A/N: Hey guys, I'm really exited about writing my first story on this site. I've been reading a lot for years and decided to try my hand on it. I hope you like it and please tell me what you think.

Through the Test of Fate

Chapter 1

Night of Fate

A teen with spiky brown hair ran through the streets of Twilight Town. Almost everything from the streets to the buildings, was colored a dark brown which, when hit by the sun, almost gave the appearance of the twilight just before a sunset, hence its name.

'Oh man, if I'm late again they're going to keep me after school!' The teen panted before coming to an involuntary stop, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to regain his breath.

He was Sora, a student at a local high school who lived a pretty normal life. Unlike the rich schools that taught those attending them various things he would never learned, his school did not expect much of its students. Just by making a C grade average he was sure to pass but even that proved to be a bit difficult for him.

Like many students he lived in a one-room apartment assigned by the school but unlike many students he did not have a roommate. There were some positives in living alone but the negatives far outweighed them. For instance, he had to keep the place clean all by himself, send annoyingly long monthly reports to the school, and, most importantly, he bought food all by himself. He wasn't a rich kid, far from that and the amount of money his parents sent him every month was not enough for everything he had to buy, not just food but school supplies and other utilities he needed occasionally.

Sora regained his breath and continued to run through the streets.

The streets were dark as Sora walked home from school. In the end he ended up having to stay after school for having been late to homeroom three days in a row.

"I need a new alarm clock," he decided since his was broken. Being a heavy sleeper meant that without an alarm clock he was unable to wake up early despite how much he would like to do so. It'd be cool to just wake up at the same time everyday without the need of an annoying alarm. Thankfully he had woken up only fifteen minutes after the time in which he usually woke up because of his rumbling stomach.

"Ah," Sora remembered that there was absolutely nothing in his fridge and he would need to go buy some groceries. "Great, all the groceries on sale are probably sold out at this point," he sighed as he passed by an empty park that looked pretty creepy with just one lamp post lighting it.

'Growl.'

Sora stopped when hearing something from the park and gulped when not seeing anything. An odd noise in a dark and deserted park was like a horror movie waiting to happen but, luckily, he didn't believe in ghosts or anything.

'Growl.'

There was no need to be scared of something that was just a figment of his imagination.

'Growl. Mumble'

Sora scowled as he walked towards the source of the noise coming from behind a tree. He gulped as he peeked over the tree and was more than surprised at the sight before him.

A girl with red hair sat against the tree while holding her stomach. She was wearing a school uniform that he hadn't really seen before, a plaid red skirt with a white blouse under a light brown blazer.

'Growl.'

"Ahhh... I'm so hungry." The girl mumbled before suddenly snapping her face towards him in alarm, making him take a nervous step back.

Sora waved a hand in greeting before being pinned against the tree, two hands pressing strongly against his torso. His eyes were wide in panic since he was sure that such a slender girl could not be this strong.

"Who are you?"

He had to chose his words carefully, "I'm just a student passing by..."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion before she smirked, "Am I supposed to believe such an obvious lie? If you found me then that means that you're no ordinary person. I was masking my presence as best as I could."

"Yeah, except for your stomach growling at me earlier," Sora said with a roll of his eyes.

The girl appeared shocked before letting him go, "I'm sorry, I should have believe you. You're wearing a diff-err, a school uniform after all."

"No problem but what are you doing out her all alone?"

Her expression grew serious, "It is best that you don't get involved."

"Right..." Sora nodded confidently to hide his utter confusion. There was something very strange about this girl. Maybe she was one of those high school kids that still ran around playing in all sorts of imaginary scenarios, if that was the case then the best thing to do was to just play along, "So um...monsters?"

"Shut up!" The girl exclaimed with an embarrassed blush, "What's with your 'oh no I should probably play along with this crazy girl' expression anyway?"

