I'm going to kill him. I'm going to absolutely kill him.

Kairi was still prodding at her lunch, looking dejected and miserable. There's no way I can just keep sitting here like this. I stood up, ready to begin racking up his death count, but she caught my arm and forced me back down to the bench.

"Riku, for the last time, it's fine..."

It certainly isn't fine. He hadn't even come to school today. Probably knew once I found out about what happened I was going to smite him into oblivion. I had a feeling something was wrong when everything wrapped up yesterday and there was no sign of either of them. And, as far as I was aware, Sora didn't even go home last night.

The first half of today was already torture enough. She refused to talk to me the first two class periods, running off to the bathroom the minute the bell rang. After period three I finally forced it out of her, and was rewarded with fifty minutes of hell watching her shakily fight back tears right in front of me while having to dodge the glares of all the classmates who thought it was my fault somehow. I refuse to sit through another lecture like that.

"Kairi, why would he reject you? It doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe because he just doesn't like me!" Kairi's hand rattled and one of her chopsticks fell to the ground. I scooped it back up for her and she just sighed shakily. "I-I'm sorry, I'm just getting sick of answering questions about it..."

I lifted her untouched lunchbox up out of her lap and snapped it closed. "Listen, that's exactly why it doesn't make any sense. I know how he feels."

She rubbed at the hem of her skirt, pinching the fabric between her fingers. "Y-you could have been wrong."

I stared at her sharply and she flushed a little, turning away.

"W-well then he just changed his mind or something. I don't know!"

I rubbed at my temple with a heavy sigh. This really wasn't what I expected to have to deal with. Ever. "What did you say he told you? That he needed more time to process things? As far as I know he never outright denied that he liked you, correct? Just that he needed space to think about it?"

She considered my words carefully before nodding towards her lap. But what could he possibly need to think about? He's been pining over her for years. Probably forever. I would have much faster believed that he outright fainted after hearing her spill her heart out to him than that he ran away from it all.

I frowned. Sora surprised me all the time, but never in a bad way before. This is definitely a first, which leads me to believe there has to be something more to it. "Look, I can't just sit here and see you like this. I'm going to go knock some sense into him."

Kairi tucked her lunchbox back into her bag and gathered it up over her shoulder with a resigned huff. "Well, if you insist on going then I am, too! I don't need you two starting a big fight over this."

I knew not to cross her when her eyes glinted back at me like that. I grabbed up my bag and stormed off, straight towards his house. If he wasn't home now, I'm sure he checked in with his mom before leaving. She always got so anxious these days, not that I blame her. But he had made a promise to keep her at least somewhat informed about his whereabouts and he tends to stick to those promises fairly rigidly.

I tried not to draw attention to myself, but it was hard to keep myself from stomping. I jammed my hand into my pocket to try and calm myself down. I checked back on Kairi, still shuffling behind me without a word.

I ducked behind a nearby tree and got a quick peek at his window, wondering if I might catch a glimpse of him without him noticing our approach. The window over his bed was thrown open, curtains dancing in the warm noon wind but his room lay empty and silent beyond them. Probably not home then. I made my way to the front door and rapped my knuckles against it sharply. I heard his mom call out as she scurried to open it for us.

"Oh! Riku...and Kairi, too!" Her surprise quickly replaced by joy as she rushed forward, wrapping me up in a hug that knocked me a bit off balance. It was obvious where Sora got his...cuddliness from. "I'm so glad you two aren't fighting after all! Oh!" She clamped her hands down over her mouth. "But I'm not really supposed to say anything about it, am I?"

A fight? What...with me? She obviously knew something, and I was hoping to pry it out of her.

I shrugged. "We generally always patch things up fairly quickly, right? I was...hoping to apologize today. Any idea where I could find him?"

She looked torn about what to say. "Well, he told me to keep it a secret from you..."

Aha. This shouldn't be too hard.

"I know, but how can I apologize if I don't know where he is? You'd be doing us both a huge favor."

She opened and closed her mouth a few times before fluffing her hands through her apron. "Oh, alright. I can't stand you two having a disagreement. He said he and Roxas were going to 'the castle' of some sort. I assume you know what that would be."

Perfectly easy to manipulate into fessing up. Yeah, Sora got a lot from his mom. "Thanks."

I would have expected him to go to Roxas, but not that they would have gone off to visit somewhere other than the clubhouse. "Castle" could also refer to quite a number of places, but it certainly narrowed things down a bit.

