The silver-haired boy cracked one eye open from where he lounged on the sand in the sun, to see the upside-down face of Sora grinning at him sunnily. She batted her baby blues at him as she leaned over, blocking out the sun.
“Hey, are you going to teach me, or what?” she asked, and one of her sneakered feet nudged his shoulder.
“Sora, I’ve been waiting for an hour already.”
The brunette grimaced in contrition, her hands clasping at the small of her back. “Yeah, I know, I’m sorry. It’s just a new girl showed up and my mom asked me to go meet her, and then I was waylaid by Selphie, you know how she can be, and…”
Riku chuckled, finally sitting up. “I know how she can be? Sora, I know how you can be, and I know that you’ll never turn anyone down.”
Sora bit her lip. “Yeah, I know, but I shouldn’t have made you wait like that.”
Sighing, Riku stood up and dusted off the seat of his pants. “Sora, if I didn’t like the fact that you’re you, you wouldn’t be my best friend.”
“Are you sure it’s simply not just that I’m the only one close to you in age?” she teased, bouncing back from her earlier worry.
Riku rolled his eyes. “Pick up a stick,” he said instead, grabbing one of his own.
“All right!” she cheered.
Smiling, Riku set about teaching her the fine art of swordsmanship.