[ It's not that he doesn't believe Ven. It's that there are certain things that he's not saying which makes Riku worry, makes his mark throb on the inside of his wrist, make him drop to his knees as he currently is and hold tight to that wrist he almost refuses to let go of.

Because this is just like him. To push away those who mean so much to him. To betray a bond he shares with another. To think only of himself and what he wants, so selfishly so, stewing in his annoyance and frustration at how unfair everything is and how envious he is of the one who is Sora's soulmate when he should be him. All of this is exactly what first got him and everyone else into all the trouble back then: his own selfish desires.

So why? Why does he keep doing this? Why can't he see past his own greed and wanting everything to be as he wants it? Why can't he come to see that there's compromise? That there are others who feel things? That he's not the only one in this world who has suffered and lost and feels hurt with whatever has happened in their life? Why can't he do that? ]

I'm hurting you. [ He says then, fingers still gripping Ven's wrist. ] I'm hurting you... and you won't say it. You won't say how much it hurts to have me for a soulmate when you know that I've been pulling away from you. I know you do. I know I'm hurting you. I know you're waiting for me to come to you even if you want to come to me. You're hurting and you're pretending that you're not because you think you deserve it.

[ A beat. ]

Because you think no one wants you. That I don't want you.