His mom patted me on the shoulder before wrapping me in another hug. "Ooh, I'm so glad everything will work itself out. He seemed so sad last night, but I suppose he never stays that way for too long after all. My sweet little boys..."

She gave me one more tight snuggle before releasing me again. "Oh, and Kairi, I didn't forget about you!" Now it was Kairi's turn to get aggressively cuddled. "You were so, so lovely last night. I hope you enjoyed his gift, it was all he could talk about for weeks!"

I saw the look of confusion that passed across Kairi's face.

"Ah...um..."

His mom stuttered a bit and bit her lip. "Oh dear...I hope I didn't-oh just ignore me, I'm obviously being all scatterbrained again!"

"N-no! You didn't spoil anything, don't worry!" Luckily, his mom didn't seem quite as able to spot when Kairi was telling an absolute lie.

"Can I see it? I've been so curious but he refused to let anyone look and kept it buried under his bed in a pile of shirts!"

She must have been sneaking a few peeks if she knew exactly where he was hiding it. Regardless, I decided to rescue Kairi from this potentially awkward situation.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we only have a little bit of time left on our lunch break and we should be heading back to school now. Thanks for your help again."

His mom waved us off, checking the time. "Of course, of course! I'll see you the next time you come around for dinner, then!"

Kairi was still looking a bit dazed, so I helped guide her back to the path towards school, pulling her to a stop at the crossroads sign that I felt was a safe enough distance from his house to have a discussion without his mom overhearing anything.

So. Sora had made Kairi a present, but hadn't given it to her. His mom was convinced that the two of us were having a fight over something. Then, he decided to run off with Roxas to a castle rather than say a word to me.

I noticed Kairi glancing up at me hesitantly. "Riku...did you two have a fight about something last night?"

"Not that I know of. Though he did say he wanted to talk to me, then never showed up."

She seemed even more agitated. "And...he certainly never gave me anything."

It felt like there was something incredibly obvious I was overlooking, but I couldn't put my finger on what it could be. "Was there anything he seemed troubled about in particular while you two were talking?"

She paced back and forth, pulling at her hair. "Well he was already clearly upset about something before we even started our conversation. I tried cheering him up but nothing really stuck. The only thing he seemed particularly bothered by before I told him I..." She gulped her words down. "He didn't seem to like it when I asked him about what he was putting on the boat."

That's true, that was very strange. Normally he just did something silly or just forgot about it until it was too late to put anything on. This year he was quite adamant with me that he wasn't participating. Yet, there he was in the line...

What could have changed between our conversation at the festival and when I found him there on the docks? Because he was perfectly normal before he ran off for food I can only assume it was something that happened to him during that period of time he was alone.

"Something about this whole situation feels..." I couldn't pinpoint the right word for it. Off.

This was a puzzle that I needed to solve, yet was almost dreading the answer. Maybe deep down inside I already knew what it was, but was trying to will myself not to consider it. After all, if I properly lined up all the clues there were several facts I couldn't ignore. One, as he ran off to get food he was perfectly happy. Two, Tidus and Wakka had seen him get food, and didn't comment on him seeming off, so that meant whatever upset him must have happened on his way back up the hill. Three, he never made it back to the hill top. Instead, I had to find him at the docks looking dejected and miserable. What had he said to me when I asked him to talk to her? "Not now."

Now. That was the part that bothered me. A dark pit of concern burrowed itself through my core. I really did know the answer this whole time, didn't I? I just refused to accept that I...

But there really can be no other answer...can there?

Kairi must have noticed a look on my face because she gripped at my arm in agitation. "What is it?...Riku? What is going on?"

"Kairi...I think...ugh..." I couldn't stand still, my feet pacing back and forth and I raked my hands through my hair, pulling at it. I'm so stupid. So, so, stupid. I can't...

I spun around to face Kairi, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her a little in desperation. "I need you to think very, very carefully before you answer, okay? Did you ever say, explicitly, that you liked him?"

She blinked back at me, baffled. "I...I tried to. He didn't let me."

"But what did you manage to say!?" She winced at the volume of my voice and I hastily apologized, releasing her shoulders to step away.

"I can't remember, exactly." Closing her eyes she sucked in a gulp of fresh air and held it for a moment before slowly releasing it as a long sigh. "I said that I had realized my true feelings. I discovered that the person I like has been next to me the whole time but I had been too blind to see it until now. I tried saying his name but there was a firework and then he begged me to stop, and..."

