Disclaimer: If I owned it, I'd lose it – my mother says I'd forget my head if it wasn't screwed on so tight.

A/N: So, I'm thinking the first chapter must really suck. I've been checking out the reader stats, and Ch1 has 527 hits, while Ch2 plummets to 201. I'm turning people off! If that's not a message, loud and clear, I don't know what is. Anyone feel like beta-ing it for me when they get a spare minute? I'd kind of like those other couple hundred people to keep reading. On another note, for those who haven't run off screaming just yet, I adore your reviews, they make me endlessly happy. Because of the time zone differences, I'm usually a few pages into the next chapter by the time the reviews are trickling in, and it just makes me want to keep going that extra bit more. And today, we've hit a hundred and one pages! Thank you all so much for all your support so far! Love!

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CHAPTER TWELVE

I woke up to a dampness on my cheek. It was… pervasive. Once my vaguely woken mind became aware of it, I couldn't get back to sleep. I fumbled up, lifting my head and feeling the pillow. It was wet, slick. Puzzled, cursing softly, I staggered out of bed and groped the light switch. I let out a groan as the piercing light met my eyes, pinching them shut. I heard a grunt from the other bed, as Roxas attempted to keep snoring, disturbed by the luminosity. After a minute of adjustment, I pulled my fingers away from my eyes, blinking a couple times, and looked at my bed.

"Holy fuck!"

I slammed backwards, into the wall, an instinctive reaction to seeing the enormous volume of blood coating my pillow. The person in the other bed sat up with a cry, and he was not Roxas. I shrieked again. "Who the fuck are you?"

He saw me, and gave a replying half-scream: "What happened to your face?!"

I reached up. "My face?" It was covered in blood, dripping with it. It slid down my neck, smeared my jaw. It was in my hair, deeply staining the silver in clumps, and it was only then that I became aware of the thick, repugnant stench of it all. I bent over, gagging out of reflex. The guy in Roxas' bed had scrunched up fearfully into the corner of the wall, the blankets clutched around his neck, wide-eyed.

"Wh-what's going on?" he bleated.

I glared, a horrifying vision, judging by the way he cowered and shrunk. "Who are you?" I demanded through my teeth, furious and frightened. "Where's Roxas?"

"I'm Pence!" the boy cried, on the verge of tears. "I met you at dinner. I'm one of Roxas' friends, and I'm Axel's room-mate. They sometimes get their roomies to switch, so they can sleep together."

"Oh, and of course Roxas would want to be as far away from me as possible," I snarled. Then I gave a small keen, as threads of blood shook from my nose onto the thin, worn carpet.

"Jesus," Pence gasped. "We have to stop it. You're like, bleeding an artery."

I used my arm to stop the flow hitting the floor. "Do you have an artery in your nose, Pence?" I demanded, not above sarcasm despite my horror.

"Maybe it's from your brain!"

"That's right," I bellowed. "Make me feel better!"

He started to pull off his blanket, hesitated, then threw it aside and slid off the bed. "Look, let's get you to the bathroom. Then we can see the nurse."

He wadded the blanket up and held it to my face. I took it in my arms, finding a measure of comfort in having something soft to cling to, and he opened the door and ushered me down the hall. I appreciated, on some level that wasn't busy being scared, the urgency that he allowed, not even bothering to throw on regular clothes.

All I could taste was blood. All I could smell was the despicable, overwhelming scent of metal with a fleshy undertone.

We slammed into the bathroom. He took me straight over to one of the showers and shoved open the door, wrenching the taps around and feeling the water until it was inhabitable, while I hovered by the entrance, choking into his comforter.

"Okay, the water's good, get in."
I dropped the blanket onto the tiles near the sinks, and hurried into the shower cubicle. I didn't bother taking off my pants. I tilted my face back, and let the water wash away the evidence of my fear. The water that swirled down my chest and around my feet was tinged a powerful pink. The smell receded, bit by bit. Tears of relief stung my eyes.

Pence, looking pale, had gathered up the comforter. "Will you be okay if I go get your clothes?" he asked. I nodded wordlessly, and he vanished, slamming the door into the wall in his haste.

