Title: Thnks Fr Th Mmrs

Disclaimer: If my friend and I owned the Kingdom Hearts series, this would be a movie and yaoi galore would be everywhere. Do you see the yaoi everywhere? Didn't think so. And we do not own The World Ends With You. But dear God how I want Josh. (happy dreamy sigh)

Author's note: Parts of this story is based off real life events. Author TWO! Wrote good 90% of this chapter. SHE'S A GENIUS, this might explain why its a little bit more plotty, not really all that funny and kinda angsty. But that's my part too.

Chapters Complete: 6 // 16?

Pairings: RikuSora, AxelRoxas, Zemyx, possible!JoshNeku (all we need is a transvestite, and we've got a Shakespearean comedy. Oh wait, the Pence Incident).

Warnings: particle physics references, implied homosexuality, Oprah and republican bashing (not reflective of our own views. But come on, everyone knows a liberal like Roxas is in this story. Everyone.). Parolee bashing, flamers, dungeons and dragons references, secret crushes, hints of molestation, insane scientists, college know-thy-neighbor games, public humiliation, Doctor Who obsessions, deranged fans, eccentric artists, FRAT PARTIES, hardcore sexual tension, LARPing, gambling, horrible relationship advice, hints of near suicide attempt, shooting best friends (yes, as in with a gun), highly improbable college theses and nose whistles.

Chapter Six: One Night, One More Time

Zexion was surprised that Thursday around lunch that Demyx burst into his laboratory and risked the entire building contaminated by nitrogen gas. After dragging the pale scientist out of the under ground corridors of M.I.T., Demyx led him to Harvard campus and proceeded to search. Zexion wasn't quite sure for what, but any time he tried to stealthily escape his boyfriend's grasp the music major managed to cling to him like a leech.

Their destination was Harvard Square, directly across from a small coffee establishment. Sora and Riku were sitting near the rear inside, at a table for two.

"I would ask why you felt compelled to drag me into this ludicrous attempt at espionage, but I feel you would only render up one of your completely irrational descriptions of human nature," sighed the MIT grad student. He had gone beyond resigned at Demyx's behavior—he felt, he had realized one night over the NMR machine with disgust, he was becoming both amused by and fond of the man's antics. Surely it was an advanced symptom of mental breakdown.

"Ssshhh!" hissed Demyx, flapping his arms wildly. "We have to be inconspicuous." Demyx approached the coffee shop from the side, trying not to appear as though he was looking in the window. This became more difficult as he started to pass the shop, resulting in him leaning awkwardly backward and inadvertently slowing his pace while obviously not making eye contact with the storefront.

Inside, Riku and Sora were laughing, and animatedly discussing upcoming Joss Wedon programs. Riku's eyes wandered in the middle of Sora's sentence, and he got the bespectacled freshman's attention discreetly. He motioned for Sora to look in the mirror on the rear wall of the shop, which reflected the street outside and the nearby T station entrance.

What they saw was Demyx's skinny body trying to make itself smaller to hide behind a lamppost. Zexion was standing nearby, staring at Demyx with a blank look that could have meant anything from disgust to "wtf, mate?"

Demyx started talking vehemently back at Zexion, bending over and cupping one hand around his mouth. Riku would have bet money he was using a stage whisper. The fauxhawked blond stopped talking to crane his neck at the shop, furrowing his eyebrows. He seemed to undergo the sudden realization that he would be seen, and dropped down behind the waist-level railing to the T entrance. His wide eyes and hands then re-emerged over the railing. He proceeded to creep along the railing, still looking at the shop. He might have been less noticeable if Zexion wasn't standing at full height right next to him.

Zexion was more obviously exasperated now. He stopped furrowing his brows at Demyx only to glare at passersby, who were stopping to stare at the oblivious blond. Zexion sighed visibly, and started to stalk off, lab coat billowing. Demyx watched his boyfriend curiously before reaching out to stop him. At first he just tried to grasp him from his position, but once realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere he lunged out. Zexion flailed about slightly in Demyx's arms, trying to escape the hold around his waist.

"You're tormenting him a little more than usual these days, Dem."

