The spiky haired blond opened his blue eyes, groaning as he pushed himself off the bed.
"Another dream about him…" he murmured. Roxas raked his hand through his hair, letting out a puff of frustrated air. He looked over at the window next to his bed, forcing it open with both arms.
"Hello world" the blond boy mumbled, staring out at the town below his window. Shop keepers unlocked the doors to their businesses turning their closed signs to open, getting ready for their customers. A bunch of kids were scattered through the streets playing with their dogs or each other, mothers watching them from the side. He watched the people buzz around on the streets a moment longer before he let out his second sigh of the day and got dressed in proper attire.
"Man, doesn't that tick you off?" the dirty blond grumbled, his hair styled like an anemone. Roxas didn't really listen to what his friends were talking about. He heard them, but their words just didn't register in his mind.
"Yeah, that's just wrong" the dark brown haired boy on the couch agreed, pushing his black and white headband off of his forehead, hair sticking out in every direction similar to the leaves of a pineapple.
"Seifer's gone too far this time" the brunette girl chimed in, her thin hair draped over her shoulders mostly. A few bits stuck out to the sides just over her ears. The trio turned to Roxas, waiting for his input. He was caught off guard by their sudden interest in him. The spiky haired blond nodded, not knowing what he was agreeing to. His friends could be planning to murder him and Roxas would be none the wiser. Worse yet he had said yes to it. He really hoped that wasn't what they had been discussing. They didn't look like the type to do something like that, but looks are deceiving.
"I mean, it's true that stuff's been stolen around town. And we've got a score to settle with Seifer and everything" the dirty blond, Hayner mumbled. So, it wasn't his murder they were planning. It was possible they were planning Seifer's. As far as Roxas was concerned murder had not been taken off the table yet. "So if he wants to think we did it. I can't really blame him" Hayner continued. "See… that's not what really bugs me. What really bugs me is that he's goin' around tellin' everybody we're the thieves! Now the whole town and their mothers are treating us like the Klepto club! Have you ever been this ticked off in your life? 'Cause I haven't. Nuh-uh, never" the dirty blond had started shouting as he resumed his ramblings. "Now… what to do?" he sighed.
"Uh, well… we could find the real thieves. That would set the record straight" Roxas suggested, hoping his friends would buy into it and they could avoid putting murder on the metaphorical table or take it off if it was already on there.
"Hey, that sounds like fun!" the dark brown haired boy, Pence pitched in. Well, he got one down. Only two more left.
"What about Seifer?" Hayner reminded them, giving Roxas a stern look. The spiky haired blond sighed, but stopped himself from showing his frustration to his friends.
"First, we gotta clear our names. Once we find the real culprit, everyone will get off our backs" Roxas explained, staring straight at the dirty blond.
"Oh no" Pence shouted. Everyone moved their focus over to him, wondering what was wrong with their friend. "They're gone. Our _ are gone!" he cried. The dark brown haired boy grabbed at his throat, coughing and clearing it a little bit.
"All our _, gone?" Hayner asked, but ended up clutching at his throat in the same manner as Pence had done just before. "What?" the dirty blond murmured, his hand still at the base of his throat.
"You can't say _. Why not?" the brunette girl, Olette exclaimed.
"But you do understand what I'm saying, right? Our _ are gone" Pence said again.
"Stolen…" the spiky haired blond whispered. All of their eyes landed on Roxas. "And not just the _. The word _. They stole it too" he continued.
"What kind of thief is that?" Hayner asked in disbelief. "Seifer could never have pulled that off" he scoffed.
"Yeah" Roxas agreed. If Seifer did pull it off somehow, Hayner's unhealthy obsession with the thug might get worse. Roxas liked the dirty blond, but the guy needed to find a better hobby than badmouthing Seifer.
"All right, time for some recon" Hayner stated.
The gang ran out of the usual spot, passing through the red curtain that hung down in front of the metal fence. Roxas started to follow his friends, but his vision began to faded and before he knew it, he hit the floor.
"His heart is returning" a male's voice resounded in Roxas's head. "Doubtless he'll awaken very soon" the man's voice continued. The spiky haired blond lifted himself off the ground, searching for the man who could have spoken the words he had heard. Roxas stood up, still glancing around the usual spot. Olette had come back to check on Roxas. She noticed the spiky haired blond looking over the usual spot over and over again.
"Roxas, C'mon" the brunette girl laughed. She spun around ready to leave the usual spot again.
"Olette" he called out to her. She rotated back around, staring at Roxas.
"Yeah?" she replied.
"Did you see anyone as you were coming back over here?" the spiky haired blond asked.
