Hey guys, long time no talk, huh? Wow I can't believe it's been two years since I updated this thing! I feel like I owe everyone an explanation: Between that span of time, I had begun another year of college and to be honest, I lost my interest in Kingdom Hearts along with it. Don't get me wrong, I still loved the series, but writing about it or even playing the games kinda didn't feel the same. However, my love recently got rekindled (and exploded in full force) when 2.5 Remix came out. I finished KH2 Final Mix (which btw completely tore my heart apart. ROXAS. AND AXEL. AND THE ROXAS BOSS FIGHT AND THE EXTRA SCENE WITH AXEL AND ROXAS AT THE CLOCK TOWER *SOBS*), and am currently playing through Birth by Sleep Final Mix.

During that time I had been plotting out some possible storylines for this fic, so hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things ;w;
I'm trying to give each main pairing (and some minor pairings should they arise in the future) a fair amount of coverage, but since this is dominantly an AkuRoku fic, naturally from here on I'll be focusing more on them. However, VanVen will have quite a bit of moments as well (seriously, there's not enough VanVen love on this site and it makes me sad).

But I digress. I apologize for the long wait, and I hope you like this chapter!


*Roxas's POV*

Saturday seemed to have come by quicker than anticipated; it still felt like the beginning of the week for me, and already the time I had been the most wary of has finally arrived: Kairi's Halloween party. Not only did I loathe being anywhere with a bunch of people crowded tightly in every room, but I had a feeling that something bad would happen at the party...it was just a vibe I had, and my intuitions were usually pretty spot on. But Ventus seemed to be excited to go to a party hosted by the most popular kids in school, so of course I couldn't refuse. It was strange, considering I was the younger brother.

"Roxas!" Ventus yelled from upstairs. "Are you ready?! We don't want to be late! And are you-Waaah!"

I could hear a large thud from upstairs, and lord knows what the hell happened up there. Ventus probably tripped or something.

"-Are you going to wear a costume?!" Ventus continued his sentence from where he left off.

At that point, I let out a long sigh and trudged his way up the stairs and to Ventus's room, opening the door to find...Ventus on the floor, rubbing his forehead. "...You tripped, didn't you."

Ventus let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Yeah, kinda. But c'mon Rox, you didn't answer my question."

I rolled my eyes. "No, I'm not. I'm not going to embarrass myself by wearing some weird costume and having people stare at me."

"Aww, you're no fun." Ventus stuck his tongue out at me, before getting up from the floor and walking to his closet. "I don't want to wear a costume if you aren't..."

"Sorry, but guilt-tripping won't win this time." I stated flatly. "And unless you want to arrive to the party LATE, I think you should either decide to wear a costume, or your normal clothes. There's only like...five minutes left before the thing starts, and from what I could gather from the address given, Sora doesn't exactly live close to us."

Ventus nodded and just grabbed one of his graphic tees and a pair of jeans out of his closet. "Fine, you win. I'll just wear normal clothes."

I could tell that Ventus was pouting, which made me laugh a little. "Well, I'm ready whenever you are. Mom said she could drive us, so I'll let her know." I then proceeded to leave the room and headed back downstairs.

(I really hope nothing goes wrong...)

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.

.

We had arrived much later than we wanted to. When we pulled up in front of the house, it was obvious that the party had already started. There was loud music booming, and a bunch of teenagers could be seen through the windows. It was all rather intimidating to me, but Ventus's eyes lit up like a child opening up Christmas presents.

"Now boys...I know that this party is supposed to end late, but..." Mom's voice was laced with concern. "If you're going to stay the entire night, at least call or text me so I won't worry about you two?"

I nodded. "Don't worry, Mom, I will." Though I secretly hoped that we wouldn't be staying the whole night.

Ventus got out of the car first, not even waiting for Mom to finish her lecture as he walked up the sidewalk leading to the front door. I was about to do the same, before Mom spoke up again.

"Please watch over your brother, Roxas..."

I nodded and got out of the car, following my brother up to the door as he rang the doorbell. It only took a few seconds before someone opened up the door, and needless to say we were both taken by surprise.

The one who opened the door was Sora, or who I assumed was Sora. The brunet was wearing a costume that looked like it came from a low-budget horror film. Complete with a mask hanging off the side of his head, really dark makeup that seemed to create a shadowy effect, and fangs.

