Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Also, I do not encourage or approve the modifications of identity cards to look older. And it's not true that I may have occasionally do that.

Warnings: This fiction contains and is not limited to boy/boy moments, the use and abuse of stereotypes, hints at original pairings, very despicable people, emo-Riku, lustful teenagers, underage drinking, a mix of the last two points, questionable situations, morally ambiguous choices and a few, occasional and really shy attempts at humor.


Chapter 15: Truths and Lies

Two boys were walking in the corridors of the school. More precisely, the first one was trying to do it, while the second one was preventing it.

"What the hell were you thinking, Saïx?"

"Let go of me, I'm late for lunch." Despite his calm and collected tone, the blue-haired boy was clearly not intentioned in the slightest to discuss with his friend.

"The hell with lunch!" Axel screamed, earning the attention of a few people around them. "I want answers!"

Saïx finally turned to look at his friend, his usual indecipherable expression plastered on his face. "About Roxas, I guess."

"Of course! Why did you tell him something like that?" Axel asked, his eyes reduced to slits.

The other boy sighed, like he was going to explain something really simple to a really dumb kid. Axel didn't like that, but he still let go of his friend's arm.

"I told him..." he started, calmly. "...that it was best for him to stay away from Riku."

"I've heard that." the redhead answered, just slightly gritting his teeth. "What I'd like to know is what brought you to such a brilliant conclusion."

"Stop playing dumb!"

Saïx's answer left Axel surprised. The two of them studied each other for a full minute, before the former resumed talking. "You know very well what would happen to Roxas if he starts going around with Riku. Or have you already forgotten how bad he had it when he was outed?"

"But... he is not..." Axel took a step back, stunned by those words. "Wait... you mean that... you were trying to protect Roxas?"

"Do you really think that people care if he's gay or not? People just care if a rumor is interesting, if it also happens to be true it's entirely optional."

"Then why not telling the same to Sora? He was the first one to get close to Riku, after all."

Saïx looked away, making Axel wonder if he was thinking to what he had just said or if he gave zero fucks about it. "As much as Sora could be a cool guy..." he explained. "Roxas is a friend!"

"Well, I thought Riku was too." Axel answered back immediately. "And yet you left him on his own."

Saïx was keeping on avoiding Axel's stare, but his lips were curling down, if just slightly. "I did, and I'm not proud of it, but..." He then finally looked back at his friend. "Who are you to judge?"

That last sentence hit the mark. "...guess I can't blame you when I did the same."

A long silence ensued, both boys too busy reflecting on their actions to say anything. Then, Axel spoke calmly. "Don't do something like that again!"

"Alright." the other boy simply answered after a moment. On the way to the cafeteria, he talked again, though. "I'm just trying to protect Roxas, you do realize that, right?"

The redhead looked away. "I know, I just think you're doing it the wrong way."


Riku had reached the roof of the school. He had the habit to spend his lunch break there, all by himself, when he wanted to stay on his own.

He had started to accept that Sora had violated the holiness of his spot at the cafeteria, and could (barely) tolerate that Roxas was starting to do the same.

But he needed a break after the people-overdose of the last few days, and that was the spot where he was sure none would have bothered him, not even that irritating, adorable, beautiful, fastidious brunet...

...or maybe...

...maybe he would have appeared at any moment, opening the rooftop door and sitting there with him. Eating with him. Talking and joking with him. And maybe, after that...

He kept glancing at the door behind him for the rest of the lunch.


When Axel and Saïx finally reached their usual table, the atmosphere was far less than cordial. For some unexplained reasons, none was talking, eating in what appeared to be a respectful yet cold silence.

"Alright... just what happened here?" Axel asked discretely to Roxas, taking the place next to his. He quickly noticed that neither Sora nor Kairi were present.

"Nothing particular, Seifer and Kairi got into a fight." Larxene answered in his stead, completely unfazed by the general mood. "He is just jealous that she seems to prefer cute little Sora instead of him."

"I'm not jealous!" Seifer exclaimed, hitting the table with his fist. "What's to be jealous of that scrawny boy?" he bragged boldly, quite pathetically trying to tighten his muscles in the most natural way. "I've got more muscles in my right arm than he has in his whole body."

"That just proves that you spend too much time on your own. And watch out, or you'll go blind."

"I meant it in a good way."

"I know, shows how smart you are."

Leaving them busy with their childish skirmishes, Axel too wondered where Sora was. Until then, he had spent every lunch break with them.

