Aaaaahh! It's been so long everyone! The dreaded school has crept upon me. But fear not! For I am not abandoning this story. ;u; Twenty five follows, six reviews, and thirteen favorites. I am so speechless! ;u; Thank you from the bottom of my heart for bearing with me. 3

Chapter Three:

A Shy Avoidance

Roxas sighed as he felt the difference in his clothes before he even thought of putting them on. Someone has obviously replaced his worn yet comfortable normal clothes with new starchy cotton ones. It didn't even take him that long to figure out who it was either; the two most likely suspects were his father and Sora. Both probably had a hand in it because his old clothes were pretty worn... With a quick scratch to the side of his neck, he shifted downstairs in nothing but his boxers.

"Sora, what happened to my clothes?" he called out, irritation settled in his tone as he felt his way around to the kitchen and listened for a reply.

Sure enough, that annoying little monster of a brother gave a whine in complaint. "Oh come on Roxas! You looked like the world's biggest dork in those clothes. I mean, I know your blind and all, but that doesn't mean you can go around in clothes that look stupid before you were even blind. There were holes everywhere!"

'Stupid?' Roxas inwardly questioned. "Hey, just because I don't enjoy wearing shorts and looking like the weather is tropical all year long does not mean I look stupid. What the hell did you even replace them with? Your clothes?" he bit back. This was really not a good subject to argue about before school. He just wanted his old clothes back.

He could practically imagine Sora smirk as the other male approached him with rather noisy footsteps. "No, Cloud paid for them. He thought you needed a new wardrobe change. You never ask for anything Roxas. Why can't you just take the darn clothes and wear them? Please?" Sora whined, begging in a manner that the blond couldn't resist.

Roxas grimaced and turned, feeling his way back to his room. Fine. He would wear the stupid clothes. It didn't help that he would probably make his father feel bad if he told him to return everything that had just been bought. Hell, he wasn't even sure now if that could be done as there were no tags or stickers felt to be removed. He just wished he could actually see what horrendous colours that Sora had actually picked out to ridicule him.

Picking up the fabric of each one, he carefully felt them for any hints of style or shape before proceeding to pick out a pair of pants and a sleeveless tank to wear for the day. At least his familiar jackets weren't touched...

~O~

"And then I told him 'Hell no, you don't even have pants on!' I was not going to spend the week cleaning my car seat from the tragedy of bare ass. Let alone Marluxia's bare ass. The drama queen can get his own ride home." Riku made a 'harumph' noise after he finished his rant. Demyx was guffawing, his hand smacking on his locker with the struggle to breathe properly. Even Zexion made a soft hum to show his interest in such a ridiculous tale.

Roxas tried not to laugh, finding the story funny even though he had come in to listen to the very end bit on the way to his locker. Riku certainly had an odd charm that made you believe every one of his tales. He was surprised that he could distinguish the trio's voices with such ease through the buzzing hallways. They were always filled with annoying voices that said rather stupid things most of the time when he even bothered to pay attention.

With a quick "Hey" to Demyx and Riku, he felt the dots on his locker dial, matching them up with the combination he had memorized well beforehand. Sora couldn't be leading him around everywhere all the time; that would be an absolute nightmare. It wasn't that the blond thought that Sora was awful, just that he was far too eccentric for every waking minute everyday life.

Demyx patted Roxas' shoulder with an enthused voice to follow. "Hey there Roxas! I almost didn't recognize you with you new getup and no puppy-eyed Sora!"

Roxas rolled his eyes and plucked Demyx's hand off of his shoulder, turning to face the other male once his locker was opened. "Yeah, thanks for the confidence booster. Sora replaced my clothes and bolted before I could strangle him. I think it's a conspiracy because dad got in on it too." he answered with a grin. Demyx was always chipper about everything. Not being happy is something the happy voice did not do.

"Oh. But Roxas, you look really good in those clothes. Your other ones were kinda... Old." Demyx answered, sounding as if he were struggling to not be blunt about his personal thoughts. Riku had meanwhile slipped away during the conversation, his voice or presence no longer present at all to Roxas. With a 'tch' noise, Roxas retrieved his books and glanced to his left where Demyx's voice was coming from. It was a reflexive habit to still look in the darkness with the hopes that he would be able to see anything but the darkness that engulfed his open eyes. 'This is getting depressing...' "Thanks. I just wished I knew what colour they were." Roxas finally answered, shutting his locker with a noisy creak.

Demyx hummed and opened his mouth with a starting of a sentence up until he had clearly saw someone and his sentence was interrupted. "Well, they're-Oh! Axel! Hey! Heeey! Over here!" Axel? Where had Roxas heard that name before? Axel... Huh... His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a set of hands on his shoulders and a familiar voice. "Did you get my name memorized, blondie?"

Roxas' eyes widened and he stepped back to only bump against Demyx's chest, his book clattering to the floor as his surprise kept him from holding the bound paper firmly. He felt Axel let go of him to pick up the lost book. "What's the matter blondie? Can't pick it up for your-...self..." Roxas had already bolted without his book, embarrassed by the situation and sacking his cane furiously to feel around for his classroom hallway.

~O~

"What just happened?" Axel asked, turning to Demyx with Roxas' book still in hand. He couldn't wrap his head around the kid. Blind? The kid was fucking blind? How did he not notice? "How long has blondi-I mean Roxas, been blind?" he continued, having more questions since his friend was so chummy with who he was supposed to babysit for the rest of the year.

"Oh, I dunno. Since before he moved here I guess. He doesn't like to talk about it." Demyx thought aloud, seeming confused as well from Roxas' sudden escape before he smiled almost coyly. "I think he liiiikes you~" Axel contorted his face. "Dem, he ran away from me. He's probably scared shitless."

Demyx simply wagged his finger as his smile turned into a grin. "Suuuuure. We'll just see, mister I-like-to-get-new-kid-all-hot-and-bothered."

Axel simply groaned as they left for class, blondie's book in hand when he decided to hang onto it until he was asked for it back.

In person.

~O~

Roxas didn't even bother going to class. Halfway through his frantic scrambling, he realized that his book was still with Axel, who had presumably picked it up. What a weird guy. Sora told him to avoid Axel at all costs and that he was some sort of hazard. However... His presence itself felt intimidating and he could feel the stare that bore into him through the expanse of the dark void. It made him feel self-conscious, a thing he hadn't felt in a long time.

The simple stare that judged so deeply and the feeling that he could actually look back at them while they bored into presumably his soul deeply shook him and he slumped down into his hiding place. The stalls of the men's bathroom were always a comfort in the fact that they actually seemed a lot cleaner than the rest of the immediate area. Nobody ever went in them. He was safe to think and calm down.

It was going to be a long forty minutes...

I'm working on trying to make the chapters longer for this. However, I always feel as if I run out of ideas during the writing process and do not want to embellish it in a crazy Shakespearean manner. As always, any feedback would be wonderful as it helps me improve my stories for you guys! 3