世界

Imagine - Riku as a serious and dedicated shrine keeper.

He wears a sacred thick robe and tall hat as he chants sutras and waves the holy branches in a graceful motion within the ritual hall.

He is part of an Inari shrine, which means the god he worships also holds fox spirits in high regard. Not quite gods themselves, but worth revering nonetheless.

In the compound there is the main shrine but also smaller structures to supposedly house spirits that also come for worship in the mortal realm.

Riku has never seen any ‘spirits’, and as he’s entering adulthood, he’s ashamed to admit he doubts they even exist.

His dedication to his craft, his way of life, is in direct conflict with is declining beliefs. Has all this hard work, training, memorising all been for nothing? - He starts to pray harder, longer - desperate for answers.

—-

One night, when finishing his personal prayers and returning to his room - Riku notices light coming from one of the smaller shrines.

He makes his way over swiftly.

The smaller shrines were built to ‘house’ fox spirits mostly, because of this they were built to accommodate a creature of fox size. So why on Earth would there be a light on?

‘If there are trespassers inside, come out immediately! This is sacred land.’

Despite feeling confident, Riku knew something was different the moment he spoke. It was almost as if his voice was echoing, echoing off of the trees and the shrine’s panels, right back at him.

A small door, made for a fox, creaked open. Riku was shocked that the structure could even move - he was beginning to think they were sealed off, all for show.

But he was quickly thrown out of this thoughts - Is this really the spirits? Riku needed answers and this could be what he’s been looking for.

He crept closer, and peered in. He knew this would be disrespectful but he had to take this chance. He -

A hand touched his chest,

and darkness enveloped him.

—-

He woke up slowly, he took in his surroundings. Why was he in the high priest’s personal quarters?

‘Looks like a spirit had a bit of fun with you last night, my boy’

What? Riku looks down -

He’s only in his briefs and covering his naked torso is hundreds of ancient characters written with a calligraphy brush and ink - sutras, proverbs and even a little drawing of a cat. His front and back is littered with them. Both beautiful and unorganised.

What on Earth? He moved slightly and heard jingling, he also had beads, braids and bells tied over him. Over his biceps, his neck, his thighs - he was too embarrassed to say, but it feels like some string and beads were tied beneath his briefs over his private areas.

The priest spoke again ‘some of these braids are from our holy reserves, the spirit must have liked you to bless you in this fashion. Riku, you must pray for your gratitude in the shrine hall when you are ready’.

Riku felt confused, and even a little scared - He doesn’t remember anything… was this truly the work of a spirit? Does this rectify the doubts in his faith? He wasn’t sure but it certainly didn’t feel like the answers he wanted…

What if he went back? The spirit supposedly liked him, will Riku believe if he sees the divine with his own eyes?

For a week Riku secluded himself and contemplated, he avoided any of the shrines, meditating without any rest.

He made his decision.

The next night he went back to that small shrine with purposeful steps. He put on a strong face despite his trembling hands.

The shrine door was already open. But this time the lights weren’t on.

Did he miss his chance? Riku knelt to the floor, he didn’t realise how much hope he had in this plan, all for it to be too late.

After a minute of self pity he began to collect himself, and stand up from the ground- then he noticed it -

Fireflies, not flying, but walking along the ground. They were coming from beneath the shrine and heading towards the woods.

Riku watched them for a long while, then he inhaled. he had nothing to lose so he followed them behind the shrine, into the woods.

The forest was dense, it was a nature reserve funded by the shrine to protect some of the larger blessed trees. You could tell they were blessed by the sacred rope hung around their trunks.

Riku had walked towards one of those very trees. And in its branches were lanterns - but they were odd. They were dim and green as if the fireflies had climbed in themselves to light them. The whole area was awash with green, making it eerie to see.

Suddenly all the lanterns and the firefly lights went out.

It was pitch black - you wouldn’t be able to see your own hand in front of your face.

Riku stood still.

A hand touched the top of his neck, over his collar and trailed all the way down, softly. Riku could feel the long nail through even the thickest layer of his robe. He tried not to shiver.

‘Hello, you’

The voice was light, bubbly, but it had a certain ring to it that was not of this world. Riku stayed silent.

