Chapter Fourteen: Taste of Earth

Yami was right, the bastard. And Riku realized it with growing frustration as the days passed and he was forced to remain in his temporary room to heal. He asked Sora every time the boy came to visit, but the answer was always the same.

No, the gummi ship was not being repaired yet.

Well, then how the hell were they going to leave!?

By the time the second day rolled around, Riku couldn't take his confinement anymore, and was sneaking out of the room when Sora caught him, only to force him back to bed. Riku complained about having a world to save, but in reality, he was just so bored it infuriated him. But he was still suffering from the 'slight paralysis' Yami's cheap poison trick had given him, so Sora was intent on making Riku heal as fast as he could. He was convinced that Riku's running amuck about the castle was not going to speed up the process, so the older boy grudgingly complied and went back to bed. That's all he did. Sleep, eat, bathe, heal.

He hadn't told Sora that it was Yami's fault he was ill, and he really didn't know why he didn't mention it. It was probably because he didn't want Sora to worry or suffer anymore than he already was. Not to mention their current relationship wasn't exactly very stable. And Yami, the smart bastard, was avoiding Riku's room and only visited when Sora was also there, so Riku couldn't squeeze any more information out of the amber-eyed enigma. It wasn't like Yami would talk in Sora's presence anyway. Then again, Sora and Riku couldn't talk in Yami's presence either, and he was always there.

On the morning of the third day, Riku was finally beginning to feel comfortable in his room; its antiquated beauty and rather gothic structure was actually an interesting sight, and he appreciated the detail that went into building the place. He even began to appreciate his comfortable bed that, whenever he was helped out of the room to bathe, magically remade itself with fresh sheets (Riku didn't bother to contemplate how). However, he was still tentative about that strange woman and 'her' castle, but he was itching to get out of the room and would rather explore than spend another day cooped up in bed. He was like a prisoner here, not a guest. Even when he had proven to Yami and Sora that he could walk perfectly fine on his own, the two of them suggested he should continue to rest, and thus, he had to remain in bed.

But he also remained miserable for the rest of the day, merely nodding when others spoke to him, and they immediately noticed the change in his mood. Sora knew Riku hated to be trapped in one place for too long, which was why they had leapt into this adventure in the first place; he also understood that Riku was not only feeling a sense of helplessness, but guilt, for sleeping all day when he could be searching for the keyhole or finding a way to repair the gummi ship. And he was. He did feel helpless, he did feel guilty. And he was bored.

But that evening it was Yami, not Sora, who came to see him. Riku was sprawled out on his back on the floor, staring straight up at the candle-lit chandelier when the creepy boy entered the room and shut the heavy door behind him.

Riku had been in the room so long that he no longer had to look up to see who entered the room---he could tell who it was just by the way the person closed the door. Sora generally shut it loudly, not really caring if he woke Riku up in the process. The woman who owned the castle had a dampening effect on the atmosphere in the room, and didn't close the door when she entered---Riku had only known her to enter the room twice, the first time being when he had met her; her second visit had been on the second day to see if he was still alive. How generous.

But Yami took more care when he entered the room, always trying to quietly push the door shut so as to not startle Riku, who didn't really care. And this time around, it was a gentle door-shut, so Riku knew it was the reserved boy.

The keyblade master said nothing when he heard Yami enter. The boy silently stood there for a moment, most likely to study Riku's strange position on the ground, wondering if he had finally died from boredom. At least, that's what it felt like to Riku. And slowly, quietly, Yami crossed the rug-spread floor to stand beside the other boy's body, leaning slightly over so that he could meet Riku's vacant green gaze, those amber eyes practically glowing in the dim lighting.

"Riku."

His voice was calm, as usual, but this time it was laced with an emotion he had never heard from the mysterious boy. Concern? That was a little weird... Yami showing concern.

Riku made no sign of acknowledging that Yami had spoken. He still resented the boy for everything he ever did to him and Sora, and encaging him in this room only added to that hatred and growing misery. He didn't want to see anyone right now...and by ignoring them, he had succeeded in driving them out of the room each time. Sora hadn't taken Riku's reticence very well, and had stopped coming to talk to him about five hours ago.

But it seemed Yami wasn't giving up that easily.

"Riku," he tried again, a bit more urgently.

When Riku didn't respond, Yami let out a soft sigh before he gracefully sunk to his knees to get closer to the other boy's position, his white hair brushing lightly over his shoulders as he shifted into a comfortable position. Had his hair always been that long? Riku couldn't remember...

"Sora asked me to come to you," the amber-eyed boy continued, dismissing Riku's silence, who closed his eyes when he suddenly felt Yami's fingers brush through his hair. Yami... was touching him... "He knows you are disappointed with him, but he was only trying to help you, Riku, no matter how much you hate being confined to this room."

Riku felt his jaw clench. Not only was Yami petting him, he was trying to help his relationship? This didn't make any sense. What the hell was he trying to pull this time?

"Sora feels that you are well enough to do as you please now, so feel free to leave. Neither of us will stop you. He just did not want to see you suffering, should you encounter a heartless too strong to deal with yourself."

Despite his current aggravation and his hatred of the boy, Riku found himself relaxing under Yami's calm, bass-like voice, and gentle caresses. The touches were harmless, almost loving, and with each stroke, each kind pet, Riku's contempt slowly melted away.

"The boy was going to tell you himself, but because of your dogmatic nature, he was afraid to approach you. So I will tell you," Yami said quietly, almost in a murmur, his fingers still tracing through Riku's hair. "Today he mastered the third level of attack magic. He is not quite done.... He still has to better his healing and ailment spells, but he has made amazing progress since he arrived here. His self-pride is almost too much for even him..."

Riku unconsciously let out an amused Hm... at that, a ghost of a smile crossing his lips. Of course Sora would be ecstatic that he had progressed so far in his training with that woman. Of course Sora would have wanted to share the news with Riku himself... Alone. Like he and Yami were right now.

....why wasn't he pulling away from Yami's touches?

Riku's eyes slid open to catch the other boy's intent gaze. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice low and curious.

The petting paused for a moment, but then began again, this time with two hands. "Experimenting," Yami replied softly with a content smile. "You seemed lonely, even though you were purposely neglecting us. I am not Sora, but I thought perhaps you would not mind if I..."

Sitting up, Riku suddenly pulled away from Yami, brushing at his own hair to make it even again, not turning his eyes to meet the other boy's gaze. "You pretend you're innocent..." Riku sighed in exasperation, deeply frowning. He hesitated for a moment, as though pondering something, his forehead wrinkling as he spoke again. "If you're not after Sora, or to break our relationship up... What do you want with us?"

"You jump to quick conclusions," Yami mused lightly, curling his hands together in his lap, "which makes you easy to manipulate, Riku. And I have already told you what I seek. Experimentation."

"Another question then," Riku said, turning to face the other boy, his green eyes narrowed into a scrutinizing glare. "Why did you suddenly start calling me Riku instead of those stupid pet names?"

"They felt wrong," was his simple response.

"You still call Sora 'boy' sometimes," Riku pointed out, his voice turning harsh. "Do you go around calling me 'keyblade master' when I'm not around?"

Yami's eyes softened before they shifted to look away. "You do not understand."

"Of course I don't!" Riku growled, raking a hand through his hair again. "You play around with us, and when I ask questions, you return them with riddles! You mess with our minds, poison me, and then try to act like the good guy?!" He paused there, glaring at the side of Yami's face, who still hadn't turned to meet his gaze. The boy looked stricken, almost sad, and Riku couldn't understand why. "And what is with this compassionate act of yours, suddenly pretending to care for us? No, I'm sorry, Yami. I'm tired of your games!"

With that said, Riku stumbled to his feet and hurried towards the door, ignoring the faint residual pain in his legs that lingered from his illness. When he reached the door, he already had a hand on the large brass handle when he heard Yami speak, the boy's voice so quiet, Riku almost thought he had imagined it.

"I did not expect it to go so far...."

Riku froze, his face twisting in anger as he spun back around, clenching his fists in a weak attempt to control his emotions. "What? Tell me, just what were you trying to do by breaking us up?!"

Yami was still sitting there, his head lowered so that Riku could not see his expression. "It started off as an experiment. I was curious about the keyblade master and his Other...."

"You mean Sora?" Riku supplied, not fighting the crude tone that crawled into his voice.

"Many beings in the worlds have similar predestined, intertwined fates such as yours..." Yami continued explaining patiently, one hand anxiously kneading into his pants as he spoke. The gesture was uncharacteristic of Yami, but Riku failed to notice. "But only the strongest hearts can summon a keyblade, and you, who wields the keyblade, and your Other, who can wield the keyblade, were an ideal pair to study."

"So who are you, Yami, if you think you have the right to do with us as you please?!" Riku demanded.

