Crossover Part Nine

Chapter Nine: Searching for Each Answer

"Maybe she's not the one Akira's looking for?" Kengo reached after some silence.

"Hmm…" Aya looked at Xion carefully, "Hey…you're presence…"

"My presence?"

"I'm sorry, it's nothing." Aya shooed the question off, "What's your name?"

"…" The person in the cloak didn't respond. "…I shouldn't be here."

"Huuh?" Kengo asked.

"I shouldn't be here." Xion turned around, "My mission is accomplished. I don't have anything else to do now." She began to leave.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Aya grabbed her.

"Aya-hey! Calm down!"

"You don't need to tell us your name then!" Aya didn't let go, "But you did save us from those monsters, let's at least thank you the right way…"

"You don't need to." Xion faced her, "It's our job to get rid of those things." And she disappeared.

Aya stood there, her hand empty. "…But…" she barely began.

"Oh my god, did we just see a ghost?" Kengo flustered behind her, "Aya?"

Aya stood there, thinking. She placed a hand to her chin, "…Kengo, you didn't see it?"

"Huh? See what?"

"…I guess not." She faced him, "The girl with the hood on. The one that was right here a second ago!"

"Yeah? What about her?"

Aya turned to face where Xion had disappeared, "…She…didn't have a presence. I mean, she was standing right in front of me, but at the same time, she wasn't…there."

Kengo stared at Aya's back, "So you mean like…it really was a ghost?"

"Maybe. Or probably something else all together." She shrugged, "But that's not all." She faced Kengo again, "Those things that attacked us were defiantly not any Kokuchi we know! But she was able to kill them in one strike with that weird attack!"

Kengo remembered that, "So…what are you saying, they're all ghosts or something?"

"Hmm…there are some other things too."

"Whaaat? There's still more?"

"I've got several hypothesizes on this. Remember when she asked about how Akira knew about the 'people in the black cloaks?' There must be more of them like her. And Akira must've met one of them."

"But that still doesn't really explain why Akira's looking for them…" Kengo pointed out.

"Huh, that's true." Aya scratched her head, "I wonder what it could be."

"…Well, now what?" Kengo asked after pondering about it a little more. "What are we supposed to do?"

Aya shook her head, "I say, we find Akira and ask him what the hell is going on. After all, he's probably the one who knows about all this, and considering the events tonight, I think we've pretty much been involved as well."

Kengo thought the details over. "…So, we look for Akira?"

She nodded, "We look for Akira."

xXx

Xion walked down the halls of their castle. "…I wonder…"

"Are you the one Akira's looking for?"

"Hey, you're wearing a black cloak!"

…Roxas…Axel… She frowned as she continued walking down the halls. "Zexion." She saw the slate haired man in front of her.

He nodded, "Mission accomplished?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Did you find anything out? Anything that might help Axel or Roxas?"

"I…" She bit her tongue, "No, I didn't."

"…Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Zexion didn't question her further. "I see, then I'll ask Siax to give you more missions to that world." He passed her and headed for his room, "That's all the work today, Xion."

"…" Xion sadly looked at the floor. "Roxas and Axel…broke the rules." She said to no one and resumed walking down the corridor.

How am I supposed to help the…without getting them into trouble?

xXx

"No sign of him?"

"No sign of him." Aya jumped off of Kengo's shoulders after looking over the tall wall, "Where could he be?"

"…Aya I hate to tell you this, but have you been gaining weight?"

Having satisfied herself with several blows to Kengo's head with her kendo sword, she looked at the sky, "Aw, man. Mom and dad are gonna kill me. It's so late…" She faced Kengo, "We should resume our search for tomorrow."

"A-Aya…" Kengo weakly stood up, "I don't think we're gonna find Akira anytime soon…"

"And what makes you say that, Mr. I'm Akira's Best Friend, So I Should Know the Best Places Where He Hangs Out?"

"That's not fair! We already searched the 'best places' where Akira would run off to! But he wasn't there...he's searching for those people in black cloaks right? Well they can appear anywhere, you saw how that girl disappeared from your grasp!"

"…Kengo…" Aya smiled, "You're a genius!"

"…I am?"

"They can appear anywhere…and they appeared when we were attacked by those monsters, remember!"

"I, uh…"

"Meaning, if we go to places where those monsters appear, then we're bound to run into that girl again or another one of those people! And this time, I'm not letting them go so smoothly."