The hand stayed on his back and started to draw circles in between his shoulder blades.

‘…Sorry about the other night, by the way, sometimes the mischievous fox takes over - we could resist such a cute shrine boy’

Cute?

‘A-are you really a spirit?’

‘Yep! Still pretty new to it all - it wasn’t long ago I was human too. It’s strange - I feel like I knew you then.’

The hand came up and held his chin. Riku couldn’t see anything but it was clear the spirit was assessing his face.

‘Do you remember my name, Riku?’

He jolted with shock, this being knew his name.

‘Uh, no, I don’t think I do’

Damn, what if this offends the spirit? Riku tensed, bracing himself.

‘…Maybe this will help you remember…’

The hand on his chin moved to cup the left side of his face, near his ear. Another hand came up to the right side.

The creature had long nails that massaged his scalp, gently but somewhat sensually.

Riku couldn’t help but melt, his tense shoulders relaxing without him noticing. His ears were a sensitive spot.

The spirit giggled, Riku blushed but didn’t move an inch.

The spirit moved in close, Riku could hear the wind chimes jingle as the creature came forward.

It kissed him squarely on the lips.

Soft at first, but the kiss quickly deepened full of passion and slightly of… desperation?

Before he knew it Riku was kissing back, trying to match the intensity of creature in front of him. Riku felt a single wet drip on his cheek, but he was to enchanted by the kiss to notice.

The creature slowly stepped back, wind chimes jingling.

Riku’s head was dazed, he let out a sigh and without thinking he softly said -

‘Sora’

Riku blacked out for the second time.

———

Thank you for reading ☔️

I envision sora to be wearing a breezy kimono with arms covered in henna-like tattoos, with long - dangerous looking nails.

He only ever uses them to tease Riku’s sensitive spots.

Enter Sora: trying to flirt through purchasing a multitude of milkshakes.

He never intended to drink, he didn’t realise there was alcohol in the punch bowl. Everyone else thought it was so obvious it didn’t need a sign.

After drunkenly glaring at loud, rowdy football players, he retreats to a quieter part of the house party.

He ends the night by falling asleep in the arms of a cute stranger.

the only thing Riku remembers is the strangers’ smell (lavender fabric softener) and how he petted Rikus hair ever so gently.

-

Sora was dragged to the stupid football after party by roxas and his pals.

Hayner seems to be going through a party phase and has forced the others to join him in ‘living life to the fullest’.

The night ends with a painfully sober sora, who is stuck under the huge mass of the school’s top quarter back, also known as the scariest guy in school.

They’ve never really met before but Sora knew this was going to end badly for him if he stayed until Riku woke up.

After about two hours sora managed to gently nudge the hulk of a guy over and off his lap. Sora hastily escaped.

-

Next day at school, the whole football team is after the ‘mysterious teen whose bewitched their star player’.

Their only lead is the smell of lavender fabric softener.

☔️

Thank you for reading

Imagine Riku as a young and misguided pirate, following under Captain Hook.

He thought all he wanted was to grow up and be strong like the other men on the ship. He wanted so badly to fit in, but everyone knew he was just a kid. A liability. He would always grumpily try to prove himself against the other men and their taunts.

Imagine Sora as an immortal lost boy, wanting only to stay a child despite his 1000 year old knowledge.

He still holds his childlike personality but the fairies treat him like a deity. The other lost boys whisper about him like a mythical tale. He wants so badly to be apart of their tribe, but he knows his unearthly presence makes them shy away from him.

He wanders alone, playing by himself with the fairies and other woodland creatures. He was happy the way things were.

—

One night, Riku was unknowingly sent on a suicide mission to capture a fairy on the main land, on his own and away from their ship.

The others knew he would fail but they wanted the brat off their ship. Riku took the bait and saw it as a manly challenge, he was smug and confident as he left the boat, despite his hands shaking behind his back.

Sora later found him lost in the woods, all ego lost, panicking. Sora pitied him, he could tell this child had been lead astray. How could a child want to become a man this badly? Why on Earth would he wish away his childhood? For a lowlife like Hook?

