Rivals

A gentle breeze blew across Twilight Town's clocktower, ruffling a redhead's spikes a little. Axel sighed contentedly. It felt really good to be up there on the clocktower, especially since it was another Friday afternoon. That meant it would only be a little while until Roxas and Xion caught up to him. He was quite grateful for Xion's coming to Twilight Town. Before she came along, he would only ever hang out with Roxas when it was just the two of them. But now with Xion competing with Hayner for turns with Roxas, they got to have fun together more often now, not to mention he now had another good friend.

That's why when he heard footsteps coming up from the stairwell behind him, he turned excitedly. "You're here pretty quick this week. Hayner didn't put up much of a fight?"

"Yeah, right. When did Hayner not put up a fight?" a girl's voice answered. Xion finally emerged from the stairwell and stepped out onto the clocktower's ledge, allowing the gentle twilight glow to envelop her. However, there was something Axel noticed immediately. She was alone.

"...No way. You lost??"

She took a seat next to Axel and punched him lightly before responding, "No, he just didn't show up today."

Axel raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? That's kind of weird, considering how the two of you compete for Roxas with so much gusto."

"Yeah, I know," she agreed, nodding. "But Roxas said that it was that time of the month for Hayner, so he wouldn't be showing up. And since Roxas looked pretty worried, I just made him promise to hang out with us some other time."

Axel raised his eyebrows even higher. He dug a finger in his ear to make sure nothing was impeding his hearing. "...Sorry, did I hear you right? Hayner couldn't make it because--"

"--it's his time of the month," she said plainly. She glanced at him and an amused expression appeared on her face. "Yeah, I think I had the same expression. I bet he worded it like that on purpose. He said if we were curious about it we should swing by the Sandlot later."

She held out a hand and Axel automatically passed her a bar of sea-salt ice cream. "Hayner's period, huh?" he chuckled. "I guess we should check it out."

Xion made a face. "Yeah, yeah... just be happy you guys don't get it."

-x-

Of course, what Roxas was referring to was definitely different from what a certain two were thinking right at that moment. He was talking about another event which happened every month, which brought great pain and stress to Hayner, though he usually didn't feel those things until after it happened.

It was why Roxas was now headed toward the Usual Spot. Though he supposed he should be hurrying, he knew that he really wouldn't be able to do anything anyway, so he just walked at his normal pace. He pushed the wire gate open, and saw none other than Hayner, grunting as he did push-ups in the middle of the Usual Spot.

"Hundred twenty-one... hundred twenty-two... hundred twenty-three..."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "You know, just adding a hundred to your count doesn't make it convincing. And I doubt it'll impress Olette."

Hayner raised his head to look at Roxas, making sure he was alone. "Shut up... twenty-four..."

Roxas went over to the sofa and sat on the armrest, watching as Hayner continued his workout. "Maybe you should try adding a more realistic number, like fifty. At least it sounds possible."

Right at that moment, the wire gate creaked open. At the same time, Hayner froze at the peak of one of his push-ups. The new arrival, Pence, just stared at Hayner, who still wasn't moving, then turned to Roxas. "What's going on?"

"His brain is still doing the math," he answered with a smirk.

A look of recognition formed on Pence's face. "Ah, I see... maybe you should stick to adding by hundreds Hayner."

"I'm starting to think that he should just stop adding."

"Nah, it's good practice for him. At least Olette'll be happy about that."

"Then maybe he should just quit this whole thing and do math homework, huh? Not like he has a chance of winning today."

Hayner had finally had enough of the two. He got up and glared at the two, at which they responded with a smug smirk. "Instead of badmouthing me, how about you help me train?"

"That's another thing," Pence said. "You know that by working out this hard, you're just gonna make yourself a training dummy for your fight with Seifer later, right?"

"Emphasis on the dummy," Roxas added. "Considering you haven't learned from last month... and the month before that..."

Hayner just rolled his eyes. He stretched out a bit, feeling the tense pull of strained muscles. He took this as a sign that he was definitely ready for the match. A confident smirk formed on his face.

"Seifer won't know what him," he announced, picking up a Struggle bat and giving it a few swings.

"Probably because nothing will hit him," Roxas said. "Like last month. It was over in what, twenty seconds?"

"If you round up. It was really more like fourteen seconds."

"No, I think you're talking about the month before."

