Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. The plot for this piece of fiction is a cross between my own work and a true story. The characters used are property of SquareEnix and Disney. The locations are very real places.

WARNINGS: Mild profanity, drug references, teen pregnancy, STDs, hard drug references, mild references to stoner culture, trespassing, teen sexuality, under-age sex, breaking and entering, theft, the disregard of several Constitutional Amendments, under-age drinking, abusive relationships, teen violence, needles, character death, under-age smoking, heterosexual relationships, homosexual relationships, and implied statutory rape.

-Visual-Boy-

At the tender age of fifteen Vanitas had dabbled in every form of drug Manchester had to offer – which was a lot. (Though he never touched Meth or anything with needles. He knew what that shit did to people.) His drug of choice was marijuana, but he never smoked it – like cigarettes, it triggered his asthma. No, he preferred to bake it into brownies. Eventually he learned how to function on low doses, and life became an experience. Math tests went from boring to "HOLY SHIT, BATMAN!" Music was that much more enjoyable. Roller coasters were a religious experience.

At the tender age of fifteen Vanitas would come home covered in all sorts of bruises. On some occasions he wouldn't come home at all, having been locked in a trunk in the middle of a random parking lot, only to be discovered two days later by the bomb squad. It was during these times that he was at his most sober, not willing to take the risk of being jumped while he was baked. But one day he was cornered, and had been knifed on an abandoned street while under the influence. He never did learn how he got home.

At the tender age of fifteen, Vanitas had been uprooted from Manchester, England and moved to the enigmatic city that was Portland, Oregon. (His parents had considered Vancouver, Washington. Not a day went by in his teen life that he wasn't well aware of the alternative it had presented. Because, in his opinion, no one in their right mind would choose a bad knock-off of suburbia over Portland.) He was exposed to weekly free-art-gallery day and peace rallies in the park. And after only a week he had been introduced to the drug ring and became a dealer.

At the tender age of fifteen, Vanitas had been forced into a new country with new ideals, and he had no handbook to help him through it. Students at his school first saw him as the "cool transfer kid" but their illusions wore off after seeing that he wasn't ridiculously tall, handsome, chivalrous, or cool. (The height and looks would come a year later, after his nose filled out, face slimmed down, and impressive array of pimples vanished seemingly overnight.)

At the tender age of fifteen, Vanitas walked into his new school with his parents and was given his schedule from what he could only describe as the perfect girl. She said her name was Kairi, and her smile was genuine. Her makeup was perfectly natural, clothes just right, and carried herself with just enough class that over the next two years nothing she did could ever disillusion himself of her. And considering he was in love with her, she did a lot of things wrong.

First, in a long line of things she had done to wrong him (without her knowledge,) she had fallen for Demyx O'Donohue. Just like every other girl in their stupid school, she had fallen for the ridiculously tall swimmer with an overactive personality and the inability to return a girl's feeling. (Just why he never agreed to date them, Vanitas would never know. Until Senior year, that is.) While she was terribly obvious, and was closer to him than anyone, she never came close to his affections, and Vanitas felt they were wasted.

Second, she wore long skirts. The only real relevance to this was that he figured she'd look much better in pants. And he figured they might give her a bit of confidence.

And the rest?

Well, the rest could be forgotten in light of more recent events.

-Visual-Boy-

Lesson Ten: Comic Books and Blow Part 2

-Visual-Boy-

The guard passed by two more times before it was done – just as Vanitas had predicted – and they slipped out the window and into the bushes, forgoing the door in favor of racing to the trees.

It had taken an hour to infiltrate the Principal's office, but only three minutes to leave.

By the time Kairi came back to herself, Vanitas had begun talking at her. " – then, when I was fifteen, Interpol got me on possession 'cause she had left some Crystal under my bed. This was apparently one of many turning points for my dad since he uprooted the family and moved us here. It was either her or the homeless chap that shanked me. I guess he figured that America would straighten me out better than Military School."

"When the Hell did I ask for your life story?"

"You didn't."

"Thought so." Groaning, she adjusted her backpack.

"I can take that, if you'd like."

"I guess that makes you a gentleman," she hissed.

"No – it just makes sense. I'm stronger than you, and that can't be light." The reply made Kairi feel just a bit guilty, as the pack was in fact digging uncomfortably into her shoulders. She shook her head "no" anyway. "Whatever floats your boat, I guess," he conceded after a moment. "But don't go throwing pebbles at my window when you can't move your shoulders tomorrow morning."

