Hi everybody! This is my first ever Kingdom Hearts fic! In case you spot similarities along the way in this story, yes, it is loosely based on the story of NANA by Ai Yazawa. So don't yell at me for stealing the idea. It is only LOOSELY based! I know he doesn't appear in the game, but I had to put Zack Fair in this story! He just fits the profile of my bassist character so well! It was going to be Axel but he's too... skinny, lol. The character had to be quite 'manly', and Zack just fits that profile...

IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THE STORY: Each chapter is based around one song and entitled thus. They are all songs which I feel display Roxas' current state of mind, and thus the type of songs he is likely to perform. All of them also are performed by bands, in which it is easy to picture Roxas being the vocalist. You don't have to listen to the songs, but if you do, it will set you up for the right vibe for each chapter.

So, without further ado, here is the first chapter of Kiss and I Will Surrender.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or NANA.

One

The Sharpest Lives

Sora hated crowds. His cobalt eyes were framed with a frown as he followed his red haired friend through the throngs of people. He wondered what Kairi was doing, bringing him to such an underground place. Everyone here had facial piercings and Mohawks, unnatural colours in their hair, tight black clothes and heavy metal boots. Kairi in her bright pink, and he in his faded jeans and hoody, stood out like a sore thumb. But here he was, being pulled through the crowd by the wrist, trying not to catch anyone's gaze. He was only here because Kairi wanted to be here, and she only wanted to be here because her new boyfriend was the drummer for the band that they were here to see.

They reached the stage, and Sora took the time now to look at the place they were in. They had descended several flights of stairs, so he judged that they were in a basement. The walls were covered in graffiti, and the floor was sticky. The ceiling was low, and the red lights gave the place a seedy feeling. Overall, he wasn't enjoying himself thus far.

"So what was Riku's band called again?" he shouted over the din of awful punk music that was currently being played through a set of huge speakers that made the floor vibrate with bass.

"I don't know; something Spanish!" she yelled back, shrugging. Sora rolled his eyes. Did she and Riku do any actual conversing on their many dates? But then again, Kairi had a memory like a sieve, so she probably had just forgotten. She looked excited, happier than she had been since her last serious relationship with that creep Xemnas. Kairi's life was a rollercoaster of falling in and out of love. She had no in between. She couldn't just like someone. Every guy she met was a potential husband. Sora wondered how he had ended up as just her friend, and had not been sized up to be a lover. As far as he knew, he was Kairi's only male friend.

They waited, trying to ignore the trash being played over the speakers, and holding their positions at the front. As the time drew nearer to when Riku's band would be playing, more people started to press in. Sora nearly choked on the claustrophobia. He hated being Kairi's friend sometimes. None of her female friends agreed to her every whim like he did. He couldn't help it, he had a weak disposition. He couldn't say no to anybody. And so he always found himself being dragged off on Kairi's latest adventure, whilst Olette and Naminé simply waved and wished him good luck.

"Oh, here they come!" Kairi suddenly cried, as the lights dimmed. The stage was dark. The silhouettes of the mikes, amps and the drum kit were all that could be seen. A spotlight fell over the drums as Riku emerged from the side door. Sora could understand Kairi's attraction to him. He was tall, with toned, muscular arms, and long silver hair that framed a strongly angled face and ice blue eyes. A half-assed smirk always tugged at the corners of his lips. He waved to the reasonably sized crowd, and sat down at the drum kit.

The bass guitarist's mike was then lit up, and a fairly tanned, black haired older teen walked on stage, his incredible electric blue eyes piercing the darkness with unbelievable energy. His raven black hair was long, reaching down his back like feathers, with two large locks spiked forwards to fall either side of his face. He gave a cheeky grin to the waiting punks and set his bass up, taking up position behind his microphone.

Then the lead guitarist's microphone was highlighted. Another older boy slouched on, his electric blue eyes equally as piercing as the black haired bassist's, making Sora wonder if the two were related. But this boy's skin was so pale it was like marble, and his hair was extremely fair, in perfectly sculpted spikes, none falling past his chin. He had a confused, lost expression on his face as he took up his position, chewing his lip nervously.

The singer's mike remained dark for the moment. After a quick sound test, the three men exchanged looks, and with a count down from Riku, they started to play. Heavy, dark chords, filled with passion and anger reverberated around the room. The guitarist looked lost in the music, his eyes closed as the music swirled around him. The bassist was determined, but grinning, the dark music accentuating his dark features and his piercing eyes. And then, the final microphone was highlighted, to reveal the singer already standing there.

Sora felt himself intake a breath. Golden locks that looked like spun gold, soft as feathers, messily styled into rough spikes, shone in the harsh light of the spotlight. Skin like porcelain, with a few freckles dusted over his cheeks. Cerulean eyes like oceans, so deep you could drown in them. A slim, lean frame that was slightly shorter than the other boys. But what was most transfixing was his expression. He looked so sad; sure, he was smiling slightly, but his eyes were heavy with forlornness, and his smile didn't reach those sad eyes. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt that showed a toned, slight figure, and had a black studded choker around his thin neck.

