Here's officially the first chapter! If there are any of you readers skipping the prologue, I highly recommend you read it so that you'll be able to comprehend what is going on throughout the story later on. I hope that you will all enjoy this chapter!

The pairings are in fact, SoraxRiku.

Mundane

On Destiny Islands, a tranquil and beautiful piece of land, almost anyone knew everyone—perhaps not personally, but everyone had always heard of others. It was a small town, one of which had only two high schools and families who had known each other for a long time. Everyone was polite—even if they didn't know each other personally, they'd know which family they belonged to and the names of one another. A smile, a 'hello' or a nod was always exchanged by the residents of the peaceful island almost as if it were a silent rule no one chose to break. It consisted of mostly kind people and was considered a sanctuary to those who lived on it. And a few of those who lived on it were three humans who were about to go through a fateful destiny they were completely unaware of. Those of who were named—Sora, Riku and Kairi.

Along the streets of a residential area, a brunette with cinnamon-coloured spikes walked in his uniform, his bag dangling behind his back, being supported by his crossed arms which were being purposed for his head to lean on whilst he hummed a joyful tune to himself. Right beside him was a boy who was taller and more muscular than him in the exact same uniform, his bag slung over his shoulders and his silver hair swaying in the soothing, yet cold breeze. It was another mundane day for the two humans who were on their way back from high school of which they attended together. Being best friends, they were extremely tight despite the age difference between them which prevented them from being in the same year and had made it a routine to walk back from school together all the time. Today, for them, was just a repeat of their daily routine.

"Hey, dude, do you mind helping me out with my homework today?" the brunette asked, cutting off his happy tune he was humming.

The taller boy beside him gave off a chuckle. "Again, Sora? I'd think I might have to start charging you for all this help I'm giving you."

"Aw, shut up Riku," the younger boy sulked. "I can't help it if I'm not good in Maths and you being the genius in everything."

Riku chuckled again and ruffled Sora's brown spikes. "Calling me a genius is overrating me, Sora," he said. "You're just an idiot," he added with a mischievous grin. The brunette huffed, annoyed, and lightly kicked his best friend's leg to show his anger but that merely made the older boy chuckle more.

"In maths only," the brunette muttered under his breath.

Riku gave another sly grin as he leaned close to Sora's face. "So you admit it, eh?" Sora's blue eyes shifted and met with Riku's sea green ones. Subconsciously noticing the proximity, the brunette's cheeks went rosy and his eyes widened. Unintentionally, he pushed Riku's head away with his hand, causing the older boy to topple backwards onto the ground, landing on his back with a thud. Sora just stared in shock, not knowing why he had done that.

The boy with silver hair, on the other hand, got up from the ground and rubbed his back with his hand. "Damn," he said, wincing slightly. "What the hell, Sora?"

Still stunned, the brunette didn't answer.

"Sora," Riku called, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as he observed his best friend. "Hey, Sora," he called again, this time ruffling the boy's hair.

The brunette blinked, looking as if he had just gotten out of a trance. "Huh? Oh, uh, sorry Riku. Don't know what I was doing," Sora replied, being completely honest. He furrowed his, pondering over why had behaved so oddly. Riku studied his best friend who had gone silent for a moment before sighing. The senior flicked Sora's forehead, causing the younger boy to flinch.

"Ow!" he yelped. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Sora yelled.

The silver-haired boy just shrugged. "Stop thinking, your brain cells will get tired—with the amount you have," he teased. Sora grimaced and playfully punched his best friend's shoulder. Riku chuckled lightly in response. "Anyways, you want me to help you with your homework, right? Your place or mine?"

Instantly, Sora perked up, forgetting the insulting remark the senior had given him. "Yours!" he yelled excitedly. Riku smiled, instantly knowing why Sora had chosen his crib.

"Video games only after we're done with the homework, Sora," he warned. Riku and Sora shared a gaming device—the PS3—of which they had split the price. Riku, having paid more for it was given to keep it and they always paid for the games separately even though they'd end up playing it together anyways. Riku also always beat Sora in most of the games and according to Sora, it was only because Riku had the game console in his house and therefore could play much more than the brunette could. In reality, the silver-haired boy rarely played with the game console unless Sora was there to play with him but he found it rather amusing how his best friend was always so insistent on coming over to his place so he'd decided to just keep it there rather than letting Sora take it instead.

