Love Love Contest! Fight!

Disclaimer: Don't own KH characters or rights.

Warning: shonen-ai (boy x boy romance), crude humor, language, SoraRiku below.

Chapter eight: You've got an explanation to do


Previously…

"Three times." Riku bellowed impatiently. "He apologized three times already, including the one he just did to you. He admitted what he did, and felt the guilt he deserved. And you? You lied bluntly to me without even a blink of the eye, and you never came out about it. I don't need a girlfriend who can lie to me without feeling guilt."

----

"So, she didn't try to sue you for that bitch slap?" Kairi moved to plop down onto Sora's desk chair, her eyes on the brunet who was lying on the bed.

"No… But I still feel so bad." Sora pouted, and then buried his face into the pillow.

"Don't. She deserves it, trying to steal Riku from you like that." Kairi defiantly claimed as she admired her newly-done nails. "Man, it definitely is hard trying to keep a leash on that guy. It's like everybody is preying on him."

"You can't blame him for that." Sora turned to face Kairi, "He's just too-…" He abruptly halted himself and his face grew horribly red. Kairi couldn't help the smirk on her face as he once again buried his face into the pillow.

"Come on! What were you gonna say about him?" Her infamous mischievous grin was on her face again. "He's just too sexy?"

"I didn't say that!" Sora shot up from the bed.

"Then what were you gonna say?"

"I'm not telling you!" Sora stuck his tongue out at the girl and ran out of the bed. Kairi whined and chased after him around the house.

"Sora! Your friend is here!" Sora's mother suddenly called, making the chasing duo stop promptly in their tracks.

At the opened door, beside Sora's mom, silhouetted against the clouded sun outside, was Tidus. He looked up in a strange, shy way at Sora and Kairi, then quickly looked back down. Something secretive was in his eyes.

----

Both Sora and Kairi's mouths were left agape after they heard what Tidus said.

"You're going to quit the contest?!" Sora said unbelievingly.

"Why?!" Kairi added.

"Well, there are numerous reasons." The blond boy shied away from the other two in his chair. "I just feel like… after seeing how hard Sora tried, I don't think I'm the right person to do this after all."

"But that's silly! How can that be?!" Sora gave off a nervous laugh, trying to convince himself that this was not happening.

"No, really…" Tidus sighed. "It's not like I'm insanely in love with Riku… But Sora, you… you really have it in you. I can understand why Naminé said that you're the right person to do this. It's just not fair for me to get in the way when you are trying to get to Riku so badly. Plus, like I said, I'm not really that much in love with Riku. I… I don't know. I'm getting all my feelings mixed up now."

"Does this have to do with… that girl you kissed last time?" Sora began hesitantly.

Tidus looked at Sora for a moment, grasped for words but could not come up with a good way to present his thoughts. He's gotten himself down in a double paradox and he wished he hadn't so foolishly entered the contest now.

"In a way, yes. But there's more to it…" The blond began, smacking his forehead a little as he tried to explain, "Okay, let me explain what happened at the mansion back then on the night of the dance.

"When you went to dance with Riku, I was going to just get something more to eat and stand around a little. But then Yuna, a childhood friend of mine, came up to me. We talked for a while, and I drank quite a bit. We danced, too, and then she said she was a little sick of the crowd. We went off to the side, and she got me some more drinks. She said she was moving, that she was leaving Destiny Islands. She wanted a goodbye kiss from me before she left that night.

"I thought it was going to be just a quick, friendly goodbye kiss. But her hands were taking a hold of my head and she wouldn't let me pull away. That's when Riku found us in the corridor."

"Okay…" Kairi had picked up a pencil from Sora's desk and was tapping it against her chin thoughtfully. "But what does that have to do with you not loving Riku all that much?"

"Well, at first I thought I could immediately go back to focusing on Riku." Tidus said. "But as I go on, I realize that I just don't have that passion in me for Riku. Yuna's kiss was only a catalyst to help me realize that. It's not that I want to be with her, but when I kissed her, I felt no guilt towards Riku at all. It's like I don't owe him anything; like I never loved him before.

"The longer I sit there in those eliminations, the less I feel for Riku. And now, recently I've been… I've been getting strange feelings about this particular person…" Tidus was starting to blush a little. "I don't know. I'm all confused."

"Do you think it would help… if you have a date with Riku?" Sora suddenly suggested, his knees up to his chin and his face a pouting, in-deep-thoughts expression.

"What?" Both Kairi and Tidus asked incredulously.

"I don't like where this is going with you, Tidus." Sora looked at Tidus with such sincere eyes that it only made the blond weaker. "I've indirectly made Naminé give up her place in this contest. And now I'm doing the same to you… It's like I'm cursing you guys in some way without knowing that I'm doing it. I don't want it to be like this. Tidus, why don't you try going on a date with Riku, before you actually make the decision whether to quit or not," Sora stood from the bed to open a window from its windowsill. A breeze rushed in against his face and he could see the scenery outside. "Please?"

