.d.i.s.c.l.a.i.m.e.r

I do not own kingdom hearts, obviously, but I do own this hamburger which I am eating right now … Mmm, hamburger…

And I also do not own Panic! At The Disco's "Time to Dance"

-x-x-x-- + -x-x-x

.c h a p t e r t w o

.m i s t r us t.

"I'm not entitled to a free education?" the stranger asked me with a grin. He was standing right in front of me, eyes piercing my soul, as usual., the tattoos under his eyes glinting in the sun. His arms were crossed, and I could see that it appeared that he had been under some sort of scuffle. I wanted to ask what had happened , but I could only stare. My sense of snappiness had been sucked dry. He caught me staring however, and I could see a smart remark forming on his lips when I decided to cut him off. "You have to be at least twenty something."

That was for the 'free education' comment. This guy seriously couldn't still be in school! If he was, he had to be some really tall senior. And even then, it didn't explain why I didn't know him. Maybe my repertoire of names in Thallassa High wasn't as good as I thought it was. The stranger seemed amused by my comment and asked, "And your point?"

Again, I didn't answer. Finding my sense of movement, I twirled around to see if Sora and Riku were watching me get all tongue-tied around some adult. They're weren't. They were nowhere in sight. I could hear students groaning and pencils tapping inside classrooms, a place I had never wanted to be in besides now. I turned back to the stranger. "Do you go to school here?"

"In this dump?" He snorted, now turning his back towards me and heading away from the school. "No, I go to Xehanort's Academy for Music and Performing Arts. It's a college for talented kids, not just anyone can get in." Intrigued, I began to follow this guy, wondering where he was going. I forgot about Naminé at school probably worried to death about where I was. I forgot about Sora and Riku wondering why I didn't follow them. I acted without thinking.

He had been striding over to his motorcycle all that time. It was the first I had noticed it. It was a sleek jet black with flames painted on it the color of his hair. He hopped on and then looked to me, expecting me to do something. I just stood there stupidly.

"Look," he said with a sigh. "My friend was at that party the other night. He's in really bad shape, I can't tell if he's got a hangover or is still sloshed. I need some help to keep him sane. You in?" My eyes only widened. This stranger expected me to help him when he wouldn't even tell me his name? My was infuriated.

An accusing finger pointed at him. "I hardly even know you! Why do you want me to help you?" I awaited my answer. He only grinned at me again, adjusting his helmet on his hair in a way so it wouldn't get frizzed up. "You get to skip school."

I was hooked. "Deal."

He hadn't really planned on me helping, so he lacked an extra helmet for me. Not that I minded, I did tons of stuff without using the proper gear. I also refused to hold onto his waist. It was bad enough that I would be seen riding around with this college dude around school hours, but holding onto his waist was a whole different story. The ride was bumpy because of this, but I would've rather cracked my skull open than cling to him skittishly.

Finally, we arrived at a house. I was really surprised at this fact, because most of the people I know live in apartments. Even if they did have family, no one around here could afford to even step foot in a house. My eyes widened and he looked at me in question. "If you think this is something, wait 'till you see my place."

We got off the motorcycle carefully, and he made his way to the house as if it was his own, as if he owned it. I took my time walking, inspecting the territory. Lush green grass and small daises and dandelions could be found on the lawn, so luscious that when you stepped on it the grass seemed to spring a little. The house itself was a sunshiny yellow and white, the shutters painted yellow also with care. The door was also white, and the stranger rapped on it roughly.

It wasn't too long before we both heard a very girlish giggle and the door flung open, revealing a blonde woman scantily clad, hair frizzed as if she had just woken up. I squinted and remembered her as the woman Marluxia had ran off to chase last night, after interrogating me. Her name was also unknown to me. Maybe that was for the better, because she seemed delusional. The woman flung herself at the stranger, hugging him as if he was a giant teddy bear.

"You came, you came, you came!" she screeched in rejoice. "Oh, and you brought a cute wittle kid!" Before I could protest about how I was not little, she jumped inside the house, singing a song about lovely coconuts. I looked to the stranger for an explanation.

He only shook his head sadly. "Usually, I don't care about the well-being of Larxene, but seeing as how they made me responsible of her for now, I've gotta do something to get her back into shape. She's got an important play debut tomorrow at school." He made his way into the house and I timidly followed, wondering how I could possibly be of assistance.