"Oh, hey! Kairi told me she invited you guys, glad you could make it!" Sora exclaimed happily as he stood aside to let us both in. "Food and drinks are in the kitchen, just down the hallway over there. Bathrooms are upstairs and to the left."

It was then that Sora leaned closer in, probably to prevent others from hearing. "Make sure not to go to the right, though. That's where the bedrooms are."

We both seemed to get the hint, and with that, Sora just grinned and walked back into the crowd to talk to the rest of his guests.

"Huh. See, this isn't so bad, right Rox?" Ventus grinned and decided to walk off on his own, which startled me.

"Wait, where are you going?"

Ventus turned around. "My friend Aqua said she was going to come, so I'm gonna look for her."

"So you're just going to leave me here?!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine!" Ventus turned his head. "See, isn't that one of your friends right there?"

I looked in the direction my brother was looking at, and saw that Xion and Demyx had also been invited. They were talking to each other near the table with all the snacks. When I turned my attention back to Ventus, however, no one was there.

"Geez...thanks a lot." I sighed and decided I had no other choice but to meet up with my friends. I walked over to them and cleared my throat a little, which got both of their attentions.

"Whoa, hey Roxas!" Demyx grinned. "Didn't know you were invited."

"I could say the same thing about you two." I commented, which made them both chuckle.

"Well, I told you before that I used to be good friends with Sora, so he invited me." Xion chimed in.

Demyx chuckled. "I'm also friends with Sora, although I just met him in high school. Mostly because he was that one kid that would always ask to borrow my erasers, and we would somehow form conversations during classes."

"Sounds like you have such an amazing friendship with him." I didn't even bother to hide the sarcasm, which made Demyx laugh more.

"Hah, got that right!" Demyx then took the time to look at his phone. "Actually, Axel was invited too, but he texted me saying he was going to be late."

I quirked an eyebrow. "I didn't think Axel would know the popular types."

"Normally he's not, but him and Riku were friends in middle school apparently." Demyx began to tinker with his phone. "Kinda amazing how popular kids seem to know a lot of people, don't you think?"

Xion let out an awkward chuckle. "Isn't that what makes them popular in the first place?"

A short silence, followed by gasp from Demyx. "You're right!"

I rolled my eyes at the stupidity of my 'friend', but the slight smile on my face showed that I was enjoying myself nonetheless.

"Oh, hey! I'm so glad you could make it!"

The three of us turned our heads to the source of the voice to see Kairi smiling and waving at us from the doorway. There was a blonde girl standing behind her, looking a little shy but smiled at us as well. The blonde girl was wearing what looked like a Tinkerbell costume, while Kairi was dressed as a princess, complete with the white ball gown. I think she was supposed to be Cinderella.

"Where's your brother?" Kairi's question was direction at me.

I shrugged. "He left me to find one of his friends."

She nodded. "Well, I hope you have a good time! If you need anything, just let either me or Sora know~" Kairi then left the room when she heard the doorbell ring, but the blonde girl stayed behind.

"You're the new kid, right? Roxas?" The girl spoke up.

That caught me off guard, but I just nodded, which made the girl smile. "Nice to meet you, I'm Namine. Umm...I'm Kairi's younger sister."

Why was this girl bothering to talk to me? Not like I was that interesting. "Oh, nice to meet you, too." I did my best to be friendly, and it must have worked since the girl smiled again before leaving the room.

"...That was weird." I scratched my head.

Demyx laughed. "Maybe she likes you. Love at first sight, eh?" He wiggled his eyebrows, to which I playfully shoved Demyx's shoulder.

"Very funny."

"What, don't believe in that sort of thing?" Demyx seemed genuinely interested and wasn't saying that for a good laugh.

I just shrugged. "I just never really saw love as a priority for me. I've never even felt any sort of romantic feelings for anyone." At least, not one that was just a simple playground crush, but that hadn't happened since elementary school when I developed a crush on a girl who always helped me with my classwork.

Xion seemed to be interested as well. "Whoa, really? Wow...you're kinda lucky I guess."

I looked at her in a confused manner, so she continued. "I mean, if you don't really care about that sort of thing, then it's harder for people to try and hurt you, right?"

That smile she gave me...it seemed really sorrowful, as if she was speaking from experience.

