His brother was so weird. Spring classes hadn't even started yet and the blond was at his desk with his books out. What was he even studying? It wasn't like they had homework.

"I can't believe you're studying before we go back to class," the brunet commented from across the room. Sora was sprawled out on his bed, his hands tucked under his head and his eyes closed. He wasn't tired, but it was their last day of break before classes started and he meant to enjoy it to its fullest potential. So, he was being lazy.

Without looking away from his books, Roxas made sure to keep his tone light when he replied. "I just want to make sure I didn't forget anything important during break."

Sora snorted and rolled his eyes behind their lids. "Whatever."

The dorm was quiet for a while as Sora didn't quite doze and Roxas continued his silent perusal of his notes from the last semester. It was a peaceful way to spend the day, if not a slightly boring one. After a while, the near-silence was disrupted by the door opening and footsteps entering the dorm.

Roxas spared a glance over his shoulder. "Oh, hey, Riku."

Hearing his best friend's name was enough to get Sora to open one eye and look up at the older student. "Hey."

The silver-haired teen nodded in Sora's direction, though his focus was on Roxas. "What're you doing?"

"Reviewing my notes."

Riku looked at the blond like he'd lost his mind, obviously of the same opinion as Sora. "Okay." His attention turned to the other twin. "Brat, get your coat."

"Why?" Sora sat up this time, hands braced against the mattress to support his weight.

"Cause we're gonna have that snowball fight."

A wide grin spread over the brunet's face and a second later he was on his feet and headed for his heavier clothes. Riku watched as he pulled on a sweater and his coat, layered wind pants over his jeans, thick socks then boots, a hat and scarf, and, finally, his gloves.

"Took you long enough."

Ignoring the sarcastic remark, Sora made sure he had his phone and keys before he made for the door. "Come on!"

"Have fun," Roxas said absently as Riku followed his energetic brother out the door.

There was a definite bounce in Sora's set. After what felt like weeks, he was finally going to have a rematch against Riku. He was pretty confident that he'd win, too, which added to his enthusiasm. Besides, they were completely back to normal now, so this was going to be fun.

Well, not completely. They had danced at the New Year's Eve party, and Sora couldn't think about it without wanting to blush and mumble and look away from whatever he was supposed to be focusing on so that no one would notice. He thought about it more often than he would admit. And now they were going to have a snowball fight, and it would be just the two of them, playing in the snow together. Ah, god, he was getting embarrassed already.

"Battle to the death," Riku commented once they'd reached the courtyard, their chosen ground for snowball fights.

"You'll surrender before then," the brunet replied confidently, blue eyes shining with excitement. It was easy to put aside how bashful he felt when there was a competition to focus on instead. His response made Riku roll his eyes, though he was grinning a little.

"You wish, Brat."

The two stared at each other, throwing silent challenges, then simultaneously turned and walked to stand on opposite sides of the courtyard.

"Three," Riku called, loud enough that his voice easily carried to where Sora was standing.

"Two!"

"One."

Dropping, Sora landed on his knees and hastily began pulling the surrounding snow towards himself. No doubt Riku was doing the same, but he meant to be as fast as possible in forming his snowballs. It wasn't long before he had a small pile of them, and that was when he dared to peek over the top of the bush he'd hidden behind. There was no sign of Riku. Unsurprising, since the teal-eyed athlete wouldn't go down without a fight.

He's gotta show himself eventually.

He had to. It wouldn't be a snowball fight, otherwise, and there was no other reason for them to be out in the cold. This was the fight they'd been waiting for, and no way were either of them going to simply hide the whole time. That wouldn't be any fun.

The brunet cautiously straightened a little more in an attempt to get a glimpse of his adversary then immediately ducked as a snowball sailed overhead.

"Give up now, Brat! You can't beat me!" the older boy's voice carried just as well now as it did before, even though he was still hiding.

"Not on your life!" Sora shouted back, ammunition in hand, knees bent so he wouldn't make a target of himself while he circled around the bushes. It was just his luck that he hadn't seen where that snowball came from, but he didn't mean to let that stop him for long. Riku would give himself away eventually—all he had to do was wait.

Another snowball landed in front of him and to his right, thrown just a little too hard and too soon to be right on target.

"I can see you moving!"

What? How? Where the hell is he?

Furtive now because he was apparently at a disadvantage, Sora crept past another bush then paused to see if another snowball would be thrown. He peered through the piney branches, blue eyes scanning those on the other side of the courtyard. They were more like small hedges, really, and winter had done nothing to the green pine needles they were covered in, but they were pretty thin and in some places he could see all the way through to the snow on the other side.

There!

Sora grinned when he spotted patches of blue and yellow through the hedge—Riku's coat. Without wasting a second, the brunet straightened and threw, watching the snowball he'd launched fly across the courtyard and shatter against the top of the hedge just above where his adversary's coat was showing through. He was crouching again before the older boy could retaliate, grinning to himself and making a new snowball. No way was he going to let Riku win.

