Disclaimer: I'm writing a fic for something I don't own, so please don't sue me or whatever people would do about it in extreme cases, okay? ; It would be quite a loony lawsuit otherwise…

Day Five

Namine had said to go to the source, right? That was partially why I had asked the others yesterday if we could go there - the mansion was where everything had seemingly really begun for me. The other half was that... my hand had disappeared yesterday.

I know you must think I'm crazy for saying that, but... it wasn't for very long, and it had definitely faded.

The others must've thought that I was insane by the way I had waved it wildly earlier. I don't blame them, either, if they did...

But at least we were going to the mansion today. I could see if that old mansion was the source... hopefully that DiZ guy wouldn't be there. He just gave me the creeps every time he was near me... In short, I just hated him.

I was never a tool, especially to that old man..

But going back to the story, I had told the others that I would wait for them in front of the mansion... which was where I was right now.

My ears instinctively waited for the clock tower bells to ring... and when it did, I could hear footsteps mixed up in with the bell's echoes.

As soon as my eyes opened, my three best friends stood in front of me, smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Roxas. Ready to go exploring?" Pence asked me, digital camera in hand.

I answered him by pointing at the camera. "...Um, Pence?"

Hayner nudged me. "Pence thinks that we can probably get some good footage for the local film making class. Don't be such a bonehead about it, kay?"

I sighed, but what else was there to do? I let the other two lead the way, waiting for Olette so that the two of us could talk.

"...You wanted to say something to me, right, Olette?" I asked cautiously, trying to avoid anything that seemed remotely offensive.

She nodded. "You seemed a little off yesterday. Are you okay, Roxas?"

I had really no clue on what to say there. Olette shouldn't really be concerned about me like that... it made me feel bad. I pressed my lips together, glancing with my blue eyes over at her.

"..Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry too much about it, okay?"

She was kind of cute when she pouted like that. Shaking her head lightly, she continued walking. It was then that I began tuning into the conversation head of us.

"And this is the piece of resistance! Pence, get a good picture of this, okay?" Hayner was supposedly giving us a tour of the mansion.

I, having already explored most of the place a while back, knew the place like the back of my hand. But I nodded and smiled, knowing that it would arouse suspicion if I had said nothing.

Olette was definitely laughing as Pence hurriedly took a picture of Hayner leaning against a bird statue. "Birds of a feather flock together, huh, Hayner?" She asked, grinning.

He grinned back, taking his weight off the statue. "Roxas!"

I looked over at him. "Yeah?"

Before I knew it, my best friends had gotten me to sit down in a white chair, having it positioned so that the curtains would flap around me.

That's when it hit me; We were in Namine's room.

It felt so... wrong to be in here, especially when she wasn't. As I glanced around the barren walls, looking for a sign that she once lived here...

I realized that she had only bothered to put three paintings on the walls, both done to the best of her ability. Namine wasn't exactly the best artist in the world, but her style always seemed to make me smile.

The first painting on the wall were my other and his redhead girlfriend sitting down at the beach, coconuts in hand. That was expected; my other was obsessed with her.

In the middle painting, she had drawn herself with... was that Riku? They were standing among the stars, something looking like a ship standing beside them.

Olette had noticed where I had constantly been looking at out of the corner of my eye, and turned to face the paintings. "Guys, look!"

Pence finished taking my picture, and the four of us were finally able to take a close look at the last picture. Namine had obviously taken great detail in this one, judging by the way she had drawn the clock tower. The four of us were sitting on the clock tower in the painting, sea-salt ice cream in hand...

Just looking at the picture brought back a flood of memories. Before I knew it, a tear had escaped my eyes.

The others had yet to notice me.

"Wow, the artist was really detailed with all of these people.. But I have to ask, what exactly is that ice cream that we're all having?"

Hayner let a low whistle escape his lips.

I nodded in agreement; I had to hide my confusion about his lack of knowledge about sea-salt ice cream. The Hayner I knew loved sea-salt ice cream a little too much for his own good. "...Yeah. Are there any other rooms in this mansion?"

It may have sounded like a honest question, but I had to be somewhere in the mansion. If any place in the mansion seemed like the "source", the final rooms would probably have to be it.

Hayner exchanged a glance with the others.

...They still didn't trust me enough to reveal the mansion's computer room or whatever it was.

I couldn't blame them, I really couldn't. I had only been their friend for six days now - surely they would have noticed something odd about me by this point in time, right?

It was Olette, however, who tapped me on the shoulder and said,

"...Well, there is one room. But we don't know if we should show you it."

Why did I have a sinking feeling then, that I would never see the room?

Slowly nodding, I managed a smile. "...It's fine, I guess."

Hayner grinned. "You bonehead! I personally think it's fine to show you. I mean, no one's been in that room for ages - supposedly the people living in here moved out or something."

He took my hand, motioning for Olette to take the other, and for Pence to forcefully push me down the hallway.

...I liked this feeling of being surrounded.

Back in the Organization, I was the youngest member, and therefore - the errand boy. I don't remember too much of what had really happened between members, other than the fact that Axel and Larxene got along a little too well for their own good, and that Demyx had taught some dancer nobodies how to swing dance, on the other hand.

Why did I need to? When I was brought here - even after my memories, this place really felt like I belonged. Everyone was around my age; no one was superior to me (well, except for Hayner).

As I was beginning to be lost in my thoughts, I was slowly brought back to Twilight Town with the realization that I was being dragged down a flight of stairs...

And into a room with computers.

But they weren't smashed. I raised an eyebrow, before I remembered - this was the real Twilight Town. The computers I had smashed were in the simulated world; the one DiZ had made to lock me up.

"...They're acting weird," Pence commented, stepping over at one. "Ever since Roxas went in, it's been talking about '8 Days Left'..."

I blinked. "That's weird."

The others nodded in agreement, walking over to where I was, their eyes scanning the fragments of data that kept appearing on the main computer. They had yet to see, however, one fragment that popped out in front of me.

A nobody like you shall only have 13 Days to live as themselves... A nobody will become one with their other unless---

"Roxas... I'm getting a little spooked by this. Can we leave now?"

Olette tugged on my hand, not letting me have a chance to finish what I was reading.

As we left the mansion, I still couldn't get the computer's message.

The others hadn't seemed to notice it, for the sole source of the conversation on our way back was only about how the mansion's computer was acting up.

"13 days to live as myself... but why'd it keep saying 8 days left...?"

Hayner and Olette glanced over at me, worried expressions clouding their faces.

"Hey, bonehead... did the computer mess you up?" He asked, pressing his hand to my forehead.

When I shook my head no, he let a sigh escape his lips. "Figures. But.. if anything's getting you down, let us know, okay? We'll be with you no matter what."

Somehow, I found that hard to believe... what kind of person would believe that I was a nobody who only had 8 days left to live as Roxas? Maybe they would, but the town was always a place for strangers to pass by.

...I hoped that I wasn't a stranger to them. Because if I was, then my world may as well fall apart.

For the first time, I could hear the computer's voice as it rang,

"8 Days Left."