Kengo followed her as best as he could, "…So you're saying that we, the ones who don't even pose a threat (or even a chance!) to those monster, are going to look for them?"

Aya nodded, "I guess so yeah, but tonight, I have to get my beauty sleep."

"Aya, are you crazy? We might end up dying this time!"

"Hmm…we didn't die today, did we?"

"Yeah but that's not the point…"

"Walk me home, Kengo. Hurry up."

"Aya, wait for me!" He ran after her. "Huh?" He turned around, "…That was weird…"

"Kengo, I said hurry up!"

"Ack, coming, coming!" Kengo blinked. For a second there I thought I saw something white… He turned the corner, "Aya, wait up!"

Shirogane came out of hiding. "…" He thought a minute over what he heard Aya and Kengo talking about. Akira-kun… he disappeared without a trace.

xXx

"..." Axel stared at the ceiling. "…How the hell did all of this happen?" he asked himself, turning onto his side. "Hmm…"

There was a knock at his doorway. He ignored it. The knocking became more persistent.

Axel sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." He opened his door. "…Xion?"

Xion was staring at the floor, "…Axel."

"What are you doing up at this hour, if anyone catches you you'll be in big trouble." He laughed. Her expression didn't change. "…Is there something you need, or…?"

"Explain."

Axel was surprised by the order, "What are you-?"

"Don't play dumb, Axel! Explain! What have you and Roxas been doing in Monochrome Factor?"

"Shhh! Shh, shh." Axel covered her mouth, then poked his head out looking down the hallways. Positive no one was there, he continued in a hushed voice, "Look, Xion, me and Roxas have just been doing our jobs, okay? We've been clearing out the heartless and finding out about the new world…"

"Tell me, who is Akira?"

Axel stared at her, shocked, "How did…?"

"What have you and Roxas been doing in that world?" Xion asked again, "I already know you broke the rules. We're not supposed to communicate with anyone in other worlds, unless getting information."

Axel remembered the very first day he and Roxas arrived there. "Well…technically we were getting information…" he shrugged.

"Axel!"

"Okay, okay, okay!" he yelled in a whisper, reminder her to keep it down. "Look, me and Roxas were going through the world, doing the normal duties, then some…things happened when we took out that one giant heartless that you told us about a couple of days ago and then one thing led to the other…"

"Axel, come on." Xion looked at him, exasperated, "Just tell me what happened that made you and Roxas become shut-ins."

Axel didn't say anything.

"…Axel? You're not gonna tell me?"

What could he tell her? "Well, you see, Roxas and I have been in a relationship for a while, and we met these two guys Akira and Shirogane in Monochrome Factor and then something happened that sent my boyfriend running off into his room as if I'd dumped him"? No way!

Wait a minute… Axel repeated those words again. "As if I'd dumped him?"

"Axel." Xion shook his arm, sending him out of his thoughts. "You know what? You don't have to tell me, just stop being a shut-in too." She explained, "We have to get Roxas out of his room. You don't have to tell me the details anymore, but please…at least help."

Axel sighed and scratched his head, "You know what, Xion. I think you're right." He smiled at her. All the answers I'm looking for are in that world. And what am I doing? I'm just sulking here.

Xion's face lit up at the sight of his smile, "Tomorrow, come with me to Monochrome Factor!"

He nodded, "Yeah." What do I want? I want to fix things up with Roxas ASAP. Axel closed his door as soon as Xion disappeared down the hallway.

He placed a hand to his chin in thought. "As if I'd dumped him…"

Author's Note:

So I finally finished the game Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (took me long enough). It's a great game, and if you haven't gotten it, you should! I was close to crying at the ending though. I have to admit, I'm really glad I've put Xion into my story now. I've grown onto her character so much…

Anyway, my crap aside, it's like inspiration hit me in the head with a gigantic hammer. I suddenly have all these ideas for the story! Hope you guys are still enjoying it so far. I think I've got the ending for it down, but I still don't know how I'm gonna get there yet… I'll keep the chapters coming as quickly as possible! Thank you to those who've been reviewing and reading!

Hanawie: Honestly, it never was in my mind to make Shiro and Akira or Axel and Roxas make up so quickly. Who doesn't love a bit of drama, huh? ;) And yeah, I'm sorry about not having Kou in here, maybe when I get more books with him in them I'll be able to include him in my next stories. I just don't like the idea of putting in a character I don't know so much about. I might just end up butchering him. -sweat-

Reviews and comments are greatly appreciated!

So yeah…