Disclaimer: If it resembles Kingdom Hearts, I don't own it.

Wow, I didn't realize how long it has been since I've updated. Sorry about that. I promise I will finish this story. I can't start something and then abandon it, especially not when I've got this far. This chapter was slightly longer though...3144 words. Thank you all for the lovely reviews. It also means a lot to me that people have favorited or added this story to their story alert lists.

Much Love

Nature Trails

Sora woke up that morning, excited about the hiking trip. "Hey Riku! Wake up, we are going hiking!" Riku slowly sat up in his bed, most of his hair covering his eyes. "What's the point in going hiking? Don't we get enough exercise walking up and down the steps all day?" Sora was now pulling on Riku's arm, trying to drag the boy out of bed. Riku finally stood up. "Okay, okay. But next time, I'm choosing the activities."

Sora practically skipped to breakfast, while Riku walked solemnly behind with his head watching the floor. Riku never saw the point in going to breakfast. It's not like they actually served food. Well they served something that remotely resembled food. Riku had a hard time watching Sora eat a plate of rubbery eggs. "How can you eat that stuff?" Sora shrugged and took another bite. "It doesn't really have any flavor."

Roxas showed up, like Riku he was foodless. He glanced over at the substance on Sora's plate. It didn't seem to be a solid or a liquid, he couldn't quite figure it out. Maybe it could be his next physics project.

Finally Sora finished off his orange juice, "so where is Axel?" Roxas shrugged. "He said he would be here. He's not exactly the come early type. Did you hear which chaperone they stuck with us for this trip?" Riku and Sora shook their heads. "Demyx." A distinct 'hmph' sound came from Riku's side of the table. Riku never seemed to like the guy.

Sora stood up to dump his tray. "Well then, Axel might show up on time after all. If Demyx is our chaperone for the day, he will probably be late. He was late when he picked me and Riku up from the airport." Riku laughed. "You would have never noticed if I didn't tell you. You slept threw it all." Sora crossed his arms over his chest. "Well I had to get up early." Roxas decided now as a good time to use the table as a pillow, and stayed out of the conversation.

Riku watched as the expected redhead showed up. Roxas had definitely picked the wrong side of the table to set at. He jumped up startled by the fact that someone came up behind him and grabbed his waist with both arms. "Mornin, Roxas." Roxas pushed the arms away and distanced himself from the rather deviant redhead.

Riku leaned back in his chair, listening to Sora rant on about how sleep is important - or something like that. Roxas looked good with Axel. Their differing styles blended making a nice contrast. Contrast? Eh, he was paying too much attention to art class. He wondered what him and Sora would look like together. They were always together, but that was something completely different. He didn't have much time to think about it. His favorite chaperone showed up.

"What is wrong with you kids anyway? Extra walking on the weekend..." Demyx looked about as annoyed by the concept as he first was, when Sora came up with the idea. Sora was so excited about it, he couldn't turn the boy down. He listened for hours about how many different kinds of trees there were, and what animals we might see...Riku thought amusedly to himself, that boy would think a trip to the garbage dump was exciting. Demyx looked around counting off the heads. "Okay, you must be the four that wanted to go." He looked really funny with his hands on his hips like that. Riku's jaw dropped when he noticed what Demyx was wearing. No guy should ever wear cut off shorts like that. Never. Demyx winked at Riku when everyone headed toward the door.

­­

xXx

Well Sora was right, there definitely was a lot of trees. "Hey Riku." "Hmm?" "Do you think there are any bears up here?" Riku continued to walk in front of Sora, not replying. "You don't think there are bears do you?" Riku laughed, "there might be." "Oh...well erm...they wouldn't go near a crowd would they?" Axel walked up beside Sora. "I heard they like the short ones the most." Axel smirked, "I guess you better watch out too, Roxas."

