-Chapter 10-
-Got it memorized?-

"So what did you think of yesterday?" asked Riku, he had his arm round Naminé as she ate her apple, "I mean ... if you're alright talking about it ... you looked a bit pale..." he added quickly, wondering whether she was over the 'I-will-be-sick-everytime-I-see-gay-people/I-had-flu-shifty-eyes-phase'. She shrugged.

"Dunno ... Oh well ... Axel had feelings for Roxas, big whupp!" she said dryly, she didn't feel like talking about it particularly, there was an awkward silence. Naminé buried her head in Riku's shoulder, "Riku?"

"Mmmm?" he replied, gazing out into the sea, the pier sure was a pretty viewpoint.

"Do you love me?" she asked, bored.

"'Course..." he told her, resting his head on hers. She smiled.

"Good..." they sat there for a while watching the sunset. It wasn't until the tip of the sun was the only part visible did they hear the shouts coming from their best friend calling them.

"RIKU ... NAMINÉ!! C'MON, YOU'VE BEEN THERE BASKING IN EACH OTHER'S LOVE FOR LONG ENOUGH!!" Axel called out to the two. Naminé and Riku turned round, a glazed look on their faces, the sorts of when you come out of a cinema after watching an extremely long movie. "Ah ... you two..." Axel sighed happily.

"What?" asked Riku. Axel studied the boy, he seemed to have lost all sarcasm and dryness and really all complete 'bastard-ie-ness' when he was with Naminé. He thought he liked this Riku better. Maybe Naminé brought out the best in people, like Sora's pervy-ness to her undies... But no, that wasn't the best part of Sora... He hoped.

"Oh ... I was just wondering when you two were going to make out – Tidus and Wakka are placing bets..." Axel informed him happily, not seeming to notice the flush appearing on Riku's face that could rival Axel's hair. Really, Axel didn't have one romantic bone in his body, unless it involved ... Roxas ... in a dress.

"Shurrup," mumbled Riku. "What I do with MY girlfriend is no concern of you! Maybe if you got yourself a girlfriend you wouldn't be so interested in what me and Naminé are doing..."

"What? I ... Riku..." he said in a warning voice, glaring at the arrogant prat. Ah, that was the same Riku he knew didn't-really-love... The same Riku who infuriated moogles so much they followed him around screaming death chants and pissed off Kairi. Maybe Naminé didn't bring out the best in people, after all, and was just sort of ... there ... Yes, she was solid enough, Axel could deduce she was most definitely 'there'.

"Of course, you don't want a girlfriend, Axel, what am I talking about?" asked Riku in a happy sing-song voice, flanked with a backdrop of forced 'LA LA LA's from Naminé who had her ears covered by her hands, not listening.

"I'M NOT LISTENING, LA LA LA!" she chanted, to confirm the fact printed above. "Hmm... La la la ..." Somehow it managed to merge into the tune of Bimbo girl, as she swayed her head gently. Damn Sora for ruining her damn art (that wasn't damn cause her art was GOOD) and knocking that damn song into her damn head.

"... Riku, don't mention it," hissed Axel. "If Naminé's sick, she'll have to throw up all over you. It's common courtesy to be sick all over your boyfriend," he said in a knowledgeable voice.

"LA LA LA!"

∞∙∞∙∞

Aerith pouted slightly as she surveyed the class, "Well chilllldrrrren," she hissed, she sounded a little bit like Larxene when she did that ... Oh the horror ... "Because of yesterday's ... ahem ... roleplay ... Ansem – our WONDERFUL and BENEVOLENT headteacher, in his fits of WONDERFUL and BENEVOLENTNESS, has decided that we should scrap ... our ... wonderful ... costumes..." she looked like she was in tears. Roxas pulled a face before joining the class' cheer rippling around the room like a wave. Tidus and Riku weren't as happy though.

"Whew! I don't like sluts..." Kairi murmured, she wondered how far it could have lead to. She shuddered.

"Hehe ... yes ... this is good..." Axel muttered, a little put out.

