Disclaimer: It's getting boring but, I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Author's notes: Anyone remember me? After more than a year, I'm sort of back…? It's an experimental chapter, really, so I don't know what you guys will think about it. I haven't been into all this for a long while, so I might have gotten rusty and lost the touch or however you want to call it. Anyways. I'm also confused about the edit/preview thing, as my browser keeps messing up. Well, let's just hope it worked out like this.

This chapter is now the beginning of the school trip…

Sunday mornings were there to sleep. You weren't supposed to be awake on Sunday mornings. No, you weren't. Really. Being awake on a Sunday morning? Ha! Impossible.

Well, seemingly, though, it was not impossible, as Sora found himself dragging his luggage towards the bus, eyelids heavy and movements sluggish. Sure, Sora was energetic and happy most of the times but there were exceptions. Exceptions like Sunday mornings. Because you just did not get up before noon on Sunday (Sora barely slept during the week because of all the work he had to do so he needed Sundays...)

"Aw, come on sweetie, don't make such a face," he heard his mother coo, and if he hadn't been so busy trying to shove that damn bag into the bus's store room, he would have glared at her for calling him sweetie in front of his class. Well, at least he wasn't the only one whose parents were there. Almost every student was accompanied by their parents and siblings, all saying goodbye or doing small talk with others.

Sora finally managed to make that bag vanish and went back to his mother, heaving a sigh.

"You really didn't need to get up for me," he mumbled, knowing exactly that she was just as tired, just as overworked as him (if not more). But Ryoko only smiled, patting her son's head affectionately.

"You wanna make me look like a bad mother, huh? How can I stay at home and sleep when my little baby boy is leaaaaaaaving me?" the woman cried.

That sure drew some attention, Sora thought, as some of the people standing around turned their heads to see who was causing this commotion. Ryoko, suddenly the center of attention, cocked her head in a childlike way and looked at everyone staring at her.

"What? Don't tell me you're happy about your kids leaving you. What are we old hags going to do with our little sunshines?"

She just had to make it worse by pinching Sora's cheek. Some of the teens laughed, some pitied Sora. The parents, though, merely shook their heads and some started murmuring about that strange woman over there.

Ryoko didn't care. She wasn't one of those stuck up people and she was proud of it.

"And you better be proud, too," she told Sora, who, of course, had no idea what she was talking about.

It was still early. 6:30 am. Sora couldn't believe that he was actually awake. He had been up until 2 am, talking to Riku on the phone. He hadn't expected to wake up in time and more importantly be ready to leave in time.

Then it occurred to him. Riku hadn't arrived yet. Neither had Kairi. Well, there were still about fifteen minutes left and there were still a few people missing. It was no reason to worry, right? Sora did have a slightly queasy feeling when he thought about going on this trip without Kairi and Riku. He would need someone there because Selphie, Tidus and that Wakka he had met at the Halloween party, were not in his class, and aside from them he had no real friends. Actually, the rest of his class was more like a mass of drooling Riku-worshippers.

But Riku would arrive eventually, he knew that. They wouldn't leave without most important person.

Some muttering and hurried whispering interrupted Sora's train of thought. He looked at the small group of girls next to him, seeing them pointing at the road. He turned his head, following the direction of their gazes and eventually saw Kairi coming up, dragging her luggage with her.

No one seemed to be accompanying her and Sora thought he heard one of the girls say that her parents probably wanted her to leave as soon as possible because she was such a nuisance. He glared at them for saying those things about Kairi and was already opening his mouth to tell them to stop when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't," Ryoko murmured as she shook her head. It was better to leave them alone because those girls, definitely part of the Riku fanclub, were the worst when they were angry.

So Sora remained silent, watching how Kairi trudged towards him. She seemed tired and in a foul mood but as soon as she saw Sora, her face lit up and she let go of the bag, running towards Sora to hug him.

"Good morning!" she greeted him, squeezing him once before pulling away to get her bag into the bus.

Ryoko watched it all with a smile. She liked Kairi. She had met her once during the last week when she had come with Sora and Riku to study. She was a nice girl and very polite, yet she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. It was something Ryoko liked a lot.

But she also felt bad for Kairi because she had the suspicion that she might not only like Sora but perhaps wished for more. And seeing how close Riku was to Sora, it didn't seem like she had a chance. But Sora, being the nice boy he was, always treated Kairi with care and affection. He cared a lot about her and he couldn't deny that he liked her hugging him. The jealousy and suspicion he previously had was gone now.

Riku had confessed the story about the fiancée thing and that that was the reason they were always whispering about things. He had explained why they wanted to keep it secret and even though Kairi had wanted to keep it secret for longer, Riku couldn't stand lying to Sora.

