This is my new Kingdom Hearts story. I had this idea in my head for a while and really wanted to write it. Now a few things before we begin:

This will be the first time I write a story with drug use and it's a lot darker than what I usually write but I wanted to give it a try. I haven't written anything dark and I wanted to try my hand at it. This story will have characters be OCC since it's an AU, but it will show instances of them acting like they usually do.

There will be keyblades on this story but they won't be shown until late in the story, meaning that they won't have any superhuman abilities for a while.

Remember that this fic is rated M for drug use, language and violence. If you are offended by any of this then don't read.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts: Race to the Keyhole

Ch.1 Fleeting Memories

The sun shone on a small island. Sounds of laughter filled the island and many kids played in the sand, some volleyball while others used wooden swords to fight each other. Other kids preferred to swim on the cold water of the shore with adults sitting on the sand in order to watch them. This particular island was well-known for its family environment, the perfect place for a family to have healthy fun.

A small kid with spiky brown hair ran through the sand with a smile on his face, panting lightly as he glanced over his shoulder. Two other children followed after him, one was a boy with silver hair and the other a girl with short auburn hair. All held smiles on their faces as they played around the island.

Soon the three children sat on the sand, panting from their chase around the shore. They smiled at each other, there was nothing like playing with friends in the island. It felt like a second home to them and held many places to play, like an amusement park, only better. The brunette smiled at his friends before closing his eyes and resting against the sand, enjoying the feeling of the sun against his skin.

The air suddenly grew cold, almost freezing his skin, and the light of the sun disappeared, only leaving darkness. The boy opened his eyes to see his friends gone, no more sound on the island, the sky now covered in pure black clouds and the ocean completely still. He let out a whimper as he tried to stand but found that he couldn't, an invisible force pushing against him.

His blue-eyes widened as a dark smoke filled the area, the warm sand he rested on turned squishy and cold, squirming constantly. The boy struggled against the hold and let out a yelp when a dark goo shot off the ground and took hold of his stomach. He cried out as the goo spread all over his body, immobilizing his struggling legs and arms.

The boy was completely immobilized, tears streamed down his face as he tried to break free. He called out for his family but they didn't come. He cried out for his friends to help but they weren't there. He begged anyone for help but it never came.

A dark creature suddenly pounced on his chest. Two antennas on its head, body pitch black and glowing yellow eyes that burnt into his. The creature began to squirm, ignoring the cries from the boy, and let out a hiss that showed its razor-sharp teeth before pouncing at his face.

The same kid, now a teenager, woke up with a start. Sweat trailed down his face, his throat was completely dry and his whole body trembled. The teen ran a hand through his spiky brown hair and told himself to calm down, it had been just a dream after all.

The brunette sat up and looked around his room, trying to keep his mind out of the dream. He didn't have much, except for a few bookshelves and his lumpy mattress. A few pieces of clothing were scattered around his room as were notebooks and soda cans. His closet was filled with mountains of dirty clothing and shoes, the teen could have sworn that he saw something peek out of the dirty clothes.

Unwillingly, the teen dragged himself out of bed and let out a yawn. The dream now out of his head, though he was still a bit agitated. He looked around the clothing on the floor and put on a pair of black baggy pants and a black hoodie over a gray shirt. The smell of his sweat hit his nose, making him gag before he reached for a can of cologne and spraying it over himself. He'd much rather smell like a perfumed hobo than a normal one any day.

He exited his room and made his way to the kitchen, not surprised to see it empty. His parents worked during the day and didn't pay much attention to him. He called back a time when he would cry over his parents not caring much about him but that was long ago, he had grown up and such things didn't bother him anymore. He walked over to the refrigerator and groaned when he saw the lack of food, they could at least buy something to eat.

The brunette moved to the living room and sat on the lone couch. He didn't have the biggest house but it was enough for him, he rarely saw his parents so it felt like he lived by himself, sometimes he found himself wondering if he really did but the fact that the place still had power proved otherwise. He glanced at the clock hanging on a wall and instantly frowned, it was only seven in the morning.

'What the hell am I doing up so early,' he groaned and crossed his arms. He didn't have anything to do at this time of the day since he didn't go to school until twelve o'clock. The house felt hollow and dark, making him feel uneasy. A memory of his dream entered his mind, the dark creature pouncing at him. The teen flinched before taking a deep breath to recollect himself.

