This is long overdue, and the next chapters probably will be as well. No excuses, no apologies, no promises. Actually, I have two promises-one, this will be finished, regardless of how long it takes me. Two, this will be the last time I ever start a story without knowing what I'm doing with it past the first chapter. Seriously. No fic should take this long to finish and/or update. (And sorry this chapter isn't full of awesome as it should be from the two year delay, but this was just an obnoxious chapter to write. So glad it's over.)

After class ended, the blob was safely hidden in my bag and Zexion and I went to the cafeteria with the girls, the four of us being the first to arrive. The lack of others didn't last long, though, as the table slowly filled up, mumbled greetings being the only words that were shared. Vexen, Luxord and Xigbar were surprisingly absent, and when I asked Zexion about it, he merely shrugged and said something along the lines of Vexen being too busy looking into solutions for Demyx to eat, with the other two joining the frosty academic. I wasn't aware that Vexen could care about anything except for science, but I went with it anyways.

For a little bit, it was quiet, and I reveled in the small sense of normalcy that came with it. No talk of magic, or stupid little blob things or friends being kidnapped being discussed. It was surprising how much you could miss something as simple as eating without worries until it actually happened.

Unfortunately, that didn't last long either.

"What the heck is that?"

I blinked, twisted to see Sora arrive at the table, then looked back to see what he was talking about. Groaning in exasperation, I grabbed the blob that had somehow managed to find a way out of my backpack and had begun skulking around on the table. "You just refuse to not be a bother, don't you?" I scolded him, almost feeling bad when he drooped his head, as if in apology. "No. You have to stay in the bag if I tell you to stay in the bag, all right?"

"That still doesn't explain what it is, you know," Sora told me, bumping me a bit as he plunked down next to me. I shrugged halfheartedly, still inwardly mourning the loss of the peace. He reached out to poke the blob, and I winced, fully expecting the little shadow thing to have the same reaction to it as he did with Zexion. To my surprise, he just stood still and allowed Sora to prod him, though he didn't look too pleased with the finger sinking into his head.

"We're still not exactly sure what he is, but Roxas created him," Zexion said absentmindedly, peering up from over the top of his black book for a minute.

When he offered no more information, Sora shrugged and poked the blob again. "He have a name?" I shook my head. "He does now. I dub him 'Fred'."

I looked at him, then shrugged, turning back to my newly named creation. "Works for me. He really needs to go back in the bag, though."

Fred managed to give me a disgruntled frown—how did he do that?—but didn't protest when I pushed him back in, having to unzip the bag in order to do so. Apparently, he had just seeped through the zipper to get out instead of finding a way to open it. A glance around confirmed that no one else saw him, and with a sigh, I began eating my food, scooting away from Sora as he messily did the same.

"So seriously, you made that thing?" Sora asked, thankfully swallowing before he attempted talking. I nodded.

"I'm not sure how, but yeah." I stabbed the chicken on my lunch tray. "I don't know how to get rid of it either."

"Why would you want to?"

It took me a second to realize that it wasn't Sora who responded, but Kairi, and belatedly, I realized that I'd forgotten to tell her and Naminé about 'Fred' as well. Inwardly, I thanked Sora for taking care of prompting me to explain, and seeing me shift my eyes to her, she continued, "I mean, it—he—could be useful. Besides, you can't just name a thing and then get rid of it. That's just wrong."

Naminé and Sora nodded solemnly, and I reluctantly agreed, "I guess so. I didn't say that I wanted to get rid of him, though he'd cause a lot less problems that way." Speaking of problems… I quickly glanced around the table, distracted by that thought. "Where's Axel?"

I probably should have been amused by the fact that in my mind, the first word linked to trouble was Axel, but instead, I found my mood to be slightly soured by the thought as Sora shrugged. "I don't know. He said he had something to do, but he didn't say what it was or when he'd be back."

"Ah." With that response I shrugged and began eating, not really tasting the food I was spooning into my mouth. After the meeting with Marluxia and Larxene in fourth period, I was eager to talk to him about the man the two had mentioned, hopefully divulging information that would help us find Demyx in the process. The fact that he wasn't here to explain irked me more than it should have, though I was quick to attribute that disappointment to how much I wanted to figure this all out. If he wasn't here, there wasn't much we could do.

"Roxy? You okay?" Surprised by the sound of Naminé's voice, I nearly choked on my bite, and Sora had to pound me on the back in order to make sure I didn't die from it or something. Wouldn't that be great, savior of the world taken down by fake chicken.

