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Riku snorts when he sees Sora stumble out of his front door, almost tripping over his large feet and desperately clutching onto an aluminum tin. His mom calls out to wish him a good day, and his ma laughingly tells him to wish Riku a happy birthday from her. Sora shouts back he will; Riku raises his voice, too.
“Thanks, Arisa!”
Sora smiles at him as he basically skips towards him, and Riku hums as Arisa whistles at him before the front door closes. Turning his attention to his friend, Riku looks at how big the tin is. Someone went overboard.
Again.
Laughing, Riku ruffles Sora’s hair, ignoring Sora crying out for his balance. “You’ve fought against heartless, but holding one oversized tin is enough to get you scared?”
“You’re gonna ruin the cupcakes! I frosted them, and everything!”
“I hope you don’t expect me to carry those around school all day. Kairi’s made me some, too, right?”
Sora perks up at the mention of his girlfriend, and Riku grows fond against his own volition. The two of them are cute together, just like he knew they’d be. Riku lets out a small smile while Sora answers.
“Yep! And you have to eat all of them.” Sora gives him a mock glare. “No giving them out to the rest of our year.”
Eyebrow rising, “No? You know Selphie’s gonna take one of each, and Tidus is gonna whine until I feed him.”
“They’re our friends! But no one else! We worked hard on these!” A dusting of pink litters Sora’s cheeks. “And they’re special. We made them with extra love this year.”
“…are you saying that my cupcakes from two years ago, you held out on me?”
“You’re so annoying.” Sora bumps his shoulder with Riku, still ever so careful about the tin in his arms. “You know what I meant, stink face.”
Riku thinks he does; for a while, none of them thought they’d get to see another birthday. And his is the first one since they’ve been reunited. It’s more than just him getting another year older; it’s a symbol that they’ve made it, that they’re all still together. “Of course, Sora.”
“Good.”
Sora lingers close to his arm, Sora’s own brushing up against Riku’s, all the way to Kairi’s house. Riku smiles over his friend’s head, just looking at him, fondness coursing through him – they could make it to Kairi’s house blindfolded, the both of them. Listening as Sora chatters about what he thinks of last night’s episode of his moms’ favorite drama, Kairi’s house draws closer and closer. She’s waiting for them, no mad dash like Sora to greet them.
In her hands is another tin, this time a glass one. Riku can make out chocolate cupcakes and yellow frosting.
“Riku! Happy birthday!” Kairi beams at him, raising the baked goods in her arms. “Mine are better than Sora’s.”
“They are not! You’re using my ma’s recipe, may I remind you.”
Snorting, Riku leans down pretend to inspect them. “I dunno, Sora. Did you make the frosting yellow?”
“Duh.”
“Chocolate cake?”
“Obviously.”
Riku straightens, putting on a solemn face. “Then it comes down to taste.”
Kairi giggle-snorts while Sora huffs. “None of you appreciate the blessing Ma gave us.”
“Aw, of course we do.” Riku pulls the both of them to him slowly so as not to disrupt the cupcakes, arms around their shoulders. “Thank you for the extra love cupcakes, guys.”
Both Sora and Kairi’s faces heat up, Riku notes. His stomach flutters at the reminder of how important he is to them. He can’t believe his younger self was jealous and doubtful because of Sora’s crush. Even with the new development of his friends dating, he’s still just as included as he’s ever been.
“You’re welcome, Ri.” Kairi grins up at him. “Everyone is gonna pout seeing you’re already loaded up with stuff.”
Riku groans. “You’d think after being gone a year I wouldn’t be popular anymore.”
“Ha! So you’re going carry the cupcakes!”
“Of course he is. And it’s because you look like a bad boy. Also you’ve got soft hair.”
Ignoring Sora, Riku blows his bangs out of his face. “You think a haircut would cut it?”
“No.” Kairi and Sora pout at him. “Do you want to cut it?”
Shrugging, Riku notes they’re almost at school. “I just thought of it.”
“Well, you’d look hot long or short hair.” Kairi gives him a wide mouthed smile, face full of affection. “I’ll get Selphie to give you a discount if you really want a cut.”
Sora laughs. “She’d probably do it for free just to say she got to touch it.”
“Probably,” agrees Kairi.
Riku rolls his eyes, detaching himself from his friends. “Why aren’t either of you disastrously unattainable in the eyes of the student body?”
“We don’t have muscles, sadly.”
“I could workout with you two, you know.” Both of his friends make disgusted faces at him. “Fine, don’t join me in popularity.”
“We’ll survive, I’m sure,” Sora drawls as he opens up his tin. “Take one so I can eat one!”
Rolling his eyes, Riku obliges and takes out two cupcakes, knowing Kairi won’t eat one until break. “You could’ve just had one before putting them in here.”
“They’re for you!”
“And you’re still gonna eat like half of them.”
“Duh, you aren’t gonna eat like fifty cupcakes by yourself.”
Kairi laughs at Sora talking with cupcake in his mouth. “Maybe finish your bite first.”
“No.”
Riku shares the long suffering look Kairi shoots him. Sora, while the greatest friend they could ask for, is a sloppy heathen. Kairi shakes her head at her boyfriend, rolling her eyes as he proceeds to inhale the rest of his cupcake. Riku purposefully makes a show of slowly eating his, enjoying the way Sora makes silly chewing faces at him. Kairi fondly mutters about them, eyes slipping between them.
Wiping the little frosting he got off the corner of his mouth, Riku lets out an exaggerated sigh as he holds out his arms; with Kairi saying he’s gonna carry the cupcakes, it’s better to just give in. Kairi’s cheeks are flushed with happiness, probably because he didn’t even pretend to resist. She places her tin in his hands, and Sora delicately stacks his on top.
“A birthday Riku, ready for the masses!”
Snorting, Riku pulls his arms in a little. “I’m always ready for the masses.”
“Uh huh.” Kairi pushes some of her hair behind her ear, glancing at Sora before him. “I’ll see you at lunch?”
“You know it!”
Riku nods. “Yeah. Please don’t make any dramatic birthday declarations.”
“There will be no promises,” both of them say in sync.
–
Selphie gawks at him when he walks into class. Riku takes his seat next to her. “Another Sora and Kairi cupcake bash.”
“No shit.” She lifts Sora’s tin up to get to Kairi’s, fiddling to get one cupcake from each. “I’m so jealous; did you see what my boyfriend did for my birthday?”
“I still say you should break up with him.”
“He’s cute, though! And I guess we can’t all have Sora’s ma’s talent for chocolate cake.” Selphie takes a bite, moaning at the taste. She finishes chewing before continuing. “Besides, not all boyfriends can be as great as Sora.”
Riku thinks of how Sora thinks the absolute world of Kairi, how far he’d go for her safety, the easy way the two transitioned from friends to lovers. The lack of any jealousy between them for how close Riku and Kairi are. “Touché.”
“Soooo!” Selphie raises her eyebrows suggestively. “Any plans for after school?”
Wrinkling his nose at the implication, Riku shakes his head as he digs into his backpack for his pen. Their teacher should be in soon. “We’re probably gonna go to the play island, hang out.” ‘We’ is easy enough for Selphie to figure out is Sora and Kairi; it’s not like Riku really hangs out with anyone else besides them and her. “Sora’s mom’s probably gonna make dinner.”
Selphie blinks at him. “You’re not spending your b-day dinner at home?”
“No.” His tone is harsh, but he knows it’ll make Selphie drop it.
True to form, her lips pull up into another smile. “What did the lovebirds get you?”
“Cupcakes.”
“Rikuuuuu,” she whines.
“Probably an embarrassing announcement at lunch, if I’m right.”
“You’re so lame. I’d be fawning if my boyfriend did any of the things Kairi and Sora do for you.”
“Break up with him, Selphie,” Riku tells her as their teacher walks in.
–
Tidus takes a plateful of cupcakes; he came to class with a plate ready.
“Dude, I’ve looked forward to your birthday since we were babies. Sora’s ma’s cupcakes are the shit.”
“I’m feeling very used.”
Shoving cupcake into his mouth, Tidus nods. “You know our friendship is just a sham. I’m only here for Sora benefits.”
“That hurts.” Riku puts a hand to his heart. “I thought what we had was special.”
“Nope!”
Swiping at him, Riku is pleased to see frosting jam into the other boy’s cheek as he misses his mouth. “Asshole.”
