Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Okay guys...I'm going out on a limb here with this one. The whole High School AU thing has been done a lot with the Kingdom Hearts universe, but I think it works. I'm going to try to be original—but I'm not making any promises; as I'm sure you all know, that's pretty hard to do in this fanverse...
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy Dead Men Stalking! It's written completely from Kairi's POV, and I'm hoping that I don't screw it up too badly, being a guy and all. If I get enough support, I'll write the companion fic from Sora's POV.
I apologize for the tense-change in the beginning, the story will be written in First-Person; Present-Tense, but I need to use past tense to establish the backstory.
Here we go!
Chapter I: Prodigy
My name is Kairi Grimm.
I hate the dark. And thunderstorms.
Most people would think that those are pretty childish things to be afraid of; and maybe they're right.
But that doesn't change how I feel about them.
I don't like the dark because, well, something bad happened to me in the dark. I can't remember what it was or how it all started...But sometimes, when I close my eyes, I get flashes of things, bright yellow eyes, sharp teeth, and claws like razor blades.
I couldn't tell you what they were if my life depended on it, but they haunt me, stalking the fringes of my nightmares, lurking at the edges of my consciousness.
But dreams can't hurt me—at least that's what I've been told for the past seventeen years of my life, and I've had no experience to prove otherwise.
In any case, the thought of those horrible creatures is enough to propel me out of bed and into the shower so I can get ready for the first day of my senior year of High School. I'm not terribly excited though, after eleven years of the same old monotony, year twelve is probably going to be pretty run-of-the-mill.
Traverse Town High School is an nice place; the people are friendly and the teachers seem to genuinely care about the students.
But it isn't home.
I can remember home just fine—the empty hole in my memories has swallowed up my recollection of the events that brought me to Traverse Town.
I never really wanted to move from the picture-perfect beachside community of Destiny Islands to the hustle-and-bustle of a big city like Traverse Town. I'm just not wired to live in a place like this.
Destiny Islands was a picturesque little community by the Sea of Destiny, spread across a chain of islands. It was the kind of small town where everybody knew their neighbors as well as their own families, and we all stuck by each other when the going got tough.
My particular circle of friends was no exception. We were family in every sense of the word except blood relations.
Sora was my favorite. He had the deepest blue eyes in the world, and his chocolate brown hair was determined to defy gravity—no matter how much gel and grease he slathered it with. He was always in a good mood, always goofing off or telling a bad joke, and he was the first to comfort me if I was upset about something.
Riku was like our surrogate big brother. He was less happy-go-lucky than Sora—he was more the strong and silent type. He was the epitome of cool kid, a lot of the girls on the islands swooned at the thought of his silver hair and aquamarine eyes. More often than not, he was the voice of reason when the rest of us wanted to do something stupid, and he never hesitated to defend any of us if we got made fun of by the other kids. Riku was the strongest out of our little group, and whenever Sora wasn't making us groan with his terrible jokes, he was usually sparring with Riku with the wooden swords the two of them played with.
Naminé was the only other girl in our group, and the two of us were like sisters. She was introverted and artistic and spent most of her time drawing. She was really talented—I wouldn't be at all surprised if to find out that she's a professional graphic design artist today. She also had a gift for being able to remember absolutely everything about her life. It came in handy sometimes, but other times it was sort of creepy.
Roxas was closer to Naminé than the rest of us and the most somber out of our group of five. He was moody and kind of a loner, but when he loosened up and quit brooding he was actually a lot of fun to be around. Roxas and Riku were pretty much evenly matched when it came to their little sparring matches—Roxas used two swords, which helped him defend himself against Riku's brute strength, but Riku still won most of the time.
Roxas and Naminé both moved away to Twilight Town when I was ten, and we stayed in touch for a while, but then we drifted apart like most friends do, caught up in life and then new responsibilities that come with growing up.
Sora, Riku, and I were closer than ever after they left; most of the time, I ended up patching the boys up after they sparred, or being the voice of reason when they decided to do something crazy. I remember trying to build a raft with them when I turned fourteen...
And that's where the hole in my memory is. I do know, however, that I haven't heard from either of them for three years.
That knowledge brings a tear to my eye, and I swipe it away before I really start crying, forcing myself out of bed and into the shower—I'll miss the bus if I don't hurry. I spend too much time picking out an outfit for school—first impressions are lasting impressions, after all—and I barely have time to wolf down two Pop-Tarts and a glass of milk before running out the door.
I live close enough to the school to walk, but because of being late, I'm running full-tilt in order to get there on time.
Stupid laziness.
I'm so focused on not being late on the first day, that I plow into a small blonde girl—I don't even see her until it's too late to stop. The fact that I'm a klutz doesn't help either.
"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry." My face is burning so hot that I'm sure the local fire company has been alerted. Way to go Grimm.
The tiny blonde girl chuckles. "No worries..."
"Kairi." I tell her.
"I had a friend named Kairi," she says, as she dusts herself off. "I'm Naminé."
I look at her—it's been seven years since I last saw her, but it's definitely Naminé. "Nami!" And then I'm hugging her, trying to make up for five years' worth of no communication.