"SORA! GET AWAY FROM ME!" screamed Naminé as the little boy edged closer to her. She had no idea why he was doing it ... she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

"Hehe, c'mere Sora," Kairi laughed, "Screw Aerith! Riku can have Naminé, you're MINE!" Sora skipped over to the girl and Riku lumbered over to Naminé.

"Oh ... OK then ... NO WAIT! RIKU WITH KAIRI; NAMINÉ WITH SORA! Kids..." Riku walked back over to Kairi and Sora merrily skipped back over to Naminé, giggling.

"Er ... anyway, in your pairs, today we'll do ... er ... OH! Just do something related to love, I'm going to go get our costumes back..." she rolled up her sleeves and waltzed out the room, looking kinda like her husband Cloud, who was in the army ... and killed people ... with giant swords ... yes ... swords...

Roxas looked tentatively at Axel, feeling glad that he wasn't clothed in bright pink princess crap. Their feelings didn't seem to be mutual, however, as the red-head looked a little upset.

"You did look nice in that dress, Roxy..." he mused, making the blonde boy cringe. He didn't appreciate Axel teasing him about that, no matter how serious his voice sounded he couldn't mean it. Roxas was a boy, boys were not suited to wear dresses, end of story.

"... Don't mention ... the ... thing ... Axel..." hummed Roxas, picking at the fluff on the carpet, as Naminé went about very loudly failing the task Aerith had set them by denying her love of the brunette boy fiercely.

"But Naminé ... I thought we had something SPECIAL!" cried Sora ,eyes large, looking a little bit like the characters in those Japanese novels ... Mangas. "How could you, after all this time?! I LOVED YOU!" wailed the boy, now writhing on the floor as if in agony, clutching to Naminé's leg. "DON'T LEAVE! THINK OF ALL THE FOND MEMORIES WE HAD!"

Naminé remembered ... The only time she and Sora had bonded it had been over one of those weird paper hats the nurse had, being sick. Yes, fond memories indeed...

Axel averted his eyes carefully from the drama, as Sora continued to wail as if he was being tortured by aliens from space, banging his fist against the floor. Naminé looked very, very frightened, her hair dishevelled as she looked around like some sort of crazy woman. There was a loud bang, as Sora managed to remove her sandal and it flew through the air in a graceful arc, bobbing Wakka on the head. It was kind of hard not to pay attention – everybody else was, as Naminé looked around frantically for some sort of escape from the ring of kids that had formed around her and Sora. They were all laughing and making unhelpful suggestions, one of the worst from Tidus, who informed her that cutting stuff up with big swords then throwing pears at them was the way to go.

"... So ... Roxas..." Axel said in a serious tone, but it was sort of hard to be serious while Sora was screaming at Naminé to come back or he'd have to take his life. Wakka was also cursing about the bruise forming on his scalp, hidden by his orange hair, and Kairi was stabbing Riku with her fingers, saying something about 'it's all your fault, you and your ... puffy ... pants!'

"Ah, screw this..." muttered Axel, as Naminé's other sandal flew across the room, did a few back-flips in the air and gave Riku a lovely black eye, sending him flying back cursing about 'damned flying shoes'. Axel really did hope the traumatised Sora wouldn't rip her dress off next. "It's impossible to be SERIOUS with these lunatics!"

"MAN WHO KEEPS HITTING ME MAN?!" roared Wakka, as Sora's arms flailed around, hitting random children that got too close, like a malfunctioning toy.

"PLEASE COME BACK I'LL BE A BETTER MAN! I'LL HELP THE POOR AND SAVE THE WHALES!" promised Sora, tears almost rolling down his cheeks. Well, it was obvious who was the new star of the drama class, although Roxas strongly thought Sora hadn't realised it wasn't real and was being true ... Oh dear, this was getting more and more awkward. Especially since Axel wasn't even looking at what was going on, and had his eyes fixed on Roxas. He looked SERIOUS, and that was bad, because now Naminé was cursing and Sora had managed to drag her onto the floor. "I'D MISS YOU!" he screamed. "I'D MISS YOU SO MUCH MY HEART WOULD BREAK!"

