. See…" Selphie giggled again, but she sounded slightly nervous this time.

Sora turned very slowly to face her. "What?"

"We were at Frenchy's when Kairi told me, and…"

Frenchy's was the ice cream parlor downtown that Sora and his friends often frequented. It was owned by this little old lady who had way too much bright, obviously dyed, frizzy red hair, which she kept pinned up in a haphazard sort of bun on the top of her head. She loved them all, but Sora and Tidus especially. Tidus in particular was always hanging around and getting free samples-

Oh.

Oh, hell no.

Sora closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Please tell me that Tidus was not lurking around when Kairi told you."

"Um…"

"Tell me that Tidus didn't hear!"

"Well, I would." Selphie shrugged sheepishly. "But then I'd be lying."

Sora gritted his teeth, pressed his fist against his mouth, and took another breath.

"Sora…"

Ignoring her, Sora turned and stomped off towards his homeroom. The bell wouldn't be ringing for a couple of minutes, but if he knew his friend, she'd already be in the classroom by now.

He wasn't wrong.

"KAIRI!"

&&&&

First period was such a bore. Riku would never understand why they had to take chemistry again. Sure it was AP chem, but as far as he was concerned, it was basically a repeat of everything he'd learned three years ago. Same teacher, same book, a lot of the same experiments…

And the classroom was always hot.

He supposed he should consider himself lucky. Technically he should be taking Physics this year, having missed it due to the entire Heartless ordeal, but due to the…er, extenuating circumstances, the school had let him skip it

Riku trudged into the classroom and dumped his bag onto the floor by his table, and then immediately went about cooling himself off. He loosened his tie, undoing the top two buttons of his shirt while he was at it, and pushed his sleeves up past his elbows. He'd have to straighten it all up again when the period was over, but the chemistry teacher knew how hot her classroom was and didn't seem to mind the students stripping down.

"Hey, Riku," Wakka said as he ambled over, dumping his bag beside Riku's. His shirt was already unbuttoned all the way down so that the wifebeater tank top beneath it showed, and his tie was draped around his neck, the ends dangling.

"Wakka," Riku returned, gathering up his hair and wrapping an elastic band around it. The bits that were too short for a ponytail fell into his eyes, and he blew upwards without really thinking about it. He was used to it now.

"Man, it's like a frickin' sauna in here, ya?"

Riku slouched over, resting his chin in his hands, and sighed. "Every day," he said simply.

"Sheesh. Almost makes me want winter to get here already, you know?" Wakka said, waving his shirt a bit as if to form some sort of breeze.

"Why?" Riku snorted. "Then they'll just turn on the heat and it'll get even hotter."

"Oy. Good point." He dragged his arm across his forehead. "Oh, hey. I got that new fighting game. The one we were looking at last week, remember?"

Riku looked up. "Is it any good?"

Wakka shrugged. "S'not bad so far. Me and Tidus were playing yesterday." He smirked. "Whooped his butt, as usual."

Riku laughed. "Not like that's hard." He leaned over the side of the table, searching through his bag for his chemistry book.

"True. It's a decent game, though. You should come over."

Finding the textbook, he began to sit back up again. "Today?"

"Whenever. Oh, by the way. Heard about you 'n Sora."

Riku, who had felt like he was still half asleep due to the hazy heat of the classroom, bolted upright at these words, the chemistry book falling from his suddenly numb fingers and landing with a loud thunk on the ground again. He stared at Wakka with impossibly wide eyes, and then all too late tried to school his expression back into something relatively normal again. It was hard when one's face felt like it was on fire, though.

"I-I'm sorry?" he asked, cursing himself for stuttering.

Wakka glanced at him, apparently having found nothing out of the ordinary about what he'd just said. "Tidus told me."

"Tidus?" Riku repeated, trying to quell the burgeoning panicked feeling in his chest. "Wait, told you – told you... Wait, what?"

Wakka grinned. "What's with that look?"

