- Summary - So, the garage band is being scouted by the lead guitarist's ex, who is part of a new recording label, the lead singer is upset because he likes the guitarist, the drummer is sexually confused, and on top of that, a rival label is also interested in the band for reasons unknown... Ah, life. AU

- Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

- Warning - There will be gay relationships, so if you don't like that, go away.

- A/N - So I finally got around to writing a KH fanfiction. Such a smart idea on my part to add something else to my list of fanfictions, right?

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- Sing Me Your Soul - Chapter One -

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"Roxas, get out of bed."

Sora prodded the huddled form on the couch with a foot, resulting in a groan and a mumbled "five more minutes" from it. Shaking his head, the brunette grabbed the blanket and yanked on it hard enough to reveal the blond head of his best friend. It wouldn't budge any further because of the tight grip Roxas had on the other end.

"Roxas, get up now. We have practice today."

"No, we don't," Roxas groaned at him.

Sora dropped the blanket and placed his hands on his hips. "Don't make me get water."

Roxas replied by pulling the blanket back over his head. "Do it and I'll put ice down your pants."

Snorting, Sora turned and walked from the room into the small kitchen where a cup of ice water was waiting next to the sink that was half-full of dishes.

There came a light tap on the door and Sora maneuvered around the small table to open it. Pressing a finger to his lips, he ushered the two girls inside.

"Is he still sleeping?" Namine whispered as she lowered her guitar case to the ground.

Kairi followed suit, rolling her eyes. "Of course he is. He always is."

Sora went to the sink to pick up the ice water. "I'll go wake him up."

Namine stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Let me do it today."

He frowned, but surrendered the cup to her. "You sure?"

She nodded. "You do it all the time. This will shock the hell out of him."

Kairi stifled her giggles with a fist.

A few seconds later, Roxas was sitting half on the couch, half on the floor, sputtering and gasping. "S-sora!"

Namine leaned over him, holding the empty cup in his face. "Wrong!" she chimed brightly, grinning. "Those boxers are cute. Are they new?"

Roxas bolted from the room, pulling the blanket over his head to hide his darkening face and red heart boxers from view.

"He was right; buying a leather couch instead of a cloth one was a real investment," Sora said idly as he mopped up the water with a towel. "We use water too often."

"He needs to stop sleeping on the couch," Kairi muttered as she took the towel from him. "Have you asked him why yet?"

Sora shook his head. "I don't care that much. Why don't you ask him?"

Kairi frowned and threw the towel at his head, which he dodged easily. "Because I haven't had the chance to. Besides, you're his best friend. You should care about him. Sleeping on the couch all the time isn't healthy."

Sora turned and bent to pick up the towel, then tossed it on the growing laundry pile. The flat was obviously owned by boys. "He pays for the flat, I take care of it. Believe me we care enough for each other as friends. It's not hurting him, so I'm not going to bother him about it. We're guys, not girls."

"What are you implying?" Kairi said flatly.

Alarmed by the look on her face, Sora stepped back, hands up in a defensive position. "Who said I was implying anything?"

Sensing a fight, Namine quickly stepped between the two and gently touched Kairi's arm. "Let's go get set up while we wait for Roxas," she suggested.

Kairi seemed to relax instantly and nodded. "That sounds like a good idea." She turned to lead the way. Sora gave Namine a grateful look and the blond smiled as if to say it was nothing.

The practice room, sometimes affectionately referred to as the "garage," was a plain room with scuffed up wooden floors big enough to hold two cars. The former owners had said that it used to be a garage but they couldn't be sure because whoever had changed it into a room had done one hell of a job. Stapled around the walls of the room was a thick black fabric that Namine had found. It muted sound surprisingly well. The last thing they wanted was the neighbors to call the cops complaining about noise.

Kairi and Namine were already tuning their guitars, so Sora hurried to the soundboard at the back of the room a distance away from the drum set to make sure the balance was right.

"What's first?" Roxas said as he walked through the door, pulling a black and white checkered shirt over his head. He shut the door behind him.

Everyone looked at each other and then the focus turned to Namine expectantly. She shook her head.

"I still don't have anything new." She strummed a few notes on her bass, an irritated look on her features. "I keep drawing a blank."

Sora picked up his own guitar from its case and nearly dropped it when Roxas spoke from behind the drum set.

