Author's Note-Hey, peoples. Sorry about the long wait, I've really been slacking off since school ended. –smiles and sweatdrops- Anyways, I may take a bit longer than usual. I haven't given up on the story, but I have fallen back into a lack of inspiration, so the rough draft (which I'm catching up to again) may be going pretty slow. But for taking so long, I've made this chapter really long, too (part of this is actually freehand, since I didn't really like what I had in my rough draft.) Anyways, I don't own Kingdom Hearts so don't sue me. Enjoy the chapter!

It happened as he was walking back to the lab.

Flash

He suddenly was no longer in the hallway of Hollow Bastion, but a canyon instead, a ravine. He felt his back hit the wall and he fell to the ground. He heard footsteps approaching and he sat up, looking over at the source while ignoring the pain.

It was a man. He had shoulder-length black hair and a long red cape. His red eyes were wide with surprise and suspected fear. His gun was pointed.

Vincent…Valentine…? Silence, for that was who was watching this, thought with slight surprise.

He looked down at himself. Black coat, pale skin, shoulder-length silver hair? …Riku…

"Ah, I see now. My theory was correct. Everything is coming back to me, the true…"

His voice trailed off as his eyes caught glimpse of another sight. Beside Vincent laid a boy. A boy, more of a young man now, with long white hair pulled back into a low ponytail and garbed in white and light blue clothes. Silence's, or Riku's, really, eyes widened, but before he could say anything, it all faded away…

Suddenly he was back, lying on the cold hallway floor of Hollow Bastion. He climbed to his feet, pondering everything he had just seen. Vincent, Riku…

…And Yukiro…

Yes, there was no mistaking it. Maybe Yukiro was about ten years older than he was when last seen, but there was no way Silence could ever forget that face.

"Yukiro, you brat… What are you doing back? I was hoping your brother had taken care of you, as ordered, but I suppose my theory of him still being too weak was correct…" Silence said aloud.

He sighed, rubbing his temples. Nothing was easy. If you wanted something to be done right, you just had to do it yourself.

But then he smiled a smile that was not very pleasant. Perhaps this was a good thing. Seeing Prince Yukiro again may not so bad. After all, that brat was going to get was coming to him. He and his brother.

Not to mention the new information he had just obtained. Finally, Silence had found him. His first step to ultimate power.

…Riku…

"Good thing the door to this place was unlocked…" Ed said, setting Hyotoko down on the couch his less-injured side. Al nodded.

"I'll go find some beds for these two," he said.

"Alright. See if you can find some cloth, too. These kids' wounds need to be cleaned," Ed replied.

"Right."

Kiyoshi collapsed into the nearest chair and watched Ed start over to another room. The younger boy blinked. "Anything I can do?" he asked.

Ed glanced back at him. "Not unless you have any kind of medical experience," he said.

"Well…no, not really…" Kiyoshi admitted.

"Then just sit back and rest. I'll be right back with some water and bandages," Ed assured, walking out.

Kiyoshi sighed, wracking his brain for any kind of medical information that might come in handy. He knew his mom had a Worst-Case Scenario book lying around the house somewhere, but he never really read it that much. Now he was wishing he had.

Al came back with some towels. Ed returned after him balancing a bowl of hot water, bandages, and alcohol in his arms. They set it all down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Hm, now let's see… I know we should leave the glass in until we think the wound is stabilized, but I don't know. Al, what do you think? Does it look stabilized to you?" Ed asked, examining Hyotoko's major wound.

"Well, the only major thing I can see it doing damage to is a tendon or something. It looks like the bleeding will probably slow down in a few minutes-ten, at the most," Al replied.

Ed nodded. "Yeah. Well, until then, let's work on bandaging other wounds. I'll go help the girls. You take care of the kids in here," he said.

"Okay, niisan," Al said as Ed went into the other room to get another bowl of hot water. Al went over to Kiyoshi to help him out, since he didn't want to risk moving Hyotoko more than they had already.

"You should go help Kairi or Tifa or Hyotoko. I can bandage myself, really…" Kiyoshi muttered weakly. Al glanced back at Ed, who was gathering up several towels, bandages, alcohol, then balancing all that with the bowl of water into another room upstairs.

"Don't worry about it-niisan is taking care of them. Since you're actually conscious, why don't you explain what's going on?" Al suggested.