Sora asks the help of the fairies and lures Riku into a faraway cave, the same cave that gave the lost boys their power and connects them to the land. One of the oldest secrets in the region.

For the first time in his life, Riku actually enjoys an adventure.

—-

Riku learns the joys of being carefree and young. Sora learns that children can’t fall in love, only adults can feel emotion that deeply.

They grow up in different ways.

He constantly has an arm around Roxas’ shoulders, a hand on Kairi’s arm, or his head on Ventus’ shoulder. Touch is his love language and has been forever.

He used to be the same with Riku, but as they grew and became teenagers, Riku seemed to appreciate his touch less and less.

It started with a small grimace -

then he started to flinch if sora came near him with his hand outstretched -

and now if sora puts his hand on riku’s shoulder, Riku almost recoils away.

Sora let it slide for a year, he thought it was a byproduct of Riku’s emo phase - a grumpy echo that he’ll hopefully grow out of.

But,

Sora began to notice something.

When Hayner patted Riku on the back, he didn’t react. Nor did he when kairi gave him a one-armed hug.

After a couple of weeks Sora realised it was only HIM who Riku flinched away from.

Did he do something wrong? Was he being too annoying or clingy?

…

should he give riku space?

———-

Riku was pacing around namines bedroom, kairi and xion were trying to calm him down.

‘I’m sure it’s fine! Sora’s not acting weird, he can’t be bouncing with happiness all the time’ xion said.

Riku paused,

‘You didn’t see his face, He came up to me and just stopped, for some reason he looked so sad then just walked away’

Riku ran his hand through his hair, he didn’t sleep much last night. It suddenly felt like sora was worlds away, and Riku couldn’t stand the thought.

He’d tried so hard to squash his feelings, to make sure that he wouldn’t make Sora feel uncomfortable. Riku knew that if he let sora hug him, he’d never let go.

It was wrong, they were best friends! They have been their entire lives. Sora would never be able to forgive him if he found out Riku thought of him in that way.

So Riku tried to stay away, a comfortable distance - to maintain their friendship.

Enter Sora: trying to flirt through purchasing a multitude of milkshakes.

He never intended to drink, he didn’t realise there was alcohol in the punch bowl. Everyone else thought it was so obvious it didn’t need a sign.

After drunkenly glaring at loud, rowdy football players, he retreats to a quieter part of the house party.

He ends the night by falling asleep in the arms of a cute stranger.

the only thing Riku remembers is the strangers’ smell (lavender fabric softener) and how he petted Rikus hair ever so gently.

-

Sora was dragged to the stupid football after party by roxas and his pals.

Hayner seems to be going through a party phase and has forced the others to join him in ‘living life to the fullest’.

The night ends with a painfully sober sora, who is stuck under the huge mass of the school’s top quarter back, also known as the scariest guy in school.

They’ve never really met before but Sora knew this was going to end badly for him if he stayed until Riku woke up.

After about two hours sora managed to gently nudge the hulk of a guy over and off his lap. Sora hastily escaped.

-

Next day at school, the whole football team is after the ‘mysterious teen whose bewitched their star player’.

Their only lead is the smell of lavender fabric softener.

☔️

Thank you for reading

Imagine Riku as a young and misguided pirate, following under Captain Hook.

He thought all he wanted was to grow up and be strong like the other men on the ship. He wanted so badly to fit in, but everyone knew he was just a kid. A liability. He would always grumpily try to prove himself against the other men and their taunts.

Imagine Sora as an immortal lost boy, wanting only to stay a child despite his 1000 year old knowledge.

He still holds his childlike personality but the fairies treat him like a deity. The other lost boys whisper about him like a mythical tale. He wants so badly to be apart of their tribe, but he knows his unearthly presence makes them shy away from him.

He wanders alone, playing by himself with the fairies and other woodland creatures. He was happy the way things were.

—

One night, Riku was unknowingly sent on a suicide mission to capture a fairy on the main land, on his own and away from their ship.

The others knew he would fail but they wanted the brat off their ship. Riku took the bait and saw it as a manly challenge, he was smug and confident as he left the boat, despite his hands shaking behind his back.

