Chapter 14

"You got FIRED from Shoyu Shoyu yesterday?"

Of course, and he just had to say it like that. Screw you, Roxas. I feel terrible enough already. Don't need you muddying it up with your condescending ways. I hope that through my facial transmission of two very displeased cerulean optics that he understands just what kind of mood he's dealing with.

"Yes, I got fired from Shoyu Shoyu yesterday." I make sure to use a tone mocking his own. He sends an apologetic grin and a soft chuckle. I love Roxas, but I can't tell if he's an intentional prick or if it's unintentional. Geez, maybe I should start working on my temper. Especially after last night. Nonetheless, I groan and lean against my fist. We sit on opposite ends of a bench table in the far back of the cafeteria, away from the chatter of the rest of the room serving as background noise to our own conversation. For the past week or so, Roxas and Zidane decided to sit with us at lunch instead of their other friends. Kairi, being the worrywart that she is, sits next to me with her routinely sympathetic gaze. Roxas and Zidane are situated across from us, digging into their lunch.

"Bummer..." Zidane murmurs, sounding empathetic. "I know! Maybe one of my esteemed backside massages will cheer you up."

"Uhh," I trail. "How—thoughtful of you, Zidane. But I think I'll pass..."

"Come on, guys," Kairi says. "Please be a little bit more considerate to how she's feeling, okay? Can't you see she's stressed?"

I can feel my cheeks getting warmer. Why is this so embarrassing? Shoyu Shoyu should have literally been the easiest job I could ask for and I blew it by being my usual dumb self. I tuck my hands into the crease of my thighs to keep them warm, shifting slightly to wade off the humiliation.

"How exactly did you get fired?" Roxas asks. "It happened right after we left?"

Kairi and I exchange glances. Her expression says 'you don't have to tell them if you don't want to.' But what's the use in hiding it? I think we've all established that I successfully fail at life no matter what I do, right? Right. So, let's just get it over with.

"It's kind of... um, embarrassing, but..."

Last Night...

I hear a couple of wolf whistles in the short distance. "Yooo hooooo! Laaaraaaa!"

Ugh. Fucking Roxas. He and Zidane have been poking fun at Kairi and I all freaking afternoon. They keep ordering just so that we'll stop by their table, and lucky for them, it's not a busy day. They can pretty much be as obnoxious as they want. They've taken advantage of this golden opportunity to tease us any chance they get. The reason being? Well, it's Halloween. You know what that means?

Costumes...

To my surprise, my boss is a big fan of Halloween. He even decked out our restaurant just to get into the spooky spirit. The interior of Shoyu Shoyu is decorated in orange lights hung across the cobblestone walls, there's a creepy jack-o-lantern sitting on the podium next to the entrance ready to give a warm welcome to anybody willing to spend their Halloween eating noodles or curry instead of giving out candy to kids, and what would Halloween be without costumes? So, in traditional Halloween fashion (seriously, who invented this stupid holiday?), Kairi and I, among other co-workers, were elected to wear certain outfits to "appeal" to potential customers by Mr. Highwind. I'm sure you know where this is going.

What's worse is that we didn't have much of a say in what we'd get to wear. It boiled down to two options. In a typically sexist fashion, the girls were given one objectifying option to send the male (or female, if you go that way) demographic into a libidinous frenzy, and one less objectifying option that can still appeal to that targeted demographic but also pass for family-friendly audiences.

Kairi got stuck with the completely original and never before seen Harley Quinn costume. Her outfit consists of a jacket that's split between red and blue down the middle, her hair tied into pigtails, a faint wash of white face paint, and considering she had to keep it somewhat PG, we went with skinny jeans instead of the "too short to be shorts" shorts. Me? I was nominated for the Lara Croft outfit. I wear an ash colored tank top, shorts rolled up to the top of my thighs, boots, and a holster for fake firearm props.

Meanwhile, Terra has been texting me back and forth all evening. He seems to not understand the concept of a job, because it's like he's demanding for me to come and meet him when I'm on my shift. I send him a text message that politely tells him to fuck off and shut my phone down before Cid just so happens to exit the back kitchen without warning.

"Laraaaaa," Roxas whines.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Groaning, I tend to the boys while they barely stifle their chuckles amongst themselves. "What do you want now?"

