Chapter 11

Roxas wasn't quite surprised to see Xion in the Main Room of C.O., considering she'd been hanging out there pretty frequently lately. When he'd asked why, she'd said it was because it was "apparently just as safe, and a change of pace is nice". He wasn't sure how he felt about it being safe—he'd been hearing a lot of rumors about C.O. and what was going on, and none of the rumors were kind—but, then again, no one had made a fuss over Xion.

Today, though, he was surprised to see Xion talking to a Larxene. They both looked at least mildly frustrated.

"That's it?" the Larxene asked. He thought her voice sounded familiar, but, then again, Larxenes probably all sounded the same.

"Yes, that's it!" Xion replied. She sounded on the verge of shouting. "Now leave me alone."

"Are you sure—"

"Can't you just ask 7?"

"W-well…"

"What's up?" Roxas asked, having finally come within speaking distance of the two of them. He relaxed his shoulders, trying to appear and sound as laid-back as possible, regardless of how… annoyed he felt. It was a trick he'd picked up from Axel.

Xion sighed, rubbing her head. "It's nothing, Roxas."

"I was just leaving," the Larxene agreed. She turned up her nose.

Roxas drummed his fingers against his side. "Why were you here, anyway?" he asked, eyeing the Larxene. Last thing Xion needed was Larxenes giving her trouble.

"I was trying to help," the Larxene replied, with a loud sniff.

"And I told her that she was better off asking 7 what was wrong than asking me," Xion chimed in. Then her eyes narrowed, and she shifted to look more directly at the Larxene. "Wait a minute—don't you already know what's wrong with me?"

"The basics, yeah," the Larxene said. "But 7 won't tell me any specifics. Besides, he'd only be able to give me the… mechanical aspects. I was looking a little more for—well, never mind. I guess I'll leave you be."

"Wait, seriously?" Roxas couldn't help the laugh that bubbled on his lips. "You? You're helping?"

Xion sighed. The Larxene glared.

"And just what's so funny about it?"

"I dunno. Just never expected a Larxene to, y'know, help." Roxas laughed louder, harder this time. He felt bad but, not much. It was hard to feel sorry for a Larxene. Besides, this one laughed a little at his suggestion.

"Alright, fine, I suppose you have a point there." A smile played on her lips. "I'm just feeling generous, that's all."

Roxas laughed a little again, figuring it was best to just humor her. "Right, so, say you can actually help—"

"What's that supposed to mean?" She went from smiling to murderous in a heartbeat.

"Roxas…" Xion began.

The Larxene continued before she could finish, before Roxas could begin to say anything. "Are you insinuating that I'm no good with computers?" She took a step towards Roxas, poking him in the chest.

He blinked rapidly. "Uh—"

"Well? Are you?"

"I just never imagined a Larxene being good with computers, that's all," Roxas said. It wasn't a lie.

The Larxene returned him with a long, considering look. "Mmmhmm…" She dragged the sound out, sounding surprisingly pleased. "That's what I thought you'd say. I'll be seeing you soon, mister."

"Uh, okay," Roxas said.

The Larxene left.

"Roxas, you sure about that?" Xion asked.

"What?" He turned to her. "Yes. Why are you giving me that look…?"

"That was R—the Larxene that 7 was talking to yesterday. And I think he mentioned something about viruses?"

Roxas frowned a moment, not understanding, but then he remembered. 7 had seemed very worried about the prospect of R having used a virus on Xion—at least, that's what he'd discerned from the overheard conversation. And if she was good with viruses…

"Well, it's not like she can do anything too serious to me," he said, as much to comfort Xion as himself. "Xemnas would be in a right state if I died."

Xion frowned at him. "I… guess there's that…."

"Was she bugging you too much?" Roxas asked. He moved to sit down on the couch next to her. He'd finished with his missions, so he was just here to hang out.

"Nah, and I could've handled it even if you hadn't shown up." Xion sent him a grateful look, anyway, then her eyes trailed after the Larxene. "Surprised she's still around, though, with the rate Riku's been killing Larxenes."

Roxas nodded, vaguely, then he processed what she'd said. He rounded on her, shifting to the edge of his seat. "Riku's killing Larxenes!?"

"Yeah! He's just killing them!" Xion shook as she spoke, her voice thick, agitated. "He saw one the other day and he was like," she paused, then continued in what Roxas was figured was a mocking imitation of Riku, "'Next Larxene I see gets the same treatment,' and everyone else was just like: 'yes sir, of course sir, may I worship the ground you walk on, sir?'" The second imitation was even more bitter than the one she'd done of Riku.

Roxas rolled his eyes. It wasn't that he didn't believe her, he just… "Xion, c'mon, don't be ridiculous."

"Him killing Larxenes isn't ridiculous!"

"It's none of our business."

"He has no right!"

