CHAPTER 01
" How it all began "

Being home was mostly a relief but, to a certain extent, it was also a bother. There was nothing particularly interesting to do and the routines were killing him in a way no Heartless or Nobody could ever have. School was the worst; not only were they teaching lies about existence, but they could not teach in ten years half of what he had learned in only two years.

The sky was so blue and bright that morning, how he wished he could be outside right now! Riku would have loved to go swimming— he hadn't been to the beach since the day of their arrival. The sea must have been clear and warm. They could go together to their old Island, set some towels and jump in. That meant, of course, that Riku would have to take of his shoes, socks, shirt, pants…

Sora's day dream was interrupted by a sudden jolt of pain and an angry grunt. He covered his head hastily, whimpering. The teacher was standing beside him, one arm crossed and the other holding a thick textbook.

"If you are not going to pay attention to the lecture, then you might as well leave and fail the year," he stated rudely.

"Ah. Yes, of course. Who would want to fail a whole year, right?" Sora answered all too naturally. He had been so used to doing things without serious thinking, and still getting away with it, that he had given up strategies altogether— too bad battle strategies don't always work at school.

"Don't you snap back at your teacher, young man!" The teacher hit Sora on the top of his head with the textbook. "Now, if I may continue the lesson..."

He wasn't too bothered about a close-minded teacher or the other students' mockery, yet Kairi's reproachful look made Sora sunk down on his chair in embarrassment.

"It's fine if you don't care about all that stuff, but picking fights with teachers is just too much," Kairi said, as they walked home together that same day.

"It's not like I do it on purpose, you know."

"You're not even trying to hold back, Sora," she insisted. "They'll continue forcing their rules on you and slamming books on your head. If you just stay quiet they might—"

"Now that you mention that— have you seen Riku?" Sora suddenly asked.

"Wait, what? I don't remember mentioning Riku at all."

"He wasn't in school today."

"Sora! He hasn't been to school yesterday or the day before or the whole week. Where have you been anyway?" Kairi stomped her foot as she realized she was being left behind. "And don't try changing the subject!"

Riku had been acting oddly since their return. Sora blamed it on all that darkness Riku had been engulfed in, but he couldn't help missing the old Riku, the playful (and sometimes annoying) Riku he used to like so much. Now the older boy was constantly serene and the way he talked was thoroughly annoying, always using complicated words Sora would not understand and adding subliminal messages to his every sentence.

He had to find a way to bring his Riku back. And that was the perfect excuse.

"That's odd. I guess I'll have to go ask him," Sora smiled. "Are you okay going home by yourself? It's a bit dark."

"What! Of course I'll be fine. It's not like you don't know I've been through much worse situ—"

"Fine, then. I'll see you tomorrow," Sora leaned forward to squeeze Kairi's hand in an awkward good-bye and then ran off.

Kairi stood numbly, her cheeks slightly flushed. "Sora…you're doing it again," she whispered wretchedly.

Riku didn't live very far, it took Sora barely a minute of sprinting to get there. He stood by the front-door, took a deep breath, knocked on the door exactly four times for luck and then waited.

No answer. Sora knocked a few more times and there was still no sign of Riku. He pressed his ear against the door and the house was perfectly silent inside. He was about to start wondering where Riku could be when stomping and screaming took him by surprise, the door snapping open. Sora slipped forward and fell on his knees, clutching to a very familiar pair of blue cargo pants.

"H-hey, Riku!" Sora awkwardly greeted, though filled with glee inside— that was a perfect moment to make the old Riku emerge!

"Sora! What the hell are you doing here?" Riku wasn't angry, he looked genuinely concerned. He even helped Sora up! "This is not a very good moment. You just go home and we'll talk some other—"

The screaming intensified when a man, apparently out of nowhere, pushed Riku to the side.

"Alright, fine! You just kick me out and leave me lost and lonely and hungry in this super lame-ass world—" the man stopped. "That's…"

Sora tilted his head to the side. That was a very familiar individual, that was! The man was only barely taller than Sora and there was something childish about his outfit, which consisted of a pair of slightly too short jeans and a bright colored t-shirt. His hair was an undistinguishable mess of tangled blond locks, but there was something about those odd looking eyes…

"It's Roxas!" the man shouted before anyone else could say anything, throwing his arms around Sora's neck and squeezing tight. "I really, really missed you!"

