Ya-haw! We-ell I've finally managed to update up till' chappy 4! (which is quite an accomplishment mind you!). I'm not really a fan of dramatic storylines but alas, I'm kinda' using it for this chappy! Thx for the suggestions! (Be it in ure review or msges I thank you soooo much!) For the first time in my life I'm writing a 2-parter for this chappy, cuz I'm gonna be introducing and explaining the jocks' Captains soon! And their role too, before I forget!

Special honors for - Lightning Farron (thanks for the heads up on my grammar mistakes!), Aqua StormXIV (I enjoy our chats :p), UltraWonderBoy (you're one of my fav. readers! Thx 4 making ureself known to me yay!), Hoshikuzu Yume (Hoping to get more reviews from u!), Luxuria De'Voire (My BIGGEST supporter! thaaaank yooouu sooo much for sticking with me all this while!), dikemon (Aww, thanks for your sweet comments!), queenofspades19 (new reviewer! yay! I agree with ya when u say Terra deserves a happy ending!) and last but not least - Texika The Wanderer of Fate (Yea a lot of ppl will agree with your pairing choice ^^) ~

~ R&R are always appreciated and needed! (They always motivate me in a good, positive way :) ) Be it a good compliment or hate-mails, I enjoy getting them all the same!Without further ado ladies & gents- the 4th chappy! Ya-haw!

CHAPTER IV: Maniac On The Loose (Part 1)

The Battle of the Bands had been a huge success! The Angel Wings had won our very first school trophy (which Mr. Auron had proudly place in the clubroom's display case). Our club had gained some popularity from the masses and even gained some respect from the jocks (prolly' cuz' they sucked that night). But the story of the Outcasts winning against the jocks couldn't even be compared with the school's latest, hottest gossip; Who was the mysterious singer?

Gossips spread like wildfire as the whole student body tried to uncover the identity of the blue-haired girl. Some even dared to ask a few of the known Outcasts (like Demyx and Yuffie) but they all kept their mouth shut.

Axel had warned everybody not to reveal my identity to anybody else.

"She's our secret weapon. We can use her again in upcoming competitions." He said as he patted my head the way he'd pet a cat or a dog.

I gave the redhead a glare as I wiped my spectacles (thankfully Fang had decided to give them back).

"Don't treat me like a toy." I stomped on his foot as he laughed in response.

"Well, the Battle of the Bands' the only major competition we got so far so you can relax for now Aqua." He gave me a smirk.

However, I raised my eyebrows at a certain word he had spoken. "Hey...You said my name!" I mean, he usually called me 'newbie' or something!

Axel stared at me for a while before he registered what I just said. "Oh...I mean, yeah...I can't call you newbie forever now can I?" He shrugged.

I gave the tall redhead a smile. At least he had accepted me. "True, I guess..." I hummed as I turned around, leaving him with a puzzled look on his face.

Last night had been a disaster for me. I've lost my treasured brooch and I bawled inside a classroom all by myself. To make things worse, Axel had found me in the middle of my misery as he said he heard some sort of animal wailing here.

He had asked me what was wrong but I merely shook my head and buried my face in my knees, hiding my teary face.

To my surprise he had sat down and wrapped his hand around me. I looked at his face quizzically as he took out a cigarette and lit it up with his free hand.

I coughed from the poisonous smog and frowned at him but he merely grinned and stayed quiet. He didn't pursue his question as he ruffled my hair gently. I found it comforting as I stopped sobbing. The tears were still streaming down my face but I was smiling by the end of the night.

I don't know why but his presence had made my worries disappear.

It'll show up, one way or another.

"But wow, I didn't know you were a good singer Aqua!" Hope complimented me. The silvery-haired boy was playing around with a boomerang he had found in the clubroom. He threw the boomerang into the air and it circled the room, finally hitting Cloud square on the face.

"I-I'm sorry Cloud! W-Won't do it again! Help!" Hope begged for mercy as Cloud had put him in a headlock (Yuffie had joined in, tickling his belly).

As we laughed at the comedic scene between the three people (This time Cloud had pulled off a Figure-Four Leg Lock while Yuffie had settled herself on top of Hope, jumping up and down), a knock came from the door.

Alarmed, I quickly wore my hat and glasses back. A boy entered the room (his head was anyways) and looked around.

"Umm, is this the Angel Wings Club?" He asked uncertainly.

Axel gave him a grin. "Yup, who's asking?"

The boy opened the door and went straight towards me. I raised my eyebrows as he uncannily resembled someone in this room.

"Uhh...Ven! Are you two related?" I looked at the newcomer and then to Ven. Aside from their hair colour (Ven's was darker), these two looked like twins!

Everyone was surprised, I could tell, except for Axel and Lightning.

"Roxas!" Ven gave a huge grin and jumped onto him. They rolled on the ground as if they were in a scuffle. Finally they crashed into a desk and they stopped rolling. Both of them were laughing and punching each other lightly.

"You guys are related." I sighed and rolled my eyes.

Axel puts his hand on my shoulder. "Aqua, meet Roxas. He's Ven's twin brother." He introduced the still grinning boy.

Roxas. I've heard that name before...I thought carefully for awhile, then I heard a small gasp from the sofa.

Naminé, who had been silent all this time, had dropped her sketchbook as she noticed Roxas. She quickly got up and hid behind me.

"Naminé what's wrong?" I remembered now. Roxas was the boy Naminé had spoken to that got her beat up and ridiculed.

The blonde girl buried her face behind me, shaking her head.