Zidane gently takes my hand as if he were some kind of gentleman. "Is your number on the menu, madam?" he asks with a kiss to my hand. "Mind if I raid your tomb?"

As my response, I take the liberty of snatching my arm away and hitting him on the back of his head instead.

He rubs the sore spot. "Playin' hard to get, eh?"

"D'aww, leave her alone," Roxas says. "Maybe she's just cranky that she didn't find any artifacts on her last expedition."

They chuckle at my expense. Sometimes, I just can't with these guys. This has been going on for the past hour. They seem insistent on spouting the same three jokes every time Kairi and I walk past. They'll raise their eyebrows at us suggestively and make weird slurping noises or flirtatious kissy sounds with their lips.

"Don't you two have things to do?" I ask while rolling my eyes.

"Probably. But whatever it is, it can't beat witnessing this," Roxas says. "This is golden."

"Well, it was either this or a sexy nurse outfit. What did you guys want me to do?" After realizing the implications of that question, I cut them off before either can annoy me with their predictable sex innuendos. "Don't answer that. Why don't you idiots just leave now?"

Roxas sticks his tongue out and playfully pouts like an immature child that didn't get his way. "Meanie weanie...!"

"Yeah, lighten up," Zidane adds. "At least you look hot!"

"What's the big deal about this, anyway?" I ask, examining my current attire. "It's just a costume, and not even a particularly revealing one. I would literally wear this on a regular day of summer."

"But this is you we're talking about." Roxas snickers. "There's this weird satisfaction that comes with seeing you two actually cosplaying while also having to serve us. Aren't you cute as a button?" He pokes my exposed belly button and I quickly slap his finger away while shielding my tummy. Totally not because it tickled or anything...

"Xion." Kairi approaches me and tugs on my shoulder with her phone attached to her left ear. "Uh, can I talk to you in private for a moment?"

"Gotta say, Kairi. You sure do fill out that costume nicely," Zidane says with a mischievous spark in his eye.

I'm sure Kairi would be blushing, if only slightly, were it not for her face being concealed behind face paint. "Thank you? Well, I did have fun with the makeup and all, but I had a tough time trying to—"

"Silence!" I interrupt before she fuels more of their lame jokes. "Do not provoke their nonsense!"

"Say, Harley," Roxas intervenes. "Can I tell you a joke? Let me tell you, it's a killer." Judging by our mutual set of monotonous eyes, I think it's safe to say that we're both unamused.

"What's wrong, Harley?" Zidane asks. "I could be your new puddin', if ya know what I mean." He winks her way. "You can dip into me whenever you like."

"Give her a break," says Roxas. "I'd be upset too if my girl were a criminally insane killer who wore white makeup and a clown getup while trying to kill a man in a bat costume." He feigns embarrassment with a gasp, as if what he just said slipped out on accident. "I mean—no offense, Harley."

"Okay. Out you go," I say while pulling Roxas up by his arm. Kairi does the same and tends to Zidane. "I think we've heard quite enough out of you two."

While pushing them towards the exit, we ignore their lame protests and irrelevant reasoning to stay since they've already paid for their food and only remained seated to continue with their constant teasing. Roxas turns his head back to me halfway, bulging his lower lip. "Party poopers..."

"Can't we at least get a goodnight kiss?" Zidane asks in a whiny voice. "I'll treat you better than that clown you were with before, Harley. I promise I won't throw you out of a window."

"Shoo!" she says in response.

"Yeah, we can go on a double date!" Roxas chimes in. "Maybe rock climbing. I'm sure you'd really enjoy that, right Lara?"

"Out!" I yell once we finally shove them out the door. They laugh their way over to Roxas' car while waving us off and we return their goodbyes. Kairi retires her attention to me with a grave look. The atmosphere certainly dims at the boys exit.

"What?" I ask.

Her eyebrows lower at a gentle pace. "You're on your way?" Kairi asks, this time speaking into her phone. She looks unusually tense. "Please hurry up." She slumps her shoulders and sighs with a look that's borderline begging for forgiveness.

I take a step back with a defensive stance. She's looking too serious for comfort. Please don't tell me somebody died. "What'd you do?"

