:D Good Golly Gosh Guys! That was a huge group of reviews! Thanks so much for all you had to say! I really appreciate everyone who reivewed! It gave me the drive to update this as quick as possible!

NOTE: Interested in being in the story? Want to be included? Leave a review with your character's name/description/interests, and I'll incorperate them into the story line!

On with the show, yeah?


Roxas:

And so the bet was set.

We'd start it the next Monday so that we could have time to prepare everything that we'd need to survive in the other's shoes. It would be 30 school days so we would be switched for 6 weeks, right before a one week school break. We'd need to know who to talk to and who to stay away from, and we'd need to know each other's schedules. We'd have to know how to react to what, and where to go when. I had to remind him that we'd have to try to fit the other's life and not the other way around, and he just simply smiled and shrugged, eager that the bet was in place. I don't know why he was so excited… I was positive not even a year could get me to like his friends, so I had my winnings in the bag. He would get Lulu to get off of my back, and then I'd get the added bonus of the peace and quiet I craved when she was around.

We practiced reactions and we worked through different scenarios that he might go through. I was positive I could pass off as Sora, but I wasn't so sure of him acting like me. He might try to make friends with people that I couldn't stand, and then we'd be in trouble.

"This is Riku Hanz. He's a senior and my only competition." I pointed to the yearbook picture and watched my brother's face transform into wonder. Looking up at me, his eyes sparkled with excitement like he'd just found something big out.

"Do you mean that you have an arch-nemesis?!" He exclaimed, looking back at the picture and then up at me again. Rolling my eyes, I shook my head.

"We're actually quite civil to each other when we're together. It's just an unspoken thing that we're the only competition we have, and we try to always beat each other in everything we do." I explained, watching with humor as his face fell. Sora always tried to find out if there was something exciting or hidden in my life, and it was sad to say that there wasn't. I went to classes, I went to cram sessions, and I went home to do homework.

"So if I meet him in class or in the hallway…" Sora looked at me strangely.

"Nod your head and keep doing what you're supposed to be doing." I advised gravely, shuddering at the thought of Riku and Sora actually having a conversation. The boy would be able to spot my phony replacement a mile away, and then he'd say something. We weren't friends, but we weren't enemies. To get ahead in our little game he'd say something, and then there would be consequences. Cloud's face came to mind and I shuddered inwardly.

"This is Seifer. He's my enemy." Sora proudly pointed out the kid with a weird beanie and a silvery jacket, his smirk irking me even though I didn't know him. Glancing over at my brother with slight surprise, I had to admit that I didn't know he had an enemy. Guilt gnawed at my conscience but I pushed it away roughly. Now wasn't the time for that.

"Oh, it's pretty exciting… he tries to bully me but he's supposed to be a hall monitor, so he just tries to get me into trouble. He doesn't, but one of these days…" His voice trailed off as he shook a fist, covering his mouth to hide his smile. "I once tripped him down the stairs!" Sora proudly pointed to himself and I rolled my eyes, looking back at the smug brat and logging his name away for future reference.

I'd still do my own homework of course… I didn't mean to fail my classes by letting him go crazy with my work. Of course, I'd spoken to Zexion about my plans for the next month, hinting that he should look after my brother and keep him in check with my usual schedule. He had replied the way I'd expected Zexion to reply. Sarcastic humor.

"This will end ironically." He informed me from behind his newest book, the width of it bigger than my head. I nodded slowly as I wrote down a few reminders for the preparations of next week.

"I'm not going to like his friends." I informed him softly as Kairi and her small group of friends walked past. Kairi smiled and waved at me, but I merely gave a curt nod and continued writing. Zexion gave a politically correct cough from behind his book before he set it down and placed a slip of paper between the pages, giving me his undivided attention.

"And what if you begin to like them? You'd have slipped this entire scenario for nothing. Your brother isn't an idiot, though he does appear that way sometimes. Either way, you still run the risk by letting yourself fall into the bet in the first place." He flitted a hand through the air and raised an eyebrow at my perturbed stare.

"I'm aware of that…but it's worth it. By being around them, I can easily encourage them to stay away from my brother." I replied easily, ignoring his snort of amusement.

"Yes, and they can easily turn your argument around the same way you'll try to turn theirs around. Sora has presumably already informed them of the upcoming switch, am I correct?" He tilted his head smugly as I jerked my head up and down, knowing where he was getting at.

"I'm not easily manipulated though." I defended myself, nodding as Riku took a seat next to me on my other side. He showed the teacher his pass as the vulturesque woman pounced on him, and with a blasé shrug he inadvertently caused an immediate change of conversation as Zexion returned to his book and I began working again.

"You'll most likely be with Axel and Demyx most of the time. Axel has almost all of my classes and Demyx has all of them. You'll also be around Marluxia and Larxene, but Larxene is kind of snappy when she doesn't know someone. Rai is Seifer's monkey, so avoid him… really, just stick with Axel and you'll be perfectly fine. He offered to show you around and keep you out of trouble." Sora grinned brightly at me and ignored the way my face looked like I'd been told someone had run over my puppy. Did I have a puppy? No. But if I had one and it had been run over, I would have made the face I'd just made when I was told the guy I hated the most out of Sora's friend would be my escort for a whole month.

