Alright, chapter two is UP.

Summary: When a disgruntled Sora lets his parents sign him up for a summer climbing camp, he's less than enthusiastic. But with some interesting new friends, crazy counselors, and a handsome, infuritating boy to deal with, this week might be more interesting than he thought...SoraxRiku, AxelxRoxas, AU.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I owned Kingdom Hearts, there would be like, twenty. No joke. I'd stand over the programmers all day and be like, "ANIMATE MORE SORA RIKU GOODNESS FOR ME!"

Hence, I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Coincidentally, I also do not own the song Kumbaya or anything by Kelly Clarkson. Bummer.

Author's Note: This little creation of mine will contain slash (though, sadly, only hints for the next few chapters). If you don't like it, then you are very obviously in denial. Come over to the dark side!

Reviewers:

Did I mention this nifty little feature? If you leave me a funny/interesting/psychotic review, I will feel obligated to respond at the beginning of the next chapter. So make me laugh and get your name in the story!

PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED ON THE FIRST VERSION OF THE FIC:

Ramen and Hickey: Yeah, I know about the Kairi thing. I never liked stories where she was all hung up on Sora and crying and depressive. Kairi's cooler than that (though, admittedly, never as cool as Riku).

Scarabsi: Aww -blush- thank you very much! And I have fixed it; now the story is on my homepage. (as long as the website doesn't flip out at me again O.o)

NEW REVIEWERS:

Rae and Arakni: I actually was in a cabin that had fruit as its theme. I think I was in grape or something harmless like that, but I remember thinking, "How much would it suck to be in banana?"

Gogo-chan: -palm to forehead- Thanks for pointing that out. I always have little grammar errors like that. Trying to fix them, but as I'm writing this on only a few hours of sleep, expect to find more stuff like this…

MyHiddenStory: Cupcakes, huh? Now that's a death threat I haven't heard before. A for originality!

All you other reviewers: I love you all. Your comments make me smile.

I think I've rambled long enough. Let's meet Riku!
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Twilight was just falling in sapphire waves as Sora exited the mess hall, tired and sleepy. The thick, warm food felt heavy in his stomach; it had looked as unappetizing as his cafeteria fare back home, but he quickly discovered that, although lacking in presentation, this food was good.

Now all he wanted to do was wander back to his cabin and curl up in a sleepy ball, but instead he was following a chatting Roxas and Kairi up to a gaping path in the forest, Hayner following behind.

Sora had sat with the other boy and girl at dinner and had to admit that Roxas had been right; Kairi had perked up at once whenS Sora admitted to owning a copy of the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD, and he had won Hayner over by beating him in five successive arm-wrestling matches. "You're stronger than you look," the bigger boy had said with a grudging look in his eyes, and Sora had known everything would be okay between them.

But his thoughts were yanked back to the present as he noticed they had started down a dark, winding path into the heart of the trees, which some thoughtful counselor had decorated with real flaming torches and paper lanterns, propped up every few feet. They gave the scene a warm, close feeling; many eyes sparkled and skin glowed golden as the throng of teenagers moved as one through the moonlit trees, talking and laughing.

Sora saw his destination before he reached it; halfway down the path he could faintly make out a crimson blur against the shadowy encloses of the trees. Mystified, he followed along the trail until he could hear the snapping and popping of many logs being consumed by flame, and then the trail opened up into a wide clearing, situated under the starry sky.

The bonfire in the middle roared hungry and orange, big enough so that Sora could feel the warmth on his face, even standing far away as he was now. Kairi, Hayner, and Roxas moved around him; only then did he notice that there were dozens of squat logs ringed around the main fire. He followed them hesitantly and took a seat near the front, as the other campers, voicing their pleasure, took seats around him. He shot a glance to his left; was it his imagination, or did the other three look strangely excited?

"Hey! Hey, everyone settle down!" A female voice boomed over the swollen crowd, and many voices fell silent at once. Sora located the source of the voice, a steel-haired, tough looking old woman wearing one of the characteristic orange shirts. She had her hands on her hips as she prowled a path around the fire. One unfortunate kid who was trying to toast a marshmallow was unpleasantly surprised as his stick was snapped in half, the marshmallow falling in gooey clumps from the end which the counselor held. She was grinning, and not in a friendly manner.

"Well, welcome to another year of Camp Ares; Fun, Friendship, and Adventure! Some people look all too familiar, and others I've yet to see, but I'm sure I'll be acquainted with all of you by the end of the summer, one way or the other. To all the people who are wondering who I am, my name is Janet, and I am director of this camp. I've running of this place for fifteen long years, ever since it first opened its doors. Back then it was an all girl's camp, and a lot quieter, too, but since now I see a lot of pubescent males grinning back at me right now, I feel it's high time to go over the rules of camp."

"First of all, we'll go over the basics, which some of you still seem to have trouble grasping. You must remain with your group and or in your cabin at all times, or at least have counselor supervision. That means no wandering into the middle of the woods because you 'lost your shoe' or 'couldn't find the bathrooms.' I've heard them all, so nothing's gonna work with me but the truth. No smoking, no drugs, no alcohol, no smoking, no setting things on fire, no obscenities, and no bullying, taunting, hazing, or any other harassment. And yes, dunking people in the lake does count."