She'd shifted in her seat, too, practically sitting on her legs so she could stare him in the eye. She was trembling, fuming, fingers curled into tight fists. If looks could kill, he'd probably be dead—or, Riku would be, seeing as it was he who her anger was directed at.

"Look, Xion, I never said it was right." He reached out, patting her comfortingly. "But what are we supposed to do about it? I doubt he'll listen if we tell him to stop, and be honest, neither of us could take him in a fight."

Xion glared, bottom lip sticking out. "You could."

"I wouldn't count on it!" Roxas laughed. "I'm good at fighting Heartless, alright, but I've never had to fight a person before. And, y'know, that's Riku. He took down some of the top Organization members and won. I wouldn't want to face him unless I had to."

Xion's glare only deepened, and she pushed his hand off.

"What if you had orders to?" she demanded. "Would you kill someone simply because you were ordered to?"

When she put it like that, it made Roxas feel a little queasy. He started to shift in his seat, and then stopped, realizing well enough that would make him look like he was uncomfortable. He was, of course, but she didn't need to know. Then again, she was his friend—shouldn't he be honest with her? The Organization was really starting to rub off on him…

"I don't exactly have a choice," he told her. He didn't attempt to mask his unease this time. "Orders are orders. Saying no means I'm killed, at best."

"At best?"

Roxas shrugged, then sniffed. Had it always been so hard to breathe through his nose?

"Are you sure you really want to be doing this Organization thing?" Xion asked.

"Well I don't have a choice there, either! I mean, I was sorta created to do this."

Xion folded her arms across her chest. She pursed her lips together—pouted, really—and made a hmph noise. "I'm just saying I don't think I'd enjoy it very much."

Roxas took a deep breath, and then a second, because with how little air was going through his nose, the first was only slightly successful.

"Trust me, Xion, I don't enjoy it much either," he said. "But it's not like I can leave. Xemnas already threatened to drag me back and Rewrite me if it came down to that." He laughed, as if to make light of it, though the laugh was much angrier than he'd intended. "Rewrite me. I'm- I'm stuck here, Xion." He hadn't realized how much it'd frustrated him until now, until he was talking about it.

Xion's pout faded a little. "It doesn't bother you? Being tied down like that?"

"Well, like I said, there's not much I can do." He laughed again, perhaps more bitterly than the last laugh, though this laugh became a cough. "I guess you're lucky," he said, once he was done coughing. "You aren't tied down like I am."

"What are you talking about? Of course I am." She looked away from him, to the ground. Her fingers tightened around her arms, and her shoulders trembled. "I'm slated to die, because of some fatal slip in my data, and I can't go anywhere until that's fixed. And, once it's fixed, it's straight to Xemnas with me! Straight to be his perfect little puppet."

Roxas frowned at that, bringing his hand to his mouth to stifle another cough. Was that meant to be an indirect jab at him? He didn't think it was intentional on Xion's part, so he decided to ignore it. "No one said you had to go to Xemnas after this…"

"Where else am I supposed to go?" She didn't look up, and, if anything, she trembled even harder.

"There are plenty of worlds out there, Xion, and you can go to any of them." Roxas tried to sound sincere, but that was hard when he was stifling coughs. Louder, deeper coughs. "I'm sure- I'm sure 7 won't mind. I'll visit you, too! As- as much as possible, anyway." He shrugged sheepishly.

Xion turned to him, considering him with a rather worried look. A look which deepened as he coughed again. "Well, like I said," she said, very slowly, pausing each time he coughed. "I can't go anywhere until I'm fixed."

"Maybe you should ask that Larxene for help," Roxas suggested. "I mean, if you really think she can—"

"And I… think you should see 7," Xion replied. "Or whoever it is you're supposed to see when something's wrong with your data."

"What?"

"I think we just found out what R did to you."

"And what's tha—?" Roxas stopped, sneezed. He grimaced a little at the sight of snot on his hand, and was quite glad he was wearing gloves, though he wiped his hand on his coat anyway.

"You're sick, Roxas," Xion said.

"Am I?" Roxas asked. "Oh, actually… this does feel like a cold." It took a second of digging through Sora's memories to be sure of that, but if he trusted them and Sora's latent knowledge inside of him, this definitely felt like a cold. The stuffy nose, the junk in his throat, the sneezing, the coughing—the only wonder was that it came on as fast as it did.

Then again, this isn't a normal cold, he thought. Can't be—Replicas don't get sick.

"Exactly," Xion said. "Do you need me to walk you there, or can you get there on your own?"

Roxas gave her a wry look, which was quickly interrupted by another bout of coughing. Xion waited, the smile not leaving her face, but finally the coughing stop and he was able to assure her he'd be fine going on his own. She pressed a little, but it was all in good humor. Eventually Roxas was on his way.

"Ah, there he is!" the Larxene—R—said, when he entered 7's office. All Roxas could do was cough. He clutched himself tightly. He felt even worse than he had earlier.