So now Sora knew, but Kairi didn't know that he knew. However, it was all right that way because Sora could finally stop wondering what was going on between everyone, and even though he had the suspicion that he might be the person Riku had spoken of when he had told him that she liked someone, he decided to treat her just like he would treat her normally. The only thing that still irked him sometimes was that Riku never talked about his friendship with Kairi, how it had been before Sora came and if there had been any changes…

6:40.

"Five minutes left, so Riku better hurry up…" Kairi murmured as she looked at her watch. Sora nodded, standing beside her now as she had finished squeezing her bag into the bus.

It seemed as though everyone was waiting for Riku. Well, most of the pupils were there now, only Riku was missing. Being class president, he should've been there earlier than anyone but seemingly he was the last one to arrive. If he arrived at all.

"I can see a limousine!" someone suddenly exclaimed, sending everyone raising their heads in order to look at the road. Sora could barely make out what was happening with everyone standing in front of him. Kairi placed a hand on his shoulder to support herself as she stood on her tiptoes.

"Yeah, that's Riku's…" she murmured before starting to smile. Coming back to standing on her soles, she shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Figures, he'd make sure to have a big entrance and show off…"

Sora cocked his head. Big entrance? Show off? Riku wasn't like that… But then it hit him. Of course their Riku was like that. Sora sighed. He had gotten used to the real Riku so much that he sometimes completely forgot about the person everyone else knew. Then again, Riku, the real one probably would show off. Kairi was right, after all.

The limousine parked right next to the bus and the doors at the sides opened to reveal two servants getting out, one extending his hand to help Riku out of the car (which the boy didn't take), and another one carrying the luggage to a special depot in the bus. Yeah, Riku got an extra space for his stuff because it was his parents who paid most of this trip. The school used the saved money that they received through donations of rich parents and sponsors but Riku's parents had felt like contributing to this trip a little more. Why? To strengthen the relationship between them and school, of course. Riku was to be treated like a prince, and it was well known that the right treatment had its price.

So there he was now, dusting off his clothes as he left the limousine, waving a dismissing hand at his servants.

Of course his parents hadn't accompanied him, why should they? They had made sure he got the limousine and that was enough.

He could almost feel it coming, though, as a horde of girls and boys suddenly started storming towards him. The whole place was deserted and only Sora, Kairi and Ryoko were left standing where they had been.

The rest was crowded around Riku, just like a horde of animals surrounding food. Squealing girls whipped out their presents, most of them were scarves or gloves since it was really cold now. The middle of December, after all.

Some boys even had their presents for Riku and begged him to help them be as cool as him.

The silver haired boy played with them, nodding to everything, smiling at everyone, promising things that would be soon forgotten.

Kairi started shivering then, for a freezing gust of wind came up and Sora quickly put an arm around her. She couldn't help but blush when she felt Sora hold her and even though she knew that it was wrong, she couldn't stop herself from shivering more, deliberately, to get more attention.

But Sora's attention wasn't centered on her. He was watching Riku longingly, hoping that he would at least see the boy sometime during whole trip. Well, they had promised to share a room…

"All right, everyone, we're already five minutes behind the schedule. Better hurry up!" One of the teachers, Ms Larxene, a young woman with bright blonde hair and almost turquoise eyes that had just started working in this school, crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

"Come on, you brats. You don't wanna miss the trip now, do you?"

Some of the parents looked at her strangely, feeling that her language and posture was rather inappropriate for a teacher. She didn't seem to care, though, and only glared at them in that 'Don't piss me off' kind of way.

Hurriedly, the students entered the bus, anticipating the week away from their parents. Sora and Kairi were the last to enter, safe for Riku, and Ryoko waved at them. She felt a bit sorry for Kairi as no one had come to say goodbye to her. So she patted her head just like she did with Sora before they left, and she waved at both at them as though they both were her children.

Then it was Riku's turn to leave. He had seen his friends and Ryoko when he arrived but he wasn't counting on talking to them while the fans were around him. So when he was the only one left, everyone waiting for him, he turned his head to Sora's mother and smiled at her, raising his hand to wave at her.

A few surprised gasps were audible, then agitated murmuring ensued among the remaining parents and everyone started looking back and forth between Riku and Ryoko.

The woman chuckled. "Yeah, your perfect God knows that crazy woman," she muttered under her breath before smiling brightly and waving at Riku.

When he entered the bus, Ms Larxene rolled her eyes as if to say 'Finally!' and sat down in the front seat along with Ms Gainsborough as those two were going to take care of the class during the trip. Aeris was a bit skeptic about Larxene because she didn't seem to have any plan or schedule. 'Let them run around on their own until we get home' was what she said. Aeris could only shake her head towards that attitude, even though she had been planning on eliminating the teacher-student relationship for this trip.