"Forgive me!" Kairi fake sobs and throws her arms around my upper body. Uh... what? Stiff and confused, I dart my eyes all over hoping that she'll give me some context. "Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me!"

"What?" I repeat for the third time in a row. "Girl, what did you do?"

Kairi backs away, looking a bit hesitant to touch me again before taking a quick peek outside. With the coast clear, she takes my hand and leads me to the back kitchen area. Luckily, nobody else seems to be around to eavesdrop.

She takes a deep breath. "Please don't be mad at me."

"Will you get to the point already?" I impatiently set my hands on my hips. "You didn't wet yourself again, did you?"

"No! That was years ago and we promised to never speak of that again!" She releases what seems to be an incoherent mixture of an irritated groan and a hesitant sigh. "So, remember a couple of weeks ago? You said you were being blackmailed and needed my help to find a girl named Aqua."

Thank you for the exposition. "Yeah, I was actually going to ask you for an update status." I pull out my phone and tap the Mognet app. "I've been social media stalking forever but there's so many Aqua's in the universe."

Kairi perks up, her face shining brightly. "Well, good news! I think I might've found our Aqua!"

Suddenly, I'm beginning to find her enthusiasm contagious. "No way!"

"Ugh, yeah. And it was a nightmare. First of all, there are seriously way too many people named Aqua. Aqua Hassan, Aqua Aquarius, even Aqua Marine... I mean, seriously, I never knew Aqua was such a common name—"

"Kairi."

"Oh, yeah." She pulls out her phone and begins swiping away with her thumb. "Well, I found out that there isn't anybody named Aqua in Twilight Town. But there is a girl who graduated from Twilight High last year. Let me see if I can find her... here she is. Aqua Holland. But she lives a few worlds away and we'd have to board a flight to meet with her."

"Did you get in contact with her?"

She shakes her head. "I sent a message asking if we could meet, but she hasn't responded yet. In fact, she hasn't been online in a couple of weeks. But she goes to Daybreak University in Daybreak Town."

"Daybreak Town?" I wonder aloud. Daybreak Town is a couple of hours from here, even by a gummi train. It's not terribly far, but Terra doesn't strike me as the long-distance type. But if this Aqua used to go to our school, then she's the best chance we've got.

Kairi twirls her finger on one of the ends of her pigtails with her tongue poked slightly out to the side. It's one of her many faces when in deep thought. "Besides, I don't think she'd be willing to meet up with two total strangers like this."

"Then let's just go to Daybreak Town," I suggest. "She's not going to say yes if we ask, so we might as well just go there and explain the situation. It'll be a nice excuse to get out of Twilight Town."

"That's what I was thinking." Kairi returns to her previous grim expression. "That's where the bad news comes in..."

We're possibly a few short steps away from having some dirt on that piece of shit, Terra. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad. "Lay it on me. My body is ready."

She bites her lip. "So... Daybreak University is a college for Keyblade wielders in training and they're pretty protective of their students. You can't just walk on campus. You need an I.D before you can even step foot on their property. The only exception is if you're with somebody who already attends the school, and even then, you need to go through a procedure for safety precautions."

"Okay?" I almost laugh. Is that her big bad news? I was thinking she was going to say the school was hit by a wrecking ball or something to that degree. "We'll just find somebody who goes to Daybreak Uni and kindly ask for a favor."

"Yeah... way ahead of you." She shifts her shoulders uncomfortably and inches past me into waiting area. "I asked a bunch of people who go to Daybreak Uni, but only one person was willing to do it."

I follow her outside. "Well, who did you find that could—" I freeze in my tracks, cutting myself off mid-sentence.

I can physically feel my heartrate increase with each passing second. Sorry for the momentary interruption of this program, just allow me to quickly proceed through the five stages of denial. Or is it grief? Gah, who cares? All I want to know is...

"What thee actual fuck are you doing here? You go to Daybreak?"

Neku motherflipping Sakuraba winces at the tone in my voice. He sits at the table just ahead of where Zidane and Roxas were earlier. He tugs on the collar of his purple hoodie. "Surprise?" I can feel my eye twitch. "You look good in that outfit, by the way."

Wha...?

No.

No. No. No. No. No.