"Hey hey, this is supposed to be a HAPPY party." Demyx intervened. "No more talk about love shit." And he got a plate and stacked it high with snacks.

In the back of our minds, Xion and I were both thinking the same thing. (You were the one who brought it up in the first place.)

"Yo, Demyx, Roxas."

That familiar voice came waltzing into the kitchen, and said person put an arm around my shoulder. "Oh, they have hot wings. Yum~"

"Axel, what the hell, man?" Demyx groaned. "You don't need anymore hot stuff in your diet. I swear you're going to get an ulcer one of these days."

"Yes, Mom." Axel joked and grinned before picking up a hot wing and bit into it. "See Rox, Demyx is like the mommy of our little friend group. He's a natural worrier, plus he gets super emotional over the smallest things."

"I do not!"

Axel ignored Demyx's outburst and laughed, but then stopped when his eyes fell upon Xion. "I didn't think you'd be coming, Xion. Your dad actually let you out of the house?"

She nodded happily. "Uh-huh! I was a little worried because he looked irritated when I asked, but he said it was alright as long as I was home before midnight."

"And since I was the one who picked her up, looks like I'll be leaving then, too." Demyx sighed.

"I hope you guys realize that it's already like...10:00." Axel commented.

"We know." Demyx and Xion both said in unison.

Axel grinned. "Well then, we can't exactly let you guys leave without creating some sort of explosion."

That gave me, Demyx, and Xion an uneasy feeling in the pits of our stomachs.

"Axel...what exactly do you mean by that?" I asked with caution in my voice.

Axel just smirked and opened up the backpack he'd been carrying. Wait, why haven't I noticed that backpack before right now? "Who's ready for a fireworks show?"

.

.

.

*Ventus's POV*

"Ventus, over here!"

I heard the familiar voice of my new friend, Aqua, and walked over to the girl, who was waving her hand at me from her place by the staircase. She was standing with a taller male with brown hair and a rather athletic build.

"I'm glad you could make it!" Aqua smiled. "Ven, this is my boyfriend, Terra." She smiled and gestured towards the man standing beside her.

The man named Terra smiled at me, so naturally I smiled back.

"Nice to finally meet you. Aqua's been telling me a lot about you...Advanced Placement kid." Terra chuckled.

I scratched my head and grinned sheepishly. "It's not that big a deal."

"Guess it just means more to me, I guess. I wasn't that gifted at studies to be put into such classes...what I WAS good at however, was sports." He winked. "Star player on the blitz ball team, as well as a pretty damn good struggle and football player."

That made my eyes light up. "Back in my hometown, struggle was the most popular sport! My brother used to play as well, and he was a natural at it!"

"Really now..." Terra's eyes lit up as well. "Guess I'll have to challenge him to a game one of these days."

I chuckled. "He hasn't played in a while, so you'll probably beat him if you're as good as you say you are."

Aqua sighed but the smile on her face remained. "What is it with boys and sports? You guys could be talking about the most unrelated topic imaginable and somehow the conversation would always end up being about sports."

Terra eyed Aqua, before bringing his attention back to Ventus. "She just doesn't understand the bond between guys and sports."

I laughed, but we both instantly stopped when we felt a sinister aura coming from Aqua.

"Don't forget, Terra, but I have a black belt in aikedo. Martial arts is a form of sport too."

That shut both of us up immediately and just nodded in response.

"Did you want anything to eat, Ven? There's food in the kitchen." Aqua smiled and held out her plate of food, but I declined.

"No thanks, I ate before I came here." Which wasn't exactly a lie...I did eat dinner a few hours before. I just wasn't hungry at the moment.

"Hey, watch out!"

The three of us were startled by someone yelling, and the next thing I knew, a water balloon had hit me in the shoulder and he was covered with some sort of liquid. It looked like...fruit punch? No...there was a sort of...bitter taste to it. Yup, that was definitely alcohol.

"Whoa, sorry bout that dude!" The random guy shouted from across the room before continuing on with whatever it was he was doing. Looked like a dance of some sort, but I was more preoccupied on my current state.

"Holy shit, Ventus are you alright?" Terra and Aqua both looked at me with concern, but I shook them off. "I'm fine, I just need to clean up." I sighed. "I'll catch up with you guys later?"

