Natural
Chapter One

Author's notes: This is my first Kingdom Hearts story. It's a request for my friend, and while I'm not very active in KH fandom (and, admittedly, haven't beaten the game) I gave it my best shot. So, please forgive me for any misrepresentation of facts from the game and any crappy characterization. I tried my hardest!

---

"I looked everywhere for you…"

Sora stared at his ceiling with a dull expression, one he only really adopted after he'd just awoken from a dream. He blinked a couple times, trying to make sense of the light filtering through his window. Sighing slightly, the blue-eyed boy kicked his covers off and sat up, staring at the sunny day outside on the island. It was a plethora of sunlight and sparkles from the ocean and he blinked fuzzily, trying to cease the impending headache with a Herculean effort.

"I don't want to go to school," he decided to himself and flopped back down onto his pillow, trying to summon sleep back. It wouldn't come, but Sora hadn't expected it to. It was far too sunny and he'd forgotten to draw his blinds the night before.

Rolling over onto his stomach, he slowly sat up and stared at his wall this time, still only partially awake. With another small sigh, he finally managed to pull himself out of bed just as his clock turned over the hour. Seven in the morning. It should be a crime against humanity to have to awaken at that indecent hour.

Mumbling to himself in his half-sleep stupor, Sora quickly dressed into his school uniform, somehow flopped his way downstairs, ate the food his mother had left out for him, and exited his house in time to see Riku walking past, just as he did everyday.

"Hey," Sora called, a little more awake but still longing for his comfortable bed.

Just like every day before, Riku paused at Sora's gate and waited for him. Unlike Sora, he looked perfectly awake and dressed accordingly for the day. His clothes always looked crisp and clean, whereas Sora's looked like they'd been left unironed and left in a cluster of fabric on the floor. (Because they had.)

"How do you always look so clean, Riku?" Sora complained, walking beside his best friend with a slightly miffed expression, only skewed by the overpowering sleepiness in his eyes.

"I take a shower," Riku said helpfully, the perpetual frown creasing his lips.

Sora eyed his friend. "I meant your clothes. Also, Ishower too."

Riku chuckled quietly and they walked the rest of the way to school in a companionable silence. Once the school came into view, the two boys saw Kairi and Selphie approaching from the other side of the block and Sora waved energetically, at this point wide-awake after walking a mile to the school.

"Good morning," Kairi greeted warmly when the two boys were within hearing shot. Selphie voiced her greeting as well and waved before moving off to find Tidus and Wakka.

"Good morning!" Sora bubbled happily, smiling widely at Kairi.

"'Morning," Riku muttered, though he didn't look like he was actually having a good morning. He nodded politely to passing students who greeted him, but he looked sour and tired. He checked his watch and started moving away from the courtyard and towards the school entrance. "The bell's going to ring soon."

"We'll see you at lunch, Riku!" Kairi promised as the silver-haired boy disappeared around the corner, heading off to the upperclassmen's floor. Kairi turned to Sora, still smiling, and asked, "Shall we get to class, too?"

"Okay," Sora agreed and the two friends headed off to their own classroom.

Sora dreaded school with every fiber of his being. It seemed like Kairi and Riku settled in well to school life, catching up quickly with everything that they'd missed while being gone, but Sora still struggled. Sure, give him a keyblade and he could save the world, but Sora couldn't even conquer the simple rules of trigonometry. And by simple, he meant impossible.

He was far from being a model student, like Kairi. He was far from being a decent student, like Riku. He was struggling with every subject, except for gym, but Kairi would adamantly remind him that gym didn't really count as a rigorous subject. Sora would try not to pout because he always knew he'd beat her in the running they were all required to do. Kairi was brilliant in the classroom but was, frankly, below par when it came to strenuous activity.

Sora's favorite times of day were gym and lunch. Gym because it was the only class where he actually had decent grades in, and lunch because he could spend his time with Riku and Kairi. Most days, Riku would come down from the top level and sit with the two underclassmen in their classroom. They'd eat in a companionable silence, sometimes talking but most of the time just enjoying each other's company. Words didn't need to be spoken between the three for there to be understanding.