Both would-be spies turned toward the smooth voice with different degrees of hostility. The male couldn't have been any older than Demyx with silvery gray hair that fell around his neck in waves. Purple almost pink eyes were alight with amusement at the position he found his acquaintances in. He held onto the sleeve of a boy with spiky orange hair and ocean blue eyes narrowed in contempt.

"Oh, hey Josh." Demyx somehow managed a wave around his boyfriend's floundering form. "Neku." Josh smiled, pushing some hair behind an ear smugly. In his grip, Neku was tugging on his arm, trying to make his own escape. "What are you doing on this side of town?"

Josh shrugged, "Thought I'd do some more exploring." Neku bit his bottom lip, tugging almost violently; his captor seemed to take no notice. "So what was up with the… spying?"

Demyx's faint smile turned contemplative. "Well, I just wanted to check on my friends in the coffee shop." As one, the four college students glanced at Sora and Riku. Sora had one hand over his face, the other wrapped around his waist as he laughed hysterically. Riku's gaze was on the quartet, eyes teary and hand covering his mouth trying to hide his smile and chuckles.

"I see that's going well," Josh remarked happily, sharing a grin with the scowling Zexion and unsure Demyx. "Think they'd mind if we joined them, at this point?"

"Well…likely not." Demyx admitted. They entered the shop.

Riku and Sora were wiping away tears. "You know," said Riku, "two minutes and I would've been inviting him back to my place. You totally blew it, Dem."

"Haha…wait, you're fucking with me, right?"

"Yes, he is."

"Thanks, Zex."

"So!" said Josh, turning to a wide-eyed Sora, who was still staring at Riku, absorbing his intimations hopefully. "May I make the acquaintance of this charming little melody?"

Riku glanced sharply at the other silver-haired boy, but softened when he saw that Josh still had Neku in a vise grip. Sora stammered slightly, but managed to summon a smile. "I-I'm Sora."

"Hello Sora," Joshua held out a hand to shake, "The name's Yoshiya Kiryu, but my parents call my Joshua. I guess you can too." Neku rolled his eyes, turning up the volume on his mp3 player. "The quiet sourpuss next to me is Neku Sakuraba. Don't worry, he's always like this." The vermilion haired boy shivered before glaring once more at Josh, resuming his attempt to escape. Joshua gazed around the coffee shop, eyes glimmering. "Do you mind if we sit?"

Sora shook his head, spikes swishing around almost violently. "No, not at all." Demyx and Josh shared a grin. Both boys let up on their captives for mere milliseconds to slam a nearby table into the one Sora and Riku sat at before grasping them once more.

Riku leaned over the table to whisper in Sora's ear, the brunette's face reddening to shades never seen before. "That was actually slick, don't you agree?" Sora could barely nod; his gaze was resting on Neku. Neku was visibly having a mental explosion, undoubtedly angry at himself for not taking the chance to escape. Before the rage could be let loose, he noticeably relaxed. It was probably a common occurrence.

"So…." Josh dragged out the word, eyes flittering back and forth between the five other boys as he sat. "What is the school's most popular jock doing with the melody?" Josh's words came out in a faint lilt, hinting at once being a foreign student. Neku rolled his eyes in exasperation of Josh's antics; he obviously was dragged around quite often.

Riku's aqua eyes narrowed slightly, mouth tilted in a smirk. "Does the school's resident Composer always refer to freshmen as partial songs?"

"Occasionally," Joshua's answering grin was almost frightening; it sent shivers down Sora's spine. "Only when the situation calls for it." One of Josh's pale hands 'tip-toed' across the table to pat Sora on the arm. Sora scooted away, eyes wide. He wasn't used to physical contact from anyone he rarely knew, Axel was the only exception to this rule. "I only know partly about the freshie, so I think it fits. Don't you Neku?"

Neku's gaze jumped from his mp3 player upon hearing his name. "What?" When Josh waved off his expected response, Neku huffed and met Sora's gaze. Blue eyes darted to Josh, watching the way the other conversed with Riku before resting on Sora once more. He quickly mouthed something. Sora's eyebrows knitted together in question, mouthing back his own, 'what?'. Neku was quick to realize Sora was horrible at reading lips, and glanced around for something.

