Blank Slate

by DrWriter21

After his first mission, Axel gave some very vague instructions about the corridor of darkness. Now stranded in a new world, Roxas needs to learn how to deal with people who passionately express their emotions, even though he lacks them. Read as this empty shell begins to understand and desire the power of a heart. And who knows, maybe even gain one himself.

21. Chapter 21 : Day 55 - 56

Authors Note: Hey Everyone. Wow, it was pretty divided about whether Roxas should leave or not. Thanks for all the feedback last chapter and giving your thoughts. It gave me a good idea as to what I want to do with this situation from here on out. On another note, A lot of you pointed out a very good observation that I plan to fix.

The main cast.

It's true they haven't been that involved in the story that much and I want to change that. Each character in the original cast is endearing in their own right…except for Papi honestly. She is probably my least favorite character in the entire series. Sure, she is playful, but she is dumb to the point where I can't see her having any deep moments with others. Even when they try to make her a better character by befriending difficult people, she doesn't see the significance of her own actions. She's just like "Let's play and be friends." And that's the extent of it. It makes it really hard to include her in anything that might have meaning or depth.

But the other characters, I want to have a bigger part in this story. So that's what I plan on doing.

Please enjoy the chapter and I apologize for taking so long. I was starting to write an original story, but I hit a wall and began working on this again so I could build my way over it.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

---

Blank Slate

Chapter 21

Day 55

A Keyblade whipped around, bisecting a heartless in half before the creature dissipated into wisps of darkness. Sora watched a red heart slowly float away and disappear into the sky. His face held a solemn expression and he hadn't said much on his training trip to Agrabah. Despite closing the door to darkness, the heartless were still invading the worlds, meaning he had a job to do. But defeating endless hordes of heartless wasn't on the forefront of Sora's mind at the moment.

His change in attitude wasn't lost to his other comrades either.

"Alright, Enough!" Donald suddenly snapped, causing Goofy and Sora to look over at him. "You've been acting strange all week! What's going on with you!"

Sora paused for a few moments, looking down at the Kingdom Keyblade in his hand. He let it vanish after a minute before turning away from them, resting his hands behind his head. "I don't know what your talking about?" He said with obviously fake cheerfulness.

"Sora…"

Sora glanced over his shoulder to see Naminé finishing off the last heartless with a simple fire spell. She had been doing well in her magic training under Yen Sid and Donald. Her prowess for magic was very impressive, but she wasn't a slouch in melee either. Recently, she had been accompanying them to different worlds to eradicate the heartless.

She turned to face them, a concerned look on her cute face. "You've been really quiet the past week. Ever since you woke up that night…screaming. Is everything ok?"

Sora bit his lower lip, the memories of that horrid nightmare retuning. A ship filled with prisoner women of different species, his own Oath keeper Keyblade soaked in the blood of his enemies as he mowed them down with viscous intensity. The horrified faces of crew members burned into his memory as his magic spells took lives in gory fashion, the sight of a raped and beaten women on a bedside, her eyes wide with horror when he tried to approach, and the image of a brutally beaten man, begging for his life as his own Keyblade ended it.

That's when Sora's mind decided it had enough dreaming, and he awoke. Unluckily, he didn't wake up silently, and his friend had been asking about it ever since. "I don't know why you guys keep asking. I'm completely fine! See?" He said, giving them a big smile."No frowning, no sad faces, remember?"

"…"

No one look convinced by his words and it showed clearly on there faces. But they dropped the subject because they could never get him to talk about it. It was a bit disappointing because it was affecting his normally cheerful attitude.

Sora turned away from them and went back to thinking about that dream. Ever since he met Roxas, the strange dreams had started. Each night, it was like he was catching small glimpses of the boy's life. He didn't think much about it at first, so he didn't mention anything to Donald, Goofy, or Naminé…also because those dreams would get pretty…perverted sometimes. Other times, it was like watching an average, boring life with friends.

But this time, it was so much different. After seeing the sheer brutality of killing those men, the use of the Oath keeper to destroy his enemies, and the pure rage he felt, Sora couldn't help but concluded that there must be something more to these dreams. They were so real, so vivid.

Was he really seeing Roxas's life? But if he was, why? How was it possible to see into someone's life? Was it because they could both use the Keyblade? Were they connected somehow?

Something clicked in Sora's mind. He thought back as to when he first met the Keyblade wielding member of Organization 13. Despite it being the first time, they met each other, Roxas seemed really familiar with Sora. He talked as if he knew him for years and was speaking with an old friend. Even without introducing himself, Roxas knew his name.

Did that mean…

Did that mean Roxas had the same kind of connection? Was that how Roxas knew about him? Was Roxas able to see into his life as well?

Sora glanced over his shoulder again to see Naminé talking with Donald and Goofy about something. They weren't paying attention to him, so maybe it was time to test his little theory…

"Roxas…" Sora whispered, feeling a little foolish. "If you can see what I see…and Hear what I hear through your dreams…let me know…Because I think I can see your life too…And we need to talk…"

Again, Sora felt a little foolish about asking this to thin air, but if Roxas could really see his life, then it was worth trying.

---

"Seriously, the Hospital is going to start bitching if we keep filling the ER! Just how many people did ya Piss off?"

"Who knows…And who cares." Axel said, watching another ambulance take off with a few burned individuals. "Seriously, trying to attack in an alleyway? How cliché can you get?"

"It's cliché because it usually works on most people." Zombina said, elbowing Axel in the side. "But you aren't most people, huh? You're a cold-blooded killer."

"Ironic coming from an Undead." Axel said, rising and eyebrow at the Red-Head. "And please, would you've done anything different?"

"Not if I could get away with it. But seeing how much you're in court now days, I glad it's you and not me." Zombina grinned, slapping him in the back…hard.

"Axel, can you please stop getting into trouble? Ugh, the amount of damn Paperwork I'll have to fill out…AGAIN!" Smith growled. The coordinator walked up to them with her hands on her hips.

"Why are you getting mad at Poor ol' me? I'm the one getting attacked here. It's not my fault."

"Actually, it is." Doppel said smugly. "You play the hero, you create the villains. Those traffickers were involved with a bunch of organizations around the world, and you can bet they're pissed about losing their cargo. Frankly, I'm surprised they haven't hired full-fledged assassins yet."

"They can come at me all they want." Axel said dryly. "I've fought a true assassin, and these guys are an insult to the word. If they keep being so obvious, then we're going to need another morgue."

"You fought an assassin before?" Manako asked. The others listened intently because it was rare for Axel to share a bit his past.

"Yep! He used a Scythe and he called himself the 'Graceful Assassin'" Axel said, using air quotes. "It wasn't the smartest choice of profession for him, not with his vibrant pink hair."

"Well, that's interesting." Smith said, making a mental note of this new information.

"Axel dear, you need to be careful! If you don't watch out, someone could catch you while your guard is down." Tio said.

"You just worry about yourself Tio." Axel responded, giving her a grin. "Didn't a few already try to target you in order to get to me."

"I can take care of herself." Tio said proudly.

"Nice to know that you're worried about us." Zombina laughed. "So, you getting sick of court hearings yet?"

"It's getting a little old." Axel said, rolling his eyes dramatically. "It's just the same thing over and over again. People yell at me, saying I killed their precious brother…Father…Husband…. Then I have to act like a civil human being and describe how incredibly sorry I am…"

"If acting sorry means you give no fucks, then yes, you act sorry." Zombina snickered.

"And then I get attacked, defend myself, the lawyers get brought in, judges make their calls, rinse and repeat." Axel signed. "It was fun at first, but now I'm getting bored."

"Don't worry Axel, soon you won't have to worry about it pretty soon." Smith said as they began walking in the direction of MON headquarters.

"Really? Why's that?"

"Because changes are on the horizon." Smith said, adjusting her glasses with a grin.

"Well it's about time." Axel said as he and MON made there way back to the Cultural exchange facility. "Oh, do I have any court hearings tomorrow?"

"Not that I know of."

"Good, because tomorrow is a small cultural festival at Roxas and Xion's school. I kinda want to take some time and visit it."

"It is huh?" Smith smiled over at the fire nobody. "Feel free. Just don't draw attention to yourself. We don't need anyone trying to attack the school while you are there."

"A festival! That sounds like fun! Can we go Too!" Tio asked, a huge smile on her face.

"No, you have a job to do. You have to guard Darling while he's out with Centorea." Smith said. "We need to figure out who sent that letter."

"But I'm sick of that!? All we do is watch as he goes on a bunch of dates with everyone. They look like they're having so much fun!"

"If you're that annoyed with it, why don't you ask him to take you on a date then?" Axel suggested. "Killing two birds with one stone."

Zombina paused for a few moments, a grin spreading across her face. "That's genius! We can watch over him and have fun at the same time! Why didn't I think of that!"

"cuz' you're a few brain cells short of a full cranium?"