I leaned against the cubicle wall, an arm extended in the small space to hold myself up. I angled my clean face down, and watched through half-lids as ribbons of my existence joined with the water. My breathing slowed as my pulse returned to normal, and the flow of blood abated. I scraped my wet hair into a loose ponytail with one hand, holding it far back from the source of the mess.

Pence returned after a couple of minutes, features knitted with worry. He placed the bundle of my clothing on the counter in front of the long mirror, and peered into the shower recess. "Hey," he said, raising his voice over the hiss of water. "You okay?"

I nodded jerkily. "I think… it's stopped," I rasped. I gathered the saliva in my mouth and spat a red glob into the drain, sickened. I turned off the taps, stood in the dripping silence, making sure nothing more was coming.

"I brought you a towel," Pence proffered. I felt the rough material touch my skin, head pulling to the side to stare dazedly at him. Anxiously, he wrapped it around me, and led me out of the cubicle. "Are you okay?" he asked a second time, in awed tones. I closed my eyes.

"Do you know what time it is?" My voice was rough from the tackiness in my oesophagus.

"Uh…" He checked his wristwatch with wide brown eyes. "Three in the morning."

I heaved a sigh, eyes still shut. "I'm really tired," I murmured.

"We'll get you to the nurse…"

"No." I shook my head with feeling. "Please. Just take me back to the room. I just want to sleep."

He was worried. "What if this happens again? Man, that wasn't normal."

I opened my bloodshot eyes. "Pence, was it?" He nodded quickly. "Pence, I just want to sleep. This is a stress thing. It's happened before. If I could just… get a bit more sleep? I'll be fine in the morning."

He looked uncertain. "I don't know," he said doubtfully. "I might tell the nurse anyway…"

"It's really unnecessary," I insisted. "Honestly. Please, I don't want any bad attention. I'm new here, it's my first day tomorrow, I'm just stressed. You don't need to tell anyone." A pause. "I'd rather you didn't tell anyone," I rephrased. He appeared conflicted, but slowly began to nod.

"But if it happens again…"

"It was just a bad reaction." I moved on unsteady legs to where my clothes were, a pair of silk boxers and a t-shirt. "I'll get changed. Meet you in the hall."

He recognised his cue, and reluctantly left me alone. I dropped the towel, shakily peeled off the soaked, clinging cotton pants, and changed into the dry clothes. I took the pants back to the shower alcove and wrung them out over the drain, taking care not to slip. I folded them, folded the towel, then met Pence outside.

"Hi," I said, forcing a thin smile.

"Hi," he replied, uncertainly.

We walked back to my dorm room. He had stripped my pillow of its saturated case, and I could see now why he was so nervous – there's so much blood, everywhere. There was a little of it on the sheets, but it was minor compared to the pillow slip. I could definitely sleep with it, in any case.

Blood had soaked through the pillow itself, but Pence had flipped it over, either in anticipation of my return, or Roxas' in the morning.

"Well… If you need anything during the night, just hit me," Pence said awkwardly. I offered him a smile.

"Sure thing. Thanks a lot for your help, sorry for scaring you."

He nodded, waving me over to my bed. I climbed in, the cool sheets a luxury, and mumbled good-night. I was asleep moments after he turned out the light.

-----

"Holy shit. Someone's been menstruating in my bed. And he's still here!"

I cracked an eye. "Axel," I growled, "do your cohesive English skills a favour: analyse that sentence and spot the flaws."

"Let's see – you're a guy, and it's not my bed."

"It's not even your fucking dorm, jerkwad." Wait, menstruating?

With a grunt, I shoved myself up onto my forearms, automatically checking the pillow. It was clean, on this side. I twisted, to glare wickedly at the red-haired abomination.

"What do you want?" I snarled. He held up his hands as though pacifying a dangerous animal.

"Whoa, relax, pretty-boy. I'm here for Roxie. He needs his uniform. So do you, come to think of it. School starts in thirty minutes. So what's with the bloodstains, silver-locks?"

"I got a blood nose."

Roxas straightened on his side of the room, pulling on a pair of charcoal pants under his white shirt. "Are you coming to breakfast?" he asked. I scowled. He rolled his eyes.

