Riku isn't afraid of anything.
Well, actually he's afraid of one thing, has been since he read that one book when he was really little, and ever since he's been afraid of being eaten alive. It's stupid. There aren't any dangerous animals on the Islands, only in the ocean. Riku prefers the land anyway.
He walks into the darkness without a second thought, because he's not afraid of anything. Almost.
He's doing it for Kairi, he tells himself again and again. For Kairi.
He doesn't notice, at first, when the darkness starts to take over his heart. He lets it in because the man who whispers to him from the shadows tells him that it will help. It's only later, when he invites it in all the way, that he realizes what it feels like.
Letting in the darkness is like being eaten alive.
13. Riku/Eaten Alive