Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Sora. Sora, hey, you have to wake up,” someone said, jostling Sora’s shoulder a little.

“Mmm… five more minutes,” Sora mumbled.

“Sora. Now.” The voice sounded upset, a mixture of worry and anger. It sounded desperate, too. Sora then realized that he was not in his bed, rather lying on his side on something very hard—a road? It was slightly bumpy against his cheek. He felt sore all over.

“Nghh,” Sora groaned; he slowly blinked open his eyes. It was nighttime, but bright. Directly in front of him, the one shaking his shoulder, knelt his best friend, Riku.

“Oh thank the gods,” Riku said, grabbing Sora to lift him up into an extremely tight sitting hug, painful with how sore Sora felt. Wait. Was Riku crying? Riku never cried. Sora couldn’t see Riku’s face due to being pressed into the silverette’s chest, but he heard the crack in Riku’s voice and felt a few silent tears drip onto his face.

“Riku?” Sora asked quietly. He wasn’t sure what had happened to make Riku cry, but it must be bad, because again, Riku almost never cried. Should Sora be crying too? He couldn’t remember how they’d gotten here, or even where they were as he hadn’t seen much of it other than the bricks they were on before being crushed to Riku's chest.

“Why would you do something like that?” Riku cried, sounding somewhat angry again as the tears finally stopped. “Why?”

“Something like what?” Sora asked, muffled in Riku’s shirt.

Riku paused in clear surprise, the anger immediately gone from his voice. “You don’t remember?”

Sora shook his head. “Where are we? How’d we get here? Why am I sore all over?”

Riku loosened his grip on Sora, holding him by his shoulders to look at him. “Sore? Oh, right, sorry! You would be if I am too. Curaga,” he said, and the spell encompassed both of them briefly in translucent glowing vines that removed the pain.

“You were too? But why?”

“Pretty sure it's because we both fell from the sky.”

Sora blinked a few times. The sky? He finally looked around, seeing strings of light everywhere and a gigantic glowing fountain. He’d seen that fountain before. “Traverse Town?”

Riku nodded. “Yeah.”

“There’s no one around… is it the sleeping version?”

Riku shook his head. “No, I think it’s the real one. No one would be here, as the worlds were restored, remember?”

“Then why are we here?”

“What do you last remember?”

Sora furrowed his brow in thought. He remembered being at the Mysterious Tower, delivering a mission report… it had been upsetting, as usual. No matter what he did, Sora could never get things right. But what’d he do after? Sora wracked his brain. Let’s see, he had gone outside to clear his mind, sat on the edge of the ground to think… Oh. He had been thinking about being a screw-up, and that maybe people would be better off without him, but… but he wouldn’t actually do… that, would he? He thought about it sometimes, but he had other hearts in him he had to keep safe, so he wouldn’t actually. But he was often impulsive… or at least, that’s what people said about him.

“Sora?” Riku prodded gently.

“Did I… Did I jump?” Sora asked quietly, unsure.

Riku shifted slightly and bit his lip, seeming unsure of what to say. After a moment he said, “Well, not exactly… you were about to, but—”

The memories suddenly flooded back. “Oh, right. I remember now,” he told Riku. He hadn’t jumped from the edge, not quite. He had planned to though, in an incredibly rash and impulsive decision. Sora had stood up and started taking a step when he heard Riku call out to him in a panic. Those in his heart managed to briefly gain control enough to make him freeze, also in a panic. Sora had then stepped back and turned to look at Riku in surprise, but in the process he had stumbled, slipping on a small stone and falling backwards… Riku had run towards him, calling his name, but it’d been too late to catch him. Sora remembered then seeing Riku falling towards him in a dive, faster than Sora fell because of the momentum and less air friction, before catching his hands in midair and pulling him close as they both fell. Then, a shining barrier—the edge of the Tower’s domain—and darkness as Sora passed out. “You dove after me,” Sora said in wonder, which then changed to anger. “Why would you dive after me!?”

Riku blinked in surprise, then his expression turned to anger too as he snapped, “Why wouldn’t I!?”

“Because I’m pretty sure we both thought we were going to die from that,” Sora said petulantly.

“Exactly!” Riku’s voice seemed to echo in the empty plaza. Then his voice grew quieter, and it shook slightly, but no longer with anger. “I couldn't let you… even if it meant… You know I’d follow you anywhere, Sora. Why would you expect potential death to be any different?”

Sora shifted nervously, still in Riku’s arms. Despite his anger, Riku didn’t want to release him, and Sora didn’t want to move either. Sora’s voice fell, suddenly feeling guilty as he mumbled, “Because I’m not worth it. I’m not worth dying for.” Sora wiped away a tear before it could fall.

Riku looked absolutely gobsmacked. “You’re… of course you are, Sora! H-how… how could you think otherwise? Sora, I’d die for you a thousand times, a million… You’re always worth it.”

Sora frowned, realizing something. “But… wait. You didn’t try to die FOR me. You must have known it was too late. You tried to die WITH me, not for.”

Riku bit his lip slightly and looked away. “Yeah,” he admitted.

“Why?” Sora whispered, feeling upset and confused again. Man, their emotions were going all over the place today.

“Because…” Riku paused briefly, searching for the words to describe his thought process. “Well, I panicked, first of all. But even if I had time to think, I’d have honestly probably done it anyway. Because I can’t imagine living without you. It’s not worth it. I love you, Sora,” he said softly.

Sora blinked at Riku, then began laughing in a mixture of happiness, confusion, disbelief, and a whirlwind of other emotions. Upon seeing Riku’s shocked and hurt expression, he quickly calmed it the best he could and said, “Sorry, sorry. I love you too Riku, I swear I do! If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that. It’s just, all the times I imagined confessing, I never imagined it’d be like this, you know? Right after yelling and upset in the middle of an abandoned town after thinking we were going to die after both impulsively… well. It’s kinda messed up, isn’t it? We’re kinda messed up.”

Riku took a moment to process this, then began laughing himself, complete with tears. “Yeah, for sure.”

The two sat there hysterically laughing for who knows how long, tangled in each other’s arms.

Yen Sid froze mid-sentence; his eyes darkened and his mouth contorted into a deep frown.

“Master?” Mickey asked nervously. He’d never seen Yen Sid show that much emotion before, not since Mickey stole his hat while apprenticed under him. “Something wrong?” Maybe he’d had a realization about something. The others—Riku, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, as well as Jiminy—had returned to their rooms for the night after reviewing all the new information, but Mickey stayed to discuss some other matters with the old wizard.