I slumped against the crossing sign. Her words were just vague enough, that if he really did see...if he had heard...

To him, her words would have only confirmed that horribly wrong misconception as truth. This was all my fault. It was the only thing that made sense. How can I possibly fix something like this!?

"Riku, what is this about!? Tell me!" She yanked at my arm harder.

As much as I really didn't want to say it out loud, I knew I had to.

"Kairi, he...he must have seen me when I tried to..."

She froze, her whole face whitening. "Y-you mean he thought we...b-but we didn't!"

I punched my fist backwards into the side of sign. "He must not have seen everything! What if he came back just as I was confessing to you? Maybe he..."

"But even if he only saw a little, I told him how I felt! How could he mix that up!?"

I smacked the post again and slid down into the dirt, feeling more low than I have in a long time. "Kairi, that whole time he thought you were talking about me."

"What!? No...how could..."

"You never explicitly said his name, right? You told him you figured out who you like, and it was someone you had been close to but now you knew you felt differently about them. If just minutes earlier he thinks we were kissing then how do you think that looks!?" I cursed loudly and unapologetically into the air, folding myself inwards. "That's why he refused to let you continue. He didn't think he could handle hearing you say directly that you liked me."

"H-he...he had such sadness in his eyes. He asked me if my choice made me happy, and...I said, I s-said...I'd n-never choose differently." Kairi collapsed into the grass, her whole body trembling. "That's why he was crying..."

Everything inside of me felt like it was being sucked down into the earth. How much pain his heart would have been in to hear something like that, and think she was essentially turning him down for good.

Kairi scrabbled across the ground towards me, yanking at my arm. "We have to tell him the truth! Right now!"

"It isn't obvious where he is. All we know is he is with Roxas at a castle, probably trying to get advice. And that could come from any number of people. He usually asks me for help first, but he obviously can't go to me now, since I'm the jerk."

The tears had completely dried off of Kairi's face, and she pulled at me with her entire body. "Riku, get up! Now! We're going to get him. We'll search every castle if we have to!" I let her pull me to my feet. "He was trying so hard to be happy and support me, but the whole time he was just breaking inside! I can't let him feel that way any longer, not when I can-"

"Kairi, I need to go get him alone."

"No! Absolutely, no! How could I possibly-" She started trying to run down the road but I grabbed her firmly about the wrist.

"His issue right now is with me. I need to settle things with him about what happened that night. I need to talk to him about that, without you there. Once I make sure he understands, I'm not sure how he's going to react, but I'll drag him back here kicking to see you if I have to."

"But..."

"Kairi, if nothing else I doubt seeing us together is going to make him comfortable. In fact, if he saw us coming he'd probably run."

She stared at me with that pure fiery determination of hers. "I understand why you feel that way, but if I see him back here before you I am going to confront him about it myself."

I took her deal as fast as I could. "Fine. You stay here and keep an eye out for him. I'll track him down out there."

I raced away before she could say anything else. It was a shot in the dark, but I had a feeling I might know which castle to try first.

I gave the grounds a quick sweep with my senses, but found no clear sign of either Roxas or Sora outside. It was fairly sleepy out at the castle in the mid afternoon, it seems. Ven and Terra were knocking each other around over in the training grounds but otherwise there was a thick tranquil silence hanging over everything. I let them be and went towards the staircase. No sign of Aqua, the one I figured who would be most likely to know if anything was going on. I suppose it wouldn't hurt just to check inside quickly then see if I can't pull some information out of those two if that turns up nothing.

I made it about half way up the stairs before noticing a calm presence approaching from behind me, like a rainstorm. I stopped and turned to acknowledge her.

"You won't find them here." She called out. Aqua had that same concerned, almost motherly look in her eyes. No doubt Sora's already discussed some things with her.

I held up my hands quickly as she climbed the stairs towards me. "Look, before you say anything I just want to establish that this is an incredibly frustrating misunderstanding."

"I had a feeling it would be."

She's not too happy with me. "I don't know what he's told you, but-"

"Enough to know you did something rather stupid yesterday."

I just sighed and dropped down to the steps, bracing my forehead in my hand. "Yeah. I did."

"So...where lies the misunderstanding?" She settled down at my side. "I take it that you and Kairi aren't actually stealing kisses when you're alone together?"

"Ugh..." I felt like I could just sink into the ground and die. "No. No we aren't."