Sora started looking around at the trees. "Don't listen to him. He doesn't know anything about bears." "Your call." With that Axel caught up with Riku, leaving the two boys to follow. Demyx was somewhere back on the trail. He insisted on taking a 'leisurely' pace. Which really meant he was too lazy to care how far his students were ahead of him.

Now that was something Riku was thankful for. He didn't have to watch Demyx strut around in those short shorts. He just hoped he would be able to get that image out of his head before he fell asleep that night. "Agh!" Riku was surprised to find Sora clinging onto his waist. "What is it?" He looked around and saw some squirrels run across the path. "Is that what you saw?" "I-I don't know." Roxas was too busy knocking a spider web out of his hair to notice all the fuss.

"I changed my mind. Let's go back." Sora was still clinging onto Riku's shirt. "C'mon Sora, you wanted to go hiking." Sora nodded his head defiantly, "we can go back." "No way. You drug me up here, we are going to finish this." "But you didn't even want to come..." Riku laughed. "Exactly."

Roxas managed to stumble and fall in some gravel. Axel stood there watching Roxas sit up on the ground. "Hey Riku, wanna play a game?" Riku ran his fingers through his silver hair, "I'm always up for a challenge." "You can carry Sora, and I'll carry Roxas. Whoever has to put their person down first loses." "And what does the winner get?" "The loser has to buy pizza for the group. Is it a deal?" Roxas had already stood up and was starting to back down the trail without being noticed. Sora never even noticed he was still holding onto Riku's shirt.

Axel easily caught up with Roxas and picked him up bridal style. "Nooooooo! Let me down!" Riku was quick to do the same with Sora. "So should we head back now?" Axel nodded as he tightened his grip on Roxas. "Careful. Don't want to fall." Sora clung tighter to Riku as the pace quickened. "Don't let me go." Riku laughed again. Sora probably wondered by now why was everything always so funny with him. "No problem. There's no way I'm losing this."

"But you didn't even ask us if we agreed to this. What if we all fall over the cliff or something?" Sora could see Axel whisper something to Riku. Whatever it was, Riku agreed with it, because he nodded his head. "You know it's not a bad view from up here." Axel stood close to the edge of a steep hill. "What do you think Roxas?" "Erm..." Riku stood at the edge next to Axel. Sora had his eyes closed tightly. "I'm not looking." "Oh really? I guess we better head on then Axel." Riku turned around and started to walk. Sora thought it was safe to open his eyes again, but the discovered that they were back at the edge again. "Riku!"

Riku couldn't help but laugh. Sora screamed like a little girl. "Next time you will let me choose how to spend our free time?" "Yea..." "Good." They finally ran into Demyx. Demyx apparently decided that he would rather set on a rather large rock than take the trail. He raised an eyebrow before speaking. "If anything happens to you hooligans, I'm responsible. So I'm going to have to ask you to put the boys down." The two boys reluctantly put their bet down. "Tie?" "Sure."

"I think you gained weight, Sora." The boy glared back in Riku's direction. "I have not gained weight! I'm just taller then I used to be!" Riku patted Sora on the back and walked away, looking rather smug. Axel playfully patted Roxas' belly. "Gee Roxas, maybe you should lay off the ice cream." Roxas shot back a death glare before walking away. He muttered something about not being fat, and that Axel was just trying to make him mad.

xXx

When they arrived back at the dorm, Demyx stormed off like he had something important to do. Sleep no doubt. Riku guided the disgruntled Sora back to their room. "I haven't gained weight." Sora crossed his arms. "And I'm not fat either!" Riku just smiled before grabbing the sides of Sora's waist. "No, but you do have adorable little love handles." Sora batted Riku's arms away, before resorting to his usual pout.

As many times as he saw that pout, it always got to him. "Aww…come on Sora. I think it's cute." "Why are you always so mean to me?" Riku laughed. "Because I like seeing you get all worked up like this." Sora slung his pillow at Riku's head, and suddenly realized that that was a big mistake. "Uh…I didn't me…" Too late, an evil smirk had already appeared on Riku's face. "You know this means war."

Riku quickly picked up his own pillow, and began hitting Sora repeatedly, before the poor boy even had a chance to fight back. Sora crawled across the bed, trying desperately to reach the pillow that started this whole fiasco. Riku tackled Sora on the bed, with the pillow just out of reach. "Oh no you don't!"

Sora finally came up with a plan. All he needed was a short diversion, before he ran out of the room. He looked up at the silver haired boy that currently had him pinned down. "H-hey Riku…" "Hmm?" "Your fly is undone." That worked. Sure enough Riku left his current position only to discover that the zipper was already up. Sora scurried across the room, trying not to trip. He ran out the door laughing manically. "Cheater!"

xXx

Knowing that Sora would come back eventually, Riku decided to find Axel. He would finally get to discuss how things were going again. That's how he ended up knocking on Axel's door. Some blonde boy came to the door. "Are you looking for Axel?" "Yea. Is he around?" The blonde pointed over to a bed in the corner of the room. Axel seemed to be taking a nap. It was actually a pretty funny site. Riku could see one of Axel's legs hanging out of the covers, along with the back of his Linkin Park t-shirt.

Riku figured black must have been Axel's favorite color. That's what he wore all the time anyway. Today was no exception. The only color came from the ragged blue jeans the red-head seemed to take a liking to. The blonde went back to lock the door. Maybe he was the paranoid type or something. But then again, if he lived with Axel, he probably had to be.

"Want me to wake him up?" "Oh…erm yea, okay." The blonde flashed a wicked smile before grabbing a water bottle off of his nightstand. Before Riku could say anything, the contents of the bottle were being dumped on the sleeping form in the corner of the room. "Cloud!" Cloud smirked, seemingly happy with what he accomplished. "You have company." Riku looked from one person to the next, stunned at what he just witnessed. No wonder Axel is so mischievous. "Take care." Cloud walked out of the room, leaving Axel to dry off.

"I didn't know he was going to do that." Axel shrugged before picking up a shirt off of his roomies bed. He then proceeded to use it as a towel to dry off with. "Don't worry about it. I'll get him back when the time comes." "How are things going with Roxas?" Axel chuckled. "Oh he went on for a good two hours about how he wasn't fat, and that he didn't have to talk to me anymore…" "He still coming over tonight then?" "If he doesn't I'll drag his scrawny butt over to your room." Riku had to laugh. "They are so touchy about their weight. I think they would make perfect girls."

Axel threw the now wet shirt back on Cloud's bed. Hopefully it would dampen the blankets a little before the blonde got back. "I don't know if they would be as cute as girls." A grin appeared on Axel's face. "But I wouldn't mind seeing Roxas in a little dress…" Riku ran a hand through his hair, pondering what color would best suit Sora. He would never wear a dress of course, but a guy could dream.

"Your lucky, at least you get to sleep in the same room." Riku shook his head, "I'm starting to have my doubts. I mean I'm not even sure what his sexual preference is, he's never even been out on a date." "Maybe he is saving himself for you." Riku laughed. "He has no idea." "Yea, I'm starting to get that feeling about Roxas. We might have to spell it out for them, heh?" Riku looked sadly at the ground. "I hope he isn't into girls at least…" "He's already turned Naminé down a few times. Every guy in the school wants to date her. Or so I'm told." He did turn the girl down. That made things less complicated than they could be. Still it could have been because Sora was shy around girls, or anyone he didn't know all that well. Riku walked over to the phone. "So what kind of pizza do we want?"

xXx

By the time Riku and Axel got back upstairs with the pizza, Sora and Roxas were waiting in the room. "Food!" Riku rolled his eyes. "Nice to see you too." The four of them decided it was best that they set on the floor. That way if there was a mess, it would be easier to clean.

