Disclaimer: I'm sure you've read enough of these to insert your own.

Author's Talk: This has been one hell of an enjoyable fanfic to write. A warning to those of ya who are sensitive to the stuff, this is going to end up a shounen-ai (Ie: Two guys romantically connected) and may or may not end up with lemons. You know what they are. If any of you flame me for one of the above topics, then I will hunt you down and make you apologise to the readers who love that stuff.

Righto, I hope you enjoy my fic.

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Chapter 1: Death Knoll

"Oh my God!"

"Look, there he is!"

"He really is a prince!"

"Kyaaa!"

The brown haired boy looked up sleepily. It was the first day of term-it was only homeroom, for goodness' sake-and the girls were already screaming. He groaned and looked at their latest object of 'kya-ing' as he and his twin brother called it. There, standing in the doorway, was the new student. A little taller than Sora, and much leaner. Wavy white hair fell from his scalp to past his shoulders, framing a picture-perfect face. Electric blue eyes gazed out from said face, sliding over the class. A tight, sarcastic smile graced his lips for a second. The teacher, one Mr. Leonhart, watched the haughty boy out of the corner of his eye, warily moving to the front of his desk.

"Class… CLASS!" he thundered. The girls stopped 'kya-ing' at his voice, hardly ever raised. When Mr. Leonhart-Squall to his fellow teachers-raised his voice, you were quiet. Mr. Leonhart wasn't nicknamed after a miniature storm for no reason. "Class," he continued in a more pleasant voice. "This is the new student, Riku Zephyr. He's joining the boarding community, as he is from far-off…" the teacher looked to Riku for help.

"Radiant Garden," the boy said in a voice as arrogant and challenging as his attitude.

"Yes, well, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?" Mr. Leonhart asked, clearly unperturbed at the boy's tone of voice.

Riku took a step forwards, then-to everyone's astonishment-bowed low to the class. And not a formal bow of greeting, this was the bow of one from a court. "Well, as you know, I am Riku Zephyr. I am…" At about this point, Sora simply zoned out.

Brilliant. I hope the damn girls can control themselves. I can't stand it when they squeal. Damned pretty-boy, who does he think he is? Sora thought vaguely to himself, much more interested in the sight outside the window.

"… a year older, as I was very sick one year…"

Sora was a boarder at Twilight High, in his eighth year. Twilight High was-as the name suggested-situated on the outskirts of Twilight Town. The boarding community was small, as most students lived nearby. There was, in fact, only one boarding house-both the boys and the girls were mixed up in there. Well, they did sleep in separate wings-for obvious reasons.

"… I hope I can get along with all of you."

Sora enjoyed living in the boarding house. He had a room to himself, as his roommate had been expelled for trying to blow up the place-what was his name? Xemnas? Yeah, that sounded about right. Weird freaky silver-haired guy. Good riddance.

It was right about then that Sora decided to zone back into the present. Just as Riku plopped down into the seat next to him. Of course, Riku would never describe himself as 'plopping' down into the seat. But that's neither here nor there.

The new kid leaned over to Sora's desk and tapped quietly on it. "Hey, you board too?"

Sora nodded subtly, not wanting to draw his teacher's wrath down upon him. "Great. Show me around the school later, okay?"

Sora winced internally at the student's lack of tact. Not 'could you,' or even 'please'! Who does he think he is? A prince? And he didn't even ask my name! What an asshole.


Lunch hour arrived. It had seemed like it never would.

Sora slumped down into his seat in the cafeteria next to his twin brother, Roxas. Roxas was almost exactly the same as Sora in terms of attitude. Roxas looked similar to Sora, yet his soft, spiky hair was a much lighter shade of brown. What freaked most people out was that both boys' cerulean eyes could flash with an intensity to melt diamonds. Most of Sora's friends had learned to stay well away from him when his eyes were like that; it usually meant that someone had gotten under his skin and was about to become just a statistic, or he had some madcap plan that was going to get them all sent to the principal's office. Most people had learned, anyway. Only two people hadn't; Roxas, whom Sora had learned everything from, and Axel, who simply loved tagging along with the plans 'cause they invariably pissed someone off and he was always put in charge of the matches. And we all know just how much Axel loves burning stuff. Anyway, Axel was two years their senior; yet he was likely the most immature of them all. Except maybe for Demyx. Quite frankly, when Demyx-who was a year younger than the pyromaniac-and Axel put their heads together and came up with another bizarre prank-they had managed to dye their principal's best suit fluorescent pink once-people generally dove for cover. Their parents were still paying for the science lab. And the library. Honestly, one would expect that books would simply burn! But no, they had managed to make them explode.