The male brunette gave a grin. "I know, I know. Good thing I don't have much homework today."

Riku gave him a smile. "Neither do I."

xooooxoooooxoooox

It took them an hour and a half to both of them to complete their homework with a tea break in between, prepared by Riku who had already finished in 30 minutes. Once they were done, Sora eagerly placed himself on Riku's bean bag whilst the other boy settled himself to sit cross-legged on the carpeted floor. They had decided on an online battlefield game which enabled both of them to play on a server separately—and obviously, with the rivalry they shared, they chose separate teams.

"Damn it!" Sora yelled at the end of their first game. "Your team won," he said, grimacing, "again."

Riku chuckled at his best friend's behaviour. "It's a team thing, don't worry about it."

The brunette rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but as usual, you were the one who got most of the scores." Riku shrugged. What was he supposed to do if he had a knack with games? "Only 'cause you get to practise playing all the time," Sora muttered under his breath. Riku heard him but just smiled amusedly to himself. He never did bother practising.

"Your team mate was pretty good," Riku pointed out. Sora turned to look at him.

"Yeah? Which one?"

"The user 'Machins'. Killed me at least twice."

The brunette stared at the results displayed on the screen and then frowned, unsatisfied. He'd only manage to kill Riku once in this battle. "Argh," Sora groaned and leaned back in the bean bag, stretching his arms. "When the hell am I ever going to beat you, Riku?" The silver-haired boy just shrugged his shoulders and placed down his controller. Sora turned in the chair so that his body faced Riku's whilst he lay in the bag. "Maybe I should come over to practise more often," he said grinning.

"I should probably start entry charge for my room," Riku replied, returning the grin.

"Hey! No fair!" Sora frowned and reached out to punch Riku's arm playfully, a punch of which Riku easily evaded. "I paid for that game device too, you know!"

Riku laughed at his friend's childish response. "I know, I know, I'm joking, Sora. If I actually did that you'd probably come break into my house at night."

Sora grinned. "Perhaps I'd accidentally run into your dad, knowing he always comes back pretty damn late." Then his grin dropped. "Sometimes not at all for a few days," he added bitterly.

His best friend just gave him an assuring smile. "Hey, I'm used to it already—don't worry," Riku murmured. "He works and gets money—also keeps his mind off the past. Probably needs to since he's been doing it all these years."

"Screw the past," Sora spat. The older boy sighed. His father had become a work addict after his mother had died eight years ago and in Sora's words, he had neglected Riku in the process. The brunette always got bitter when his dad was ever mentioned—something Riku didn't really like; seeing Sora upset. Riku leaned towards the bean bag and nudged Sora's head.

"Touchy," he smirked. "Don't get so uptight, silly."

"Wha—hey! Riku!" Sora yelped, trying to get his head away from the wrath of his best friend's knuckles. With much struggling, the brunette accidentally kicked himself out of the bean bag, rolling sideways on top of Riku, bumping his head with the other. They both groaned in pain. Sora clenched his eyes shut and rubbed his fore head gingerly, trying to soothe it. He then placed his hands on to the ground and lifted himself, his knees and hands on the floor. When he opened his eyes, however, he found himself in an unlikely position.

He was hovering over Riku, his hands on opposite sides of the older boy's head and his knees on opposite sides of Riku's body. The one thing that froze him completely was that the boy under him was staring at him with beautiful, glazed sea green eyes that held an unreadable expression. As if being sucked in, he found himself entranced and unable to look away. They both stared at each other for a long time, as if they were gazing each other's souls silently. Both of them were still, only hearing the sounds from the game, and it seemed as if nothing in the world could interrupt their mutual staring.

Except for the ringing of a hand phone.

It was Riku's. The phone in his pocket vibrated, making him twitch slightly in response. Sora shifted as well, but didn't say or get of him until Riku gave off a laugh. "You can get off me now, Sora," he chuckled; amused at the peculiar situation they were in. Like he was struck, Sora immediately scrambled off the older boy and rushed to cosy himself in the comfort of the bean bag chair, his face feeling a little warm. He shifted uncomfortably as he tried to calm himself, confused of his reaction to the situation earlier. Why hadn't he just laughed it off like usual? Why hadn't he gotten off Riku immediately rather than stare at those gem-like eyes? Questions spun in his head and he had no answer to any of them.

