Chapter Uh… Hm… -scrolls up and checks previous chapter's number-… It's chapter nine already?! Yikes…

Pre-Author's Note: Here it is! Next installment! Hope it wasn't too long of a wait! Oh! By the way… Here the tissues –put out a box of Kleenex-, use them if you have to. So yeah I've decided to put in inserts from the songs I use at the beginning.

Disclaimer: Would you look at that llama dance?!

Song: Camisado (what does 'Camisado' mean anyway? Just out of question…)

------

"This is the scent of dead skin on a linoleum floor,

This is the scent of quarantine wings in a hospital

It's not so pleasant, and it's not so conventional,

It sure as hell ain't normal

But we deal, we deal…"

------

Regular Saturday mornings at the Ishida residents went through a specific and regular pattern.

First Mr. and Mrs. Ishida would wake up and stretch and yawn and say their good mornings to eachother and all sorts of pleasantries would follow. Then Mrs. Ishida would get out of bed and begin breakfast, followed by her husband who would step outside for a moment to fetch the paper.

That was when and how Riku and Resa would typically awaken. To the sounds of clanging pots and the front door opening, and the scent of pancakes or waffles. However both kids had different ways of dealing with this noise.

Resa would yawn and stretch, blink sleepily while rubbing her eyes before clambering out of bed. When she stood on her fluffily carpeted floor she'd rock back and forth a few times; testing out the feel of the carpet as she pressed the balls of her feet to it in an impromptu happy dance. After this she'd proceed with skipping downstairs.

Now, Riku had a very different way of dealing with this.

There was a time when Riku would wake up grinning broadly; confident about the day's prospects. There was a time when he'd swing his legs over the side of his bed and stroll into his bathroom to wash up for the day before heading downstairs to hug his family in turn and ruffle Resa's already sleep mussed hair.

But those times had ended roughly two years ago.

This was a different time and Riku did not wake up the same way he used to.

These days when Riku awoke to the familiar sound of pots being placed on stoves and pancake batter getting mixed, Riku would frown and bury his head deeper into the pillow. Then the front door would open, and if it was winter or fall Riku could hear the sounds of wind whistling through it, and if it was spring or summer there'd be birds chirping. At this point Riku would groan and mutter a small, muffled profanity before pulling the sheets over his silver head.

All in vain though because this action only bought him about ten minutes of time until Resa would come skipping into his room, red hair messed up and wild looking so that she resembled a deranged lion. Then she'd promptly pounce onto poor Riku's bed and the next thing the teenager would know he'd somehow be sitting at his family's dining room table with a plate of whatever his mom had cooked in front of him and sleep crusted eyes.

And that was how an average Saturday morning went by at the Ishida house.

However today was not an average day for Riku. Not only was he caught up with his homework but he was also spending the entire day with Axel. As he woke up to the familiar sounds of his family waking he felt his heart give an excited thump when the redhead's face entered his mind.

He smiled and for once resumed his old Saturday morning habits of splashing water on his face, hugging parents and annoying little sisters.

His family watched all this happen in shock and some happiness. Finally, after watching Riku humming to himself, Mrs. Ishida cleared her throat and said, "So, um… Riku darling, you seem to be in a good mood today."

Riku just shrugged and continued eating, cheerfully indifferent to the stares he was receiving.

"Any particular reason why?" asked Natashi as he eyed his son's quickly emptying plate.

"No, not really," said Riku after swallowing a mouthful of pancake and gulping down some water, "I just have plans for later. I'll be heading out right after breakfast and coming back whenever."

"You're coming back 'whenever'?" asked Ritsuko, as she and her husband raised their eyebrows in identical skeptical looks.

"I know when that is," said Resa brightly, "it's right after 'sometime soonish' and a little sooner than 'later on'."

Her remark went unnoticed as Riku shifted guiltily under the glares of his parents. Eventually, after a long drawn-out silence he said, "When's dinner?"
"Six thirty," said his mother stiffly.

"I'll be back by then okay?" asked Riku as he ate the last of his repast and drained his glass of water; "Okay?" he prompted again.