This time the boy raised his head, those amber eyes gleaming in the vague candlelight, that familiar amused smile now on his tanned face. Why he was smiling now, when he had been pouting a minute before, Riku didn't even try to understand. And when Yami spoke, it sent a cold chill through his body.

"Who am I?" he asked quietly, his voice reminiscent of the curl of a dying flame. Soft, deep... but hiding something that could easily swell into a conflagration and consume all surrounding it. The boy gracefully rose to his feet, raising his chin, his white hair swirling around his shoulders as those yellow eyes leveled on Riku. "I am nothing... for I do not exist."

~~~

After the small argument with Yami, Riku gladly fled from the room to search for Sora. It seemed like Yami wasn't going to be much help anyway; every time Riku got the boy to admit something significant, he went ahead and created another riddle to bend the truth again, and frankly, Riku was sick of it. So he was off to find Sora and apologize.

Wherever he was.

Riku had turned down the hallway opposite the one they took to get to the baths, so he had assumed he would end up somewhere big, like maybe a dining hall or something... But he had instead found himself standing on a balcony overlooking a vast expanse of fluffy grey clouds and a deep, star-spotted sky.

For a moment Riku was reminded of home, in Sora's room at night, when they were little kids. They would shut the window and pull the curtains closed so that the room was completely black, and then they would spread a giant comforter out for them to sit on. And once they got settled, they stuck a flashlight under a plastic lid they had jabbed varying-sized holes into, creating their own star-system on Sora's ceiling. Both boys would lie back on the soft blanket and draw out their own constellations and try to point them out to one another, usually getting into silly fights over their differing opinions. But when they got bored, they had never failed to fall asleep together there on the floor, the flashlight forgotten between them and left to slowly die.

The sky here was like that... only it was real, with real stars... And they too were being left to die, slowly disappearing as Sora and Riku dawdled their time away here.

Riku turned away from the endless sky and closed his eyes, sighing. When he opened them again, that woman was standing there in the archway, her hands resting delicately on her magical scepter, her long black robe curled around her. This time there was a large raven perched on one of her shoulders, its immense beak open as if to grin at Riku and its beady eyes staring at him with what seemed to be contempt. If birds could feel contempt. But the woman simply watched him, her face and eyes giving away nothing.

Glossy feathers shifted as the raven lifted its wings and suddenly cawed at Riku, who shot it a dirty glare.

"You seem lost, keyblade master," the woman said, her voice sounding bored but keeping its eerie, ominous tone. "No one informed me that you are now well enough to promenade around the castle without escort."

"I'm not promenading," Riku said, trying not to let her words get to him. "Besides, it was your little slave that told me I could."

"Slave?" she asked coolly, running a fingertip over the green orb planted at the top of her staff.

"Yami."

Her painted lips suddenly parted into an amused laugh, the raven on her shoulder ruffling its feathers as though it was mocking him as well. He felt the corners of his mouth twitch in annoyance.

"I'm not stupid," he said, narrowing his green eyes. "I know you know more about Yami than you're letting on. I can tell he's working for you. How else would he know his way around the castle's inner hallways?"

“Indeed.” Her laughter had ceased but her smile remained as she regarded him carefully. "But that boy is no slave of mine. He volunteered to his tasks, and I am merely letting him keep you as a pet, since you are of no use to me."

"And Sora is?" Riku demanded, his lips thinning into an angry line.

"Ahh... So your true worries come to light," she cooed, reaching a hand up to pet her bird as she spoke. "Your little friend came to me asking for guidance, so it would be best to consult him about the matter, not me."

The bird seemed to leer at Riku as it danced from foot-to-foot, its dark, glossy feathers infernally shining in the moonlight.

"Alright..." he said, eyeing the bird warily. "Where's Sora at?"

"The boy and I have just finished yet another training session, so I assume he went to visit you," she said easily, turning her head slightly away from him.

"More training?" Riku asked accusingly. "Don't you think twice a day is enough?"

"Again, find fault not in me. The boy asked for the extra lesson," she replied.

"And just what do you teach him?"

Her lips curved again at his question, her hand going back to resting at the head of her scepter. "I believe we have spoken enough about the boy."

"So you want me to cut to the chase," Riku said, rather than asked, folding his arms across his chest in a condescending manner.

"Precisely."

"Alright. It's Yami's fault that me and Sora are here, isn't it?"

"Yes," she said, and the raven's beak opened again to caw. "Yami was the one who arranged your arrival here."

Ahh... So she was going to answer his questions, was she? But... if it was Yami's fault... how did he do it? Did he somehow make that portal so he could land them here? It was silly to imagine, really. Not even Yami could have the power to affect space, right?

"Who is Yami?" Riku asked, his eyebrows drawing together in curiosity.

"He failed to relay that information to me," she replied.

"I don't trust you."

"A shame. Any more of your dispensable inquiries?"

Riku eyed her for a moment. He did have a thousand questions burning inside of him ready to be demanded, but he knew that this woman couldn't answer them. Or wouldn't. Not yet, at least. He put on a bitter smile and politely bowed, sweeping his hand in a gentlemanly gesture.

"No, I am finished, Mistress," Riku drawled sarcastically. "I think I shall go promenade around your creepy castle until I find my sex-kitten."

"You would be wise to hold your wit, boy, lest you find your tongue handed to you for your next meal," she droned as he passed by her without so much as a second glance.

He stepped into the hallway to escape, the raven's sniggering drifting after him on the subtle night breeze.

~~~

He must have heard wrong. Sora had called this place a castle, right? Just a castle. Well, Riku had never been in a castle before, but they weren't supposed to be this big. Hollow Bastion wasn't a castle, or even a bastion. It was a labyrinth!

At least, that's what Riku thought because at the moment he was undoubtably lost.

It must have been an hour or two since his conversation with that woman and he was still wandering the hallways, searching the larger rooms for any trace of Sora. He had accidentally circled back once and found his room, but Yami had disappeared from it and Sora hadn't been there either, so Riku was getting a little frustrated. He really wanted to know how the other occupants of the castle got around without getting lost like he was.

Most of the corridors looked the same so he had a bit of a problem telling the difference between them. Riku also tried his best to not stray out onto the balconies because that was where the heartless seemed to like to hang out.

The creatures here were rather large, and while some of the original type of heartless appeared, bulkier ones usually accompanied them. And now they carried shields and weapons and it was a bit of a challenge fighting them with his keyblade, which was looking more and more meager in comparison to the heartless' claws and clubs.

So the keyblade only chose those strong of heart, huh?

The knowledge flattered Riku a little bit, but he wished his keyblade were a little more powerful because it wasn't holding up very well against the Hollow Bastion heartless. Those two weeks at Traverse Town had given him plenty of practice with the weapon, and during the tournament at the coliseum he had used it well against the competition... But ever since Yami had beaten him, Riku's fights had gotten significantly more difficult.

Riku was pretty sure that it wasn't really Yami's fault this time. Yes, he could blame it on Yami for poisoning him or whatever, and that he was still recovering and therefore wasn't fighting to the best of his abilities. However, Riku knew that wasn't true. That would just be an excuse. No, Riku was fighting well. The fault lay with his weapon, the keyblade. The heartless had gotten stronger, and so had he...

But the keyblade hadn't.

It still retained its beautiful polished shine and magical aura, but it was as though it was mocking him. Beautiful, but weak.

That was why Riku tried to stay away from the outside pathways and balconies where the heartless liked to appear. The hallways were much safer for him. Some of the outer corridors were rather awe-inspiring with their magical lifts and colorful walls, but Riku did not want to explore without finding Sora first.

However, Riku doubted he could even find his room right now. Because he was so lost, it came as a great relief when he finally found someone, even though that person was someone he generally wished to avoid.

It was Yami. As Riku turned into his hallway, the other boy casually leaned against the wall, looking as though he had been waiting for Riku. At that point Riku really didn’t care, and released a comforted sigh, knowing Yami would help him.

As he approached the amber-eyed boy, he suddenly realized how ironically important Yami had become in his life during the past few days.

Yami had helped him through his illness, and even though the boy had been the one to give Riku it in the first place, he had gone out of his way to see that Riku was healing, that he ate and bathed regularly, and that he was safe. If Riku had asked for help, Yami had given it freely. And then there was that strange offer to find Sora’s present for him… What was that about?

Nevertheless, Riku was relieved to see Yami.

“Came to give me a guided tour, Yami?” he asked, immediately locking gazes with the other boy, who gave a kind smile in return.

“If you wish for one.”

“Actually, I’m starving.”

Yami gave a knowing smile. “Then we shall begin in the kitchens.”

And they did. Yami escorted Riku around most of the castle that night, showing and explaining what he needed to know for their stay there. Riku took all the information in quickly as they wandered the many halls and he munched on his dinner, which was wrapped neatly and carried in a small burlap bag tucked under one arm as he followed Yami’s lead.

