"Kairi? KAIRI!" Sora was, for the second night in a row, pounding on his friend's bedroom window. He was beginning to feel an odd bit of déjà vu, or like he was running around in circles. Home, Riku, Kairi, Hospital, Riku, Kairi. Maybe he was trapped in some sick kind of vicious, endless cycle. Riku leaned against the wall, on edge but content to let Sora do the grunt work. Sora remembered why he'd been here the last time, and his stomach grew little butterfly wings and twisted around in a little butterfly loop.

"God, Riku! I told you Sora would be fine, he's in the hosp- Sora!?" Kairi's face appeared in the window. "Sora, get back in the hospital! Riku's gonna freak the hell out! And you know what happens then? He comes to me to bitch about it."

"Bigger problems, Kairi." Riku stepped into her view, seemingly eager to cut her off. He ignored her 'oh!' of surprise. "Have you seen Axel?"

"Um. The dead guy?"

"Yeah, the dead guy."

"No… I mean, isn't he, you know… dead?"

"Not as much as we might hope," Sora muttered. Kairi understood, and hastily ran around to let the two boys into her house. Drinks were passed around- water for Sora ("You're still sick!"), soda for Kairi, and black coffee for Riku. They settled in the living room. Sora remembered what had gone on in here the last time he'd come to see Kairi, and got lost in his memories a bit before she smacked him, with a subtle head jab at Riku to remind him to get a grip. He blushed and quickly summarized his hospital encounter. Much to his surprise, Kairi didn't seem to have any concern for herself at all. Since she was ok, he decided not to press the matter, and instead listened attentively while she pounded him for details of Axel's threats.

"He wants Roxas back? That's insane." Kairi focused her eyes intently on nothing in particular, another deep-in-thought habit. "Roxas is gone. And he says it was Roxas who brought him back from the dead? And referred to him as his 'heart'? He doesn't have a heart. Maybe he's just gone stark raving mad."

Riku sighed and started on his third cup of coffee. "Oh, 'cause being chased by a delusional crazy person who can blow you up with his mind is just so much better." He was playing with his hair and drumming his fingers on his mug, and seemed even more jumpy than he had been outside. He's just worried about me, Sora thought with a little smile. He liked it that Riku was worried about him. Wait, blow you up with his mind!?

"He can do that!?" Sora squeaked.

"Yeah, you were there. He- oh. Castle Oblivion. I'll tell you later. I promise." Riku was sincere, and rested his hand on Sora's shoulder reassuringly. Sora remembered Riku's love declaration, and shivered a little. Hurt, Riku pulled his hand away. Sora mentally kicked himself.

"Wait." Both boys turned and looked at Kairi. "Sora met Axel in Castle Oblivion?" Sora shook his head- he had no memories of his time there. He wouldn't even believe he had gone if he didn't trust Riku's word completely. For all he knew, he'd fathered a set of long-lost twins or something.

"He must have." Riku said finally. "All I know for sure is that Sora was there when Axel took out Vexen." The other two looked confused. "Number 4," he clarified.

"He was killing other Organization members?" Kairi asked curiously. Sora ducked out of the conversation. Every time the subject of Castle Oblivion came up, a loud buzzing started bouncing around between his ears and wouldn't go away. His head was beginning to ache.

"Yeah- he was an assassin. His job was weeding out disloyalty…" Riku trailed off as he realized that this was probably not the best path to take the conversation down. He diverted his eyes into his bangs, retreating into his stronghold of standoffishness. Sora silently agreed with him. Knowing that Axel had been a professional murderer among murderers was not doing anything to settle his nerves. But he was Sora the Keyblade Bearer, and he'd apparently faced Axel loads more times than he'd thought and still lived to tell the tale. He'd do it again. Time for a plan.

"Ok, guys. So far we've got that I'm being targeted by a possibly insane former assassin dead not-person who can fry people up with his brain, and whose only goal is something that probably doesn't exist, but that is trapped inside my body." Well, when you put it that way, he was starting to freak out a little more. But he pressed on. "Any ideas as to what we're actually going to do? I mean, he's going to come after Kairi again, right?" Kairi jumped.

"Are you serious? … You guys ran all the way here to rescue me?" Sora and Riku looked at each other, then sheepishly back at Kairi. "Wow. Thanks, guys," she smiled. "I don't think Axel is a one-trick pony though, and kidnapping me kinda backfired on him last time. I don't think it's me we've got to worry about," she added, looking meaningfully at Sora.