Finally managing to force down the food in my mouth, I shook my head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Naminé frowned and shook her head lightly. "You just seemed a bit off for a second there, that's all." Before I had time to ponder over her words, she quickly added, "Actually, I need to talk to you about something."

Tilting my head lightly, I put down my fork. "Sure. What do you need?"

"It's…" For once, Naminé faltered, and instead of answering my question, she cast a glance behind her with something in her eyes that really didn't suit her at all. I followed her gaze, and immediately settled on what I knew, without a second thought, to be her problem. How entirely fitting, I thought as my eyes flickered from the two, that just when I thought that things were going to completely deviate from normal, something like this shifted everything back into teenage drama once more.

"Yeah."

Riku.

Naminé turned back to me, that glimmer in her eyes fading almost instantly. I couldn't help the little frown that was insistently worming its way onto my face as I stared at her, brows furrowing ever so slightly. Was that what I looked like when I caught a glimpse of the silver haired boy?

"You're right," I said slowly. I pushed my tray to the side Sora was on and stood up, ignoring the curious stares I received. "We need to talk. Sora, watch over my backpack for me?"

Without waiting for a reply, I took Naminé's hand, ignoring her squeak of surprise, and dragged her to the most secure place I could think of at the time.

"Roxas—Roxy, sorry—the bathroom?"

I blanched, only now realizing what the 'most secure place' entailed of. In all the time that I had been at the school, I had avoided this room with a passion, managing to go through each school day without using the faculties provided. This was my first time in here, and I almost forgot my reason for dragging Naminé away as I cast my gaze around the room curiously. "Yours is bigger than ours…." I couldn't help myself from muttering it, and I had to ignore the giggle Naminé gave me as a response.

"So I've heard. Smells better too, doesn't it?"

Chatting about how much worse the boy's bathroom was compared to the girl's probably wasn't an exceptionally inconspicuous thing we could have done, but it didn't seem to matter. Even us running into here didn't attract any attention. Apparently, the girl's bathroom is a congregation place for the teenage cliques, and racing into here in a panic was normal, judging by the lack of reactions. No one even so much as looked at us, which was probably a good thing.

Catching onto the last part of her comment, I cast Naminé a sidelong glance, rolling my eyes at the innocent look but smiling in confirmation. I opened my mouth to speak, paused as I was distracted by sudden laughter, causing my eyes to flicker away for a second—oh my god, that girl's stripping.

Seconds later found us out in another hall, looking into classrooms to see which ones were empty. I was still recovering from my initial shock as Naminé attempted to hold back giggles—and was failing. "What was—you guys do strip shows in the bathroom every day or something?" I managed to ask, cheeks still warm. She laughed, but deigned to reply as she let out a short cry of triumph; she must have finally found an empty classroom.

A quick glance proved me right, and we hustled in, pushing the door back until it almost closed, but not quite. "If we're going to talk, it's going to have to be quick," Naminé said, moving to the back wall. I nodded, following after her.

"About fifteen minutes until lunch is over, right? Which one talks first?"

"I will," she said. And then hesitated. "It's about Riku." I nodded again, but remained silent, choosing to trace circles over a nearby desk with my fingertip instead of interrupting her "I think I like him, but it's… odd."

The frown appeared without any further resistance from me. Once again, I had thought as much, but hearing her say it made my stomach twist. "I thought as much. You look at him like you do. Have you even talked to him though?" I could feel the jealousy creeping into my tone, and tried to force it down. This was Naminé we were talking about. As in, the girl I had been friends with since we were both in diapers. I'd give up Riku in an instant rather than lose her.

Holy hell. Why did I have the feeling that at the end of all this, I wouldn't have a scrap of dignity left in my name?

She shook her head. A blush tinged her cheeks slightly, and she worried at her lip thoughtfully. "No, I haven't. Even still, it's like… this feeling I can't explain. Just looking at him makes me happy, you know?" Then she laughed slightly, though there was something off in the tone. "Of course you know. You have the same look in your eyes when you see him as I do, I think. Not that I can see what I look like when I see him," she corrected herself.

"… Weird," I finally uttered. She nodded, at just as much of a loss as I was. "… Does this mean that we have similar taste in men, or should I be digging for deeper meanings or something?"

