Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

A/n: This was a concept I had for a story a while back, and I feel alot better now that I just wrote it. It's not going to be terribly long, I'm trying to work on shortening my stories. It makes me sad that there arn't many stories with Riku and Kairi together, I'm not a big Sora fan. Anyway, if you like fluff, you should be pleased, if you don't, you might vomit. And of course, I don't right much in the way of happy-go-lucky fics, there is a violent storm later in the story that some people might be offended by. this fic is rated "T" for disturbing images and a storm, language, and some bad behaviour, but the rating might change. I apologize ahead of time if people don't like the idea, but you don't have to read it if you don't want to. Some upcoming scenes may be a little bit brutal. Please review and all that, update will be fast. And sorry for any mistakes, I'm a sloppy typer sometimes.

Chapter One

The insistent pounding jolted Riku out of his sleep and he rolled out of bed in surprise. His chin was the first thing to hit the floor and the blankets toppled on top of him as he blinked and tried to adjust to the bright morning light.

"Get up! You're going to be late for school!" The angry voice of his mother sounded from the other side of the door. When he didn't answer her she continued to beat on his door unmercifully. "Riku! Get your ass out of bed!"

He groaned. "I'm up!" fuckin' HAG. He added silently. He scowled at the shadow under his door as it stomped away. He snickered to himself when he remember her excursions last night, she must have had a killer hangover.

He dragged himself into his bathroom and got ready for a shower. He turned the water on and let it heat up as he brushed his teeth and dug out a somewhat clean towel. 'Another lovely morning' he stared out the bathroom window overlooking the beach. A couple of palm trees stood to the left of his line of sight, looking very dull and plastic in the lack of breeze. He finished up and jumped in the shower as he heard his mother return to beat up his door some more.

He rushed his usually long shower so he wouldn't be late. Leaping into his bedroom, he threw his clothes on, the deep blue slacks and white dress shirt with a stupid tie that was his school's trademarked uniform. 'Oh joy' he thought. At least he looked alright in it, and it was a hell of a lot better than some sailor uniforms he had seen. He inspected himself in his mirror before running a brush through his long silver hair and walking calmly out of his room. His mom stood in the doorway to the kitchen, watching to make sure he left. Riku offered her a fake smile as she growled at him to get to school and he ducked out of the door as she slammed it behind him. He rolled his eyes, her new boyfriend must be coming over.

Another exciting day in Destiny Islands, he dashed down the path leading into the tiny island town. Dirt flew up behind him as he skidded around corners and jumped over fences to make it to school in time. He heard the school's annoying bell ring and saw Tidus up ahead of him, moving slowly in the general direction Riku was going. He turned another corner right behind the blonde and the small, one room schoolhouse came into view.

"Hey! Tidus! Have you seen Kairi?" he asked, slowing to a stop right next to the younger boy. He looked up at the silver haired youth and yawned.

"Nope, you might want to ask Selphie, though." he rubbed his face and stumbled on a branch.

Riku looked up ahead and scanned the yard for any sign of his auburn haired best friend. He could see Wakka and some other kid enter the school, and Selphie stood on the doorstep tapping her foot anxiously.

"Where is she, Riku? I told her I needed to talk to her last night but she still hasn't shown up!" The girl cried, glaring at him accusingly. He shrugged.

"It's not like her to be late, she's not cutting class is she?" he asked, bending down to look Selphie in the eye. She pretended to smack him and huffed.

"Well you'd better not miss class just to look for her, you missed enough that year and a half you disappeared with Sora!" She didn't bother to stay and see if he'd go in, of course, she knew he wouldn't without Kairi.

The warning bell rang and Riku grimaced in distaste. Tidus slumped past him followed by two giggling girls Riku wasn't familiar with. He turned and walked away, undoing his tie and shoving it in his pocket.

He stood looking out over the dock. Two boats, and further down more boats that belonged to other residents of the island. Kairi's boat was missing, that meant she was out and about on the other island. Riku sighed and jumped down into his own small boat, picking up and oar and untying the rope. He shoved off from the pier and out into the ocean, paddling slowly toward his favorite island.

As he tied the rope up to the rickety dock he glanced around the island in search of his best friend. Her boat was there, but he couldn't see her. Of course, he knew where she would most likely be.

xxxxxxx

Kairi stuck her tongue out in concentration as she scribbled crudely on a piece of her math homework. She loved to draw, and she had wanted to ever since the incident at Kingdom Hearts. She put her pencil down to gaze up through the slats in the boards over her head. She was seated comfortably in the sand under the wooden ramp on the backside of the tiny island. No one ever came back here, and it was nice and quiet. This was her favorite place to go when she wanted to relax and think. She closed her eyes happily.

