His eyes cannot lie.

[6:00pm]

After the events that had transpired only moments ago, the group decided to split up into formations, ending the game prematurely due to the exhibition that was Riku and the bright red Chiyo. Selphie and Wakka had both agreed to head home, Tidus stayed behind in order to brush up on some more Bushido training whilst a reluctant Chiyo was being forced into staying, he felt that it was also his turn to have a one-on-one interview.

The Paopu tree. There the trio stood, all focused on the setting sun, they'd always sit there at the end of the day to conclude the events on Destiny Island, it was just they're 'thing'.

"Well, that was certainly interesting." Voiced Kairi.

"You can say that again" Grumbled Sora, hands at the back of his head in his usual pose.

"What? Oh, that. She asked for it." Said Riku confidently, his tone indicated he was being snide.

"Don't tell me you deliberately fell into her." Sora sneered, almost hissing at Riku's cruel interpretation of entertainment.

"Wouldn't you?" Glared the silver haired male. Sora's arms faltered so that he could see Riku full tilt, they were now locked in a stare. Riku peered into him, as if to observe every muscle in Sora's face for a hint of anger, frustration or anything that would link to his feelings for the new girl.

"Riku!…" Sora's testimony was exhausted before it began, he could only say his name before giving up.

"Dargh! I give up." Sora hated arguing with Riku. Riku would always do his 'I'm a year older so I know all the better insults' Arguing and debating wasn't even his style but Riku would usually force these conditions on him.

"Boys, boys, since when did you guys ever fight over a girl?" Kairi grinned sincerely.

"Can't you remember Kairi? We were exactly the same way with you. When you first arrived." Sora said simply.

Riku then nodded once for agreement, with his green hues focused on Kairi. "Yeah we've always been like this. SO don't feel left out." 'That's when we fought the hardest.'

"Wow and I thought I was special. You treat us girls like possessions." Sighed Kairi.

Their talks had seemed to dull down after that, Kairi and Riku continued the conversation whilst to Sora it all appeared as white noise. It was Riku's constant questions that lead to Sora's day dreaming. 'What Does he want to hear? What does he want me to say? What does he want from me?'

Diving deeper into his subconscious, thoughts of Chiyo's orange eyes, their moment in the toilets and the present, all washed over him like an onslaught of waves crashing against the shore.

I've never seen her out of school uniform, or around town with friends, in fact as soon as that bell rings for school she kinda disappears. But even with all that secrecy, I still feel like I know her. Everyday she must be alone . I'm just curious about her, I want to know more. That's all. There's no difference.

Does Riku see something I don't? Is that why he's asking all of these stupid questions?'

--

Chiyo's breathing was uneven, her face was still flushed from before. 'So that's what it feels like to have someone…On you.' thought the naïve girl, Selphie's talk earlier was influencing her outlook on Riku and even his potential to be something more than a friend. Chiyo's brain was all scrambled.

A T E

Conversation skills - Take II

Chiyochan: "Hi Selphie."

Selphie: "Sooooo. You and Riku? Hehe, I knew there was something goin on, I could just tell."

Chiyochan: "Umm, there is? You could?"

Selphie: "Yeah girl, don't play dumb, there's obvious chemistry, the way he looks at you, the way you look at him. He even told me he wanted to know more about you. PLUS he spent the night round yours so you're practically an item.

Chiyochan: "uh uh. That was because.. Well my dad he suggested…It wasn't like that at all!"

Selphie: "What? You'd rather go with Sora? Trust me, the guys a dope, he sees Kairi vision 24/7. Did you hear he's taking her to the dance?

Chiyochan: "Oh my. He is? Well I guess.. Y-yes. Good. Good for them. I hope they have a great time."

Selphie: "Well, how about you go with Riku? Seems fair right? Do you want me to ask him for you."

Chiyochan: "I..I…I" 'To be honest, I wasn't really planning on going.'