"Now what has me curious is why he would even think such a thing."

I really didn't want to tell her. But I suppose it wouldn't really help not telling her. She probably knew where the two of them went and would protect that secret until she was sure I wasn't about to go start more trouble.

"...because I tried to."

Aqua hummed and crossed her arms, her disapproval deepening. "I see."

"I'm not proud of it. I wish I could take it back. And not just because Kairi soundly rejected me on the spot; I knew she would."

She thwacked me on the back of the head. "Then why did you do it?"

I barely even winced. "At the time I was wrestling with a lot of lingering feelings I used to have for her. I thought if she rejected me officially I could soundly move on. I convinced myself that was what I needed to do, until I was actually doing it. Then something inside felt...wrong. With a clearer head I realized all those feelings came back not because I was swept up in romance, but more that I was..."

She let out a puff of breath and interrupted me. "Afraid of what your role would be should the two of them get together? Clinging to something you thought would keep them from leaving you behind?"

I dropped my hand away from my face, nodding slowly. She's pretty reliably observant herself. "Right on all counts. I think I just...panicked."

She sighed again, and rubbed my back. "It's a perfectly valid fear. All of them are. But you really should have just said something earlier. I'm sure Sora noticed you were unhappy."

"He did."

"And…?"

"Like you said: I was stupid. He kept trying to force it out of me but I just couldn't really admit anything. I convinced myself it would make him angry with me."

She stopped rubbing and gave my shoulder a soft pat. "As if he would have been angry with you over that. Are you feeling any better about it now?"

"I'll feel better once I know Sora is okay and...doesn't absolutely hate me."

"He'll be fine. I don't really think he is even all that angry now. When he came to us he was only asking around for advice. He also mentioned it would be quite hypocritical to get mad at you for not being able to hold back your feelings for Kairi when he's having trouble doing the same now. As he put it 'if they're happy, I want to find a way to be happy with it too'."

"Ugh..." I slumped down again. Way to make me feel like even more of a scum bag.

"Don't worry. I told him to just give it a bit of time, calm down, then discuss it with you one on one when he felt ready. Ven had other plans. Like typical boys, all of them decided the best thing to do was punch the stress out of each other and started messing around in the training grounds. No offense, of course. If it works, it works. I left them to it just a bit ago."

"I only saw Ven and Terra."

She frowned. "Hmm. Must have only just left, then." She stood up and briskly walked over to the other stairs towards the green, calling down to her two friends below. "Ven! Terra! Where did the other two head off to?"

I heard Ven's voice echo back up. "Headed back to Twilight Town, why?"

"Just curious, thank you!"

I heard a bit of mumbling in their direction, but they were too far away to really make out what they were saying to each other. She must have heard, because she rolled her eyes and waved it off.

"I take it you'll be heading that way as well? I assume you want to handle it alone?" She rested her hand on my shoulder again, I think just to check that I was alright.

I nodded. "Sorry. But thank you for the talk."

"Of course. But you need to learn to manage that insecurity of yours. It won't do you any favors in the future."

"...I'll keep an eye on it." She was right, but rather than worry about myself, I mostly just wanted to get my friend back. Especially before he darted off somewhere else.

"He won't leave you behind."

She was definitely right about that, too.

I started by checking out the clubhouse, but it was solemnly lying empty. I opened the dresser drawer, noting that some of Sora's spare clothes were missing. Must have stayed here the night before. Where else would they go in town? Maybe the clock tower? The town was drifting through such a lazy Monday that I felt almost jealous so many people could be relaxing free of worry right now.

I jumped the rope that tried in vain to keep people from heading up to the top of the station to do a quick check of the landing.

As soon as I walked out into the light I noticed a large shadow sliding across the corner of my eye and I swiftly stepped away from whatever was charging towards me. Xion flopped down at my feet, having just failed in what I can only assume was an attempted sneak attack. I was about to bend down and help her up when she lifted her head up off the ground and yelled.

"Now! Get him!"

I felt something loosely snag me around the center of my body, trapping my arms at my sides. I glanced down to see a very neatly woven chain of flowers wrapped around me. What the hell? I checked over my shoulder to see one end of the chain held by Namine, the other, Lea.

It would have been stupidly easy to just rip the flowers apart but something tells me that demonstrating man vs nature isn't the point of this. Xion dusted herself off and I focused my attention back to her.

"Mind explaining what this thing is about?" I plucked at the flower rope and felt it tighten slightly around me.