They both nodded. "We'll look for Riku and get that guy thrown out." Aqua winked. "There's no way that should go unpunished."

(Scary...) I awkwardly chuckled but was secretly grateful, and rushed upstairs to find the bathroom.

When I made it up the flight of stairs, I was met with a hallway. And just like Sora said, there were a series of doors on the left side, and a series of doors on the right. What did Sora say? The bathroom was on the left? I made my way to the only open door on the left side, and saw that it was indeed the bathroom. Thank god I wouldn't have to snoop around to find it. I went inside and closed the door, and removed my shirt to see that it was completely soaked in...wine? Whatever it was, it was disgusting and I wanted to clean as much out as possible.

My efforts were in vain, of course, as the wine was red and no amounts of plain hand soap could take it out.

(Great...just great. Now I'm without a shirt.) I groaned and wondered what I would do. I couldn't exactly walk down the stairs shirtless...that would DEFINITELY raise a few alarms as well as eyebrows among the rest of the party.

I sighed and tried my best to remove the excess water dripping from the shirt, and was about to leave when someone began to pound on the door. Rather forcefully, to the point that I thought the door would come off its hinges.

"Hey, I smell wine in there! Open up or I'll kick this door down!"

That voice...

Just my luck. Vanitas. I hastily opened the door to find Vanitas in mid-knock, his arm raised ready to pound on the door once more. The look on his face was dumbstruck, to say the least.

"...Didn't take someone like you for an underage drinker." Vanitas scoffed.

I rolled my eyes. "Someone threw this stuff at me and it drenched my shirt. I was cleaning it out, but..." I held up my wet shirt and sighed. "Obviously it didn't work." The red stain from the wine was obvious, so hopefully that got the message across.

When I looked at Vanitas again, a smirk formed on the other's face. I gulped in response, expecting some sort of snide comment or maybe the other male would get it over with and just kill me right then and there.

Nothing of the sort came, however. Vanitas DID look rather angry, but it didn't seem to be directed at me.

"Fucking assholes." Vanitas seethed. "I swear if I find any traces of alcohol down there, I'm gonna beat every last person who isn't fast enough to run out of the house."

"...You're the last person I expected to care so much about that sort of thing." I commented.

Vanitas glared at me. "Normally I don't. But..." He bit his lip. "...Nevermind. Just wait here."

I watched as Vanitas left the bathroom doorway to go to what I could only assume was his room. I only caught a glimpse of it, but the walls were painted black and there were posters taped onto the wall that I could see. Band posters, from the looks of it. When Vanitas remerged, he threw a black shirt at me.

"Put that on. It's one of my old tees...as much as I despise having people borrow my clothing, I don't think you'd want to walk around this place half naked."

That was...unexpected. To think that Vanitas was actually being nice...? And to ME, of all people? So did that mean that there was more to Vanitas than I originally assumed? Of course, with the amount of bullying I've seen at school from this dark-haired man, I had a hard time believing it.

"Stop fucking staring at me and put that damn shirt on."

Vanitas's annoyed voice broke me from my thoughts and I hastily put the shirt on. Upon looking at myself in the mirror, I noticed that there was a graphic on the front. Looked like a band logo...Gullwings? Wasn't that the girl pop band who had recently made a big name for themselves about a year ago?

I couldn't help but let out a stifled chuckle.

Vanitas obviously heard and cracked his knuckles. "Make fun of me one more time, and I'll make sure the cops will never find your body."

That instantly shut me up. Vanitas looked like he was about to say something else, but just as he was about to, a loud explosion resonated very close to our current location. In fact, it shook the walls of the house, causing Vanitas to brace himself and myself to almost fall over if I hadn't grabbed hold of the bathroom counter.

"...The hell?!" Vanitas's expression was so dark that it was legitimately terrifying. "You, come with me." He commanded and proceeded to walk down the stairs. With little option to do anything else, I hesitantly followed him.

The entire floor almost went dead silent when the people saw Vanitas emerge. There were a few collective whispers here and there, probably wondering why I was with him, but no one dared to ask or speak louder than a whisper.

Eventually, we walked past the kitchen and through the door that led to the backyard, where we saw...something that I had never expected.

There were...FIREWORKS. A few of them had already gone off and were lighting up the sky, while the others were lying on the ground and ready to be used. What surprised me the most, however, was that the culprits behind them were Roxas and his friends.