The stranger seemed to know where he was going, because he made his way into her kitchen and fumbled around in the cabinets. I could only stand there and watch Larxene jump on the couch and sing 'I Will Survive' off key. Very off key. While trying to block out her shrieks, I began to wonder about the stranger's school. Obviously these two went to the same school, and it was very prestigious. …Did all smart kids act this way when drunk? Maybe their minds had been so used to being uptight, when alcohol made way, they lost themselves completely. There had to be a way to get her back down to earth…

I stumbled my way around the house, since the stranger seemed immersed in looking for something in her kitchen. It wasn't long before I made my way into her room. It was painted white, and was very orderly, not a book or pencil out of place. Out of curiosity, I picked up a random book off of her desk and flipped through the pages. It seemed to be about the structures of sadism. With a shudder, I closed it, wondering how a sadist could act so differently when drunk. And then I began to wonder if I wanted to help her get the alcohol out of her system. A sadist was not one to toy with. Or one to be friends with…..

However, if it meant being taken out of her presence, so be it. Clasping the book in my hands, I made my way back to the living room. The stranger seemed to be getting agitated with looking through Larxene's kitchen for whatever he was looking for, and Larxene herself had moved from 'I Will Survive' to 'Boogie Wonderland'. Which was worse, I wasn't sure.

I showed the blonde woman the book hesitantly. Pulling up a spaghetti strap from her extremely short shirt, she eyed me curiously. "Whatcha giving me this for?" she asked in an annoyed tone, clearly wanting to go back to her singing. Instead of trying to explain how she needed to come to, I sat on the couch that had been tenderized from her jumping on it and flipped open to a page. With that, I began to read.

The words and their meaning were gruesome, but it calmed down the drunken beast within the woman. After a few minutes, she took the book from be abruptly, turning the pages, consumed by it's words. I watched her read for a while, and saw the alcohol leave her gradually. Even though I had never seen the woman in my life before today, helping her out seemed nice.

Finally, with a triumphant grin, the stranger remerged from the kitchen. In his hand he held a mysterious black bottle with a number twelve written on it. When he saw Larxene reading calmly, he looked shocked, wondering where the drunken beast had gone. "Did you…?" he started off, and I only grinned. Laughing slightly to himself, the stranger delayed no further and uncapped the bottle, sticking it in the blonde's mouth. She looked angered at first, but then her eyes drooped. Finally, she fell down on the couch, fast asleep.

My eyes widened. "What did you do?" I asked. It was then he explained that the it was medicine that would flush the alcohol out of her completely. When she awoke she wouldn't remember out presence here. Which would be just as well. I got up from the couch and stretched, this whole affair had taken hours.

"Shall I drop you back off at school?" the stranger asked. "It almost the end of your school day anyway." I pondered this. And then I remembered all the questions I would have to answer to Riku and Sora and Naminé especially. This would be troublesome … But being back at the empty apartment wouldn't be as fun either. At least after I explained everything, they might understand, and we could all do something together. I nodded my head.

"Yeah, that would be nice."

x-x-x-x-x-x

A motorcycle ride later I was back in front of Thallassa High. After jumping off his vehicle, I stared at the stranger. He had been so nice, and he knew my name, yet I knew nothing about him. "You never told me your name!" I shouted to him, for he was getting ready to leave. However, I wasn't sure if he heard me or not, because he only grinned at me and strode away., leaving me there to question yet again.

A second after, the bell rang. Talk abut timing skills. I ignored the rush of teenagers fleeing past me, and I stood there, as if time stood still, watching the shadow of the stranger leave me gradually. For a while, it was a serene moment, until a chorus of voices behind me shouted my name. "Roxas!" they cried.

I spun around to see the very people who I knew I had to explain to. Naminé, her hands on her hips, looking wildly at me; Sora, his deep blue eyes looking more anxious than mad; and Riku, jaded eyes and face wearing a frown. It was Riku who spoke. "What happened man? You been standing in front of school like that all day?" He didn't speak about our basketball game and how we had skipped homeroom. For even though we always did it, Naminé didn't know.

And then Naminé spoke. "I was so worried Roxas! I could've only assumed the worst! I thought maybe someone had shot you in the halls and then stuffed your body in the janitor's closet! In fact, at break, I actually looked in the janitor's closet, but …you weren't there.. .but still!" She continued to ramble about all the possible things that she thought had happened to me, until Sora paused her.

"Chillax, he's fine, obviously," he said calmly, shaking his head. "He just skipped, that's all. So tell me, what did you do?" He seemed eager to hear of what had happened to me today, and not worried at all about me in the least. I grinned. This seemed to unnerve Naminé which made Riku sigh.

