Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Mind-blowing, right?

Chapter 1

The sun was shining, reminding her that summer had just ended.

And so it begins, she supposed, the prison of torturous boredom and hours of sanity testing vibes was taunting at Kairi right there. She called it hell, but other people she knew call it school. And here she was, ready for Sophomore year.

Strife Academy. The name itself made her want to vomit. It was a school named after some 'brave' warrior years ago. To be honest, she didn't even think it was that bad of a school. It's just the fact that she had to get up this early at all is what really pissed her off. Seven freaking thirty is call time on the first day, and school didn't even start for a half hour.

It's not like they'd even be doing anything interesting either. All they were going to do is get a bunch of papers about rules that have "No shit" stamped on it in her head. Plus, the teachers will be talking about it too, as if they couldn't just read what they typed up. It's basically a waste of paper.

Yeah, this is hell. Kairi's not a morning person, either. There's only a select few she allowed to even associate herself with before eight thirty. But if you're not one of those people, and especially if you're just some boy who's going to try to "put the moves" on her and think you're gonna get some, don't even fucking talk to her.

"Kairi!" the girl heard her name being called.

Kairi turned around and yep, it's Selphie. Kairi's best friend. She's your typical hyper-active 'all I ever think about is boys boys boys' giddy girl.

If Kairi were to allow anybody to annoy her in the morning, it'd be her. She loves her.

Kairi and Selphie were actually very similar in personality. Kairi's not as random or hyper as Selphie, but when she starts moving around and waking up a little more, she ends up being in a good mood. It's just in the morning when Kairi gives no fucks.

"Kairi, I'm so glad you came back this year!" Selphie said as they hugged.

Kairi shrugged. She's not too big a talker in the morning.

"Where's your sister?" Selphie asked Kairi.

"She transferred." Kairi answered. Her twin sister, Namine, used to attend school with her, but this school is an arts school, and she guessed Namine got tired of the obnoxious singers and snobby drama majors, so she left. Which Kairi could totally understand.

"Aw," Selphie whined. But she perked back up again and linked her arm with Kairi's. "Oh well! At least we still got each other!"

Kairi rolled her eyes. How can someone be so...what's the word, awake, in the morning?

They walked into their school, Strife Academy, and made their way up to a lady by the desk, who's handing out schedules.

They compared schedules and had about two of seven classes together. That sucks, Kairi guessed, but the fact that they had lunch together made up for it. However, they did have first period together, so they might as well had head up there and start this day of shear boredom.

As they headed up to the fourth floor, the two 'besties' were induced in small talk about their summer vacations.

"Hey, you guys!"

The two turned around to spot the familiar voice, and found Olette running to them, dragging her boyfriend, Hayner along with her.

Olette was your typical goody two-shoes with an occasional short temper. How she fell for a lump on a log like Hayner, was beyond Kairi.

She immediately ran up to Selphie and gave her a hug. "I'm so glad to see you two!"

She gave Kairi a hug as well, while Selphie and Hayner scowled at one another.

"Hayner."

"Selphie."

The two of them had beef since freshman year. Selphie always thought of Hayner as a lazy little rat while Hayner always saw Selphie as a hyperactive bitch.

"O-M-G," Olette began, "you have got to hear about my summer later on!"

Kairi gave her a fake smile, really wanting to whack this girl right in the throat if she didn't settle down. Kairi was not in the mood.

"Sure," Kairi responded with gritted teeth.

Soon, someone tapped Kairi's shoulder. Kairi turned around to come face-to-face with Riku. Kairi became a lot less annoyed really fast, coming into contact with her best guy friend, the acclaimed hottest boy in school.

(I don't feel like explaining what Riku fucking looks like. Its likely most you already know what he looks like anyway, if not, just look him on Google Images or something. And goes for every character in this.)

"Hey, Kairi," Riku said with a grin.

"Hey," she said back with a smile.

Just about every girl, besides Kairi, in the school has some feelings for Riku. If they don't, then they at least used to. He even had his own fan club held by girls, with an exception of one or two dudes.

Selphie gave him a big cheesy smile, "Hi, Riku!" Selphie was one of Riku's admirers.

"Hey," he shot back, annoyed.

