Crazy

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything related is copyright Squaresoft.

Chapter One : The New Girl

She was the twelfth. Her name was Nelera, and she was scared and angry and incomplete.

Grumbling under my breath, I beckoned for her to follow me to the castle. I still remember what she said. "Why the hell would I follow you? With those looks, you might be some sort of vicious demon leading me to my death."

"You cannot die. You don't exist anymore," I responded. She looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was.

I muttered something about explaining it to her when we got to the others and walked away. At first she didn't follow me, but after awhile I heard her shoes clacking against the cobblestone streets. In the light of the neon signs, her hair gleamed white-blonde, and her eyes crackled like blue electricity. She stayed a fair distance behind me, perhaps out of fear, perhaps because she was too arrogant to completely comply with my wishes. I could feel her gaze burning into the back of my neck.

"You have pretty hair," she commented, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

I ignored her, maintaining my straight face.

"Blue is my favorite color," This time, she ran up behind me and tugged at my hair. "I wish I had blue hair. Or do you dye it?"

I batted her hand away, trying not to snarl at her. "It's natural. What about your antennae? Are they natural?"

She reached up and patted her odd hairstyle, scowling. I smirked and turned back around, knowing I had shut her up for awhile.

Above us, dark clouds hung low in the night sky. Thunder rumbled the ground beneath our feet. I felt a drop of rain on my face, let it trickle down my nose. I licked it off. It tasted like salt. The sky was crying over another lost heart, the heart of a woman with yellow hair.

The neon glow of Dark City faded as the castle loomed in the distance. The green abyss below was the only light; the heart-shaped moon was covered with clouds. I heard the click, clack, click of rain as it began to fall faster. Two drops ran down my face. Three wetted my hair. Suddenly we were being barraged by swift, large droplets of water. The rain came down so hard it was hissing against the ground. Nelera covered her head and watched in frustration as I merely flipped up my hood.

"How come you get a hood and I don't?" she complained.

"You'll get a hood soon." I replied, then thought about it. "Maybe."

She scrunched up her face in the ugliest scowl I had ever seen. "Well, that's no help. I need one now."

To this day I still wonder what pushed me to do what I did next. Maybe it was her constant, annoying complaining. Maybe something was left inside of me and it knew, on another level, what would happen in the weeks to come. Whatever it was, I found it necessary to unzip my trench coat and hand it to her. Baffled, with her once gravity-defying antennae plastered to her head, Nelera stared at me for a few moments. She put on what I had given to her and flicked the hood up. I restrained myself from laughing at the sight of her petite frame in my huge coat.

We stood in the pouring rain, not moving. She looked at me again. The anger was gone from her eyes. Curiousity? Gratefulness? Admiration?

"Thank you."

Her voice sounded calmer, too.

"You're welcome."

My voice was always calm, but an unemotional, dead kind of calm.

We continued. However, this time she walked next to me instead of far behind me. I recognized the lost, sad look on her face. Everyone had that look when they first came to the World That Never Was. After a moment of contemplation, she turned to me. "My name's Nelera."

"Not for long," I told her. "Everyone changes their name when they join the Organization. I used to be Ais, but my name is Saix now."

"Well, that's weird. So you mix up the letters of your name and add an 'x' to it?" she asked.

"For the most part, yes."

Nelera's face became thoughtful. "Let's see. I'd better get started now. Hmm... Alerxen? Leraxen?"

I blocked her out, noting the fact that the rain was soaking me to the core. My white, tucked-in shirt was heavy and almost see-through. I was cold, to say the least. My fingers tingled with numbness.

"I've got it!" she declared. Lightning flashed and thunder roared, as if on cue. "My name will be Larxene!"

I almost smiled. We stopped at the edge of the abyss and I turned to face her. "Well then, Larxene. Welcome to the Organization."

---

Axel practically jumped on us as soon as we walked through the door. He had his usual cocky grin on his face. "Hey, who's the new guy?"

"Girl," I corrected, as Larxene removed her hood. I saw her eye Axel with curiousity, a thin smile forming on her lips.

"I'm Nelera. Or Larxene. One of those," she introduced, extending her hand. I resisted the urge to chuckle. The blonde woman seemed almost proud of herself for coming up with her Organization name so soon.

Smiling right back at her, Axel took her small hand, bent down, and kissed it. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Nelera-or-Larxene One-of-those."

She laughed at his corny joke and pulled her hand away. Suddenly looking surprised, as if just realizing something, the young woman looked up at me. "Do you need your coat back?"