"Oh, screw you Axel!"

"Alright enough! Axel, go have some fun tomorrow. You deserve it after being stuck in court all day." Smith said as she turned to the rest of MON. "And the rest of you, figure out how you want to protect Kimihito. I don't care, as long as it gets done."

"Roger that!" The four members of Mon chanted at once. They took off towards the exchange facility to prepare to tail Kimihito while Axel and Smith stayed behind.

"You sure you didn't want me to tell Roxas about the threat letter?" Axel grinned teasingly.

Smith sighed, her shoulders dropped a little. "And what do you think would happen if I did that?"

"Another genocide?" Axel snickered. "You seriously think Roxas will snap and kill every little thing that's a threat? C'mon Smith…"

"We'll handle this quietly. If Roxas knew, I know he would do everything he could to protect Darling, but that's also the problem. The kid doesn't know subtlety and he needs to keep a low profile. Otherwise, someone might figure out it was actually him and his friends that killed the traffickers, not you."

"Yeah, I agree. Roxas was different from the other Nobodies, so he lacks common sense. He's the kind of kid that rushes the front lines, guns blazing if you know what I mean." Axel laughed.

"There're nothing wrong with that, unless you're trying to keep out of the spotlight. And we need things to calm down before something crazy happens again." Smith concluded, glancing over at the Nobody. "So, you want to go see Roxas and Xion at their little festival huh? You sound like the perfect doting Onii-Chan."

"Knock it off smith!" Axel said, a tiny blush of embarrassment on his cheeks.

"Don't worry, I think it's cute. The big badass Axel has a soft spot for his lil' friends. I find your denial adorable."

Axel shook his head and turned away from the coordinator. "Shot myself in the foot by giving you the Ammunition. You're never going to let this go, huh?"

Smith laughed as she caught up to him, hooking one arm through his elbow and pulling it to her bountiful chest. "Nope! It's the only way to get a reaction out of you…And it's nice to know somewhere in the abyss of emptiness that is the nobody Axel, a tiny part of you actually cares."

"Humph." Axel grunted, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

---

"Alright! The Cultural Festival is starting tomorrow," Ichiro said with a fist pump, turning to the other member of the club with a huge smile of anticipation. "So, how's everyone doing with their gallery photographs?"

"…"

There was an awkward silence for a few moments, which caused the president to sweat drop. "Uhm, you guys didn't take any photos yet…did you?"

"Nope."

"Nada."

"I haven't either."

"I don't know what to take pictures of."

Ichiro's head dropped dramatically. "Well, I should have guessed. With everything that's been going on, I didn't think we would get that far. But I also didn't think we wouldn't get anywhere…"

"Um…I've actually got all my pictures done."

Everyone turned to the Yeti in the room, who had a wide, smug smile on her face.

"What-you serious? Out of everyone, I expected you to not have any." Ichiro gasped.

"Well, when I was home, I had plenty of free time. So, I got it all done." Yukiko said cheerfully. "You want to see them?"

"No! Not yet!" Ichiro stopped her, waving his hands. "The intrigue of Photography is learning what is beautiful to another person, so keep it as a surprise." He said as he turned to the others in the room. "What about the rest of you? Do you have any ideas of what you want to put in your section of the gallery?"

"I have a few ideas." Pyra said, scratching her chin.

"Same with me." Xion said.

"I know what I want to do." Callie commented with a smile.

"…"

The last person in the room remained quiet because he didn't have a clue what he wanted to take pictures of.

"Roxas?"

"I haven't figured it out yet."

"Well hurry up! We need those pictures by tomorrow if we are going to make a gallery" Ichiro said as he turned to the rest of the club. "And that goes for the rest of you as well. We don't want to be dead last in the festival. It's our first one!"

"Roger that captain." Pyra said in mock salute.

Roxas continued to ponder because he didn't know what he wanted to put in his section of the gallery. What did he think was beautiful enough to take a picture of? Glancing around the room, the rest of the club was talking animatedly, though they kept their muse to themselves.

Yukiko was cheerfully laughing with the rest of them. She was still al little fidgety after what happened that night, but her recovery was simply astounding. The rest of the club was tactful enough not to ask any details about the event, which was something she appreciated. But they also showed her much love and attention, hoping she would overcome it. So far it was working brilliantly.

Smiling, the nobody was glad that everything was back to normal...Well, sort of normal. The situation at the house was still pretty tense. Now all he had to do was figure out what he wanted to take a picture of. After all, he didn't want to miss out on his first school festival.

---

It was a bit later in the evening when Roxas and Xion were walking home from hanging out at Polt's house. They finished doing homework quickly but decided it would be best to head home early in order to finish taking their photos for the gallery instead of chilling out. With Yukiko already done, Pyra still needed to take a few pictures in order to catch up.

Polt was a bit disappointed they were leaving so quickly, but that turned into excitement when she learned Pyra needed help getting some more photographs. She readily volunteered before dragging her niece off in a random direction.

Roxas and Xion didn't' have any photos yet, and the male nobody was still trying to figure out what he wanted to take a picture of.

"Xion, what are you putting in your gallery?" Roxas asked, wondering if she could give him some inspiration.

Xion game him a playful smile. "It's a secret"

Well, that idea was thrown out the window. It was apparent that she already knew what she wanted to take pictures of. And he was a little surprised to see the mischievous glint in her eyes. She was adapting to being around everyone much quicker than he had. She would joke around, laugh, and even had a mischievous streak every so often. She was becoming more and more of a person every day.

"What about you?"

Roxas blinked his eyes, his mind focusing back on the issue at hand. "I don't know."

"Is there anything that interests you? Anything you really like to do or see?"

"Well, not really. I mean, I haven't had much time to think about it."

"Well, then I'll give you a hint about what made me want to take pictures of my interest." Xion said with a kind smile.

Roxas paused as he turned to his fellow nobody, clearly curious.

"It was after I went on a mission with Axel. He took me to the ocean one time just for fun, and I saw something really pretty there. It was the first time I had been out of Castle Oblivion, so I was mesmerized by its beauty. It left an impact on me that I couldn't forget. Did you ever have an experience like that?"

Roxas paused as he thought back on his few days in the organization. He remembered Axel taking him around Twilight town to eradicate some heartless. He remembered the one and only mission he did for the Organization and how easy it was to accomplish. Back then, he didn't know anything at all. He was just a mindless drone that followed orders.

But after that mission, Axel took him to the supposed hot-stop atop of twilight tower. He brought a couple bars of Sea-salt ice cream and they watched…the…sunset…

The nobody blinked a few times as he remembered how gorgeous it was. The sun setting the horizon ablaze as night threatened to overtake the sky.

It reminded him of the time after he saved Yukiko, when he gazed across the ocean to witness the beauty of the rising sun. The morning rays that chased the night away, bathing the sky in twilight.

That was it…

"I think…I think I know exactly what I want to take pictures of."

"Really? What?" Xion asked eagerly.

Now it was Roxas's turn to shoot her a mischievous smile. "It's a secret."

---

By now, Xion and Roxas had gone their separate ways in order to finish up their photography project. Xion left a little while ago and Roxas was throwing on his organization 13 coat, getting ready to finish his own part of the project. He would have to hurry it up though because the sun was sinking fast.

As he zipped up his coat, he thought back on all the memories he had of Sora, and all the places he visited in his adventures. Nowadays, he did get dreams occasionally of the boy, but they were mostly of him training, going to different worlds, eradicating heartless, and just simple interactions with friends. It wasn't much to talk about.

Though the nobody was still curious as to why he was still dreaming of Sora, he stopped asking after a while. Seeing Sora interact with his friends was helping the nobody in his everyday life.

Because Sora visited so many worlds, it gave Roxas an idea of what he could do to make this photography project awesome.

"Roxas?"

Roxas turned around and saw Suu standing there, a curious look on her face. She blinked a couple times when she noticed he was getting dressed to go out.

"Hey Suu."

Suu beamed at him before rushing over and giving him a big ol' hug. If there was one thing that was the same about the house, it was Suu's cheerfulness. She was aware of the tense atmosphere, but it didn't stop her from brightening everyone's day with her infectious smile.

"Is Roxas going somewhere?"

"Yep. I gotta fished my project for the school festival." He said with a smile.

"Oh…Can Suu come?" Suu asked, her large emerald eyes glowing with hope and excitement.

Roxas paused for a few moments as he thought about it. "Well, I'm using the corridor of darkness…"

"But Suu can wear Roxas's coat too, so can Suu come? Please?" She asked quickly, giving him the biggest puppy dog eyes he'd ever seen.

Roxas laughed a little to mask his own guilt. Suu had been stuck at the house more frequently because Roxas would hang at Polt's. So, she didn't get to spend as much time with him, Xion, Yukiko, or Pyra. Before the whole situation happened, they would all hang out together, but that wasn't the case anymore and he felt a little bad about it.

