The soft sound of ceramic being placed onto the countertop woke Seifer up. He felt Riku tense, then relax. Seifer figured Riku was probably awake, but didn't seem ready to leave the comfort of the bed.

Seifer almost considered staying in bed too, but curiosity won the battle. As carefully as he could, he slipped out of bed, put on some pants and made his way to the kitchen.

Sora sat with a cup of coffee, watching him as he walked in. It was disconcerting to imagine the usually frighteningly happy individual in front of him breaking in, and even more so when said individual merely watched him without comment. He expected yelling, or maybe even a fight.

In the recesses of memory, something tugged at his mind. Eyes like ice and blonde hair…

"Well?" he said.

"Sit down," replied Sora.

He almost argued, but did as he was told. He hadn't lied to Terra when he said he knew about Kingdom Hearts and the keybladers. He knew who were the fighters, though they downplayed their roles. He just didn't know all the details.

Without pause, Sora told everything about Kingdom Hearts, and not just the stuff general people knew from King Mickey, or the information he found out pertaining to his home and the Nobodies. Sora told him everything Riku had done, the good and the bad.

Riku, he decided, seemed to attract bad luck like a magnet attracts certain metal, and visa versa. He kept that particular thought to himself. Experience told him that if Sora didn't beat him up for the comment, Kairi probably would come after him, followed by a slew of others.

At least he understood why they were overly protective. Riku needed protecting, from himself and others.

"You're not like us," said Sora.

He bristled at the comment. "And so that makes all the other people weak because they can't wield a key blade like you? Remind me who your partners were?"

Sora's fingers tapped on the table for a second.

"No, but you can walk away," he finally said.

Seifer realized that Sora did have a point. And really, that was the whole point. Seifer could walk away, even right now. He could be one of those people who used Riku, or maybe even leave him at some point in the future when something popped up. Sora had mentioned the possibility of Heartless reappearing, or some other creatures. And then…?

"If you're asking me what I'm going to do, then the answer's 'I don't know,' okay?" he snapped. "You drop everything onto my lap and expect me to make decisions on what might happen?"

"Possibly?"

"Give me a break!" he nearly snarled.

"Stop it, Sora," said Riku from the doorway, jolting Seifer out of anger. Seifer hadn't heard him, but Sora didn't appear surprised.

"He had to know at some point. If he stays, that is," said Sora.

"And who decided it'd be a good idea to tell him?" asked Riku, pouring some coffee into mugs.

"Terra and Ventus said he should know eventually…"

"And you came this morning…?"

Sora looked a bit sheepish. "Kairi saw Seifer come here…"

Riku rolled his eyes as he placed a mug next to Seifer.

"Sora, do you mind if I talk to Seifer a bit. I'll be over later."

Sora hesitated, then nodded, practically fleeing the room.

"Thanks for being honest," said Riku.

"What?" he asked, thrown off by the comment.

"For saying that you 'don't know' what you'll do in the future. I'm not sure how I would have reacted after such a story."

Seifer frowned. "I knew some things. I just never had all the details."

"A good portion of things are meant to be kept secret, but Sora's not one for subtlety, and most noticed how…he seemed to stand out even when he tried to remain inconspicuous," Riku said, with a sigh. "The King decided to let parts and pieces be known, but not whole truths. That's why people recognize keybladers, but don't necessarily know their specific roles in the wars."

"So what? He's trying to scare me off or something?" asked Seifer.

"Actually, I think you impressed him when you fought Terra."

The words surprised him, so Seifer didn't know what to say.

"Is something happening?" he finally asked. "Is that why he told me everything?"Riku hesitated a second, then said, "I don't know. Sometimes I feel like there's something, but I don't know for sure."

Seifer sighed. "Maybe it's wrong, but I'd rather just worry about what we're going to do for breakfast instead of what might happen if things suddenly start looming out of the shadows."

"Breakfast?" asked Riku with a small smile.

"I need way more coffee to process everything he said," replied Seifer, with a casual shrug.

"You'll need more than coffee. I know how Sora tells stories."

"Is that a promise?" Seifer asked, smirking. The comment earned him a lovely view of Riku's blushing features.

"Maybe," Riku finally said. "Are you really…interested still?"

"Yeah," said Seifer. "I can't promise eternity, but I can give you now."

Riku smiled.

"That doesn't sound so bad, really."


Notes: Good grief. Just good grief. I didn't mean for it to end quite on such a somber note, but I really felt I had to end it. I actually have an idea for another SeiferRiku story, but with a bit more...errr...plot? I felt I had to finish this somewhat first. Not exactly happy, but not depressing really. Seifer's just being honest.

I don't know when the new story will be up, because for now I want to finish up existing stories. Anyway, it's hard when there's not many others out there. I've seen some weird pairings with Riku, but SeiferRiku? I'm sad...

Oh well. I'll be back!