He crossed his arms and looked away to hide the amused grin on his face, "Don't worry, if you like to play around at night chasing imaginary monsters that's fine but you should probably eat first."

"That's not what I'm doing!"

Sora smiled in response.

"Stop smiling like an old man playing along a stupid game with his grandchild!"

"I told you not to worry about it," Sora responded as he patted the girl's head, "Go run along and play with your imaginary pals."

The girl fumed before placing her hands on her hips and giving him a fierce glare, "Alright then, I guess I just have to show you!"

"Show me what?"

He was silenced as the girl raised a hand and materialized a key-shaped blade that shone brightly in the dark park.

"There, you see." The girl beamed as she proudly showed off her weapon.

Sora's eyes were wide in disbelief. The thing on her hand was a Keyblade, the same kind of weapon that all the people going to rich schools could use. It was said that those that could summon one had their lives made since they were guaranteed the best education and also a lot of high-paying jobs only they could do. Everyone knew what a Keyblade was but not many saw them since it was a small crime to summon one in public.

"What's wrong? You were so talkative before but now you're all quiet," the girl smirked before doubling over in pain with an audible gasp and bringing a hand to her side.

"Hey, what's wrong?!"

"I shouldn't have summoned the Keyblade," she gritted her teeth in pain before looking into his eyes, "Get out of here, you've been here more than long enough."

Sora noticed the bit of panic on her voice and grew serious, "What's going on? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Don't worry about me, this is normal," the girl assured, "Just trust me and leave, I'm going home soon too."

Out of some sense of worry he wanted to walk her home but decided against it since she looked genuinely worried for some reason. "Fine, I'll be going then," he nodded at her before leaving.

'Like hell I am!' He hid behind one of the trees in the park once he was out of the girl's view. 'I feel like a stalker for some reason...'

The girl went back to sitting against the tree and held her stomach while her face showed pain. Sora scowled as he watched the scene, it didn't look like she was there because she wanted, in fact it looked like she was hiding from something.

"I found you."

Sora's blood ran cold as an angry voice came out of nowhere. His eyes darted about before they saw a guy walking out of a large set of bushes, he was dressed very oddly with some sort of armor covering his right shoulder, baggy black pants, and a very tight black shirt.

'Who is this guy?' Sora wondered as he glanced at the girl to see that her eyes were wide in panic. 'Huh? Is she in trouble with that guy or something?'

"Kairi," the mysterious guy spoke with a disapproving look. "You should know better than to hide. One of us was bound to find you." Sora's eyes widened as the guy summoned a large light brown Keyblade with a blue handle, "Now come with me if you know what's good for you. Unlike the others I won't show any amount of mercy."

The girl, now known as Kairi, gritted her teeth as she slowly rose to her feet. "Wow, look at you acting all tough when everyone knows you're only ranked highly because you're a suck up," she smirked as she summoned her Keyblade, its wing-shaped silver handle glistening in the moon's rays. She bit back a wince as she pointed her blade at the mysterious guy, "Someone like you can't beat me."

"Really," the mysterious guy frowned before moving faster than the eye could follow and appearing in front of Kairi. Sora watched in shock as the guy pinned her against the tree by the neck and smirked, "You sure talk a lot."

Kairi clawed against the hold on her neck, "Let...me go...T-Terra!"

Terra scoffed, "You'll be coming with me unconscious or no-"

"Stop!"

Kairi froze when she saw the guy from earlier rush towards them, "W-What are you doing?!"

"So you made a friend?" Terra smirked as he let her go and faced the meddling teen, "Just who are you?"

"The name's Sora!" He replied heatedly as he pointed at Terra, "And I wont' let you get away with whatever you're doing to her!"

Kairi coughed before looking at Sora angrily, "Idiot! Just leave already! You don't have to help me, go home or you'll get hurt!"

"If I go home you'll get hurt," Sora shot back, his eyes never leaving Terra or his very scary looking Keyblade.