Demyx was quickly dragged into the conversation, something about the differences between Arpeggios and Sonatas for Riku's knowledge, allowing Zexion to minutely get involved into the silent conversation. With the practiced precision of a chemical engineer, Zexion slipped Neku a notebook and pen. Neku nodded faintly in thanks before scribbling something quickly onto the college ruled paper. He passed it to Sora under the table. The note read, If Zexion hits Demyx with a textbook, and I strangle Josh with my headphones, all you have to do is dodge Riku and run. Sora glanced at Zexion, who had his face set in determination—he evidently was familiar with this routine. Sora scribbled back, But Riku and I are on a date! I don't want to leave him! Neku gave a tiny nod to this, crossed out dodge and wrote grab. He lifted his eyebrows to confirm this plan with the freshman. Sora looked at the two music majors. They were either oblivious to the goings on (likely in Demyx's case) or didn't care (likely in Josh's case). Sora's attention was caught by a scraping sound near the front of the café. A barista was moving a table to the side, providing a clear path to the door. He winked at Sora. Apparently this was not only routine, it was routine to this café.

The lone freshman in the group caught Neku's gaze just in time to see the upperclassman mouth, 'Now'. Neku tugged his gigantic earphones off his head and wrapped it around Josh's neck, tugging the music major into his lap and strangling him. Zexion grabbed the notebook from in front of Neku and used it to hit the back of Demyx's head. The two music majors blinked and turned to their captives with amused questioning looks. Sora grabbed Riku's hand and darted out of the café before Demyx had time to yell "Stop!"

Once the glass door shut behind the two, Neku let up on the strangling, and Zexion put the notebook back on his lap. Josh sat upright in his chair, quickly rearranging his clothing. "Time and place, dear."

Neku flushed, "You let them go, didn't you?"

"Didn't want to ruin the date too much." The silver-haired boy smirked.

Riku and Sora found themselves back on Harvard campus, panting heavily as they leaned against a large tree. Riku began chuckling. "What was all that about?"

"They were being kind enough to sacrifice themselves for us," Sora gasped with a grin. "I figured I'd go along with them."

After catching his breath, Riku took his hand. "Come on, we'll head to my dorm. Your friends don't know where it is, so we should be safe there." Sora blushed a color reminiscent of Axel's hair before nodding, allowing the beautiful lacrosse player to lead him around campus. They entered one of the older buildings, Riku leading them up a couple flights of stairs before opening the door to the third dorm on the left.

It wasn't any larger or smaller than Sora's dorm, but was much more organized. Riku led Sora inside, sitting on the overly fluffy bed to the left. The covers were dark, navy blues and blacks that blended into one another easily. But Sora tried not to pay much attention. He was trying to be nonchalant. And failing. He was sitting right next to Riku, alone in his dorm. It was understandable and logical right? To be completely and utterly nervous in the presence of your crush ALONE??

"You okay?" Riku's whisper broke Sora out of his reverie. Riku's eyes seemed to glow in the faint lighting and were insanely close. The freshman could feel his eyes widen in embarrassment. Was Riku going to kiss him? Him? Geeky Sora?

Sora flailed about slightly, practically tumbling off the bed and erupted into a fit of nervous giggles. "Well, guess the guys killed the mood."

A silvery eyebrow rose, and an amused smirk spread. "What mood are you talking about?" He slowly scooted even closer to Sora. Sora's eyes remained wide as he began crawling backwards away. Riku continued to pursue.

"W-w-well wha…whatever mood was there at…you know… the café?" Sora slipped slightly.

Riku hummed, eyes narrowing predatorily. "I have to disagree." He raised a hand, gently pushing Sora down on one of the superfluous down pillows. His smirk turned closer into a grin; Sora was forgetting how to breathe. Poor, sweet geeky kid. "It's cute how awkward you are."

The freshman let out a small 'eep' sound just before Riku's lips crashed into his. The jock's lips were smooth and gentle against his own. Sora could feel Riku's toned frame supporting himself maybe inches from Sora's body; his silvery white hair draped around them while a couple calloused fingertips ran their way from Sora's temple and around his jaw line.

They separated for a second, Riku's eyes carefully analyzing Sora's own; Sora took a breath before wrapping an arm around Riku's neck and pulling him closer. Even though he was expecting it this time, the contact still sent shivers and chills and stole his breath. Did all kisses feel like this, or was it just because it was Riku?

