Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the game, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

Warning: This is a yaoi fanfic, so if you're opposed to boy x boy at all then stop reading now. Also, this story will (eventually) contain graphic scenes and slight language, so kiddies beware.

Chapter 2: Mr. Popular

Riku Sugisaki strode into the cafeteria, feeling hundreds of eyes boring into his back as he got in line for food, choosing to ignore the obvious whispering and stares. After all, the silver haired boy was used to this by now, and it probably would've felt weirder not to have the attention.

He had never particularly stood out as a kid, although he had always made decent grades and such to please his parents. It wasn't until his last year of middle school when his hormones started kicking in that people began noticing him. Well, people really just meant girls at first. After returning from summer vacation about half a foot taller and quite a bit more muscular as well, girls were suddenly all over him, squealing whenever he looked their way.

At first, Riku didn't quite know what to think of all the attention, and simply continued his life as normal. But soon, even guys started taking notice of him, probably wondering what all the girls were fussing about. And then, whenever he would receive the top grade on a test, or score the most goals in a soccer game, people would start coming up to him and congratulating him. People he barely knew. And oddly, it just felt normal all of a sudden, these strangers complimenting him. It felt right.

And so he began making sure that it would always be him receiving everyone's admiration. He started studying harder, training harder, joining sports teams and various clubs, and soon his flock of fans had multiplied. Only a couple months after entering high school, even the seniors knew who he was. And they admired him as well. Him, a freshman.

The part that Riku was most unsure about at first was the confessions. Somehow, they had become almost a daily thing, and girls who he was sure he had never even seen before were asking to be his girlfriend. He turned the first few down shyly, but when word about them had started spreading around the school, his classmates were urging him forward, telling him that a guy like him had to have experience with girls.

And soon Riku realized that the girls felt the same way. Barely any of them knew him, or were even interested in getting to know him. All they wanted was to be able to tell their friends that they had just made out with the famous Riku. And by the end of the year, an enormous number of them had.

But despite the endless number of admirers, Riku really only had one friend. His name was Axel, a tall, eyeliner wearing, fiery redhead who truthfully looked a bit odd next to his silver haired friend. The two had known each other since they were little kids, and instead of Axel taking advantage of Riku's popularity like many had expected, he had actually become angry, thinking that Riku would replace him for his new found glory. However, once Riku had convinced the redhead that he was still his best friend no matter what, they made up and Axel accepted his friend's new lifestyle.

To tell the truth, Riku would easily trade in the adoring fans for a few more friends like Axel. But ever since he had become so popular, everyone only wanted to talk to him for that reason. Guys would want to look cool being with him, and girls would easily accept a one night stand just to squeal about it to their friends the next day and be added to the endless list. He could never find someone who simply wanted to be with him, all fame and glory aside.

Grabbing his tray, Riku glanced around the cafeteria for his friend, easily spotting his bright red hair, sitting alone a few tables away. It was an unspoken rule that nobody besides Axel could sit with Riku at lunch, unless personally invited. Riku walked towards their table and sat down, the group of girls at the table behind him squealing and giggling.

"Hey," greeted the redhead in a nasally drawl. "What took you so long? Something good happen?" Axel raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Riku chuckled. "Well, something interesting happened." Then he recounted what had happened in the hallways with the tiny brunet.

"Well it certainly is a rare occasion for you to find someone who hates you, although I can't exactly blame him after what you said. But God only knows you could use someone to knock you down a few pegs," Axel said teasingly.

"Ah, and here he comes now," said Riku, pointing towards the cafeteria door where Sora had indeed arrived, clutching his bento and still looking rather flustered.

"Sora Hikari is the one who hates you?" Axel asked, watching the boy curiously as he looked around the lunchroom, presumably for his friends.

"Since when do you know the freshmen?" Riku asked his friend incredulously. "Are you interested in him?" he asked, wondering why he felt a bit unsettled by this. After all, he had long ago accepted his friend's sexual preference.

"Ever since freshmen started coming in the form of cute blondes. Actually, it's his brother I'm interested in," replied Axel, smirking.

The two friends watched as Sora waved at someone behind them, spotting his friends and setting off towards them. As he neared Riku's table, however, he locked eyes with the silver haired boy who was still staring at him. Sora flushed and glared icily at the older boy for a moment before looking away altogether and starting to walk by in a huff. But Riku wasn't about to be ignored so easily.

As Sora walked past their table, Riku reached out and grabbed his upper arm, receiving a startled gasp from the brunet, who began struggling against the other boy's strong grip as soon as he realized what had happened.

"Hello, Sora-chan," said Riku cheerfully. "Would you care to join us for lunch?" Both Sora and Axel gaped at the silver haired boy, speechless. Sora recovered first.

"That's so…nice of you to offer, Sugisaki-san, but I really should go sit with my friends. They're waiting for me," Sora said, straining to keep his voice polite as he jerked his arm from Riku's grasp. No matter how strong his dislike towards the older boy was, Sora couldn't help but feel that he should at least act civilized. After all, it was Sora. How could he have the heart to be cruel to anybody?

Now Axel spoke up. "Invite them over, too, then. I'm sure they wouldn't mind moving a couple tables over, right?" he asked. To the brunet, it simply seemed like a friendly gesture from the older boy, but Riku knew he had ulterior motives. The only one he really wanted to be sitting with was Sora's brother.

Sora faltered, knowing that he had no argument for that. Kairi and Selphie would probably die of happiness if Riku even looked at them. He didn't want to think about how they would react to eating lunch with him. "Thanks," he mumbled to the redhead, avoiding eye contact with Riku. "But I really should get going."

He knew he was completely screwed when he saw Kairi and Selphie's eyes practically popping out of their heads as he approached them, however. "Hey guys," he said with a strained smile as he sat down. "Sorry it took so long, I, uh, got lost," he lied. But it was no good.

"Sora," breathed Kairi, eyes still wide as saucers. "Were you just talking to Riku?"

"Riku?" repeated Sora slowly, pretending to have forgotten the boy he had heard about all morning as he stalled for time. "Ohhh, you mean that silver haired guy over there? Um yeah, he was just uhm…" the brunet trailed off dumbly, mind racing as he attempted to make up some reason for the upperclassman talking to him.

"Tell us everything he said. In his exact words," whispered Selphie, now leaning across the table towards Sora. Kairi was quick to do the same, while Roxas simply watched him curiously.

Sora sighed. Due to his severe lack of creativity, he would just have to tell them the truth. "Well, I ran into him earlier in the hallway," Quite literally, he added mentally. "And so he was just inviting us to sit with him today…but I'm sure he was just being polite and everything, I bet he didn't actually want me to eat with him," Sora said quickly, although his lame excuses were quickly drowned out by the shrieks coming from the two girls, who were already standing up and grabbing their trays.

Oh no…oh no, oh no, oh no…what were they DOING? Sora cringed, knowing that he had made a horrible, horrible mistake. "But, see, I already turned him down so I don't think we should go over there now," tried the boy desperately.

"Just tell him you changed your mind, then," Selphie giggled. Even Roxas stood up.

"Roxas," Sora hissed, grabbing his brother's arm. "We are not going over there," he pleaded quietly, hoping that the blonde would see the desperate look in Sora's eyes and save him somehow.

"Let's go, Sora. We shouldn't keep him waiting," said the blonde with a devious smirk. Probably revenge for this morning, Sora realized, his last chance slipping away from him.

"Right," grumbled the boy, grabbing his bento box and resisting letting loose a string of expletives at the end. There was nothing he could do now anyways. Hopefully the silver haired boy would regret ever inviting Sora and his friends over(he suspected that Kairi and Selphie would be awful) and he would never have to eat lunch with the older boy again. It wouldn't be too bad for today, right? After all, lunch was nearly over at this point.

Still, Sora couldn't help the strong sense of dread he was feeling as he reluctantly led his friends over to Riku's table. The older boy caught sight of them and smirked at the brunet before leaning over to say something to Axel, who turned around and grinned at them.

Sora stood awkwardly at the head of the table, staring at the boys' food rather than at Riku as he began to speak. "I, uh, well my friends wanted to sit with you, so…is this still okay?" he mumbled, cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Of course it is. It's such a pleasure to have the chance to get to know all of you. Please, have a seat," Riku said genially, smiling at them. Selphie and Kairi both looked like they might pass out at any second, while Sora merely gaped at the older boy, dumbfounded. Why was he suddenly acting all perfect and polite, when just ten minutes ago he had called Sora gay? Was this just another way to make fun of him as well?

Scowling, Sora sat down next to Axel, choosing to be as far away from the silver haired boy as possible. Roxas sat down next to the redhead as well, leaving the girls to sit on either side of Riku. This seemed to suit them just fine, and they excitedly introduced themselves to the boy, babbling away while Sora barely listened, stabbing a piece of omelet angrily. It continued much the same way, Kairi and Selphie bombarding Riku with questions, who answered them easily, not seeming to mind sharing his personal life with two girls he had just met. Occasionally the older boy would turn his attention to Sora though, asking him simple questions about what he thought of high school so far, to which the brunet would mumble a short response, never once looking at him. Sora knew exactly what the silver haired boy was doing now. If he ever tried to tell Roxas or his friends about the incident in the halls, there was no way they would believe him after seeing the perfect display Riku was putting on now.

After what seemed like an eternity to Sora, the bell finally rang, signaling the end of lunch. But his relief was short lived, because to his complete and utter horror, Riku did the unthinkable. He invited them back.

"Well, I really had a lot of fun today. It's always nice getting to know my underclassmen. I hope that you'll join us again tomorrow…?" Riku asked, looking only at Sora. The brunet did not, could not, respond in his horrified state, but the girls squealed their thanks and goodbyes to the upperclassman. Roxas said goodbye to the older boys as well before heading out of the lunch room. Sora said nothing and trailed along after his brother, wondering what he had ever done to deserve such a thing.

Surely, this wasn't high school, but hell.

oOoOo

Author's Notes: Yay, chapter two is out already! Unfortunately I didn't get to put in a part that I wanted because it worked better to end it this way. So this chapter was another short one, but the good news is that I've got part of the next one written already, which means ch. 3 should be up within a couple of days. I'm hoping to get two more chapters out before the dreaded start of… (dare I say it?) high school. After that, it'll probably be much longer in between updates so I'm trying to write as much as I can now.

Special thanks go to: animeobsession, EcstasyOfSesshoumaru, and pichu10176, my very first reviewers! You all get cookies now. I hope you enjoyed this one, too, and I hope I got it out fast enough for you to not throw trout at me? O.o lol

-Emmy xoxo

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