Blood Runs Red

Chapter 1: Departure

A/n: nothing really important to tell you here. I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Sora, but the story is mine :D I hope you enjoy!

*12/30/11- going through the chapters and fixing grammar mistakes, re-wording things, adding sentences and taking out some that do not need to be there. Just trying to clean things up before I continue with the story. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it!*

:.

Tears welled in my eyes as a foot connected to my stomach, the air rushed out of me. I coughed and gasped for air as one of them pulled me up by the shirt. I was thrown up against a locker, hard. My back started to sting, as the pain ran through my body. "Faggot!" I heard one of them say. Looking up, I quickly flinched as a balled up fist rushed towards my face.

It wasn't always like this.

:.

It all started when I was 10. That was when I found out I was gay. It was no big thing back then. I told my oldest and best friend, Kairi, and no one else. She of course accepted me. But I didn't officially come out until I had turned 18. That was about three months ago.

Before I came out I was part of the popular crowd. I didn't play any sports, but I somehow managed to stay pretty high on the social ladder. Weird, seeing how I was pretty shy. It might have been because all my old friends, Kairi, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie, were in that crowd. I'm not sure.

But when I came out three months ago, it was like all hell broke loose. I told my parents, Kairi was there, for mutual support of course. I sat them down in the living room and with a nod from Kairi, I told them. My mom took it alright, she said as long as I was happy so was she. My dad on the other hand couldn't accept it. He started to yell at me, saying he wasn't going to have a homo as a son. As tears rolled down my cheeks, Kairi tried to defend me, saying that as my father he should accept me for what I was. That just upset him further. He jumped up off the couch and came towards me. I knew what was going to happen. My mother put a hand on his shoulder, trying to stop him, but he turned around and slapped her across the face. She yelled in pain as she hit the couch and fell to the floor crying. Kairi screamed as he pushed her from in front of me. She stumbled to the wall, using it for support, and watched in horror as my father reached me and...well...you get the picture.

The next day I went to school with a black eye and some bruises. Teachers asked questions, like they always do, but I blew them off with a phony story about a baseball. Teachers will believe anything it seems. At school everything was normal. I was still expected to be the happy go lucky Sora, but it was hard to slap a smile on my face when I was so torn up inside. My father barely looked at me anymore. The only time he did was after a few beers, when he was beating me. My mother cried all the time now, not because her son was gay, but because the two people that she loved most in this world hated each other. I spent a lot of time away from home. I would stay at Kairi's house until nine or ten. Then I would walk the streets until I thought my father was asleep or passed out. Sometimes it would work, other times he would stay up for me.

Somehow word got out. About three weeks after I came out to my parents to be exact. I went to school one day, and as I walked through the halls I knew something was off. Everyone I passed instantly got quiet, except for the hushed whispers and the turning of the heads as I walked by. When I reached my locker Kairi was there. I looked at her, her face red, her eyes watery. She wanted to cry, and I knew then what was going on. "They know," she whispered to me.

Ever since then my life has been a living hell.

:.

Blood rolled down my chin as I fell against the lockers. "Shit, someone's coming." One of them whispered. I looked up and watched through squinted eyes as the tallest one out of the group kicked me again. He bent down as I rolled up into a ball, shaking, "We don't need faggots like you living in this town." He said. Then he turned around and ran down the hallway, out the double doors with his friends.

"Sora!", Kairi called down the hallway. I grabbed the lockers and pulled myself up. "Sora," she said again, gasping for air, "Those bastards." "It's fine" I said. She was silent for a moment. I ran my hands through my spikey locks and licked my lips. Great, they busted my bottom lip, not surprising, I've had worse. I sucked on my bottom lip as the blood flowed out. Looking over at Kairi, who had been really quiet, I noticed her appearance. Her face was red, and her eyes were watery. She was slightly shaking, from anger I presumed.

Life for Kairi had gotten a lot worse too. I was always at her house crying into her shoulder and she was always backing me up at school. But she had sorta lost her charm. No one wanted to hang out with a gay's best friend. People stopped talking to her and now I was her only real friend. Me coming out had ruined Kairi's life and I felt terrible for that. Then it was settled.

"I'm getting out of here." I decided.

:.

