A/N: Hey readers. This is my first time putting up a story for Kingdom Hearts. It feels kind of cool. Anyways, I'm writing furiously to try and get the first chapters up. It's hard when your in the wee hours of the morning. Support is nice. Yeeees, support, the invisible thing that keeps people writing in the wee hours of the morning. Reviews are even better. Please, tell me if my writing gave you a brain aneurysm. Until next (official) chapter...

Prologue.

Riku stared at the ocean, and it filled him with contempt. How could something so beautiful be so evil after a second look? The ocean was not evil in itself, but one small part, stuck to the Destiny Islands as it was, went through the same motions over and over again. Nothing ever happened to make things interesting. It was just so… perfect. Riku loathed the ocean because it reminded him of what he wasn't. He was exactly what everyone and everything on this whole island wasn't. He felt ashamed to be friends with so many nice people. People he had betrayed and sold for his own gain. Of course, he had become darkness itself to fight for his friend, but it was never enough. Nothing he did made up for what he had done.

Riku turned away from the scenery and to the ground, 'Where I should be buried.'

He continued walking down the beach, thinking about how he was always next to flawlessness, but had never actually felt it in his soul. A couple of minutes had passed before he looked up and saw something he had never seen before. Sora and Kairi were arguing heatedly. Sure, they had argued before, but he could tell that it had never been this intense. He walked faster, noticing that they could start fighting physically at any time. He walked close enough to where he could hear them, and then rounded a corner before they could spot him. Then, he listened intently to what they had to say.

"Soooora, why are you being so difficult?"

"Aren't you listening to me? I don't want to hurt his feelings. It could screw up everything we've built over the years. He's already depressed enough at what he did to us. What do you think would happen if he found out that he was the only teenager on this island who didn't have someone to love? How much more depressed do you want him to be?"

Riku's ears didn't comprehend what Sora said after that. He knew exactly what they were talking about. In fact, he suspected that it would come to this over the last few days. Kairi was in love with Sora, that much he knew. When they returned from fighting Xemnas, the two lovebirds had practically been inseparable, yet they never said anything about going out. Now he knew why. They were waiting it out for him, just because he didn't have anyone. This had to stop. Riku stepped from behind his hiding place, casually walking up to his friends.

"Hey," He said and the talking immediately stopped, "do me a favor and go out on a date."

Both of their mouths fell open and their cheeks turned a slight pink. Unfortunately, Kairi recovered quickly and started to protest.

"Riku, I don't love Sora."

At this, Sora looked dejected and Riku's eyebrow started twitching.

"Kairi, don't tell lies to my face. I don't care how many times you've practiced them in the mirror. We both know you love Sora, and to say otherwise right in front of him is wrong. Sora has a big heart, don't crush it." Riku threw at her.

Kairi looked at him as if he were the devil.

"I can't believe I was your friend all of these years," She said, and then a cold smile passed across her face, "Riku, you're the one that broke his heart. You broke it when you left. You broke it when you tried to take out his soul. You broke his heart when you showed him that you didn't care."

Riku only had one answer: she was right. His heart felt as if it was ripped out of its resting place. He didn't belong here with this perfect place, with these perfect people. He turned around stiffly and started walking. The slow walk turned into a fast walk, and that eventually turned into a run. He faintly recalled Sora calling his name, but it didn't matter now. He had made up his mind.

Riku ran until he hit the ocean. He started swimming fast, and he kept going despite his body's protest. He swam until his breath was ragged and came in short gasps.

'Just a little longer and this will all be over. I won't be able to swim back.'

A few minutes was all it took before he sucked in one last breath and disappeared under the water. After a while his lungs started to burn. Black spots appeared and disappeared just as quickly when red took their place. A momentary lapse of judgment caused him to suck in water, his lungs desperately taking whatever it could get. That was when his body started to spasm. It soon stopped, and he only had the strength left to reach for the light above the surface. He was sinking down into the darkness.

'It's ironic how the way I die is exactly how I lived. It seems I'll never get away from the darkness…'

He didn't see the blinding light that followed as soon as his eyes closed.

A/N: Don't worry all of you Riku fans going "NOOOO!!" It wouldn't be much of a story if Riku died before he finally saw the light. Ya, he hasn't even met HER yet...