Search Results

This is a fanfic I'm writing which I decided to post for Story of the Week. It's basically a retelling of Kingdom Hearts. It's pretty different, but the major plot points remain mainly untouched. The characters are quite different with the exception of Kairi, who's not very different, just a little more teenagerish (yes, I know that's not a word). I guess it's like a more realistic telling of Kingdom Hearts. Anyway, here goes:

Heart Shaped Box

1.
Sora, Riku and Kairi (Sky, Earth and Sea)

“I… I just don’t know. Is this world real… or not? Is this reality at all, or is what we see and do every bit the meaningless machination that it seems to be? But how can reality be perceived? There are many things in this world which we cannot explain, one of the things which we describe as a core part of our lives cannot be explained. Emotions, thoughts, our very perception. Can this reality or even a supposed illusion truly be created by merely a few pounds of fluids and tissue? Why do I even ask myself these questions? I know as well as anyone there are no answers…â€.
This trancelike state was broken, and Sora awoke slowly.
He was a shortish boy of 15, with long, outrageous spiky brown hair and piercing blue eyes.
Though his stature was not incredible (he was about 5,5 or 5,6), he was strong and wiry. He exuded intelligence, and a strong will.
“Man, what was that about?†he said to himself, sitting up on the shore of the beach.
His feet were in the water on the shore, and the afternoon sun beat down on him in the summer heat.
“Talking to ourselves again, are we?†a voice asked.
Kairi, a girl of 14 with medium-length red hair, amber eyes and a similar height sat down next to Sora.
She carried herself lightly, and spoke and acted in the same way, always smiling and carefree.
“Oh, like you’ve never done the same†Sora replied.
“You’ve got sand in your hair. A lot of it†she said, changing the subject.
“Thanks,†Sora said, brushing the sand out of his hair. “So… what’re you doing here? I thought you were with Rikuâ€.
Riku was one of Sora’s closest friends, but was also a rival. They competed in races, fights, and a variety of things.
To this point, they remained fairly close, though Sora won almost all of the time, particularly in fights.
However, Riku had certainly beaten Sora in one area. He happened to be dating Kairi, who Sora was quietly enamored with.
But Sora had kept quiet. He had not even put up an opposition. Riku was taller, he was smoother, he got better grades than Sora.
Despite his intelligence, Sora was not a committed student in the least. He often cut classes to go swimming or to sleep or simply for the sake of not being in the school.
“Yeah, we decided not to. Riku had wanted to do something anywayâ€.
“So what is it with you guys? I hardly ever even see you two together†Sora said.
Sora did this quite often, to try to deal with his dilemma. He often pretended to promote their coupling, though a desire for its undoing was what mainly drove him to defeat Riku at everything else.
Kairi sighed.
“Oh, it’s complicated. I don’t really feel like talking about itâ€.
Something within Sora’s gut seemed to hollow out and a glimmer of hope appeared within what he called the dark abyss of his romantic life.
“Hey,†Kairi continued. “You wanna go for a swim?â€.
“Sure,†Sora said, standing up. “But, um… I don’t really want to row all the way back to the other island just to-â€.
He was cut off by Kairi saying: “Just jump in the water, you can dig something out of your crazy laundry hamper like you always doâ€.
Sora’s laundry hamper was something of an urban legend on Destiny Islands. It was a sort of hexagonal shape, filled to the brim with unvarying shades of blue, tan and black. Sora’s entire wardrobe consisted of 4 pairs of blue shorts, 2 pairs of tan ones, 3 pairs of blue jeans and 11 black shirts. It was said that these 20 articles of clothing were never washed, and chosen entirely at random, so that on the hottest day of the year Sora might have very well have been wearing deep blue jeans and a black shirt, quite obviously not a comfortable outfit.
However, he hardly seemed to notice.
“Isn’t that the truth…†he muttered to himself, and jumped into the water.
After their swim they rowed back to the island and bid each other goodbye. As Sora was walking back to his house, he heard a call.
“Hey, Sora! Did your dog pee on you or were you trying to wash your clothes in the shower?â€.
“I don’t have a dog, and for the latter ‘question’, it’s so stupid I can’t bring myself to answer it†he replied coldly.
“It’s called a joke†Riku said, walking over to him.
Riku was considerably taller than Sora, about 5,10. He was the same age as Sora, and had silver hair going down to his shoulders.
On this day, like Sora, he was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a black T-shirt.
“Well, I don’t see anyone laughing†Sora said.
“Maybe if you lightened up and cut the emo act…â€.
“If I had a penny for every time you said that…â€.
“Yeah, yeah. Hey, are you coming tonight?â€.
“Coming? Coming where?â€.
Riku tipped his head up and laughed.
“See what I mean? Tonight’s… y’know… the prom… thingyâ€.
“And… what makes you think I have a date, or if I did, why in the hell would you think I would actually go?â€.
“There’ll be musicâ€.
“Oh wow, high school musicians are the bestâ€.
“You’re a high school musicianâ€.
Sora paused.
“Correction, I don’t PLAY at high school events, so I’m not really a high school musicianâ€.
“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I’ve got an ideaâ€.
“There’s a first time for everything…â€,
“C’mon, at least hear me outâ€.
Sora sighed heavily.
“All right, what is it?â€.
Riku leaned in and whispered conspiratorially.
Sora paused for some time.
“…I’m in†he said.

