A/N: Thanks: XxX-SparklingEyes-XxX, CrystalEarth, native-kitten and xSweetNightmaresx. Enjoy reading! ^_^
The answer she got, however, didn't seem to be as frightening as she had thought at first...fortunately.
"You have to distract him, even fight with him, if you have to. In the meantime, Ansem and I will bring Roxas to somewhere else. To this room. I'm sure he's safe here," her uncle replied.
"Okay and that's all?" she asked, almost arrogantly.
Distracting him couldn't be that hard. She could always mention something about his hair if she didn't know what to say or do.
"Yes, that's all, but don't let him fool you. He's harder to beat than he makes it look like," her uncle said, warningly.
"Where is he now?" she asked. She saw some movement from the corner of her eyes and turned around. That was when she spotted on one of the computer screens where he was: the red dot indicated that he was near the room where Roxas was still sleeping peacefully. How predictable. If she didn't know any better, she would think that the redhead had a thing for the other Nobody, sine he was pretty much acting like his stalker. "Uhm, you know what? Never mind."
"Then you know what to do, right?" her uncle asked.
"Yup. Good luck you two," she replied.
After all, it looked like they needed it more than she did.
"Good luck."
She quickly left the room and went straight to that direction. It wasn't that hard for her to find him. She decided to take a short cut. She stood in front of the door to Roxas' room, just when Axel arrived at the same spot. He seemed to be surprised at seeing someone blocking his way, but he was quick to replace the awestruck look with a smirk.
"Hey, could you move over? I've got to go into that room and I don't want to use any violence against a pretty girl like you," Axel asked.
Hailey rolled her eyes. Honestly, what was it with guys and not fighting with girls? And flirting while you were at it, too?
"No. I'm afraid I can't. First you have to pass through me if you want to enter that room," she answered, more determined than ever.
Axel sighed, crossing his arms against his chest as he looked her up and down. "Why do girls always make it more difficult?"
"Because that's always more fun," she answered, smirking.
He seemed to think about her words for a moment, before he spoke up, "Very well, then. Have it your way. But don't say that I didn't warn you. Here we go."
At once, the redhead summoned two firered and silver-colored shakrams, spinning them expertly with his hands as his grin never left his pale face. He then rushed forwards without as much as a warning and started to attack her with the two weapons. Now she understood why his hair was that red. It matched his element, his weapons, his personality and his fierce fighting style. But she knew how to handle this. She only dodged his attacks and it felt like they fought for hours. Unfortunately, that meant that she slowed down, too, and that had as a result that she couldn't dodge all of his attacks. Her arms were burned slightly and it started to hurt.
When Axel was tired, after what seemed to be ages, he finally gave up and stopped fighting alltogether. She was more than glad, because she was getting tired too and she couldn't hold it any longer. At one point, the thought that maybe he was just being a gentleman crossed her mind, but she ignored it.
Fiew, at last! I thought that he would never stop again.
They were both panting at this point, using the wall behind them to lean onto, as their eyes never left the other. He looked at her and started to smirk, thoroughly amused for one reason or another.
"What's so funny?" she asked, lifting a brow.
"Nothing. It's just that you almost impressed me. I had never thought that a girl would be this strong. And now that my time's up, I guess I'll have to give up now."
"So you finally noticed that I was being serious?" she asked.
She started to smirk too.
I think I just started to like this guy, without any reason. Does that make me an idiot?
"Tell me, who are you? The least you could do, is tell me the name of the girl who almost beat me."
I think that uncle and Ansem have done their work now. It's time for me to disappear... before he changes his mind and starts attacking me.
"My name is of no importance. Well, it was nice meeting, and then fighting you, but I really have to go now. Cheers!" she said, as she quickly started to run away.
"Hey! Where are you going? I wasn't finished yet!" she heard him yelling, but she didn't go back and he didn't follow her.
~Reality~
And now, the guy she had fought with was her physics teacher. Strange how some things could get that way. She was more than glad that he didn't recognize her. Although, that was very odd, too. Maybe he did recognize her, but he wanted to forget everything that happened between them in the past. She couldn't blame him for that decision. But it wasn't that important now. She had to focus on where they were going to next.
Suddenly, however, she got a sickening headache. She almost let go of Axel and the items in her other arm, but fortunately, she still managed to hold onto Axel's leg. Then, something really weird happened. She wasn't in her own body anymore. She was back in the Forbidden Room again. The room was empty and she saw pieces of crystal near the chair where Axel sat a few minutes ago. She knew that those were the crystal figurines.
"That stupid idiot broke my figurines!" she whispered, furiously.
She quickly ran to the window, even though she didn't want to, but she just couldn't stop herself. There she saw how a guy with fire red hair was flying in the air, leaving a trail of smoke behind. A girl with black hair and a school uniform was holding one of his legs.
