R to S

I.

He doesn't remember meeting Sora.

It's more like, Sora's always been there, tugging on his arm, with his signature and spiky tufts of hair sticking out, giggling like a maniac.

Sora's always been there, before school, before they discovered the island, so he can't think back to what his first first impression might've been.

But he does remember when he realized that Sora was special.

Riku was a year older than his friend, so it was his job to make sure that they didn't get into too much trouble, didn't lose money for ice cream given to them by their parents, and of course, always had super cool adventures to go on.

Sora was always tagging along for the ride, and when he couldn't because his mom had him doing chores, Riku was there to either help or sneak him out himself. Sora and he were joined at the hip, partners in crime, best friends, practically brothers and completely inseparable, so the day that Sora decided he would 'run away' from home, naturally, Riku was there right beside him.

He remembers Sora's runny nose as clearly as if it were yesterday. Sora, five years old and with an overstuffed backpack, completely unable to make out a sentence without wiping his eyes and stopping to choke on his tears or stutter incoherently halfway through his sentence.

"R-Riku...!"

Riku had been reading a book about space earlier, and absently thought Sora's tears would've looked like stars if they weren't so grossly mixed with his snot.

"R-Riku!!"
Sora had engulfed him in a hug and began blowing his nose on Riku's shirt. Riku knew Sora didn't have cooties anyway, so while it was kind of gross, he didn't mind too much.

"Sora, you're messing up my shirt. What's wrong?"

After babbling sounds and syllables Riku didn't understand, Sora finally got around to it.

"My mom! I can't tell you-but she-I-I can't stay home anymore!"

Riku was the type to not pester his friend when Sora was extremely emotional. It would only push him further into hysterics and Riku did not want an uncooperative Sora on his hands.

He hugged his friend back, struggling to wrap his arms around the giant backpack as well.

"So-I'm sorry! I wanted to say goodbye!"

"Nope. No goodbyes. I'm coming with you."

He'll always remember the way Sora's head popped up out of the embrace and suddenly the rain stopped. There was nothing but Sora's oceanic eyes, looking at him as if he were the sun, moon and stars.

And then came that goofy grin.

"This is gonna be so fun!"

Just like that, Sora's mood could change. Riku had thought that it was funny that his friend was so weird, but it was nice knowing he could make him happy so easily.

Riku had ducked back into his house, an easy feat since no one was there usually, and packed his own bag quickly. Moments later, he and Sora were walking down the road as if they were taking a trip to the beach rather than running away. Riku wasn't sure how far Sora would actually go with this plan until he changed his mind, but he would see it through until his friend got tired of it. Sora would get in all types of trouble without Riku anyway. Like the first week of Kindergarten when Sora decided to eat Playdoh. So naturally, Riku had to make sure that Sora was watched because he'd probably end up, like stranded ontop of a palm tree or something, if he weren't there with him.