RokuShi seriously never gets old for me! Note: I'm still using Notepad instead of Word, so if there are any grammatical errors I'm deeply sorry. I try my best to read over my stories, but one or two mistake always slip through the radar.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts - I do not own it.

Mask of Glass

"Axel, I'm not going to tell you again! Wake up!"

"Mmm... Just five more minutes, Mrs. H..."

Xion glared at the red head in annoyance - not that he could see her expression with his eyes closed. This was the third time Axel had fallen asleep on her during this lunch period, mumbling incoherently all the while. The sad part was that lunch had started barely ten minutes ago.

Trying her luck yet again, Xion forcefully nudged the older teen in the shoulder. "Axel!" she scolded, "Would you get up? Honestly, we're supposed to be cheering up Roxas and I don't think we can do that if we're asleep!"

Heaving a sigh of annoyance, Axel picked his head up off the table. "Alright, alright I'm up! Happy now?"

"I'll be happy when you can stay awake for more than thirty seconds!" Xion snapped.

When Axel only grunted in response, Xion decided to continue. "Axel, you know how horrible Roxas has been feeling lately," she stated calmly. "If we can cheer him up, maybe he'll forget about 'her.'" At "her," Xion jerked her thumb in the direction of a certain blond haired girl, who just so happened to be cuddled up with another blond in the far corner of the cafeteria.

Axel rolled his eyes and took a bite of his burger. "Spth wpth ifh-"

"Don't talk with you mouth full," Xion reprimanded.

"Thanks, mom," Axel teased, earning a death glare from the younger girl. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted: So what if she's dating Seifer now?"

"Because Seifer's a big, stupid, jerk-face! I can't believe Namine broke up with Roxas to be with that... that..."

"...Jerk-face?" Axel finished, an amused look on his face. 'Man, messing with Xi never gets old,' he thought.

"Ugh... Look, Roxas is going to be here any minute so just try and be entertaining or something. Got it?"

Axel shook his head. "Xion, Xion, Xion. I happen to be the most entertaining person around! Got it memorized?" Axel bragged while Xion, expecting nothing less from him, simply rolled her eyes. "Besides, I've got a bunch of knock-knock jokes I've been dying to try out!"

Xion smacked her palm to her face. "On second thought, just sit there and let me cheer him up."

"Hey, what's that supposed to me-"

"Hey guys!"

Xion and Axel looked to the direction of the voice and noticed Roxas approaching their table, a tray of food held in his hands. To Xion's surprise however, Roxas seemed to be...

Happy.

What? How could Roxas suddenly go from down-in-the-dumps depressed to I'm-smiling-so-wide-that-it-hurts happy?

"Hey, Rox! We were just talking about you!" Axel explained.

Roxas raised a brow in confusion, before turning to Xion for an explanation. "You were?"

"Um... Well... Axel?" Xion, fumbling over her words, decided to let Axel explain. Might as well put that big mouth of his to good use.

"Well, Xi and I - well mostly Xi - were talking about how gloomy you've been ever since Namine dumped you for Seifer."

Gasping in horror at Axel's bluntness, Xion immediately smacked Axel in the back of the head. "Idiot!"

"Xion? What's he talking about?" Roxas asked dumbfounded.

"W-well I've just been noticing that you haven't really been yourself since..." Xion trailed off, looking in the direction of the blond couple. "I, I mean WE are pretty worried about you."

"You haven't been yourself lately, bud," Axel added.

Roxas gave them a large smile - a really creepy smile, Axel noticed. "I'm fine guys! Seriously, it's nothing to worry about!" Roxas cheerfully explained.

Xion, however, wasn't buying his newfound cheeriness. No one goes from being that depressed to this happy in less than twenty-four hours...

Unless they were faking.

"Roxas," Xion started, "I know this is hard but if you're only pretending to be happy to-"

"Oh, man!" Roxas shouted, interrupting Xion mid-speech. "I think I left my Math book in my locker and if I don't get some studying in before lunch ends I'm so screwed! I'll be right back guys." And with that, Roxas bolted out of the cafeteria search for his textbook, leaving a bewildered Xion and Axel at the lunch table.

"Wow, did you see how fast he ran? I'm surprised he didn't leave a trail of smoke."

"I'm worried about him," Xion stated, turning her gaze back to Axel. "I need to go talk to him." Xion made a move to get up from her seat, but was stopped by Axel.

"Easy there, girl." With that, Axel pulled her arm back, forcing her to sit back down. "Don't you think we should let him be?"

"'Let him be'? Roxas is our friend! How can we just 'let him be'?"