"Well, there goes our only lead," Riku groaned. Sora imagined him groaning in, ah, other contexts. The stuff dreams are made of. Wait.

"What about the dreams?"

Kairi eyes widened, and she snapped her fingers, in a rather clichéd Eureka! moment. She loved those. "The dreams! You had a dream about Axel! Do you think he was the one trying to talk to you….?" She paused for thought. "No, no- he's been trying to talk to Roxas! And that's what's bringing up all these memories!" She grinned, triumphant at having solved the puzzle. "That has to be it!"

Riku was skeptical. "Are you sure? I mean… I thought we decided I was the one triggering him." He gave Sora an apologetic glance.

"Well, that was before we knew Axel was involved," she jabbered excitedly. "Though I suppose it wouldn't hurt to find out for sure. Sora, you up for another experiment?" Sora shrugged. Nothing bad had happened the last time, so why not? Riku, on the other hand, was less than pleased.

"No," he said flatly. "I am not doing anything that might knock Sora out. Not while there's a psycho out there trying to kill him." He spun Sora around to face him, and focused on something deep behind his eyes. Was Roxas really that easy to see? "Hey, Roxas, you hear me? If you're really in there, tell your boy-toy to back the fuck off."

Sora swayed uneasily. A pulse had beat through his brain at the word 'Roxas' and everything was fading, gray and dull. Bile rose in his throat.

"I already did…." he whispered. He was dimly aware of Riku's shout as he slumped into the couch and let the world melt away.

Sora was back in the World That Never Was. The bad lighting and air of malaise were becoming familiar now, almost homey. He knew these streets, and he knew where he was going. He was headed back towards the castle. The weather was nice, well, as nice as weather can be in the World That Never Was, and he had some extra time, so Sora had opted for walking instead of the usual portal. Big mistake.

"Roxas." You didn't get mysterious strangers often in the World That Never Was, for damn good reason. This guy should be dead already, or worse.

"Uh, hi. Who the hell are you?"

"Riku." Riku. The name stirred up something deep inside him, like hearing a song you haven't heard since childhood. Nostalgia? Nobodies didn't have nostalgia.

"Riku." Sora repeated slowly. "Nice name. Very… earthy." He smiled at his own joke.

"Roxas. I've been waiting to meet you." Sora took a moment to size up the newcomer. He wore a robe like the members of Organization XIII, but something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Breathing deeply, he took in the man's scent, and confirmed his suspicion.

"You have a heart." It was more of a question, but Sora was too surprised to deal with voice inflection.

"Yep. So do you." Riku took a step forward. Sora didn't flinch. He was too curious to run away, and besides, he could take anyone in a fight. Riku kept moving forward until they were face-to-face. He reached up, and pushed back his hood.

Sora tried to hide a sharp intake of breath. The stranger was a boy- he could hardly have been older than Sora himself. A thick, unkempt mane of silver hair tumbled out of his hood. His eyes were hidden by both a layer of choppy bangs and a blindfold. Whoever this guy was, he was desperately trying to become invisible.

"You don't look like him," Riku said bluntly. Sora blinked. A boy with a heart shows up in the World That Never Was, in an Organization robe, and starts chatting up Organization members in the street. Who was this guy?

"Don't look like who?" He quirked an eyebrow. The tiny motion seemed to break down some of Riku's defenses.

"You don't look like.. You. The other you. Opposite of Nobody. Somebody? I don't know what you people call them." Sora stared.

"My Other? You knew my Other?" Sora's Other had been quite a taboo subject ever since he had arrived in Organization XIII. Unlike the other members, he had no memories of his time as a human. No one would tell him why. Whenever he asked questions, at best everyone would change the subject, and at worst he'd get beaten up. They wouldn't even tell him his name. So he'd decided that Aros was his favorite option. Aros the Other. And if this guy knew Aros, Sora was willing to stick around.

"I know your Other," Riku corrected softly. "And you don't look like him. You're not like him at all." An uneasy silence settled between them.

"What did you mean… when you said I had a heart?" Sora asked finally. That was the Organization's raison d'être, after all. Reclaim their hearts. If he already had one, he could be done with these kooks. His hope must have been showing on his face, because Riku laughed a little. Sadly.

