Gale: Hey-o! Just wanted to say hi to everyone who's reading my story! I hope you are all enjoying reading it just as much as I am enjoying writing it :)

Sonshi: Yeah if only you were a little quicker to update...

Xinossh: Be nice, Shi! She's a busy person!

Gale: As you can see, I have my beloved OC's Sonshi the Somebody and Xinossh, her Nobody. I know they have nothing to do with this fic but they make me laugh so I thought it wouldn't hurt anything to share them with the world.

Xinossh: Oh! Oh! Reviews make Gale super happy so you should leave them!

Sonshi: Flames are more than welcome, too. We'll use them to make tea...or something...does it have to be tea?

Gale: No, Sonshi, but, oh! I'm getting carried away. So, enjoy Chapter X!

Chapter X

Namine looked down at her feet as she walked into the music room, holding onto the strap of her bag as if it alone was keeping her from falling off the earth. Silent, she went to the back of the room and took her instrument case down from its place on the shelf. Inside, nestled among the velvet, was one of her most precious possessions: a delicate silver flute given to her by her parents for her tenth birthday.

Gently, she lifted it from its resting place and carefully slid the pieces together then put her case away and went to her seat. She avoided meeting anyone's gaze rather than talking to any of the friends she had made and known over the years.

"Hey, Namine," a pretty girl with long red hair greeted her, sitting beside her. She played the flute as well, though she much preferred singing.

"Hi, Ariel," Namine replied quietly without looking up.

"How are you?" The other girl set her music on her stand and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"I'm okay. You?"

"Happier than a clam!" she giggled, smiling widely. Namine liked Ariel because the other girl was always in a good mood and could cheer up just about anyone. Not to mention she gave good advice and was one of the friendliest people the blond had ever met.

Before she could say anything in response, the director stepped up to the podium and called the class to order.

"Warm ups and tune!" he called as the students took their seats, baton in hand. "You all know the drill by now, I trust."

They did. Scales for warm ups then tuning, followed by practicing the three songs they would be playing for the fall concert. Namine kept her eyes on her music for the duration of class. She wasn't sure if she could handle making eye contact with the man standing just a few feet away. Regardless of what Kairi said, she still felt guilty for running. Even worse was the fact that Demyx sat almost directly behind her; she was trapped between the boy and his teacher and couldn't think of a place she would rather be less.

Sitting between them was taking a toll on her nerves—she missed easy notes and fumbled on tempo and scale changes. It was frustrating, which only made things worse. She knew the songs and had played them perfectly the day before so why was she having so much trouble getting the right notes to come out at the right times?

Finally, Mister Marluxia called an end to the practice and told them to pack up. Her eyes still all but glued to the floor, Namine hurriedly did so in the hopes that no one would try to talk to her. Once her flute was safely in its case and back on the shelf, she approached the mulletted boy as he stood away from the other students.

"Um…Demyx…?" Nervous, she looked up at him through her bangs.

"What?" he mumbled, glancing at her; she could tell he'd been avoiding making eye contact with other students just like she had.

"I just wanted to make sure that you're okay…I mean, is everything all right?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"Well," she hesitated, aware that someone might overhear what she was about to say, and lowered her voice. "I saw you yesterday…with Mister Mar—"

"Stop."

Surprised at having been interrupted, Namine looked up and saw the expression on his face; it made her want to wince. He was glaring at her, angry that she had seen and brought it up, but also scared and confused, even a little hurt.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I just—"

"No." He was shaking his head. "Don't talk to me, ever. Just don't." Without another word he slipped through the door and disappeared down the hall.

"But-!" she called after him, only it was too late. Sighing, she hung her head—she shouldn't have said anything to him about it.

"Is everything all right, Namine?" a voice asked from just behind her. Startled, she spun around and looked up into a pair of kind eyes.

"Y-yes! Fine!" Blue eyes wide, she stared up at her once-favorite teacher and hoped desperately that he had not heard her talking to Demyx.

The teacher smiled. "Good. I was wondering because you seemed to be struggling with the music today, and normally you do quite well."

Namine blushed at the compliment. "Thank you, Mister Marluxia, I've just got a lot on my mind, is all." It was hard to believe that the kind, passionate teacher was the same man that she had seen, kissing a student without consent.