Selphie: "Booyaka!" Hook. Line. And sinker. "Me and Kairi are going shopping tomorrow-" 'That way you can stop hogging Sora and get out the way of what is truly meant to be Sora & Kairi's summer romance.' "You should totally come, we'll pick out dresses and stuff."

Selphie seemed sincere, humble, but Chiyo's gut told her not to trust her. There was something so dishonest about the way the girl programmed but at the same time she was just being a friend. 'What does she want from me? I don't want to hurt her feelings by saying no.'

Chiyochan: "I'll go."

--

Suddenly Chiyo's concentration cherry was popped by a vigorous young blonde, slashing away at invisible objects with his kendo stick. "So Chiyo, ever fought against anyone?" He asked.

"Nope" She said "Well…Umm. I've sparred but never intentionally fought any-"

"Why not?" Tidus grunted, his strokes becoming more aggressive.

"Well I..I don't like the idea of harming people. Contact sport just isn't really my thing."

"Then why did you join Bushido?"

"My Dad…He wanted me too. I only came that one time but.. I felt so uncomfortable. I stopped after that 1st lesson- my dad never found out. If I told him I had dropped out he would've been heart broken, so I…So I came home one day with as many books on combat as I could get hold of and learned from home, just so it looked like I had been improving."

With Tidus' attention span as limited as it was, the pre-teen cut her off in an attempt to grill her with more questions. "You're a bit of a bad liar aren't you?"

"W-what?" Chiyo looked up confused, only to find a grinning Tidus. "I'm telling the truth." She remarked.

"I mean, Riku told us about you're sparring session. You make yourself sound so weak and needy but if you managed to last 2 minutes with him that's still pretty good." He replied earnestly.

Chiyo thought about it for awhile, but she still believed she had no redeeming qualities. So she stood up against Riku? 'My dad was watching, I put everything into that fight but I still felt weak.'

"You're reasons for helping you're father out were justified an all, but you learned martial arts out of necessity and not for your own spiritual growth." The boy explained.

"After all, he did it for you. Next time think about what would benefit you, don't let people-

"Step on you." Called a voice. It was Riku, he had leapt off the bridge that led toward the Paopu tree whilst Sora and Kairi followed behind. His fists were clenched for some reason and as he approached the two, Chiyo's smile widened slightly.

Unfortunately, he hadn't returned the expression of kindness, instead he balled up his fists and took a lunging punch toward Chiyo. The girl took the hit, one knee faltered whilst her face was burning with pain. It took awhile to process before the sting rushed too her cheek along with a spiral of blood which dribbled down her nose. She didn't know weather to cry or cower before him.

"RIKU!?" Roared Sora who was now in a state of confusion and rage, it took Kairi's soft words and subtle touch to hold him in place.

"Riku, woah man!" Tidus chimed in total awe.

"Riku..Why?" Kairi uttered. 'I knew it. He 'is' changing.'

"WHATS YOU'RE PROBLEM!?" Sora barked as he was still being restrained by Kairi.

To him, the others disapproval was just dull noise, Riku was in his zone. He was about to expose Chiyo for who she really was; the impostor that she was.

"You lied to me, you've lied to all of us." remarked Riku, knuckles throbbing from his strong punch.

'What is he saying?' Thought Sora. 'Chiyo, lying? No way. About what?'

"I just hit you. I just HIT you, Chiyo. You stand there? What are you afraid of? Afraid of buckling under pressure, afraid of exposing yourself?"

The ebony haired teen's eyes were glazed with hot tears, she then buckled under the setting sun and fell to her knees, a powder of sand rose as her weight slammed against it. "What will this accomplish!" Chiyo screamed holding onto her throbbing cheek. 'he's just like all the others.'

"I don't..I don't know…What..you're." She stuttered, still In shock.

"Fight me. It'll show me who you are and not who you want people to see you as." With that he grabbed her collar and lifted her from her submissive position. They were now eye to eye, with Riku's steely gaze upon she was now completely defenceless.

