Title: Barrier Break [Sora/Riku]
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for injury, blood, and Reaper Game
Summary: In the middle of the Reaper Game, Sora patches Riku up despite losing his magic.
AN: Written for Shiritori. Someday I want to write the full fic about Sora and Riku doing the TWEWY Reaper Game together and their price is that they don’t recognize each other so they spend the entire time talking about their best friend from home.
Barrier Break
The wall of the barrier didn’t look like it would stop any Noise from following them into the alley, but it at least muffled the sound of the traffic and people. Better than nothing, Sora figured, and safer than trying to dash their way back to Scramble Crossing where they’d started their third day. Riku slumped against the wall in the space between two vending machines, sweating and pale, eyes bright with pain. He was clutching his arm to his chest protectively, his jacket wrapped around it.
“Let me see it,” Sora said. Riku shook his head, too breathless from their dash to answer. “Come on, idiot, I can’t heal it if I can’t see it. We don’t have all day.” They had less than two hours by now, and Sora could feel the seconds ticking down in his clenched fist like the pulse of his heartbeat.
“I can take care of it,” Riku said through gritted teeth. Rolling his eyes, Sora reached for the jacket, peeling it away from Riku with a firm, no-nonsense touch. It was a shame about the jacket, since Riku had looked good in Tiger Punks. “Don’t, it’s awful.”
“Shut up, you can’t scare me. I’ve seen everything.” Sora regretted his bluster as soon as he peeled the last layer of fabric away. The slashes where the Jelly Swechno had wrapped tentacles around Riku’s forearm were jagged and deep, the torn edges of Riku’s skin an unpleasant color that probably meant venom. Blood was already welling up as Sora examined it, dripping down Riku’s arm. Grip tightening, Sora muttered a “Curaga.”
Nothing happened, of course. Other than the ache in Sora’s chest every time he reached for his magic and it wasn’t there.
“Sorry, habit,” Sora muttered. He let go of Riku’s arm to dig in his pocket for his Bright Chord pin, hoping that Healing Aura would fix being poisoned too. He found a couple 100 yen coins for the vending machine as well, enough for two bottles of water. “We need to clean this out.”
“That’s what they took from you, isn’t it,” Riku said, flexing his fingers like he was trying to work out pins and needles. “Your magic?”
Sora shrugged, eyes fixed on the vending machine. Truthfully, he might have broken himself just getting dropped into the Reaper’s Game, all the details muddled. But Riku said that he must have given up something as an entry fee, and magic seemed as good a guess as any.
“We’ll win,” Riku reassured. “We’ll get it back.”
“Worry about yourself,” Sora said, uncapping a water bottle. He poured it over Riku’s arm, Riku hissing. “It’s no big deal if I don’t. I’ve lost it before, so I’ll just learn it again if I have to.” Riku huffed a little laugh, shaking his head. “What’s funny?”
“Nothing,” Riku said. “You remind me of someone from home. My best friend. He’s brave and reckless, like you rushing those Jellies. He’s lost his strength a few times and even his magic, but he never gives up. I wouldn’t be here without him.”
“Sounds like you miss him a lot,” Sora said. He held the healing pin just over Riku’s arm, focusing on tapping its energy.
“I do,” Riku agreed. The tension in his shoulders eased as Bright Chord ran out its charge. “Like I’d miss my own heart. Do you have a best friend back where you’re from?”
“Yeah.” Homesickness rose up in Sora’s chest like a sudden wave, like water filling his lungs. He had to close his eyes a moment and breathe through it. “He’s really cool, and strong, and good. And way smarter than me, if he were here we’d have solved this whole dumb game by now!”
“We sure could use the help. Any chance he’s going to swoop in here like a dashing prince on a horse Noise and save us?” Riku asked, examining his arm. The wound wasn’t closed the whole way, but the bleeding had stopped and the skin looked a normal color again.
Sora shook his head. “I think he’d have made his flashy entrance by now if he could. And he better not, either! We had to die to start this stupid game, remember?”
“True.” Riku grimaced, then shook it off. He glanced down at the timer in his hand, just past the 90 minute mark. “I’m ready when you are. We’d better get moving.”
