Were you thinking Riku not telling Namine about being a Replica was stupid?

It's fine if you were. I was too.

But then I realized:

Throughout Chain of Memories Repliku was always really bitter towards Real Thing and about being a Replica in general.

"Just because you’re real doesn’t mean your better!" — which as a quote alone sounds like he truly believes that. He’s not lesser because he’s a Replica.
But you have to remember how bitter his voice is and how he looks to the side to avoid looking Real Thing in the eye and how he clenches his fists and everything about his body language is anger and frustration. He’ll say he doesn’t think he’s lesser but in reality he does.

You can hear it in his dying speech too. Before he confronts Riku. He’s so upset and so angry and so disgusted at what he is because he’s a fake and everything about him—his appearance his power his memories—is borrowed and he hates it. 

He hates being a Replica

And in the Truth Hurts when he’s all fresh out of remembering that anger and disgust towards himself and what he is, maybe it’s no wonder he doesn’t tell Namine. He would want to protect her from feeling that disgust he’d want to just forget he ever felt it.

Him not telling her is really no surprise, if you think about it. It’s just a result of him hating being a Replica so much.

Yes, he eventually grows out of that and comes to term with being a Replica and accepts it and accepts that it’s not a bad thing. But how soon he comes to that conclusion is up for debate an then of course he doesn’t want to tell Namine because him not telling her alone is enough to freak her out or make her angry at him (two things he’d want to avoid).

So maybe it’s not a surprise at all

Sure, it's a little ridiculous, all things considered. But he's got reasons for it.

((this post is also on tumblr))