There was a loud 'thud' as I pulled out another drawer and grabbed everything in that drawer and shoved it into my bag. "Sora," Kairi pleaded, "You don't have to leave." I ignored her as I zipped up my bag. "Sora." she said again. Then I turned around and opened my closet door. Pulling out my shoes and everything that was hanging in the closet I then shoved it into the suitcase on the floor. Then I was off to the bathroom where I proceeded to continue packing. Kairi quickly followed behind me. "Sora." she said again. My body winced at how she said it. She sounded so sad, so lonely. I looked down, but only for a second and then grabbed my toothbrush and other essentials and threw them into the suitcase too. I hurried over to my computer, shut it down, and put it into its bag. Glancing up to see Kairi sitting on the bed, her face hidden behind her bright, red hair, I frowned.

I placed the bag next to the suitcase and sat down next to her. She didn't say anything, nor did she look up. Quickly I sighed and put my arm around her. At first she was tense, but then she relaxed and turned into my chest and cried. Kairi wasn't a crier, she was a fighter. She might have been shy and liked the color pink, but I had only seen her cry two times. The first time was when her father died when she was 7 and the second time was when her pet dog, Sam, ran away. She loved that dog.

We just sat like that for a while as she cried into my chest. I felt tears on the edge of my eyes, ready to spill over, but I held them in. It was my turn to be strong. After a few minutes she pulled away. She looked at me, her eyes blood red from crying. "You can't leave." she said. Again I sighed and closed my eyes. "Kairi, I'm sorry, but I can't take this shit anymore." I said. "But Sora," she started, "Where are you going to go?" "To my cousins' house. My mom is taking me to the airport tomorrow. We have already discussed it" I explained. That didn't set right with her and she flew off the bed. "And you didn't tell me! You waited until the day before to mention this to me!" Kairi was mad. Beyond mad, pissed even.

Slowly I rose to my feet. "Kairi," I said softly, "I'm not doing this to hurt you. I promise." I quickly grabbed her hands and held them in mine. "Then why are you leaving me?" she asked before the tears started again. "Because, I'm not just hurting myself by staying here, but I'm also hurting you." At first she looked startled, but then her eyes shifted and I knew she understood. "Kairi, I'm sorry. You are truly my best friend ever." She giggled as I said it. I smiled, happy and relieved that she wasn't crying anymore. I let go of her hands and she hugged me. Planting a kiss on the top of her head, I inhaled her wonderful scent. She smelled like cherry blossoms and oranges all swept to together as one. Weird.

Kairi pulled away and sniffled making me smile. "So," she said in a bossy manner, she seemed to be back to normal, "What time are you leaving tomorrow?" "Around eight." I answered. "Alrighty then. Can your mom pick me up on her way to the airport? I wanna wave good bye to my best friend. I mean we are never going to see each other again! "she said in a sarcastic tone, sweeping her hand across her forehead as if she were about to faint. Kairi was always one for over dramatizing the situation. I laughed. "It won't be forever! Just the summer. I promise. And I'm taking my lab top so we can chat. And of course my mom will pick you up. She loves you." We both laughed at my comment. My mom truly did love Kairi, she always said that she wanted a daughter.

I walked Kairi home that night, but didn't stay for dinner like I usually did. There were still a few more things that needed to be packed and I defiantly needed to get to sleep if I planned on getting up. Walking home slowly, I could feel the cool breeze hit my face. It was the beginning of May and summer was approaching our small Twilight Town. I smiled. Hopefully my decision to leave for the summer would be a good one.

:.

I lied awake for hours trying to get to sleep, but couldn't. I was nervous. Never ever had I done anything like this before in my life. Never been on an airplane or even out of the town by myself, let alone to an island people barely knew the name of. Stop thinking like that! Think about something else. Someone else. Kairi. I frowned in the darkness. Leaving behind my best friend would be the hardest part. But it was for the best, right?

:.

My head was pounding when I woke up to the alarm clock going off. Grumpily I rolled over and turned it off. I looked at the clock. Blurry. I rubbed my eyes and then strained to read the time. 6:01. Time to get moving. Quickly I hauled myself out of the bed and grabbed my clothes, tip toed into the bathroom, turned on the hot water and undressed fast. "Why was it so cold in here?" was all I could think as I hopped into the shower, almost falling, and began bathing. The water was nice and warm and woke me up pretty fast. I squeezed some shampoo into my hand and ran it through my hair, massaging it into my scalp. When I thought it was well dispersed throughout my hair I rinsed and repeated with conditioner.