"Look, can we forget about yesterday? I really don't care enough for this to become grudge material. If you want to carry it on, you're on your own."

I sat up distrustfully. "You mean that?"

"Yes. God. We have to live together, don't we?"

"Don't remind me," Axel moaned, hooking his long arms around his boyfriend's waist and clinging with mock-desperation. "I thought we'd be able to finally room together this semester! I feel so neglected."

Roxas slapped him affectionately. "Get off me, you bean-pole freak."

"Aw, I love you, too, baby."

"Please," I croaked, covering my eyes. "Some of us are waking up. I don't need my first images of the day to be of you two playing tonsil hockey."

Axel stuck out his tongue. "You're just jealous you don't have your own shrimp to wrestle with." He yelped as Roxas punched him. Then he punched him again. "Roxas, what the fuck?"

"One for each mistake," he smirked. His eyes caught mine, and he stared coolly. "So, I'm just going to keep my mouth shut for a while, at least where Sora is concerned. But if I find out anything about you hurting him – I will come after you."

"If I found a way to hurt Sora, I would be waiting for you," I said impatiently. "And I would allow you to beat me to a pulp, because anyone who hurts Sora deserves nothing less. Including me. Feel better?"

He sniffed, draping his tie around his neck, tucking it under the collar. "We'll see," was all he said, before scooping up his shoes and taking Axel's hand. "We'll see you down there."

The door shut. I wondered when Pence had left. Sighing, wiping the sleep from my eyes, I climbed out of bed. Glancing back, I could see why Axel had commented; there were random stains dotting the sheets, from where I had touched them. They made me feel vaguely nauseous. Turning my gaze resolutely elsewhere, I went to the small chest of drawers on my half of the room and pulled out the items of my uniform. The school had arranged for three of them to be here before I arrived, had got my measurements from Poinsettia before we left Destiny Island.

I pulled on the charcoal pants, looped a belt into them and cinched it, buttoned on my long-sleeved white shirt, and, like Roxas, draped the tie around my neck while I sat on the bed to fix my socks and shoes. While I struggled vainly with the half-Windsor knot in my deep scarlet tie, a knock sounded. I shuffled over, cursing softly as my blind fingers made another mistake, then swung the door open. Sora stood there.

"Hi, Riku," he said, a little timidly. I stood staring at him in surprise.

"Uh, hi." We looked at each other for a long moment. "You, uh – you want to come in?" I remembered the pillow, and sheets, the pillow case stuffed somewhere not quite out of sight. "On seconds thoughts," I interrupted, as he started to answer, "let's go to breakfast." I darted back to grab my school bag, shoving the soiled pillow slip firmly under my bed, then rejoined him in the corridor, locking the room behind me. Slinging the messenger bag with all my books over one shoulder, reattempting the mess which was at that point claiming to be my tie, I asked, "So what brings you here?"

He looked at me uncertainly. "Well, I was – I mean, I'm your friend. I'm not going to just abandon you the second we get to school. I'm going to show you to your classes. And… I was wondering if you were… you know, okay?"

"Okay?" I spared him a glance. "Sure, So, why wouldn't I be?"

He frowned. I could see that he both noticed and disliked my evasion. He pursued. "You seemed pretty unhappy last night. And you were thinking a lot, I could tell. You weren't even talking to anyone, and I don't think you heard when people tried talking to you." People spoke to me? "I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he concluded, looking up at me. Then he sighed, rolling his eyes, and commanded, "Stop." I stopped, swaying forward with leftover momentum. He stepped in front of me and took hold of my tie. "Have you always been this useless?" Then, muttering, "Don't answer that, sorry."

I smiled. "I remember being even more useless than this, I think. This might have to be a daily occurrence."

"I'll teach you." If it means having Sora this close to me every morning, his fingers brushing my neck, the adorable look of concentration and exasperation on his face – I think I may be a very slow learner. With a final tug, he completed the knot, standing back to inspect his work with a satisfied nod. I picked up the end, looking down, and grinned.

"Thanks, So – you're great."

