Prequel to When Somebody Loves a Nobody: Naturally frustrated and angry, Kumei is enraged at the thought of having to save the worlds. But when she meets a certain Leonhart, maybe she'll change her mind..?

And the first chapter. Hope you guys like it!

This is going to be my Disclaimer for the rest of the story: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I own nothing but Kumei. And her mother.

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Water.. Water.. Water.. I hate water.

What's this? I can walk. Wait. Is the water inside those walls?

What are these? Paintings. Pictures? Blurry. Oh well. I've never really appreciated art, anyway.

Wait.. This is a picture of me.

I wanted to spit at the ground. Ugh, a seven year old me at Destiny Islands. The prison I'm forced to call home. I walked through the 'hallway' (whatever it was called), looking at the walls. What else was there to look at but the pictures posted on them? Odd. Why would anybody want to make a whole Louvre out of my memories? Useless thing I could sure live without. I squinted my eyes as a bright light appeared at the end of the hallway. I didn't know there was a door. It was open, too. If I had known that, I wouldn't have wasted my time burning my eyes looking at the crap on the walls. Anyway, that's not important now. Someone's standing in front of the bright light. Male. Tall. Weird hair. I couldn't see him clearly; the light was blinding me. I dared to look anyway. What was that.. Red hair? No, I think it was brown.. Yes. I think it's brown. Could he help me get out of this place? I walked towards him. I think he was just staring at me, since he wasn't making any motion to move. Although he was smiling. Hm? I looked to my feet. Water..? I looked to the walls. They were leaking! I looked back to the man, and in a second the water was reaching my chest. The hallway seemed to stretch itself, as the man was getting farther and farther out of reach. I tried to run towards him despite the water. He turned around, entering the room beyond. "Wait up!" I shouted, and he looked back, holding his hand out. I tried to 'swim', or run as fast as I could, barely able to grab his hand before my lungs burst. I heard him laugh.
"Gotcha."

I gasped for air, sitting up on my bed. Dream? Don't know. I looked to the clock in my room. Two in the afternoon. I cursed and got dressed, leaving my room. I went downstairs, only to be greeted by my mother. "Hakumei, Wakka came by looking for you earlier," She said, cleaning the kitchen. "He wanted to play blitzball. He was a little dismayed to find that you were still sleeping." I shrugged slightly in reply as I walked past her. "Too bad." I left the house. I think my mom was yelling something after me, but it probably wasn't important anyway. If she couldn't tell me what I wanted to know, I didn't need to listen to whatever she had to say. I brushed the thoughts away as I saw the Mayor doing his daily check-if-the-town-is-still-okay round. As if anything would happen to this place. I never really put it past him thinking that anything would happen, anyway. Can you believe he thinks I'm some kind of exiled princess? Weirdo. If he couldn't tell me who my father was, he wasn't important. Hmm. I was thinking of going to Lulu's house, but she's probably busy taking care of that sick little moogle. It had the flu, I think. Not that I cared much about it. I guess I was going to the play island today.

I rowed towards the play island, realizing that the brat, the pipsqueak, the prettyboy, the freak, and the loudmouth were here as well. I was tempted to let their boats float away, but decided against it. I had better things to do. I was going to go up the treehouse, when I saw the freak, the loudmouth, and Wakka. "Hey, Kumei!" I sighed, turning around. "Hello, Tidus. What do you want?" Really, what was up with his clothes? Told you he was a little freak. "What're you afraid of?" Okay, what the hell kind of question was that? I answered anyway. "Getting old, I guess." His face scrunched up in confusion. "Getting old? Is that really so scary?" I shrugged, "Whatever." "Kumei!" I sighed again. What now? Wakka ran up to me. "I was looking for you a while ago! Wanna play blitzball?" "No, Wakka." "Aww! Well, I was just wondering, what do you want outta life?" I gave him an odd look, but said, "I want to see rare sights. To get out of here." He nodded, "To see rare sights, huh?" That's what I said. "KUMEI!" I stopped myself from covering my ears. I told you she was a loudmouth. "Yes.. Selphie?" "What's most important to you?" "Okay, what the hell is this, 20 questions?!" "Aw, come on, Kumei, just answer it!" I rolled my eyes. "Being number one, duh." She looked at me with a weird look on her face. "Is being number one such a big deal?"