"SORA GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" screamed the poor Naminé, clawing around on the floor to receive one of her sandals, beating him over the head with it. He clung to her legs like a limpet, sobbing. And Axel ... didn't CARE! Axel was being SERIOUS at a time like this! Roxas had a strong suspicion that even if Sora did manage to murder Naminé he wouldn't have batted an eyelid.

"Roxas... I have something to tell you..." continued Axel, trying to block out all that extra classroom noise. "... Damnit, this is really hard..." He would have liked to have picked out a better time to confess his feelings, but it was tearing up his inside, so he didn't care that he was going to tell him in a classroom full of devils anymore.

"I HATE YOU SORA! YOU'VE RUINED MY NEW SHOES!" screamed the girl angrily, laying on the floor limply as Sora gave her bone-crushing hug that could crack a nut. She wasn't even trying any more, but Sora was still convinced she'd scamper off if he let her go. He was always prepared, Sora...

"I ... I ... like you, Roxas. More than Naminé likes Sora, anyway..." he stated, because it was kind of hard not to mention what was going. It was like some sort of cool new band, and everything you said HAD to include that. It was impossible to ignore the antics of Naminé and Sora.

"... I know you like me, Axel..." said Roxas softly, feeling his heart beat a little quicker. He wasn't sure if he dared believe what his 'friend' was saying. He didn't mean it, right? "If you didn't you wouldn't be my friend... y'know?" he asked, sounding horribly like Rai at that moment. Nobody wanted to sound like Rai – he was just fReAkY.

"I HATE YOU SORA!"

"I LOVE YOU NAMINÉ!"

Everybody was slowly starting to loose interest in their conversation, and were talking amongst themselves, wondering where Aerith was. Probably crying over her beloved drama costumes as Ansem fed them into the liquidiser. We're having burgers made out of princess clothes today – no expense spared!

"... Well, yeah, obviously... But Roxas, I..." Axel looked embarrassed, as he looked away at the floor. He had to tell the boy, the thought had been floating around his head for a long time, and especially yesterday what with the whole princess thing. "I... I... er..."

"I LOVE YOU NAMINÉ!" stated Sora again, very loudly, but this time nobody bothered to look around. The antics were getting ... tiresome.

"Yeah... What Sora said..." muttered Axel.

Roxas' blue eyes widened. "What, you love Naminé?" he asked. He knew the true message he was trying to get across, but he didn't want to believe it. So he started talking, doing a wonderful impression of Sora. "BecauseIdon'tthinkRikuwouldlikeitifyouwentoutwithher,y'know?Don'twanttospoilahappyhappyhappyfriendshipImeanhappyhappyha-"

"No, you dummy..." said Axel softly, as Roxas still mumbled the word 'happy' continuously under his breath. He wondered if the blonde-haired boy was malfunctioning, and it was all his fault. "I don't love Naminé... I ... l-love... you... I think..."

"I LOVE YOU NAMINÉ!"

Roxas' eye twitched slightly, hearing Sora shouting over and over again, Naminé saying she hated him, hearing Riku and Kairi arguing over the whole Sora/Naminé situation, who loved who? Axel certainly didn't love Roxas... Maybe Roxas didn't want to believe he did, didn't want to believe how sincere his voice was, because he was scared ... his brain tried to work it out for him ... it was a ... a ... a trick! Yes that was it, Axel was teasing him... How did Axel KNOW Roxas liked him?

... It was Larxene! Larxene told him!

"I LOVE YOU!" screamed Sora again.

"... I love you, Roxas ... got it memorized? ..." mumbled Axel, looking up at the boy again. Roxas was much easier on the eyes than the floor.

"I HATE YOU SORA!"

Roxas clapped his hands against his skull to keep it from shattering with all the words and shouting and ... he was nearly crying, as he stood up, needing some fresh air, to get away from everything...

"Roxas?" asked Axel.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU! LEAVE ME ALONE!" screamed the tormented boy, as if demons surrounded him, running out of the drama hall, knocking over Aerith. She shouted after him, but by that time he was long gone...

-x-x-x-

L/N: If this is crappy quality – like all on the right side – don't blame me, blame the computer /narrows eyes/ it always had that shifty look...