"Just leave, you don't even know me! I'm just a stranger, why do you want to risk yourself for me?!"

He frowned in response, "Why not? What kind of crazy person would just leave someone who's in trouble? I don't care if I've known your for a second or a year, I won't let anyone get hurt on my watch!"

"You...idiot," Kairi muttered.

Terra chuckled at Sora's words, "You really are a bold one, saying such cool things with no weapon on hand. Don't worry though, I'm not one to attack an unarmed opponent, summon your Keybalde and fight me."

The teen smirked in response, "Who says I need one to kick your ass?"

"Oh?" Terra looked at the scrawny teen in front of him before laughing, "Don't tell me you're just an ordinary student? Do you have a death wish or something?"

Sora clenched his fists. Of course he knew it was crazy to fight someone armed, and with a Keyblade no less, barehanded but he had no choice. Maybe he could give the Kairi girl enough time to get away. It was unlikely that the Terra bastard would wail on him too much, or maybe he would just hit him once and feel bad.

"If you're so adamant about fighting then have this," Kairi spoke up as she slowly walked to Sora's side and handed him her Keyblade. "This is Oathkeeper, a very strong Keyblade. I'm sure even you can use it."

"R-right," Sora took the Keyblade in his hands, surprised with how much heavier it was than he imagined.

Kairi leaned in close to his ear to avoid having Terra hear what she was about to say. "Listen, Terra is much stronger than you and will beat you in just a few minutes," she glanced at the older teen who stood where he was with his Keyblade before continuing with what she was saying, "Try to hold him off a little bit while I regain a bit of my strength, once I do give me Oathkeeper back. I'm pretty sure I can use something to give us enough time to get away."

"Got it," Sora responded as he got in a ready stance.

"You've got to be very stupid to risk your life for a stranger," Terra chuckled as he dropped into his fighting stance, holding his Keyblade at his side and crouching slightly.

Kairi nodded at the teen at her side, "Be careful Sora."

He nodded back before charging in at Terra with a battle cry. The older teen didn't move which gave Sora the chance to swing the blade in a wide arc aimed at his upper body. Terra easily blocked the blow and backtracked as Sora swung once again, this time in an upwards slash that was blocked. He gritted his teeth and lashed out with a flurry of swings which were blocked and dodged in apparent ease.

"You see, the thing about Keyblades is that no matter how strong they are, the user has to have at least a bit of skill to pose a threat," Terra explained as he parried a swing from Sora. "You're so painfully slow and clumsy that it's easy for me to dodge your attacks without the slightest bit of effort," he leaned away from a slash as he continued to speak, "Someone like you is years away from even leaving a single scratch on me."

Sora growled as he swung at Terra, who parried the blow once again and followed up with a kick to his stomach.

'Damn it!' Sora landed on his back and was forced roll to his side to avoid an incoming slash from Terra's Keyblade.

"This is bad..." Kairi's eyes were filled with worry as she watched Sora rolling away from Terra's attacks. "Hold on Sora, I just need a bit more time."

Terra scoffed as he gave the teen enough time to get back up. "This has gone far enough but I'll let you come at me once again, might as well give you a chance right?"

"Just make sure you don't regret it!" Sora cried out as he charged in at Terra and swung the Keyblade widely once again. The older teen almost rolled his eyes at how predictable the attack was and swung his blade to parry the attack but, much to his shock, Sora dropped the hold on the Keyblade and moved in closer.

"W-what?!"

"Clench your teeth bastard, cause I'm about to leave more than a scratch!"

Kairi could only watch in disbelief as Sora drew his right arm back before delivering a strong punch to Terra's face. The sound of the punch echoed in the park as Terra fell on the ground with a cry of pain.

Sora panted as he stood over Terra with an aching right fist. The older teen was on his feet in just a few moments and held his bloody nose in pain.