"Well, yes, that would be rather nice," I responded dryly.

"Too bad." Like a flash, she ran off down the hallway, giggling maniacally.

Axel almost fell to the ground laughing. He pointed at me, his other hand holding his stomach. "She got you! Aww, she got you good!" He abruptly stopped his cackling and grinned at me. "I think I'm gonna like this chick."

I rolled my eyes at him and held my hand up. A black shape, like a dark puddle, formed on the ground; strands of darkness snaked up out of the puddle and weaved together to form a writhing portal. Without bidding my red-haired comrade farewell, I stepped into the corridor and was suddenly stepping out in front of Larxene. She slid to a stop; her shoes made skid marks on the ground.

She looked at me with wide eyes. "Holy shit. How did you do that?"

"You can do it too," I said. "Now that you're a Nobody."

Confusion clouded her blue eyes. "What's a Nobody?" She was quiet for a moment, looking around the hallway as if looking for answers. It seemed to hit her like a brick wall. "Wait... what happened to me? Those creatures- those black things- they reached inside of my chest and... and..."

I let the fog lift off of her mind. She touched her throat gently.

"Why am I not crying?"

"Because Nobodies cannot express their emotions the way humans can," My voice sounded cold and harsh in contrast to her feminine one.

She glared at me, rage creeping back into her face. "What the hell am I?"

I let a sardonic smile creep up on my face. "I'll tell you. If you give me back my coat."

---

I could hear the rain on the roof.

Larxene zipped up her trench coat and turned around several times, inspecting her mirror image. Finally she turned to me and patted her stomach. "Hm. Super-tight leather." She grinned, baring her white teeth. "I like it."

"Funny. An hour ago I would have guessed you liked rather baggy clothing," I joked, crossing my arms over my chest. She didn't seem to get it at first. Maybe it was because of my stoic expression.

However, after a moment, she wrinkled up her face and threw her old, wet clothes at me. "I was kidding around. Jesus, you can't seem to take a joke."

I tossed her sopping wet clothes in the laundry basket and watched the newest member explore her room. She flopped on her bed, bouncing on it for a moment; she noticed her personal bookshelf and went over to glance at the titles. Gasping excitedly, she pulled a red hardcover book out of it. Aline and Valcour by Marquis de Sade. It figured.

"So did you enjoy meeting the other ten members?" I inquired, seating myself in a chair.

The whisper of a page turning. Larxene didn't take her eyes off of her book. "It was fun. Axel and Xigbar were amusing. Demyx was kind of cute, but he's too young for me." She turned the page again and sat back against the pillows of her bed. "Marluxia was really nice."

I was suddenly curious. "What was your first impression of me?"

"Well..." she thought about it for a second. "Honestly I thought you were some sort of evil creature of the Darkness coming to devour my soul."

"And now?"

She gave me a grin that I was coming to recognize as her predatory smile. "More or less the same."

"Oh, you want to see evil creature of the Darkness...?" Larxene blinked and looked up at me with interest. I fluffed my hair and, summoning up my voice, let out a loud inhuman snarl; she jumped out of her bed, eyes wide, letting her book fall to the floor. Lightning from the storm outside briefly lit up the room, followed by a loud roar of thunder.

I couldn't help but laugh at her terror.

"What... what on earth..." she huffed, pressing her hand to her chest as if to calm her heartbeat.

Before she could regain her composure, I gestured towards her book, lying crumpled up on the floor. "You might want to pick that up or Vexen will yell at you. He doesn't like seeing books 'mistreated'."

Larxene scrunched up her face. "As if I care what that old windbag thinks of me." She bent down and picked her book up anyway, smoothing out the folded pages.

"Aren't you going to finish the page you were on, at least?" I asked, as she placed the book back on the shelf.

"Not with you around," she replied. "You might eat me if I take my eyes off of you for a second."

I lapsed into silence. My golden eyes watched her as she sat back down on her bed, never looking away from me. After a moment of playing 'staring contest', I looked at my hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."

Larxene scowled and her lips parted as if she was about to make a snide retort, but she closed her mouth and kept quiet.

The sound of rain pounding on the roof quieted slightly. A ribbon of moonlight crawled in through the window; I felt my pupils narrow into catlike slivers as the white-blue light fell on me.

"I think I'm going to leave now. If you need anything, just ask." My voice was gravelly and low. The uncovered moon was making me irritable.

