Chapter 1

A yawn escaped Kairi as she wobbled out of her house dressed in her all too striking school-required outfit; a white button-up shirt and a blue mini-tie with her sleeves rolled up and a blue plaid skirt. Her bag hung from her shoulder.

On a good day, her homeland of Destiny Islands was undeniably gorgeous. An island cast off from the rest of Destiny City, and it had been constructed into becoming its own town. The palm trees would sway in the wake of the soft draft, with a tropical foundation coloring the general structural design of local shops and houses. But today, the usual pop of Destiny Islands and its inhabitants looked like uninspired snail races. Her morning gusto had been vaporized and reinvigorated into a thick, lethargic lump. Typical chatter among the passing citizens all sounded like accumulative static. How swift something could fall from grace, she thought.

She sat on her porch steps as her eyes traveled against the dazzling morning sky with light seaming through the cloud's cracks. She plunked her chin on both fists. Mundane was a word she thought she'd never use to describe her island, but after last night's exhilaration, everything else seemed so underwhelming. And because of it, she couldn't get any substantial winks.

"Kairi!"

She lifted her head to see a Maybach 62 pull up to the curve. Kairi whizzed inside her house until she made it into the living room. A woman with raven hair lied on the couch. She had red, puffy eyes trained on the television screen. Kairi kissed the woman on the cheek.

"I'm leaving now, Mom. I put some leftovers from last night's dinner in the refrigerator; it's all wrapped up. You can heat it up if you get hungry. But don't strain yourself, alright?"

Her mother smiled. "Okay, baby. Be safe."

"I will. You get some rest, hear?"

"Of course."

Kairi exited her house and entered the passenger seat of the Maybach with a sleepy breath.

"How's the most beautiful girl on Destiny Islands doing this fine morning?"

She blinked. "Didn't get a wink of sleep last night, Riku." She yawned, for what had to have been the eighth time in the past ten minutes.

Riku studied her slumped form as he put his car into acceleration. "Yeah, you don't look so good. Were you up all night thinking about me again? I get that I'm amazing, but that stuff is unhealthy—you know?"

Usually, she'd giggle at such an innocent quip, but her mirth had been dominated by her exhaustion. The energy to chuckle dispersed into silence.

"Whoa, okay, yeah—something is seriously wrong. So, what's up?"

It took her a few moments to answer. "Riku… you know the rumors about the boy with the key?"

"Yeah…?"

"I think I saw him last night."

"Wow, seriously? Excuse me if I find that hard to believe. You sure you weren't just dreaming?"

"Well, I don't think I was. But the memory is admittedly kinda hazy. I think I'm losing it, Riku."

"No, you seem pretty typical. Typically Kairi, that is."

She slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"I'm kidding."

The previous night was bizarre. While walking back from the corner store late at night, Kairi was mugged for her purse from a street thug. In her moment of despair, a boy in a blue mask and a catsuit came saving the day with a shiny sword shaped as a key.

There had been rumors being spread about the vigilante who held the mysterious "Keyblade". Kairi disregarded the rumors until she saw him in person. But she was quite tired while it all happened, and she had a hard time recollecting the memory as concrete. Hopefully, she didn't dream the whole thing up.

"I've been thinking a lot lately too," she continued.

"Oh yeah? What's on your mind?"

She twiddled her thumbs. "Well, I was thinking…" She shook her head. "Never mind, you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, come on, Kai! It's like, an unwritten law that you can't start a sentence and not finish it! That's the worst cocktease ever."

They met a red stop light.

She sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll tell you." She took a deep breath. "I was just thinking… something doesn't feel right. Have you been feeling it too?"

"Feeling what, too?"

"That, something just, you know, doesn't feel right. Like uh, that things aren't exactly the way they're supposed to be. It's actually kinda… unsettling. I've been feeling like this for the past few months, but I'm not sure why. It's like, gah, I don't know how to explain it. Like—we're in some sort of weird alternate world. The life, we live in now, feels too innocent—too carefree."