I snorted at her and left, deciding not to go to the treehouse anymore because I'd probably destroy it out of annoyance for the loudmouth. I walked towards the beach facing the town island and frowned as I saw that the brat and the pipsqueak were actually there. Seems the brat just got up, as the pipsqueak was saying something about him being a bum ."No!" Sora -the brat- shook his head vigorously. "This huge black thing swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't- Ow!" He held his head. I rolled my eyes and walked past him. "Still dreaming, brat?" "Sis!" He cheerfully greeted. "Hey Kumei," Kairi -pipsqueak- greeted as well. Why did they insist on greeting me? It annoyed me even more. I sat at Sora's left, but ignored him as he asked something about only getting up now. Now, back to not wasting my time. What was that dream about? Who was that guy? I looked to my feet. Water. I didn't mind drinking or taking a bath, but swimming was an utter no-no. I pulled my feet back. It wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare. I was almost drowned! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't- Ow. I held my head. I hate sudden stings of pain.

"Sis, wanna come along?" The brat asked, snapping me out of my daze. I shot him a glare. "What?" He smiled, "I asked if you wanted to come along with me and Kairi to go to her hometown!" "Whatever, as long as its away from this place." "Yeah, and we an go to all the other worlds around it!" Sora nodded. Kairi giggled, "So what're we all waiting for?" "Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about me?" And the last of the rat pack- the prettyboy. The two turned around to greet him. I only did so to give him an annoyed look. He smirked, "I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." He tossed a log to Sora, but it hit the brat on the head instead. Idiot. The prettyboy looked to the pipsqueak. "And you're just as lazy as he is!" She giggled, "So you noticed." He then looked to me with raised eyebrows. "Wow, the great princess Kumei, actually gracing us with her ever honourable presence. Being a lazy ass now, too, huh?" I stood up, dusting the sand off. "Don't affiliate me with them," I said, walking towards him. "And you're right. You're lucky I'm actually sparing you a passing glance." He glared at me, and I shrugged. "You're wasting your time if you think that's going to affect me. Why not work on the raft?" He grinned, "I'll race you." I looked at him oddly. "You must love to lose." He chuckled, "No. I race to win." "Not against me, prettyboy." "Huh?" The brat asked with a confused look on his face. "You've got to be kidding me!" The pipsqueak exclaimed, but I shook my head, already ready to go. "Go!"

The prettyboy panted, leaning on his knees. I chuckled. "Whatever happened to I race to win, hm?" He glared at me. I rested my head on my hands. "No one likes a sour loser. Are we going to work on that raft or not? Not that it wouldn't sink because of your inflated ego." "I could say the same to you." "Then why don't you?" Before he could retort, Kairi started calling my name. Pipsqueak. I walked over to where she was. "What?" "So, can you gather the rest of the supplies?" She asked. "Whatever." I guess she took it as a 'yes'. "Okay, here's what you need to go find: Two logs, one piece of cloth, and one rope. Bring everything back here. If you need help, just ask." I turned to walk away. "I'm counting on you!" I stopped. "Don't. And I wouldn't ask for your help even if my life depended on it." I walked away from her, jumping up to the bridge and walking towards the mini island it connected to. Prettyboy was there, and so was the brat. Seems the latter just lost. I walked past him to Riku. "Let me show you how it's done," I told him, grabbing the pathetic little toy sword on the floor. "And take some pointers, brat. Being affiliated with you is terrible enough already, and you losing to this prettyboy doesn't help."

The prettyboy seemed to growl at this, then lunged at me from behind. I turned around and blocked it. "Tsk tsk tsk, touchy, I see. You'll have to do better than that. If this is your best, then.." "It's not!" Prettyboy interrupted, lunging at me some more. I dodged with effortless ease. I swung the toy, knocking him on his back. I leaned down to whisper, "Doesn't seem like it.." He growled again and suddenly jumped forward, kicking me against the tree. "Sis!" The brat gasped. "Don't interrupt," I hissed. "Don't treat him like that," The prettyboy said, trying stab at me with the toy while I was down. I kicked him back. "I'll do as I wish." "I used to like you, Kumei, but Sora's more important to me now. Don't do that." I swung the toy at him and slapped him with it, knocking him on his ass again. I set my foot on his stomach and leaned close once more. "I never cared," I told him. "But I suppose I don't mind being thanked for helping you realize your homosexuality." I stepped away. "I am not-" "Denial is futile," I interrupted, grabbed a log and left. Ruin the prettyboy's day, check. Now I just had to find that crap Kairi wanted me to find.

I handed the crap to Kairi. Well, that was easy. The other log was under the bridge, a piece of cloth was inside the treehouse, and to get the rope I just had to threaten Tidus. Kairi smiled as she took the crap from me. "Tired? Want to call it a day?" "It is a day," I told her, going back to my boat. "Same time tomorrow, okay?" She shouted after me, and I waved my hand at her. "If I feel like it." I walked towards the mini island prettyboy and I fought on, and climbed the weird tree, deciding to take a nap. I was awoken by a bunch of voices. "So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?" I heard the pipsqueak ask. "Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just.. I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds.. Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?" "I don't know," The brat replied to the prettyboy. "That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go," Prettyboy insisted. I jumped off the tree, facing him. "You've been thinking too much, prettyboy." I shook my head, feigning worry. "And that never works out well for you." He glared at me. I closed my eyes, "But I guess I can't stop you if you want to use up all the few brain cells you have left."

