Chapter 12 – A Brand New World


As I trudged towards school on Monday, I was tired and irritable. I felt like I was coming down with the flu. Heaving a sigh, I continued my way up the hill and onto the school campus under the cloudy gloomy sky. As I made my way to my seat in the classroom, I didn't care to notice that Sora wasn't in class yet.

"Hey, Axel," I greeted my red-haired friend who was wearing a facemask. He sniffed and looked at me with tired eyes.

"Yo, Roxas," he greeted back. Behind him sat Demyx who was also wearing a facemask; he had his head down on his arms resting. He obviously looked miserable.

"You both caught the flu?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Axel replied. "Practically the school's managed to catch the bug."

I grimaced. "Ugh, that sucks."

"Tell me about it. I've never seen so many people absent last Friday."

Last Friday? No one was absent last Friday.

"Ugh, I feel like crap right now," groaned Demyx, whose face seemed flushed.

"You look like you have a fever," commented Axel. "Can't go home?"

"Father insisted that I come to school. I've never hated him more than I do now," he replied.

"Did Sora catch the flu too?" I asked aloud upon noticing the empty seat behind me as the bell rang to signal the start of classes.

"Sora? Who's Sora?" asked Demyx as he looked at me with confusion. I'm going to assume he's also wondering if he had heard me right.

"You know, Sora. The guy who sits behind me?" I explained while blinking my eyes disconcertingly.

"There's no one by that name who's in this class," answered Axel. What!?

"Are you sure you didn't catch the flu too?" asked Demyx.

"Yes, I'm very sure," I replied with a scowl as Mr. Leonhart entered the room for homeroom. The roll call went by quickly but I was shocked to not hear the name "Sora Kazano". What the hell is going on here?

For the entirety of the rest of the morning before lunch, I heard nothing that was being taught. Something about the skewed distribution and something called chi-squared test were the words that I randomly picked up during math. None of it made any sense of course as I racked my brain as to what could have possibly happened for Sora Kazano to have disappeared entirely from my world.

During lunch, I ate with Axel while Demyx left for the infirmary after looking like he was going to throw up during Composition and Literature class. Axel had taken off his mask to eat and both of us were silent: Axel was probably too sick to strike up a conversation while I was too preoccupied to talk.

As I finished my lunchbox, it was then that a commotion occurred at the front of the class. A student had walked in and my eyes bulged at the sight. It was him. People asked him how he was doing and if he's gotten over the flu, et cetera, et cetera. It was as if he had never left the class.

He reassured all of the inquiring students that he was just fine and had gotten treated at the hospital over the weekend and is now all better and healthy. He also recommended for all sick students to get treated and such. I simply gaped at him. He then walked over to us and smiled at us.

"Oh sorry," said Axel as he picked up his plate of cafeteria food to return to his own seat.

"It's no problem," the newcomer said. "You can finish lunch. Just make sure the desk's clean when you're done."

"Of course," replied Axel as he sat back down. I said nothing but simply gaped at the newcomer.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked me upon seeing my dazed look. "Do you have the flu too?"

"Why are you here!?" I exclaimed, much too surprised to see him here.

He gave me a look of disbelief and nearly scoffed at my statement. "Why shouldn't I be here? I'm in this class after all!"

"You transferred out months ago!" By now, everyone was staring at me, but I don't care. I don't want to die!

"In case you didn't notice, no, I never transferred out. What are you insinuating here!?" he exclaimed with indignation.

To that, I had no response. Instead, I stormed out of the classroom in search for some sanity. Yes, indeed, the newcomer was none other than Zexion Walters.


The first thing I thought to do was to seek out Riku; surely he would know what's going on. I ran down the corridor toward class 1-E and sought the silver-haired teen in the classroom. Of course, he wasn't in and when I inquired for Riku from a student in the classroom, she looked like me like I was insane.

"There's no one by the name of Riku Hamilton here," she informed me. Apologizing for my mistake, I decided to check the SOS Brigade clubroom, but not before running into Kairi Fischer and Hayner Caldwell. Or at least two people who looked extremely like the ones who I knew.