Riku hated clingy fan girls like Selphie. They were utterly distasteful in his mind. Riku didn't like the overwhelming attention by girls who were willing to give him anything he wanted, from simple jewelry to their own virginity, which Riku respectfully declined, of course.

Most of the other boys in the school thought he was insane. To be treated like a celebrity even though you're not a celebrity, to be popular without having to do anything, that was the High School dream, wasn't it? Well, step inside Riku's shoes and it won't be what it's cracked up to be.

Riku's always had a thing for Kairi, though. She's one of the very few people who treated him like a normal human being instead of a god. She talked to him casually, she didn't make dumb excuses to touch his muscles, and she didn't hesitate to tell him whenever he was being an idiot. It probably had something to do with the fact that he and Kairi had been childhood friends.

What's the rule about childhood friends of opposite sexes? Someone's gonna dig the other by the time the hormones kick in.

"Anyway, Kairi, what class you got this bell?"

Kairi handed him her schedule, to which he looked over to see if hers were anything like his, unlike the depressing reality of last year, with him only having one class with her.

But this year was a different story, now he had four classes with her, plus lunch. Maybe this year he could finally get Kairi to be his girlfriend, he had been longing to do so for a long time.

"Come on, lemme walk you to class, then," Riku smirked.

Kairi shrugged as she walked with her friend. She was kind of distracted at the moment, trying to find Tidus and Wakka, the schools star athletes. She hoped she had classes with them, they were the class clowns of the school as well, which Kairi loved the entertainment value.

Selphie came in between Riku and Kairi, locking her arms with them. She was oblivious to the fact that Riku thought she was annoying. Hell, she was oblivious to the fact that even Kairi found her annoying. But Kairi just had a bigger tolerance for Selphie than Riku.

"Don't forget about me, guys!" the brunette gave Riku a seductive look, "Especially you, Riku," she winked.

Riku just groaned, but softened up when Kairi giggled at his response. That giggle could make any man want to faint, even Mr. Macho himself.

While Riku was the hottest guy in school, Kairi was known as the hottest girl in school. Well, she at least was going to be this year, inevitably. She was known as the second hottest girl last year, only second to her sister, Namine. Sure, they looked identical, but people must have just preferred blonde.

With Namine gone, however, Kairi was at the top of every single, horny boys list. But Riku was determined to beat them to the punch. Nobody was to stand in his way, and if there were, asses were to be kicked.

They finally got to their first period class, where there were already a couple students engaged in small talk, waiting for class to start. The trio decided to take their seats.

Kairi sat somewhere in the middle, with Selphie by her right, with Riku sitting in front of her. Kairi sighed as she leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes.

"I could get used to this..." said red-head. Kairi peered an eye open and saw a boy sitting in his seat by the large window.

He had spiky hair that went all over the place with his jacket hood hovered over his head. He looked miserable, and nobody was talking to him, his existence wasn't acknowledged by anybody.

This must have been a new kid, but Kairi had never seen someone look so lonely before.

"Who's that boy over there?" Kairi asked, pointing at the lonely boy.

Selphie closed her mirror and gave Kairi her attention. She noticed who she was looking at, and felt a little disappointed when she saw who Kairi was looking at. She thought it was gonna be some cute boy. "Oh, him? He's just some quiet kid who goes here. Nothing too interesting about him. I can never for the life of me remember his name."

Kairi looked at Selphie with a look of disbelief, "You mean, he's not new?" she asked.

Selphie returned the look, "He's been going here since ninth grade. You must not have had any classes with him."

Wow, and Kairi thought she knew everyone in her class. "But you don't know his name?"

"Sorry," Selphie responded, uninterested with a conversation about a boy who she didn't even consider cute.

Kairi looked at Riku for answers, and even he didn't know, responding with a shrug. Kairi was at a loss, he just looked so cast off. "What's wrong with him? He looks kind of sad, don't you think?"

Selphie gave Kairi a blank stare, "He's always like that. I remember him back in Destiny Elementary School. From what I remember, he was a pretty cool kid, the class clown even, everybody liked him. But over time, he just didn't talk as much. Nobody speaks to him anymore."

Kairi raises an eyebrow. "Did it ever occur to you to maybe ask him what was wrong?"

Selphie shrugged, "I figured he probably just wanted to be left alone."

