Title: Seeking Promise

Rating: M

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Roxas/Axel, brief Sora/Kairi

Disclaimer: Oh yes! I have Kingdom Hearts! Lookit that shelf right there: I have KH1, KH2, 1.5, 2.5, 358/2 days…..does Nomura have a thing for numbers? Oh? You asked if I own the franchise and dictate thousands of peasant underlings? Aw, shucks…

Author's notes: I was so excited thinking chapter one was going to be as long as everyone else's first chapter. I thought, "YES! Four full pages! This is gonna pwn!" ….They were four pages beefed up by double spacing. I uploaded it and….disappointment supreme. I am a failure. BUT! I got one favorite and one follow! ;) I call that a win. Thanks! UPDATE: I GOTS TWO OF EACH! *bounce, sparkle*

This particular Sunday was like any other. Tidus had stayed over at Sora's house the night before after a rigorous round of SNES games. Sora flipped through the TV channels that morning absent-mindedly while Tidus fisted a mostly-empty bag of Lays potato chips.

Sora groaned, "Tidus, stop treating the bag like a homicide victim…please?"

Tidus, who had been scuba diving in the bag of chips with his face, emerged.

"Do you have any more chips?"

"No."

Sora snatched the bag and crumpled it up in his hands, tossing it over his shoulder carelessly. It landed at Aerith's feet, who stepped into the living room still damp from the shower.

She raised an eyebrow, "Really Sora?"

Sora brightened and ran over to hug his mother around the waist, "Hello mother! You look lovely today!"

Aerith smiled and hugged his head, "Nice try kiddo." She pried him from her waist with some difficulty, then pointed to the epicenter of the disaster that was once a living room, "Clean up." She smiled sweetly and shuffled away, grumbling about teenagers.

Tidus stifled a giggle when Sora pouted. Sora threw an empty Solo cup at him, "Shut up and help me, Yamada." Sora went out to the kitchen and came back with two empty trash bags. He opened one and pulled it over his companion's head.

"HEY! I'll get you for that Hinata!" Tidus flailed his arms frantically and lunged forward, executing a perfect face plant when Sora sidestepped out of the way.

After a few moments of silence, Sora nudged Tidus with his foot. "…..I killed him!"

"AHAH!"

Tidus' hand flew out of the bag and yanked Sora down by the foot, causing the boy to squeal and collapse on the other in a giggly heap of flailing limbs and trash bag plastic.

"H-Hey! Don't touch my thigh, freakin perv!"

"Well don't squeeze my hips, Jackson!"

Suddenly, the black covers were pulled away and they looked up to see a very amused Kairi, "Am I interrupting something?"

Both boys blushed furiously and flew to opposite ends of the room. Sora stuck his tongue out defiantly before turning to Kairi, "Hey Kairi, how'd you get in?"

"Aerith let me in," she smiled and perched on the couch. "I thought I'd help you with that book report Sora."

Tidus smirked and glanced between the two, "Book report, huh?" He wiggled an eyebrow, earning himself an elbow to the nutsack from Sora.

Sora, now out of breath from running to Tidus, rubbed his temples slowly and frowned.

Kairi mirrored his frown, "You forgot didn't you?"

Sora nodded slowly and Kairi sighed, "I'll clean up the mess. You go upstairs and start working. You," she pointed to Tidus, "go home because I'm sure you haven't started your homework either."

Tidus groaned loudly and grinned, "Yes, mom." He gave Sora a noogie, "You two play nice now." Sora nodded and shut the door after he left.

Sora leaned back in his computer chair. He had to ask around to find out that Riku's book report was supposed to be about some poet named Edgar Allen Poe. "Wasn't that the guy with the ticking heart story?"

He bit his pencil eraser in frustration. "That's not fair! He's a whole grade ahead of me, so I haven't even learned this crap yet! How am I supposed to know what kind of impact this guy did or didn't have on modern science?"

He started a Google search on Edgar Allen Poe and science, finding a poem Poe wrote titled, "Sonnet—To Science". "Great! I'll just write about this!" Sora smiled and started reading the poem. His smile inched its way into a frown, "' Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car,'…What the crap is this? And who the heck's Diana?"

Kairi laughed from the doorway, "Sora, Diana was a Roman goddess…" She crouched down by his chair. "This assignment is way out of your league. Are you sure you can do this?"

"I have no choice," He grumbled and balanced the pencil on his nose. "He'll kick my ass if I don't."

Kairi rubbed his arm, "Then let's blow him away and write an excellent book report."

An excruciating six hours later, a puddle of snot and drool pooled around Sora's computer. He could faintly feel Kairi wiping it away before a pair of lips touched his forehead. He heard the window close and footsteps fading down the stairs and out the door. That was the last conscious memory he had before falling into a deep sleep.

"Sora! Sora! Where are you?"

A silver-haired child called out in the midst of a raging storm. He shielded his face with his arm as a wave crashed high over the shore. "Sora! This isn't funny anymore!"

The boy found Sora hiding under the bridge, shaking and screaming.

"Riku! RIKU!" He threw himself over Sora just as another wave came in and drenched them both, nearly pulling them in. Riku grabbed his hand, "C'MON!" They pushed through the wind until Riku spotted a small cave, "This way!" He guided them to the cave and let go of Sora's hand.

Riku wrung out his hair and examined the cave for the first time, "We never should've come here without your dad."

"I know," Sora whimpered. "We're gonna be in so much trouble!" He started to cry and brought his knees to his chest.

"Aw, c'mon Sora. You gotta be brave. It's just a storm." Riku sat down next to Sora, who clung to the older boy like a teddy bear.

"Riku… Riku Riku.."

The older boy wrapped his arms around Sora and held him until he fell asleep.

Sora fell out of his chair and scraped his knee on the desk, "OOOOWWW, shit!"

He could hear his mother call up from the stairs, "Sora? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, mom!"

Aerith resumed her humming downstairs.

Dazed, Sora glanced at the clock and rushed to get ready for school. Aerith pointed a spatula at his nose as he reached the foot of the stairs, "Breakfast."

"Mooom! I'm laaaaate!"

She tossed a breakfast bar at him, "Most important meal of the day!"

"Great, thanks," he pushed the spatula aside and headed for the door.

"Hey hey hey! You got your homework munchkin?"

Sora sprinted up and down the stairs like lightning. Aerith could only see a streak of white paper before the door slammed shut. She laughed and shook her head.

It was going to be a very. shitty day.

It's never as long as I want it to be, but I thought this was a good place to stop. The 'Jackson' bit referred to Michael Jackson. Sorry if that offends anyone. I won't bore you with the details of Poe's poetry reference, but it exists! *confetti!*

Next time: Confrontation! Riku's being a douche again. You're surprised? Don't worry, it won't last forever.