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Riku studied the other and the words for a short time before nodding. They should rest, even if he didn’t feel all that tired. ‘Then I should be going.’ He would as always sleep in his room on the gummiship. It was small compared to where he grew up, but so was this place. Given his family had been so well off for generations that wasn’t a hard thing to do. He found he felt more comfortable in smaller places nowadays.

‘I have a place to sleep.’ That, and he had brought his cat along. He didn’t bring Light out of the ship often, but the animal was on the ship. He’d sleep better with his pet around. He usually did.

    Neku wasn’t gonna stop the other if he had a place to go- especially if he was paying for a hotel or something. He quickly wrote down, “Stay safe on the way. Have a good night,” as he stood up to lead Riku out of the apartment.

    There were a lot of things for him to swallow and he wasn’t sure he would get any sleep that night anyways. His life just got turned upside down. This was almost worse than realizing he was dead in the Reaper’s Game a year ago.

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Riku shook his head stubborn as ever. He couldn’t drag someone else into the danger it seemed he invited. Well maybe he wasn’t the biggest danger magnet on their side. Sora seemed to find even more of it, but if Riku was looking for Sora he’d certainly get a fair part of it. Bringing Ven along seemed unfair if he was honest.

Ven pursed his lips, tilting his head. “Think about it, Riku. I was kept safe in his heart for years, so we have a special connection. I think we’d have a chance of finding him sooner if I came along. I’d know if he was near.”

And he wasn’t even bullshitting the young Master about that. 

“If it’s my safety you’re worried about, let me assure you that I can hold my own.”

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“Nothing helps.” Riku muttered staring about with glassy eyes. The dreams came and went at times, but he’d found no way to actively make them leave. They seemed to come more frequently when he grew anxious or unsure. The lose of Sora had if nothing else left Riku unsure and shot right into his anxieties.

“I’ll go with you.” That was the final straw. He would be damned if he let Riku go after Sora alone, sick or not. Not when he was in his current emotional state. “I won’t let you go alone.”

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Riku’s smile faded a bit as the other stared at him. His head cocked slightly in confusion. He couldn’t deny he didn’t quite understand people even at the best of times. Sure he could get to know people, could make friends, but he was awkward at best. Why, with that in mind, was Neku staring now?

When he read the next words though he gave a small nod and something that may have been a tiny laugh. He turned back to his own paper tapping it a couple times with his pen as if carefully considering his next words. ‘May your heart be your guiding key.’ He’d written the old saying before he’d truly realized what he was putting down. A saying that his own master had passed down to him. Even though Riku and Sora had been slight exceptions in that they had largely been self taught.

    That little laugh made Neku smile, but looking at the words made it disappear and made him thing. It was a profound statement. He genuinely didn’t know how to respond to it. He kept putting his pen down on the paper then retracting it.

    Finally he settled on a response. “Why don’t we sleep on it for tonight and I’ll see how I feel about it tomorrow? Today’s been a crazy day and I think both of us need some rest.”

• “Whoa, when did you get this?”
• “Who did this to you?”
• “Hold still— I need to clean it.”
• “I’m supposed to believe this was an accident?”
• “Damn— I’d hate to see the other guy.”
• “Does this hurt when I touch it?”
• “What the hell, ___? Another fight?”
• “What the hell happened to your face?”
• “Why are you so calm about this? You’re really hurt.”
• “I think your arm is broken. It’s not supposed to bend like that.”
• “Here, let me help you with that.”
• “You’re bleeding a lot. Too much. Apply more pressure. I’m calling an ambulance.”
• “Did you think I was gonna leave you like this?”
• “Instead of helping you, they ran off? What an asshole.”
• “You need to be more careful. You keep getting hurt like this and you’ll put yourself out of commission.”
• “Let me grab the first-aid kit. Don’t move.”
• “So, do you wanna explain to me what the hell happened?”
• “You look really pale. Sit down. I don’t need you fainting before I get this stitched-up.”
• “I’m not blaming you, I’m just saying this looks awfully suspicious.”
• “How many of them were there? This doesn’t look like one man’s doing.”
• “Sit still. I need to clean this before it gets infected.”
• “Wiggle your fingers. I need to make sure it’s not broken.”
• “This is gonna hurt. A lot. But it’ll be quick. I need to pop it back into place.”
• “I told you not to act recklessly like that. You might think you’re protecting me, but you’re gonna get yourself killed if you keep jumping in like that.”
• “That was really close this time. Too close. Please, promise me you’re gonna listen to me and be more careful in the future.”

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‘So determined for training, does that mean your mind, or perhaps your heart, is already made up?’ Riku couldn’t hide the smile that came to him. As a Keyblade master it was his place to insure such things. It was inadvisable to train a keyweilder who didn’t have their heart in the duties.

Not that he’d be any less likely to find himself helping the other boy. Sora had surely rubbed off on his best friend. They may both be stubborn, but it seemed in some ways Sora had won that fight.

    Something about that smile caught Neku off-guard, feeling his heart at the sight. He hadn’t seen Riku smile much yet. He stared at him for a moment and hummed before finally writing his reply.

    “I think my heart knows I want to do it, but my mind needs to catch up and figure out how I’m going to tell my parents and my friends what’s going on.” Neku didn’t want to miss his chance to finally make a difference. This was more than just Shibuya. She didn’t need him anymore as long as she had Joshua and Hanekoma.

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“Nothing helps.” Riku muttered staring about with glassy eyes. The dreams came and went at times, but he’d found no way to actively make them leave. They seemed to come more frequently when he grew anxious or unsure. The lose of Sora had if nothing else left Riku unsure and shot right into his anxieties.