"Exams are coming up," Kairi reminded the two boys one day. Today, they were eating in Riku's classroom and were gaining some stares from the older students there. Riku didn't seem to care. "Are you guys ready?"

Riku gave a small shrug, as was typically the answer to all questions posed to him. He ate his food silently brooding down at his feet. Sora turned a distinct shade paler at the thought of final exams.

"You still have a month," Kairi reminded gently when she feared Sora would pass out. He dove headfirst into all sorts of danger without batting an eyelash, but the thought of examinations made the boy look sick. Kairi couldn't help but laugh sweetly at the thought. "Riku and I can help you, I'm sure."

Riku shrugged again, seemingly unbothered by Kairi nominating him for such an impossible task—and training Sora's in the way of mathematics and history was an impossible task indeed—and just finished off his food. Once the food was gone, he sat up straighter, crossed his arms over his chest, and observed his two friends.

"I don't want to trouble you," Sora muttered, embarrassed, but a small smile still on his face.

"It'll be more troublesome when you're in summer school," Riku said, one eyebrow raising imploringly. It was as if Riku had stabbed Sora in the heart, if the look he gave his best friend were any indication.

Sora looked properly scandalized. "Riku! You're so mean!"

"It's no trouble at all, Sora," Kairi reassured sweetly, smiling at her friend.

"Thanks," Sora said quietly. Kairi smiled and Riku stared at his feet.

"Well, the bell's going to ring soon," Kairi said, standing up and collecting her empty food containers. "Coming, Sora?"

Of course, in that moment, Sora had a huge amount of food in his mouth. He looked up at Kairi, still chewing and blinking his eyes. Kairi laughed and shook her head.

"Obviously not, oh well. I'll see you in the classroom," she reassured and waved. She smiled warmly at Riku. "See you after school, Riku."

The two boys waved while Sora continued eating, trying to squeeze in as much food as possible before the bell rang. Riku watched him for a moment before his lips quirked upwards into a tiny smile and he chuckled quietly. Sora gave him a look, trying to tell if Riku was laughing at him or not.

Riku reached out a hand and pulled something off his cheek. Still smiling, he explained, "Some food on your face."

Sora felt his cheeks turn pink and he grinned. "Thanks."

Riku flicked the offending piece of food off his finger and it went soaring off in some random direction. He brushed his silver hair away from his face and watched as Sora finished his meal.

"One of these days you're going to choke," Riku warned, one eyebrow quirked upwards. "You should be more careful."

"Buh," Sora said through his last mouthful of food. "You worry too much, Riku."

"The bell's going to ring," Riku warned and, sure enough, the bell rang moments later. It was a quiet chime through the PA system and students began filtering into the classroom. "You should hurry back. You know what happened last time you were late."

"Yeah, yeah," Sora said, remembering cleaning the chalk board and erasers. It had been boring and tedious, and, of course, Riku had sat at one of the desks and laughed at him the entire time without bothering to help him.

Sora stood and packed away his food quickly. He waved to Riku. "See you after school."

"Bye," Riku said as Sora darted from the room. Riku watched him go before resting his head in his palm, sighing quietly.

---

"And then yesterday I saw the same person walking by the store, only this time she was wearing a bright green parka, and why someone would wear a parka on the island is beyond me, but who am I to judge anyway, but she was walking by in her parka and that dog was following her and I was thinking to myself why does that dog love the lady in the green parka when I'm the one who gave him that bone a couple months ago and it got me to thinking that maybe the lady in the green parka is giving the dog twice as many bones every day which would make me look like a terrible person in comparison since I only gave him a dried steak bone whereas this lady in the green parka might be giving the dog juicy steaks along with the bones and I was really sad because I want a dog really bad and I really like that dog since he kind of reminds me of Pluto and—"

"My God, Sora, don't you ever stop talking?" Kairi butted in as she approached from the back of the classroom, her lunch in hand. She smiled in greeting at the visiting upperclassmen before sitting in a seat beside the two boys and giggling.

Sora abruptly ceased talking and Riku remained stoic as always, his head resting in his hand as he picked at his meal, listening to Sora blather on and on, as was per usual between the two boys. He shifted slightly, giving more room for Kairi to pull up to the desk.

"That was the longest sentence I've ever heard in my life," Kairi continued, laughing lightly, "How do you find time to breathe through all those words?"

