FAD

Summary: Riku's known he was gay since he was ten. Then, his anti-homo high-school decides it's cool to like the same sex. Will his best friends fall victim to the fad? And what's he to do when the one he wants starts playing along?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, which really effing sucks.

One
'It'

"Larxene, don't be a bitch. You've been calling me a faggot since middle school," I remind her with a scowl. My arms are folded over my chest.

"Aw, Riku, don't be like that," she says faux-sweetly with a menacing grin. "We're just trying to celebrate diversity and you're ruining it."

Larxene is a class-A bitch. She's also my mom's niece. I only say that because I refuse to say we are cousins. I hate her so much. She is one of the most rotten, disgusting people I have ever met in my life. So why are we standing in the hallway at the high school we both (just my fucking luck) go to arguing?

Well it all started two weeks ago.

O-Flashback-O

I show up at school in my normal attire—a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a vest—and almost pissed my pants when I saw what everyone else was wearing.; about half the student population is wearing gay pride shirts. There aren't even that many gay-rights supporters at my school, much less people that are actually gay. I try not to question the whole scene. But then I look at the wall and see a huge-ass picture of me and my best friend Sora on it. We're just standing there laughing, his head on my shoulder. His smile is radiant, as always. The sun's shine could never compare to the brightness he brings into my life. I would do anything for him if he asked. I would be anything. I would lose myself completely if it meant I could make him happy. All that shows from the photo with the way I'm smiling.

I flipp a shit at the caption.

'It's OK to be gay!'

Sora doesn't even swing that way. It breaks my heart that he cannot understand just how much I care about him and just how much I would do for him, even as his best friend.

But that's life. Not all of us are lucky.

Larxene (remember—my mom's niece) walked up to me and today she is wearing this tight black shirt with a pink-blue-purple gradient infinity symbol on it. It has the little circles with lines through them for both male and female. It says IMRU on it.

I am, are you?

Of course I am.

"Larxene, what is this?" I ask her vehemently, pointing half-assed at the picture of me and my friend. She pouts as if she doesn't know what I'm talking about. "Don't give me that look, Larx. You know Sora has a girlfriend. Are you trying to get Kairi to break up with him?"

Larxene beams. "Oh, but Riku, I know you wish that were you he looked at that way. You wish it was you who he kissed in the hallway and took on cute little dates those sophomores like you go on." She pokes my forehead. I deepen my glare if that's possible. I clench my one fist as I dig my nails into the side of my arm, trying to stay calm. "Look, it's just a phase that everyone's going through. We seniors are just trying to support those students that have a different preference."

I snort. "You say that as if you don't have fags in your grade," I point out. I glance at the picture of Sora and me. He looks so happy.

I wonder if he looks that way when he's with Kairi.

"Of course we do, silly! Obviously there are people like you in every grade here at DLH. Have you not met Sora's brother, Roxas? He's a freshman. Then in the juniors there is Zexion. He doesn't want to come out, but I just know he is. Geez, Ri-Ri, I could go on for hours about the amount of gay kids at this school. There aren't enough to weigh out the normal people, though," she informs me, pulling her cellphone out of her pocket. It's one of those stupid touch-screens. Why would you even want that? I have a slide. Those are just fine.

"I don't care, Larxene." I look up at the clock on the brick wall. How they hang clocks on brick I don't even want to know. It doesn't matter, either. There are ten minutes until third-block lunch starts. "How many of these things are around the school?" I ask It.

Larxene pauses typing a text to hell-knows-who-cares. She stares blankly at the floor as if she is counting. After a few seconds, she scratches her yellow-blonde hair, pushing some over one of her eyes. She should keep it like that. She would look way better. What the hell am I saying? She could never look good. She's a monster!

"There are only two of you and Sora. There is this one and one in the junior hall. There is more than just one design, you know. I couldn't use you two on too many of them because your mom would probably find out from your idiot friend's girlfriend and your mom would question me." It groans dramatically. "I always get in trouble for the dumbest things. I'm just trying to show some support for the homosexual population here."