"Sora's been working on something."

"Roxas!" he hissed angrily, gripping the neck of his guitar tighter than was necessary.

The blond gave him an innocent look. "Oops, did you not want them to know about that?"

"Of course I didn't, you idiot! I would have told them myself if I wanted them to know."

"I don't see what your problem is. It sounds really good from what I've heard of it."

"That's no the point!"

"Boys!" Namine had to clear her throat loudly before the focus returned to her. "Look, let's warm up first and then we can try to convince Sora to let us hear his song, okay?" She waited for the grumbled agreements before turning and smiling sweetly at Roxas. "How about 'Cliffs are Dangerous' first?"

Caught under her stare, Roxas couldn't say no. He beamed back at her. "Good choice," he said as he snatched up his drumsticks.

The beat was started, the bass was humming, and Sora had to quickly switch on the microphone waiting on its stand so he could add his voice. All argument were suddenly forgotten and they were all lost in their music.

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"Riku, what did I tell you about flirting with your coworkers?"

Riku turned away from the blond he had been flirting with to see his boss walk past him. The expression on the red-head's face told him that now was not the time to be playing games. He gave the blond an apologetic smile before hurrying after him. He followed him silently into the glass-walled office that belonged to the rather irritated-looking CEO in front of him. When the door was slammed shut behind him, Riku winced.

"Who was it this time?" he asked flatly, already guessing the answer.

Axel slapped the folder he had been carrying on the desk, causing it to shake from the force of the blow. "Who else?" he snarled as he loosened his tie. "Organization Thirteen."

Riku sighed and dropped into the wooden chair in front of the desk. "Why am I not surprised?" he said dryly. "Who did they nab from our fingertips this time? That tiny Japanese chick? Or that really tall guy with the hick accent?"

Axel echoed the sigh and sat down in the leather chair behind the desk, propping his feet up. "The Japanese girl. Apparently the country boy was good, but didn't have the right amount of potential."

"I don't know if I should hate or envy Zexion for that ability of his."

Axel took his hair down from the ponytail at the nape of his neck and shook it out. "It does give him an unfair advantage."

"Along with the money."

"Of course. Who could turn down that much money?"

"An idiot." Riku shook his head slowly, his silver hair falling into his face. "We need to find someone. Someone really good. Before Zexion takes all the good ones."

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In Sora's opinion, the song they used for warming up ended far too soon. Maybe "Cliffs are Dangerous" should have a drum solo as well as a guitar solo. He muttered so much under his breath and Kairi giggled. The sound made him smile, but it was quickly replaced with a wince when Roxas spoke.

"So, Sora, are you going to play them your song or not?"

Kairi abandoned her microphone to stand beside him. "Come on, Sora. Just play it through once."

'How terribly unfair of her,' Sora thought darkly. 'She knows I can't say no to her.' Still, he resisted. "It's not finished."

"Then just play what you have. We can help you finish it." She gently touched his arm.

'That's incredibly unfair!' Sora looked down at his guitar anxiously. "I want to finish it by myself."

There was a moment of thoughtful silence. If Sora wanted to come up with a song all by himself, that meant it was going to be really good.

Roxas cut the silence first. "Just play it, Sora," he said, throwing a drumstick at him, hitting the door instead.

Sora glared at the blond and picked it up to throw it back, succeeding in hitting him in the shoulder. "Shut up, Roxas."

"Are you going to play it?" Namine asked hopefully, adding her influence to the already heavy force weighing over the brunette's head.

Sora looked desperately at her. "Not you too."

She smiled. "Come one, Sora. There's nothing for you to worry about. You're a musical genius, remember?"

Sora groaned and shifted his guitar in front of him. "Fine, fine. Just remember, it's not finished. I don't even have lyrics for it yet."

When Sora started strumming, even Roxas fell silent. The tender beginning was a first, coming from Sora, and the lingering on those soft notes was startling. The build up was drawn out and gained power steadily. Sora had his eyes closed and his fingers moved over the frets effortlessly.

Namine and Kairi were shocked. This song had the potential for a love song.

Sora never wrote love songs.

Ever.

After an even stronger build up, Sora suddenly stopped and smiled sheepishly at his friends. "Sorry, that's all I've got so far."