Roxas had stood up, ruffling his hair and looking at Naminé nervously. His eyes darted from his shoes to the still hiding blonde girl.

Oh I see what's going on here. I gave Axel a wink and he understood my plan. With an evil smirk he sneaked behind Roxas and pushed him hard. I side-stepped and left the shy girl defenceless. With a squeak, she shielded herself as she thought Roxas would crash into her.

He did, but rather softly as he had made a spin to lessen his body's velocity. It turned out to be more of a graceful ballet spin and ended with a hug as Roxas had wrapped his hands around Naminé.

Roxas lets go of her immediately, blushing furiously. Naminé was also blushing as she twirled a strand of her hair nervously.

"H-Hey..." Roxas finally got the courage to speak up.

"H-Hey..." She repeated, looking at her feet.

Aww, I thought they looked cute together, what with the awkwardness and their shyness over each other.

However Yuffie had ruined the moment with a snort. The two snapped back into reality and looked away from each other, still blushing.

"We don't need another Demyx and Olette." She said boringly as I gave her a death glare.

"So what brings you here spiky?" Fang asked Roxas. She was lying comfortably on top of a hammock above us (Axel had 'borrowed' it from the Recreational Club) which had been nailed to the ceiling.

They boy didn't answer right away. He ruffled his hair nervously and then he suddenly kneeled on all fours in front of me.

"Please let me join your club!" He begged, his face kissing the floor.

I was a little surprised at first. I hastily pulled him up again, uncomfortable with his reaction.

"Y-You don't have to beg! I mean..." I looked at the others for help. Naminé was staring at me anxiously while Axel gave me a 'Do anything you want' look.

"I'll do anything! I'll sweep the clubroom everyday! I'll do your homework! I'll even wipe your feet if-" I waved my hand furiously in front of him to cut him off.

"I get it! You don't have to do all that!" I said quickly. It's like I'm dealing with Ven here...

"Now, now. The 'do your homework' part sounds good to me." Fang said with an evil smile, eyeing Roxas interestedly.

I gave the girl a frown and looked back at the blonde boy in front of me. "Can I at least know your reason for wanting to join us? And how'd you find us anyway?"

He looked nervous again, his eyes darting to Naminé. "Uhh...I wanted to talk to Naminé more..." He said with a nervous grin.

However, to my surprise Naminé made an 'hmph!' sound and crossed her arms, turning away as she did so. What kind of reaction is that? You should be excited!

Roxas slumps his shoulders but he quickly regained his vigour back. "And Ven told me about this place." He finished.

At his words Axel placed a hand on Ven's shoulder. "Right, I'm gonna have a lil' talk with Ven here about the meaning of secret hideout." Ven gulped as he was led outside by Axel.

I shook my head at them and turned back to Roxas. He was looking at me anxiously (like an excited puppy, aww).

"Well...since you're Ven's twin I don't think you're a bad person so...You're in." I gave him a warm smile as his face brightened up.

Behind me Naminé had resumed her usual position on the sofa and had continued with her sketching. However, I could've sworn I saw a small smile plastered on her pale face for a moment.

Outside, I could hear Ven crying for help as Axel was surely strangling him (or something much worse) as punishment.

"No more loose lips Ven~ Okay?~" Axel's voice was dangerously sweet, which was unlike him.

"G-Got it." Ven squeaked. Poor guy...

The wrestling match inside of the club still hasn't ended, making the club meeting even more chaotic.

"G-Give up! I give up!" Hope hit the floor with his hand repeatedly. Yuffie appeared in front of him and raised Cloud's arm into the air like a referee would announce the winner of a wrestling match as Hope lay helplessly on the floor.

Aqua

After our little meeting everyone had left to go home except for Roxas, who had been waiting for a chance to speak to Naminé. So being the usual wise, know-it-all leader, I left them to their own devices (Naminé had given me a pleading look to take her with me but I left her anyways).

Walking alone at school felt weird as I was used to having either Axel or any of the other members around. As I walked across the hallway the other students whispered among themselves and pointed openly towards my hat.

Crap, did they notice my hair colour? However the whispers died down fairly quickly as they snorted and laughed.

Gee, thanks. I thought miserably. I guess nobody would even suspect I was the singer last night. I mean, look at me!

I looked down on my miserable giant uniform. I had wanted to change into a smaller size but the school's store had run out of my size. The dear old lady who tended the store said it'll come in a few months as they had to import them from Twilight Town (which was miles away!).

To top it all off, I have to look for a job to earn some munny. I'm kinda low on funds... Since dear old daddy decided to freeze my bank account...

"Guys! Check out whose back!" Some kids shouted.

"What?" I quickly turned around, searching for the source of the noises. Something was happening at the school gates as students had ran towards that direction excitedly.

Curious, I walked quickly to the gates. The kids were crowding the area and blocked my view of seeing anything at all. I jumped a few times but...they're all so tall!

"Aqua! Here!" I heard a voice calling my name. It was Garnet.

The brunette was waving her hand happily and signalled for me to come closer.

"Garnet, what's all the racket about?" I shouted as the noise was too loud.

Garnet Til Alexandros, Destiny High's very own royalty. She is the daughter of the ruler of a kingdom called Alexandria. She had enrolled in this school during freshmen years from Alexandria Middle School. Axel said that she was very reserved during that time and had been teased a lot (Kuja had despised her hair). She had changed a lot though, thanks to a certain Zidane Tribal. She became more open-minded, outgoing and cheerful. Now she's part of the Drama Club and emcee for any and every events that the school holds.

