Brave Lies
Riku knew Sora was scared when he got quiet.
Sora had a tendency to internalize those things, his eyes wide, shoulders tense, and the fight or flight reflex right there on the surface, waiting to push him into action. Sora was a fighter, usually, but there were times when the flight impulse won out, and then he would run and run, and sometimes find a safe place to hide, nothing but his posture giving his fear away.
When they were younger, Sora had run more. Usually Riku would be the first person Sora would run to. Hovering behind his best friend as they explored an old house that was rumored to be haunted. Crawling into Riku’s bed or sleeping bag during a thunderstorm, when they had a sleepover. Little whimpers as a crack of thunder drowned out the sounds of the rain on the roof, and Riku had let the smaller boy burrow close to his side.
“It’s so loud!” Riku remembered Sora’s childish voice so well. “Don’t let it get me!”
“It’s okay, Sora, I’ll protect you.”
“You promise?”
“Yeah.”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”
Somehow, over the years, Sora learned to be a fighter, and stopped running to Riku when he was scared.
Riku thought maybe Sora had learned that from him, since he’d always put on a brave front for his friend. Had always been the one to protect him, like he’d promised. Maybe Sora even thought that Riku wouldn’t let Sora see him frightened, and maybe that was why he was so scared now. To be afraid enough for the both of them.
“Riku.” Before he even said anything, Riku knew something was wrong. Wide blue eyes, a fidgety, barely controlled energy. “Riku, I got a call from Kairi’s mom.”
But there were some things Riku couldn’t protect him from.
“She was in an accident.” Short, nervous breath. “Riku, she’s in a coma.”
Riku bit his lip and pulled Sora into a tight hug. “How serious is it?”
“They don’t know.” Sora’s fingers dug into Riku’s shirt, clutching at him; Riku rubbed small circles over his back, trying to quell the thread of panic in Sora’s voice. “Riku, what if—”
“Shh, Sora, it’ll be okay.” Riku buried his frown in Sora’s hair. It was as close to a lie as he had gotten, in a long time, because it was something Riku couldn’t be sure of.
“Riku—Riku. Promise me you won’t ever leave me? Please? I need you to promise. If something happened to both of you, I—I—”
“I promise, Sora.” Riku had always lied, when he was scared. “I won’t you leave you. Kairi won’t leave us. It’s going to be okay.” He stroked Sora’s hair, hoping that his words wouldn’t come back to haunt them, hoping their friend would recover.