"This is how it always works for them," Selphie supplied as she came up from behind Kairi, rubbing her eyes free of sleepiness she always acquired after finishing math class. "Sora talks nonstop and Riku sits and listens. You guys are like polar opposites."

"I don't know why you guys would hang out so much, seeing as how you're both totally different," Tidus volunteered boisterously as he frolicked his way to Sora's desk, not entirely sure what the conversation was about but still willing to add his two cents in. "Why do you hang out together, anyway? I mean, even when Kairi eats with us, you guys are always together, either Riku coming here or Sora going upstairs to the upperclassmen's floor."

"Isn't it obvious?" Riku asked, a small scowl on his face.

"It's because we've been friends for ten years now!" Sora declared happily, beaming like a kid at Christmas-time. "We're childhood friends, so something as silly as lunchtime couldn't keep us away from one another! Right, Riku?"

"Don't you think he's really noisy, Riku?" Selphie asked, rubbing one of her ears.

"… I'm used to it," Riku said after a pause.

"Hey!" Sora protested loudly. "That's so mean, Riku!"

"It's a fact," Riku countered, closing his eyes as if there were an annoying creature buzzing in his face.

"You're such a jerk," Sora said without malice, pouting slightly.

Riku rolled his eyes as Kairi, Selphie, and Tidus went off to where Wakka sat to enjoy their lunch together. Like always, the two boys denied the invite and preferred to sit beside one another in silence. Or, rather, silence sans Sora's boisterous recollections of trivial things. "So noisy."

---

"Riku… Riku's here."

It was the same dream again. He'd been having the dream almost weekly at this point. It wasn't so much a dream as it was his memories invading his sleep and reminding him of the journey long since completed. It was always the same scene. It was always Sora kneeling before Riku and crying for him.

Sora opened his eyes as the dream faded away but the memories stayed fresh and clear in his mind. He stared at the ceiling again with a dulled expression. He lifted his arm and blocked the sunlight from his vision—he'd forgotten to close his blinds again.

"Riku," Sora muttered before he could stop himself. He blushed at the realization and rolled over, stuffing his head under his pillow. "Why do I keep getting these dreams?"

The explanation was simple, at least, in Sora's mind. He was just happy Riku was here again. It was the only explanation. But revisiting that moment over and over again in his dreams kept him from really believing these thoughts. The dreams and his thoughts on the dreams were bordering the line between friendship and…

Sora shook his head quickly to rid himself of such a preposterous thought.

"I do not like Riku," Sora muttered, then, quickly amended, "Well, I like him. But I don't like like him."

Even though he said this out loud it did little to appease his thumping heart. Whenever he thought of that time when he saw Riku again his heart hurt. It seemed to hurt more every time he thought about it—every time he thought about a world without Riku.

He rolled over onto his back again and frowned at his ceiling. The clock was warning him it was time to get up and get ready for the day, but his mind was muddled with his disbelief and his faulty reassurances of where his affections lie.

"I like Kairi," Sora said firmly to himself, but he only sounded partially convincing.

It made no sense. Entertaining the idea that maybe, just maybe, he liked Riku as more than his best friend, where did that leave Kairi? How could Sora just cast aside his feelings for Kairi as if they were nothing? No, he liked Kairi. He was sure of it. He'd always liked Kairi. He'd liked her ever since she first came to the island. Before their journey he'd drawn his hand with the paopu fruit and presenting it to Kairi. Sora knew that nobody did that unless they really liked the person. And, when the gate had closed, and he'd been separated from Kairi, he was almost absolutely certain that he liked Kairi then, too.

So when had it changed?

Of course, it hadn't. He didn't like-like Riku. There was nothing more to that. These dreams were just reassurances to his heart that Riku was here with him and to never forget how much Riku meant to him. Riku was a guy anyway. He couldn't like-like him.

"I like Kairi!" Sora said more firmly this time.

"Nobody's saying you don't," a voice off to his left reassured and Sora jumped upwards into a sitting position to see Riku coming through his doorway.

"Riku!" Sora said, blushing brightly. "What are you doing in my room?"

"I was going to ask you the same question," Riku said and glanced at his clock. "You're late."