Riku took several deep breaths, ducking beneath the table to grab his book and to give himself a couple of seconds to calm down. He reemerged only slightly better. Maybe he was misunderstanding what Wakka had said.

"What did Tidus tell you?" he asked apprehensively.

Wakka blinked. "About you 'n Sora," he repeated.

Riku swallowed, glancing furtively around the classroom to make sure no one else was listening. "Me and Sora…what?"

"Is the heat getting to ya?" Wakka asked. "What do you think? He told me Sora an' Kairi broke up." He waved his hand randomly. "And then…you know."

"No, I don't!" Riku said, his voice rising alarmingly. Then he winced, glancing around again, and grasped the edge of the table tightly.

Wakka raised an eyebrow as him. "Riku. Man. Chill," he said, staring at him straight in the eyes. Riku stared back, and Wakka let his second eyebrow join the first, giving him a look. It was only when Riku felt his cheeks starting to warm up again that Wakka pulled back, grinning. "You know what I'm talking about."

Riku bit down on the urge to scream.

"How does Tidus know?"

Wakka shrugged. "Think he said he overheard Selphie?"

Oh, great. Fucking wonderful. If Selphie knew, then the whole world would soon know.

Riku hunched over the table, digging his hands into his hair. "How does Selphie know?" he asked, knowing that he was teetering on the edge of hysteria. He was going to kill Sora. That boy was so dead.

"Kairi probably told her." Wakka glanced at Riku, who was busy having a minor panic attack on his side of the table. "Look, man, we all would have found out anyway, ya? Sora would've spilled the beans eventually."

"But we're not… It's not even…" What? Serious? Official? Were they official? Were they actually planning on being…whatever to each other? Why was Wakka being so casual about the whole thing? "Don't you care?" Riku finally settled on asking.

Wakka was flipping absently through the pages of his textbook. "Can't say I'm surprised, actually. Saw it coming, you know?"

Okay, that floored him. "What? How?"

"Well, with you more than Sora. It's always been obvious with you."

Riku's jaw dropped. "What?"

Wakka shrugged. "It was obvious," he repeated.

"It was not. I'm not – It's not – What's obvious, exactly?"

"That you like Sor-"

"Okay, okay, okay," Riku interrupted, looking around frantically again. "Stop saying it so loud."

"Only when you stop freaking out."

Riku groaned, falling forward and burying his face in his arms. "This sucks," he said, voice muffled.

"Buck up," Wakka said, grinning. "Teacher's here."

&&&&

"I still can't believe you told her," Sora groused, walking beside Kairi later that day. "It was none of her business."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "She's not going to tell anybody."

"She told Tidus!"

"She didn't tell him, he just…overheard!"

"I haven't been able to look him in the eyes the whole day," Sora said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Every time I see him coming, I run the other direction. I haven't talked to him at all." Which was an impressive feat, actually, considering they had half their classes together. "God, and what if he told Wakka? Wakka is in all of Riku's classes, he probably said something!"

"Why are you worrying so much about Riku's reaction?" Kairi asked. "You don't seem to mind that other people know."

Sora shrugged. "Why should I care what other people think? Besides, it's not like anyone important knows yet."

"Oh, thanks."

"I mean, it's not like I told my parents." Sora shuddered.

Kairi sighed. "Well, I think you're worried over nothing. Riku probably feels the same way you do."

"SORA!"

Sora froze, his eyes going wide. "Same way I do, huh?" he said, giving Kairi a dirty look.

"Sora, you little punk! Where the hell are you!"

Sora winced. "You never saw me," he told Kairi, before he took off running down the hill.

Kairi shook her head, amused, and watched as Riku rounded the corner. He didn't actually look pissed, Kairi realized. He looked more embarrassed than anything. Though that possibly had something to do with the fact that Tidus was currently bouncing along beside him, chattering away aimlessly.

"Where is he?" Riku demanded, storming up to Kairi.

Kairi pointed down the path.