"Stick with Zexion. Try to convince Lulu to leave you/ me alone while you're at it, and keep your thoughts to yourself." I advised, schooling my face back to normal. I didn't want Sora to be upset that I hated his friends, and so I tried to have some kindness and pretend to be excited to meet new people. Was I excited? No. I was terribly, terribly nervous. New people for a whole month. People I was supposed to socialize with. People I didn't know…

Insert shudder here, if you would.

It took a lot of work to prepare. Sora had a lot of difficulty pretending to be me; I think it was against his nature to be easily annoyed with stupidity.

"You can't act overly nice to Kairi's group." I sighed and rubbed my palms into my eyes as he groaned wearily and slumped onto my bed. It was close to one in the morning, and we only had a few days left to really get a grasp on what we were doing. The closer we got to the next week, the more frustrated I became and the more frantic Sora became.

"Why not? She seems nice…" His voice trailed off as he looked over the yearbook picture of the red headed she-devil.

"She seems nice, yes. So does her friends Selphi, Yuna, and Rikku. They're all a bunch of screaming harpies though, so please don't give them the excuse to talk to me unnecessarily, please?" I knew I was being a little childish, but I wanted to go back to my normal life the moment a month was up. I didn't want to have to have damage control the same time I'd go through therapy to get over this entire thing. Yes, it was worth it to keep Sora away from bad crowds, but that didn't mean I wouldn't have scars.

Lots and lots of scars.

Naminé knew about the entire thing, of course. We'd have to have her secrecy in order for things to run smoothly, so naturally I was the one that needed to ask her. Sora merely mumbled something about her getting revenge on him before he'd run to his room and slammed the door in fear.

Naminé was in her room, like she usually was. It was a plain white room with white and light blue blankets and pillows and a crème colored wooden desk where she drew. A few drawings littered the walls, but they were mostly tucked away into her desk where she currently sat, drawing something for her AP portfolio. Mine was almost finished, but Naminé often redid her drawings until they were perfected beyond reason. Well, I did too… but that was beside the point.

"I heard about your bet with Sora." Naminé addressed me as I quietly sat down onto her bed and waited for her to be ready to speak. I didn't like pushing her to speak, and she knew I didn't like holding long, drawn out conversations. She probably knew why I'd bothered her in the first place.

"It's… interesting." I struggled to find the appropriate word to describe what the bet was. It wasn't exactly a terrible thing, but it was certainly out of character for me. The only in character part would be where I made Sora wait so that we could properly plan things out. Naminé smiled blithely and nodded understandingly.

"You'll do fine. You want me to do damage control with any rumors or suspicions." It wasn't a question since she most likely already knew I'd need her for that. Naminé had the strange gift of being neither seen nor heard, and therefore knew everything there was to know about rumors and the like. She could also dispel any trouble since everyone trusted her information. She didn't twist the truth and didn't become a gossiping harpy like Kairi's group of friends.

Though, she wasn't an innocent child either. No, no, please don't make the mistake of coming to that conclusion. For your own safety.

"It would help keep things from stirring up. Cloud doesn't need to know." Smiling, Naminé nodded and held up a pinky, her smile becoming an all out beam as I linked pinkies to seal the promise. Now I knew she would do her best to keep trouble down. Cloud would never find out.

"List off my schedule." I said as I worked on my AP chem. Packet. I was almost finished with it so that Sora could take it to class and be prepared. I didn't want him trying to write any of the answers down and give me a zero.

"AP Chem. AP lit. AP history, AP government, AP calculus, AP economics, AP art, and gym. What's mine?" Sora rolled around on my bed, smiling as I nodded in approval. At least he knew where to go.

"Art, algebra 2, world history, chemistry, world language, health, gym, and drama." I replied tonelessly, the words flashing through my mind in a list. Nodding, Sora jumped up and went to look out of the window, his walk similar to mine, just like mine was as close to his as I could get it. He was better at changing that then I was though, I had to admit. Good posture wasn't something you could force away like bad posture.

"I think we're ready." Sora turned to me and grinned brightly, exposing his eagerness.

"As ready as we'll ever get." I agreed softly, looking back at him with a raised eyebrow. Sora turned to walk out of the room, but stopped and glanced back at me, something in his eyes making me a little worried.

"I hope I win." He said brightly, his eyes not really fitting the words. I merely smiled thinly and shrugged, watching as he turned to leave before I turned back to my homework with dread settling into my stomach. I didn't want him to win. He couldn't hang out with people like that; it was bad for him! And yet… the look in his eyes…

Rolling my eyes, I pushed the thought away and turned up Debussy, focusing on my homework once more. I had one more day to be absolutely prepared, and I was using it to my total advantage.


Roxas:

The morning dawned bright and early, much too early for my liking. It was like because I was dreading it, the day just had to speed up. Nerves fluttered around my stomach, and I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I knew everything that Sora had informed me of, but it would be different in the actual situation. I could almost see Zexion rolling his eyes at me, and then the whole idea of him actually trying to tame my brother was asinine. Thoughts like that kept rushing through my mind, racing around at nauseating speeds until my alarm rang too early, and Sora came bounding in with too much enthusiasm to be natural.

"It's time, it's time, it's time!" He jumped around my bed before he let out a laugh and jumped onto my bed, efficiently waking me up and starting the morning off badly. I hated being woken up. It was not something I enjoyed, and I often took it out on the poor sap that woke me up. Giving my best evil eye to my poor twin brother, I watched as his eager face twisted into something akin to fear before he rushed out of the room laughing.