He blushed a little. "You're welcome." We started walking again. I adjusted my bag so it sat more comfortably on my shoulder. We crossed the grounds in silence, but it was more companionable and less awkward than it had been, and hope began to rise, just the slightest amount, in my chest.

------

The cafeteria was noisy, filled with identically-attired bodies, except that the girls wore plaid skirts instead of the pants. Today, the teachers had been replaced with actual lunch-ladies, who served with far greater aplomb than the mostly-resentful educators ever had the previous night. Then again, none of them wore leather either, and I have to admit, emo or not, bad mood or not, I still found that pretty hot on… the gentlemen who were going to be my first two teachers of the day. Damn.

"Remedial math? I have remedial math?" I stared, appalled, while milk dribbled off my spoon and onto the table, where it had jerked to a halt en route to my mouth. "I mean, I know I kind of rushed the test, but…"

"And why did you do that?" Kairi scolded, using her napkin to wipe up my mess. "Riku, you're getting it on your shirt, eat your goddamn cereal."

I dropped the spoon back into my bowl, and sat glowering at the schedule in my hand.

"Why on earth did you rush the test?" Kairi demanded again. I shrugged sullenly.

"I don't know. But you can stop acting all motherly, it's not like I'm not paying for it." Damn it, where'd my natural smarts go when I needed them? I must've been more out of it that day than I'd realised. "And now," I bemoaned, "I have Leon for remedial math."

Leon – stoic bitch number one, as Sora delighted in calling him. I mean, he was obviously a good enough person, he'd helped Sora after all, and he'd battled the Heartless and Nobodies along with everyone else, and he even smiled occasionally, or so I'm told. But I didn't want the man as a teacher! I already had Sephiroth for English. And Sora wouldn't even be in the class with me, which meant – oh, God. I'd spend the entire time staring at his ass. Sora might not have noticed guys aside from me – and just as well, I'd have rearranged the face of anyone he showed interest in who wasn't me – but I had pretty much resigned myself to being gay. I noticed guys. I also noticed their finer features. And Leon, in his tight leather pants, had very fine features.

The others looked bemused as I started rhythmically dropping my head against the table. I had forgotten how painful school could be.

Sora stopped me by gently taking hold of some of my hair as I reared back for another go. He turned my face to his, smiling perplexedly, amused and faintly concerned. "You really shouldn't do that. Besides, Leon's a great teacher. Really patient. I have him for algebra."

"I should be in algebra."

"Maybe you could ask to take another test," a brunette girl offered from several spaces along. I shot her a curious look, noticed Pence beside her, and realised she was with Roxas.

"Oh, uh, yeah, that's definitely an option…"

"Olette," she smiled. "I kind of noticed you weren't paying attention last night. My name is Olette. I think we have music together."

"Oh, I have music after math. With… Cloud." I tapered off to a mumble. Sora, still holding my hair, turned me back to him, looking far more amused this time.

"What is it with you and our teachers?" he asked. "I heard you muttering about Sephiroth last night."

Oh. Had I spoken out loud?

"Sephiroth? Oh, you poor fucker." Another blond, on the other side of Roxas. "Hayner," he informed my mystified expression. "And I have Eng. Lit, too. My mother," he said the word distastefully, "forced me into it. Apparently, I passed the exam for it really well. I swear to God, I was just bullshitting like, the whole time. And I passed! By a lot! So now, I've had that fucker for four years, and it never gets prettier."

I sighed, digging resentfully at my food, no longer interested in eating. If the day ever came where Sora asked me if I truly loved him, I would call his attention back to this period of our lives. Because if this wasn't unconditional love, I didn't know what was.

He prodded me in the side. "Come on; I'll get you to your first class."

We said good-bye to everyone, with Axel blowing kisses and shrieking that he'd miss me, and exited the cafeteria. My math class was in the second building over, on the second floor. Sora showed me to the door, then waved and went on his way, promising to be back in time to walk me to music. I steeled myself, tightening my fingers around the shoulder strap of my messenger bag, then pushed open the door.

Leon was sitting behind his desk reading a novel. The classroom was empty, since the bell hadn't rung yet. He glanced up briefly, muttered, "Welcome to Twilight Academy," then returned his attention to the book. My footsteps were gunshots in the silence, as I walked to the back and took a seat. I pulled out a pencil, a pen, and a piece of paper, then sat there and stared at my teacher. He turned a page, noisily.

