Hello, world! Okay, so originally, this was supposed to be a really long chapter… but as I have so little time to update nowadays, I've decided to split it into two shorter chapters in the hope that I'll be able to get them up faster.

Thank you for reviewing chapter three:

Hinata's Shadow1 and Justice333: Thank you for the reviews! Yes, Kairi is most likely going to cause all sorts of mayhem. *evil laughter*

MayonakaGirl14: I feel sort of bad shutting down so quickly the only pairing request I've gotten so far, but no. While they're very close, Sora and Roxas are brothers in this one, and I don't write incest. I'm sorry if that disappoints a lot of people, because I know that pairing has a pretty big following, even just among my readers from what I've seen, but thank you for your review, and I hope you continue reading!

AusisWinds-13: I know you haven't reviewed chapter 3 yet, but I just wanted to tell you how awesome you are! I loved your reviews for both 1 and 2, and I hope you have time to read the rest of the story (so far) soon!

Chapter Four: The Countdown

"What are you so happy about?" Sora asked, falling into step beside his brother. Even the end of a school day was not usually cause for a smile this bright to appear on Roxas's face.

"Can't you hear it, Sora?" The blond's voice had a blissful sound to it, something else that was uncharacteristically chipper.

"Hear what?" Sora asked, starting to get into the mood.

"The angels singing?"

"Um… no?" he replied, laughing. "Why are the angels singing?"

"I have it on good authority that Seifer won't be back until next week."

"That's awesome. Is it enough to keep you smiling all through our therapy session?"

Roxas sighed. "Not quite."

It was strange how many of his groupmates were now also his classmates. With the exception of Sora, Roxas had originally expected therapy and school to be two completely separate spheres. He wasn't sure how he felt about the recent merging of these social circles. But oddly enough... he didn't find himself missing his old sessions with Dr. Vexen. Not even a little. He may not have been optimistic about this group setting, but at least all the new faces kept things interesting and dispersed the pressure a bit.

Amidst all the blurry details of his life, one thing had become clear: even if no one else spoke, Aerith would always be able to count on Kairi to relieve the silence. But, of course, the first thing she chose to share when their group leader asked for volunteers was that she'd started school… with Sora and Roxas. Luckily for them, she didn't leave it at that, and everyone's attention was soon directed back at her.

"I feel like I was probably a spoiled brat," she continued, laughing a little.

Aerith smiled at her positive energy- the only source of it in the room. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, my dad worked some really fancy job, and my mom stayed home all day to homeschool me. I was an only child, and one look around my old room tells me that I pretty much got whatever I wanted…" She shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe this memory loss thing was my own personal wake-up call. I get a chance to start over and be a better person."

Those in the circle who were paying attention either nodded slightly or looked somewhat impressed by her depth and level of accpetance. All except the girl to Aerith's left. Naminé looked a tad bit scandalized.

"How can you say something so awful? Don't you miss your parents at all?" If Aerith thought her tone was a little on the judgmental side, she didn't say anything, instead choosing to let the exchange play out. And it soon became clear why the girls had struck up such an easy, immediate friendship. Naminé obviously had no trouble speaking her mind, and Kairi apparently wasn't the type to be easily offended.

"Well, you're right in theory," she pointed out, unperturbed. "I guess I miss the idea of having a mom and dad, but the people with me in all my old photographs? I don't know them. Their funeral was the weirdest thing. All these people kept coming up to me to offer their condolences... Accepting them felt like a lie. I think I was the only one who wasn't crying. So yeah, it sounds sad and awful, but it's kind of hard to miss what you don't remember."

Roxas almost wanted to point out that, even without her parents, she didn't seem to be lacking much. From what Kairi had described to them, her grandparents were healthy and loving, and she was still spoiled… but he stuck to his resolution and kept his mouth shut, twining his fingers together in his lap.

"That is an interesting way to look at it," Aerith commented. She seemed to be giving more background noise than guidance. But, he supposed that was meant to be one of the major points of group therapy- working it out as a group. It was Aerith's job to be almost painfully neutral, accepting of everything. She would always be there, as some sort of pillar of support, but the real insights and self-discovery had to come from each other. It wasn't a perfect situation... but Roxas supposed he preferred it to all the therapists who'd thought they could decide for themselves what was going on in his head and force him to recover.

"No one else has anything to say?" she prompted when the circle grew quiet. "What about you, Axel? You didn't seem to mind sharing last time."

Roxas, feeling a familiar prickle of dread rise up in his gut, sorely hoped she wasn't about to start picking out people to share at random, and he saw many of the others stiffen as well. Axel, however, was as undeterred as he'd been the last time she'd singled him out. The redhead didn't so much as shrug, and his eyes held a dull, bored look to them. It would have surprised no one to hear that he hadn't been listening.

"I don't see what there is to say."

"Really?" she watched him carefully, sounding unconvinced. "You didn't have any reaction at all?"

"I don't see that it matters if I did," he replied, starting to sound impatient. "It's not my problem, and I'll be out of here soon anyway."

"Why's that?" asked Kairi, sounding genuinely concerned despite the lack of interest he'd shown her.

"As soon as I turn eighteen in August, I'm out of here." His near-triumph was met with silence. If there were crickets in the room, they would be chirping.

Lucky bastard… Roxas thought petulantly. He couldn't look at the older boy's cold green eyes. He chose to mentally trace the scars covering his skin instead. He couldn't be sure whether it was coincidental or whether Axel was aware of his gaze, but the redhead crossed his arms over his chest, and Roxas looked away.

"I suppose we have a lot to do before August then," Aerith responded simply. Axel frowned. He seemed annoyed by her optimism.

Optimistic or not, they weren't off to a very promising start. As their group leader attempted to switch topics once more, they settled back into their dreary silence.

Roxas was finding that a lot of things in his life were happening lately due to circumstance. For example, he would not have ended up in the principal's office last Friday had he not forgotten his book in his locker. And he would not be racing through the school right now had he remembered to do his English homework and not set himself up for a lengthy after-class lecture.

If he'd been missing something good- like math- he probably wouldn't be hurrying so much. But he had to admit, it would be a little pathetic to be late to gym.

The locker rooms were in the basement. His destination far down the hall, Roxas rushed down the last set of stairs… just for a door to open immediately to his right, knocking him flat on his bottom.

Slightly stunned, he looked up to see Fuu frozen in the doorway of the girls' locker room. Considering that she wasn't dressed for gym (or in his class, for that matter) she must have been leaving late from the class before. Speaking of circumstances- it was really starting to be disconcerting, how often their paths crossed lately. Fuu stood there, shocked for a second, before clearing her throat and self-consciously tugging her sleeves even further down her arm.

"Sorry," she muttered as he picked himself up off the tiled floor.

"Yeah, it's fine," he muttered back, ready to be on his way. While he didn't hate Fuu, (his lackeys had never been on quite the same level as Seifer himself) she'd never really been one of his favorite people either. However, he wasn't sure what exactly he thought of her now. As much as he hated pity when it was directed at himself, he wasn't sure he could bring himself to truly dislike someone who had something terrible enough going on in their life to be stuck in the same therapy sessions as Sora and himself.

He was back on his feet, striding down the hallway, when he heard the older girl call haltingly behind him, "Roxas."

After briefly considering not to, curiosity won out and the blond boy turned around. "Yeah?"

She cleared her throat. "Namine called some emergency meeting for tomorrow… Kairi said she wants everyone there."

At first, Roxas wasn't quite sure he was processing the information correctly. "Okay," he said at last.

"Tell Sora," she replied in her usual clipped tone before turning and walking away.

The car hits another bump as their mother speeds down the beat-up back road. Roxas turns to see his brother's equally blue eyes, open wide in the face beside him.

Larxene turns to look at them in the backseat, her eyes confident and a little crazed-looking.

"Don't worry, boys," she tries to assure them as they speed past another row of dilapidated houses. "I grew up on these streets. He won't find us…"

Roxas shot up in bed, trying to calm the horrible sound he made- something that was half a whimper and half a gasp- upon waking from all his nightmares. He just sat there for a second, listening to his breathing slow and waiting out the lingering panic. After a moment of silence, it became clear that he hadn't been loud enough to wake anyone else up this time-quite a feat, given how hypersensitive Cloud and Leon had grown to the sound of their night terrors over the years. Roxas finally lay back down, reveling in the sudden peace, keeping his mind away from other, more unsavory topics. A glance at his clock told him it was only 2:03 AM.

Apart from the vibrant green numbers, there was one other source of light in his room. His cell phone was plugged into the wall beside his bed. He so rarely turned it on himself, Sora must have snuck in to charge it for him.

He picked it up and flipped it open just for something to do to try and relax his still-shaking hands, only to see that he had one new message… from Kairi.

We need 2 talk

He resisted the urge to text back, How did you get my number? Instead he sent, Fuu told me. We'll be there.

Review please!

I don't own Kingdom hearts!

Thank you all for the reviews you've sent already! They are very appreciated!

Final Revision: 4/30/2017.