The heartless rarely attacked when they were together, and when the creatures did, Yami took care of them quickly---so quickly, actually, that Riku didn’t even have to summon the keyblade or put away his food. And Yami was a smooth talker, the boy pointing out strange architecture and the fastest routes to the main halls of the castle that Riku would have otherwise missed.

“How do you know so much about this place?” Riku had asked after about an hour into the tour when he was finished eating his food.

Yami had simply replied with, “The Grand Library has many informative books.”

So that had been that, and the tour had continued. But even when Riku asked, Yami wouldn’t let him venture into the inner workings of the castle where Maleficent’s quarters were, so Riku decided to save that exploring for when he was alone.

Riku was surprised, however, that Yami had opened up so much to him, and that Riku had let himself trust the boy so carelessly. It was interesting the way Yami spoke about the castle, as if proud of its majestic design and history. The way the boy’s voice carried comforted Riku, and when he talked freely in front of Riku, it was almost like Yami was letting him see a part of himself that he hadn’t shown in a long time… Like Yami trusted him in return, or appreciated his company.

This led to another strange realization. In the three weeks he had known the boy, not once had Riku considered Yami as an actual person. He’d been seeing Yami as a roadblock, a mysterious rival, someone he couldn’t take his eyes off for too long because of the distrust he had for him. Not once had he considered that Yami had his own feelings, his own interests, passions and dislikes, and hobbies. Maybe Yami’s world had been attacked by the heartless and he had lost his friends and family, or even a lover. Maybe there was a good reason why Yami knew the things he did, and why he was “experimenting” with Riku and Sora’s relationship.

Speaking of that…

“I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what you’re doing by toying with me and Sora,” Riku said as they appeared in what seemed to be a foyer.

Yami paused in the center of the room under a beautiful chandelier, turning slightly to face the other boy. “Perhaps when I think you are ready,” he replied calmly before he gestured to a large exit across the room. “Those lead outside and to the gummi ship crash. Over there is the entrance to the Grand Library where you will be spending most of your time, as per the Mistress’ wishes. You did offer to organize it, remember?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Straight that way leads to the inner parts of the castle and you are not to venture in that direction.”

“Why not?”

“You will not like what you see, and I do not wish to see what punishment she has planned for anyone who disobeys her rules,” Yami said pointedly and began heading up the staircase. “I will show you the library, and then escort you back to your room. Sora should have returned by then.”

“What does he do all day?” Riku asked, following closely behind the other boy.

“I make it a point not to know,” Yami said with a small smile. “However, I do know he spends the majority of his time with the Mistress, that sorceress. When he is not learning from her, I am not sure what he does.”

Riku lowered his eyes, thinking about that. “He spends time with me, right?”

“Some of the time, not all.”

