Honorific Explanations:

Sensei-added on to a person's last name or simply replaces the name itself. Generally used for people in high professions (such as a doctor) or a master of something (like in martial arts).

-chan-added after a person's first name. Usually used between girls who are close friends. It's also an affectionate term lovers may use with each other.

Aniki-Can replace a person's first name. It's something a boy would say to his older brother but it's informal.

Bozu-This is used to refer to a boy. It's informal, similar to saying "kid" or "squirt."

The HuMaN ConDItion

~Just Living~

He falls, clutching his own naked stomach like his heart will explode. His legs jerk and twist up, kicking in what seems to be an unnatural angle. It's strangely poetic the way his body moves, every muscle and organ struggling to keep him alive. His veins pulse beneath his skin and his skin turns pale, almost as white as the ground beneath me.

It doesn't feel right watching him squirm. But I can't move my arms. I can't take another step towards him. It has nothing to do with being incapable. Far from it.

Fact is, I'm not even sure if I want to help him.

Sora is a Host. I'm not sure if you fully understand what that entails, but after living on the Ground Square for so long, lost in nothing but poverty . . . yeah, please blame me for not saving the rich punk who decides to play god.

Yet . . . man, he sure does look sick. I've never seen a Host react this way at all. But then again, I don't really see much Hosts anyway. Not my kind of crowd you could say . . .

Okay, now I'm starting to feel like a jerk. Sheesh, what's wrong with him? In order to quell my slight curiosity over the fool's predicament I walk up over and touch Sora's shoulder.

The touch seems to break whatever spell he's under and suddenly air is rushing out of him like a sac. Then he coughs and then the coughs turn into dry heaves. I wrinkle my nose at the sight before covering his mouth, halting all airflow except through his nostrils. "Hey, calm down," I say, which is pretty nice for my standards. It's not everyday someone practically spews their lungs out to you though, so I can make an exception. "Hey, Sora-Kan?"

His face literally transforms before me. He bares his teeth, stabs me with his gaze, then shoves me away as if I have a disease. "I told you not to call me that," He grunts, which sounds brutal in the open space between us. Like a cracked throat.

This dude is seriously sick. "Well excuse me for trying keep your liver where it's at. With the way you're coughing . . . "

He wipes his mouth and it's clear from his pout that he's about to deny his condition right to my face. "It's really not that bad. Don't worry yourself over me." He completes the sentence with a cough at the end. See, what did I tell you?

"Right." I whistle, looking around. The landscape is practically barren except for the rough ground. I have no idea why a flower appeared in my hand earlier, I kind of miss it. It was the only color this place had. Shame. "So, mind explaining why you're naked?"

Sora's expression is so dramatically mortified that I want to laugh. Almost. "You tell me first," he says, tone accusatory now. Apparently, if you mention this guy's health he becomes a wasp. I don't need all this stinging baggage, dude.

As you can plainly see I like talking to myself. Seriously. You're going to have to get used to it.

Ugh, why did I have to get stuck with a Host though? Of all people! "So . . . " It hurts just to talk now, I feel so awkward. "Um . . . how did you get here?"

"Again, you tell me."

Sheesh, he still sounds mad at me. What, can't handle the truth, Sora? You are sick, aren't you? "Look, we're not going to get anywhere going back and forth. You going to help me or what?"

Sora's expression softens and he stands, making a motion to dust himself off but he stops (probably remembering that he doesn't have anything on, heh). "Sorry . . . my heart is totally betraying me right now."

Ah, heart condition. Figures. "Right." I smirk to myself. It's just so ironic.

Okay, okay, you're probably all rolling your heads thinking I'm an idiot or something but you have to get the joke. You see, Hosts, if you didn't already know, are basically people who think they are god. They go off cloning themselves because they have all the money and power and it's for science and blah blah blah. So yeah, they think they're demigods and can do whatever they want with the clones and stuff.

Basically, our country is at war over this issue (and a bunch of other crap). Not literally, but politically everyone's pretty divided. At the extreme people think that the people who clone themselves are a disgrace to mankind, shaming the Bible's truths, spawns of the devil . . . you know, the usual extremist stuff.