"My family is officially insane." I groaned, falling back into bed and staring up at the ceiling for a few minutes before I pulled myself out of bed. I showered, dressed, and fixed my hair quickly, spiking it the way Sora did his hair, knowing that his hair would be styled like mine so that it just seemed like we'd colored our hair. Grabbing his book bag from beside my desk I gave a small sigh as I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to slouch a little more than I usually did. I was slightly proud to admit that if you changed my hair color, I could pass myself off as him, easily. Well, minus the way my lips turned down naturally while his were always up in a natural smile.

"You'll do fine." Naminé said from my doorway, her eyes sparkling with amusement. Turning to face her I shrugged and ignored the way my stomach panged with nerves. I couldn't let anyone think I was having second thoughts. If Sora thought I was feeling that way he'd just laugh and forfeit the bet, making me lose my chance to help him.

"I hope so." I replied softly, walking down the stairs with her towards the kitchen. Sora sat at the table with Cloud, bright and eager with his hair styled like mine usually was. He wore my usual simple black dress shoes while I wore his strange and rather large yellow skater shoes. Cloud glanced up as I walked in, and he sported a look of utter confusion and slight horror as he took in my appearance. My shirt was cleaned but it looked like I'd just tossed it to the floor instead of hung it up like I usually do. My first button was undone and Sora's black and silver striped tie lazily hung down, halfway done. My pants were loose and a belt that mimicked a seatbelt held my pants up. I wore Sora's clothes, and Cloud had no idea why. Stifling a grin I returned his look with a raised eyebrow.

He gave me a stoic, questioning glance as I sat down and grabbed an orange from the centerpiece of fruit.

"It's opposite day." I informed him as I peeled my fruit.

"His shirt is ironed." Cloud commented quietly, nodding to where Sora's entire outfit was creased in the right places and buttoned all the way up, the simple black silk tie tied correctly. He was polished and pristine, his face twisted with intense concentration. The only thing that gave him away was the smile that kept fighting to dominate his face. He looked…

Well, he looked like a happier, brown haired version of me.

"I can iron clothing!" Sora defended himself, his voice a little lower and less enthused. He tossed me a wink as Cloud dropped his bagel onto his plate and stared between us, demanding an answer now.

"I'm doing a project for my AP literature class based on twin identity syndrome. Since I have a twin my teacher is allowing me to conduct an experiment." I blandly explained, ignoring how Sora kicked me lightly under the table. My voice wasn't "Sora-ish" enough. Clearing my throat I watched Cloud's face clear of confusion and turn into slight interest. He wasn't one for showing a whole lot of emotion, but I could tell what he was feeling based on the way his head tilted.

"What's the experiment?" He asked in his low voice, running a hand through his messy hair. Somehow he managed to not have to keep it shorn short like other cadets had to. It was something about him convincing his superior, sephir-something-or-other that he had a scalp condition and needed it kept long. His superior seemed to like him though and let him keep it how he wanted it.

"The similarities and differences of twins… Sora and I have switched personas to see what it's like being the other twin. We will dress like the other, talk like the other, and attempt to be the other, in a way." Cloud seemed momentarily amused as he nodded towards my shirt that was slightly wrinkled and my tie that was a little undone.

"That explains the clothing crisis. I thought you had tried to pawn through his things this morning." He grinned slightly, standing up and tossing his plate into the sink, shaking his head.

"How long will this be going on?" He asked as he walked into the living room.

"One month, precisely." I called back, imitating the higher, bubbly voice my brother used. Sora beamed and gave me the thumbs up, and I couldn't help but smile a little. At least we could get the voices down, just a little. Sure enough, Cloud's head popped back into the kitchen and he glanced between us before I pointed to myself to let him know who'd just spoken.

"That's a long time." He thought out loud, disappearing again, most likely to finish putting his uniform together.

"It's a long project." Sora said dully, smirking as I gave him a congratulatory nod. He would do ok if that's all he did all day. Anything else, and I was positive we were done for. I couldn't help but acknowledge the excitement bubbling in my gut, making me slightly nauseas as I ate my orange. Enthusiasm and nervousness didn't mix well with the butterflies already in my stomach.

"Speaking of projects… did you present your project yesterday, Sora?" Naminé asked him quietly to change the subject. It wouldn't do well for Cloud to get too much information, or we might slip up with our lying. The thing that set good liars apart from bad liars would be the strength of their memory. You have to remember everything you lied about, and every detail you added in so that no one could trap you around something you twisted up because you didn't know what you told them before. I'd tried to keep it simple, but was it too much? Project for lit, one month, twin identity syndrome… that should do it, right?

"Yeah, I think my teacher knew that it was done last minute…" His voice trailed off, and he sheepishly ducked his head as Cloud popped back into the kitchen and gave him a disapproving glance. Cloud didn't like how Sora seemed to do things the exact opposite of me, and would often rail on him about it. He meant well, but I don't think he understood how much it hurt Sora to think his oldest brother thought he wasn't good enough.

"Maybe you behaving like your brother will give you better results." He commented as he tucked his pressed military shirt in. It was a crisp white shirt with blue pants, a red stripe going down the side of his pants. Grabbing a weird blue jacket with red lining and golden buttons, he gingerly maneuvered it around the long stretch of ribbons and medals he'd earned. Clipping the belt, he presented himself to us, and Naminé stood up to straighten everything out.