Mrs. Ishida sighed and nodded, "Where are you going with whom?"

"I'm going downtown with a friend," said Riku lightly.

"Who's the friend?"

"Where downtown?"

"Around the plaza and the big park area," said Riku finishing off one last piece of sausage.

"And who's going to be there with you?" pressed Mr. Ishida.

"Just a friend," said Riku, nimbly avoiding any names as he got up and started pulling on his shoes. Once he had the shoes on snug he tapped the tip of each foot against the floor a few times to fix the socks that had bunched up on the inside.

As he stepped out into the world and began making his way over to Axel's house his words seemed to echo in his mind. It seemed lying to his parents had become quite the habit of his lately.

Ah well… It's not like I'm lying about anything BAD…

------

Kairi was a sweet and gentle person by nature. She didn't like having fights with her friends and so when there was a problem, instead of making accusations (false or otherwise) she tried to reason it out; even if it resulted in her admitting she was wrong.

Fights that involve a friend's parent however are complicated.

For instance, if, hypothetically, one of her friend's fathers had called her asking about his son or daughter. She would offer to answer any hypothetical question said father had about his child. But if the father were to, hypothetically, ask her why his let's say son (just as an example) had an ankle that was, hypothetically, sprained. She would be confused by his question. After all, hypothetically she wouldn't have been there when the sprain occurred.

So, hypothetically, she would say that his son must've tripped and that that was what his son had, hypothetically, told her in school (assuming it was one of her friends that went to her school of course).

Now if, hypothetically, the father had asked her if his son was with… Sora, for example when the hypothetical sprain occurred and Kairi knew for a fact that Sora had hypothetically told her he hadn't been there when said injury took place well then…

She would stop and think over her answer to the hypothetical question. After all, she would wonder why the father was asking specifically and hypothetically about Sora. She would then assume that hypothetically her friend must have told his father that he was with Sora when said sprain took place because in reality her friend was with someone he didn't want his parents to know about. All hypothetically of course.

Thus Kairi would draw the line and tell the parent that yes, his son had been with Sora and had hypothetically tripped and sprained his ankle.

So when Kairi received a phone call on Saturday morning she was surprised to hear Mr. Ishida's voice on the other line.

"Oh, hello sir," she began politely, "is something wrong with Riku?"

"No, no," Natashi was quick to reassure, "I was just wondering about something… You noticed that Riku sprained his ankle?"

"Uh, yes I did," said Kairi, not sure of where he was going with this.

"Well do you happen to know how he did it?" asked the older man, stressing out the 'how' as if he were pressing a fruit of some kind; trying to get out all the juice.

"Um, well, he told me that he tripped at school," said Kairi still not very confidently.

"Yes that's what he told me too…"

Something in Mr. Ishida's voice made Kairi frown suspiciously, "You don't believe him?" she inquired accusingly.

"Oh no, it's not that," said Natashi quickly, "but I was just wondering if you happened to know if Sora was with Riku when it happened."

Kairi opened her mouth, and stopped.

Why would he only ask about Sora? Wouldn't he ask me if I was there? Unless Riku told him that… But at school, Sora asked Riku what was wrong with his ankle too.

It didn't take long for Kairi to figure it out. If Riku had sprained his ankle and told his dad that he was with Sora when he sprained it but was NOT in fact with Sora… Then he must've been with someone else his parents didn't know about…

Axel.

"Kairi?"

"I'm sorry, I spaced out for a little," said Kairi, throwing in a nervous laugh, "uh yes, he was hanging out with Sora. You know how rowdy boys can get."

Oh yes, she thought acidly, how rowdy indeed…

Once she had hung up the phone she quickly began walking out the door and heading to Riku's place. If Axel was getting her friend into trouble than dammit she'd send him to hell and back in the most painful she could manage.

------

Roxas gulped and looked over at Demyx again, "Are you sure about this? I only talked to her once… What if she's some kind of freak?"

Demyx rolled his eyes, knocking his companion upside the head, "Stop worrying, if she is seriously unstable you can leave and never think about her again… Let's just try this out okay? See what happens… You never know, she could be the love of your life."