"What the hell, Axel!" Roxas shouted. "Don't you ever think before setting off explosions, or do you just do it for the shits and giggles?! You could have HURT someone!"

Axel had held his hands up in front of him in self-defense. "But I didn't, right? And look at how amazing they look!"

Roxas held the bridge of his nose and sighed, while Demyx and Xion seemed to be trying to prevent a full-scale argument. And knowing my brother, such a thing was definitely possible.

"C'mon Axel, you have to admit that what you did was pretty stupid...if not completely and totally awesome." Demyx commented.

Xion nodded. "Next time, maybe you shouldn't set them off so close to the house..."

"Fine..." Axel grumbled. "You three are both party poopers."

Demyx looked mildly offended. "Hey, I resent that! I'll have you know I'm ALWAYS the life of the party! Remember the summer party Mar-Mar hosted last year?"

Xion giggled. "Isn't that the same party that Larxene picked you up and threw you into the pool?"

"Yeah, but I got a round of applause for it! Even though she said she did it because she had the urge to, apparently-"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU FUCKERS DOING?!"

From where I stood, Roxas and his friends flinched so much upon hearing Vanitas's shout that I thought they would ascend just like those fireworks. All eyes were now on the raven-haired male beside me, so naturally they were looking at me as well. The look on Roxas's face made me uneasy for some reason.

Vanitas glared at all of them, before walking up to and glaring at Axel in particular. "I'm just going to assume that you're the idiot who brought the fireworks, because who the fuck else would be stupid enough to do such a thing." The tone of his voice was downright terrifying. "Pack up these explosives you have littered around your feet and get the hell out, or I'm forcibly throwing you out!"

Axel didn't seem to be affected that much. "Wow Vanitas, didn't take you for the type to follow the rules. You going soft or something?" He grinned.

I recoiled. Was this guy seriously taunting Vanitas?! This guy sure had some guts...either that, or he was just plain stupid!

"Watch it, Red. I swear if you don't get out of here right now, I'll make your school life a living hell." Vanitas threatened. "And take your friends with you."

That argument seemed to last forever, but eventually Vanitas had calmed down...even though the amount of irritation on his face was still there. After the confrontation, said male stalked back into the house, causing the party to once again become silent, before starting up again not long after. Guess that meant Vanitas had gone back up to his room or something.

I took that opportunity to walk up to Roxas. "Roxas, do I even WANT to know what transpired here to cause you guys to set off fireworks?"

Roxas glared at Axel, who was standing right beside him. "Blame this idiot, not me."

"You know you love me too much to stay angry at me, Roxas." Axel laughed.

I raised my eyebrows at that comment, while Roxas crossed his arms. "Do I? Maybe I'll reconsider this whole friendship thing we have."

Axel feigned hurt. "Roxas, you wound me." He laughed before taking out his phone. "Well, guess I should call my brother to pick me up. Before Mr. Sunshine comes back down and physically throws me out."

I chuckled at the nickname the one called Axel gave Vanitas. If he was there and heard that, I was pretty sure that heads would be rolling on the floor.

"I'll call my mom too, since I somehow got wrapped up in your nonsense..." Roxas said as he pulled out his phone as well.

I frowned. "I'll stay here longer. We haven't even been here for two hours yet."

"Ven, if I'm leaving then you have to as well." Roxas said back to me. Since when did he turn into the older one?

Axel chose that moment to cut in. "Um, I could ask my brother if he could take Roxas home."

Roxas glanced at him and then back to me, before sighing in defeat. "...Fine. But don't worry Mom by forgetting to let her know, alright?"

I nodded happily and hugged Roxas. "Thanks Rox~"

He pushed me off him and grumbled.

"Well, this all worked out for us because Xion and I have to leave soon anyways~" Demyx grinned. "Guess we'll see you guys at school on Monday?"

Upon seeing Axel and Roxas nod, he and Xion said their goodbyes before walking back to the house. Not long after, Sora and Riku came rushing out into the backyard to where they were standing.

"Are you guys okay?!" Sora panicked. "I heard a bunch of explosions and then yelling and my brother came walking back into the house with hatred in his eyes, the same way he looks at Mr. Even after receiving a lecture about almost blowing up the chem lab-"

"Sora, breathe!" Riku placed his hand on Sora's shoulder, which caused him to calm down. Wow, that kid could talk.