I laugh coldly at this and tear the poster of Sora and me off the wall. It makes a ripping sound. I quickly look at it and make sure I didn't actually tar it. Instead I fold it a bunch of times and shove it in my pocket conspicuously. I pull my phone out of the same pocket and pretend I was just reaching for it. "You're the senior class vice-president. You could be getting ready for prom or raising money to buy your cheerleaders new uniforms that actually cover their asses and you want to play off of a simple phase that people are going through?"

"It's not just a 'simple phase', Riku," Larxene tells me, pushing her phone back into her pocket and putting a hand on her hip defiantly. "It's a sexuality renaissance."

I simply shake my head in disgust. There is nothing else to say to her at this point. "That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard, Larxene." I turn my back and walk away.

Behind me, Larxene's voice calls for my ears. I try to ignore her. I try to pretend that she isn't there. But she says, "Don't fight the change, Riku! Life is a box of chocolates. Remember that."

Yeah, she was right. Life is like a box of chocolates.

You never know what you're gonna get.

O-O

"Larx, don't you get it?" I ask my clueless… my mother's clueless niece. She tilts her head. How many times has she tried to give me that I'm innocent bullshit? It doesn't work, bitch. Just stop. "You've turned sexual identity into nothing more than a trend."

"What's so bad about that?" she asks pointedly. Before I can say anything, she holds up her hand. "No speaking. It was a rhetorical question." I glare and close my mouth. "I already told you, Riku, that this is a sexual renaissance. Imagine what we could accomplish in the world of gay rights if we just accepted who we are. We were all born bisexual anyway. The only difference between us is how far one way we swing."

Right on cue, at the best possible moment to help her argument, the senior class president (and her rebellious boyfriend) Marluxia walks over. He has a fond smile on his face when he sees It and even give me a polite nod of acknowledgement. "Baby we've got places to be. The pep rally starts in an hour."

Larxene's face lights up with a genuine smile. She really likes Marluxia. There's no doubt about it. So why ever was she wearing that IMRU shirt claiming she was bisexual, I don't understand. She's obviously so not it's ridiculous. "Right," she assures him that, "I'll get to the gym in a couple minutes. I just have to finish this up."

Marluxia gives her a subtle grin and kisses her on the cheek. He squeezes her hand then walks away.

I shake my head. "I can't believe you. Oh wait, yes I can. You're a devil child, Larxene," I tell her.

She wears a malicious smirk. She giggles. "Oh Ri-Ri, your words wound me so. There's nothing that can be done now. Didn't you see the posters last week? It's okay to be gay. You can come out now!" She pats me on the shoulder as if I am a child.

I shrug her claws off of me. "I already did because you made me out myself the summer before last. You think I like having everyone assume I'm in love with my best friend just because I spend a ton of time with him?" I ask her, not really wanting an answer.

"People don't assume anything. 'Assume' makes an ass out of u and me. They just know you like him." She pokes my arm. "I didn't say anything about you being in love with him. You just admitted it yourself." I flush. She is so nasty. I hate her. How dare she make me unintentionally reveal just how much I like him? Easily—she's Larxene. She does things like that.

But I don't like him, remember? I effing love him.

"Take a chill pill, little cousin. Fighting it will get you nowhere," Larxene scolds in a motherly way that makes me want to throw up.

Shoot me, please.

"Where is not fighting it going to get me? The whole school will think I'm in love with Sora!" I shudder, not stopping the nervous tingle from running down my spine. As long as Sora doesn't know I should be fine. The only one that really needs to stay in the dark is him. That shouldn't be too difficult. He isn't the brightest bulb in the box.

Larxene laughs and rubs my back. She heads off in the direction of the gym, waving half-heartedly. "You said it, not me!"

My face heats up. I'm so red right now it's ridiculous. Why does she have to be such a bitch? She probably gets it from my mother. Who am I kidding? Her mother doesn't even spend time around her. She probably gets it from my mother since she's the one that practically raised Larxene after her dad left her mom. I can relate to It in the sense that we have a lot to deal with in life and have our issues and stuff but she just takes it out the wrong way on the wrong people.