"No, that's not Roxas," said Riku, sounding less calm and reserved than before. He pulled the man away from Sora and into sitting position on the floor. "You fought him and you chased him and you don't even know who he is? That's pathetic."

"Riku? Who is that person?" Sora pointed at the man on the floor.

Riku's jaw dropped and he started reciting his mantra under his breath…

"I'm not answering that… not answering that… definitely not answering that!"

"Wait a second... I know! You are Demyx, one of the members of Organization XIII," Sora scratched his chin. "Weren't you supposed to be, like, dead or something?"

Demyx turned to Riku. "Does that make me one of the smart ones around here? Does it?" he asked hopefully.

"We are just as confused as you, Sora, that's why I asked you to go home," Riku pleaded, ignoring Demyx. "Right now is not a very good moment for making questions because I can't answer any."

"Let me lend you a hand, then. Maybe my Keyblade can be of some help in sending a lost Nobody home."

"That's the problem right there. It's not just a lost Nobody," Riku sighed. "You better come in and I'll explain."

Riku's house was, very kindly put, a big mess. There were clothes and food scattered everywhere and his parents were nowhere to be seen. Riku, against all odds, didn't look half as messy as his own home. He looked as perfect as always.

It only took Demyx three steps into the kitchen to catch sight of something and scream a scream of pure and utter joy.

"Oh, what is this? Oh, wow! The skin comes off and there's something fluffy and sweet inside! What is this?"

"It's a banana, Demyx, now put it down before you get hurt," Riku calmly stated. And, answering Sora's confused gaze, he added, "He broke a tooth this morning trying to eat raw rice."

And indeed Demyx was soon chocking on a mouthful of banana and cherries, which wasn't a very nice sight at all. Sora was more amused than disgusted, though, and it reminded him of when he started traveling the worlds and everything was new. He must have acted like an idiot too, he figured, and couldn't bring himself to hate Demyx. He had been the least troublesome and most innocent of the members of the Organization anyway.

They finally all settled down and Riku got the chance to explain the situation.

"Demyx wasn't the first member I spotted. There are others all over the Islands, living apparently normal human lives with absolutely no memory as far as we know. I saw three of them and Demyx was the fourth. At first he was just as oblivious to his true self. It wasn't only until a few days ago that he showed up on my doorstep with all his memories coming back to him at an abnormally large speed. I took care of him through this rather painful process… and here we are," Riku summarized. "Today I considered a lost day, though. Demyx only choked on things and had to have me teach him how to pee— which I don't consider the least bit instructive or light-shedding."

Sora scratched his head thoughtfully.

"That's all fine and dandy, but how do we send them, er, home?" he inquired.

"If you have any idea where they came from, let me know," Riku said, snatching a pack of peanuts away from Demyx. "I feel like a babysitter!"

Sora took the responsibility of inviting himself over to spend the night at Riku's house under the premise of helping watch over Demyx. But as much as the situation troubled him, Sora's number one goal at the moment was spending time with Riku, for he feared their friendship would fade if they didn't continue sharing something in common; and what a better excuse than yet another issue of the worlds?

What Sora wasn't aware of, however, was that Riku had his own reasons for letting him have his way. Only problem was, he had no intentions of telling Sora that.

Riku took on the challenge of getting Demyx to calm down and go to bed. Both boys were aware of Demyx's often annoying nature, but they could never have guessed he was so much trouble — especially in the wretched, pitiful state of mind he was in.

"Now you put your head on this fluffy thing called a pillow, close your eyes and let your mind wander," Riku instructed, with the patience of a mother. "I'm sure you've done it before."

"Hmmm… nope. Quite sure I haven't."

"Just think about it, there's no way a human-like body can go by without some sleep," he insisted.

"No. Never."

Riku turned rapidly to Sora, who was standing behind him, and shot him a most vicious glare. He turned back to Demyx with a forced smile on his lips.

"I'm sure we can manage something, then."

Turns out there wasn't much they could manage. Sore suggested many times that they should use force, but Riku would hear none of it. Until, merely an hour and ten different children's books later, Demyx was asleep.

"I guess we better start cleaning up the house, I don't think mom and dad would be very happy with this mess, especially after being away for so long," Riku sighed. "It really has been a long time."

"I know! It must've felt weird to come home after a year and then have your parents attend some meeting really far away. It's only been a week since we came back, right?" Sora mused, already grabbing mops and buckets for the clean up.

"What do you mean? I haven't seen them since we came back," Riku said, sounding much more serene than he planned to.

"You haven't? Why?" Sora asked.

"They weren't home. How was I supposed to?"

"I dunno. I mean, they are your parents and you could've called them or something," he shrugged.

Riku fell silent for a moment while filling one of the buckets with water. Until he finally said, in a nearly pained manner, "I wasn't sure they'd want to hear from me at all, even if they do remember who I am."

"I'm sure they do! Everyone else in town did, after all," Sora added cheerfully, though feeling a bit awkward inside, cursing his really bad timing for making question.

Sora didn't inquire any further about Riku's family issues.

The clean up didn't take half as long as they thought it would and there hadn't been much talk either, since Riku kept giving Sora tasks in completely opposite parts of the house, even if there were things to be done right beside him.

By the end of the night, the boys were sweaty, sore and very tired. Sora would have dropped down on the couch the minute he was done if that damn thing hadn't taken so long to clean already. He settled with a tiny spot on the kitchen floor and a glass of water.

Riku finished his shores right after him and leaned against the kitchen counter, breathing heavily.

"Who would have thought," he said. "That a toilet could get me more tired than a thousand Heartless. I don't think this makes sense at all."

"Well, it's not supposed to, I guess," Sora laughed, handing Riku his half-full glass of water. The older boy took a sip and gave it back. "Say, Riku, why do you think the Nobodies are here? You don't suppose Xemnas did something to keep them from dying?"

"I honestly don't know. But I'd really like to think they were given another chance at a humble human life, just as I was given the choice to come back and mend my mistakes," he said. "I'm not so sure that's what happened, though."

"Let's not be so pessimistic, alright?" Sora took a last gulp from his glass. "Nothing bad must have happened."

"Oh… if you say so."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Riku… that's so not right!"

"What?"

"You should disagree with me and stand by your opinion. Giving in is so not like you," he explained, standing up and coming closer to Riku. "You came back really weird."

Riku had the perfect, mature answer, but he had just noticed for the first time how much taller than Sora he had become. Sora looked so small and his arms weren't nearly as thick as his, not to mention the state of his muscles-- or lack thereof.

As much as he wanted to embrace Sora that very moment and tell him how adorable he looked when he was mad, there was something wrong about that. And Riku felt like that would be an immature decision and that it wouldn't solve anything.

Sora was still a boy. And he was…

"You know what happened to me, Sora?" Riku said, taking up Sora's horrible habit of doing things without thinking. "I grew up. Maybe you should try that some time."

He turned his back on the smaller boy and left the kitchen without another word. Sora just grumbled some insults under his breath and turned to the sink to wash his dirty glass.

Sora didn't blame him for being moody after those stressful few days and his own very bad timing, but he just couldn't help feeling his eyes watery. How come the boy who had helped save a whole bunch of worlds could be such a wimp when it came to helping his friends?

Sora spent the next hour sitting numbly on the couch. He wasn't even thinking of a way to cheer Riku up, he was too exhausted. Riku walked by several times carrying baskets full of dirty clothes (which were all probably Demyx's doing) and even had a snack at some point, but he never gave as much as look Sora's way. Riku's coldness only intensified his numbness and soon Sora fell asleep right where he was, overwhelmed by his own confusion and worn out body.

tbc…

A/N: And so the first chapter is done and published. Mmm... feedback would be much welcomed since this is the first time I actually finish a part of a KH fic and publish it. Any tips on characterization would be great, even though I knowingly took certain liberties with Sora I probably shouldn't have. The following chapters will have more shounen-ai content and the Organization is obviously going to play a larger part.

Thanks for reading, everyone:D