She laughed again, rolling her eyes, but abruptly cut off as a chuckle reached both of our years. I felt myself freeze from the idea of someone hearing everything. What if…? "So this is where you two girls went off to. Is that really how they got you here? You crushed on a boy and they used that to reel you in?"

I exhaled, but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be relieved as I turned to face the smirking redhead. "I don't recall ever saying that," I replied calmly, though I knew it didn't convince him in the least. Instead he all but ignored me, letting out a wolf whistle as he strolled over to us, the smirk growing.

"Cross dressing and a crush on a boy when you're surrounded by pretty girls. Have to say, Roxy," an eyebrow cocked as he paused meaningfully, "this isn't looking too good for you."

"Shut up." I frowned in response, realizing too late that I had all but confirmed his words when I didn't argue. Hastily, I added, "What are you doing here? I thought you had another project that you were working on."

A stifled laugh that showed my effort to change the subject was less than unnoticed. "I did, but I finished it and came back to annoy my favorite people, of course. What else would I do anything?"

Of course he wouldn't bother to just outright say what he was here for. That wouldn't be amusing enough for him, after all. "Attention hog."

He shrugged, the action almost mocking. Sometimes I wondered if he did it just to irritate me. "Can't just let you boring people push me out of the spotlight, now can I? Teasing aside though." Here his smile slipped off, all seriousness. "Naminé, which twin are you?"

Naminé seemed momentarily confused, but she replied, "Kairi's light, I'm dark. Why?"

"You said that there was something odd about it?"

My cheeks flared. "You've been listening that long?"

Eyes flicking over to me for a second, his lips curved up into a small smirk. "You two really should be more careful. Anyone could have been eavesdropping on your little conversation. Wouldn't want to make a fool out of yourselves, would you?"

I gritted my teeth, crossed my arms, and looked away, refusing to respond. For all the condescension in that tone, he had a point. It could have been anyone.

"We'll close the door next time," Naminé promised, taking the moral high ground that I had refused. "I just…" she paused, "It doesn't make sense. I just look at him and feel this… connection. That isn't normal."

"What, not a fan of love at first sight?" She blinked at him, and he chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, I get it, don't give me that look. Come on, think about it. Don't you two find it strange that both of you immediately gravitated to him? You didn't even know who he was, and yet here you are, whispering over him like lovestruck girls."

I frowned. When it was just me, it was easy to write off just by mentioning hormones. Add in Naminé immediately having that same attraction, however…. "It is weird," I conceded, a glance with Naminé's troubled expression telling me she thought the same thing.

"You don't think it's connected to our powers and the legend, do you?" she asked. The question was aimed at Axel, not me, and he merely shrugged.

"Or you two have the same taste in men and it's just a coincidence. Who knows? It's not like I'm an expert on this. You might want to keep it in mind though, just in case boy wonder turns out to be something other than what he says he is."

I nodded, ignoring the churning feeling of discontent in my gut. That was the last thing I wanted. I could have handled it if he were the spy, even if it would have upset me beyond reason, but to have my feelings suspect to manipulation was a step too far for me.

Mentally shaking myself, I changed the subject. "I talked to Larxene and Marluxia earlier today. They said to tell you that Xemnas is here. Does that mean anything to you?"

Axel's eyes widened, then narrowed as he looked away. A rueful grimace flickered over his features and he folded his arms over his chest, his fist clenching tightly before releasing. "Yeah, it does. Did they say anything else?"

"Only that you would tell us what's going on."

If I hadn't been interested in who he was before, I definitely was now from watching Axel's reaction. While Axel hadn't been anything near restrained with his emotions before, all of those previous moments were nothing like what I was seeing now, Axel visibly reigning himself back in.

Finally, he sighed, expression fading into one more subdued. "Xemnas is bad news. Marluxia, Larxene and I ran into him a few years ago, when we first learned about the legend. In a nutshell? Xemnas is the current incarnation of Xehanort, which, if you remember, is the guy who wants all of us dead. If you need more information than that to figure out that this isn't good…."

He trailed off, eyebrow raised meaningfully. I swallowed tightly, the faintest echo of fear coursing through me before quelling. "What does he really want? Why is he doing all this?"

"Hell if I know." Axel shrugged again, suddenly back at ease. "All I know is, the sooner we destroy him, the sooner everything can go back to normal."

"Aren't you forgetting something, Axel?"