Just no. No way in hell am I relying on him to take me anywhere. I mean, seriously? Of all people she could have gotten? This is what she brings me?! What a slap in the fucking face! Has irony gone to an all-time low of trolling?

Still going through some denial symptoms, I find myself chuckling. Albeit, rather humorlessly. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I currently possessed warning signals of a potentially psychotic and deranged serial killer right now. Mmm, a bowl of Neku's blood does sound appetizing... With wide eyes, I crane my wicked and possibly nightmare-inducing grin towards Kairi and she instinctively cowers beneath my wrath.

"Kairi..." I say in a low and dark voice, making her murmur with fright. "What... the hell... is this?"

"Don't kill me!" she squeals.

Repressing my anger, I clutch her by the arm and give my ex-boyfriend an insincere smile. "Will you excuse us for a moment?" I drag Kairi right back into the kitchen and cross my arms, expecting answers. "You better have a damn good explanation for this!" At this point, I don't even care if anybody can hear our conversation.

"I'm sorry!" She takes my hands into hers with eyes pleading for mercy and forgiveness. "But Neku goes to Daybreak University. Trust me, he was the very last person I contacted! But he was the only one willing and available to do it. So... I thought you might want to at least know you had an option. I didn't want to just not tell you..."

"Then why didn't you discuss this with me beforehand? Why bring him here?"

"He insisted..." she admits, regretfully. "He knew you'd upright reject the idea if I brought it up to you, so he said he'd only do it if he got to see you in person. He wanted a chance to convince you himself. And since it's a slow business day, I figured it was an okay time..."

"So, you set this up behind my back? Kairi, you traitor!"

She whimpers. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Pleeeeaase, forgive me!"

Daybreak Town is about six hours away from here. There's no way I'm spending six hours of my life with that piece of shit just to get info about another piece of shit I have to deal with. Why is my life full of so many pieces of shit?!

I shake my head indefinitely with a sharp finger pointed at the door. "Nope. Nuh uh. Not a chance in hell. There's no way I'm going anywhere with that... that... orange pineapple!"

"...Orange pineapple?"

Yeah, maybe not my greatest insult of all-time. I rub my temples out of frustration. "I'm stressed, okay?"

"And I totally get that!" She takes my hands once again, clammy and moist. "Honestly, this whole thing seems a bit crazy. Travelling worlds just to find some girl we don't know? Just to learn more about Terra, of all people? Would our parents even allow that? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea in the first place..."

So I'm supposed to just continue to take shit from Terra? Then again, I'm not even sure if I'd be able to pile up enough money for it. Sigh. What's the use? This was a stupid idea. But I always have stupid ideas, so it's nothing new. "I guess so..."

"Uh, excuse me...?" Neku's voice rings from outside. I kick the door open and scowl at him viciously. "You guys know I can hear you, right?"

I blink. "Then you'll know that we don't want you here. So please, remove yourself from the area."

"Chill out," he says in a low voice, leaning back in his seat with his hands tucked into his jacket pockets. "Same old Xion, I guess. We need to talk."

I let go of Kairi and set my fists on my hips with a pointed stare. "We need to talk?"

"Yeah. Could you get me a soda or something?" I cross my arms and my glare intensifies. Neku offers a hint of a smile, something I don't see from him very often. "Please?" I roll my eyes and stomp my way into the back. "W-Wait—I want a Paopu Punch, though."

Meh, I'll just get him a lemon lime soda—extra sour. He hates sour.

Kairi decides to look for our co-workers, presumably to give us some privacy. After retrieving his drink, I return to his table maintaining my former grimace. His presence disgusts me. I feel dirty just being here in front of him. After inspecting the drink and concluding that I didn't get him what he asked for, he wears a jaded but unsurprised look.

"Thanks," he says dryly and he reaches for it.

I back my hand away. "First, tell me what you want. Then you can drink your stupid soda."

"Do you really need to ask?" His expression softens. "Xion... I wanted to sort things out. About what happened... it was a mistake. I'm sorry. I miss you."

"You miss me?" I scoff. "Well, that's fantastic news! All is forgiven! We'll pretend like nothing happened! Come on, let's go make out! Is that what you were expecting with a half-assed 'I miss you'? You miss what? You miss treating me like I'm your one and only while you go messing with another girl behind my back?"

