Author's Note: OMG. PLEASE review for me. PLEASE. they've changed things behind the scenes here on ffn and I can no longer see the total his on a piece. I have to deal with just month by month break downs. REveiws are the only way I'll know that you really liked or hated this. I wrote this in a horrible fit of depression and it's kinda obscure on somethings. So if youwant me to explain something… then review and I'lll reply to you and explain.

Disclaimer: I do not own KH. If I did, all the gameplay would be… "playing" with hot guys.

-.-.-.-.-

Riku was careful to hide his limp as he maneuvered around the classroom. His ankle'd been bothering him for the last couple of days, but he refused to stop using it. He'd taken to a brace and careful footing. The doctors had told him to take it easy, but his pride was on the line. He had to keep his image up.

As he moved throughout the classroom, he checked off the present members. Everyone was accounted for but two. Riku sighed and shook his head. He popped his head out into the hallway to check if they were in the vicinity before turning back to the others.

"Does anyoneknow where Sora and Axel went?" Riku asked, giving the group a rather exasperated look. The others were talking, not paying him much mind. He sighed before raising his voice. "Hey! Does anyone know where Axel and Sora are?"

"I think they went to go pick up Sora's stuff. Sora said something about his mom dropping his stuff off right after school during lunch today," Selphie answered before turning back to her conversation with Kairi. Riku sighed again before going over the the teacher's desk and collapsing in the rolly-chair. Those two had to pick that day of all days to run around. He shook his head and began rubbing his temples. He could tell that it was going to be a long day already.

A few minutes passed before Sora and Axel stumbled into the room out of breath and laughing. Sora threw his bag into the pile by the door and moved to his seat, Axel following close behind.

"You know, it would have been nice if you guys had checked in with me before you ran off like that. I almost thought that you guys were deciding to skip out on club activities," Riku commented, marking the two off on the roll sheet.

"What? Miss a ski trip with my Sora? Never! This isn't worth missing," Axel answered, sitting down on top of Sora's desk.

"It's a weekend away from our rents. Like I'm going to miss out on a chance to get away from them. Maybe I'll be able to breathe a little now," Sora said, slumping down into his chair. He grinned over at Riku, who returned it with a small smile.

"Ok, is everyone sure they have everything? We need to be out at the buses in ten minutes," Riku announced, standing up. He grabbed his bag from the pile next to the door. The other students followed suit, lining up after grabbing their things. The silveret took one last head count before waving the students to move forward. Once at the bus, they handed off their bags and boarded. Riku boarded last along with their teacher sponsors. Axel and Sora had taken seats near the front on one side of the bus. Riku swung into the open one on the opposite side.

"This trip is going to be great. There are going to be so many picture opportunities. I hear the mountains are really beautiful this time of year," Riku said, making himself comfortable. The engine of the bus roared to life.

"What, you aren't going to ski, Mr. President?" Axel asked, leaning over Sora to see Riku's face better.

"Nah. I'm not really into skiing. I'd wipe out like, every five seconds," Riku said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm more of a snowboarder myself," Sora added.

"Isn't that because you skateboard, though?" Riku asked.

"Ah, yeah. I guess you could equate it to that. But I'm not good at skiing, though. But I can snowboard…"

"Maybe you should try snowboarding then, Riku," Axel suggested. "I'm gonna snowboard too. Skiing just isn't as cool."

"Just be sure you at least take a few pictures this trip," Riku instructed.

"Righto, Mr. President," Axel laughed turning back to Sora. "Hey have you seen the new episode of…"

-.-.-.-.-

The students stepped out of the bus, all stiff from the long drive over. The sun had already started to set but a few of the students were as energetic as they always were. Axel had run off, already packing snowballs together to start a fight. Sora wasn't far behind. The two began conspiring an attack on Riku, who'd gotten quiet on the trip up. They crept up silently behind the silveret; Axel was the first to throw a snowball, hitting Riku dead center in the back of his head. Riku turned around, glaring.

"There you guys are. Get inside now. It's not time for games. We're going to eat dinner then hand out the room assignments," Riku ordered, brushing the snow out of his hair. He frowned at his friends as they moved into the resort. The silveret followed shortly after. The duo had run over to the first floor restaurant. They'd already seated themselves by the time Riku joined them.

"You know, you don't have to act like you've got a stick up your ass," Axel commented while looking at the menu. "You need to lighten up, this trip is meant to be fun. It was just a snowball."

"I'm just a little stressed over all this. It's going to be my ass that gets chewed if even one of you goes missing," Riku sighed, cradling his head in his hands while reading the menu. His head was hurting and the snowball hadn't helped him any.

"Let's just try to keep the mood light and enjoy ourselves, ok, Riku?" Sora said, reaching across the table and patting the silveret on the shoulder. Riku looked up and smiled slightly.

"Yeah. I'll try."

-.-.-.-.-

After dinner the students gathered in the main lobby. Riku was given half the keys and room assignments to hand out. He looked over the group of kids in his group. The photo club was quite large, despite what some people thought. There were fifteen members in all, eleven of which were girls. Riku put on a cheery smile as he began calling out names for room pairings.

"Axel and Sora, you'll be sharing. Demyx and me, and Zexion you get your own room," Riku said, holding out card keys for each of the other students. Axel grinned down at Sora and grabbed him by the arm.

"Come on Sor, let's go check out the room," the redhead said, tugging Sora by the arm. Riku smiled half-heartedly at his friends as they ran off. Demyx whined, grasping at Zexion like a mother that'd just found her lost child.

"Zexy… How could we not get put in the same room?" He whimpered. Zexion sighed, pushing Demyx away.

"I asked the teacher to put us in separate rooms. I actually want to be able to walk and do some of the activities tomorrow," Zexion replied coolly.

"Are you saying I'll purposely break you?" Demyx asked, shocked.

"No. But last time you got too excited and I couldn't get out of bed in the morning," Zexion said, turning away from Demyx. A light blush was forming on the man's cheeks. Riku shook his head and left the pair to their lover's spat. He was getting tired and wanted to get to bed as soon as he could.

-.-.-.-.-

The next morning arrived too quickly in Riku's opinion. Demyx had skulked up to the room about an hour after Riku had gotten there and stayed the night. The blond was sulking and generally acting like an abandoned puppy. Riku sighed as he got up to get dressed.

"Demyx, I won't tell if you stay out with Zexion tonight," Riku mumbled, pulling his shirt over his head. Demyx perked up at the words.

"Really? You're the best, Riku. I don't know how to repay you," Demyx said, a large grin engulfing his face.

"It's not a problem really. It's not like we're here for a long time anyway. Just two more nights," Riku said, looping his belt into his pants. And buckling it.

"Yeah, you're right. Well, I guess I'll go catch breakfast then," Demyx grinned, bouncing out of the room. Riku gave a small smile. His headache hadn't gone away over the night and he was feeling a little more sluggish than he'd hoped he would be. It would be bad if he caught a cold on top of his aching ankle.

The silveret headed down to the restaurant to get his own breakfast. Axel was already seated at a table, munching away on French toast, dressed and raring to go. Riku sat down across from the redhead.

"I see you're ready for the slopes," Riku said, a small smile on his lips.

"Yeah. Sora and I are going to hit 'em before the large crowd comes," Axel replied, seemingly uninterested.

"I heard there's a gorgeous trail that goes up to a shrine at the top of the mountain. Maybe you, me, and Sora can go later this afternoon," Riku suggested.

"Sora and I already made plans for this afternoon. We're going to a snowboarding demo,"Axel said, looking past Riku to the approaching Sora. A wide smile appeared on the redhead's lips. "Hey Sora, over here!"

Riku looked back at the brunet as he grew closer. He turned back to Axel. "I see. I guess if you guys are busy I'll go out on my own. What's this thing?"

"It's at four. It won't be over 'til after sunset," Axel replied.

"Ah. I see. I guess I'll see you later then," Riku said. He flashed Sora a smile as he passed him. He forgot to eat, but that really didn't matter to him at the moment. The silveret headed back up to his room and grabbed his camera. He'd go conquer nature one photo at a time.

-.-.-.-.-

Dinner time rolled around slower than Riku would have liked. He'd spent the whole day in the trails taking pictures and had gone through a whole roll of film. By the time he had reached the hotel, he was exhausted and ready to crash. However, he knew he was running on empty and had to get food into his system. He headed towards the convenience store and bought himself some food and drink then slinked towards for his room. As he was stepping out of the elevator, Riku spotted Sora exiting hisroom, hair dropped and dripping water. The brunet grinned and ran over to Riku.

"Riku! I haven't seen you since this morning. I was really hoping we could at least hang some, but Axel kept tugging me away. I'm really sorry. I don't really understand what's gotten into him. He doesn't really seem too happy with you lately," Sora said, stopping in front of Riku.

"Ah. I think he's still a little pissed about the fight we had a couple weeks ago. It's ok, though. He's got shit going on at home and I wasn't exactly the nicest person either," Riku replied. "But it's ok. As long as you're having fun, I'm cool with it. I filled up a whole roll today." Riku smiled, holding up his camera.

"But I want us all to spend some time together. It seems really unfair leaving you behind like that. Ax says you'd run and catch up if you were really interested but…"

"Heh. Really? Say… Sora, what is Axel to you?"

"Axel? He's my best friend."

"And me?"

"You're my best friend too."

"What if… I said I liked you as more than a best friend?"