Riku, on the other hand, had fished his phone out of his jeans pocket and was clicking on the answer button. "Alice?" he asked. Sora's eyes darkened at the sound of her name. "Hey, wait, give me a sec," he said before mouthing at Sora 'Sorry, I'll just be a minute' and exiting the room.

The brunette relaxed in the bean bag chair and waited patiently. It would probably take at least 5 minutes, he thought. After all, Alice was Riku's girlfriend. They'd have things to talk about. It wasn't as if Sora didn't like the blonde-haired girl. If anything, he found her extremely nice albeit weird sometimes. She was extremely pretty, Sora never expected less of his best friend, and seemed to like Riku a whole lot. There were times Sora thought that Riku treated her unfairly such as choosing not to see her and just relaxing at his place alone instead. It seemed to Sora that Alice was very patient with her boyfriend and was really kind to both of them. She never did complain that much and treated Riku well. How could Sora think badly of that? He of course couldn't help but think she was quite odd. After all, who ever thought of drinking a potion to shrink and entering a tiny door to a world with a dragon called the Jabberwocky? Even if it were a few years ago when she had the thought, he still found it weird.

Sora's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening and he saw Riku coming through it. He was still on the phone. "Today?" Sora heard his best friend say. Riku glanced at Sora for a moment before continuing his conversation. Sora merely looked at him confusedly. "Uh, not today Alice, I'm a bit busy." The brunette heard a voice from the phone, coming out in a tone of complaint. That was rare, in Sora's opinion. He hardly ever heard Alice complaining. Perhaps she had had a bad day. "I know," Riku replied. "No, Alice, I'm not with another woman, geez." He sighed and glanced at Sora again. "I'll walk you back from school tomorrow, alright?" Before shutting his phone, Riku said "Mm, bye."

"Ace?" Sora asked. Ace was the nickname Sora had given Alice one day after school when the three of them were hanging out. He had mindlessly wondered what if he took the 'Li' out of 'Alice'. Much to Alice's initial protest, the brunette had gone on calling her Ace, something Alice found extremely random and weird. Not like Sora cared, though—he could be quite random at times anyways. And Alice was at least a ten times weirder.

Riku nodded before sitting on the ground again. "Yeah."

"What was that about?"

The silver-haired boy sighed. "Alice wants to come over—I told her no. She then went on about us not spending that much time together lately."

Sora jolted up from his comfortable position. "Hey, dude, I can go home you know."

"No, Sora, don't worry about it. I'll see her tomorrow."

"Really," the brunette insisted. He didn't want to be the reason for them to break up—that was, if they ever did. "I was going to head home soon anyways." He rose from the chair and started walking towards Riku's bed to get his bag. However, he felt his best friend hold his wrist, preventing him from walking away and turned to face him.

"Just stay, Sora," Riku gave an exasperated sigh. "I already told her no." The brunette stared at Riku with his blue eyes silently. He then rubbed the back of his head, took his phone out of his pocket and started dialling a number. "Sora?" Riku asked, wondering who he was calling.

"Hey Ace?" Sora mumbled. At the sound of Alice's name, Riku's eyes widened. "Yea, Riku said you can come now actually."

"Sora!" Riku hissed, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes at the brunette. His grip on Sora's hand tightened, indicating that the brunette should stop talking to Alice, but Sora just ignored him.

"Huh? Oh, no, he was just a bit cranky just now, don't worry about it," Sora laughed. Riku glared at him. "Nah, no woman here, just him and me." The brunette then yanked his hand out of Riku's and walked over to his bag. "Yeah, go for it, I'm going home now," he said as he placed his books in his bags. "No can do, Ace, I'm going back for today. Kay, see you another time." Once their conversation was over, Sora placed his phone back in his pocket and slung his back over his shoulder. He then turned to face Riku who looked displeased. "I'll see you then, Riku."