He looks a bit stung by the jab. "Xion, I—"

"Excuse me. Multiple other girls. Pardon my memory." I grit my teeth slightly at the thought of it. "Oh, but I'm special and you just had to get me back. Is that right?"

It's a few moments before he speaks up again. "Look, I know it—"

"Save it. How about you just get out of here? Looks like you need some new clothes."

He darts his eyes with confusion. "Uh... what?"

With that, I decide to open his soda and pour the contents right atop of his tangerine scalp. He flinches and drops his head at the sudden sensation, allowing the sudsy fluid to drip down his spiky orange locks and onto his lap. His subtle writhing is actually making my day a lot brighter. Seeing people I hate suffer is surprisingly healthy for the soul. Who knew? I smile and drop the empty can in his lap. "Have a nice day!"

Satisfied, I dust my hands and spin on my heel.

But as the Xion luck goes, I find myself wiping that triumphant smirk right off my face when I spot Cid glaring at me from the kitchen door. He leans against the doorframe with his arms folded, silently gnawing on a toothpick. Considering how much I've messed up and the amount of money I've singlehandedly costed him for the past few weeks, I don't think this is going to end very well. I even got a warning notice last week. And Cid does not tolerate mistreatment towards a customer.

At all.

"So..." I say with a soft voice. I tie my arms behind my back and lightly graze my foot against the wooden floor. "I'll just... return my uniform tomorrow?"

"Sounds about right."

Present...

"Xion, you're my homegirl and all," Roxas says, "but you can be pretty scary sometimes..."

Can I even argue against that at this point? "I know," I sigh.

"Well, she's been that way ever since we were children," Kairi says with a faint giggle as she peels the skin from her orange.

"Ever thought about anger management classes?" Roxas asks. Though it was said in a teasing way, I can't help but feel like there was some sincerity to that question.

"Maybe," I mumble softly.

"So, you guys are trying to find out more about Terra?" Roxas asks. "Why? And why his girlfriend? Come to think of it, how come you've been hanging out with Terra so much anyway? I've been seeing you guys together a lot more than I would've expected. Don't tell me you guys are secretly dating."

"What is this? An interrogation?" I scoff. "And no, I'm not dating Terra. Not in a billion fucking years."

His features falter, looking slightly saddened and I'm filled with another wave of guilt. Maybe I should get into meditating or something to ease this freaking temper. "Did I hit a nerve?" he asks.

"Sorry, I just..." I sigh. "I don't want to talk about it right now." Kairi places a supportive hand on my shoulder.

"But damn. Multiple girls?" Zidane says, trying to relieve the tension. "Who just goes around skirt-chasing with multiple women at a time? What a pig." We give a Zidane a stare. "What?" he asks, defensively.

"You're not very self-aware, are you?" Kairi asks.

While Zidane scratches his head in confusion, I notice Roxas giving me a soft grin with a certain sophistication settled in his gaze. It makes me shrink, if only slightly. I don't think he realizes how intimidating his confidence can be at times. Not that it's entirely a bad thing. I shift my shoulders a little bit. "What is it?"

"So, you're unemployed," he says with a sly voice.

"That was the entire point of my ten-minute recollection of yesterday proving just how impulsive I am with clear temperament issues—yes. Not seeing where you're going."

He smirks, the smugness of all making me see clearly into his indications. My eyes widen and he nods to confirm my bewilderment, as if our minds were in unison.

"No," I resound.

"Yes," Roxas returns.

"No."

"Yes!" he says, excitedly.

"No!" I return.

"Yes!" Kairi intervenes. After a brief awkward silence, she pauses and withdraws from the conversation. She returns to cutting her orange. "I-I just wanted to be a part of something..."

I return my focus to Roxas. "No," I repeat.

"Aww," Roxas groans. "You said you'd think about it."

"And I've thought about it. I concluded that I would like to maintain my dignity for at least ten more years of my life."

"You're too hard on yourself," Roxas says. "Just think, you could be a hit! It'd be a great way to build some confidence."

I roll my eyes. "Oh, sure. And if I'm a flop, I'll probably just jump off a balcony to end my misery."