"Thanks," Riku said gruffly. "I've got some things to say to you, too, but it'll have to wait."

"Oh, don't hold back on my account," Kairi said, grinning.

Riku frowned at her.

"I still think it's great that you found your soul mate already, Riku," Tidus spoke up, grinning. "You're so lucky. Sora must be really excited. I wonder if I'm ever going to find my soul-"

"Tidus," Riku interrupted, glaring at him. "Shut up."

Tidus pouted. "But I haven't gotten to talk to Sora all day so I haven't congratulated him yet, but you're here so I wanted to congratulate you-"

"Tidus!" Riku cut in again. "He's not my soul mate! And stop announcing it to the world, would you?"

"Stop announcing that he's not your soul mate?" Tidus said, arching an eyebrow. He smirked. "Have you two shared a paopu fruit yet?"

Riku grimaced and clenched his fists.

Tidus backed off immediately, chuckling nervously. "Ahaha, I'm just kidding, Riku, I swear! Just playin' around, you know how it is. Heh."

Riku ignored him and turned to Kairi instead. "Don't let him follow me," he grumbled, and then he sprinted off down the path Sora had taken.

Kairi sighed and rolled her eyes. "Boys," she muttered.

"He's so easy to annoy," Tidus said, grinning. "Just wait till I finally corner Sora!"

&&&&

"Sora, slow down!"

"NEVER!"

"Sora!"

"You'll never catch me, Riku!" Unfortunately, this wasn't actually true. Sora cursed his decision to escape to the island, because Riku – damn him – had always been the stronger rower of the two of them, and thus he was quickly catching up. Sora waited until he could see the pale sand underneath the clear blue water, and then he jumped ship and swam as fast as he could to shore.

"What the hell are you doing?" Riku yelled. "Your mom's going to kill you for getting your uniform dirty, and I am not taking the blame this time!"

Oh crap.

Well…whatever.

Sora stumbled onto the beach, unbuttoning his shirt as he went. He shook it off his shoulders and then attacked the zipper of his pants. He tried to get his shoes off next, hopping around on one leg and pulling at his waterlogged loafer with his hands, but the sand gave way beneath him and he ended up on his back, grumbling to himself as he worked at the knots in the laces.

Eventually he managed to tug the shoes off and shimmy out of his pants, leaving him in nothing but his undershirt and boxers.

"Ahh, freedom!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms above his head. Then he abruptly remembered why he was at the island in the first place, and he was on his feet in a flash, looking towards the dock.

Riku's boat was already there.

"Yo."

"Gah!" Sora jumped, turning around and finding Riku standing there, arms crossed. "Geez, don't scare me like that, Riku!"

Riku cocked his head to the side, arching his eyebrows. "Thought you were running away from me?"

Sora's brow furrowed. "Oh yeah…" he murmured. He jumped back, crouching into a low stance, and summoned his keyblade. "Come on, then! I know you're mad. You can take it out on me like this."

Riku's eyes went wide. "What – Sora!"

"Come on!"

"Sora, I'm not going to – Whoa, hey, watch it!" Riku exclaimed, stumbling back when Sora thrust the keyblade at his nose.

"You're mad, right?"

Riku floundered. "I'm – I'm not that mad…"

"Then come on!" Sora repeated, swinging his keyblade. "We haven't dueled in awhile anyway; I could use the practice."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said, sighing. "Give me a second." He tossed his bag onto the ground and began undoing the buttons on his own shirt. "We should have stopped off at home first. If you hadn't run away from me…"

"I thought you were going to kill me," Sora said absently, his eyes busy following the movements of Riku's hands as they undid each button.

"Look, it was more of a shock than anything else," Riku said, scowling. He slipped his shirt off his shoulders and folded it carefully, oblivious to the way Sora was staring at him, transfixed. "I'm still not even sure what we're doing and for all of our friends to already know…" He snorted lightly. "I feel like they know more than I do."