"Quit teasing Hayner you guys." The wire gate swung open once more, and Olette walked in. She gave Roxas and Pence a reprimanding look before taking a seat on the sofa. She took a look at Hayner and sighed.

"Hayner, I told you not to wear yourself out again," she said, looking at how sweaty he was.

"This? It's nothing, just warming up," he answered, trying to pass off the fatigue he was feeling as nonchalantly as possible.

"I think you've overheated already," Roxas said.

"He's right, you're really hot." The three boys stared at Olette. Her eyes widened, realizing what she had just said. "I-I didn't-- not like that! I mean, he is hot, but you know-- temperature-wise. I can feel his body heat all the way over here."

She could feel herself turning red. Trying to divert the conversation elsewhere, she changed the topic, "Anyway, Hayner, won't you reconsider this whole thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, shouldn't you stop duelling Seifer every month? I think the two of you are getting really out of hand."

"She does have a point," Pence said. "Not counting the last two months, you two really went at it for hours. And the only real reason you didn't keep going was because the two of you could barely move anymore."

"No way! I have to put up with that jerk in school, and this is the only time I ever get to give him what he deserves!"

"That, and Hayner won't accept the fact that Seifer won so easily the last few times," Roxas explained. "You're gonna have to ask him when he's on a winning streak to get him to agree."

"And that winning streak starts today! Let's do this!"

With those words, Hayner charged out of the Usual Spot with a struggle bat over his shoulder. The ones left behind let out an exasperated sigh.

"Do you have it Olette?" Pence asked.

"Right here," she answered, pulling a first aid kit from her bag.

"Okay. Let's follow that idiot before he hurts himself too much."

-x-

They were surprised to see that Hayner hadn't run all the way to the Sandlot yet. They found him at the bottom of the stairs, peeking around the corner. And even though they couldn't see it, they knew that he was wearing a confident smirk at that moment.

"What are you doing, Hayner?" Roxas asked.

He turned to them, showing them that smirk as he chuckled. "This is called tactics. I read about a famous swordsman who purposely came late to a duel just to make his opponent angry. And because of that, he was able to beat him much easier."

"Oh, you mean Musashi Miyamoto against Kojiro Sasaki?" Olette asked. "Wow, I wouldn't think you would know such a story."

"I'm more surprised about the fact that he read about it," Roxas commented.

"But do you think that's a good tactic against Seifer? I mean look at him," Pence said, as they all leaned out of the corner to get a better view. Seifer was just standing there with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, almost as if he were meditating. His struggle bat though, was still held in his hand, ready to be used in an instant. And as usual, his faithful followers Fuu, Rai, and Viki were waiting with him.

"Pence is right," Olette said with some concern. "He doesn't seem too distracted."

"And what's worse," Roxas added, "is that it's even backfiring." He looked at Hayner and sighed. Now that he could see that his 'tactics' were having no effect, it was now Hayner who was getting frustrated.

"C'mon! Get angry already!"

Maybe it was an effect of Seifer's meditative position that allowed him to hear Hayner's frustrated hiss from all the way across the Sandlot. But whatever the case, he did hear it. He slowly opened his eyes, looking toward the corner where the gang was still hiding.

"Chickening out already?" he taunted.

"Who's chickening out?!" Hayner retorted, jumping out into the open. Trying to regain at least the atmosphere of superiority, he swaggered over to where Seifer was standing. Roxas, Pence, and Olette also followed Hayner out into the Sandlot and stood on the sidelines.

"You don't stand a chance, Seifer. Not with my superior strategy." The three standing on the sidelines groaned. Leave it to Hayner to flaunt a 'superior strategy' that had already gone down the drain.

"Strategy? Don't make me laugh. The result will be the same as last time." Seifer held his Struggle bat ready, pointing it towards Hayner. "Still, I guess the only way you'd ever have a chance of winning is by using cheap tricks."

Hayner bit back the impulse to lunge at the jerk. He wasn't going to lose to this guy, not even in their traditional pre-duel banter they always had. "Cheap? Hah, don't worry. I only use the classiest tricks there are."

The trio groaned again. "He's even agreeing with Seifer that he needs tricks to win," Roxas groaned.

Pence shrugged. "It's better than the usual stuff he comes up with."