2 .

The Barbie Girls

Sora returned and showered for some time. Despite his refusal to wash his clothes, he was otherwise a very cleanly individual.
Afterwards he dressed himself in an identical outfit to the one he wore previously. He took his guitar case, strapped it over his shoulder and walked out.
“Riku might be an idiot, but this sounds good†he thought to himself.
He proceeded to the high school and found his way to the gym. Already a considerable throng had formed, and he found an alternate route backstage.
He found Riku with a few of his friends, running about and laughing.
Riku looked up and noticed Sora.
“Hey, do you know the chords?†he asked.
“…Does it really matter?â€.
“No, not really. But I thought you were really meticulous about this stuffâ€.
“I actually make music Riku, actual, serious music. And I definitely care about it. However…â€.
“Yeah, I’ve heard it before. We’re a stupid parody bandâ€.
“…That’s politeâ€.
“Hey, you wanna do this or not?â€.
“Mocking your girlfriend? Of course I wanna do thatâ€.
“C’mon, we’re gonna go in a few minutesâ€.
Sora unlatched his guitar case and extracted his 100-dollar guitar. It was unceremoniously painted black with simple house paint, though it was originally red. The paint job was understandable, though, seeing as the paint was practically gone. Sora had a strange habit of polishing it and restringing it every week, and tuning it meticulously. He was, in fact, a spectacular guitar player. The same could not be said for his singing.
He was the lead singer/guitarist in a garage band, aptly named “The Crowsâ€. This name seemed to reflect on his singing style, which was either a hoarse whisper or a shrieking cry. The best that could be said of it was “energetic and originalâ€.
His lyrics were not terrible, considering his age, but their songs were gruelingly repetitive, and were either nearly inaudible or earsplitting.
He proceeded behind the curtain.
“When he says put your hands together for, burst through the curtain and knock him off the stage†Riku ordered.
Sora nodded, grinning inwardly.
They heard someone come onstage, and he began saying: “Wow, what a great show tonight. What a great performance by our band-â€.
“They remembered to blow into the trumpets…†Sora muttered.
The person stopped mid-sentence, distracted. Sora felt him glance back, but he continued,
“And please welcome the garage band sensation please put your hands together for-â€.
Sora burst through the curtain, flying through the air, and knocked the man down. He landed just on the edge of the stage.
Riku and the others burst in after him.
The crowd apparently loved it as the person crashed onto the floor. Everyone assumed their positions.
Sora leaned into the microphone and said: “This song is devoted to Kairiâ€.
The crowd went wild with cheers, laughs and whistles.
Riku also leaned in and said: “Because from the age of seven, she forced us to listen to this song over-â€.
Sora joined in, and they said in unison: “And over, and over, and over againâ€.
“And now…†Riku began.
“IT’S PAYBACK TIME!†Sora cried.
There was again a wave of applause.
Sora began strumming randomly while someone else slammed on a bell.
“I’M A BARBIE GIRL, IN A BARBIE WORLD,†Sora sang loudly. “LIFE IN PLASTIC, IT’S FANTASTICâ€.
Riku joined in, and they sang in unison: “YOU CAN BRUSH MY HAIR, UNDRESS ME ANYWHERE, IMAGINATION, LIFE IS YOUR CREATIONâ€.
“Come on Barbie, let’s go party†the other two (the drummer and bass player) said in a deep gruff voice.
Sora and Riku began jumping up and down and playing furiously, still singing: “I’M A BARBIE GIRL, IN A BARBIE WORLD, LIFE IN PLASTIC, IT’S FANTASTIC. YOU CAN BRUSH MY HAIR, UNDRESS ME ANYWHERE, IMAGINATION, LIFE IS YOUR CREATIONâ€.