She said nothing in reply, only watched in envious fascination as darkness snaked around me. Before I completely disappeared into the dark portal, I mimicked one of her trademark grins and waved good-bye. The last thing I saw was her scowling at me.

---

"Saix."

I stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned. "Good afternoon, Xemnas."

"Good afternoon to you, too." Xemnas smiled and nodded to me. "How is our newest member?"

"She's doing fine." I replied.

We walked through the hallway, Xemnas slightly ahead of me. He pulled open a door and beckoned for me to follow him inside. "I need to speak with you for a moment. It pertains to something that may interfere with the Organization's plans."

I cocked my head to the side and paused before following the Superior inside. My curiousity didn't show up on my face. The room we were in was medium-sized. The entire ceiling was a glass skylight. The moon's brillant light made my skin tingle and my hands shake, but I pushed back my instincts and sat down across from Xemnas at a small table.

"Saix, I trust you more than any other member in this Organization," Xemnas began. He sighed. "Have you ever heard of a mystical weapon known as the Keyblade?"

"Of course. I think every world has its version of the legends. Why?"

The Superior ran a hand through his silver hair. "Because recently a new Keyblade master was chosen to defeat the Heartless, a young boy named Sora, and I fear his mission may lead to him locking the door to Kingdom Hearts."

"What!" I stood up suddenly, causing my chair to almost fall over. My voice was trembling with rage. "But we're so close to achieving our goal-"

"Saix, please calm down. He may be of some use to us."

I waited for a moment, listening to the blood pounding in my ears, the physical heart in my chest, pumping, pumping, pumping. I pulled my chair back underneath me and sat down, balling my hands into fists.

Xemnas waited for me to wind down, knowing it was an effect of the moonlight above us. "The Keyblade releases the captive hearts within the Heartless. These hearts would vanish and come here, and make Kingdom Hearts stronger."

I said nothing. I was only half-listening; the other half of me was concentrating on getting my pulse back to normal.

"Saix?"

"I hate being like this," I growled through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, Saix, but I have no power over what element you have," Xemnas was trying to soothe me, but he always had a sort of condescending air that made me even more furious.

I wondered what Larxene would do if she walked in at that moment. She'd scream, back up against the wall, think I was some sort of werewolf freak and avoid me for the rest of our existence.

"No, Xemnas, I'm sorry. I couldn't be of help to you," I said quickly. I bowed to him and vanished in a bloom of dark mist.

---

The library was my refuge. It was calming and silent in there. The lights were mostly oil lamps and a small chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling. The library smelled of fresh, unopened books, mixed with the scent of ancient pages covered in dust. There was so much life between every cover. It fascinated me.

I picked an old favorite off the bookshelf and settled into a comfortable chair, ready to begin.

After awhile my pulse slowed to a sleepy pace. I read through page after page, and I felt myself settle into an alternate universe where I didn't have to worry about becoming a lunatic every time the moon's light fell on my face. The air conditioner softly hummed, blowing a refreshing breeze through the many shelves of books. I was alone with a book and my own thoughts.

"Fancy meeting you here."

I was broken out of my calm utopia by none other than Larxene. She draped herself over my chair, that same old mischief glinting in her eyes. She reminded me of a cat, actually. Playing with her food before eating it. A predator who messed with its prey's mind. She was the little girl who stepped on ants so that they were almost dead, and then watched them squirm until they died.

"What do you want?" I asked, not bothering to mask the aggravation in my voice.

"Nothing," she answered. She walked between two shelves, running her long nails along the book spines. "I was actually looking for more works by de Sade. Do you have the Crimes of Love series in here?"

"Probably," I replied. "Vexen searches out practically every book in existence and has a copy of them in this library."

"I was just asking. A lot of libraries aren't even allowed to carry de Sade's books."

I ignored her and tried to go back to reading. However, I could hear her shuffling around, poking at books, taking them off of the bookshelf and then putting them back up. I almost snarled at her again to get her to go away.

"I mean, his last name, Sade, is the root word for 'sadistic'."

It was like old leaves burning on the wind two nights ago.

"Most of his works are violently pornographic."

It was a smell like mortuary flowers.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?"

I hear that music. I hear what you tell me, and half of what you don't tell-

Larxene pulled the book away from me. She almost scowled, then thought against it and smiled micheviously. "You do have pretty hair, you know. And now that I've gotten used to them, your eyes are really cool too."

I stared hard at her. What is she trying to pull? Smirking right back at her, I decided to play along. "I still think your hair's weird."

"That's not very nice," she declared, flicking my nose.

