Yawning, Namine walked into the music room and retrieved her flute. It felt much too early for school, though that was probably because she'd stayed up too late the night before. She hadn't meant to, but it was difficult to fall asleep while Kairi was ranting about things beyond her control. Namine was certainly paying for it. Her fingers were slow and clumsy as she put her flute together and set her music on her stand. Hopefully, Mister Marluxia wasn't going to have them practice any of the more complex songs that day.

The other students talked quietly amongst themselves as she dozed in her seat, then fell silent when their instructor went to the front of the room. Mister Marluxia stood at the podium with his gaze lowered, which Namine thought was unusual. He was generally very cheerful and welcomed the students, not silent and…whatever the emotion he was currently displaying was. It occurred to the blonde that something must be very wrong with her teacher, and she wondered what had happened since the last time she'd seen the man to upset him this much.

"Warm ups and tune, please." The pink-haired teacher's voice was barely audible even for Namine, and she was in the front row. It must have been impossible for those in the back rows to hear him, but those who had heard did as he said, and the rest caught on quickly enough.

Class continued in much the same fashion, and Namine began to feel genuinely concerned for her teacher. Sure, she'd witnessed him forcibly kissing one of her classmates, but that didn't mean he didn't deserve for someone to care about him. Besides, she liked him a great deal. It wasn't until the end of class while she was waiting with Ariel for the bell to ring when her teacher's apparent depression began to make sense.

"Do you think he's okay? He's never been that quiet before," the red-haired girl commented, her concerned blue-green-gray eyes on their teacher.

Namine shrugged. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

Just as Ariel was about to respond, another, quieter voice spoke.

"Hey, Namine?"

"Yes?" The blonde turned and stared, startled. Standing before her was none other than Demyx, the boy she'd seen Marluxia kiss. What on earth could he possibly want? Hadn't he told her to never speak to him again?

The junior had an embarrassed expression. "I, um, wanted to apologize for snapping at you. You know, when you tried to talk to me a while back. I know you were just trying to help."

"Oh…it's okay. It wasn't my business."

Demyx smiled shyly and offered his hand. "Think we can maybe start over and be friends?"

Smiling back, Namine shook his hand. "Definitely." Her acceptance of his apology seemed to lift a large weight off the mulletted boy's shoulders. He immediately launched into an animated discussion over the music with Ariel, whom Namine soon realized was already fairly good friends with the boy. It made sense—they were both juniors and had been in the same music class for three years, so she wasn't all that surprised.

He's so much happier than usual, she thought, watching him talk to her friend with a smile on her lips. Before, he was quiet and didn't talk to anyone. Now he's as talkative as Ariel.

It seemed odd that he was suddenly in such high spirits on the same day that Mister Marluxia was so downcast. Or maybe that was it. Namine's gaze was instantly drawn to the pink-haired man she could see through the window of his office. Maybe something had happened between Demyx and Marluxia. Had Demyx managed to reject the teacher and somehow ended what the blonde girl was sure had been a long-standing occurrence?

That has to be it. Mister Marluxia is probably sad because Demyx doesn't like him that way, and Demyx is happy because he doesn't have to deal with Marluxia anymore.

Maybe she was wrong about the whole situation, but Namine hoped she was right, for Demyx's sake. She much preferred this happier Demyx to the quiet, moody one from before, but she wished Marluxia's happiness hadn't been the price to pay for the junior's.

XXX

Sora was dying.

Well, not really, but he definitely felt like it. Having to hang back with Roxas during the warm up jog for P.E. was like a cruel and unusual punishment. He wanted to run, to let his stride lengthen and overtake his classmates until he was at the front where he belonged. But he refused. The sight of silver hair at the front of the group was enough to make him stay where he was and jog with his blond twin.

Ever since the fight with Riku, he'd been avoiding the older student like he carried a whole host of incurable deadly diseases. Even if being away from him for so long hurt more than any punch ever could, which was something Sora had no intentions of admitting.