"You suck at fractions."

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

He hadn't moved, hadn't glanced up. I started wondering if it had been my conscience.

"It's why you're here," he said at last, having obviously finished the paragraph he was on. I pieced this together.

"I'm doing remedial math because… I suck at fractions?"

"Big time."

"Oh."

Another long pause. "I've seen grade-schoolers do better."

I was annoyed. "You know, you're not exactly encouraging."

He shrugged, very slightly, and went on with his novel. I sighed gustily. Students started to dribble in, one at a time. I got a lot of curious glances, but kept my gaze firmly on Leon, waiting to see if he would even look at me. He didn't. Even after the bell rang, until every single student had taken their seat, he didn't even bother to welcome anyone else, even though some threw him greetings, just kept on reading. At last, he carefully dog-eared the page he was on, then folded the book shut and tucked it into a desk drawer. He stood.

"We have a new student. His name's Riku. Play nice." That was it. My introduction was over. He picked up a file, flicked to a certain page, and, pen in hand, started calling attendance. The lesson was pretty straight-forward from there. I was bored stiff. The only reason I was here was because I'd fudged the test. Everything he was outlining, I had done at least three years previously. And yes, I was weak on fractions, but I was better than a goddamn grade-schooler. I should have been with Sora.

"Utada. Pay attention." His deep, sombre voice cut through my sulking melancholy, but other than the initial reprimand, he didn't pursue me. It seemed like forever until the double period finished, by which stage my brain had all but vacated my skull, leaving an airy, somewhat icky space in its wake.

"Utada." I blinked, looking up from where I'd been randomly doodling on my notepad. It took a second for me to notice that I was the only one left. I cursed quietly, and started packing away my things. Sora stuck his head around the door.

"Hey, Leon," he said cheerfully. Leon was back to reading his book. "Hey, Riku," he tried next, with better response. I smiled warmly.

"Hey, So." I jogged to the front of the class to join him.

"See you later, Leon," he chirped with a wave. Leon's thumb absent-mindedly smoothed the crease from the dog-ear. I rolled my eyes.

"He's such an asshole," I grumbled, as we were walking down the hall. Sora shook his head.

"He's a nice guy. Just anti-social. I figure, one of these days, he's going to say hello back to me."

He led me to the arts and performance building, which had an auditorium attached to the side for plays, shows and galleries. All seniors were required to take part in at least one of these by the end of the year. The music room was in the basement of the building, soundproofed, which didn't bode well. Sora touched my arm and went, leaving me tingling slightly. I pushed open the door, to find a surprisingly quiet and well-structured classroom. There was a jumble of instruments shoved toward the back of the room, a collection of brass, silver, necks, canvas and wood. Tangled in amongst all these were the occasional jutting music stand. Cloud was standing at the front of the room, wearing a small pair of thin-framed glasses, reading a goddamn novel. I chanced a look at the cover. It was, to my disappointment, a different book. I had expected better synchronisation from the emo-twins.

Olette was waiting for me. She shot me a wide smile and waved me over. "Riku, come on, come sit with me," she called, causing Cloud to look up.

"New student. Old students. Old students, be good."

It was like experiencing déjà vu, only blonder. I worked up a glower, and went to sit by Olette, who giggled. "Don't worry about him," she whispered. "He's just distracted."

Stoic bitch number two. Not that Sora didn't have sympathy for Cloud, and I shared in that, especially since he was a teacher at the same school as Sephiroth – but in this place, I wasn't sure precisely of what, if any, history preceded them, and was less inclined to be compassionate. "How was math?" Olette asked, then laughed outright at my expression. She patted my arm. "It's okay, things will get better. Leon's very astute, I'm sure he'll see where you belong." I had my doubts about Leon's mythically observant nature.

"New student." Cloud's dry voice travelled to me. "You play an instrument?"

"My name is Riku. And I play a little guitar."

"Really? Where'd you buy one of those? All I can ever find are the regular ones."

"Oh, my fucking God." I slapped a hand to my mouth. Oops. Didn't mean to say that. The class erupted into giggles. Cloud had the slightest smirk. It hurt, really, that hurt me when he said that.

"Language, newbie. Maybe later you can serenade us. For now, we're doing theory. Everyone take out your stuff."

Okay, so he talked more than Leon. He even, apparently had a sense of humour, agonising though it was. It didn't keep me from pouting.

I never did end up having to play in front of the class, much to my relief. The extent of my skills had been garnered on bonfire nights, after copious amounts of alcohol had rid me of my own minor 'stoic bitch' inhibitions. I don't sing, though. Only ever hum.

By the time the lunch period rolled around, my energy was flagging. Last night's drama was taking its toll, and I wanted to do nothing more than roll back into bed and cocoon myself in the covers.

Olette and Sora walked with me to the cafeteria. We got a selection of food to share, and ambled out to where the others sat in the sunshine. All seniors had the same lunch period, so everyone was there. Axel's hair in the bright light could have been a beacon for lost ships. I told him so, and had an apple thrown at me, then promptly requested back. I might have kicked it, resulting in bruises.

I have to admit, it was… nice, sitting there, Sora on one side of me, Kairi on the other with Tidus' head in her lap. I had my best friends with me, other friends by association filling us out into a large, amiable group. The sun was bright above us… It was good. Even with the hiccups Sora and I had suffered, even with the confusion swirling and eddying in my mind, I wasn't above enjoying simple pleasures. Nothing seemed as urgent or difficult anymore.

I ended up copying the motions of the other guys, pushing my shirtsleeves up around my elbows to negate some of the burning heat. The breeze on my sweating forearms was cool and fresh. We spent a lot of the time talking about inconsequential things, and the lessons we had endured. I caught Sora, more than once, watching me. Each time, I would smile, and by the end of the period, I had him smiling back.

------

My final lesson for the day was a double of Eng. Lit. Sephiroth recognised me the moment I stepped through the door, and I had the unnerving sensation of being sized up.

The English Literature room was more like a small lecture hall, with long, tiered desks that sat ten students apiece. Down the bottom, Sephiroth simply stood and waited, perfectly calm, perfectly patient.

Hayner, by my side, performed a little shudder, pulling me by the sleeve until we reached the very last desk. "Is it just me, or is he looking at you like fresh meat?" he muttered, unpacking his stuff. Now that was a reassuring thought. I concentrated on not squirming lower into my chair. Teacher or no, he was still Sephiroth. I couldn't shake the feeling that he was dangerous.

"Class," he began in his deep voice, once everyone was seated, "we have a new student today. Riku," he smiled thinly, "stand up and tell us about yourself. Your old school, where you're from, hobbies and such."

I frowned, then suddenly realised what he was playing at: all the teachers today had been treating me with a slight amount of caution. It occurred to me only now that they had probably, in the interest of my own safety, been informed about my condition.

Sephiroth knew I didn't have many memories.

Absolute goddamn malicious son-of-a-bitch.

I glared, remaining seated, and said, "I really don't feel comfortable doing that."

He smirked. "I'm afraid you don't have much choice. You see, this semester we're going to be working on oral presentations, the performance of poetry and such like things. Think of it as practice."

There was a long, pregnant pause. "I'm from Destiny Island," I said grudgingly.

"Stand."

Fucking… I stood, drew a breath, aware of the stares of the class, keeping my gaze fixed solely on Sephiroth. "My name is Riku. I'm from Destiny Island. My best friend Sora goes to this school. I'm eighteen. That's it."

I sat again, sharply. Sephiroth was amused. "That's it? What a boring little life you must lead, Mister Utada."

Oh, how I wished he was still dead. I kept my expression blank.

He continued with the lesson. It dragged on; I had difficulty keeping focus, with the building rage distracting me. He called on me often for my opinion, for answers, no doubt hoping to catch me off guard in my 'forgetful' ignorance. I shot him down every time, keeping my answers neat and concise. By the time we were gathering our books to leave, I was a fuming mess. I stormed from the classroom, ignoring Hayner's calls to wait up.