The reaction to the new voice in the room was instantaneous. Naminé and I jumped, my fist clenching as I tried to place the unfamiliar sound to a person, Naminé spinning to face the man that had walked in at just the wrong time. Nothing would have prepared me for the unadulterated hatred that Axel's face suddenly contained. Teeth bared in a snarl, Axel turned at the same time I did, and I mentally prepared myself for anything to go wrong.

Axel knew this intruder, and if that was his reaction, then this could only be bad news.

This man was taller than Axel, though only by a little bit. The soft blue hair should have been the first thing I noticed, but instead, it was the eerie golden eyes, calm and unyielding. By themselves, they should have been soothing at the best, disconcerting at the worst, but then my eyes caught on the pink scar tissue settled between those eyes, and for a few seconds, the only thing I could focus on was the x permanently etched onto the man's face.

Then he spoke again, and I ripped my attention from the scar in order to actually listen to what was being said. "You always were one to leave out the most important details." A cold, calculating smile wound its way onto his lips, and I had to force back a shiver at how undeniably feral he looked. There was no way this man was on our side. "Some things really don't change."

Axel tensed, and immediately I felt myself begin to move in response—whether to hold Axel back, or to help him, I didn't know. An arm reached out to block me from doing anything more, and I gave a start, eyes immediately leaving the blue haired man to stare imploringly at the owner of the arm. Axel's eyes didn't meet mine, and instead, his entire body relaxed, twisting to fully face the scarred man. "It's been a long time, Saïx," Axel greeted him, his lips twisting wryly. Though the words were something you'd expect from two old friends, there was nothing but ice in his tone. "I should have known that you were involved in this too."

Saïx's head inclined slightly, acknowledging his words. For a few moments, the two surveyed each other, and even though the conversation so far had been pleasant, it was clear that they were thinking of the best way to rip the other apart.

Finally, Saïx broke the uneasy silence. "We have your friend, the water user, and we would be willing broker an exchange. The boy is unharmed," here, the cordial expression turned mocking. "Though I can't promise he will remain that way if you don't cooperate."

My head felt vaguely like it had been dumped in ice water, and I found myself a little nauseous. This was one of the people who had taken Demyx. If they had hurt him-

"Give him back!" I shouted, attempting to move forward once more, though this time the intent was much more clear. I'd beat the information out of him if I had to.

The same arm that blocked me before now pushed me back, much harsher this time, and I fell onto Naminé. As her thin arms supported me and stopped us from falling down, I heard Axel growl, "Stay. Back."

He left no room for argument, but I tried anyways. "Axel-"

"Roxanne, I know. Just shut up for once and stay back." I fell silent, sending Saïx a withering glare. The blue haired man had watched the exchange with something like amused derision written on his face, but he said nothing, instead letting Axel respond to his previous words. Axel didn't disappoint him. "What do you want?"

"The twins."

"Not happening."

Saïx raised an eyebrow and Axel scoffed. "To be honest, I don't give a damn about the kid, but even if I did, we couldn't make that deal. We don't even know who the twins are. Sorry Saïx, but you're out of luck."

"Axel!" Naminé sounded horrified, but said no more. I glanced at her, she shook my arm lightly, and immediately I caught on. We had to go along with this lie still, even if it meant giving up this one chance we had of getting Demyx back.

Saïx was all too prepared to call Axel's bluff, and I forced myself to stay calm as he shook his head. "If you didn't know, then you wouldn't be here. You and your two friends," his lip curled derisively at the word, "came from almost a thousand miles away, just to find the twins. If they weren't here, you wouldn't have stayed. Not to mention you seem particularly protective of the two behind you." Gold eyes moved to rest on Naminé and I, and we froze. "I can't imagine that it's because you're fond of them."

Was he insinuating what I thought he was?

Apparently Axel thought the same thing I did, and he laughed, the sound more condescending than anything else. "You think that these two are one of the sets? You really haven't been paying much attention to the people at this place, have you?"

Saïx frowned. "What are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is that you're wrong." Saïx opened his mouth to object, but Axel didn't let him. "Yeah, these two are twins, you got that much right, but you wanna know who the other twins are here? They're a boy and a girl, not two boys. And no, there are no others in this district."

Saïx fell silent, and his eyes swept to mine. "You. Is this true?"

Something close to a gasp ripped out of my suddenly pressured throat as he looked at me. What the hell was that? Just him looking at me like that made me feel like my heart was going to rip itself out of my chest. "I-it's true," I finally managed, though the feeling didn't cease. He was doing it, I realized—his eyes didn't leave mine, and even though I had responded, it was getting worse, even simple breathing becoming harder and harder to keep a hold of. What the hell is this?!