"I knew when I saw Vanitas outside of his room something must have happened." Riku's gaze then went to Axel, who had just put his phone away. "What did you do, Axel?"

Axel's mouth slacked a bit. "Why are you assuming that I'M the one to blame?"

"Because you're the only one here who would ever want to set off fireworks at a party. By the way, fireworks are illegal in this part of the neighborhood." Riku crossed his arms, but smirked. "Though you managed to piss off Vanitas so I guess I'll let you off the hook this time."

"Gee, thanks Riku. What a pal you are." Axel rolled his eyes, causing Riku to laugh.

"Hey."

I turned my head to see Sora looking at me. And the grin on his face almost sent a chilling feeling down my spine. Why did I have a bad feeling all of a sudden?

"That shirt you're wearing is my bro's, isn't it?" Sora asked innocently.

This one question made every single person turn to look at me with surprise. Dammit, why me?

"Ventus...why are you-" Roxas looked at me suspiciously.

I groaned. "It's no big deal, alright? Some guy threw wine at me, I tried but couldn't get the stuff out of my shirt, and then I ran into Vanitas who gave me one of his shirts to wear."

Roxas, Axel, and Riku's eyes grew so wide I thought their eyeballs would fall out of their sockets. What got me, however, was that Sora didn't seem that surprised. Then again, as Vanitas's brother he was probably the only one out of all of us who knew what his brother was like underneath his cold exterior.

Both Riku and Axel soon broke out of their shock and began to laugh. "Oh my god, Vanitas is a Gullwings fan?!" For a moment I thought Riku was going to need to go to the hospital for lack of oxygen, with how much he was laughing. "This is the best thing I've heard all day!"

"The thought of Vanitas wearing that shirt..." Axel wasn't doing too well, either. "Oh god, my sides!"

My eyebrow began to twitch a little...mostly because I had a few Gullwing songs on my mp3 player myself so I felt like I was also being made fun of. But when I looked in Sora's direction, I could tell that he was genuinely upset with how those two were treating the situation.

The sound of a phone vibrating finally got them to stop laughing, and Axel pulled out his phone to look at the text message he had just received. "Well as much as I would love to laugh more at Vanitas's expense, my bro is here." He then looked at Roxas's direction. "Last call for you to come with."

Roxas still looked uneasy about leaving me here by myself, so I just shook my head at him. "I'll be fine! My friends are still here so they can take me back."

Roxas looked at me again, as if contemplating his options...but eventually he sighed and nodded. "If something goes wrong, PLEASE let me or mom know so we can come get you."

I just grinned at him, before saying goodbye and watching him leave with Axel. Riku decided to follow them since he was still talking to Axel about something, so it was just me and Sora in the backyard. I was about to go into the house as well to find Aqua and Terra, before Sora stopped me.

"You...are you my brother's friend?" Sora asked me. When he saw the confused look on my face, he clarified. "It's just that my brother would never let anyone borrow his clothes, no matter how desperate the person was."

My eyes widened slightly. "Oh...no, I don't think we're friends. He still bullies me at school, anyway."

Sora smiled sadly at me, which left me more confused. "I think...you could be a good thing for him. He needs someone there for him, since he doesn't have many friends...not to mention..." He frowned a bit.

"...Not to mention...?" I repeated, hoping that Sora would explain further, but was met with disappointment when all he did was shake his head.

"Can you do me a favor and at least try to talk to him more?" Sora asked. "Especially after what happened today, I think he'll need it...no matter how tough he acts, he does have a sensitive side, as hard as it is for you to believe."

I was caught off guard by that, and for some reason I had a gut feeling that Sora wasn't telling me the entire story. Nonetheless, I just nodded and watched him smile back at me as he ran back into his house...I sighed. Why was I always the one who had to play the nice guy...? Right, because it was the right thing to do.

*Roxas's POV*

I was walking slightly behind Axel and Riku as they were talking about something. The only things I could make out from the conversation was a continuation of their laughing fit in regards to Vanitas being a Gullwings fan, and about a big test they had in their history class. We just past the kitchen when Riku said his goodbyes.

"Sorry I kinda...got us kicked out and shit." Axel scratched the back of his head as we walked through the house and to the front door. "To be honest, I didn't think Vanitas would have cared..."