Kairi recovered first. "Why the hell are you saying sorry?" She punched his arm lightly. "That was amazing. How many times to we have to call you a musical genius for you to actually believe it?"

"A zillion more times."

"Well you are, whether you believe it or not."

Sora looked down at his guitar. "You're just saying that," he muttered.

"I am not! You know me, Sora! I would never-"

Ring

All eyes turned on Namine and she sheepishly pulled out her cell phone and answered it.

Rin-

"Namine speaking... Oh, hi, Selphie. What is it? ... He's back already? ... Damn, I thought I had more time. Alright, I'll be there. Try to hold him off if he starts to leave again... Thanks... okay, bye."

Sora casually moved his guitar to his back and moved to stand in front of Namine. "Leaving so soon?"

Namine laughed as she turned to place her guitar its stand. "Something came up."

Roxas hurried around his drums to stand beside Sora. "That excuses again, love? I'm wounded!" He held his hand over his heart.

Namine giggled. "I'm sure you'll heal."

Sora rolled his eyes at the exchange. "Work again?"

She turned to face the two and gave him a mysterious smile. "Maybe."

"How long?" Kairi asked, idly strumming on her guitar.

Namine tilted her head slightly in thought. "Well, get Roxi-dear to eat a proper breakfast and I will be back as soon as I can. This shouldn't take too long."

Sora sighed. "Fine, fine. Go and hurry back."

She flashed him a smile and hurried out of the room before Roxas started yelling.

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Riku and Axel were deliberating about where to "scout" next when there was a soft knock on the door. Without looking up from the map on his desk, Axel motioned for their visitor to enter. Riku smiled at the breathless blond as she closed the door behind her.

"Did you run the whole way here, Namine?"

She laughed and smoothed her hair back down. "Just up the stairs."

Axel finally looked u p at her. "It's your day off, Namine."

She smiled pleasantly. "I know that, sir."

"I told you to call me Axel," he said sternly.

"Chill, Axel. She's just being respectful. It's not like she wants you to feel older than you are." Riku tipped his chair back a little and balanced on the rear legs. "Did you want to ask something?"

"Of course," Namine said, casually pulling out her cell phone. "I am in band, but unfortunately we're still stuck in the 'garage' stage."

"And you're hoping that we can help you out." Axel leaned back, his chair creaking. "Namine, you know we can't afford to take on just anybody right now. Hell, the whole building knows."

"I knew you were going to say as much, so I made sure to record a few songs this morning. Unfortunately, all I had was my phone to record, so I have a feeling it won't sound exactly the same."

Axel chuckled. "You're a smart girl, coming prepared like this. Alright, I'll listen to it."

"Them," she corrected softly. "I have two." With a flourish, she pressed a few buttons on her phone and walked forward to set it on the desk when music started playing.

Both men fell silent and Riku set the front legs of his chair back on the floor. As the song drew to a close, Riku lifted a hand and pointed at Namine.

"Bassist."

Shocked, Namine nodded. "I am. How could you tell?"

He smirked and tilted his chair back again. "Simple. You were fingering the part while it was playing."

Namine looked down at her hands in embarrassment. "I was? I didn't even notice."

Axel reached for the phone and pressed the scroll button once. "It's one of the traits of a true artist. You got absorbed in the music." He fiddled with the phone for a bit before selecting a sound file labeled as being recorded that same day.

This time Riku's chair clattered to the ground as he stood up and Namine watched the look that passed between the two men in front of her in confusion. Riku and Axel understood, though. They understood very well. This was it.

This little "garage band" was what they had been looking for.

Axel snapped the phone shut even before the song had finished and handed it back to Namine. "I can almost guarantee you a contract by tomorrow, Namine."

"Really?" she asked breathlessly, clutching the phone.

He smiled. "Of course. Riku."

Riku, who had been putting the chair back up properly, snapped to attention. "Yes, sir?"

Axel glowered at him for a second. "Go with Namine and confirm their talent. If that's alright with you?" He gave Namine a second to nod before continuing. "Then I want you back here with the singer so I can hear him myself. Understood?"

Riku hooked his arm with Namine's and pulled her towards the door. "Yes, sir."

Axel growled and threw a pen at him. "Then get out of here. And stop calling me 'sir.'"