"Kairi!" I exclaimed with relief.

"Uh, do I know you?" she replied while scrutinizing me with her head tilted at an angle.

"It's me, Roxas!" I exclaimed.

"Nope, don't know anyone by that name," she replied.

"How can you not know me? We're in the same club together!"

"You don't look like you're in the art club," said Hayner. I blinked with confusion. Since when was Kairi in the art club? I thought she said she was going to quit that one?

"Art club? What happened to the SOS Brigade?" I asked, voicing my obvious confusion.

"What are you talking about? What's the SOS Brigade?" she asked with a higher voice. She was clearly getting frustrated by my insane babble. Well, insane to her ears.

"You're bothering us," said Hayner as he pushed me away. "Come on, Kairi." With that, he grabbed a hold of Kairi's wrist and guided her past me.

"But…" Yet another lifeline lost. Still, there was one more place to check: the clubroom. I hurried to the room that was marked "Literature club" and took in a deep breath, praying that this was all just a prank that the entire school was playing on me. After all, how could Sora and Riku have transferred out without it being such a big deal?

I pushed opened the door and inwardly cheered at the sight of the familiar girl who was pouring over a book like she usually did. However, upon closer inspection of the room and of her, my heart fell. The homey things that Sora had procured for the clubroom were no longer present. There was no rack upon which costumes for Kairi were hung, no water heater, and definitely no triangle with the title "Brigade leader" sitting on top of a desk with a brand new Mac that was "pilfered" from the Computer Science club. Instead, an old HP PC sat on top of the only rectangular table. The familiar girl had on a pair of metal framed glasses as she read.

When I had opened the door, the spectacled Naminé had actually turned to look at me. Her dainty mouth was shaped into an "o" of surprise and she blinked at me with confusion, wondering why this strange, and perhaps deranged, student had barged into the Literature club room without notice.

"Naminé?" I asked, hoping that it was her.

"How do you know me?" she asked. My heart fell even more.

"Is this the Literature club room?" I decided to ask. She nodded silently.

"Not the SOS Brigade club room?" A shake of the head dropped my heart down to the pits of my stomach.

"I need to sit down," I admitted and took a seat at the table, laying my head down on my arms. She didn't throw me out, so I assumed that it was okay for me to just randomly barge in and randomly sit down. Granted, it would appear that in this world, she would remain the sole member of the Literature club.

So did the world get remade over the weekend? Is that the reason why Sora's not attending Radiant Garden High? What's going on here!? The more I think about it, the more depressed I got. Is it going to be like this for the rest of my life? Remembering things that no one else remembers? Or was it all a dream? That Sora, the SOS Brigade, and all the fantastical things we did over the past few months all a simple will of the wisp?

I must've uttered a sound of despair because I suddenly felt a comforting hand on my shoulder. I jerked up and startled Naminé, who looked at me with concern.

"Sorry to bother you," I muttered softly before turning around to look at the bookcase.

"Um," she said softly as she held out a slip to me. I turned to take the paper and saw that it was an application to become a member of the Literature club. "Will you join?"

"I'll think about it," I replied dejectedly, standing up to prepare to return to class. Before I left, however, I turned around to look at her again. "Um, can I come here after class?"

She gave me a smile that I had never seen on Naminé before, it made her look really pretty, and replied, "Of course."


When I returned to the classroom, I muttered an apology to Zexion and tried to reassure my classmates that I had been watching reading the Haruhi Suzumiya series too much. Some took my words as truth while others remained skeptical and avoided me like the plague for the rest of the day. Not that I'd be one to blame them.

Of course, having the guy who almost murdered me only less than two months ago sitting right behind me unnerved me greatly. And, as he took down notes behind me, all fearful thoughts of my own death once again blocked my learning abilities; not that I'd want to learn anything while I'm under such duress.