The wizard spoke carefully, almost… Was he nervous? “I sensed a disturbance in this world’s barrier.”

“A disturbance?”

“Yes. Someone has either left or entered.”

Mickey blinked. “Huh. Well, maybe some of them decided to get ice cream,” he suggested. The kids were awfully fond of the sea-salt flavor in Twilight Town. They’d been instructed not to leave at night, but Kairi and Lea were here (Merlin had sent them to the Tower to train for a few days while he left to do something else, though he hadn’t said what or where) so the others probably wanted to catch up.

Yen Sid shook his head. “The disturbance wasn’t the Tram or a GummiShip, I can tell that much. It was a single point, smaller. Perhaps a portal or a glider.”

Mickey frowned. “But none of them can make portals nor have gliders.”

Yen Sid, expression now returned to his regular stoic expression, said, “Exactly.” He turned to some mops, brooms, and a swiffer along the side of the office and waved his arm. They began walking and grew arms; Mickey shivered, not having good memories of them. “Gather the other guardians,” the wizard commanded the cleaning items, and they marched off.

“So, who do you think it is?” Mickey wondered. “Vanitas?” He both had a glider and could make portals.

“He does make the most sense, if he is indeed adamant on finding Ventus. But we cannot rule out any of the Organization.”

Within minutes, the mops, brooms, and swiffer returned with Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, Kairi, and Lea. The cleaning items were not being very nice, clutching their arms tightly enough to bruise. Two mops and the swiffer grappled with a struggling Lea, who still had a toothbrush in his mouth. Only once everyone was in the door did the animated items release them.

Yen Sid visibly cringed and said, “I apologize; I did not instruct them to be so violent, merely to summon you.” Mickey tried not to crack a smile at that; so, even Yen Sid did not truly have full control over animated brooms, mops, and swiffers. He felt a little better about his own mishap with them so many years ago.

Mickey frowned, noticing a discrepancy. “Where are Sora and Riku?” he asked.

The cleaning supplies shrugged; Yen Sid waved a hand, dismissing them to the side of the room, where they lost their arms and became regular cleaning items, although the swiffer seemed reluctant.

Mickey blinked in surprise. The cleaning items always retrieved the things Yen Sid wanted if they were inside the Tower, living or not. “You don’t think…?” Mickey didn’t want to actually voice the concern that they’d been attacked by the mysterious intruder. Perhaps they were on the grounds; Sora and Riku both liked being outside.

Yen Sid frowned, but didn’t answer that. He turned to the others. “I called you here because there was a disturbance in the barrier—someone or something went through it, and not with something so big as a ship or the tram. We must search the Tower and grounds around it; as we have so many enemies that can use portals, it is not a stretch to say that someone of ill intent has entered. Sora and Riku may be in the midsts of confronting them, or simply outside and yet unaware—the brooms and mops are not permitted to leave the Tower.”

“I don’t see anyone on the grounds out front,” Lea said, peering out the window.

“Maybe they’re behind a bush,” Goofy suggested.

“Or on the grounds out back,” Kairi pointed out.

Donald and Goofy both stared at her and simultaneously asked in awe, “There are grounds out back?”

Kairi looked confused. “Yes? It’s where we’ve been training the past few days. You can see it from the bedroom windows. There’s a lake, a small forest, a meadow, and a terraced garden.”

“I’ll show you around them while we look,” Mickey said. “Kairi, Lea, you check out the front grounds just in case they were behind a bush or something like that. Donald, Goofy, you’re with me. Finding Sora and Riku are our top priority, and we already know they’re not in the Tower.”

“I will stay here,” Yen Sid determined, “in case the intruder shows up. There are things here that could cause major problems if stolen, especially if by someone with ill intent. After the grounds are searched and Sora and Riku are found, please start searching the Tower.”

“What about me?” asked Jiminy.

Mickey felt slightly embarrassed that he’d forgotten the cricket was there, as he often did. Oops. “You go with Lea and Kairi,” Mickey decided. “So it’ll be two groups of three.”

“One moment,” Yen Sid suddenly said. “We are forgetting levels of training; remember, there is a potential enemy around, too. Mickey, you go with Kairi and Lea, as they are new wielders. Jiminy can go with Donald and Goofy.”

“But we don’t know the back grounds!” Donald pointed out.

Mickey nodded. “Right. Then, Lea, you go with them. Kairi, Jiminy, and I will go out front.

“Okay, now that we have groups,” Lea said, “Maybe we should get looking? It’s an emergency after all, right?”

Thus, the groups descended the stairs, which were unusually short—they supposedly changed length based on where one needed to go but often liked to tease, turning short treks into hikes. Thankfully today they knew to be serious.

Riku pulled Sora up to stand. "Guess we should try to find a way out of here, huh?” he suggested shakily.

Sora nodded, calmer now but also still rather ruffled. “Yeah. Or at least some way to contact everyone.”

Riku smacked his forehead. “Oh, duh! We have GummiPhones!” He reached into his pocket, multiple times, getting progressively more worried. “Crap, I must have left it somewhere!” he finally concluded.

“Don’t worry, I have mine!” Sora assured Riku, pulling it out. He pressed the button to turn it on… and it stayed a black screen. “Shit.”

“Forgot to charge it?” Riku said, sounding slightly forlorn.

“Yeah,” Sora sighed, frustrated with himself. That was so typical of him! You would think he'd have learned to keep it charged by now, but no, not absentminded Sora. What were they going to do now? They needed to find a way out or contact someone.

But… did they really need to? Sora mused over that sudden thought. Did he even want to leave? He was finally alone with Riku, for the first time in what felt like forever, and leaving would ruin that. They could use this opportunity to take a break from everything. But, they’d also worry people—Riku was needed to do Master things, to save Aqua, so surely they’d be looking for him if not Sora.

“What are you thinking?” Riku asked.

“Huh?” Sora snapped out of his thoughts. “Oh. Um. Let’s just stay here,” he blurted out. “We never get to spend time together.”

Riku sighed. “As much as I’d love to spend time with you—and I really, really, really do—we can’t neglect the fact that the world is in danger to do it. We have important responsibilities.”

“You do, yeah,” Sora said with resignation. “But I just have to find that stupid power I’ll never get. What’s it matter if I’m here or there? It’s not like they’d—urgh. Nevermind.” Sora didn’t want Riku to get upset, and pointing out that everyone but Riku didn’t care about Sora would do that.