Sora later found him lost in the woods, all ego lost, panicking. Sora pitied him, he could tell this child had been lead astray. How could a child want to become a man this badly? Why on Earth would he wish away his childhood? For a lowlife like Hook?

Sora asks the help of the fairies and lures Riku into a faraway cave, the same cave that gave the lost boys their power and connects them to the land. One of the oldest secrets in the region.

For the first time in his life, Riku actually enjoys an adventure.

—-

Riku learns the joys of being carefree and young. Sora learns that children can’t fall in love, only adults can feel emotion that deeply.

They grow up in different ways.

The loudness, the wild gestures, the dramatics, they all gave Riku a headache. Honestly, at times he’d avoid sora because he just couldn’t handle it.

But the next day, Sora’s pet dog died.

And for the first time ever, he saw sora truly silent.

Riku hated that more than anything.

It broke him. Riku felt a level of emotion he hadn’t reached in years. Not even bullying had made Riku feel this helpless.

He never realised Sora was his sunshine until the sun had gone behind the clouds.

———

- instead of chocolates, you’re supposed to halve a paopu fruit with your crush - if they accept the half you give them, your feelings have been reciprocated.

Riku thinks this holiday is stupid.

Useless. He doesn’t care for it one bit.

And yet -

every year he goes almost feral with rage if anyone goes close to sora with a paopu fruit.

- -

Extra:

Kairi actually pointed that out to him one year, how he goes absolutely crazy on Valentine’s Day for some ‘unknown reason’.

Riku got so defensive and flustered, he actually climbed a tree and sulked up there for four hours.

The destiny trio and the twilight town gang are camping out in the woods on Halloween night.

They’re all sitting around a campfire swapping ghost stories, Sora’s excitedly retelling his childhood ‘ghostly encounter’ - which he thinks is going to spook the heck out of them.

-The gang are mostly snickering at Sora’s dramatic story telling, His voice loud and arms flailing to set the scene. -

But Riku - he’s completely silent.

He’s sat still with wrapt attention. Who knew Riku liked scary stories so much?

The others knew the truth. Riku just loves staring at Sora.

His cute face lit up from holding the flashlight under his chin, Riku hasn’t heard a single word of the story.

He didn’t even notice when Axel snuck up behind them with a ski mask on.

Riku would have been annoyed at the interruption, but the shock from Axel’s entrance made sora cling onto his arm for the rest of the night.

(I am half asleep while writing this so sorry for spelling errors)

Sora brought home a cute white-haired doll from the local charity shop. It said ‘Riku’ on its little boot.

Roxas tried to tell him how creepy the doll was - it’s definitely haunted.

Sora just wanted to put it next to his plants for the ~aesthetic~.

- Now he’s dreaming of a very handsome white-haired man, and it’s making his morning shower just that little bit longer -

Deep down he knows the doll isn’t quite right, it moves slightly when he’s not looking. Its eyes seem to follow Sora’s every step.

After the first week, he started to wake up with it on the end of his bed. Weirdly, he wasn’t bothered by it.

Truth is, Sora’s been lonely for quite a while. A lot of his friends moved away and Roxas is too busy for him these days. The thought of having someone else in his apartment is oddly refreshing.

He’s even started to talk to the doll. Only simple things, like ‘good morning, Riku’ or ‘be right back!’. Enough to make Roxas pull weird faces whenever he comes over.

Nothing major really happened despite living with a haunted doll.

- Until Sora’s recent university project meant a guy named Seifer came over.

Seifer was a true jerk, everyone knew it, Sora especially. The only reason Seifer came over to Sora’s apartment was because they were lumped together in a pair project.

He came crashing into Sora’s apartment one afternoon, somehow going straight to the fridge.

In the first 30 minutes of being in Sora’s space, Seifer had managed to insult Sora’s apartment, hair, fashion, furniture AND still have time to eat Sora’s food from his pantry.

Sora was pretty annoyed, but he knew that he could ditch this guy straight after the project was finished.

Riku however, was livid.

Ever since sora took him home his dormant consciousness was slowly coming back.

It started with his creaky movements, then eventually, his thoughts.

