Thank you for reading my first Kingdom Hearts fanfic, Tainted. I must admit, I was inspired to write this story after reading a (rather illiterate) Kairi bashing fic. But in no way is this a bashing fic. I merely wanted to see if I can make a similar story but make Kairi act the way she did for a reason instead of just randomly turning uber-psycho-bitch. Do I like Kairi? No. Does that mean that I think it's appropriate to turn all crazy and write her to seem like a horrible person to make all the other characters hate her to fit my own likes? No. I treat all characters - even those that I don't like with respect and I try my best to make them as in character as possible, unless if there's a reason.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any characters that appear in this fic. I only say disclaimers once per fanfic unless I introduce a new character that might belong to me or someone else.

Kingdom Hearts: Tainted

Chapter 1: The Tainted Heart

"Don't touch him!" Kairi screamed, violently pushing the young ninja Yuffie away. Everyone, including Kairi herself looked shocked that something like that had taken place. Kairi's hands slowly came into the view of her eyes and she looked down at them. Her hands were shaking, and she soon realized that her hands weren't all that shook on her body. She just couldn't hold it in anymore.

It started when all of them returned to Destiny Island together for the first time since the darkness overtook their home. She and Sora were just starting their relationship together. She began to feel strange, feel feelings she never felt before. Her heart began to ache whenever Sora was with another girl to the point where she felt like she was going to cry. For the past couple of months she was able to suppress these feelings of hatred towards her female friends. But this trip to Radiant Garden seemed to be different. She felt her blood boil when Yuffie was goofing off with Sora. It was innocent enough play – Yuffie was merely using her ninjutsu and skills to tease Sora as an innocent game of keep-away with his crown-shaped necklace. For some reason it bugged her to see him with other girls, it felt as though someone was using her heart for a voodoo doll, each pin sticking deeper than the last. She just couldn't handle this feeling any longer. Her fingers trailed up her face, brushing against her lips and briefly covered her wide azure eyes before interlocking with her bright red hair. Her vision kept going in and out of focus, though she could tell from the gray and brown that she was staring at the ground. It was then that everything went black for Kairi.

"My my my… This is troubling, isn't it?" Merlin mused as he looked down at the unconscious girl now lying on his bed. He turned to the others, each carrying some form of concern on their face. He of course hadn't been present to witness the startling event, and with two panicking teenage boys it was hard to get accurate information from either of them. Luckily Yuffie, Aerith, Goofy, Leon and Donald had been at the scene or else he wouldn't know the whole story. "Well, Kairi's heart has been tainted by a chunk of pure darkness. I'm guessing that she may have been in contact with someone who was using darkness, or even been in direct contact with some form of darkness itself… Though… for the most pure and untainted of people – a Princess of Heart…" His mind seemed to wander for a moment, though he shook himself out of his thoughts, shaking his head violently, his beard whipping around helplessly. "She must have done so numerous times!"

Riku lowered his head until his eyes were hidden under his bangs. The Heartless had taken her heart, and being creatures of darkness could have been the start. Another factor in this would have been the Organization members kidnapping her. But before that he kept dragging her through the darkness to other worlds. He was partly to blame for what happened to Kairi – even an idiot like Sora could understand that. He followed the path of darkness and took her body along wit him. He had momentarily forgotten about where he was, jumping when Merlin spoke again.

"You'll have to go see Yen Sid to see if there's anything he can do. I'm afraid that I'm powerless in this situation, my dear." He didn't notice Kairi had gained consciousness. His thoughts seemed to go elsewhere, drowning out all noise and sights. Apparently, Merlin was filling her in while he was spacing out.

"She wouldn't be able to go alone, though…" Sora said. "It's difficult to fly a Gummi Ship and I'm sure she has no experience."

"I know someone else who has no experience as well." Donald stated in a mocking tone, a smug smirk on his face as he crossed his wings, looking at Sora. Sora glared at Donald.

