Woop, hello again! Since Cup of Tea got some signs of life, I figured I'd write more Soriku... this is some weird headcanon AU drabble, haha.

Since I decided to go more drabble-esque than I did with Cup of Tea (if you haven't read that, you should! It's another Soriku!), so I had a word goal of 3K. This is 3,137 word, so that goes. I had this idea for a while but I wrote all of it today, whoops.

Disclaimer: Any registered anything here isn't mine, that's why this is fanfiction. The writing's mine, though...

Well, I hope you'll like this!

"Ri-ku," Sora complained to his best friend with an emphasis on both syllables, "It's cold."

Riku rolled his eyes and Sora was rather certain he had caught the undertone. Said best friend was a slender silveret whom Sora had known since his childhood, and he was always there for Sora. Besides, Riku was always cold so he wore so many layers of clothes he could easily be mistaken for a penguin. Surely he could borrow Sora his huge 300 dollar down jacket that was warmer than the Sun, just until he made it home…? "Oh? And what do you want me to do about it?" He hardly managed to conceal his smirk.

Sora sighed, having to admit that he wanted that wonderful jacket and the included warmth Riku had gathered for himself. "Borrow me your jacket...?" he asked hopefully, knowing Riku would do if it made him happy. "Besides, I bet you're wearing that warm band hoodie of yours underneath it and you must be dying to show it off…" Actually, guessing that he'd be wearing a band hoodie wasn't difficult at all; sometimes it seemed like they were only article of clothing in Riku's wardrobe.

The comment worked just as well as Sora had hoped, and Riku unbuttoned his jacket and shrugged it off his shoulders. Underneath he had an oversized black hoodie with some logo or another. "Of course… What would you do without me?" he murmured as he offered the coat to Sora, who accepted it greedily, "Besides, it's not any warm band hoodie, it's a warm 3 Doors Down hoodie."

Sora rolled his eyes as he drowned himself in the warmth of Riku's coat. Super expensive down jackets were definitely a god-sent, as was his best friend. "Sincere apologies for not being able to name all of your weekly changing favourite rock bands… And I'd freeze to death or get into some freaky accident, whichever came sooner."

Riku chuckled, "Remind me not to leave you alone, then." He buried his hands deep into his pockets and Sora may have felt bad for him if he didn't know how much Riku cherished the fact that even with all his new high school classmates and buddies and swimming teams, Sora still needed him.

And that day, with his frostbitten cheeks and his complaints about the cold and losing his coat, Riku seemed happier than how Sora had seen him in a long time.

Sora didn't talk on the phone much, but when he did it was mostly with Riku. The silveret, on the other hand, seemed to own a cell phone with the sole purpose of talking to Sora.

"Sorry we haven't had the time to catch up lately, Riku," Sora murmured quietly, expecting the hurt tone he'd get from his best friend soon enough. Riku wasn't exactly jealous, but he did have his moments whenever he had decided that Sora was avoiding him. "School has been crazy."

"I suppose…" There it was, The Tone. He sighed.

"Don't say it like that, you know you're my best friend…!"

The line was quiet apart from some distinctive shuffling from Riku's end until he finally responded. "Yeah, I do. Back at you."

"Hey, if you have time… do you think you could help me with my math homework tonight?" Riku was good at math, Sora was pretty sure. Besides, he really needed the help, seeing how he had a test coming up the following week and he was utterly lost.

"You're asking me if I want to spend the night working on your math homework for course five, the hell on earth that's also known as vectors?" Riku laughed. He had a pretty laughter. "Of course."

"Riku, help me," Sora cried pathetically. He had been looking for his best friend for the whole lunch break, only to find him reading in the basement, apparently having skipped lunch in favour of whatever he was reading. Sora didn't believe anything could really be better than food, but Riku was a character anyway.

"What is it?" Riku tugged his headphones away from his ears in favour of listening to some more of his friend's countless problems.

