Author's notes

AGHHH!!! I was so focused in finally putting my fanfic on , I didn't realize I needed to add certain stuff like, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters including those related to other games or movies.

I only realised it after looking around the other stories and thinking" Am I missing something?"

This is just what I was thinking might(emphasis) happen after Kingdom Hearts 2.

This took longer than my (self) promised release of one chapter every week or two thanks to the release of my exam results and the rushing to fill up paperwork to go for a polytechnic.

Anyway, reviews appreciated. So those who read this, please review my story! Comments pointing out mistakes also appreciated.

Raitin swerved his bike left and right through the streets. He kept his eyes on the road in case another idiot decided to stop and stare at shop products, blocking his way. Raitin noticed the people were keeping their umbrellas and the partial reflection of himself on the ground. Soon Raitin came out of the town's shopping district and into the less crowded housing district.

He struggled a bit cycling up the muddy slopes as headed for him home atop the hill, he could feel the weak rays of the setting sun on his back. With all the exercises he done, it wasn't too hard to reach his home, even with the muddy terrain. Not many people would see where he lived as a home. Only Dakkun and Raitin did. He parked his bike outside the gate of Nomura's Home for Orphans and locked it into the gate grill. He looked up from the lock and remembered what Dakkun told him before. "I always wondered who did the design for this place." Raitin mused aloud as Dakkun always had.

Nomura's Home for Orphans definitely stood out from the other homes in the neighborhood. It was two storey's high with a huge book half open for its roof. Its walls were diagonal from ground up, making the second story much larger than the first. The windows were all of different shapes. The person who designed it seemed to have gone crazy on the color. It looked like the colors around the door were exploding outwards and spreading across the entire house.

Raitin sighed as he remembered the stuff he would talk with Dakkun on the porch he was standing on. He took out the keys and put it into the keyhole and turned it. The door was completely normal compared to the rest of the house. It was a simple wooden door with a lock mechanism just like every other door in the neighborhood.

As soon as Raitin opened the door, three bodies tackled into his legs and clung onto him. With those bodies came the voices of the other orphans who lived here. A boy, larger than the rest with blond hair and bluish eyes lightly jabbed Raitin's stomach and challenged him.

"Come on Rai! I learnt some new moves today! Let's have a practice fight!"

Raitin sighed and lifted the boy up and put him outside the ring of children. He ruffled his hair and responded.

"Not today Snow. I'm kinda tired."

Another boy with silvery-blonde hair and blue eyes looked up from his hug and groaned "So you won't play with us today?"

A girl with pinkish hair with clear azure eyes also looked up and pleaded "Just for today Rai! Sis is no fun to play with!"

At that moment, a girl around Snow's height and age with pinkish hair walked in and pulled the girl away from Rai's legs while saying "Rai's tired Serah. Let him rest. You can play with him tomorrow."

Serah put on a grumpy face but let herself be carried away by her sister. Raitin grinned and said "Thanks Éclair."

Éclair smiled and suddenly glared at Snow and snapped at him "Why don't you do something your age now and then?

Snow grumbled and picked the boy with silvery-blonde up and carried him off "C'mon Hope. Dinner is almost ready."

Raitin took off his shoes and put them in the shoe rack by the door. He glanced at the empty spot next to where he put his shoes. He began to daydream when Dakkun still lived here. He took his school bag and started walking towards his room on the second floor. An elderly lady with silvery hair stuck her head out from the door way to the kitchen and spoke to him with her kind voice "Rai, I've cooked your favorite spaghetti bolognaise."

Raitin mumbled a reply and trudged up the stairs. Snow, Éclair, Serah and Hope all stayed silent in the dining room until they heard Raitin's door close. The second the 'click' of the door lock sliding into place came from upstairs, the silence broke.

"Rai's been pretty emo since Dakkun left right?" Snow started the conversation with a hushed voice.

Éclair nodded and whispered just loud enough for the group to hear "They both stayed here much longer then we have."

"Duh…I heard they were really close. Then Dakkun had to go to the Keyblader Academy. Right Grandma Aeris?"

Grandma Aeris turned her head away from the cooking pot and nodded but warned Snow sharply " You shouldn't poke around in Raitin's life so much."

This time Serah looked up from her bowl and asked "So when Dakkun comes back, Rai will play with us again?"

Grandma Aeris gave her sweetest smile and explained to Serah "Dakkun is busy learning how to protect us from those nasty Heartless, but he'll be coming back tomorrow for the showcase."

"Yeap and he invited us all!" Hope exclaimed happily.

They all continued to chat about the Keyblader's showcase while Raitin changed out of his clothes in his room. He took a quick shower and combed his raven black hair. As Raitin wrapped a towel around his waist he saw his reflection in the mirror flicker and look away. For a second, it looked like his reflection was somebody else. He stared at the mirror and his reflection's gray eyes stared back. Raitin thought to himself as he put on his clothes "I think I'm going to need more sleep."