Riku screamed something completely unintelligible in a high-pitched voice, and Sora replied with an equally unintelligible and deep voice.
Sora strummed a riff and they sang in unison in normal voices: “Come on Barbie, let’s go partyâ€.
Sora strummed again and they screeched in high-pitched voices: Come on Barbie, let’s go party!â€.
And then in extremely deep and gruff voices: “Come on Barbie, let’s go partyâ€.
“YEAAAH!!!†Sora screamed, energy coursing through him, still jumping up and down and playing wildly.
“Come on Barbie, let’s go party†they sang again in normal voices.
“Oh, oh, oh yeah†they sang in high-pitched voices.
They repeated this three times, then paused as if they were stopping for all of one second, and then went back to the chorus.
They repeated their deep, gruff cry of “Come on Barbie, let’s go party†one more time, strummed another riff, and then with one final leap and a violent strum of their guitars, the song ended.
The crowd broke into wild cheering, and Sora and Riku could not help but high-five each other and wave at the crowd.
They and the others walked off in an orderly fashion, huge grins painted across their faces.
Once outside the high school, they began to part ways.
“Hey, guys†Sora said after a few seconds.
“Hmm?†all three said, turning around.
“If you ever feel like playing some real music, come on over for some coffee, and… we can jam a bitâ€.
“No thanks. Singing in unison is one thing, but with you as the lead singer it can get…†Riku trailed off.
“It doesn’t matter who sings†Sora replied.
All three shrugged their shoulders, and proceeded.
“What was that about anyway?†Sora thought. “Inviting them for coffee...â€.
“MANLY THOUGHTS, SORA. MANLY THOUGHTS†he thought to himself, and considered himself lucky that no-one could see him smiling and chortling to himself in the dark.
However, he was heard by someone, who called: “Who’s there?â€.
It was clearly a female voice, around his age, maybe younger.
“Kairi?†Sora asked.
“Yeah… Sora, is that you?â€.
“Mm-hmm. How’d you guess?â€.
“Dunno†she said, coming closer and making herself visible.
“Hey. Sorry about… y’know… what we said before the show. We didn’t really…†he said, apparently forgetting what he had told Riku.
Kairi laughed a bit.
“No, it’s fine… but I only played it a few timesâ€.
“Yeah, I know†Sora said, smiling.
They walked closer to the shore.
“Hey, can I ask you something completely random?†Sora asked after a time.
“Sure. I like this kind of thing†Kairi replied.
“You ever want to get away? You know… from here? For the first time, I’ve realized how small life is. Here. Just think. No-one has found another island, or anything like it. All we’ve seen is sea, sea, sea. And I’m wondering… can we really be alone on this planet? For all the vast amounts of sea that we know exists, can we really think that there’s no… compensation? That there’s no other land around, no other human life? Or are we just a remote, small colony, unknown in a vast world? I want to knowâ€.
“Mm-hmm. Yeah, I have thought about it. Actually… Riku talks about it all the time. You know, you two are pretty alike†Kairi replied.
“What?!†Sora exclaimed, not as angry as taken aback. “I’m nothing like Rikuâ€.
“You’re more like him than you knowâ€.
“Well, let’s see. First of all, I’m shorter, he’s all proper and on time, whereas I’m the guy with the hexagonal laundry hamper… he’s in a parody band, I’m in a garage band… and he’s optimistic and sh- I mean, crapâ€.
“Wow, you really are emoâ€.
Sora laughed.
“I’m sorry†Kairi said, stopping.
“What for?†Sora asked, turning to her.
“I didn’t mean it… you’re not…â€.
“Oh, pfft, I get that all the time. It doesn’t really bother meâ€.
