Ok, so I've rewritten and fixed parts of this, and have taken the decision to split it into chapters. As I'm doing this - it's gonna take me a few days to edit down, so I'll post it bit by bit as I get it done (this is unusual for me!)
Also, at the end, I'll post a little afterword, just talking about all of the little silly references that are in it, in case you were wondering what they were!
Also - this story now has a Kingdom Hearts-only prequel, called Where There's a Will, posted and done and dusted. It was because of this that I had to rewrite A Collection - I contradicted myself all over the place ;)
Enjoy this confused meandering through the redheaded meandering of my mind!
As always, dedicated to the one and only Colleen.
Prologue
I want to capture you,
I want to immortalise,
The way you play with your hair,
The way you flash your eyes...
The crescent moon illuminated the bourgeois Parisian streets, lending a holy glow to what was not a particularly exciting night. A figure idled along the boulevard, the silver crest on his chest both drawing attention and serving as a warning to steer clear - as it was, his arms were casually thrown behind his head as the boy wandered somewhat without purpose, as though hovering, waiting for something to happen. His uncovered eye was gazing at the sky as he rifled a hand through his flaming, short spiked hair, and adjusted his detailed headband. Turning down a small alleyway to cut through to the Champs-Elysées, the boy, no older than eighteen but a world of experience evident in his single green shining eye, felt a cold chill on his shoulder, and the odd sensation of displaced air. He whipped around, but saw nothing. Unconsciously, he fingered a miniature hammer attached to his trousers. Suddenly, from the other end of the alleyway, an angry voice called out.
"Baka usagi, are we going to have to wait all day for your dawdling?"
The boy laughed. "Naaah, Yuu-chan, were you longing for my illustrious presence?" He could feel the other bristling from twenty feet away. "Ah, don't sweat it. I'm coming, I'm coming. It's just -" He turned to face the wall next to him, staring at it with a questioning eye.
"If you don't move it, the goddamn moyashi will have had all the fun without us." As if to accentuate his companion's point, the echo of a loud crash finally reached the boy's ears.
He grinned. "We can't have that, can we?" With that, he took off running towards his impatient companion at the end of the alley, glee evident in his expression.
Behind him, a tall, dark figure, made even taller by the top hat he wore, stepped out from nowhere, to move through the wall, passing through it as though it was a projection. He looked wistfully towards where the red-haired youth had run off, his grey lips tight. He clenched his fist, and backed into the wall, disappearing the same way he came.