"Care to fill to us in on whatever you guys are talking about?" Zidane asks. "I feel out of the loop here."

Only the dumbest idea I think Roxas has ever conceived. I cross my arms and avert my head to avoid Roxas and his incessant grin. "It's nothing," I assure him.

"I want her to work at Seventh Heaven with me," he says. "My uncle owns the club and I've been trying to pull some strings to get her a job there for the longest. I really want her to sing."

"Oh, yeah!" Kairi claps. "I thought that was a great idea!"

"Right?" Roxas shrugs nonchalantly. "And Ms. Prune-face here is being difficult. But what else is new?"

"So, what's the issue?" Kairi asks. "You're an amazing singe—" I growl threateningly at her like Old Yeller and she quickly clears her throat. "I mean, um, if she doesn't want to do it, then uh, that's final."

"See?" I return to Roxas with a smug grin. "Kairi agrees."

Roxas shakes his head. "Yeah, as long as you don't start frothing from the mouth. Don't you see? It's a sign!"

I sigh. "It's a sign?"

"Uh, yaaah," he says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Not only did you majorly suck at your job the entire time you were there, no offense—"

"None taken."

"—but you got fired from it in the exact time when my uncle is looking for extra talent! It's getting a bit stale, you know? Just me and Tifa, every weekend. They need something new and fresh to make the rotation feel like less of a chore to get through."

"So, I'm just there to help make you guys less boring? Gotcha."

"You know that's not it." He sounds a tad annoyed. "It's for you, too. You're holding yourself back too much. You think too lowly of yourself and don't try to deny it either. You try not to let it on, like you're super confident all the time, but come on." He smiles. "Face it. You need to be reminded of how amazing of a person I think you truly are."

I'm taken back by his sudden sincerity. Is he really saying all of this in front of the others? Doesn't he know how embarrassing this is? And what about me does he find so "amazing"? Honestly, why does he even hang out with me? I still have no clue. Couldn't he have at least waited until we were alone to get all sappy on me? I'm reminded of this when I hear Kairi and her soft squeals. I'm 90% positive that she pretty much ships me and Roxas at this point.

"So, when you proposing, man?" Zidane asks, nudging him in the side.

Roxas playfully nudges him back with a chuckle. "I'm serious. I think it could really help you out. Come onnnn. Help a brother out and just say yes, already! I'm tired of begging..."

Me? Singing? I'm not sure. The crowd at Seventh Heaven seemed pretty tough, too. I don't think I'm ready to face more rejection. Would people even like my style? I'm probably so rusty. Maybe I've lost my voice? What if I get cold feet? I've performed before, but that was for school, and I was always with the other students in my vocal class. And it wasn't like I was getting audited for solos either.

"Not sure how much my advice means, but I say go for it," Zidane says, snapping me out of it.

I can't help but chuckle. How cute of him, but... "You haven't even heard me sing before."

He returns the smile with a shake of his head. "I don't have to. But I do know that Roxas has a point. You could use some spirit lifting. We can see it in your eyes. I think you might just be over analyzing a bit too much. It's okay to make mistakes."

"But what's not okay is dwelling on them," Roxas finishes.

Geez. Roxas always has a way of making me feel smaller. I'm sure he probably thinks he's some sage of wisdom with the way he can just ease into quotable motivational speeches like this. In that regard, he and Zidane are a lot alike.

"Wow. I'm impressed, you two," Kairi says with a gentle applause. "You actually have the mental capacities to be somewhat intelligent. Especially you, Zidane. And here I was thinking all you thought about were girls."

Of course, being Zidane, he just had to ruin whatever sophistication he gained by crossing his arms and sporting that grin of determination, as I like to call it. "I'm pretty awesome, huh?" But that's just Zidane for you.

"It's really sweet of you guys and I appreciate the support," I assure them. "But I just don't think I'm ready to be taking on something like that. I'm not saying no, but..." My mind wanders back to Terra. "I guess I just have some things to sort out for myself."

Roxas sighs, looking a bit disappointed by the admittedly vague answer. "Fair enough," he says. In the end, he tries to remain supportive. "No matter what you decide, I'm with you, okay?" Zidane loudly clears his throat. "I mean, uh, ahem, we're all with you," Roxas says with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head.