I didn't even notice Sora until I had got halfway to the dorms. Panting, he cut in front of me, holding my shoulders to slow me down. "Riku!" He was confused, worried. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"That bastard was trying to humiliate me," I exploded. His eyes shot wide. He let me go, startled by the force of my fury.

It wasn't that I feared being exposed – I didn't. Whatever he thought people would do or say if they knew I had supposedly lost all my memories, that didn't matter to me. The only opinions I cared about were chiefly Sora's, and to a lesser extent, Kairi's. I'd be severely saddened if something changed between me and the rest, but it just wasn't the same. No; what mattered was the principle of it. The fact that, in his mind, the way to treat me after our encounter last night was to try and publicly debase me. I was sickened.

Hayner caught up with us. "Jesus, dude, you okay? I don't know what was going on in there, but I've never seen Seph zero in on anyone like that. Well, not for a while, anyway." He thought for a minute. "Okay, so, not this semester, which doesn't say much, I know, since the semester has only been, like, today, but…" He shrugged. "You get the idea."

"Yes, Hayner, I do get the idea. It doesn't change the fact that he is a gigantic asshole."

Hayner held up his hands. "Hey, didn't I tell you? I'm pretty sure at breakfast, I mentioned the fact that he's a fucker."

Sora was following this with growing alarm. "What'd he do to you?" he demanded, preparing to become irate on my behalf. "What'd he say?"

I sighed sharply, shook my head. "I'll tell you later, So. Right now, I want to just lie down or something. Scream into my pillow maybe." Oh, wait, I can't. It's blood soaked.

Sora brightened. "Well, how about a movie?"

I looked at him blankly. "What?" I said tiredly. He nodded eagerly.

"Yeah. Everyone's heading into town to see a movie. You have to come, Riku!"

"Hey, yeah!" Hayner slapped me on the back. "It'll be cool. We can go see something with lots of gore, that'll take your mind right off Sephiroth!"

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "I don't know…"

"C'mon, Riku, it'll be fun," Sora urged. I wasn't convinced. He hesitated, then added quietly, "I want you to come." I stared.

Hayner's eyes flicked between us. "Oookay, I'm gonna just go now. I'll get ready or something. See you guys later." He jogged quickly away towards his dorm building. Sora was flushed. It was a common sight by now. I sighed, gesturing for him to walk with me.

"I'm just really tired, So, I don't know about doing the whole social thing. I've got a lot on my mind."

"But… we can get coffee, and eat a popcorn dinner, and…"

"And you want me to come?"

Again, the hesitation. Then a nod. I shook my head, not saying no, just clearing it of the cobwebs. "Tell you what – let me go have a shower and get changed, and I'll see how I feel. What's the time?"

"Well, since classes just finished, it's gotta be about four."

"When are we leaving?"

"Uh, five-thirty-ish?"

"Okay. I can probably do that. But I'm going to take a nap first, I'm beat. Come get me when it's time, and I'll be there, all right?"

He nodded again, happily this time. He walked me to my room, which was empty, and when I turned to say good-bye, he was fidgeting.

"Can I, maybe, um, come in to do some homework? I won't bother you. I just… I like to have company."

I frowned. "Don't you room with Wakka?"

"Well, yeah, but, you know… I think he has blitz practice today."

"Oh. Okay, I guess. But, seriously, I'm going to be unconscious." I unlocked the door to let him in. He bounced through, cheerful again. "So who gave you homework on the first day anyway?" I asked, as I undid my tie and unbuttoned my shirt.

"Leon," he replied gaily. "I don't mind. I kind of like algebra."

"Huh." I dug through my suitcase, which I hadn't got around to unpacking yet. "Did you have chemistry? You brought that work, right? I nearly broke my brain remembering all that."

"Yeah, I didn't forget. I have that second period tomorrow. You do, too, so you can always help me from now on. See? I was doing you a favour, getting you into chemistry mode before the term even began!" He had all his books already laid out on Roxas' bed, a pencil in hand.

"Yeah, So, I'm grateful," I said wryly. I pulled out some clothes. "I'm going to go grab that shower before everyone else gets the same idea. Just… make yourself at home, I guess. Back soon, hopefully smelling less sweaty."