If he'd just apologize and actually mean it, then I'd be his friend again.

The brunette knew that wasn't going to happen. For all the hours he'd spent being pushed and prodded and bullied but the silver-haired sophomore, he knew that Riku never apologized. Apologizing was a sign of weakness.

"Stretches!" the loud voice of Coach Xaldin boomed as the students finished jogging and lined up in their usual places. Reluctant, Sora separated himself from his brother and made his way to the front, where he stood beside Riku without so much as glancing at the older boy. They led stretches together, as usual, though it was obvious to everyone that the two boys were still on bad terms.

Coach Xaldin was waiting for them when they finished stretching and had performed their agility drills. "Today, we're going to scrimmage," the dreadlocked man announced, grinning widely. "Sora, Riku, Rolfe and Smith are team captains. Pick your teams, boys, and try to keep it even."

As ordered, the four captains separated and called out who they wanted, eventually splitting the class up into four teams. Sora was strongly reminded of the first day of soccer matches, when he'd shocked everyone by winning against a previously undefeated Riku. He hoped today would end similarly.

Twenty minutes later, all the boys in the class were drenched with sweat and panting as they raced up and down the courts. Eyes glued to the basketball in Riku's hands, Sora did his best to prevent the older boy from passing it to one of his teammates or taking a shot. Suddenly, the silver-haired boy lungeded to the left in an attempt to trick his adversary, but Sora moved too quickly and as Riku stepped right, his foot came down on top of the brunette's. With a yelp, Sora tried to yank his pinned foot free and began to fall, reaching desperately towards anything in order to catch himself.

"Sora!" The ball forgotten, Riku grabbed the younger boy's wrist in an attempt to keep him from falling. They teetered for a moment before crashing to the ground, Riku landing square on top of Sora; both boys instantly turned a dark shade of red and Sora turned his face away from the older boy's.

"Sora, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Riku sputtered, at a loss for words.

"Just get off."

Scrambling to his feet, Riku reached down to help the brunette up, but Roxas beat him to it.

"Are you okay?" the blond demanded as he pulled his twin to his feet and examined him for any new bumps or bruises. "Are you bleeding?"

Sora shook his head, his eyes on his shoes so that he wouldn't have to look at Riku. "I'm fine. I just tripped."

Not believing him for an instant, Roxas turned and glared at Riku with all his might. "What's your problem? Why'd you knock him down?"

"What?" The silver-haired boy was shocked at the accusation. "I didn't do anything!"

"You stepped on his foot and made him fall! I saw you!"

"It was an accident!"

"Yeah, right!" Roxas put his face as close to Riku's as he dared, growling softly. "Just leave Sora alone, got it? He doesn't want to talk to you or have anything to do with you after what you did and said. If you keep pulling this crap, you'll have me to deal with, and I'm not as soft as I look." It wasn't often that the blond felt the need to threaten someone, but when it came to Sora he didn't hesitate to make his opinion clear.

Speechless, Riku stared at the usually docile twin. He was too shocked to respond and didn't move even when Coach Xaldin approached and asked what happened. No one answered him; they were too busy watching the three boys and waiting to see what would happen next.

With a huff, Roxas grabbed his twin's hand and led him away, leaving the gym without permission and going straight to the locker room. They grabbed their things and left, breaking the rule about showering, but Roxas didn't care. He was angry about the fight and he was angry about Sora falling and he was angry that Riku didn't seem to care how upset his brother was. By the time the two boys reached their dorm, he'd decided that Riku was just as big of a jerk as Axel and wanted nothing more to do with either of them.

As far as he was concerned, they weren't worth his or Sora's time.

XXX

A soft knock at the door interrupted Luxord's concentration. Who on earth was coming to talk to him? An irritable sigh escaped him as he set down his pen.

"Come in."

The door opened and the last person Professor Luxord wanted to see walked into his classroom.

"Is this a bad time, Professor?"

God, why did she have to act so innocent? "No, Kairi, it's fine. What do you need?"