I shook my head. "I was more surprised at the fact that Ven showed up with that asshole more than what happened afterwards." What was Ven thinking? That guy was bad news...

Axel just laughed. "You're protective of your older brother, aren't you? He's not as innocent as you make him out to be, y'know."

I glanced at him. "...What are you implying?" There was a little edge in my voice.

"What I mean is..." He smirked. "The day after you guys transferred to our school, he was late to Mr. Even's chemistry class and he made the best excuse ever. It was so great that Mr. Even-who, by the way, is the most hard-assed teacher in the entire school-couldn't even talk back to him and instead just made him sit down." He started laughing, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"I didn't even know you were in his class..." I shook my head slightly. "But anyway, what the hell did he say?"

Axel smirked. "Nah, I shouldn't tell you...you're name came up and you'll probably get angry."

"...What." I clenched my fists. Well, know I know what to ask Ventus the moment he comes back home. I'll get the info out of him if I have to tie him down to a chair and force him to eat brussel sprouts.

Axel just laughed and chose to let the argument go, because when we had reached the front door and opened it, Axel immediately spotted his brother's car, with his brother standing in front of it. I remembered him as the one who picked up Axel after the first explosion incident...my dad's partner, Reno.

"Yo. Didn't think you'd be leaving this early." Reno smirked. Guess that signature smirk also ran in the family.

"Sorry Reno...kinda got kicked out after some...unfortunate circumstances. It's nothing, so don't worry." Axel waved it off like it was nothing, causing me to scoff. Reno must have noticed my reaction, because he crossed his arms.

"Doesn't sound like it's nothing, but whatever...I'm not even going to ask." Reno then turned to me. "Guess I'm taking you home too. You're Cloud's son, right?"

I merely nodded, to which he nodded back. "Well, hop it- Oh, right." He turned to Axel once more. "Saix is in the back seat."

That certainly caught his attention, as well as mine. We both glanced towards the back and as sure as day, there Saix was, sitting there on the left side and staring out the window closest to him.

"Mind explaining to me why I came home tonight and saw him sitting next to our door?" Reno almost sounded exhausted, which got me curious for a moment. "He must have been there for a while...guy was sleeping when I found him."

I looked back at Axel, and I noticed that he was biting his lip. "He didn't tell me he would be coming over, so I have no idea."

Reno looked at him suspiciously, but just sighed again. "So did you want to sit back with him, or up front with me?"

I half expected him to say that he was going to sit in the back, but I was surprised when he told Reno he would sit in the front. Wait, didn't that mean that...Oh, hell no. I was NOT going to sit next to the guy that supposedly sent Zexion to the hospital.

"Don't worry, he should be calm right now." Axel whispered to me. "Please...just don't try and make him angry."

Oh yeah, like THAT helped this situation at all. If anything, that only made me more anxious. I was about to protest, but before I could, Axel had already gotten into the front seat. Without a choice, I carefully crawled into the back seat...Saix still hadn't taken his eyes off that window. What the heck was he staring at?

"...The moon is almost full." Saix finally spoke up.

I didn't know how to react to that, so I just nodded and sat there. Silent.

.

.

.

After getting dropped off, I felt rather...empty. I waved at both Reno and Axel who were shouting their goodbyes before walking into my house. When I closed the door, I looked at the white envelope that had been given to me sometime during the car ride...why had Saix given me this...?


I felt someone poking my arm, so I looked in that direction and was surprised to see Saix actually staring at me. His gaze seemed calm but for some reason there was this feeling of harshness behind them; as if one wrong move could potentially send him over the edge.

After a few seconds, he quietly handed me a white envelope. There was no name on it...no indication of what was inside. I stared at it for a moment, before looking back at him in confusion.

He said nothing, just kept the envelope extended to me as if expecting me to take it. I...didn't really have a choice, did I? I carefully grabbed the envelope and was about to open it, when I saw him shake his head. So he didn't want me to open it, was that it? Well then why did he give it to me in the first place?!

Of course, I didn't say that out loud...and when I looked up front to Reno and Axel, I noticed that Reno was focused on the road and Axel appeared to have fallen asleep, so neither of them noticed this little exchange. I looked at Saix one more time, before nodding and sliding the envelope in my pocket.