A pause—a long, uncomfortable pause. Was he going to sit there and stare at her like an idiot all morning?

"Well?" she challenged.

Without a word uttered, Riku drove off at the green light and stared straight ahead blankly. "Alright, when we get you to school, we're putting you in the nurse's office so that you can get some sleep."

She frowned. "Knock it off! I'm serious!"

"Kairi, you expect me to just be okay with the fact that you think we live in a… alternate dimension?"

"Yes! What's so difficult about that?"

He sighed. "You sure you aren't just sleep-talking right now?"

She tapped her chin. "I mean, I'm a little dazed, but I don't think—"

"Well, then that settles it! You just had a nightmare, but it felt real. Nothing wrong with that. Now, let's just focus on getting to school."

"Well yeah, but—"

"Op!"

"But you're—"

"Op op!"

"Riku—"

"Op op op op!" He wasn't having any of it.

She accepted defeat as the car came to a stop and the two got out, making their way towards Destiny High. Riku was probably right. Maybe she was overreacting and just had some outlandish dream. She needed to get a grip.

Still, the least he could do was hear her out. "You know, I'd think my so called best friend for the past eleven years would be able to take me seriously from time to time."

He stuffed his hands into his pocket with a shrug. "Well, when you talk about silly things about a boy wielding a giant key for a sword and alternate dimensions, how did you expect me to react again?"

He had a point, but she didn't care to reply as they made their way through the gates leading to Destiny High. Kairi couldn't even count all of the feeble girls that threw themselves Riku's way the moment they stepped foot on campus.

"Ladies, ladies," Riku said with a grin. "Don't worry, there's enough of all this to go around."

One of the fangirls groped his muscle. "Oh my god, Riku! Your muscular muscles are so superly muscular!"

Kairi rubbed her temples. She had never heard such a redundant sentence. It took such an enormous crap on the Japanese language. "Oy…"

"Well, thank you, lovely lady." He noticed Kairi by the school entrance. "Kairi, go on ahead. I'll catch up."

She nodded, making her way inside without another word. It wasn't like she cared about Riku's popularity. Besides…

"Hey, Kairi! Is that a new top?"

She was pretty popular with the guys also. She giggled. "No, this is the uniform. I wear it every day, silly."

The bumbling male rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, really? That's awesome."

She smiled and pressed on to the first period, smiling at all the male eyes that gravitated to her like magnets and overlooking all of the female's ones that stuck to her with a jealous spark.

She honestly didn't get why the boys were so infatuated with her. She was a tomboy and had quite an unwomanly stride, not caring whether she slouched or not. Though, that characteristic typically applied to her in the morning when she was still half-asleep.

She made it to the top step of the fourth floor and sighed. "It's gonna be a long week."

"Okay class, we have some exciting news for the start of second term." Mr. Nomura addressed his English class. "We have a new student joining us. So please, give him your utmost attention."

A boy stepped up before the class with a blank stare. The class didn't know what to make of him, aside from his appearance. His caramel spiky-hair made him stand out, but other than that, his eyes were vacant.

That was, until, he curved his lips into a welcoming grin along with his sunny jewels gleaming at the class of expectancy.

"Hey there!" He folded his hands behind his head with a chuckle.

The class jolted back for a split second. Usually, a new kid would be humble for their first impression, but not this kid. His optimism lit up the room. "My name is Sora! I guess it doesn't take rocket science to figure out I'm the new kid here. But hey, I am here, and I hope we can all get along and pave the way for an awesome year!"

He received a well-deserved round of applause from the class with a contagious smile of approval infecting the majority of the students. To say it would be nice to have a few more upbeat campers roaming around went without question. With bewildered observation, Kairi clapped along with her classmates. Did such an enthusiastic boy like him even exist? He was walking proof that there was hope for the school's male population. With any luck, he'd rub off on them. Most boys were too prideful to show off any signs of sanguinity. They all tried too hard to be "badass."