I hadn't even realized that I had said those last thoughts out loud until I was pushed and pulled backward at the same time, Axel moving in front of me protectively as Naminé drew me back. The spell was broken immediately as eye contact was lost; the constricting magic vanished, leaving me clutching my chest and gasping for air. "Roxas! Are you okay?" The concern was clear in Naminé's tone, but thankfully she was able to remember to keep her voice down as she forgot about my cover. She'll really have to be more careful about that in the future, I thought dimly, mind unsteady from the pain.

When I took too long to respond, Axel glanced back. Wordlessly, I nodded, belatedly realizing that those few seconds were enough to cause me to break out in a cold sweat. I was lucky that they caught on, because if they hadn't, I'm not sure what would have happened. He nodded back and turned back around as Naminé released me to dig through the desk next to her, glancing at me when I had to prop myself up against a different desk.

"She's not part of this, Saïx! Neither of them are, so leave them alone. This is between us." I barely caught Axel's words as I watched Naminé take a pencil out of the desk, not even pausing as she began scribbling on the desk.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I murmured to her, as quietly as possible. She looked up momentarily.

"Do you have a better plan?"

She had a point. I moved in front of her, a little wobbly but overall stable, effectively blocking her from Saïx's view, and I looked between him and Axel, careful to avoid his eyes. At this rate, we were at a standstill—by lying to him, we were effectively saying that we had nothing to barter with, nothing they wanted… so why was he still here?

Axel seemed to have the same thought that I did. "Well?" He asked impatiently, tapping a finger on the desk in front of him, "We already told you we don't have the twins. Don't you have some evildoing to get to or something?"

His eyes were slightly unfocused, gaze flickering around to catch a glimpse of Naminé, and I momentarily panicked. "Hey, is that what made you look like a Keebler elf or something? No wonder everyone says being the bad guy doesn't pay off, if all you get is a makeover like that."

That distracted him, Axel's startled chortles only adding insult to injury. I wasn't smart enough to look away when his gaze snapped back to me, almost snarling, and I cringed, mentally preparing myself for a repeat of what happened before—

He disappeared, not even a trace of him left behind, and Naminé let out a small cry of triumph as I slouched in relief. "Did it," she said, sighing in relief. "You gave me just enough time."

The drawing was crude but effective, and I stifled a laugh as I traced a finger over the unfamiliar lines. Given a piece of paper and a normal pencil instead of a half-broken one, Naminé never would have drawn something so garish, but at least it worked.

"A Keebler elf, blondie? Really?" Axel was still amused by that, at least, and I shrugged.

"It was the first thing I could think of." I glanced back down at the desk, noticing something peculiar this time around. "Saïx isn't in the picture like the Nobodies that you got rid of were the last time you did this," I noticed, examining the picture closely.

Naminé bit her lip. "When I store them in the paper, it effectively writes them out of existence. I can't do that with a real person—and even if I could, I wouldn't." She gave Axel a pointed look, and he raised his hands up defensively, though he seemed amused. "I have to send them elsewhere, and just thinking 'anywhere but here' doesn't work."

Nodding my comprehension, I asked, "So where'd you send him to?"

Naminé paused. "Peru."

"… Peru?"

"Yes. Peru. Or Iceland. I got confused for a moment."

Axel whistled. "Poor Peru."

For a second, we all took a collective breath, adrenaline winding down. That, I marveled, was my first encounter with an actual person who probably wanted us dead. Suddenly, even thinking past all of the Heartless and Nobodies that we had already fought, past Demyx being kidnapped, this whole debacle actually felt real, and I felt a slight chill run down my spine.

Axel was the first to speak up. "And once again, your cross-dressing tendencies save the day. Alright, this is the last time I tease you about it."

I scoffed. "I doubt that. Who was that? Do you two know each other?"

A strange look flitted over his face, gone before I could figure out what it was. "Saïx works for Xemnas—Marluxia, Larxene and I ran into him when we first found out about the legend, and the first time that we found out who Xemnas was. I didn't know he was still around…." he trailed off musingly.

"Do you—" Naminé squeaked in surprise, cutting off abruptly and twisting to look behind her, and I jumped, adrenaline obviously not quite as worn off as I thought it was. When she turned back around, Fred was cradled in her hands, the little blob blinking innocently at us. "Roxas? Didn't you leave Fred in the cafeteria with Sora?"