"You have Sora's heart." Well, ok, then. Not exactly what Sora wanted to hear.

"Who the hell's Sora?"

"Your Other." Damn. Sora was one of his least favorite options. What was up with these people and their weird-ass nature names? He looked back at Riku. The boy seemed troubled.

"How did you know him?" Sora wanted to know. His Other haunted him. He needed to know as much as he could, even stupid details. Riku was his only shot at answers.

"He is my best friend." Sora ignored Riku's repeated use of the present tense. Best friend. Axel was Sora's best friend. That meant that they were together all the time. How did his Other become a Heartless if he had a best friend? Riku saw that Sora was confused, and smiled. "You wouldn't understand."

Sora was indignant. "I just so happen to have a best friend, too, asshole."

"Really. Who?"

"Axel." Riku's eyebrows raised, and he seemed to be making a mental note. Sora was getting bored with this guy.

"Tell me about my Other," he commanded. He had an army of Nobodies and Heartless at his disposal- why should he bother being polite?

"Why don't you just come meet him?" Sora stared. Not the answer he had been expecting. Other meant dead. Deceased. Not-among-the-living.

"What? How-"

"Roxas… I need you to come with me." Riku was nervous. The non-sequitur and the hitch in his voice showed that clear enough for even a Nobody to notice.

"What?"

"Your Other is… still alive. And I need you to come with me." Riku's sudden awkwardness was making Sora suspicious. He could tell that Riku wasn't making eye contact, even through the blindfold.

"Why?"

"I'll take you by force, if I have to." Now Sora was alert, and on the defensive. This guy had survived the World That Never Was without losing his heart. Better safe than sorry. His hands itched for keyblades.

"I'll take you by force," Riku repeated more quietly, "but I really don't want to. So please, come with me." His voice was wavering, as if he were about to cry.

"Will you really? But you're so sad," Sora smirked. Laughing at emotions was such standard operating procedure in the Organization, it was a force of habit, even if it didn't quite make sense. He wasn't really used to being around people with hearts.

"How would you even know?" Well played, Riku. But truth be told, Sora did know. Because he felt sad, too. Being around Riku was dredging up a lot of subconscious mess that was probably better left un-dredged. His Other was still alive.

"I just do." Sora had no memories of why, but he knew that the thought of fighting Riku made him unbearably, cripplingly unhappy. If this was a preview of what having a heart was like, he was amazed that the living were able to function at all.

"You're a Nobody. You wouldn't know sad if it punched you in the kidney." Sora seethed.

"I know… because I don't want to fight you, either." Sora confessed angrily, surprising himself. "The thought of it makes me… sad." Riku startled, and Sora didn't look up to catch his facial expression. He was too embarrassed. Admitting to having feelings was kind of like admitting to having toenail fungus or backne.

"Sora…" Riku whispered. Sora blinked. Was that what that was? Was his Other… communicating with him somehow? Trying to speak to Riku?

Before Sora knew what was happening, the strange boy had pulled him into a deep embrace. Riku seemed so desperate, Sora didn't have the heart to struggle. Ha. Funny expression.

"You… smell like the darkness," Riku murmured, disappointment lingering on his breath. Then he tipped Sora's chin up and kissed him. Sora gasped in surprise, and Riku deepened the kiss. The movements were gentle, but the need behind them was so intense that it cut through the dark. The cry reverberated through the empty chambers where Sora's heart should have been, recalling the echo of a memory so distant that there were no words left to describe it. Tears poured out of Sora's eyes and his knees gave out beneath him. He was too overwhelmed to breathe.

"Sora…" Riku was crying too as he caught Sora and lowered them both to the ground. His hands caressed Sora's slender body, sliding under the layers of robes to explore every curve. Sora kissed back frantically, unsure of himself and yet sure all at once. He was familiar with the electric thrill of sex- to him and Axel, sex was a drug- but this, this was different. The thrill was not his own. Sora himself was cold. The pleasure, the joy, the sadness and anger, the envy and the confusion, they all belonged to someone else. They spoke to him from somewhere distant, faint and warm. He was getting his first glimpse through the looking-glass.

Sora cried out as Riku entered him. The sensations were multiplied tenfold by the emotional nightmare swirling inside of him. Was this… was this what having a heart was like? If feeling with this intensity precluded having a heart, then Sora and the other Nobodies were no more than dumb animals. Sick, heartless animals, lost in the shadow of life. He sobbed and howled, in pleasure and pain, letting the waves of emotion carry him away from himself. The skies opened; Riku leaned forward to shield Sora's tiny body from the rain. This was the end.