Now it was Roxas's turn to roll his eyes, "Whatever… Sheesh, you really are an inner romantic aren't you?"

Demyx made an indignant coughing noise before shoving Roxas step for step into the large building in front of them.

Inside they entered the front waiting room. Or lobby whatever you wanted to call it. Roxas walked up to the front desk nervously and gulped once again when the desk lady looked up at him and smiled.

"Yes? Can I help you?" she offered sweetly, practically beaming.

"Yes, thank uh…" he glance at her name tag, "Yes, thank you Rinoa, I was looking for a patient. I'm not sure if she's here today though…"

"Well if you tell me her name I can check on the computer to see if she has any activities planned here today or if she's one of our permanent guests."

When Rinoa spotted the horrified look on Roxas's face she quickly rectified her statement, "Oh no! It's nothing like that! I was just referring to the teens that live here in our dorm rooms that we offer!"

"Ah, I see, heh," Roxas laughed while scratching the back of his head.

"Now you were saying about her name…?"

"Um, well I'm pretty sure her first name is Namine and um… I don't know her last name," said Roxas, realizing how stupid he sounded as the words left his mouth.

"Namine hm?" she asked while tapping her chin thoughtfully, "I think you mean Namine Odori. Blonde haired girl? Pale blue eyes?"

"Yes that sounds like her" said Roxas nodding his head a little.

"Well let's check her information," said Rinoa, moving away a few feet to sit in front of a computer stationed behind the desk. As she typed away Roxas drummed his fingers on the desk and gave Demyx a reassuring smile and a thumbs up. Demyx grinned back but Roxas had to turn his attention away when Rinoa came back and began talking again.

"Well, it seems she had a private session with her personal psychiatrist today that ended about ten minutes ago," said Rinoa informatively, when she spotted Roxas's crestfallen look she added soothingly, "but she might still be here with friends or just getting away from home… Many of our patients here have rough lives at home and spend a lot of their free time here. If you're lucky she might still be here."

"Where would she be?" asked Roxas hopefully.

"Well, from what I've seen and heard of Namine," said Rinoa musingly, "she could just be sitting outside on some bench or in the lounge."

"Thanks a lot," said Roxas before grabbing Demyx and heading upstairs to the lounge after checking a map of the building that was hung conveniently on the wall.

When he reached the lounge Roxas instantly spotted Namine sitting on the couch watching the big screen TV.

"Hey Namine!" he called and watched in amusement as the blonde's head jerked up in surprise. When she noticed him she let out a startled, "Roxas!"

"Oooh," said a girl with luscious brown hair from the other side of the room, "Namine's got a mystery visitor."

"Quit it Lenne," said Namine quietly and once again Roxas couldn't help but think it sounded like the spoken language was something foreign to her. Her voice seemed like a ghost of sorts. Like it had died once but was now back; only a whisper of what it once was.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, walking over to Roxas and Demyx with her hands clasped in front of her in a nonexistent prayer; she seemed sincerely curious.

For a moment Roxas just stood there like an idiot, after a minute's silence Demyx nudged him in the ribs and his mouth seemed to remember how to function properly, "Well you see, I ah… I wanted to see you again," Namine's mouth opened a little in surprise and Roxas continued, "the woman at the front desk told me that your private session or whatever just ended so… I was thinking maybe we could go somewhere?"

Namine stared back at Roxas for what seemed like a long time until she finally managed to get a word out.

"Okay…"

Roxas blinked a few times, "Really?" a nod, "That's great! I was thinking we could go to this one mall I know that's not too far away! We could hang out there for a while. Does that sound okay to you?"

Namine smiled and nodded briefly before following him out the door. She looked at Demyx keenly.

"I'm sorry, did you say your name?" she asked timidly.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Demyx," he said while extending her hand, which she took carefully avoiding eye contact, "Well," said Demyx happily, "I'll be seeing you guys! Have fun!"
"Kay," said Roxas as he led Namine over to his car.