I frowned down at him, though I lifted my hand when he reached out to try to crawl onto me. "Yeah, I did. How did you get here?" I glanced around the room, trying to locate just where he would come from, or at least how he would have been able to get here on his own, to no avail.

"What is that thing?" Axel's tone was entirely incredulous, and I sighed. Explaining this was really getting old.

"Not a Heartless, if that's what you're thinking. I made him—I think I did, at least. He showed up randomly in P.E. today."

Axel stared down at him. Fred grinned, waving a tendril-esque arm.

"… Whatever you say, man. Just make sure he doesn't get you into trouble or something," he started to say before being interrupted by the bell. I groaned.

"Crap. There goes lunch."

I ran into class five minutes late, head down to avoid the stares and Mr. Strife's scowl. Zexion raised an eyebrow at me as I sat next to him and I shook my head, still unsettled from what happened during the lunch period. From Saïx showing up, his connection to Axel, Xemnas… it was a lot to process, and none of it was suitable for talking about during school hours. I'd have to tell him about what happened after class, when there were less people around.

Fifth period passed by like a blur. Without Demyx there to lighten the mood that the surly Mr. Strife gave off, no one dared to say anything. Not that I wanted to, a sentiment that Zexion seemed to share as he read through the textbook resolutely. It didn't even seem like he blinked as he sifted through the pages, leading me to wonder whether he was actually reading it, or if his mind was drifting elsewhere and the reading was a pretense. As always, his black leather journal was set next to him, and once again I was hit by curiosity as I wondered just what was so important about that book.

Sixth period, I decided to ask, safely hidden in the back of the room with him and Miss Gainsborough's writing assignment almost complete.

"What is that anyways? I never see you without it," I asked without preamble, pointing to the journal next to him. He glanced up from his own assignment, lip quirking slightly as he caught on to what I was asking.

"This?" He tapped the cover, only continuing when I nodded. "Everything I know about the legend, both that which is ongoing now and the one thousands of years past, is detailed in here. The more information I add, the stronger it gets."

I furrowed my brows. "Stronger? What do you mean?"

"The book is effectively my weapon, so to speak—similar to your keyblade, in that it holds some of my power."

I opened my mouth to ask another question, but quieted down when Miss Gainsborough sent me a quick reprimanding look. No matter how many questions I had, in class definitely wasn't the time or place to ask them.

After class, we met up with Sora and made it to the final class of the day. For all the excitement the last two periods lacked, this one made up for it in spades—of course, with Yuffie as the teacher, it shouldn't have been that surprising, but there was almost no predicting the train wreck that was on its way.

When we walked in the room, we had to duck to avoid a whooping Yuffie as she flew over our heads, landing in a head to our side. A look at the other side of the room showed that she had launched herself off her desk, caught onto one of the hanging decorations on the ceiling, and used that as a swing to make it to the other side of the room. Figures. How did she manage to not get fired?

"Well!" She straightened, looking between the three of us, "I see you guys are in top shape!"

Sora grinned, thumping his chest once in response. "Of course we are! What do you have for us today, oh great ninja Yuffie?"

Thank god Sora's fluent in Yuffie-speak, because there's no way I could keep up with her.

"Only the best love story of all time! That's right, class," she raised her voice, as if they weren't able to hear her before, "We're reading Romeo and Juliet!"

There was a chorus of groans and cheers, Sora seeming especially thrilled—though when Yuffie wasn't looking, he stuck his tongue out at me, an over-dramatic display of disgust. I bit back a laugh. He was probably only cheering because Yuffie was so enthusiastic.

"C'mon, Roxy, aren't you excited?" He asked expectantly, eyes sparkling as he kept his tone innocent. I snorted.

"Don't look at me. I hate Romeo and Juliet."

Immediately I regretted my words as Yuffie stared at me. Gleeful mischief all over her face, she grabbed my hand, raising it into the air. "And we have our first reader! Roxy will be Romeo!"

Well. I didn't know if that was tragic or just humiliating.

"She's a chick though!"

Yuffie zeroed in on the perpetrator, and I had to stop myself from snickering as she dragged him out to the front. I recognized him immediately—he hung out with Olette all the time and always managed to have these weird camo pants. Too bad those didn't work on Yuffie. "Thanks for volunteering, Hayner! You get to be Juliet!"

Hayner began sputtering as the rest of the class burst into laughter. If Hayner was anything, it wasn't Juliet.

