Chapter 3: Trouble in Paradise

After what seemed like hours of walking the district, a semi-loud grumble in Sora's stomach detested not having food since the train ride. He took a quick glance around him and smiled as a convenience store came into view. He strolled into the store and quickly viewed its wares before deciding on a bag of chips, two boxes of strawberry pocky, and a melon soda. As he stood in line for the register, he noted junk food that he never had or seen before, which in turn made him primarily interested about trying it. He shifted to his other foot as he saw about seven rows of various types of candy. His mouth watered slightly by just staring at it. When he finally stopped looking about, he moved forward, making his shoulder bump into something next to him. He cursed under his breath and bent down to pick it up when something liked with his hand: another hand. Sora then realized that he didn't knock someTHING over. He knocked someONE over.

"Oh crap… I'm really sorry about that that! I should've been paying attention." Sora said apologetically. His gaze instantly met a small short-haired blonde girl with light skin and the calmest cornflower blue pools his had ever scene.

Suddenly, he felt even worse, like he killed a puppy.

"It's alright. New people normally stare around the store." She spoke calmly. She giggled softly at him while he just stared at her, dumbfounded.

'Wait…did she just say—'

"How…do you know that I'm new?" Sora said nervously. He tried to make it seem like he lived here for years, staring back at her with sharp sapphire pools. Though, she didn't look phased in the least. She simply pointed out the store window.

"You see that statue out there?" she questioned. The older brunette followed her finger to the statue and viewed it over. On a podium rested a large stone dog with a rather stern maw. He nodded carefully and looked back towards her. "Well, my big brother and I watched you walk from the station to here while we were waiting for our other friends but you passed the statue about five times within the hour." She explained. "People that live where know where everything is, which means that you're lost."

Sora simply lowered his head in defeat.

"Am I that obvious?"

"Yup"

He sighed, a light shade of pink tingeing his cheeks. When he finally remembered that she was still sitting on the floor with her hand in his, Sora hoisted her off the ground and released her hand. While she dusted herself off, he took another good look at her. She sported a short-sleeved orange shirt with a pair of white cargo pants, black high top sneakers and a cute bell pendant. The shirt had a skull on it as did on the blank beanie that sat on her head, both were white and palm sized. Sora had to look away for a minute to pay for the snacks before he looked back to the girl.

"I'm Sora Leonheart and as you mentioned, no; I'm not from here. I'm from Destiny Islands." He stated.

"I thought so. I'm Bito Raimu, but my friends call me Rhyme." She smiled softly. "If you're lost, my older brother and I can escort you there. We know this place like the back of our hands."

Sora lightly tilted his head. Not at the request, however. It was her nickname.

"Wait… why do they call you 'Rhyme'?" Sora pondered to her.

"Well, I write a lot of poetry and it has a tendency to rhyme."

"Oh cool! I could never write poetry. Do you think you'll let me hear it one day?" Sora beamed.

"Hmm...you have to promise to give me feedback, but other than that, sure. " She answered.

'To be honest, it sounds kinda cute.'

Rhyme walked outside the store, with the brunette a close second. Sora stood next to her as she stood out in the sunlight. She turned to look at him with a bright smile.

"So...Sora, where do you have to go?" She asked.

"Um… my older brother told me…278 Kurosu-Shi in the A-East district." Sora recited to her. Rhyme nodded.

"Ok. Well, let's—" Rhyme started as another blonde sauntered towards them, interrupting her.

"Yo Rhyme! What's taking you so long?" he groaned.

"Sorry Beat!" she smiled and moved her hand to gesture the boy next to her. "Sora, this is my big brother, Beat. Beat, this is Sora." Rhyme briefly introduced each other. The brunette looked him over thoroughly as Rhyme spoke. Beat donned a red on brown muscle shirt, black cargo shorts, red and black high top boots, a black skull pendent on a black chain, and a black beanie with a with a larger white skull than Rhyme's. He looked much like Rhyme but with some obvious differences. Although his hair was the same as his sister's, it was shorter; slicked back and spiky at the same time. His eyes were a slightly lighter shade of blue and had muscles that proved he didn't do any light work. He also stood 3 feet taller than her and was not as pale as Rhyme. The male in question huffed as he looked at them.

"Sup." Beat stared down at him.

'Damn. He's tall.'

"Uh…hi there." Sora gulped.

Rhyme looked up to her brother with a smile. "We should take him to A-East."

"Huh? Whatcha mean 'we should'? Why should we? We don't know him." Beat spat. "And don't forget that we gotta meet the others here. What we gonna say to them?" Rhyme sighed and held out her hand. A box of chocolate pocky seemed to smile at him as his own eyes widened.

"There's pocky in it for you if you agree. I hate blackmail but you gotta do what you gotta do, especially if it means helping others. So if you want it, you can have it. But we take him there first." Rhyme reasoned with her brother, which had worked. His face went from 'No way' to 'Hell yeah' in less than a minute. Beat was all for it now and this made Sora smile. At this rate, he'll be there in no time.

Sora felt slightly guilty, though. He knew he should've called Leon since he was in fact lost, but when he met people who were nice enough to help him, he couldn't do it. Sora couldn't resist her smile, the way she practically forced her brother help bring him home. Perhaps Shibuya isn't so bad.