She crossed her arms and glared. "The flower test."

...excuse me? "Look, I really don't have time for this right n-"

"Well, unfortunately for you, you're going to have to make time." I heard Lea quipping behind me and I sighed. Alright, then. Either Sora or Roxas has already filled these guys in on everything and they're acting as another gatekeeper like Aqua before they'll tell me where those two are hiding. They probably guessed I would check for him up here and were waiting with this little ambush.

"Since it seems I have no choice, what is the flower test?"

I heard Namine speak up just behind me. "This is woven together using several flowers. We ask you questions and if we think you're telling the truth we'll pick one of the flowers off. Tell enough truths and the rope will unravel and set you free."

It sounded like something she would have dreamed up. Again, there was nothing stopping me from just ripping it apart right now, but the point wasn't the strength of the rope, but unraveling potential deceit and building a stronger foundation of trust with someone you have doubts about. Were I to just snap this rope it would probably do far more irreparable damage to my relationships with the three of them than anything else.

"Fine. But the minute this rope comes off you're telling me where he is."

Xion leaned against the side of the clock tower wall, her eyes scanning me up and down. "He was really sad. It was easy to tell, you know."

"I see."

She furrowed her brow and stomped towards me. "So are you just a jerk, or what?"

I sighed. What a fantastic question to start off with. And here I thought they were actually going to be practical, answerable ones. "All of this is a big misunder-"

Lea mumbled something and I heard the sound of chewing. I glanced back to see him holding his end of the rope lazily with one hand while he was indulging in some pastry. Glad to see he was taking this so seriously.

"What was that?"

He swallowed. "I said, answer the question."

Ugh... "Yes. I'm a jerk."

"That's one truth!" Xion chirped happily and plucked one of the small white flowers off the rope, but it held just as firm as before.

Namine leaned over into my peripheral vision to ask next question. "Riku, did you...did you really try to kiss Kairi?"

I inwardly winced. If only she had phrased that one slightly differently. I don't suppose that's something I can really complain about, and if I only answer the question I want instead of the question they asked it might just raise suspicion.

I gave Namine a pained nod. "...I tried, but-"

Xion gasped and balled up a small green checkered handkerchief out of her pocket and hurled it at me. "That's another truth but that makes me so...angry that you're not losing a flower for it! Ugh! I can't believe you!"

Oh, give me a break. If this is also dependent on them liking my answers then I'll never get free of this stupid thing. "Can I clarify something at least?"

Xion paced back and forth with renewed vigor. "Oh, I don't think so buster! We're asking the questions here!"

I heard Lea yawn and he leaned forward, dangling the end of his rope in Xion's direction. "Here, why don't we switch spots for a second? I've got a few questions."

Fantastic, like I wanted to endure a grilling session from this wise guy. He leaned up in my face, taking another huge bite of his sandwich of some sort. "She reject you, huh?"

"One hundred percent."

He burst out laughing, yanking another flower from off the rope, twirling it for a moment between his thumb and finger. "Ouch. Not bitter about it, are you?"

"I'm glad she did."

He studied my face carefully and threw his arms up in a shrug. "Right. Well, that's enough of that I think." He reached out and rather than pull a single flower off, just snapped the whole thing in half, much to Namine and Xion's dismay as they were left holding rapidly unraveling strands of flowers limply in their hands.

"Lea! We weren't done yet!" Xion moaned, kicking at the useless flowers on the ground.

Namine was doing her best to salvage as many of the better blossoms as she could, lining them up into a bouquet in her hands. "It's alright, Xion. I think it's already clear that Sora was mistaken about a few things. We should just let him explain."

Lea slumped against the wall, bouncing his finger to accent his words as he spoke. "Eh, I can do that for you. Riku tried making kissy face with Kairi for some idiotic reason, Sora stumbled upon it at just the wrong time and ran off before he could see her shut him down. Sound about right?"

This was irritatingly humiliating but I grunted and crossed my arms. "I can't fairly justify my actions, but I've thought it over and realized I was in such a mindless panic over the thought of change that I lost myself a little. I got it in my head I was going to lose them somehow and..."

"And really did yourself in, didn't you?" Lea groaned at me. "What a mess. You should have seen him yesterday. Practically inconsolable. Never seen him struggle so hard to keep a smile on his face."

"...I'd rather not think about it."

Namine, finished picking up her flowers, offered one out to me slowly. "Are you going to go explain it to him?"

