Okay, so, the last chapter was angsty, i realize that...but i couldn't just let the angst go...it was too intense of a situation to do that. ahem, anyways, this chapter is where all the humor comes back and things start to lighten up. WOOT!

Disclaimer: uuuuhhhhnnnnn...(drools)

Kanta: (sighs and pokes Ramen with a stick) she doesn't own KH or it's characters...read and enjoy.

A sharp, piercing scream shattered the silence in the crowded apartment. Outside, a car alarm went off and several dogs began howling in protest or reply. Demyx rolled away from the sound, covering his ears and huddling in a ball, his shouts joining with the shriek. Zexion sat up, wincing at the ear-shattering cry. Asmara came stumbling from the hallway, her hair dripping wet, the color dulled from bright pink to a deeper magenta from the water, her body wrapped in a small, tattered looking towel that matched the color of her eyes.

"What's—''

"OHMYGOD!! ROXAS IS DEAD!!" Sora screamed, mercifully ceasing in his cries to begin hyperventilating as he knelt next to his "dead" brother.

Axel sat up and glared at everyone. "What the hell are you guys doing?"

"ROXAS! WAKE UP!"

"SORA!" Axel, Demyx and Zexion shouted back.

Asmara came up behind the brunet and rubbed his back soothingly. "Sora…sweetie, Roxas isn't dead. See? He's breathing." She pointed out, watching as Roxas, indeed, breathed.

"But…but he won't wake up!" Sora shook his twin rather violently, ignoring Asmara's restraining words. "ROXAS!?"

"He isn't dead, Sora." Asmara said again, hoping the words would get through somehow.

Zexion shook his head as Demyx stood and twisted a finger in his ear.

"Yeah…" Demyx said, "But if that scream didn't wake him up, he's at least in a coma."

"AH, NO!" Asmara patted Sora's head, glaring up at Demyx.

Axel joined the gathering group that huddled around the unmoving Roxas. Save for his breathing, he did seem dead. Except corpses weren't beet red.

Sora yanked the blanket off of Roxas. "He doesn't like being cold…if he doesn't have a blanket, he'll wake up." He said with conviction, waiting anxiously as he held the blanket in one hand and chewed his knuckles on the other.

Everyone stared at the boy curled uncomfortably in the recliner, aghast and sympathetic.

"Ouch," Demyx said, cringing, and Zexion nodded in agreement.

Asmara winced at the sight and backed away, taking Sora with her.

Axel shook his head. "That's painful just to look at. I can only imagine how it feels."

Roxas' usually creamy skin was burned the color of blood and cracked. His entire body was rubbed raw from the sea salt they'd all been too lazy to wash off the night before. Everyone was sun-burned to some extent, save for Asmara and Sora, bastards that they were. They're skin had just bronzed slightly. Since Asmara had already showered, her skin glowed healthily, and no doubt Sora would look the same once he'd washed. Demyx's nose and forehead were red and his hair colored dingy brown. Zexion's hair had darkened as well and become stringy from the salt water. It hung in his face, hiding any sun-burns he might possibly, and probably did, have.

Axel, amazingly, was the only one who wasn't burned or tanned, although his hair had seen better days. How had the redhead escaped unscathed? Weren't redheads supposed to be more susceptible to sunburns than others? Nonetheless, his ivory skin was unblemished and pale as always. Lucky guy…

"Poor Roxas…" Sora said sadly. "He's gonna be maaaaad when he wakes up."

"Oh? I thought you said he was dead?" Axel raised an eyebrow at the brunet.

Sora pouted. "So what if I did? I know he isn't now."

Demyx smacked Sora on the back and laughed. "Good thing too, otherwise we'd have to…um…" Demyx scratched his head. "I forgot what I was gonna say…"

Sora smiled, giggling. "That's okay, I wasn't listening!"

"What time is it?" Zexion asked Asmara, who didn't seem the least bit self-conscious standing in a room full of guys in nothing but a towel that hardly covered her.

"Um…" Asmara disappeared around the corner and returned a moment later, fishing around in the pocket of her jeans. "Here we are," she pulled out her watch and flipped it around to check the face. "It's a quarter to eleven now." She set the watch down on the table and crossed her arms, looking relaxed. Suddenly, her eyes went wide and she snatched it back up. "Ohmygod! It's a quarter to eleven?!" she ran from the room, leaving the four conscious boys to stare at each other, dumbstruck.