Satisfied, I smiled as I turned off the water and got out of the shower. I dried myself off and put on my clothes: a pair of brown khakis and a white shirt with a black eagle on the bottom of it, my favorite shirt by the way. Quietly, I opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. The lights in my mom's room were on. Good sign, so I ran the towel through my hair trying to dry it as I walked down the hallway into the living room. I scanned the living room only to find my father passed out on the couch, not surprising in the least. Rolling my eyes, I entered my mom's room and closed the door. "Good morning dear." she said in a high, happy tune but her voice didn't match her face. Her face was pale and thin and bags hung dark and deep under her eyes. This was only another reminder of why I needed to leave. "Good morning." I said back.

When I was done blow drying and re-spiking my hair, we were ready to go. I grabbed my things and loaded them into the car. Walking back into the house to tell my mom I was ready, I realized my father had woken up. He sat on the couch and stared at the TV. Trying to avoid him at all costs I quickly dashed back into my mom's room. "I'm ready to go, if you are." I spat out. She looked at me and nodded. We both walked into the living room as she shut her bed room door. "I'll be back around noon." she said to my father. He didn't even acknowledge her or me. We stepped out of the house and walked down to the car.

"Why do you put up with him?" I asked. "Because I love him" was her only response and I had nothing to say to that. After that I was quiet until we reached Kairi's house. We honked the horn and giggled like we always do. Kairi hated when we did that, she said we were rushing her and perfection took time. Drama queen. She stepped out of the house in a cute little pink dress with white flip flops and a pink matching purse. She looked adorable, hell she always did. She hopped into the back seat, as well as I, and we hugged. My mom pulled out of her driveway and headed towards the airport.

It was a long drive and I remember falling asleep once, only to wake up with my head in Kairi's lap, her thin fingers running through my hair. It felt good, but a pang ran through my heart. I was still leaving her and I was still hurting her by leaving. But it was my only option and she, as well as I, knew that. When we arrived at the airport, it was chaotic. People everywhere, so much noise, so many lights, and airplanes. Big airplanes. We walked together to the little desk, where my mom started talking to the lady about my ticket. I jumped as Kairi took hold of my hand. My palms were all sweaty and I felt my stomach ring out in pain. Nervous or was that hunger?

"Sora." Kairi said sweetly. I looked into her face. Her eyes were all watery again and I knew she wanted to cry, but she didn't. She looked down at our conjoined hands and put her other hand on top of ours and said, "I have something I want to give you." Her hands pulled away and she began to rummage through her purse. I watched as my mom paid for my flight and was handed the ticket. Kairi's small noise of happiness drew my attention back to her. Whatever it was she was looking for, she had found it. She closed her hand around it and threw her balled fist into my face causing me to flinch, only to open my eyes to see a bracelet hanging between her two fingers. "I found this a few days ago, remember it?"

Of course I remembered it. It was the first thing I ever gave Kairi. All it said was 'bffnmwh'. It stood for ' best friends forever no matter what happens'. I smiled at it. She placed it into my hand as we walked to the metal detectors. Kairi smiled at me as I slipped the tight bracelet on my wrist. "I'll never take it off." I yelled as I passed through the metal detectors. My mom blew me a kiss as my bags were checked. I waved one last time and entered the corridor. Butterflies immediately took their place in my stomach as I handed the lady my ticket, Flight 13, and boarded the plane. I was seated into seat 211, a window seat, next to a nice old couple. Frowning, I slipped the blinds down. I popped in my ear phones and turned on my iPod. 'Simple and Clean' was playing and I fell into a restless sleep. All I could dream about was Kairi and oranges.

:.

A/n: Well this is the first chapter. It wasn't too good. It seemed sort of rushed to me, but oh well. I'm not sure how long this story will be, or if I even finish it. But if I get a lot of reviews telling me they like it, I might. I will defiantly upload the second chapter no earlier by the end of today. I got to get the story out of my head. XD By the way there is no story line, just whatever pops into my head ;)

If there are any questions just send me a message. :)

p.s. those little ':.' are just to break the story up so that you don't get jumbled or confused.