"Now, onto the more specifics. Despite what your friend may tell you, it is not camp practice to climb on the roof cabins, nor is it sportsmanlike to hang the opposite gender's undergarments from the flagpole, however popular it may be. There is no swearing at counselors, calling counselors names, hitting counselors, hiding from counselors, or otherwise assaulting counselors in any way. I don't want a repeat of last year. And most importantly…however much your…erm…hormones get away from you, if I catch you doing something improper, the excuse, 'I'm getting something out of his eye,' will not work on me. You have been warned."

Roxas looked over and saw his smaller friend looking slightly stunned, his blue eyes wide and mouth agape. Leaning over, he laughed softly and said, "Don't worry. She's serious for the first three days and then she quiets down. And hiding from the counselors is practically a ritual."

Sora, confused already, gave him a weak smile before Janet started up again.

"So this is how this week is going to work. Tomorrow, you'll break into the groups you signed up for. Groups leaving for trips will leave two days from now and return on the last day of camp, while the rest of you get to deal with me for a whole merry week. Other than that…your individual counselors will explain the schedule."

"Now, I think I've talked enough," Janet said, and for the first time, she smiled. "I'm sure you all want to get on with the beginning-of-year-campfire…."

Everyone cheered.

She grinned back at them and moved out of the way, making room for a smaller, wiry-haired man who was carrying an acoustic guitar. He pulled a log bench over near the fire, where everyone could see him, and without so much as an introduction, broke into song.

"Kumbayah, my lord…

Kumbayah…..

Kumbayah, my lord….

Kumbayah…."

Sora, frozen in absolute terror, could not think of anything but, Oh my god. So it's true. EVERY camp sings this song!

He looked to his left, and was shocked to see the three tough individuals he had met that afternoon swaying and singing at the top of their lungs.

"Kumbayah, my lord…

Kumbayah…..

Kumbayah, my lord….

Kumbayah…."

Roxas looked over, grinned, and whacked the younger boy on the back affectionately. "Come on," he whispered, as the rest sang on. "Don't think about how cheesy it is. Just sing, and have fun with it."

Have fun with it?

Sora listened to the other teenagers around him; every single one was singing, however horribly, and the music from the guitar was strong and loud. Hesitantly, his voice cracking, he tried to join in.

"Kumbayah, my lord…

Kumbayah…..

Kumbayah, my lord….

Kumbayah…"

Hearing the smaller boy's first warlby strains, Roxas flashed him a thumbs-up. Encouraged, Sora sang louder, soon rivaling the very loud girl and two boys on his left in volume, breaking into a crescendo just as the song ended.

Sora soon found himself singing along to a whole host of songs he wouldn't be caught dead listening to; corny camp-pride chants, oldies, even a country song he didn't remember knowing the lyrics too. But here he was, bobbing his head and shaking his shoulder and waving his hands….

What's happening to me? Am I turning into…one of them?

But he didn't have time to consider that, because the campers, bored of songs their parents had listened to, had just broken into a chorus of Kelly Clarkson melodies, and he didn't even have time to breathe as he sang along happily, dozens of teenagers joining in. He thought Kairi and Hayner might be having a contest of who could sing louder and more horribly, but that could just be their normal personalities. Even Roxas, who he had already pegged as a metalhead, was humming along. The mood was infectious; he found himself laughing as he cast his gaze around all the bright, happy faces.

Then his eyes settled on the one person who wasn't singing.

The boy was sitting directly across from Sora, and Sora could barely make him out in the light of the flickering flames. From what he could see, the other boy was tall and slim, with long, silver hair. How weird…how often do you see people withsilver hair?

There was another boy with red hair sitting next to the silver-haired one; he was wearing all black and dancing around like a maniac. As Sora watched, curious, the first boy leaned across and began to whisper in the other boy's ear. Sora didn't take his gaze away, his curiosity growing. But it was just his luck that at that precise moment, the silver-haired boy turned and stared directly at him; icy aquamarine eyes bored into his own.

A blush flush across his cheekbones, Sora hurriedly yanked his gaze away and instead chose to look at the logs of the fire, weakly beginning to sing again. A few moments passed before he dared himself to look up again, but he quickly tore his gaze back down; the other boy was still staring fixedly at him.

What, did I offend him by looking at him, or something? It's not a crime!

He looked up for a third time, meeting green eyes once again.

Why is he still looking at me? Should I stop looking? But he's the one who's staring! Great. He's probably the camp bully, and I'm going to get beat up tomorrow for looking in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This thought crossing his mind, Sora leaned over to Roxas and whispered hurriedly, "Who is that guy, with the silver hair? He keeps glaring at me."

Roxas' mouth stiffened and he looked up curtly, his line of sight settling on the mystery boy. He snorted and a derisive smirk settled onto his calm features. "Over there? Those two are Riku and Axel, the camp assholes. They're rich and snobby as hell and pretend they don't like any of us, but they've got their own little following. Fan club, more like. We've tried to be nice to them, but Riku's about as responsive as a rock, and Axel…." his eyes wandered over to the redhead, who had resumed his jerking dance, "is just a spaz."

Roxas stopped his tirade and looked at Sora, curiosity replacing animosity in his eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason. He just…um…looked mean, that's all."

"Stay away from them," Roxas said with finality, and turned his attention back the roaring blaze.

When he was sure the blond boy wasn't looking, Sora snuck another gaze across the fire. But the silver-haired boy was looking away.

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-End Chapter Two-

I know, I know. I called Riku an asshole. He gets better, I promise. Axel, on the other hand, doesn't get any less spastic. Sorry.

Up Next: Maybe Roxas was right when he said stay away…those boys are grumpy.

Review? Please?