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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn	By : RotSeele Category: Kingdom Hearts > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3169 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
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One - Paradise City

Ten Years Later - Present Day

Kaoru gazed down at the old set of blue headphones in his lap, beat up and scuffed with ten years of wear and use. They had stopped working last year, but Kaoru couldn’t bring himself to throw them away. No, these headphones were more than just a device to him; they represented a moment in his life that drastically changed him as a person. Even if no one had believed his story about the giant monster and the two men who had wielded powerful weapons called Keyblades, these headphones were proof that Kaoru hadn’t been just dreaming. He pulled the headphones around his neck and settled them into their usual position, then tilted his head back and looked at the sky that cut through the giant skyscrapers above him.
Had it really been ten years since then? As he had grown up, he had sought answers about the monster he had seen then, about the Keyblades and the Keyblade Masters, but no one could help him. It was as if no one knew about the monsters or anything else. Eventually, Kaoru had stopped asking questions and had tried to live his life. But ever since he had turned fourteen two months ago, he had begun dreaming about his past, about Riku and Sora and the Keyblade and the monsters. The park had long been since paved over for a parking lot for a new office building, but nothing could remove Kaoru’s memories.
Besides his customary blue headphones, Kaoru was dressed in black cargo pants and sneakers. His shirt was white and covered by a black, sleeveless hooded jacket. His right wrist had a tooled leather bracer clasped around it. His blonde hair still had the untamed, static-charged look, no matter how many times he brushed it. He had tried to look his best today, because today was a very special day. His fingers curled tighter around the object in his hand. Besides being the first day of his school’s spring break, it was also-
“Kaoru! Kaoru!”
The boy looked up at the call of his name. Running toward him was a girl and another boy about his age. They were his best friends, Tae and Hiromu. Tae was a tall, slender girl dressed in a purple skirt and a white tank top. White sandals were on her feet and their straps wound up around her shins. Her brunette hair was pinned up in a bun at the top of her head, pinned there with two colored pieces of wood sticks. Her violet eyes were bright with laughter. Hiromu was taller than Kaoru and bigger-boned. He had a short black hair and blue eyes. He wore a green tank top, jeans, and sneakers, and had a chain dangling from his neck with the symbol of a lightning bolt etched into the pendant part of the chain.
Kaoru pushed away from the wall he was leaning against and jogged up to his friends. Tae flung her arms around his shoulders in a fierce hug. “It’s so good to see you!” she gushed. “I can’t believe you have to go to school halfway across the city!”
Kaoru returned the hug, smiling. “It’s not so bad, Tae. It’s summer break now, and all I have to do is catch the train.”
Hiromu pushed Kaoru’s shoulder. “She’s been going on and on about you coming.” He grinned widely. “I think she has a crush on you.”
Tae glowered indignantly at Hiromu. “I do not have a crush on Kaoru. We’ve known each other since third grade. He’s like my brother.”
Kaoru noted a flash of something in Hiromu’s eyes, but it was gone before he was sure. “She’s like this all the time, Hiromu.” Kaoru said. “If my mom hadn’t gotten transferred across Paradise City, I’d be here full time.”
Hiromu snorted. “Then she’d never shut up.”
Kaoru rolled his eyes. Tae released him from her hug and stepped back with a grin. Kaoru returned it, a little wary. “Tae, I have-“
“Oh, Kaoru! The festival is here this summer!” Tae said, arms spreading wide. She grabbed his wrist and Hiromu’s and started marching them away from the train station to the park. “They’ve got this new roller coaster, and there’s supposed to be a concert tonight, too!”
Kaoru sighed. “Tae.”
The girl looked back at him with a smile. “Hm?”
He held up his hand and opened it. Dangling from his fingers was a heart-shaped pendant. It came in three pieces, with the right and left sides detachable from the center piece. Each piece held in its center a small crystal that reflected the light as it was caught. “Happy birthday.”
Tae’s violet eyes grew large as she took in the piece of jewelry. Her fingers wrapped around it so gently and she took it from him, cradling it in her palm. “Oh, Kaoru. It’s beautiful.” She pulled the pendant over her head and settled it against her heart. “Did you make this one?”
Hiromu leaned in closer to get a better look. Kaoru nodded. “Yeah. And, look. This one comes in three pieces, so you can give a piece to two people you care about. That way, you’ll always be able to find them, no matter where they are.”
Tae beamed at Kaoru and threw her arms around him in a hug. “I don’t need to do that! You, me, and Hiromu will always be together!”
Kaoru smiled and returned her hug. Despite the warmth of the day, Kaoru shivered as he held on to her. Suddenly, he wanted to tell her about the dreams he’d been having lately, the ones where the world was consumed by darkness, the ones where he was in the middle of a war wearing white plate armor and fighting against something he couldn’t see, that he couldn’t defeat. But he didn’t say anything. He let her go and followed Hiromu as Tae led the way to the festival. Perhaps it was an instinct left over from when he had been small - no one had believed his stories about Sora and Riku and the giant monster then, and no one was likely to believe him now. Better to stay quiet than look like a fool.
The door has been opened.