She rolled her eyes. "Deal," she agreed sarcastically. "As long as you don't go throwing pebbles at mine."

"No promises – I'm a bit of a romantic," he admitted, looking her straight in the eye before turning away, and for a startling moment Kairi had been lost. His irises were an abundantly bright blue, with flecks of brown hidden around the edges, and instead of growing to a darker blue around the outer ring they went straight to black.

Kairi pushed away the sudden urge to see him in better lighting. "You're really not who I expected, you know."

Sparing a laugh, he grinned. "Which way?"

"Huh?"

"I am walking you home, right?"

The girl blinked, not quite expecting the answer. Looking both ways, she shrugged. "Left, I guess. My car's just around the corner."

Black eyebrows shot up. "Car, huh? In that case, could I convince you to take me home?"

She laughed. "Well, it is supposed to rain tonight."

Two blocks later they were curled up in their respective seats. "Jesus," Vanitas cursed. "You never can appreciate just how cold it is until you stop moving. What is it out there? Forty degrees?"

"Forty-five," Kairi replied, tugging on Xion's sweater. "I'm kind of glad I'm not wearing that dress any more. Although these shoes are freezing."

The raven-haired boy shrugged. "Overlarge shoes do that. They're good for summer, though."

"I wouldn't doubt it." Turning the key in the ignition, she flipped the heaters on. "Wait until it heats up, but in advance – enjoy."

"Don't mind if I do!" the boy replied, rubbing his arms and shivering. They sat there for a while, not moving, not talking, and definitely not driving. "Umm... aren't we gonna go?"

"Waiting until I can feel my fingers again," the redhead replied, flexing the appendages. "Bad circulation."

"I like you."

Kairi paused, not quite sure what was happening. "Come again?"

"I like you. I really, really like you."

"What brought this on?"

"Well, I figured I wouldn't get another chance to get you alone like this so I figured I'd take a figurative leap and get it out there."

She blinked. "Uh – hello? Earth to Vanitas – I'm not Xion."

"Xion's not my type," he replied simply. "I like birds that dress for the occasion, thanks. All that girl ever bothers with is a shirt, jeans, and combat boots. And she paints everything but her face." Reaching between the seat and the door, he pulled the handle for the back to recline and pushed it all the way down until Kairi had to twist her body to see him. "Don't get me wrong – she's a great friend. I just can't see her as a woman."

Kairi scoffed. "Demyx doesn't seem to think that way. Or Zexion."

"That's because of her charm. Even you aren't completely immune to it."

"And you are?"

He shrugged. "Mum's the same way; carries herself with a level of nobility and shite that over-encompasses everything that seems to be real until nothing is."

Screwing up her face, the redhead scoffed. "That makes no sense."

"It's not supposed to," he replied evenly. "My point is that it's not something anyone's immune to, but depending on who you are you get a different reaction to it. You envy it, Demyx wants it, Zexion admires it, and I think she acts too much like my mum for me to appreciate it."

"In that case, if I look like Xion, and Xion reminds you of your Mom, then why do you like me? Got a little Oedipus thing going on that you don't want anyone knowing about?"

Barking a laugh, the boy suddenly sat up, nearly bashing her face with his in the process. "You really want to know?"

She blinked, not really expecting the question. "Well... guys aren't interested much. I might as well figure out what I'm doing right."

He laughed again, right in her face, before leaning back. "You really are the sweetest little thing to fall from Heaven, you know that?"

"Don't patronize me," she snapped.

"Hey – I'm not kidding. You sit there is some other girl's clothes, and even though you look great, and the color suits you, it's obvious you don't belong in black. You're a goody-two-shoes to the bone. You're honest, sweet, and get along great with pretty much everyone. You wear conservative clothing, your makeup is always flawless, and I swear those jumpers you wear when it gets cold are the cutest things in the world."

"Jumpers?"

"Oh – right. American. 'Jumpers' are 'sweaters.'"

Not quite believing her ears, Kairi tried to figure out just what he was saying. "So... that stuff works for you? The goody-two-shoes thing?"

"At what point did I say it didn't? I'm not an asshole by choice, you know. It's like they say – when in Rome, do as the Romans do."

"But no one wants to be around an asshole."

"My point exactly."

"God – what did they do to you in London?"