"But—this is unethical!"

Yuffie grinned. "Aw, Haney, I'm so proud of you! I didn't know you knew such big words."

She ruffled his hair and he batted the hand away, grumbling under his breath but no longer outright protesting. Another student, smart enough to hide in the back of the crowd so that she couldn't be seen—coward—called out, "Romeo and Juliet don't have a scene together until act two!"

Yuffie tilted her head to the side and tapped a finger on her chin, deep in thought. This was one time that I would go with the clichés and hope to whatever higher power there was that she got lost in the unfamiliar territory. "Really? … Oh well!" She clapped her hands and darted to a pile of books that I had missed earlier. "I really only wanted to read the balcony scene anyways, so it doesn't matter!"

I sighed. I should have known there was no way of getting out of this. I moved to sit down, only to have Yuffie bounce back over and rap me on the head with one of the paperbacks. Scowling, I gave a muttered "ow", and the book was forced into my hands as she pulled me back up.

"Nope! You guys have to act out the scene!" She declared.

… Because I was mistaken and this was really acting class. Right. Just how did this school actually manage to get any teaching done?

Rather than argue, Hayner and I walked to the front of the class. While I stalled for time by pretending to not be able to find the page, Hayner seemed genuinely confused, scowling and muttering under his breath as he flipped the book around. When Yuffie pointed to me, then Hayner, I shrugged; there was no way I was going to bring on this idiocy if I could avoid it.

Unfortunately, even Hayner couldn't prolong the even for long, and he read his one line, falsetto shrill and ridiculous as it echoed through the room, "Ay me!"

Yuffie fell out of her chair in shock.

The rest of the class burst into laughter.

I bit my lip, keeping my own amusement down. Actually reading it was a nightmare, and not one I had wanted to indulge in. Looking at Hayner and his half-sheepish, half-amused grin, though—I could work with a parody.

"She speaks."

I'd been worried about mimicking a man's voice when it's only natural for me, but now I made my tone as low as possible while still passing as a girl's, the result just as ridiculous as Hayner's voice was. More laughter followed the line, and I bit back a smirk. I may just escape this unscathed.

I started once more. "O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head. As is a winged messenger of heaven unto the white-upturned wondering eyes—"

I stopped. Stared at the lines. Looked back up at Hayner. "What?"

Yuffie hushed me, and Hayner—

Hayner fluttered his eyelashes. Alright, we'll go for escaping this relatively unscathed, because there's no way I could unsee that.

I finished reading out my line and Hayner picked it up without missing a beat, maintaining the shrill voice he had procured as he strutted across the floor. "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer—"

With a yell that was far from the falsetto he was using, he tripped, grabbing the closest person for balance—me. Or, to be more precise, my shirt. I watched in what felt like slo-mo horror as he grasped the collar of my button-up shirt, and I tried and failed to hold him up as he continued falling. The buttons, under too much strain, popped open, and because the world hates me, he managed to snap the flimsy fake bra that Kairi had given me as well.

Oh shit.

Pushed back by Hayner's fall, I plummeted to the ground, Hayner only a second behind me. In an instant he was back up, cheeks a brilliant red and eyes wide with mortification. "Shit, I'm so sorry, Roxy-" As his mind caught up with the image in front of him, he stopped short and merely stared. I blinked back, frown firmly etched on my face as I glanced down at my all too male chest. "Shit," he uttered again, this time the tone so completely dumbfounded that I almost found it amusing.

"Shit, indeed," I agreed, no longer bothering with the falsetto, too startled to do anything other than sit there.

"What's going on? Are you guys okay?" Yuffie bounced over to us, voice more concerned than I had expected, and her words cut off the second that she looked at me. Instead of looking at her to gauge her reaction, I glanced over to Sora and Zexion, ignoring all the other faces. Sora's had turned a solid shade of white, mimicking the panic I was trying and failing to suppress. And Zexion… even with his normally nonchalant expression in place, he looked like he was about to be sick, and frankly, I almost wished he would be. At least then the eyes would be on him and not on me.

"You're a guy?!" My eyes snapped back to the gaping Yuffie. She frowned, then then seconds later she grinned, the sheer brilliance of the look giving me whiplash. "So you're a perfect Romeo after all!"

With that, my last nerve snapped. Burying my face in my hands, I groaned, the sound long and defeated, as the classroom burst into chaos.

This was officially the week from hell.