Smiling, Kairi approached the teacher's desk and set her bag on the floor. "I was hoping you could help me with the paper we're supposed to be writing. I'm having a little bit of trouble." Her bottom lip poked out slightly. "Could you help me, please?"

Luxord had to fight another sigh. "Which part of the assignment is confusing you?" he asked, moving the homework he'd been grading to the side. This was probably not going to end well for him.

The redheaded girl bent down and opened her bag, giving the teacher a clear view of her figure as she did so. When she straightened, she held a book and journal in her hands. "I know we're supposed to read a historical fiction novel and compare it to the actual historical events, and that we're supposed to summarize the book, but how exactly do you want us to compare them?"

Holding out his hand, Luxord took Kairi's book and journal and flipped to a blank sheet of paper. He was a little surprised at the book she had chosen, Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone, but was pleased nonetheless. It was one of his favorites.

"I want you to tell me which parts of the book are fiction and which parts are non-fiction." He wrote the words down as he spoke to make sure Kairi wouldn't forget. "Then discuss the differences and try to explain why the book's author chose to change those parts."

"Oooohhhhhh." The word was drawn out into almost a cooing sound, and the redhead leaned closer to the blond teacher as she read over his shoulder. "What if I don't know why the author changed those parts?"

"You have to read the 'About the Author' section in the back," Luxord explained, forcing his eyes to remain on the paper in front of him instead of on the student who was unreasonably close. "Sometimes the author explains their choices. If there's nothing there, then you can just state in your paper that the author's reasons for changing certain facts are unknown."

"Okay, I can do that." Kairi smiled and lightly placed her hand upon the teacher's arm, looking down at what he'd written. "I thought it was more complicated than that. Guess I was just over-thinking it." She giggled a little self-mockingly. "Thank you so much, Professor Luxord."

"No problem." His grip on the pencil was growing tighter and tighter the longer her hand touched his arm.

Get a hold of yourself, his mind hissed in fury. She's toying with you! Don't let her get inside your head, Luxord. Keep in control of the situation.

"Professor?"

The timid tone of Kairi's voice forced him to look up and see the uncertainty in her normally confident features. Big mistake. Kairi's soft hands fiddled with the hem of her blouse as she glanced between her shoes and the ice blue eyes of the teacher. Her apparent hesitance was beyond what Luxord normally considered worthy of the description "adorable" and it took everything he had not to pull her into his arms and assure her that everything was going to be all right.

"Yes? What is it?"

"I…I was just wondering…do…do you not…like me?"

Taken aback, Luxord stared at the student before him. "What do you mean?"

A dark blush colored Kairi's cheeks as she looked at the teacher through her eyelashes, her eyes a startling blue compared to the pinkish red of her hair. "Nothing…it's just that…I like you a lot, but you don't seem to like me at all."

Like her? What is she talking about? And what does she means she likes me? She can't possibly mean…?

Before he could offer any sort of response, Kairi quickly leaned down and brushed her lips against his. It was the chastest kiss imaginable, definitely not what Luxord would have ever expected from Kairi. He felt his face grow warm and he stared at her in surprise as she hurriedly gathered her things then ran from the room without a backward glance. Several minutes passed before the teacher found himself able to move.

"Shit…" He put his hands over his face and rested his elbows on his desk. What the hell was he supposed to do now? It was illegal for him to pursue any sort of relationship with the girl—her age and the fact that she was one of his students were both against him. Yet she was the one making all the first moves, the one making advances. For god's sake, she'd just kissed him! And he hadn't done a thing about it!

If anyone finds out, I'm dead meat. Headmaster Xemnas will have my head.

That was it, then. What had just occurred was going to have to be his secret, and certainly couldn't happen again. If Kairi insisted on continuing this odd game of hers, he was just going to have to force her to accept that it was impossible. No more flirting, no more touches on his arm or kisses. If he wanted to keep his job, then it had to end. This infatuation couldn't continue.

"She's probably just playing with my emotions," he muttered, face still resting in his hands. "That's all this is to her. A game. And that's all it should be."