He took a deep breath. "Yeah, so since he's fine, let's all go to my place and talk it over. Besides, we have band practice today." This made Sora grin which made Naminé sigh which made Riku laugh, which wasn't often. It was agreed, but Sora said he'd catch up with us, since he wanted to bring Kairi along. We all agreed and set off.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Riku's place was always where we went after school. Well, not always, but most of the time. His parents are hardly ever home, and so most of the time he gets it all to himself. He says he envies me for having my own place already. He says if he could move out he would. I don't see why though. He doesn't have to work for his survival, like me and Naminé do.

I ran my hands against Riku's pillows, which were pure white. And fluffy. But they were the manly sort of fluffy pillows, according to Riku. Of course, not one said anything because me and Sora were jealous of the fluffy pillows. In fact, if I could steal them, I would. Today I took one of the pillows and squeezed it against my chest, rocking back and forth, waiting for Sora so I could finally tell my story.

We heard the door of the apartment bang open and footsteps walk in. I cracked my neck around to look, and saw Sora and Kairi making their way over to Riku's room, the room we were in. When they finally made their way in, Sora couldn't help but scream and "TA-DOW!" as his entrance, which made Riku roll his eyes.

Kairi giggled and waved at us shyly. Kairi's been hanging around us ever since kindergarten, and can be nice at times, but can be not so nice sometimes. And to tell you the truth, I really don't like her. If you squint, you can see that she's not totally devoted to Sora, and has some feelings for Riku (which every girl does….except for Naminé). One of these days she's going to rip Sora's heart out, and then disaster will strike. Until that day, I just deal.

She's a really skinny kinda chick with these big blue eyes and red hair, with some browns mixed in, so it's not as red as the stranger's. Today's she's in a pink halter top and short, short skirt. You don't even have to crane your neck to look up it. I shook my head, watching Naminé wave to her. Kairi and Naminé were best friends, but that still didn't mean I have to like her.

"So…what's up?" she asked. Sora was holding her hand, as usual, but her eyes were gliding towards Riku, who was staring down at the floor like he always does when no one's saying anything really important. Sora and Kairi both took a seat on the floor, as Kairi twiddled her fingers, wanting an answer. Naminé decided to answer her. "Roxas was just about to tell us why he skipped school."

I really didn't want Kairi knowing my business about the stranger and me, but it didn't look like I was going to be given a choice. I took a deep breath and clutched the pillow even harder. "You all know about the stranger, right?" A chorus of nods were displayed except for Kairi, who gave me a blank look. I ignored it. "Well, right asker bask- I mean … I had head outside for some fresh air, and then I heard my name, so I turned around, and he was standing there, just looking at me!" I heard a gasp, which came from Sora. "He asked me to help his friend, who was sick from this party. It wasn't anything big really, I helped her calm down and read her a book, and then he came and flushed the alcohol from her system. He still didn't tell me his name…"

Riku, now interested, took his eyes from the floor. He adjusted himself on the bed before he answered. "he trusts you enough to bring him to his friend's house? And you trusted him enough to go with him?" My throat burned. I hadn't thought of the stranger of anything but good. Maybe I should've been more careful. As if she could read my thoughts, Naminé nodded.

"Maybe we shouldn't have anything more to do with him, " she suggested thoughtfully. "I mean, he's in college. He's older than us. He's a stranger. Weren't we told not to talk to strangers?"

I didn't think about that point for long. "Mom doesn't really care what I do anymore Naminé, you know that. That's why she kicked me out. She doesn't care if I talk to strangers or get boozed up at parties, she just wanted me out of her hair. And that's what she got." Talking about my parents had always got me all fused up, and being the good friend that he is, Riku noticed this and tried to change the subject.

"Well, at least we know what happened. Glad to see you're ok, Roxas." he nodded deeply, and gave me a small smile. His features were always easy to read. He wanted me to do whatever I wanted about the situation. Follow my heart. He was always a deep thinker like that. Ether that, or he just gave really corny advice.

"Alrighty then," Sora said with a yawn. "Let's get some band practice in before Kairi falls asleep." It seemed too late for this, however, because Kairi was nodding off, bored because she hadn't been included in the secret about the stranger. Sora prodded her, and Kairi only mumbled something unintelligible. I didn't know what it was, but I swear it started with an R.

x-x-x-x-x-x

After a certain redhead had woken up and was refreshed, we made our way over to Kairi's house. By this point, my legs ached from all the walking I had done today. Because Kairi was the only one of us who actually had a caring parent and lived in a house, not an apartment, she allowed us to use her garage to practice in. Her mother's various cars could never fit in there anyway, she had said, so why not? Another reason to be nice to Kairi. She had money and she let us use her garage.

Our band equipment was still set up from the last time we had practiced. Grinning, we all took our usual places. Sora at the drums, Naminé at the keys, me holding the guitar and Riku at the mike, tapping it repeatedly to see if it worked. Kairi was our sex appeal. As screwed up as it was, that was the only thing she could contribute to Oblivion. Apparently, she had forgotten today we had practice, so she went to go change into something more sluttish. Well, she didn't actually say that, but that's what she was going to do.

It didn't take as long as she normally did. Again, her outfit was pink, but she had somehow managed to get her skirt shorter and her top cut higher. I blinked and looked away. Sora stared. Naminé was oblivious (she's a girl!). Riku's eyes trailed down to the floor.

"We ready?" my jaded eyed friend asked. After rubbing his eyes and bringing himself back to reality, Sora nodded. Naminé, Kairi and I nodded as well. Riku made the proper signals, and we all started in an explosion of noise.

Well she's not bleeding on the ballroom floor

Just for your attention

'Cause that's just ridiculous

Well, she sure is gonna get it

Here's the setting:

Fashion magazines on the walls now

The walls line the bullet holes…

I watched Riku sing in awe. I always get distracted when he's singing because his voice has that perfect pitch to it. He could win American Idol easily. My fingers fumbled around on the cords, and thankfully no one noticed. Well, no one except for Naminé, who giggled softly to herself and shook her head over at me. Christ, girls…

You sure, you sure, you let her have it?
you sure, you sure…

Oh, whoops, we were playing again. This part didn't need that many guitar strings, so I could relax. However, I still needed to pay attention somewhat. My eyes wandered, glazing over Kairi's garage. The redhead herself was dancing around, as if we had a crowd, waving to invisible people. This made me wonder if she was on any medication of any kind…

Have some composure!

Where is your posture?

Oh, no, no!

You're pulling the trigger

Pulling the trigger

All wrong…

I remember once, when Sora and Kairi were out on this trip, and Naminé had stayed home sick, it was just me and Riku at his house. We were fooling around with lyrics and such, when I asked him out of nowhere how his voice had that perfect pitch. He had told me he never ate spicy foods, to keep his voice like that. I asked really, where did he hear about doing that. He told me he had heard of it from a 'Cheetah Girl' magazine. I laughed hysterically after that, and almost died, tears streaming from my face at how hard I was laughing. After I was done, I asked him if he meant that. He looked me dead in the eyes and told me yes, yes he did.

Give me envy!

Give me malice!

Give me your attention!

Give me envy!

Give me malice!

Baby, give me a break!

When I say "shotgun" you say "wedding"

As soon as he yelled out "shotgun" I yelled "wedding", to add diversity to the song. Shotgun! Wedding! Shotgun! Wedding! I always hated that part of the song, for it required me to do some sort of singing. Even though one could debate if shouting and singing were different, it meant the same for me.

Well, she didn't choose this role
But she'll play it and make it sincere so
You cry

You cry
(Give me a break!)
But they believe it from the tears
And the teeth right down to the blood
At her feet
Boys will be boys
Hiding in estrogen and

Wearing aubergine dreams

I eased up now, the song was halfway over, and Riku's distracting voice no longer had a hold on me. I took my gaze away from the guitar and looked around again. Kairi was dancing dangerously close to Riku, who was clutching onto the microphone for dear life, trying to inch away from her inconspicuously. I sighed and shook my head. This wasn't the first time this had happened, and Sora was always blissfully unaware of it. I glanced over to him to see him absorbed in playing the drums, beating at just the right moments. I began to wonder if everyone but me didn't seem to notice how much she wanted Riku. And the only thing that stopped me from informing Sora was the fact that our band career would be over if we couldn't use her garage.

Come on, this is screaming "photo op"…

Come on, this is screaming "photo op"….
Come on, come on

This is screaming, this is screaming

This is screaming, "photo op"…

And what irony! This really was screaming, photo op! We may not be famous, but someone needed to inform someone that Kairi really wasn't what she seemed. Well, she did seem like a slut … and she was a slut, so never mind that theory. But seriously, one of these days, I would crack and spill everything. Best to keep my tail between my legs for now…

Boys will be boys

Hiding in estrogen and

Boys will be boys

Boys will be boys

Hiding in estrogen and

Wearing aubergine dreams….

I hadn't realized the song had ended. I was too busy watching the scene through confused eyes. As soon as the lat note had been sung, Kairi acted natural and moved away from Riku, who loosened his grip on the microphone. Sora looked up, finding a perfectly normal scene and Naminé continued to sit at the keys, smiling neatly. I drew my hand away from the guitar, a loud, unearthly noise emitting from it. Kairi flinched.