"Well, you know where to find me if you ever wish to talk, Namine. I'd be glad to help."

She smiled a little. "Thank you." Before either teacher or student could say anything more, the bell rang and Namine joined the flow of students into the hall. She still felt bad for upsetting Demyx, but she didn't know what to think about Mister Marluxia anymore. What if he hadn't meant to scare her talented classmate? This could all be a misunderstanding. More than anything, Namine wished she had never followed the music and seen what she had.

The only sound in Miss Larxene's classroom was that of pencils on paper. She sat poised at her desk, watching her second hour Calculus class take their first pop quiz. If any of those sniveling brats tried to cheat, she'd teach them a lesson. As she scanned the room, she spotted a student asleep at his desk with his chin propped in his hand and his eyes shut. Oh, no, that would not be tolerated.

Fixing an overly sweet smile in place, she stood and approached him, her stiletto heels almost silent on the carpeted floor. Her action caught the attention of every other student in the room and they paused mid-answer to watch. The classroom was suddenly silent.

"Axel," she cooed, touching his shoulder.

Startled awake, the senior sat bolt upright in his chair. "What?" Everyone was staring at him and Miss Larxene was smiling at him like she was the cat and he was the canary.

Shit…

"That's a detention, Axel," Miss Larxene said sweetly. "My room right after classes—one hour."

The thought made him want to puke. His hands clenched into fists under his desk. "Yes, Miss Larxene." He stared up at her defiantly, knowing full well what she would try to do when he arrived for his detention. Idiot, he thought, berating himself for falling asleep. Why had he stayed up so late? It wasn't like he'd been doing anything important. His hands were fisted so tight his nails bit into his palms and he could feel himself shaking; he felt like he was going to be sick.

"Damn it," he muttered, closing his eyes and trying to regain control of his body. No way was he letting that whore of a teacher see how much she affected him. Taking a deep breath, he forced his hands to unclench, stretching his fingers, and opened his eyes. She was watching him from her desk, leaning forward so that he had a clear view down her blouse; he quickly looked away and turned his focus to his unfinished quiz. A light scribble of pencil halfway through an answer was proof that he had dozed off while writing, so he erased the mark and finished the problem before moving onto the next one. He would worry about his detention when he came to it. For now, he had to finish the quiz and focus on his other classes, no matter how many sultry, smoldering looks Miss Larxene sent him.

Almost without meaning to, he glanced over to where Roxas sat, hunched over his desk and working diligently on his own quiz. He hoped the blond would forgive him for getting him in trouble the day before and that the notes he had taken would help. He sighed and solved the next equation on his quiz.

Zexion was going to have a cow when he heard about this one.

"All right, students. Place yourselves into groups of three, quietly, and get to work on your labs. Part of your grade will be based on how well you work together," Professor Vexen called to his students.

Before hardly anyone had the chance to move, Kairi was out of her seat and halfway across the room to where Sora was sitting.

"Be in my group?" she asked, blue eyes twinkling, hip cocked to the side as her slim-fingered hands pressed down on his half of the table he shared with his neighbor.

"Uh…sure…who else? We need three," he pointed out, looking up at her in something similar to a star-struck daze. Kairi smiled adorably and lifted one manicured hand to gesture to someone behind Sora, and the next moment the chair to his left was occupied by none other than the silver-haired athlete Sora so admired. He couldn't help but grin. This class was going better than he'd thought.

Kairi twinkled at him, pulling the cutest expression she could manage; this had to go according to plan. "Is it all right if Riku works with us?"

"Sure!" Sora flushed lightly and glanced at the quiet boy, almost embarrassed by his apparent enthusiasm. He'd never had trouble talking to girls or flirting before, even though he'd never really liked any of them more than friends. Still, the way Kairi looked at him made his heart pound, and he definitely liked that.

The pink-haired girl smiled. "Cool. Riku, you're fine with working with me and Sora, right?"

Shrugging, Riku opened his text book, flipped it to the correct page and began reading the instructions for the lab they would be working on for the rest of class. He wasn't surprised that Kairi wanted to work with him and Sora, but he didn't like having to watch her shine for him. Even worse, he was disgusted with himself for letting it bother him.