"I'm out of here," he muttered to himself, trying to end the still silence on the house. He got up from the couch and walked to the front door, pocketing the keys that sat on a small table near it, before exiting his house.

Upon escaping the building, he instantly felt better. It was the middle of winter so the air was a little cool though not cool enough to make him wear a jacket, one of the perks of living in a tropical town he guessed. Locking the door, the brunette began his trek down the streets of his hometown, Destiny Islands.

He watched as people exited their homes to go about their daily routines. Reaching the end of the street he turned to his right, a clear view of the sparkling ocean. The brunette kept on walking down the street, his thoughts lingering on the weird dream he had had. The dream was almost completely gone from his head, only being able to recall small events with the most prominent one being the weird creature.

The teen suppressed a shudder and dug his hands into the pockets of his pants, it wasn't a good idea to linger in such a weird dream. He turned one more corner and instantly broke into a grin, weird creature completely out of his head. An old apartment building stood proudly before him, a few people walking out of it. Some recognized him and threw him dirty glares he easily ignored, he didn't know what was the point of making their dislike of him that evident. He knew why they didn't like him and, to be honest, he found it a little funny how they acted after past incidents having to do with he and his best friends making stupid, yet funny, decisions.

The brunette walked up a set of stairs and reached a hallway with many doors, all of them were exactly the same pale white except for a bright red door that 'broke the rules by being red,' as his friend had said.

He reached the door and took out a spare key he held. His friend was never one to wake up early and so had given him a key for his apartment if he ever wanted to be away from his empty house. The teen took the offer to heart and spent most of his days in the apartment though not many people were aware of it.

He entered the apartment and closed the door. A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he glanced around the apartment. Beer cans, empty bags of chips and cigarette butts adorned the wooden floor. He made his way through the mess and reached the three couches that adorned the living room. A TV sat in front of them and a small coffee table stood in the middle of the room, serving as a kind of footrest.

He peeked over the largest couch and smirked when he saw his friend sleeping, though he was probably passed out again. His friend wore black jeans, a long-sleeved red shirt and a pair of old red and white shoes. The brunette sighed and went over to the kitchen. He opened the small fridge and took out a can of beer, quickly opening it and taking a gulp, enjoying the bitter taste on his mouth. Taking a sip he made his way to one of the couches before slumping against it. He let out a sigh and reached for the remote, turning on the TV and scanning through channels.

'Right,' he thought with a scowl on his face, going through a bunch of channels showing kid cartoons, 'Morning television is complete shit.'

The brunette's vision slurred before his eyes focused on the TV once more. Gone was the show he was watching and on its place was the news. He realized he had dozed off for a bit, he looked to his right and saw that his friend was still sleeping on the couch. Looking at the clock he realized that it was now ten in the morning, making him let out an irritated sigh.

'Two more hours and I'll be in school,' he thought with a sour expression on his face.

His friend stirred from his sleep before letting out a moan and turning so that his body faced the brunette. The teen watched his friend with a frown on his face, it was getting late and the idiot had yet to wake up.

The teen frowned and walked over to his friend, raising a foot and bringing it down on his friend's ribs. The other teen simply stirred, much to the brunette's annoyance.

"Hey…wake up already," the brunette growled as he pushed the other teen with his foot, "Wake up already, Axel."

The redhead groaned before opening his eyes with a frown on his face. He rubbed his eyes and faced the teen standing in front of him. "What are you doing here so early Sora?" Axel groaned as he sat up and yawned, "When I gave you the keys to my place, you were supposed to, you know, not wake me up."

Sora rolled his eyes, Axel was not a morning person by any means, he had learned that the hard way. "Come on, it's already freaking ten in the morning," he argued. The redhead looked around the room before his eyes landed on the clock hanging on the wall, "You know what we always do at this time."

Axel suddenly smirked. "Of course, how could I forget?" gone were the traces of sleep as he eagerly stood up and took a beer can from the floor, drinking its contents without hesitation much to Sora's disgust, "Let's get going already."

"Right," Sora nodded as he and Axel left the apartment.