He quickly realised - He’s never been more happy than when he’s with Sora. The warmth, the comfort, the companionship sora provided were all things Riku thought he could never get.

That he didn’t deserve.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t yearn for it.

The first night he scraped, clawed and crawled his way up and into Sora’s bed was heaven to him. Riku was in utter bliss in that bed, he couldn’t bring himself to hide before Sora woke up.

He was careful to not scare sora, he tried his best not to look alive, to not stare too intently. Luckily, he’s only been caught a couple of times.

His favourite time is when it’s raining, Sora would sit by the window and stroke his hair. He wanted that to last forever.

Now there’s a strange man in their intimate space, and Riku wants him out.

———-

Sorry had to cut it short - my brain turned to mush ☔️

Inspired by ‘the boy’

Riku has been his trying to make things work over the last couple of years, he’s managing but he’s so lonely.

He and the rest of organisation XII live on a reservation as a rag-tag group of werewolves trying to work as a cohesive pack, despite not being related by blood.

Most of the time they’re in human form, but they love to let loose on occasion and roam the forest as wolves.

They love their forest, It’s a huge part of their heritage and werewolf identity. But with deforestation and the old magical ways being forgotten, their surrounding forest is slowly beginning to fade away.

They can all feel it, Roxas particularly is worried. He’s always had a deep connection to the woodland.

It’s hard to ignore, the fruit trees are barely blooming, the animal population is shrinking, even the bird songs seem to have turned sorrowful.

And to add to that stress, fox hunters have started trespassing on their land.

Being werewolves, organisation XII could easily chase them out, but they’d rather avoid being mistaken for a fox and getting shot at. They’ve been trying to think of a more ‘human’ approach to keep them out.

It’s October, the rainy season.

The hunters have been coming lately more and more. going deeper and deeper into the wild spaces.

The wolves stick close to them but out of sight, they need to make sure the hunters stay off their sacred land and burial sites.

On one night, all the members hid in the surrounding bushes, watching the hunters.

After a while, Roxas detached himself from the group, he noticed a strange string of mushrooms growing towards a nook in the trees.

Are these… star shaped mushrooms??

He wasn’t sure whether to be happy or concerned. On one hand, this was the first new sign of life in the forest for years! But on the other hand, aren’t mushrooms poisonous to the forest?

He didn’t have much time to think before he heard gun shots.

They had a plan for when this happens, scatter. Hide far away in wolf form. If you manage to get back to the house, call the police. Do NOT get caught by the hunters.

They acted swiftly, Riku was the fasted.

Riku hid around a dip in the ground, it looked almost like a big rabbits burrow. From here, he couldn’t hear or see the hunters, he was safe for now.

In his periphery, he clocked the strange mushrooms, when -

- a twig snap -

Riku was immediately alert. In his wolf form his ears were twitching towards the nearby sound.

He thought it could be just a regular woodland animal but something felt off.

He creeped closer to inspect, for some reason this part of the forest has luscious thick leaves and grass, making his visibility poor.

As he snuck in the bushes, he could tell that the creature was shivering, it was scared - probably by the gunshots.

Riku managed to get a clear view of -

A boy?

The boy was shivering and curled into a defensive ball. He was barely wearing any clothes, the ones he was wearing appeared to be made out of leaves.

Any observer would assume this was a child lost in the woods and got spooked by the noise.

But Riku knew this was different, the air was… strange. The boy didn’t seem human.

And weirdly, the forest seemed to be protecting him, folding around him in a blanket of leaves and bushes. Riku himself felt partially drawn to the boy.

Then there was silence. The boy looked up.

And Riku was left breathless at the sight of the ethereal tanned creature.

He was almost elf-like with his spikey hair and slightly pointed ears. His blue eyes were like a water oasis that could bless anyone he peered at.

His arms had markings, like intricate henna tattoos, Riku immediately knew what this creature was.

A forest spirit!

This was fantastic news, with a forest spirit residing on the reservation, that could save the forest! New plants, animals and the constant stream of underground magic could make the forest thrive like it did thousands of years ago!

IF you could get the spirit to set up their home there, that is. Spirits are only bound when they set up roots.