Riku narrowed his eyes, analyzing. “You were about to say something stupid like they wouldn’t miss you, weren’t you?”

Sora winced. Caught in the act! Well, not quite. He was going to say 'care'. But what Riku said was close enough, and also true.

Riku looked heartbroken. “Sora…” he tugged Sora’s hand and pulled him close, wrapping him in another hug. “How could you think something like that? Everyone would miss you. We all care about you.”

“Maybe you do, and I guess Kairi does too, but all everyone else cares about is the stupid power-of-waking thing. Even when I volunteer to help with something, I just get laughed at.” Like earlier, when he said he’d save Aqua; and that wasn’t even him, it was Ventus, popping out for the first time in forever. “I’m not good for anything. Dunno why anyone even sticks around me…” Sora was rambling now. Why was he saying all this stuff? It was upsetting Riku. “I’m sorry,” Sora apologized.

“Sorry for what?” Riku asked.

“For stupidly ranting like that. I’m so stupid.”

Riku shook his head. “You’re not stupid, Sora,” he said firmly. “And none of that other stuff is true, either. The power’s needed, yes, but that’s not all they want you for. They like you for you. There’s so many other amazing things you can do; I’m sure you’ll get the power of waking too. These things just take time. And I’m sorry we all laughed at you earlier; you just wanted to help, I know.”

“But it wasn’t even me,” Sora mumbled.

“What?”

Sora tilted his head to look up at Riku, who was looking at him with confused eyes. “It wasn’t me,” Sora said. “Don’t get me wrong, I want to help… but I know I can’t. I think it was Ventus. I felt his heart when those words came out. He was close to Aqua, remember?”

Riku blinked in surprise. “Huh. I wasn’t aware they could react to things…”

Sora shrugged. “It’s really rare, and only around things heavily connected to them. I think talking about Aqua being in danger brought him out. Sometimes I can feel Roxas's presence when Lea is around, and he glared at some of the Nobodies a couple times. Otherwise, I usually don't feel them unless I really concentrate.”

“I see… and that was Ventus that wanted to help?”

“Yeah, I think so. So you all were laughing at me for something I didn’t even do,” Sora said somewhat bitterly, then immediately regretted such when he saw Riku cringe. Riku had defended him; Sora shouldn’t be taking his anger out on him. And the others hadn’t known it was Ventus saying that. “Sorry,” Sora apologized quickly. “I know it’s something I’d stupidly say too, so you guys have every right to laugh. Good chance I’d have wanted to go anyway, so he just—”

“Sora, stop,” Riku interrupted. “Stop blaming yourself for everything. You did nothing wrong; we’re the ones who laughed, and we shouldn’t have. I’m sure if you speak to the others about it, tell them how jokes like that make you feel—”

“No!” Sora said, shaking his head vigorously. “I can’t!”

Riku looked confused. “Why not?”

“Because I’m supposed to be the happy one! They all expect me to be bright, and laughing, and cheer them up, and if that means jokes that hurt, then that’s fine. I shouldn’t be reacting like this; I know my role. I’m supposed to pretend everything’s fine so everyone else feels better.”

Riku stared at Sora in shock. “That’s what you think? Sora, making others happy means nothing if you’re not happy yourself. You shouldn’t need to sacrifice your own happiness for others.”

Sora looked away. “But that’s all I’m good for… I’m weak and worthless in everything else.”

“Sora, look at me,” Riku said firmly, holding onto Sora’s shoulders, and Sora complied, looking deep into Riku’s emerald eyes. “You are not weak, and you are not worthless. Your purpose isn’t solely to make people happy.”

“Then what is my purpose?” Sora challenged.

Riku opened his mouth, then closed it and bit his lip, seemingly unsure of what to say.

“See? I don’t have anything else,” Sora said matter-of-factly. “If I had the Power of Waking, that would be it. But I don’t, so I need to be the clown.”

Riku shook his head. “That’s not… I’m just not sure how to word this. You don’t… you don’t need a specific purpose to be alive. It’s okay to exist without a defined purpose. Most people don’t have specific goals or reasons to define their existence, but they live anyway.”

“Yeah, maybe, but I’m not most people.”

“No, you’re not. You’re a keyblade wielder. A Guardian of Light. You saved the worlds multiple times already. Still doesn’t mean you need to have a defined purpose to live life. Besides, isn’t it better to not have one? That way you can be free to follow your own path.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Sora said halfheartedly. “Hey, let’s go find a way out of here,” he decided, smiling gently at Riku before running off.

Riku frowned, clearly not liking how abruptly the conversation had ended, but he followed Sora without argument.

Yen Sid strolled over to his small window for want of something to do while he waited. He gazed out of his window, staring out into the Other Sky. Who could have infiltrated his Tower? And why were they being so obtuse about it? Usually attackers wasted no time attacking, as opposed to sneaking in. And where were Riku and Sora? This situation was surely unusual.

Yen Sid’s gaze drifted to the scene far below. Kairi and Mickey were looking behind every bush and tree, and presumably so was the cricket. Yen Sid sincerely doubted they’d find anyone; an intruder wouldn’t hide behind a bush like that, and Sora usually preferred sitting in a specific spot on the edge to think. Yen Sid never understood why so many of the young keyblade wielders enjoyed sitting on the edges of high places… Well, not just the young ones. Even Xehanort himself preferred being high above people, forming cliffs and other things to tower above everyone. It was so dangerous. Sora’s Nobody, Roxas, had even fallen off the clocktower he so enjoyed once, although thankfully that had been while in the simulated town so nothing had actually happened because of it. Yet he’d gone back up the next day. Perhaps it was the strategic advantage it provided; one could see their surroundings easily when high up in open space, after all.

A curious event then occurred. Kairi picked something up off the ground, froze, and looked out at the Other Sky below the Tower. Had she seen someone? Was someone on a glider? She turned to Mickey and said something; she was possibly upset, though it was difficult to make out her expression from this distance. Mickey visibly jumped and darted over, looking at the ground. He gestured towards the Tower, and he and Kairi hurried inside, no doubt to alert Yen Sid to whatever threat they’d seen. It was near the spot Sora liked, so perhaps something had tried taking him, as Xehanort still wanted him as a vessel. Yet there hadn’t been another disturbance, so clearly they hadn’t left…

Yen Sid settled into his tall-backed chair and teepeed his hands on the wooden desk, remembering to fold into his usual expression of cool stoicism, one that reminded people to show respect, perfectly appropriate for the serious Wise-Old-Master vibe he liked giving off.