"As soon as I know where he is." I took the flower from her, but I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with it.

Xion smacked her arm across my chest and pointed a finger sharply in my face. "Fine, we'll tell you. But you're still king of the jerks until you do some serious make up work."

Lea waved lazily in the air. "Yeah. Make sure you apologize nice and good. I'll hear about it if you don't. And when you see Roxas, tell him I know he's the one that keeps stealing my good coffee mug."

"What am I, your errand boy?"

"No, but doing a few nice favors now and again might be a good way to work towards dethroning yourself, Mr. Jerk King."

This guy is way too much of an opportunist. It's irritating.

I caught Roxas' attention first. I lifted the single white flower up in the air and he subtly nodded his head towards it, I guess understanding without words what it meant. The two of them were all the way out on Sunset Hill of all places. Sora had his back to the path so he hadn't seen me approach, but Roxas was facing in my direction and spotted me right away. Rather than alert Sora to my presence, he flicked his eyes in my direction, tugged on his ear and lifted his palm flat up towards me. He's probably trying to mime that he only wanted me to wait and listen, so I'll do my best to comply.

Thankfully Sora was completely unaware of the stilted sign language his friend was attempting right in front of him. He was lightly tossing a struggle battle club back and forth, clearly just fidgeting, trying to take his mind off of things.

Roxas cleared his throat and prodded him in the shoulder. "So! Feeling any better?"

He stopped swinging the club and sighed, staring out at the sunset in front of him. It was a little funny, that I finally managed to find him around the twilight hour, the very namesake of this town. I hated not being able to just come out and explain. I took one step towards him, but Roxas flashed me a warning glare and raised his voice.

"I have to ask, though...if Riku were here right now, what would you want to say to him? Just dump it all out and see what sounds right."

Sora grumbled. "I don't know! I still kind of want to push him off a dock or something."

He took a mock swing with the bat, I assume imagining giving me a good whack with it, and I felt a little smile creep its way onto my face. I'm glad he's at least able to make a joke of some sort about it, but honestly if he really did want to knock me into the water I'd be fine with it.

"Everything is still so mixed up inside..." He lowered the club again for a moment before shouting again in frustration and giving it an erratic swing. Roxas eyed it, maybe considering confiscating it.

"But as angry as I am, I just...I can't..."

"Yeah, as you've explained multiple times before: it wouldn't feel right blaming him for following his heart. But that doesn't mean you aren't allowed to be upset, too."

"I know..."

"Do you think you could put your feelings into words at all?" Roxas tried to urge him along.

"With Kairi and everything? It's so hard. Kairi, to me...she's...she's like that baking chocolate chip cookie smell. Do you know what I mean? It's just all around amazing and you know when you smell chocolate baking that nothing but good stuff is coming."

Why did he always make analogies with sweets? I swear those two are addicted to sugar.

Roxas looked a little embarrassed and shifted his eyes off my position for a moment. "Uh...yeah I'm pretty sure I get it. I know how much you like the smell of baking cookies, but besides that, you don't have to make weird comparisons with me, I know how you feel about her."

Very true. If anyone knew what was going on in Sora's head it would be him.

"So you know how...strong of a feeling it is, right? I've never felt that way before. About anyone. And Riku knew that! He of all people knew she was...special."

This was pretty torturous, standing here and listening to him voice how betrayed he felt. I know I deserve it, but...Roxas doesn't know the whole truth either. If I could just explain...

Sora yelled again in frustration and kicked at a loose pebble, sending it clattering down the side of the hilltop. "I'm such an idiot for not realizing it sooner! He practically told me the other day when he gave me that cryptic warning about her possibly finding someone else. But all the time I was just rambling on and on about her and never let him tell me he felt the same way! That was probably the real reason he was looking so off, and I just made it all about myself and my problems all the time! I should have...I should have known."

"You didn't have any way to know he felt that way. He certainly didn't tell you, and he really should have been way more conscientious than that. You did ask him to open up, and gave him plenty of opportunity to do so, so it's really all on him, I think." Roxas' eyes flashed back at me. Yeah, yeah, message received.

"But when I think about her still...I get this cozy, fluttering feeling inside me like fuzzy bubbles filled with warmth and puppies and everything good and amazing in the world!" His gesticulating got a lot more vigorous and I smiled again. Even from behind it was so easy to tell when he was excited.