And as they entered the library, Riku couldn’t help worrying about that fraction of the time when no one knew what Sora did.

~~~

Hours passed like days and days like weeks, and Riku had very little to keep himself entertained with. His job organizing the library took perhaps a day and a half. After that he had vaguely wondered how long it would take him to read the library, for that was all he could do in that damn castle.

Sora was always with Maleficent, so the two boys couldn’t even talk anymore or ‘do other things’ like Leon had suggested. Riku had managed to apologize to Sora for the silent treatment he had given him, and they had snuggled to sleep together, but that was the extent of the physical part of their relationship. Sora, the one who had been so eager to leap into Riku’s pants before, was slowly closing himself off like a desk’s drawer, and when Riku reached in for something, Sora would close himself a little more, making it even harder for Riku to reach. Even when Riku questioned Sora about his training, Sora found a way to change the subject or brush it aside as something innocent, but Riku knew.

He could feel the changes in the younger boy, and quite frankly, he knew he had reason to worry. Saying or accusing anyone of anything outright would only cause more problems, however---the kinds of problems that Riku really couldn’t handle.

On the other side of that metaphorical desk, the drawer named Yami was gradually opening up to Riku. Of course, the information inside that drawer must have been coded in some foreign language, because Riku certainly didn’t know how to solve that boy’s riddles, nor could he piece together what he did know.

More than once Riku had thought about taking his frustration out on the heartless, but considering his keyblade was lacking the necessary strength to stand up to the formidable breeds at Hollow Bastion, he didn’t dare fight often. He would hate to find out what happened to people who fell to the heartless in battle, and day-by-day, that possibility was increasing for him.

At the moment Riku was lounging on the large staircase in the library, a book raised above his head as he skimmed through it. It was a welcomed rest from the questions buzzing around in his head, but as always, he was quickly becoming bored.

Most of the books he had skimmed through already weren’t exactly reading material. More like schoolbooks, he mused, since they were filled with complicated philosophy, mathematics, and physics. He had found a few books about the history of this place, but they were mostly filled with nonsense about past rulers of the place, and it hadn’t said anything about the creepy woman who was running it now. Maybe she had killed everyone off before they had even had a chance to add her to the history books. Scary thought, really.

Actually, by sifting through the books, he had been hoping to find one good enough to be Sora’s birthday present, but at this rate he’d never find a decent gift. The books in this library were just too…

Not Sora?

He supposed that he could trust Yami to find a present for him, like Yami had offered, but it made him feel horrible that he was already in Yami’s debt because the amber-eyed boy kept giving his assistance. Even though Yami hadn’t asked for any compensation yet, Riku still felt like he was expected to do something nice in return.

Yami…

He actually wasn’t that bad to talk with. Riku found their Sora-free discussions rather fascinating, in fact. Now that Sora spent most of his time with that creepy sorceress, Yami was frequently visiting Riku, almost obsessively, and Riku found himself seeking Yami out in return, just to pass the time. Surprisingly, they hardly ran out of things to talk about. However, while Riku told Yami about life back on Destiny Islands, and time spent with Sora in the past, Yami never spoke about his past. No, Yami’s conversations were filled with interesting theories about the heartless and keyblades, and even magic and all the separate worlds. He spoke about all this freely to Riku, who didn’t hesitate to ask questions (whether or not Yami answered them depended on their propinquity and importance).

Not once had Yami fed Riku any lies, or tried to manipulate him into believing anything absurd. It was amazing, really, how much their relationship changed from one day to the next. Two weeks ago Riku had despised the boy, a few days ago he had decided to give Yami a chance, and now…

What was it now? Were they friends?

Riku’s trust was almost like a balance in the wind in the way that it liked to sway a lot. One moment Riku would forget that Yami was the same person who had pushed Sora into his anti-social shell, and would openly admit he liked Yami’s company; but as soon as Yami showed any sign that he was hiding something, Riku would remember that he still knew nothing about Yami, and would return to his distrust of the other boy.

It was a strange relationship, but it was getting stronger every day.

And it had been three whole days since Riku had last asked if the gummi ship was being repaired yet. It wasn’t that he had given up on the hope of escape, it was more like he had forgotten that there was an escape. Or maybe he just didn’t want to leave anymore.

With a last brief glance at the book he had been skimming through, Riku sighed in defeat and dropped it, letting it hit the carpeted stair before gravity sent it tumbling down the rest towards the rug far below. It landed in a messy heap in front of a pair of fine boots, its spine face up and its pages folded in and out again. It wasn’t until Yami picked the book up and spoke did Riku notice that he was there.

“The owner of these tomes would shudder to see such abuse,” came the soothingly quiet voice from the foot of the stairs.

Riku glanced up in time to see Yami lovingly unfold the delicate pages of the ancient book and run his fingertips up its spine in a gentle caress before he closed it. It struck Riku as odd that someone could care so much about something as simple as a book, and in such a… er… suggestive manner.

Geh. Why was he relating those kinds of things with Yami?

“Stuff as boring as that deserves to be abused,” Riku mused from his perch on the stairs, supporting his chin in his hand, which was propped up by his knee. He stared at Yami for a moment, his eyes casual yet attentive.

Today the boy was wearing grey pants, not his usual black, and had his ever-growing white hair tied back into a loose ponytail. What surprised Riku, however, was that Yami’s shirt was white (Yami never wore white!), and tight… and so thin it was almost transparent. It aesthetically contrasted well with his dark skin and, for the first time, Riku noticed that Yami wore ear cuffs, little silver cylinders that hugged about an inch of the curve of his ear.

Riku couldn’t deny it anymore. Yami did look good. He always did.

But something else was different.

Yami wasn’t smiling.

The amber-eyed boy slowly began climbing the steps, gently holding the old book in one arm. “I thought that you, Riku, of all people, would appreciate the beauty of ancient literature, least of all abuse it and treat it with such disrespect,” he commented softly.

Riku narrowed his eyes, knowing that Yami was making an allusion to his father’s strict behavior that everyone considered abuse. He had told Yami about his parents only two days ago and Yami was already using the knowledge to make judgments about Riku’s character. Riku couldn’t blame him though, since it was in Yami’s nature to analyze things---that was one of the things that Riku had learned.

“Well, you misjudged me,” Riku replied nonchalantly as he leaned backwards against the stairs, staring up at the high ceiling. “It was a bunch of philosophical bullshit anyway.”

Yami stopped at the step where Riku’s head rested so that Riku could view all of him from below. From his vantage point, Riku could see how low Yami’s pants dipped, giving the boy a clear look at Yami’s abdominal muscles and the curve downward…

Riku tore his gaze away and frowned, realizing that Yami had probably dressed that way to distract him. And without Sora around to admire, his eyes were definitely beginning to stray elsewhere.

Was that really possible? To harbor feelings for someone else when he and Sora had shared the paopu together?

Maybe the paopu bond didn’t protect its protégés from their own hormones, and only stood up when actual love was involved. Then again, maybe the paopu legend was just that. A legend.

“I have a present for you,” Yami said, slightly inclining his head to study Riku’s lazy form.

“Present?” Riku glanced up again just in time to see Yami settling down to sit on the stairs next to him. When Yami set the old book down, Riku noticed something else in Yami’s grasp, and asked curiously, “Sora’s present?”

“No,” Yami replied, holding a hand out for Riku to see. “For you.”

Cupped in Yami’s palm was a flat metal medallion in the familiar shape of a crown. Actually, it was exactly like Sora’s necklace, only it was a black so deep, its flawless surface did not reflect a thing. Attached to it was a small chain of eight linked black rings.

Riku looked from the beautiful chained pendant to glance at Yami, raising a single eyebrow in question. “It’s gorgeous, but what is it?”

Yami knowingly smiled, leaning closer to Riku. “It is a key chain,” he answered softly as he took Riku’s hands and placed the gift into his palms. “When added to the keyblade, a key chain transforms it into a more powerful weapon. I found this particular form, called Oblivion, while performing a favor for the Madam here in Hollow Bastion.”

Riku blinked at Yami, taking in this new knowledge as he lifted the key chain by its last ring, letting the dark crown dangle in front of him. Slowly, a light smile crossed his lips as he stared at it.

“Thanks, Yami,” he said, keeping his green eyes focused on his present. “Really. I needed this a lot.”

Even though this was yet another thing he owed Yami for, Riku couldn’t let himself feel bitter about it.

“Would you like to use it?” Yami asked, leaning even closer to study Riku’s face.

“Use it?” Riku replied, shifting his attention back to the other boy’s amber eyes. “You mean against the heartless?”

Before Yami could even nod, Riku had summoned the keyblade and held it out in front of both of them. The weapon had stopped singing warnings to Riku ever since they had landed in Hollow Bastion, and its near-silence almost disturbed him.

Carefulbecareful, it still whispered, but the voice seemed to have given up hope. No longer was it so urgent or attention seeking. And now that Riku no longer wore his gloves, he could actually feel the warm hum of the magical weapon, and that let him know that it was still his and ready to do what he willed it to do.

Yami, meanwhile, openly stared at the giant key, a ghost of a smile on his lips as he studied it in Riku’s hands.

“I just attach it, right?” Riku asked, holding up the key chain in his free hand and, again, before Yami could respond, he acted.

The black ring had barely touched the tip of the keyblade before the hilt was engulfed in a warm swirl of colorful light that soon stretched over the entire weapon, filling the quiet air with a strange shimmering sound and the smell of metal and black cherries.

Riku exchanged a strange look with Yami as if to ask if all key chains had their own scent, but decided that if magical spells could leave aftertastes (Cura had an interesting sugary property to it), then a keyblade could smell.

When the light show ended, both boys returned their eyes to transformed weapon. They smiled at what they saw.

“Now this is what I’m talking about!” Riku cried as he leapt to his feet, holding the keyblade up to take in all of its new beauty.

But as soon as he stood, a wave of dizziness passed over him and he stumbled, precariously leaning backwards. He would have fell if Yami hadn’t leapt after him and grabbed his arm to pull him back. Riku ungracefully knocked back into Yami and slumped against him, and the other boy had to gently ease the pale boy back down to the carpeted stairs.

“Ergh… I feel so sick all of a sudden…” Riku mumbled in a low whine as he pressed his face into Yami’s shoulder, the arm holding the keyblade hanging loosely at his side.

Yami gently supported him so he wouldn’t go tumbling down the stairs, one arm wrapped around the boy’s waist, his other hand gripping Riku’s other arm. “Not sick, but drained,” he corrected him, completely comfortable with Riku’s nearness. “New power comes at a price, Riku. The weapon may be stronger, but it will most likely drain your magical resources while you wield it.”

“Magical resources?” Riku repeated, slightly raising his head but not moving it away from Yami’s shoulder. “I didn’t know that I had magic…”

“All living creatures do,” Yami said quietly, lifting his hand to cup the side of Riku’s pale face. “The fatigue is only a minor side-effect. You should begin feeling better almost immediately,” he assured, softly running a thumb over the corner of Riku’s mouth. “But then again… you went from wielding its weak original state to such an impressive form. You might need to rest after all.”

Riku gave a content sigh at that, a smile on his face as he rested against Yami. “As long as I don’t have to go back to my room to do it.”

“Of course not,” Yami replied, shifting a little so that Riku wasn’t completely resting in his lap.

As if waking from a drunken state, the silver-haired boy noticed their strange position and immediately pulled away, weakly moving back to put space between them. He forced back an embarrassed flush, disbelieving that he had almost been snuggling with a boy he had despised only two weeks before. It seemed like he was minding Yami’s presence less and less, so much in fact that he didn’t even care about how close they were getting.

It was strange.

Riku didn’t trust it, even though he was beginning to trust Yami.

To break the strained silence that had suddenly come between them, Yami quietly asked, “May I see Oblivion?”

Riku nodded, and with more effort than it usually took, he held his newly transformed keyblade up to get a better look at it.

The clumsy look of its original form had been replaced with a sleek black and silver new design that Riku immediately took a liking to. The bow of the key now looked like a pair of demon wings that curved downward to meet at an ornate spearhead, and in the middle the hilt had turned into silver vertebrae-like ridges. The blade of the key was long and black and a length of black chain ran up its flat sides, a complicated keyway and another spearhead at its tip setting off its wicked design. Just above the hilt was a dark blue engraving, but Riku was too distracted with the keyblade’s new dark beauty to pay much attention to any more of the finer details.

No longer was the keyblade a blunt object; now it looked like a formidable weapon, and he thought with much enthusiasm that the new keyway’s pointed and sharp edges would do terrible damage to his enemies.

“It suits you well,” Yami noted from his seat on the stairs, a hint of amusement in his soft voice.

And he was right. Now that he only wore the black outfit Sora had bought for him, the keyblade matched perfectly. Black of his clothes to the black of the blade and bow. The paleness of his skin and his silver hair to the silver of the hilt and tip of the weapon.

“Oblivion,” Riku murmured, matching the keyblade to the name Yami had called it.

“Oblivion,” Yami echoed, his yellow eyes smiling not at the weapon, but its master.

That night Riku destroyed more heartless than he had in any of the matches at the tournament. It was also the first time that he had fought side-by-side not with Sora, but with Yami.

~~~

Sora finally mastered the non-elemental levels of magic a few days later, and to celebrate he and Riku planned to have an evening just for them on Sora’s birthday the following day. Both boys became nervous wrecks, and for very good, separate reasons.

The morning of the big day, Riku was still without a present, and now, with an evening with just the two of them, he knew what Sora would ask for.

To be on top.

Sora was nervous because he was afraid Riku would finally try to open him up and tell him what was wrong with him, and ask the questions he didn’t want to answer. That and he was feeling more detached than usual, like someone else was maneuvering him throughout his days, even though he knew what he was doing. Sora’s last reason was the most obvious: his growing fear of what was happening to him.

Riku knew none of his boyfriend’s worries, however, and was currently frantically searching the library for a good book to give to Sora as a gift. It was his last resort, it really was. Even though it was still early afternoon, Riku was rather irked that Yami hadn’t delivered a present to him yet, as he had promised.

At least, that was what he was thinking about when Yami swung the grand doors open and strode into the large room, his footsteps unusually heavy as he crossed the library towards where Riku sat in an old chair by the window, a huge stack of ancient books sitting on the table next to him. The doors clacked against the walls before bouncing back and closing with a thunderous bang.

That in itself was very suspicious.

Wasn’t Yami always the one who quietly opened doors so as to not disturb Riku? When had he changed that trait of his?

Not to mention how hurried and loud his steps were, and how flustered Yami looked as he crossed the rugs to stand in front of a surprised Riku. Something was definitely wrong with the other boy.

“Yami?” he said softly, his tone silently asking Yami what the hell his problem was.

The frown that crossed Yami’s face told Riku that he wasn’t flustered as he had first thought. No, he was pissed. Or greatly disappointed.

Riku carefully rose to his feet to stand in front of him, and for a quick moment he noted that Yami was a good two inches taller than him now. When had that happened?