Saix probably didn't want me to open it...not yet, anyway. I mean, why give me something like that if he didn't want me to open it at all, right? Man, why did I get the feeling that I wouldn't have a normal life while living here?

"Roxas? Is that you?"

I heard my mom's voice calling out to me from the kitchen. I looked at my phone and saw that it was...past 11:00. Why was she in the kitchen? I walked over to her and saw her baking a pie.

"Hey...sorry I didn't text you. I..." I couldn't exactly tell her my reasons for being home early, so I lied a little. "I wanted to leave early, but Ven's still at the party...he said that one of his friends could drive him home."

Mom sighed, but smiled. "Well, I'm glad that Ventus is finally starting to make friends, so I guess I can't say anything. I just hope nothing happens to him."

I nodded. "Um...by the way, why are you baking a pie at this time of night?"

She just laughed. "Your dad's department is having a dinner party tomorrow, and I sort of forgot that I had to make some dessert for him to bring."

I laughed as well. "Wow mom...did you want any help?"

"No no, it's fine. Thank you though." She smiled. "Why don't you go to bed. You seem so worn out..."

I hadn't even noticed how tired I was until I realized that it was getting more difficult for me to keep my eyes open. I just smiled and hugged my mom goodnight, before heading up the stairs and to my room. I tried to think of a place where I could put the envelope where no one could find it and I could remember where it was for future reference...in the end, I settled on putting it in my night stand, underneath all of the other papers I had filed in there. They were just past school assignments and old pictures from my life in Twilight Town, so no one would bother looking through them, right?

I didn't even get a chance to enjoy the comfort of my room when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I swear if that was Ventus asking me to come pick him up, I would never let him live it down.

To my surprise, it wasn't Ventus, but...a number I didn't recognize. I opened the message, thinking it was just spam to be deleted.

[701-0707]: Don't open that envelope. Don't tell anyone about it, either. Not even Axel.

...Saix? How the hell did he get my-

[701-0707]: I got your number from Axel's phone.

...Okay then.

[Roxas]: Okay.

After my brief response to let Saix know that I had received his message, I saved his number in my phone and was about to close it...but before I could, it vibrated once more.

[Axel]: Can't sleep. You?

That surprised me. Why was he texting me so late at- okay, so it wasn't THAT late, but I always went to bed around midnight anyways so to me it felt late. I lied down on my bed and decided to text back.

[Roxas]: I didn't get a chance to try. You texted me as I was going to.

Since Saix didn't want me to tell Axel about the envelope he had given me, I assumed he wanted this entire thing a secret so I chose not to inform Axel I had gotten a text from Saix first.

[Axel]: Oh wow, sorry about that XD

[Roxas]: No prob.

[Axel]: Wow, even when texting you sound so sophisticated~

[Roxas]: Maybe you're just childish.

[Axel]: Ouch...you never fail at hurting me ;A;

[Roxas]: Probably because you deserve it? Kinda. Don't you have anything better to do than texting me? Like at least TRYING to sleep?

[Axel]: Nahhh...Saix is sleeping over and he's in my room. I got demoted to the couch for the night *cries*

[Roxas]: (;_¬)

[Axel]: Rude TT^TT Don't you care about me at all?

[Roxas]: Not really.

[Axel]: Well fine then, guess I should leave you alone for the night, huh?

[Roxas]: Lol. If that's what you want. Frankly, I'd be happy if you did that.

[Axel]: As charming as ever. Alright, goodnight Roxas (´ε)

[Roxas]: ...WTF?

[Axel]: What? It's just a goodnight kiss, haha~

[Roxas]: You're weird.

[Axel]: Yeah I get that a lot. Tho when I sent that same text to Demyx once, he responded with a kissing emote of his own. Unlike you, HE can take a joke ;)

[Roxas]: Fine. Goodnight Axel (#Д)

[Axel]: ∑(O_O)

I felt a small tug at the corner of my lips. I haven't texted someone for this long since I lived back in Twilight Town...back when Hayner and I would text each other nonstop until my mom forced me to go to sleep. A part of me really missed my old friends from back home...but I guess these friends are pretty nice, too. Yeah, I think I would be just fine with them around.


I promise that in future chapters I will clarify more on that little incident with Ventus and Mr. Even, as well as the mysterious white envelope that Saix gave Roxas~

Please review if you can, I really appreciate the feedback c: