I was at school, feeling as lonely as could be since Riku was no longer in school and Roxas had class now. Damn, I hate being alone. It wasn't fun at all.

But when Riku was around…I never felt alone, not even for a second. It was kind of funny how our friendship began. We were fairly young, though I've been with Riku so long that the number of our age at the time escaped me. All I knew was that Riku was about a year older than me. When we met, I couldn't forget that day:

I was sitting on the grass near the playground…alone; like I always was. My brother Roxas wasn't there. He hated the playground. He insisted on any sort of school his age would take. Everyone else was laughing and having fun but not me since I was too scared to play with anyone. I just plucked out blades of grass one by one until I felt like telling my mom I wanted to go home.

But this day was different. As I kept my attention on the grass, a ball suddenly fell out of no where right in front of me. I was shocked at the sudden appearance and looked up. There were two kids – boys – who I earlier noticed were playing kick ball back and fourth with each other.

To me, they both looked funny. One had the most wildly fire red hair I had ever seen while the other had abnormal white hair. It must be a really rare trait, I remember thinking to myself. Well, the boy with the red hair noticed me by their ball but didn't make a move towards me. It was the silver haired one that took the steps closer.

"Wait," the red head said to him, thinking he was speaking softly so that I couldn't hear, but I could. "Don't go near that kid, he's a freak."

"What are you talking about?" the silver haired boy asked as he casted a glance at me. "He's not doing anything wrong."

"Didn't you know? All that kid does is be by himself, just sits there on the grass and not play with anyone," the kid informed his friend in a tone that the other should have known this already.

"Well, you can't blame him," snapped the other as he brushed the other's hand off his shoulder that was holding him back. "With you guys acting like this, I'd want to be by myself too. You're just mean."

It actually…made me happy to hear a total stranger stick up for me like that.

"Hey, could you toss me that?" asked the kid with the unusual hair as he stood a few feet from me. He was smiling so nicely and he pointed to the kick ball in front of me.

*I remember staring at him, for the longest time before I nodded and tossed it to him. And you want to know what he did? He smiled. Smiled. No kid on the whole playground smiled at me so…friendly. They only laughed or teased me. I idolized that smile.

"My name's Riku," he said as he held the ball under one arm against his side and he spoke nicely as well. "What's your name?"

Wow, it really sounded like he wanted to know my name.

"S-Sra…" I mostly mumbled, not looking at him since talking wasn't my best talent.

"Sarah?" Riku asked, sounding a bit confused as he tilted his head at me a bit. "That's a funny name for a boy. You're a boy right?"

"Sora," I corrected as I nodded my head to the 'if I was a boy question', speaking a bit more clearly and feeling very ashamed at myself and very embarrassed.

"Now that's a much better name," he said, smile still bright, showing no meaning to tease me of it. "It's a great name. I like it."

"Riku, hurry up already! I want to play before I have to go home for dinner!" shouted the other boy who kept his fair distance from me.

"Well, Sora, if you want to play with me, I would be happy if you did," said Riku as he waved to me and turned, walking back to his friend.

That was the start of it; our childhood friendship that grew with each passing day, little by little.

The next day in the park, I was again sitting on the grass, playing with the green plants growing out of the dirt when a ball fell in front of me. It surprised me yet again. Twice in a row? That was funny odds.

"Hey, could you toss me that?"

I knew that voice…

When I looked up, I saw that same smile I saw the day before. It was Riku again. I looked down at the ball before tossing it to him again. He didn't ask me any more questions about myself today.

"Want to play kickball?" asked Riku, saying it the same way he did the day before. It sounded so sincere that I was about to take that offer. But I saw that red haired kid standing a few feet behind him so I only shook my head 'no'.

"Well, Sora, if you want to play with me, I would be happy if you did."

That was all he said with that smile before he turned and walked away. With the passing days, I refused to play with him but little did I know, I was. Because, you see, Riku always "accidentally" kicked that ball over to me and he would say, "Hey, could you toss me that?" but not ask me to play; only walked away. Honestly, I was very confused but then as the days went on and those "accidental" kicks happened more frequently, I understood perfectly.

It was like a game of toss that lasted day after day after day and, I don't know how it really happened but, me and Riku were playing an actual game of kickball. With the exclusion of the red haired kid though. He stopped hanging around Riku when he started to play with me.

Soon we even starting talking and played all day. We were…friends. Riku was my first actual friend and I was…happy.

But that all changed when Riku's family moved away, taking Riku with them. I was heartbroken and was alone and teased again, reverting back to my loner ways. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned into months, and months into years. Years and years with nothing. No Riku to play with me, no nothing. Only me and my brother who was very distant with everything that moved, even me.

Though Riku wasn't gone forever. It was a few years back from now, three I think that I was new to high school in a new town my family had moved to, walking the halls by myself. Just as my youth, I kept my eyes down at my feet as I walked before a bottle of water rolled in front of me, bumping my feet.

"Hey, could you toss me that?" asked a voice that made my heart jump insanely.

I knew that voice…

I was right when I looked up to see a charming, kind smile from a boy that had such strange hair. But the boy was older now. Just like me. He was so much taller, more handsome and if it wasn't for that smile and funny hair, I wouldn't have guessed that it was Riku.

"Hi, Sora," he said in a tone that was as if he were glad to see me, the smile only reassuring it. "It's been a while."

I didn't say anything. Not a word. Only dropped my books and ran into his arms that welcomed me with a hug without hesitation.

*And that was how Riku and I became friends for the rest of our high school days and I'm still happy. Still glad that he kicked that ball over to me every day at the park. I never felt lonely after that. Riku wouldn't let me feel lonely. He spent all his time with me and I spent all my time with him. He didn't even seem bothered when I followed him around and sat next to him in our classes. We were always partners in something and our study groups only had two members: me and him.

The bell rang and I snapped out of my memory, little did I know I was smiling to myself. I miss Riku, I really do. I gathered up my things for the day at school was now over.

"Hey, look at that," I hear someone whisper and I turned my head to see a small group of four boys talking to each other, all looking at me.

I noticed one specific boy. One with wild, fire red hair. He was looking right at me while muttering something to another boy who grinned at me. I felt a horrible uneasiness in my stomach and I wished Riku was here to reassure me, to protect me. He was still looking at me, green eyes holding something I didn't want to read. I only turned away and walked back home as quickly as I could.