Somehow, I find the will to let out a faint chuckle. "Thank you."

S.E.X.S.E.L.L.S

I return to a hollow home.

It's a strange feeling coming straight home from school instead of catching the bus with Kairi to Shoyu Shoyu. It's been a while. I already got used to the new routine. I don't think I'm used to entering the front door with it being virtually silent in here, though.

Now, I should be hearing my dad in the living room watching TV, Shiki, either cooking or stealing stuff from my room (and that's just on the rare occasion that she's ever home), and Sora out in the backyard practicing for the struggle tournament. None of these scenarios seem to be currently unfolding. In fact, every room is empty. Confused, I drag myself upstairs with an anchor tied to my ankle. At least I'll be able to look forward to a nap since it's nice and quiet around here for once.

Or not.

I enter my room to find Sora waiting on my bed. Normally, I'd immediately resort to shouting expletives and kicking him out, since he knows damn well I don't like a soul stepping foot in my room—and that's when I'm in here. God forbid you dare trespass when I'm not home. But the fact that he himself isn't looking particularly peachy this afternoon and, more notably, is holding an ice pack over his eye, it makes me repress my anger for once. Instead, I drop my bag and approach him with genuine concern.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he says with a grim voice that communicates that he is anything but fine.

I take a hold of his arm and try to pull it away to get a better look. "Let me see—"

"Agh!" He winces. "Stop it, will you? I can't move it too much without it stinging. Geez. What's the matter with you?"

"What happened?" I repeat, ignoring his cry-babying. "Did you get into a fight?"

After a moment, he turns his head. "You could say that."

"Why? What happened? Where's Dad and Shiki?"

"They weren't here when I got home," he says. "I called Shiki and she drove Dad over to the hospital to get his leg checked out. He might be ready to take the cast off and lose the crutches."

"Well, that's good," I say, though a bit less enthusiastic than I'd like to. I'm a bit more concerned as to why my brother is covered in bruises. I take a seat next to him on my bed and somewhat forcefully tug on his arm to pull the ice pack away from his eye. "Let me see."

"Nyagh! Xion!"

"Oh, will you hush already? Stop being a baby. Now, let me see." He finally relents and allows me to use both of my hands to turn his face towards mine. I examine his injuries and a silent horror takes me over. Somebody really messed him up. "Oh my god... who did this to you?"

His face is swollen, notably around his cavity area. He's rocking the half-racoon hybrid look with a honker of a black eye. Still, he refuses to give me any sort of eye contact. "I was out getting groceries. I ran into this guy named Tidus in the Market Place. He was with two of his buddies."

"O-Oh... yeah?" I don't think I like where this is going.

Sora takes a firm grasp of my forearms and lowers them to my side, proceeding to shift his body back to the front. He keeps his eyes on the carpet, his hands clasping the ice pack. "I know."

I gulp. "You know what?"

"Xion," he says with his tone beginning to rise in levels of impatience. "Don't play dumb with me. Not even joking." He shakes his head frustratingly. "Man, I always wondered how in the world you were making all of that money. I should've seen it sooner."

No way. He can't mean...?

"Yeah," he says, as if reading my mind. "Your little secret? It's not a secret anymore."

THE PLOT THICKENS.

Now Sora knows? I certainly hope that cliffhanger gets you guys excited for the next chapter haha! Let me know what you guys think in a review! Please, feel free to be as constructive and critical as you want. Things you like, things you don't like, etc. I put a lot of effort in this chapter so I would really appreciate anybody who takes the time to say something and let me know that what I'm doing is worth continuing :)

What do you guys think is going to happen? What's Sora going to say? Did Terra break his promise? How will Xion react to this? Find out next time, on the next episode of DBZ!

Big shoutout to my beta reader, superspreegirl89 for beta reading not only this chapter, but all 14 of them! She's been a really big help and I can't thank her enough.