Usually when he got home, she would tell him how her day was, but there was an underlying sadness to her demeaner because she didn't get to hang with them. He really needed to fix things, and soon.

Maybe this would be good for her. It would give them a chance to hang out and he would like the company.

"Sure."

Suu's smile lit up the entire room as she reached one feeler into his collar. Her body dissolved into a stream of slime and flowed into his coat like a river of water. It was a strange feeling having his upper torso covered by her body, almost like wearing a thin layer of clothing under this coat.

"Where are we going?" Suu asked, poking her head out from the back of Roxas's collar.

"We are going to take a few pictures of the sunset." Roxas said, pulling out one of Ichiro's camera's that he lent him.

"Oh! Suu like's sunsets."

"Yeah, so do I. And I think you are really going to enjoy these." He said as he opened the corridor of darkness and walked through.

A black portal opened up and Roxas walked out. Immediately, his vision was filled with that of a dense forest. Initially, he wasn't sure this was going to work because it was from a memory of Sora. But realizing that he made it to Hollow Bastion with Sora's memories, this wasn't to far of a stretch. He took a few paces forward, listening to the creaking wood of an old tree-house under his feet.

A blue head peaked its way out of his coat, taking in the view as well. Her emerald eyes widened as she squealed in delight at seeing such a beautiful dense forest. She flowed out of his coat, prancing up to the side of the balcony and gazed out at the tops of the trees.

"Roxas! Roxas! This is…I've seen this before in your…dream once." She exclaimed, turning to him in excited fashion. "This was…um...

"That's right Suu." Roxas said as he took out the camera. Coincidentally, this world's day was about to end just like on the other one. The sun was setting gently over the forest, casting a fiery glow across the treetops. The endless greenery provided a breathtaking view, perfect for a photograph.

"Welcome to the deep jungle." He said as he adjusted the camera lens.

"Wow…It's real…" Suu whispered, turning around and drinking in the gorgeous view. "It's so pretty."

"Yeah, and this is only our first stop. We have to hurry because the sun should be setting in all the worlds we are going to visit."

"We're going to visit more?" Suu exclaimed, whipping around and giving him a look that was burning with excitement.

"Yeah."

"Oh oh! What about Wonderland! Or Olympus! Or even Traverse town." She asked in rapid succession.

Roxas chuckled a bit. "Well, I don't think we are going to have time to visit all the worlds, but we need at least 10 pictures."

Finally, Roxas got into the perfect position and took a snap of the sunset. He pulled the camera away from his face before looking down at it, smiling at the result. The high-quality camera caught the perfect glare of the sun over the vast forest with just a hint of the wooden structure around the edges.

"I really think Ichiro will be impressed."

Suu bounced up behind him and took a look. "Not just Ichiro" Suu said happily. "I think everyone will love these pictures."

"Yeah, you're right." He said, placing the lens cap back onto the camera. "Sorry we can't spend to much time here. Are you ready to go?"

Suu turned around and took one more look at the sunset before turning back to Roxas. She was literally brimming with happiness as she launched herself at him, tackling him to the ground.

"This is so cool Roxas!" she said, rubbing her face against his chest. "Suu is so happy!" Her top feeler hooked onto the inside of his collar again before she flowed back into his coat.

Roxas chuckled as he stood up and opened the Corridor again.

---

Roxas knew using the corridor would be a risky endeavor. He knew the Organization would be keeping an eye out for him everywhere they could. And if they caught even a whiff of his location, they would chaise him to the ends of the universe.

But then again, the odds of running into them was very small, especially since he only spent a few moments at each world. He'd kept a low profile, not traveling anywhere since his adventure at Castle Oblivion, so he guessed it would be alright.

Still, it was interesting to see so many places that Sora frequently visited on his adventures. Every place his traveled to, he felt like he was returning to a familiar area. It was a strange feeling because he never set foot on these worlds before.

He didn't want to risk too much by visiting every single world in Sora's memory though. Just a few would be enough for his photography project. The other five locations Roxas and Suu visited were Olympus, Traverse town, Neverland, Hollow bastion, and Agrabah. He took one picture in Neverland, and another near the big ben tower. Hollow bastion was also large enough to take two photographs of the sunset in different areas. Overall, he had eight pictures of the sunset from different worlds.

Suu and Roxas made sure not to stay at any world for too long because they didn't want to draw attention to themselves. However, they did have to fight off a bunch of heartless that randomly appeared. It was inevitable because he was a wielder of the Keyblade. Luckily, they weren't too difficult to defeat, so they fought them off, took a picture, then left.

He half expected to see Leon and Yuffie again, but he didn't end up seeing them in Hollow bastion again. In fact, he didn't run into any of the people from Sora's memories. It was a relief, but also a disappointment because it would have been interesting to see them.

Suu was having the time of her life. With every location, she would nearly burst with excitement. Roxas understood because most of Suu's life involved staying at the house or occasionally going out with them. She didn't have much to do in the average day, so being able to get out and see different world was something she greatly deserved…and enjoyed.

And she let him know almost every two seconds how happy she was. He could also feel it when she locked her feeler around his head. It made him happy to see her so joyful.

Finally, Roxas opened the corridor of darkness one of the last places he wanted to visit. The place that started all of Sora's adventures, and the one place he was secretly looking forward to the most.

Destiny Island.

Getting a picture on this beautiful world would be another for the Gallery, but he wanted to see the place where Sora grew up.

Roxas and Suu exited the corridor and set foot on the sandy beaches of Destiny Island. The waves gently lapped against the shore in rhythmic beauty and the sun was setting on the ocean, casting a gorgious glow across the water. The sun was dipping low, lighting up the sky in a red hue. The reflection was just about to disappear, so it wouldn't cast an overwhelming glare on the camera. It was simply perfect.

Suu was extremely excited to see it because she slipped out of his coat and danced along the sands. Since it was much later in the evening, he was sure no one would be around to see her. Even on other worlds, Suu was a strange sight to behold.

"Roxas! This has been the best day Suu ever had!" Suu said as she danced around the beach, grabbing handfuls of sand and throwing it into the sky. Her control over her own body had increased so much that the tiny particles bounced off her like jelly. "Suu has never been so happy!"

Roxas couldn't help but smile as he watched Suu skip along the beach, picking up seashells and other goodies along the shore. Finding a good spot, Roxas popped off the camera lens cap and raised it to his eyes, adjusting the lens before snapping a perfect picture of the view. He pulled the camera away from his face and nodded in satisfaction.

"Roxas, can we stay just a little longer? Please!?" Suu asked, a pleading look in her eyes.

His instincts were telling him no, but he just couldn't do it…not with the puppy eyes Suu was giving him again. He felt as if his soul would rend if he denied her.

"Sure…but just for a little while."

"YAY!" Suu exclaimed as she crushed him into a short hug before skipping off along the seashore.

Again, it was adorable to see her so excited about something as simple as a beach. He really needed to take her to more places. Heck, she was probably even smart enough to start school with them…

The only problem was that there was no way to pay for her. She wasn't covered under the exchange bill, so the government wouldn't pay for her education. And Kimihito was struggling enough as it was with a huge responsibility of taking care of them all. Technically, he wasn't even supposed to take care of Suu, but he still did.

Roxas paused as he thought about his host. It still pained his heart that their relationship wasn't on the best of terms right now. Kimihito was still a little jumpy and they barely said more than a few sentences to each other. It had been almost two weeks now and things had not changed. Frankly, it was a little depressing.

Roxas knew he would need to mend bridges really soon. This just couldn't continue, not before real resentment started.

"KYAA!"

"Huh?" Roxas heard a startled gasp and ran in it's direction. It was the same way Suu had run off to, so he was worried someone might have seen her.

When he approached, he noticed that Suu had tackled an individual, smothering them with affection. Getting closer, Roxas easily recognized a familiar person, laying on there back and holding a camera in the air to prevent the sand from damaging it.

"…Xion?" Roxas asked as he approached.

"Roxas? Suu?" Xion asked back, her eyes wide with disbelief, struggling to keep the camera off the sand while Suu rubbed her face against her. "W-What are you two doing here?"

Roxas stared at her for a few seconds before gesturing to the beautiful sunset. "This was what I wanted for my pictures…" He said, glancing down at the girl. Suu had allowed Xion to sit up but was still had her arms wrapped around her shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh…" Xion looked a little embarrassed but gestured to the ocean surf. Roxas looked over to see a gorgeous pink seashell being caressed by the gentle waves.

"Seashells…Is that for your gallery?"

Xion looked over at the seashell before looking back up at Roxas. She nodded her head, a little disappointed. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Yeah, so did I." Roxas laughed. "Kinda funny we both chose this place to take a picture though."

"That is really funny." She said, joining in on the laughter. "For some reason, this place was in my thoughts, so I decided to come here because the seashells were really pretty."

