Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Also, I do not approve of physical violence to solve divergences. That's what I always tell the authorities, at least...

Warnings: This fiction contains and is not limited to boy/boy moments, the use and abuse of stereotypes, hints at original pairings, very despicable people, emo-Riku, lustful teenagers, underage drinking, a mix of the last two points, questionable situations, morally ambiguous choices and a few, occasional and really shy attempts at humor.

Chapter 25: Breaking Point

Riku was wondering where Sora could be. The Struggle training was going to start in a few minutes, the brunet was nowhere to be seen and coach Auron was known to have little tolerance for lateness...

"Sorry, I'm late!" Sora's voice announced his arrival. "I was..."

"Save it!" the coach cut him short. "Be late another time and I'll simply kick you out of the team."

Sora didn't reply. Instead, he simply sat on the grass, next to Riku.

"Where were you?"

"Somewhere I didn't want to go. What did I miss?"

"Nothing, we were just starting a few sparring matches"

"Cool. It's been since the tryouts that I want to challenge again a couple of people here."

"As do I!" Seifer's voice made the two of them turn back. The blond boy had reached them from behind and was now eyeing Riku. "Come on, Riku, you owe me a rematch, right?"

"Oh, too bad about it: we were planning to start together." Sora answered before Riku had the time to react, earning yet another glare from Seifer.

That day, though, Riku was feeling unusually confident. "Don't worry, Sora. If Seifer wants a rematch so badly, it would be bad to deny it, don't you think?"

That reaction surprised Seifer, who clearly wasn't expecting something like that. The surprise lasted just a few seconds, though, because he quickly regained his usual cockiness before standing up and marching towards the closest free spot, urging Riku to follow him.

...not before Sora could tell him something in a whisper. "Riku, just... watch out for Seifer. He didn't take really well the fact that you defeated him in the tryouts."

Riku laughed it off. "Wow, Sora! Are you actually worried about me?"

"I'm serious! You have humiliated him, last time. And people like Seifer tend to be quite vengeful, just... watch out for him!"

Riku smiled and walked away, trying to hide the uneasiness that had derived from Sora's words: Seifer was physically stronger than him and it was a mix of luck and well-planned strategy that had granted him the victory in the tryouts. This time, though, there was little to no chance that Seifer would underestimate him again.

He took place in front of his rival, ready to struggle once more, a single drop of sweat running down his face. Before they could start, though, he saw Auron walking towards the two of them. Riku watched silently as their coach got close to Seifer.

"Sportsmanship, Seifer, or this time you won't get by as easily as last time!"

Well, that reassured Riku a little: having old Auron watch him closely should've kept Seifer at bay... probably. He didn't have too much time to think about it because, a second later, the coach whistled and the sparring match started.

As usual, Seifer's style was really aggressive, trying to overcome the opponent with strong, powerful hits. Riku was expecting it, though, so he managed to avoid the first few hits with relative ease, waiting for an opening.

'Now!' he thought before trying to go for a hit on the right arm. The moment he lifted his bat to strike a hit, though, he saw the glimpse of a smirk on the face of his enemy. But the realization to have fallen for a trap arrived too late.

A cry of pain echoed in the Struggle stadium. Riku saw Sora reaching him on the ground, where he had collapsed after a low blow.

And Seifer... he was standing next to him, smiling. "I'm really sorry, Riku! I didn't mean it, it was an accident!" he was loudly proclaiming in a not-at-all convincing way.

He then lowered his voice, as to be heard only from the two boys. "Oh, does it hurt? Strange, I thought you had nothing down there..."

None of them had the time to react, as Auron had reached them in the meantime. He looked for a moment at Riku and, after asking him if he was alright, he shifted his focus on the blond boy.

"You're out!"

Silence.

Then, after realizing that he was talking to him, Seifer finally reacted. "You can't be serious! It was just an accid..."

"You can tell this kind of bullshit to the principal, I'm sure he will listen to you. I don't."

"You can't do that!" It seems like Seifer was on the verge of crying: he looked like a little baby whose pacifier had been taken away. "I'm your best player, the team has no chance of winning without me!"

"Well, I guess we'll settle for second place, then."

"But I... I..."

"GET! OUT!"

Left with no other choice, Seifer started walking out of the stadium. And then he stopped midway through it and came back just as fast, stopping a few inches from Auron's face.

"You ruined the team the moment you accepted that faggot!" he suddenly exclaimed pointing his finger -in a frankly whining way- at Riku, who was still laying on the ground close to them. "I prefer to get out than stay in the same team as a gay kid who keeps staring at my ass!"

No one replied. Riku was shaken by those words and he thanked the fact that he was still collapsed on the floor to have an excuse to not get up and face them.

Instead, Sora did.

In the blink of an eye, he stood up and closed the gap between him and Seifer. Then, just as fast, he punched him on the face, strongly enough to make him fall on the grass. He then took him by the collar and started talking in a calm -yet surprisingly scary- voice. "Take it back!"

"What the fuck are you doing?! Stop protecting your boyfr..."

Seifer couldn't end the sentence because another punch hit him, just as fast as the first. This time, though, Auron intervened.