"Sora had something to take care of." Roxas told him, guessing his friend's thoughts. "I'll see him this afternoon for the math class, if you need to tell him something."

"Uh? No, no. I was just curious." Axel answered quickly, wondering if the brunet was with Riku. "Hey, Rox, why don't we do something this weekend?"

Roxas hesitated a little, thinking back to the possibility that Sora could want to invite him to celebrate Riku's (probable) entrance in the Struggle team. "Uh, I had half a plan to go out with..." He stopped talking and his eyes quickly glanced behind the redhead, where Saïx was sitting. A second later, he smiled. A smile too forced to seem sincere.

"Sure, why not, did you already have something in mind?" he finally answered.

"There's this new place that just opened. 'No Name', I think it's called... why not go check it tomorrow?" Saïx offered.

Axel knew very well that Roxas hated clubs, it just wasn't his kind of things. So he wasn't surprised when he saw him hesitate. He didn't have the time to say anything, though, because Larxene abruptly cut short her discussion with Seifer and turned her attention to them.

"That's a great idea, flamesilocks." she exclaimed, for once sincerely enthusiastic. "We could all go there, it would be a great occasion to let loose a little. Some of us may need it..."

"Yeah, yeah, why not." Seifer added, choosing not to dignify with an answer -or maybe, simply not understanding- the provocation. "Count me in."

Hayner didn't even have the time to say anything that Larxene had already started to count the participants. "Alright, then. Me, Seifer, Hayner, Axel, Saïx and Roxas. Someone should tell Sora and Kairi about it."

"Hey, I never said I was in." Hayner objected. As an answer, Larxene smirked.

"Alright: Hayner won't come, then."

The blond boy nearly jumped on his feet. "No, wait! I never said that. I was just saying... do not take my presence for granted before asking me." Larxene rolled her eyes, but she didn't add anything else.

Well, that could be fun, Axel thought. He had just to assure Roxas' participation: he was sure that the blond boy would have tried to find an excuse not to join.

They ended their lunch more peacefully than how it had started.


Math wouldn't be such a boring class if professor Xigbar wasn't so hopelessly annoying. Roxas thanked the fact that he had always been quite good at scientific subjects, meaning that he could afford to occasionally fall asleep during the Xigbar's interminable speeches and still managing to get good enough results.

Suddenly, he felt someone elbowing him. "Hey, you're falling asleep again." Sora chuckled.

"I'm not." Roxas answered in all sincerity. "I was just spacing out a little. I wonder how can you follow him without keeping on getting distracted."

"You make it sound like I understand what he says. I'm simply keeping record the words whose meaning I haven't the foggiest idea." He then turned his head towards the professor. "Here's another one: logarithm."

Roxas smiled. "You know that this whole hour is about logarithms, right?"

The other boy grinned. "That's great: at least now I know what this is all about, thanks, Rox."

"You're welcome, I guess." He then paused, not really sure how to say what he had to. "You know, the others wanted me to tell you... well, that they're planning something tomorrow evening." He paid a particular attention not to precise if he would participate too.

"Nice, where are you planning to go?"

"There's this new place... 'No Name'... that just opened."

"Yeah, I've heard of it. Sounds like fun." Sora then turned his head to directly face his friend. "You're coming too, right?"

The way Sora asked that question made resurface in Roxas' mind that awful feeling that the brunet really was more calculating than what he looked like. Like he had immediately understood his reticence and was now trying to force him into...

'Nah, I'm getting paranoid, now.'

"Honestly, I don't think so. They always stop me at the entrance when they realize that I'm not old enough to enter..." he finally answered in all sincerity. He simply omitted the part where he was actually happy to have an excuse not to enter...

Sora grinned. Roxas didn't like that. "That's not a problem, I have a friend in Radiant Garden that is a genius at photoshopping. Do you have an ID on you?"

Roxas reluctantly took out his identity card. He didn't even have the time to end the sentence that Sora had already grabbed the little piece of plastic.

"Yes, perfect. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything, you'll have it back by tomorrow." Roxas felt that his friend's smile was sincere, like he was honestly trying to help him. Then why did he kept having the feeling that he was hiding something?

"Hey, you look good on this picture."

That sentence caught the blond boy by surprise. "Of course I do!" he answered boldly, trying to hide the timid blush that was starting to rise on his cheeks. "I always do, don't you think?"

"I do." Sora simply answered, managing to make Roxas blush even more deeply.


Preview: Next time, Riku is on the spotlight again! A trip to the arcade is in order, but why does that group of guys seem to know him?

Next Chapter: Wild Dreamers