"Have you been here before?" Roxas asked.

Xion shook her head. "I haven't, but it seems familiar to me for some reason. So much so that I was able to open a corridor to it. It's strange huh?"

"Yeah, that is a little…strange…" Roxas trailed off. He remembered what Xemnas said about Xion's creation and how she would absorb his abilities. Did that also mean she shared his dreams as well? Or even his connection to Sora?

Before Xion could respond, she glanced over Roxas's shoulder, her eyes widening a little. "Someone's coming!"

Roxas turned around to see a single figure in the distance, looking out at the sunset as she strolled across the sand. Quickly, Roxas turned back to Suu and Xion. "Suu, you need to hide, quickly!"

"Hm?" She hummed in confusion as she glanced over at the figure walking along the beach. Luckily, the person wasn't looking at them yet, just soulfully stared across the water.

"Hurry!"

Suu released Xion before standing next to Roxas. Right before his eyes, her entire for began to change shape and color. Her body stretched and twisted as she morphed into someone extremely familiar.

Kimihito.

Even her head feeler melted into the nearly identical look of their host.

Roxas was gob smacked. He had no idea Suu was able to do this, but it was not the time to ask her about it because the person walking along the beach finally noticed them. After just a tiny glace, Roxas knew exactly who this was.

The red hair, deep blue eyes, purple skirt, and a white shirt was a dead giveaway. It was still extremely surreal to see her in person though because he had only seen her in dreams.

Kairi

"H-Hi." Roxas stuttered as the girl came close enough to talk.

"Hello" Kairi said with a kind smile as she approached them. She raised an eyebrow when she saw both of there camera's. "Nice evening for a picture."

"It is…" Xion responded quietly as she stood from the sand.

An awkward since fell between the three of them. Kairi gave a small frown and cocked her head. "I'm sorry, but do I know you two from somewhere?"

"I don't think so." Roxas said, shaking his head.

"For some reason, you two seem really…familiar. Are you sure?"

"Positive." Roxas said with a smile. "We just came up this way to take a couple pictures from the island."

"Well it is a really nice place for a picture." Kairi agreed, glancing over the ocean. "Is it for a hobby?"

"School project." Xion laughed. "Our president was very insistent we all get 10 pictures before tomorrow."

"Awe…Wait, what school do you go to? I haven't heard of any nearby that's having a festival."

Busted…

"We're from…pretty far away…" Roxas said, glancing away from the girl. It was so weird talking to her. This was Kairi, the girl who Sora searched the worlds for. The same one who Sora literally gave his heart for, and she was standing right there.

Gave his heart for…

Roxas blinked as a thought smacked him clean in the face. He remembered his lesson on Nobodies and how they were born. He remembered A dream where Sora turned into a heartless after he sacrificed himself to save Kairi.

Surly Sora's heart was strong enough that he would create a nobody, right? And if he did…

"Um…are you ok?" Kairi asked.

Roxas blinked his eyes a couple times, forcing himself out of that train of thought. He smiled at the girl in front of them. "Yeah, just thinking about something."

"Well, since your taking pictures and all, would you like me to take a picture of you three?" She asked, gesturing to Suu and Xion.

"…Actually, that would be really nice." Xion said happily, handing over the camera to Kairi. She grabbed Suu/Kimihito's hand and pulled him over, standing her between Roxas and Herself.

"You three look great!" Kairi said, brining the camera to her face. "Three…Two…one… Cheese!"

The camera flashed once and Kairi lowered it from her face, inspecting it. "Very nice."

"Thank you!" Xion skipped over and took the camera from her.

"It's not a problem…" She said, raising her eyebrow at them again. "Are you sure we don't know each other? I really feel like I know you two…"

"I don't think we've ever met." Roxas said, though he was very curious as to why Kairi felt that way. They never met each other, but they felt like they knew one another.

Why was that?

"Well, anyway. I should get back home before night falls. I just like taking a walk along the ocean before the day ends." Kairi said somberly.

"Yeah, it is really pretty around this time." Xion said.

"It is, but that's not why I do it…" Kairi said, gazing out at the ocean. "I'm waiting for someone…"

"…You are? Are they lost?" Roxas asked.

"In a way…" Kairi said, before she realized she was talking with complete strangers. "Sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you that. I just feel…like you're a couple old friends of mine."

"Don't worry about it." Roxas said with a chuckle. "I hope you find what you're looking for Kairi."

"Yeah, me too." Kairi said as she started to walk away. "It was nice meeting you both."

As Kairi walked away from the three individuals, her mind kept going back to her lost friend, Sora. While talking with those two in the black coats, it almost felt like she was talking with him again.

She hopped into her boat and grabbed the ore before something occurred to her. She glanced back in the direction of the three strangers, but was too far around the small island to see them.

"Did I…Did I ever mention my name? How did he…know?"

---

"Well, that was interesting." Roxas said as Kairi finally disappeared in the distance. "Didn't think anyone would be out and about at this time."

"Yeah. It was nice of her to take a picture of us." She said as she watched Suu transform from Kimihito to her usual self. "Say Suu, why don't we take a picture of you and Roxas…while you're not in disguise."

Suu's eyes lit up again. "Really!"

"Yeah, just stand by the water."

Suu didn't waist any time objecting as she raced over to Roxas and wrapped her arm around his neck, getting nice and close. She gave a wide smile at the camera and threw out a peace sign. "Suu saw this on TV once!"

Xion laughed as she brought the camera to her face. "Alright you two, smile nice and big now."

Roxas gave his usual smile as he hooked and arm around Suu's waist, resting it on her hip. The camera flashed and Xion gave a nod of approval.

"Looks good!"

"Nice." Roxas said, untangling himself from Suu. "Now you two need a picture."

"W-Me?" Xion asked.

"Yeah, give me the camera." Roxas said, taking the camera from Xion and pushing her over to the excited Slime. Instantly, Suu curled her feelers around Xion and gave a similar pose. Xion had a small smile on her face, but it would suffice. Roxas snapped a picture of the two of them.

"Now it's your turn with Xion!" Suu said, bouncing up to Roxas and snatching the camera away from her.

"Careful Suu!"

"Suu is careful!" Suu said, shoving Roxas towards Xion. He nearly stumbled in the sand but regained his footing. "Let Suu take a picture!"

Xion glanced at Roxas a bit hesitatingly before sliding up to him. Truthfully, they didn't have much physical contact between each other. Both left that to Pyra and Yukiko. But now that it was the two of them, it was difficult to know what was ok.

"Xion, put your arm around Roxas, like I did!" Suu said impatiently, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She really wanted to take a picture.

A small blush formed on Xion's face as she slowly reached over and hooked her arm around his shoulder. He in turn trailed his arm around her back and rested it on her hip. They were way too stiff. It took a few moments before Xion and Roxas relaxed a little more and things began to look more natural.

"Perfect, now smile!" She said, snapping the picture.

The camera went off and the picture was done, but Xion didn't release her fellow nobody quite yet. Instead, she glanced at him and shakily wrapped both arms around his chest in a stiff and awkward manner. By the look on her face, she had no idea what she was doing, but she was trying.

"Thanks, Roxas…"

"For what?" Roxas asked, clearly off guard by the sudden gesture.

"If not for you, Axel and I would still be at castle Oblivion…or dead. Axel might have been killed and I would be used to collect hearts for Organization 13. Now, I have a life where I'm happy to get up every day. I love being around everyone, making friends, and experiencing…existence."

"…"

Again, Roxas didn't know what to say to that. He was happy Xion was around too. He was glad she was happy, making friends, and living life here with him. Truthfully, he couldn't see how he would want to live differently.

"You're welcome." He said, resting a hand on her hip and trying to pull her into an awkward side-hug. He was still not very good at initiating physical contact either.

Luckily, Xion understood the gesture and rested her head against his shoulder for a second before letting go. "We should head back. We've got a long day tomorrow."

"Suu wants a hug too!" Suu exclaimed, launching herself at the two of them.

"Suu! Suu wait! The Camera!"

---

It was the next day and Roxas was getting ready for school. The festival was happening later on and that meant he had to get his photos developed and ready to go. Grabbing the camera, he went out of his bedroom and walked down to the dining room.

As expected, the place was empty. Kimihito was apparently out with Centorea today, leaving behind everyone else. Rachnera left earlier so she could pester Centorea on her date with Kimihito. Papi was gone too, having snuck out like she usually did, and Roxas didn't give a shit as to what Mero was up to.

He did see Miia sitting at the table when he walked into the dining room, flipping through the iPad. She looked completely and utterly board based on the way her tail was waving back and forth.

"Morning Miia." Roxas said.

Miia snapped out of her stupor, quickly glancing up at her housemate.

"Oh! Good morning Roxas!" She said with an infectious smile, which quickly fell from her face when she saw he was getting ready for school. "Isn't today the weekend?"

