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S A C R I F I C E
x;; Kairiku collection
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oo7 ;; keyblades

A fresh layer of orange began to color the horizon as dusk's reign took hold of the sky, slowly pushing the sun out of sight with heavy blues and purples. Even as the islands below began to cool with nighttime settling in, a suffocating heat wrapped hazardous fingers around its inhabitants, relentlessly burning sand and skin with the little sunlight it worked on. Only a light tropical breeze offered condolences every few minutes, barely grazing past emerald palm leaves and calm, cerulean waters while it fought weakly against the fiery temperature. Most had stayed inside during the day – and truly, Riku hadn't a sane reason to dehydrate himself for hours straight with a scalding metal keyblade attached to his hand.

Destiny Islands would never change – but the three teenaged islanders now understood that it didn't exempt them from darkness. There was always the chance of being attacked another time or separated between the worlds, and Riku wasn't willing to hold his friends' safety questionable, especially Kairi's. He was concerned of losing her again as any friend would be, and particularly because he hadn't been able to save her the first time, he was unsure he could try again. The boy had brought the topic up to Sora, whom agreed that it would be favorable to teach her how to properly use her keyblade – but he just as quickly explained that he couldn't do it today, because his mother was holding him hostage or something. Or, more appropriately but not directly said:

You gave it to her, you teach her.

Of course the boys would feel awkward beating up their best girl friend while trying to train her to fight; truthfully, Riku hadn't considered it when he handed the princess her keyblade in The Organization's castle. But it wasn't until she was standing in front of him, both hands on the hilt of the keyblade (which was wrong wrong wrong but she always complained that it was too heavy) and chewing her lip in anticipation that he realized she was the only one who refused to take part in their play fights before the darkness. It didn't help that she had no experience with spars, or that the intense heat was constantly snapping their nerves in two and causing random arguments to spur from the tiniest issues.

"This is so stupid, Riku," Kairi spat angrily while she dragged the back of her hand across her forehead, wiping away beads of sweat and specks of dirt. She was sitting in the sand, her flowery keyblade stuck clumsily upright beside her, annoyance flashing in tired violet irises. The girl wasn't used to getting sweaty, and coincidentally, it caused her to want to murder the boy causing it. "You've been training me all day. Can't we take a break?"

Riku – who stood impatiently a foot in front of her – gave a weak shrug and shifted his grip on his keyblade. "You have to learn to protect yourself."

She seemed to consider this, though merely met his gaze with an accusing stare. "But if you don't go away again, I won't have to."

Riku sighed in response, letting the hand with his weapon fall slack at his side. Of course he didn't want to leave again – and he didn't want to leave her again, which made her claim all the more upsetting. But he couldn't control the darkness (anymore), so he was unable to have power over whether or not he could stay home. "You know that's not my choice," He answered after a moment's pause, gazing back at the girl with an equally suspicious glance until she forfeited the unofficial staring contest and shrugged lightly.

Silence overwhelmed the pair while Kairi reached for her keyblade again, and traced lazy, mindless outlines against the burning metal. Riku's interest on continuing the lesson was obviously failing, but an utterly refreshing breeze began to stir through the island and push him back to reality. He couldn't just give up, no matter how hard it was to get through to her that she needed to learn. Knowing that she could hit a target a foot in front of her would be reassuring at the least should anything ever happen again.

"Try to block this," He demanded suddenly, raising his weapon one more time and waiting for her to comply.

She groaned and pulled herself to her feet. "It's getting late, Riku. I'm tired." The older boy didn't answer, but waited for her to ready her keyblade – and she did, after another audible grumble. Both of her hands were still clutching the handle, and her knees were awkwardly bent so she looked as if she were simply slouching over – definitely unattractive and almost appalling to Riku, whom had spent years defending himself correctly with the unique weapon. A frown touched the corners of his lips while he lifted the keyblade over his head, not bothering to try to correct her again in her fighting posture. He jumped forward and swung, and she raised her keyblade in turn, left hand slipping to the blade-end in attempt to hold her weapon against his. But Riku was still uncomfortable with the idea of hitting Kairi, and instinctively lessened his blow moments before his blade clashed against hers. She easily parried it and thrust forward, causing him to drop his attack and offer a barely noticeable smirk in approval.

However, instead of being delighted at her advancement in his training, she became exasperated at his obviously faux-swing.

"Riku!" She protested, waving her keyblade to the side while her fists hit her hips and her lower lip jutted in a soft pout, "You're going easy on me!"

Riku raised an eyebrow, holding his free hand against his own hip (and trying not to notice how adorable she looked with her pout) before defensively responding: "How are you going to fight if I'm trying my best?" Perhaps it wasn't one of his better points, nor was it the reason that he was so uncomfortable – and his egotistical comments were unaccepted by Kairi.

"Well I'm never going to learn anything if you keep hitting like a wimp."

"Please. The only thing you'll get is stitches."

"You have got to be kidding me." Her fist clenched tightly around the keyblade before she finished unsurely: "I-- I could beat you!"

"Sora still can't," He declared while turning away from Kairi in a rude attempt to shield the irritation glistening in his eyes, "And hecan hold his keyblade right." Riku inattentively dragged his arm across his sweat-drenched face, taking a few steps down the shore away from the redhead. He hated to fight with her almost as much as he hated to try to hit her – and he obviously could have picked a better day to train, instead of the hottest in years.

An aggravated and uncharacteristic snarl rumbled in the girl's throat. To her, he was merely running away from the problem, blocking her out with his ego-barricade as he walked further away; it took a lot to tick the girl off, and he'd managed it. Unknowing to Riku, Kairi lifted her keyblade, still using both of her hands – but she could care less about being scolded again. Perhaps she was expecting her masterful teacher to turn around and block instead of completely forfeiting her challenge, but Kairi swung her weapon towards him in a golf-like stroke, which dexterously hit the back of his head with a too perceptible crack.

Riku spewed a list of incoherent swears, immediately pressing his hand against his head while his keyblade hit the sand – and he eventually followed, knocked out by the girl's suddenly lethal strike.

"Ohmygod!" Kairi shrieked, dropping her keyblade to the ground and slapping her hands over her mouth. "I'm so so so sorry!" It took her a moment to realize that her apology hadn't been heard and Riku was unconscious on the ground – but the revelation only made her wail louder, fearing that she might have killed the teen or would need to drag him into her boat to row back to the main island. How would she explain? Of course, that didn't stop her from screeching her panicked plan to the boy on his stomach when she noticed a thin trail of blood mixed with his hair: "Don't worry, I-I'm going to get a first-aid kit! Stay here!" She might have noticed how ironic her statement was if she hadn't bolted into the shack a few feet away seconds after.

The moment she burst through the wooden door, pale fingers were fluttering over box covers in frenzy, searching only for the small white case that provided the secondary island with its only supply of band-aids and antiseptic. It hadn't taken long to locate, but by the time she was rushing back to the injured teen, he was groaning loudly and trying to pull himself back up.

"Hold on," She ordered, dropping to her knees beside Riku and flipping the first-aid kit open. Instead of agreeing, he immediately snapped:

"What the hell was that for?" Kairi bit her lip and picked out a cotton ball from inside the first-aid kit, dipping it into the disinfectant before replying:

"I thought you'd at least prove what you were saying." Her voice was no longer irritated or forced, and her comment wasn't to be taken as an insult. Riku blinked dizzily and may have continued the argument if Kairi hadn't begun searching through his hair, flipping up knotted layers of silver to find the source of her damage. It didn't take long, nor was there much blood to worry her, so she quickly dabbed the injury with the cotton to clean it off.

"Ow," He mumbled while she brushed the crimson away, wincing beneath the sterile liquid. A tiny smile crept along her lips.

"Stop whining," She teased, pulling the cotton away once the blood was no longer visible and seemed to stop running. She dropped it back into the kit, silently noting to take care of it later – for now, her attention was drawn back to Riku, whom had propped himself up on his arms and was trying again to get to his feet. It didn't last long; once he finally began to stand up, a wave of vertigo disrupted his vision and caused him to stumble backwards, ungracefully landing into a sitting position on the sand.

Kairi stifled a light giggle, still feeling bad for hurting her friend, but nonetheless attempting to brighten her mistake. She moved closer to him, slipping an arm around his forearms as if helping him stay up. Of course, this wasn't his problem, and a soft shade of red prickled his cheeks.

"I can sit up on my own," He grumbled in a barely noticeable voice, attempting not to lose every bit of dignity he had left.

"I know," She responded simply with a smile still teasing the corners of her lips, though made no effort to let him go. He tried one more time to pull upwards, right arm resting on her knee while his other palm dug into the sand; but the dizziness still apparent from the hit he'd taken prevented him from going further, and reluctantly, he leaned into her motherly embrace with a quiet frown.

The wind picked up again, seemingly colder than it had been when the two were still covered in sweat; Kairi nearly shivered, though the drop in temperature was not undesired. It tossed Riku's significantly longer hair around his face, which only made it harder to see his eyes; so, shyly, she slipped her fingers beneath his bangs and brushed them to the side, pale skin grazing against his in a butterfly-touch that near sent chills down the teen's spine. When they only blew back, she repeated the effort – and hesitantly, he raised his hand to hers, cupping its back in his palm and causing her to flinch embarrassedly. Her wrist twitched slightly as she attempted to slip her hand free, though he didn't seem fazed (nor aware of what he was doing). Their hands eventually trailed to the side of his face, and the two were content for a moment until something caused Kairi to ask:

"… Would you go?"

"What?" Maybe it was because he had just gotten a concussion from a girl who had never fought in her life, but Riku didn't remember talking about going somewhere. He tipped his head back to glance up at her, gaze unshielded by hair thanks to her earlier concern. She almost looked hurt that he didn't remember, however, and prodded further with a more intense frown lacing her lips:

"If it were your decision -- would you leave again?" Her doubt was obviously spawned from his previous will to get off of the islands, as she couldn't have understood how much he regretted that decision. Riku moved his fingers slightly to entwine with hers, a smirk barely scratching the corners of his lips while he answered:

"Not unless you were with me."

She smiled.

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a u t h o r s . note ;;
My lameness has no limits. I'm not very proud of this one. It's all sorts of jumbled, and I had ideas for it – but they all kind of died while I was writing D: Ohh well. It's fun to torture Riku anyways, right?