He rolled his eyes. "First of all, I'm not from London – I'm from Manchester. Second of all, they did a lot of things. Would you like a detailed list or just the top three offenses?"

"No – I'm good. You don't have to tell me," she replied, trying not to think about what could qualify in the "top three offenses."

There was silence.

"I was locked in a boot, once." Kairi stared at the admission. "In the College's car park."

"A boot?"

"Sorry – trunk. They locked me in a trunk, once."

"Who did?"

"My mates." He paused. "Friends. God – you Americans and your slang."

"That's not slang."

"Whatever. Americans and their American English. Happy?"

"Yes. And they don't sound like very good mates."

Slowly, a smile spread over the raven-haired boys lips. "They weren't," he agreed. "But unlike here, it's standard procedure in England to be an ass hole. The only constant from person to person is the inability to address one's own feelings."

"You don't seem to have that problem," the girl observed.

"I was also getting the living shite kicked out of me on a regular basis," he admitted. "People around here always talk about England as if it's some great and romantic place that's nothing like America, but the fact is that it's the same. If you're not the majority you don't belong."

"Sounds terrible," she drawled.

"It's probably not nearly as bad as I'm making it out to be, though," he admitted. "Retrospect tends to embellish the past."

They laughed.

Kairi tried to keep her voice from cracking when she said, "Well, I guess that explains why you kissed me earlier." Blowing on her fingers, she rubbed them together and placed them in front of the vents. "Well, I can feel my fingers, again. Where to?"

-Visual-Boy-

Kairi woke to the sounds of pebbles against her window.

Glancing over to her alarm clock, she groaned softly as she saw that it was seven in the morning. She threw her blankets off, hissing as her feet came into contact with the cold wood floor. As pebble after pebble pelted the glass the girl set about adjusting her pajamas, making her way to the far wall. A glance in the mirror proved her hair to be a mess. A glance down proved that she had forgotten to do her nails the night before, and they were chipped and chewed to within an inch of her life. And with no warning she couldn't put on her makeup.

After tripping over the shoes at the foot of her bed, the redhead finally made it to the curtains, which she pulled aside without hesitation. One last pebble clanked against the window before the sound stopped. Releasing the lock, she slid the pane upward and stuck her head out.

"It's seven in the morning on a Saturday," she groaned. "Why are you...?" As the situation set in, Kairi trailed off in shock. It wasn't the person that surprised her – Vanitas had proved himself unpredictable by nature, and just because it had been two months since they'd snuck into the school together didn't mean he was getting any more predictable. It was the enormous ten-foot tall pole (which looked very heavy) covered top to bottom in large quantities of brightly colored ribbon that he stood beside that threw her off. Compared to that, what followed – Vanitas leaping on to the side of her house and climbing up the gutter pipe to crawl into her bedroom through the window – was normal. "What is that?"

"It's a May Pole," he replied.

"But it's April."

"What – a bloke can't be spontaneous?" he joked, chuckling. At her prolonged look of shock the blond couldn't help a wide grin. "Da' made one for Mum when he was first wooing her."

"When, in 1970?"

"1968, actually," he corrected. "As life would have it, I was born six years later."

"Umm..." Kairi blinked several times in the hope that the ten foot pole in her back yard was just a hallucination. "Sorry to break it to you, but American customs are different from European ones."

Scoffing, Vanitas leaned against the wall and fixed her with a look. "You think I don't know that? I've only been here for two bloomin' years – I'm very aware." Thinking better of his placement, he stood up properly, and Kairi couldn't help but marvel momentarily at his posture. "So, aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Huh? Oh – right... Take a seat anywhere, I guess."

"Kind of ye'." Waltzing over like he owned the place, Vanitas collapsed onto her bed without much ceremony, patting the space beside him.

It was then that the situation really began to sink in for Kairi. Here she was, in her room alone with a guy. And not just any guy, but the guy with which she had trespassed, broken into public property, hacked into private records, stolen information, and kissed. To top it off, he was the school's drug dealer. To say that he was a bad influence was like saying Hitler was one of millions of political figures in World War II; while it was true it was also a massive understatement.

So when she came out of her thoughts to realize that (according to the clock) they had been making out for the past ten minutes and their shirts were gone Kairi began to worry about the power Vanitas had over her.

-Visual-Boy-

It was another perfectly normal Saturday in the month of April. Vanitas had sneaked in through Kairi's window, and the redhead had rushed to help him in, if only as an excuse to touch him. (Not, as he reminded her shortly after, that she needed one. As if to prove it the two quickly dissolved into long, heady kisses and wandering hands.)