They say that fun times pass by fastest while hard times pass by slowest. I believe that case to be true because I found myself looking up at the clock every five minutes waiting for school to end so I could get away from the psychotic guy behind me. That friendly façade doesn't fool me!

After an agonizing length of time, the final bell rang and I quickly packed my books up. Muttering a quick "Later" to Axel and Demyx, I made my way out of the classroom and toward the club building. I entered the Literature club room and breathed a visible sigh of relief.

Naminé was, of course, already in the room and she looked at me curiously, probably wondering what prompted me to sigh so heavily.

"What's wrong?" she asked in her soft voice. The other Naminé would never ask that.

"You're not an alien are you," I asked, knowing perfectly well that she was not. She raised an eyebrow at me and shook her head.

"Sorry, keep reading," I said apologetically. "Don't let my presence bother you."

Of course, my words seemed to have an effect on her. Even though she followed suit and returned to her book, she wasn't really reading. For the next ten minutes, she remained on the same two pages that she had been reading since I entered the room. Her face was slightly blushed. She probably never had spent any time alone with a boy. For that, I felt rather awkward.

As I looked back at the bookshelf, filled with more books than it had in the old world, I wondered how many of these books were hers and how many were here already. A familiar title caught my eye and I stood up to pull it out. I felt her eyes following my every move, but didn't care much for it. Flipping through the first book that the old Naminé had told me to read, I paused when I saw a familiar bookmark nestled firmly in the book. I removed the bookmark and saw a familiar script.

In Naminé neat handwriting, the bookmark said: "Exit program. Condition: Key members. Deadline: Two days later." At the very bottom in very tiny script was: Fate/Stay Night. Replacing the book, I quickly scanned the titles for Fate/Stay Night and pulled it out, flipping to the pages like a maniac. Once again, I found another bookmark.

This time I was slightly confused as to the words: "Kazano. Hollow Bastion Academy. Three years ago. Crop circles." Once again, there was another book title at the bottom of the bookmark: A Study in Scarlet. I repeated the process and pulled out yet another white bookmark. "John Smith. Halloween. Radiant Garden Middle School." There was no book title at the bottom of the bookmark, so I must assume that it was the end of the hints.

I sat back down in "my" seat and laid the three bookmarks in front of me. Obviously, Sora is now a student at Hallow Bastion Academy, which is where, I have no idea. And obviously, something must have happened three years ago that rendered this world to be newly made or something to that effect. But, if that's the case, why wasn't this the real world? Did Sora actually make this world? The questions popped up in my head like two rabbits reproducing exponentially.

"Argh," I groaned as I ruffled my hair in frustration. All the hints that the old Naminé or the Naminé I know of is giving me isn't helping me. Yet, I have an inkling of what to do. I have to find Sora and convince him to come to this place. Though I have no idea how to get him here, I guess the first thing I'd have to do is to find him first.

I turned to look at the blushing girl who is still reading the same two pages as she was some twenty odd minutes ago. "Naminé, do you know where's Hollow Bastion Academy?" She turned to me and nodded.

"It's past the marketplace on the other side of the tram station." That would mean it's in the heart of the city.

"Thanks, Naminé," I picked up the bookmarks and got ready to return home.

"Um," the blond-haired girl said as I was ready to leave the room. "Will you come to my house to night?" I blinked at her with surprise. Did she just invite me to her house? "Say around 7?"

"Uh, sure," I replied; it's only 3 right now. My parents won't mind if I head out to a friend's house for dinner. As long as I finished my homework that is.

"Do you know where I live?"

I debated whether to say yes or no. After all, this Naminé doesn't really know me, yet she didn't seem surprised when I told her that I knew her—or did I? In any case, not to freak the girl out even more, I decided to go with…

"No, sorry."

"You know the ice cream shop?"

"At the marketplace?"

"Yes. Meet me there at 7?"

"Okay."

And it's a date.


After I went home and thought about the hints that Naminé gave me, I was reminded of the stories that Axel had told me about Sora, particularly the one about the alien crop circles drawn in chalk. Does this mean that Sora had help drawing those things? If so, then who's his accomplice?

"John Smith," I said the name out loud. "Such a generic name," I muttered. Lying there on my bed, I allowed an entire hour to tick by before remembering that I had homework to do. Heaving a big sigh, I went to my desk to work on it, all the while cursing at myself for not paying attention during class.

After two hours of busting my brain and hurtling myself against an imaginary mental wall, I managed to complete at least 90 percent of my homework of the day. And just in time for me to head out to the ice cream shop. So with an "I'm going out to meet a friend!", I left the house and cruised down the various streets and thoroughfares of Radiant Garden toward the marketplace.

Like last time, it took me about thirty minutes to get to the ice cream shop, but this time I wasn't late at all. Instead, Naminé had just been walking up when I arrived. She gave me a shy smile and the two of us started walking towards her apartment. A passcode and a ride in the elevator later, we stopped in front of 814, the same room that Naminé had first brought me here to give me a spiel about herself and Sora and how she's an alien and all.

I wasn't too surprised to see the living room looking exactly as it did the last time I was here. However, no crayons and pastels strewn the white rectangular table in the room. In fact, there was nothing colorful about this room at all. It was just, white. It was so white that it was a stark contrast with the open window that was just dark blue, dotted with the occasional yellow, red, and green from the night scene.

"Please, sit," she gestured to a seat. I followed suit and sat down. Once again, she brought out a tray with two mugs of coffee, a creamer, and a sugar bowl. We adjusted each of our coffees in silence before she spoke up.

"Can you tell me more about the world that you know of?" She seemed genuinely interested in the existence of another world where she's an alien!

"Well, what did you want to know?" I asked as I scratched the back of my head. It's okay for me to tell her everything right? If she has powers, maybe she can set things right. Right? So, I decided to tell her everything about the alien her. But, before I got too far, the doorbell rang, much to my surprise.

She appeared to have been caught off guard by the bell, perhaps just remembering something out of the blue. "Excuse me," she said before standing up and walking over to the plastic box that served as a communications link with the outside world. A familiar male voice came over the speakers but the static from the link made it difficult for me to discern who it actually was. Naminé must have a boyfriend or something in this world, because he had said that he brought dinner, and such.

The petite girl said that she didn't need dinner and tried to come up with an excuse to avoid seeing this friend of hers, but he seemed adamant. So, with an "Alright, wait a second," Naminé went over to the door and opened it to reveal none other than…

That right, Zexion Walters. Even though he was meant to be Naminé's back up in the old world, here in the new world, he was Naminé's keeper or something.

"Oh, why didn't you tell me you had company?" he asked jestingly. "It's a good thing I bought fried chicken then."

"I'm not gonna stay for long," I said with a nervous smile. Of course I don't want to be in the same room as my killer!

"Don't go yet," Naminé said softly. The plea was so sincere that I felt obligated to stay. So, I stayed, even though I remained unsettled for the remainder of the evening.

Dinner went by slowly. Zexion was the only one of us who ever said conversation worthy things while I simply went along with whatever he said. Naminé didn't say anything. The blue-haired boy didn't seem to mind the fact that he was doing most of the talking though. And as dinner came to a conclusion, he gave Naminé advice on what to do with the leftovers. I decided that I've overstayed my welcome and stood up to leave.

"You're leaving?" Zexion asked, sounding rather surprised, or concerned. I'm on to you, bastard!

"I really should be heading home," I supplied. "I'll see you at the clubroom tomorrow, Naminé."

"Okay," she replied.

"I'll see myself out," I said, waving good-bye to them. I didn't miss the look of suspicion Zexion had on his face as he looked from me to Naminé and back to me again as I closed the door behind me. Breathing a sigh of relief, I went home.


When I woke up the following day, Naminé's cryptic words on her white bookmarks still meant little to me. I had hoped that I would come up with some fantastical story that would go with exactly what happened three years ago in my head while I dreamed, but no such luck. Maybe seeing Sora will inspire me.

In any case, the entire morning I spent completely not paying attention, mulling over the hints that Naminé gave me. Obviously, if I was going to go back in time to fix this, there must be a reason why the name "John Smith" is on the bookmark. Is it possible that this "John Smith" helped Sora to draw all those circles three years ago? It would make sense. He must have some accomplice helping him if what I heard from Axel was right. How do I fit into this picture though?

The bell rang, signaling the start of the lunch break. I opted to eat my lunch in the clubroom, perhaps the Naminé from this world will have some idea as to what I'm supposed to say. As I walked down the busy corridor to head outside, I looked out the window to look at the track where I had dragged Sora to only less than two months before. It was the first and only time I've ever kissed someone like that and somehow, the memory of it brought a blush to my usually impassive face.

Wait a minute. Didn't Riku say that I've been chosen by Sora? So, if that's the reason why I had to do all the work for the SOS Brigade, does that mean that I'm also the one who's meant to go back in time to help Sora? Then that would mean I'm "John Smith", right?

So, from what Naminé told me, I must've gone back in time to three years ago during Halloween and helped Sora draw all those circles at Radiant Garden Middle School! That would make sense!

With that epiphany in mind, I decided to just head off to Hollow Bastion Academy to find Sora lest I missed him today. I'd like to get back to my own world as soon as possible, thank you very much! And who could care about detention when the world is more important!?

I slipped out of the school gate with surprising ease and ran down the hill toward the bicycle racks. I quickly unlocked my bike and began hoofing it to the marketplace, which was twenty minutes on my bike from my house. The school, however, was located on the direct opposite direction from the marketplace, so it took me nearly an hour of dodging traffic, pedestrians, and general bicycling hazards to reach the marketplace. Then, it was another ten minutes through the busy downtown to reach the gated grounds of Hollow Bastion Academy, which I noted was a private school.

I looked through the gate and looked to see if school was in session. A security guard saw me and approached me.

"What are you doing?" he asked me.

"Waiting for a friend," I replied truthfully, "he goes to Hallow Bastion Academy."

He raised a questionable eyebrow at me, thinking that I should be in class right now. "I'm a college student," I lied. "My classes are over already."

"You don't look like one."

"Yeah, that's what everyone said," I muttered rather bitterly. The guard seemed embarrassed by his incorrect judgment and muttered an apology.

"Well, class is in session right now. I'd suggest that you come back in another hour."

"Oh, thanks," I said before leading my bike towards a public bike rack near the gate. My stomach growled loudly and I realized that I had left my lunch in my locker back at school. Heaving a sigh, I pulled out my wallet and checked for cash. Fortunately, I had enough money for McScrooge. So I headed over to the fast food restaurant to get some food while I waited for Sora.

An hour later, I returned to the front gate and my heart raced with anticipation. Will I see Sora? What would he look like? Will he believe me? All those questions went through my head like bullet trains. I have a feeling I will have a train wreck in my head when I see Sora.

A familiar bell tolled to signal the end of class and I waited anxiously for the familiar mop of brown hair. I didn't need to wait long when I spotted the spiky brown-hair and, to my surprise and relief, the mop of silver-blue hair of Riku Hamilton.

"Sora! Riku!" I called out and waved at them excitedly as they got closer. Sora seemed to recognize me for a brief moment but then stared at me with suspicion.

"Do we know you?" he asked. Riku seemed to be more suspicious than Sora is of me.

"Well, in this world, you don't," I said lamely, "at least, Riku doesn't." Good job Roxas, make them even more suspicious of you why don't you?

"Riiight," said Riku, mocking disbelief, "let's go, Sora."

"You're weird," said Sora as he proceeded to walk past me.

"No, wait!" I said, successfully stopping them again. "I'll prove it to you. Sora, three years ago, you met someone on Halloween."

"I met a lot of people on Halloween," said Sora sarcastically. "That's not something worthy of stating."

"No, no. I didn't mean it like that. Three years ago, you met John Smith, right? And he helped you draw alien symbols in Radiant Garden Middle School."

Sora's blue eyes widened with shock. I guess he's never told anyone about John Smith.

"How do you know John Smith?" he asked. Riku looked at him and me with curiosity.

"I'm him," I replied with a grin.

"That's impossible," said Riku skeptically.

"I know it's hard to believe, but I come from another world," I said truthfully.

"Explain it to us at a restaurant, I'm freezing out here," said Sora. Riku and I both agreed, so we ended up heading over to a coffee shop next to McScrooge. While I'm there, I proceeded to tell them everything about the old world, how Sora had powers to change the world, how Riku was a psychic, Naminé, Kairi, the Closed space, the SOS Brigade, and everything that I can think of that would pique their interest.

At the end of my explanation, Sora looked like he was ready to jump off the walls with excitement.

"You mean I had these powers that I never knew I had?" he asked excitedly. I nodded as I took a sip of my soda.

"And Riku's a psychic, Naminé's an alien, and Kairi is a time traveler?" I nodded yet again.

"That's so cool!" he exclaimed.

"You're quick to believe me," I said with surprise.

"Why wouldn't I believe you? I've always wondered who John Smith was. He told me that he went to Radiant Garden High, so I've always wanted to go there, but I never saw him when I tried to look for him. Now I understand why, it's because you weren't attending there yet."

"So why did you end up going to Hollow Bastion Academy?" I asked.

"My parents made me," he replied nonchalantly. "I managed to get a scholarship to the place, so I ended up going there just to get people off my backs."

"Oh."

"I want to see my clubroom!" he exclaimed suddenly. "It's at your school right? We can go there right now!"

"Sure," I replied. I had been ready to pull out my wallet but I saw that Riku was already looking at the bill. Too bad I was going back to the old world; I wouldn't mind to have Riku pay for everything. Sora had already stood up and on his way out of the café before Riku had paid.

"You know," said Riku as he replaced his wallet back into his back pocket. "I would like to know more about my powers in this world you speak of." That strangely endearing yet annoying smirk was on his face again.

"If you pay for the bus ride to Radiant Garden High, I'll tell you more." I had my bike to transport after all!

"Sure," he replied. I looked at my watch and was rather surprised by the fact that it was already 4 PM.

"Aw, crap," I said as we waited for the bus.

"Something the matter?" asked Riku.

"I promised Naminé that I would be in the clubroom this afternoon," I groaned.

"Will she still be there when we get there?" asked Sora, his eyes twinkling with excitement.

"Probably." At that moment, the bus pulled up and we hurried on.


It took us another twenty minutes on the bus to arrive at Radiant Garden High. I parked my bike up and the three of us climbed up the hill toward the school campus.

"Do you have something I can change into?" asked Sora as we entered the locker area of the school. I raised an eyebrow in question but said nothing to voice my curiosity.

"I've got a set of PE uniforms you can wear if you want," I said. "They're in my locker. I haven't used them since my mom washed them last night."

"Perfect," he said. I pulled out my PE clothes and directed him to the nearest boy's restroom while Riku and I stood outside chatting. Well, it was mainly just me talking about what Riku was like in my world and going further into details about his powers.

Five minutes later, Sora emerged from the boy's bathroom wearing my PE uniform. It's a good thing we were of the same general build, or that thing would've looked really awkward on him.

"So, where should we go first?" the supposed-to-be-psychic asked.

"I want to meet the mascot first!" exclaimed Sora.

"Art club first then," I said before leading them off to the building where all the clubrooms were. Based on my wanderings around on the day of the Festival, I recalled that the art club room was on second floor, two floors beneath the SOS Brigade clubroom. So after walking up a set of stairs, we found ourselves standing outside of the art club clubroom.

Sora took no time to open the door and announcing his intentions. "Is Kairi Fischer here?" he announced loudly. From my place, I saw the red-haired girl look up with surprise.

"A-am I in trouble?" she asked hesitantly.