She ran off, giggling, and I rubbed my nose, which was beginning to turn red. She was so annoying. I reached down to where she'd tossed my book on the floor, found my place, and resumed reading.

In a burst of black energy, a dark corridor formed in front of me, revealing - again - Larxene. She looked immensely proud of herself. "I figured out how to teleport! Now I can bug you whenever I want."

I pursed my lips. "Lovely."

---

"Do you have a... ten?"

"Go fish."

"Dammit." Axel reached over to the deck of cards, his eyebrows knitted.

Luxord grinned knowingly. "Do you have a five?"

The red-haired man glared at him for a long time, then slowly plucked one of his cards out of his hand and gave it to Luxord. The gambler chuckled, paired the two fives together, and set them on the table.

Deeper within the castle, there was a room where most of us came when we just wanted to have fun with other members. I was lying on a couch, watching Axel lose to Luxord for the umpteenth time. Demyx was practicing on his sitar, which gave the room decent background music, and Xaldin and Vexen were talking and laughing. If not for the constant bickering between Axel and Luxord, I could've fallen asleep in that place.

"Ha! You lose - again!" The gambler declared, pointing at his red-haired opponent. "Remember our bet..."

Axel grumbled as he pulled out a wad of munny and handed it to Luxord. "I know, I know. I pay you 500 munny if I lose to you 100 times in a row."

Luxord's eyes lit up with greed as he took the payment in his hand, stuffing it in one of his pockets.

Demyx suddenly struck a sour note and everyone in the room jumped. The musician smiled sheepishly. "Sorry guys. This is the first time I've practiced this song, so I'm not gonna hit all the notes..."

"Then why don't you practice in your room?" Xaldin snapped. Demyx stuck out his tongue at him and resumed playing his sitar.

I laid my head down on the arm of the couch and stared at the ceiling. There was a crack right above me, and I followed it across the room to where it split into two. The sweeping, exotic music of Demyx's instrument was making me drowsy. I yawned and blinked my eyes sleepily, and suddenly I was wrapped in the comforting blanket of slumber.

"AaaaaaaaaaaaEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" I jumped up at the sound of a high-pitched scream, followed by a loud thud.

The dark portal in the ceiling closed, and Larxene stood up, rubbing her sore behind. Demyx had stopped playing his sitar and looked as if he had seen a ghost. Xaldin, Vexen, and Luxord were looking at her wide-eyed, and Axel was trying not to burst into laughter.

"Hey, hun," The red-haired man started towards her, "just because we're not completely human doesn't mean we're exceptions to the law of gravity."

Larxene scowled at him. "I know that! You think I came through the ceiling on purpose? I'm still new to this 'portal' thing..." She spotted me. I was groggily rubbing my eyes and didn't notice her running towards me. "Saix! Saix, I need to ask you somethin'!"

"Saix, will you go out with me?" Luxord mocked in a high-pitched, girly voice. The others cracked up laughing. Larxene shut them up with a vicious glare before turning back to me.

"God damn it, Larxene, what is it?" I snapped.

She looked as if what she was about to say was the most urgent news in the world. "I... I need weapons and an element!"

"Ugh. Larxene. First of all, we don't give you an element. You already have an element, you just don't know what it is yet," I informed her. "Second of all, don't ask me about weapons, go to Twilight Town and buy your own."

The blonde woman started to say something else, then stopped and scrunched up her face in the ugliest scowl I'd ever seen. "Fine, be that way!"

She disappeared into a dark portal and stepped out of another, three feet away from where she had originally been standing. The others plugged their ears when she started screaming in frustration.

---

A common misconception in the universe is that Nobodies are similar to the undead. People think that just because we don't have an emotional center, we don't need food and drink. This is false. In truth, Nobodies eat more than humans, because they're trying to fill the empty space inside of them. If we didn't work out and fight off enemies regularly, we'd all be 500 pounds and dying of clogged arteries.

Hence the massive, twenty-foot-long breakfast buffet set out before us.

The food wasn't all done yet, either. Zexion, though not exactly skilled in battle, was an exquisite cook and always took the time to make sure everything tasted as good as it looked. He used to make sure that everything was finished and everyone was seated before letting anyone eat, but he had long since given up. Xigbar and Demyx were already racing each other to see how many glazed donuts they could eat in five minutes. Marluxia was arranging his food in pretty patterns. Axel was betting Luxord that Demyx would beat Xigbar, and Xaldin was using about half a tub of butter on his roll.

