All right ^-^;

Sono here... writing even though my Microsoft Word trial is up. I don't know what it is about word but I just love it so much TT_TT

Aaaanyway, there aren't enough good RikuXion fanfics out there! *stomps* So here I am, writing one. It's very AU, and even though I originally hated AU, I'm writing one anyway because there's something cool about them to me now.

I had trouble deciding if this would be in first or third person... but I have decided first for now and will change it to third if it bothers me. :D Aiight, here we go!

DISCLAIMER! I do not claim to own any of dis stuff. Not creative enough, you see. Square Enix is the BOMB.

.:Xion's POV:.

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"AAUUGHH!" I groaned, scribbling down the same number combination for the millionth time.

"Augh?" Namine, one of my closest friends, echoed with a grin. "What's up now?" She folded up her notebook, probably meaning she had recently finished her problems.

Lucky.

We were in Math class, near the tail end of the period working on our homework for that day - and I was nowhere NEAR being finished. "It's this dumb formula!" I muttered, leaning down near the paper and crossing out a few answers that didn't work out. "Each problem takes like ten minutes to do! And then I only get half of them right!"

Namine chuckled and moved her seat closer to mine. "Well you are saying that five plus seven is thirteen riiiight... here," She pointed at my ugly boyish scrawl-of-a-handwriting, making me frown and scribble the answer out in pen.

"How'd I make it into this class anyway?" Honestly, algebra 1A was over my head. Not to mention that I couldn't stand math either. I had taken algebra in 8th grade along with Namine and a few of my other friends... but didn't do well enough in the class OR pass the test to go to the next level.

So here I was, re-doing the same course in my freshmen year of high school, and still sucking at it.

Namine could have moved up, but she didn't. Probably just wanted to keep me company.

"HEY FOLKS!" Mr. McGregor called to the class of 25-or-so bored-to-death students. He was a retired marine who had enough "tall and scary" in him to share with everyone present. "Head to your homerooms!"

I gathered up my books with another angry mumble. Looks like I'd have to be working on that at home.

"Freedom!" I gasped as I left the class, Namine laughing. Thank GOD math was the last class of the day.

"Hey, are you gonna to come with us to the beach today? Awesome forecast! For like the first time in a week!" She seemed really excited and certain I would go - so I sighed and nodded. Couldn't disappoint her by blowing her off like a jerk.

"Sure, I'll be there," I cracked a smile... trying NOT to think about the math homework I'd apparently have to forget about. Or just not do at all...

That's a lie. I always have to do all of the work handed to me... or I feel like total crap. It's just the way I was raised.

It was finally good to see a nice day, too. Twilight Town had been complete mud thanks to all the rain we'd gotten for the past few days - locking us off from the beach.

"Hey, Xion!" Sora, my crazy - yet somehow charismatic - brother ran up to me the second Nam and I stepped foot outside the Math building and onto the High School campus. Kairi was under his arm, as usual... the two had been a pair since the end of their own eighth grade year, and now they were sophomores. There was no end in sight. "You coming to the beach, right?"

"Just got through telling Nam I-"

"Awesome!" Sora's face broke out into a grin. "This is gonna be sweet. And Riku's gonna be there, right?" He turned to Namine, then, as he questioned about her stepbrother. Of course he'd ask that. He and Riku had been the best two friends in the entire world ever since we moved from Radiant Garden to Twilight town when I was 6... Nine years ago.

Everyone knew about their friendship. And, better yet, it seemed as if both of our families were just as friendly with each other. I mean, Namine is Riku's sister and she's my best friend... Riku is Sora's best friend. And even my Mom was still keeping in touch with their Mom - although she remained in our old town.

It was like the friendships between our families made an impossible-to-untie knot.

Namine smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, he will be." She whipped out her phone and sent a text before continuing. "Right. I've verified everything - and everyone can go. Even Axel can get out of work!"

Kairi squealed. "It can be our first summer activity together!" She gasped, ducking out from under Sora's arm and standing next to Nam. "C'mon, I need to buy a new swimsuit."

Sora opened his mouth to speak.

"NO, Sora," Kairi cut him off before he even got a word out. "It can't be a bikini because those are for sluts and I don't like them. I might get a tankini." Wow. That's Kairi for you. The only well built female sophomore to shun the bikini.

"But they AREN'T for sluts!" My brother complained like a little five-year-old boy being denied of his candy. "PLEASE just try one? A red one with a low cut...?"

I glared at Sora angrily with the special 'hairy eyeball' stare. "Really, Sora? Maybe you should try swimming without your shirt on before complaining to Kairi."

Kairi tried to hide her laughter with her fist - while Namine outrightly giggled and Sora blushed a bright cherry-colored red. "Shut up. The water's always cold..." He mumbled.

My watch alarm suddenly went off, making me jump. "Jeez! Oh, Namine, we've gotta pack up and go!" I shut it off and shifted my books to one side.

