A/N: Oh noes, Roxas is in teh troublez! Fear not, for in this chapter we meet the coolest guy in the universe. I really, really loved writing his bit. I only planned to use him in this chapter, but now I want to write him a bigger part. We see more of Paine and Yuffie in this chapter. I'm becoming more and more fond of those girls. And I never liked Rikku or Yuna before, but they're growing on me too. You might have noticed that in the first chapter I kind of ignored them and focused on Paine. Now I'm bringing them to the foreground more often. In later chapters I'll even switch to their point of view for crucial moments. Enjoy this chapter, kind reviewers. That's Vampiremist, BeautifulDementia, Haninozuka Mitsukuni, KHNeko and Wing-edd Wolf. Your reviews make me a happy person indeed.

Letting go of the handle and mentally slapping himself, Roxas allowed the door to swing shut. What had possessed him to accept Axel's offer last night? Ever since he met the two older boys on his first day of school, he'd been avoiding them as much as possible. In school he couldn't get away from them, but they hadn't been expecting him to come over last night. He could easily have ignored the text, as he had done a few times before.

Now his parents were standing at the other side of the hall, their faces serious. This was the first time Roxas had seen his mother angry since the accident, and part of him was satisfied to see her finally react to something he'd done. His father was the first to speak.

"Where have you been?"

A simple, straightforward question, one he was entirely entitled to ask. They'd probably been sick with worry last night, calling his friends to find out if they knew where he was. Demyx's number was on his pin board, alongside Yuna, Rikku and Paine's. Roxas wondered if the musician had worried when he'd heard that he hadn't returned home after leaving his house. Was the hollow feeling in his stomach guilt over the way he'd left Demyx sitting on the bed, or was it simply the result of too much alcohol?

"At a friend's house." He mumbled in reply to the question.

Which wasn't entirely true. A nuisance certainly, a mentor at best, but not a friend. Axel and Zexion had refrained from actually bullying him, but they'd come close.

"It's common courtesy to phone when you're staying the night at a friend's."

Oh dear. His mother was using the Polite Offended approach. She would lace her voice with sarcasm and try her best to make him feel guilty. In the past it had been effective, but this time it wouldn't work. After the indifference she'd treated him with in the past few months, Roxas felt that it was time she got a taste of her own medicine.

"Sorry." He said in a flat, hard voice, pushing past his parent to get to the stairs.

"Just where do you think you are going?"

His father was losing his cool, anger beginning to show through the cracks. Ignoring him, Roxas went to his room, grabbing a clean t-shirt and changing into it. There was a sink in the corner of his room, and he brushed his teeth quickly, to get rid of the foul taste in his mouth. He didn't remember snacking on a corpse, but that was what it tasted like – rotten, decaying flesh.

Emerging from his room to find his parents exactly where he left them, he pushed past them again to get back to where he'd started.

"Your father asked you a question."

His mother's patient voice was strained; Roxas could tell that she was itching to shout at him. Did she learn this from her anger management books? Close your eyes and count to ten… when you open them, your only conscious son will be halfway down the street.

"It's a school day. I'm going to school."

His hand was on the door handle, ready to escape from the suffocating rules imposed upon him. No dinner until you've done your homework, no more than one friend over at a time, no food upstairs, no loud music, in bed before ten. Do what we tell you to do, wear what we tell you to wear, speak how we tell you to speak, eat what we tell you to eat. Axel was right about one thing. Rules are like glass windows – just asking to be broken.

His freedom was in sight, but the next thing his dad said made him stop.

"Sora never let us down like this."

The door was nearly torn off its hinges as Roxas opened it angrily, shouting his final reply before slamming it in their faces and storming off down the street.

"I'm not Sora!"

It wasn't until he reached the school gates that Roxas noticed he had left his school bag at Axel's house. Cursing, he realised that the redhead wouldn't even be conscious until mid-morning, and definitely wouldn't be in school until tomorrow, at the very least. Maybe he had the right idea. The crisp September air and bright morning sunlight were combining forces to make Roxas feel like he'd been hung out to dry after a tumble in the washing machine.