Kaoru paused and placed a hand against his heart. It was hammering in his chest, like an injured bird. He’d felt this sort of anxiety before, when he had been small and in the minutes he had held the Keyblade on his own for the first time. Hiromu and Tae didn’t notice the movement, nor did they notice that he had stopped walking, and it was obvious they hadn’t heard the whisper of the voice by the way they kept walking ahead, laughing.
What door? Kaoru asked, afraid to say the words out loud.
The door has been opened.
Kaoru looked around, as if the voice he was hearing was coming from outside of him. He knew it wasn’t. Who are you?
The door has been opened.
“Kaoru!” Tae called. “Come on! If we don’t hurry, we won’t be able to get tickets to the concert!”
“Coming!” Kaoru yelled back. He pushed the growing anxiety down and ran to catch up to his friends. His memory, though, went back to that summer day ten years ago, and his right hand clenched around an invisible hilt. He found himself wishing that Sora and Riku were here right now. They would know what to do. They would know exactly what ‘the door’ was.
Still, Kaoru swore he would protect his friends, no matter what. Door or no door - whatever that meant, and he was sure he was going to find out - he would make sure that he, Hiromu, and Tae were never separated.
The festival was in full swing when the three of them managed to get through the gate and onto the grounds. The fair ground had been set up in one of Paradise City’s largest parks, where there was enough green grass and shady trees to provide comfort to people who were tired of standing in the sun. It was incredibly noisy, and there were all sorts of smells in the air. People were everywhere, laughing and shouting, carrying prizes or food or each other. Tae clasped Kaoru’s hand with a wide grin on her face. She pulled on his hand. “Come on! To the roller coaster!”
Hiromu laughed. “Relax, Tae. It’s not like the coaster is going anywhere.”
Tae snorted. “Well, I don’t want to wait for hours in a long line!”
“I’m sure there’s a long line already, Tae.” Kaoru said. She squeezed his hand to the point of pain and glowered up at him. Kaoru winced. “Just slow down. That’s all I’m asking.”
Tae released a dramatic sigh. “Fine. But let’s try to hurry?” She took off at a light jog, pulling Kaoru behind her. He shot Hiromu an apologetic look and caught the look in his friend’s eyes a second before the other boy buried the emotion and smirked, as if to say “it’s okay”. Kaoru had seen that kind of look before, on the faces of kids in his school. It was called jealousy. Kaoru wondered why Hiromu was feeling jealous. Was it because Tae was holding on to him and not Hiromu? He knew Hiromu had a crush on Tae, and that she was completely oblivious to it. She was completely oblivious to most advances, Kaoru remembered, not because Tae wasn’t interested, but because she was usually distracted by something. She had always been like that, like she could hear and see things other people couldn’t. She had been the only one who had believed him about Sora and Riku and the monsters, which was why he had debated with himself about telling her about his dreams. He’d kept quiet because it was her birthday, and he didn’t want to ruin it.
But he decided he ought to mention to her Hiromu’s feelings for her, mostly because he didn’t want Hiromu getting the wrong idea about him and Tae, and mostly because he didn’t want to lose his best male friend because of a misunderstanding.
Are you prepared?
Tae released his hand, laughing brightly. Kaoru came to a halt as he heard the voice again. Once more, it had come from within him, repeating the line that he had been hearing in his dreams. That voice had been one of many, unrecognizable in the myriad of whispers that had been present. He noticed Hiromu pass him and catch up with Tae, saw people walking by with big grins and laughter in their eyes. So many people, but for some reason, Kaoru felt utterly and completely alone. He pressed his hand to his heart.
Sora! Kaoru cried out silently, feeling a sudden cold wave of fear. Sora! Where are you?!
No answer. He hadn’t really been expecting one.
“Kaoru!” Tae called, her voice tinged with worry. “Kaoru, are you okay?”
Kaoru looked up at Tae, who flashed him a brilliant, if concerned, smile. Hiromu was beside her, his hand closed around her wrist, as if he’d attempted to hold her hand but Tae hadn’t let him. Kaoru took a step forward, then another, and another, until he was all but running for his friends.
“I’m fine.” He said when he reached them. It was clear Tae didn’t believe him, but the way her eyes slowly shifted to Hiromu indicated that she wasn’t quite sure she wanted him to be there when she asked Kaoru what was going on. “It’s nothing.”
“You’ve been acting really weird today,” Hiromu commented, his expression one of a concerned friend, but there was a note to his voice that indicated to Kaoru he wasn’t that concerned.
“It’s nothing.” Kaoru said. He met Tae’s gaze and touched his headphones. Her lips thinned into a line as she got the message. She turned to look at Hiromu and Kaoru wondered if she was going to ask him to give them a few minutes alone.
They’ve come.
Kaoru tensed unexpectedly. His heart was starting to beat hard and anxiety rolled through him. The feeling was so familiar and so incredible that, for a moment, Kaoru felt like he was four again.
Someone screamed, a real terrified scream.
He whipped around in time to see something inky and black squirming up from the ground toward them. Yellow eyes rolled out of the pool of pure darkness seconds before the thing erupted from the ground toward them.
Heartless. Kaoru stood frozen, staring at the creature leaping toward him. The Heartless have come.
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn