I'm trying my best to avoid the traditional adorable clueless Demyx characterization, but it's more difficult than I thought. o.O

Just a note, in the journals at then end, hyphens around a set of text will be strikethroughs...phrases crossed out.

Oh and...this took a long time because technically I should be doing this crapload of summer homework...and so I'm doing neither my homework nor my writing. Terrible, I know. :)

Chapter Three: Fitting In

The rest of that night was a drag. We went through all the stuff I already knew, and then decided on my name. The next morning was planned to be a big long boring orientation type thing. I collapsed into my bed in my room marked "XIII" that night having lost all my excitement about this mission.

Luckily, my other organization-mates didn't turn out as boring as their leader. I woke up the next morning to a deluge of water in my face.

I smiled and turned over in my bed.

"Wake up. Come on…you're already late and I'm supposed to be responsible for you…" whined Demyx's voice, sadly bringing me back to reality.

"Demyx, you're so stupid!" cackled Larxene. "Let me show you how you wake someone up."

Whoa, whoa, bad sign. I tried to launch myself up, but it was too late.

"Ouch!" I glared at Larxene, the electric shock she'd sent through my still-drenched body still sizzling in my ears.

She laughed in that annoying, cocky way of hers and shrugged. "Well, do what I tell you from now on and I won't have to do that again."

I ignored her and swung my legs over the edge of the bed, assuming an extremely miffed expression. "What are you doing in my room?" I slurred tiredly.

"Oh, the newbie's getting mad at me, now. Or she thinks she is. Well, that's too bad!" Larxene shrieked, and flew out of the room.

I stared after her, because she was a retard. Then I turned back to Demyx.

"Well, can I get dressed then, or are we going to sit here and stare at each other until we miss the whatever-it-is entirely?"

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry." Demyx blushed and hurried out of the room.

I wiped the sleep from my eyes and shrugged on the standard Organization XIII cloak that had been left for me.

--

You don't wanna know about the…orientation whatever. It was boring. Basically what happened in three hours was my christening as "Nalixys" and a big long speech about goals and mission statements and cheesy stuff like that. All that, and I didn't even get my special nickname or my official weapon yet, because I was still a newbie. What a waste of time.

What was more interesting was the little lunch we had afterwards.

I was at the very end of the table, which wasn't terrible, except that I was sitting across from Larxene…and next to Marluxia. And those were our permanent seating arrangements for the next month or so that I was going to be there.

Why couldn't I have gotten to sit next to someone interesting, like…I dunno, Axel, or even Luxord?

It didn't turn out too bad, however. Marluxia didn't seem too fond of talking to Demyx, and Larxene was embroiled in some petty argument with Luxord. So the pink-haired guy turned to me instead. And though I was still mad at him for stealing my preferred hair color, he wasn't too bad.

"So," he said in a confidentially low voice, "are you really Alisyn's nobody?"

Despite his efforts, however, the immediate area heard. Larxene broke off mid-retort and she and Luxord turned to face me. Demyx leaned obnoxiously around Marluxia to get a better view. I even saw Axel glance towards us and continue his conversation with Zexion, to which I knew at that time he was only giving a small percentage of his attention. The other members noticed nothing.

I raised my eyebrows at the sudden interest. "How did you know my old name?"

"Oh, come on, it's so obvious!" Demyx broke in loudly before Marluxia hastily shushed him. He then explained to me, "It's not that hard to recognize the letters of a name we know so well."

"Huh? Why do you know…her…name?"

The listeners broke into laughter and Axel smirked.

"That Alisyn girl was always sticking her nose in our business," Luxord said. "She was a lot of trouble for us."

"I always knew her nosiness would get her into trouble," Larxene snarled. "My only regret is that some Shadow got her before I did."

I grinned. "So I was like some kind of Bogeyman for the Organization. Do what your Superior says or Alisyn will come and get you!"

"Don't get cocky," Larxene grumbled. "You were just a minor annoyance. Nothing more."

I shrugged and went back to my mediocre food, until I felt Marluxia staring at me.

I looked up. "What?" I challenged.

Marluxia merely narrowed his eyes, sneered, and went back to eating.

I did the same, but now I was troubled. There was something very off about him…was it just because I got the feeling he knew my secret, or was it something else?

--

"I'm supposed to be your mentor. I'll train you and make sure you know the rules around here. Then when I feel like you'll really be a good, loyal member, I'll give you your nickname and your weapon," Demyx told me importantly when he cornered me after lunch. "That's when things will really start happening. You can set up your own portal to catch more recruits, and go on missions, and decorate your room some more."

I sighed. It was a good thing I already rocked at everything I did, because everyone knew Demyx was okay, but still not the most competent member of the Organization. He would probably be just as good, if not better, than everyone else if he wouldn't freak out all the time.

But then, he would probably be the easiest of which to wheedle information out. With him as my mentor, I'd have many more opportunities to take advantage of a trusted, yet flighty member. Yeah, that was how we had planned it, and it made sense.

I adjusted my cloak some and nodded. "Okay. So what's first on the agenda?"

"Um…" Demyx looked uncomfortable. "I dunno, they didn't really say…"

I sighed again and turned around, looking around while he made up his mind.

"Why dontcha give me a tour of the place so I know where I'm going? That might help for starters," I suggested after a long silence.

Demyx nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, of course."

So we set about, through the castle, through the Hall of Empty Melodies—my personal favorite, for the big platform and open space as well as the name—the Proof of Existence, with the eerie panels for each fully instated member…all the way up to the Altar of Naught. I loved this place, too, and I had only been able to sneak little glimpses of it before. It was really pretty, just the top of the tower open to the dark sky. Very faintly I could see the impression of a huge heart in the sky.

Demyx was a good tour guide, though, and he jumped into an explanation. "This is Kingdom Hearts," he said, suddenly showing immense excitement. "It's not much now, but soon, the Superior says enough hearts will be gathered that we'll…be able to exist."

He turned to me with this huge smile on his face, obviously expecting me to share in the anticipation. But I couldn't resist asking,

"So…why do we want to exist so much exactly? Isn't it easier not to have emotions in the way of things? Or to just have this world all to ourselves and not have to deal with anyone else? Why do we have to go to all this effort?

Demyx looked at me with utter confusion, and I knew I'd said the wrong thing.

"Because…" he stuttered. "Well, just…because. We…we just…I can't believe you don't just understand this…"

"What are you two doing up here?"

Oops. The Superior swooped down on us out of nowhere, and he wasn't too happy. Well, I was the newb, so I just let Demyx take care of it.

"I was just giving her a tour," Demyx explained quickly. "So she…you know, got used to the place…"

"You're not supposed to be up here without my permission," Xemnas hissed. "Especially not with her."

Demyx sighed and turned around, grabbing my wrist to pull me after him, back down the tower. "Fine, fine, we're going, geez."

I tried to keep up with him as he trounced down the stairs. "Well…I'm offended," I ventured, trying to break his sudden huffy mood, however…contrived it might be.

He didn't answer, but shook his head and smiled, slowing his pace.

I shrugged at his odd behavior and followed him back to the dormitory hall.

--

"So…what now?" I said when we reached the long hallway. Looking down it, I was once again amused at the Superior's obvious expectation of many, many more members than he had at present.

Demyx shrugged. "I dunno…it's kind of too late to do anything now."

He thought for a moment, then added, "Is everything in your room okay?"

"Well, it's kind of boring, but there's not really much that can be wrong with it, is there?" I laughed at the random question. "Unless there are some major pest problems I wasn't told about…"

The blonde nobody looked down, embarrassed. I mean…acting embarrassed. The distinction is important. "I dunno, just asking…" he muttered.

I sighed, snuggling my chin deeper into my comfy cloak and looking around the hallway awkwardly. That was when Pinky chose to come out from his room.

He gave me this weird look as he walked by. Like…a studying look. Maybe I was just being paranoid. Who knew, maybe he just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be some idiot spaz like Larxene. But I still didn't like the way he was acting.

"Let's keep walking," I muttered to Demyx, and I led the way down past the countless empty rooms. I glanced back to make sure Marluxia had left the area, and then I faced my mentor again and said, "Tell me about Marluxia. He keeps giving me these funny looks and it's starting to creep me out."

Demyx grinned. "Yeah, he's always been like that." He lowered his voice, just like any high school gossip would. I swear, these guys were great actors. "He didn't come in too long ago…he's only been here for a couple months. And for the first few days he would just be so quiet, just looking at everybody. It was really creepy. Then he started talking to a couple people and I guess they didn't mind too much. And he's done lots of missions already…really well, too. So he turned out to be a good member, I guess…for a newbie…"

I wondered interestedly if Demyx might be bothered by all these people below his rank surpassing him in terms of competence. But no, nobodies couldn't feel jealousy or anything.

"All right, thanks. I'm glad to know that," I told him gratefully. It really did relieve me a little. But I couldn't take chances, of course. I'd have to watch out for that guy.

"Of course," he returned. "Now we'd probably better get to dinner. The Superior doesn't like to be kept waiting."

I nodded and we were off.

--

Journal: Day One

It's not too bad, really. I've made a decent impression on the lower members, and the older ones pay no attention to me. But once I totally earn the trust of the newer ones that will change. If things continue this easily, I should learn a lot of things in no time.

Nothing really important was observed today, but there are a few interesting things I hadn't noticed before. The nobodies are really very, very involved in the charade of emotions. --Many times I caught myself believing-- A casual observer might even start to believe that Axel was really upset over his nonexistence, or that Demyx was really so hopeful and excited over the prospect of wholeness.

This is when their -fake- emotions tend --to come out-- to be exaggerated the most, actually, when they are talking about their lack of emotions, or the promise that Kingdom Hearts is to them. It's so bizarre to see them all --hold such a thing so dear to their hearts-- make such a contrived fuss over the mess of emotions and existence.

But there are more subtle things. Eating meals together is deemed very important. And at these meals, they --feel like a real family-- are able somehow to create a very familial atmosphere in the very slightest actions that even the most expert actor wouldn't know to do.

Ah, but I've elaborated too much. I simply meant to say that it's remarkable how seriously they take this game of pretend. I'm sure it comes in handy for the evil things they plan to do…trying to convince people they are misunderstood and all this crap. And the longing for a heart is their excuse. The new people fall so into this trap that they begin to believe in it themselves. In fact, the older members do seem to be less --emotional-- intent on the dramatization. Probably because they didn't have people ahead of them to pull them into the trap, being the original founders and all.