“I’ll go with you.” That was the final straw. He would be damned if he let Riku go after Sora alone, sick or not. Not when he was in his current emotional state. “I won’t let you go alone.”

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‘Don’t be so eager. I’ve never found a kind reason for a Keyweilder to begin their journey.’ Riku flashed the message to the other with a long breath. Of couse he didn’t know much of how his allies had set out, but he knew his own very well, as with Sora and Kairi’s. None of them had very pretty stories.

‘As for secret places I can’t imagine one here.’ Granted that was probably a sign that Riku knew very little about cities.

    “Then maybe I should be the first. I’m not going to wait for something bad to happen to make me want to be a Keywielder. Part of being one means preventing those bad things, right?” Neku scribbled down far too fast in his defense. Neku didn’t want to wait for more bad things to happen to him and now he had the power to set things right. Or did he? He still knew so little about the keyblade.

    “There’s Shibuya’s River, Trail of the Sinner, and the Dead God’s Pad. It’s all in the UG but there must be an RG equivalent. But that would mean going to Joshua since he runs the place. Mr. H must have a secret studio somewhere so he can keep his identity secret and still practice.” He was persistent. 

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‘That sounds like magic.’ Riku said after a moment looking the boy up and down. He probably had a pretty good build to be a spell caster before a brawler. ‘I’m not really all that good at magic so maybe I wouldn’t be the best master to train you. Not that I feel ready for an apprentice, but we are stuck for the next few days.’

Riku seemed to be a dark elemental struggling with most magic outside dark magic. At least he had also developed an immunity to the darkness. He was a guardian of light, and a sprite dream eater and would not fall to the darkness.

    Neku was feeling judged suddenly as the other looked him over. What was he looking at? He couldn’t be sure but it made Neku nervous and start to ball up on himself, pulling his legs in to sit on them and tensing up. 

    He was by no means fit. That was half of the reason he never partook in any of the races Beat challenged him to. He knew he would lose every time. Flowmotion in the Underground made everything that much easier for him, but he didn’t have the convenience of using it in the RG. But the idea of being able to use his psychs again suddenly made him feel powerful.

    “I could ask Josh or Mr. H if there’s a place where we could practice in secret. I’m sure there’s somewhere. I want to be ready when those Heartless come back.”

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“I can’t rest … Haven’t even been able to sleep. The nightmares have been worse …” So many nightmares he couldn’t even keep them straight. Some version seemed to rear up every night. That was the main reason he hadn’t stayed at the tower for a long time. Maybe people had thought whatever kept him from returning to the islands often had been resolved, but he still rarely went home.

Ven let out a long sigh. “How can I help then? I mean, how can I help you? Because you need it.” Like hell he was going to leave Riku like this. His patience was long gone, and he was beyond worried for the young Master.

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Riku paused to consider for a moment before grabbing his pen, ‘How exactly did you fight in the Reaper’s Game? Weapons and that kind of stuff.’ The question seemed obvious to him. After all there were all kinds of ways to use a keyblade and it would have to depend on how the other fought.

As strange as it was Riku was just more comfortable out here and traveling. At home he felt stifled. It was like no one believed he was capable of taking care of himself back home. At least his dad was overbearing enough he’d always had to sneak out to do anything with his friends. Out here he’d proven himself and at least those who knew him didn’t question his ability to do whatever needed done. 

    “Everyone fights differently,” Neku started. He tapped the pen on his cheek a couple times, thinking of how to word it. “There are specially made pins with powers called psychs. There are a wide variety of psychs and you have to mess with the pins to figure out what they do. From what I’ve seen, some Players don’t use pins at all and have unique abilities that they use with a focus. Shiki uses Mr. Mew. Beat uses his skateboard. According to Joshua, no one in recent history has been able to use all the psychs with ease like me.” Neku realized at this point he was just boasting his ability- and why not? He was proud of it and didn’t get to tell anyone about it.

    “It’s hard to explain what they are without really seeing them. Some had rounds- blasts like bullets. Some created barriers. Some trapped and stunned enemies. Here, let me show you what I have.”

    Neku turned the paper to Riku and stood up. He maneuvered over to his desk and took a cork board off his wall, sitting back down on the bed with it. There were more than fifty pins on the board. Some had similar designs and color as part of the same brand but each was clearly handmade and unique. Yet they were all of a similar style; it was clear they were created by a single artist. 

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Riku was a little slower to eat his food. It was pretty good, just unfamiliar to him. Sure he’d had rice, but almost always with some kind of fish. In fact he’d eaten a lot of fish, and just seafood in general. Sea food and tropical fruits were the norm on his home island.

After reading the new question He had to pause to think. ‘It’s a dangerous job, there are some very dangerous monsters out there. I haven’t been home for a long time, but that’s because I never really want to. It’s exciting, but it always keeps you very busy.

    Seafood was normal around Shibuya (and all of Tokyo) as well, thanks to the area being surrounded by water. This meal just happened to be a little out of the norm. 

    Neku couldn’t imagine that it was much more difficult than the Reaper’s Game. The only difference is that it would be permanent- no god was going to say ‘you’ve done enough’ at the end of a couple weeks and give him a vacation. Was he calling Joshua a god now? Neku shook his head of the thought. 

    But hearing that Riku hadn’t been home and didn’t want to go home made him… sad. It bled into his face along with worry. Was his home life not great? Did he even really have a home life? While it raised questions, Neku felt he wasn’t in a place to pose it.

    With a mouth full of rice, he wrote, “Well, at least I’m experienced with fighting monsters. I know it’s different but maybe I could translate the moves I learned in the Reaper’s Game to the keyblade.”