Roxas wasn't the only student out of class, despite the fact that he had arrived in school halfway through first lesson (damn, he was missing Physics. At least he wouldn't have to face Demyx just yet). A group of boys were throwing a frisbee around on the grass. He recognised one of them, a dark skinned, red haired year 13 boy called Wakka who insisted on wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, shorts and sandals despite the bitter cold.

"Hey Roxas!" he called, "The King wants to see you!"

Wondering what he had done now, Roxas gave Wakka a thumbs-up and entered the main building, climbing the stairs to the headmaster's office. This was the first time he'd been here, and he didn't know what to expect.

Knocking on the door nervously, he heard a bark from within and a small, squeaky voice called "Come in!" He pushed open the door, noticing immediately the picture of a plump, middle-aged woman, smiling for the camera. Roxas assumed she was the headmaster's wife. She had obviously been beautiful in her youth, and her kind eyes made Roxas wish that his mother was like her.

"Simply gorgeous, isn't she? You must be Roxas."

Turning his attention to the man in the chair at the centre of the room, Roxas was surprised by how small the headmaster was. His ears stuck out of the sides of his mostly bald head and his front teeth protruded over his lips. A pair of large, round spectacles rested on his nose. His hands were clasped comfortably in his lap and he smiled sincerely, brilliant blue eyes twinkling merrily. The sign on his desk said Michael King, BSc. Headmaster.

"Yes sir. I, uh… heard you wanted to see me?"

"Don't look so worried, I just want to chat. Take a seat dear boy… you might have to shift some of those papers… that's the ticket. Don't mind him, he's the friendly sort."

A large, wet nose was placed in Roxas's lap, and a big, furry Labrador wuffed at him happily. Smiling at his new friend, Roxas patted the top of his head, between his ears, and was rewarded with a slobbery lick to the hand. In the corner of the room was a dog basket, covered in long golden hairs, and next to it was a water bowl with the name 'Pluto' painted on the side.

"Down boy!" Mr King commanded, pointing to the basket. Pluto wuffed once more and returned to his bed, turning around twice to make himself comfortable before plopping down with a contented sigh.

"Now then, Roxas. How are you settling in to Radiant Garden sixth form?" the small, bald man asked, turning his attention back to Roxas.

"I'm doing OK thanks, Mr King." Roxas replied politely.

"Call me Mickey, I can't be bothered with formalities." Mr King told him with a smile. His smile must have been contagious, because Roxas found the corners of his mouth turning up in response.

"Are you really doing OK, Roxas? As I understand it, Axel and Zexion have taken you under their wing."

Roxas nodded.

"The pair of them have been referred to as The Terrible Twosome. I'm concerned about their influence on you, Roxas. Your results in class don't match up with your predicted grades. Most of your teachers tell me that you seem distracted in their lessons."

The guilt that he should have felt this morning when faced with the anger of his parents started to wash over him now. Perhaps it was a delayed reaction, but Roxas thought that it was probably more than that. Everyone in the school respected Mr King, and Roxas was beginning to understand why. He seemed genuinely interested in the well being of his students, looking out for them and offering his help, when he could.

"I guess… I guess I haven't been trying as hard as I could." Roxas replied, fingers twisting themselves around each other.

"If there's something on your mind, I hope you feel that you can tell me." Mr King said seriously.

"Things haven't been so good at home recently." Roxas told him quietly. "But it's not just that."

Picking up a handwritten message on an A4 sheet of paper, Mr King surveyed him over the top of his glasses.

"It seems to me that the subject of most concern is mathematics. Am I right?"

Nodding, Roxas replied, "It's not exactly my strongest subject."

"If you don't mind my asking, why did you choose to do an A-level course in a subject you don't enjoy?"

"I didn't have much choice. My parents want… they want me to do well."

Sighing, Mr King put down the note and folded his hands on top of it. "Allow me to give you a piece of advice. Whether you take it to heart is entirely up to you, but I feel compelled to offer my wisdom in this instance."