With that knowledge, Riku retreated home to the rest of the pack. It turns out Lea called the police and one of the hunters was arrested, but now they had bigger things to deal with.

Riku filled them in on his encounter and operation ‘home-sweet-home, spirit’ was born.

(Everyone hated the name but Demyx was set on it)

Over the next two weeks the wolf pack spent every day trying to make the forest more inviting.

They cleaned the ponds of any toxins (Demyx fell in a couple of times), cleared away dead tree debris (larxene swore for an hour after breaking a nail), planted a bunch of live flowers everywhere (the current flowers were wilted), and they set up offerings for the forest spirit.

In the old texts, it states that forest spirits tend to set their ‘home’ as the largest and oldest tree available, so the rest of the team made that tree the epicentre of their operation.

Offerings of nuts, berries, vegetables and even sweets (‘Xion, why would the spirit eat human food?’) were laid around the tree to make it as enticing as they could.

Nothing was working, it had been raining and there was no sign of the spirit or it’s movements. The offerings were soggy and pathetic by the end of the week.

But luckily those star mushrooms kept popping up along the paths, the spirit was still here.

The organisation was sat around a table in their makeshift house/ shack debating their next move when Roxas burst through the door -

‘Hey! Guys! The offerings worked!’

They dashed out to look - and the offerings were a mess. Clearly the raccoons had got at the berries and nuts - half eaten bits were everywhere.

But where the sweets were - all that remained were the plastic wrappers and underneath were tiny triangle mushroom buds. They were so fresh that the star shape hadn’t properly formed yet.

This was a huge success. They decided to keep a constant reserve of sweets by the tree at all times.

One rainy night it was Riku’s turn to put out the sweets, they discovered the spirit liked to eat at night. Riku was hoping to catch another glimpse at the boy.

He put down the sweets on a blanket and covered them with the cloth so they didn’t get wet.

He then retreated to under a nearby tree, the rain was getting quite heavy.

Riku was pretty much zoning out when a gentle breeze blowed through him, fireflies were bouncing in the distance despite the rain weighing them down.

The boy emerged from the foliage into the open space where the offerings were placed.

He was just as beautiful as the first time.

Riku stared as the boy tentatively opened the sweets and sat in the rain eating.

The boys’ head suddenly whipped around - he had noticed Riku’s presence.

Riku couldn’t move, to be honest, he didn’t want to - he wanted the beautiful creature to acknowledge him.

It was at this time that Riku looked at the state of the spirits’ leaf clothes. He had thick leaf-like trousers, no shoes and big leaves pasted to parts of his chest and arms. He looked cold and drenched, he was sat partially on the offering cloth and partially in a puddle.

Before he knew it, Riku was removing his hoodie. It was slightly damp but still warm from his elevated werewolf body temperature.

‘Here, have this to keep warm - you must be cold like that’

He said this in a gentle tone, he tried to avoid direct eye-contact incase that was a sign of rudeness to the spirit.

The creature spoke back -

‘Are you human?’

He took the hoodie and held it awkwardly in his hands, not even covering his body with it.

Riku blinked, the boys voice was full of warmth.

‘…Yes, well partly. I’m a werewolf, part human, part wolf.’

The spirit looked confused but intrigued. There was a long pause before he spoke again.

‘Do you know what I am?’

‘You’re a forest spirit…right?’

The forest spirit tilted it’s head.

‘Is that what I’m called now? Hah, this is all so confusing’

The spirit scratched at the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

‘… you don’t know what you are?’

‘No idea, I thought I was a ghost until last week.

Last thing I remember was dying… and then poof! I’m running around a strange forest with all these new senses and sounds.’

The spirit was gesturing dramatically with his hands as he spoke.

Oh! I’m Sora by the way, nice to meet you’

Riku was in shock at the spirit, Sora seemed so cute and boyish, yet untouchable and godly at the same time - like he held multiple entities in his one small frame.

Riku was also in awe, his confidence was bolstered by his interaction so he continued to talk.

‘I’m Riku, nice to meet you too… Listen, I don’t know much about spirits myself, but if you lived with us in this forest - maybe we could find out together?’

