AN: Thanks for the reviews . I really want to finish the damn game, but I've other things to do, (like homework and, writing these stories for you nice people). For some reason, this took me forever to write. Perhaps there was so much to stuff in here…oh well… A note for the previous chapter: I don't know why the '1414' is in there…hm…ponderous much. The "happy birthday" lyrics are credited to Cyrus-kun X3.

Previous chapter note: Spicy Red Dragon sushi rolls actually do exist. I've had them when I was in New York (can't remember the name of the place), and they're very good. A compilation of tuna and crab. Anyway…

Warnings: Language, Shounen-ai…the usual…

Chapter Two: Beautiful Stranger

"…Fourteen! Fifteen! Sixteen! Seventeen!" Hayner laughed as Pence gave out a last "ow" of pain. The dark haired boy chuckled nervously, massaging his shoulder. As soon as he did, Hayner grabbed for his arm again. "Waaaait!...One for good luck…One for long life…and one for—"

"Hayner! Will you stop already? You're going to kill Pence's arm!" Olette had a wry grin on her face as she attempted to pull the two boys apart. Hayner shook his head and lifted up Pence's limb "This? It's pulp already!" Pence pulled his arm back, and landed a punch on his bony shoulder.

"Hey! C'mon, Pence!" Hayner grabbed protectively at his own arm.

"You deserved it, Hayner." Olette walked on crossing her arms over her chest as she left the two boys, still bickering. She wandered a ways ahead to find a drifting Roxas, gazing at the sunset. "Emo kid" she huffed quietly, before approaching him. "Hey, Roxas…"

The blond whirled around, azure eyes wide. His resolve then melted into a relaxedness. "Oh…Olette. It's—" The brunette grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards a wall, out of hearing distance. "Will you stop acting like this? What's gotten into you?" She stared disbelievingly at him, brown eyes stark with confusion. Roxas stepped back from his friend, his eyes tracing along the pavement "Nothing."

"It's better to talk about it, than to lie about it!" Olette's voice brought Roxas' visage back to her own. His heart leapt in his chest at the sudden approach of his friends. "Nothing's wrong, Olette, just let it go!"

"But Roxas--!" The brunette looked back and immediately quieted at Hayner's and Pence's arrival. She quickly shoved a playful punch at Roxas' shoulder. "…and you should never talk about my sister that way again!"

An odd look graced Hayner's face as he looked in Roxas' direction "You were making fun of Olette's sister? Jeeze, Roxas." He pulled his blond counterpart to the side "Awesome!"

"What was that, Hayner?" The brunette advanced on them, her hands on her hips.

"Uh…nothing" The boy chuckled, and then suddenly coughed.

"So, what're we gonna do tomorrow, guys?" Pence regarded his friends with a smile. Hayner shrugged "Dunno. You two got any suggestions?" Both the blond and brunette shook their heads, and Hayner looked back to Pence "Guess not. We'll meet at the Usual Spot tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Pence waived briefly, then turned abruptly "I really gotta thank you, guys. I've never really had a surprise birthday before." The three smiled, as they had previously. Hayner, of course, had something to say.

"Well…your birthday isn't complete yet." The blond cleared his throat and sucked in a good amount of air.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! YOU LIVE IN A ZOO! YOU LOOK LIKE A MONKEY! AND YOU KICK ASS LIKE ONE TOO! Ow!..."

Hayner rubbed the back of his head after Olette gave him a piercing glare "Language!". The blond gave her a withering look. "Oh jeeze, thanks mom."

Roxas laughed and turned his gaze to Pence "Happy Birthday, dude."

It was then Olette's turn to smile "Yep. Happy Birthday, Pence."

Pence grinned. "Thanks a lot. You're all the best…I really mean it. See you tomorrow."

The three watched Pence head off to the tram common. Roxas was suddenly aware of an arm around his shoulder, as was Olette. "Well, guys…I think we did good today." Hayner look to each of them. "If it hadn't been for my genius—"

"Your genius? Since when—"

"Guys! Guys!" Roxas rubbed both hands over his face after laughing. "Give it a rest, will you? I don't think my head can take any more of this."

"Alright, Roxas. Just for you." Hayner made a face as he waltzed in the direction of the sandlot. "See you tomorrow."

Both Olette and Hayner waived, and as soon as Hayner was out of earshot, the brunette grabbed the blond's wrist again. She looked him square in the eye "Alright, out with it, Roxas. What was going on at the Sushi restaurant?"

"I told you, Olette. Nothing happened." Roxas clenched his jaw, not noticing that his heart was racing. He turned away briefly, subtly trying to wrench his arm from his friends surprisingly tight grasp.

"So why did you ogle…the sushi chef the entire time?"

Roxas whipped around, his mouth hanging open. Olette's face twisted to a grin at the blond's expression "Sorry to be blunt. You put in on yourself. Oh…and you're blushing."

Roxas suddenly became very aware of the heat generating from his face. "…Am not!" He suddenly felt his face get a bit redder at the very mention of his embarrassment. He hated that tactic, and always fell for it. Olette rolled her eyes and dragged him over to the nearest bench, and forced him to sit. Roxas slumped in the gentle curve of the bench, defeated. Olette began pacing in front of him.

"Remember that little note I passed you during dinner?" She stopped dead stairing down into his face. He didn't meet her gaze.

"…yeah…? So what?"

"Roxas, just confront your feelings. It'll be so much—"

Roxas was on his feet in an instant, staring Olette down. "Since when did you become the psychiatrist? For the last time, Olette, I'm not…"

The words stuck in his throat.

"I'm not…gay, alright?"

