Okies, I'm out with another fanfic. My obsession for Kingdom Hearts has yet to die down for like the past year, so I figured I'd get out a fic while my obsession was still going strong. I like shounen-ai, just so you know, and this will eventually turn into just that. But don't worry-just shounen-ai ness. I'm not into lemon or anything. Only fluff and stuff. There will also be numerous man-on-man pairings (in case you didn't know what shounen-ai was ;;). If you read the summary, you'll know what the pairings are. ;D

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Even though Riku is being held hostage in my closet.

Oh, and just to let you know, I'm not a very punctual updater, so it might be a little while in between updates. But not too long. Like a week or two. XD

Oh, and just so you know, Squall is Leon. I played FFVIII and know him as Squall. Just to inform. XD

Okies, I'll stop talking so you can read. I hope you like! If you do, or if you don't, please review. Reviews make me very happy. They keep writers going.

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"C'mon, Sora. We're gonna be late," Riku called from the kitchen. Granted, the call wasn't full of much enthusiasm. Why would he want to hurry if all he was going to do was get to school and be bored out of his skull? Nevertheless, he tapped his foot impatiently as he nibbled on a piece of toast.

As if on cue, Sora burst out of his bedroom, balancing his shoes in one hand and throwing on the tie for his uniform with the other, all the while trying to maneuver his head so he could take his breakfast from Riku. The sight was, for Riku, one of Sora's better days when it came to dressing himself. He didn't even want to think about last week's incident.

Sora landed and ran into the kitchen, where he stood, trying to disentangle himself from his plaid tie. Riku shook his head and groaned at the pathetic sight.

Sighing, Riku walked over to the counter of Sora's kitchen, grabbed Sora's toast, and stuck it in the still struggling Sora's mouth. He smiled through the piece of bread in thanks. Riku merely shook his head in exasperation.

A minute or so later Sora stood in his kitchen, holding his backpack over one shoulder and another piece of toast in hand. Riku sighed.

"You know, mornings wouldn't be hectic if you'd just get up earlier," Riku said, leaning against the counter. Sora huffed.

"Hey! I like sleep! It's not my fault you get up early every morning!" He argued, smirking. Sora always was bad at sounding serious.

"Whatever. Let's just leave. If we hurry, we'll still make it on time. I don't need another detention," Riku replied shortly, giving in for now. Sora nodded, then looked behind him up the carpeted stairs.

Footfalls were heard, and soon a figure was seen walking around the corner. Riku didn't need to look to see who it was.

"We're leaving, Cloud!" Sora said, smiling. Cloud nodded and rumpled his brother's hair.

"Be good, you two."

"Always!" Sora said, smiling. Riku nodded.

Both boys turned away from the senior and stepped out into the bright sunlight, where they began to run so they could make it on time. He always preferred taking the bus, while Riku and Sora enjoyed walking. That was always how it had been. The two high school sophomores ran down the road and up the lane leading to their school.

'Yeah. Just another regular day,'Riku thought, smiling.

"Might I inquire as to why you boys are late, once again, for my class?" Prof. Saïx questioned in a monotone in the front of the room. Sora sank lower in his seat while Riku just stared at the board. He raised an eyebrow, but turned and looked back at the board.

"Okay, now in Scene three of Twelfth Night, which you should have read last night, you saw Viola…"

Riku read the play weeks ago, and so decided to tune the lecture out for the time being and wrap himself in his thoughts. This was the best place to do it; Saïx couldn't care less if you really listened to him, as long as you got decent grades.

He had been living with the whirlwind that was Sora for a month now, and things in his life were looking up. The whole reason why he was living with Sora now was because Sora insisted on it. He knew how abusive Riku's dad was-and that was putting it lightly. Riku didn't want to think about the things his father did to him at the moment; he had enough dreams about it as it was...

Hearing about these abusive things, however, made Sora decide that that was the last straw. He begged Cloud to let Riku stay with them, and once Sora explained the situation, he relented and said Riku could stay.

Riku felt bad for a while, simply because he did have a mom. The only problem there was that she didn't think she could afford having him and his brother, Kadaj, living there. It upset Riku more that he didn't get to live with Kadaj; Kadaj went to the same school as him, but it wasn't the same.

"But mom! Why can't Riku live with us?! That's not fair!" Kadaj had fervently argued, in attempts to persuade his mother to let his brother, and her son, stay. Their mother only looked away.

"I've already told you: it's hard enough taking care of one son; I can't afford another!"

"Then I'm leaving too!" Kadaj shouted suddenly. Riku shook his head at that.

"No, I won't let you do that. Its okay, I can live with Sora. He says I can stay, and this way I have a roof above my head." It pained him to say these words to his family, but he knew the hardships of living as a single mom. Besides, he knew his mom liked Kadaj more than him; he was fine with that. He didn't need love and compassion from her. He just wanted to make sure his brother was okay. Thinking about that seemed kind of weird to Riku, since Kadaj was older than him by a year. Kadaj did always act younger than him, though.

