Heartless were running out of control throughout Twilight Town. The world's residents did well to evacuate themselves to the safety of their homes, but it was only a matter of time before the Heartless broke in and caused more mayhem. Due to there being no immediate alarms regarding Organization XIII's activity, I elected myself to stay behind and handle the situation in town while Riku went out scouting.

I thought it was just going to be a simple job eliminating some Shadows. The easy part was taking down the smaller Heartless around the shopping district. But, the mission in town got hairy when a variant of the Wyvern Heartless appeared. It weaved through the buildings, avoiding direct contact. Catching up to it was turning out to be very problematic, especially when Guardian could fly only so fast.

"Hiyah!" I grunted, swinging the Light Seeker upward at the rogue Heartless. My attack only grazed the tip of its tail. The Tailbunker, so the variant was called, got away and fled beyond the market street and toward the immobile tram. "Oh, boy..."

Powered by Guardian, I soared to the top of a building overlooking town and searched for the Tailbunker. And there it was, drifting along through the air in search of its prey- unsuspecting hearts. No way would I let anyone get hurt.

Jumping to the next buildings, I followed its slowed pace to a narrow alley. It stopped at that point, giving me the opportunity to drop down and defeat it. That was the plan, anyway, but the unforeseen came up again. But what could I do about it this time? DiZ never gave me any instructions on what to do about anyone dressed in one of these black coats. Better yet, he said nothing about Organization XIII.

I knelt down and watched from above as this mysterious individual approached the Heartless. He was very capable with dodging its attacks. Then, it came time for him to go on the offensive side. I was surprised to see this mysterious individual summon a Keyblade. To be exact, it was the Kingdom Key.

But how? What happened?

Whoever he was, he was doing a favor with defeating the Heartless. He got a little roughed up here and there, but he was defending well for the most part. That was until the Tailbunker knocked him down with its iron tail. I winced when he hit the wall. It had to have hurt pretty bad. As for the flying Heartless, it was homing in on the injured Organization member. Should I go down and help? The debate ran circles in my head.

All I knew was that Organization XIII was the enemy, and that made this person an enemy, too. But if he was left to be fodder for that monster, then where would our investigation go? And, he had the Keyblade. That surely meant something important. It'd certainly be one more problem out of the way, but...

"I might regret this." I muttered the words under my breath and jumped down from the rooftop. Moments before the Heartless could attack the downed black coat again, I cut through it with the Light Seeker. The Heartless wailed and faded into darkness. That ended the immediate threat in town, but it opened the door to the next.

Tugging down on my hood, I withdrew the Keyblade and stood over the cloaked man- no, it was a boy my age. He sat up and let his hood fall to his shoulders. Spiked blonde hair and bright blue eyes reminiscent of the blue sky. I gasped softly and took in his familiar appearance.

"Just like him."

"H-Huh?" The blonde-haired boy shook his head and looked up at me with wide eyes. Confusion was written all over his face, but he smiled. "Thanks for the help. I, uh, thought I was supposed to be working alone this time."

"Alone?" I raised a brow and held my hand out to him. He gladly took it and jumped back to his feet, clearly recovered from the minor injuries he sustained. If it means avoiding unneeded confrontations, I might as well play along. "You don't seem like the type to be out here all alone."

"Yeah," he dropped his head. "Saix said that I should be ready to go out by myself now. And the boss said it'd be a great opportunity to get stronger."

Saix? Now there was a name to remember. If he was the one sending this kid out on missions, then he must have deep roots within the Organization. Saix and this boss. Right now, they seemed to be the more important figures. The problem was figuring out how to get close to them. This kid seemed to know them pretty well.

Can I fool him into spilling the beans? I wondered. No, that can't be possible. I doubt he'd be naive enough to fall for any tricks.

Perhaps the best course of action was to just go with the flow until a better lead came up. Moving a little bit at a time was definitely better than rushing in recklessly and potentially ruining all our chances at helping Sora. Right. I had to be careful and watch out for any slips. For my friends' sake.