After pissing him off a little more, I rowed back to the island and back to my house to change clothes. The row back was hot and I was sweaty. Ick. Not that I actually sweat. I glow. "Hakumei, where's your little brother?" Mom asked. Oh, God. 20 questions again. "How should I know? On the play island with his little friends, no doubt." I replied, walking up the stairs. "Lulu called, she asked if you could come over!" "I'm going to her house once I change," I muttered, and slammed the door to my room.

"Kumei!" Lulu greeted. I nodded at her, "Hey. Did you want something?" "Well," She sighed, "Cactuar got sick, too." I invited myself inside and walked to her living room, where her moogle was sitting around with a thermometer in his mouth and her cactuar.. I burst out laughing. "Kumei, it's not funny!" I grabbed a huge pencil I saw lying around and pretend to stick it into its mouth. "Now it can sharpen pencils of any size," I said. Lulu pushed me back, making me sit beside her moogle. "Kumei, that's cruel!" I laughed, "Fine, fine, sorry." Sheesh. I took another look at the cactuar and burst out laughing again. "Kumei!" Lulu scolded, but I couldn't stop laughing. The Cac- The Cactuar was stuck in its running position with its mouth open! I covered my face with one of the pillows on the couch, muffling my laughter. She rolled her eyes and sat down on the chair in front of me. "So where were you?" "Play island with the brat." Lulu looked at me oddly. "Why do you call him that?" "Because that's what he is." "Don't you think it's mean?" "You didn't think it was mean when we dressed that prettyboy up in prom garb." "Well, Riku's annoying. Sora's a nice boy." I 'tch'ed and glared at the wall. "He's my brother." I stood up. "I'll treat him the way I want to!" "He doesn't deserve to be treated that way!" Lulu shouted back. "If you love him so much, then you go be his sister! And you can stop talking to me, too! I can't take all your goody goody crap!" "Fine! I will!" I slammed the door in Lulu's face, leaving. "Fine!"

I walked into the other side of the play island. "Hey, idiots, what's happening?" Prettyboy glared at me, but Kairi and Sora didn't seem to notice. "Hey, Kumei!" She greeted. "Sis! You're going to help us?" "We already straightened that out yesterday." I looked to Kairi. "What do you want today?" She smiled, "Today we collect provisions for out trip! Let's see.. You're looking foro ne Seagull egg, three mushrooms, two coconuts, and three fish. And fill this up with Drinking Water. But not from the ocean!" She handed me an empty water bottle. I stared at her. "You must be really stupid to even think that I'd think of filling this up with saltwater." "Hey, sis, we're gonna race! You wanna come?" The brat suddenly asked, prettyboy beside him. I chuckled, "No, I don't really enjoy fixed races. We already know who's going to win, so.. I'll pass." I walked past Kairi towards the front side of the island, prettyboy's eyes burning into my back.

"Oof!" I groaned. Stupid Seagull egg. Why did it have to be so high up? I already got it, but it was still annoying, as I had fallen on my ass after doing a victory dance on top of the tree. I was tempted to smash the egg to bits, but decided against it. "Whoa, Kumei! You okay?" I opened my eyes and saw Wakka's annoying face. I stood up, "Duh." He scratched the back of his head. "So, uh.. I heard you got into a fight with Lulu, ya!" "Don't 'ya' me. What about it?" "Well, she's really bummed out.." "Not my problem," I muttered. "She shouldn't have preached if she knew it was going to piss me off." Wakka sighed, then looked at me. "What happened to you, Kumei? We all used to be the best of friends.. Well, you were still pretty mean to your brother, but you never used to take it out on us.. Ever since Zack died.." "Don't talk about Zack!" He took a step back. "I'm just say-" "Don't. Talk. About. Him." "Alright, I'm sor-" "Don't wanna hear it, Wakka. See you later. Or not. I don't really care."

Anyway, I found the fish (thankfully I didn't have to swim to get them), one mushroom behind this rock, and I got some Coconuts from hitting the trees. What was left? "Hmm.. One more mushroom." I do remember seeing mushrooms.. In the Secret Place. Well, that's what they called it. Technically though, it was the not-so-secret place because everybody (secretly) knew about it. Okay, that was weird. Just don't think about it anymore. I crawled into the Secret Place, utterly disgusted by the vines that hung around it. When I got into the cave itself, though, it was okay. Weird drawings around the walls. And the oddest thing: The door. Nobody could ever open it. Not that I tried. Oh, right, the mushroom. I grabbed it, then walked towards the door. I held the knob, turning to twist- Holy-! I was opening it! I jumped back, staring at the door. Did I want to open it? I standed there, contemplating, until I suddenly felt an unnerving presence. I turned around and a saw a hooded man. I looked at him. "Who are you?"