"Anyways, I-"

"I'll take her to see Yen Sid." Riku stated over the squabbling, glancing briefly over at Sora, who looked a little angry that he cut off his and Donald's argument. He turned to Kairi. "I… I feel partly responsible…" Riku had almost expected Sora to be the first to volunteer to go with Kairi, or maybe that was what he was trying to get at before Donald had made his remark. Perhaps he was trying to get into a position that he could spend some time alone with Kairi, but was thwarted by Riku's words. His eyes shifted to his best friend once again, almost afraid of the possible reaction and was ready to apologize. Sora stood, motioning with a nod for the older boy to follow. He walked out of the house, moving onto the main steps of Merlin's house. Riku didn't know if Sora was truly angry at him or not. Even so, he needed to say something.

"Sora I-"

"Go with her." Sora interrupted, a cheeky smile on his face indicated that was revenge for Riku's previous interruption.

"What? You're not going to go with her?" Riku asked, rather shocked.

"I'm not the only friend Kairi has, and not the only one who cares about her. And she reacts when girls are near me, which I've met a lot of girls in the other worlds. I'm sure it's better this way." He gave Riku a reassuring smile. Riku was easy to predict when it came to his friends. While he tried to act cool, he became a completely different person when it came to his friends. "Just take care of yourselves, alright?"

Riku gave the younger boy a small smirk as he turned to go back inside. "Of course. I'm not like you, after all." Sora chuckled.

"Hey, while you're out with Kairi I'll go and check on the progress of all of my friends. We can keep in contact and I'll tell you what worlds are safe and what worlds are still full of Heartless."

"Sounds like a plan." Riku said, opening the door to Merlin's house. Just as he did so, Kairi jumped out, clinging to Sora.

"Oh, Sora! What's happening to me?! Please, do something about this!" She begged, grabbing onto his clothes. Sora was rather surprised at her outburst, looking at Riku for a little help. Riku held out his hands to try and take Kairi's arms to get her away from Sora, but she quickly smacked his hand away.

"Kairi… I can't do anything about this. You have to go with Riku!" He said, trying to prod her off of him.

"No! I don't want to go with Riku! I want to be with you! You're my boyfriend!" Sora of course was quite thrilled to hear her calling him her boyfriend. He didn't think that their relationship was quite that far, hoping to ask her out on their very first date soon. But to help her, he'd have to say something that he'd never thought he'd ever say to her.

"Kairi… Until we get everything sorted out, I'm breaking up with you." For a few seconds, Kairi just stared at him, open mouthed and in shock. But that shock quickly became anger and she began to lash out at him with her hands, tearing at his face with her fingernails. Sora yelled in surprise and pain, his hands moving up to his face to protect himself from her attack. Riku immediately ran to protect his friend, grabbing Kairi by the waist and picked her up to get away from him. She screamed, Riku wincing as the shrill noise rang in his ear drums, and he was certain that he had gone partially deaf. She flailed her arms around and kicked her legs wildly, trying to nail Riku so that she would be set free. She managed to rake his arms until they bled, and even pull some of his hair out in her assault. He dropped her, stumbling back with his hands over his head, trying to subdue the pain of a small chunk of hair being ripped from his scalp. With the hairs still in her hands, she began to run towards Riku again. He braced himself for an attack, though heard a thumping sound instead of feeling Kairi's forceful attack.

Hearing Kairi's screams and the yells of the boys had caused the others to come running out of the house. It was Leon who had gotten behind Kairi, hitting her in the back of the neck so that she passed out. He scooped her up before she could fall to the ground, and looked at the boys. They had some serious injuries considering who they were up against. Both were bleeding – Sora's face, neck and chest and Riku's arms. Looking at them now, no one would really expect that these two were very formidable fighters. But, he had to take into account that they were fighting against Kairi – someone who they loved and cared for deeply. They wouldn't be able to attack or harm her in any way. "Come on; let's get you guys cleaned up."

Only a short hour later and Riku was all ready to go on the Gummi ship. Everyone pitched in to help treat their injuries and go gather supplies for his journey. But sitting at the wheel now, Riku wondered exactly how they were going to help Kairi. He would have to hurry to Yen Sid's castle if he wanted his answers. He glanced back at the unconscious form of Kairi before starting up the Gummi ship.

Well, there you have it, the first chapter of Tainted. I hope you guys all enjoyed it. I become insprited to write faster the more reviews I get, ya know! So please, read and review. I directly reply to someone who has reviewed me, so don't be shy. Please, I crave your review! :3