"Well, it's not my fault. How was I supposed to know Kairi would tell Selphie? And that Tidus would overhear?"

"I didn't want you telling Kairi in the first place, remember?" Riku said as he tossed his shirt onto his bag. He lowered the zipper on his pants and then finally glanced up at Sora, opening his mouth to say something else.

The words never made it out though, because Sora was suddenly right in front of him, grabbing the front of Riku's wifebeater and pulling him down to meet his lips.

"Mmmph!" Riku protested, pulling back almost immediately. "Sora-"

"Damn," Sora muttered, staring up at his friend. "I forgot you were so much taller than me."

Riku hesitated briefly, but then he smirked and rested his hands on Sora's waist, gripping the thin material of his shirt and pulling him closer. "You've always been a shrimp," he said.

"Shut up!" Sora said. "I'll be taller than you one day, just you wait. Until then…" Sora grinned and pushed at Riku's chest as hard as he could, sending the other boy sprawling onto his back in the sand. Sora was straddling his hips in an instant.

"Ow," Riku said flatly, blinking up at Sora.

"I like this better," Sora said, still grinning.

"I'm getting sand in my hair."

"You can wash it later."

"And you're getting my uniform pants all dirty."

Sora slid down so that he was sitting more across Riku's knees, and hooked his fingers into Riku's belt loops. He grinned. "Easily rectified."

"What if the others show up?" Riku asked, even as he lifted his hips so that Sora could tug his pants off.

"It's a school night," Sora said, tossing the navy blue slacks over his shoulders.

"We're out here."

Sora grinned, leaning forward and slipping his hands beneath Riku's t-shirt. "We have good reason to be."

"True," Riku murmured, tentatively reaching out and running his fingers along the soft skin at Sora's waist.

"Here, just take it off," Sora said, sitting up and grasping the bottom of his shirt.

"Wait, don't-" Riku cut himself off abruptly, his cheeks going faintly pink.

Sora paused. "It's not like you haven't seen me without a shirt on before," he said eventually, arching his eyebrows. "Hell, it's not like you haven't seen me naked before, for that matter."

"Yeah, well, completely different circumstances," Riku muttered, shifting his gaze to the side.

Sora chuckled and leaned down to press a kiss to the exposed skin at Riku's collar. "How did I end up being the more confident one?"

"It's not that I'm not confident!" Riku said quickly, breathing in deeply as Sora ran his tongue across his skin.

"Does it really bother you that I'm more experienced?"

Riku rolled his eyes, his hands now clutching the loose material of Sora's shirt and holding him close. "Hardly," he said. "And it's not like your two-month stint with Kairi really counted for a lot."

"Three months," Sora corrected absently.

"Whatever."

"It's three months more than you've ever had."

"Hmph." Riku squirmed a little, trying not to gasp as Sora kept going at his neck. "And anyway. You haven't – It's not like you've ever been with another boy."

Sora paused.

"Er. As far as I know," Riku added. His brow furrowed when Sora didn't say anything. "Sora!" He grabbed hold of Sora's shoulders, pushing the other boy away so that he could look him in the eye.

"Weeeell…" Sora chewed lightly on his bottom lip, glancing away.

Riku's eyes went wide. "Are you serious!"

"There was this one time with Leon…"

"Who the hell is Leon!"

Sora looked back at him. "You never met him? Real tall, shaggy brown hair? Leather pants, lots of belts…"

Riku frowned. "Oh. Him." Then his eyes widened again. "He's like ten years older than you!" he exclaimed. "What the hell, Sora, were you just not going to tell me about him!"

Sora chewed on his bottom lip some more, and then burst out laughing. "Oh my God, Riku! Jealous, much?" he said, beaming. "I was joking! Geez."

"Oh." Riku looked doubtful. "You were?"

"Yes," Sora insisted, rolling his eyes. "You think I would have freaked out so much the first time we kissed had you not been the first boy I'd done that with?"

Riku shrugged, eyes shifting to the side.