Roxas grinned at that one as well. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, but...I have to give that up, now." His hands limply fell to his sides. "It would only make things harder for the three of us. I can't just lie and pretend that knowing that doesn't hurt. I don't even know if I can even do it." He walked towards the railing and leaned out over it, the glowing sun framing him with light. "But I don't want to lose either of them! Kairi was so scared to tell me about how she felt about him because she didn't want to lose me as a friend either. That's why I have to try, for all of us. I keep telling myself I can't be selfish about it. It isn't fair to say he can't be allowed to feel that way about her, too."

"So...what does that mean?"

Sora sighed heavily, turning his eyes back up to the splotches of clouds above him dyed all the hues of the sunset. "I guess...if both of them feel about each other even just a fraction of how Kairi makes me feel...then I know they'll be happy. And...if they are happy I'm sure that will make me happy, too."

Roxas stopped paying attention to me completely, leaning against the railing next to his other half. "...Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I'm always happiest when they are. Besides...maybe someday I can find someone else I can share those warm feelings with. Someone who w-wants to share them with me just as much." His head lowered and I heard a light sniff from where I was. Sure enough, he wiped quickly at his eyes, trying to dry them as fast as possible. "S-sorry, thought I got that all out already."

My stomach was twisting itself up into a tiny ball watching this. How much longer did Roxas expect for me to just stand here doing nothing!?

"She told me pretty clearly that she didn't want to choose anyone else but him. Knowing that she doesn't feel the same way about me...it's, it's really hard. But this pain inside me won't last forever. Right?" He glanced hesitantly to Roxas for confirmation before nodding himself. "I know it won't."

"Pain can feel endless, but it's not."

"And...for them to have a life of happiness like that? To know that she'll have always have somebody like Riku to keep her safe and happy? That's worth this pain right now. I'll always be glad about that. And as much as I want to clobber him for hiding it all from me and betraying my trust a little, I know he doesn't deser-"

I grabbed him so tightly from behind he couldn't even turn to see that it was me.

"H...huh…?" He looked down at my hands and connected the dots. "R-Riku…? What are...? How did...?"

"Stop. Just stop." I was prepared to fight to keep him still, but to my surprise he relaxed and stopped struggling altogether. Roxas was giving me a sour look, but he backed up out of the way.

"Sora, why are you always like this? You're always so ready to make everyone else happy. If you were only more selfish sometimes. You should be furious over this, not looking for reasons to forgive me."

"Did you...want me to be mad at you? I don't understand." His pure childlike innocence that was sometimes so frustrating was such a wave of relief to me right now. It meant that despite what I'd done, I hadn't lost him altogether. I kept hugging him, trying to stop myself from shaking. "I wish you had just punched me. It would have saved us both a lot of trouble."

"Riku, I'm not going to punch you for following your heart. I'm not a hooligan. That's something I've been telling you to do for like...forever."

I could only sigh. "I'm...unspeakably lucky to have a guy like you as a friend. But you are wrong. So, so wrong." I saw Roxas glance at me suspiciously, probably trying to figure out what story I was about to tell to try and save my own skin here. He always was more suspicious of me.

Sora meanwhile was speechless. "But-"

"Just listen." I released him, and he spun around to face me straight away, his face a convoluted mixture of emotion as he tried to follow my instruction. "There isn't anything between me and Kairi. Nothing."

"B-but you were-"

"I was being an idiot. I knew you and Kairi were getting close and panicked because I didn't know how much that would change things between us. It dredged up a lot of really old feelings. Feelings that I never expected would show up again. I felt like I needed confirmation from her specifically that we weren't compatible in order to move on, but I think I really just needed confirmation from her that she wouldn't forget me and leave me behind once she had you. I only realized that too late. I should have just been honest about it with you, but I again, stupidly, thought I could somehow do all this without you finding out..."

Sora opened his mouth to say something but I silenced him again.

"Let me finish, please. I decided to ask her for an answer, even though I knew what the answer would be. And, just like I expected, she rejected me. Completely."

His face twisted up into the purest form of confusion possible.

"We talked it out and I fully accept it. There is nothing and will be nothing romantic between us. We both agreed. My biggest regret is that I was too much of a coward to just have an open conversation with you about it, and let you just stumble into it. I assume you must have walked in sometime during the beginning bits and never actually stayed until the end when we resolved things."

I could almost hear the gears turning in his head. "W-wait, so...you two didn't...? But I thought for sure that I saw you..."