The door burst open, and in ran Kairi and Mickey. Kairi, hands on her knees as she tried catching her breath, tried to quickly say something that sounded like “What happens when someone falls off?”, but Mickey put a hand on her shoulder and told her to wait until she could breathe while he, breath already caught due to being more used to running up stairs, spoke to Yen Sid.

“We think they might have fallen off the ground’s edge,” Mickey explained.

Yen Sid raised his eyebrows. “And why would you think that?” he asked. No one had fallen off the edge in the entire century he’d lived there, let along two people at once. He hoped nothing bad happened when people did that; he actually hadn’t ever looked into the results of such.

Kairi, breath finally caught, explained. “I can’t feel them at the Tower anymore; usually I can at least sense Sora nearby, ever since being in his heart. And there are footprints and scuff marks in the dirt near where he likes to sit, plus I found this there; I think it’s Riku’s, since it’s locked…” she held up a GummiPhone.

“And you think that means they both fell off?” Yen Sid asked, worried. Maybe he should have looked into what happens in those cases. “That would explain there being only one disturbance and no hint of an intruder…”

Mickey nodded. “It looks like Sora might have tripped based on the scuff marks. Then there are deeper prints that indicate someone was running towards that point; I suspect Riku tried to catch Sora, but then went over as well.”

“What happens when you fall from there?” Kairi asked, sounding desperate for a positive answer. At the same time, the door opened, and Lea, Donald, and Goofy walked in.

“I’m afraid I do not know,” Yen Sid admitted.

“Fall from where?” Lea asked.

Jiminy, whom they’d again forgotten about, jumped on the desk and answered. “The edge of the ground outside. We suspect there’s no intruder, rather, the disturbance was because Sora and Riku fell off.”

Donald and Goofy made undecipherable sounds of shock.

Lea raised his eyebrows. “Fell… or jumped?”

“What!” Donald squawked. “Why would they do that?”

“Whereas footprints suggest Sora fell, they suggest Riku ran after him,” Yen Sid said. “It is likely he tried to catch Sora, failed, and then accidentally fell too.”

Lea scoffed. “Accidentally? Pu-lease. This is Riku we’re talking about. If Sora fell off, Riku would jump after him without a thought.”

Yen Sid blinked in surprise. He knew Riku was loyal to Sora, but was it truly that much? He turned to Mickey and Kairi, who stood next to each other. “Is this true?” he asked.

Mickey and Kairi both cringed. Kairi nodded, looking pale, while Mickey said. “Probably…” Then he shook his head. “No, definitely. He’s followed Sora into dangerous situations before, remember? First to enter Castle Oblivion, and then during the Mark of Mastery test. Those weren't consciously, but I have no doubt he’d do it consciously too.”

“You really don’t know what happens when someone falls?” Kairi asked quietly.

Yen Sid shook his head. “Let us consult the library; I’m sure there must be a book that explains.”

Sora scratched nervously at his arm, thinking back to the prior conversation. It was all in the open now: Riku knew Sora wasn’t as happy as he tried to seem to everyone. Wasn’t happy at all. How would this change things? Would Riku abandon him? No, Riku wouldn’t, Sora knew that in his heart. Plus Riku had actually said he believed in him so much, said he was strong… he was the only one who had actually said such so meaningfully. Well, Kairi did too, actually. Or used to. He didn’t see much of her at all anymore, so maybe she thought differently now. Probably. But Riku actually had willingly died with him, metaphorically. They hadn’t actually died. But they’d thought they would so it was the same sentiment. Sora’s heart warmed thinking of that, even though he knew on a fundamental level that that probably wasn’t such a healthy thing.

“Hey, Sora, stop it!” Riku said, sounding slightly panicked.

“Huh?” Sora said, snapping out of his thoughts as Riku grabbed Sora’s arm. Sora realized he’d started drawing blood with his nails. Great, Riku knew about this, too. Sora pulled his arm away and muttered a quick “cure” spell, and it was suddenly as though the wounds had never been there, their prior existence evidenced only by the bits of blood which Sora quickly wiped away with his jacket. “Sorry about that! I’m fine,” Sora said, trying his best to sound happy.

Riku scowled at those words. “Bullshit,” he said, and Sora cringed. “How often do you do that?” Riku demanded.

Sora looked away. “It’s just a bad habit. Nothing to worry about.” He did it when he was nervous, or needed something to ground him, that was all. Not a big deal… right?

“Nothing to worry about? Sora, you’re hurting yourself!”

“Nothing a cure spell can’t fix,” Sora pointed out. So, it was fine, Sora figured. Besides, it was mostly just scratches. True, the scratches sometimes led to blood, but cure magic was a thing. So, yeah, it was fine. He was fine.

“That’s not the point,” Riku said, gentler than Sora expected, taking his hands in his. “Sora, I’m worried. It’s a dangerous habit.”

“Again, cure magic exists,” Sora insisted. Why wouldn’t Riku drop it? “It’s not a big deal. Better than it used to be, even.” Wait. Shit. He shouldn’t have said that. Why did he say that?

“What do you mean, ‘better than it used to be’?” Riku demanded.

Sora shook his head. “Nothing. Forget I said that.”

“I can’t just forget you said that, Sora.”

Sora let out a huff. “Fine. Back when… back when everyone was gone, I’d sometimes just feel… numb. I dunno, it was weird. Like I wasn’t there, like things were unreal. Pain helped. But everyone’s back now, and the worlds were restored, so it’s fine. Just a nervous habit, really. I don’t usually feel like that anymore.”

“Don’t usually?”

“Please drop it. I’m fine. I’m better.”

“Better? Sora, nearly stepping off a ledge does not seem better.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Sora snapped, hoping yet again that bringing up the fact that Riku followed him would move the topic away from him.

“Okay, yes, I have issues too, that’s been established,” Riku countered. “This isn’t about that. It’s about you hurting yourself. Sora, this can’t continue.”

Sora began to feel anger rise up, an anger that usually happened in battle… he tried biting it down. This wasn’t the time, and he didn’t actually want to attack Riku.

“Sora?” Riku prodded, upon receiving no response.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Sora growled, angry tears forming.