"Oh, stop pouting."

"I'm not-!" Sora didn't let him finish, instead leaning down to kiss him. He reached blindly for Riku's hands, interlocking their fingers and holding them in the sand on either side of Riku's head. Riku's head tilted back, his mouth sliding open beneath Sora's, and he groaned lightly when their tongues met.

Unconsciously, he shifted beneath the smaller boy, pressing his hips up against the body above him. Sora gasped, shuddering, and eagerly thrust back down. Obviously, wearing nothing but boxers left very little to the imagination.

"S-Sora," Riku gasped, head falling back and eyes squeezing shut as Sora grinded against him.

"Mmmm," Sora hummed contentedly. He rocked against him some more, sucking lightly at the skin right below Riku's jaw, and reached one hand down to rest against Riku's pelvic bone. He thumbed gently at the skin there, enjoying the way Riku twitched and shuddered against him. "Can I…?" he whispered, trailing off. He moved his hand to rest against Riku's stomach.

"What?" Riku said absently.

"Riku…" Sora pulled back a little, waiting until Riku finally blinked his eyes open and looked at him. Sora ran his fingers just beneath Riku's waistband, watching as his eyes went wide. "Can I…uh…" He nodded in the direction of Riku's crotch.

"Sora…" Riku said, shifting uncomfortably as his cheeks went pink. "I don't…"

"Oh, come on," Sora wheedled. "Pleeeaaase?"

Riku's brow furrowed as he tried to concentrate on something other than the way Sora's fingers kept up moving over his skin. "I…I guess," he said, somewhat helplessly, as he did his best to keep his hips still.

Sora grinned. He kissed Riku quickly and then, with little hesitation, slid his hand between them and wrapped his fingers around the other boy.

Riku bucked up into his hand, gasping and squeezing his eyes shut. Sora chuckled, moving his hand experimentally. Riku bit his lip, his head falling back. He was panting, the flush across his cheeks becoming more vivid as beads of sweat broke out across his forehead.

"S-Sora!" he gasped, gritting his teeth and thrusting up again. His toes curled as Sora kept his hand moving.

"Relax," Sora murmured, tightening his hand and adding a little twist at the end of each tug.

Riku made a sort of strangled, gurgling sound. "I am relaxed," he hissed between clenched teeth. He tightened his hold on Sora's free hand, their fingers still interlocked.

"Sure you are." Sora smiled, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to Riku's collar again. Riku gasped and bucked his hips upwards. "Come on," Sora whispered. "It's just me."

"Shut up," Riku said, gasping again. His jaw fell open as he panted some more, and Sora sped up the movement of his hand. "Sora – I…"

"It's alright," Sora said quickly.

Riku groaned, shifting and letting his legs fall wider open. "But-"

"Just do it."

Riku grunted, his face twisting into an almost grimace, and then he came with one more sharp gasp, arching up into Sora's hand.

He collapsed back down against the sand again, breathing heavily, his face feeling like it was burning. Sora kissed the side of his neck.

"Riku," he murmured, before capturing his mouth once more. Riku kissed him back without even thinking about it, wrapping his free arm around the other boy's shoulders. "Not so bad then?" Sora asked when he pulled back.

Riku was still panting and could only manage a slight shake of his head. "Not…bad at all," he said, a slow grin curving onto his lips. "Very good, actually."

Sora grinned. "Good!"

"Oh." Riku opened his eyes, staring at Sora. "Um. Did you want…?" he trailed off, floundering a bit, and waved his hand randomly.

Sora chuckled. "Nah. I'm good for now."

"You're sure?"

Sora nodded, laying his head against Riku's chest and listening to the steady pounding of his heart. He felt Riku's arms rest around the small of his back, and before he knew it, his eyes had drifted shut.

He wasn't sure how long they lay there like that, but it was still sunny out when he opened his eyes again, so it couldn't have been too long.

Someone was nudging him in the side.