Riku laughed and quickly shut the door to block the pen. Then he turned to Namine with a brilliant smile. "I'm partial to blonds, you know." He laughed again when she blushed.

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Roxas was still being forced to down a bowl of cereal by Sora when Kairi burst through the kitchen door from the living room, phone clutched in her hand.

"Naminescomingwithascout!"

Roxas blinked at her and Sora frowned. "Run that by me one more time and slower."

Kairi stalked over to Sora, took his face in both hands, and kissed him soundly on the lips. For a short second, this action thrilled him, but his heart immediately sank after. This only happened when Kairi was excited and it had nothing to do with loving feelings towards him. He hated it.

"Namine is coming back and she's bringing a scout with her!" Kairi released his face and turned to kiss Roxas as well, but he shoved her back.

"Damn it, Kairi! Keep the kisses to Sora! He's the one that really wants them!" Irritated, he drank the remaining milk and put his bowl and spoon in the sink. "I'm gonna go brush my teeth."

Sora glared after him. "Gee, thanks, Rox."

Kairi sighed and hopped up on the stool Roxas had abandoned. "So... really? Still?"

Sora rolled his eyes and placed his forearms on the bar counter in front of them. "Yes, Kairi. I still like you. Don't act so surprised."

She shook her head slowly. "Sora, we talked about this."

He turned abruptly to face her. "You kissing me every time you get excited is not helping me. Control yourself."

She crossed her arms, getting on the defensive. "Can you honestly say that you still feel the same thing when I kiss you?"

"I wouldn't know. You don't give me the time."

"It shouldn't matter how long. I think you're just clinging to me because you don't think anyone else will love you."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, I do! That's how I felt about Riku!"

"'Felt!' You mean 'still feel!' Besides this isn't the same thing!"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it's no-"

"Hello? I'm back!" Namine's voice suddenly called from the living room and the sound of the door opening silenced both of them. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was I interrupting something?"

Sora snorted. "Don't worry about it, Namine. Kairi just got over-excited again."

Kairi made a soft startled sound. "Uh, Sora?"

He turned his head slightly to glance at her out of the corner of his eye. She was turned around on her stool. "What?" he snapped.

Suddenly, arms slipped over his shoulders and wrapped around to his chest and a warm breath brushed over his neck. A soft, low "hmm" echoed in his hear and his body shivered and relaxed against his will. "Long time, no see, Sora."

Tension flooded back into Sora's body. He didn't have to see the amused teal eyes or the silver hair to know who it was that held him. "Riku. What the hell are -?"

A hand lifted and a finger silenced him. "Hush, Sora. Let us linger in this moment. It has been too long."

Beside them, Kairi giggled, causing Sora to snap out of the strange illusion of comfort. Riku had never even touched him before. This was too weird. Mustering up his irritation, Sora turned abruptly on the stool to snap at him, only to jerk back in surprise when he realized just how close their faces were. The stool tipped and slid out from under him, but because Riku's arms were so tight around him, the only jolt he felt was his feet hitting the floor.

Riku chuckled. "As I though. You're still shorter than me. Did you grow at all?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," Sora mumbled. "Now, could you please let go of me?" When he attempted to slip out of Riku's arms, he tightened his hold for a moment before letting him go. "Thank you," he said stiffly.

Riku stepped back and crossed his arms with a small frown. "Is there still that much bad blood between us?"

With a huff, Sora righted the stool. "What kind of question is that? Of course there's still bad blood." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Kairi. "She still likes you."

"Sora! What has gotten into you?" Kairi admonished.

"What the hell is going - oh, hi Riku."

Riku turned away from the fuming Sora to see Roxas in the doorway to the back hall. "Hey, Rox. You still friends with this loser?" Before he got his reply, he was suddenly being pulled by his arm towards the door he had entered though. "Whoa! Sora!" He forced the brunette to a stop just short of the door to the living room and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Sora. I was just joking. Are you alright?"

Sora jerked away from him. "Get. Out."

It was now that Namine decided to speak up. "Sora, he's -"

Sora whirled on her. "Le' me guess. The scout?" When she nodded, he gritted his teeth and marched past Roxas in the direction of the garage. "My fucking lucky day!" Silence followed after his footsteps and when a door slammed, everyone cringed.