“You’ll have to sometime,” Riku pressed. “You can’t bottle everything up, it doesn’t lead to any place good. I should know…”

Sora glared at Riku. “Yeah? How would you know? You’re always so perfect!” His voice rose, and Riku looked shocked. “Everyone’s favorite, the Keyblade Master, while I’m just a screw-up everyone would be better off without! Why do you even care?” Sora felt the hurt and anger bubbling up, coursing through his veins. He didn’t care enough to hold it in anymore—or, more accurately, was too tired to fight it. Everything just began spilling out. “The keyblade didn’t even choose me. I’m just the back-up plan! And the only reason I’m a so-called ‘guardian of light’ is because everyone else is missing or whatever. If there were more, I definitely wouldn’t be one. I’m sick of it! I’m sick of being the second-rate hero who can’t do anything without anyone’s help! The instant I was on my own, I failed!”

Riku looked panicked. “Hey, Sora, shhh, you need to calm down now. Firstly, literally none of that is true. Secondly—” Riku’s eyes widened, and Sora realized why.

Sora didn’t care though. He didn’t care that darkness was bubbling out of him. Rage Form, is what he’d named it. Riku had never seen it before. No one but Donald and Goofy had, and they were stupid enough to believe it wasn’t dangerous, that it was just a mistake with a drive or form change or whatever, and something he had control over, something that only attacked heartless and nobodies. But, no. It came out when he got too emotional, or too injured in battle, and attacked pretty indiscriminately. The darkness of it possessed him. It usually only went for heartless, true, but he’d come scarily close to attacking his teammates a few times, unbeknownst to them. The darkness stemming from Sora’s negative emotions, usually pushed to the back of Sora’s mind, behind a dam, in order to stay looking like the happy kid he was supposed to be, was straining. The dam was overflowing. It was only a matter of seconds...

“Sora, please, you have to calm down!” Riku said, trying to maintain a calm voice but clearly failing.

The dam broke. Darkness flowed over Sora, cloaking him. His eyes turned bright red, he knew from descriptions, and the world was tinted red to match. He looked nearly like a heartless. Claws of darkness extended from his fingers, and it cloaked his teeth to create pointy fangs. Sora lowered into a crouch and growled, a deep guttural sound no human could possibly make.

The silver-haired boy in front of Sora backed up, palms facing Sora in a show of surrender. “Hey, shh, it’s just me, Sora,” he said shakily. “Come on. I won’t hurt you, promise. I’m sorry that I upset you. I shouldn’t have kept pushing. Please, Sora…”

Sora barely registered this. He was overcome by the creature that represented all his suppressed emotions, the things he’d hidden away. He darted forwards, meaning to slash at the target of his anger, but the silver-haired boy dodged.

“Hey, come on, Sora, I’m not going to hurt you,” the boy said, only one palm out; the other was holding his upper arm. So Sora had landed a hit, after all. The boy’s heart was racing; Sora could hear it. Fear. The silverette was terrified of him. Good.

Sora didn’t attack again though, confused. Why wasn’t the target attacking? Sora slowly crawled forward on four limbs, curious. The boy backed up slowly too, but eventually ended up with his back to a wall, hands pressing against it, eyes wide in a show of complete fear. Sora sniffed him. Perhaps this was not a foe? But if not, where were the enemies? There should be enemies if he were out.

“Please, Sora…” the silver-haired boy begged, voice almost inaudible, tears in his eyes. “I don’t want to have to fight you… I refuse to…” He sunk to the ground, hands around his knees, low enough to look Sora in the eyes. They were sad eyes, begging eyes. “Please, Sora. Please, snap out of it. I know you’re in there…”

Sora suddenly realized who was in front of him: Riku. Riku was someone that he should never hurt. He needed to protect Riku. But from what? Why was he in this form without enemies around? He needed to find the enemies. Sora turned around, running off to find them.

Riku wasn’t sure how long he sat against the brick wall with his arms around his knees, staring at the ground, heart racing and barely able to breathe; in actuality it was probably only minutes, but it felt like hours. His arm bled slightly where Sora had landed a small slash, but Riku couldn’t bring himself to heal it. Sora. That had been Sora cloaked in darkness and coming at him, prepared to attack. And Riku had pushed him towards that; he could tell Sora was getting upset, yet kept pushing. Why had he kept pushing? Riku, of all people, should have known what the result of that could be. Well… maybe he hadn’t considered quite THAT severe a result, but still. He should have known that pushing things never worked well, particularly with Sora; he’d known Sora his entire life, and this wasn’t exactly the first time Sora had been upset. Yeah, this was on a completely different level, but still. Sora was hurting so badly that darkness had consumed him, and lashed out at Riku as a result. Riku felt he’d failed his friend, or whatever level of relationship they were in now—they hadn’t actually discussed that yet despite the love confessions... Wait, why was he sitting here? He should go find Sora, try to pull him out from that. So why wasn’t he moving? Riku wanted to go find Sora, he really did. His heart wanted to. His mind knew he should. But his body wasn’t moving; it was like he was locked in place, like a stop spell had been put on him even though none had. He moved one hand to the cut on his arm again, feeling the blood that was still dripping. Oh. It must be worse than he'd thought. He needed to heal it… but he still didn’t. Maybe he didn’t want to? Riku wasn’t sure. It was an apt punishment. But Sora would be sad if he saw he hurt Riku. Riku couldn’t heal it right now though, with his body not cooperating.

“Riku!” called a voice, though Riku barely processed it. “Riku! Hey!” Riku felt a hand on his shoulder; he gave a start, and turned his head sharply, eyes wide. Kairi, he realized. Kairi was here. How was Kairi here? “Shh, hey, it’s okay,” Kairi said soothingly. “You’re okay. Come on, look at me.” Riku looked into her bright blue eyes. “Okay, good. Now, deep breaths.” Oh. He was having a panic attack, Riku realized. The mild dissociation was new, but yeah, he’d had these before. Kairi had talked him down from them before, just like she was doing now.

Riku forced himself to follow Kairi’s instructions, her soothing voice. Slowly, he came back to himself, everything starting to feel real again. His heart rate was still slightly elevated, but it was almost back to a regular pace, and his breathing had slowed back to normal. “Thanks, Kairi,” he said softly, voice sounding a little rough.

Kairi smiled at him. “Feeling better?” She looked at his arm, and her mouth formed a worried ‘o’. “You’re hurt! Here, let me heal you.” Kairi used a ‘cura’ spell to quell the bleeding, and the skin closed up until there was no hint of a wound other than the blood. She’d gotten really good at healing magic.

“Gosh, did something attack you?” someone else said, and Riku looked past Kairi to see Mickey. He was flanked by Donald, Goofy, and Lea. Riku blinked a few times, processing the question too slowly.