"No. Did something happen?" Olettle answered, her green eyes filled with concern. Roxas stared at the dirt covered ground, shaking his head. "Okay" she murmured.
He met up with the others in the market district. Surprisingly not many people were shopping today. The place was usually packed with people. Well, usually there were more people. Twilight Town didn't have a big population.
"Let's get this investigation underway" Pence exclaimed as Roxas approached the group.
"Hey Roxas" a man shouted. The spiky haired blond pivoted to see who had called out to him. He froze as he found brown eyes glaring back at him. "Never thought you'd do such a rotten thing" the man grumbled, running a hand through his slicked back blond hair. He walked over to the armour shop where the guy who had spoken to him stood. The armour shop didn't standout much compared to the other shops in the district. Three signs of varying sizes decorated the top of the establishment, white pictures of armour painted across them. Perhaps the owners lived by the saying 'less is more.'
"We didn't steal anything, all right?" Roxas growled, approaching the man at the counter.
"I'd like to believe to you, but" the man said, his brown eyes heading down toward the counter in front of him. He had suddenly lost the nerve he had beforehand. "… Who else would steal that stuff?" he murmured, playing with one of the blue sweatbands around his wrist.
"What stuff?" Roxas asked.
"As if you didn't know" he scoffed back, regaining some of his spite for the group of friends. "Hey, I'm not going to tell you. Go ask at the accessory shop" the man growled, turning his back on them.
The spiky haired blond sighed, leaving the man at the armour shop. He and his friends journeyed over to the accessory shop. It was much more extravagant than the armour shop had been. The sign above the window held colourful paintings of rings and other jewellery, mounted against the walls of the building were different coloured jewel shaped objects hanging down on a line of wire together. Roxas walked up to the girl at the counter. Her blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, but some of it fell down the sides of her face.
"Oh, it's you Roxas…" she mumbled, her blue eyes were glossy as if she were about to cry. "Please don't let me down. You used to be one of my favourite customers" she pleaded.
"I'm not a thief" Roxas shouted.
"Okay…" she whispered, backing away from the spiky haired blond a little. She blinked a few times, probably preventing herself from crying.
"It's no fun having everyone suspecting me, ya know" he sighed, trying to make himself appear friendlier.
"Then you've got to find a way to clear your name" she exclaimed, perking up. Roxas gave her a look, conveying he knew that already. She laughed out of embarrassment, but her expression changed, her eyes lighting up slightly. "The woman at the candy shop is pretty disappointed, too" she said.
They made their way over to the candy shop. It was one of the most unique shops in the market district. The structure was situated in the centre of the district and was round in shape; whereas all the other shops were off to the side and rectangular. Apart from its position and shape attributing to the uniqueness of the shop, the colour scheme also made it different from the rest. A bright neon sign of colourful treats dangled over the shop's window and a green shade stretched out over it. Multi-coloured pipes stretched out from the roof like scruffy hair. Roxas was starting to see this investigation as more of a wild goose chase than anything else. He approached the old lady that stood behind the counter. Her gentle brown eyes landed on Roxas, a small smile gracing her lips.
"Oh, Roxas. Have you seen my cat?" she asked, hope shining in her eyes. "He's run off again" she laughed awkwardly, scratching her head through her short grey hair.
"Um…" Roxas groaned. He surveyed the market district, searching for the old lady's beloved cat. The spiky haired blond located her cat. The creature sat atop the green shade covering the counter. He reached for the dark grey and white cat, retrieving it for its owner. A dark hand slithered out, wrapping its fingers around Roxas' wrist. It wisped through the air like a dark fog, dancing with the wind. Despite its weak looking structure, the fingers tightened around his wrist. Roxas stumbled backwards in shock, the dark hand releasing its grip on his wrist. The spiky haired blond glanced up over the green shade. A dark mist like figure was crouched down beside the cat, its arms draped over the animal. It played with the bell hanging off the little creature's red collar, rolling the small object between two black fingers. The bell clinked and clanked as it moved back and forth in the figure's hand. Roxas moved away from the sight, growing more and more scared the longer he stared at the figure.
"Roxas, you found it" Olette exclaimed, reaching up to get the cat down. He was just about to warn the brunette girl, but the dark figure retracted its arms from the animal. Olette pulled the cat down and handed it back to the old lady behind the counter.
"Thank you" the spiky haired blond could hear the old woman say. Roxas continued to gawk upwards, the dark figure was still sitting on the green shade. It stared back at him. Well, what Roxas considered staring. The figure didn't have a face. It was just darkness.