Kairi felt disappointed in her best friend. She always thought of Selphie as the type to help those who seemed troubled, but she brushed this poor kid off like it was nothing. Kairi took another look at the boy, who happened to take his hood off for a second and his face was revealed.

Kairi was even more shocked; there was nothing wrong with him! In fact, he was cute enough to rival Riku's hotness, so you'd think he would get a lot of attention.

"He's kind of cute, isn't he?"

Selphie stifled her laughter, "Him? Seriously?" Selphie obnoxiously put in, "Okay, he may not be UN-attractive, but I wouldn't put him in my top ten, or even my top twenty for that matter."

Kairi was just baffled at this point. Was she blind? The boy was really handsome. If she didn't know any better, she'd figured he'd have been on one of those girly magazine covers showing off his pearly whites. Why did everyone fail to see his attractiveness?

Sure, he probably didn't have the most attractive expression on his face at the moment, but could you blame him? Everybody thought of him no more then the dirt on the street, why would he be happy? But surely he knows how to smile, no?

Kairi was fed up with this teenage bullshit, and be the mature girl she knew she was. "I'm gonna go say something."

Kairi stood up and began walking, but Riku tugged on her wrist, "I wouldn't recommend that," he warned. "You don't know if he's got anger issues."

"I second that," Selphie chimed in, "What if you get hurt?"

Kairi was pissed off at them now. What were they? Five? Did they think he was some sort of fire breathing dragon? She pulled her arm away from Riku and gave him a scowl, then strutting off to the boy.

Riku and Selphie exchanged looks. This was going to be interesting.

Kairi walked up to the boy, who had put his hood back on and rested back on his desk moments ago. He had no idea someone was within his presence.

Kairi bent over and tapped his shoulder. The boy took his hood off and was already getting a little anxious. Nobody ever came up to him.

The boy looked up to see...holy crap. Standing before him was a girl with smooth as silk auburn hair, and makeup that did just enough to bring out her features. She was drop dead gorgeous...she was looking at him no less. But he wasn't going to let his hopes get the better of him, so he figured she just came over to ask for a pencil or something. That was about the only time anyone ever talked to him for anyway. No girl that attractive could be interested in him.

Kairi was just as amazed. He was even hotter up close.

This was not a very common situation for the boy, and he was speechless. She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Hi, there," she said, breaking the silence.

The boy quirked his brows at her, and soon started digging in his bag looking for something. Kairi was feeling awkwardness tense up in her. Was he going to give her something? This was going a little fast, wasn't it?

The boy finally dug out a pencil from his bag and stuck it out for her to take while he looked at the front with lazy eyes. He should have known not to get his hopes up.

"Uh..." Kairi muttered, not knowing what he was trying to do.

"That's what you came for, right?" the boy finally spoke. "For a pencil?"

He had a nice speaking voice. She'll admit that she did think his voice might be a little gruff, low-pitched, and grumpy, but he had a perfectly normal fifteen-year old voice.

She realized what this was all about and lowered the pencil with a smile. "No, no, no, I just came by to say hello. You seemed like you could use someone to talk to."

The boy's eyes widened at this. Nobody ever came to talk to him anymore. Kairi giggled at his expression, making the boy's insides heat up a bit. She had a nice giggle.

"My name is Kairi Lockhart," she introduced. "I noticed you were all alone and seemed sad so I just thought I'd drop by to see if you were okay. So...you okay?" She touched his shoulder.

The boy's face was turning a bright shade of red. This girl was beautiful, nice, and caring. Did he mention she was beautiful?

"Uh, I-I," he stuttered. After years of being known as the 'quiet kid' and being utterly ignored, his socialization skills had been deteriorated. What was he supposed to say in a situation like this again? He couldn't remember, but he wasn't going to let this once in a lifetime opportunity pass by!

"Er," he stuttered again. Name! Tell her your name, damn it! "M-my name's Sora Hikari." Sweat. Drop. Released.

"Nice to meet you, Sora. Hold on, one sec," Kairi walked back over to her friends and sat down.

He should have known. He made himself look like a total idiot in front of her. That was his one chance to make a friend, and he blew it. He slouched back onto his desk.

Kairi started gathering her things, receiving weird looks from Riku and Selphie. She slung up her bag over her shoulder and stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked Selphie.