Oh, here's the part where I tell how I know Garnet! Her father and my father were friends of sort. I befriended her during the time I visited her castle. She was very refined and royalty-like, but was kind and generous at the same time. I can't believe my luck when I recognized her to be the girl who was sitting in front of me in class! (She had been absent on my first day, down with a fever).

"Mr. Jecht and Riku's back!" She said excitedly.

However, seeing the puzzled look on my face Garnet merely smiled and pulled me into the crowd. We managed to get to the front of the crowd after Garnet had stomped, pinched, and even bit the people who were obstructing our way.

The source of the racket was two people.

"That one's Mr. Jecht." Garnet pointed to the oldest person of the two. He was an adult with long, unruly black hair. I stared at him in amazement as he wasn't wearing any shirt to cover his body, showing his well-toned muscles and abs (he's probably even buffer than Terra!). He had some kind of broad cloth wrapped around his lower body and wore three-quarter pants.

"Aaannnddd that one's Riku!" She pointed to the other one. He was a boy around my age with shoulder-length silver hair. He was wearing our school uniform (though they were thorn and ragged). His bangs covered his ocean blue eyes as he stared around, taking in the scenery uninterestedly.

The ruckus was made by Mr. Jecht, who was laughing and high-fiving the kids who had came to greet them. Riku however, merely stayed quiet.

"What's so special about those two?" I pointed at Riku.

"They're quite popular with the kids. Mr. Jecht is one of the physical education teachers and sort of like a 'Dare' planner for the school. He always plans cool events like 'The Ghost Hunt at school' and the 'King of the Hill' sort of games. But that's not all, back in his younger days he was a blitzball legend! His name got into the Hall of Fames as the Best Player of the Century!" Garnet explained excitedly.

"So he's..." I made circular motions with my hand, a sign for her to continue explaining as I had no idea what made him so popular.

Garnet let out a sigh. "Seriously Aqua, you gotta keep up with the times! Mr. Jecht practically never comes to school cuz' he's always busy doing dangerous stuffs. Rumours say that he's slaying monsters up north during the school holidays."

Monsters? They exist? I frowned at her but she merely shrugs. "That's what they say anyway. And Riku...well I don't have to explain that to you." Garnet said knowingly as she pointed at a large group of girls crowding the silvery-haired boy.

"So where are they back from?" I remembered someone said they're back from something...

"Only God knows what they're up to." Garnet said sagely.

What the heck does she mean by that? I continued to frown as the crowd wasn't letting up. I wanna get out of school...

"I can tell that you're an outcast..." A quiet voice spoke in my ear.

I gave a startled yelp as I turned to see that it was Riku who had spoke to me. How'd he sneak up on me like that? One minute he was in front of those girls and the next...

"Y-Yeah, so what?" I said defensively.

Riku smiled broadly, which made Garnet and the other girls gasp (What's the big deal anyway?).

"Thought so. My name's Riku. Yours?" He was still smiling, for reasons unknown.

"Aqua." I said simply. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to leave now." I bowed a little to him and bid Garnet farewell.

To my dismay however, the silvery-haired boy had taken in his stride to follow me. I decided to let him do whatever he wants (hey it's a free country isn't it?) as I headed towards the town. He, however, seems to have suddenly found his voice, as he asked me a bunch of random stuffs (it reached the point where I wished there was a zipper on this guy's mouth!).

"So you're really from Departure High?" He asked again, pretending to be interested in a magazine he's holding (which was upside-down, BTW).

"Yes." I said, for the umpteenth time.

We were in a cafe named 'Princesses of Light'. I was waiting for the owner of the cafe for an interview for an opening in the waitress' position. While waiting for him, I read the requirements for the job carefully.

Minimum age of 16...I'm gonna' be 17 in a few months...have little or no experience... I totally got experience! (...I think...)...young, vivacious & hot...The owner MUST be a guy...

Riku stayed quiet throughout my interview (the guy actually sat next to me and listened in on the interview!) and I felt his stares on me the whole time.

The owner was actually a woman named Lulu. She and her husband Wakka were both the owners of the cafe and Wakka was ecstatic of having me to work here (which was good, if only Lulu wasn't looking at me like she wants to eat me...gulp*).

"So you can start working tomorrow ya'?" Wakka said with a smile.

I was elated to hear I can start so soon! It means I can earn munny earlier! Yay!

I was about to say yes when Lulu opened her mouth. "Hmm, deary...can you see without your glasses?"

My heart sank at her words. I know what she's gonna' ask me to do...

"Y-Yes, a lil' bit." I answered truthfully. Hey, I've always been a bad liar alright!

"Then...Sorry I don't mean to offend you or anything, but could you take those glasses of while working? I'm afraid it will...scare the customers off if you wear them." Lulu tried to convey her words delicately.

I knew it. Truth be told I didn't want to be apart from this glasses, I felt naked without them. But I reeeaaalllyyy need the munny, guess I don't have any choice.

"S-Sure, no problem." I answered unsurely.

Lulu gave me a satisfied smile and handed me the registration form. I wrote down my details and handed it back.

"That should do it. We'll see you tomorrow at 4 ya'?" Wakka offered me a handshake and I accepted it. He really is nice, even with the weird accent.

I looked at the clock to see that it was still early to return to the dorm so I decided to leave the cafe (bidding Wakka and Lulu goodbye, of course) and check out the beach.

"We're going somewhere?" Riku spoke up.