“Where’s Sora!?” Donald asked with worry. At least, that’s what Riku thought the garbled squawking meant.

Right. Sora. “He, uh…” How should Riku put this? “He ran off… he, uh, got upset, and then became cloaked in darkness—”

“Oh, that happens sometimes,” Goofy casually interrupted. “He calls it ‘Rage-Form’. It happens if he gets really hurt or angry in battle sometimes. But it’s okay, he only attacks heartless and nobodies when like that, never allies.”

Riku shakily stood up with Kairi’s help, almost fully back to his senses now, worry for Sora overtaking everything, and anger bubbling up. “Okay, firstly, you probably should have mentioned that to someone the first time it happened, because being cloaked in darkness when angry is not a normal occurrence and usually indicates underlying problems. Secondly, there were no heartless around. We weren’t in a battle. This,” he gestured to the significant amount of blood on his arm, “was caused by him. Clearly, it does not exclude allies as much as you think it does, at least when he’s angry at them.”

“But he told us it was okay!” Donald said indignantly.

“Well, he lied!”

“Sora doesn’t lie,” Goofy argued.

Riku looked at Goofy incredulously. “Seriously? You think he… ugh, whatever, let’s just go find him!” Riku turned on his heel and began to walk off, only to be stopped by Kairi’s hand on his wrist.

“Riku. You need to stay calm,” the redhead said.

“I am calm,” Riku grunted. “We have to find him before he hurts himself or something. He wasn’t in his right mind.”

“Oh, it only lasts a few minutes,” Goofy informed him, still unworried.

“Okay, fine,” Riku acknowledged, though still not consoled. “We still need to find him; he shouldn’t be alone right now.” Not when he was in danger of hurting himself or worse.

“No need,” said Lea, pointing past them. “He found us… and I don’t think it’s worn off.”

Everyone turned to look. Sure enough, a darkness-cloaked Sora was standing a few buildings up the brick street, crouched down and slowly approaching them on four legs. He seemed cautious, red eyes wary instead of angry.

Kairi let go of Riku and began walking towards the dark-cloaked Sora.

“Kairi, no, it’s dangerous!” Riku tried to warn her.

“I can bring him out of it,” Kairi replied with determination.

“Let her do it,” Mickey said. “She’s brought him back before with her light; hopefully she can do it again.” Right. Kairi was a Princess of Heart, and had managed to bring Sora back from being a full-fledged heartless; if anyone could bring Sora out of this ‘Rage-Form’, she could.

Sora apparently had other ideas. Once Kairi got close, he leapt to the side and growled. She stilled, then tried getting closer, only for Sora to leap right over her—and straight into Riku, knocking him to his back and sitting on top of him.

Riku braced for the pain of claws, but none came. Instead, Sora… nuzzled his chest? And purred like a cat? Riku was extremely confused at this turn of events. “Um. Hey, Sora,” Riku said, nervously moving a hand to the brunette’s shoulder, then looked towards the group and mouthed ‘what do I do?’

Riku received an assortment of bewildered looks, shrugs, and shakes of heads.

Thankfully he didn’t have to do anything, as the darkness began to dissipate on its own, leaving a sleeping Sora in its wake.

Kairi leaned against Riku’s shoulder. Riku had moved back to the wall and was stroking Sora’s hair while Sora remained asleep in his lap. Kairi, naturally, had joined the two. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were standing off a ways having a private conversation, most likely about how the duck and dog had hidden the Rage-Form from everyone. Lea was sitting on the wall too, but a little bit away from them, not yet comfortable with their level of affection. Yet. Kairi intended to get him in their group eventually; maybe once Roxas was out he’d be more amicable to that. Oh, but didn’t Roxas have issues with Riku? Hmm. Kairi would have to be sure to monitor that; she was certain they could be friends, too. They all could. They’d invite Ventus and Aqua to be friends, too; the keybladers all had to stick together!

“So, going to tell us what happened?” Kairi ventured cautiously, testing the waters.

Riku shook his head. “Not right now. Wait until Sora wakes up; I don’t want to have to explain it many times, and some of it Sora should tell himself.”

“Oh. Okay,” Kairi said, slightly confused. Wasn’t it simple? They accidentally fell, and ended up in Traverse Town. Oh, maybe it was their argument that was sensitive, the one that had led to Rage-Form. Which was strange for Sora, of all people, to have. Kairi wondered how that had come about; was it a lingering effect from being a heartless? It did look similar to one. There was just so much darkness though… that had been buried in Sora? How hadn’t she noticed?

“He’s waking up,” Riku whispered, looking at Sora fondly, and something clicked in Kairi's mind. She’d seen Sora give Riku similar looks, when he thought people weren’t looking. That’s why Sora had fled to Riku: love had been the key to dispelling the form, not light. Then again, love was a form of light, wasn’t it? At least it was in Kairi’s opinion.

“Mmmm. What happened? Where am I?” Sora mumbled as he blinked open his eyes. “Riku? Ngh…” Sora cringed as he tried sitting up.

“Hey, relax,” Kairi said, pressing on Sora’s shoulder to gently push him back into Riku’s lap.

“Kairi?” Sora asked. Kairi could practically hear the gears spinning in Sora’s brain. “Wait, I was… oh, shit!” Sora sat up abruptly, staring at Riku with wide eyes. His eyes fell to the blood on Riku’s arm. “I hurt you!” Sora whined in distress, looking panicked.

“Hey, shh, it’s okay, Sora,” Riku said, putting his hands on the brunette’s shoulders. “It was just a scratch. It’s healed now.”

“But I attacked you,” Sora whimpered, tears forming in his eyes. Kairi was surprised; Sora rarely allowed himself to cry around others. He must be extremely stressed.

“Hey, Sora, shhh. It’s okay. I’m not upset about it,” Riku said soothingly. Kairi smiled; of course. Riku could never be upset at Sora for long, at least not without outside influence. “How are you feeling?” Riku asked Sora gently.

Sora looked down guiltily. “Um. I’m a bit sore, but that’s normal after this happens… hey!” Sora blushed; Riku had instantly used a cure spell at those words. Kairi stifled a giggle; that was such a Riku thing to do.

“It’s happened before?” Riku asked tepidly. Kairi understood the nervousness; she didn’t think it’d be likely to happen so soon, but getting Sora upset apparently could be… well. Dangerous.

Sora nodded slowly, then noticed Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. “Yeah. They probably told you that already though, huh?”

“Right. Yeah, they did,” Riku recalled. “I think Mickey’s been scolding them about not reporting it… why did you try so hard to hide it?”