I'm not even going to tell you what is said about the clones. Just know it's not pretty.

Anyway, a few of us have this joke that Hosts always suffer from heart problems because in order to even think about cloning yourself you must not have one (some even go as far as to make gory stories out of it. They talk about how people sell their souls and literally rip their hearts out in order to create the clones).

It's crazy cause here I am walking around with this random Host in the flesh and he has a heart condition. Heh . . .

Hmmm, I'm just talking to myself now, aren't I? Pfft, whatever. Don't ask me to explain my jokes anymore. Critics . . .

Well, it seemed more funny in my head. But now looking at Sora's face . . . yeah, it all seems a little immature now.

"Hey, you okay? You've been staring at me for five minutes." Sora raises an eyebrow, which somehow makes him look all high and mighty though he's as pale as an icicle.

Wait a sec, was I staring at him? The heck? Ugh, I can't believe I did that again. Hmmm, it must have been a lapse or something.

Yeah . . . it was a lapse. "Right . . . sorry." I grin sheepishly even though inside my head I'm bashing myself with a hammer. But it's all in my head so therefore I don't look like a fool standing in front of him.

That's why I love the mind. It's awesome, seriously . . . at least when it's not forcing me into these damn lapses.

"Roxas, you're still doing it."

"Sorry." I cough. Yep, I take back what I said about the mind.

Sora purses his lips. Then he crosses his arms over his chest and smirks back at me. "Like what you see?"

Wait a minute, the hell?! Where did he get the courage to sass me? And how dare he try to use my smirk. What a load of bull. "Don't fool yourself. I just . . . I do that sometimes. It's not just you." I look away because my face always betrays me. Stupid cheeks. Ugh . . .

And I'm serious! I could lapse at anytime! In front of anybody! Not like I ask for it to happen. It just does.

Sora taps my shoulder and I scowl. "Hey, easy! I thought you wanted help." Sora still has that crooked smirk on his face (again, mine) but his eyes are notably duller and he's holding a hand over where his heart should be.

Huh, perhaps I should be more careful around him. Don't want to set him off. "How about you go in one direction and I'll go in another direction and if either one of us finds the exit we'll yell or something."

Sora's smile disappears and he blinks. "No. You won't. If you find the exit you'll just leave me here."

How did he know? No, I wasn't thinking of doing that. I'm seriously wondering where he got the ability to even predict what I would do. "Listen, Kan, you may think you're in control of everything because you can afford to duplicate yourself. That doesn't mean you're anyone's boss. I say what I'm going to do. Got it?"

He sighs. "Please don't call me that. I have a name. What happened to all that macho talk about labels, huh?"

Dang, caught me that time. "Well, there are some exceptions you know." I mumble underneath my breath, staring straight ahead. "At least you have a title . . . "

He grabs my wrist and squeezes. I stop and look back at his face, mouthing 'what?' He shakes his head, and I have to strain my ears to hear his voice. "You don't need a title. Your name is Roxas."

I blink once. The way he said my name . . . it's not a stupid sassy mockery of it or anything. He just says it like it's important, like it means something. Like it stands for something. Like it's a regular name that any other person would say in the real world.

But I know in reality that's not the case. Still . . . it's nice hearing it that way.

I smile genuinely at him. "Okay. I'm Roxas and you're Sora." For now, anyway.

His smile is even bigger than mine and he lets go of my hand. "You can lead. I'm horrible at directions anyway."

"Smart choice." I chuckle though inwardly I'm screaming 'crap!'. But you know, playing it cool. "Follow me."

"Already am. I'm waiting for you to lead." The smile is still on his face but there's also a playful glint in his eyes.

I sense smart-assery in this one. Easy to forget I'm walking with a Host sometimes. Not that I'm trying to be stereotypical, especially considering I don't hang out with these types . . .

Ergh, moving on! "You know what, if you squint I think you'll be able to make out a white hole over there."

"What do you mean? Everything is white."

"Yeah, but it's a little . . . you know, less white."