"You're going to pay for-"

"Now Sora!" Kairi cried out suddenly, having gone to retrieve her Keyblade while Terra was distracted. "Take this!" She pointed her blade at the older teen before releasing a blinding flash of light.

Terra screamed in pain as he covered his eyes, "Ahh! Dammit!"

Kairi quickly took Sora's hand and ran.

After running for what seemed like hours for Sora, the two finally came to a stop on a busy street. The two leaned against a building's wall while panting.

"Do...you think we got away?"

"Yeah," Kairi responded, "We should find a place to hide though, he's probably looking for us right now."

Sora nodded absently as he finally took a good look at Kairi. It wasn't until now that he realized how tired she looked, she had bags under her eyes, beads of sweat rolled down her face, and she looked a bit pale.

"Let's hide in my apartment," Sora offered, figuring that she would need a bed to sleep in and get better.

Kairi looked down for a moment in apparent thought before looking back at him and nodding, "Sounds good, even with all of his resources I doubt he could find out where you live."

"Let's go."

Luckily, they were able to easily find a taxi in the busy street to take them to Sora's apartment. Unluckily for him though he used the money he had planned to use to buy groceries.

"This is where you live?" Kairi asked in a very surprised voice.

Sora scoffed angrily as he took out the key to his apartment, "It's no rich school apartment but it'll do." He entered the key to the lock and opened the door, revealing a small wooden floor living room and a glass sliding door leading to a small balcony with a place to hang clothes. "Make yourself at home."

He led her into the apartment before closing the door behind him and locking it.

"Hmm... It doesn't look like this place has two rooms."

"Don't worry I'll sleep on the couch," he responded as he took off his shoes and sat on the single couch in the living room. "So tell me, why was that guy chasing you?"

Kairi sighed as she sat on the bed in the corner of the room, "It's best if you don't get involved."

Sora rolled his eyes as he rested his feet on the small coffee table near the couch, "If you didn't notice, I punched the guy on the face. I'm pretty involved if you ask me."

"You're right," she smiled at his words before sighing once again. "As you probably know, I'm a Keyblade Wielder and attend one of the most prestigious schools in Twilight Town like many others. How well you do in school is reflected by which club you join, I ended up being recruited to one of the best clubs in school... Back then I had no idea of what the true purpose of the club was but when I found out, I tried to tell someone about it but was caught before I could. I managed to get away but many of them are searching for me."

"When did you escape?"

"Yesterday," Kairi replied, "I had to fight another club member in order to escape but was hurt in the process, that's why I was hiding in the park."

Sora crossed his arms, "So what are we going to do about this?"

"Huh?"

"I asked what we are going to do about this? There has to be some way to get that club to stop chasing after you."

Kairi shook her head, "No Sora, I plan on doing this alone."

"Sounds like a good idea, I mean you were doing so good before," he rolled his eyes before looking away, "I can't in my right mind let you do this alone. Let me help you in some way."

She looked at him as though he were crazy before smiling slightly and looking down, "You really are a fool."

He smiled back, "Funny, I was thinking the same thing." Seeing as she was probably hungry he got off the couch and went over to his small kitchen to open the refrigerator, "I didn't have time to buy any groceries but there has to be something to eat in here..." he looked through the fridge before finding a couple of eggs, "Hmm... Hey Kairi, how do scrambled eggs sound?"

"I'm okay with anything, thank you."

"Alright," he took the eggs out, got a frying pan, and got to work. Silence filled the apartment, making the two uncomfortable until Sora decided to speak, "So, how old are you?"

Kairi looked his way a bit thrown off by the casual question but decided to answer, "I'm sixteen."

He looked away from the stove to look at her oddly, "Really? I figured you'd be at least a year younger than me."

"How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen too," he answered as he got a nearby spatula to scramble the eggs before his eyes suddenly widened in realization, "Crap. I forgot to do my homework... My teacher is going to be pissed."