"I forgot my calculator at home," Sora started, "And I have my math test today…"

With a heavy sigh and yet another roll of his eyes, Riku fished his calculator from his pocket. "How are you even alive?" he asked as he dangled it before Sora's eyes.

His response was the most grateful smile Sora could possibly muster. "Barely and with your help! Hey, the test starts in like… five minutes, but do you want to go to Subway after school? My treat as a thank you…!"

Riku gave him a rare smile, one only reserved for his weakest and kindest moments, mostly when it came to Sora. "Yeah… I'd like that."

After a look at Riku's senior timetable, Sora felt a bang in his chest. Riku had gone to Zexion's class without his calculator for Sora's sake, and everyone knew how strict the short math teacher was about, well, everything. It wouldn't be a surprise if Riku ended up with detention just for that.

When Riku showed up at the classroom door with an unspoken did you do well, Sora blurted out that if Riku wanted a refill for his drink or anything, it was totally acceptable because Sora probably owed him a lot.

"For the calculator?" Riku asked stupidly as he stuffed said tiny computer in his back, "It was nothing, really."

"But… you had math…" Sora murmured sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck and knowing fully well that it would be easy for Riku to tell him that it had been his choice and he had known the consequences and blah blah bluh. Screw him for being such an adult sometimes.

A shrug and a smug grin was all he got. "With my near perfect record it was pretty easy to explain that my egghead of a best friend forgot his calculator home and being a knight in a shin—ow!" The sentence ended with Sora swiftly elbowing his best friend in his stomach, causing said best friend to roll his eyes. "No but really, it was fine, don't worry."

Sora smiled at him happily, "That's good. Thanks again…!"

"It's raining, Riku. Raining like, cats and dogs."

Riku freed his hands of his half-eaten baguette to lean back and look outside. "So it would seem," he agreed.

"I don't have an umbrella."

"Do you have anything required for basic school work today?" Riku asked, raising his eyebrow as he took up his task of finishing the baguette again. Sora eyed it; he was pretty sure he could recite Riku's Subway order even in his sleep, as they had been there together so many times.

"It was sunny just a few hours ago…! I didn't know it would start raining… besides, I'm not even sure I own an umbrella."

"You just want to borrow mine, don't you?"

"Can I?" he grinned, "Thank you, Riku..!"

"That wasn't…" Riku sighed in defeat, "Whatever. I'm not made out of sugar like some of us."

Sora picked out his tongue, "You live like, a mile from here." Riku's parents had rented him an apartment of his own because they lived on the countryside and the trips to school would have been too long from there. Sometimes, Sora was jealous of the fact but on the other hand, Riku had more responsibilities as well.

"Yet I carry the umbrella with me every single day, just waiting for a rainy day when you'll come begging me for it…" Riku drawled slowly, grinning with the knowledge of whatever it was that he was currently thinking.

"…Way to sound really gay, Riku." He tried hard to conceal the blush that was threatening to take over his face without any logical reason.

Riku snorted. "Well, they say you are what you eat," he murmured with a nod towards his ice tea, gaining a laugh from Sora. Riku couldn't really be labelled, so Sora wasn't quite sure whether he was into guys or not. Besides, Riku flirted with everyone, no matter who they were.

When they eventually left, it was in different directions. Riku claimed that he had some important things to take care of at the mall and disappeared as soon as he had given his umbrella to Sora.

Sora had never really understood what was so great about the umbrella that Riku would carry it around every single day (because that hadn't been an overstatement, he really did do that). It was just a plain dark blue umbrella, inconveniently large and rather heavy as well. Besides, it was a bit worn from all the times it had been carried around and it didn't open up without a fight.

But when he opened said dull-coloured, worn umbrella outside their local Subway, he was left staring. Despite being quite bland on the outside, on the inside he could see constellations, hundreds of small stars and the shapes they made with their names written in a small print next to each one. It was like he had opened the door to a world of new, unexplored galaxies that were that waiting for him to dive into an adventure.