Drinking in the scenario that occured every morning, I pushed around the last bits of my pancake in a puddle of syrup, contemplating whether to eat it or not.

Suddenly, slender fingers covered my eyes. "Guess who?"

"An evil creature of the Darkness coming to devour my soul?" I guessed jokingly, knowing full well who was behind me.

"Wow," Larxene looked at me with fake admiration. "It has a sense of humor."

She took the seat next to mine and helped herself to the vast array of food. Axel stopped arguing with Luxord and grinned at her, waving. "Hey, Larxene! Top o' the mornin'! Did you find yourself a weapon?"

The twelfth member shook her head. "Not yet." A knowing smile crept on her face. "But I can do this."

The room was suddenly lit up as if by a camera flash. As quickly as it came, the light was gone, but white electricity still danced around Larxene's fingers. She still had a smug look on her face. A smirk formed on my lips; she must've been working on that all night.

"Impressive," Axel responded, supporting his chin with the palm of his hand. He smiled at Larxene, and she smiled right back.

Luxord elbowed his gambling opponent. "Axel, stop flirting with the new member. We're eating."

The red-haired man raspberried him. Larxene made a disgusted face and went back to hungrily stuffing herself. I stabbed the last pancake bit and stuck it in my mouth, chewing it thoughtfully.

"Larxene."

She turned to me, her mouth full of bacon. "Mm-hm?"

"After breakfast," I continued, "I'll take you to Twilight Town and help you pick out a weapon."

Seeing as her face was stuffed with food, all she could do was nod and give me a thumbs-up. I chuckled under my breath.

---

Twilight Town always fascinated me. The citizens always take the beautiful colors of sunset for granted. Every time I visited, I made sure to gaze at the frozen sun and the many shades of orange, red, and yellow, at least for a few minutes. Larxene, however, was extremely eager to find the weapons shop. She had a strong grasp on my wrist and was pulling me through town, her eyes darting every which way.

No one gave us strange looks. We were dressed like normal people. I wore a baggy blue hoody and light-washed jeans, and Larxene was all made up in a ruffly shoulder-top and a pleated miniskirt. A few older women glanced at us and made "awww" faces, as if we were on a date or something.

"Larxene! Lar - we just passed the weapons shop!"

"What?" Her clunky black rain boots squealed to a stop. She let go of my wrist and looked around. "Where?"

"Back there," I gestured with my head, absently rubbing my sore wrist. "Come on, I'll show you."

I turned around and led her into a somewhat shady, deserted alley. There was a run-down store at the end of it, the word "Weapons" spelled out in flickering neon lights above the front door; I opened the door for her and a bell jingled.

The storekeeper looked up at us, a sly twinkle in his eye. "Well, hello there, Saix. Who's your friend?"

"I'm Larxene," she declared, holding out her hand and managing her best smile.

"Pleased to meet you," he replied, shaking her hand. "I'm Dale."

"She's new to our group and needs a weapon," I told him.

He nodded. "Well, as long as she's got munny she's welcome here. You like throwing darts, honey?"

Larxene looked shocked. "Yeah. I love darts. I haven't missed a bull's-eye in four years." She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "How did you know that?"

"You look like a dart-player. Here, come with me."

I watched Larxene disappeared into the back of the store with Dale and shook my head. That man had a way of knowing things; sometimes I thought he could read minds. It frightened me sometimes. However, he was a dependable man who never asked prying questions about the Organization and its purpose, and that was why I was his most loyal customer.

My train of thought was ended suddenly when a silvery blur streaked past my cheek, embedding itself in the wall behind me. After taking a moment to process what had just happened, I turned around. A small knife was stuck in the wall, still quivering from the impact.

Larxen held several more of the knives between her fingers on each hand. She raised her fist up to my face so I could see. "They're called kunai. And I like 'em."

"Just don't use them on me anymore," I told her, turning to Dale. "How much?"

"One set is 200 munny."

"Great. I have plenty then."

The bell jingled once more as we stepped outside. Larxene pressed her box of eight kunai tightly to her chest, like a child holding a new toy, and she smiled down at it. I remembered the feeling, the feeling of strength and power pulsing in your veins. Once you have a weapon in your hand, you're not playing with baby toys anymore. You're invincible.

---

"Larxene, the train is leaving in a few minutes."

She wasn't listening to me. I sighed; the blonde woman sat on the steps outside the train station and shook the box of knives next to her ear. She looked so happy.

I plopped down next to her. "Larxene, the train's leaving soon. We can't teleport or we could startle the humans, and you have trouble with it anyway."