"I'm with the Student Council. We're conducting a survey and you've been chosen!" He walked over to her and grabbed her wrist. "Come on, I just have a few questions to ask you."

Kairi must've recognized who Sora was because she didn't protest when he pulled her out of the club. When she saw me though, she started questioning Sora's true motives. I mouthed an apology as the red-haired girl was dragged down the hallway toward the stairs.

"Roxas, don't you need to lead us somewhere?" called out Sora. I snapped out of my daze, having been reminded of the scene when Sora first brought Kairi to the SOS Brigade clubroom however many months ago.

"Oh, right." Taking back the lead, I led the other three up the stairs to the fourth floor and to the Literature clubroom. I knocked on the door and a small "It's open" came through.

I opened the door and Sora barged in. "Sorry to bother you!" he announced.

Naminé's eyes widened with strange recognition as she looked at the other three. It would appear that they had the same feeling as well.

"Do I know you?" said Kairi as she looked at Naminé.

The old PC suddenly booted up and I hurried over to look at it. The others all stood around me looking at the single line that was on the dark monitor.

N.N.: If you are reading this, then I am probably no longer myself.

"What's going on? No one's typing!" exclaimed Sora.

"Maybe it's been programmed that way," suggested Riku. I had tuned both of them out, my mind focused solely on the computer monitor in front of me with the lines that connected me to the old world.

N.N.: When this message appears, it means that you, me, Sora Kazano, Kairi Fischer, and Riku Hamilton have all been gathered here.

N.N.: This is the condition that needed to be met. You have found the answer.

Even though it was simple lines, I could hear Naminé telling me this in person in the back of my mind. Oh, it was such a relief to know that I'm saved!

N.N.: This is the Emergency Escape Program. To activate it, hit the "Enter" key, otherwise, hit any other key. Once activated, you will have the chance to repair the space-time continuum. However, neither success nor your safe return is guaranteed.

N.N.: This program can only be executed once. Once executed, it will be deactivated. Should you chose not to activate it, it will also be deactivated. Are you ready?

It's so like Naminé to give me a choice whether I wished to or not. Do I want to go back to the old world with all the strange things happening around Sora? Or do I want to remain in this bland world where Sora and Riku are attending a different school, Kairi hardly knows me, and Naminé remains a bookworm. Do I?

"What is this strange writing?" asked Sora as he peeked over my shoulder. "Is this something made by one of those organizations that you spoke of?"

I ignored him and looked at Naminé. "Do you remember this?"

"No," she replied simply. She sounded a bit defensively, but whatever. I pulled out the blank application paper and handed it back.

"I won't need this. Since I'm already a member of the SOS Brigade, there really is no point for me to join the Literature Club. Sorry."

Naminé looked impassively at me, though I swore I could see a hint of hurt within those eyes of hers. The light that reflected off her glasses made her eyes look more emotional than ever. And for a brief moment, I had considered not going though with my decision.

"See you all when I see you again," I said with a grin, as they all looked at me like I had sprouted a second head. Maybe I did, but who cares!? In that moment, I pressed the "Enter" button.

And felt the ground drop underneath me.


Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya belongs to Tanigawa Nagaru. Yada yada yada.

Author's ramblings (That's right, not just Author's Notes): So when I had originally planned out my chapters, I had just barely scanned over the majority of the novels, which meant that there was a fundamental flaw in the writing of this chapter. In The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, which this chapter is based on, Kyon (who Roxas is based on) had already went back in time with Asahina (who would be Kairi in this fic) and did drawing on the ground with Haruhi (Sora here) three years ago. And that is the main reason how Kyon was able to get Haruhi to go with him back to North High and essentially reset time so he can get back to the actual world that he came from. I'll elaborate more on this in the next chapter. And since I didn't want to say, "Oh, this actually happened before this" and make the chapters out of chronology, I had to make a lot of adjustments. Still, I was rather amused by the fact that I had managed to get this chapter done quite fast. Probably because I rather enjoyed writing and reading this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!