I jumped a bit and wheeled around to see the silvery-haired boy was still following me. What is his problem?

"Alright, see here." I stopped in the middle of the road and put my hands on my hips. "Why are you following me?" Is he harassing me or something?

Riku made a non-committal shrug. "I just find you interesting, and you have pretty eyes by the way." He said, without a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

I was caught off-guard by his comment. "Wha- I- Well-" I became flustered and I'm pretty sure my face was as red as a tomato by now. Just then, a gust of strong wind blew in our direction and my hat flew off.

"H-Hey! Come back!" I ran after it. No way, no way, no way! That hat was a gift from my granddad! (What? You guys think I'll buy something like that on my own accord?)

Something rushed by me and I saw a flash of grey jumping onto a hotdog stand, then onto a flag pole, and then into mid-air where he caught my hat and landed with inhuman acrobatic abilities. All that process happened in only a few seconds.

Oh-My-God. I stared with my mouth half-opened at the grinning boy as he twirled my hat around his fingers.

"Here you go." He handed my hat back to me, but not before studying my hair.

I snatched it from his hands and quickly put it on back, muttering a quick "Thank you" while trying to hide my blush.

"You have nice hair too." Riku complimented me, again.

"T-Thanks..." I muttered. He was shuffling his feet and grinning satisfactorily from my show of gratitude.

"No problem. So where're you heading?" He asked again, his hands behind his head.

It took me awhile to realize that this boy might actually have an interest in me. I may look like a nerd but I actually have many experiences during my time in Departure High with boys.

The way they move their arms, their facial expressions, the way they keep kicking at thin air. Yup, this boy is showing all the above mentioned signs. Back then Yuffie would always call me thick-headed and oblivious to my surrounding but that's not it. I chose to ignore them, that's all.

I let out a sigh and relented. I suppose there's no harm with him accompanying me today.

"The beach. I've seen it many times when I walk from school but I wanted to actually feel the seawater with my feet and walk down that sandy beach!" I said, a little too excited perhaps, for Riku broke into a 'you're so cute when you do that' look.

"Then let's go." He wheeled around and led the way.

The trip was quite enjoyable once I got used to Riku. He wasn't the hyperactive type (like most of the guys in the club) and could actually be quite sweet. He bought me a balloon and cotton candy (I rolled my eyes at the balloon though) while making sure I could keep up with his pace.

"Wow! We're here!" I ran towards the open sea and practically jumped into the water (only my feet of course). "Aaahhh, the water's great." I sighed heavenly as the waves hit my legs softly.

Riku gave a small chuckle and sat underneath a tree. "Take your time." He cushioned his head with his arms and closed his eyes.

"Okay." I replied happily. I don't know why but I always had a strange affinity with water. They calm me and sometimes it's as if I could hear them talking in my ears, filling in the empty gaps of my heart (crazy I know, but hey, I'm a GIRL!).

Riku waited for me patiently as I soaked my feet in the sea. I looked at him and saw him dozing off peacefully. That gave me an idea. I looked left and right and after making sure that nobody was around, I took off my hat, glasses and vest (it was really hot!).

"~Hm~Hm~Hm~" I hummed peacefully as I splashed some seawater on my face. Bad idea. Salt, apparently, are able to slip into your eyes and sting like hell!

"Ow-Ow-Ow!" I cried painfully and rubbed my eyes. Stupid salts...How come Ariel can open her eyes under the sea and I can't even splash some water on my face?

"Hey!"

I froze as I heard a familiar voice calling out. I gulped involuntarily as I turned around and stifled a gasp. Why does he always have to be around when I took off my glasses?

Terra was waving at me happily (and excitedly too I might add). Before he could say (or do) anything else, I quickly made my way onto dry land and ran away as fast as I can.

"Hey wait up! Ugh, not again!" Terra groaned and I could hear his heavy feet chasing after me.

Run Run Run! My heart was beating like mad but I know I can't stop now. If Terra caught me then my secret would be exposed to the whole school; not to mention that Axel would skin me alive!

I heard a loud 'thump!' and I risked my chances to take a look behind. Terra had tripped over the sleeping Riku and left the two of them sprawling on the sand.

"Sorry!" I yelled out of habit.

"C'mon! At least gimme' a chance to talk with you!" Terra made to stand up again but his pants was pulled by a glaring Riku.

I left the beach and went around to the side of the stairs to the dorm. After I made sure the coast is clear I couldn't help it; I practically rolled over on the stairs giggling.

The look on Terra's face when he saw me running away from him and Riku, well, he made a pained face when Terra fell on top of his guts. And what's up with Terra's boxers? Polka dots and little hearts?

"That was fun, gotta tell the guys about this." I smiled to myself and walked up the stairs, where a haughty-looking Naminé was waiting for me.

Terra

"Day Two of my search for the melodious bluebird. I've sighted the target yesterday in the evening around the beach perimeters while playing in the water. So what's your status Big Bear? Over." I made a static sound and handed the walkie-talkie to Snow.

"Black Hawk this is Big Bear. Yesterday's search was fruitful as we found some new useful leads on the bluebird. Over." Snow made the same static sound and passed the walkie-talkie back to me.

"Really? What'd you got Big Bear? Over." I passed it back to Snow.

"It seems like the bluebird was seen in the Princesses of Light cafe applying for a job there yesterday. My source (a certain little sister of one of the Outcasts club members) told me that she'll start working today. Over." Before Snow could pass me the walkie-talkie back, TIfa hit us both on the back of our heads.