"Let's go up on the tower."

"Umm..." I blinked. "What?"

Larxene jumped up, tucking the box under her arm. She grinned and pointed at the clocktower. "When we first got here I saw three kids sitting on the edge of the clocktower, eating ice cream. Could we get some ice cream and sit up there? Please?"

"We have to get back to the castle," I replied uneasily.

"Please, Saix?" She put on a pouty expression and looked at me with large eyes. "No one would miss us."

That's true. "Well..."

Larxene grabbed my wrist and pulled at it, sticking out her bottom lip. I groaned and averted my eyes.

"Fine, but only for -"

"Wheee! Yay!" She cut me off with a loud whoop of joy, running back towards the town.

I pulled out my pouch of munny, wondering how much two ice creams would cost, and if Xemnas would yell at me when I got back. I decided not to care. Trying not to smile at Larxene's overexcited antics, I tucked the pouch back into my pocket and followed her to the ice cream shop.

The woman at the shop was elderly, but sweet. She was thin and short, with long white hair and kind eyes. I was worried that she'd be shocked by my strange golden eyes, but she didn't seem to mind. With warm words and a disarming smile, she handed us what we paid for and hurried onto the next customer.

I sucked on the ice cream thoughtfully, but was broken out of my reminiscing by Larxene's voice. She looked up at me. "That lady was irritating."

"How so?" I asked, taking the bar out of my mouth.

"She was too... happy." Larxene licked her ice cream. "Like, oh, the world is perfectly wonderful, nothing bad ever happens. It's just pathetic that people like her can be that glad and ignorant when there are people like... us."

Sticking the ice cream bar back in my mouth, I hmph'd and stuck one hand in my hoody pouch.

"Hmph? That's all your going to say?"

I stopped and turned back to look at her. "Was there something specific you wanted me to say? Did you want me to agree with you?"

"Well, no, but..." Larxene bent her head a little bit, a frustrated look on her face. I watched a drop of blue liquid fall from her ice cream.

"If you want to get up to the clock tower before your ice cream melts, you might want to move a little faster," I commented dryly. Shooting me a death glare, she stuck her nose in the air and stalked past me. I quickened my pace to keep up with her, wondering if she knew where she was going.

After a moment or two of exploring the train station, we found the door that led to the top of the clocktower. Larxene shot up the stairs as quickly as possible, once again excited and enthusiastic. Just to annoy her, I went up after her at a leisurely pace, until she ran back down, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me up with her. Her eyes were sparkling. "It's beautiful, Saix," she declared. "The view is great."

Once I stood up there, on top of the world, I believed her.

The wind danced around us and streamed through our hair as we sat down, swinging our legs over the side of the building. I heard the train's whistle below us, heard the wheels chug-chug-chugging along, saw the smoke from the engine rise up in ghost wisps. My face was bathed in orange light.

Larxene spoke. "I wonder how the people here sleep. I wouldn't be able to fall asleep with this constant light coming in the window."

"Well, I suppose they'd close the blinds," I replied, a hint of amusement in my voice.

"Shut up." She almost threw her ice cream at me. "Stop making me look stupid."

I couldn't resist. "But it's so easy."

"Dammit, Saix!"

Larxene jumped at me, poised to attack. I laughed.

After we were finished with our ice creams, we decided to break our popsicle sticks in half and throw them at people below. Larxene managed to hit a heavyset man square on the head. When he looked up, we both hid behind the ledge. Larxene was snickering like a twelve-year-old delinquent.

"I gotta hand it to you, Saix, you're more fun than you look," Larxene told me, eyes bright with laughter.

I smirked at her. "And you're still the same old sadistic brat."

"Hey!"

Stealing her last popsicle stick half, I tossed it over the ledge, hitting the same man between the eyes.

---

((A/N: ...Saix is a bit of a smartass, isn't he?

Wow! A story hasn't flowed right out of my fingers like this for about two years! I so happy.

I hope I didn't make Saix too OOC. He got kinda happy there near the end. It's just so hard for me to write someone as emotionless as him.

But yeah. I've been thinking about this story for awhile now. I saw Laix fanart on deviantart and I was like "ZOMG I DIDN'T THINK OF THAT ONE!111ELEVEN!". So here I am, scribbling the first full-length Laix fanfic on FFN.I think.

Please review! No flames please, but constructive criticism is welcome and, God forbid, encouraged! I haven't written in a few years so I've gotten quite a bit rusty. sweatdrop))