"Damn it, Sora," he sighed—he gave up on getting angry since it didn't seem like it was going to do him any good. "I told her 'no' so that I'd spend more time with you and you deliberately call her and tell her to come over. And now you're going back. Seriously, Sora, what the hell?"

"It's best you don't neglect your girlfriend too much," Sora advised, grinning. "Spend some time with her, I see you almost every day, you know. It's about time you share yourself with her too," he joked.

Riku shrugged. "It's more fun playing games with you," he stated. "Plus its fun teasing you," he added, a sly grin forming on his face. Sora laughed.

"Exactly why I'm leaving. Anyways I'll see you tomorrow, Riku," he said as he head downstairs, Riku trailing behind him.

"Fine. I can't walk back with you tomorrow though."

"I heard," Sora said with a cheerful grin. "Taking Ace, eh?" Riku shrugged again. "Right well, I'll see you," the brunette said as he exited Riku's front door. The silver-haired boy gave a wave and a half-assed smile before shutting the door.

When Sora got home, it was already seven. He greeted his mother who was in the kitchen preparing dinner before heading up to his room. He lay on his bed after switching on the lights, pondering over a few things that had been occurring lately. It wasn't like much had changed when he thought about it. Everything was more or less the same—it was probably him who was changing. They weren't major things or anything but he had been acting a little strangely around Riku recently. He found it weird, how after all these years, he was only starting to realise that his best friend had the most entrancing eyes he had ever seen. They were sea-green, yes; a rare colour for one to have and Sora had known this ever since he was a child. But what he couldn't comprehend was why he was only starting to realise its beauty now.

That wasn't just it. The brunette would find himself a little too conscious of Riku for his liking. Close proximities with their faces made him panic and feel flustered. Just like earlier when they were walking towards Riku's place and when he was practically on top of Riku. Again, he didn't understand why. Normally, wouldn't he have just laughed it off? Shrugged it off? Just think of it as another joke and punch Riku in the shoulder? He groaned and rolled to his side, burying his face in his hands. He didn't know anymore. It was confusing and sometimes he just didn't want to think about it.

But he eventually would end up doing so.

It wasn't like anything was different between them, he knew. It was him. Why was he changing? He wondered. And when had it all started? Perhaps it started this summer, a few months ago when Riku and him had gone to their old play island and were fooling around with Tidus and the others. Or maybe it was when Riku had gotten together with Alice a few months before summer had started. Sora was unsure. It just didn't make much sense to him. He didn't like it—being awkward around Riku. After all, they were best friends.

The brunette removed his hands from his face and stared up at the ceiling, exhaling a heavy sigh. He'd play a game to take his mind off things, he thought. However, the moment he reached for his laptop, he heard his mother call.

"Sora! Dinner's ready," she said from below. Sora replied, telling her that he was coming down. Well, dinner was distracting enough.

The brunette reached for his door to exit his room. Before he exited though, from the corner of his eye, he saw a figure standing at the corner of his room. He exited and paused for a moment.

A… Person?

He then leaned backwards, holding the edge of his door for support to take another glance at the uninvited figure. Only, the corner of his room was empty.

Hmm… Maybe I'm imagining things; he thought and walked back out of his room unsurely. He shrugged it off and headed downstairs to get his dinner.

Once he laid his eyes on the dinner table, any unwanted thoughts and unnecessary anxiety had been washed away and the only thing on his mind was his appetite. The dining table was set up neatly, a vase placed at the centre of the table, daisies placed in them and three dinner plates arranged with forks and knives. Something that was rare in his household for they normally only ate Japanese cooking. But that meant one thing; his mother had cooked him his favourite—lasagne. And boy was he famished.

He excitedly got to his seat and sat down, waiting impatiently for his mother to bring the lasagne. He could already smell the heavenly food.

"Directly out from the oven!" she announced, carrying a large dish with her hands wrapped in oven gloves.

"Great!" Sora cheered, grinning. It always tasted better when hot. "Dad's coming back late tonight?" he asked, thinking that they should wait for his father. Dinner was always best with more people.