"As long as Roxas doesn't start acting like me and fail his classes!" Sora chirped, back to his normal voice. Rolling my eyes I had to laugh as Cloud's face darkened and he turned a stern glare to Sora.

"And are you failing any of your classes?" He asked in a dangerous, 'I'm going parental on your ass' kind of voice. Sora quailed under his gaze and shook his head quickly, eyes wide.

"Of course not, Cloud! I'm responsible with my grades!" He turned a pleading eye to me, but I ignored it and continued eating my small breakfast, not wanting to get in the middle of Cloud's scorching gaze. If I jumped in and tried to save somebody, I'd just get in trouble too. Maybe while I was in Sora's classes, I could bring his grade up to a low B to help out? It couldn't be anything overly noticeable or else the teachers would see something wrong when they plummeted again.

… maybe I'd just keep him at a high C then…

Soon enough though, Cloud left and we were off, Sora and I trading last minute information as Naminé quietly walked with us and added in her opinion when it was needed. I attempted to slouch in a carefree manner like my brother did, and he walked with a straight back, my messenger bag on his shoulder.

"You've got me down pretty well." I complimented him, feeling the need to put his morale at an all time high. He grinned roguishly at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Should I count my steps as I walk from place to place to seal the deal?" He joked.

"I don't count my steps!" I snapped, earning a quiet laugh from Naminé. Turning a glare to her she merely smiled kindly and shrugged.

"You count your steps if you have a longer time of walking." She informed me, agreeing with Sora who let out a whoop of laughter that I'd been duped. Burning red, I rolled my eyes and turned away, not wanting them to know I didn't like people pointing it out.

"It's just a habit." I muttered, trying to defend myself. Sora laughed brightly and shrugged, not really caring.

"You always have even numbers on the right foot and odd ones on the left." He pointed out.

"He also lines his materials up with precision and geometric symmetry. He cuts peanut butter to the side and chews gum evenly on his right side as well as his left. He locks and relocks the house door three times before he believes it's locked, and he washes the dishes twice before he puts them in the washer. He groups papers based on size and height and tabs his homework assignments, color coded to fit which class it's from. I think it's safe to say that Roxas has O.C.D." She shrugged and adjusted her book bag, shaking her hair into place. Rolling my eyes, I was about to deny it when I saw Sora fighting back laughter and decided it wasn't worth it. They wouldn't believe me if I said I didn't have O.C.D. and they'd laugh if I argued.

I mean, it wasn't like I had to do those things… I could stop whenever I wanted! I wasn't chained to those habits or anything…

"Just try to be nice when you first meet people, and they'll all keep you on the right track of what we usually do at school, ok, Roxas? Just try to be nice." Sora coached me, happily changing the subject with his voice lower and more subdued. I nodded energetically and forced a smile onto my face, making Sora stop and stare at me before an identical smile exploded onto his face as well.

"You've got the smile down." He complimented me, clearing his throat and shaking his head to get back into my character. Naminé smothered a grin with her pale, slender hand and nodded to the school where life was about to change. Just seeing the building of screaming, squalling children made my stomach drop and I almost turned and begged Sora to stop the madness. I almost tossed him his book bag and grabbed mine, ruffling my hair out of his style to fix it to mine. I almost gave in.

And then Naminé gave me a smile of encouragement and I was back in control.

"Remember to avoid talking to Riku." I whispered to Sora as he turned to give me a nervous glance.

"And Seifer and Rai are off limits unless you want to get into trouble." He advised gravely, sounding more and more like me. I gulped and nodded as we began walking down the sidewalk together.

"Don't talk to Kairi-"

"Xigbar is cool but Xaldin's a squealer-"

"Aerith is nice but sharp-"

"Hayner is a jerk but in a good way, so-"

"All you have to do is-"

"All you need to do is-"

"Just relax." We finished at the same time, giving each other matching looks of excitement and nervousness. Naminé smiled next to us as she grabbed Sora's belt loop and began turning him in the direction of the doors towards the AP wing. He turned and gave me a thumbs up, winking as he did so, and I couldn't help but smile at the way he was so confidant.

Whereas the father they strayed from me the more my confidence waned.

Sighing I peered around the outer area of the school, looking for the creepy hair colors that would signal that I'd found his group of people. There weren't any in sight, but Sora had told me that they'd be hard to find, so I cleared my throat and walked toward the bench they usually sat on to wait for them.

What was I doing? Why was I sitting here when I could be walking towards my second period class, AP lit? Why was I bothering with keeping Sora away from his friends that he clearly adored despite their obnoxious and illegal behavior?

Oh yeah. Illegal behavior. That's why.

"Hey Sora! Where's Axel?" I continued looking around for the shock of pink and the glare of red, slightly worried that they wouldn't show. I let out a great huff and fiddled with my tie, hating how loose and dirty I felt. I wasn't used to dressing like I'd just slept in my clothing.

"Soooora… hey, Sora!" I rolled my eyes that my brother was ignoring someone, as usual, and let out a snort of laughter that he was probably zoning out and not noticing that they were calling him. That happened a lot, especially when he was thinking too hard about things. I don't know exactly why he did it, but if he thought too much, he'd forget about everything that was going on around him and he'd not realize when someone was calling him.