"What are you idiots doing?" She rolled her eyes and sat beside Snow. She placed her tray of food on the cafeteria table and began eating at top speed.

"I'm the idiot...You're the one looking like an idiot right now..." Snow muttered darkly while rubbing his head.

"Whatever. So Terra, I heard you still haven't given up on finding that, whatcha' call her? Oh yeah, 'love of your life' yet." Tifa stressed her voice on the 'love of your life' part while munching on her beef jerky.

"I don't like being insulted by a girl with a half-eaten beef jerky hanging from her mouth." I rolled my eyes. "By the way, Cloud saw that." I pointed towards the Outcasts zone.

Tifa grew bright red and quickly looked around. Cloud and his other friends were laughing over a joke Yuffie had made. Tifa turned back, glaring at me.

"Ha Ha, very funny." She grumpily wiped her mouth and drank her soup.

"I don't get it. If you like the guy so much why don't you just say it to em'?" Snow gave a tired look. He knew about Tifa's crush on Cloud ever since he caught her watching the blonde-haired with much affection in her eyes during a certain memorable lunchtime.

"Because it's not that easy, and I think he likes somebody else." Tifa said in a disgruntled voice, her gaze back at Cloud and then to the brown-haired girl next to him.

Snow shook his head and leaned back on the chair. "Whatever. If it was me I'd gone straight to the girl that I like and confess to her." He said matter-of-factly.

"Yes Snow, and look where that got you! Apparently you didn't think of the chances that the girl has an older sister with anger issues and the ability to kill you in your sleep! Now you have to look behind your back every time you kiss Serah. Really swell plan Snow." Tifa said sarcastically. I snorted into my drink as Snow gave a pained look, accepting the cold, hard truth.

Ignoring the two, I rummaged through my pocket and took out an aquamarine brooch I found the other day.

Tifa noticed it, and let out a soft squeal of admiration. "Oooh, that's so pretty! Wait, don't tell me it's yours Terra cuz' it'll be sooo wrong and..."

"No it's not mine." I waved irritably. "It belonged to the blue-haired girl. I found it in the school hall the other night. Y'know? After the concert?"

Truth be told I had wanted to return it back to her, but she kept giving me a hard time to do so. I've searched every class possible for any sign of a girl that might look like her (blue hair, blue eyes, and totally hot) but it was just impossible, considering the number of students in this school.

I caught sight of her yesterday at the beach. I had no idea what she was doing there but what a stroke of luck! There she was playing in the water and smiling like a goddess...But she got away from...I mean, ran away from me as soon as I called for her...maybe I should do a sneak-attack next time...

Just then, two of the sophomores from the basketball team came up to our table and looked at us nervously.

"Hey guys, sup'?" I greeted with a friendly tone. But somehow, they still cower back as if I was shouting at them. I am NOT a tyrant! But I guess I am kinda' intimidating...Cool...

"Um, Mr. Xemnas wanted us to pass you and Snow a message. H-Here." One of them passed me a note with Xemnas' seal on it.

The two hurriedly move away from us as I read the note. The only times this guy ever passed us any notes is when a disaster had befallen that could affect his position or dignity. The guy's pretty self-centred.

After I read the note I groaned and passed it to Snow. On cue, he too groaned and face-palmed himself.

"What's wrong?" Tifa made an interested look, her eyes darting from me then to Snow.

"Vanitas is missing again." I scratched my head indifferently.

"Yup, you know what that means." Snow crumpled the note and threw it onto the floor.

"Trouble." The three of them spoke in unison.

"Wasn't Xigbar supposed to look after him today?" I looked at the large man.

"You know how that guy always skips his job and all...but losing Vanitas now after the crap he did last year..." Snow shuddered at the thought.

Last year a bunch of juniors were beaten the hell out of them after one of them had made a snide comment on Vanitas' mask (he always wears them, what with his sport and all). It took Vanitas less than ten seconds to break that guy's arm. It wasn't just that though, Vanitas had been on the rampage frequently when he's not supervised. He's worse than Larxene, because at least she wouldn't hang her victim's body on the football field's goalpost.

In order to prevent him from doing any more harm to the student body, Mr. Xemnas had ordered the captains to supervise him and they were given a shifts chart to rotate each time. Most of them were either too lazy or too busy to do it so they had their respective club members (I mean lackey) to do the job for them.

"This is bad. Not only is Vanitas on the loose somewhere in the school, Mr. Xemnas had been kind enough to let us know that too." I shook my head.

"That only means there are already victims. We gotta' go round the school. Now. Usually I'd handle this alone but...It's Vanitas, so you guys know what I'm getting at here." Snow stood up and looked around the cafeteria, then; "To all jocks available in the cafeteria! Meet me outside now! We're looking for Club Captain Vanitas, so any able-bodied men, and girls, who are brave enough, come see me!"

Way to go Snow...What a way to let people know a maniac is loose in the school grounds...

A sense of panic filled the air as the sophomores and seniors discussed in fear of Vanitas' name. The juniors were all looking around, puzzled at their older schoolmates' reaction.

A few students stood up and followed Snow outside. Tifa and I followed suit. I tucked the brooch safely in my pocket.

So much for searching for my melodious bluebird...

Axel

"So the lunatic's on the loose huh? Ho Ho, this is gonna' be a riot!" I chuckled evilly as I watched the other students' scared face.

"It's no laughing matter Axel." Lightning scolded me in a stern voice. "Ugh, I thought they were keeping watch on that guy!" She grimaced and walked around the tables with a distressed look.