"It is."

"Then why are you going to school?" She asked quizzically.

"School festival…" Roxas said, glancing at the Lamia.

"Oh, so you're going to be gone the rest of the day then?" She asked, her tone taking a depressing turn. It seemed she was extremely board. Roxas was glad that she was at least talking to him. The snake-girl wasn't as wary around him as Centorea and Mero. In fact, she seemed to forget about while whole episode after Yukiko's kidnapping…aside from what Mero said. She still treated him like an elder sister, always asking how his day was, and trying to include him in conversation.

"Yeah…" Roxas said before something occurred to him. The festival would last a couple days, so he was planning on asking Kimihito if he wanted to attend sometime. It was a first step in his attempt to repair their fractured relationship.

But since his host was gone, there was nothing stopping him from bringing someone else.

"…Did you want to come with me?"

Instantly, Miia's eyes turned to him. They were wide with hope, praying that some divine entity would deliver her from the bottomless pit of boredom.

"Really! I can come? I've never been to a school before."

"It's open to the public. And students are encouraged to bring family…but if you don't want too..."

"I want to! I want to!" Miia squealed, rushing over to Roxas and wrapping him up in a full cocoon hug. "This is great! I thought I was going to die of boredom! Just give me a few seconds to change, M'Kay?"

"Yeah…" Roxas chuckled as the excited Lamia dashed up to her room in order to change into some casual clothing.

Now that he was alone in the kitchen, Roxas took a moment to look around. It looked as if Kimihito rushed out that morning quickly with Centorea because the Kitchen was a mess. There were dirty dishes in the sink, food left out on the counters, and crumbs on the floor. Kimihito was usually good about keeping a clean house, nothing short of a miracle with so many tenants. But he was only human, and sometimes, he needed help.

Glancing over where Miia retreated to her room, Roxas shook his head and rolled up his sleeve. Knowing that the Lamia would take a while to change, the nobody decided to be a little productive.

---

Miia was as cheerful as could be while she walked with Roxas to the school. She was wearing a red shirt and a tan overcoat with the sleeves rolled up, along with a jean skirt and a black belt. Overall, she looked quite adorable, especially with how happy she looked.

"I'm so excited Roxas! I always wanted to see your school! I've never been to a school before, but always wanted to!" She gushed, her arms wrapped around his elbow in a very sisterly way.

Roxas just smiled as he led the excited Lamia down the street towards the train. He wished Yukiko and Pyra were there with him. But they arrived earlier and took Xion and Suu for some girl time before the school festival started. Xion agreed to escort the three Liminal to the school after they were done. Suu really wanted to see the school and festival as well.

Despite them no being there, it was kind of nice spending time with one of his housemates. He didn't get to much opportunity to get to know them as much as he would have liked. He was just so busy all the time. And even though they lived in the same house, the most interaction they had was over dinner. He never really spent any quality time with any of them besides Rachnera. And even then, he only spent time with her because she was editing his book.

"What do you usually do when Kimihito goes out?" Roxas asked, interrupting her excited monologue.

"Me? Well, not much actually." Miia said, a bit depressed. "Since I don't have a job, I can't really go out much on my own, so I usually stay home and watch TV, or browse the internet."

Roxas blinked a few times, looking over at Miia with a bit of pity in his eyes. That sounded extremely boring. He could probably watch TV for about 30 minutes before getting bored himself. Hanging out with his friends or training with Kii was much more fun and interesting. TV felt like he was wasting his existence.

"Then we should go out more…" Roxas said, smiling up at the Lamia.

"We should!" Miia gushed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders happily. "We don't spend nearly enough time together, and we're housemates! You're like the little bro I could never have."

"Never?"

"Well yeah, Lamia is an all-female race. The only way we can survive is with human…males." She trailed off, her tone switching from happy to worried in a matter of seconds.

"You ok?"

"Oh…yeah, I'm fine!" Miia said, her cheerful attitude returning. "Don't worry about it Roxas, I'm just glad I get to hang out with you and everyone. It feels like I haven't seen them in a while."

Roxas felt a little guilty about that because it was mostly his fault. He would need to change that sooner than later, either by leaving, or by fixing his relationships.

They continued to walk down the street in idle chatter until someone came up to them, riding a bike. He was a skinny looking guy with a cop badge on his breast pocket.

"Um, excuse me…but do you have your…Wait, it's you!"

Roxas and Miia were a bit guarded when a police officer rode up to them and Roxas was about to pull out his badge in customary fashion, but he recognized the officer from the incident. The same one that took away Mako and Piper. His arm was no longer in a sling, but there was still a bit of color on his face from past bruises.

Miia looked at the officer in confusion, glancing between him and Roxas a couple times.

"Officer…bike cop" Roxas nodded with a small smile.

The cop nearly fell off said bike as he rubbed the back of his head in a very Kimihito-ish manner. "Yeah, I get that a lot. I don't think anyone remembers my actual name."

Roxas was about to pull out his host badge when the bike cop stopped him with a smile.

"I don't need to see your identification." He laughed. "You attend the school that mixes human and Liminal kind, right?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

The bike cop nodded. "Mako and Piper filled me in." he said as she glanced around to see if anyone was listening. He cupped his hand to his mouth and whispered. "They are really grateful for what you did."

"They… Good to know. How are they doing?" Roxas asked, trying to quickly change the subject. Either Mako or Piper had a big mouth. Why did they have to tell their host the truth about what happened that night? Miia didn't know the truth of the incident and he wanted to keep it that way for now.

The officer gave a long sigh, taking off his cap and scratching the top of his head. "They're fine, but they've been giving me a hard time."

"They are?"

Miia was even more confused as she glanced back at the officer quizzically. "Um, how do you two know each other?"

Roxas looked over at the confused Lamia. "Oh, we met…a while ago at the…bay." He finished vaguely.

"Oh…OH!" Miia responded, glancing back at the officer, her eyes a bit wider.

"Yeah, it was a messy situation back then." The officer gave a fake chuckle, "Mako and Piper are doing much better. They're strong girls, so they recovered quickly enough."

Miia might've not been the smartest Oreo in the sleeve, but she was able to read between the lines. Her eyes widened a little in horror. "They were also…"

"They were." The bike cop said somberly. "But they're fine now. Heck, they've been giving me a hard time about doing my job as an officer. They really don't like that I keep checking to see if people have their host papers or not."

As if to emphasize his point, some of the passing bystanders were giving the bike cop a dirty look. Somewhere even whispering under there breath to leave Miia and Roxas alone.

To Miia, it was a refreshing change to see so many people more accepting, but on the other hand, she felt a little bad for the bike cop. It was easy to tell he was a good guy, being a host that treated his tenants well and all.

"It's understandable officer." Miia said. "After what happened, everyone wants to blame the authorities for letting it get out of control."

Giving another sigh, the officer smiled at the Liminal girl. "I know, but it's still my job and until the law is change, then I have to keep doing it."

"I understand officer, and I don't blame you." Miia said kindly.

"It's apricated."

"Officer…" Roxas said, suddenly having an idea. "When does your shift end today?"

"Hm? Oh, my morning shift is almost done actually. I was about to head on home." He said, gesturing to the bike.

"Well, my school is having a festival today and my club is doing a photo gallery. Do you think Piper and Mako would like to come?"

The officer stared at the young nobody for a while before his eyes lit up. "That actually might be a great idea!" The officer said happily. "They've been itching to get out of the house for a while. Is Yukiko part of your club?"

"She is," Roxas confirmed. "And I think she will be happy to see Mako and Piper again, especially under better…circumstances."

"I agree!" The officer said, flipping one leg over his bike. "In fact, I think I should bring everyone. They might enjoy the interaction with some of the students."

"Everyone?" Miia asked.

"Oh, I'm actually a host for six different Liminal." The officer chuckled. "Mrs. Smith really didn't have anyone else that she could convince to watch them."

"Geeze, you sound like Darling." Miia said, her eyes wide.

The officer didn't reply, just tipped his hat and rode off down the street.

"That was really nice of you Roxas!" Miia gushed, hugging him from behind.

"I though Yukiko might like to see them again." Roxas responded as they both began to walk down the street again with Miia hanging off his back.

"Awe! That's so cute! Thinking about your friends like that!" Miia said as she released him and began to slither down the street at his side. "I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

They were quiet for a few moments before Miia started shooting him small glances, as if she wanted to ask him something. During the entire exchange with the Bike cop, she was reminded of what happened that night to cause the rift in Kimihito's house. "Um…Roxas…"

"Hm?"

Miia twiddled her fingers slightly, looking a little nervous. "That day, when Yukiko was…" She stopped, waiting for Roxas to give an indication that he understood her. By the slight stiffening of his posture, he did. "When you came home, what was that?"

"What was…What?"

"That light!" She exclaimed. "I've never seen you do that before."