Kairi found herself smiling, it was nice to be able to have a normal conversation. The last few days had been tense so she was more than glad to be able to sit back and relax for what seemed like a long time. Also, she remembered that she had been a bit curious about what normal schools did she had never attended one.

"What's your homework about?"

"Hmm?" Sora scowled in thought before answering, "Geometry stuff and a history paper."

"Geometry?" Kairi repeated a bit surprised before grinning, "I learned that a few years ago, maybe I could help you out."

'Figures that her school would be years ahead of mine...' he thought with a chuckle. "Sounds great," he answered before turning off the stove and getting a couple of plates out, "Food's ready."

Terra walked across the dark streets of Twilight Town. Some dried blood lingered on his nose and his eyes were still stinging. He made a vow to get back at those two, specially the Sora guy that couldn't even summon a Keyblade.

"I should have guessed that someone like you couldn't get the job done."

"Isa," he stopped walking and spoke without turning around, "What makes you think that I've failed?"

The person known as Isa smirked, arms crossed, as he moved to stand in front of Terra, "Judging by your appearance you had a run in with Kairi. Knowing you, you probably underestimated her and paid for it."

"You talk as if she's strong," Terra frowned, "I may not have known her personally but I know for a fact a new member is not stronger than me."

"Don't be so naïve," Isa replied, "Were she someone else running around with information we would have just killed her, but she is different. It's the reason we let her join us, because despite being a new member she is already stronger than most, including you."

"There's now way that's true! I met her just now and she was no problem at all!"

Isa shook his head, "She's weakened from a previous fight she won just last night, a fight with number six."

"T-that's impossible!" Terra stammered in disbelief, "Numbered members are the strongest in the whole town, maybe even the world, how could someone like her defeat any of them?!"

"You should have seen it," Isa replied with a far off expression, "Their fight was something out of this world but then again that's to be expected of them."

"What do you mean?"

Isa smirked, "Let me explain something to you. The reason so many of us are trying to capture her is because she is severely weakened from her fight. So much in fact that the weakest members could take her out, no, even a normal student could probably defeat her."

"So what's so special about her that everyone's trying to capture her?"

"Because she's one of the few able to defeat the Keyblade Wielder ranked as the sixth strongest out of the top twenty members... A brand new member that rose through the ranks is no time... Whoever catches Kairi will be given a great reward, she is the fourth strongest Keyblade Wielder there is after all."

"I got an idea," Kairi spoke in the dark room. She was currently laying on the comfy bed with a warm blanket protecting her from the cold winter night.

"What is it?" Sora asked from his spot on the couch. He had a small white blanket over his body that only managed to reach up to his chest.

Her eyes seemed to glimmer with worry as she turned to her side in order to meet Sora's curious eyes. "First I have to ask and warn you again," her voice was gentle and laced with worry, "Are you sure you want to do this? I wouldn't blame you if you decide to have no part in this. To be honest, it's a bit too much to process that I'm currently sleeping in the same room with someone I just met."

"Of course I'll help you," he replied almost instantly, sounding slightly offended at being questioned over it again, "What did you mean about sleeping in the same room as me anyway? Are you actually thinking that I'll do something to you."

"Not at all," Kairi replied with a smile, "I don't know what it is about you but I feel like I can trust you. Maybe because no one else would have helped me out if they were in your situation."

Sora looked away, "It's because of something that happened a few months ago. Ever since then I promised myself that I would always help out those that needed it, no questions asked."

She was tempted to ask why, mostly out of curiosity rather than to confirm his honesty. Sora gave the impression of being completely trustworthy, almost like he was perfectly transparent when speaking to her. That's why she thought that he could actually help her, not only that but he managed to land a solid hit on the eighteenth strongest Keyblade Wielder, Terra.

"If you're completely sure then..." Kairi closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. Sora was almost taken aback by the amount of determination burning in her eyes, it was like he was looking at someone else.

"Then, as a way for you to defend yourself... I'll give you the ability to summon a Keyblade."