Sora groaned and lay his head on the table. Roxas patted him on the shoulder. "Tough luck, man."

Axel and Demyx looked curiously at Sora. "Sora, what did you do? It's only the first day of term, you know!"

Sora groaned again. "We have a pretty-boy in our class. All the girls have been quietly sighing over him all day, and I had to drag him to each and every class. He's a right royal pain in the-"

"Neck, right?" Riku slid into the seat next to him. Sora only groaned again, the rest of the table stared.

"Jeez, you don't give me a break!" Sora complained. "I thought you would be sitting with the girls by now!"

The silvery-white haired teen only laughed. "Nah, not them. I can't stand it when girls act like that. Makes me feel like some sort of art display."

Sora could only stare at the boy. Gone was the haughtiness, the I'm-sitting-on-a-pinecone-pointy-end-up attitude. Apparently, this guy was not a complete asshole. "Besides, you're supposed to be showing me around!" Well, scratch that idea. The guy most certainly WAS a complete moron.

"Hey, you! Be a little more polite, okay?" Axel growled at the younger boy. "Don't try and push Sora around, or I'll set you on fire."

"He'll do it, too," Demyx quipped, earning an alarmed stare from Riku.

Sora could only groan some more. Would this day never end?


Sora walked side-by-side with Mr. Pinecone, A.K.A. Riku. He was trying to lead Riku to Physics, but the corridors were too packed. Thankfully a sort-of area of calmness surrounded Pinecone Man, creating an empty space about two feet around him. People tried to get out of his way, but that didn't change the fact the corridors were still crowded. And on top of that were the whispers. Several caught his ears, setting them on fire. "They look so good together!"

"Wow, cute couple!"

"Kyaaaaa!"

Sora couldn't wait until the day was over. He thoroughly wanted to kill Riku here and now. The bastard had been ordering him around like he was royalty or something. Thankfully, the end of the day was nigh. One last period. Then he coul get back to the relative safety of the boarding house and his room, one with lots and lots of locks on them. Twenty, at last count. And countless traps. They had been installed over the years by the occupants. It had been a room traditionally given to paranoid people. Sora kept finding more traps-usually the hard way-and more locks. Once he was in there and had al the locks set, nobody could bother him. The last occupant-a lightning-crazed girl named Larxene-had been a genius at making traps. As she was a semi-friend of his, due to being Axel's undeclared girlfriend, he often sought her out for advice on disarming the damned things. She was in Axel's year, but Axel didn't board. This resulted in her often going home with him during weekends.

Sora sighed and pushed on, nearly dragging Mr. Pinecone, so desperate was he to get the day over and done with.


The final bell rang. Sora swore he could hear a choir of angels singing out in praise. More ominously though was the new bell tone. It sounded like a death knoll.

Sora stepped out of the classroom, trying to get away from the room before-Riku grabbed his collar. "Slow down, man! Show me the way back to the lockers, please!" Well, one good thing had come of Riku sitting at his table during lunch. He had started saying please.

Minutes later, Sora had packed his schoolbag and was trudging along back to the boarding house when he caught up with him. Sora cringed internally. There was a jingle next to him, a jingle Sora knew only too well. Now he knew why the school bell sounded like a death-call. That jingle was an enormous keyring for a vast amount of keys. Twenty, to be exact. In other words…

"Sora, can you tell me what all of these keys are for?"

Sora grinned. He would show Riku the door with the locks, but he wouldn't be telling him about the traps. Life had just gotten better.

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More random crazy Author's Talk: Yah. I'm currently hiding in my basement, a vengeful Riku trying to kill me for calling him Mr. Pinecone.

Apart from my current difficulty, could you please R&R? You guys may just be able to appease the psycho. Lord knows I won't write another chapter unless you do so.

Niccolo out.