And then he was singing. And all his sadness melted away with the music, and Sora knew that this was a person who was only happy when he was belting out songs, throwing all his passion into the music. The whole band was lost in the song, but this boy, who could barely be a day older than Sora, looked like he breathed music. It completed him.

The song was not what would usually be to Sora's taste, but he had to admit that they were good. Their sheer raw talent and emotion-filled playing reached his heart. But he couldn't take his eyes off the vocalist, not for one moment. It was as though an angel had descended on the stage; the stage lights illuminated his golden hair, giving the illusion of a halo around his head. His marine blue eyes were closed, and his hands were clenched tightly on the mike. His voice was not unlike that of the lead singer of My Chemical Romance; it had that same unnerving quality to it, like you shouldn't enjoy it but do anyway. And it was filled with the same zeal and fervour as well, as if his very life force was pouring into the words.

The crowd was going wild. Clearly the song was to their taste. The floor was shaking from the beat of the music and the thumping of people jumping up and down. Fists were raised in the air in a sign of appreciation, and people were thrashing their heads back and forth. Kairi was cheering on Riku on, a wide smile gracing her rounded, cute features. And still, Sora could not take his eyes off the entrancing lead singer, who at one point opened his eyes and looked directly at Sora, making his heart catch in his throat. And then, just as quickly as it had happened, his eyes were flicking away.

The song ended to tumultuous applause and screams that nearly brought the roof down. The ghost of a grin remained on the golden boy's face, aftermath of the explosive pleasure of singing his heart out. He pointed to each band member in turn, waiting out the screams that followed. The bassist and guitarist received pretty loud cheering, and Riku got his fair share of applause as he raised his drum sticks in war-like triumph. But when all three musicians then pointed to the lead singer, Sora thought his eardrums would erupt. People were so rabid, ecstatic, crazy in love with the boy, that they were throwing possessions at him as presents, and begging him to sing again. He gave another of his smiles that didn't reach his eyes.

"Everyone, we are Reizones, and goodnight!" he called in his enchanting voice. There was screaming, groans of disappointment, cheering, applause. The band exited the stage, leaving Sora absolutely struck dumb. He looked at Kairi with wide, incredulous eyes, and she looked back, wearing a similar expression.

"Wow," she mouthed, and Sora nodded frantically in answer. He could have died right then and gone to heaven, and he would have been happy. To hear that sort of enthusiasm and fervour thrown into one song was enough to make his heart explode. A grin was plastered to his tanned face, and Kairi mirrored it with equal gusto. Predicting that neither of them wanted to stay to see the other bands, she grabbed Sora's hand once more and they edged through the bigoted crowd, their silly smiles still gracing their features.

Outside, it was snowing. A full on blizzard. They shivered fiercely, pulling their coats on and keeping close together.

"They'll be out in a moment," his best friend yelled over the roar of the snow, white flecks of frozen water landing in her nearly-pink hair. "Then we can all go for a drink!"

Sora considered. A drink sounded like a good idea. Maybe he would be there? He had no idea why, but he desperately wanted to know this guy. He wanted to know his name, his age, his hobbies, his favourite song, his loves, his hates, his heritage, his shoe size. Any information was welcome right now; the only data he had was that the guy was good looking, an amazing singer, and was in a band.

"A drink would be wicked," he yelled back to Kairi. She squealed and hugged him tightly, bouncing up and down.

"You're the bestest friend I've ever had Sora!" she cried, as they hurried into the side alleyway, where the back entrance was. This was where the band would be emerging from. The close walls shielded them mostly from the bitter wind and harsh, biting snow, and they huddled together by the door, buttoning their coats together and wrapping their long scarves around their hands. Kairi grinned at him, her nose red from the cold, and they conversed shakily in the cold, looking like two penguins snuggling up for the night.

Sora was just telling Kairi about his latest painting when they heard raucous laughter from behind the door. They quickly unbuttoned themselves from each other, so as not to give the wrong impression, and watched the door eagerly. The handle turned and Riku and the dark haired bassist emerged, laughing at something which they evidently thought was hilarious, because Riku actually had tears in his eyes, and the bassist was double over clutching his stomach. Their hilarity quickly subsided though when they stepped into the cold in just their leather jackets.

"FUCK its cold!" Riku cursed, catching sight of Kairi and sweeping her up into a hug in all her wrapped-up glory. "Hey babe," he said adoringly, kissing her red nose and grinning at her cheekily. Her already flushed face went even pinker and she giggled. The drummer then saw Sora huddled in on himself, feeling the cold now that he didn't have the portable hot water bottle that was his best friend. "Hey there Sora, glad you made it!" he called, giving the shivering young adult a thumbs up. Sora returned it, which was difficult because he was wearing mittens.

The bassist, who seemed less affected by the cold than the others, ruffled Kairi's hair, grinning boyishly when she pouted at him. "Zack!" she yelled, her gloved hand reaching up to flatten her hair again. The tall, older boy laughed again.