Olette nodded. "That's true. I was half-expecting him to say that he only uses 'expensive' tricks. He at least managed to switch it with classy."

They watched as the two hot blooded idiots, as Roxas liked to refer to them, stepped toward the center of the Sandlot. Hayner stood ready, crouching low and the Sturggle bat held firlmly in his hand. Seifer, on the other hand, just stood there. He didn't shift his position or even hold his Struggle bat properly. This definitely didn't help any for Hayner's disposition.

"What are you playing at?! Get serious already!"

"I don't need to get serious for the likes of you."

While they continued their, pre-fight fight, Roxas nudged Pence with his elbow. "Three ice cream bars on Hayner going down in two minutes."

Pence nodded. "Okay, then I'm betting on one minute."

"Why are you both betting on Hayner losing?" a voice asked. The trio turned to find Xion and Axel approaching the bench they were sitting on.

Roxas grinned, happy to see his friends come. "As his best friend, I wish him the best of luck in winning the match. But as a person looking to win a bet, I have to side with the chances. Besides, I am respecting him this way. I didn't call fifteen seconds, did I?"

"Same here," Pence added.

Olette sighed. Xion passed her a sympathetic glance. It must be tough hanging out with such thoughtless guys.

"You guys already got the good times," Olette grumbled. "Fine, I'll bet on thirty seconds." When she noticed Xion looking at her, she raised her hands defensively. "Sorry, but these guys are really contagious."

Axel shot his hand in the air. "I call one and a half minutes!"

Xion shrugged. "Well, since there's ice cream on the line. I'll bet on forty seconds."

"I can hear you guys, you know!!" Hayner yelled.

"Then be sure to lose at the two minute mark!" Roxas called back.

"No! Wait until a minute!"

"A minute and a half!"

Hayner huffed, getting back into his stance. Seifer was now at least holding his Struggle bat properly, though he was still standing in an idle position. In between them stood Fuu, her hand raised above her head, ready to start the match.

"Ready?" she asked in her monotone voice. She took a moment to make eye contact with both competitors, then brought her hand down in a swift movement.

Hayner charged headfirst toward Seifer at the first instant. Seifer still hadn't moved from his idle stance. All he did was stretch out the Struggle bat in front of him and--

WHAM!

--wait for Hayner to run straight into it, knocking him onto his butt.

Xion honestly didn't know whether she should laugh or sigh. Though Axel had no problem laughing his butt off, seeing Roxas, Pence and Olette let out another big sigh, she couldn't help but ask, "Their fights aren't always like this... are they?"

"It's not normally this bad," Pence said. "But I kinda thought he would do better than this, especially since Roxas and I managed to stop him from wearing himself out like he usually did."

Roxas buried his face in his hands. "Ugh, I knew I should have bet on fifteen seconds."

"Hey! What's with you guys already counting me out?!" Hayner yelled as he got back onto his feet. "I just... slipped up is all!"

"Then quit fooling around and get up," Seifer barked from behind him. It looked like he was starting to get serious, if only to things over with as fast as possible.

"You don't have to tell me twice!!" Hayner roared, lunging at Seifer again. Seifer once again stretched out his Struggle bat in front of him, limiting Hayner's approach. He ducked toward his right and swinging his weapon upwards, managed to deal a glancing blow on his opponent's arm.

But apparently, that was all it was: just a glancing blow. Seifer's eyes narrowed. "Is that all you got?"

Hayner saw him raise his Struggle bat, and the next thing he knew, he was getting hit all over. He could feel the hard wood underneath pressing through the soft blue foam.

He was knocked back down to the ground. He raised his hands defensively, trying to guard himself from any oncoming blows. But they never came. He tentatively opened his eyes. Roxas was standing in front of him, holding his own Struggle bat, blocking Seifer's path.

"I think that's enough," Roxas said.

Hayner patted himself down, making sure that he wasn't in any critical condition. Seeing that he was fine except for a few bruises that were starting to form, he narrowed his eyes at Roxas' back. "If you're going to step in, couldn't you do it before I get beat up?"

"If I did that, you'd whine and complain about me spoiling your fight. And didn't I bet on you lasting two minutes?"

Meanwhile, Seifer looked like he was getting more fired up. An excited smirk appeared on his face. "So you've finally decided to settle this."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. Will you ever stop?? I'm just interested in being able to recognize my friend's face in the next few days."