"Hey Kairi."

She yelped and jumped up, banging her head against the wooden boards and glaring at the intruder.

"Riku! What are you doing here? You should be at school!" She groaned, holding her hands to her throbbing head.

"Jeez, are you okay?" He crawled forward quickly and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him.

"I'm fine, just clumsy." She stared into his deep aqua eyes, it was mesmerizing. He plopped himself down in the sand next to her.

"Anyway, I was worried about you. I hate school, especially when I don't have any real friends there." He tried to ignore the fact that she was staring at him rather strangely.

"Oh Riku, you have plenty of friends there! And look how cute you are in your uniform!" Kairi giggled. Actually, she loved him in his uniform, it made him looks classy. She blushed and Riku skillfully ignored it.

He wasn't really sure what to say, he'd only been going to the Destiny Islands public school for a couple of weeks. As far as he could tell it seriously sucked. The two sat in silence for several minutes, staring out at the ocean together.

"Is he ever coming back?" She asked softly, eyes not moving from the gently flowing waves. Riku's heart suddenly felt heavy, he missed the goofy little keyblader, too. They had been best friends since they were little, it was strange not having him there to joke around and fight with. Sora always managed to brighten the day.

"Of course he is. He's got a lot to do, though. It might be a while, but he's coming back, I know he is." Riku said hopefully. Then he thought for a moment. Glancing at Kairi, he noticed she looked deep in thought. It seemed weird to be sitting here next to her without Sora there. They always used to fight over her, trying to get her attention. Seems like it would be a while before they would figure out who she liked more. But then again, Riku already knew.

"So, did you ever decide which one of us won?" He asked confidently, swallowing back a lump of fear when he realized what he had actually said. He had meant it as a joke, sort of. He wasn't really sure, but now he hoped that's how she would take it. He stared at her anxiously, but she didn't make any acknowledgement that she had even heard him. He noticed her face got a little redder and he knew her answer.

He sighed. "You know, Sora went through a lot to save you. He tried to save me too, I guess he really cared about us. But especially you." he forced a laugh. "I used to get kind of jealous that he always gave you more attention. But now I guess I really miss those days…" Kairi looked like she was thinking really hard, she nodded and made a muffled noise that kind of sounded like a 'yea'.

He felt really stupid, but he had always just assumed that Kairi would end up with Sora. He deserved her anyway, he went through a lot to keep her safe. He had earned it… Riku had turned evil in an pathetic attempt to save her, and it turned out she didn't even need him at all.

His thoughts were interrupted when she leaned her head on his shoulder without a word. His heart caught in his throat and he knew he must have shuddered. Looking down at her, she seemed so sad. He put his arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. She just nuzzled her face into his neck and made him more uncomfortable.

"Please don't ever leave. It was horrible being here all alone. If I lost you I don't know what I'd do." She sounded desperate, and he felt tears fall down his neck and onto his shirt.

"Oh Kai, I'll never leave you." he hugged her tightly as she sobbed into his shirt. It ripped at his heart to see her like this. She was so strong, but she couldn't handle seeing the people she loved leave her behind. He stroked her hair as her shoulders shook.

xxxxxxx

Kairi's eyes drifted open with the sound of the waves lapping at the shoreline. She was gazing straight out to sea, the water turning a light shade of purple and pink and the sun began to set. She shifted and looked down when she felt movement under her. Seeing Riku lying there under her, she knew she should have felt embarrassed, but she just leaned there staring at him while he slept. She couldn't really believe she had actually fallen asleep on him, but to be honest she was thrilled he had let her. He mumbled something when he felt her move and she slid off of him and knelt in the cool sand.

Kairi watched blankly as he slowly woke up, realizing that she was leaning over him. He stared back at her with his piercing aquamarine eyes, but she didn't move.

"Riku, I'm hungry." She said softly. He smiled, his own stomach growling violently. They had spent the whole day on the beach, walking around and talking. Neither had been very inclined to go home or to school, much happier just passing the time in each other's company. He nodded.

"I'll take you home." He replied, slowly pushing himself to his feet and dusting off his school uniform.