"Aw, did I mess your 'do up Kai?" he asked, winking one incredibly blue eye at her. He turned then to Sora, who had attempted to stand up straight instead of curling up into a shivering ball like his body longed to do. "I'm Zack Fair," he said, extending one huge tanned hand. Sora's hand was swamped by it as he shook it, even with the bulky gloves he was wearing. "Thanks for coming to the show."

Sora shook his head. "The p-pleasure is a-all m-mine," he stuttered, forcing his frozen face into a grin. "W-where are th-the others?"

"Oh, the Strife brothers will be along in a little while," Riku said; this action had meant he had to stop kissing Kairi, or 'warming her lips up' as he put it, and she gave a puppy like whine. They all laughed then, and she pouted.

"So if they're going to be a while, shall we head straight to Jackson's?" she asked then, not stuttering at all because she was wearing about thirty layers. And Riku was cuddling her too. Sora wanted to cuddle someone; it wasn't fair that he had to give his hot water bottle back to her appropriated boyfriend.

"Well, unless you want to freeze, kitten," Riku said in her ear, and she slapped him playfully.

Luckily for them, Jackson's was only around the corner (Sora wondered why they hadn't just gone straight there and saved him from the cold that was surging through his body). It was a cowboy style American bar, with a warm fire blazing in the corner and spicy nachos to warm them up from the inside. They pushed through the doors (which luckily weren't traditional swing doors, else the bar would have been freezing) and sat down at the bar, all ordering hot drinks to warm themselves up. Alcohol would come later, when they could feel their fingers.

"Why is it snowing this badly so close to spring?!" Kairi moaned, sipping her hot chocolate as she pulled her woolly scarf and gloves off. Riku put his arm around her shoulders protectively and kissed her cheek affectionately.

"Because, my cute little puppy, there's this thing, and it's called global warming. It's where humans pollute the earth and contribute to greenhouse gasses and-"

"I KNOW WHAT GLOBAL WARMING IS RIKU!!"

Zack snorted and started choking on his espresso then, and Sora had to pat him on the back several times. They left the bar and went to sit down at one of the tables. The warmth was slowly finding its way back into Sora's veins, and he bravely removed his scarf and coat, taking a long, welcome gulp of his tea, feeling it land in his stomach, the heat slowly emanating out to the rest of his body.

Zack's phone buzzed and he looked at the screen. "Oh, the boys will be along in a minute," he said, downing the rest of his espresso. For an unknown reason, Sora felt his breath hitch in his throat. The prospect of seeing that angel-like boy again sent a rush of electricity through his nerves, and he didn't know why. He supposed he admired the boy; he was incredibly cool after all. That was it, Sora decided. He respected the vocalist, and wanted to meet him in person.

They finished their hot drinks and ordered some nachos and six vodka shots, hoping the strong Russian spirit would further contribute to warming them up. They left the drinks for the moment, waiting for the two blondes, but started to munch on the spicy nachos, which certainly helped, if burning their tongues a little bit.

Sora felt a gust of cold ruffle the hair at the back of his head then, and turned around to see two fair-haired boys entering the bar, huddled up in black fake fur coats. Now that he looked at them, the guitarist and vocalist, did strongly resemble each other. They had similar complexions, and hair colours, and their eyes were nearly the same colour. So it made sense that they were brothers. But the guitarist's eyes were extremely similar to Zack's, and this niggled in the back of his brain as the two boys walked over. But that thought quickly vanished when he realised the golden haired idol was approaching him.

"Hey there," the guitarist said, a shy smile spreading across his lips. He shook Sora's hand firmly, and Sora took in how perfectly sculpted this guy was. Not a hair was out of place, his face was classically good looking and entirely symmetrical, and he had the build of a supermodel. But he was still no comparison for the shorter, fair-haired boy next to him. "I'm Cloud," the guitarist was saying.

"Sora," the chocolate haired boy replied, grinning, knowing he would finally find out the name of the boy in a moment. He turned to the singer, who he noticed, was exactly the same height as him. Their eyes were level, and Sora found himself staring into the boys deep cerulean pools for a moment. They were mesmerizing, seeming to stretch on forever.

He held out his hand to the boy, a grin on his face. The boy gave another of his sad smiles that didn't quite reach his eyes, and took the hand extended to him. His hand was cool, like the snow. "Roxas," he said, in that beautiful, unearthly voice.

Roxas. Roxas. Roxas. Sora repeated the name over and over again in his head, ingraining the letters on his brain so he would never, ever forget them. "Hey there," he managed. Roxas gave him a nod, and then sat down in the chair next to Sora's.

"So, shots?" Zack called, rubbing his hands together, an excited look on his face. Sora sat back down, realising he would be sitting next to Roxas all evening. He picked up his glass, as did the others, and they raised them to the centre of the table.

"To the band!" Riku announced proudly.

"To the band!" They downed their drinks, feeling the hot spirit entering their blood streams, and so the evening commenced.

So, what did you think? Hate it? Love it? I personally am quite proud of this chapter.. although I am sorry about the repeated use of the word golden, but there aren't that many synonyms for blonde I am afraid!! Peace out, McFu.