"If there is ever a curse with you," Tidus began lightly, "it'll be nothing but the curse of love."

Kairi, switching her gaze back and forth between Sora at the window and Tidus behind him in the chair, had just barely caught on with the liaison between those two. It was impalpable and hard to grasp; but she had caught on with it. Sighing, she gave the chair she was sitting on a pat before standing up.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped, can it?" She crossed her arms, looking at both of her friends in a helpless way.

Sora turned away from the scenery of a sky that is about to cry and smiled at Kairi.

"Thanks."

----

Riku was, in Tidus' viewpoint, slightly reluctant to accept a date with him. Kairi helped with everything about Tidus' outfit and appearance; and Sora was the one who decided and arranged the location of the date.

Before he left, Tidus quietly apologized to Sora. He didn't know if he was apologizing to Sora because it was Riku he would be dating, or if it was because he himself was going on the date. Either way he felt guilty to Sora. But the brunet just smiled in the sad, beautiful way that he always does, and said that he would rather have fair competition and that the purpose of this date is for Tidus to have a balanced standard to compare his final judgment against. Sora admitted that he wanted Tidus to stay because he didn't want to lose the only friend in the contest, but also wanted Tidus to make the best decision for himself after considering all aspects.

So Tidus, bearing the awkward heart that he had, set out to a yacht port where he would meet Riku up.

Tidus wondered a little why Sora chose sailing for a day like this. The sky was still misty from the storm last week, and the white fluffy puffs of cloud seemed to threaten another storm any second.

However, he understood soon when they sailed out the lake. The clouds all had a silver lining, and sunlight was pouring through gaps onto the surface of the sea. It was a glimmering, spectacular sight.

"I'm surprised you would ask me out for a date." Riku said, elbows leaning on the steel railing of the yacht that is drifting along the waves. "I thought… there was someone else you liked."

"There is." Tidus confessed in a modest, sorrowful way. "It's funny because… he asked me to go on this date with you."

Riku was a little perplexed and offended.

"You see, I was thinking of quitting the contest." Tidus looked off to the scenery behind Riku, at the shimmering water and silver-gray sky. "I've wronged you, and I've wronged the girl I kissed last time, and I've wronged the person I like right now. I want to stop it. I told him I want to quit the contest, but you know what he said? He said I shouldn't rush to a conclusion; he said I should consider all the things before I quit. So he told me to go on a date with you. To see if I really have no feelings for you anymore." The blond stood up and turned to lean on the railing beside Riku. Now it was a talk between two men.

"But I think I'm gonna disappoint him." Tidus sighed. "I'm not here to really go on a date with you, Riku. I'm here to tell you that I've made up my mind. I'm quitting this contest. You may be right last time. I may have cheated on you; betrayed you. But I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry; but I'm in love with someone else."

"So today is actually your breakup day with me, instead of a date?" Riku chuckled dejectedly. "I bet he doesn't know you were gonna do this, does he?"

"Nope. He sent me to you thinking that I'm going to try to fall in love with you again." Tidus joined the chuckling. "But here I am, telling you that… I just simply don't think of you in that way anymore."

"…" Riku was holding his chin, his eyebrows knitted in deep thoughts. For some reason, he did not feel at all bothered by Tidus' pulling out from the contest. He did not feel the urge to throw a tantrum at Tidus like he did last time at the dance. However; the resemblance of this person that Tidus likes to a certain someone was beginning to get to Riku. "May I ask a question?"

"Sure." Tidus nodded. He felt like – no, he knew – they were having a conversation like mature adults.

"This person that you like… Is he… Sora?"

Tidus looked into Riku's eyes for a moment, contemplating before he finally said, "Yes."

There was a moment of silence.

"You gonna beat me up for that?" Tidus asked, testing.

"No." Riku said, surprisingly. "If Sora really likes you, nothing would change even if I beat you up. If Sora likes me, then I can only feel sorry for you. Either way, I don't see what good it'll do us to beat you up for loving someone."

A smile cracked Tidus' lips open. "I can see why Sora loves you so much."

Riku stared at the blond skeptically for a moment.

"He does." Tidus turned to face Riku, his expression a little more serious. "Sora really loves you very much."

----

Sora was passing a hallway on the way home when he was stopped by a teacher. She had a handful of books in her arms and asked him for a favor.

"Sora, can you help me bring these to Room B201? A student will be attending detention there and these are workbooks he needs to finish. I'll be there in a moment."

Sora nodded quickly and the stack of books was transferred to his arms. Carefully maneuvering his way to the designated room, he saw a blurry figure of a person inside the classroom obscured by the coarse glass windows.

"Ms. Gainsborough wanted me to bring these-" He stopped midway in his sentence when he placed the books onto a desk and the detainee came into his sight. "Riku?!"

The silver-haired boy looked up from the desk and instantly grew embarrassed. He looked off to the windows to his left, over the vast view of the city. There was a bruise on his right lip corner.