The three began the journey to A-East at a pretty slow pace so the siblings could get to know Sora and vice versa. A few questions held some importance while others were simply there, such as favorite food, colors and stuff of that nature. They passed 104, pointing out some stores and boutiques as they walked. For a while, Sora lifted his gaze to the sky and stared in awe at the structure of the buildings. Each was tall and completely noticeable. Although the height of them placed fear inside the brunette.

"So Sora, what's Destiny Islands like?" Rhyme questioned.

"What's it like? Well…" Sora started as he pulled out pocky stick, but was interrupted by Beat.

"Rhyme, it's an island. Ya know, like one friggin palm tree and a weird lookin house." Beat interjected. This earned an awkward stare and a sincere giggle from Sora and Rhyme, respectively. The young blonde tried her best to break it down to her somewhat ditzy brother as best as she could.

"Beat, not all islands are like that." She stated calmly. "Anyways, continue." The young brunette nodded and kept going.

"It's a town, more or less. It's pretty much sand for dirt, palm trees, lots of swim space, and lots of schools ranging from private elementary schools to private high schools." Sora finally concluded.

"Private schools? You gotta be hella smart to be there huh?" the older blonde gaped.

"Not exactly." Sora said. The teens rounded the corner and continued down the street passing a few more rows of houses.

"What was the address again?" Rhyme questioned. Sora pondered in thought for a minute before he answered.

"278 Kurosu-Shi." Sora recited back as she stopped walking. Beat and Sora both followed suit and paused. They all turned to a nice grey and black 2-story house. Sora stared at the flowers that littered the grass around the house and immediately thought about Namine with the eager calmness in her voice.

"Well, this is your stop." Rhyme shrugged. She pulled out the box of pocky and handed it to her brother, who instantly thanked her and began eating. Sora reached into his bag for his chips but forgot that he had eaten them 20 minutes before. He pulled his hand out and sighed.

'Oh well. Leon probably cooked anyways.' He thought.

Rhyme turned to him. "We'll see you around right?" Sora flashed his genuine smile and nodded.

"Of course! I'm looking forward to it!" He said. And with that, they parted ways; Rhyme and Beat walking back the way they came and Sora staying put at his house.

"Bye Sora! It was nice to meet you!" the younger blonde waved as she walked. Beat threw up a peace sign with his fingers and kept walking.

The brunette waved back as he trotted up the stairs to the front door. Happiness surged through him like electricity. He was finally free from their wrath and there was no way in hell that he was going back. He rang the doorbell and waited a few minutes though he didn't hear anyone scream that it was him or anything of that nature. It was silent.

'They didn't throw me a party I hope.' Sora hoped. 'The last time that happened, Leon almost went into seizure.'

He knocked this time loudly with some force and waited once more. A few agonizing minutes later, he damn near kicked the door, which at this point had opened. He had strength from Leon training him, but he was never able to wield it when Ansem had him in his range. Sora walked into the house and carefully placed his bags by the door.

"Hello? Leon, Selphie, I'm here!" He called out to the house. "Kairi? Xion? Namine?"

The house was quiet. Sora looked around carefully as he began to look for them. He strolled into the kitchen slowly and called out once more.

"Leon?"

But there was nothing. He pulled out from the room and walked upstairs to the landing. All room doors were open except for the older brunette's. "Hello?"

No answer.

He sighed lightly. He began to fidget with the chain in his hip. No one was there.

"Namine told me to hurry…but why?" Sora pondered under his breath. He allowed another sigh to escape his lips as he dug into his pocket and pull his phone from his pocket. He touched a few numbers on the screen and held the phone up to his ear. Not even 2 seconds later, he heard a musical tune coming from the only open room in the house: Leon's. The young brunette slowly walked towards the room and peered inside. Lying on the bed was a Sprint 4G midnight blue cellphone, its screen brightening a small portion of the room. Sora literally flew over to the bed and picked up the cold phone. His name flashed on the screen in sapphire letters.

'Leon left his phone…he never EVER leaves his phone…' the boy gulped. His senses were instantly heightened as the paranoia set in. Something wasn't right. He hung up his phone and placed Leon's back onto his bed.

"Something wrong kiddo?"

Sora spun around quickly and stared at the figure in the door.

From the voice, Sora could tell it was a man and he sported a black overcoat with a hood that covered his face.

The young brunette was completely petrified.

'I didn't hear him walk in…'

"Who are you...What do you want?" Sora managed to squeak out. The man chuckled.

"My name is of no importance to you Sora." The man sid, slowly approaching the brunette in front of him.

Sora began to back away but couldn't due to the bed. "Who the hell are you!? Where's Leon?! Where are the girls?!"

And in that instant, the man's black gloved hand began to rise. Sora noticed that in the man's hand was something black and small, but he found himself staring down a small hole of the item. He felt sweat drip down his forehead.

It wasn't just any small hole.

It was a gun barrel.

A single pop was heard and then Sora's whole world went black as his limp body hit the floor with a heavy thud.

A/N

OOooooooo I told you! ^-^ I finally have a break so I can continue fixing this story! Yay! Expect another chapter tomorrow! Or TONIGHT! I donno! You guys might get lucky!

- ~*Psyren*~