A few times Riku's father even had the gall to stop by and ask for his forgiveness, but Riku simply ignored it. He knew his father didn't care.

"-ku. Riku!"

Riku jolted out of his reverie and glanced over at Sora, who was giving him a confused look. Riku shrugged and turned back to the board, where he actually, for once, listened to Prof. Saïx lecture. It was something about the reasons for Maria leaving a letter she had written about yellow stockings. Riku could have cared less.

Soon the bell rang and the class filed out, Riku waiting until everyone was gone before leaving. He wasn't in the mood for shoving, impatient little teenagers. Except Sora, of course.

He walked out into the crowded hallway and had his arm assaulted by a firm grip as he was dragged off to lunch by and insanely chattering Sora. Riku sighed, but smiled.

"-and he was all, 'Oh! Such a tough guy!' But I showed him. Tidus will never challenge me to a duel again, I can assure you that!" Sora rambled as he pulled the compliant Riku through the lunchroom doors and to their usual table; Riku could tell by the vibrant hair that Axel was already sitting there. A closer view would tell him he was chatting animatedly with Demyx and Roxas-Demyx looked excited and Roxas looked like he was just humoring the red-head. Naminé was also at the table, her sketchbook resting on the table while her hand glided over it, a mechanical pencil in hand. Yuffie was there, chatting with Tifa and Aerith; all three were caught in a giggling fit. Kairi had yet to show. Cloud, Squall, and Vincent were always late, so it wasn't a surprise to Riku that they weren't here yet.

'I wonder where Kadaj is…' Riku absently thought, but dismissed it; wherever Kadaj was, it was certain he would join them soon.

"Hi guys!" Sora chimed as they reached the table. Axel nodded, Demyx waved, Naminé looked up and smiled at them, and Roxas looked up and smiled at Sora. Roxas didn't care much for Riku. In truth, he didn't really care. He and Roxas weren't the type to mingle, anyway.

Riku sat next to Naminé and leaned over to inspect what she was drawing. He was always interested in art; he always had been. He especially liked Naminé's drawings, though he wouldn't openly admit it. She drew abstracts that defined Riku's mood sometimes to a 'T'. She had even given him one of said drawings as a gift, which he humbly accepted. He had a soft spot for the girl. Not a romantic soft spot, mind you- a friendly soft spot.

"What're you drawing, Naminé?" He inquired as Sora joined in Axel's friendly banter. She looked over at him and smiled that soft little smile of hers.

"It's something from a dream I had last night," she said. Riku curiosity urged him to ask what the dream was about, but he didn't want to; he felt it was her business whether or not she wanted to tell him her dreams. He certainly didn't enjoy sharing his. When she didn't elaborate, Riku decided that she didn't want to talk about it. She simply smiled again and returned her attention to her sketchpad again.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late!" a female voice called. Sora peered over the top of the booth they were sitting in, but Riku didn't even turn. He knew who it was.

"Hi Kairi!" Sora replied. He beamed at her, which she returned.

"Guess why I was late? C'mon, guess! C'mon!" Kairi said in one breath. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet in her excitement.

"Give us a chance!" Axel replied, laughing. Riku smiled in spite of himself, the scene quite amusing.

"Y'know the boy I've been following around, Hayner?"

"Yeah…"

"He asked me to the dance this weekend!" she squealed, obviously very excited to finally get the news that was burning her tongue finally out of her mouth. Axel whistled and Demyx High-fived her, grinning like the Cheshire cat. Sora's smile slackened momentarily, but then his grin returned, and clasped her on the shoulder in congratulations. Yuffie squealed, and Tifa and Aerith both smiled at her warmly.

"Hey, bro!"

Riku looked up at the call and saw Kadaj walking towards him, his cat-like smile plastered on his face. Riku smiled back and scooted over a bit to make room for his brother.

"Man, junior year sucks! I just got a ton of homework in English!" Kadaj whined. Riku shook his head and ruffled his brother's hair.

"You complain too much."

"You don't complain enough!" Kadaj retorted, sticking his tongue out. In spite of him being older than Riku, he acted really childish sometimes.

"Hey, Kadaj! Guess what?" Kairi chimed, walking and leaning over to look at Kadaj's face. Kadaj rolled his eyes, smiling.

"Let me guess-Hayner asked you to the dance?"

"Yes!! Wait, how did you know?" She asked, her eyebrows raised.

"I'm amazing like that." He replied simply and leaned back, his fingers entwined behind his head. Riku rolled his eyes. As Kairi walked away, he muttered, "You heard her, didn't you?"

"Yup. She practically screamed it," Kadaj replied, smirking.

Axel and Demyx returned to their banter, and Roxas turned to Naminé, asking, "What's up with Sora?"

