A quick word to new readers: This is not a Shounen-ai, or a Boy's love story. It's about a deep friendship, two unexpected people going through heavy trauma in their lives and how they both help and influence each other to get out of their pasts. So while there's love, it's purely platonic, or friendly. :D Otherwise, please enjoy this story!

Forbidden

A Kingdom Hearts Fanfic

Chapter One

Riku laid his head down against the window of the car door, watching nothing in particular but still occasionally catching a glimpse of an interesting person or scene. The rain was pouring down hard, so much so that it blinded nearly everything just feet from within his line of vision, so he hadn't bothered to be interested in what was around him. Screaming headphones played in his ears and his hands were resting casually in his lap. His gorgeous, aquamarine eyes were beginning to close.

'Kairi,' he thought, the image of the young girl coming to mind. She was so amazing to him. She had short, auburn hair and deep blue eyes, and that smile. Whenever she smiled for him, nothing else mattered. She was everything to him.

His eyes snapped open and he glared, the hands in his lap turning to fists. She wasn't there. Not anymore. He wouldn't ever be able to see her smile, to see her laugh, to see her pretty, perfect face. His eyes shifted to the person in the front seat, a man with long silver hair much like his pulled loosely back and the same, sharp green eyes. He looked up in his rear-view mirror and caught the gaze.

"It's for the best," he simply said to Riku, sighing a bit. He made a turn down a run down city street, and Riku thought he heard a car horn blowing from somewhere. He didn't really pay attention, only listened to his father's hurtful, strong words through his music. "You know that what you're doing is wrong. You need time away from her."

"From her?" Riku snapped, offended. He was careful not to raise his voice; he knew that as long as he kept the same tone, his father would listen. That was the good thing he had with him, unlike his mother. He was the only one in the family he could talk to decently, who would listen to some of his complaints. Even if he didn't believe a word Riku said at times. "It's Kairi. You should know."

"Kairi. . ." His father repeated, his eyes averting back to the road. However, he continued to speak in a more distant tone. "And you should know what you're doing to her is hurting her."

There. That point, that reality, that pain that Riku had throbbed in his chest every time he heard that. It was true; loving her caused not only his mother and father pain, but Kairi too. When she found out, she cried in her room. She wouldn't come out, and she wouldn't even talk to him. It had been weeks since he spoke to her. When he left, she never came out to say goodbye.

"I don't care," Riku said coldly, now looking out to the street again. It wasn't true, but he just didn't want to admit how hurt he was. Somehow he had managed to listen to his father through his headphones for the past few minutes, but now it was becoming a challenge doing two things at once. He pulled them down till they rested on his shoulders. "I just want to be with her. No one believes me about everything, but if I was given a chance, if . . . If we tried, I'm sure she would love me ba-"

"That's enough!" he shouted, and Riku's already tense body froze. He did it. He broke the rules first. He shouted. Riku took a momentary glance at his father, and he could tell that he realized he broke their little rule too, the only thing that let them have a civilized conversation. He was focusing a bit too much on the road now, trying to get back in his own world.

Riku put the headphones back on. No more conversation. His world needed tending too.

Kairi stared up at the pallid white ceiling in her room, her eyes weak and red. She wanted to sleep right now, but she couldn't. Millions of questions and thoughts were jumbled in her head, but no one was there to answer them. She hadn't even bothered to take off her shoes she was so tired. Her feet faced upward, the toes of her shoes touching slightly.

Her headphones rattled with music, the livid resonance vibrating her ears. She could hear the words, the sound, but they didn't comprehend. She had too much on her mind. Kairi bit her lip when she thought of it, tearing off the skin; she hated this habit, which started only a few weeks ago, but she couldn't stop it. Not anymore.

Instead of crying again, she tried to find something to laugh about, or something else to find interest in. She focused on the music. 'I don't get it,' she thought, a small, barely visible smile on her lips. 'They're not even singing . . . Just shouting. Why would anyone listen to this? Riku, was this really your favorite-'

She stopped her thoughts, biting down harder. She couldn't help it. She held both of her hands to her face and cried, pulling her blanket out from under her to wipe the tears away. Mascara smeared her cheeks, a glowing pale now from being so raw. 'It doesn't matter! No matter what I think about, it always comes back to you . . .'

Why did Riku have to say he loved her? Why? Why did he do that to her? He could have been quiet. They could have still been together, still laughing, still telling each other their secrets. The last one he revealed was one she wished he kept with him forever. Kairi dragged one of her hands down from her eyes and felt her lips; they were ripped and tattered. But something about them tingled. She couldn't remember it so well, but she knew what had happened. She just knew.

A few light knocks on her bedroom door brought her out of her thoughts, and she pressed the button on her radio to shut the music off. She pulled off the headphones and sat up. By then, her intruder had come in. She was tall and thin, with her same blue eyes and long and wavy ginger hair. While her expression tried its best to smile, it looked like she had been crying as well; her eyes were lined with red.

"Kairi," her mother said, kneeling over to her daughters' bed. She let a hand grace her cheek, using her thumb to try to mix the tears with the make-up and wipe it off. It only smeared more. Seeing that face, the one that was so happy earlier, always cheery and positive so sad now . . . She took a breath. She couldn't cry. Not in front of her daughter, who had to take the hardest blow of all. 'Be strong.'

"I'm sorry this had to happen," she started in a slow voice, as if unsure of what to say. She leaned forward and kissed Kairi's forehead to try and make the situation better. When she was younger and Kairi would cut or scrape herself on something, all she had to do was kiss it and it would be better, like magic. Maybe this would work too. "This whole mess . . . none of us saw it coming, and it happened so fast-"

"It's okay, Mom," Kairi said softly but shakily, smiling as best as she could. A small tear ran down her cheek as she said it, the drop landing on her collarbone and drifting underneath her shirt. She rested a hand on her mothers'. "I know it's hard. You're doing what you think is best. We can all start over someday. The four of us, together."

She was surprised she had heard her daughter say that. 'The four of us?' Was she saying that she could forgive Riku for wanting to be so . . . intimate with her? But how? She couldn't even forgive her own son for doing this, ruining the family with something so disgusting, so degrading. But, if it's what she thought was hope . . . "Maybe. Someday, the four of us will become closer again."

"Yeah," Kairi agreed, pulling her Mother into a hug. She could feel her shoulders trembling. "Riku just needs some time. It's okay . . ."

She let go and gave Kairi one last kiss on the forehead, wiping her eyes a little as she turned and walked away. She closed the door silently behind her, barely making an audible sound. The moment she was gone Kairi's sweet smile faded, her face a blank slate as her head fell back on her pillow with a thud. She pressed the play button on the radio.

Kairi put the headphones back on. No more conversation. Her world needed tending too.

X x x x x

Author's Notes: Finally, the first chapter has been edited! It actually hasn't changed too much- just a few more details added here and there. I've noticed that my style has changed drastically throughout this story- it's starts off with a semi-detailed style, then a completely pregnant-blunt style, and now it's into a detailed style. I'm not changing a lot, but I am going to change the styles to be more consistent. :D Alright!