“ I don’t know why. You seem to smile a lot. You’re a good person, Sora. I know that. You’re a really good friendâ€.
She gave him a friendly hug, and a sort of mental spasm occurred in him.
“Uh… hehe, thanks, I guess†he said nervously.
She pulled her head back, still not letting go of him, and they stared at each other. Slowly and somewhat subconsciously (at least in Sora’s case) their faces drew closer. Sora’s brain seemed to be imploding on itself, and finally, as they were about half an inch from each other he finally managed to utter: “But w-what about R-Ri-â€.
“Well, Riku’s not here, is he?†she whispered.
The last half inch was covered, and they kissed. After a time they drew away and stared at each other wide-eyed.
Suddenly a very sharp blow was applied to Sora’s head, and he fell down, collapsing into the shallow water on the shore.
He groaned slightly and staggered onto his feet. With his blurred vision he saw Riku with a wooden plank, glaring at him.
“Coward†Sora muttered.
“What?†Riku shouted.
“You’re a coward, attacking me from behind my backâ€.
“Shut up!†Riku shouted, dropping the plank and making to punch Sora.
Sora ducked a bit, moved to the left and stuck his arm out, catching Riku full in the stomach and making him flip over onto the shore.
Riku got up slowly.
“Riku, what I just did was wrong, I’m sorry†Sora said.
“What are you, scared?â€.
“No, I am sorry. And I don’t want to hurt youâ€.
“Oh yeah?â€.
Riku charged at him again. Sora moved away at the last second, and Riku lunged and fell to the ground.
“Riku, stop!†Kairi shouted.
“If you don’t stop, I can’t guarantee your safety†Sora said calmly.
“Shut the hell up!†Riku cried, getting up once more.
“Just stop!†Kairi cried. “Sora doesn’t want to hurt you and neither do I!â€.
“What do you care about me?!†Riku shouted.
“I’ll leave you to deal with this yourselves†Sora said, turning and walking away.
“Come back here!†Riku shouted.
Sora shot a meaningful glare at him, and picked up his guitar case which he had left on the sand.
Sora walked back to his house, trying as hard as possible not to think of what had just transpired. He was failing miserably.
When he reached his house he flung his guitar case on the ground, hurried upstairs, went into his room, took off his shirt and plopped onto his bed.
He then grabbed his headphones, put them on his head and blasted his stereo to full volume, attempting to drown out his raging thoughts.
This attempt failed as well, and he flung them to the ground, accidentally unplugged the headphones, and sntic, deafening seconds searching for the power button. After what seemed like half an hour, he turned it off.
“Can this day get any better?†he muttered to himself, and plopped back onto his bed.
Several hours later he awoke from his sleep.
He sat up and looked around his room. Suddenly he saw a cloaked figure in the corner of his room.
He did not make a noise.
“Who are you?†he asked calmly.
“You do not yet know what lies beyond the doorâ€.
“Wow, nice nameâ€.
“There is so very much to learn. You understand so littleâ€.
“Yes, I don’t understand how you got in here and why†he said, getting annoyed.
“One who knows nothing can understand nothing…â€.
“Are you coming to teach me something? And if not can you get the hell out of my room? And you still didn’t answer my first questionâ€.
“This world has been connectedâ€.
Sora’s aggravation turned to keen interest.
“What?†he asked.
“Tied to the darkness. Soon to be completely eclipsedâ€.
“Are you… from another world?â€.
Suddenly the figure was gone.
“Am I… dreaming?†he asked himself.
And with that he went back to sleep, after what had become a strange, tiring day.