"…" Kiyoshi glanced out the window. "Do you know why this town seems to be abandoned?" he asked.

"Not really. Niisan said it was probably an army of chimeras or a psychotic alchemist. This isn't the first abandoned town we've been to, after all," Al replied.

Kiyoshi's eyes widened. "There's others?.!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, but that was about a year ago. The people abandoned it because a bunch of chimeras started running around and attacking people, so they built a new town," Al explained, thinking back to when they went to Hiessgart.

"But nothing like this has happened until right around now, has it?" Kiyoshi asked quietly.

"No, not really. It does seem pretty strange…" Al admitted.

"So the Heartless are already here. Man…" Kiyoshi sighed.

"Heartless?" Al asked. He thought for a moment, then realization seemed to dawn on him. "Oh yeah. You mentioned something about those earlier," he said.

Kiyoshi nodded. "Sorry again for calling you one, by the way…" he apologized.

"It's okay. But what exactly are they?" Al asked.

"The Heartless? They're monsters…" Kiyoshi said.

"Monsters?" Al asked. "You mean like chimeras?"

"Er…" Kiyoshi wasn't too clear on the definition of chimeras, given the fact that he had never before seen a real one back in Twilight Town, or even Tokyo. "Is that a fused animal?" he asked.

"Yeah, something like that," Al replied.

Kiyoshi nodded. "Then…I guess they're something like that," he replied. "But…they're much scarier. They're shadow monsters of darkness, people that have had their hearts stolen."

"Stolen…?" Al asked. Something about that unnerved him, but then, if some kid had come from another world and said that monsters were ripping out the hearts of others… "You mean the organ, right?"

"I don't think so. Hearts as in more like souls," Kiyoshi replied.

"Souls…you don't say…" Al said, rubbing the back of his head as the words 'soul transmutation' flashed through his mind for some reason, and then memories of the homunculi from the whole Lab Five incident. Soulless creatures…

"Yeah…" Kiyoshi said, nodding. "I know it sounds crazy. Especially if you guys are scientists. I don't have too much trouble believing it, because my sister and I learned a lot about the supernatural from our mother, but…"

"It's okay. We've had our encounter with the supernatural ourselves," Al assured him. "After all, I'm speaking to a real live alien, aren't I?" he added cheerfully.

Kiyoshi blinked, then smiled weakly. "Yeah, I guess so…"

"Though I'm curious. Why did you come here? Are you a refugee?" Al asked.

"Well…something like that…" Kiyoshi said, frowning. "See, it started not too long ago. I lived on another world for nine years called Twilight Town. It was pretty peaceful; nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. My friends, sister, and I were being trained in the martial arts by our parents, but that's mostly the only fighting we've ever really had to do. Until one night just recently… That's when the Heartless came, along with their leader, which is called a 'Non-Existent…'"

"Not too bad, Kiyoshi. You're really starting to improve," Sakura complimented.

"Really? You think so?" Kiyoshi asked.

"Of course. Would I lie?" Sakura asked playfully.

"You would to be nice…" Kiyoshi pouted.

Sakura laughed and walked into the house. "Hey, wait for me!" Kiyoshi exclaimed, starting after her. He stopped in the doorway as a small glimmer caught his eye. He looked outside, then up at the sky. "Rain…?" he muttered as the clouds began to cover up the moon. "But it's not supposed to rain this week…" He shrugged. "Oh well…" He turned and walked inside, over to the computer room where his mother was typing something. Probably her book… he thought.

The glow of the computer reflected off his mother's glasses. The woman wasn't very tall-only about 5'2, maybe shy of 5'3, and had long red hair with hazel eyes. Redheads were uncommon in Japan, the world they were from. Aside from the glasses and the hazel eyes, she somewhat resembled Kiyoshi's uncle, though somewhat younger since she was the youngest of her brother and sister.

"Hi, Mom," Kiyoshi asked.

His mother glanced over. "Kiyoshi, you're home already? And your sister?" she asked, blinking.

"She's home, too," Kiyoshi replied.

"Normally you two are home much later… Aoshi must have gone easy on you two tonight with the training," Mrs. Insei said, smiling.

"Nope! We're getting much better, so we were able to finish it faster," Kiyoshi replied proudly.