"You… can drive?" asked Namine, eyes widening slightly as Roxas began starting up the car. Roxas rolled his eyes. It never ends…

He looked at Namine, "Okay, how old do you think I am?"

"Um…" Namine looked dumbfounded for a moment before saying uncertainly, "Seventeen…? Sixteen?"

With an exaggerated groan, Roxas's eyes rolled to the heavens and he let his head fall to the steering wheel with a thump. Namine looked panic-stricken.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" she wailed, gripping Roxas's shoulder, "How old are you?! I thought- I mean- you look like my age but-… Aish!"

Roxas looked up at Namine's horrified face and trembling twitchy manner. He snorted before putting a hand on her head in a calming manner, "Jeez," he muttered, "You're like a chicken with its head cut off when you panic you know that? I was only kidding… Besides everyone thinks I'm sixteen or something like that. It's cool."

"So…" said Namine cautiously once she had stopped hyperventilating, "How old are you then?"

Roxas chuckled and looked at his feet for a moment, Namine just blinked and peered at him curiously, "I'm…" he began and cleared his throat, "I'm twenty years old."

"WHAT?!"

------

"I thought you said you'd been here before," commented Axel mildly as he watched Riku's awestruck expression. They had reached the park, which was more like a huge plaza, and so far Riku was gawking like a wannabe tourist.

Said tourist frowned at Axel's words, "I have it's just… Been a long time… A lot's changed."

"No kidding," said Axel taking in his surroundings with light interest.

Suddenly Riku turned to Axel and smiled, "C'mon!" he said grabbing Axel's wrist playfully and tugging him into the mass of crowds and food stands.

The plaza was fairly large in size. There was one area where the ground was completely covered in smooth stone tiles. On each end of the large slab of stone was a fountain that sprayed water onto the tiled area. Kids and adults alike were walking through the ankle-deep water, there bare feet splashing along the surface of the pristine substance.

There were two flower gardens set up on opposite ends of the park; each one had many little paths winding through it so that onlookers could view the foliage without damaging it. There was also a maze. It was the same kind they had at farms and carnivals. Except that instead of having been made in a corn field; tall and strong bushes lined the walls of the maze. Intimidating and unmoving, it was like they were daring people to try and make it through the maze.

For the rest of the afternoon Axel and Riku wandered around the plaza. Stopping to eat lunch at the café, and sometimes just taking breaks to sit on one of the benches. During their times sitting on the benches Riku would whip out his sketch book along with a set of colored pencils and draw the scenery around them, sometimes including the people that were walking around.

Eventually Axel looked at the time on his cell phone and decided they should start heading back to the car. Riku protested, claiming that they couldn't leave without wading through the ankle-deep makeshift pool that had the black stones lining the floor. Axel agreed on the condition that after splashing around for a while they'd leave.

As they headed for the fountains however their attention was drawn by a large crowd located near the edge of the street that separated the plaza from the rest of the big city.

"Wonder what's up," murmured Axel as they drew nearer to the crowd.

------

The restaurant that Roxas took Namine to had a TV. It was a quaint little café-like place. Just a little fancier than casual but still nowhere near dressy. They served all different types of food, from pastas to good old-fashioned burgers. In any case there was definetly something for everyone.

And so it was Namine found herself eating angel hair pasta with marinara sauce seated opposite of the blonde haired, blue-eyed boy who'd recently become just as obsessed with her as she had with him.

Everything was going well until…

"Hey! Everyone quiet down!" yelled a woman seated near the TV, she was standing up and glaring at the glowing screen, after a while she called over a waiter who turned up the volume on the TV. Roxas and Namine looked at it along with everyone else in the room.

The anchorman on the screen looked out at his audience with a grave expression on his face, "We've just received word that earlier today a young boy was found dead on the streets of the city. We're unsure yet of how he was injured but drunk driving is a prime suspect."

Everyone in the restaurant looked rightfully saddened by the news.

"Now here's our reporter Yuna at the scene of this tragedy."

"Hello Vincent," said the pretty woman who had appeared on screen, she was standing in front of a huge mass of people. Presumably surrounding the boy, thought Namine sadly.