Well, the title pretty much says it all, this is my 'fiction. As the title suggests, it's a somewhat darker take on the series. But more on the characters and epecially Sora. Kairi remians essentially the same, and Riku is only slightly different. Try to ajdust Sora's appearance to his personality. Y'know, less baby fat, a colder, calmer demeanor, and a deeper voice. Think Sasuke from Naruto but considerably less emo. Anyway, here goes nothing:

Heart Shaped Box

1.
Sora, Riku and Kairi (Sky, Earth and Sea)

“I… I just don’t know. Is this world real… or not? Is this reality at all, or is what we see and do every bit the meaningless machination that it seems to be? But how can reality be perceived? There are many things in this world which we cannot explain, one of the things which we describe as a core part of our lives cannot be explained. Emotions, thoughts, our very perception. Can this reality or even a supposed illusion truly be created by merely a few pounds of fluids and tissue? Why do I even ask myself these questions? I know as well as anyone there are no answers…”.
This trancelike state was broken, and Sora awoke slowly.
He was a shortish boy of 15, with long, outrageous spiky brown hair and piercing blue eyes.
Though his stature was not incredible (he was about 5,5 or 5,6), he was strong and wiry. He exuded intelligence, and a strong will.
“Man, what was that about?” he said to himself, sitting up on the shore of the beach.
His feet were in the water on the shore, and the afternoon sun beat down on him in the summer heat.
“Talking to ourselves again, are we?” a voice asked.
Kairi, a girl of 14 with medium-length red hair, amber eyes and a similar height sat down next to Sora.
She carried herself lightly, and spoke and acted in the same way, always smiling and carefree.
“Oh, like you’ve never done the same” Sora replied.
“You’ve got sand in your hair. A lot of it” she said, changing the subject.
“Thanks,” Sora said, brushing the sand out of his hair. “So… what’re you doing here? I thought you were with Riku”.
Riku was one of Sora’s closest friends, but was also a rival. They competed in races, fights, and a variety of things.
To this point, they remained fairly close, though Sora won almost all of the time, particularly in fights.
However, Riku had certainly beaten Sora in one area. He happened to be dating Kairi, who Sora was quietly enamored with.
But Sora had kept quiet. He had not even put up an opposition. Riku was taller, he was smoother, he got better grades than Sora.
Despite his intelligence, Sora was not a committed student in the least. He often cut classes to go swimming or to sleep or simply for the sake of not being in the school.
“Yeah, we decided not to. Riku had wanted to do something anyway”.
“So what is it with you guys? I hardly ever even see you two together” Sora said.
Sora did this quite often, to try to deal with his dilemma. He often pretended to promote their coupling, though a desire for its undoing was what mainly drove him to defeat Riku at everything else.
Kairi sighed.
“Oh, it’s complicated. I don’t really feel like talking about it”.
Something within Sora’s gut seemed to hollow out and a glimmer of hope appeared within what he called the dark abyss of his romantic life.
“Hey,” Kairi continued. “You wanna go for a swim?”.
“Sure,” Sora said, standing up. “But, um… I don’t really want to row all the way back to the other island just to-”.
He was cut off by Kairi saying: “Just jump in the water, you can dig something out of your crazy laundry hamper like you always do”.
Sora’s laundry hamper was something of an urban legend on Destiny Islands. It was a sort of hexagonal shape, filled to the brim with unvarying shades of blue, tan and black. Sora’s entire wardrobe consisted of 4 pairs of blue shorts, 2 pairs of tan ones, 3 pairs of blue jeans and 11 black shirts. It was said that these 20 articles of clothing were never washed, and chosen entirely at random, so that on the hottest day of the year Sora might have very well have been wearing deep blue jeans and a black shirt, quite obviously not a comfortable outfit.
However, he hardly seemed to notice.
“Isn’t that the truth…” he muttered to himself, and jumped into the water.
After their swim they rowed back to the island and bid each other goodbye. As Sora was walking back to his house, he heard a call.
“Hey, Sora! Did your dog pee on you or were you trying to wash your clothes in the shower?”.
“I don’t have a dog, and for the latter ‘question’, it’s so stupid I can’t bring myself to answer it” he replied coldly.
“It’s called a joke” Riku said, walking over to him.
Riku was considerably taller than Sora, about 5,10. He was the same age as Sora, and had silver hair going down to his shoulders.
On this day, like Sora, he was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a black T-shirt.
“Well, I don’t see anyone laughing” Sora said.
“Maybe if you lightened up and cut the emo act…”.
“If I had a penny for every time you said that…”.
“Yeah, yeah. Hey, are you coming tonight?”.
“Coming? Coming where?”.
Riku tipped his head up and laughed.
“See what I mean? Tonight’s… y’know… the prom… thingy”.
“And… what makes you think I have a date, or if I did, why in the hell would you think I would actually go?”.
“There’ll be music”.
“Oh wow, high school musicians are the best”.
“You’re a high school musician”.
Sora paused.
“Correction, I don’t PLAY at high school events, so I’m not really a high school musician”.
“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I’ve got an idea”.
“There’s a first time for everything…”,
“C’mon, at least hear me out”.
Sora sighed heavily.
“All right, what is it?”.
Riku leaned in and whispered conspiratorially.
Sora paused for some time.
“…I’m in” he said.

P.S: This is kind of a rough draft of the first chapter, meant to "introduce" the characters. I might go back and rewrite it. And despite the pretty light beginning, it is going to be a darker story.

Please comment and/or rate. Thanks.