But this boy was already poles apart from the standard. His divergence from the norm was commendable. It was unbelievable how quickly his intrigue began to wear off on her. Some of the girls in the class made some sort of suggestive comment. After all, Sora cleaned himself nicely. She turned to her left to see Riku studying Sora, unconvinced.

"What a tool," he grumbled.

Kairi smirked in his direction, and when he finally noticed, he offered an incredulous look. "What?"

She shook her head.

Mr. Nomura firmly gripped Sora's hand. "I must say, Mr. Hikari, you seem to be an encouraging young man. I approve. We can definitely use some more men with confidence around here." His eyes sauntered to a few of the other inattentive, nearly drooling chaps lingering in his classroom. "Unlike some of these other zombies," he deadpanned. "There's a seat behind Ms. Lockhart back there."

Kairi popped at the sound of her name. Looked like she'd be getting to spend some quality to time with him as well. Was it her lucky day?

"Kairi, please raise your hand so that he knows who you are."

Sora picked up his backpack and threw it over his shoulder with his spare hand in the other pocket. He walked over to the seat behind Kairi, with Riku glaring at him as he passed by. Sora didn't even spare him a glimpse. He was too caught up in his own world.

He plopped in the seat behind Kairi as Mr. Nomura proceeded with the day's lesson plan. "Take out your notes."

Students rummaged through their bags and began writing in their journals as Mr. Nomura jotted what seemed to be a distortion of nonsense on the blackboard. Kairi zoned out mid-lecture and started scribbling gibberish onto her pad.

"Hey," Sora whispered behind her. He must have arched over his desk to get real close to her ear. "Um, I don't usually say this kind of stuff to girls, but you're really pretty."

Heat rose to her face as Riku watched the display with disgust. "Okay, where's my barf bag?"

Sora chuckled in good humor while the blush on Kairi's cheek felt stained. She played with a few strands of her hair, mixing through a flood of thoughts, deciphering the most logical action. It would be rude to not say anything back or at least thank him, but in the end, she chickened out and just sat there in a hue of embarrassment.

Why was she so flustered? Guys told her how pretty they thought she was practically on the daily basis. What made Sora different from any other type?

At last, class had finished and it was break time.

Sora stood up and stretched. He fumbled through his backpack until he came out empty-handed. "Aw, man! I forgot my lunch." He lightly thumped himself on the forehead. "Goofball."

This was her chance; she could make up for her horrible first impression from earlier and at least let him know she wasn't some heartless snob who couldn't bothered to simply reply to his flattering remark. She turned around. "Um—"

Her eyes enlarged and quickly looked away. Those jewels were too bright and innocent. She couldn't even stare at him in the face.

"Uh, you could share with me—if you want to. I have enough lunch to spare."

Riku looked at her as if she were a three-headed dinosaur clown. Sora chuckled and waved her off.

"I appreciate it, but that's okay. I can just get something from the cafeteria."

She looked at his eyes, wincing from their luminosity for a split second before easing into it. "I wouldn't recommend that. The school lunches here are pretty horrendous. Hence, why almost everybody packs their own."

"Well, maybe then it'll teach me a lesson about forgetting my lunches like a ditz." He chuckled.

Kairi smiled. "It's good to have a positive attitude about it."

"Thanks. Say, you wanna join me? We can eat outside."

"I'd love to." Kairi stood up, but immediately was cast in the shadow of Riku's back protectively.

"Sorry, me and Kairi are gonna be kinda busy right now. Maybe some other time," Riku said, shooing Sora off.

He shrugged and turned the other cheek. "Oh, well." He peered over Riku's back and offered another grin to Kairi. "Some other time, then?"

She nodded. "Definitely."

Sora walked away with his hands tied behind his head once more as he made his way to the cafeteria. Riku turned around and was directly hit with dark eyes. She punched him on the arm.

"Ow!"

"What's with you, dick?"

He rubbed the spot. "I don't like that guy. He's way too nice."