"I'm here at the downtown plaza and the mood is chaos," said Yuna gravely, "it seemed a young boy appearing to be in his mid-teens-

That's about the same age as me, Denzel and Riku, thought Namine, trying and failing to imagine how horrible it would be for any three of them to die at the prime ages of their lives-

"Although I haven't gotten a chance to see the boy's body yet, the word is that he's sadly dead," Yuna bowed her head a little before returning to her speech, mourning the loss of some poor soul she'd never met. Usually in situations like these Namine would resent the newsmen and women alike. They acted sorry but in truth they didn't know any of the people they reported on.

Yuna, however, was different. Namine could tell, it was written all over her face that she was sincerely upset by this loss of life.

"Our camera man has just managed to squeeze through the crowd for a glimpse of the victim's face," said Yuna and in an instant the scene changed. They could see what looked like a puddle of blood through the sea of heads and people. Finally after much jostling of the camera and image on the screen alike the diners in the restaurant saw a clear shot of the boy's face.

Namine could've sworn she felt her heart and breathing stop along with time.

------

"Riku? Riku?!" Axel looked around desperately in the mess of squirming bodies. He turned his head for one second and the younger teenager was gone, silver hair and all. Now, as he scanned the crowd looking for a sign of his lover Axel wondered how Riku could be so hard to find with his signature hair…

Ah well, he thought, he must've tried to get a loot at what's going on.

After all, Riku could be pretty squirmy when he wanted to be. Axel figured he must've managed to get through the bustling hubbub of people and reporters.

That was when Axel heard it.

"DENZEL!!!"

------

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Namine dully registered the fact that she was on her knees screaming. Her hands had flown over her mouth and she had just flat out collapsed against the hardwood floor in the restaurant.

In an instant Roxas was by her side squeezing her shoulders with his hands and trying to get a look at her face. This was fairly difficult seeing as how she was rocking back and forth convulsively.

"Namine," he said softly but with a calmness that forced her to look up at him, "Namine what's wrong?"

Slowly she managed to drag some words out from the depths of her throat, "I… I knew him," she whispered as more tears continued to stream down her face in crystal-like rivers. Roxas blinked and looked taken aback for a moment.

"Namine I… Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes I'm sure," she cried pointing at the screen shakily where they were showing another shot of the boy from a different angle, "he… he was my best… best… friend," she moaned before collapsing into Roxas in a broken heap.

After a moment's hesitation Roxas wrapped his arms around her securely and held her steady while she shook.

Everyone at the restaurant was staring at the two. Eventually a woman with a kind face and brown hair tied back in a braided ponytail tapped Roxas on the shoulder.

"Is she going to be alright?" she asked gently, Roxas looked at Namine quivering form and then back at the woman.

"I'm not sure what to do…" he said, almost pleading for this woman to help him.

Another woman with the largest chest Roxas had ever seen walked over to the three of them and knelt down.

"Hey," she said, looking at Roxas firmly, "I'm Tifa and this is my friend Aerith. I'm the owner of this restaurant. Is there some kind of problem going on here?"

"Well," said Roxas uncertainly, "it would seem that she knows that boy on the screen there," he gestured toward the television where the reporters were wrapping up the story of the drunken driver accident.

On screen they showed one last scene of a teenager with silver hair sobbing beside the boy.

"Riku," whispered Roxas his eyes going wide. Namine looked up at the screen. It seemed Riku was near hysterics, as the paramedics arrived Riku clutched to the body refusing to let go. That was when a lean, red headed man came into the picture. With a strong but firm touch he eventually managed to draw Riku away from Denzel's body along with the help of a brunette girl Roxas didn't know.

"Oh my God," she whispered before dissolving into tears again, "Roxas… I… Denzel… One of my best friends is… He just… Lying… The blood…"

"Here," said Tifa pulling Namine and Roxas to their feet a little roughly, "look kids I feel for you, I really do," she said sympathetically, "but right now I don't think you should be staying here. It'd be best if you both went home and got some rest.

"Aerith would you mind taking them both home?" asked Tifa looking at the woman in the pink dress. Aerith, Roxas reminded himself silently.