Upon hearing this, Riku turned is attention to Sora, who was smiling feebly at the table top, looking as though his dog had died. Granted, Sora didn't have a dog, but if he did, then that's what he would have looked like if it had died, Riku persuaded himself. He leaned over and tapped Sora on the arm. Sora jumped and looked over at Riku.

"You okay? Riku asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Sora replied, forcing his obviously fake smile to be even larger. Riku looked into his eyes for a few more seconds, then decided that if he couldn't get Sora to tell him now he could always make him talk when they got home.

Cloud and Squall chose that time to show up, followed by a bored looking Vincent. All three were seniors, so they were easy to spot from across the lunch room: they were all very tall.

"Hey guys," Squall said. Cloud nodded, and Vincent just grunted and leaned against the back of the booth Riku, Naminé and Kadaj were sitting in. Everyone exchanged their hellos and settled down in their booths. Because the two booths were back-to-back, and because there were fourteen of them and there was no way that many people were going to fit in such a small space, they shared the two booths and chatted over the top of the benches they sat on. Often it turned into someone leaning over the top of the booth so they could hear what was happening in the other booth. It was usually Yuffie and Sora. Sora sat with Riku, Kadaj and Naminé on the booth that was to the back of Cloud, Aerith, and Squall's booth; Vincent, Yuffie and Tifa usually sat across from Cloud and them. Axel, Demyx, Kairi and Roxas sat across from Sora, Riku, Naminé and Kadaj. This was the usual seating order, as Riku saw it, but it sometimes changed. Kairi was usually the one to mess it up. Often times she'd decide to be creative and squirm in next to Sora, which would make someone move, since five people couldn't fit on one bench comfortably. It was usually Riku. He simply moved next to Axel and sat across from his brother. Problem solved.

Riku realized, as he watched Kairi go on about what color dress she was gonna wear to Naminé that the red-head had been getting on his nerves recently. She used to be one of the boys-just like Riku and Sora in everything she did. But, since the start of high school, she had made some new friends and was becoming more…what was the word…feminine. She couldn't stop talking about boys, and she loved to talk about clothes and shoes and the like. Just like a stereotypical girl. This was what Riku didn't like. Yuffie was similar, but she was way too outlandish to go with that sort of group. The majority of their little group of friends were considered outcasts-they were all pretty popular, but they didn't fit into any of the stereotypical high school cliques. And Riku liked it that way.

As he let his mind drift, he, out of the corner of his eye, saw Sora sulk, saw Kadaj slip salt into Axel's drink, and Vincent, followed by an overly clingy Yuffie stand and go get food.

'I can't wait to get home…' Riku decided as he stood to go get food himself. He vaguely heard screaming and yelling and knew Axel had drunk some of his salt-filled drink. Kadaj's signature chortling soon followed. Kairi was still babbling about Hayner's wonderful fashion sense, and Tifa and Aerith were giggling again.

'I already have a headache…'

He got to the line, ordered his food-the usual breadsticks and soda-and walked back to the table carrying his food. He sat, ripped his bread, and dipped it in his ranch ferociously. Kadaj and Naminé gave him a weird look.

"I just have a headache," Riku said, answering their unasked question. They gave him a look that clearly said 'I don't believe you,' but Riku didn't care. He finished his lunch in silence and humored himself by watching Naminé work on her sketch. Sora was trying to talk to Kairi, but she kept turning the conversation to Hayner. Riku clenched his fists beneath the table. 'Unobservant little…'

Yeah, he was rather annoyed with Kairi.

Demyx chose the best time, however, to play his guitar.

The kid looked like he would be just another punk that wanted to make it big in a band. While that was what Demyx dreamed of doing when he got older, he actually was good enough to make it. He played the guitar amazingly well. And he knew it. Riku decided that that was pretty much the only time when Demyx was calm-when he played his acoustic guitar.

Demyx pulled his guitar out of its case, slipped the strap over his shoulder, and began to play. Riku closed his eyes and listened. It was as if the guitar was as happy to be out of its case as Demyx was when he played it. The notes hung in the air, only to be replaced by another cord, still containing the sweetness of the last notes. Riku didn't recognize the song, but he didn't care. He loved music, and he certainly wasn't going to say that Demyx wasn't good enough for him to listen to on a regular basis. He played for a few more minutes, the lunchroom quieted so they could hear him better. After the song that he had most likely written was over, he lifted it over his shoulder and placed it back in its case. The room soon filled with the noise of chattering teens once again. Riku felt his disappearing headache assault his poor head once again.

And so, Riku sat for the last ten minutes or so of his lunch hour, bored out of his skull, and in a bad mood. When lunch ended, with it came a stronger headache for Riku, a new level of depression for Sora, a horrible taste in Axel's mouth, and a still-bragging Kairi.

Needless to say, Riku could not wait to get home.

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Okies, that was chapter one! I hope you enjoyed! And hopefully if you did you'll stick around for more! And please review! I love feedback. And it doesn't have to be positive. If you saw an error or anything, I'd love to know so I can fix it XD.

See you next time :3