AN: Will I ever finish a Kingdom Hearts story if I keep writing new ones? Probably not, but that doesn't stop me from doing it! Look, I know the whole 'camp' thing has been done too many times to count, but bear with me, okay?
Summary: Sora thought his mother was just being hopeful when she made him join a religious group after breaking down in school. That was before he knew about Camp Cowen, the home of Sergeant Stone and The Great Gardener. There, he meets three wonderful people who help him find his sanity again. But, as the saying goes, things always get worse before they get better. Riku/Sora, Cloud/Sora, Leon/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, KH: COM, Kingdom Hearts II, or any of the Final Fantasy games. sob
FDOS: Has anyone ever heard of Young Life? It's an organization of Christian groups across the country. But it isn't just about religion, ya know? Oh, well, you'll see what I mean when you read….
Prologue: The Breakdown
Sora Kazutaki, sophomore at Lincoln High in the bustling city of Pittsburgh, considered himself to be sort of a loner. It wasn't that he didn't like to talk. He could prattle on for days about absolutely nothing and wouldn't even notice that the person listening to him had left hours earlier. The problem was simple, really. People just didn't know how to deal with him. There was something in his character that overwhelmed his parents, his teachers, and his peers. It was like… No one can be that happy, can they? Was this boy so content with life that nothing fazed him? After around two months, the school got tired of wondering. They just labeled him as a freak and was done with it. But he wasn't a loner and he wasn't a freak. He had friends all over town, from different cliques and social statuses. And one of these friends (his best friend, in fact) happened to be related to him.
Roxas Kazutaki was more widely accepted by the community than his strange cousin, despite his subdued and quiet nature. He played sports and could hold his own in a fight, which earned him the respect of most of male student body, but he was also a brilliant artist and singer, thus putting his name near the top of the most wanted list posted on the girls' bathroom wall. The teachers adored him for his high marks and polite behavior. Student council was eternally grateful to him for helping with school projects. His neighbors couldn't tell their coworkers enough about how delightful he was for walking their dogs and house sitting when they went on vacations. His parents loved him to death, sure that they must have done something right for God to bless them with such a calm and cooperative son. Perfect, that's what he was. Perfect, perfect, perfect.
What a bunch of bullshit.
It never really crossed Sora's mind before that he might be just a little bit jealous of Roxas. He had thought nothing but good of the boy, taking into consideration that he hung out with Sora no matter how popular he got. But standing there in the corner of the commons area, watching as all those girls threw themselves at his blond cousin and all those boys asked for advice about some game or another, he was most definitely pissed. Since he was a child, Sora had tried so hard to gain the interest of the core crowd, and Roxas (who moved to the district three months ago) now had the whole school bowing at his feet!
"I'm leaving."
Roxas blinked at the bluntness of the statement, his eyes puzzled as he stared at Sora.
"Why?" he asked in confusion, shaking off his admirers as he followed the brunet to the door. "Did someone say something? Are you not having a good time?"
"A good time?" Sora repeated incredulously, spinning on his heel. "How the hell can I have a good time when you're around?! NO ONE EVEN KNOWS I'M HERE!"
Silence reverberated throughout the decorated room, every annoyed or startled face turned to look at him. How dare he ruin their dance like this?
"Oh, now you see me!" Sora cried heatedly, his blue orbs narrowed into slits. "Is this all it takes? Huh! All I have to do is scream?"
Several teacher began to push past the students to get to him. But Sora wasn't done yet.
"The only reason I act so happy is because I want you all to like me! But no, being that nice is obviously some kind of crime! I make almost exactly the same grades as Roxas, I can play as hard as he can, I can't draw, but I can write, my singing voice is just as good, and I try to help out as much as he does! Everything, everything he's done, I can do it too! The only difference between us is that I hide my problems with smiles, whereas he hides them by not talking! Do you people realize how many words he speaks in a week? You're lucky to get enough for a paragraph! The only reason you're so fascinated by him is because he's a mystery to you! You know nothing about him! And while we're on the subject… YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!"
Mrs. Petrov, Sora's math teacher, finally made it over to him and let out an irritated sigh. She knew that the boy would be trouble someday. His father's blood had to show through eventually.
"Mr. Kazutaki, stop whining like a five-year-old! Just because you have some kind of altercation with your cousin, doesn't mean you should take it out on the student body," she snapped condescendingly, opening the door for him. "If there is a problem, you may speak to the counselor about it tomorrow."
Sora froze, as if her words had wrapped him in a sheet of ice. He never wanted to talk to a counselor again. Never.
"Go to hell, you bitch! I don't need a fucking counselor!"
"Sora, we need to talk."
Ugh, he hated when his mother said those words. The last time they'd had a 'talk', he ended up in a psychologist's office. That hadn't been pretty.
"Your behavior is really starting to get out of hand, dear, and frankly… I don't know what to do."
Oh, no. Here comes the guilt trip.
"Is it because I'm not around enough? You know I'd rather stay home with you than work, don't you, honey?"
Sora nodded his head automatically, reciting the conversation in his head as she went on.
"But there's no way I can cut back on my hours. Your father was the one who brought in the most money, and now that he's gone… Oh, baby, I'm trying here! Please, don't think I don't love you, because I do!"
"I know you love me, mom," the brunet mumbled mindlessly, repeating what he said every time the subject came up. "It doesn't have anything to do with you."
Mrs. Kazutaki stared at her son, worrying her bottom lip. Her hand slipped into the pockets of her black work pants, pulling out a folded brochure and setting it on the kitchen counter.
"There's this group that meets every Thursday…" she started cautiously, flipping through the pamphlet. "And they're taking the kids to a weekend camp on the seventeenth."
Sora felt extremely girly when doing it, but he threw his hip to the side a little and crossed his arms over his chest. Can't forget the raised eyebrow either.
"Yeah, so?"
His mother shifted her feet, holding out the booklet.
"I want you to go."
"And what kind of group is it?" he asked suspiciously, unfolding the paper and skimming through the words. "A Christian group! Mooom!"
"I want you to go," she said again, pointing at a duff bag on the floor. "Which means that you're going. And so is your cousin."
…
"I HATE YOU!"
AN: Sora's kind of a brat… Ah, well, he gets better. Just remember that his dad was a bastard. Anyways… That was just the prologue, but how do you like it?