Work Text:
"I win!" Kairi slapped the last two cards in her hand down on the floor with enough force that the ones she'd already set down were pushed away, and one flipped over completely.
Sora gaped and then groaned. "Oh, come on! Again?"
Giggling, Kairi waved her hand over the cards with a flourish.
"You're such a show off, Kairi." Sora let his remaining cards fall from his hand, scattering across Kairi's and the nearly empty "pond". Riku sighed and followed suit.
"Wanna play again?" Kairi asked, leaning forward to gather the cards back up.
"You're on!"
"But we've already played five times," Riku pointed out. Tipping his head back, he put his weight on his hands and cast his gaze out the window. The sun was dipping lower on the horizon, casting the world in an orange glow as Riku frowned. "I'm bored. Can't we do something else?"
"Like what?" Kairi clumsily reorganized the "Go Fish" cards in her small hands, flipping a few that weren't facing the right way.
"Hide and seek?" Sora suggested.
Riku made a face and said, "There's no where to hide in here."
"I Spy?" Kairi fumbled the cards in an attempt to shuffle them the way she'd seen adults sometimes do.
"Nuh-uh," Riku said. His eyes followed the line of the horizon, so close, but so far.
"What about—"
"Let's go to the play island."
Sora and Kairi jerked their heads up to look at him. "But we're not supposed to go without an adult," Kairi said.
"And it's getting dark out," Sora protested.
Riku shrugged. "It's not that far. We've done it hundreds of times."
"But my dad always takes us," Sora said.
"C'mon, Sora, when did you become such a scaredy-cat?"
Sora leaned forward, eyes flashing. "I'm not!"
"Hey," Kairi said, abandoning the cards completely, "knock it off, Riku."
But Riku only cast a glance at her before he smirked at Sora and dared, "Prove it."
Sneaking out of Sora's house was all too easy. They waited to hear the sound of water running in the kitchen as Sora's mom washed the dishes from their dinner, then they pulled on their shoes and crept right out the front door. The door clicked shut behind them, and the three rushed down to the beach. They broke into a full run once their feet hit the sand, shadowed with divots under the setting sun from a day's worth of work and play.
Their footsteps were noiseless until they got to the docks, where the waves covered the sound of their breathless laughter. Riku was the first to recover from the exhilaration. He straightened, looked at Sora and Kairi as they exchanged mischievous smiles between the three of them and said, "C'mon, help me with the boat."
Untangling the rope was a task in and of itself; they bickered amongst themselves—"No, not that one." "You're tying it tighter!" "I am not!" "Guys…"—and cast furtive glances up at Sora's home. The intricate knots alternately seemed to tighten and tangle, until Sora gripped a section of the rope and tugged and the whole thing inexplicably came loose.
They spared a moment for a short whoop of victory before they scrambled headlong into the boat. It rocked beneath their feet, nearly sending Kairi over the side before Sora and Riku grabbed her arms and pulled her back. They held on until the boat was steady, then sat down and began rowing.
"Sora, why'd you stop?" Riku asked.
"My arms hurt," Sora whined, flopping back against the wooden seat.
"We're not even halfway there. Keep rowing!"
"Oh, come on, Riku, just a little break." Sora lifted his hand, pinching his forefinger and thumb close together.
"If we stop, our parents could catch us." The setting sun reflected off the water, but Riku cast his gaze back towards Sora's house, his brow furrowed.
"I could help," Kairi offered.
Riku sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, I don't care who rows as long as we get there."
Sora bounced up, gripping the oar tightly in his little fists and looking wide-eyed at Kairi. "No! I can handle it, I can."
Groaning, Riku said, "Just row , then."
Sora stuck his tongue out at Riku, but dipped the oar back into the water and continued rowing. His face scrunched up, and every so often his arms would tremble as they made their way slowly but surely to the play island.
When they finally reached the dock of the play island, Riku let out a breath, reaching up to grab at the dock. His fingers just grazed the boards, and it took Sora and Kairi helping to lift him up for him to pull himself up onto it.
"Give me the rope."
Sora tossed it up with two hands; it hit Riku square in the face. He just managed not to drop it, wrapping it around one of the posts as best he could. Riku let go of the rope only for it to quickly unravel from the post. Yelping, he and Sora both reached out to grab it, fingers tangling around each other instead of the rope. It fell into the water and Sora fished it out for Riku to try again. The second result was much the same as the first.
Cheeks red, Riku jumped back into the boat so the three of them could row as close as possible to shore. They clambered out into the shallows, pulling the boat as hard as they could and grunting with exertion, digging their feet as best they could into the loose sand beneath the waves. Kairi let go first, Sora following to collapse in the sand next to her. Realizing he was pulling the boat by himself, Riku gave up too and fell backwards onto the sand.
Their labored breathing filled the air, a breeze seeming to answer their exhaustion. For a moment they sat and stared out at the waves, the sun now dipping below the horizon.
"Now what?" Kairi asked.
Riku looked over at her, past where Sora lay in the sand, to find her looking back at him. He paused, casting his gaze around the island, searching for something to do. "Let's go to the shack," he said, getting to his feet and brushing sand off himself.