Then, the last person I could possibly consider wanting to see right now comes trailing up to me with her twin in tow. The former's name is Kairi. She has hair the color of a strawberry, long legs but a short torso, and is the boyfriend of my best friend. The latter is her twin sister Namine, who I like way better. Namine is a very reserved platinum blonde that stays out of other peoples' business, especially mine. In fact, she is so far out of my business that I occasionally let her in on it so she knows that people still realize she exists, if only in the shadow of her obnoxious sister.

"Riku," Kairi squeals, releasing her sister's hand and tackle-hugging me by throwing her arms around my neck. She smells like spring flowers… Sora's favorite. "Are you going to stand around and mope or are you coming to the pep rally?" she asks, releasing me and tugging on my hand impatiently. "If we want decent seats we have to go now!"

I think of Larxene and all the evil things she probably plans on doing during the pep rally with her stupid gay-pride campaign. I think of how gross she is and how little I want to see her and be in the same room as her. Lastly, I think of how she made being gay seem like a huge fad to the people at my school and how horrible that is of her. She's giving people 'like me' a bad name.

Then I think of Sora with his floppy brown hair and glittery blue eyes. And that childish smile he gets when he succeeds or the puppy-dog pout when he's embarrassed. And the fact he always goes to pep rallies because he's so god-awful happy.

"Let's go then," I comply willingly. Kairi cheers. I bet she has no idea that her boyfriend is the only reason I ever do anything for her. No doubt I am her friend, but she has no idea. It's not mutual. I have my own set of friends from the JV soccer team, just like she has hers from the dance squad and Sora has his from tennis.

Tennis is such a gay sport for guys that aren't Sora. For Sora it just works. He has a match this weekend too, now that I think about it. I think he invited me. Ah well. I'd go even if he didn't because I know he would want me there anyway. Friends generally do, right?

Kairi lets go of me altogether and goes dashing in the direction of the gym. She yells back something about grabbing good seats on the bleachers and text her if we see Sora- we being Namine and me. I sigh deeply and scratch my hair, a few strands of prematurely-gray hair being pulled out. I shed like a border collie in springtime.

"Riku," Namine whispers. I look at her curiously. She is standing mildly with her feet together and her hands clasped, sketchbook clutched to her stomach along with eight different thicknesses of graphite pencils. She peers up at me with her lake-like serene eyes. "You don't want to go in there, do you?" she asks with a ghost of a smile.

I chuckle. "No, not really," I admit to her, folding my arms crossly.

She blushes. "I-I don't really want to either."

"Can't blame ya," I tell her, leaning against the brick wall that has been painted over in an off shade of white. It probably took three or four coats of the stuff to cover the deep red. I blow my bangs out of the line of vision of my sea foam colored eyes.

"We could… stay out here… if you'd like," Namine suggests timidly, shuffling her feet. I raise an eyebrow. I never knew just how nervous she gets around people, but this gives me a pretty good idea. She turns a brighter red than before. "I-I'm not suggesting anything. I just… I'd be lonely…."

Poor girl has to live with Kairi as a sister- someone who is literally the exact opposite of her personality-wise. Namine is a fantastic girl; even a homo like me can admit it. I just feel so bad for her sometimes. It's really sad because I know she used to be in a relationship with a senior that had ended up abusing her. Who was that senior, you ask? Her ex is none other than my mother's niece's boyfriend Marluxia. It would probably explain why Namine has never accepted an offer to come hang out with me. She knows I would never hit on her or anything like that so I just feel bad that my mother's niece is such a bitch.

I think about Kairi asking me to tell her if Sora walks by. What if he walks by and gets the wrong idea?

What does it matter anyway? He'll end up snuggling up to Kairi on the bleachers anyway.

But what if it's all a cover and he's gay and really wants me?

Please, Riku. Stop being naïve. Being gay is just a fad around here.

Oh, right. Fuck my life.

A/N: I know what you're thinking. I'm insane for daring to start another story and even consider posting it, what with how many people only give a crap about Or Never. But I don't particularly care. I just want to know: what do you think of this idea and do you think I should continue the story? I really want to and probably will anyway, but tell me, will ya?

Scotty