"Sora," a familiar voice said. "Sooora. Sora! Wake up, you lazy bum!"

"…Kairi?" Sora twisted around, blinking up at his friend.

"The one and only," Kairi said, grinning at him. She propped her hands up on her waist. "My, well don't you two look cozy."

Oh.

Sora snapped his head back around, finding Riku's wide-eyed gaze staring back at him. He moved to sit up, but Riku hands pressed down on his back, holding him in place.

"Do not get up," Riku hissed, his cheeks going bright pink.

"Oh my God, they're so cute!" said another voice. Sora twisted back around, finding not just Kairi, but all four of his other friends standing there. He heard the choked sound that Riku made, but ignored it. "I should have brought my camera!"

"Selphie, please shut up," Sora said simply, collapsing back against Riku's chest.

Tidus crouched down beside them, peering at Sora. "What were you guys doing out here, anyway?" he asked curiously.

Sora felt his cheeks go red. He hoped he could blame it on the sun. "Er. Sparring?"

Tidus arched an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Exactly what sort of sparring?" he asked, smirking a bit. Sora often forgot that Tidus wasn't as stupid as he pretended to be sometimes.

"Man, leave them alone," Wakka said, pushing Tidus away with a quick foot to his shoulder. "You two better hurry up an' get dressed, ya? Your parents were asking about you."

"Oh yeah," Kairi said, looking at Riku. "Apparently you're supposed to baby-sit tonight? Your mom sent us to find you."

"Oh shit," Riku said, his eyes widening a bit. "Forgot about the brats."

"I'll help!" Selphie said, bouncing on her feet eagerly. "Your brothers are so cute!"

"They're twin terrors," Riku muttered, pushing himself halfway up on his elbows. "It's a wonder they even remember who I am."

"I'll help," Sora said, glaring at Selphie. "Go bother Wakka's brother or something."

"Hey, leave my brother outta this."

"I don't need help," Riku said, glowering. "I can handle them on my own."

"You don't need help, but you want it," Sora said, smirking. "Right, Riku? Right, right?"

Riku opened his mouth, paused, and then let it snap shut. "Erm. Yes. I guess help would be nice…"

Tidus burst out laughing, rolling around in the sand. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! Riku's so whipped! Ahahaha-ACK!" He rubbed his head, glaring at Wakka. "Oi, you didn't have to throw it at me!" he grumbled, tossing the blitzball back to him.

"We came out here to play, didn't we?" Wakka asked, spinning the ball on his finger. "Hurry up already!"

"Alright, alright. Geez. Later, guys," Tidus said, mock-saluting at the rest of the group. Wakka waved, and then the two of them jogged off down the beach.

"We're gonna go watch," Selphie said, grabbing Kairi by the wrist. "Bye, boys!"

"Hurry up and get back!" Kairi called back to them as she was dragged away. "I don't want your mom thinking I didn't find you!"

Riku let out a breath, blowing his bangs off his forehead.

"That was alright," Sora said, watching his friends as they disappeared around the bend. "See? It won't be so bad."

"I'm going to kill Tidus one of these days," Riku grumbled. "Oh. You can move now."

Sora grimaced at the stickiness between them as he pulled away. "Yuck. Quick swim in the ocean first?"

Riku looked up, smirking. "I'll race you."

Sora grinned. "You're on! Loser buys the winner ice cream!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Riku said, brushing the sand of his backside. "Ready?"

"Yes. No, wait." Sora turned to Riku, quickly grabbing his shirt and pulling him down to his level so he could give him a quick, yet quite thorough, kiss.

"What…?" Riku said dazedly when Sora finally let him go.

"Okay, now I'm ready!" He grinned briefly at Riku, and then took off down the beach. "GO!"

"What – wait-" Riku cursed and then, laughing, sprinted after him. "SORA!"

FIN

Hehe, Sora's gonna get his soon, no worries. :D

-Maxine

P.S. Yeah, totally gave Riku some younger brothers. Heh.