The two walked through the parking lot of the apartment building until they reached an old beat up red car. Axel pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and opened it. The two entered the small car, not minding the mess of cans, trash and papers since they were pretty much used to it.

After a few bangs from the motor, the car was finally set into motion. Sora watched the buildings of Destiny Islands as they drove around, turning corners constantly. The constant buildings suddenly stopped and only left the clear blue sky in view.

The car came to a halt once they had reached one of the many beaches of town. Both of the teens got out of the car and walked towards the water, the sound of waves hitting the shore always calmed Sora which is why he was often found here simply enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

Sora watched the ocean with a small grin when his vision was blocked by a small cigarette-like object. "Quit looking at the water and smoke this fucking joint already," Axel joked with a smile on his face. The brunette chuckled and took out a lighter, he put the joint in his mouth before lighting the tip and taking a long drag out of it, "There you go. There's nothing like getting high outdoors, there's just something different about it."

"You're an idiot," Sora concluded with a light laugh as he took another drag of the joint.

"But I'm a good kind of idiot, got it memorized?" Axel laughed.

Sora walked through the streets of Destiny Islands once again, choosing to walk rather than get a lift from Axel. It was around noon which meant that it was safe to go to school, it amazed him just how far he went to avoid them. It wasn't like he enjoyed school but going there without a worry in the world sounded like a fun experience. He guessed it was part of the reason of why he intoxicated himself almost daily, he wanted to have no worries.

A groan escaped his lips once he stood in front of the school, the building a glaring white. He didn't even know why he went to school but had to so that his parents didn't bother him about it. Whenever his grades were too low the school would call them over, they would meet the teachers and talk about how bad he was before going home and yelling about what a bad son he turned into. It happened so often that he could actually recite what they said. Not wanting to bother with his parents, he attended school almost daily and did the work much to his displeasure.

Breaking out of his inner musings the teen entered the school, his ears instantly filled with noise. He was glad that he had smoked since the sound of the hundreds of teens chatting in the building would've driven him insane. Sora began to make his way to his next class, math. Students looked at him oddly since he wasn't wearing the standard long-sleeved white buttoned up shirt under a green jacket, with black pants, instead choosing to wear whatever he wanted.

As he walked he suddenly took note of the time, twelve fifteen. 'Fuck,' he cursed as he turned on his heel only to bump into another student. Sora glared at the person he bumped into but suppressed a groan when he saw who it was. Standing in front of him, with a rather pissed off expression, was the self-acclaimed 'toughest guy of the school' Seifer.

"If it isn't Sora, decided to come to school today?" Seifer mocked with a smug look on his face. It wasn't long before his two followers, Rai and Fuu, stood by his side.

"Good to see you Seifer," Sora said in a sarcastic tone that went unnoticed by the other teen.

Seifer smirked and crossed his arms. "I can't say it's good to see you too," he began as he started to circle the brunette, his two followers smirking, "Rumor has it that you're hanging out with 'bad' people. I want to know who it is."

"What's wrong Seifer? A little worried about me?" Sora answered with a smirk of his own, making Seifer growl, "Is your life so fucked up that you have to mess with the life of others?"

"Fuck you!" Seifer exclaimed as he threw a punch at the brunette. Sora prided himself on his fast reflexes and fighting skills but they went down considerably when he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol, which explains why he could do nothing but watch as the fist made contact with his stomach.

Sora doubled over before backing away, throwing Seifer a glare. The brunette charged at the blond and threw a sloppy punch. Seifer easily dodged it before kicking his legs out from under him, making the blond fall to the floor. The blond was instantly on top of him and held his shoulders in a strong grip, making it impossible for him to move.

"Now listen you shit!" Seifer yelled in anger, "You don't know anything about me so shut the hell up!"

He raised a fist before bringing it down on Sora's face, snapping his head to the side. The brunette let out a groan of pain before receiving another punch, that blurred his vision momentarily. The assault continued, Sora's mouth beginning to bleed.

Seifer raised his first one more time but was stopped by a hard grip on his arm. He turned to the sourced but received a hard punch on his face, knocking him off Sora. His two followers immediately stood in front of them, glaring at the assailant.

"What do you want Riku?" Seifer snapped in anger, nursing his nose.