"Damn it!" she said with the voice of Xehanort.
She almost got a heart attack right then and there at hearing her own voice.
What the- Why do I sound like him?
"How could he escape so easily? And what has that fool done with my precious experiment? Now I'll have to start all over! Stupid Axel! Stupid window! Stupid me! And stupid... now just wait a minute, who was that girl? I could have sworn that she looked exactly like Hailey from the back. But then... what the hell was she doing here? And how did she get here in the first place? The door was still locked when I came here. Hmm... it seems that I'll have to pay a nice visit at that sweet girl. Besides, she didn't come to my office to get a map of the school and she had promised me to come. If she has to do something with this, then they'll both pay for this!"
What's happening? Am I in Xehanort's body? Eeeew! But why? Am I dreaming? This is not another flashback. At least, not that I know.
But that question was never answered, because then she was back in her own body again.
Huh? Oh, I almost forgot that I was flying!
She looked beneath her. She still saw houses everywhere and people who were working or just laying in their own garden, relaxing after a long and tiring school- or workday.
Wow, this sure is beautiful... and unusual!
"Ehm, where do I have to go now?" Axel asked her, as he turned his head toward her, so he could look at her.
"Do you know where Riku lives?"
"Yeah. Do you want me to land there?"
"Yes, please, if you can," she answered.
"Alright!"
She couldn't help but notice that he sounded really happy. She guessed that she would be happy too, if she had been locked up for so long and then finally came outside after a whole week. Xehanort really was mean and heartless. He would pay for this, too. She wondered why he did that to Axel. Whatever the reason was, it certainly had something to do with the darkness or one of his new creepy experiments.
They finally arrived at Riku's house. How the man knew where he lived, remained another mystery for her, but she didn't ask anything about it. Axel started to bend over so they could land. She let go of his leg when she was sure that she could land safely on the soft green grass, without breaking any bones.
Riku paced up and down in his living room, not paying attention at his surroundings and his best friends, who were sitting on the sofa next to each other. He did it over and over again. Why? Because he was worried... about Hailey. Plus, he actually didn't know what else to do to kill time. There was not that much he could do right now, anyway. He was waiting for Hailey. He didn't dare to stop walking now. It almost felt like something terrible would happen to her if he stopped pacing up and down.
Why in Kingdom Hearts's name did it take her so long to come back? What if she had failed? What if Xehanort had seen her? What if something teribble had happened to her? These thought kept plaguing him.
Every time that he came past the window, he peered through it quickly, like he expected that a smiling Hailey would open the door to enter this room.
Then she would exclaim something like, "There you see? I told you I could do it on my own! I told you that there really was a secret in his room? I've even brought it with me." She would look at him and then smile at him. She would say this, "Thank you so much for believing me, Riku. I'm glad that you found me."
He would feel the butterflies in his stomach when she would say that. She would give him a kiss on his cheek and hug him, still with that adorable smile on her beautiful face. Then he could finally hold her very tight, just like that short moment in that dark room at school... So he waited for her to come.
Every time he looked through the window and he couldn't see her, he would make a frustrated noise, which sounded much like, "Ugh!" and then he would sigh and continue pacing up and down the big room.
Maybe she was in danger. Maybe she was hurt. Maybe...
This time, Kairi sighed too, interrupting his train of thoughts abruptly. "Riku, please knock it off. You're really giving me the nerves!" she said, when he passed her for the eighth time this minute.
Her frustrated voice turned him back to reality. Honestly, how could she ask from him to do that? He guessed that she didn't even care about her. He really didn't know why in the world he used to think that Kairi was amazing, because she certainly wasn't, that much was obvious now. Okay, maybe it was because she looked better than Selphie or any other rabid fan girl at school.
"But what if something teribble happens to Hailey? What if she's hurt? And I'm pretty sure that she's in trouble right now. That'll be all my fault. I don't understand how you two can just sit here and wait, while she's risking her life for that stupid Forbidden Room!" he snapped back.
Who was giving who the nerves right now, he wondered. So, as headtrong as he was, he didn't stop pacing up and down in the room. He even started walking at a faster pace.
"Riku, Kairi has already told you why we're waiting here for her. It was far too dangerous for us to go with her. I mean, we could get expelled if Xehanort found out what we were actually doing there. And calm down a little bit. This is not the end of the world. At least, not yet," Sora said, while he defended his girlfriend.
Riku was shocked.
What did he just say? I can't believe what I've just heard!
Riku looked unbelievingly at Sora, like he had just punched Riku right in the face. "Hey! Whose side are you on? Defending that girl and not your best friend? How could you?"