The boy’s still-growing long hair was hanging loosely all over the place at the moment, adding to his disturbed appearance while also reminding Riku about the peculiarity of how fast his white hair was growing. Two weeks ago it had barely touched his shoulders. Now it was a few inches down his back.

Riku was almost jealous about how great it looked on him. He’d never admit that out loud though.

“What’s wrong?” he asked this time, seeing that his last inquiry had failed to stimulate a response yet.

A petulant look crossed Yami’s face as though he were a ten-year-old who hadn’t gotten what he had asked for on his birthday. Brow knit together, his lips slightly puckered and his eyes glinting with envy and sadness, Yami extended his hand, indicating he had something to give to Riku.

“Sora’s present?” Riku asked, relief flooding into his voice as he extended both of his hands.

Into his hands dropped another key chain, much to his surprise. This time it was an intricate chain of closely-knit diamond-shaped links, a familiar star-shaped symbol attached to the end.

“A paopu fruit!” Riku found himself exclaiming as he raised his wide green eyes to confront Yami. “Where the hell did you get this?!”

“Is that what it is?” came Yami’s surly reply, his voice a little higher and more mocking than usual, and for a moment Riku looked taken aback at the tone. The tanned boy squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead as though cursing himself before he spoke again, this time normally. “Never mind where I found it. Sora will enjoy it, will he not?”

Riku was still staring at him in shock. Not only was this key chain strongly reminiscent of Destiny Islands and looked vaguely familiar, Yami had just sounded like…

“Yes… Sora will love this,” Riku replied, forcing himself to look back down at the trinket. A paopu fruit, the symbol of the start of their relationship. Of their love. If anything could mend their feelings, it was the reminder that they were bound by the magic of a paopu fruit. The chain was gorgeous, even more so than Oblivion’s. But then something struck Riku as odd. He glanced back up at Yami, who looked considerably more in control of himself. “Why a key chain?” he asked.

“Sora is just as capable of wielding a keyblade as you are,” Yami replied. “By giving it to him, you will be supporting his strength and silently giving him your encouragement.”

He was right.

Then again, Yami was always right.

“So what’s its name?” Riku asked, closing a fist over the meaningful gift.

“Oathkeeper.”

How fitting, Riku mused, a smile crossing his face. “Thanks Yami.”

“I do want something in return,” the boy said softly, his yellow eyes narrowing. “But only when the time comes will I call upon you to fulfill that favor. Understood?”

Riku raised a single eyebrow, not really understanding the reason for the request, but understanding the request, nonetheless. “Sure,” he replied. “So will you be around this evening?”

Yami’s brow quickly knitted. “No.”

With that said, he deftly spun around and stormed back out of the library, just like he had entered.

~~~

“Feel the power shuddering just beyond your reach, Boy. Do you feel it?”

“Yes.”

“Now reach out and grasp it.”

Sora extended his fingers and nearly gasped as they brushed against something. Something that hadn’t been there a few seconds ago when his eyes had been open.

He could almost hear the woman’s amused smile.

Quickly banishing outward thought, he concentrated on the soft whisper of power he was now touching. It was so delicate, so thin and near-invisible that not just anyone could see it, like black spider web.

This was the next step in his magical knowledge, he knew. If he could master this, he would be strong enough to stay with Riku, to fight alongside him.

He slipped his fingers around the shadow, feeling it gently tug back to let him know it still existed. Slowly, carefully, he pulled it towards himself and it easily followed, flowing over his hand and up his arm like a lover’s caress. When he opened his eyes again, it was definitely visible.

“It is called a Shadow Summon,” the sorceress said, her voice high with that I-know-everything tone she usually had.

But he didn’t acknowledge that she had spoken. His wide blue eyes were staring straight into the yellow of a heartless, only he had created the creature, and it wasn’t like any species he had seen before. It was amorphous, like a length of silk wrapped around his arm, only it was leaning up to stare at him.

“It’s a heartless!” Sora said, frightened concern evident in his boyish voice.

“Wrong,” she said, her long fingers curling around her scepter as she stepped towards him, her head held high. “But it can be made into one.”

“I don’t understand,” Sora said, glancing from her to the thing on his arm, his face forming a cute pout.

“You do not have to,” she replied patiently, coming to an elegant stop in front of him, robe swishing after her. “Only understand that you have the power. Now, focus.”

Sora returned his gaze back to the shadow on his arm, his eyes narrowing at it. “Focused.”

“Now order it to take a form. Any form you wish.”

Brow furrowed, Sora thought that over, wondering where this strange lesson was heading. Most of his lessons with her were simple, just her giving advice and telling him interesting techniques to use to enhance his magic. But since he had mastered most of the magic he knew, she had begun teaching him other stuff, like this Shadow Summon thing. He had a feeling he knew where the next lesson would go, and he couldn’t decide whether he dreaded it, or wanted it.

Blue eyes hardened, staring into the yellow orbs in front of him.

This was ridiculous, but he would try anyway. After all, if the heartless attacked him when he asked them to, why couldn’t he order shadows to morph?

Riku. Give me Riku.

He half-expected the shadow to just stare back, but as soon as he thought the words, the form shuddered and slipped off his arm. It dropped to the ground and immediately grew upward, a swirl of black magic curling around the figure that began to take shape. Sora watched with amazed blue eyes as the black dissipated and an exact replica of Riku stood in front of him, only instead of wearing his new outfit, it was his old one. Not a fleck of color could be found on the creature, except its empty yellow eyes. Black as the heartless, Sora noted, only it looked so much like the boy he loved.

“Touching,” the woman’s voice commented from his side, and Sora flinched in surprise, having forgotten that she had been there.

“He was the first thing I thought of,” he mumbled, only slightly embarrassed as he studied the Riku heartless in front of him.

Her cold eyes fell upon him and a strange smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “It is your day of birth, is it not?”

He blinked quickly, lifting his gaze to meet hers. “Y-Yeah. I’m fifteen now,” he said, managing a grin.

“Ahh,” she breathed in amusement, reaching a hand out to pat his head. “Then as a gift, we shall have a final lesson before we retire for the day.”

“Really?” he said, widely smiling as he turned away from the heartless Riku. “What kind of lesson?”

She calmly gestured to the heartless he had summoned, her palm facing upward. “Something that will aid your quest, no doubt.” Pausing to glance at Sora, she continued, “You are aware of how you can ask the heartless to attack you in training, yes?”

“Yeah…” Sora said, giving her a suspicious look, his eyebrows drawing together. “But…”

“It is not a coincidence,” she said, gently ushering him to face the heartless. “This creature will follow any command you give it, within reason.”

Sora slightly tightened his grip on Einlanzer, which he had forgotten he had been holding. What she was saying, what she wanted him to do… He knew what it was. He had felt the power inside of him since he and Riku had landed in Mulan’s world.

He knew he could control those beasts, but knowing he had the power and accepting it were two different things.

Back then, in the snow when Riku had protected Sora from the heartless, and Sora had told them to stop… They had. And then Mulan had shown up. All the other times they hadn’t attacked him because he hadn’t wanted them to. Of course, his control over them wavered when he was around Riku, but that was because of Riku’s role…

They really did have opposite destinies, whether they wanted to acknowledge it or not.

Riku just didn’t know to what extent the darkness had over Sora. Sora knew, but he didn’t really want to welcome it. He could admit to himself that he did like using it to beat Yami at the tournament, but he had been desperate then so that excused his behavior, right?

This woman was teaching him how to harness it properly and he had accepted her help to get it more under control because it still frightened him. He was afraid of hurting Riku on accident.

But this development was new. He hadn’t known he could use the darkness to create heartless-like creatures, like this black Riku.

No, it wasn’t Riku. It was everything Riku wasn’t.

Anti-Riku.

“Well?” she said, turning his face with her hand so that he was once again staring at the black creature. “Give it a command.”

Give it a command.

But if he did, would he be turning his back on the trust Riku had given him? Would he be taking yet another step towards his ill destiny of shadows and solitude?

No. He wouldn’t. Because he was strong, right? He knew what to look for.

“Alright,” he said, giving her a small smile before stepping towards the anti-Riku. But what could I tell it to do…?

Closing his eyes, Sora cleared his mind and formed an image of Riku there. Smiling Riku. Sora was there too, and they were holding hands, both of them, and with a laugh the two figures in his mind began dancing around in a circle, spinning around and around and around like two pixies.

He nearly cried aloud when he felt two cold hands wrap around his. Abruptly dropping Einlanzer and snapping his eyes open, he found Riku’s face in front of his, its bloodless body standing close to him.

No, not Riku. Not with those yellow eyes.

However even that was forgettable as, just as in his mind, the heartless pulled him into a carefree dance, spinning them around and around. At first Sora began laughing, amazed that he had done this---made a heartless dance with him.

But when he saw Riku’s face, he froze.

He pulled away from the creature, and with a wave of his hand he sent the heartless sinking back into the ground, leaving the air in front of him free of the disturbing figure. Just like that he could create or destroy such a shadow…

He knew he should feel ashamed of himself for even thinking he could replace Riku with a beast like that, but he couldn’t. With power like that, who would hate it? Deep down he knew it was wrong. That was the same part of himself that had banished the abomination.

Yes, it had Riku’s face, his hair, his lips…

“What is wrong, Child?” the woman asked from behind him, coming up to rest a hand on his shoulder as he stared out into the space the heartless had been just a moment before.

What was wrong?

It had looked so much like Riku. It had listened to him and they had danced. But…

“He wasn’t smiling.”

~~~

That evening Sora and Riku ate dinner in the library due to Riku’s insistence. He said he felt more comfortable there than anywhere else in the whole castle, so Sora easily complied to his wishes, even though it was his birthday. Truthfully Sora didn’t really like any of the places in the castle except some of the balconies where he could stare out into the sky.

He must have learned that trait from Riku.

“Y’know, every time I eat, I always worry about where the food comes from,” Sora said absent-mindedly, pushing a strange vegetable around his plate with a silver fork.

Riku glanced up from dissecting his own meal, raising a single eyebrow. “Why?” he asked, feeling a twinge of anxiety. This night had already been too awkward… And now they were talking about food?

What had happened to them?

They were like strangers on a blind date, really.

“Well, I’ve been outside. There’s no cattle, so where does the meat come from? There’s no plantation or anything, so where do the veggies come from?” Sora asked, finally stabbing the green thing and stuffing it into his mouth before continuing, his voice muffled a bit. “I mean, it’s good, but it worries me.”

Riku couldn’t help smiling. “Must be magic.”

“That would be a weird ability to learn,” Sora commented, pausing to swallow. “Making food with magic.” He smiled brightly at the other boy for a moment. “Today was my last day training with her, by the way.”

Those green eyes immediately lit up with happiness. “Really?” Riku said, unable to hide his excitement, his smile filling with relief. “That’s good news.”

Sora knew that Riku greatly distrusted the mistress of the castle, and had highly disproved of Sora’s time learning from her. And for good reason. Sora also knew that the reason Riku hadn’t actually stepped in and forbid Sora from his training was that Sora had insisted that he wanted to learn magic. Riku wasn’t the type to say no to something that would make the younger boy happy, even if he didn’t like that Sora was doing it.

Actually, Sora hadn’t told her that he was stopping their lessons yet. But after today, and that incident with anti-Riku, Sora didn’t think he could continue down that line. That would be lying to Riku, and his own heart. And now, after seeing Riku and spending time with him after so many days without much contact, Sora realized how much he had missed him, and how much he had hurt Riku by neglecting him.

Funny, really. He had thought Riku was neglecting him, but when Riku was finally free from his duty, Sora was the one who turned away from his comfort.

He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

“So how have you been?” Riku asked quietly, keeping his head lowered towards his plate, but raising his eyes to watch Sora.

“Miss me?” Sora teased in reply as he reached a bare foot out to prod Riku’s leg, trying to distract him so he wouldn’t have to answer that question.

This time Riku raised his head, his eyes turning hard. “Miss you?” he repeated, his voice laced with disbelief. “I was dying without you, Sora!”

The boy lowered his eyes in shame, studying his plate with a frown. “It’s over now though. Now we can find a way to fix the ship and leave.”

There was a moment of silence before Riku spoke again, his voice slightly surprised. “I was actually beginning to feel comfortable here… I hadn’t realized. I almost forgot about the ship.”

“Comfortable?” Sora asked, forehead wrinkling as he glanced back up at Riku.

“Yami has been keeping me company, actually,” the older boy admitted, smiling.

Sora quickly straightened his back, blue eyes widening in astonishment. “I thought you hated him!” Not only that, Riku was smiling about it. This was weird. Really weird!

“Er.. Yeah. I did,” Riku sighed, reaching a hand up to scratch distractedly at his neck. “But since I’ve hardly seen you, he started spending more time with me to cheer me up. I learned a lot from him, actually. He’s not that bad, like you said.”

When Riku returned his gaze back to Sora, he was surprised to see a mix of relief and fear on the younger boy’s face. Honestly, Sora didn’t really know how he felt about that bit of news. A part of him was glad that Riku had found someone to talk with during his absence but another part was jealous that it had been Yami. He didn’t want Riku to suffer but he didn’t want Riku to get close to another person.

“Oh…” he said softly, gently placing his fork onto his empty plate before setting it aside on the small table they were seated at.

They sat there in silence while Riku finished up his dinner, pausing every now and then to drink at his goblet of milk. Sora casually played with Riku’s toes under the table with his own feet, and was pleasantly surprised that Riku didn’t pull away from the playful gesture. He was glad that both of them had discarded their shoes before settling down for dinner. It felt good, toying with Riku like this, like they were still normal boys on Destiny Island.

When both food and drink were gone, Riku stacked his plate atop Sora’s and sat back in his chair, running a hand through his neatly-combed hair. Aside from Sora wearing a new outfit, and Riku having tried to tame his strange silver hair, neither of the boys had really dressed for the occasion.

It was silly, but for some reason Sora did look a year older already, but Riku placed the blame on the boy’s clothes and his daily training that had, much to Riku’s envy, given his muscles definition. Sora was growing up. Even his eyes had lost some of that unique youth to them.

“You look great,” Riku said, and at this Sora widely grinned.

“I was saving this outfit for today!” he announced, trying a little too hard to be like his old self. He seemed to realize how odd it was that he had to pretend things were normal, so he mellowed a little and settled with just a sad smile. “We need to talk, don’t we?”

Riku slowly nodded. “We do, but it can wait until tomorrow.”

Sora let out a soft sigh, smiling in relief. “Good. I was worried.”

“Want your present now?” the older boy asked as he rose to his feet.

“Do I?!” Sora laughed, jumping up after him. “Where is it?”

Motioning with his hand for Sora to follow him, Riku headed towards the staircase, carefully descending the steps to the nearest bookcase, Sora trailing after him.

“I stashed it here because I was afraid I was going to lose it,” he admitted with a small smile as he stopped in front of the tall structure and reached onto a high shelf to grab a cloth bundle.

When Riku deposited it into his hands, Sora first thought maybe the gift was more clothes, but when he began unfolding it, he heard a jingle of metal. Curiously, carefully, he peeled back the cloth and uncovered Oathkeeper.

An awed look spread across Sora’s boyish face, his blue eyes widening as he stared at the beautiful key chain. “It’s a key chain. With a paopu fruit at the end….” Slowly he raised his head and met Riku’s expectant gaze with his confused one. In the past few days Riku had shown Sora Oblivion and explained what key chains could do, but… “But why give it to me?” Sora asked. “Your keyblade…”

Riku held a hand up and shook his head. “There’s several meanings behind it, Sora,” he said, managing a reassuring smile. “It’s a key chain, yes, for a keyblade, maybe. You’re as strong as me, and I’m sure you can wield a keyblade too,” he explained, reaching forward to pull Sora closer to him. “Until you get that weapon, you can wear it with your necklace or crown chain.”

Sora lifted the present up and smiled back, dropping the cloth onto the floor. “It’s perfect!” he said, tapping the pendent at the end with one finger, causing it to spin from the force.

“It’s also a reminder that we’re bound by the fruit, Sora,” Riku added, edging closer to the younger boy and slipping his arms around his waist. “And that even if you’re pissed at me, you can’t get rid of me.”

Grinning at that, Sora lowered the key chain and said, “Why would I want to?”

He paused to hook his present to his crown chain and smiled down at it before he glanced back up at Riku, pressing his hands to his boyfriend’s chest. Slowly he leaned forward, a strange glint in his eye as he smirked.

Riku immediately recognized that look and mentally shuddered, knowing what was coming next.

Maneuvering Riku back into the bookshelf until they could go no farther, Sora slipped his arms up and dug his fingers in that gorgeous silver hair, his smirk growing and revealing a line of teeth. “I love you too, Riku,” he breathed into his ear, pressing close. “Now satisfy me.”

Satisfy?! was what went through Riku’s mind before Sora’s mouth covered his and his mind went into overdrive.

Was this it? Was this the night?

Yes his mind insisted as he returned the kiss, his hands pulling Sora into him. There, he felt it. Both boys wanted this, didn’t they? Their relationship needed it, their minds dreamed about it, their bodies ached for it. That ache, it was more urgent now, and he felt it stirring already against Sora, just as Sora’s was against him.

Sora felt it too and let out a soft sigh into the kiss, relaxing into Riku’s body and focusing only on the feeling of having Riku so close to him again. He wanted to memorize the details of his lips, of every groove of his mouth, but he couldn’t. It felt too right, like he would always be able to kiss Riku this way and had no need for memorization. Like Riku had been telling the truth about always being there for him.

His breath caught in his throat when Riku slightly shifted pressure and suddenly slipped his tongue into the kiss, deepening the exchange between them almost immediately, urging Sora to respond. And Sora did. With a quiet moan, he slowly slid his eyes closed, letting his emotions guide him through this quarrel of primal passion and warm love.

It felt so satisfying, just to be able to kiss like this, without worries… Without boundaries or interruptions. And Riku smelt so good, like sugary milk, and tasted so delicious, his mouth definitely reminiscent of their finished dinner.

Barely, just barely, Riku pulled away to breathe deeply, causing Sora to give a small whine, the younger boy reaching forward to nibble one of those yummy lips.

“Ri~ku….” he murmured, running his fingertips down his skull to cup Riku’s cheeks before releasing his lip.

The two boys took only a few seconds to catch their breath, foreheads pressed together because Riku was slumped so far down the bookshelf. And before Sora could initiate another hot kiss, Riku gently eased the smaller boy backwards and spun them around, his green eyes telling Sora nothing as he pushed the boy down to the rug below.

It was like the older had suddenly made his mind up. Almost like there was no turning back now.

Sora breathed out a soft gasp as Riku's lips passed over the dip of his neck and hesitated there, nipping at the flushed skin before moving on to deeper, more concentrated suckling. Wild blue eyes lowered, unable to focus, pink lips opening to welcome in the cold, cold air, anything to keep him alive and focused on this pleasurable half-torture.

The scene wasn't unfamiliar, for he had imagined it over and over again in his own mind, but the feelings were quite different... The way his heart flittered, the way his muscles uneasily tensed, only to again relax under Riku's warm hands... Never had Sora felt so exposed, so easily influenced. It was like his body was entranced by Riku's touch, and no matter how desperately Sora tried to hold back, he couldn't. And he didn't really want to.

"Ahh...!"

There it was again. An involuntary reaction, just as Riku's hands slipped up the boy's tight shirt, warm fingers tracing his spine and causing Sora to shudder at the emotions it catalyzed.

This feeling... It was...

Awaken.

"Keep going..." Riku sighed, his usually calm voice husky and strained with lust. He pressed closer to Sora, hips rubbing against hips into the bookshelf, causing both of them to take sharp breaths before Riku blindly grasped at the shirt and began to impatiently tug at it. "Just keep going," he groaned, "keep doing it..."

Sora managed a curt nod, not trusting his voice right then, considering Riku's fingers were caressing his sides and grooves of his ribs so intently it tickled like hell, but he was too lost in arousal to laugh, or even break a smile. Somewhere between Riku straddling him, keeping him pinned to the bookcase in a tight embrace, and the boy's gentle, passion-invoking touches and delicious kisses, Sora had lost touch with comprehensive thought. Was thought really needed though, in such a primal dance of heat and skin?

Hot hands slid intently around under Sora's shirt, kneading skin untouched by others, agonizingly running up forming muscles and bunching the dark shirt material over his wrists, pulling the hateful thing up so mouth and tongue could access the skin of juvenile chest. Breath hitched in his throat yet again, his blue eyes closing all the way as hot lips found a nipple, his own mouth opening to softly groan, only encouraging his attacker more. Sora raised his arms as Riku finally slid his shirt off, tossing it aside before returning to the nipple, tongue teasing it as one hand went to play with the other. This elicited another breathy "aahhh...!" from Sora, the boy's head arching back as he felt his body reacting so unashamedly to Riku's foreplay. That feeling... deep inside of him...

What was it?

Sora's palms slid eagerly to Riku's hips, cold fingertips tracing just under waistband to rouse the silver-haired boy, whose remaining hand had a similar idea, and was pressing into the small of Sora's back to pull him close to generate more friction; bony hips ground against groin, and Sora whimpered at the new feeling. It wasn't entirely painful, but it had been too quick, too sharp to know if it was pleasure either.

By now Riku's hand had traveled further down, cupping Sora's smooth bottom and staying there, one finger suggestively running down the back seam of his pants. Sora squeezed his eyes shut again, suddenly overcome by that sharp pang in the pit of his stomach, the one that alluded to more than just curious touches. He knew what it meant, even though he had never felt it before, not even when touching himself, or even when he had teased the older boy all those times.... Not even when they had almost done it, when he and Riku had been playing around in the sand.

The older boy moved back to his neck, his nose nuzzling into Sora's adam's apple and lips massaging delicate veins. His silver hair strayed into chocolate brown and tickled bare shoulders, causing unexpected shudders. Absently reaching for the end of Riku's shirt, Sora managed to take a stuttering breath, Riku's fingers gliding over his sensitive ribs and causing him to exhale in small, desperate pieces.

At this, Riku chuckled, the air vibrating softly on Sora's raw neck. He pulled slightly away to assist Sora in shirt-removing, and then both of them were free from the constraints, bare chests pressed against each other as their mouths found the other in another deep, hungry kiss. Lips massaged lips as tongue slipped past tongue and saliva dribbled down chins, and Riku lazily smiled into Sora's mouth before pulling away to catch his breath.

Sora slowly blinked at him, trying to focus through the misty lust in his mind, only to see a calm expression on his flushed face, long eyelashes fluttering in wounded concentration, his mouth parted into a loving grin.

"Love your lips," Sora sighed breathlessly, inching his hand southward between them as Riku moved his concentration to the boy's earlobe.

But the older boy immediately pulled away with a sudden, deep moan as Sora's shaking fingertips slid over his arousal through the thin material of his suede pants. Sora looked startled for a moment, as though he had no idea that he could cause Riku to act so erotically, so impassioned... But then, feeling the warmth beneath his fingers, he felt heartened, encouraged that Riku was his. No one else's.

"S-Sora..."

Blue eyes flickered up to study Riku's desperate face, and then he grinned, realizing that this was the first time anyone had touched the older boy this way. So he gently squeezed, earning another throaty moan, but this time Riku urgently pushed back into his grasp. Eager. Sora next tried running his nails over the hardness, and Riku suddenly shot a hand out to grasp the boy's shoulder to keep himself steady. But Sora's smile fell when he saw the intense, heated look in those green eyes, and felt Riku's fingers dig deeply into the bare skin of his arm.

"Stop... teasing me...!" Riku softly growled, and Sora's eyes widened in response, surprised at the near-pain in the older boy's voice.

"Sorry..." Sora began, quickly pulling his hand away, guilty and embarrassed. "I've never done thi---"

But Riku caught his wrist and eased it back down, Sora letting himself be guided. For a moment he studied the pleading look in those green eyes, and the way his flushed cheeks seemed to scream want and lust, and then he grinned again, understanding what Riku needed. It was rather funny, actually, how submissive Riku had gotten, just by one curious touch from Sora.

Without word, Sora’s fingers pulled at the string that kept Riku’s pants closed, maneuvering the lace by tugging it outward and then pulling the sides of the pants open. He slid a quivering hand into them, hearing Riku hiss through his teeth as Sora's fingers wrapped around the tense arousal. The grip on his shoulder loosened as he slid his fingers and nails over the erection, feeling it harden even more under his touch, and, curious, Sora ran his thumb over the tip to discover a warm, sticky liquid... Hmm...

An idea striking him, Sora glanced up to find that Riku's eyes were squeezed shut, his mouth parted as he struggled to regulate his breathing. Well. It seemed like he wouldn't mind, then.

Sora shifted in Riku's grasp and turned so that he pressed the older boy against the adjacent bookshelf, pulling his pants down further to gain easier access. Those green eyes flickered open a moment to see Sora's grin before the boy none-too-gently gripped one of Riku's hips to hold him back, his other hand slipping back around the arousal as he brought his face closer to it. Slowly, as if experimenting, Sora flicked his tongue out to taste the tip. This time Riku squirmed, trying to thrust forward, so Sora forced his hips back into the bookshelf. He shook his head to silently reprimand the older boy, unable to hide his grin, and Riku gave him an impatient look before his eyes rolled upward, closing once again as he further spread his legs.

There was no warning. Sora suddenly took the erection into his mouth and, after Riku choked on his own gasp, the boy realized that perhaps he should have taken it a bit slower. Oh well. Gently humming, he softly sucked before pulling away to run his tongue up the shaft, pausing at the head to taste the liquid again. It actually wasn't that bad, and Sora vaguely wondered if its flavor ever changed...

"S-Shit, Sora…!”

Sora giggled, whispering a small nibble on its side, and Riku yelped at the feeling it wrought. Sora glanced up to catch the older boy gritting his teeth, his silver hair a mess atop his head from shifting too much against the bookcase. His hands slid into Sora's own brown nest of hair and eased the boy forward to encourage him to continue, so Sora did, wrapping his lips around it and gently sucking, using his hand to stroke what he couldn't fit into his mouth. He really liked it, making Riku react like this to his touches.... making Riku make all those little whimpering noises and needy moans, and making him gasp Sora's name like a half-curse, half-plea.

And it ended all-too-soon, just as Sora was getting the hang of alternating suckling and licking. Riku cried out in warning, his fingers clenching into the boy's brown hair, but Sora didn't know what it meant and glanced up from his ministrations to see what was wrong. Just at that moment, a jet of that silky white liquid shot out and hit him in the corner of the mouth, splattering off his skin like creamy white soap. It made a rather interesting pattern on the floor, and Sora took a moment to ponder if cum came out of clothing or off wooden floors. Then he grinned again and raised his blue gaze to blink up at Riku, whose green eyes were gleaming with... With what? Tears? Riku didn't cry. Riku never cried. But he did look rather attractive that way, panting heavily, his hair damp with sweat, lips swollen from kissing and his cheeks burning a deep, deep red.

"Told you I was gonna rape you..." Sora teased, his grin impishly widening as he rose up to nuzzle his face against Riku's as the older boy moved against him. But he paused when he felt Riku's hand press against his chest, holding him back, and Riku's tongue darted out to lick the substance off Sora's cheek. The older boy suddenly cringed and made a disgusted face, giving Sora an appreciative look.

"Eck..."

"I liked it," Sora said, blinking up at his boyfriend.

There was a moment of silence after that, with Riku's eyes focused on Sora's, whose gaze was staring intently at the older boy's lips. He really did love Riku's mouth. It was so elegantly curved, with smooth, kissable, damn-near-irresistible lips, which were roseate from their kisses. At the moment they were slightly parted, as though Riku wished to speak but was afraid to paint his thoughts in audible words.

Sora shook his head calmly, reaching forward to kiss him, but only softly, letting his body sink into Riku’s embrace. Much to his surprise, he felt something pressing against him. Realizing that Riku was still hard, Sora pulled back to give his boyfriend an amazed look, only Riku seemed disturbed about something.

“Riku?”

Those green eyes rose to meet his.

And then Riku attacked, forcing Sora backwards onto the floor with the older boy on top of him. Sora was silenced with a dangerous kiss, his blue eyes widening before slowly softening as Riku poured his love into that one kiss, one hand pressing Sora into the floor, his free hand slipping between them to work with something else.

His pants, Sora realized with numb worry. Riku was taking this all the way.

Riku's fingers grasped at the snapping buttons of his pants, desperately eager to move on with their lovemaking. The younger boy raised his hips in encouragement, brown hair pressing against the rug and cheeks suddenly painted red, his swollen lips parting to breathe again, or speak, unsure of that feeling... Unsure of how to express it....

But Riku took that opportunity to deepen the kiss further, causing Sora to groan in anticipation, the boy’s hands trailing down Riku’s body to heighten his lust.

Riku pulled away from the kiss at the caresses, growling, "Sora...!" before clumsily tugging at the pant's snaps as his lips graced Sora's chin. He paused, squeezing his eyes shut, shuddering as he breathed, "…I love you so much…"

The tight black pants pulled open and Sora arched his body to allow Riku to pull them off, and he did so quickly, taking a moment to admire the nude body under him. The younger boy, flushed head-to-toe from the heat of the moment, still managed to frown at Riku's hesitation, lower lip stuck out in a pout.

Riku laughed softly, falling into a grateful grin as he stared at Sora, reaching a hand up to caress the boy’s cheek. Those green eyes bore into Sora’s blue, searching.

They both knew what the gesture meant and, with a hesitant smile, Sora nodded his permission.

He vaguely wondered what would have happened if he had denied Riku this bit of heaven. Would Riku have stopped? Would he have let Sora continue for him?

Sora’s thoughts cut short when he realized that Riku was lifting Sora’s hips with his hands and guiding his legs up for better access.

They were really going to do this!

His heart must have been ready to die on him because it was going so fast. He felt his body tense up when Riku leaned down to kiss him again, tenderly this time, moving his lips to Sora’s ear to whisper.

“Calm down…”

Calm down?

How?

Riku’s hands slid up his body, pausing at his waist to run his fingers over Sora’s abdomen, gently pressing down and massaging the muscles, easing some of that tension away. The younger boy tilted his head back, trusting Riku to take care of him.

He would always trust Riku.

…but then why did he feel like crying?

He let out a startled cry when fingers wrapped around his straining erection, tenderly massaging it. Sora lifted his head, gritting his teeth, to ask what Riku was doing, but when those fingers slid over the tip, he whimpered, letting his head fall back to the carpet in defeat.

“I can’t do anything without some kind of…” Riku’s voice faded away as he searched for the right word. “…lubrication,” he continued. “It’ll hurt without it, so I’m going to use what we have, okay?”

Sora gave a strained nod, taking a deep, impatient breath. He forced himself onto his elbows to watch, blinking when Riku leaned over him and started gathering his own essence off Sora’s body.

“Lay back, but keep your knees up,” Riku instructed, his hand filled with both boys’ substances.

Doing as told, Sora couldn’t see what Riku was doing, and therefore wasn’t prepared when a slick finger suddenly slid into him. His hands splayed out at his sides, fingernails digging desperately into the carpet as he let out a loud groan.

“Do it already…!”

But then another finger entered him, stretching him a little more and causing him to whine, his eyes squeezing shut as he tried to shut out the pain tearing at him. It wasn’t unbearable, but it sure as hell wasn’t pleasurable either.

“Don’t tense up, Sora,” Riku quietly insisted, his free hand reaching up to wrap around the younger boy’s arousal just as he inserted the third and last finger.

This time Sora almost screamed, tears leaking out from under his tightly-closed eyelids, rolling down to the carpet and wetting his hair. The mixed sensations of being painfully stretched and deliciously massaged was almost too much for him, but for some reason when Riku pulled his fingers out, Sora sadly whimpered, feeling cheated out of something.

He heard Riku chuckle at him. It was a strained chuckle, like Riku was having a hard time controlling himself, and it made Sora relax a little knowing that Riku was taking it slow with him, for him.

“Get ready, Sora,” the older boy said, his voice shaking with evident emotion.

“Ready,” Sora quietly replied, feeling his heart thunder in his chest as Riku crawled over him into position, one arm coming down to rest beside Sora’s head. The other hand, he knew, was preparing Riku himself now.

Sure enough he soon felt Riku nuzzle at his entrance, and for a second both boys held their breath, just feeling their hot, wet skin together, just staring into each other’s eyes, both filled with the same uncertain emotions.

And then Riku gently, slowly entered him, both of them letting out their own different guttural moans, Sora’s more in pain than pleasure as he was stretched further. The tears were escaping freely now but he didn’t want to stop. Forcing himself to relax, Sora shifted a little as Riku continued to slide into him until finally he was completely in.

“Y-You okay…?” Riku managed to ask through the wall of emotion hindering his thought. The feeling of being so buried within someone, within Sora, was so indescribably exquisite. The boy was so tight and warm, and his…

“Keep moving,” the boy whispered in reply, his voice sounding slightly hoarse from holding in his cries.

Pulling slightly out, Riku this time thrust in quickly, immersing himself in the sensations Sora’s body gave him as he struggled to reach in further, brushing against something hidden deep within the boy.

“Riku…!!” Sora suddenly screamed, his back arching off the carpet as he shivered, his body racking with emotion.

That certainly wasn’t a cry of pain. The way Sora had said his name so much like a sinful curse, so hungrily… It was more rewarding than anything else Riku could think of.

He wanted to hear more. Feel more.

When he pulled out again, this time he ran a few fingers through the dark hair surrounding the arousal before he slipped them around it, doubling the pleasure for the younger boy. He stroked as he pushed in again, and this time Sora rocked back, continuing the cycle until both of them were moaning desperately. Faster, faster, and then slower, slower they went, trying to prolong the sensations. Riku could barely breathe or see anymore. All that mattered was the rhythm as he moved his hips with Sora’s, his head resting in the groove between the boy’s shoulder and neck.

The feel of flushed skin slipping against skin, the smell of sweat and sex in the air, the sound of heavy breathing, gasps and needy moans… All of it Riku would remember.

And even when Sora came with a heart-wrenching cry, they didn’t stop moving. Rather, it turned desperate after that, Riku’s free hand releasing Sora and reaching around to squeeze his ass and tight thighs, loving every inch of the boy’s heated skin. His fingers skimmed upward as they rocked together, his nails sliding over the grooves of his stomach and forming biceps, rolling upwards further to his chest before pausing to run over those nipples again. Hearing Sora gasp, he slid the hand southward again, clenching his fingers into the boy’s hip as he came closer to the edge of release, gritting his teeth as though to force it back.

But through his own watery eyes he saw Sora’s feathery eyelashes flutter and his lower lip tremble with emotion.

That feeling... He knew what it was.

And just for a moment, as quick as a fleeting thought, soft, lust-filled blue eyes flashed as yellow, and Riku came deep inside of him.