A silver-headed teen stood next to Sora with a frown on his face, his eyes narrowed on Seifer. "Don't think you can just fight here like that, I'm the student council president and I don't allow fights here," he stated with his arms crossed. The blond scoffed before walking away, his followers behind him. Riku turned to Sora and let out a small smile before extending a hand, "Are you alright man?"

Sora glared at the hand and slapped it away, managing to stand on his own two feet. His eyes darted across the hall to see that his fight had gathered the attention of many students, his blue eyes lingering on a redheaded girl before moving back to Riku. "I don't need your help," he growled as he began to walk away, swaying a bit as he did. Riku moved next to him and threw an arm around his shoulder in order to give him some support. Sora instantly moved away from the teen and glared, "I told you to fuck off!"

"Come on Sora, let me help you. You can't even walk straight," he argued with a worried expression on his face.

Sora glared. "I don't need your kind of help, I've learned my lesson," he snarled. Riku's eyes widen slightly before a wave of sadness filled his eyes, "Just leave me alone."

The brunette walked away from the group of people, wanting to get away from them as fast as possible. He could feel her staring at him from the group and he hated it. He hated the way his heart raced whenever she was near, it made him feel vulnerable and he despised it.

The school day finally ended, much to Sora's relief. He walked out of the school with a hand on his head, he had a mine hangover going on and it hurt like hell. The constant throbbing made him wince with each step but he held it together, it wasn't like his headache would get any worse.

His eyes suddenly fell on Riku, standing on the school's gate with a redheaded girl. A wave of pain shot through his head, he idly wondered if he had invoked the pain somehow. He set his gaze on the floor and made his way out of the courtyard, hoping to walk fast enough to be unnoticed.

"Hey Sora!" he heard Riku call.

'There goes that plan,' Sora cursed as Riku and the red headed girl approached him, both with smiles on their faces.

"Kairi and I decided to wait for you," Riku announced with a small smile on his face, "You're probably feeling a little bad so we'll take you to my house and get you cleaned up, just like old times right?"

Sora stared blankly at the two before walking away, suppressing a groan when the two followed after him. "Please Sora," Kairi pleaded with a worried look on her face, her eyes filled with longing, "Just let us help you."

"Yo Sora!" interrupted a loud voice. Sora turned to his left to see Axel walking over with an exited smile on his face, the brunette had never been happier to see him.

Kairi glared at Axel, his reputation was well known to all. He was a drug-user that was constantly switching girls , scum, in her own words. If that idiot tried to corrupt Sora then she would skin him alive.

"I came to pick you up," Axel cheered, not noticing the glares he received from Riku and Kairi, "You missed the party last night but you won't miss this one. I've got everything set up, it'll be a crazy night man!"

Sora gave a quick glance to Riku and Kairi, in all honesty anything was better than being with them. "Alright," he agreed with a small grin, ignoring the disappointment running through the faces of the other teens, "But I'm not buying anything."

"It was a one-time deal," Axel laughed as he threw an arm around Sora and led him away from the other teens, "I guarantee you'll love this party."

"We'll see," Sora responded with a chuckle, glad to be away from the two teens.

Kairi watched Sora leave with a sad look on her face. "What happened to him?" she wondered out loud, making Riku look down in shame.

"I happened to him," Riku muttered, quiet enough to go unnoticed by the redhead.

Kairi felt tears well up on her eyes, she couldn't stand seeing Sora wreck his life like that. His grades fell dramatically over the past years, he wasn't in school every day and he had taken to avoid them at all costs.

She had no idea what had happened to her best friend. She remembered that he began to drift apart after she and Riku began a relationship. Looking back she guessed that something had happened to him during that time, but she had been too busy to notice it. As time passed she began to see less and less of Sora until he was almost non-existent on her life.

Kairi had always wanted to know what had happened to Sora in order to help him but he wouldn't let her. She found herself missing him more and more with each passing day to the point where seeing Riku wasn't what it used to be, she didn't feel the happiness she had felt at first, it felt as if something was missing from her life. Due to this, she and Riku had broken up months ago and developed a kind of sibling bond.

'What's wrong with you Sora?' she wondered as she stared at Axel's retreating car.

Sora woke up with a pounding headache, a blanket covering him from the cold. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair, groaning as he did so. He felt something soft press against him, instantly turning to his right he saw a very naked brunette girl sleeping next to him with a small smile on her face.