"Hey Rik – " Two young men in lacrosse jerseys erupted into the room, and abruptly froze. It was apparent, by particular combination of confusion, stark terror, and morbid curiosity in their eyes that these two wholesome young heterosexual males were not expecting to find their teammate in the middle of a tryst with his boy-crush. They stared for three full seconds, and Riku stared back, suddenly a jock mirror. Sora, in the meanwhile, was overwhelmed by the urge to remove himself, however possible, from the painful embarrassment fogging up the room. He launched himself sideways in a bid to shoot under the bed in one smooth movement.

Riku, completely at a loss as to what could be propelling Sora in this direction, was deprived of support on his right arm. He pitched face first into the section of rumpled coverlet that Sora vacated milliseconds earlier, and was dragged nearly off the bed by Sora's further squirming efforts.

Riku's roommates took this opportunity to skedaddle.

Sora, suspended from Riku's entangled arm, stopped thrashing. The sound of Riku giggling into pillow reached his ears. His mortification deepened, but Riku's laughter sounded out even louder, and not at all mocking. "We're kinda fucked, aren't we?" He managed to gasp out. Sora nodded, and disentangled himself.

Loud, deliberate knocking preceded a sizable pause, then the jocks cautiously re-emerged. The blonde one, in cargo shorts, polo shirt, and over-wide smile, greeted them. "Hey, guys. Sorry we forgot to knock, huh? Um…" At least there was no forced laughter, thought Riku. "…How are you guys?"

So perfunctory. Riku smiled back, completely unashamed. "Peachy. This is Sora, by the way." He turned to the brunet. "This is Tidus," he gestured to the blond who had spoken, and proceeded to the redhead in a sports jersey behind him, "and that's Wakka."

"Hey," said Wakka, mimicking Tidus' smile. He brightened up suddenly, "Oh, hey, dude! You should totally bring Sora to the party tonight as your plus one!" Tidus and Wakka both beamed in earnest at Riku—this was an implied offering of beer, and so by the unspoken code of fraternity boys, all previous transgressions should be absolved. Riku took the social cue for what it was.

"Sure," he turned to Sora. "You'll love it."

Sora quickly took his cue also, in spite of a rising inward terror. "Thanks you guys, I really appreciate it!"

The boys bounced around a few more verbal inanities before the couple was left alone again.

"You ok?" asked Riku at Sora's wide-eyed expression. "Have you been to a frat party before?"

"What do you think?"

Riku smiled. "You don't have to go. But it would be quite the experience for you."

It was. And then some.

The party was held in a nearby apartment, and could be detected for at least a block around by volume alone. Riku had to physically yank him into the writhing mass of drunkenly gyrating bodies. A drink was pressed into Sora's hands by unfamiliar ones, and Riku made introductions to a few more friends. Sora didn't catch their names. It was too loud to hear them. Then Riku tried to dance with Sora.

Tried, because though Riku was a perfectly adequate dancer, Sora just shifted slowly from foot to foot in time with Riku's movements. He was completely unsure what else to do. He glanced around. He certainly wasn't going to rub his ass into Riku's groin like half the girls here were doing to their male dance partners, or hump his leg as the other half were.

Riku stopped dancing, as if to ascertain what was wrong. Sora looked pleadingly at him. He didn't know how to express his inability to move spontaneously in a suggestive manner. He thought Riku already knew this. Riku began to dance again, and Sora tried to imitate him, less than successfully.

Around them, a hole in the packed dance floor was developing. Sora noticed, and recognized the looks he was getting from nearby dancers for what they were. He and Riku were the only homosexual couple in the room. Furthermore, Sora stood out—he was at least a head shorter than every other male present, and he was wearing his Axel-ified jeans. "Let's get a drink!" said Sora quickly, pulling Riku toward the periphery. "I'm really thirsty."

Riku smiled, a little tightly, seeing the ploy for what it was. He could understand why Sora was uncomfortable—he didn't like all this negative attention anymore than Sora did. He just couldn't help but being a little impatient; what Sora didn't seem to realize was that it was his own stiff behavior that was perpetuating this uncomfortable cycle. He shooed Sora's hands away from the bar, and proceeded to make a drink from unopened bottles. Sora, taking this as an indication of his incompetence with drink-mixing and all other markers of social aptitude, stiffened up, and looked at the floor. Riku smiled genuinely this time, sorry that he had been impatient at all. "Relax," he shouted over the din. "I just don't want you getting drugged."