If only he didn't let himself get so worked up over the silly game of a high school girl.

XXX

"You're muttering again."

Growling quietly, Zexion lowered his head closer to his desk and continued writing. He needed to finish this assignment as fast as possible, but he was having trouble concentrating and the frequent comments by Axel weren't helping to improve his mood.

"Yo, Zex, what's the matter? Seriously, you've been muttering to yourself ever since you got here." The redhead was lounging on his bed with a book on his chest as he looked over at his roommate. Actually, the blue-haired senior had been acting weird the past few days and Axel had only now decided that it must be something more than the normal stress of school if his friend was this riled up. "Did something happen?"

"No. Nothing happened."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

Surprised by the aggressive tone of Zexion's voice, Axel sat up and frowned. "You don't have to bite my head off."

"Maybe I wouldn't if you'd leave me the hell alone," Zexion snapped.

Whoa, that didn't sound like the Zexion Axel had known for the last few years. Sure, they'd had their fights and at first they didn't get along, but generally they were on fairly even terms with each other. Axel didn't know what to think of Zexion's response and sat watching the other senior for several minutes. He wanted to ask what was wrong and hopefully get an answer this time, but he knew that if he kept pushing it, Zexion might actually turn violent. The skinny blue-haired student didn't look tough, but Axel knew better than to underestimate his strength. Truth be told, if Zexion was mad enough to fight, Axel wasn't sure who would win between them. It definitely wouldn't be a pretty sight. Still, he was worried about his friend and wanted to help if he could.

"Zexion."

"What?"

"I'm not trying to be annoying," the redhead began, but Zexion cut him off.

"Then stop asking me if something's wrong. Nothing is wrong. I'm fine. Everything's fine. Actually, I'm great. Never better. You wouldn't believe how great I am right now." Heavy sarcasm laced his words. "No matter how many times you ask, my answers aren't going to change."

All right, that's it. I'm not putting up with this, the redhead decided.

As quietly as he could, Axel got up from his bed and snuck up behind his irritable roommate. Without warning, he grabbed Zexion by his upper arms and easily lifted the smaller man out of his chair then bear hugged him.

"Axel! What the hell?! Let me go!" Zexion kicked violently, though his feet didn't reach the ground because the redhead was still holding him in the air. His arms were pinned due to Axel's hug and no matter how he squirmed he couldn't get loose.

"Nope." A smile stretched across Axel's face and he rocked from side to side slightly. "I'm not letting go until you calm down and tell me what's going on."

Silence filled the dorm as the two seniors remained where they were, Zexion pinned to Axel's chest and held off the ground while the redhead stood there smiling as if he hadn't a care in the world. Eventually, the blue-haired senior sighed and relaxed, giving in.

Axel's smile grew. "Better?"

"Better."

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Zexion hesitated. "It's nothing, Axel. Really. I'm just letting myself get worked up about something ridiculous."

"I don't care if it's ridiculous, Zex."

"That's because you're ridiculous, you lunatic. Who else bear hugs their roommate into submission just because he's cranky?"

Axel laughed and set the other man down. "True, but no one else would ever get away with it if they tried that on you."

"Yes, you're actually very lucky I haven't used you for a chemistry experiment by now." Zexion's tone was joking as he returned to his desk. Despite his reluctance to talk to the redhead, he was feeling much better than before. Somehow, Axel's bear hug method never failed to cheer him up. "Really, though, I'm okay. I mean, I will be. It's just been a weird few weeks. Everything's going back to normal, I promise."

"If you say so." Proud of himself, Axel flopped back onto his bed and picked up his book. "Otherwise, I'll have to bear hug you again."

"I think I'll pass."

"Aw, don't you like my hugs?"

"Uh, no, they're great," Zexion responded after a moment, letting only a small amount of sarcasm into his tone. Axel laughed at that and Zexion smiled, continuing his homework with less aggravation than before.

At least he'd managed to convince Axel that nothing was wrong.