"What's fun in there?" Sora asked without pulling his arm away from his face.
"Come on, Sora." Kairi poked his forehead through his bangs. "It'll be fun. I'll race you!"
Sora grumbled a little, but stopped short at Riku's next words. "Alright Sora. You can stay out here by yourself. With the ghosts."
"Ghosts?" Sora and Kairi said in unison—Sora's a squeaked out question, while Kairi's was a teasing laugh.
They both jumped to their feet and began running, Riku already far ahead of them as he laughed over his shoulder. He burst into the Seaside Shack and slammed the door shut behind him before Sora and Kairi could reach it.
"Hey, Riku!" Sora called. He and Kairi reached the shack moments after Riku, but when they opened the door and let their eyes adjust to the darkness, Riku was gone. They stopped in the doorway, catching their breath and looking around the shack. "Riku?"
The door slammed behind them, plunging the shack into darkness. Sora and Kairi yelped, jumping closer to each other; Kairi reached out to grip Sora's arm.
"That's not funny!" she told the darkness.
"Yeah, come out, Riku!" Still, there was no answer. "We know you're in here." They waited longer, finally turning towards each other as Kairi began to speak.
"BOO!"
"AHH!" A white clothed figure jumped out at them and Sora and Kairi stumbled backward, pushing the door open again and falling onto the sand.
"Please, mister ghost, we're sorry! We didn't mean to—"
Laughter interrupted him, the cloth flying back to reveal Riku. His eyes were narrowed as he clutched his side, pointing at Sora and Kairi. "You guys should have seen your faces."
"Riku!" Sora scrambled to his feet and Kairi stood beside him.
"That wasn't funny," Kairi said.
"I thought it was funny." Riku straightened as his laughter died down, his lips twitching with the remnants of it. "You're just mad you couldn't do it first."
"Nuh-uh," Sora countered. "I bet there aren't even any ghosts here."
Riku shrugged. "There could be. People did used to live out here."
"Really?" Kairi asked at the same time Sora said, "Says who?"
"I've heard the grown ups talking about it," Riku said, stepping back into the shack. He picked up the cloth along the way and headed back towards a box. He rummaged around in it before pulling out a flashlight, pointing it back towards Sora and Kairi who lifted their arms up to shield their eyes. "Are you guys coming?"
"How do we know you're not going to scare us again?" Sora pouted.
Riku rolled his eyes. "I promise I won't scare you again."
Sora bit his lip, but the sun was almost gone, the flashlight Riku had was the only bit of light on the island, and Kairi was already walking towards him.
"Fine," Sora said, joining them in the shack to sit cross legged on the ground.
"Did someone really used to live here?" Kairi asked, leaning forward.
"They did," Riku said solemnly, lifting the flashlight to illuminate his face from below.
"Riku," Sora complained.
"I'm just telling a story." Riku grinned, not moving the light. "The legend says that a long time ago, a boy used to live right here, in this shack. For a long time, no one saw him. Just the light from the window every night." Sora wrapped his arms around his legs, looking around the shack and curious despite himself, while Kairi listened with rapt attention. "Then, you could see him on the beach, just standing there, looking around at the ocean."
"This isn't scary," Sora said, his posture straightening. Riku grinned, and with the shadows from the flashlight, Sora couldn't help but shiver.
"Why did he just stare at the ocean?" Kairi asked.
"No one knows. No one ever talked to him. And then one day, he just disappeared." The light flicked off, plunging them into darkness. Sora stiffened again and Kairi squeaked at the sudden absence of light.
"What happened to him?" Sora whispered.
"It's a mystery," Riku said. "Some people think he left. Some people say he was never here at all. And some people"—there was a shuffling in the darkness and Sora edged closer to Kairi—"say he's still here!"
The light flashed on again, illuminating Riku's face right in front of them as he smiled wickedly. Sora fell backwards with a shout. He shoved himself back up and turned towards the door, opening it to stand outside, even though it was only marginally lighter out in the open air.
"Riku!" Kairi's voice came from inside the shack, but it shook slightly as she too tried not to laugh.
"You promised no more scaring us," Sora whined.
"It's just so easy."
"Yeah, well—"
"There you are."
Sora jumped and whirled around, little fists poised to strike before he recognized his father's voice. "Dad!" Another flashlight shone in his face, but he ran towards this one, throwing his arms around his dad's legs.
"What on earth are you doing out here? Where are Riku and Kairi?"
"In the shack," Sora answered.
His dad turned his flashlight towards the shack and called, "Riku, Kairi, come on out. It's time to go back."
The two exited the shack quickly, not meeting his eyes as they crossed the sand. "Whose bright idea was this?" he asked, looking at each of them in turn. The trio cast quick glances at each other, but said nothing. Sora's dad sighed. "You three are in a lot of trouble. You had us worried sick." They stayed silent, staring at their feet. "Let's go," he said firmly.
Sora, Riku, and Kairi followed him back to the dock without complaint, but as they trekked through the sand, they kept meeting each other's eyes, trying to stifle their giggles. They'd gotten a little taste of adventure, and they wanted more.