He looked unsure but hopeful, Sora however, looked like he discovered Christmas for the first time.

‘There’s more of you! Wow! It’s been so long since I’ve had friends. I feel useless on my own’

There wasn’t more than a second pause before -

‘I’ll be your friend’

Riku had never been so sure of anything in his life.

Sora put on the now drenched hoodie.

‘And I’ll be yours’

————————-

Part One done

Thank you for reading ☔️

Two versus the world☂️

A new trend of team-duelling has taken over hogwarts.

It started in the major leagues and trickled down into the school yard. The students heard whispers of multiple duellers fighting each other simultaneously. The idea was chaotic alone, so of course the students were thrilled.

It seemed fun to duel in a group, like a five versus five match sounded epic in theory. But it’s a nightmare to organise everyone’s style of magic casting and their movements. So, two versus two became the popular choice amongst the students.

Naturally, everyone and their best buddy have been racing to the practice duel stages to work out their teamwork strategies. The trend has been so explosive that Jordan Lee, and his friends, have taken it upon themselves to set up an underground student run tournament.

Matches at lunchtime and after class happened daily.

Harry and Ron are a particularly fierce duo.

With Harry’s instincts and Ron’s skills in strategy, they have a strong chance of beating the current gryffindor champs, the Weasley twins.

Well that was the plan,

The day before the match, Harry had a run in with Malfoy.

Luckily no punches were thrown, the teachers quickly tore them apart before that could happen. Strangely, Professor McGonagall knew exactly what punishment to give them this time.

It turns out the teachers were well aware of the team duelling matches taking place.

Now, If they wanted to participate in ANY of the upcoming duelling matches, they would have to duel as a team. Under no circumstances are they allowed to duel in a different pair for 2 months.

At first they were crushed. Both Harry and Draco wanted to use the competition to prove their capabilities alongside their friends. What are they going to do now?

The twins mocked Harry incessantly.

‘I thought you and Ron were going to ‘knock us down a peg?’’ They’d scoff.

It got to the point where Harry and Draco had to at least try to work as a team. They were dying to take part before the trend inevitably ended. They knew then the two months were up, the matches would probably be forgotten.

The first time they practiced together it was a nightmare. They constantly clashed. But as soon as they found their rhythm - it finally all clicked.

They’ve been fighting with each other for years so they actually knew each other’s styles pretty well, once they set aside their differences they were a force to be reckoned with.

They entered the tournament as a team. The rest of the student body thought it was a joke. Harry and Draco, working together? Surely not.

But when they stepped out to duel Seamus and Dean.

Harry and Draco won in less than a minute.

The audience was stunned, they knew that separately Harry and Draco were strong in their own ways. But together, they’re were power house!

They crushed team after team. Breezed through them really.

At first they’d win and part ways, then they’d win and high-five. When they finally beat the twins, Harry ran over and lifted malfoy in the air with joy.

It was hard to stay enemies after that victory. They even have plans to duel students from other schools.

They began to hang out after practice, after classes and on the odd weekend.

It wasn’t just to talk about duelling strategies, they discovered they actually had a lot in common. They would never admit it, but hanging out with the other was really fun.

It wasn’t long before they started to trust each other. And eventually, depend on each other.

When Harry first saw Draco whole-heartily laugh, as their duo-casted expelliarmus hit the dummy target straight in the chest, Harry knew his was in trouble.

———-

Thanks for reading! ☔️

The destiny trio and the twilight town gang are camping out in the woods on Halloween night.

They’re all sitting around a campfire swapping ghost stories, Sora’s excitedly retelling his childhood ‘ghostly encounter’ - which he thinks is going to spook the heck out of them.

-The gang are mostly snickering at Sora’s dramatic story telling, His voice loud and arms flailing to set the scene. -

But Riku - he’s completely silent.

He’s sat still with wrapt attention. Who knew Riku liked scary stories so much?

The others knew the truth. Riku just loves staring at Sora.

His cute face lit up from holding the flashlight under his chin, Riku hasn’t heard a single word of the story.

He didn’t even notice when Axel snuck up behind them with a ski mask on.

