Part Seven: Respect

That son of a bitch Riku was going to pay for this.

Axel grabbed me around the neck, stopping me from getting up from my chair and going after the kid that had told me the rumor. He nodded toward my classmate, giving him permission to keep on walking. Shuyin just bowed his head to me, maybe he was apologizing, before just walking off and taking his seat in the front of the class.

"That son of a bitch!" I snarled under my breath. How could Riku do this? He had been my brother's best friend! His only friend, even! Axel looked down at me as I spat out a few more choice curses before he pushed me down into my chair and stood up, putting his entire weight onto his palms.

That son of a-!

"Roxas, calm down," The upperclassman said soothingly, patting my shoulders with his fingertips. But he still didn't let go, specifically because he didn't trust me. Bastard. He shook his head at me; Axel had the uncanny ability to read my mind sometimes. "I'm sure there's an explanation."

I shook off his hands. "There better be, or else." I snapped back before standing up. At seeing my enraged face, Axel just rolled his eyes up to the ceiling for a moment like he was praying or something before standing up too.

"I'm with you," My friend said with a shrug. I stared at him; he had never met my brother, we'd become friends long after he disappeared. Axel grinned.

"Well, if he's your bro, then he musta been something special for you to keep on loving him for this long," He said before clapping his hand back onto my shoulder.

I nodded before focusing on the task at hand. Riku, one of the toughest guys in school as well as one of the most 'good-looking.' I could end up making a lot of enemies today. A flash of memory burns through my head as I walk toward the door.

It's only a brief image, but enough to make me want to pound that good-looking smirk off of the emo brat's face.

Sora's big smile as he introduced me to his 'bestest friend in the whole 'wild' world' and the way that he very gently put my hand into Riku's so we could shake hands.

"Dammit, Riku! I'm going to fucking kill you!"