Sora looked at his clock, too, to see that he'd been thinking too much. He'd missed his rendezvous with Riku, as they did every morning, with Riku passing by his gate and Sora running to meet him.

"Sorry, I must have overslept," Sora lied, frowning.

Riku made a small noise in the back of his throat and dipped over, grabbing Sora's crumpled school uniform from the ground. He threw it at Sora's head and the blue-eyed boy just managed to catch it in time.

"Get dressed, sleepyhead," Riku commanded, smiling slightly. "I'll wait for you downstairs."

Riku left and closed the door behind him. Sora quickly dressed, his face still red from the interruption. He wondered how long Riku had been standing there, but reassured himself that it could only have been for a minute, enough time for him to hear his declaration of his crush. Sora quickly recounted in his head what he'd said to himself and felt reassured that he hadn't said anything incriminating.

Trotting downstairs, tie untied, shirt unbuttoned, and open bag clutched in his two hands, Sora met Riku in the foyer. He leaned against the wall casually and offered him a piece of toast.

"From your mom," he explained as he opened the door. Then he glanced over Sora's state of attire and raised one eyebrow. "You might want to fix that."

"Shut up!" Sora said through his mouthful of toast. He buttoned up his shirt with shaking fingers, jolted by adrenaline and mortification. The toast nearly slipped from his mouth as he muttered to himself. He left the tie. "I'll fix it at school," he told Riku, who was giving him a bemused look, "Don't look at me like that!"

"Suit yourself," Riku said and held the door open for Sora as he marched out with as much pride and dignity as a late-sleeping, crush-confessing, half-dressed boy could. Riku followed after him, shutting the door behind him.

They walked in silence towards the school. Riku glanced at his watch from time to time, but said nothing. Sora knew he was counting down the minutes until the bell rang and how late they were going to be. Sora frowned at his untied shoes. Riku didn't have to wait for him.

"Sorry," he said suddenly, swinging his book bag from side to side. "If you hadn't waited for me, you wouldn't be running late."

Riku shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't matter."

"But you keep glancing at your watch," Sora protested, frowning.

Riku shrugged his shoulders again. He shifted his own book bag and smiled lightly at Sora. "I don't mind waiting for you."

For some reason, the combination of Riku's gentle smile and his softly spoken words made Sora's heart jolt and his cheeks turn pink. He turned his face away, pouting slightly at his body's betrayal. He didn't like-like Riku. That was all there was to it.

If Riku noticed his behavior, he made no comment on it and continued on silently. They made it to school just as the final bell rang. Sora glanced at Riku, but he seemed unconcerned with his tardiness. Then he glanced down at Sora and their eyes locked. For some strange reason, Sora's heart jolted again.

"Your tie's still undone," Riku said, grabbing one end of the article of clothing and tugging. Sora's heart nearly stopped and then flopped down dead into his stomach. Sora grabbed the strand and tugged it out of Riku's fingers. Riku's eyebrows arched upwards but he didn't say anything. "I'll see you at lunch."

"Yeah," Sora muttered, tying his tie with shaking fingers and a red face. "See you."

"There you are," Kairi hissed when Sora finally entered their classroom three minutes later. He sat down quickly into his chair next to Kairi. "You're lucky. The teacher's late today, homeroom hasn't even started yet. Where were you guys?"

"I slept in," Sora confessed. "And Riku waited for me."

"He would," Kairi said to herself and shook her head. She tilted her head to the side and pointed at his tie. "Hey, your tie's crooked."

"It is?" Sora asked, glancing down. Sure enough, the tie was crooked.

"Let me," Kairi offered and grabbed his tie before repositioning it. Sora realized, with some dread creeping onto his face, that his heart stayed perfectly fine throughout this entire process. It didn't jolt, it didn't flop, it didn't do anything but beat at its normal pace.

Sora tried to reassure himself that it was just because Riku had been in his dreams lately. He was just happy he was okay. That was all. He liked Kairi.

"All better," Kairi reassured and patted Sora's shoulder. "Much better."

He liked Kairi. He liked Kairi. He liked Kairi. He liked Kairi. He liked Kairi. He liked Kairi. He liked Kairi. He liked Kairi. He liked Kairi!

He liked Kairi.