Kairi gave her look, as if it were obvious. "I'm going to go sit by him."

Riku and Selphie were confused, and Sora perked back up after hearing that. Kairi strutted off to the seat next to Sora and plopped down next to him, giving him a comforting smile.

Sora was just as confused as Riku and Selphie. So...he didn't screw up? He wasn't sure what to do but he gave her a weak smile back. He wasn't sure how to handle this.

Riku and Selphie's mouths were ajar. Had they been dumped? For some loser nobody gives a second thought to? They started gathering their things as well, preparing to sit by Kairi and talk some sense into her.

"Now, wait a minute, Kai-" Selphie began, but was soon interrupted when their teacher walked in and slammed the door.

"Don't move," the teacher called out to the students. It was Mr. Sephiroth Newburn, the dullest teacher in the academy, "wherever you are seated right now, will be your permanent seat until I arrange a proper seating chart."

Riku and Selphie sighed as they sat back down in disappointment. Kairi stuck her tongue out at them. She wasn't that mad at them, but they didn't have to know that. Might as well let them suffer a little longer.

"Alright, class," Mr. Newburn spoke so monotone, it could bore even the hyper-active Selphie, who never got bored. She always new how to make something fun, but not in his case. "We're going to go over a few rules."

He started passing out the rubric that talked about rules and guidelines, just like Kairi predicted. Mr. Newburn did the thing that students hated the most, explaining, and most of the students sighed or fell asleep from boredom. Which Newburn didn't noticed. He loved hearing that stale voice of his.

Kairi was bored just like everyone else. Sora was sweating bullets. Kairi was sitting next to him, should he say something to her? It's not like Mr. Newburn was going to notice. But what was he going to say? Ask something about her? Maybe he could say something witty about Mr. Newburn to make her laugh. No, no, he wasn't confident enough in his humor. What if the joke was bad and she gave him one of those fake laughs that are so obliviously fake, and are only made out of pity for such a piss poor attempt at-

RIIIINGG!

The bell rang. Great, instead of thinking of a way to start a conversation with the beautiful creature known as Kairi, he spent the whole time rambling in his head.

Kairi sighed a sigh of relief and picked up her bag, standing up with Sora. "That was fun, huh?" she asked sarcastically and rhetorically.

"Y-yeah," was his only response. He face palmed himself mentally. Idiot, that was his chance to say something witty and make her giggle.

"Hey, let me see your schedule," she demanded. Sora did as told, and she looked it over, "Whoa," she started. She handed it back to him. "We have five out of seven classes together!"

Sora took his paper back and nodded. Ah! Stupid, be friendly! He was supposed to smile there or say something that said he was glad!

It was too late now. If he smiled now, it'd come off as creepy and random.

"So, I guess I'll be seeing you around," she smiled. She seemed unfazed by Sora's inability to keep up a good conversation. She didn't mind, nor care. She just wanted to find out more about him and make sure he wasn't in some kind of trouble.

They walked out the hall and went their separate ways. They didn't share second period together. Oh well. He was bound to see her again.

In his next class, Sora wasn't even paying attention to what Mrs. Holland was saying, who's first name was Aqua. All the horny boys in the class weren't listening to a word that she was saying as they all pictured fucking her brains out instead. She seemed oblivious to their infatuations.

Sora wasn't paying attention either, but for a totally different reason. He just couldn't get Kairi Lockhart out of his head. What was that all about, anyway? Something was wrong. There's no way a girl would try to befriend him like that unless...unless she was using him.

Years of anti-socialism can create slight paranoia. Sora was aware of that but he didn't care, he was not going to be deceived, and end up having his heart broken. Best he just get rid of those thoughts about their being a possibility of something blooming between him and Kairi, chances are, it's a ruse.

Wasn't it?

Was it all in his head? Who knows? But one thing was for sure.

This was going to be an interesting year.

A/N: What'd you think? I based Sora's character slightly after myself. I've had to deal with people ignoring my existence before, and I was always too shy to do anything about it, and any time someone did make an effort to talk to me, I'd always mess it up like Sora did, and it'd just ruin my whole day :/. With that in mind, this story came to my head, and I wanted to at least start on it before the inspiration was lost.

This was also inspired by Jomatto's Hotel Hearts (which is an AWESOME story btw).