"Roxas?" Hayner called. He diverted his blue eyes over to his friend, stopping his staring competition with his faceless competitor. "Are you okay?" he asked. Roxas took a brief moment to look at the green shade again, seeing if the figure was still there and it was. He fixed his gaze back on the dirty blond.
"I'm fine" he murmured.
Roxas went up to the old lady at the candy shop counter again.
"Did they steal something from you, too?" the spiky haired blond asked, still a little bit shaken.
"Oh, my, yes. Something important" she exclaimed, stroking her cat with her frail fingers. He stared at the animal, wondering how it could be so calm after being cradle by that dark figure.
"Just so you know we didn't do it" Roxas clarified, remembering his reason for talking to the old lady in the first place. She bit back a laugh, leaving a bright smile on her face.
"I believe you" she said. The spiky haired blond sighed in relief.
"Thanks for that, ma'am" he replied, returning the woman's smile. "So what did they take from you?" he asked. She became sad suddenly, glancing down at the countertop, her hand idly stroking the animal resting on top of her lap.
"My _. My precious _" the woman mumbled.
"Looks like the culprit is going around stealing _. And not just _, but the word _, too" Hayner said from the side, over hearing Roxas' conversation with the old woman. He turned his attention away from the old lady and over to face his friends.
"This isn't your average thief…" Pence added on.
"I wonder if Seifer would know anything about this" Olette suggested. Roxas looked over at the brunette girl.
"We gotta talk to him. C'mon to the sandlot" Roxas exclaimed. The gang was running again, onward to the sandlot.
They arrived at the sandlot, finding Seifer's gang huddled around the bulletin board. The shortest of the group wore a large yellow hat that covered his face; his shining yellow eyes were all that could be seen underneath the brim of his hat. He was the first one to notice the group of friends, alerting the others with a jumping motion. The shortest of the group, Vivi stepped back while the other two stepped forward.
"Thieves" the girl with short light purple hair accused, her hair covered left eye. She jabbed her finger at the group, glaring at them with her unhidden burgundy eye.
"That was low, y'know?" a brunet boy with a large stature and muscles joined in.
"Oh yeah?" Hayner growled back at them.
"Nice comeback there, blondie" a boy with blond hair hidden under a black beanie laughed. He walked in front of the gang, his white trench coat flourishing behind him.
"What'd you say?" the dirty blond shouted at the newcomer.
"You can give back the _ now" the blond with a black beanie, Seifer said, holding his hand out to the group before him.
"Yeah! You're the only ones who'd take it, y'know" The largely built brunette boy, Rai added on.
"That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you, lamers" Seifer stated. "So what did you do? Burn it? Ha, not that we need some _ to prove that you're losers."
"Replay" the girl with short light purple hair, Fuu murmured.
"Now you're talking" he laughed. Seifer and his gang took on a threating stance, ready to fight the other group if needed. Roxas and his friends were quick to respond to Seifer and his gang's threat. "I guess if you get on your knees and beg; maybe I'll let it slide" the blond beanie wearing boy teased, a cocky grin on his face. Roxas walked forward, getting down on his knees in front of them. Seifer and his gang laughed, waiting for Roxas' plea.
"Roxas" Hayner called out to him. He glanced around the sandlot, noticing a group of bats off to the side in the corner, probably left there for people to practice struggle. Roxas ran towards the bats. The bats were all different from each other. One had the appearance of a staff, a blue star mounted on the top of it. Roxas quickly tossed that aside. The last two looked very similar except one of them had a hand guard which common on most struggle bats. He threw that one away too, taking the ordinary struggle bat from the pile because it was the most familiar to him.
"Roxas, focus" Pence shouted out. The spiky haired blond nodded back to him. Roxas ran forward, his bat aimed at Seifer's abdomen. His opponent ducked out of the way, kicking Roxas away. He tried a few more times, the blond beanie wearing boy got out of the way of his bat each time.
"Come on… Quit playing around and fight" Seifer taunted. Roxas growled, spinning around and hitting Seifer right in the face. His opponent bat fell from his hand, reaching up to feel around his jaw.
"Seifer's not feeling so hot, y'know" Rai said, stepping out in front of the leader of the gang.
"Tournament decides" Fuu stated, also shielding away Seifer. Roxas shook his head and looked over at his friends. As he turned around to face them, he caught sight of a flash. The dark brown haired boy smiled at him from behind his camera. A figure whipped out around Pence, taking his camera from his hands. This figure was different to the one Roxas had seen at the candy shop moments before. This one was clad in white, where as the one at the candy shop had been completely black.
"What was that?" Hayner asked, confusion clear in his voice.