Riku would have been annoyed at the interruption, but the shock from Axel’s entrance made sora cling onto his arm for the rest of the night.

(This was supposed to be a short blurb kind of thing but spiralled☔️)

Riku’s an arrogant water bender from the northern water tribe. Like a big fish in a small pond, He thinks he can conquer the world with ice bending alone.

He sneaks out of the frozen fortress in the northern settlement, trying to prove his greatness in the outside world -

- But quickly gets captured the moment he steps foot in the Earth kingdom.

Turns out water benders are pretty rare in the south and hot commodities for bending smugglers.

Riku’s been gagged and stuffed in the back of a wagon for what feels like weeks now. His ego and pride have been shattered, all of his attempts to escape have failed. He has no idea where he is or where he’s being transported to.

Just when he’s about to give up hope entirely, a crash occurs and the wagon is overturned!

He can make out the sounds of a fight - his smugglers versus an unknown party. Riku tries not to feel too hopeful, but maybe someone’s come to save him!

Or not,

He could hear his ‘saviours’ demanding the smugglers hand over their bounty. Riku, still panicked, took slight satisfaction in that it seemed the smugglers were being raided by bandits.

He couldn’t tell which side had won the fight but the noise eventually quietened down, and Riku began to feel dread.

Someone had entered the wagon.

‘Hey! There’s a person in here!’

Riku was pulled into the light, still bound and blindfolded.

Someone reached down and removed his blindfold.

Riku opened his eyes and looked up -

‘Hi, I’m sora!’

A beautiful boy surrounded by the strangest granulated dirt he’s ever seen. It morphed around sora like a shield.

—-

One’s a skilled sand-bending bandit, a sweet boy despite his questionable company, the other’s a sheltered water bender with a giant (now bruised) ego.

Riku sees sand for the first time, sora sees snow for the first time.

They’re opposites, they’re obsessed with each other.

—-

It’s been raining all day. The kind of heavy rain that’s deafening outside and covers the windows in a wet fog.

Sora’s always quieter on those days.

He can’t help it, he’s a creature of the sun.

He finds himself sluggish, looking out of any window he can find with a dazed expression. He walks to school with his umbrella barely covering himself as he gazes at the puddles streaming towards the school gates’ gutters.

It’s not that he doesn’t like the rain, if anything he likes the noise silencing his normally hyper brain. His thoughts are not gone but muted, dulled, turning into a light buzz that’s drowned out by the sound of rain. Anyone would think he could concentrate in school on these rainy days, but his head goes straight into the clouds.

Sora pretends to be normal with their friends. He knows they would worry if he was suddenly too quiet. He struggles through his usual sunny grin and forces his normally easy chatter with Roxas and Hayner. If they notice a slight difference in Sora’s mood, they don’t mention it.

Riku loves days like this.

He won’t tell anyone but he has a bubble of joy when he wakes up to the sound of rain.

He can tell straight away when Sora is forcing his smile, he doesn’t like it but is careful not to let him know. Riku knows his thoughts and acts normally beside him throughout the school day.

When Sora and Riku are alone, at Rikus house after school, Sora finally allows himself to relax and be quiet.

Riku loves this part of day the most.

The deep-seated, possessive part of his brain loves that only he sees this side of Sora. That Sora doesn’t try to force his happy self in front of him.

The others never get to see Sora when he’s reflecting, daydreaming, bundled up in blankets with a sleepy face staring out into Riku’s yard at the rippling puddles.

Riku just sits silently next to him. A warm presence of support and affection.

The fact that Sora knows he can rely on Riku, that only he can be Sora’s quiet safe space fills him with joy.

Sora sits on Riku’s bed, the side closest to the window. Riku sits on the bed next to him, they’re both leaned back on the cushioned headboard, wrapped up in blankets. The only light being Riku’s old desk lamp and the only noises to be heard were the steady sound of heavy rain and the pages turning of Riku’s book.

On especially lucky rainy days, Sora leans his head on Riku’s shoulder.

It shocks him every time, Riku’s never gotten used to physical touch and the small intimate gesture makes a light blush cover his ears. A part of him feels silly for reacting, a much larger part is too happy to care.