"Wake up! When I was round you're house for a moment I saw who you really were, but as soon as you left that house and let the sunlight hit your face, you turned into someone…Someone else. Someone completely empty. My eye's don't lie Chiyo, I know what I saw." Despite his aggressive posture, Riku's intentions weren't evil nor dark.

"When you smile, it hurts to watch you."

"Is that really a bad thing?!" Kairi interjected "To hide away feelings or emotions in case they might get shut down? Maybe that's just our way with coping, coping with loss, or distrust, or even a death. And that's okay."

"No Kairi it's a joke. Our hearts should always be allowed to express everything. But she expresses nothing. Kairi…It'll give her some backbone. Don't be such a damn victim Chiyo. I know you could've blocked my punch, why didn't you?"

Chiyo was frozen, she couldn't react to anything except for the pain in her right cheek and the shame that she was feeling. It took a lot of courage but she finally mustered up enough strength to tug away the silver haired boys solid grip on her.

"Hmph, I thought you'd be crying by now." He remarked, getting into a fighters stance.

"Believe it or not, you're not the only person to have hit me." She replied boldly. Chiyo too readied herself into a boxers stance.

At this point Sora was no longer tense and took this moment to pull Kairi swiftly away from the battle.

As the two duelled it out, the three onlookers could only watch in bewilderment.

Chiyo seemed to be eating dirt as Riku was in full control. Despite the orange eyed girls' small frame, she had still managed to get some punches that connected.

After just a couple of minutes, the battle ended and Chiyo was utterly defeated. She writhed on the floor, sand seeping threw open cuts and bloodied wounds.

The battle had finished but the outcome was bittersweet, he had destroyed her, broken through her shell and eliminated her and why? So that she knew this defected personality was not welcomed on the shores of Destiny Island.

"If you're just gunna accept the fact that people call you a freak then you're gunna think that the rest of you're life. And if you're looking for the sympathy card you won't find it here."

"This is all I am, this is all I can give." Moaned Chiyo, as she rolled around the sand, with a twisted expression.

"Wrong. Give me more." said the warrior and with that he turned on his heel and headed for his boat. Kairi pursued after Riku, attempting to grill him for answers, it was highly unlikely she would get anything else out of him but his overall actions were inexcusable.

--

[7:30pm]

Tidus had managed to heave Chiyo onto a more comfortable position but it had only managed to aggravate her sore spots. "G-gently.. Gently, please."

"Sora's collecting some medical herbs to heal those wounds. I've never seen Riku like that, but you stood up too him. That's impressive, even for a girl." Chimed Tidus in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"You cant treat people like objects!" Yelled Sora's subconscious "I should've said that." He grumbled whilst diligently rummaging around for herbal plants.

To Chiyo's surprise Tidus had informed her that he had only made Sora go on the epic quest for medical herbs so that he could talk to her alone. In fact, Tidus' potion had healed her wounds ages ago. "Psst, Chiyo. When you fought Riku, it was Sora that was cheering for you. Well, he didn't come out and say it, but the expression in his eyes was enough. Well, I better go, I'll leave you too it. Later Chiyo."

As if on cue, the brunette came rushing toward them full pelt with a crumpled wad of leaves of all sizes and colours, some even had blocks of dirt still attached to the veins.

"Here! I-I got the herbs." Sora said enthusiastically. "Wait, where did Tidus go?" He murmured suddenly.

"You can set them down over there. Tidus went home." Chiyo said softly. Sora did as instructed and then waited for his next command. There was a silence that followed, perhaps it was the awkward atmosphere, or maybe they were both conjuring up words to say. Either way they were both staring in opposite directions.

Chiyo finally let a few giggles slip. "Sorry if I'm not talking, Riku kinda knocked my jaw out of place." 'odd. I'd usually be stuttering under my words by now.'

Sora immediately laughed, finding her humour somewhat refreshing "Hehe yeah, I mean- are you okay? He didn't hit you hard did he?"

"Yea. Thank you. For so long I've kept myself in line, didn't speak unless spoken too, did what I could not to be noticed. Riku. Somehow. He destroyed all of that cold darkness surrounding me."

"It was cool that you stood up to Riku. What he did was wrong but in his own way he was trying to help you too, you know? He was trying to say 'You are your own person, don't let other people bring you down.'"

"It's weird, I feel.. A lot better for it. Hurt, but a lot better."

With that said, Chiyo looked over yonder, only one boat remained and it had been Sora's. The girl blinked and gestured at said boat.

"How are we going to get back, Riku was my ride home." Chiyo said hopelessly.

Sora's lips curved into a smile, then with a cough, the boy bowed. "Well then m'lady, it would be my pleasure to escort you off this island and back home."

The teen smiled sweetly, stood up and curtsied "Thank you kind sir, the pleasure will be all mine, shall we?"

With that, the duo took off toward the boat, Sora instinctively taking hold of Chiyo's hand with the orange eyed female squeezing tightly as the boys speed increased. Once by the boats Sora safely lowered her onto her seat whilst he took the other end to take command of the Ores.

Once they were at sea Chiyo couldn't help but see the splendour of the night sky combined with the unnatural beauty of the sea. The stars seemed to make the ocean gleam like glitter; the scene was so beautiful.

"Woah, sparklies!" She blinked in sweet naivety 'No, shut up. You sound retarded.'

Sora laughed inwardly "Is this the 1st time you've been on a boat?"

"Well, this would be my 1st night time boat. I came here with Riku so I guess he took my boat-ginity." She said simply.

Sora bit his tongue to hold in his laughter. "haha, boat-ginity, that's funny. Chiyo, you're funny."

As the mood was lightened by the girls comical styling, she had to ask the question that had been burning at the back of her brain. "I…Umm, So I hear you're taking Kairi to the dance?"

Sora's rowing became slower in pace now, the conversation now drifted into deep waters and without land in site it was a question he had to undoubtedly answer. "Yeah." He said.

"It kinda just came out. I was planning on asking her anyway, but at that moment it slipped out."

"You can't fake those feelings. If you've always had those feelings for her you should just tell her." Said the girl solemnly. 'I can't make him like me, and if he's always liked her, what place do I have in his life?'

"And you. What about you?" Suddenly he stopped rowing and aloud the shore to carry them along, the waves crashing onto the boat.

"H-huh…?" She stammered, unsure of where this was going and felt even more uncomfortable answering.

"Do you…Like anyone? Chiyo?" Sora said, voice sounding soft.

"You mean.." She sighed huskily. Steadily she brought a hand to her lips to clear her throat, then continued her sentence. " You haven't noticed?" She croaked, their eyes met for the 1st time, both of them seemed to be unwavering to detach themselves from this moment "We're here." A raspy breath escaped her, peeling her sight away from him in order to finally kiss the soil that was before her. As they both leapt out of opposite ends of the boat, Sora took this time to really appreciate the view and whom he had shared it with, this was only peeling the surface, there was still a lot more to know about Chiyo and perhaps tomorrow..

Maybe..

They could hang out, just the two of them?

--

Outtakes

*After punching Chiyo*

Chiyo: "ahh, ouch-shh..Riku I think you knocked out my filling.

Riku: Oh jeez I'm sorry, I wasn't meant to hit you that hard. God someone call Make-up.

-

Take 2

Chiyo: Ahh right in the ovaries!

-

Take 3

Chiyo: Ahh right in the fem-balls!

-

Kairi: Sora do something!

Sora: Well excuseeee me princess.

--

*sitting down on the paopu tree*

Riku: Owuhh shit I got a cramp.

Tidus: Are you alright?

Wakka: You have to lie down

Riku: Leeme alone, im not gunna cry! I-I i'm not gunna cry!

Director: I love how Sora and Kairi, the regulars, are just sitting there like fat whores not bothered about Riku.

--

A/N Hell this was REALLY late wasn't it? R&R Guys thank you. Special thanks to Paulagirl93 for giving me the courage to finish this off.