"Not doing a good job, they aren't." I snorted. Let the guy destroy the school, good business for us then... (As in, more kids we can wrung up into our club).

"Um, Axel." Xion looked at me with a curious face. "Who is Vanitas? And why did the other kids become scared just by hearing his name?"

"Ahh Xion. Innocent, naive Xion." I patted her head sympathetically. "Nah, I'll let Dem explain it for me." I passed the baton to Demyx, who was tuning his guitar beside Yuffie.

The guitarist gave a relaxed look and strummed his guitar. "The dude's a rebel." He grinned goofily. "The Enigma of Ice Hockey. Senior, and Club Captain of...you can guess what sport he plays by his nickname. Anyway the guy's like, really screwed in the head y'know? Sees everyone here like some livestock for him to slaughter. Back in the days (his junior year), I heard he nearly killed a senior by hitting the guy with a hockey stick."

"Shouldn't he be expelled then?" Xion said, horrified.

This time, Fang had taken in her stride to continue the tale. "He should've been in jail after that happened. But word got out that Xemnas was really impressed by the way he handled the hockey stick so he made the guy join the Ice Hockey team instead. Imagine being made Captain for smashing a guy's skull? Pretty gruesome huh?" She gave a chuckle at the junior's expression of horror.

"S-So is he, like, dangerous?" Hope dared to ask.

"Dangerous? The guy's a demon. Be it boy or girl, so long as you piss him off you're dead. But even if you didn't do anything wrong he'd still mutilate you." Cloud shrugged.

"He's a guy we need to avoid then. S-So how'd he look like?" Ven gulped.

At his words I gave them an evil smile. "Aaah, that's just it. Nobody has seen Vanitas' real face. He always wear a helmet (or a mask, I dunno') to conceal his face."

Out of nowhere I took out a flashlight and flashed it on my face (yeah it's bright outside, but in the Outcasts zone, it's dark and damp baby!). "It happened one fateful day, when the cleaning lady was doing her rounds in the boy's toilet at the third floor. It was there she had stumbled upon the man whilst he was washing his face. The poor soul could not believe what she saw, and she ran away as quick as her poor legs could carry her, screaming at what she had witnessed. After that event she grew ill instantly, and departed to the afterlife that very night. It is believed that if you ever saw Vanitas' face, then Death would be knocking on your door very, very...soon~"

"I thought the cleaning lady died because she ate the tuna special during lunchtime?" Aerith whispered to Cloud.

"She did. Sssh, here's the best part." Cloud made a shushing sound.

From behind the transfixed audience, Fang had yelled 'Boo!' and all of them screamed. Roxas had jumped onto Naminé's lap (which the girl dropped him like garbage as quickly as possible) and Xion had hugged Hope so tightly that the boy was turning purple. Ven had fainted.

I laughed and gave Fang a high-five.

"I got you guys good! Look at Ven!" The raven-haired girl chuckled and slapped her knees repeatedly.

"You guys should've seen your faces! That was classic! I love telling tales of that lunatic to freshies!" I bent over and wiped my tears. It was downright hilarious! Even Cloud and Aerith were trying hard to stifle their laughter.

"That wasn't funny..." Naminé muttered, still eyeing the beet red Roxas apprehensively.

"Yes it was." I snickered, and then turned around. "So what'd you think of my story Aq-"

I was expecting to see the blue-haired girl standing behind me, ready to scold me for teasing the kids. However, I didn't see her at all. Frowning, I looked around the area and found no trace of her at all.

"Where's Aqua?" I asked the others.

Most of them gave an 'I dunno' look but Yuffie piped up; "She told me she was gonna' check the swimming pool and then go to the chemistry lab to get her stuffs." She recounted.

The swimming pool was at the opposite side of the school from the chemistry lab. That's quite a distance.

"So basically...she's not here." I assumed she's not.

"Nope." Yuffie repeated cheerfully.

I sighed and face-palmed myself. "Let me repeat that in detail. Aqua's not with us...She could be anywhere in the school...She's alone...And a maniac is roaming around looking for fresh meat..."

My own eyes grew as wide as saucers as I realized what I just said. The others looked at me in horror.

"M-Maybe she won't come across Vanitas. I mean, what are the chances right?" Demyx said unconfidently.

We all knew that the chances are high that she'd stumble upon the raging maniac. All of us know of Aqua's tendency to get lost often and that she had some sort of neon sign behind her that lit up 'TROUBLE, COME HERE PLEASE'.

It's like she's cursed with some sort of bad luck. Larxene, Terra, Riku, now this...

"...We gotta' find her...Everybody get out there right now and go look for her...Form a group and LET'S GO!" I yelled and they scrambled into groups of threes.

Stay calm, maybe Vanitas hasn't found her yet. "Cloud, Aerith, Fang, you guys check the East Wing." I instructed the first group. All three of them nodded and left the cafeteria in a hurry.

"Yuffie, Demyx, Naminé, the South Wing. Check the swimming pool, there might be a chance she's still there." I directed to the second group and they too left.

"Hope, Roxas, you guys take the West Wing. Avoid any contact with guys wearing any form of masks, got it? And wake that moron up." I rolled my eyes at the still fainted Ven. "Take him with you." The boys nodded and shuffled out of there (They dragged the fainted Ven by his legs).