"No!" She stated almost desperately. "Please, can I go home with you? I don't want to be alone right now." She sounded so upset, he couldn't refuse. It's not like his mother would care anyway, she probably wouldn't even be home for a couple of days, it was the weekend after all. Riku stared at the girl, his eyes wide at her sudden need to be with him.

"Uh, sure, Kairi. Of course you can…"Did she really think that he would leave her like Sora did? Oh well, she seemed happy at his answer and grabbed his hand to pull him towards the dock with her.

xxxxxxx

Riku was right, his mom was nowhere to be found when he got home. She had left him a note saying something along the lines of staying with a good friend of hers for the weekend. He crumpled up the note and threw it as hard as he could in the trash. It was good news to him, that meant a whole weekend of peace. Why had he missed this island anyway? He turned around and Kairi was standing in the doorway, smiling at him. He sighed internally, 'that's why'. She gave him a funny look when the blissful grin crossed his face. He blushed when he realized how stupid he must have looked and shook his head to rid himself of it.

"So, you just want some dinner or did you want to stay the night or something?" he mumbled awkwardly. It wouldn't be the first time she had stayed at his house, but Sora had been there, too. She leapt up the staircase after him enthusiastically. He took that as an 'I'm staying the night, duh!' and got out of her way as she ran into his room.

He leaned in the doorway to see what she was up to, only to find her digging through his clothes dresser. "Do you mind!" She scowled when she noticed him standing over her. He put his hands up and went back downstairs. One thing was for sure, she didn't trust him to help her find some pajamas. He went into the kitchen and dug around in the cupboards for something to cook.

Dinner was well underway by the time Kairi had finished violating his dresser and wandered back downstairs to the living room. He peeked around the corner of the kitchen to see her digging through the movie cupboard, wearing one of his plain white shirts and an old pair of pajama pants he had actually bought just in case Kairi wanted them. They were black with red plaid and they matched her hair perfectly.

He wandered over to her and she spun around with a movie in her hand.

"Let's watch this!" She said happily, holding up a copy of "The Gate" for him to see. Riku snorted.

"Kairi, that movie is so cheesy!" he laughed, he couldn't believe after all these years she still liked cheesy horror movies.

"Please! I love stupid movie like this!" She gave him her puppy dog face and he stared at her in disbelief.

"Sure, Kai." He finally said, ruffling her hair before going back into the kitchen to check on their dinner.

xxxxxxx

It was well past 1:00 am and Riku couldn't believe he was enjoying that stupid movie. Some parts were really funny, even though they were supposed to be scary. Their empty plates sat on the table in from of him and he wondered if he should go and put them away before he passed out for the night.

Kairi shifted in her seat, and Riku could have sworn she had just scooted closer to him.

"I didn't know you could cook." She said quietly.

He looked at her and grinned. "Yea, Sora always wanted to cook before. Well, he tried to cook anyway." They both laughed at the memory of that very same kitchen engulfed in foul smelling smoke. She was so cute when she laughed, he watched her happily. She held her hands up in front of her and clasped them together. It made her look really girly, but accented her charm somehow.

"I see, you learned from his mistakes." He forced a smile at her compliment, but couldn't help but feel like it had some underlying meaning. Kairi shifted again, snuggling up against his side. He blushed darkly as she brushed a hand against his arm. He couldn't believe it, she was coming on to him.

"Are you feeling alright, Kai?" He asked shakily, not really sure what to do. He had always dreamed about her liking him back, but had never thought it might actually happen. "I mean, you seem pretty upset about something." He finished when she gave him another strange look.

"Yea, I guess I just feel like something's about to happen. Something really bad. I don't want to be alone anymore, Riku, it hurts so much." She entwined her fingers in his and rested her head against his shoulder. He stared at her in shock, she almost looked like she was about to cry.

"Kairi… You know I'd never leave you again!" he couldn't believe she was so upset about it, it must have been really horrible being away from him and Sora for so long.

She stared up into his eyes. "You promise? Please, Riku, don't ever leave me behind again! I can't stand it! This island is like a prison, sometimes I just wish I could take my boat out and never come back. I used to love this place so much, but now all I want is to get away." She buried her face in his chest and he patted her back gently.

"Kairi, you know I wouldn't just leave you like that…" Something was really making her nervous, and it was rubbing off on him.

After several minutes she sighed and leaned against him casually. "Riku?" She asked quietly.

"Hmmm?" He responded, watching the movie halfheartedly.

"Can I be your girlfriend?"

His heart jumped into his throat and he choked, coughing violently as she watched him with interest.