"SEIFER!"
"Jesus Christ, whaddya want?"
"A substitution."
Seifer scoffed at this. "Too scared to fight your own battle?"
"No, but I'm scared you might cry if I beat you again."
Hayner chuckled behind Roxas, amused at their little girl fight.
"Who's this?" Seifer demanded angrily.
"My substitution."
"Whoa, whoa, what?" Hayner asked.
"Yeah, sorry, I probably should have explained on the way. Seifer, I don't care to fight you, but this gentleman here would be more than willing."
"Roxas, I never agreed to this. I don't even know what a Struggle is."
Seifer grinned mischievously, walking closer to the two. "Oh, I'll take your substitution, Roxy. And I'll make sure to show your little friend all the ropes of a Struggle."
Roxas beamed, completely oblivious to the evil glint in Seifer's eyes. "Awesome! I'll just leave you guys to do your thing then."
"Come on, lamer, let's get going," Seifer told Hayner.
"I don't get it; I thought we were supposed to be practicing for the Struggle thingy."
"Oh, we will," Seifer said as he pushed Hayner through town.
"Where are we going then?"
"Someplace... More secluded."
Hayner looked back at him nervously, not liking the tone his voice had taken.
"Don't worry about it, lamer, you'll be fine."
"Lamer... That sounds awfully familiar..."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure it does."
"I think... one of my old friends used to say that."
"Real touching story, kid, I can't wait to hear more."
"My name's not kid."
"Not like I care."
"If we're going to be hanging around each other for the next few hours, we should at least know each other's names."
"Fine," Seifer huffed "What's your name, kid?" he sneered, making sure to put extra emphasis on 'kid'.
Hayner glared up at him, not too sure if he had the right to know anymore.
"Well?"
"Hayner."
The blood drained from Seifer's face, unsure of what to do at this point.
"Hayner?"
"That's right."
"Do you... Do you remember me?"
"Not that I recall," Hayner said hatefully.
"Unbelievable... Chickenwuss."
Hayner's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
"Seifer?"
"No shit," Seifer muttered, pulling Hayner into a hug.
"I never thought I'd see you again, Hayner," he whispered into his shoulder.
Hayner wrapped his arms around Seifer's neck, squeezing back tightly.
"I promised I'd come back."
"Did you move back?"
"...No," Hayner mumbled.
"Oh. How long are you here for?"
"Just a couple days."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"That's fine, man. We can still spend a lot of time together while you're here!"
"Yeah! But first..."
"Huh?"
"What's up with your outfit, dude?" Hayner snorted.
Seifer looked down at his clothes, catching sight of his toned belly.
"What? It's stylish."
"Yeah, okay."
"Well you-" Seifer frowned, looking at Hayner's own outfit.
He looked good, there was no way he could insult him.
"Whatever. Let's go."
"Go where?"
"You're still going to be in the Struggle, right?"
"Oh. Yeah, I guess I am. What is a Struggle, anyway?"
"It's like a sport here in Twilight Town. You use Struggle bats to defeat your opponent."
Hayner grinned. "Sounds fun."
"It is. And I'm the champion," Seifer stated. "So don't think you're going to beat me so easily," he said with a wink.
"No surprise there," Hayner said.
Seifer grabbed his wrist and continued pulling Hayner to their original destination.
"Whoa, I didn't expect this place to still be around," Hayner said in awe.
He was looking up at the old mansion with Seifer beside him.
"Yeah, no one really comes here anymore so it's a perfect place to practice for the Struggle."
Seifer threw him a Struggle bat and walked to one side of the open area in front of the mansion.
"Get ready, lamer. The rules are simple, just hit me with that bat there and whoever loses, loses."
Hayner gripped the bat, adrenaline rushing through his system.
"I'm ready!"
They began to battle, Hayner quickly getting into the motion of things.
"Hey, chickenwuss, you're not half bad," Seifer huffed out, sliding across the grass.
"Aw, is little Seifer scared I'm gonna beat him?"
"You wish, Hayner," he responded.
Hayner whacked him in the leg and he fell to the ground with a cry of pain.
"Seifer! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. And you're going to be great during the Struggle."
They smiled at each other, deciding to head back into town for some food.
A/N: woo yeah this is going great (i honestly just puked out this chapter i apologize) anyway the next chapter should be up in a couple days!