"What the hell's wrong with you, Sora?!" All of a sudden I felt myself being lifted off of the bench and tossed unceremoniously onto the ground, my ass hardly a cushion to land on. Spluttering and shocked I scrambled to my feet seconds after I hit the floor to see who the hell had decided to attack me, ignoring the urge to rub my tailbone tenderly. I didn't see anyone of any great importance though, only a really strange girl who was currently standing on the bench that I used to be sitting on. I felt my face burning red with mortification and anger.

"There was more than enough room for the two of us on the bench." I snapped, taking in the clothing she wore. It was like she'd taken the school's uniform and made it into her own style. She wore a black scarf wrapped around her neck and dangling down to her knees, and instead of the regular standard white shirt, she'd torn the sleeves off. She was wearing black shorts and knee high black socks instead of the usual skirt, and her abnormally high tops were tan with lots and lots of laces. A black and white strap covered her forehead like a headband, and she had black gloves.

It was like looking at a boot-leg version of a ninja.

"I didn't want to sit on the bench, I just wanted to ask you something! But you were, like, spacing off… what's wrong with you today, Sora?" She tilted her head and then back flipped off of the bench, landing easily and cocking a hip out, her shirt slightly unbuttoned and rolled up for easier movement. Clenching my fists, I rolled my eyes at her stupid statement.

"Why don't you just go and ask So-" My voice broke off as I froze, realizing why Sora hadn't answered her when she'd called him earlier and why she was flipping me over benches.

I was Sora.

"I… I have to go. I can't help you right now." I hastily grabbed my bag and turned to leave, trying to remember who that crazy girl was. Names and faces raced through my mind as I ignored her calling my brother's name-my name now-and made my way towards the school doors to get to class.

Oh. Yuffie. Her name was Yuffie.

So interaction number one was an utter failure. I kept walking though, keeping my steps in check as I skirted the crowd and took a left instead of a right, heading towards algebra 2. Well, towards where I thought algebra 2 was… I didn't know my way around this place as well as I'd hoped.

"I like the hair, Sora." A deep, oil slick smooth voice called out to me, and I stopped to find who'd spoken.

"It's a different color… but it works." Another voice, deeper and gravelly.

"I think it's ok… brown is better." This one was higher and a little more malicious than the others. Then, I spotted the people speaking. They were standing slightly across the hall from me, their faces all turned towards me. Seeing my reaction to them, one of them jerked off of the wall and they sauntered towards me, probably not noticing the panic I was trying to push down. Sora hadn't told me anything about these guys. At all.

"How's it been, Sora? We haven't seen you around." The malicious voiced one leaned down slightly and smiled, no happiness in his grin. His tone was light and airy, but it seemed more like a façade, not his real attitude towards things. He had strange, silver hair that covered most of his face and hit in jagged ends at his jaw. He was pale and slender with the strangest blue green eyes I'd ever seen.

Oh, wait. I was supposed to be speaking.

"It's been… fine." I forced myself to say, mimicking Sora's voice but not his tone. Gritting my teeth I prayed they wouldn't notice the difference.

"Just fine? You hear that, Yazoo? Since when did Sora ever say, 'just fine'?" The one called Yazoo smiled blithely and shrugged. He had the same colored hair and the same queer eyes but his hair fell down past his shoulders, shorter bangs than the other. They seemed stranger than anyone I'd ever seen, and it made me nervous that Sora knew guys like this. They seemed far worse than his friends I had problems with.

Not that I'd ever admit that.

"Kadaj, this is a first." Yazoo replied. He glanced over at the third one, a thicker, more muscular guy with short, buzz cut-like silver hair and the same unsettling blue green eyes, and he smirked. "Though Loz doesn't seem to mind." The one named Loz grinned.

"Just means we're getting somewhere." Loz said with a shrug. Yazoo grinned widely and chuckled, the sound totally and wholly unwelcome. These guys gave me the creeps. I bit my lip and backed away slightly but their ringleader, Kadaj, stepped up to me with a raised eyebrow.

"Is it true? Are we getting somewhere, Sora?" He leaned back and sighed, taking in my appearance. "It seems like you're changing before our very eyes." Smirking, he shoved me, hard, into a locker and they all laughed at his antics like they'd never seen something funnier. Angry and humiliated, I jumped up to shove Kadaj back but I was stopped by a heavy hand on my shoulder.

"You've been giving me reasons all morning, Kadaj, and now I just can't stand myself if I let this pass up!" The new person laughed and I repressed a groan at the idea of more people coming up. Just how popular was my brother? I looked up to see a strange, pale red head rolling his neck back and forth as he pushed his goggles up higher on his forehead before winking at me. He had random spikes and a low ponytail, his uniform lazily put on and casually worn. Jutting a hip out he shoved Yazoo easily and then nodded his head to where a bald guy-just how old were these people?!-shoved Loz and the two staggered back. The bald one had dark glasses that he pushed up before they both stepped up to Kadaj with similar smirks, the red head folding his arms and the bald one cracking his neck. Giving me a snide glare Kadaj cleared his throat before turning his attention to them.

"Boy scout service?" He inquired nastily, stepping back as his lookalikes rushed to his side.

"Something like that." Another voice spoke, and I let out a groan as another guy decided to jump into the fray. Where were the teachers at a time like this?! Seriously, did no one notice this mini-fight happening right in front of everyone!? A guy with businesslike styled blonde hair stepped around the three silverettes and got right into Kadaj's face.