"That would be enough!" he exclaimed, and his tone was final. He had grabbed Sora by his right arm, forcing him to get away from the other boy.

Seifer was livid, even if it wasn't clear if it was for the humiliation of having been punched from a boy half his weight or having been saved by Auron. He was glaring at the two of them, still laying on the ground.

"What part of: 'you're out' didn't you get?" Auron asked sternly.

Left with no other choice, Seifer reluctantly obeyed. Once the tall boy out of the way, the coach sent Riku to get some medical attention and ordered the rest of the team to resume their training. No one dared to object.

"Sora? A word with you, please!" he called, before the brunet had the time to get away.

Riku caught a glimpse of Sora's eyes before he started following the coach. There was something unusual about him, something feral.

He made a mental note never to get on the small boy's bad side.

Sora entered the coach's office. It was a quite modest room, with just enough space for two people. Auron took place on one of the chairs and Sora did the same.

"I don't want to beat about the bush: you're screwed!"

Well, that was quite the direct approach. Worst part, Sora knew that he was technically right. He still decided that playing dumb was the best course of action at the moment. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm sure you know what I mean. Public aggression of one of your teammates. With your checkered past, that's a granted ticket for school expulsion."

Sora knew it way too well: he was on probation and the principal was just waiting for an excuse to expel him. His brain had started to work since the moment he had landed the first blow on Seifer, struggling to find a way to avoid the inevitable sentence, but he knew that chances were slim that he could talk his way out of that one.

That said, if coach Auron wanted to discuss with him instead of immediately reporting him, maybe there was still a possibility. "So, what do you plan to do?"

Auron smiled. A strange, wicked smile that made Sora shiver. "Let's be frank: Seifer deserved that. It's a miracle I didn't kick him out of the team last year. That said..." The wicked smile on Auron's face disappeared as soon as he had formed. "...that doesn't excuse your behavior and I see no way for you to avoid the same fate as him."

To Sora, that was a straight punch. Struggle was his reason of life: the only idea of having to leave the team was making his stomach twist in an uncomfortable way. And he knew that if he was expelled from school, there was no way he could keep staying in the Struggle team.

"Then again, as you know, your old coach vouched for you -which is the first reason you managed to make it so easily into the team- and... I've seen you play." He paused for a moment to readjust his pince-nez glasses on his nose. "You have potential and I'd like to give you the chance to stay in the team, even if you are expelled from school. As an extra-scholastic player, we could say."

Sora couldn't believe his ears: Auron was really giving him the chance to keep playing Struggle despite what had happened. Expulsion was bad, but if he could keep on playing Struggle... well, then it wasn't so bad.

...that was what he would've thought just one year prior.

"Sir... if I may..."

"Yes?"

"Do you think that... I could convince you to avoid reporting my behavior to the principal?"

Auron looked at him and the grin reappeared once more on his face... "Are you asking me to cover for you in front of principal Xemnas?"

"I am!"

"Why should I do that? Should Seifer or another one of your teammates denounce you, I'd be in quite some trouble for having protected you."

"I know. That's why, to minimize the risk of someone talking..." he paused for a moment, seriously reflecting about the consequences of the choice he was making. "I'll give up Struggle! If the rest of the team would stop seeing me play, they'll think it will be the principal's doing. Which means no reason to report me."

The old coach scratched his chin, thinking about the compromise. "That still leaves out Seifer."

"That won't be a problem, I know what to do with him, he won't talk." Sora answered seriously. "I'm going to look for him this same day. Should things go awry and Seifer should decide to go see the principal, you could always say that you didn't get the time to report me."

Another moment of silence ensued. Then Auron looked straight at the boy and started talking seriously. "You love Struggle! You live for it, I can see that. And from what I've heard, you're not someone who would fear expulsion." He paused for a moment, making himself comfortable. "So why do you want so fiercely to avoid that now? If you're asking me something like that, you must have a really good reason."

Sora hesitated for a moment, then he talked. "...I made a promise that I wouldn't get expelled this time. And I'd do anything to avoid that! Even giving up on Struggle!"

For a moment, it seemed like Auron had stopped listening, his eyes wandering around the room as if to be sure that none was listening to their conversation. "You realize that you're asking me to take some considerable risks. Not to say that, this way, I'd lose two of my best players. I guess nothing can be done about Seifer, but for you..."

He then stood up and started walking. "Fine then, I won't report you." he finally said when he reached the door of that tiny room. "On one condition." Sora didn't move from his chair, waiting for the rest. "You'll take three days of suspension from the Struggle team. That will be enough to shut the mouth to the rest of the team, no need to go to a full expulsion. You keep on staying on the team and I keep one of my best players: everybody wins."

Sora couldn't have asked for something better: he had the chance to stay in school and on the Struggle team.

"...if you manage to persuade Seifer to shut his mouth, of course."

"Of course, sir. Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah. Now scram. I have a team to train!"

Sora didn't lose a second to walk away. His destination was clear: he had half a day to convince Seifer not to denounce him.

End Notes: We're getting close to the turning point!

Preview: Next time: Sora vs Seifer!

Next Chapter (?.?.2023): All or Nothing