The bus already started moving when Riku made his way to the back seats. There were two seats on each side of the narrow corridor. The backseats were usually occupied with the teacher's bags. But this time, there were only two seats occupied, so two were vacant. Well, one, since Sora had taken one of them. Kairi was sitting right in front of him, alone. It might have looked funny to others (if they had actually paid attention) since they were both sitting alone, but it was intended that way.

Everyone tensed and then sighed in disappointment when Riku passed them, all having hoped that Riku would somehow brush against them or stop to talk to them.

It was the same drama for every seat until he reached the last one, Sora's and sat down next to him.

Sora was sitting at the window and Riku sat down next to the bags. Aeris looked back at them as if to check, then nodded in approval. It was good to see Riku sitting next to the bags, because she didn't trust the other students. They might have taken something out or put their garbage in. Kids were like that…

---

One hour into the driving and Sora was nearly dozing off. The vibrating movements of the bus only made him sleepier and he was fighting the urge to fall asleep.

Kairi had made herself comfortable, having two seats for herself, and was reading a book. Riku had been talking to her a few minutes ago but now that she settled with something to do, he was just sitting there, staring ahead.

He wasn't tired. Unlike Sora, who, as he turned his head to check, was beginning to drool slightly in his state of half-sleep. He smiled.

"You even look cute when you drool," he whispered, reaching out a finger to poke at the corner of Sora's lips.

Sora jerked at the touch and snapped his eyes open, staring at Riku. "Wh-what?" He then yawned and his head got heavy, so he leaned it back against the seat.

Riku, still smiling, shifted sideways in his seat to face Sora. He lifted a hand and moved it over Sora's face, which caused the younger boy to sigh and relax immediately. Riku withdrew his hand and shifted again, this time to put one arm around Sora, pulling him close so the boy could rest his head on Riku's shoulder.

He heard Sora mumble something sleepily and smiled. "No, Sora, we're not there yet," he gently answered, moving his arm down so his hand was resting on Sora's side.

The younger boy sighed, then yawned again, shifting to snuggle closer to Riku. He didn't think much about others since they were in the back seats where no one would really see them. And even if they did see them like that… well, they could go to hell, for all he cared. Of course he knew that they would probably skin him alive of burn him at the stake for being so close to the one they worshipped but… really… he was tired. And it was still a Sunday morning on which no one was supposed to be up.

Riku started massaging his side slightly, fingers dancing on the sweatshirt Sora was wearing. And very quietly, almost inaudibly, to make sure that no one else would catch it, he whispered a little "I love you" to his friend.

----

They were already there when Sora woke up. The bus driver had stopped about five minutes ago but the brunet had been sleeping like a baby and no one had had the heart to wake him. Riku was still beside him, watching over him as he made sure no one was forgetting anything in the bus while the dozens of students gradually left the vehicle.

"Whattimesit…?" Sora sleepily asked as his mind drifted into consciousness, trying to sit up properly but stopping when he felt his neck ache from the movement. 'Damn… I feel sore all over…' He wasn't the type to sleep while sitting; no matter how small and cramped his bed was (compared to a certain silver haired boy's king-sized thing of a bed), he could still lie down and stretch out – at least somewhat.

"Quarter past three. We've been driving for the last few hours and you were asleep almost all of the time, sleepyhead," Riku answered with a teasing smile, poking the other boy's forehead. "How about you get up and help me bring our luggage out?"

Sora blinked at the words that came pouring out of Riku's mouth, not quite registering their meaning and not thinking that it was that important. "Mmhm…" He closed his eyes again, yawning and curling up even as he grimaced at the pain that came from his back, signalizing that he was going to get even sorer if he stayed in here.

"…You weren't listening at all, were you?" He faintly heard the voice, but it was nice and distorted as his mind already went back into the depths of wonderland- or dreamland, whatever one might call the place where sweets grow on trees and homework is non existent and "...Riku's my boyfriend…" Sora mumbled in continuation of his thoughts before snapping awake in embarrassment. He had not just said that. Especially not in front of Riku.

"What was that?" Riku absently asked, tilting his head back to look at Sora as he rummaged through the backpack in the seat next to him.

"Nothing," Sora quickly muttered, getting up only to fall back into the seat. 'Great. Legs fell asleep. Stupid legs.' He sighed in annoyance, rubbing his eyes full of sleep before turning to Riku. "Uh, so, we're here?" It was a silly question, really, as Riku had just told him that they were.

The silver haired boy nodded and gestured towards the window, still messing with something in his backpack, though Sora couldn't see what he was looking for. "Everyone's already starting to get their bags. We'll be given the keys to rooms in a minute," he heard him go on and quickly looked out of the window, noting that little snowflakes were floating in the air.