There was no sound or sign of movement from the other side of the courtyard. Even though he was watching those telltale colors, the older boy didn't seem to be moving at all. Was he waiting for something? Planning a way to outsmart the younger sophomore? Well, whatever it was, it wasn't going to work. Sora was way too smart for that.

It was too easy.

Really, the brat thought he was so smart. He actually thought he could win? Ha. All he'd had to do was sacrifice his coat to the cold and hang it where Sora was sure to see. Sneaking around the ring of hedges was a piece of cake after that, and now he was only a few feet away from his target, snowball in hand and booted feet all but silent on the snow.

Two more steps.

One.

Triumphant grin in place, Riku lifted the snowball and brought it down straight on top of Sora's head. He crushed the snow into the fabric of the younger boy's hat so that it would soak through into his hair, and made sure to get some of it onto the back of his neck.

An instant later, Sora was on his feet, gloved fingers scrabbling at his neck to get the snow off but really only succeeding in working more of it under his scarf as it melted and dripped. "Holy shit!"

Riku couldn't help but laugh as he watched the brunet pull at his scarf and make loud, unhappy noises. Eventually, the cold faded and Sora relaxed again before turning narrowed blue eyes on the older boy.

"Where the hell did you come from?"

"My mom, probably," the silver-haired sophomore replied with a smirk, remembering that he'd used the same response months ago, back before he and Sora had become friends. It made the brunet roll his eyes and sigh in annoyance.

"You're such an ass sometimes."

"You like me anyway."

"Ch, you wish, Jerk."

"Only on falling stars and dandelions, Brat."

The two boys stared at each other, Riku grinning and Sora scowling even though he couldn't actually be angry. He was too used to Riku's sarcastic sense of humor to be annoyed with him. If he was honest with himself, he'd known that sort of response was coming before he'd even asked. Still, he scowled for nearly a minute before sighing and giving the older boy a deadpan look instead.

"Whatever." Stooping, he collected some snow into his hands and patted it into a ball then stood. "Put your coat back on before you get hypothermia or something."

"You're not gonna throw that as soon as I turn my back, are you?" Riku asked suspiciously, teal eyes full of mischief.

"Nope. No fun in that."

For another few seconds, Riku regarded his companion then nodded. "Fair enough." He turned and walked back along the circular hedge until he came to the spot where he'd left his coat snagged on a couple of branches. Being able to see the red of Sora's coat had given him the idea of using a decoy, and it'd worked just as well as he'd hoped. Maybe even better. But it was cold and he was shivering without that extra layer of protection, so he didn't waste time in donning the garment and zipping it all the way up to his chin. Within seconds, the cold began to fade from his skin and he smiled crookedly to be surrounded by so much comfortable warmth.

Riku lifted his arm and gave Sora a thumbs up. "Ready!" The only response he got was to have the snowball the younger student had made thrown at him. It was easy enough to duck, and he went low enough that he made his own snowball before he straightened again. Sora was no longer in sight, apparently hiding behind the hedge again. At least, that's what Riku thought, until he heard snow crunching under boots and turned in time to see Sora running towards him with two more snowballs in hand.

Blue-green eyes widening, the athlete took a couple steps back to give himself more space then widened his stance so he'd be able to dodge more easily. The first ball Sora threw was aimed at his chest, and he managed to twist and lean to avoid it. Unfortunately, the second struck his hip a second before Sora veered off course. He crouched as he ran, grabbing another handful of snow as he headed for the trees. Riku took a second to dust the snow off his clothes before chasing after the younger boy.

His breaths came in short bursts of white vapor, the cold air stinging his throat and lungs. Running winter was a lot different than running summer or fall or spring. If he hadn't been in such good shape, he wouldn't have been able to manage. But having Sora to compete with meant he was in better shape than ever, and that was saying something. It was cold, and his throat and lungs felt tight, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

Still, heavier clothes slowed him down, as did the snow that repeatedly gave way under his boots. Not that Sora was any better off, but the brunet still managed to keep a ways ahead of him and ducked behind a tree several moments before Riku caught up. He approached the tree cautiously, and dodged when Sora reappeared, threw a snowball, then vanished again. When he reached the tree, he put his back to it then slowly began to lean around the side to see if his adversary was still there. He came face-to-face with the younger student and grinned, forgetting momentarily that he didn't have any snowballs ready. This being the case, it was Sora's turn to smash the white powder onto Riku's head, the real difference that the older boy didn't have a scarf, so the snow fell down into the collar of his coat.

"Mother of—!"

As Sora laughed, Riku scooped as much of the snow out of his collar as he could. It was cold, obviously, but he made sure to throw it at the brunet for a little bit of payback.

