"Yes! I win!" Axel cheered in between heavy breaths. The four boys were huddled together, hands on their knees at the top of the stairs. Axel had reached the top first, followed shortly by Riku, then Roxas, then Sora.

"Of course you won, Axel, you have giraffe legs" Riku sputtered out breathlessly, grinning slyly.

"Nah, it was his big ego. It's like a balloon, it just floated him up to the top" Roxas responded, irked that he had lost to the two weapons.

"Aw Roxy, what's your obsession with my ego? You might make Vanitas jealous" Axel looked up smugly, his bangs sticking to his forehead. He seemed to notice his hair wasn't perfect because he swiped his hand in an upward motion and his hair stuck back up perfectly.

"Well, Axxy..." Roxas cringed at the name, "Never mind, that was nauseating just to say. Anyway, I can't help that your ego is so big that it's the only thing I can see" Axel just winked in response, to which Riku snorted loudly and fell to the ground in hysterics. Roxas looked down at his friend, "Riku? You okay buddy? It wasn't that funny."

Riku took a few seconds to calm down and stood back up. "It kind of was. Plus…" he trailed off, the rest of his sentence lost as he stared up at their destination.

In front of the group stood the DWMA. Well, stood might not be the right word. Towered! That's better. Three giant skulls rose from the landing, the foremost skull had spikes coming out from each eye socket and nasal cavity. Behind the skulls rose numerous black towers decorated with white trimming and a white skull, with red tiles forming the peak of each tower. Along the edge of the landing were numerous long, white candles with flames flickering, burning away at the wicks. The gray tiled landing led directly to the skulls, which hid the entrance to their new school.

The four boys looked at each other and then, seemingly as one, rose tall and strode towards the large doors. Roxas pushed the doors open, surprised by how easily they opened given their size. Either they were light or he was strong. He figured it was the former.

As the doors opened, he was almost blinded by the sheer amount of white in the foyer. White pillars held up white varnished balconies along the edges of the room. Towards the back, beyond the large crowd of students, rose a grand white staircase leading towards the upper floors and the rest of the academy. Along the right wall, a line of bulletin boards hung upon the wall with notes plastered on them. Some notes had red X's over them, others had what looked like a lanyard looped around them, and the rest were simply uncovered. Someone tapped Roxas's shoulder and when he looked behind him, he saw Axel pointing up towards the ceiling, his mouth hanging open. Following his direction, Roxas saw what had Axel so enthralled. A large crystal chandelier hung low from the high ceiling, bathing the room in bright light. Upon closer inspection, he realized the crystal was shaped into multiple scythes, each rimmed with lights and tipped with a skull.

Tearing his eyes away from the grand foyer, he looked to the other side of the room and noticed a man in black leather clothes and black boots, staring vacantly at the wall across from him. A smile cracked across Roxas's face and he broke into a sprint towards his lover. Just before he reached Vanitas, he leapt into the air and called out his name. "Vanitas!"

Vanitas looked up just in time to throw his arms out in front of him and wrap them around Roxas, the two spinning around in a circle and laughing, not caring about the attention that was turned their way. "Roxas! A little warning next time would be great." Vanitas said with a chuckle.

"I did warn you."

"A warning more than two seconds in advance would be great then."

"Sorry, I got excited" Roxas smiled at his boyfriend, still wrapped in his arms, his own arms held around Vanitas's waist. "Where have you been?"

"I went for a walk when I woke up, ran into Ventus on the way, then we came here." Something in his eyes told Roxas that he was hiding something but Roxas was too happy seeing Vanitas to press for more information.

"Where's Ventus at then? I know Sora will be looking for him."

"I think he went to set up for class. It's his first day too remember?"

"Oh yeah. He's probably really nervous. I'm sure Sora will have his work cut out for him calming Ven down after school." Roxas smirked, "I don't know if I'll be able to go home"

"You really think that they'll survive until after school? You give them more credit than I would. And don't worry, you can come back to my place. We can unwind ourselves." Vanitas smirked back, winking before he swept in to capture Roxas's lips in his own.

Roxas pressed his lips back against his lover's, moaning lightly as he noticed once again how soft Vanitas's lips were. And when Vanitas caught his lower lip between his teeth, Roxas definitely didn't complain. That was how the others found the two love birds, lips locked together and tongues sliding across each other's lips and tongue.

A chorus of "Yuck!" "Disgusting" and "MY EYES" met the two, the latter coming from Roxas's brother. The two pulled apart, still pressed tightly together from the shoulder down, and looked at their friends. "Sora, I really don't think you have room to talk. Or do we need to discuss what I walked in on last week?"

Sora turned bright red and murmured something that sounded like "Please no".

"What? What happened last week?" Riku asked excitedly.

"Oh, didn't Sora tell you? I walked into my house and found him balls deep inside of Ventus. A world's supply of bleach couldn't sanitize my poor eyes after that sight!" For added effect, Vanitas hid his buried his head into Roxas's shoulder, though Roxas was pretty sure it was just to hide the pleased grin on his face.

Riku snickered loudly as Sora's face reached a shade of red that even Santa would be envious of. That boy. For having no sexual attractions, he sure got amused by the sexual exploits of others. Sora, on the other hand… well needless to say it was entertaining making him embarrassed even though they all knew Roxas and Vanitas were worse.

Before Sora could fluster his way through a response, two girls walked up to join the boys. One was blonde with blue eyes in a white dress and heels walking hand in hand with a girl with auburn hair, wearing a burgundy blouse and a pair of jeans with combat boots. Roxas recognized the two easily after their multitude of visits to Sora. Namine and Kairi, Sora's other best friends.

"Sora! I've been looking everywhere for you." Kairi whined, punching the brunette's shoulder.

"OW! Kairi, what have I told you about hitting me? You're stronger than you realize." Sora whimpered, rubbing the spot where Kairi's fist made contact.

"Oh whatever. C'mon, there's someone I want you to meet. Mind if I steal him guys?"

"By all means, take him. Any more embarrassment and he won't even survive until Ventus's class" Axel chuckled as the group watched Sora pout and walk away with Kairi and Namine, Riku following behind. "Well…I'm certainly not going to stand here with you two. There's some things I'm better not seeing." With that, Axel too faded into the crowd gathered in the foyer.

"Now where were we?" Roxas whispered into Vanitas's ear, who finally stopped hiding behind him.

"I believe we were saying hello" Vanitas replied, staring lovingly into Roxas's eyes.

"Well then, hello baby" Roxas leaned into Vanitas again, pressing his back against the column and pressing their lips together. The two stood like that for a few more minutes, mouths moving in unison, teeth nipping at the other's lips, until Roxas pulled away and kissed down Vanitas's neck, eliciting a light moan from the leather-clad boy. Roxas kissed and licked and bit at a spot just under Vanitas's ear, driven by the other boys sounds until he realized the sounds stopped. He looked up and saw that his lover's eyes were trained on a spot behind him. Turning around, Roxas followed his gaze and saw a kid standing in the crowd in a black hoodie with the hood raised over their head, covering half of their face. Roxas wondered what about this kid would have caught Vanitas's attention until he realized with a gasp that the crowd seemed to move around the boy in a circle, as if they were being repelled by his very presence.

Vanitas pushed off the column and strode over to the kid, Roxas following closely behind. When the couple reached the child, Roxas noticed that the child wasn't really a child. They looked to be around his age, maybe an inch or two shorter. Vanitas held his hand out, "Hi, I'm Vanitas."

The mysterious person pulled off their hood, revealing a boy with black hair and blue eyes. He grasped Vanitas's outstretched hand and shook it. "Hello Vanitas, my name is Kai."

"Is he in?"

"Yes, Lord Xemnas. He has successfully infiltrated the academy. It won't be long now until the plan is in place."

"Good. Soon, the blood of the DWMA will run in the rivers of my new empire."