Demyx was in trouble, deep trouble, and he knew it. He'd expected today's meeting to be just another meeting, one where he could sit back and pretend he could actually hear a word anyone said. Unfortunately, Xemnas had taken this opportunity to start asking him, personally, several pointed questions, in public, about why he seemed to have been slacking off so much recently. He'd have had a hard time answering, if only he'd known Xemnas was trying to talk to him. Though, granted, his humiliation couldn't have been much more complete than it already was. If it could get worse anyway, it was going to.

He really didn't have much of a hope, trying to hide from Saix. But just maybe, if he stayed out of everyone's way long enough, they'd forget about him and how he wouldn't - couldn't - respond to a thing the Superior said. And odds were, no one would expect to find him where he was, wherever he was - he'd managed to get himself completely lost, in a part of the castle he'd never been in before. When he found himself in the dungeons, he wasn't particularly surprised. He might have ended up there anyway, had he been caught, but as things were, he could pause, and take a bit of a breather.

A powerful hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder and whirled him around forcefully. He'd been caught.

Saix said something to him - probably snarled it - but he was between Demyx and the nearest light source; he couldn't see his face clearly enough to read his lips. Demyx just shook his head helplessly; he couldn't seem to find his tongue, and his voice was a hopeless cause. Saix just brought his face closer and repeated whatever he'd said - Demyx flinched back from his hot breath, but still had no idea what he was saying.

Saix dragged him off his feet, into the light, then ripped off his hood and headphones, taking a little blond hair with them. (Can you hear me now, Nine?) he demanded. Demyx was in full-fledged panic by now, completely paralyzed, wishing he could muster enough control over himself to at least try to escape but knowing it wouldn't help him any even if he could. His mouth was completely dry, which was a foreign sensation to him, and he couldn't have said a word to save his life.

Then, suddenly, the panic faded away. He was left with a remarkable feeling of clarity and serenity. What can he do to me that's worse than what I'm going through?

He stopped shaking, and looked Saix straight in the eye. "No. I can't." He was a little amazed how steady his voice felt, freely admitting to the Luna Diviner what Axel and Roxas had been trying to pry out of him for months. "I haven't been able to hear anyone talk for almost a month so far, including myself, though I started losing my hearing long before that - almost as soon as I came back from New Orleans. That's why I couldn't hear anything the Superior said at the meeting. I can read lips, but he was too far away." As Saix stared at him, he smiled and shrugged apologetically. "So, you've caught me, which I guess is what the Superior ordered you to do. But there's really not much you or he could do to me that would make my existence any worse."

Saix was one of those Demyx thought had forgotten emotions completely, except maybe anger and rage, but he could see something in those burning yellow eyes - astonishment, disbelief, confusion, maybe even a little...respect?

Respect? From Saix? Yeah, right...

But for some incomprehensible reason, Saix released his grip on his shoulder. (Then go. Quickly.) Demyx took a few hesitant steps backwards, not quite believing what was going on - did he really just let me go? (No one will waste time looking for you outside. By tonight, the Superior will have forgotten what he wanted you for.) Demyx nodded and took off through a portal, wondering what had just happened.

AN: Number 82, Can You Hear Me?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, got it memorized?