Roxas gave a sigh. He knew eventually one of his housemates would ask about it. The fact that no one did yet was honestly surprising. But truthfully, it also made him happy that Miia finally asked. It meant she wasn't afraid to ask, and therefor not afraid of him. He really didn't like it when people were scared of him.

"Truthfully? I don't know." Roxas said, continuing to walk down the street. "It just suddenly happened when I heard Yukiko was kidnapped. I was just…angry."

"Yeah…You were also angry with Mero when it happened again. If I didn't know you better, I thought you would have attacked her." She laughed good-naturedly.

"Yeah…" Roxas said slowly. Good thing she didn't know how much he wanted to back then.

"But that's still kinda cool. What does it do?"

"I…I'm not sure yet…" Roxas said, glancing around to see that no one was really paying attention to them. He raised his hand and allowed a tiny bit of light energy to envelop it. Miia stared at it in wonder for the few seconds he allowed it to manifest. "I haven't practiced much with it yet."

"It's so beautiful!" She squealed. "When you find out what it can do, can you show me? Pretty please!"

Roxas laughed and shoved her shoulder playfully. "Yeah sure, sis."

"Oh my God, you're so cute I could strangle you!" Miia said, her tail twitching with agreement.

"Please don't. You don't need to be deported because you killed me."

Miia threw an arm around his shoulder as they joyfully continued there way down the street. She was so incredibly happy that Roxas couldn't help but feel happy as well.

It also made him feel a little bad because that happiness would be gone when they got back to the house. He really needed to fix things so the joyful atmosphere would return to the household. It was either that, or he should leave. But honestly, he really didn't want to. Not when he had people like Miia living there with him.

---

It didn't take long before Miia and Roxas made it to the school. Instantly, Miia's eyes lit up like a pair of sparking diamonds. She started looking around at the large mixture of Liminal and human kids entering the School and setting up for the festival. The school grounds had been converted into numerous booths from every club. From small food shacks to mini-games, multiple clubs were promoting their activities and displays. It was quite an exciting atmosphere to say the least.

"This is so Awesome!" Miia gushed, dragging Roxas all over the place to look at all the booths. "Where's your club?"

"It's this way, follow me." Roxas laughed, pulling Miia into the school building. They weaved through the hallways, watching each of the club rooms set up their specific exhibit. Finally, they reached the Photography club room and Roxas reached forward and pulled open the door.

"…"

"…"

"…Please don't slap me again." Roxas said dryly.

Luckily this time, Callie was fully dressed in her school uniform, but she was straddling Ichiro's lap as he sat in a chair. Right when they opened the door, it seemed they were caught in a quick make out session. The moment the door opened, there faces pulled away from each other and Callie was off Ichiro with lightning speed. Both there faces held heavy blushes, as if they had been caught doing the dirty.

Miia's open mouth formed into a sly grin, cackling internally about what she just witnessed. "Wow…This school is awesome!"

Ichiro and Callie Recovered enough to turn a confused eye to the Lamia as she and Roxas entered the room.

"Um…Hello…" Ichiro said, clearing his throat and finally calming down. "Roxas, who is this?"

"This is Miia. She's a housemate of mine." Roxas said, gesturing to the Lamia, who gave them a small wave. "She wanted to check out the festival today."

"Oh…" Ichiro said, turning to Miia with a polite bow. "It's nice to meet you Miia. I'm Ichiro, the photography club president."

"It's nice to meet you!" Miia said cheerfully, happy that another human was being nice to her.

"My name is Callie." Callie said, extending a hand to the Lamia. "You live with Roxas and Xion?"

"I sure do!"

"That's cool." Ichiro said, turning to Roxas. "Where's Pyra, Yukiko, and Xion by the way. We need to get those pictures set up in the next hour."

"They should be here soon." Roxas said, opening his book case and pulling out his developed pictures. "Where's my spot?"

"Oh, over here." Ichiro gestured to an empty wall.

Miia started making cheerful conversation with Callie as Roxas started putting up his pictures. Needless to say, Ichiro was more than impressed.

"Roxas…These are amazing!" Ichiro gasped as he looked at all the different locations of each picture of the sunset.

"Oh, thanks." Roxas said, hanging a picture of the sunset over Twilight town. That was his last destination before retuning home. He was half tempted to invite Xion, but he didn't want to risk it because Twilight town would probably be watched closely by Organization 13. Luckily, he didn't have any trouble, but he didn't stay there long at all.

"How the hell did you get that picture?" Ichiro gasped, looking at the photograph of the sun gently settling over the large city.

"…Secret." Roxas smiled, getting a pouting look from Ichiro. The human looked at the next photo and his mouth dropped open.

"Is…Is that a castle?!"

"…Maybe." Roxas said, internally laughing at Ichiro's reaction to Hollow Bastion with a sunset behind it.

"Roxas! C'mon! you have to tell me."

"Photographers secret I'm afraid. I'm sure you understand." Roxas smiled, absently noticing the door to the clubroom opening. A few bodies waked in before closing the door behind them.

"Miia!? What are you doing here?"

"Yukiko! Pyra! It's been way to long since you came over!" Miia exclaimed as she rushed over to them and wrapped them up in a hug. Yukiko was more than happy to reciprocate, but Pyra struggled in her constricting grip.

"Get off me you overgrown snake!"

"I love you too Pyra!"

Roxas glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the lovable scene. He really needed to fix things at the house so these times could return.

"W-What is that!?" Ichiro exclaimed, pointing to the gelatinous girl wearing a willow raincoat.

"Relax, that's just Suu." Roxas said, resting a hand on the human's shoulder. "She's harmless."

"That's a slime! They're so rare!" Callie said, taking a caseous step toward the Slime.

Suu didn't have any hesitation as she approached Callie. "Hi! Suu is named Suu!" She said, extending a hand to the Holstaurus.

Callie blinked a couple times, completely perplexed by how civil the slime was. Still, she shook Suu's hand. "Hi Suu, my name is Callie."

"Callie?" Suu asked, her head tilting cutely. "Suu is happy to meet Callie!"

"Wow." Ichiro said with a small whistle. "I thought Slimes were supposed to be…unintelligent."

"Usually they are, but Suu is learning quickly. I just wish we could get her into school." Roxas said.

"That would be interesting, but I'm guessing no one would fund her."

"Yeah, that's the main issue."

Suu turned her attention to Roxas and Ichiro, instantly zooming in on another unknown person. She approached quickly and extended her hand to Ichiro. "Hi! Suu is names Suu." Repeated herself in the exact same fashion.

Ichiro blinked owlishly, glancing over at Roxas.

"…She still has a lot to learn. I'm guessing this is the only way she knows how to greet people."

"Hello Suu, I'm Ichiro."

"Suu is happy to meet Ichiro." Suu said with a huge smile, shaking his hand rapidly.

"yeah…she has a lot to learn still." Roxas laughed, turning back to his gallery wall and putting up the remainder of his pictures. Pretty soon, everyone was done introducing each other and they were working on setting up their own little gallery. Eventually, Yukiko and Pyra walked up behind Roxas to check out his photographs.

"Holy shit Roxas!"

The nobody turned around to see the awestruck Yeti and Hellhound. "You like them?"

"Roxas, these are beautiful!" Yukiko gushed. "Where did you take them?"

"…"

Roxas just smiled and hung the rest of the pictures. Truthfully, he wanted to tell her and Pyra how he had gotten the pictures, and someday he would, but not yet.

"He's being stingy with his secrets!" Ichiro complained with comedic bitterness. He was in the middle of hanging his last photo as well.

"Oh, is that so?" Pyra said, turning to the defiant nobody. "I'm pretty good at getting people to confess."

"Yeah, not this time." Roxas said, glancing over at Xion's gallery. Her pictures were ones of many exotic seashells. Looking at the background, he noticed they had the same idea of going to many different worlds to take pictures. Some of the seashells probably didn't even exist on this world.

Good one Xion. Very discrete.

"Why don't you go bug Xion, or at least finish putting up your own pictures."

"Yesh, so secretive." Yukiko pouted, moving to her own wall to put up her photos. They were all of snowy capped mountains and huge winter skiing hills. A couple were of snow covered trees and glacier caps. A couple were that of a few Yeti folks as they stood in front of a huge resort building. The pictures were very beautiful as well.

Moving onto the pictures Pyra had taken, Roxas had to roll his eyes.

"Seriously, did Polt put you up to this?" the nobody asked, walking up behind the hellhound.

"Yep! She said she wanted to spread the world of a Liminal owned sports club nearby. And maybe the student population would be interested in signing up."

"Clever, using your niece's festival project to advertise. Very smart." Ichiro deadpanned. All of Pyra's pictures were of different aspects of the gym with the last one displaying the front of Sports club Kobold.

"Seriously Pyra?" Ichiro exclaimed.

"Hey, you said it could be anything."