I looked at Lightning and Xion. "You guys come with me. We'll be going to the North Wing to check the chemistry lab. On the way could you text your sister to ask for Kairi's help?" Lightning gave a nod and took out her cell phone, jabbing her fingers furiously on the keypad.

"Let's go guys. Code Red!" I smoothed my hair to the back and marched out.

Dammit! Aqua!

Aqua

Wow! The swimming pool is really awesome! It was the size of any Olympic pool and they even have waterfalls and river-like slides here! And-and a really pretty statue of a woman spouting water from her mouth at the side of the pool too!

I had wanted to check the pool out since forever but I couldn't find it somehow (truthfully I got lost). I sat at the corner of the pool and put my hand in the water. It was quite warm, guess it's because of the weather outside.

Quite suddenly, I felt the hairs at the back of my neck stood up. I felt a chill and quickly turned around, alarmed by sudden senses tingling through my body.

Something's not right... A hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder.

"Well hello there sweetum', what might you be doing out here?" It was one of the students of Destiny High.

"N-Nothing. I was just checking the swimming pool." I pushed his hand away as I stared at his face.

He was tall and gangly, with his hair tied into a ponytail. He wore an eyepatch over his right eye with long scars over it.

"Best you run along now kiddo', it ain't safe to be out here today." His voice didn't sound threatening; more like an advice.

I noticed he was holding a crossbow in his other hand, which made me gulp involuntarily. He noticed my eyes were watching his weapon with much apprehension, and that made him smile a bit.

"No worries, I'm not gonna' shoot you sweetum'." He let out a hoarse chuckle.

"Then who are you going to shoot then?" I frowned at the one-eyed man.

He made a non-commital shrug and looked around. "Say...You wouldn't happen to have run across a weirdo with a black helmet on his head now would you?"

"Sorry?" I begged his pardon; I have NO IDEA what he just said.

For a moment he looked relief, and then turned back to his usual mysterious demeanour. "Then you haven't. Good. Bad enough I have to untie those kids from the flagpole this morning..." He muttered under his breath.

This guy is really weird. Maybe he escaped from a mental hospital and stole our school uniform and pretended to be one of our students. Maybe I should report him to Principal Ansem. MAYBE I should run away now!

His next words snapped me back into reality. "Ahh, I beg your forgiveness. Where are my manners?" He bowed slightly in a gentlemanly manner. "My name is Xigbar, the Archery Club's Freeshooter."

He pointed to his left collar, where a gleaming purple hawk of a pin is etched.

I distanced myself from the guy as I far as I can. This guy's a jock!

"You...You're one of them! You're a jock!" I sorta', kinda' yelled at the guy out of dreariness. I am not in the mood to get into another jock's black book...

Xigbar had his eye (well he only has one eye anyways) on me with a mixture of interest and curiosity.

"You must be an Outcast then, judging from your reaction." He grinned when my face tensed.

"Yeah? So what's it to ya' huh?" I tried to sound intimidating, like how Axel usually sounded.

"Now, now, let's not get hasty. Boy, I don't wanna pick a fight with one of Axel's boys, sorry, girls." He added the last part a bit too sarcastically for my taste.

"You know Axel?" Now I was interested. Just how many of the jocks black books did Axel manage to get into?

Again, he gave me a non-committal shrug of an answer. "We're...acquaintances. Can't say I'm in love with the guy but let's just say that we don't try to kill each other like how he and Terra would."

Terra... He really is popular with the whole school huh? I remembered many occasions where he tried looking for me (even as to put a reward for anyone who had any information on me). It would be a huge shock to the whole school if they found out that the school's biggest star is head over heels for the school's biggest nerd...

Then, a sudden sound of glass breaking was heard coming from the second floor. Before I knew it Xigbar had ran forward and protected me from the broken glass shards. He used his whole body to shield me from harm; something unexpected.

Before I could ask about his condition something else fell down and into the pool. I turned my head and gaped.

A-A body! There's a body floating in the water! My body went numb as I saw the clear water surrounding the body turned crimson red. B-Blood!

"I-Is he dead?" my voice was shaking as I asked the Freeshooter (catchy nickname, but now's not the time!).

"Can't say for sure..." He muttered, staring at the broken window on the second floor.

Without warning, a second body came flying out of the same window and landed in the pool, next to the other body. It too, painted the once clear water red with its blood.

"T-This is scary...Is there a murderer up there?" I squeaked and went behind Xigbar for protection from whatever or whoever is up there.

"Close...Very close..." he muttered again, his eye still on the window. He drew his crossbow and shot an arrow into the broken window.

I heard a faint snap which probably means the arrow, by some unnatural means, had been caught mid-air and snapped into two.

Okay...I am seriously freaked out right now! A few minutes passed by without so much as a bird chirping was heard. Neither Xigbar nor I made a move as our gazes were transfixed on the broken window.

"Kiddo, can you do me a favour and fish out those two in the water? I'm afraid they'll really die if we leave them there." Xigbar whispered to me.

"What? Are you crazy? No way am I gonna' swim in that blood-ridden pool for-for those corpses!" I hissed back.

"They're not dead yet!" He protested. "Just go and take a dip already! I'll watch the window!" He assured me.

I hate the idea of touching them but I know that I can't let them drown (my conscious would bug me forever if I do so). With a hasty gulp, I dived into the pool.

The water was colder than I thought, and I shivered slightly from the lack of heat.

I quickly swam to the nearest body and let out a gasp as I recognized who it was.

"Demy!" The poor boy was beaten black and blue and his nose was crooked (broken, more like). I didn't recognize him because his hair was different than the usual Mohawk he sported.