'Right," Sora recalled, watching the girl with a blank expression, 'I slept with Selphie yesterday.'

He couldn't remember what exactly led up to this but he didn't put much thought on it, he did crazy stuff when he was drunk. The brunette threw the sheet off of his body and stood up, stretching his body with a yawn. His eyes suddenly widened, this was not Axel's apartment or his house for that matter, where the hell was he?

'Alright, don't panic Sora, just look for clues,' he told himself as his eyes darted around the room. Walls filled with posters of boy bands, cosmetics on a small bureau and a closet full of yellow clothing, 'I'm at Selphie's'

Another yawn escaped his lips before his whole body froze, registering his predicament. He was at Selphie's, the girl who's dad liked to keep a gun on his house, the dad that would kill him if he saw him in his daughter's room with just his boxers on. Not waiting another second, Sora put on his pants and shoes before walking out of the room as quietly as possible.

He passed the wooden hallways until he made it to the living room. 'Just a few more steps,' he sighed in relief, seeing the front door a few feet away. Before he could take one more step he heard the water go off in the kitchen. Sora's heartbeat rose as he tried to find another way out, opening the door would be way too noisy. It was by pure luck that he thought to look at the windows, one of them completely open.

'Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,' Sora shed a tear as he slowly made his way to the window before jumping out, welcoming the cool air on his skin. He landed on the lawn of Selphie's house and chuckled, 'I saw death in the face, and lived! There's no way I'm ever sleeping with Selphie again, way too much trouble.'

"Sora?" he heard Riku's voice. With a startled look Sora looked to his left to see Riku and Kairi, both in their school uniforms, looking at him rather oddly. The brunette noticed the redhead blush and furrowed his brows. "Um Sora…" the silver-headed teen began a little awkwardly, "You don't have a shirt on."

Sora looked down at his body to see that he had forgotten to get his shirt. "Dammit," he growled, turning to Selphie's house, "I must've left it in Selphie's room."

"What?" Kairi muttered in disbelief.

Seeing the state of his friend, Riku cleared his throat. "What are you doing here, Sora?" he asked, "You don't live around here."

Sora frowned at the accusing tone, crossing his arms with an angry look on his face. "Isn't what I was doing here obvious?" he deadpanned. Riku and Kairi looked at him oddly making him sigh, he forgot just how oblivious they were to his sarcasm, "Selphie."

Kairi's eyes widened in disbelief, a hollow feeling on her chest, she didn't know why but she suddenly got the urge to cry. She watched as Sora frowned before turning on his heel and walking away, not even bothering to excused himself. It wasn't until Riku put a hand on her shoulder with a sad smile that the tears fell from her eyes, sadness washing over her being.

A sob escaped her lips as she kneeled on the ground, clutching her chest, Sora didn't care about her anymore. He preferred to be with Axel and Selphie, the school slut, rather than with his real friends. She didn't know why it hurt her so much but she couldn't stop the sobs as she used her hands to cover her face, she had lost him. His smile, his laugh, the warm look of his eyes, she would never see them again and she hated it. He was gone from here life.

It was noon when Sora stood in the school's roof, hands on his pockets and a scowl on his face. Today he wore the standard school uniform without the usual green jacket, instead only wearing the long-sleeved white buttoned up shirt and black pants.

He had seen Kairi break down, he had seen it all from the moment her eyes showed disbelief to the moment when they filled with tears. It hurt him to see her like this, she was supposed to be a happy person with a sweet smile but she had been brought to tears and pain by him nonetheless.

"Why do I even care?" he muttered with a downcast expression. He knew exactly why he cared but didn't want to admit it, he had worked hard to rid himself of those feelings but they never left. Kairi was with Riku now and he knew that he was probably cheering her up at the moment.

His eyes lingered on the town before him, people and cars passing through the streets from time to time. He let out a shaky sigh and gritted his teeth, "Why do I still love her?"

Ch.1 End

Well, this is the first chapter of my story. As you can see Sora has a one-sided feud with Riku and Kairi, and is waaaay to oblivious to other's feelings. I don't know when the next chapter will come out but pay close attention since it might come soon.

Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any though some might not be answered if they aren't to be revealed until later.