"Yeah…but directly advertising…ah, whatever. At lest they look good." Ichiro deflated like a balloon as he moved over to Yukiko and gave her a few comments.

Looking down the row, he saw that Callie had set up pictures of farmland, barn animals, and large, hulking Minotaur's. One of them was a picture of a huge Minotaur Liminal with horns growing out of her head. She wore a pair of blue overalls and had a large axe over her shoulder. A single piece of straw dangled from her mouth and he had the largest chest Roxas had ever seen.

"A friend of yours?" Roxas asked.

"No, that's actually my cousin." Callie said. "She's located on a farm nearby."

"A farm? Near here?"

"Yeah!" Callie said, turning to him with a smile. "I was originally supposed to be joining her, but I wanted to go to school instead."

"Oh, I see." He said, looking over at the farmland pictures before moving onto Ichiro's set of pictures. The nobody gave them a flat look before turning to the Smug Ichiro.

"And how did you get all these pictures of…us?"

"Photographers secret I'm afraid." Ichiro said with a grin.

Just as suspected, every one of Ichiro's pictures were of the club. Either doing club activities, sitting around eating lunch, or just hanging out doing homework. Each one was endearing in their own right. Glancing over at the human, Roxas could only admire his talent for photography.

"You'll have to give me a copy when you have time."

"Only if you give me a copy of yours too. Those are simply incredible."

"Deal.

---

It was an hour into the festival and the gallery was a hit so far. People were coming in from all over to see the exotic photos from the different members of the club. Most were fascinated by the different locations captured by the members. Surprisingly, Yukiko's, Pyra's, and Callie's were the most popular because they display different area's and cultures of Liminal kind.

Many perverts came in a few times to slobber over themselves at Callie's picture of her cousin. But most were there for conversation about different Liminal species. Needless to say, the entire school was Jam packed with curious individuals ready to learn about Liminal kind.

Since she was on the school grounds, Miia decided to explore the school a little. It was nice that she had the freedom to move around and check out the booths. She even got recruited by a small dancing club to show off her serpent-like moves in belly-dance fashion. Everyone welcomed her happily and her performance was a huge hit.

Each member of the photography club was at their stations, presenting their photographs to anyone who wandered into their gallery. It was surprisingly popular, mostly because the newspaper club posted their article about the incident that day to draw in customers and it was a hot topic at the festival. Most of the people who wondered in just wanted to see the trio who was involved with the whole thing. Luckily, they had enough tact not to ask questions about it.

Another hour later, the door opened again and a few interesting characters walked into the room.

"How ya doing Yukiko!"

The Yeti froze in place for a few moments before she whipped around like a ballerina. Her smile grew ten-fold as she focused on the two people, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Mako! Piper!" She screeched as she shoved through the crowd and launched herself at the two Liminal.

"Ar! How ye be doing Maty! Try not to tip the chair here or I be falling overboard." Mako quipped, hugging Yukiko back while the Yeti attempted to strangle her with affection.

"I'm doing great! What are you two doing here? How did you know about the festival?"

"Well…" Piper shot Roxas a look, who just smiled and waved at them. "Your friend over there ran into our host and invited him and us to the festival."

"Really!?" Yukiko said, turning to Roxas in mock anger. "Roxas! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Slipped my mind." Roxas smiled as he went back to talking with the people who were looking at his photos.

"AR! and I be not a blood-thirsty pirate." Mako said, laughing. "So, show us them here photo-thingies. That's be what we came for no?"

"What? You didn't come just to see me?" Yukiko asked, her eyes growing big and watery, though she was just joking.

"Of course not!" Mako looked away bashfully. "What makes ye thing that. I be a pillaging pirate, thriving off the art of sword-fighting and-"

"Yes, we came here for you." Piper said, shaking her head with a laugh. "And we brought our other housemates as well."

"I would love to meet them!"

"You say that now maty, but don't be regretting it later."

Both ends of the door opened as wide as they could as a large group of exotic character entered the room. Everyone stopped and stared, mostly because these Liminal were well known as difficult species.

"Humph! Fuzz drug us all the way here to see this scrawny runt?" the largest of them said, her furry arms folding. She was a massive Spider Liminal. The same species as Rachnera, but a different breed altogether. Her hair was bright orange, her teeth sharp as blades, and her massive spider-body was covered in a layer of fir. With just a glance, everyone knew she was a large breed.

"Knock it off Tara, your scaring everyone." Piper rolled her eyes.

"Yeah? Well maybe they shouldn't be such damn pussies!" She growled back. Damn she was intimidating. Her six eyes glared at anyone who tried to stare.

"Maybe if you didn't try to scare everyone who crossed your path, you might make some friends…" Said another girl who was standing behind the huge Arachnera. She was a skinny little thing with a petite body and a single large eye. She wore large black boots and a maid uniform. She noticed a few people staring at her and her single eye narrowed. "What are you all staring at, you damn Lolicons!"

"…You really shouldn't talk Iris…" Piper face-palmed.

"This school is to small. I can't stretch my wings here…" the last person said. She was the most intimidating one behind Tara. She was wearing blue overalls and had red scales covering most of her body. Her arms were two huge wings and she had sharp talons for toes and thumbs. "How am I supposed to hunt like this?"

"Vera…please don't hunt here." The familiar cop said as he walked out behind Tara. He was scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Hi everyone."

"Oh! Mr.…Bike cop!" Yukiko said happily.

The Bike cop nearly fell over again. "Hi Yukiko. I'm glad you're doing better."

"More than better! Thanks for brining Piper and Mako!" Yukiko said as she turned to the rest of them. "It's nice to meet you all!"

"Humph, whatever…" Tara growled, turning away from the cheerful Yeti. Yukiko wasn't deterred in the slightest by her intimidating presence. After all, it was nothing compared to being chained up in a shipping crate.

Instead, Yukiko bounded up the to the huge spider woman and gave her a cheerful smile. "Your fir looks so soft!" She said, reaching out and touching the large breed's leg. "What do you do to keep it that way?"

Tara blinked a few times in confusion as she looked at the bundle of happiness. "…It's natural…"

"It is? That must be nice! I have to work so hard to keep my fur nice and fluffy. Yours is so pretty!"

"Pretty…" Tara echoed, clearly caught off guard. Before she realized it, a small blush formed on her cheeks. She quickly shook her head and her brooding face returned.

Yukiko didn't notice as she moved down the line to Iris. "Hi! I'm Yukiko."

"…Hi…" Iris said slowly, looking the Yeti straight in the eye. Since she was a Monoeye Backbeard, she expected the girl to look away from her like everyone else did.

But she didn't.

"Wow, I heard Backbeard's can shoot lasers out of there eyes! Is that true!"

Blinking her huge eye, Iris slowly nodded. "Sort of…we can create large flashes…and sometimes lasers if we concentrate hard enough."

"That's so cool! I wish I could do something like that! I'm just good at resisting the cold." She said, fidgeting her fingers slightly. Suddenly, she threw her arms around Iris's shoulders.

"What are you doing!" Iris shrieked.

"You're so cute! I heard Backbeard's were cute, but I didn't think they would be this adorable!"

"What are you saying kid! I'm way older than you!" Iris pushed her away, blushing heavily. "You think I'm cute?"

"Of course! How could anyone not?" Yukiko said with a smile a she turned to the last member of the group.

The Wyvern was looking around the room absently, as if her mind was focused on something else.

"Hi!" Yukiko said, addressing her.

Vera looked down at Yukiko with disinterest before looking around again. Yukiko simply raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't worry about her." Bike cop said with a chuckle. "Vera is a bit single minded. She doesn't do well with meeting new people, so don't take it personally."

"Keeper, when can we go back to the forest to hunt?"

"After we leave today Vera." Bike cop said with a smile as he turned back to Yukiko. "I have one more tenant…but she was in a bad mood today. I couldn't risk brining her."

"Geeze, your hands are full." Pyra said suddenly, approaching the odd group. "And I thought Kimihito had it rough. Who's your last tenant?"

The bike cop gave a large sigh. "It's a black slime named Guu…She's…temperamental."

"A black slime…" Pyra parroted. "Forget having full hands, you're batshit insane."

"I'll…take that as a complement…" Bike cop laughed.

"Enough of this!" Piper interrupted. "Show us your photographs."

"Oh, right this way!" Yukiko gushed, leading the group to the wall of photographs.

---

Simply put, Kimihito was beyond exhausted. The day with Centorea was supposed to be a casual one where they had a simple picnic and walked around the city.

As usual, fate had other plans for him.

First, Centorea nearly destroyed anything she came across because of her large body, then Rachnera showed up and disrupted the picnic. Then Centorea lost her mind and basically tried to rape him, then he was attacked by a wild pig, finally he had to ensure Centorea that she was indeed useful and he enjoyed having her around.