"Riku…"

"We don't have much time left together, Sora. We're seniors and we'll be graduating this spring. We won't be seeing each other after then. I want make the best memories with while I can… I… would you be against…"

"Sora! There you are!" Axel yelled from down the hall. Sora turned back as Axel started running towards them. When Axel reached them, he gripped Sora's shoulder. The redhead gave Riku a mildly dirty look. "Come on Sora. You said you'd come with me to that play that they've got. I already got the tickets and it's starting in a few minutes."

"I'll be there in just a couple of minutes," Sora answered, pulling back from the touch slightly.

"They aren't letting people in late."

"Just forget it, Sora. Go on. We can talk later," Riku urged. He was growing more tired. He needed to eat. He needed to sleep.

"But—"

"Just go," Riku snapped. He brushed past the two, and stalked down the hall towards his room. He could hear Axel make a smart remark behind his back. Sora and Axel disappeared into the elevator after a moment.

A man stepped out from a cross section in the hallway as Riku reached the halfway point to his room. The man was tall, easily over six foot, with long, layered pink hair. He smirked at Riku.

"So you swing that way too. If you're looking for a partner on your vacation, I'm willing to offer," the man said, moving closer to Riku. The silveret backed up.

"No thanks. I'm not interested."

"Oh come on. What does that kid have that I don't?" The manleaned forward, almost brushing lips with Riku. The teen raised his fist, punching the man in the face.

"Get the hell away from me," he spat.

"How dare you!" the man yelled. He seized Riku by the shoulders and threw him into the wall. Riku hissed, but pushed himself back up, leaving his food forgotten on the ground. The teen tried to throw another punch at the assailant, but was cut off by a blow to the stomach. He reeled back but the man grabbed him by the shoulders and dug his nails in while forcing him back onto the wall. Riku, in a last ditch effort, kneed his would-be-rapist in the groin.

The assaulter pulled back in pain, clawing Riku's shoulders in the process. Riku bolted as soon as he was freed from the man's grasp. He dashed into his room and bolted every lock. He just made it to the bed before passing out, the cut on his back bleeding through his shirt.

-.-.-.-.-

Sora waited outside Riku's room the next morning. He wanted to talk to Riku, to finish the conversation they'd started the day before, but Riku wasn't answering the door. The brunet was starting to get worried. He saw Demyx coming out of Zexion's room and heading back to his own with a large, goofy grin on his face.

"Hey, Demyx, you have a key, right? Riku's not answering the door," Sora asked. Demyx raised an eyebrow before nodding.

"Yeah. I have a key. Hold on, I'll get him. He may have gone out to take pictures of the sunrise too, you know," Demyx said, sliding the keycard. When he tried to push the door open, however, it was stopped by the chain. Demyx wrinkled his brow in confusion before slipping his hand through and pulling the door closed enough to disarm it. It was a trick he'd learned to get past Zexion's defenses at home.

The blond pushed the door open. He could just make out the figure of Riku on his own bed. Demyx glided over to the silent figure and called out, "Hey Riku. Get up. Sora wants to talk to you."

He nudged Riku gently on the shoulder, but pulled back when he felt the drying sticky blood on the silveret's shoulder. "Riku?" he called again. He moved his hand up to the boy's neck and was met with cold skin and no pulse.

"Oh gawd," Demyx said, horrified. "Oh gawd. Sora! Call the teacher! Riku's—Riku's—" the blonde swallowed thickly. "He's dead. Oh gawd I think I'm going to throw up."

Sora stared in shock at Demyx before darting off to find the teacher. It was only a few minutes later that the call had been made to the police. By nine the room was swarming with cops and medics. Each of the students were being interviewed.

"He's got acute leukemia," the teacher started, not wanting to go anywhere private. The students needed to know what she thought happened. "Well, acute leukemia. It's a more rare form that's not easily detected. When he found out about it this year, it was too late to start his treatments. They'd thought he was just anemic for a few years. He was refusing to take any treatments that could have prolonged what little time was left for him too. They let us teachers know because it'd be dangerous if he were hurt."

"There were ten deep, two inch long scratches on his back. That might explain the excessive blood loss. Who here was the last to see him alive?" the detective called out.

"I think I was," Sora stuttered out as he stepped forward. "I ran into him as he was heading back to his room around five thirty yesterday."

"I see. And he was found at about eight twenty this morning. That gives him enough time to bleed out profusely. All that's left is to try to find the person that left those scratches," the detective said. "We'll do our best to find him."

Sora turned away from the room that held Riku. Axel was right behind him. The redhead pulled the smaller into a hug. "How you fairing, Sora?" he asked.

"I… he didn't tell me. Not about his leukemia… And, oh God, I shouldn't have gone to see that play with you. I should have stayed and told him what I really felt…" The redhead pulled Sora in tighter, biting his lip.

"Shhh, Sora.. It's not your fault. It's. Not. Your. Fault."