"Oh. Thanks," said Sora, growing even more tense with embarrassment. If he wasn't such a hopeless geek who knew nothing about the real world, he thought, he would have thought of that himself. God, Riku must get sick of taking care of him. He plastered a shy smile on his face as he accepted the drink.

He wished Riku's answering smile wasn't so pitying. "Hey, why don't we hit the road?" He put a hand on Sora's back. "I wasn't going to stay much longer, and I can tell you aren't having much fun."

"I'm really sorry!" Sora burst out. "I'm sorry I can't do anything right—" he was shushed by Riku.

"No, no, it's no problem. Really. Look, I'm just going to run and tell Tidus and Wakka that we're going, so stay right here. I'll be right back."

Sora was left miserable by the bar. He took a small sip. He wrinkled his nose a little, unused to alcohol.

"Oh god, he's even drinking a girl cocktail."

Sora wasn't sure why he had picked up this conversation in the surrounding racket, until they continued. He had endured enough years of teasing to have an ear for these things.

"Really, it's not even that Riku, has, like, suddenly turned gay—"

"No, it's not that. It has nothing to do with it."

"—it's how fucking weird the kid is. I mean, he's been hunched up like some little gargoyle."

The other voice laughed like this was the cleverest quip ever uttered by man. "Jesus, I wonder if he usually talks to people at all."

Sora shrank down a little. He had to admit, he generally only spoke to strangers when spoken to. Otherwise he avoided the pressures of socializing.

"Only at his science-fiction role-playing group in his mom's basement. Then he won't stop bragging about what level he's at."

"Oh, god, yes, that's exactly what they do!"

Riku came up to Sora as he was focused on the conversation, and he jumped. He didn't hear what Riku said as he was lead out of the party. He only heard the suppressed laughter behind him.

The two walked along the sidewalk, sounds of the party following them down the street. Riku watched Sora out of the corner of his eyes, taking note of the nervousness seeping out of the younger's pores. With a small semi-sad smile Riku reached for Sora's hand. The small touch sent Sora reeling from him. Wide blue eyes stared at Riku in shock. "Um… sorry. I-I didn't mean to."

"Sora, I-"

Sora fumbled about, giving a nervous laugh. "I'm.. I'm going to go. I'll see you later?" The brunette sounded unsure, and in the faint lights Riku could see the tears building up in Sora's eyes. As Sora took off down the street, heading back to his dorm, Riku realized just how inferior the other felt.

By the time Sora got inside his room, he was crying so hard he didn't care that Roxas was there to see him. Roxas, being a good cousin for once in his life, sat next to him and put an arm around his shoulders, letting him sob it out for a little while before asking if he wanted to talk about it. Sora blurted the whole story to him between gasps. Roxas said all the appropriately sympathetic and supportive things, mostly about how those on top of the Collegiate Social Construct had no right to oppress the minorities of said Construct. "It's the mindless worship of stereotypes, and it's untrue," he sniffed, and Sora laughed.

"Really? I'm not hopeless?" He smiled, rubbing puffy eyes.

There was the tiniest pause before Roxas said, "No."

Sora's smile vanished. "Oh god, even you aren't blind to it. I am hopeless."

"No! No, you're not hopeless. Nothing that bad. I mean, if anything at all, maybe you could stop wearing T-shirts two sizes too big for you, but that's really a matter of personal taste."

"Do they really look that bad?"

"Well, it's just that it was a great style while you were in high school, but you don't see a lot of the older students here wearing them, do you?"

Sora nodded, thinking this reasonable. Maybe it couldn't hurt him to grow up a little. People changed as they grew older—it wasn't a kind of betrayal if he outgrew his old styles. He didn't have to change his personality, only his clothes. He felt rather wizened as he addressed Roxas, "You know how you were trying to get me new clothes earlier this year?"

"Oh, I'm not going to try that again, I swear—"

"No, it's ok. I—I don't think I took your offer seriously enough before. I guess I wasn't ready yet. But, if you'd be willing to help me, give me just a little advice—"

"Always," said Roxas cheerfully.