“I’ll let that slide since you’re gonna let me eat as many of these as I want.” Tidus wags a finger at him. “But know, come tomorrow, I’m gonna be pissed at you for ruining my cupcake.”
“Sure you are.”
“I am. And I’ll beat you at something, for once.”
“Kairi and Selphie’s scoreboard doesn’t agree with you.”
“I hate you. But tell Sora I love his ma.”
“You can tell Sora that yourself, weirdo.”
Tidus slaps his shoulder. “What’d Sora get you anyway? Kairi?”
“Cupcakes.”
Groaning, Tidus punches his shoulder this time. “You used that on Selphie, too, didn’t you?”
“Yep.” Riku dusts off his shoulder, making a point of blowing off the imaginary dust. “You two are too easy.”
“I bet Sora and Kairi can say that about you.” He wiggles his eyebrows the exact same way Selphie did. “You gonna give it up today, huh, Riku? We gonna see a kiss today?”
Eyebrows scrunching, Riku looks at Tidus. He’s not dating anyone. He’s never even flirted with anyone at school. “What are you and Selphie on about today?”
“Psh. We’re just being nosy; sources say birthdays are romantic occasions.” Tidus dramatically lies across his desk, barely missing his cupcake plate. “Besides, I’m living vicariously through you and Selphie, man.”
“…I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“I guess you of all people wouldn’t.” Tidus looks up at him pathetically. “Can I steal more cupcakes?”
“It’s not like I was stopping you before.”
–
Sora and Kairi are waiting for him at their usual table, hands linked together. Riku smiles at how cute they are, both of them raising their hands, still connected, to wave him over. Their smiles are beaming, and Riku makes his way over. Sora’s cheeks dimple while Kairi’s eyes crinkle.
“Are you two gonna embarrass me?”
“Nope!” Sora declares. Kairi reaches for a cupcake, one of the ones Sora made since it’s easier to get to one handed. “We’re just gonna play footsie under the table and eat lunch.”
Kairi’s foot comes out to bump his, shortly followed by both of Sora’s, and Riku laughs. Of course Sora was serious.
“You dorks.”
A peak of Sora’s tongue while Kairi salutes. “You know it.”
“Embarrassing you comes after school.”
“Oh, so your moms are gonna participate?”
“Yep!”
“Kairi, please save me.”
“No way. Go against Sora’s moms? Pass.”
Riku knocks her foot. “So much for trust.”
“You wouldn’t trade me for the worlds.”
“You’re damn right.”
One of Sora’s feet does a little kick, and his arm comes up so he can rest his cheek on his palm. “I love you two.”
“Love you, too,” is Kairi’s easy response.
“Me, too.”
“It’s ‘me, three,’ c’mon, Riku,” comes Tidus, swinging down to sit by him. “If there’s three of you, you might as well do it right.”
“Nobody asked you.”
Selphie waves Riku off as she sits on the other side of him. “The peanut gallery always is allowed opinions.”
“Are not,” says Sora. “It’s still ‘too,’ anyway. Two people love me, not three.”
“Don’t you ever bring grammar up to me ever again. You gotta do it for the vibe.”
Selphie and Kairi roll their eyes, and Sora sticks his tongue out. Riku grabs a cupcake. Sora’s right, but not for the reason he gave; Riku, however, isn’t gonna give Tidus anything.
“So, where the fuck are my gifts, anyway, Tidus, Selphie?”
Flipping her hair with an eyeroll, Selphie doesn’t even look at him as she opens her lunch sack. “I didn’t get you anything. Do you want–” she pulls out fruit gummies and waves them.
“On principle.”
She hands them over, and Riku raises his eyebrow at Tidus. Sora’s face is red trying to hold in his laughter. Kairi’s hand is over her mouth in amusement.
“Dude, my presence is a present.” Tidus shrugs. “I have nothing.”
“Some friend you are. I got you a smoothie.”
“Yeah, because it wasn’t on a school day!”
“Your point?”
“Kairi, tell him to stop being mean to me.”
Kairi puts her hand on top of his, her face now serious. “Riku, keep going.”
“Rude!”
Selphie tuts while Sora can’t contain his laughter any longer. “You know they’ll never team up against each other, Tidus.”
“I can hope; what was that saying about friends before girlfriends?” Tidus waves his hand. “And Soras.”
Kairi snorts while Sora lets out a “hey!” “Even before we were dating he’d pick us over you, remember?”
Riku blinks. And he examines Kairi to see if she’s feeling okay; she’s dating Sora, not him. He ignores whatever Tidus comes back with, and turns his attention to Sora. Sora, who isn’t even jokingly butting in, who isn’t even fazed, who just has a big smile on his face. It doesn’t settle right in his stomach. Sora would never take it to mean anything – there’s a reason he trusts Kairi and he trusts him – but what Kairi said isn’t right.
Sora notices him looking, his smile getting softer. Riku, for just a moment, thinks about not drawing any attention to this weird moment – to just confront Kairi later. But he immediately puts that thought out of his head. The three of them are a team, and Kairi said this in front of the both of them. Besides, Sora’ll probably love teasing him once this is over; Riku’s probably missing something.
Subtly jerking his head, Riku starts packing away his lunch. Sora nods, and Kairi, ever aware, also starts putting away her tiny food containers.
“Well, it’s time for us to give Riku one of his presents!” Sora gives an apologetic smile to their friends. “Riku, close your eyes. It’s in our spot.”
Selphie squeaks. “You waited until half of lunch was over just to tease us!”
“Maybe.” Kairi puts her hand on Selphie’s. “But you’ll get to see it next class, so I think you’ll forgive us.”
“It better be good!”
Riku snorts as he picks up the cupcake tins and stands. Sora throws his lunch pack hazardously into his backpack while Kairi puts hers in her front pouch. “I think it’s my job to judge if their presents are good or not.”
Sora pushes him forward, and Kairi slots herself on his other side. Her hand hangs close to his, ready for either him to take it or for her to take his if he’s feeling overwhelmed. Sora’s stays on the small of his back. Swallowing, Riku feels bad that they think he’s…feeling lost, as they’ve taken to calling it when one of them needs the reminder that they’re finally home.
Once they reach the little supply closet that is never locked and never checked, Kairi leans in to look him in eyes after he places the cupcakes on a shelf. “You okay, Ri?”
“Yeah.” Riku gives her a reassuring smile before dropping it to continue. “I’m just…confused. About earlier.”
“Earlier?” Sora asks, his hand drawing away from his back. He puts his hands above his head.
“Kairi said we were dating.”
Both of his friends look at him blankly. “Uh, yeah?”
“Um.” Riku can’t detect anything but confusion from them. “You two are dating?”
He’s met with frowns, Sora and Kairi looking at each other before Kairi’s hand comes up to his forehead under his bangs. Her hand is warm against his skin. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay, Ri?”
“Did you hit your head? Are you missing anything?”
Riku shakes his head, Kairi’s hand falling to instead over hesitantly around his cheek.
“But you don’t remember us asking you out?” she says.
“You….have never asked me out.” Riku thinks over all his memories, trying to find any piece at all makes any sense of this. Kairi and Sora have been their usual selves, nothing at all telling him something is out of place or someone’s been dream snatched or he’s being messed with. “Are you my Kairi and Sora?”
Sora whacks him in the arm. “Are you our Riku?”
“Neither of you have mentioned alternate realities, so one of you better start talking, my Sora and Riku or not.”
“We’ve never encountered them, but Kairi! We’ve had so many date nights, he can’t be ours if he hasn’t lost any memories!”
Riku sighs. “How about we start from where we remember dating beginning and go from there.”
“Right.” Sora nods enthusiastically.
Kairi sits down, patting the spots beside her. “We might as well get comfortable.”
Riku folds himself down as best as he can, but Kairi and Sora prod at his legs until he just sits with them on top of the two of them. It’s more comfortable, like Kairi wanted, and she smirks at him for it before pushing some hair behind her eye, face getting serious.
“So, I guess Sora and I’ll go first.” She grabs Sora’s hand, fiddling with his fingers. “Remember after Tidus’s birthday, we went to the play island for the weekend? And we watched the sunset?”
“And Sora wanted to sleep right there on the beach? Yeah.” Riku smiles. “I had to throw him over my shoulder to get him up to the shack.”