"Ah . . . " Sora looks sheepish now. "You know, about me being a little . . . weaker than normal. You see, I did suffer a heart attack recently and . . . " His voice trails off.

Wow, so he cares about his sickness now? "Well, what does that have to do with seeing a hole?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just . . . well, it does play a small part. I wear contacts now. But . . . I forgot to put them on when I woke up and they didn't carry over to this place, so . . . "

"You can't see it," I say flatly.

"I'd love to say that I could, but I frankly," I glare at him and he cuts to the chase. "Yeah. Not seeing it."

"Right. All you had to do was say that in the first place. Why circumvent?"

He grins amiably. "Well, I do present a lot and give speeches and stuff. It's sort of wired in my brain so to speak. I say a lot of unnecessary stuff to grab attention."

"Speeches, huh?" Hmm, intriguing. From what I've seen of him I bet he's downplaying this. I never really thought about what type of occupation he might have with him being so sick and all. He looks pretty young too. Maybe my age?

What teen in their right mind wants to waste hours giving monologues? "No offense but that sounds pretty boring," I mutter. What? I can't stop myself from telling the truth all the time.

"No. Not at all. Ordinarily I'd agree. But being that I'm a history buff . . . I sort of found my way to commit to something." He grins proudly. "And that's where most of these injuries come from, believe it or not."

Injuries? I look over his body. I guess all the white scenery had been distracting because I completely missed the scar on the middle of his chest along with the red welts and bruises along his sides and legs. Even his arms look a little bruised up, though they're faded so I'm sure they're not recent. I frown. "All that for a speech? You start protests or something?"

Sora giggles rather innocently given the topic. "Not as classy as Shakespeare but I think I can be just as profound. All it takes is an audience and a camera."

"You mean you go viral?" This guy must be a prodigy if he's getting exposure like that. Or he's like super rich or a workaholic. "Well, I'll admit, that does take skill. Most networks rarely accept many newcomers. Especially teens."

Sora's expression can be considered gloating now though in his eyes I see that I'm broaching sensitive territory. "Well, I was rejected several times. I go viral through . . . other means."

"So illegally then?" Okay, I'm sorry, but this guy just got way cooler. I give him my second genuine smile of the day. "What channel?"

"Ah, on PoliTech." His smile shrinks and his nose and cheeks turn red. "It's a fairly famous channel. We've only done it through them a few times actually."

"No kidding." PoliTech is one of the top viral channels in the nation. He has to have serious hackers on his side to pull something of that scale. "How many is a few?"

"Three times. And . . . well, I was shooting for a fourth but my stay in the hospital is probably going to be extended when this is all said and done." Sora's expression is a mixture of relief and nervousness.

I shrug. "Yeah, reality sucks sometimes. Nothing new in my world."

His mocking smile returns. "My life's not a party either. Not like I'm drowning in funds or anything." His eyes soften. "My Mom is going to kill me . . . if I'm not dead already." Despite the seriousness of the conversation his smile didn't disappear and I saw his eyes lighten up briefly. It's the look of a person who has just stumbled upon a revelation and all of a sudden I feel like I'm overlooking an important concept.

Nevertheless, I still feel like teasing his financial situation (I doubt that he's poor) but I hold myself back. "You're her son. You have nothing to worry about."

"Thanks." He gives me a single pat on the shoulder. "Well, what about this hole?"

Ah, almost forgot about that. "It's just a few yards away. You'll see it soon."

"Right."

From the way he says that I can tell that he's hiding something again except this time it regards his health. Many of my friends, particularly Aniki, comment on how I can be insensitive because I can't hear the inclination in people's voices. But I can tell when someone is trying to hide exhaustion. Even though Sora's facial expression sags we're also getting closer to the hole, so I'm not worried.

It's still strange. Like I mentioned earlier Hosts generally are in pretty top shape. Perhaps all those injuries are mainly protest related. After all, no one goes onto PoliTech to calmly negotiate. It's just not the channel's style; they're too radical. This brings to mind another joke but I'll save it for an appropriate time.