"Well look who it is… haven't seen you around, Rufus." Kadaj's smile became a little less sinister, and his eyes glittered.

"Stop messing around with defenseless kids; it doesn't suit you." I let out a choking noise of indignation and they all glanced back to me.

"I'm hardly defenseless." I blustered, noticing the way the red head and baldy exchanged amused grins before the red head patted my hair down, laughing.

"I suggest you leave him alone, Kadaj." The blonde haired guy said quietly. There was a silence before Kadaj shrugged and smiled down at me.

"We'll see you around, Sora." He promised before turning and disappearing into the crowd of people with his who cronies.

"You ok, Sora? They didn't hurt you, did they?" The red head was speaking, and I jerked my head up to see him leaning on the bald guy lazily as he talked.

"I had things perfectly under control." I informed them, much to their delight. The one called Rufus shook his head slowly and he straightened his white jacket, revealing a black jacket underneath and then the standard white shirt and tie. What was with all of these random fashion statements? In the AP wing we wore what was set out for us and there wasn't a problem! Well, except for Lulu. She just wore what she wanted and nobody thought to correct her. I think even the administration was scared of her.

"Well I'm glad you're starting to stand up for yourself then. Just let us know if they mess with you, ok?" Rufus smiled in a friendly way at me, and I missed a beat before returning it as well. He motioned for his friends to leave, but the red head eyed me for a minute longer, head tilted. Nervously, I adjusted my tie and hoped that he didn't notice anything too out of the ordinary.

"Your hair is awesome!" He suddenly exclaimed, ruffling it again for good measure before turning towards baldy and gesturing to it. "Rude, look at it! I didn't think he'd go blonde!" The bald guy grunted and gave my hair a speculative gaze before shrugging and turning away.

"Come on, Reno, leave him alone." Rufus said rolling his eyes and waving at me before they took a right and disappeared.

Situation number two would have to be a complete failure as well. It just told me that Sora not only had a problem with some brat named Seifer, but he also had dealings with those weird guys who seemed to be triplets or something. Either way, I'd never heard of them or seen them before, and the fact that Sora had never mentioned them hurt just a little. You would think my brother would tell me when something went wrong with his life, but he'd kept these guys quiet… I wonder why? And then the boy scout group… Rufus, Reno, and Rude. What were they, saints in school uniforms? Sighing, I brushed my shirt out of its rumpled appearance and kept going, starting to hate my agreement to the bet with every step I took. Without even realizing it, I began counting my steps, hoping to get far away from wherever I was going.

"Is he counting his steps?"

"Yeah… I think he is." I gritted my teeth and kept counting, trying to ignore the fact that they seemed to be right behind me. They didn't know why I counted my steps, did they? So why did it matter? If I got to certain places in a certain amount of steps one time, than it should be logical that every other time I went there I got there in the same amount of steps. Did they have a problem with that?

"What did we get ourselves into? He just tried to stand up to Kadaj's group!" I looked up at the signs that would show me to class.

"Nothing big… yet. Sora's done that before… just with bad results!" My ears turned red but I kept ignoring them.

"Axel, he's counting his steps." Yup… still ignoring them.

"And you're obsessed with playing instruments that no one in this country plays."

"Yes, but I don't count my steps." Clenching my hands into fists I stopped walking and whirled around, eyebrow raised.

"Is there a problem with me counting my steps?" I snapped, folding my arms and glaring venomously. The two people behind me exchanged amused glances before one of them scratched his head sheepishly and shrugged, embarrassed that I'd heard him. The taller one didn't seem to care though, and merely grinned smugly.

They looked like the ones from the Monday before. One of them was skinny and average height, his dirty blonde hair in some really weird version of a mullet/ faux-hawk. He had bright, cheerful eyes and an easy, confused grin on his face. He seemed to have a swimmer's build, and he had the same black blazer that the other one had.

Quickly, my mind supplied the name for me; he was Demyx.

The other guy was the one that shocked me the most though. He was tall… at least 6'3". He was skinny with broad shoulders and a slender waist. The blazer hung open to reveal a simple button up shirt and a vibrant red and black striped tie, making his slightly pale skin stand out. He had a shock of bright, scarlet hair that spiked randomly about his head, though it looked like he'd tried to tame it with gel. What got me-though I'll never admit this-would have to be his startlingly green eyes. They weren't a simple forest green, and they weren't a weird light colored green. They were a vivid, sharp color like shiny holly leaves, or polished jade. They stared down at me with slight amusement and then they changed to shock. Underneath his startling eyes were two upside down tear drops, the color an inky black and looked like it'd been painful to get.

This one must be Axel then. The main person I didn't want my brother around. The drinking, smoking, partying, tattoo-ing, bad influence that my brother was best friends with. That Axel. It clicked now. Pursing my lips I forced myself to look away from him and it was then that I realized that the one named Demyx was speaking.

"You're Ro- Sora." The mullet boy spoke with a bright, excited tone, but he hung his head as he almost made a blunder and called me by my real name. I unfolded my arms and nodded slowly, keeping my stern gaze on him.

"Do you have a problem with me counting my steps?" I asked him again, ignoring the way the red head-Axel-was staring at me with something akin to sarcastic amusement. His lips were twisted up with a sardonic grin, and he seemed almost like he was about to start laughing at me at any moment. Mullet boy's face twisted up strangely for a moment before he burst into laughter, reaching down to ruffle my hair, not put out when I jerked from his touch and glared even more. Why was this guy touching me?