"I've come to see the door to this world," He replied. "What're you talking about?" "Tied to the darkness.." He muttered. To me or himself, I had no idea. Freak. "Soon to be completely eclipsed." "What? What's that supposed to mean? And where the hell did you come from?" He looked at me. "You do not know yet what lies beyond the door.. Princess." I glared at him. "Mister Mayor, is that you? This isn't funny." "Mayor? No." He looked back to the door. "There is so very much to learn.. You understand so little." "If you told me what was going on, you crazy man, maybe I'd understand a little more." He shook his head. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing." "I understand one thing: You're a lunatic and I'm bringing you to the mental hospital in town!" I walked towards him, but he grabbed my arm. "Ow.." He was gripping it hard. "Let go, jerkface." "So uncouthe for a princess.. I suppose it is my doing. I will have to undo it later." I closed my eyes in annoyance. "The only thing you're going to get to undo is-" I opened my eyes, but he was gone. I held my wrist. "Stupid jerk.. Where did he go?"

I ran out of the Secret Place and to the back of the island where Kairi was, but the hooded freak was nowhere to be found. Kairi smiled as I handed her the 'provisions'. As if one bottle of water would suffice for four people. "Thanks, Kumei! Here!" She handed me a Hi-Potion. I took it and nodded, turning to leave. "Oh! We leave tomorrow morning!" "I know," I replied. I'd better rest up, then. Tomorrow, I was going to find my father.

I poked at my food. The brat was still upstairs. Mom looked at me. "Will you call your brother?" "Will you tell me where dad is?" She didn't reply. Fine. I won't reply either. Mom sighed, "Kumei, you have to understand.. I'm doing this for your own good." I looked at her in the eye. "Then you'll have to understand, mother, that I don't care. I'm going to find dad, and I don't need your help." She looked down as I ate my food. She sighed again and walked towards the stairs. "Sora! It's time for dinner, come down!" No reply. Weird. My mother went up the stairs, and I looked up as lightning struck and thunder rolled. "Kumei!" My mother gasped, running down. "Your brother's not in his room!" I groaned, "Maybe he's at the prettyb- maybe he's at Riku's." "No, no, he came in at about six and said he'd stay in his room!" "What do you want me to do?" "Look for him!" "Fine," I muttered, leaving my food unfinished. "I'll have so much fun running around in the rain looking for a lost cause."

I walked to my boat. Crap. There really was a storm. I looked to the other boats, and the only ones there were Wakka's, Tidus', and Selphie's. That can't be good. I jumped into my boat and rowed to the play island. What were those three idiots thinking? Did they want to leave that badly? Did they want to die that badly? I wouldn't mind fulfilling the latter! I arrived at the play island. I wasn't that surprised to see Sora's, Riku's, and Kairi's boats. Little idiots. I ran towards the mini island and saw a dark sphere floating above it. Prettyboy was on the mini-island. Figures. So was the brat. I ran towards it and grabbed the brat's arm. "Sora, you idiot! What the hell are you doing out here in a storm?!" "The raft!" "I don't care about the raft!" The brat ignored me and turned to the prettyboy. "Where's Kairi?" He asked. "I thought she was with you!" "The door has opened," Prettyboy said. He sounded fazed. Argh, why did I care? "What?" "The door has opened, Sora! Now we can go to the outside world!" "You're crazy!" I shouted, pulling the brat back. "What're you talking about?" The brat shouted at the prettyboy. "We've gotta find Kairi!"

"Kairi's coming with us! Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!" "Riku!" Sora shook his head. The prettyboy held his hand out to the brat, as dark, shadowy circles engulfed us. I gasped, trying to get away. I grabbed the brat's arm and tried to pull, but he was reaching for the prettyboy. Suddenly, I pulled away and got to grab the brat with me. Twilight.. A voice said. Who the hell is that? Twilight.. Use your power.. What power? Stupid voice, get out! Suddenly, a huge Key appeared in the brat's hands. "What the hell is that?" I grabbed it and swung it around, but another one appeared at my left hand. The huge key at my right disappeared and reappeared back with the brat, but the one at my left stayed with me. Suddenly, these little ant-like shadows starting popping up like daisies. I looked from the huge key in my hand to the ants.

"What the hell am I going to do with an oversized Key?!"

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And there it is. I think you'll agree with me when I say that Kumei used to have something crawl up her ass and die everyday.

Review if you liked it, please!