When you don't talk and focus on walking you get to places faster. It's scientifically proven. I'm touching the jagged edges of the hole and it's obvious now thanks to the grey space inside it. "Alright, this is it. Ready to go home?"

I turn my head to gaze at my companion but then everything in front of me flashes white. You know, the flashlight effect when you shine the light directly in your eyes even though your parents tell you not to. It blinds me, naturally, and then I'm staring at my musty grey coat while holding my arm out. My hands encased in black gloves are holding up a window and I blink once as my face gets attacked by rain drops.

I blink a couple more times and stare at the world outside. The street in front of me is busy. Constantly muddled by cars and grumpy pedestrians; an endless cycle of city life.

I'm back at the Ground Square. I frown.

"Ah, look who finally came back to join the living."

I turn quickly and see Demyx laughing like any bad musician would; with class and no regard for any normal person listening. He's also dressed in warmer looking attire. I can barely make out his mouth as a grey scarf wraps his face. His nose is red and his pale blonde hair is dripping. "That was literally the longest I have ever seen you space out."

"Shut it, Dem."

He raps me on the head (hard) and pokes my sides. "Roxas-chan, you're never going to survive a day out there if you can't respect your elders." He makes a tsking sound.

"I don't see why I have to say your name that way. It's undignified."

"What's so undignified about it? We're friends." Demyx makes a pouting face that reminds me more of a toddler than a nineteen-year-old. "The name is the most recognized part of a person, Roxas-chan. It's a dangerous thing to mess up. You could really hurt someone's feelings."

I growl at him. He still hasn't stopped poking me. "What about me? You make me sound like I'm your lover or something."

Demyx waves his hand in a flippant matter like I said something stupid. "You've known me for what, two years? You should be used to this."

"And you should be used to me saying your name wrong, Dem," I smirk. It's sort of been an old game between us. To be honest I don't mind him calling me Roxas-chan because he adds that to everyone's name whether they're male or female.

Just because I understand him doesn't mean I'll quit teasing him though. Others may play along but I can't call him Demyx-chan. I just can't.

Demyx wipes fake tears from his eyes. "The things a man has to do to gain some respect." He claps his hands briefly before giving me a more serious expression. "Seriously, Roxy, you can't do that when you're out in the real world. Some people are crazy about that stuff."

Ugh, and he had to pull that card. Not to mention he called me that. Some of the other members of my 'family' like to call me that when they're scolding me. It irritates me to no end (you would be too if everyone around you kept changing your name to make it as girly as possible). There's only one person that I don't care about when it comes to calling me nicknames. Aniki.

And speak of the devil, here he comes now. "Ai, Roxy! Quit being a bozu and close the damn window!"

I shiver at the tone of his voice before shutting the window. The sounds of the street are instantly muffled and I slowly run a hand through my face, wiping away the excess moisture. I can't believe I forgot about that. "Sorry about that," I mutter, rightfully embarrassed.

Axel (that's Aniki's real name) just shrugs and comes up, rubbing a hand through my hair. He has a long black coat on and thick leather gloves. His vibrant red hair looks weird in a long ponytail and his green eyes soften when I look up to meet his gaze. "Another lapse, eh?"

"I guess so." Not to mention a freaky encounter with a random Host. But you don't need to know that, Aniki.

"Right." He sighs and glances at Demyx briefly. "How long?"

"I have no idea. Had to be at least ten minutes though cause that's when I came in and he was still staring out. Glazed eyes and everything." When he finishes spewing out how I behaved to the minute detail Demyx instantly walks out of the room before giving me a small salute.

Great, leaving me alone with Axel. Just what I needed.

I sigh and turn around fully, leaning against the window with ease. I'm trying to prepare for the lecture to come. Thinking of good counter arguments and phrases but the moment I stare into Axel's eyes I know that's not happening.

Yeah, I'm leaving out my special name for him for a reason. "So, that hairdo." I tilt my head and put a hand under my chin. "It really doesn't fit you."

Axel's eyes narrow and he crosses his arms. His silence unnerves me. He's usually such a motor mouth and even when he's in a bad mood he'll have a sarcastic comeback ready for any dumb remark I make.