"Snow!" he cried out in excitement, completely forgetting about his legs and jumping up again, hugging the seat before him to keep standing as his legs gave in again. "Snow! Look, there's snow!" Now he loved snow, even more than rain. It was like better version of rain; so pure and white and extremely soft when it was fresh.

He remembered jumping into previously made heaps of snow when he was little, crawling around in the wetness until his parents had to drag a completely soaked little boy out of the heap, throwing him into a bathtub filled with warm water until his lips regained their usual rosy color, and not that bluish hue.

Even though he always caught a cold after these little escapades, freezing on his way home when his father or mother would hide him under their coats, he always remembered these times with a smile. He suspected he had been smiling the whole time back then, too, even with a running nose and a sore throat. Childhood memories…

Riku meanwhile grabbed the list he had been looking for, going through the names and numbers next to them before he nodded, starting to get up.

"Let's go, it's time to move in." He smiled when he saw Sora nearly delirious with happiness, shaking his head at how little things could make the boy happy. 'It's amazing… it's like everything's magical for him…'

When they got out of the bus, half of the students instantly tried to get to Riku, starting to storm towards him and only stopping when he held up a hand. Good thing they were like dogs, Sora thought, smiling at how one gesture was enough to control them.

"Now, you guys all filled out that list, right? We checked…" He paused, glancing at Aeris to see her nod before he continued. "And it all works out." 'And no, none of you morons got a room with me,' he added silently, seeing that they had all first tried to get the same number as Riku so they would be assigned to the same room.

Sora yawned, tempted to lean against Riku as he spoke and nearly drifting off at the beautiful snow and nice fresh air, before he was ripped out of his thoughts by a rather loud voice.

"Now get in, brats! Remember, it's double beds only, so no boys and girls in the same bed unless you want to bring your parents nice diaper-wearing souvenirs!"

That was Ms Larxene, all right. He still wondered how she could have been chosen as teacher for a school like this, but then a lot of things in this school didn't make sense. It didn't make sense how it could be such a fancy and rich school and still be cheap enough for Sora to be able to go there. It also didn't make sense that the headmaster was no older than twenty-five, unless he was some kind of immortal, non-aging being. And he didn't even want to think about that crazy secretary that ran around in ninja clothing…

"Are you done daydreaming?" Riku chuckled when he nudged Sora, sensing that he had totally spaced out.

"Uh…huh?" The brunet blinked, shaking his head and then wrinkling his nose as he felt a snowflake hit his face. "So we're checking in?" He grinned, suddenly completely awake and hyper. This was his week with Riku! Sharing a room, being with him without having to work on anything, being together, sharing a room,…. 'Wait.'

"Double beds?"

Riku blinked when Sora suddenly tugged on his coat, wanting to get in as fast as possible as the rest of the students were already vanishing into the building. It wasn't the biggest and most luxurious one; just a big hut, but it seemed nice enough.

"Yeah, double beds. Didn't you know?" He paused, wondering if he had never told Sora and now worrying that the other might mind sharing a bed. Not that there was any reason for that, but…

Sora zoned out again at the confirmation, only slowly shaking his head to the question when he finally registered it. 'Sharing a room with…sharing a bed with Riku!' his mind piped and suddenly his eyes widened and his hand went to grab Riku's arm.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Riku could only blink as he got dragged into the house, trying to keep up with a suddenly very hyper Sora as he had to carry the remaining luggage as well. He smiled after a moment of being pulled along, finally entering the warm hut and seeing that it was indeed cozy.

"Let's find our room then…" Riku murmured, seeing Aeris wave at him as she handed out the keys to the students, throwing Riku's towards him so he wouldn't have to get close to the rabid fan-club. He was thankful for Aeris, who knew of his 'suffering'… even if she had caught him and Sora kissing once… up till now, she hadn't caused any more trouble, so that was all right.

Eventually, they reached the room. It was upstairs, a small but beautifully carved wooden door with a number on it, and Riku couldn't help but think of it as a door to another world when he thought about how he would spend the evenings and night with Sora in there for the next few days.

"So here it is…" Sora murmured, smiling slightly as he leaned against Riku, still standing beside him and looking at the door just as Riku was doing it. They stood quietly for another moment before both reaching for the doorknob, pausing, then turning to glance at each other.

Sora gave Riku a smile, Riku returned it and then they nodded at each other and opened the door together.

The week they had been waiting for was finally here.

– To be continued –

Ending notes: I know, nothing much happened but if everything goes well and I do keep writing… the trip will take up a few chapters and be filled with all kinds of fluff and nice stuff… So, reviews are appreciated.