So as a favor, I just wanted to shoutout Levi Xavier and spread the word about this project that he's working on called Masters of Speed! It's a big project he's really excited for and I'm sure he would appreciate it if any of you guys would out of the kindness of your yellowy banana hearts that you'd check out his story whenever it comes out. Here's a brief run-through of the plot, copy and pasted from his profile:

Here's how the plot of the story will go: as a result of an overload of energy coming from two universes simultaneously, Sonic the Hedgehog and Ruby Rose have switched worlds. Each of them must now adjust to the role of the other and deal with the different worldly customs. The only way to set things right is to collect all seven Chaos Emeralds, which have been scattered across both of their worlds. The story's time setting is a few weeks after Sonic Lost World and during RWBY Volume 4 (and a little before). The overall tone of the story will be more on the serious side with a humor mixed into it.

If this premise piques your interest, then please, head on over to his profile and give him a follow so that you'll be updated when the first chapter is out. I can tell he's really excited and will put a lot of effort into it, so please, by all means! There are lots of writers (me included) who really put in a ton of effort into these things, while they seem like silly fanfics to some of you guys, for some of us it's a form of escapism and a way to truly express ourselves. Hey and while you're at it, check out his forum page he made for the story as well! Come on, why not? Don't be lazy. It's free! Can't we all just agree that's the best word in the english language?

Now onto some guest responses!

ForsakenXIII: I'm pretty happy to hear that Zidane got a pretty nice response from the last chapter! I tried to keep him as entertaining while also being true to his canon self. Ughhh ikr? Persona 4 is sooooo good, I did not expect to fall in love with it as much as I did. It's easily in like my top 5 fav games ever. And we'll be getting to more Roxas and Xion stuff soon! I know, I've had to put the development of their relationship on the backburner for a while, I kinda want to focus on them once I've completely unraveled most of the details of Xion's backstory, then we'll truly delve deeper into her and Roxas, and more of Roxas himself because I feel like we don't know much about him yet. But ya I'm happy to see that you've stuck around this long! Hope to see you in the future :)

Guest #1: Haha yeah I know it seems like I ignored chapter 12 with last chapter, but I really wanted to resolve the whole Yuna thing really quickly, it was somewhat necessary because it led to the scene with Neku in this chapter here. But I didn't forget it of course, it all came back in this chapter. So she pretty much just asked Kairi to help her find Aqua (hopefully this time she isn't trapped in the realm of darkness..)

Guest #2: I'm very sorry you're not impressed. Of course, you can't generalize how every person would act or react in a situation like this. Considering I've researched the general symptoms for what a rape victim goes through, I think I did an okay job. Also please consider that the events of last chapter happened weeks after the events of chapters 9-10, so while she's not 100%, she's a bit better than she was before. Also, again, you have to pay attention to the character and not just what's on the surface. Xion is not the type to be in her feelings for over-saturated periods of time, and especially not in public. In chapter 10, Kairi was the only one Xion allowed herself to be vulnerable around, and that was intentional. She's just not that type of person, she likes to keep things locked up inside. That's one of her main flaws as a character. The things you might think are plotholes or inconsistencies may not be as such, but intentional flaws within the character that we're gradually working on as the story progresses. You seem to be trying to apply logic to a character whose pride gets in the way of her rational thinking. But in real life, it doesn't always work like that. Sometimes life just happens, you know? That's why she's so impulsive and constantly makes stupid decisions, and she has done this since the start of the story lol but it's on purpose! It's not an accident or an oversight on my end. At least I don't think it is. Besides, I don't think I could write five or so chapters of her just grieving all the time you know? lol most of her coping was handled offscreen.

Guest #3: Ikr? But the sex has never been the focal point of this story anyway. It's always been more about the characters and how they learn to open up and trust each other. So the sex has been put kind of on the backburner. I'm not exactly comfortable about writing lemons either, and I'm not going to write one if I feel that it's not adding much to the plot. But if the time comes, I'll do my best ^^

Guest #4: Thank you so much! I'm very happy you enjoyed the last chapter! I think I'm far from amazing, I still have a lot left to work on haha but I appreciate that sooo much and I hope you stick around and hear more from you in the future :)

Special thanks to every guest, ForsakenXIII, tsukuneXmoka, MetallicMedallion, FoehammerE419, snow. x. fairy, Skylan, DaOneInDaCorner, Existential Complaining, Sinful Serenta, and SummonerDagger88 being kind enough to leave reviews and just being awesome peeps in general. I appreciate every single one of you so very much!

UGH okay this AN is super long so peace out

#bananasquad