"I like sweaty," Sora murmured distractedly, frowning down at one of the homework problems. I left before he could freeze and start to choke.

------

I felt fresher after the nap. It really made a difference to my mood. Especially waking up to the sight of Sora.

I was lying on my stomach, arms wrapped around the pillow, hair a curtain over my face. I could feel that, during my sleep, my shirt had ridden up, exposing my ribs. Through the pale strands, I had a perfect view of Sora stealing peeks at me every now and then. I grinned slowly. At length, he must have noticed the sparkle of my eyes, because he looked at me, and stopped very suddenly, mid-perv.

"Hi," I said thickly.

"Hi," he squeaked. He knew I'd been watching for a while. I chuckled softly, the motion travelling through my body, and his eyes were automatically drawn back to my bare skin. I lay still for a while, letting him look, the smile lingering on my lips.

"When do we leave?" I asked. He ran a hand through his hair, leaning forward to check the alarm clock.

"Uh, about now, actually. I guess I lost track of time…"

"It happens," I said with a glimmer of humour. I wriggled around onto my back, scraping the hair out of my face, and sat up, aware of Sora's eyes tracking every second of it. I preened a little, enjoying the attention. He was toying with his pen, work long forgotten. I tugged down my top, gesturing to his spread on Roxas' bed. "Did you get much done?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so." He blinked, shook himself. "Yeah. I've almost finished. I stopped for a while, though…"

"I admire your work ethic," I smirked. I swung my feet over onto the floor, reached down for my shoes and slipped them on, quickly tying the laces. "So where are we meeting everyone?"

"Out by the front of the school."

"Cool. You, uh, going to pack up anytime soon?"

He jumped. "Oh! Right, sure." He started clearing the bed. "Hey, Riku? What's with the blood?"

"Hm? Oh." I spared a glance over at the exposed sheets. "I just got a blood nose during the night. It got on my hands. Must've touched the bed."

"Uh-huh, yeah, no, I was looking more at the pillow case." Shit.

I bent at the waist, tipping my head upside down to see that, yes, I hadn't been as thorough as I'd thought this morning. From Roxas' bed, he had a pretty good view of it. It was a pale blue case, which meant that the stain was very evident. I closed my eyes. Damn.

"It's just a reaction to the stress," I found myself reciting. I straightened up, meeting his gaze carelessly. "Really nothing to worry about."

He looked dubious. "It's kind of a lot of blood, isn't it?"

"Nah. Looks worse than it is. It's just spread through the material. It was pretty light."

Here's to hoping he doesn't think to check the pillow itself. Part of the reason I went to sleep on my stomach was so I could pin it down. He seemed to accept my lie, though, and finished packing away his things. "Jeeze, if we don't hurry, we're going to be late," he fretted. "You mind if I leave my stuff here? I'll pick it up later."

"Sure, no problem. Let's go."

We walked quickly, skipping down the stairs and breaking into a run, to be there before the others decided to leave. We caught them just in time.

"Wait!" Sora wailed from fifty yards, waving his arms erratically and nearly knocking me over.

The sun was setting over Twilight Town, turning everything cool and dark, while still light enough to see. I had come prepared this time, pulling a turtleneck sweater over my zip-up sleeveless black shirt. I hooked a lackey band out of my pocket and tied my hair back, so it wouldn't irritate my neck while I wore the turtleneck. That's when I noticed Sora beside me, shivering and rubbing his bare arms. He obviously had planned to pick something up quickly while he dropped off his books. I rolled my eyes.

"Organised as ever, hey So?" I murmured affectionately. I extended an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. "Relax," I said as he stiffened. "I'm just keeping you warm." He loosened up gradually, even going so far as to take hold of a little of the sweater at my back, to make our position more comfortable. We were towards the back of the group, making our behaviour less obvious, for which I was glad. The last thing we needed was for someone to start hooting suggestively.

He kept glancing at my face. "What?" I asked.

"I've never seen you with your hair up," he said curiously. Sure you have, So. Plenty of times. "It looks good." You always say that.

"Thanks," I said. I held him loosely, all the way there. He was starting to flutter back.