It was…fun to say the least. The day might have been hectic beyond belief, but he wouldn't have had it any other way. Every day was so interesting and brought its fair share of challenges, but that was just the life of a Liminal host.

He was not looking forward to cleaning the house though. He had to rush out with Centorea that morning, so he didn't get the chance to do any chores.

Signing, he unlocked the door to his house and walked in. Flipping on the light, he nearly dropped his keys when he saw the state of the house.

It was immaculate.

The floors were shiny, the kitchen was spotless, the living room organize, and the bathrooms sparkling with iridescent beauty.

At first, the human thought he was dreaming, that his entire house would be a complete mess once he woke up. Rubbing his eyes a few times, he opened them to see a spotless house again.

"What happened here?" He wondered out loud.

"Oh, Good sir! It's nice to see you home."

Kimihito turned around to see Mero sitting in her chair elegantly, her hand folded in her lap.

"Mero…did you do this?"

"Did I do what sir?"

"Did you clean this place?"

Mero looked around before shaking her head. "I believe Roxas was the one responsible good sir." Mero said, her face turning a little depressed at just the mention of his name. "Before he left to the school festival, he did some cleaning. Though I have to admit, I am surprised he got so much done in so little time.

Kimihito was simply astounded as he looked around again. Roxas had done all this? On his own? For the past couple of weeks, Kimihito didn't think Roxas would do something like that for him.

Was he trying to…

Giving a small sigh, a smile creeped along his face.

Roxas was trying to repair their relationship…he just didn't know how. And Kimihito didn't do anything to make that easier.

"Man, I need to do better." He whispered, walking into the house and nearly weeping at how clean it was.

Mero gazed at her host, a sharp feeling of pain in her chest as she watched him go about his business.

Ever since the fallout between her and Roxas, there was this strange pain in her heart every time she saw her fellow housemate. It confused her because her kind valued tragedy above all thing. She should've been happy that Roxas was no longer talking to her. She should've been happy that the atmosphere in the house had become strained and tense. She should've been happy that Pyra and Yukiko no longer came over, providing their own slice of happiness to the mix. These were all tragedies, things she wanted to happen.

But they didn't make her happy.

Instead, she felt a pain in her heart that refused to leave. A pain that she began to detest greatly.

---

About four hours in, everyone was getting a little tired. They had been talking to people for a long time, and the hype of the Festival was starting to die out. There were only a few people left in the Photography club room.

Xion gave a yawn as she rubbed her eyes, waiting for the day to end. She wanted to get out and get some fresh air, but they had another hour before they could start packing away.

"Well, these are pretty nice."

Xion felt pressure on the top of her head as someone lean on her with there forearmed. She blinked a couple times because only one person had that kind of drawl to their voice.

"Axel!" She exclaimed, turning around and throwing her arms around the Nobodies midsection. "You made it! I didn't think you were coming."

"Oh Xion. Silly, stupid, Xion." Axel mocked, ruffling her hair with his gloved hand. "I'm a target for assassination. What do you think would happen if I walked into this building when it's crowded with innocent bystanders? Hm?"

Xion shot him a playful glare, released him and gave him a good punch in the stomach.

"Ooof! Yesh, you've been spending way too much time with these kids." He said, rubbing his gut.

"Hello! Who are you?" Ichiro asked, glad to have another body in the room.

Axel turned to the kid with a grin. "Axel, got it memorized." He said, tapping his temple.

"Axel…Wait, you're the guy, right? The guy who saved all the Liminal from the trafficking Incident and…killed the traders."

"That's me, got a problem with that?" Axle asked, a dangerous edge to his voice. He wasn't going to do anything to the poor kid, but it was sure fun as hell to watch him squirm.

"Axel, knock it off." Roxas said, jabbing him in the shoulder.

"Geeze, what's with all the Axel abuse. Maybe I should have stayed home." Axel said, giving his fellow nobody a grin before turning to Pyra and Yukiko. He reached over and ruffled up both girl's hair. "So how have you guys been? Haven't been kidnapped recently I hope."

"Smooth Axel…" Pyra rolled his eyes and batted away his arm. "Still an asshole I see."

"Course! Gotta be if you're dealing with lawyers and judges all day."

"The trials are still going on?" Ichiro asked.

"Sure are. Hopefully things will take a turn for the better soon. Until then, just wait out the laws for now." He said, glancing over at the last member of the club. "And you are?"

"Callie. Nice to meet you." She said with a shy smile.

"Alright! Now that I've met the whole brigade, why don't you show me the photos. Make it quick though because I can't stay to long."

"You can't?" Xion asked, a little sad.

"Nope. Can't stay in one place to long, or people might find out I'm here. Don't know if you've noticed or not, but people don't really like me. Can't risk the school now, can we?" Axel asked.

"No…that wouldn't be good." Roxas concluded.

"Right, so now that we understand each other, let get this over with." He said, resting an arm on Xion's shoulder and letting her guide him through the room.

---

The first day of the festival was finally coming to an end and everyone was packing up, getting ready to go home. It had been very success and a lot of people had been impressed with the photographs from the photography club. Mako, Piper, Vera, Iris, Tara, and Bike Cop left quite a while ago, but not before getting Yukiko's number so they could hang out in the future.

A large group of people were walking home from school, completely exhausted. The group contained Miia, Roxas, Suu, Xion, Yukiko, and Pyra. It was a drag to take Yukiko and Pyra home, but finally they found themselves back at Kimihito's.

Miia was spent. Despite not being a student, she had gained quite the following fanbase because of her belly dance. She might've been tired, but the Lamia was on cloud nine by the time the day was done.

Suu thoroughly enjoyed herself. She drew a ton of attention to herself as she wondered down the hallways of the school, but she didn't cause any trouble. In fact, the principle was very impressed with her knowledge. If they ever found the funding, she would be happy to take the slime into the education system. Who knows, she might be a good ambassador for other slimes as well.

Roxas and Xion were tired as they slouched into the house. Miia had departed to her room to get some well deserved shut-eye, but not before pecking Roxas on the cheek.

"Roxas, this day was so amazing!" She said with a tired, happy smile. "Thank you so much for inviting me."

"Would you like to come tomorrow?"

"Oh, I think I'll pass." Miia said. "I'm really tired and I don't think I can handle two days like this in a row. But thanks for asking, lil' bro."

"No problem, sis." Roxas said, watching her depart to her room.

Xion went back to her own room and Roxas was walking to his when the door to the attic suddenly burst open. A stream of web shot out and snagged the front of his shirt and yanked him into the opening.

"Hey squirt! Heard you had a fun time today." Rachnera said with a sharp toothed smile.

"…Why am I always tied up Rachnee?" Roxas asked dryly. He was sitting crossed-legged in the attic while Rachnera had her back to him, typing away at her keyboard.

"It's a force of habit." Rachnera justified. For some reason, she looked extra happy to see him. "Hey, I got some good news on the book you asked me to edit."

"I asked you?"

"I just so happened to know a guy and he was interested in what you had to write. He's actually putting it through to the agents to see if we have a market for your story."

"Um…Really? But I didn't write it to publish."

"But this is a very intriguing story story. I thought a lot of people might be interested in reading it. Besides, you shouldn't complain. If you do get it published, you might make a bit of money."

"I could?" Roxas asked, his eyes widening a little.

"Yep! Wouldn't it nice to have a little spending money to go out with your friends? You've been leaching off of Honey this whole time, haven't you?"

Hearing that, Roxas nodded. He had been relying on the human for any sort of money when he went out with Yukiko and Pyra. And in return, he did what? A little cleaning here a there? Taking out his other housemates every once in a while? To be honest, Kimihito had been providing all of his expenses and the nobody hadn't been doing his part to help.

"Yeah, it would be nice to be a little self-sustaining." Roxas said.

"Great, then it's settled. I'll let you know if any progress has been made. You just keep writing and you might even have a series on our hands." Rachnera smiled as she threw him out of the attic.

---

That night, Roxas had another dream about Sora. Though this time, it was a little different. "Roxas…If you can see what I see…and Hear what I hear through your dreams…let me know…Because I think I can see your life too…And we need to talk…"

---

Authors Note: wow, I can't believe I kept writing. I didn't know if I was going to continue this story or not, but one day I just started writing on it again, and I didn't stop until the chapter was complete. To be honest, I feel like the more I write, the more difficult it is to keep going. When I started writing A Heart in the void, I was publishing a chapter every two day. It was incredible, like I had discovered a hidden joy in my life. But as time went on, it was harder and harder to write. Maybe it was because I got a full-time job and I just don't feel like writing at the end of the day. But I keep doing it because I want to get better. Possibly good enough to publish something for real one day.

Anyway, enough of that rant. How did you like the chapter? This is more back along the lines of a rom-com story. It doesn't do much to much escalate the plot, but it's just random adventures of an everyday life of a nobody. Hope you enjoyed either way. Please review!