"Oh God," Vanitas gasped, pulling away from the girl for a desperate gulp of breath. "It's like I can't get enough of you."

The girl grinned, nuzzling his neck with her nose. "I know what you mean," she replied, nibbling on his clavicle. Not seconds later her hands began to tug at his shirt hem. Not one to deny himself, the blond tugged it off and leaned in for a deeper kiss, prying her mouth open wide with his tongue and bearing down on her, using his height to his advantage. As one hand held her head at an angle, burying deep into her hair to hold her still for him to ravage, the other went to the buttons of her shirt. Before long he was sliding it off her shoulders, and her bra was soon to follow.

Smoothing a hand over the alert points of the girl's breasts, the boy sighed as she worked at his jeans. Pulling from the kiss, he pushed his laughter away, feeling that it didn't really suit the moment. "Usually I have to persuade you for hours to get this far. Something happen?"

"Nothing in particular," the redhead replied. "I'm thinking about bleaching my hair, though."

Vanitas grinned. "Blonde, huh?" Taking firmer hold of her scalp, he forced the girl's head forward until he could lower his face to the strands and take a deep breath. "You do so well as a redhead, though."

"Fuck red," the girl hissed, much to the boy's surprise. "Red is just so... Kairi." She groaned, oblivious to the expression of utter shock on the boy's face.

"Huh?"

"She's such a downer, you know," the girl drawled, ignoring his panic. "But then, you are, too."

"What the hell?"

"Oh – she didn't tell you?" She laughed, tapping her forehead. "She's not the only one up here-but don't worry. Your little girlfriend's fine – took her drugs and everything. She's just mulling over some things she learned today." Humming a single note, the girl raked her eyes along the taller boy's form. "About you, coincidentally." She grinned, taking hold of his pants and dragging him to the bed. And despite all his posturing and the like during the day, all his bragging and feats, he was powerless to stop her. "Did you really lose your virginity at thirteen?"

They fell onto the bed, one on top of the other, the girl between his spread knees and pressing her shin to his groin. "She's-" He gulped and cleared his throat, finding it difficult to concentrate. "She's worried about something like that?"

Her grin spread. "Of course! This is Kairi we're talking about. You know – Worrywart of the century. Little Miss Virgin." She laughed – a sarcastic, eager sound that rang hollow in Ventus' ears. "Then again, you took care of that, didn't you?" Sliding her shin harder against him, the girl drank in the small whimper that slipped from his lips. "Speaking of sex, I should probably thank you for that. What do you think? Up for a bit of the naughty?"

Ventus was quiet for a long time before speaking. "What's your name?"

She hummed to herself. "Naminé," she purred.

"Does she know what we're doing?"

"We're all alone," she replied, leaning forward to nip at his chin. "Nothing to fear."

His lips twitched. "Gotcha." Leaning back, he slapped the girl across the cheek, then took a moment to savor the shock on her face.

"The fuck?" she spat, cradling the reddening cheek with a hand.

"You're not Kairi, and you'll never be Kairi, so back the fuck off." He slid off the bed, reaching for his discarded shirt and sliding it on.

Jumping off the bed after him, the girl roughly grabbed his shoulder and wheeled him to face her. "Like it or not, I am Kairi – at least in body. Besides, do you really think you're good enough for her? Face it – I'm more your type, and I'm more likely to stick around after her bad-boy phase passes."

"I'll take my chances with the goodie-two-shoes," he snapped, wrenching his shoulder from her grip. "I actually like her."

Naminé scoffed, burying a hand in her hair. "What? So I'm not good enough for you?"

Shaking his head, the boy bit back a sigh. "Well, you're not Kairi, so..." He trailed off, almost as if taking his own words into account. "Yeah."

He sting of her hand across his face was becoming an increasingly familiar one.

-To-Be-Continued-

End Notes: I cannot stress how honest I'm being when I say that this chapter was not supposed to exist. It happened anyway. Damn you, Vanitas, and your cute, not-actually-playboy ways.

Also, yes – I realize you guys may want Zexion and Demyx back. But please keep in mind that this needed to happen.

Thanks to Chaotic Dawn, Zenelly, Elizabeth, Princely, Conigliomannaro, and Roanam, as usual.

Doggedly,

Besieged Infection

P.S. You know who you are. This is for you.