Disclaimer: KH© Square Enix & Disney

Chapter 3-I'm not telling

Riku's morning was, needless to say, odd. He woke up to the sound of his mother singing in the kitchen, cooking for the first time in 11 years. No one needs to state the obvious-it kinda scared him. But that wasn't the worst part. His father, for the first time in Riku's 17 years, told Riku he loved him and that he was proud of him. This strange behavior scared the bajeezus out of him.

Of course, walking to the Hikari's with Axel and Demyx, he told his companions what had happened. Demyx took the situation semi-seriously; Axel merely laughed his ass off. The silver-haired teen was about to yell at him when they walked up to the Hikari porch. They were greeted with the strangest sight yet.

The Hikari twins were sitting in their usual spots on the porch, waiting. The odd part, which broke the other three's hearts, was that Roxas was rocking a sobbing Sora back and forth, attempting to comfort his saddened brother. Riku darted over, Axel and Demyx on his heels. He stopped and knelt down as he reached his boyfriend. "Sora, Daijoubu…?"

Sora looked up at him. His left cheek was a hot pink, making Riku's eyes widen. Ocean colored orbs watered again, and he hugged Riku, sobbing uncontrollably.

NO one needs to tell you that Riku was at a loss for words. He simply stroked the other's chocolate colored locks, glancing at the twin for answers, which were not given. Instead, the twin turned to Axel, seeking comfort of his own.

By the time they'd reached the campus, Sora was back to his chipper, hyperactive self. It was hard to believe that, only minutes ago, Sora was crying his eyes out. Now he was singing a song with Roxas they'd seen on TV.

Riku glanced at the others as the Hikari's walked to the locker they shared. "Any thing from Roxas?"

Axel shook his head. "His lips are sealed. Big time."

Riku bit at his thumbnail. "I've never seen Sora like that before…Roxas won't tell, Sora's acting like it never happened; I want to know what the hell is going on."

"Maybe it was a fluke?" Axel suggested, though his voice was less than believable.

"I'm telling you! It's a living hell!" Demyx jabbed them both in the ribs. "They are going to tell outright. Gotta…trick 'em into tellin' you."

"You mean Persuade?"

"Yeah! That's what I said!"

Axel looked thoughtful while Riku rolled his eyes. "Think Roxas will be easy?" The other two shrugged off handedly. "Ah, I'll give it a shot then, during class." He gave them a salute, grabbed Roxas' hand, and headed for Chemistry.

There wasn't much going on in Axel and Roxas' Chem class. It was more of a free day because of the substitute. This left Axel to pry into Roxas' mind. "So, Roxas, how's the project with Namine coming along?" A shrug was Roxas' simple answer. The blond was writing in a notebook of some sort that even Axel was forbidden to read. But since Roxas was distracted with it, Axel was sort of annoyed. He snatched the notebook from underneath Roxas' arm. "What's so important about this thing anyway?"

"Axel, give it, please!" Roxas reached for it, only for Axel to hold it out of reach-open.

"Lesse. What's my Roxas writing about today, hmm? 'Pain comes in many shapes and forms-'"

"Axel, give it!"

"'You may not always know at first, but pain is everywhere, even in the brightest smiles.' That's deep, Roxas…"

"Axel!" Roxas kicked Axel in the shin to get his attention. "Give me my notebook, NOW!"

At this, Axel fell out of his seat. He then sheepishly grinned and handed the book back to the blond. "Heh...sorry." Roxas mearly snatched it out of his hand, sat down and continued writing. Sheesh, who shoved a stick in his ass…? Axel climbed back into his chair, thinking momentarily. He then made a decision: He had to ask outright. "So, Roxas? What was the deal with Sora this morning?"

"…It was nothing…"

"You liar! Sora never cries!"

"He just had a bad morning, alright?"

Axel scowled. He'd have to pull on the moves, wouldn't he? Roxas would tell him everything then. He sighed, getting close to Roxas' ear. "C'mon. You can tell me, can't you?" He caressed the blonde's cheek. "You can trust me…"

"Axel…"

"Please tell me?" He gently rubbed at Roxas' thigh. "I'll make it worth it…" He caressed the blonde's inner thigh-

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Roxas was now standing, hands slammed against the table, causing a few lingering pens and pencils to roll off the surface. The class had all turned their heads in Roxas and Axel's direction, wondering what was going on. Axel stared up at Roxas, confused. Without another word, Roxas grabbed his things and ran out of the classroom, slamming the door behind him. After a few moments of an awkward silence, the class began talking again.