Sora shrugged and looked away. “I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“Sora,” Riku said flatly, and Sora cringed at the tone.

Sora sighed. “Okay, fine. I didn’t want to bother everyone with it, okay? It’s my problem. I was dealing with it fine.”

Riku raised an eyebrow. “By letting it periodically rampage?”

Sora bit his lip in response, letting his silence speak for him.

“Sora,” Riku continued. “That type of darkness is especially dangerous.” Kairi blinked at that. Type of darkness? There were types? Riku continued, “You have to express your emotions. You can’t just bury them behind a wall, festering into raw, angry darkness until they burst in an uncontrolled manner.”

“Then what should I do with them?” Sora whispered. “I told you, I’m supposed to make everyone happy. I can’t do that if I’m always not-happy. I have to hide them.” Oh, so that’s what was going on, Kairi realized.

Kairi put a hand on Sora’s knee, startling him. He looked at her, wide-eyed. “Sora,” she said. “It’s okay to not be happy all the time. It’s not your job to make everyone happy. It’s nice you’re our sunshine, sure, but you shouldn’t need to sacrifice your own happiness for it.”

Sora's voice was barely audible. “But I’m never happy,” he said, looking in his lap. Kairi blinked. That was… unexpected. Probably not actually true, either. But still. He felt that way at the moment. Sora had been suffering so much; how had she missed it? True, she hadn’t seen much of Sora at all recently, but she was still his best friend, next to Riku. It should have been clear to her. Then again, Sora was scarily good at hiding his emotions… a dawning horror began seeding in Kairi’s mind: what if it hadn’t been an accident that Sora tumbled over the edge of the ground? She immediately inwardly berated herself for the stray thought. No, that was impossible.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy returned to the group. Sora immediately stood up and began profusely apologizing.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mickey said with a dismissive wave of his hand, while the rest of the group stood too. “We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to discuss how you two got here.”

Riku and Sora winced at that, but seemed unsure what to say.

Kairi gave them a nudge. “From the marks on the ground, it looks like you accidentally fell.” At least, Kairi hoped that was all it was.

Sora cringed. “Uh. Y-yeah. I tripped over a rock.”

Riku frowned. “Sora. That’s not the full story.”

Sora paled, clearly stunned that his best friend would make him discuss this. Kairi wondered what he was so nervous about. “Riku!” the brunette said, sounding a little panicked.

“Sora. You tell them, or I do.” Riku crossed his arms. Kairi felt her heart falling slightly; had that seed of horror actually been telling her the truth?

“You wouldn’t!” Sora softly yelled, voice definitely panicked as well as angry.

Riku stood firm. “Yes, I would. I don’t want this happening again, Sora.”

“And it won’t! Come on, Riku. You saw how Ventus and Roxas stopped me. So I’m fine. It won’t happen again,” Sora promised. Kairi blinked. Stopped him? From what? No. It wasn’t what she thought, couldn’t be.

Riku raised an eyebrow. “And when they’re freed from your heart? What then?”

Sora winced. “I… well, I still wouldn’t, now knowing what YOU would do in response! Seriously? Diving after me?” Kairi bit back a gasp; it wasn’t an accident that he went over too? She knew Riku was dedicated to Sora, but that much?

Lea whistled. “Whoa, let’s cool down, kids, okay?”

“Riku, you willingly dove over a cliff just because Sora fell?” Kairi said in shock.

“Yeah, what are you, suicidal?” Lea joked, only to be met by awkward silence from Sora and Riku instead of the denial or banter he clearly expected. Kairi was in shock at the lack of response; did that mean it was true? For both of them? How had she not seen it? Lea blinked in realization, then said quietly, “Oh. Sorry…”

Mickey gasped. “Riku! Is that true?”

“What? N-no, not really,” Riku defended. “I’m not... wouldn’t actually…”

Sora scoffed, vitriol returning. “Oh, right, you say that now, but the second you saw me fall you dove right over! You knowingly followed me into what we both assumed would be death! What were the words? Without me, it wasn’t worth living?”

“Oh, like you’re one to talk!” Riku snapped, turning back to Sora.

“BOYS!” Mickey said loudly, and both boys stopped arguing in order to angrily glare in opposite directions.

Jiminy Cricket appeared on Kairi’s shoulder. “Now, boys, let’s be civil and explain what happened without—”

“Where the hell were you hiding?!” Kairi nearly squeaked. It had not been in her hood; she had seen him jump from somewhere in front of her, of which there was only one hiding spot.

“Let’s not worry about that,” the cricket said ambiguously. “Now, boys, we must tell the truth here without getting emotional. Can we do—ack! Sora, what are you doing?!”

Sora had narrowed his eyes and picked up the cricket by his waistcoat. “I saw where you were hiding,” he said in a low hiss; then he flicked Jiminy away, the cricket flying far into the distance.

“Sora!” Donald scolded. “We don’t throw teammates!”

“Then maybe you should tell him that hiding in a girl’s bra is a bad thing to do! Isn’t he supposed to act as a conscience or something? Some conscience that is!”

“Gawrsh, aren’t we getting a bit off topic now?” Goofy said, and the three teens glared at him.

“I’m gonna squish that bug when he gets back,” Kairi said, and Riku nodded in agreement.

“Okay, no one is crushing Jiminy!” Mickey said loudly. “I will talk to him again about appropriate hiding places later.”—Again? It had happened before?!—“For now, let’s return to the subject at hand: how specifically did you two end up here? Detailed and without the argument, please.”

“I told you, I fell,” Sora said petulantly. “Then, Riku followed.” He glanced at Riku, who was giving him a Look. Kairi knew that look; Sora would definitely cave in 3… 2… 1... “Okay, fine, there was more to it,” Sora admitted, resigning with a sigh. “I technically really did accidentally fall. But before that I tried to intentionally jump. Roxas and Ventus briefly gained control and stopped me. But when I heard Riku call to me in panic, and turned around, I tripped over a rock and went over.” Kairi bit her lip. Sora really had… tried to… again, how could she have missed that he was hurting so much? Kairi had been in his heart, she should have been able to tell…

“And you followed, Riku?” Mickey asked, turning to the silverette.

Riku nodded sheepishly and looked away. “I… yeah. I did.” Then, his voice strengthened and he looked up, directly at the mouse. “And I would do it again, every time,” he said resolutely. “I’d rather be dead with Sora than alive without him.” Sora was nodding as Riku said that, stars in his eyes as he looked at the silverette, clearly holding the same sentiment towards Riku as well as reverence towards having someone be so loyal to him. Well. That was definitely not healthy at all, on either of their parts.