"What's wrong with that?"

"He's too nice. No dude is supposed to openly express his emotions so willingly like that. It's against everything we men stand for!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, and that's exactly why he stands out. Maybe you morons could learn a thing or two from him." She sat down and unraveled her steaming lunch. Riku picked up his own lunch while pulling a chair up to Kairi's desk.

"I'm just saying," he continued, "there's something weird about that kid, and I'm not buying his act."

Riku casually took his chopsticks and picked up a sushi roll from Kairi's lunch, stuffing it down his throat. He opened his eyes to notice her dropped jaw. "What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

Kairi sighed. She hated it when Riku ate her food without warning like that, especially when he had his own lunch, but no point in addressing it. It would only go in one ear and out the other.

"You know what I think?" she inquired, reestablishing the subject. "I think you're jealous."

"Jealous? Get serious!"

She smirked. "Uh huh."

He squinted. "Don't look at me like that! I'm not jealous."

"Oh, but I think you are."

"Then enlighten me, missy. Why would I possibly be jealous of some freaky new kid?"

"Because you're afraid he might obliterate your rank as most popular kid in the school. I mean, goodness, when he walked out of the classroom, half the girls were swooning him."

He pouted and crossed his arms. "That doesn't prove anything. Besides, I don't care how popular he gets, nothing can top all this, Kairi. All. This." He pulled out his personal mirror and slicked his hair back with a wink.

She groaned although his self-flatteries were nothing new.

"So, what do you think about him?" he asked, disentangling his lunch.

"Me?" She pointed to herself, following it with a casual shrug. "He's cute. But he doesn't seem like my type."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He'd probably make a great friend, but all that optimism will probably start to get annoying after a while."

Riku sighed with relief. "Good, I won't have to worry about you getting contaminated by his bullshit playacting." He wandered his head around the room with his sights setting on the female population. He took a bite out of his chicken fried rice. "As for these other hoes…"

Kairi struck her best friend on the head. "What have I told you about using that word?"

He pouted like a puppy that had been disciplined.

"And knock it off, will ya? Sora's a nice guy. There's nothing for you to worry about. So what if he ends up being a little popular?"

"I just don't want all of us to trust him, and then he ends up dicking us all over."

"And just how would he be able to do that?"

Riku pointed at her, as if ready to give her a justified argument—but he had nothing. He crossed his arms in thought. "Uh, still working on that."

She giggled as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Stop worrying so much."

Though the spiteful spangle in her friend's eye told her he would do otherwise. She heaved a sigh and accepted his hopelessness, digging into her lunch.

It was fifth period at gym class, Kairi stretched out her muscles as she stood on the sidelines of the kickball game. Razor blades of grass spread the field to a massive length. The sun was too generous that day, with dust dancing in its glaring sunbeams. It was bare against the sky that was washed of columbine flowers. Her eyes widened when a girl jumped onto her back.

How did she know it was female?

Boobs.

"Hiya, Kai!"

"Nyah! Selphie, get off!"

"Oops, sorry! Tee hee!" She slid off Kairi's back. Selphie and Kairi weren't exactly best friends, but they talked from time to time, usually on Selphie's initiative. Kairi found Selphie too much of an airhead to see herself actually furthering their casual relationship. "So—how you liking that new kid over there, huh?" She pointed to Sora across from their standpoint, who was in a conversation with Tidus.

Kairi smiled as she placed both hands on her hips. "Well, I met him earlier in English class—"

"You mean you actually got to talk to him?!" Selphie interrupted. "Why you holdin' out on me, girl? How'd you pull him?"

Kairi rolled her eyes. "I didn't 'pull' anybody. I just offered for him to share my lunch with me."

"Oooooohhh!"

"Only because he didn't have his own!" Kairi's cheeks flushed a combination of annoyance and embarrassment. She crossed her arms.

"Man, I wish I were as lucky as you—but, unfortunately, I'm in Class 1-A. This is the only time of day I'll be able to see him. Do you think I should talk to him?"