"No. I got close, and she pushed me away. She said having me get that close only confirmed to her that she really liked...someone else, and only just realized it." I wasn't sure how much I wanted to admit on her behalf. I suppose if it comes out, it comes out.

"S-so she... she didn't..." I could almost see him replaying everything over and over in his head, scrutinizing every detail he could remember. "But she told me she liked you, she..."

"No, she didn't. Think harder."

"S-she wasn't telling me she liked you...?"

I sighed heavily. "No."

I saw the pieces starting to line up for him. "B-but that means...when she was telling me..." He dropped forward, slumping against my chest, relief shaking across his body. Wait, no...I think he was laughing?

"Uh...Sora?"

"I don't believe it. Riku, that means she..." He threw his head back, his face glowing in probably the first real, pure smile he's had in almost a full day.

"She was talking about me! She likes me!" Unbridled joy seeped up from that endless fountain he had stored somewhere inside of him and I saw him almost break out into a cheer when he suddenly stopped himself. "She...she was talking about me, right?"

"Yeah."

He suddenly swung his arm around and smacked me in the shoulder somewhat painfully, taking me by surprise.

Ow. "Okay I deserved that."

"You...you jerk! You always find a way to mess with this stuff!" He hit me again. I couldn't tell if he was laughing so hard to make himself cry, or if he was crying through his laughing. "I finally get Kairi confessing her feelings to me with all her heart and instead of being able to enjoy it, the whole time I think she's talking about you! Oh, man..."

He shoved my arm one last time, wiping at his tears. "Geez, what luck I have. I swear, you are going to owe me for this for like...ever." Despite his face all full of mixed emotions I could see his smile pouring through.

"Yeah. I know. I made a lot of mistakes here."

"No kidding! But seriously dude, you should have just told me from the beginning about all of this! I mean, did you honestly think I wouldn't forgive you for feeling stuff? Or that I would just leave you behind the minute I get a girlfriend or something?"

I groaned. "When you put it that way it sounds..."

"Bad, right?" He crossed his arms at me.

"Yeah..."

"Everything okay for you now? All inside here?" He tapped my heart and I sighed.

"Other than feeling guilty about hurting you, yeah, just fine." Always concerned about others first again, I see. At least he seems mostly back to normal.

"Don't! You needed to sort some stuff out. Sure, you...really should've done it differently and because of that there was a huge misunderstanding, but it's all fine now! Besides!" Sora started pacing back and forth, tapping at his head. "There are more important things to deal with right now!"

"...You mean about Kairi?"

"Yeah!" He stopped pacing and darted over to me, desperate. "Does it still count as a confession if I misunderstood it?"

"Sora, you misunderstand things all the time. If that's a qualifier for you then nothing would ever count."

"Ugh...I can't believe I...she was so sad. I thought it was because she was just so worried about having to tell me something unpleasant, but...if she was actually trying to confess to me..." He moaned in frustration and rubbed at his head. "I'm so confused now! She's probably super mad I misunderstood. Argh...what if she...wait!" He yanked on my arm desperately. "Riku! What does she think happened? Tell me! She talked to you about it, right? Did she think I misunderstood her?"

I hesitated. "Not...exactly. She...thinks you rejected her."

"What!?" It was like his world was crashing down around him. "O-oh man...that's bad. Like, seriously bad." He was pacing so quickly he was probably going to bore a hole through the ground. "Was that my only chance!? C-can I get a do-over!?"

I grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to steady him. "Relax, already! She's fully aware there might have been some mixed signals going on that day."

"Might have been!?"

"I told her my assumptions before I left. I really don't think she's going to hold all of this against you. So you've got a chance to set things right."

Roxas, who had been standing a ways away silently this entire time, finally interjected. "Anything I can do here?"

Sora tipped his head to the side, looking exhausted. "I'm not sure. Thanks for being a really, really great listener for all this, though. Considering I guess I was stressing out over nothing before."

"No problem." Roxas jabbed a lazy finger in my direction. "The way I see it, the only person who should be getting any flack from Kairi is that guy."

"Trust me, she already gave me an earful."

Sora moaned again, collapsing down into the dirt. "I wasted all my energy dealing with that other stuff and now that all this real stressful stuff shows up I have no idea what to do anymore."

"It's no problem, Sora. Just go see her." Roxas piped up cheerfully.

"And do what!?"

Roxas and I exchanged glances. At least we both understood what needed to be done. Now the hard part: convincing this guy to go along with it.