"Sure thing," said Aerith nodding sweetly she guided Roxas and Namine out of the restaurant. And as they were being led away both Roxas and Namine found that they didn't care about the people staring at them, or how they hadn't paid for meal or the fact that they were letting a total stranger drive them home.

In fact neither one let their faces display any emotion until they'd both reached their separate beds in their separate homes. And then they cried. They both cried.

Roxas cried for the boy he'd never known. He cried for the silver haired boy he'd tried so many times to emotionally wound. And he cried thinking about what Axel must be going through right now.

Namine cried for one of her first and only best friends. She cried for the good-natured boy who had stuck with her even before she started talking again. And she cried both for the sorrow she felt and the pain her other friend felt.

------

The first thing Riku felt was numbness. A totally eclipsing numbness that seemed to engulf his entire being in icy cold. He didn't feel anything, for the image he'd seen before him had yet to register within his mind.

Then slowly the shock pealed away into disbelief and finally… Overwhelming grief and pain. The kind of emotional pain he hadn't felt for the longest time.

Two years in fact…

His eyes roved over the blood, the smashed and broken body… The eyes that lacked both sight and life. The tussled mop of reddish brown hair that was now stained red with blood… And then there were the pale pink scars running up and down his arms.

Scars that had been healing… Scars that had been getting better.

And with that last thought Riku broke. Shattered. First he broke into little pieces, only to have those small pieces break again into even tinier ones. He crumpled.

Grabbing and screaming and crying and outright sobbing. His head was bent and he let out gut wrenching scream after gut wrenching scream. Once he'd screamed himself hoarse he merely clutched at his friend's lifeless body, uncaring towards the blood he was getting on himself.

It seemed to take forever for the ambulance to arrive. But when they did Riku knew forever obviously hadn't been long enough. He refused to let go and clutched to Denzel. And the fact that he knew they would eventually take Denzel away only made him feel more helpless.

"Riku," his name was spoken calmly but with a hint of sadness and Riku soon found himself being embraced from behind by a pair of wiry arms. Red hair brushed his head lightly. He turned in those arms to face Axel who solemn expression only helped to send him into another wave of tears.

"Axel," he whimpered, "it's Denzel. He's… Dead."

"I know," murmured Axel quietly into Riku's ear, "but you have to let go of him okay? The hospital will take care of the rest. Just let him go."

Riku made a pitiful sound in the back of his throat and his grip on Denzel tightened, "N-No…"

"Riku," came another voice. It was different from Axel's. Crisper, calming, intelligent yet soothing. And for whatever reason it gave Axel the sense of cucumbers. He turned to see a girl with viridian green eyes and mildly curly brown locks of hair.

"Hey, Riku, it's me. It's Ollete. I'm here okay?"

The girl was kneeling next to Axel and had put both her hands on Riku's shoulder.

"Now come on," she said with just a hint of authority, "you've gotta move now okay? Get up."

And just like that Riku stood, letting Denzel's body go and allowing the girl –Ollete- and Axel and lead him over to a nearby bench.

"I'm Ollete," she said, turning to Axel as they both stood on either side of Riku.

"I'm Axel," came the automatic response, "so… friend of his?"

"Yup," Ollete gestured to the emotional heap that had become of Riku, "we better get him all cleaned up. And maybe while we're at it, you can start telling me why you were hanging out with Riku today."

"Um… Well…" Axel tugged at his shirt, "I guess I'm his boyfriend."

Ollete's eyes widened considerably, "Is that so? You better start explaining fast."

Author's Note: I just want you all to know that I missed a new episode of my favorite show to write this. Anyways, sorry to leave it at such a cliff hanger. I'll do my very best to update as soon as possible, I swear! By the way, I was working on developing my writing style in this chapter. Care to tell me what you think?

Also, I'm getting a lot of homework today so I didn't have much time to check for errors in the writing so… I apologize if there are a lot of mistakes. But think about it this way, either you live with a few mistakes or you would've had to wait a week or two until I'd gotten enough time to double-check.

bliss