"Sure."

"You don't care?"

"Should I?"

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I asked…?"

Selphie stared at her, astonished. "Wow, you really don't like him."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Kairi rubbed her temple. Bitches these days…

Selphie perked up. "Oh well! Less competition for me!" She turned around to find Sora with his hands tied behind his head as usual. It seemed like that bright smile was glued to him. "Aw, but he's so out of my league."

Kairi sighed. "Fine. I'll ask him what he thinks of you. Consider it a favor." Or more accurately as an excuse to get away from her, at least for a little while.

"You'd do that?" Selphie enveloped Kairi in a hug. "Oh, thank you! I mean, you must be whacked if you're not trying tap dat ass, but I appreciate it!"

The stiff redhead petted Selphie on the head. "There, there…" she frowned. "Now can you let go?"

Selphie released her and skipped off to a group of preppy girls. Kairi sighed of relief and made her way towards Sora.

She tapped him on the shoulder and placed her arms around her back, giving him a harmless grin. "Hi!"

"Hey. Um…" Sora trailed off. He pointed to her, trying to dig through his memory files of girls he had met that day. There was a bit to search through.

"Kairi," she answered for him.

"That's right, Kairi—I met you earlier. My name is—"

"Sora."

He chuckled. "Oh, yeah that's right. I feel kinda bad now, me forgetting your name, but you remembering mine."

"Well, it's hard to forget the name of the guy who everybody's talking about. I haven't seen someone gain so much popularity in such a short amount of time before. Congrats!"

He rubbed the back of his head with a slight blush. "Hehe, thanks. I don't get what the big fuss is about. I'm just trying to fit in." He darted his eyes left and right. "But between you and me," he whispered, "I've been getting really freaked out by all of these girls that keep chasing me around. I don't get what their deal is. Do you think I owe them something?"

He turned around to spot of group of girls giggling something while eyeing the brunet.

She raised a brow. "You mean you don't know why the girls are all flopping whenever you're around?"

He pouted and crossed his arms, his eyes looking to the sky for answers. "Should I?"

She had to admit, it was pretty cute to see him so dense. She giggled, prompting Sora to only offer a confused gaze.

"Oh, gross!"

They turned around to see Riku making his way to them.

"You guys are repulsive and moldy like my grandpa's balls."

Sora, unfazed by the comment, only waved. "Hey, Riku."

Kairi crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

Riku pretended to look offended. "Now is that any way to talk to your best friend?"

"Oh, I didn't know you guys were so close," Sora admitted.

Riku stepped in front of Kairi, similar to earlier. "Yep, we sure are." She scoffed. Riku checked out his nails. "So, how's your first day treatin' you?"

"Pretty good! I didn't realize everybody would be so nice around here."

"Hey, if you're good-looking, you're bound to get more attention around here," Kairi said nonchalantly. "It's just a staple in the shallow world we live in."

He blushed. "Hehe, gee, thanks!"

Riku watched the display with a furious eye. "Anyway—Sora, ever played kickball before?"

"Actually no, we never did this kind of stuff back in my old school."

Riku smirked. "I see. Well, don't be too stressed about it. It's all about rhythm in motion. You're probably gonna suck really hard on your first kick. Heck, might even get out on your first punt."

Sora moped. "You think so?"

Riku snaked an arm around Sora's shoulder. "I know so. But look, don't let it get to you, champ. We've all been there before—our moments of utter embarrassment and rock bottom. You might feel like shit, you might feel like you're in the lowest conception of sewage shit ever created, and hell, you might even feel like leaving our school to find your calling or whatever. But just remember—shit happens." He patted Sora on the back in bogus encouragement.

"Uh, I'll have to keep that in mind."

Kairi shoved Riku away from Sora lightly. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," he said with false astonishment. "Just tellin' spiky here what the real world is like. Watch and learn, kids."