"Oh... I'm sorry," the Organization boy apologized unexpectedly. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head in a similar manner to how Sora always did when he did something silly. I blinked in surprise. Even their expressions matched. It was so peculiar, like they were twin brothers. "I can't seem to remember seeing you around the castle. Who are you?"

We never did introduce ourselves to each other. But, I was reluctant to just give him my name. He could throw me under the bus to this boss of his. On the other hand, however, maybe it would allow me to get a lot closer to him. Playing the part of a double agent was not exactly something I've done before, but it might be just what we need to get things moving in the right direction. The risk was so very high. Although that was the case, the reward would most surely be all the more sweeter.

Pulling my hood down to my shoulders, I revealed my face to him and smiled kindly. No, we have not met- that was what I wanted to tell him first. And we didn't. It felt like we did, oddly. I couldn't explain it. Something about him made me feel comfortable about this decision.

"Call me Kara," I said, extending my hand out to him. He took it, and we shook hands in greeting. It was surprising that he was so welcoming. "Let's just say that I'm... a friend."

"Kara, huh?" he smiled back. "Weird, no 'X'. I'm glad we can be friends, though."

"'X' or no 'X'. A letter doesn't stand in the way of friendship, right?" I winked, and he chuckled.

"That's true. Well, then you can call me Roxas, the Organization's number 13," he introduced himself to me. "Ah! Now that the Heartless was taken care of, we can head back to the castle. Come on, we'd better head back before Saix comes looking for us."

I clenched my jaw when he pulled me along through the town. No words of protest made it to his ears as he rambled on and on about how his mission had been going on. Here and there, he mentioned the strict instruction he had gotten. One such piece being to not stay in a world for too long.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? He was taking me straight to the Organization's base. On my own, I could slip in and do all the investigating I wanted. That was also the problem. Running into the leader or that Saix guy would get me into serious trouble. There was no telling how strong they were exactly. I'd be in way over my head.

At the station plaza, I saw a corridor of darkness sitting open beside the entrance to the train station. It was hidden well within the shadows, but my eyes quickly detected the dark aura flowing from the portal. So that was what Roxas traveled through to get here, and it led to this castle he was based at. Riku taught me all about dark corridors, but I wasn't yet at the level where I could skillfully use them at will. I'd have a lot of trouble getting back if it were to close behind us.

I slowed to a stop when he let go of my hand. Thank goodness he did. "Hey, Roxas...?"

"Yeah?" Roxas stopped and turned around. His hand was reaching for the corridor, but he retracted it. "Is something wrong?"

"You see, I'm still on a very important mission," I half-lied. "If I go back now, then I'd probably get in a lot of trouble. Saix might get upset if he found out about me slacking off and talking to you. Could you do me a favor and keep our meeting a secret from the others?"

"That so?" he blinked a few times and took a moment to think about it. He really thought about it, too, folding his arms and humming to himself. For a second, I was worried that he'd figure me out. Instead of giving me a hard time, Roxas grinned happily and nodded twice. "I get what you mean! Your mission must be really important. Don't worry, Kara, your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks, Roxas," I grinned brightly. "There's still a lot I have to do in this world, but I hope we run into each other again."

"I know we will," he said sternly. "It's a promise."

With that, Roxas departed for the world on the other side of that corridor of darkness. It closed in an instant, taking with it the malicious dark air. I waited for a moment, then concealed my face beneath the cover of my hood. The dangerous risk was taken, but Roxas was blissfully unaware of my intentions. My heart sunk for tricking him, but it was necessary. If it meant saving those I cared about, then I wouldn't stop now. And I was in too deep to go back on everything.

Turning on my heels, I made my way back for the mansion. It was time to report my findings to DiZ and Riku. I wanted to keep the part about my undercover mission, but it'd be best to let someone on the outside in on it. Probably just Riku, though, and the king if we ever did meet again.