"Sora doesn't usually count steps out loud, that's all. I'd suggest you keep it in your head or you'll attract stares." Axel answered and his voice was laced with sarcasm. His sound had a tenor-ish tone that seemed to blend arrogance and amusement in his words. I hated the way he talked. I didn't dignify him with an answer and merely turned away from them, scanning the signs for my class, hoping they'd leave me alone. Even if Sora wanted me to hang out with them, I was sure I could do things on my own, without tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum.

"Hey, calm down there! We're just teasing you, honest!" Demyx put his arm over my shoulder and began steering me down a hall I didn't recognize, his slouch seemingly natural and his gait long. I struggled to keep up, silently cursing my shorter legs and the fact that he didn't want to let me go. "My name's Demyx, and this here's Axel." He gestured to said Axel that had come up on my right side, a long gait made possible from his huge height. I tried to school my face into something remotely civil, but I don't think I did so well. They were slightly over-whelming, in all honesty.

"We already know your name though, don't we, Axel?" Demyx glanced over my head at him, and Axel gave a halfhearted shrug before politely leaning over and dislodging Demyx's arm from my shoulder. Awkwardly, I fiddled nervously with my tie and stepped back from them, walking a bit slower and less frantic.

"Name, age, grade, weight, height, aspirations; you name it, we know it." Axel drawled.

"Wait… I never knew his weight!" Demyx glanced at me as if expecting an answer, but I didn't bother giving one. I merely saw the algebra 2 classroom and bolted into it, ready to abandon them at the first chance. The room was a simple classroom like the classes on the right wing. It had the similar desks and the similar board, and seeing a front seat I started making my way towards it. The farther I stayed away from them, the better of it would be for their health.

And mine.

"Whoa, easy there, turbo." I was grabbed by the back of my collar and restrained, one of them easily pulling me halfway into the air and reeling me back towards them. I felt my face burn as a couple of people turned our way and smothered grins at my expense, but Axel and Demyx didn't seem to mind that they were attracting looks, even though we were in the middle of a classroom with them holding their supposed friend in the air.

"Will you put me down?" I hissed angrily, struggling to get out of my slight stranglehold. My shirt and tie were starting to dig into my neck, but they didn't seem to mind. Demyx slid to the front of me and beamed brightly tapping me lightly on the nose.

"We sit in the back of the room, silly." He chided, shaking his head and smothering a laugh. Peering into my face though, his eyes grew comically wide as he let out a squeak and jumped back. "Axel, put him down, he's choking!" Axel released me and let me stumble to get my bearings, coughing and spluttering as I massaged my protesting throat.

They were so going to get it.

"Hey, Sora, nice hair! Blonde looks good on you." A girl to my right gushed brightly, waving and smiling. Coughing slightly I turned to assess her, giving a weak smile and a half mumbled thanks. This girl must be Olette, based on her brown hair and green eyes. Turning back to my new babysitters I grudgingly followed them to the back of the class and sat down in the proffered seat between them.

"So you had a run in with Kadaj?" Demyx asked sympathetically, turning so that he faced me full on. I nodded curtly before I pulled out Sora's papers and book for the class, trying to hide my disgust at the writing all over the book and the way he'd jammed his papers between the pages. Pulling the papers out by the handfuls, I began lining them up by size and thickness, ignoring the quiz grades below an eight percent and happy that there was a test with a big A across the top. Forget the fact that it was a vocabulary grade and not a math grade.

"Who were they and why were they messing with me?" I asked tonelessly, still annoyed about those weird guys shoving me-and incidentally my brother-against the lockers. Axel laughed under his breath, and I turned to see him staring at me with a weird facial expression.

"They're triplets, as you probably noticed… and they're basically the epitome of a bully. Were you really going to stand up to them?" Axel tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, frowning as I nodded fiercely and continued organizing my brother's papers. He had a binder, why didn't he use it?! Opening the binder, I saw why. The entire thing was covered in doodles of random people and comics all over the paper and dividers. Sighing, I began to get him organized, exasperated that he couldn't do it on his own. That was brothers for you, though.

"They would have probably thrown you into a garbage can." Demyx said cheerfully, pulling out some paper.

"Have they done that before?" I asked with alarm in my voice. Covering my mouth I tried again, acting a little calmer. "They haven't done something like that, have they?" Axel laughed at my tone, but when I gave him a dark, angry glare he realized I was serious.

"Well, yeah, don't tell me he never told you?" Axel's eyebrows rose up high, almost to his hair line, and I wondered vaguely if he could actually get them to touch his hair line. Now that would be impressive.

Wait, my brother's been tossed into a trashcan!?

"No. No, he didn't." I felt the easily noted anger at the three guys who apparently had a habit of cornering my brother, and then the anger at him for not telling me. Or somebody who could help. Or me.

Yeah. Me.

"Oh… right…" Axel's voice awkwardly trailed of as he correctly guessed that I wasn't exactly pleased with hearing that little confession. And yet, Axel knew all about it; so did Demyx! And then that Reno, Rude, and Rufus group… the triple R guys knew all about it and apparently stepped in on occasion! Who else knew about it? Why didn't anyone think to come to me?!

