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You groaned softly as you buried yourself within the plush, dark blue sheets.
It’s been almost a year since Sora’s disappearance, and everyone’s been doing their part to uncover any clues that might reveal where he may be. Terra, Aqua and Ventus were exploring the Dark World. Kairi was asleep as the scientists of Radiant Garden ran tests, as the redhead believed that her heart may lead to something substantial. The Twilight Gang were analyzing Xion’s and Roxas’ memories, but were also on standby should their assistance be needed.
Then, there was you and Riku.
The silver-haired man was the leader of the entire operation. If there were any updates, he should be and was the first to know. It’s not surprising, considering Sora’s his best friend. The two of them had been through thick and thin, so it’s only natural that Riku stepped up to spearhead the search.
You, on the other hand, were Riku’s right hand – a secretary, so to say. If anyone had any questions, they would reach out to you for the answers. You kept note of anything regarding Sora, and even accompanied Riku wherever he needed to be.
That was most of time. Today was an exception.
You raised your gummi phone towards your face to see if anybody had contacted you. You let out another soft groan as pain resonated through your body, your arm falling outstretched from your side. After the pain subsided, you reached your other hand over your forehead and removed the dried up towel, your headache mild but ever present.
Yes, you were sick.
Riku came by earlier to let you know that he was going over to Radiant Garden; there was something Cid would like to discuss with him. You tried your best to mask your illness, but your coarse voice and slouched posture immediately gave you away. As much as you insisted on being fine and that you should go, Riku adamantly said no and even shut the door mid-conversation. At this point, you were just hoping you didn’t anger him by being stubborn.
You closed your eyes. Riku’s annoyed face appeared in your mind. You let out a soft sigh, whining to yourself as if he were physically in front of you.
“I’m sorry...”
You found it ironic how you were the one who got sick. If anything, you thought it would be Riku. After all, he worked just as hard if not harder than you did. You even reminded him to eat well, stay hydrated, and get some rest when he seemed stressed out of his mind.
You knew he didn’t really need the reminders, but it felt good to do it. It was your way of showing Riku that you cared for him.
Maybe even more than you’d like to admit.
You opened your eyes once more and huffed as you stared at the ceiling above. There goes your heart again – beating a little faster as he flooded your thoughts.
There was just something so special about him that stood out to you. You couldn’t exactly put it into words, but you felt it. Whenever he was around you, you felt a gentle warmth within your heart. You felt safe — loved even. There was something in his gentle yet strong personality that you admired and wanted more of. Another thing was his eyes; his deep, piercing yellow-green eyes drew you in and now you couldn’t get out. They said that the eyes were the window to the soul – Riku was the prime example of that.
You were brought back to reality from your thoughts when you suddenly heard three gentle knocks on the door.
You slowly sat up, confused. Who could that possibly be? You were sure you were alone in the Land of Departure, as the three keyblade masters were still within the Dark Realm. They asked you and Riku to look after the world while they were gone, even as going as far as to prepare rooms for you two to stay in.[1] You were pretty sure that whoever it was wasn’t a threat; why would someone whose intentions were to hurt you knock on your door instead of barging in?
You cleared your throat as it had dried up a bit. “Y...Yes?” You croaked softly, your voice cracking a little bit.
You recognized the voice as a man said your name.
Slowly, the door opened and he slipped through. He gave you a small smile before closing the door behind him, leaning his back as it shut gently.
“Riku...” your strained voice managed his name before you had to clear your throat once more.
“Hey. How are you?” he replied, slowly making his way to the foot of your bed. He made a gesture with his body as he slowly sat down, giving you enough time to bend your legs towards you. The bed wasn’t huge, but it was still big enough for Riku and you to sit down on.
“Been better, but definitely still hanging in there.” You answered as cheerfully as your could, swinging your left arm as a sign of optimism. Riku let out a soft laugh, and you couldn’t help but blush lightly. Thankfully, the sickness easily concealed the blush, your face already lightly flushed from your fever.
“Oh, before I forget,” Riku began, reaching down towards the floor. You leaned to the side and tried to look at what it was; a cream colored paper bag with a familiar red logo. The letters were too thin to make out, but you recognized that fleur-de-lis shape with a chef’s hat anywhere. Riku sat back up, a round container in his hands.
“I got you something from the Bistro.” He explained, slowly handing the container to you. It was still warm to the touch, but not too hot. There was a note stuck on top, which you removed and placed to the side first. The clear cover had some steam fogging it up, but your eyes knew immediately what it was through the little spaces you could see through— Chicken Noodle Soup.
You placed the container gently down on the bed and held it in place on top of the blanket with your thighs as you retrieved the note you placed aside. You opened it up and saw “Get well soon!” in beautiful calligraphy in the center, and some of your friends’ signatures around it: The Twilight Town gang - Roxas, Lea, Xion, Namine, Isa, Hayner, Pence and Olette - along with Uncle Scrooge, Merlin and even Remy’s pawpwrint.
You looked up at Riku, and before you could even ask he spoke up. “They were taking a break when I came by. I had to explain to them why I was there, of course.”
You only managed to mouth an “Ah” and a nod as a response. Your eyes glanced back down on the note and you couldn’t help but smile. They were always so thoughtful.
“You didn’t have to do this, you know...,” you said shyly, placing the note carefully on your bedside table. You made sure to keep your legs steady before holding the container with your hands again. “I know you have a lot of things to do.”
Riku simply gave you a small smile and a light shrug. You laughed softly before placing the container as well on your bedside table, deciding to eat a little later.
“How did the meeting with Cid and the others go?” You asked, grabbing your phone and opening up your notes regarding the mission. You began typing down the usual headings of these logs: Date, location, who had the update and what it was. The whole note itself wasn’t that long; there had been zero to little progress this whole year.
“He was able to piece something together with the data from the castle, Twilight Town and his computer. He managed to make recreations of the original Organization XIII and Sora.” Riku replied, hoping to see you type. When he glanced at you, however, you were looking at him with wide eyes and an agape mouth.
“A...An actual lead?” You managed to stutter, shocked. Riku gave you a firm nod before you shook your head to snap out of your surprise, your fingers moving dexterously across the keyboard on your phone. You never thought you would type more than one bullet point and more than 10 words.
“What did the data show after Cid was able to recreate them?” You asked, looking back at Riku.
His expressive eyes immediately lost their shine as he turned his gaze away and sighed softly.
“Nothing.”
You dropped your head down again, gazing upon your phone as you loosen your grip.
“...Yet.”
“What?” You asked, raising your head once more to see Riku looking back at you as well. The shine in his eyes returned, filled with a sense of determination. Your hands grabbed hold of the device once again, ready to to type.
“Right now, Cid can’t access the Organization’s data because they’re too powerful. However, we might be able to access it through Sora’s data. We just need a bit of time and patience.”
You finished typing and locked your phone, your eyes locked on Riku now. “Has he started trying?”
Riku shook his head. “I told him I’ll try, but we chose to start tomorrow.”
Your eyes widened a little. “T-Tomorrow?! We have to start today! It might be our biggest lead yet!” You argued, scrambling to kick the sheets off of your body. Riku then grabbed your arm, which caused you to stop and look at him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” He asked, his voice stern. You flinched a little, surprised by his sudden change in tone.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m getting out of bed so that we can head to Radiant Garden to start!” You insisted through a hoarse voice. The sudden outburst threw you into a small coughing fit; you turned your head to the side as you coughed, bending your free arm over your mouth as you did so. You let out a soft groan after as pain resonated in your body once more, but you chose to ignore it. “Why did you even choose to start tomorrow instead anyway?” You scowled, trying to shake Riku’s hand off.
Riku gripped your arm a little tighter, giving it a tug as a sign for you to look at him.
“To check up on you.”
You immediately froze in place as Riku replied. He looked exactly the same as earlier — annoyed. However, there was something else in his eyes; they were soft. His eyes always told you everything his words would never say: He was annoyed that you were acting rash, that you weren’t thinking about your well-being. The softness showed you that he genuinely cared. His checking up on you was a want, not a duty.
You were so lost in his eyes that you barely noticed him let go of you. You were drawn back to reality as you felt Riku’s gloved hand on your forehead, causing you to shiver slightly. Since when was his hand so warm? You felt your forehead press further into it, almost snuggling. Your flushed face turned more red as you realized what you were doing. This time, your blush was too dark for your fever to mask.
“See? You’re still burning up. Things would be worse if you forced yourself out of bed at this rate,” his tone was serious, yet there was a hint of concern.
You felt his hand move away from your forehead as he bent down again towards the bag, pulling out a small new towel. You watched as the silver-haired man folded it neatly into a rectangle before murmuring something under his breath. The towel immediately became damp in his hands, apparently casting a water spell.
Riku then gently grabbed a hold of your shoulders, easing you to lie back down. You blushed again as you complied, resting your back against the headboard for now. You tilted your head back slightly as he placed the towel on your forehead, keeping it balanced. You locked eyes with him as he pulled away; they were gentle, caring.
“Get some rest. Hopefully you’ll feel better tomorrow.” Riku said, slowly standing up.
“W-Wait.” You commanded softly, the man stopping midway through his actions.
He turned towards you to ask what was wrong when a towel suddenly was draped over his face; it was the dried up towel from earlier, before Riku even came to the room. On instinct, his hand came up to his face in order to remove the cloth, but he suddenly froze as he felt something press against it.
You were gently kissing his lips, the towel separating the two of you.
You felt your face burn up, turning a deep shade of red in an instant. A part of you wish you could see Riku’s reaction, but the other half was relieved you couldn’t. What surprised you was that he wasn’t pushing you away or moving; he was just there, still as can be.
You pulled away and gently tugged on the towel, the item sliding down his face. You could see a faint tint of pink on his cheeks, his lips slightly apart. You looked into his eyes to see if they would tell you what he was feeling.
For the first time, you couldn’t read through them.
You folded the towel and placed it beside you, trying your best to calm down.
“T-That was to say t-thank you...” you explained, admittedly half-lying.
Why did you even do that in the first place?
Well...it just felt right.
Riku then snapped out of his trance and cleared his throat, the faint blush fading with ease. Darn, you wish yours would go away that fast. You laid down and snuggled yourself back into the sheets as Riku stood up, giving your legs room to stretch out.
You expected the man to simply walk away after standing up, but to your surprise once again he stayed for a little while.
“Let me know if you need anything.” He simply stated, gently shaking his own Gummi Phone in his hand before shoving it back in his pocket. You nodded.
Riku then headed out of the door and closed it as gently as earlier. He stood there for a while, blushing again as he thought about what just happened, gently bringing a finger to his lips.
He quietly walked away from your door, heading over to his room.