"What happened?" Sora rushed to squat down at Riku's side and asked, carefully perusing the wound.

"I uh… I got into a fight with someone." Riku said as he scratched his forehead sheepishly.

"A fight? With who?" Sora inquired further.

"You don't need to know." Riku grumbled, taking an inhale of breath. "He… He made a bet with me. I have to be his boyfriend if I couldn't get a lover myself. That's why my fan club's president decided to hold this contest; she wanted to help me. And then…" Riku averted his gaze to Sora. His eyes seemed to be telling the brunet that he knew everything now. "He's said bad things about you."

"Me…?" Sora echoed tentatively.

"He said you're lying to me. That you're just playing around with my feelings."

Sora opened his mouth wanting to say something but Riku continued on.

"But you know what I did when he told me that?" Riku sat up and moved closer to Sora. "I laughed. I laughed because it was the lamest attempt he ever tried to make me suspect you."

"A-And then…?" Sora was a little entranced and the growing smirk on Riku's face didn't help.

"And then he punched me in the face for laughing." Riku's emerald eyes held a flood of emotions. Sora raised his hand up a little to touch the bruise on Riku's face softly.

"Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore." Riku whispered before leaning forward to melt his lips with Sora's. The kiss was gentle yet passionate all the same time. Halfway through, Sora let a moan escape his lips and then he realized he had to push Riku away.

"Riku… This… isn't exactly right…" Sora held Riku at arm's length. "The teacher will be coming any minute. And… I know you've just recently had a date with Tidus… Maybe this is all just too quick."

"That wasn't a date with Tidus." Riku pulled backwards and said. "He didn't come to tell me he loves me. He came to tell me he didn't love me. He came to quit the contest."

"What?" Sora's eyes were wide.

"He said he had someone else he liked." Riku sighed, and suddenly pulled Sora into a tight embrace, "I was so scared I was gonna lose you…"

"Lose me…?" Sora was utterly confused. "What…? I don't understand…"

"Do you really want me to tell you?" Riku looked into Sora's eyes. The brunet nodded hesitantly. "He likes you."

Sora was at a loss of words.

"He told me that he loves you." Riku repeated, "And at that moment I felt like – I guess for the first time in my life – actually scared. I was actually afraid that I would lose you to him. But then he told me that you love me. I know he's your friend and you trust him so I'm going to trust him, too. I'm going to believe that you are actually in love with me."

Sora blushed and cast his eyes downwards. "Tidus… he told you that… for me?"

"Mm-hm." Riku nodded. "I think that he may actually be a great person. Not everyone can fall in love with someone even if he already knew that that 'someone' is in love with another person."

Sora hugged Riku closely. "I feel so bad…"

"You don't have to." Riku ran soothing fingers through chocolate brown locks of hair. "Both of us love you just as much. Whichever one of us you choose, we both will be here to protect you."

"You." Sora's hands were fisting behind Riku's shirt. Riku let out a questioning "Hm?"

"I'm sorry for Tidus, but… I choose you, Riku."

Riku's heart bumped fast, so fast that he felt like his chest would burst. "Can we go to the bathroom for a moment? I really can't help myself right now."

"Bathroom?" Sora was barely able to ask before Riku left a note for Ms. Gainsborough and quickly dragged Sora by the wrist into the nearest bathroom.

----

The sky was clearing by the time the seventh elimination came. The five remaining contestants gathered in the usual fan club room. Somehow it seemed much lonelier and sadder now that so many people are gone from the contest.

"This week, unfortunately," Axel spoke into the microphone, "There is another contestant who wishes to pull out from this contest."

Tidus stood out from his peers and turned to face them.

"Thank you for the experience so far." He said with a smile. "It had been a very unique and unusual time for me, and I wish the rest of you good luck with finding your true love."

All the contestants except Sora began murmuring clandestinely.

"As it is," Roxas now spoke, "There will be no one eliminated from the contest this week. The remaining contestants are: Number eleven, number six, number four and number eight. Congratulations."

Tidus walked over to Sora as the club meeting dismissed, half expecting Sora to be mad at him.

"Sora, I'm sorry." He apologized.

"Don't be." Sora sighed. "I should've noticed earlier."

"By the time you told me to go on a date with him, it was already too late." The blond scratched his hair sheepishly. "I just don't have that kind of feelings for Riku anymore."

"So you asked him to let you quit." Sora nodded. "I understand. As long as you are happy with decision, I'll be okay with it."

"Thanks." Tidus was grateful for Sora's acceptance. "Hey, Riku didn't… tell you anything else, did he?"

Sora knew what Tidus was worried about. He felt a little selfish; but he decided that playing dumb would be the best for all three of them. "Tell me what?"

"Nothing." Tidus' lips pulled into a smile. "Congratulations."

Feeling better seeing Tidus smiled, Sora smiled back and thanked his dear friend. Neither of them understood what impact Tidus' quitting had on the contest.


A/N: sorry for the lateness! hope you guys enjoyed it :)