Riku made his way over to the front of the line and pushed an undernourished guy out of the way. "Step aside, noodle arms."

The pitcher rolled the ball. Without breaking a sweat, he kicked it high into the sky. At once, Riku ran as if his life were at stake. One of the players picked the ball up from its spot and threw it to second base. Unfortunately for them, Riku was already there with a victorious grin. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

Sora watched with amazement. "Wow, Riku's really cool, huh?"

Kairi crossed her arms. "Sure. If 'cool' meant being a total jerk, then yeah, he's freezing."

"Hey Sora, you're up!" Riku yelled across the field.

"Oh, okay."

"Go get em!" Kairi encouraged.

Sora had winked at her before he stepped up to the plate. The pitcher rolled the ball to Sora and without warning, he gave it a big thrust. Everyone's eyes gazed at the sky in a whelm of awe. The ball went all the way to the gate that enclosed the swimming area, where it landed in the pool.

It was a home run.

Riku threw his baseball cap to the ground as he marched stubbornly back to the line, passing by every teammate of his that cheered and applauded Sora's performance. As the boy passed Riku, he gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Did I do good, Riku?"

"You did fan-fucking-tastic, Sora."

"Awesome!" Sora sped off to the raptures.

Riku stomped next to Kairi with crossed arms. He dared not look at her. He already knew an all-knowing smirk would be residing on those lips.

She opened her mouth, but Riku was one step ahead. "Don't. You dare. Say a word."

She playfully patted Riku on the head as she made her way over to Sora, giving him her congrats. He grumbled to himself as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked to a secluded area.

"You may have won this round, Sora Hikari, but you can bet your bottom dollar I shall win the war!" He raised his hand to the sky dramatically, but promptly looked around to see if nobody was watching. "Great, now I'm talking to myself. It's a good thing nobody caught me."

A flash hit him and he saw two nerds scurrying off. "This is gonna be our big headline for the school newspaper, Pence! Riku's gone crazy!"

Riku sighed. "Gimme a break…"

He stared at the road with a stone cold glower. Kairi sat in the passenger seat and kept to herself. On an average day, she found his excessive douchebaggery to be exasperating, but today his silence was demoralizing.

"Um, Riku…? Are you coming with me to my dance class tomorrow?" Anything to break the silence.

"For the one-hundredth time, Kairi, no. The dancers in your class are all a bunch of snobs and I don't want to deal with them. I know you want me to give you a ride there, but I'm sorry. I can't deal with them, and the bus should be able to get you there in only twenty minutes."

She lowered her head. "Sorry I asked…"

He scrunched his forehead slightly. "No, don't say that. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have lashed out like that, but—it's just that Sora kid. Something about him pisses me off."

"What is there to be upset about? He's a great guy and always ready to help out."

"That's the problem! There's no way he can be that—that freaking perfect! Know what I mean? And don't you think it's suspicious that he transferred second semester?"

"People transfer second semester all the time. What's so crazy about it this time?"

"Because there's nothing wrong with him! And the only time you move to another school is when you're most likely fucked up and got kicked out for doing something crazy."

"Oh, because it's impossible to infer that he probably just didn't like his old school, right?"

"Yin—Yang. It's just frustrating to think that somebody would try to come in here and put on some crappy sham to get everybody to back him up. I'm telling you, Kairi. There's something fishy about that boy."

Kairi grabbed her face in false fright. "Oh my god, someone who's an actual," she gasped, "human being! Oh Riku, our beloved and most sacred savior of Destiny High, please do something to save us from his treacherous acts like, you know, helping old ladies across the street, buying a Moogle doll for one of the local toddlers, and what's worse? He even helped deliver one of the girls in our gym class to the nurse's office when she sprained her ankle trying to kick the ball! Oh, what a dastardly demon he is!"

He raised an eyebrow. "You're makin' fun of me, aren't you?"

She laughed. "You need to relax. There's nothing to worry about with Sora. Who cares if he's a little bit on the perfect side? At least he gives all you other assholes something to strive for."