“Listen, it would’ve been nice!!”
“Not after the tide came up.” Riku and Kairi counter at the same time.
Sora rolls his eyes. “But, we changed into our pajamas, and the two of you were very warm. I almost kissed you right there.” He scratches his head. “I figured it’d be better to wait until morning, though.”
Kairi flicks his forehead while Riku laughs.
“Stop it.” Sora pouts at them. “But morning rolled around, and the sun was shining just right to make both of your hair shiny when we went back out. And when you grabbed us, I had to.”
Kairi’s smiling, love woven into her face despite her blush. Sora’s cheeks are flushed, and Riku feels too warm. Sora’s always frank about his emotions, but for the most part Riku’s never been exposed to it in a romantic context. Listening to Sora talk about his memory – their memory, so far nothing has changed between their recollections expect the end product – makes Riku wish that he could have what they’re insisting is real.
Swallowing, Riku ignores the urge to grab at his friends. Sora and Kairi are happy, and he won’t ruin it in a moment of weakness at whatever is happening here.
“Kairi let me kiss her, but you told me not to.” Sora flashes a smile at him. Riku feels his stomach drop; his Sora had done the same thing. “You looked really panicked about it, so I grabbed your hands, and I told you I loved you. Then you told me you love me, too, and that it was about time, and you let me rest my head on your shoulder while Kairi made us breakfast. And I told her I love her, too. That’s how we started dating!”
Riku stares at his friend, and then he turns to stare at Kairi. He once again looks at Sora. “That’s…exactly how I remember you two started dating.”
Kairi groans. “What part of that makes it seem like just me and Sora were dating? You were right there. Sora said he loves you.”
“Uh, the part where Sora’s been crushing on you since forever? I thought he was panicking about kissing you in front of me.”
“Wait, so you don’t mind kissing?!”
“Sora, focus.” Kairi puts a finger in Riku’s face. “And our date nights? What, pray tell, where you thinking those were?”
Riku glances at Kairi’s finger, wetting his mouth. He’s in deep shit, whatever he says. There’s been no reality swapping, just miscommunication, it seems. “I thought we were hanging out.”
“Hanging out!” Sora cries. “I was sitting as close to in your lap as I thought you’d be comfortable with! We had a rotating schedule!”
“A…rotating schedule?”
“We’d rotate Saturday mornings; one for you and Sora, one for you and me, one for me and Sora. And Saturday evening we’d have a group date. Did you not notice?”
“No?” Riku says. He was definitely aware that he thought it was weird that Sora and Kairi never went out as a couple on the easiest weekend day, but he never thought it was because they thought he was supposed to be a part of the date.
Sora hits his face with his palm while Kairi pokes him in the forehead. “My gods, I’m in love with idiots.”
Her voice is fond, and Riku takes solace in that. “I…don’t know what to say.”
Kairi clamps her hand over Sora’s mouth, speaking over him. “Do you need time?”
“No.” Riku looks at his legs, thrown over Kairi and Sora’s. Looks back at all the time he felt warm at being included, at not being third wheeled. Knowing, now, it’s easy to see how their interactions with him have changed. It’s the little extra touches, the little softer smiles, the pink cheeks. Sora wasn’t panicking or feeling pity when he tried to kiss him; flushing, Riku looks the both of them in the eye. “I want to do this right, this time.”
Kairi and Sora’s smiles are blinding. Riku lets his lips pull into a small one, reaching for his friends hands.
“Can I kiss you?” Sora asks, clumsy.
Rolling her eyes, Kairi shakes her head, and Riku laughs. “Yeah.”
“Thanks, Riku!”
Sora lunges over Kairi, and Riku ignores the way it makes his legs hurt. It’s a quick peck, Sora’s chapped lips only just brushing his, but Riku feels his heart skip a beat at how pleased Sora looks when he pulls away. Sora’s fingers tangle into his shirt as he settles back on his side of Kairi, and Kairi finds his hand.
“So, is this a you don’t mind kissing, or is this a special occasion?”
Riku shrugs, just enjoying their attention now that he can. He’s never thought he’d date; Kairi and Sora have been it, for him.
Kairi kisses the corner of his mouth. “Keep us posted.”
“Yeah.”