Axel decided he would start the conversation. "So, Sora…" Sora looked up still chewing on the pizzaie goodness. "What do you think about Naminé? Everyone knows she has a huge crush on you." "Oh, I guess she's alright. She seems like a nice person." This time Riku took part in the conversation. "What do you think Sora? Is she girlfriend material?" Sora looked up thoughtfully, as if he had to study every word. "I don't really like her that way…"

"Is there anyone you like?" Sora looked over at Roxas, disappointed that the boy was taking part in this too. "I dunno…" Now back to Axel. "Any preferences? Do you prefer blondes or brunettes and what-not?" Sora crossed his arms. "What is this? Twenty questions?" Everyone laughed at how easy Sora got perturbed. "Relax. We are only trying to get to know you better. Personally I'd have to say I prefer the brunettes." Axel swallowed another bite before looking over at Roxas. "What type are you into?" To everyone's surprise, the boys face turned an interesting shade of pink. "Oh…ya know…" Axel smirked. He found a good topic. Anything that made his beloved Roxas blush, was a good topic to him.

xXx

Sora was the first to notice the lack of sleeping accommodations. "Who all has to sleep on the floor?" Riku fluffed up his pillow before throwing it on his bed. "I'm not sleeping on the floor." Sora looked hopefully back to his bed. It seems he was too late though. Axel was rearranging the blankets to his liking. "You don't think we could turn the air on for a while?" Riku nodded before turning the knob on the AC. Sora tried his best to hide his adorable pout. Riku caught it anyway, and planned to store it in his mind savoring every second of it.

Roxas looked over in Sora's direction. "I guess we get to be the lucky floor dwellers." Sora braced himself for the rough night ahead. Sleeping on the floor, and suffering from the coldness of the room. Roxas looked over at the space on the bed that Axel wasn't occupying, before he decided he would rather not sleep on the floor. "Move over, I'm sleeping on the bed too."

Sora continued to unroll his sleeping bag on the floor. It was only one night after all. How bad could it be? Riku patted the side of the bed. "Come on Sora, are you afraid I have cooties or something?" Sora looked up at the comfortable looking bed. "No…I'm fine on the floor." "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were afraid to sleep with me. I'm hurt." That's it. He can't handle the guilt trip. Riku always got the best of him this way. It felt like leaving a puppy out in the rain. "Okay, okay." Sora climbed into bed next to Riku. Careful to give his silver haired friend enough moving room. Riku reached back and turned the lamp off.

The whole hiking trip must have worn everybody out. It didn't take longer than five minutes for them all to fall asleep. Which in a way totally defeated the purpose of having a sleepover, if no one was going to stay up to the early hours of the morning. The total inability to string together coherent thoughts. Laughing insanely at the most stupid things. They would have to try it again some other weekend, without the hiking trip. No one even bothered to change into their pajamas.

xXx

Sora woke up to find that his leg was draped over Riku's body, and one of his arms was thrown over Riku's sleeping form. He was also surprised to see that Riku's arm was cast around his waist, binding him to that spot. He tried to move slowly, so he wouldn't wake Riku up, but to no avail. Riku's arm just crushed him closer to him. Okay, this obviously wasn't going to work. "Riku?" "…cow shot me…crazy cow…" Sora tried his best not to laugh. It didn't work quite so well. In fact that's what ended up waking his friend up. Sora was glad that he at least was able to get his leg back to his side of the bed before Riku woke up. Riku looked dazedly over at Sora, before removing his arm. "Oh sorry, Sora. I guess it got cold last night…"

It was really cold in the room. Sora walked over to turn the AC off. It seems Axel and Roxas had the same problem. Roxas' back was turned to Axel. He didn't see how Axel could sleep with Roxas' hair in his face like that. He figured he would rather be out of the room before they woke up. "Ima go shower." He picked up his shower stuff and headed out of the room. Riku just let himself fall back asleep. It was still the weekend after all.

xXx

Next chapter, Roxas gives Sora something to think about. Something that could change his view on everything. That's all I'm saying for now. I'll try to update quicker this time.