"Like what?"

"Like his personality. Seriously, we could use a lot more genuine dudes on campus."

"I'm genuine!"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course you are."

"Just you wait, Kai Kai! I'm gonna prove it to all of you guys that Sora is a good-for-nothing creep who's got some kind of alternate motive." He rubbed his chin.

"And what motive would that be, wise one?"

"I'll get back to you on that."

Kairi chuckled and sighed hopelessly.

After he had dropped her off home, Kairi checked up on her mother. She fixed her something to eat, afterward immediately springing for her bed. She heaved her clothes off, leaving her in some shorts and a blue tank top. She snuggled into bed and shut her eyelids.

Kairi walked out from the secret cave as the sunlight hit her with a ferocity. She winced and used her hand to shade herself from the sun's glare. She was tired and had a lot of work to do. The supplies for the raft weren't going to just find themselves. Riku had most of it taken care of, but she knew it would only be right to put in her fair share of the workload as well. She had slacked off enough as it was.

Speaking of slackers, she looked down over by the shore. She noticed him wake up and gaze at the horizon of the vast ocean. She tiptoed closer to him. The quicker she got, she could hear him yawn. She bent over as he lied back down, looking into his bright blue eyes as he was paralyzed by hers.

He sat up. "Whoa!"

He turned around and got on his knees. She couldn't help but crack a giggle.

"Gimme a break, Kairi."

"Sora, you lazy bum. I knew that I'd find you snoozing down here."

"No! This huge, black THING swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't—" She hit him on the back of his head. "Ow!"

She stopped him before he could embarrass himself any further. "Are you still dreaming?"

"It wasn't a dream! Or was it?" He lowered his head in uncertainty. "I don't know…"

This wasn't anything new to her. Sora was always overdramatic about mundane things like his "dreams".

"What was that place?" Sora asked himself, remembering the eerie feeling he got from the world of pure darkness and naught. "So bizarre…"

She rolled her eyes as she strode to the shore. "Yeah, sure."

"Say, Kairi, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up?"

"I've told you before," she said with a slight chuckle. "I don't remember."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing."

"You ever wanna go back?"

"Mm, well, I'm happy here."

He looked at her skeptically. How could she be so okay with being stuck in a world that she didn't come from? Not that he wanted her to leave. "Really…"

"But you know, I wouldn't mind going to see it."

"I'd like to see it, too! Along with any other worlds out there! I wanna see em all!"

She turned to him with a smile. "So, what are we waiting for?"

Where they wait for him…

Sora ran inside the secret place. "Kairi!"

Kairi turned around, a disheartened hue coloring her eyes. "Sora…"

She lifted her weak, heavy hand as the mysterious door busted open with a gush of wind surging through. Kairi disappeared in Sora's arms.

"What happened to my home? My island?! Riku… Kai—"

She woke up in a cold sweat with her breath running away from her. As she settled down, she yanked her shirt back and forth to get some wind going. She had never had a dream like that before. And why was Sora in it? But the creepiest part was that it all felt so—familiar.

"What the hell is going on?"

So, new story. Yeah, I have no business doing this, but honestly, I can't take it anymore. I hate being confined into something and I don't want to be confined into writing stories that I don't really feel like writing, although I'm still working on the next chap of Rags! So don't worry about that! Lover's Quarrel however...Mmm...

So basically, we'll be traveling through a bunch of different universes, all with a completely different feel from the last, until maybe Kairi can find the answer to her odd feelings. This dimension is the anime universe, so if you got that kind of feeling, well there you have it!

Big special thanks to BlissfulNightRain for helping me out with this story a little bit! She's been an awesome friend and you guys HAVE to check her out! Like, this isn't recommendation, it is required that you check out her story "A Date With My Best Friend's Sister(s)" and leave her a review! Hear me? Required! It's really good, I promise!

So yeah, this one's short but the next chapter makes up for it. I'll see you there, I hope!