I do not like him, he thought, taking his notebook from his bag with more aggression than was entirely necessary and almost slamming it down on the table. He's just a kid, nothing special. Unfortunately, he wasn't doing a very good job convincing himself that he didn't have a crush on the brunette boy. There'd never been anyone like Sora at Kingdom High before, and secretly he thoroughly enjoyed the athletic challenge the younger student provided. But that didn't mean he was willing to sit there and listen to him flirt with Kairi, the one girl in the entire school who could probably seduce just about any male she desired.

"Are you two going to start making out or can we get started?" he asked in a biting tone, and was secretly pleased by the embarrassed blush on both their faces. "This lab is important and if my GPA drops too much I'll be put on athletic probation, and don't think I won't blame the pair of you."

The thought of Riku not being allowed to participate in sports had Sora scrambling to get started on the lab. What would he do without the silver-haired boy to compete against? None of his other fellow students had proved to be much of a challenge, though that spiky-haired redhead senior definitely knew how to handle a ball—he simply wasn't serious enough about athletics for Sora to consider him real competition. There would be no glory for him without a decent opponent, and he wasn't about to be responsible for Riku being put under athletic probation.

Pretending to be embarrassed, Kairi pulled up a chair and sat on the other side of the table from the two boys and read through the lab instructions as Professor Vexen surveyed his class for any troublemakers. It wasn't quite the reaction she wanted from Riku, but it was close. Irritation was definitely an improvement from his normally apathetic response to the world, although she'd been hoping for at least a spark of jealousy to show. She could see the internal conflict in him like a war zone.

"Will you start the burner, Sora?" she asked, looking at him through her eyelashes. "It always startles me when the fire flares up."

Sora smiled and Riku rolled his eyes. "No problem, Kairi. I'll take care of it." Emboldened by the trust she had placed in him, he turned on the gas and lit the fire with ease, grinning the whole time. She rewarded him with a smile and a promise to make it up to him, even though he insisted it was nothing.

For the rest of class, Riku and Sora followed the instructions as Kairi read them aloud from Riku's textbook. Both boys were pleased with how well they worked together, though Sora was willing to show it while Riku was not. Professor Vexen could find little wrong with their work when he came around to inspect their progress, and Sora felt a glowing pride like he usually only got from scoring a goal. He understood why Roxas always studied so much, though he still preferred the physical strain of athletics as compared with sitting at a desk working out equations and formulas.

When the ten-minute bell rang and the class began clearing their supplies, Sora turned to Riku with a smile. "Thanks for working with us, Riku."

"Yeah, thanks," Kairi added, standing close to Sora while discreetly watching the silver-haired athlete.

Riku shrugged, packing his things away and not making eye contact with either of them. He could feel Kairi's eyes on him and knew that if he looked at Sora she would see how torn he was. "No problem."

"You guys wanna meet for dinner tonight?" Sora asked hopefully, picking up his bag as they all waited for the end-of-class bell. "Say, five-thirty?"

Smiling, Kairi tucked her hair behind her ear and twinkled at him. "Sure, sounds great."

With that partial victory, Sora turned deep blue eyes on the other boy. "Riku? You too?"

After a moment, Riku straightened and looked directly at the shorter boy. "If I'm finished working out."

"Cool." Sora grinned up at him, pleased that the older student had agreed. It wasn't a full agreement, but it was close enough. Before any of them could say anything more, the bell rang to signal the end of class and Riku was gone. He had History next like Sora, but he never seemed to consider even for a moment that they could walk together. Sora tried not to be hurt by his abrupt departure and instead focused on asking Roxas if he would invite Namine to eat with them, too. The more, the merrier, and he knew Roxas wouldn't mind having her along.

Kairi watched Sora leave, smiling to herself. They would be so cute together, if only she could get them to admit it, too. Well, she certainly didn't mind a little match-making, which was exactly what she intended to do.

Gale: Oh Kairi, I will have so much fun manipulating everyone through your schemes...I hope you all enjoyed it!

Xinossh: Don't forget to review! We have lots of fun reading and responding!

Sonshi: And feel free to flame. Those make us laugh, too.

Gale: Your opinions are important and I would love to hear them :) I'm always open for suggestions or constructive criticism! Chapter XI coming soon! Later!