"What's so special about what time it is?" Sora asked, pouting as he thought. The kid had a pout to go with every expression.

Demyx shrugged and turned to Zexion, who did the same. Axel just turned his attention back to Roxas, who still lay on the chair. But his eyes were wide open and staring straight back at the redhead.

"AH!" Axel jumped up onto the couch, raising his arms in defense.

Demyx and Sora, startled, grabbed onto Zexion who sighed and glared up at Axel.

"What now?" he asked.

"HE'S AWAKE!" Sora cheered as he saw Roxas.

"Of course I am, I have been ever since you screamed." Roxas laughed softly and sat up with a painful moan. His laughter turned quickly to a harsh cough that had Sora rushing over to his side. Axel relaxed and patted his chest.

"Jesus, don't scare me like that,"

Roxas gave the redhead an unreadable look, opening his mouth to say something. Axel waited in anticipation to hear Roxas speak, but he never got the chance as Asmara ran into the room at that moment, looking harried and worried. She was wearing a black blouse and matching slacks, several pins sticking out of her mouth as she twisted her pink hair up into that messy bun she always wore.

"What's the rush?" Demyx wondered.

"I have to be to work in ten minutes you guys!" Asmara said around the pins in her mouth. She pulled one out and slipped it into her hair, repeating the process over and over until all were holding the unruly curls up. "We gotta go!"

The boys groaned and shuffled after Asmara as she snatched her keys off the counter and jogged for the door. "Hurry up!" she called.

"We're coming, we're coming!" Sora called back, trying to help Roxas walk without touching his brother too much. Roxas' skin was so sensitive that just the air was making him hiss in pain, but the blond kept walking stiffly after the others.

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In the car, everybody kept their mouths shut, as Asmara was wild eyed and driving at least, if not more than, twenty miles over the speed limit and weaving in and out of the sparse traffic on the road.

"I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late!" she kept chanting frantically. "Can you imagine me being late?!" she gasped in horror. "What if I get fired?!"

"I'm sure you won't be fired for being five minutes late on a Saturday," Zexion assured from the cramped backseat.

"Easy for you to say, your school career isn't riding on your job!" she snapped back.

"No…it's riding on my grades and performance." Zexion replied, sighing in defeat as he gave up trying to shift into a more comfortable position.

Asmara gaped at him in the rearview mirror. "You're on a scholarship?" she blinked.

Zexion nodded and Demyx laughed and raised his hand. "Guilty!"

"What about the rest of you?"

Axel hissed as his head slammed into the roof of the car as they sped over a pothole. "Yeah…me too."

"Twins say what?" Asmara turned her head from the road to regard Sora who was squished in the back.

Roxas groaned quietly as he turned his head, his skin tight and dry from the sun and salt. "Paid tuition, room and board."

Everybody in the car gaped at the twins. "WHAT?!"

"Do you know how expensive our school is?" Asmara squeaked, jerking back to face the road, just in time to weave around a car stopped at a red light. The passengers winced at the sound of cars squealing their tires as they tried to brake and swerve away, honking in anger as Asmara shot through the intersection out of turn. "How did you guys get the money?"

"Parents…" Roxas mumbled, turning away to stare out the window. Sora just nodded and stared at the back of his brother's head.

"Wow, you guys must be pretty well off then." Demyx said excitedly. Zexion grabbed his arm and shook his head, making Demyx frown in confusion. Axel kept his eyes on Roxas' expression as it switched from angry to sad to blank.

"Yeah…" Sora sighed before he too turned his face away to gaze out at the passing scenery.

Everyone fell silent again, and Demyx wiggled uncomfortably.

"What? Was it something I said?"

His questions went unanswered as the school finally came into view.

Sorry for the return of the angst at the end, i promise the next chapter will go back to the fun stuff...and that it'll be posted faster than these two...and i aim to keep that promise!

Kanta: please review.

Ramen: oh, and you can send in suggestions for what they boys will do and talk about once they get back to their dorm. it's a Saturday afternoon and i'd just planned for them to just laze around and nurse their tortured skin...but if you've got dialogue and activities you'd like to see, give me a shout, mkay? 8D