Why wouldn't he tell me of things like that happening? Why wouldn't he come to his own brother to let him know that people were giving him problems at school? I mean, I may not be the strongest guy, but I knew enough administrators and was often talked about in the office for my grades and scores. All I had to do was drop a hint that my brother was having trouble, and then he'd be whisked away to safety, or the creepy peeper gang would be taken care of, easily.

"Well, this will be a fun month! I mean, this should be easy as pie, if you think about it." Demyx smiled and clapped his hands together eagerly, and I rolled my eyes at his enthusiasm. Easy as pie? My first day and I'm positive this is going to be hell. I've got some random ninja chick flipping me around, I've got a gang of triplets on my tail, and then I'm stuck with Sora's closest friends for a month. Easy? No. Root canals are easy. Spinal cord surgery is easy. This… this will be torture.

I must be a masochist if I was planning on going along with this. Yup… masochist.

"So who's the older one?" Axel asked curiously as the bell rang and a teacher walked into the room, her grey hair pulled up in a loose bun. I pointed to myself after I dropped a small stack of paper and set another on top of it. Demyx watched my action, slightly fascinated that I was organizing Sora's work.

"What are you going to do when he messes it up again?" Demyx asked as he mussed up the papers, as if to prove his point. Annoyed, I jerked the paper back into a straight edged line and threw him a venomous death glare.

"If I'm going to be using this for a month, I might as well be content with what I'm working with." I replied after slight deliberation in my head. I didn't know exactly what to say to these people, but I wished that they'd just leave me alone so that I could take notes for my brother so that he might pass this year. The teacher was up front and writing a few things on the board; a page number, a section, and the order to take notes. That was all? Where were the discussions and the in depth learning that classes should be like? Was this how my brother was learning?

"I'm telling you… sutas… it's a seriously widespread disease." Axel stroked his finger down his chin and gave Demyx a sidelong glance, both of them erupting in laughter as I gritted my teeth and pulled out a blank sheet of paper to do work.

"Whoa shorty, what are you doing?!" Demyx grabbed my pencil from my hand and stared in horror at the title I'd given the paper:

Sora Strife

Alg. 2 Notes

Pg. 352 Sec. 1 Part 1:

"I'm taking notes." I replied, staring dismally at the line that was streaked across my now ruined paper. Did he expect me to use this? Letting out a quiet sigh, I pushed the paper into the recycle pile and grabbed another clean sheet, starting the title all over again. I couldn't hold back the muted growl of irritation as Axel then snatched the other paper from me, streaking that one as well and thus ruining my second attempt at order. What was with these people?!

"Sora doesn't- you don't usually take notes." Axel said with disbelief on his face. Giving him a look that quite clearly told him that I hated his guts, I grabbed a new, clean sheet of paper and began to write again.

"Well I do." I snapped irritably.

"Why don't you use this one?" Demyx brandished the paper he'd stolen in front of my face.

"It's ruined." I mumbled, printing my letters precisely and neatly spaced.

"It's got one little squiggly next to the number 1…" Demyx pointed to the nasty lead pencil marking.

"Yes, and now it's ruined." I replied, rolling my eyes.

"I could erase it." He grabbed my pencil and began erasing it, scrunching the paper slightly and making me wince as he did so.

"And now it's by far ruined even more." I grabbed my pencil back and began writing once more.

"You can still write on it." Demyx protested, pointing to the paper.

"But it's ruined. And so is the one that your friend is holding." I vaguely pointed towards Axel as I wrote, trying to calm down slightly. No need to bust a vein, right? I was slightly shocked to hear surprised laughter and someone cough awkwardly.

"It has a squiggle less than an inch long, and it's ruined?" Axel asked, and the muffled laughter was still present in his voice. Looking up at him I nodded slowly, trying not to glower.

"Sutas…" Demyx intoned gravely, and I gave him an exasperated glance. All I wanted to do was take notes and pass the damn class, was that too much to ask? I didn't need to deal with this whole stupid situation right now, thank you very much!!! I stared down at my paper, unaware of their stares at the back of my head. When I glanced up though, I saw them staring and gave an irritable, "What?" as my question to their ogling.

"That's all you had to say, shorty. Take notes, by all means." Axel smirked and leaned back in his chair, eyes sparkling. Oh… I'd said that out loud? I hadn't realized…

Was that a sign of craziness? Speaking and not realizing it?

"Yes, it is." Demyx informed me, covering his mouth to stifle the laughter. Ah… I'd done it again. Letting out a low groan, I let my head smack the desk, ignoring the slight squeals of excitement and curiosity as a couple of people asked if I was ok.

"He's fine… Sora's just not in Kansas anymore…" Axel informed them.

"Nor am I in AP wing…" I moaned miserably, flinching as Demyx patted me excitedly on the back.

"That's the spirit!!" He exclaimed as I looked up irritably and gave him a withering glare.

So far? Sora was so losing this bet.


:( Oh, poor Sora... Roxas's day hasn't been going well and it's only the first period of the day! On that note, let me know what you think :D I love getting feedback from you guys! That many reviews really made my day!

Roxas- Seriously... why me?

Axel- Because, the author is bored and doesn't have anything to distract her, so she takes it out on her characters.

Roxas- So... how is that fair to me?

Axel- ::cheerfully:: Oh, it's not! It's called Character Abuse, dear Roxy.

Roxas- Don't call me Roxy.

Axel- Ah, sutas... glad it's not contagious.

Lias- Review please! :D