"So you are getting better," Mrs. Insei said, standing up and ruffling his hair. "Well, I'm sure you and your sister are both hungry. No doubt Sakura is already in the kitchen looking for some dinner. And I am a bit late getting started on it. I just need to get this story to my editor before the deadline…" Kiyoshi watched her walk out of the room to the kitchen and followed.

As Mrs. Insei began to take stuff out of the refrigerator, the phone suddenly rang. Sakura, who was sitting at the table drawing something, walked over and picked up. "Insei residence. May I ask who's calling?" she asked. She blinked after a moment, then nodded. "Just a sec…" She handed the phone over to Mrs. Insei. "It's for you. It's Aunt Tsuki," she said.

Mrs. Insei blinked, then nodded and leaned against the counter as she took the receiver. "Hey, Tsuki. What's up?" she asked her older sister. After a few moments, she frowned. "No, I don't… Hang on, let me ask the kids…" she said. "Kiyoshi, Sakura? Have either of you seen Riku?" she asked.

"Last time we saw him was when we were saying goodbye at the skyscraper. Didn't he go home with Taro?" Sakura asked, blinking.

"She said that Riku told Taro that he needed to be somewhere and left, saying he'd be home later. But it's almost two hours later, it's starting to storm outside, and he still isn't home," Mrs. Insei replied. To Tsuki, she said into the phone, "They haven't seen him since he and Taro started to your place," she said. "I'll call Sanosuke and Megumi, though. Maybe he's at Hyotoko's." Pause. "Okay, I'll call you back in a few minutes. Bye."

Hoshi frowned as she dialed the Takani house's number. When she had finished, she waited for a few moments, then frowned and hung up. Kiyoshi blinked.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Did Hyotoko say he and his family were going to be somewhere tonight?" his mother asked.

"His parents are going to a parent-teacher conference at school or something, but Hyotoko was planning to stay home…"

"Hm… Well, Hyotoko's not picking up…" Mrs. Insei said. She hung up, then dialed the number for Megumi's cell phone. After a moment she said, "Hello? Megumi? Yeah, this is Hoshi. Yeah, I know, you're in a conference. Sorry. It's just that Riku has disappeared. I tried calling your house, but Hyotoko's not picking up." Pause. "Yeah, the phone just kept ringing…"

She paused again. "Yeah," she said quietly. "It may be a good idea to go and check on him. Well, I'm going to call Tsuki again. Let her know you haven't seen him. Any news, then let me or Tsuki know," she said. She hung up and sighed, dialing Tsuki's number.

"Hello, Tsuki?" she asked. "No, they haven't seen Riku anywhere. You could tell Saitou to tell the other officers to keep an eye out for the boy…" She blinked, her eyes widening somewhat, then turning away, looking out the window so Kiyoshi couldn't see her face as there was a crash of thunder and flash of lightning outside. "Hang on," she said. She turned to look down at Kiyoshi. "Kiyoshi, could you go get your father?" she asked.

Kiyoshi blinked. "Er…sure…" he said, walking out. What's going on…? he wondered. Mom seems so worried… He went to the room where his mom kept most of her magic stuff, and where his father would go to meditate. He poked his head into the doorway. "Um, Dad…?" he asked.

His father looked up from his meditation. "Yes?" he asked. Kiyoshi took a lot of traits from his father. The black hair, the blue eyes. It was Sakura that resembled their mother.

"Mom wants you," Kiyoshi replied. "I think it's important…"

His father frowned somewhat, then nodded and stood up, following him to the kitchen. "Yes?" he asked as he entered the kitchen, seeing his wife's worried face.

Mrs. Insei paused for a moment, then smiled down at Kiyoshi and Sakura. It was a fake, weak smile, but she was trying. "Sakura, why don't you and your brother go watch TV?" she suggested.

Sakura blinked, a bit of a suspicious look crossing her features, then nodded. "Okay…" she said, walking out. "C'mon, Kiyoshi."

Kiyoshi paused, looking back, then nodded and followed her out. He shut the door behind him, however, when he did, he pressed his ear to the door.

"Kiyoshi…!" Sakura started, but Kiyoshi held up a hand to silence her as he listened.

"I don't like this… What if they're here? What if they followed us here?" Mrs. Insei asked. Kiyoshi frowned. She sounded worried. And whom was she talking about? Who were 'they?'