"You ok, Roxas?" Riku asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. I grimaced at his touch. No, I was not okay. I would never be okay until Kairi was out of the picture. But for the good of Oblivion, I would lie. I smiled. Oh, how I was good at fake smiling.

I hoped it was believable looking. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Apparently it was believable because he bought it. "Nothing, you just had a faraway stare." His eyes looked saddened. I could tell he wasn't asking for this, that it wasn't his fault Kairi was attracted to him. This thought made me want to laugh. Oh, the woes of being sexy…

Sora gave his drum a final bang and grinned at all of us. "So, that wraps up practice for today guys, move out!" He gave Kairi a look. "See ya later?" He twirled his drumstick around, awaiting a response. He got one. The redhead smiled and nodded, rushing inside her house without another word. Naminé patted her keyboard (don't ask, it's one of her 'sacred' traditions) and skipped over to me. "Time for us to go to!" she chimed. I nodded, glad there was at least one girl in the world who wasn't a crazy slut.

And so we left the house of horror. We were going to wait for Riku, but he was still lingering around, fixing and tuning the equipment so that it would be in top form for our next practice. It was then I remembered that I had forgotten my backpack over at his house. Naminé, always careful, had hers slung over her back carefully and neatly, as usual.

"I'll be back," I told her frantically. However, I didn't leave until she nodded, recognizing that I had to leave. I made a mad dash back to Kairi's house, avoiding her mother waving over to be and greeting me with a, "Back again, Roxas?" I ignored her father who was mowing the lawn and asking what the hurry was. I flung open the door of the garage, hoping that it would be in there, praying that I wouldn't actually have to infiltrate any other part of the slut's house.

When the garage door opened, I gasped. I had obviously been in the wrong place at the wrong time, which is how most of my problems started. Half of me wanted to shield my eyes from the sight, and the other half made me want to slap a certain redhead across the face. I just couldn't believe it.

As soon as I had opened the garage, door a certain redhead grabbed Riku by the shoulders and pressed him against her body, his face against hers. Being quick to look for clues, I scanned Riku's face, which was surprised and disgusted. Pulling away from her, he shuddered and flashed her a cold stare. It seemed like he was about to tell her something when he noticed I was standing there. He glanced towards me, and decided to say what he was going to say anyway. "Don't you ever try that again," he said, his voice ringing out in sternness. I had never heard Riku use that tone of voice before. "If you don't like Sora, that's none of my business, but don't think you can win me over."

Another word formed on his lips. I could tell what he was going to say even though he didn't say it: slut. He wanted to bad to call her what she was. But he couldn't. Oh, the things we did for Oblivion. He then walked towards the exit - towards me - and shut the garage door, giving up on the task of tuning the instruments.

His hand touched my shoulder again. "We can't tell Sora. He'd dump her and the break up would be messy, you and I know that." His eyes looked worried, as if he thought I would tell. Sora and I may have been alike in many ways, but there were some things he'd do and some things I wouldn't.

I gave him a small but assuring smile, a real one this time. "I know. I won't. But I wonder … is Oblivion worth this?" He seemed to ponder this for a while, in hard thought.

Finally, he said. "It's not about Oblivion. It's about Sora learning a lesson about dating."

Silence.

"You know, I kind of came back for my backpack."

He laughed. "Right, let's go get it."

x-x-x-x-x-x

He made sure I got back to my apartment ok, which was totally unnecessary because I can handle walking all by myself. "I'm a big boy now," I told him defiantly. He laughed and told me to get moving. So I did.

He didn't leave me alone until I went inside my apartment complex. When I did, he waved to me in a carefree fashion and made his way back to his own apartment complex. Glad that this whole affair was over for the day, I climbed the flights of to my own apartment. The door was left ajar, so most likely Naminé had gotten back before me and left it open. And she had.

She was lounging in front of the TV, flipping through channels so fast you couldn't even se what was on. When I came inside the apartment and slammed the door closed, she looked at me expectantly, cocking her head to the side. "You got your backpack back?" she asked. In response, I dropped it down to the floor. "Yeah," was all I said.

x-x-x-x-x-x

That night was silent. I wanted to tell Naminé more. About the stranger, about Riku and Kairi, about Oblivion,. About everything … Oh, and great, tomorrow I had to go to work. And catch up with yesterday's missed assignments. Sighing, I tossed around in the sheets, trying to force my thoughts to not waver to sadder things. Like Mom, Dad, the home I would never be welcomed in again …. And somehow, through all that drama, I fell asleep, dreading and wanting the next day's events.