A puzzled expression appeared on Xion's face. "What are those two talking about?"

A tired smile appeared on Olette's face. "Well, you know how Hayner sees Seifer as his rival, right?" Xion nodded. "The thing is, Seifer doesn't see it the same way. He normally wouldn't agree to something like a monthly duel with Hayner."

"On the other hand," Pence continued, "ever since Seifer lost to Roxas in the last Struggle tournament, he's been challenging Roxas to fight every time they meet. Which Roxas usually manages to avoid."

"Oh, I get it," Xion said, nodding. "So Hayner sees Seifer as his rival, and Seifer sees Roxas as his, but not vice versa."

"That's right. So Seifer figured if he indulged Hayner, he'd eventually get a chance to fight Roxas, like right now," Olette said, nodding to the scene in front of them where Roxas was at the moment, dodging and blocking blows from Seifer.

"C'mon, Roxas," Axel called. He was starting to get bored watch his blonde friend weave between his oppnent's attacks. "Just beat him up so we can get this over with!"

"Nah, he can't do that," Olette explained. "Beating Seifer now would only make him come after him more."

"So why doesn't he just take a dive?" Xion asked.

"Because Roxas is stubborn that way," Hayner answered, as he limped back towards the group. "He doesn't want to get chased after, but his pride won't allow him to lose on purpose."

"Coming back already, huh?" Pence said with a wry smile.

"You know, you could try to back Roxas up," Olette suggested.

"Yeah," Xion agreed. "What else are you going to use this thing for?" she asked, taking the Struggle club from Hayner.

Roxas continued to dodge the Seifer's oncoming blows, only going as far as to use the Struggle bat to defend himself. He was pretty much stuck the way things were at the moment. If he fought back and won, Seifer would continue to hound him. Nor did he want to let himself lose, and he wasn't about to run away from a fight that had already begun. So what else could he do?

He ducked under another one of Seifer's swings, stumbling towards the sidelines. Seifer really wasn't holding anything back now, and was just swinging wildly, trying to land a hit. Roxas raised his Struggle club to defend himself but was still sent rolling across the Sandlot. A split second later, Seifer was dashing toward him, taking advantage of the moment, swinging the club down with a--

WHACK!!

-x-

"You think Seifer's gonna be okay?" Pence asked. The group was back at the Usual Spot, along with Axel and Xion. The topic of the discussion was of course, none other than the results of the fight.

"He's got a head as thick as Hayner's so he should be fine," Roxas said. "Besides, Olette gave him first aid before Fuu and Rai dragged him off."

Xion groaned. "I hope you're right. I didn't mean to hit him so hard."

"Are you kidding me?" Hayner asked incredulously. A smile crept onto his face. "That was one of the best things I've ever seen! Roxas down on the ground, Seifer ready to deal the finishing blow, and then WHAM! Xion jumps in and knocks him across the Sandlot."

"I couldn't help it!" she whined. "They were only a few feet in front of us, and Roxas was completely defenseless, and I even had a Struggle club. It was instinct!" Her eyes widened, as if suddenly realizing something. She narrowed her eyes at Roxas. "You planned that, didn't you?"

Roxas grinned sheepishly, putting his hands together in apology. "Sorry Xion, but it was the only thing I could think of. This way, Hayner's not too badly hurt, I got out of the fight, and I don't think Seifer's pride would allow himself to challenge a girl, so he won't come after you. So we all win!"

Xion smiled gently. She supposed she had no argument to that. Seeing all these smiling faces around her, this was what was important. That in the end, they were all happy.

"Except for Seifer," Axel noted with a smirk.

Roxas shrugged. "No plan is perfect."

A/N: School killed me. It's not really a valid excuse for this chapter to be late, but still, its what happened. Anyway, it's summer vacation for most people. Unfortunately, I am not one of these people, since I'm taking summer classes. Still, I'll make a renewed effort to try and update at least every two weeks.

Not sure if it was prudent for me to joke about a girl's period in the first part, being a guy and all, so I'm sorry if offends a few people. It kinda got stuck in my head since its a little based on me (I won't elaborate). I'm pretty happy with this chapter, or at least the idea. It feels a little off in some parts, especially in the banter between Hayner and Seifer. Ending it was pretty hard too. But still, I'm pretty happy about it. Tell me what you guys think! Please review!