I pulled the unconscious boy's collar and swam towards the next body, a sense of foreboding welled inside me as I recognized her too; it was Yuffie.

Thankfully she wasn't beaten as badly as Demyx was but she was still bleeding nonetheless. I pulled on both of them and with great difficulty, dragged them onto dry land.

"Y-Yuffie, D-Demy! Guys, wake up!" I nudged them both but only Yuffie stirred.

"Yuf!" Thank Heavens she's okay! The brunette coughed a few times and slowly opened her eyes. I was relieved that she managed to give me her usual goofy smile.

"Cuz..." Yuffie choked. I was alarmed by how soft her voice was.

"We need to get you to a doctor." I stated firmly but before I could carry her, Xigbar held a hand to stop me.

"Wait a bit kiddo." He kneeled beside me and stared at Yuffie. "Who did this? Where is he?" He asked the weakened girl.

I wanted to protest but Yuffie answered his question; "It was Vanitas. He's in one of the sophomore's classes. W-We tried to stop when he grabbed Naminé b-but...P-Please, you gotta' help Naminé, she's being hunted down by that maniac."

"Naminé?" Oh-My-God. "The monster that did this to you is after Naminé?" I'm not trying to be dramatic here, but...HOLY CRAP!

Yuffie nodded and her eyes drooped. I tried to make the girl stay conscious but she had already passed out.

Xigbar stood up and took out a cell phone from his breast pocket. "Lo', Xiggy here. Could ya' send someone from the infirmary to the swimming pool ASAP? We got some more victims of Vanitas here...Yes that'll be great, thanks." He ended the call and looked at me. "The med's on the way."

"T-Thanks." I let out a sigh of relief.

Xigbar gave a nod and walked towards the door leading into the school.

"W-Where're you going?" Don't tell me he's...

"I'm chasing down the perpetrator o' course." He said matter-of-factly, and then let out a sigh. "Dammit, of all the times he's gotta go berserk it's gotta be on my shift...What a pain in the ass..." He muttered darkly.

"You're not serious are you?" I looked at him in disbelief. Then I remembered he had a weapon with him. But the arrow was snapped! Whoever this Vanitas is caught the arrow while it's still flying and snapped it into pieces!

"Serious as the sea is wet sweetum'. You just wait here till the meds arrive kay'?" He gave me another nod.

"No way! Whoever this guy is, he's chasing after one of my best friends!" I protested. Naminé's in danger! "I'm following you whether you like it or not. I won't abandon her!" I said defiantly and crossed my arms.

"Do whatever you want." He shrugged.

Wow, he agreed to it much quicker than I thought.

"G-Good, then let's go." I gave a last look of concern to Yuffie and Demyx (they were still unconscious, but hopefully they'll get medical treatment soon!) and followed the eye-patched man into the school.

However, throughout the entire drama, I had totally forgotten about my hat and glasses, which were floating in the water.

Ho Ho, things are getting tensed what with the jocks, the outcasts, and the odd pair of Xigbar and Aqua chasing after the madman! ~Well on the side note, here's the additional information on the other Outcasts! (Taken from the mysterious book of information collected by Axel!) Ya-haw!

The Outcasts

Naminé – Freshman, and Aqua's only dorm mate in the Haunted Dormitory. The blonde-haired girl is bullied quite a lot due to her outstanding popularity with the boys. Shy and reserved, her only outlet of stress is through drawing, which she found quite pleasing and soothing. Unlike girls her age, she is quite dense when someone has a crush on her or even fully understands what 'love' is. This is shown when Roxas always tries to talk to her, which she misunderstood as his way of bullying her.

Fang – Senior, ex-jock and former captain of the volleyball team. Fang, Lightning and Larxene were old friends until Larxene betrayed them for her own gain. Fang is unruly, strong-willed and free-spirited. She doesn't like to be bound by rules and skipped school often to avoid being badmouthed of her former teammates. Originally threatened by her father (Barret) to join a club, she now enjoys the company of the Angels, whose club members are people whom she can get along with. Barret is constantly worried about his relationship with his daughter, and jumps immediately at the chance to help her with her problems. She has a little sister named Marlene.

Aerith – People say that being smart can give you respect but that is not the case with Aerith. Despite being the school valedictorian to earn her schoolmates' acceptance, she was shunned and ridiculed for being poor, something she got used to by senior year. She is very caring towards others, especially towards Naminé and Aqua. Her relationship with Cloud is unclear, but she always mentioned him as her 'bodyguard'. Axel labelled her in his books as 'The No. 1 Wife Choice' as she can spoil a guy to his heart's content.

Cloud – Sophomore and one of the 'bad boys' at school. Cloud is Axel's old friend, as well as Terra's and Tifa's. He is usually detached from the student body and labelled as a true-blue outcast. Aqua suspects he has low-blood pressure as he never seemed to lose his cool. He lives alone and is often visited by Aerith, who cleans his house on a regular basis. He always sides with the outcasts, believing the school to be prejudiced over students who doesn't have athletic or academic abilities. He is the owner of 'Noises', a local music store where Aqua hangs out often.

Hope – Freshman and one of many that was accepted into being a jock before finally realizing they are nothing more than bullies. He has no intention of going back to them as he likes being with the Angels. Hope is exceptionally skilled with a boomerang, but the wooden toy often gets him into trouble (usually because he always accidentally hit people with it). He's on good term with Ven and Roxas, and Axel often calls them 'The Three Musketeers'.