Raitin walked down the stairs and sat in between Snow and Éclair to make sure they didn't squabble again. He ate the spaghetti much quicker than anyone on the table and he was finishing his third plate by the time everyone else finished their first. He took his plate and put it into the dishwasher while talking to Grandma Aeris "I'll be going out to meet Dakkun earlier tomorrow."

Grandman Aeris nodded and reminded him "Just don't forget to pick up the little ones later."

Raitin nodded and headed back into his room. Once the door was closed, he flicked a switch, the light bulb gave out a warm glow filling the room with light. He took a photo frame from the table and lay on his bed while looking at it. There were two boys in the photo. One with black hair and another with blonde hair. They had their arms around the other's shoulder, both of them were grinning with happiness only seen from the innocence of a child's life. Raitin could only smile as he remembered the fun he had. He closed his eyes and let them come to him.

He saw himself at 7 years old tying a blanket around his neck for a cape, waving a branch taken from a tree and laughing with his best evil laugh. Opposite of him was the hero of their tale. Dakkun with his own branch, cursing him for the evil he brought upon this land. They both engaged in combat and Dakkun, as the hero, emerged victorious.

As they both lay panting on the grass with their sticks and their story forgotten. Raitin turned his head to face Dakkun and in between the gasps for air he asked "So…when…can…I…be the good guy?"

Dakkun grinned and replied "Then I'd have no one to fight against."

"But I want to be a hero!" Raitin remembered himself pleading.

Dakkun sat up and pretended to stroke a imaginary beard. A moment passed as he thought. Suddenly he slapped his thigh and exclaimed "I've got it! You can be my sidekick!"

Raitin also sat up and questioned Dakkun "Why a sidekick?"

"Cause you're always going to be by my side," Raitin smiled contently as Dakkun said that "But I still can kick your ass!" Raitin's face changed from content to childish anger as he picked up his branch and resumed attacking Dakkun. Dakkun took his own and parried. Both of them grinning at one another. A few blows were exchanged before they both ran out of steam again. They clashed their branches together and held it at a standoff. Suddenly Raitin realised something missing.

"Then who's going to be the bad guy?"

Dakkun smiled and answered "We'll use our imagination."

Raitin was about to grin when suddenly Dakkun's eyes turned completely yellow and his face a shadowy black. His mouth disappeared but in place was a maniacal grin made of sharp teeth. His voice came out from it sounding like it went through a blender.

~OR I could be the bad guy~

The branch in shadow's hand was suddenly consumed by the darkness around it's body, with a swing, the darkness swirled away and revealed a keyblade with a solid black blade with a unmoving flicker of flame as its blade design and red curling flames to form a guard for the keyblade. Raitin's own branch broke into two under the force of the swing. He stared in shock at what was happening. This wasn't in his memories. He tried to wake up to get away from the shadowy creature, but his eyes would not open. The creature, now having taken over Dakkun's form, became a humanoid creature with swirls of darkness falling from its form. The only hint of color in it was its hungry yellow eyes. It stretched its free hand out, Raitin realized that it had become a mixture of a claw and a hand. With the palm facing upwards it slowly curled its claws together. Then it spoke again.

~You have no idea how hard it is to enter your memories!!! It's the only place I can kill you without that pesky Keyblader inside of you coming out.~

It cackled as it rushed forward swinging the dark keyblade wildly. The keyblade leaving trails of darkness in its swings. Raitin with his small frame easily dodged them but with only a broken branch, it would not be long before he ran out of energy to dodge and start getting hit. The creature managed to land a sliding low kick and cause Raitin to lose his balance and fall. Raitin hit the grass and looked up to the point of the dark keyblade in between his eyes. The point of the blade moved slowly down to over his heart. The creature giggled and spoke.

~Checkmate~

It pushed the dark keyblade forward and as it sunk into Raitin's chest, the dark aura around the creature slowly began to seep into Raitin's chest with the keyblade. Raitin could not feel the pain of the blade piercing his heart, instead he felt as though the life inside of him was slowly being put out. He began to feel empty and hollow as the darkness slowly took over. He could only think to himself "So this is death?"

All of a sudden, he felt his whole body fill up with warmth and light began seep out of the edges of the hole in his chest. The creature felt it too as his yellow eyes began to widen in shock. A huge flash of light burst out and melted the dark keyblade away. The light burnt the creature's claw away and left behind Dakkun's hand. The creature stared at it and looked over to Raitin.

Raitin slowly stood up, light still pouring out of his chest. It pushed out all the darkness and seem to make the creature fainter. The creature managed to say one more word before another burst of light came through.

~Shit~

The second burst of light blew all the surrounding darkness away and slowly made the world brighter until there was only light.

Raitin shot up straight from his bed and cold sweat sticking his shirt to him. He looked out and noticed from his window view from the top of the hill, the sun was slowly rising. He realised his hand was over his chest and he was gasping loudly. He calmed himself down by telling himself it was just a nightmare. But he wasn't so sure about it. Because somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought he could a voice howling.

~THIS IS FAR FROM OVER~