After they had finished, Riku disappeared. Sora lay in the mud, letting the rain beat him, too tired to move. He felt nothing. Nothing at all.

"Kairi- he's waking up." Sora heard a relieved voice as he rose out of his dream. His face was wet, presumably with tears, and he felt a familiar sticky sensation in his pants. He wondered briefly how much of that dream had been broadcast to his friends. Both Riku's eyes and his cheeks were red and puffy. Probably all of it, then.

"God, Sora, we were so worried- you wouldn't wake up- you were shaking and sobbing and crying out for Riku- and then you started having a goddamn orgasm- Sora, what the hell happened?" Kairi was seated at Sora's feet, and she'd clearly also been crying. How long had he been passed out? He realized that his head was in Riku's lap- Riku's entire body was shaking. And he fucking should be. The rage surprised Sora, but once it began gaining speed, there was nothing to be done to stop it.

"He… fucked…Roxas." Sora's whisper was quiet, but laden with enough anger to kill a bull elephant. Without moving at all, Riku shrank into himself. Kairi didn't seem to have heard him. She looked confused. "Sora, what-"

"You. Fucked. ROXAS." Sora's voice rose to a growl. Kairi eeped and stared at Riku. Riku was silent. Sora frantically struggled to get off of him. He was wrapped in a blanket, so it was difficult, but after falling off the couch and untangling himself, he arose, guns a-blazin'.

"YOU had SEX with my NOBODY!" he spat. All he could think of were Riku's lies. 'We fought a bunch of times' my skinny ASS. "You sick-ass FUCK. What, were you just too fucking good to climb into my fucking capsule and rape my comatose fucking body? Was that beneath you, Riku!?" Riku was silent. Sora's voice rose, obtaining a shrill edge more frightening than silly. "Do you have any idea what you did to him!? What you fucking did to me!?" Riku averted his eyes. Sora punched him. Kairi screamed.

"Sora, stop-"

"Shut UP, Kairi!" Sora's vision was running red and it was beginning to blur- tears were pouring out. He punched Riku again, as hard as he could. Riku didn't bother to react.

"God, Riku, stop him!"

"I said, SHUT UP KAIRI." Rather than calming him down, Riku's total lack of response was driving Sora hog wild. He wailed on his friend, each blow punctuated by his own howl of pain. Riku sagged, his nose bleeding, but he held onto consciousness and refused to fight back. Sora was shaking now, blood staining his fists, but he kept going. He was in too much fury to stop himself. And what's more, he knew that this pain wasn't his- it belonged to Roxas. All of Roxas's hurt, anger and frustration at being trapped, being heartless, being nothing but a lesser shadow of Sora, doomed to cursed half-life for the rest of eternity, all of it was pouring out of Sora and into Riku's face. Riku, the one who made him feel. He was barely recognizable now. Blood was smeared everywhere, contrasting like death with his pale skin and silver hair. Sora pulled his fist back for one more punch, and was stopped by-

"SORA! I won't let you hurt Riku." Kairi clung to Sora like a barnacle on a ship. He could have knocked her away with a thought, but he hesitated. Riku spat out a tooth.

"Sorry…. Sora…." he rasped. The blood in his nose and mouth were making it difficult to breathe. The words made Sora come back down to earth. He stared at the mess he'd made.

"Riku…." Sora gasped. Kairi was sobbing. "God, Riku, I'm so sorry, it…. Sorry," he finished lamely. He had nothing left to say. Kairi rushed off to get medical supplies. Riku was developing a sporting black eye. Sora picked up his blanket and feebly began trying to clean up some of the blood. When he was a kid he would have thought the bruises were the coolest ever, but now, they just made him feel nauseous.

"S'ok, Sora." Riku tried to smile, but almost choked on another tooth. "You beating me up is… just like old times." Sora wanted to hit him again, but wisely decided not to. Kairi came back with the hydrogen peroxide and began cleaning everything up. The three friends huddled, shaken and scared. Sora was terrified. His brain was turning him against the only two people he could turn to for help. If his own damn mind wasn't on his side, then what was?

Axel chose that exact moment to show up in Kairi's living room.