Mickey seemed unsure what to say to that.

“You’ve got issues,” Donald squawked bluntly. Kairi glared at the duck. Okay, definitely not the right approach for that.

Mickey didn’t think so either. “Donald!” he scolded.

“What? It’s true!” the duck argued.

Sora glared at Donald, but Riku merely shrugged and said jokingly, “I don’t deny it; you don’t get possessed by darkness to the point of destroying a world by being mentally stable.”

“It’s not funny!” Kairi burst. “I thought you were working on that!”

“Well, yeah. Hence why I’m joking. But loyalty to Sora isn’t one of the issues; that’s a good thing.” Riku frowned at the end. “Isn’t it?”

“Uh, no, dude, not to that extent,” Lea jumped in. “Pretty sure that’s called ‘dangerously codependent’.”

Sora replied to that. “You’re one to talk,” he huffed. “Didn’t you literally sacrifice yourself because you wanted to see Roxas again? You had no idea you’d return to being a Somebody after.”

Lea cringed. “Okay, so maybe I’ve got some similar issues, sue me.”

Kairi was beginning to feel overwhelmed by all this. Why were all her friends so willing to sacrifice themselves? She didn’t understand. They’d done so in the past for her, too, come to think of it. She should make sure they knew not to do that again; yes, she’d want to live, but not at the cost of a friend’s life! Kairi knew very well people would die in this war, possibly even herself. If she did, she did; that was fate, and Kairi believed in fate. If one of them sacrificed themselves for her again, she’d murder them herself, Kairi decided. Well, not really. That’d be impossible, and she could never bring herself to do such anyway. But still, the sentiment was there. They surely wouldn’t want her dying to save them, so why would they think the opposite would be true? Although Riku’s reasoning for attempting to die for Sora today hadn’t exactly been like that—no, he had followed Sora to suspected death to be with Sora, not sacrificed himself to save Sora. Kairi couldn’t imagine doing that, even if one of them had died. Did that mean she didn’t love them enough? Was that what true love was, being willing to die for or with someone?

Kairi had barely been processing the conversation between Mickey and the boys as she was lost in her thoughts, though it seemed like it was an attempt to convince them both to get therapy, which wasn’t working too well considering Riku had just stomped off with Sora in tow, grabbing his hand on the way while Mickey ran to follow. Lea stayed though; apparently he had already been going to therapy, though Kairi had no idea when he found the time, as she thought he’d been training with her 24/7. Then again, time in the forest worked strangely, so maybe disappearing for only a minute of forest time meant an hour or so outside even though theoretically it should work the opposite. She’d ask Lea later; right now Kairi didn’t really want to talk much, as she still felt so overwhelmed.

Lea noticed, and put a hand on her shoulder, smiling. “It’ll all work out,” he said gently. Kairi nodded, giving a small smile too. Lea was right; everything would work out. It always did.

“This is your fault,” Sora said stubbornly, crossing his arms as he sat sideways on the bed in their room at Yen Sid’s Mysterious Tower, against the wall it was pressed up against.

“I know,” Riku agreed, sitting next to Sora, with his knees up and hands slung over them. “I shouldn’t have pressed things, and shouldn’t have mentioned stuff.”

“Damn straight,” Sora mumbled angrily, though it seemed halfhearted. Sora had already forgiven Riku earlier, thank the gods. Riku didn’t know what he’d do if Sora hadn’t, although he would understand why. Maybe Riku being trapped along with Sora had helped.

Riku sighed. He’d wanted to get Sora help, yes, but didn’t expect it to be like this, or for himself to get dragged into things! He’d thought that it’d be something simpler, like Donald and Goofy being asked to keep a closer eye on Sora when on missions or whatever. Yet instead Mickey and Yen Sid had mandated them both be confined to their room, anything ‘dangerous’ taken away, and only allowed out with supervision, until a psychiatrist determined it was safe otherwise. Donald and Goofy were staying in the Tower with them; Kairi had wanted to stay too, but she still needed too much training. Riku did not like the dog and duck very much, but Sora did for some reason, so he’d deal. They’d be escorting them to the kitchen for meals and the library for studies—physical keyblade and magic training had been banned until they were cleared by the psychiatrist. It was a huge overreaction, in Riku's opinion.

Until cleared for otherwise, they’d only be allowed out of the Tower for mandated psychiatric care and therapy in Twilight Town with a counselor who knew all about keyblades and things. The first session had been earlier that day. The two had insisted upon going together, to the therapist’s chagrin. Eventually they’d need separate sessions, they’d been told, but for now it was fine. Words he’d said floated around in Riku’s mind, words like ‘codependent’ and ‘low self-esteem’ and ‘unhealthy coping mechanisms’ and ‘anger management issues’. Sora had been given a cursory diagnosis of depression and given medicine for it, although the names of other things like ‘PTSD’, ‘anxiety disorder’, ‘attention-deficit disorder’, ‘bipolar’, et cetera had floated around too, as of yet to be determined—for both of them. They’d both been given charts to track their moods and emotions, as well as long survey packets to fill out with awkward questions.

It was all quite excessive; Riku had been dealing with things fine, except for the so-called ‘codependency’ they’d called his loyalty to Sora, which he still didn’t see as an issue. Yet they were all acting like he’d do something reckless, too! Which, okay, he had, but still. He wouldn’t do something like that again, unless Sora was in trouble. It was Riku’s duty to help Sora. He was his dream-eater. Riku would follow Sora into oblivion. Nothing wrong with that.

After a long bout of silence, both boys lost in their own thoughts, Riku said, “I really didn’t expect them to go this far with things.”

Sora sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“I dragged you into this,” Sora said.

“What? No, I—hey, stop that!” Riku grabbed Sora’s arm, which he’d been scratching at, and used a cure spell, even though there was no blood this time.

Sora blushed. “Sorry.”

Riku sighed and slid off the bed, moving to one of the desks—the only one with any space to work, as Sora used his own to just dump stuff on. He pulled the packets of paperwork over to him and found a pen. “We might as well start working on these surveys…”

“Ugh. Do we have to?” Sora complained, falling to the side and spreading out on the bed.

“Better sooner than later.”

“Read them to me?” Sora requested.

Riku chuckled, smiling fondly. He had expected that. “Sure.” Riku opened Sora’s packet and read the first question. “On a scale of 1 to 5…”