"…What…was that about…?" Axel asked aloud, but only to himself. Which was fine, cause no one was listening.

Roxas ran down the hall dropping his things along the way. He didn't care. He just didn't want to be haunted. Angry and frustrated tears left footprints down the boy's cheeks.

Axel's actions had triggered something in Roxas. Something he'd been trying to hide. Something he HAD been hiding. But it reminded him of things he wished he could forget.

"Come now Roxas. Do as you're told. Be a good boy and do as your father commands."

Roxas ran into the boy's bathroom, walking to the sink and staring at himself in the mirror. Everyone always saw a clean, perfect, beautiful boy of 16-atleast, that's what he was told. But staring back at him, he saw a tainted concubine of 16. It sickened him. And he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

"SORA!"

"Ah, hai?"

"I want you to got to Riku's. Don't come back for an hour."

"Why?"

"Do you wanna be hit again?"

Roxas' heart began to ache. Sora thought he was taking all the pain. Oh, was he wrong. Roxas was protecting him for a TRUE pain. Sure, for both of them, the memories would never go away. But Sora's wounds would heal over time. The wounds Roxas received…could never be healed.

"OW!"

"Stop complaining, boy!"

"But it hurts!"

"GOOD!"

Roxas gripped the sides of the sink roughly. "Stop haunting me! Leave me alone!" His yells echoed in the bathroom. Hearing his own voice echo around him made him feel a little better. HE sighed as he heard the bell ring. He'd just tell Axel he's not feeling like himself today. Maybe he'd believe it… I hope…

The mile. One of the worst tasks given in gym class. Especially on a day like this one-It was 93 degrees, in the shade. But it had to get done as part of their monthly fitness exams. They had to run the mile within fifteen minutes and bike 5 miles (on stationary bikes) in 20 minutes. Usually, this isn't a problem, but today, there was a riot. The main complaint: "It's too hot!"

Of course, the teacher didn't care. He just wanted them to hurry up so he could grade them.

Roxas was the first person done riding 5 miles at 13:15. Demyx wasn't far behind at 13:50. Riku and Axel tied, like always, at 14:02. Sora on the other hand…finished at 18:40. (A/n: My time! XD) They all started the mile together. But Demyx went ahead, wanting to be done so he could guzzle four gallons of ice water. Axel somehow pissed Roxas off, causing the younger to run off; Axel ran after him.

Riku knew Sora hated running. He also hated being alone. Put two things Sora hates together and you have one miserable kid. So, even though he wanted to finish, Riku stayed with Sora. Sora was complaining about the heat and how the teacher was a manipulative-psycho-bitch for threatening to dock their grade a whole letter grade if they didn't participate. Riku was, for once, glad for the fact that he had long enough hair to pull into a pony tail-it made things easier. At a marker, Riku glanced at his watch. "Alright…we got…five minutes…to finish…and pass. You wanna…book it?"

Sora groaned, but nodded none-the-less. "Yeah. Lemme tie my…shoe first." The younger knelt down, tying his running shoes hastily. He then stood up with a smile. "Okay!" Riku nodded and started to run ahead. Sora was following after, when he tripped in the gravel. Riku heard and stopped.

"You okay?"

Sora stood up wiping the dirt from his shirt. "Yeah." He winced a bit, but smiled anyway.

Riku shook his head, walked over, and knelt down. "Get on my back, there's no way you'll be able run to the end in five minutes. I'll carry you."

Sora looked nervously from his currently bleeding shin to Riku. "You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Now get on, I gotta bolt." Sora did as he was told, and once he was on Riku's back securely, the silver-haired teen ran as fast as he could without falling.

Sora had his arms around Riku's neck and shoulders loosely. He then lied his head on Riku's shoulder. Riku…I wish I knew how to tell you that my injuries aren't pure accidents…I wish I COULD tell you…