He chuckled to himself, prompted by a mental image of Riku staring into the same stars with awe-filled eyes. Despite the tough act he always put up, Riku was really such a sap. He was also Sora's best friend and Sora wanted to help him the way he always helped Sora. He wanted Riku to be happy.

"Ri-kuuuu…" Sora drawled lazily, staring up at the starry sky. It reminded him of Riku's umbrella, and that made him feel at home. He hadn't talked to the silveret properly for weeks; he had been so caught up in his other friends and school. And after ignoring him for the first week, it had been difficult to talk to him again.

"It's… 3 AM, Sora." The words were accompanied by a groan; Riku was a pretty deep sleeper. "Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"

"I…" Sora started quietly, trying to calm down his teary eyes, "Can you come and pick me up? I'm at Tidus', for some swimming team party but… I want to go home and I don't have money for the bus…" His voice broke multiple times during the last sentence alone. He felt stupid for coming in the first place; loud parties and alcohol just weren't made for him. He was supposed to stay the night but the small apartment and booming music had made him feel so ill he couldn't really stay.

Riku sighed, sounding decidedly more awake than he had just a few minutes ago. "Of course I will… Give me the address and I'll be there."

It wasn't more than ten minutes before Riku pulled over in Tidus' driveway, where Sora was patiently waiting for him. The whole situation felt worse when Sora thought of the way no one had come looking for him after he left the party. Sora had mostly managed to stop crying but he was still shaking with the aftereffects of the tremors.

He climbed into the car without a word because he was afraid he couldn't have finished whatever sentence he would've started. He didn't want Riku to think he was weak.

Riku sighed heavily, keeping his eyes steadily on the road ahead of them. "Are you alright?"

Sora nodded. "Can I… stay at your place the night?"

One of Riku's most charming best friend –qualities was that he never pressed the issue when he could see that Sora was saddened. "Of course. That's what I'm here for. Right?"

"Right…"

Riku spared him a glance and then sighed again, "I don't think you even understand how much I care about you…"

Sora smiled a bit despite himself, "You're… the best friend anyone could ask for."

"Noted," Riku muttered, "But I'll still go right back to sleep once we get to my place. You can have the bed." It was the usual arrangement, so common that sometimes Sora thought Riku preferred the worn-out couch to his small, wooden bed.

Sora yawned.

"Are you feeling better?" Riku asked. He was standing in the doorway of his bedroom, holding in his hands a cup of what Sora could only hope was hot chocolate. Riku made the best hot chocolate ever, with whipped cream and maple syrup and marshmallows and it tasted like a heart attack and heaven at the same time.

"If that's hot chocolate in your hands, I think I'll survive," he responded hopefully, gaining a chuckle from Riku, who took the invite and stepped inside the room. Fresh out of the shower and dressed in casual weekend clothes, Sora could see why Riku would be considered hot. Scratch that, Sora could consider Riku as such, and not only for the mug in his hands.

"Double shot espresso," Riku joked, handing Sora the mug filled with the beverage of his dreams and sitting down on the bed next to him. He looked like he had twenty questions to ask, but he didn't voice any of them aloud, instead watching as Sora downed his drink.

"It's just so good," Sora murmured, dazed, "I don't understand how you manage this every time."

Riku chuckled, "It's made with love, of course."

Sora felt his ears heating up, but decided to ignore that in hopes of willing it away. "Sorry about yesterday. I don't know what I've done to deserve a friend like you, honest."

"You're great, Sora. That hasn't changed just because we've drifted apart."

That was a nice thing for Riku to say, but the fact was that they hadn't drifted apart, not really. Sora had gotten new friends, Sora had started to cancel their plans, Sora had drifted away from him and Riku had just been there, a steady rock he could lean on whenever Sora drifted back. Sora knew that Riku had friends of his own as well, but they hadn't caused Riku to ignore Sora or make him second priority, not ever.

"I'm really sorry," Sora whispered, a hitch in his breath. "I've been such a bad friend… I promise I'll make it up to you, okay? We'll go to lunch together on Monday, right?"