Smiling at the headmaster's old-fashioned way of speaking, Roxas nodded and told him to go ahead.

"My family was not very rich, when I was growing up. My father saved up every last penny he had to send me to a good school. He was adamant that I was to become a teacher. When I told him that I wanted to be an actor, I almost gave the old boy a heart attack."

"An actor?"

Mr King waved a hand dismissively. "Youthful dreams, dear boy. Anyway, I obeyed my father's wishes and, 30 years later, here I am. I could be a Hollywood movie star by now, rolling in millions, my face in every magazine. Lord knows I have the rugged good looks and boyish charm."

Roxas had to put a hand over his mouth to suppress a giggle.

"Don't copy my mistake, Roxas. Your parents do not always know what's best."

"Yes, Mr King."

"Didn't I tell you to call me Mickey?" The bespectacled man winked, a twinkle in his eye.

Spirits considerably lifted, Roxas entered the code for the common room and found Yuna and Rikku deep in discussion, faces excited.

"Pillow fights!" Rikku squealed when Roxas was close enough to hear what they were saying.

"We can play fluffy bunnies!" Yuna giggled.

"How on earth do you play fluffy bunnies?" Roxas wondered.

"Hey sleepy pants!" Rikku greeted, along with the usual hug. "Did you oversleep this morning?"

"Something like that." Roxas smiled, sitting down next to the girls.

"You put a marshmallow in your mouth, then say 'fluffy bunnies'." Yuna explained. "Then you keep adding mallows. It gets harder to say each time. The person who can fit the most in their mouth and still say it properly wins."

"Sounds… interesting."

"We're planning a sleepover at Yunie's house." Rikku told him. "You're invited. He is invited, right?"

This last question was directed at Yuna. The brunette smiled, and nodded. "Of course he's invited."

"Yep, you're invited. I'm bringing my karaoke machine, so we can have a singing contest, and there's gonna be movies an' stuff!"

"Sounds fun. I'll be there." Roxas smiled.

"Paine's bringing someone." Yuna said softly. "Do you want to invite Demyx?"

Biting his lip, Roxas shrugged. "I don't know."

Roxas sunk into quiet thought as the two girls planned their activities. He couldn't avoid Demyx forever, and to do so would be slightly ridiculous. Demyx had initiated the kiss, but Roxas had definitely returned it. Ignoring his texts had been selfish and mean, and now he'd missed physics, Demyx would think he was deliberately avoiding him.

Next chance he got, he would talk to the musician. Inviting him to the sleepover wasn't on his agenda, though. Too many opportunities for… it just wouldn't be a good idea.

When she was lost in thought, Yuffie Kisaragi doodled in the margin. Mostly meaningless patterns, but sometimes a character in Japanese, or a cute little cartoon face. This was just one of the things that Paine had noticed since the Japanese girl had sat next to her in English today.

The teacher was explaining the essay, writing a few key ideas on the board. Her straight black hair fell down her back in a long sweep until it reached the base of her spine. Today she wore a long black skirt, with a shirt of the same colour, the first couple of buttons left open, showing a white top underneath. Paine got the feeling that some of the boys were only in this class so that they could stare at Miss Lockheart's cleavage all day.

"I want this in by next Monday, two sides at least." She said, dismissing the class. After the inevitable clamour to get out of the classroom, Paine and Yuffie were the only students left. They took their time with putting their books away, in no rush to get anywhere.

"Are you doing anything Saturday night, Sunday morning?" Paine asked shyly.

"Nope!" Yuffie replied cheerily. "Why? You planning a bank robbery, need an accomplice?"

"Something like that. My best friend is having a sleepover. You know Yuna?" Yuffie nodded. "She said I could invite you. So… do you want to come?"

The Japanese girl pretended to consider the offer. "Will there be girly movies?"

"I'm afraid so."

"But you'll be there, right?"

"O-of course."

"Then I'll be there."