"Bye, Sora! Bye Kairi! See you in..." Namine paused to do a math geek calculation in her head. "Ahh, an hour and fifteen minutes!"

We made our way through the campus... the campus that I seemed to be JUST getting used to... weaving around people and heading for our homeroom in the main freshmen building. It felt great to know the sun was out - even though it burnt my skin HORRIBLY if I didn't slather sunscreen SPF 100 on me. Some people burn and then tan... but I burn and then burn some more. I had bad skin, I'll admit, not that I thought about it that much.

Nam and I slipped into our homeroom to grab our backpacks - I really liked mine, a green, black, and purple plaid color - and sat down in the chairs to catch our breath. Seriously, an entire year of walking the same mile to get from your last class to homeroom can be tiring. I looked around the plain-looking classroom, which was mostly empty, my eyes wandering through the desks and up the the ceiling. Everyone usually just waited outside when it was sunny, even though they were supposed to report to homeroom before leaving.

It's not like the teacher was there to take afternoon attendance any more, anyway, though. Nam and I just hung out there due to force of habit.

Namine took out her sketchbook and started to quickly touch up a colorful picture she had in it - one I couldn't completely see from the angle I was at.

"Whatcha working on?" I questioned, trying to lean over and see.

"Nothing," Nam replied self-consciously. I raised an eyebrow. That was the thing about Namine... she was so confident in her drawing skills that she outrightly displayed her pictures to everyone, all of her friends, happily. Whenever she said "nothing" it meant something was definitely up.

"You don't say..." I replied casually, then suddenly jerked forward to try and snatch the white spiral-bound book from her hand. She raised it high above her head.

"NO! You can't see it! It's-" And then the sketchbook was removed from Namine's own grasp by someone standing above her. I looked up.

"Oh? What's this latest masterpiece?" Roxas, my cousin - and another one of my best friends - examined the drawing with a goofy grin printed on his face. Namine tried to grab it twice, but he held it out of her reach every time. Dang, he was getting tall.

He held it out for me to see, revealing an awesomely realistic picture of him, probably only half-finished. "Look! It's me!"

Namine slumped in her chair. "Now you've all seen it. So can I have the book back now?" She was obviously pissed off at us... time to say something to make her feel better.

"Jeez, Nam!" I gasped, actually very impressed. I was always so jealous of her drawing skills. "It looks exactly like him! What are you so worried about?"

I mean... other than the fact that she was obviously madly in love with my cousin. And he didn't know it. She was just too chicken to make a move... worried she'll be turned down. And of course Roxas was either ignoring the hints... or he was just ignorant.

I'm going for number two there.

"Yeah! This is really cool, Namine, seriously!" Roxas flashed her another smile, making Namine grin back.

"Thanks, you jerks."

We heard the unmistakable sound of a bus pulling up - ah, not just A bus, the first bus of the afternoon - and automatically we stood up and started walking outside.

"You seen Axel?" I asked as we dropped our backpacks under a tree to wait for our bus. Yeah, we all took the same one, living in the same small neighborhood as each other. Kairi lived in a bigger, busier part of town though... and I could see her and Sora sucking face goodbye before she boarded her bus to leave.

Roxas and I playfully gagged while Namine politely looked at her sketchpad to pretend to draw. That's right, Namine. Make it like you didn't see.

"Nah," Rox said after we'd finished making fun of my brother. "He's been busy at his job lately... but he's coming to the beach. Or so I hear."

"Nice job keeping tabs on your boyfriend," I teased - a joke my group of friends tended to overuse. Axel and Roxas as a pair. Well, they were close friends as it was.

"You gotta do what you gotta do," He shrugged, making Nam and me laugh.

Our own gross-looking bus pulled up right then, and we got up to leave as the sun continued to beat down on the blacktop. Dang, it was hot. An awesome day for the beach for sure.

I'd have to get ready when i got home.

All right, one chapter down. :D

Short chappy is short -.-; Sorry.. still trying to get the hang of how long each one oughta be. Tell me if this is all right or if you thirst for more words. I know I should have waited for more reviews on my first short before diving right into another story no one will probably like.. but... I couldn't help myself. I got the idea the other day thinking about things and then I mapped the whole thing out and... it... it was like a train falling off a waterfall. No way to stop it. ((Where'd I get that simile? owo))

Anyway, review, you guys! Tell me how you like the setup... the characters... I know a lot of them aren't revealed yet but... *shrug* This is all I got right now.

Oh, yes, time for a stereotypical Narrative on what will happen in the future chapters.

Xion has known Riku since she was a little girl... she doesn't love him...or DOES she?

WILL Namine sort out her feelings for Roxas?

WILL Kairi crack under pressure and buy herself a bikini?

WILL Xion figure out that formula?

WILL Axel even be a main character in this story?

And WHEN is Riku going to show up?

Thanks for reading! Maybe I can hold out for a while and see if I get any reviews before doing chapter two. But... ohhhh I wanna do it right now... will I?

-Sono ^-^;