"Yes, he's working late tonight so he'll only be back later on. We'll eat first." His mother gave him a cheery smile and a wink, knowing her son's love for her lasagne. She then placed the dish onto the table carefully. Sora immediately got the large spoon to scoop out his share. "Watch it, it's hot," his mother warned. The brunette knew and he was careful. He had already burnt his fingers four times, trying to grab the burning hot dish before. He had finally learnt his lesson of not rushing too much after the fourth time he burnt his fingers, when they swelled up pretty badly. It took him at least a month to get them healed.

Once he had gotten a large piece of lasagne on his plate, he waited impatiently for his mother to get hers. He couldn't start without her—it was rude. Reina, Sora's mother, knew this and quickly got a piece on her plate, not wanting to delay her son from his momentary heaven.

"Ittadakimasu!" Sora said and dug in. "So... Good," he breathed after taking his first bite.

His mother laughed at him. "Chew, Sora." She didn't want him choking on it—of which he almost did, once. Reina remembered having to hit her own son hard on his back, trying to make him cough out the food that was lodged in his throat. She succeeded and Sora gagged out half a chicken wing. Her son was only eleven back then and she had to thoroughly explain to him that engulfing half a chicken wing was not rational and in addition, was unhealthy to practically shovel down his food. He had gotten the first part drilled into his mind due to nearly choking. The second, however, seemed to have been forgotten. Reina laughed quietly to herself at the memory.

Sora perked up at the sound of his mother's laugh and his attention was driven away from his food—but only for a moment. "What's up, mum?"

"Nothing," she murmured with a smile. "Just remembered something you did when you were younger."

"Yeah? What was that?" the brunette asked, putting another spoon of lasagne into his mouth.

His mother gave another amused, light laugh. "It was when you were eleven," she began and she told him the story of having to prevent him from choking. He laughed by the end of it, vaguely remembering.

"So that's why I'd always remind myself that chicken wings were impractically to swallow," he laughed. "I'd almost forgotten."

Reina smiled at her son. "You'd better not, Sora, or the next time I serve chicken I'll be having you dead at the dining table!"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Wouldn't you like that?" he joked, implying that his mother would have an easier time without him.

"Perhaps I will, young man," she said in a falsely stern voice, half laughing. "Except I'd have to remind myself to cook less or else your father and I will be having leftovers for at least two days."

"Aw, c'mon mum, I don't eat two days worth of leftovers," he protested.

"Have you seen the amount you eat when you're hungry sometimes?"

The brunette paused. He was in fact cutting himself another slice of lasagne from the large dish right then. "Not two days worth," he repeats, placing the slice of lasagne on his plate and grinning from ear to ear. His mother laughed heartily.

"Not two days worth," she agreed. "You're still eating a lot though," she said, gesturing to his second slice of lasagne.

Sora glanced at his slice and back to his mother. "But it's lasagne," he said matter-of-factly, as if it were supposed to make sense. However, it did to Reina and she just smiled. Her son's love for her lasagne would probably never fade, she thought.

"It's alright, Sora, I'm just joking with you," she said, not wanting to disrupt her son from his favourite meal any longer.

Sora grinned. "I know."

Once he was done with his dinner, the brunette talked with his mother for a little longer then headed up to his room once again. He smiled as he ascended the stairs, thinking about his relationship with his mother. He was really tight with his mother, knowing that she would always be there for him whenever he needed her. He loved her dearly and was extremely close with her. He wasn't a mother's boy, in his opinion; he didn't always ask her to do things, not everything he did depends on her and he didn't think that she was absolutely perfect. Although, when he thought about it, he wondered if this was what Riku was missing out on sometimes. Sora wouldn't trade his mother for the world—that, he was sure of. But how did Riku feel, not having a mother? It had been a long time since Sora had asked his best friend that.

Sora got to the door of his room. As he was turning the doorknob, Sora didn't know that he was about to see someone who would change his life in the future. He didn't know that he was going to go through an unchangeable destiny that he couldn't escape. And he certainly didn't know that he was about to meet an uninvited figure, also known as fate, in his room. The door was finally ajar and Sora saw a tall, dark-haired man standing nearby his bed, seemingly scrutinizing his room. Then, the man turned towards him and in that moment, their eyes met.

Well, that's the end of the first chapter! I do hope you liked it. Please give a review to let me know what you think. xD