If Riku could see himself in the mirror right that moment, he would have known how dangerous and scary he looked; he looked like he was preparing to attack Sora, his best friend. Well, he used to be Riku's best friend, but he had changed when Kairi came into his life. It was such a pity. Here was the proof that girls made every guy change. Also the naive ones, like Sora here.
"Riku, calm down, please. You're sort of... scaring me. I've never seen you like this before. It almost seems like you care more about her than about us and you don't even know her..." Kairi noted.
He said nothing, but just stared at her. So what if he did?
Jealous?
Besides, he did know her well enough, for more than a year. Long enough to know what kind of a girl she was.
"Well? Are you gonna say something, or what? Is it true? Do you have feelings for Hailey?" Kairi tried again.
The next time he saw Hailey, he would ask her to bring some ducttape with her for Kairi. Maybe that would help her to shut up for at least ten seconds or so...
He didn't know what to say. Yes, Kairi was right of course, like she almost always was; he had feelings for Hailey. But Hailey was not your average girl. She had inspired him since he had met her, so he thought he did know her more than she thought. But why should he tell all this to Kairi? It was not like that would bring Hailey back safely, or that Kairi would understand everything now. Maybe Kairi would get jealous if he told her the truth, just like a couple of hours ago... He really hoped that she was okay. He would never forgive himself if something happened to her, because that would be all his fault.
He noticed how Kairi followed all his movements silently with her eyes. He tried to ignore it, but it didn't work. She kept looking at him with those big, questioning, blue eyes. It really annoyed him.
He sighed. "Perhaps," he finally managed to say. "And could you please stop looking at me like that?"
"Perhaps? Is that something like a... yes?" she immediately asked.
Apparently, she didn't want to drop the subject just yet. Now he was pretty sure that she was wishing right now that she could read his mind. Perhaps he should tease her some more. He wondered what would happen then. Would she explode out of frustration? He could see the curiosity in her eyes.
"Well, what shall I say?" he said.
"How about the truth?" Kairi suggested.
She sounded patient, but he knew very well that she wasn't.
From the corner of his eyes he could see that Sora was looking at him as well now, probabely wondering the same thing. "Eh... right. Well, what I mean is..."
"Yes?" she urged on.
Then the bell rang. He quickly looked at the front door. Kairi yelped and jumped out of her seat, like she was sitting on nails and finally noticed it. Riku smirked, because it honestly looked quite stupid yet funny.
That was what she got when he ignored his pleas. It looked like he was saved by the bell!
"I'll open the door," Sora quickly said, as he rushed forward, toward the front door before anyone else could protest.
"Wow, that was definitely a nice flight! It was something completely different to experience," Hailey said, happily, as she started fixing her hair to make it look more presentable.
She really had enjoyed the flight, despite all of the strange things that had happened to her. She was almost getting used to it. She still had a hammering headache, but that didn't matter now. She did hope that Riku had aspirins... and that she would soon find out the reason why all this was happening to her, because she was afraid that she was slowly starting to get insane! What would other people think of her then? What would Riku think of her if he found out...
She walked to the front door of Riku's house and rang the doorbell. She heard a yelp and someone ran very hard through the house, almost as though he or she was chased by the devil.
Whoa, talk about panicking! Who yelped like an idiot? Kairi? It must have been Kairi, because the person who yelled had a high pitching voice, just like her.
At that moment, the front door opened. It was Sora.
It could be just her, but he really looked relieved when he saw it was Hailey. "Finally! There you are! What took you so long? Riku was practically preparing to kill me and Kairi, because it took you so long to come. You just saved our lives. Man, he really was worried about you. It's the first time that I've seen him like this in... years!" he said.
"Really?" she asked, smiling.
Had Riku really been that worried about her? It seemed that this day was getting better and better for her.
"Yeah! And- whoa!" Sora gasped. His eyes became as big and round as saucers. It was funny to see that, almost cute, even. "Mr. Axel? What are you doing here? I thought you were still on vacation. At least, that's what the headmaster said. Ehm... well, why don't you explain all this inside?" Sora said.
"Sure!" Hailey and Axel said, at exactly the same time.
They looked at each other and then started laughing. Sora moved over and let her and his physics teacher pass through him. Hailey went immediately to the living room, since she knew her way around here. She saw how Riku looked at her. She blushed and wanted to say something, when someone suddenly attacked her. It made her almost fell on the floor, but strangely enough, she still managed to keep her balance. She almost dropped the book and the figurines that she was still holding in her hands.
"Whoa!" was the only thing she could say, as all the air was knocked out of her lungs by the mysterious attacker.
Okay, perhaps she wasn't that mysterious. She knew it was Kairi, since she only saw red hair everywhere. Also, she wasn't attacking Hailey, she just hugged her.
A/N: Wow, Riku is getting... dangerous. What will happen next? Keep reading and find out. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it! ^-^