Naminé giggles, but hugs me back. "I almost didn't recognize you! What are you doing here? I thought you'd still be in Destiny Islands."
"We moved," I tell her, embarrassed for the first time that I can't remember the reason why.
Naminé nods, flipping her platinum blonde hair over one shoulder. "So did Roxas and I. Heartless took over Twilight Town, and this was the only place left to go."
Heartless.
Why does that name sound so familiar?
The bell rings before I have a chance to ask her what she's taking about, and then it's off to class.
Naminé and I compare schedules as we hurry to homeroom, and I'm thrilled to find out that they're an exact match—at least I'll know someone at the start of the school year.
The entire homeroom period is spent explaining the rules, and the entire pre-lunch block of time, isn't much better, even if it does give me plenty of time to wonder why I haven't run into Naminé before this.
"So...I've been at this school for three years. How come we haven't run into each other before?" I ask her as we head to the cafeteria for lunch.
"I home-schooled for ninth and tenth, and I took independent study in eleventh grade—I wanted to finish my graphic design portfolio so I could submit it to the Wonderland School for the Arts. That's where I want to go to college." Naminé explained. "I only came back for the graduation ceremony...Plus, you know, prom."
I nod. "I'm glad you came back though. I was beginning to worry that I'd never see you guys again." I throw in a chuckle, so she doesn't know just how firmly I'd believed that until this morning.
"Well, you're in luck kiddo," Naminé says cryptically as we step into the cafeteria.
The cafeteria looks the same as it does every year; the same cliques are at the same tables, eating the same food, with the same people.
It's vanilla.
Uniform.
Boring.
At least until I catch sight of the three boys in black across the cafeteria. I've never seen them before either...So why do they all look so familiar?
Their style isn't quite goth, but they stand out more than anyone, with their black gauntlets and fingerless gloves. They're dressed pretty much the same: black t-shirt with a strange silver logo on the chest and left sleeve, black cargo pants, and combat boots.
The similarities end there. The tallest boy has shoulder-length silver hair and piercing aqua eyes, and he's more muscular than the other two.
The second boy has spiky blonde hair that pokes out from underneath his hat, a silver ring in one ear, and a somber blue gaze.
The last boy is heartbreakingly familiar, with his head of chocolate brown spikes, and the deepest blue eyes I've ever seen. His lips are pressed together in a hard, grim line and even though he's shorter than the silver-haired guy, his folded arms and ramrod-straight posture make him infinitely more intimidating.
"Who are they?" I wonder. I'm not really expecting Naminé to know the answer, so I'm surprised when she pipes up.
"Those are the Wielders. They keep the city safe from the Heartless. The tall, silver-haired one is Riku, the one with the hat is my boyfriend, Roxas, and the dark-haired one is Sora."
My mouth drops open and I have to shut it before I start catching flies. "Oh." Way to be articulate Kairi.
"They're all really nice, but we probably won't get to talk to them until after school; We're going out for ice-cream. Want to come?"
"Sure," I answer. It's not like I have anything better to do, and I'd really like to find out what Sora and the gang have been up to all this time.
Especially Sora.
He's definitely matured over the years; the Sora I remember couldn't stand still to save his life, he was kind of baby-faced, and he was always smiling.
This Sora has hard, angular facial features, and I can tell he works out a lot, even though he's not quite as muscular as Riku. The way he stands says that he knows how to handle himself—the Sora I knew was kind of a klutz.
When did he get so...cute? I wonder, my cheeks smoldering at the thought.
Unfortunately, Naminé is right, and we don't have time to talk to them during lunch.
Bummer.
On the plus side, I have my last class of the day with Naminé, the Wielders, and Riku's girlfriend, Yuffie, who's a master of ninjitsu, and extremely hyperactive.
Sora lays something on my desk when he passes. "Thanks."
I look down, at the small thassala shell charm and immediately recognize my own handiwork.
"It kept me safe like you said it would. Maybe it''ll do the same for you." His voice is deeper and huskier than I remember it being, not that that's a bad thing. His posture is rigid and stiff, and his face looks almost angry as he looks down at me
"Um...You're welcome." I'm a little confused by his attitude change, but I play along, trying not to let on that I have no clue what he's talking about.
The last period of the day is free study, and I spend it looking at Sora over my book, and he spends it glaring right back at me, which makes me a little nervous to be honest.
The bell rings sooner than I expect it to, startling me. I grab my things and head out the door with Naminé and the rest of our group. It's so nice to be back with everyone again, it'll be just like old times.
"So, who's up for ice cream?" Naminé wonders.
Everyone except Sora replies in the affirmative.
"Sora? Aren't you coming?" Naminé continues.
Sora spears me with a particularly venomous glare when he answers Naminé. "No."
"Why not?" I ask, more out of reflex than anything else.
"Because, it's not safe for you to be around me." Sora snaps, and stalks off, leaving me more confused than ever.
Like it? Hate it? Review!
Yeah, I know Sora's OOC, but I like writing this version of him, and I hope you all will grow to like it over the course of the fic. Remember, more reviews means faster updates!
See you next chapter!
~Script