Riku seemed hesitant, slow in his response. In the end he nodded, "Sure thing." He grinned, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Sora didn't press it.

"So this is the Sora I keep hearing about?" Sora looked up at the voice that had interrupted his conversation with Riku, seeing a tall redhead practically towering over him. His hair was a blazing, recently dyed red that was tugged into a restless ponytail. He had piercing green eyes that were almost as green and Riku's were blue and a black t-shirt from a band Riku could probably name on his deathbed.

"Yeah," Riku replied with a roll of his eyes, "Sora, Axel, and vice versa."

"Did you commit it to memory?" Axel asked Sora with a grin, poking at his forehead. "And I hope you hanging out with this kid doesn't mean you'll suddenly start ignoring me, Riku."

"Of course not. I don't ignore people." And while it was a seemingly careless remark, it felt like a punch straight to Sora's gut. Riku gave Axel a smile that was usually only received for Sora and the brunet was not jealous, he just… he wasn't jealous. "But we're... I'm going to eat lunch with Sora today, so I'll see you after lunch?"

Axel grinned in response, reaching to ruffle Riku's hair and gaining a whine from him. "Sure thing. I'll see ya."

Axel was there when Sora's classes ended. He didn't bother with any pleasantries, instead huffing with his arms crossed across his chest. "You had better be nice to Riku, kiddo."

"It's Sora."

"Don't care. I mean, he's capable of holding his own, in theory, but he's just so smitten with you that I don't think you realise how much he cares about you."

Sora blinked, once or twice. "What…?"

"Don't screw things up, yeah? Well, I'm gonna go catch up to Riku before he leaves, so… you got it memorized? I'll see you around."

He pivoted on his heel, waving his hand dismissively as he went to find their common friend. Had Sora just gotten the best friend speech?

"I heard Axel came to talk to you... I'm sorry."

They were in Riku's apartment for reasons unknown to him, whacking each other in a round of Super Smash Bros. Melee.

"About what?" Sora smiled, "He's your friend, Riku. Besides, he's right; you've been a great friend to me and I'd probably go to hell if I didn't do the same for you."

"You couldn't go to hell even if you tried, Sora."

He picked out his tongue, halfway in concentration and halfway for the sake of picking out his tongue. "Neither could you, you're like some guardian angel of sorts."

Riku chuckled, hiding his face behind his hair. "Why, thank you... but you're just obligated say that because I'm -your guardian angel."

"I suppose not everyone is this lucky." Sora scooted slightly closer to Riku, but only so much that it could be brushed off as him searching for a better position. He knew that Riku flirted with everyone, but that didn't change the way Sora felt about him. Riku was always there for him, even in the middle of the night when he needed someone to pick him up from a party where he didn't want to be. And maybe... maybe Sora wanted Riku to be there for him in the future, as well. Maybe he didn't want Riku as his best friend, but as... as something else.

"I wouldn't do these things for just anyone, you know," Riku pointed out. Sora knew it was true; Riku wouldn't do these things for his other friends, not for Axel no matter how special he was. Riku was nice but Sora was a special case in his life.

Sora scooted a bit closer to him again. "I know. And I wouldn't ask just anyone, either. I mean… It's always been you, you know?"

Riku gave another breathy chuckle, accidentally blowing up an X Bomb on his own character. "Of course I know. You don't ask for things for the sake of having things."

"Yeah."

"But…" Riku paused the game in favour of looking at Sora properly. "Do you really understand why I help you…?" His eyes were positively glowing with a brilliant combination of fear and hope, and Sora found himself nodding.

He had plenty of time to stop their lips from meeting halfway, but he didn't.

Of course.

Should've probably put up a warning for fluff, haha. Anyway, I hope you liked this! It's a bit drabbly but I hope again that you could show some signs of life if you liked it... review, maybe..?

I did the math yesterday that I had 28 unwritten (KH and TWEWY) story ideas (this being number 14). So I guess you'll be hearing from me..!