"The thief?" Olette pitched in. The group glanced at each other before chasing the white figure.
The spiky haired blond had lost track of his friends somewhere along the way. The white figure had run off into the forest on the other side of the hole in the wall located in the market district. It danced around in the woods, bouncing off the trees and waving through the air like a ribbon. Roxas followed the figure through the trees, finally emerging on the other side. The white figure stopped running in the clearing up ahead, bopping from side to side, behind the figure stood the old Twilight Mansion. It was a large faded red building with a large steeple like structure protruding from the centre. A stained glass mural set into the steeple's face. The figure danced around in front of the iron gates in front of the mansion, mossy brick walls on either side of the gate. It came closer to Roxas, placing its hands on each of his shoulders. It leaned forward, the mask covering its face unzipping by itself, showing the spiky haired blonde another faceless black figure. The dark figure smiled at him, big sharp white teeth curled upwards in an unnatural way.
"We've come for you, m liege" Roxas swore he heard those words coming from the figure in front of him, but its mouth stayed set in that creepy smile.
"Get off me" he growled, pushing the figure back. He readied his bat, prepared to fight the figure.
After a few lousy attempts to hit the white figure, Roxas was about to give up.
"It's no use" he groaned, staring at the figure as it danced about, unnatural smile still on its face. The bat in Roxas' hand morphed, digital clicks and beeps filtering through the air. The bat changed into something else, becoming a large key like object. "What… What is this thing?" the spiky haired blond stuttered, staring at the new object in his hands. The figure leapt forward, coming straight at Roxas with its arms out. He swung the large key around, hitting the figure across the midriff. It dissipated after being hit, causing pictures to shower all over the spiky haired blond. The large key disappeared from his hand, the sounds of clicking and whirring in the air again. He sighed, bending down to pick up the pictures scattered on the ground.
He met up with his friends at the usual spot after he collected the pictures the white figure had left behind. His friends skimmed through the images.
"What's this?" Hayner asked, holding out one of the photos to Roxas. He glanced down at the picture presented to. Printed in the image were him and the amour shop guy who had rudely accused him before.
"I was his first customer after he took over the shop. So we took picture together" the spiky haired blond explained. Roxas did a double take on the picture in Hayner's hands, noticing a small black mist floating around in the photo, situated right behind him.
"It's a really nice photo" Olette said, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Oh…!" the brunette girl gasped.
"Hey! You just said 'photo'!" Pence exclaimed.
"So Roxas, tell us about the picture thief" the dirty blond interrupted, his brown eyes staring straight at Roxas.
"Not much to say. The pictures were just lying there" Roxas sighed, shaking his head.
"The how do we prove we weren't the ones who took 'em" Hayner groaned. "It's a girl…" he teased, looking at another photo he picked up from the deck. The picture was of Roxas and the accessory shop owner. Again that dark mist hung around Roxas, but it was denser and large in this photo.
"You look happy, Roxas" Olette laughed.
"Do not" the spiky haired blond replied, trying not to show how freaked out he was. The others clearly couldn't see the mist in the photos.
"So, like, anybody notice that all the stolen pictures are of Roxas?" Pence pointed out.
"Ohh. So that's why everyone thought it was us" Olette murmured.
"You mean Seifer didn't go around accusing us after all?" Hayner sighed. Roxas rolled his eyes as Hayner mentioned Seifer again.
"Are they really all of me?" the spiky haired blond asked.
"Yep. See?" Pence replied, handing the stack of photos to Roxas. He shuffled through the photos, taking a quick look at all of them. The black mist appeared in every photo. Roxas stopped on the last photo, noticing something very familiar in the background. The black figure from the candy shop stood behind him, its face pointed at him and its hand on his shoulder. "Right? Every single one" the dark brown haired boy said. Roxas' blue eyes shot up at him and he nodded. "Wouldn't it be weird if the thief wanted to steal the real Roxas or something?" Pence continued.
"C'mon, get serious. Why would anyone wanna steal a bonehead like Roxas?" Hayner laughed.
"Oh, thanks" Roxas cut in drily. The others laughed at the comment. He tried to laugh with them, but the dark figure plagued his mind. When had it started appearing?
The spiky haired blond stayed at the usual spot while everyone else left, still glancing over the photos and the dark figure in them. He groaned, throwing the photos on the ground and stomping out of the usual spot. Roxas' vision began to fade again the way it had before. He struggled to stay on his feet, but it was all in vain as he fell to the floor yet again.
"Where… am I? Who's there?" the spiky haired blond called, seeing nothing other than blackness inside his mind.
"Who are you?" someone else called back to him.