This is my first published work on this site, so I hope you guys like it! If anything seems OOC or you find something wrong with it, let me know. Give me all the criticism you can. It really helps!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is the property of Square Enix and Disney. I own nothing.

When Sora was around it was easy to pretend. His cheerfulness and we-can-do-anything-with-the-power-of-friendship attitude along with his tendency to charge into everything without thinking was enough to keep Riku distracted. Sora's bright, shining heart seemed like it was enough to hold his together.

But when Riku was alone, things were different.

Sometimes it would be a minor thing, like headaches. Those he could deal with. It was usually a warning of worse things to come, so he was able to build up the walls around his heart again. He knew they wouldn't last, but it was a quick fix that would last him until he could be around Sora again. Most of the time, anyway.

Lately, the walls hadn't been holding nearly as well or as long as they had before. They never crumbled completely, but cracks would appear occasionally. It was like when he put them up, he didn't do it quite right. He could feel the darkness oozing out like blood from a wound. Ever since he had accepted his own darkness he had been able to use it in a way that he was comfortable with, but this other darkness seemed fouler. More sinister. He could only think of one reason for this.

Ansem.

Riku had battled him in the past and won, but he wasn't sure of how to fight this time. Ansem hadn't spoken to him once, and he hadn't really done anything hostile. He only seemed to be making his presence known, which was unnecessary. It wasn't like Riku could ever forget he was there.

He didn't want to bring his problems up with his friends now. With Xehanort searching for the 13th Heart of Darkness, it would only serve to worry them even more. Especially since he was now a Keyblade Master. That fact made this whole experience annoying. Shouldn't he be the master of his own heart as well as a keyblade?

At present, he didn't have much time to think about it. Sora had woken him at a time that was too early to even be considered morning (it was actually 7:00, but he had never been a morning person), so he was busy stumbling around his room trying to find his shirt. His usually tidy room was currently buried under random objects. It was always like this after Sora came to visit. In his excitement, he would try to "help" Riku get ready faster by looking for his clothes or forcing him to get out of bed. Riku was still slightly winded from Sora jumping on him. Thankfully, once he had gotten on his feet and moving, Sora had decided his job was done and had gone to get ready himself. Riku knew he'd be back, but at the moment it was peacefully quiet.

While he did enjoy the silence, it wasn't the best thing for someone who needed about six cups of coffee to wake up fully. By the time that he had spotted the shirt he wanted, he had to fight to stay focused. But the pile of shirts he was leaning over seemed so comfortable…

He opened his eyes and was suddenly aware that he was no longer in his room. All he could see around him was a sort of grey haze. Riku stood up cautiously, unsure of what to do. He didn't know why, but he was in his heart. He came here often to patch up the holes, but he had never done so unintentionally. He glanced around him, curious and slightly alarmed. Why am I here? This shouldn't be happening right now. I haven't even had a headache for two days. Everything should be fine.

He only had to look down to discover that everything was definitely not fine. Below him, a steadily growing pool of darkness swallowed the grey. Panic began to set in as he hurried to stop the flow and seal the cracks. He should have known this was happening. There had always been warnings before. Why hadn't he known?

Once everything was back to normal, he was able to think more calmly. This was the first time he hadn't had a warning beforehand. It was also the first time he'd unconsciously gone to fix it. Something was changing, and not for the better. Riku stared at the barriers he had built. He could tell they wouldn't last; patch jobs were a temporary fix. If he just continued to seal it off, nothing would be accomplished and he would be fighting it forever. I need to find out how to stop this.

He opened his eyes to find Sora's face approximately an inch from his own. Before he could do anything about it, the other boy yelped in surprise and accidentally head-butted him in an attempt to get away. Riku groaned and held his forehead while Sora laughed and rubbed his. He noticed that Sora was still an aggravatingly chipper morning person even after being injured. On the other hand, he could feel himself growing more annoyed. Dealing with whatever was wrong with his heart, getting hurt, and waking up early was not a good combination. Now he was going to be pissed off for the rest of the day.

He was jolted from his thoughts when Sora poked him in the face. Riku looked up to see a hand being offered to him.

"Hello, Earth to Riku! Are you okay?"

Riku couldn't stay too mad at the sheepish grin on Sora's face. He sighed and took the offered hand. "I'm fine. Why were you on top of me?"

Sora's face turned bright red as he helped Riku get back on his feet. "I… um… you were asleep again, so I was going to wake you up. When you opened your eyes I panicked." He became defensive when Riku laughed. "I thought you would be awake when I came in. I jumped on you earlier!"

Riku snorted and stretched, reaching for the shirt behind him. "Yeah, you did, but it's really early. Some people like to sleep." He pulled the shirt over his head while Sora pouted and mumbled something about how it wasn't that early. He tried to hide the fact that he was worried. He knew that when he went into his heart his body went unused, but what if he went there unintentionally again? It would be bad if he continued to randomly abandon his body, especially during dangerous situations.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay?"

He had forgotten that Sora could be extremely observant when it came to friends. Sora's concern made him feel a little bit better. At least he cares, but I can't tell him yet. Not until I know what's going on myself. Putting on a smile that was only slightly forced, he headed for the door. "I'm fine." For now, anyway.