Axel sighed before continuing on, "Maybe this is just his way of coping, you know? He needs to forget about her and be happy but he needs to do it without our help. And who knows: maybe he really is happy."

Xion could only stare at Axel, jaw slightly agape. "Axel! They dated for over a year! Roxas is obviously hurt and we can't just sit back and do nothing!"

"Xi, this is something he needs to deal with on his own," Axel stated, still as serious as he had been throughout their conversation.

Xion wouldn't have it. She wouldn't just sit back and watch as her best friend slowly dug himself deeper into depression and hid his true feelings. Before Axel could utter another sound, Xion was already out of the cafeteria and racing to Roxas' locker.

"Xion!" Axel tried calling, but to no avail. Xion was long gone. "Damn those crazy kids. I swear - those two will be the death of me. As long as they're not here though..." On that note, Axel's head hit the table and he was off to dreamland once more.

'Math book. Oh, Math book! Ugh where is it?' At the moment, Roxas was digging through is quite disorganized locker, hoping to find the Math textbook that he knew was buried somewhere deep inside. Countless sheets of paper flew about as they fell out of the metal locker, but Roxas paid them no mind. If he didn't find that textbook who knows how badly he'd fail his upcoming test. Roxas was forced to stop his search, however, when he felt a light tap on his shoulder, followed by a soft voice calling his name.

"Hey, Xi!" Roxas greeted cheerfully. "Come to help me find my book? I could really use the help."

Xion stared at the mess Roxas had created. 'It looks like a tornado blew through here,' she thought. "Um... not exactly."

Roxas turned to face her, confusion written all over his face. "Oh. Well then what's up?"

Xion took a deep breath. It seemed so much simpler on paper: convice Roxas that he was being slightly crazy, have him tell her how he's really feeling, and console him. Easy enough, right?

Then why, oh why, was she hesitating? Of course she knew the answer to that. Fake or not, she loved seeing Roxas with a smile on his face. Just seeing the blond boy smile brightened up her day. And who was she to take away the smile that she loved so much?

No, Xion told herself. Roxas may only seem happy, but he's really hurting. By keeping up this charade, by keeping his feelings bottled up, he was only putting himself in more unecessary pain. She had to get him to open up.

"Roxas..."

"Yeah?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"What are you tal-"

"Why are you pretending to be happy?" Xion asked, concern present in her voice.

Roxas' eyes widened like saucers. "Xion, I'm not pretending. I really am happy, see?" Roxas tried to prove his point but putting on his best smile, but Xion saw right through it.

"Cut it out! Please, Roxas, why won't you just talk to me? Let me help you through this."

"Xion, I-"

"Do you not trust me?"

At this, Roxas' eyebrows furrowed. "No! I mean... Of course I trust you! How could you even ask me that?"

"Then why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

"Because..." Roxas sighed. Curse this girl - why did she have to have such a gift for seeing that something was wrong with him? He hated how she could do that. "Because I don't want you guys, especially you, worrying about me anymore."

Xion blinked in surprise. Was that it? That's why he was holding in all that pain? For them?

'For me?'

Xion lightly punched his arm.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Roxas!" She started, "That's what friends are supposed to do! They're supposed to worry about each other."

"But when I was all depressed and moping around you guys did so much for me. You even skipped going to that book signing just to stay with me after school," Roxas explained. "I just... I didn't want you to have to go through all that trouble for me, so I thought if I pretended to be happy you two would really think that I was."

Before Roxas could say anything else, Xion latched her arms around the boy's waist, embracing him in a hug. "Roxas, I did all of that because I care about you, okay? And I'd gladly do it again." Xion stared up at him before going on, "So don't ever keep your feelings bottled up, okay?"

Roxas visibly brightened at her words and returned her hug. "Thanks, Xi. I promise I'll never hide anything from you again."

Xion smiled, her face slightly red from when she felt his arms wrap around her. "Good." After a few more seconds, Xion, reluctantly, broke the embrace. "And besides, you're a terrible liar," she added, a playful smirk plastered on her face.

Roxas laughed, although still a little disappointed that their embrace didn't last a little longer.

"Now let's get back to Axel. I'm sure he's probably fast asleep again."

"Uh, actually..." Roxas began, "I still need to find my Math book..."

Now it was Xion's turn to laugh. "Don't worry, I'll help you look. After all, that's what friends are for, right?"

Roxas nodded in agreement, a genuine smile on his face, for he knew he would never have to hide anything from Xion and that she would always be there for him.

Besides, she could see right through him every time.