"Hey, hey! Stop it!" The younger student was still laughing, his cheeks flushed from running and the cold and happiness. His eyes looked so impossibly blue compared to all the white that was everywhere that Riku was actually a little stunned when he finally got rid of enough of the snow to notice.

Wow.

Silent and slightly wide-eyed, he stared at the grinning boy for a moment before reaching for him. He wasn't entirely sure what he meant to do, but Sora noticed the movement and began to back up to escape.

"No way—whoa!" Boot slipping on an icy patch of sidewalk, the brunet's arms wheeled in an effort to regain his balance. Riku's reach turned into a grab as he tried to help by catching onto the younger athlete's coat sleeve, but both of Sora's feet were out from under him. He fell, unintentionally pulling Riku down as well, and hit the ground half a second before the older student landed on top of him. The double impact effectively pushed some of the air out of his lungs and made his blue eyes go wide. "Oof! Geez, you're heavy!"

Riku rolled his eyes as he struggled to push himself up off the other male. "Shut up, Brat," he half-growled, managing to shift his weight to his hands and knees so that he was over Sora but no longer lying on him. It was as he went to move away so he could stand that he realized how close he was to the brunet, how easy it would be to press against him again. He noticed how blue his eyes were, how pale his skin was without the summer sun, and that the longer he stayed there, so close, the more pink came into the other student's cheeks. Sora was staring up at him, hat askew, eyes wide, mouth open slightly in a tempting way.

Before he had a chance to second-guess himself or wonder if it would be okay, Riku shifted his hands in the snow, leaned down, and kissed the athlete pinned beneath him.

Sora's eyes went so wide he would have been afraid they might pop out if he could've gathered his thoughts. They'd scattered like dropped marbles and rolled in every direction until he was left with just one little glass ball in his hand—Riku. The older boy was all his mind could focus on, was the only thing that existed. Not the cold of the snow seeping through his clothes as he lay there, or the slight discomfort of having landed kind of hard after his fall. No, all that registered was the weight on his chest, the slight warmth of breath, and lips. Lips that were pressed against Sora's.

They're soft.

All the marbles rewound, speeding back into his grasp until the brunet had control over his body again. His eyes slid closed; he wrapped his arms around Riku's neck and pressed back just a little. The pressure shifted and he felt Riku's lips part, felt breath then a tongue against his own lips. Embarrassingly, he jumped, face flushing darkly, and Riku pulled away. Their eyes met, and Sora struggled to keep his shyness under control.

Slowly, the silver-haired boy grinned. "I knew you wanted me to kiss you." It was teasing, and as embarrassed as Sora was, he couldn't resist smiling.

"It's not like I tried to keep it a secret," he responded, arms still around Riku's neck to keep the older boy from moving any farther away.

"Okay, fair enough." His grin still firmly in place, Riku kissed the brunet again. Longer this time, and with a little more pressure, though he didn't push it. As much as he wanted to claim the younger student's mouth the way he occasionally did in dreams, he wasn't about to risk scaring the blue-eyed boy away again, so he kept his lips together even when Sora pressed up against him in return.

They were kissing. Finally, after months of friendship and a bit of fighting and more flirting than any of their friends should have had to endure, they were kissing. In the snow, when they were supposed to be trying to outwit each other.

Eh, this was better than any snowball fight.

But Riku still drew away again after a few moments. "So," he began, waiting for blue eyes to meet his gaze, "I guess this makes us boyfriends."

Boyfriends? That wasn't something Sora had really thought about a whole lot. Yes, it'd occurred to him every now and then, but he hadn't seriously considered it. To be fair, he hadn't seriously considered that Riku might pin him down in the snow and kiss him, either. And he rather liked the idea of it.

A thoughtful smile lifted the corners of his mouth and he nodded slowly. "I guess it does."

"Kairi's going to have a cow when she finds out," the older boy pointed out, and Sora's smile became more devious than thoughtful.

"You mean if she finds out."

Mild surprise then amusement put a grin on Riku's face. "I knew there was a reason I liked you."

"You mean other than the fact that I'm a sexy little slut?"

Riku laughed, nodding. "Those shorts did look pretty fantastic on you."

"Well, if you're my boyfriend now, then I guess I'll have to wear them again for you sometime."

One of the older athlete's eyebrows went up while the other went down, his mouth quirking at one corner. "Really?"

"Yeah." Slight embarrassment made Sora look down and he fidgeted a little. "I mean, if you want."

It was quiet for a few seconds before Riku nodded slowly. "Yeah. Eventually. But, uh, we should probably wait a little before skimpy outfits become a part of our relationship."

"They're already a part of our relationship."

"Right, but that was for a bet. I want to date you, not have you as a sex buddy."

Hearing the older athlete say it was kind of cute, and Sora really couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Okay."

"Cool."

Still oblivious to the snow and the cold, the new couple shared another small kiss in the privacy of their winter-locked campus.