Roxas suddenly felt a pang of discomfort as he regarded his friend's expression. He muttered a curse under his breath as he ran a hand over his face and began walking quickly away. He didn't know where, and it didn't matter to him. Just so he could find a place to breath.

He didn't even stop when Olette called his name.

Lips brushed against his exposed skin as Roxas' eyes flickered. Red hair feathered across his face as an unexpected sensation abruptly emanated from his earlobe. A breathy moan escaped his lips, and his heart fluttered as a smooth chuckle pressed into his right ear. "What fun you are."

The lips traversed down his neck slowly, gently, each kiss speaking something different. Roxas' neck arched, as his brows knitted themselves together, eyes rolled in the back of his head. The lips disappeared all together, much to Roxas' disappointment. And his eyes opened…

…to meet a desolate ecru ceiling.

Roxas sat up and rubbed his right eye with the heel of his hand. He paused briefly, trying to remember who the figure in his dream was. The presence had made him feel more than comfortable, and aroused in a sort of giddy, nervous way. The only proof that he actually had a dream was the skin on his neck tingling. Roxas bit his lip in thought. It had seemed far too real to have been a mere illusion of the mind, yet, he sensed…and felt…

His eyes blearily scanned the room, for the remnants of his dream, he felt pain between his legs, and he—

A blush flared on the boy's face as he made a sudden note of his morning arousal. Before he could move a muscle, he could hear fast approaching footsteps; ones that he couldn't place as either parent.

Shit!

His first instinct was to fling himself on his side, facing the window, and to throw his sheet over him. As the door was flung open he squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. Hayner was known to forget that people had certain amounts of privacy.

"Hayner, don't you think we should have knocked first?" Pence's voice.

"Well, It's been a hour, and I think he needs a proper wake-up call." Obviously Hayner.

He could hear someone approaching the proximity of his bed, a presence standing over him, and the blood-flow to his nether regions wasn't decreasing either.

Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit.

"Roxas…c'mon, get up." Roxas felt pressure on the bed, a hand on his shoulder, shaking him. The blond grunted sleepily, still trying to keep the ruse up for a bit longer, praying that thoughts of his third grade teacher would aid his situation.

"Roxas…Roxas…ROXAS!" The blond felt his friend stand, the presence gone. Roxas inwardly felt relief.

Until the sheet was whipped from his body…

Roxas immediately rolled onto his stomach, biting back a wince of pain. For added, effect, he gripped his pillow and stuffed his face in its feathery depths as he prayed for someone to save him.

"C'mon, what is this? Roxas, it's me, Hayner. I brought Pence with me." Hayner sat down again, prodding his friend in the ribs with a finger.

Roxas meant to say something to the effect of 'Hi, guys', but it came out more like "hmmmmph mmmfff". He felt an unpleasant, pulling sensation from the back of his head. "Owwwww…Hayner."

Roxas' eyes gazed into Hayner's sepia ones, watching as they first changed from mock annoyance to slight concern. "Hey, you okay? You've really been acting weird lately."

Roxas shook his head, futilely grasping for the sheets in his awkward position. "I just haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately, is all." He propped himself on the pillow, looking up at Hayner. "Just gimme a few minutes, alright?"

Hayner was about to protest, when Pence placed an arm on his shoulder. Hayner's shoulders slumped, finally looking back at Roxas. "Alright. But don't take too long, we don't have all day, you know." They both left, Pence shutting the door behind him. As soon as Roxas heard their retreating footsteps become silence. He shot out of bed and gave an aggravated cry, hands pulling at his face. He noted that his arousal had decreased significantly, and sighed, throwing himself at the bathroom.

Within a half hour, Roxas entered The Usual Spot. He received energetic grins from his two friends whom had met him previously, yet the third did not meet his gaze at all. Olette stared sullenly into the ground at his approach. A pang of guilt filled his heart as he assumed his seat. Hayner, like always, was the first to speak.

"Hey, we've got a few days of summer left, so…what are we gonna do with them?" He looked around at his counterparts, who remained silent.

"We could check out the seven wonders of Sunset Terrace…" Pence offered, throwing a glance in Hayner's direction.

"Nah…"

"We could work on our projects…" Olette's head lolled up, hopefully.

"Work on homework? It's summer!" Hayner gave the sullen brunette a scrutinizing glance. " I think…we should go to the beach."

It was now Roxas' turn to give Hayner an odd look "Isn't the beach expensive?"

Hayner stood and faced the group, still firm in his resolve "So? We'll get jobs!"

"This is beginning to sound a bit familiar, Hayner" Olette stood, with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, c'mon. It wasn't all that bad last time." The blond patted the brunette's shoulder lightly. He sighed when he saw that she still wasn't convinced. "Wasn't all that bad last time? Do I have to remind you of that pervert that sat in the café, just to watch me waitress. It got weirder when he brought a sketchbook with him."

"Look, Olette. You can work somewhere else, where there aren't any…perverts, as you call them." He waived his hands about for emphasis. "Besides, if worse comes to worse, we can just prostitute Roxas for a little bit of pocket change."

The blond paled, and nearly fell backwards, had it not been for the crates behind him "You're going to do what!"

The others laughed at Roxas' expense "Just kidding, dude. You've seriously gotta lighten up. No one'll hire you if you don't have a positive attitude."

Roxas sighed, then smiled. Things weren't going to get any easier by the look of them.

AN: Ooh…wonder where he's going to work (tee hee hee). This chapter is really meant to set things up, so much slash-iness can ensue. I don't like apologizing for my work, but this chapter isn't very good. I'll come out with Chapter three, soon. I promise!