He must be angrier than I thought. I blink once and rub my elbow vaguely. When he still doesn't say anything I turn my eyes towards the floor instead. He brings my head up by the chin and his face is so close that I can see the little specks of yellow in his green eyes. He grunts, moving my head from side to side, staring directly at me. "How are you feeling? Any headaches? Phantom pains? What are we dealing with here?"

I sigh and let him move my face all over. "Nothing. Honest."

His only response is a groan and then he fully stands, cracking his knuckles. It always freaks me out when he does that. It sounds like he's actually breaking something. "You didn't take your medication," he says like it's the most common thing in the world.

And it wasn't until recently. "Yeah, I didn't."

He closes his eyes, still shifting his knuckles into his palms repeatedly. "Why?" he asks.

It's amazing how he can lower his voice like that. "I didn't think I'd need to," I mumble.

"You're lying." He opens his eyes again. He's glaring at me like that will pry the true answer out of my mouth.

"What's wrong with taking a break, huh? You know how the medicine makes me feel!" I snap. We've had this argument before but I'm not in the mood today. I may have lapsed pretty badly but this time something actually happened.

Instead of some blank space I can't remember I actually talked to someone. That has to mean something. It sucks that I can't fully tell Axel the truth, but the moment he finds out it's a Host he'll force feed me the medication. I'm 95% sure of that.

"Roxy . . . I can't stress this to you enough. You have to take your medication every day." Axel closes his eyes. "You know why."

"Nothing dangerous ever happens during these lapses! So what if I stare for a couple seconds? It's not like I'll die without it." I huff and cross my arms. My position is identical to his but he will always be more intimidating just because he's a few heads taller.

God, I hate that.

Axel chuckles darkly while staring out the window. "Ten minutes is a long time, Roxy. Especially if you're out in the middle of the street. Don't downplay this."

"You're not my dad, Axel." It's a weak thing to say but I'm too mad to care. It's even worse because I called him by his full name and unlike Demyx Axel actually gives a crap if you address him the wrong way. I'm really, really, really pushing it.

The thing about me and Axel is that we both have messy tempers. He is much better at controlling it, obviously, but along with rage comes the desire, the need to be heard. We don't back down until the other cracks. This is just one of those times.

Axel's facial expression morphs from shock to pissed in seconds. Then suddenly he grins widely; showing off white impenetrable canines. I shake slightly under his angry smile and he laughs before walking away and opens the door across from me. Inside I see Xion's blue eyes close before she runs away. Her black coat trails as she heads up the stairs and along with her footsteps I hear the pounding force of other feet shuffling rapidly upwards. Axel shakes his head, still grinning wickedly. "Damn them eavesdroppers."

I swallow. He rarely cusses either.

Axel puts a single hand on his hips. "I'm not doing this today, Roxas. It's a waste of my time frankly. Pfft, what the hell, eh? It's not like it will matter in a few days." His smile shrinks and his eyes harden. "You're lucky that you have people like me constantly watching after your pathetic ass when you refuse to pick it up yourself."

I . . . I don't even know what to say to that. My hands are shaking and I can feel pressure building up in my eyes. My mouth is in this weird snarl shape but I still can't say anything. God, I can't even think! What do I say to that?!

"Hey. Hey!"

I flinch back as his shout reverberates through my ears. I gasp at the strength in his voice. How did it spike up like that? He has the strangest vocal chords out of any guy I've ever met! "What?!" I scream back.

He chuckles before throwing a white bottle at me. There are three yellow pills that each have a blue line running across the middle. "Don't lapse again. It's your birthday after all," His weird smile returns before he leaves and slams the door.

Alright! Second chapter done!

Thank you all for reviews and support. You have no idea how much this helps!

Well, tell me what you all think of Roxas in your reviews. His chapter is a little longer here. This is the kind of length you can expect unless I have to end it early for cliffhanger purposes.

Anyway, until next time!

And before I forget, I don't own Kingdom Hearts or it's characters. This plot here is mine though (and this will be the only time I say it).

Justice T.