"Calm down. They would have gone to Tokyo and your brother and friends would have taken care of them there," Mr. Insei assured her.

"But who can be sure? They can't be defeated with ordinary weapons, Aoshi. Besides, what if that boy was one of them? What if Riku came here to…"

"I doubt it. Nothing's happened yet, has it?"

"Something has happened. Tsuki says that Saitou's officers are disappearing one by one. They've tried calling the officers but they're getting no response, just static."

"That could be from the storm…"

"I don't think so. She said it started to happen right before the storm…"

Pause. Then, "Well, if they came, they came. The only thing we can do at this point is fight."

"Kiyoshi…" Sakura started in a slightly shaky voice.

"Shhh!" Kiyoshi said, still trying to listen to the conversation.

"Kiyoshi…!" Sakura tried again, this time a bit more urgently.

"What?.!" Kiyoshi whispered, turning to her. He blinked when he saw that Sakura's eyes were wide, watching something out the window. He slowly turned to window and yelped when he saw two large, golden eyes peering back at him. He jumped back, seeing that it was a black monster that was almost as big as he was. "Wh-what is it…?.!" he started.

Sakura shook her head. "I have no idea…" she replied.

"What's going on in here?" Mr. Insei asked, opening the door.

"Um…" Sakura started, looking back over at the window.

Mr. Insei followed her gaze and his eyes widened slightly. "Sakura, take your brother to his room and don't come out. Don't open the doors or the windows to anybody or anything no matter what, and be prepared for any possible attacks."

"But Dad-" Sakura started.

"Now."

Sakura frowned, then nodded and dragged Kiyoshi to his room. "But…but…!" Kiyoshi objected.

"Kiyoshi, Mom and Dad can probably handle it. They're not tough fighters for nothin…" Sakura replied. Kiyoshi frowned, immediately going over to the window that showed the front of their house. His eyes widened.

"Sakura!" he cried. Sakura ran over and her eyes widened as well, but then they narrowed.

"Dammit, we're surrounded…" she said.

"What are we going to do?" Kiyoshi asked.

"You are going to do nothing," Sakura said as she checked to make sure all of her weapons were with her. "I'm going to go out to help Mom and Dad. You stay here."

"But you can't! They said not to!" Kiyoshi said. "Besides, I don't want to be left here all alone…"

"Kiyoshi…!" Sakura sighed and turned to her younger brother. "Look…this isn't the wisest choice maybe, but if Mom and Dad can't stop them, what's going to keep them from coming in here afterward? We don't have much of a choice but to fight, but I want you to stay in here, Kiyoshi." She smiled weakly back at him. "After all, one of us has to hide to survive, and you're the youngest, so I guess you're automatically the volunteer."

"What?.! But Sakura-"

"In case nobody comes back inside, wait here and be ready for a fight. Wait until Taro gets here and give him that box with that charmed keychain inside, especially if he's swinging around a giant key. Mom said so." She ran into the doorway, then turned back and smiled. "And Kiyoshi…be careful. Okay?" she said. Before he could respond or protest, she ran out, slamming the door behind her.

Author's Note-Once again, I apologize for taking so long to update. School's been out for awhile, and I tend to work during that time, so I've been in a bit of a lack of inspiration. About the last names and stuff (if you recognize the names 'Saitou', 'Sanosuke', 'Megumi', and 'Aoshi', heheh) and why they're not going by 'Shinomori', 'Sagara', and 'Hajime', that will be explained later on. Why they're in Twilight Town and not in Meiji Japan, as well as how Kiyoshi's parents seemed to know what was going on will also be explained later. Now, to respond to reviewers... -hands Doghouse a cookie- You're actually not far off from discovering why Tam passed out. That will be revealed a bit later. And yes, Yukiro pain and any character pain ish good. That's why I do it.. -grin- Shirozora, thanks for the review! The scenes and stuff I've seen to KH2 have been used in this, including some characters like BHK. Demonsurfer, I will tell you right now, he will not be a zombie, heheh. You know who... -grin- And Namine3419, thanks for the reviews (even if they are filled with evil laughs, heheh.) As you can see, I'm updating right now. -grins and sweatdrops- And I hope to update soon. Just remember that reviews are always motivating, so the more reviews I get, the sooner I update (I hope.) -smiles and sweatdrops- Okay? Thanks. Ja ne!