Roxas couldn't believe what he was seeing.

That ridiculous grin, playful splashing and pushing and laughs that were so close to giggles he wasn't entirely sure what to call them. Watching his twin, the only friend he'd ever had before attending Kingdom High, pay so much attention to someone else was almost painful for the blond. He didn't like to admit it, but there was a chance that he was—maybe just a little—jealous.

Stop that, Roxas scolded himself, kicking his feet in the water as he sat on the edge of the pool clad in nothing but his swim trunks. What do you have to be jealous of? He's not replacing you. Sora would never do something like that. Besides, it's only natural that he'd branch off and have other close friends, and you should do the same. This isn't any different from hanging out with Kairi and Namine.

But it was. It was completely different. Even though it'd been happening for a while, the intensity had exploded. Having to sit less than fifteen feet away from it was definitely on the embarrassing side, though it was amusing. Watching his rambunctious twin being dunked caused at least a chuckle, but he wasn't altogether sure of how he felt about it, especially after what he'd overheard in the locker room a few minutes ago.

Sora and Riku's flirting, it seemed, had reached an entirely new level.

The flirting itself didn't bother Roxas—he didn't care who Sora flirted with—but he wondered how serious the two really were. He knew his brother too well to think he was entirely joking. On some level, Sora meant every flirtatious expression, movement and phrase, and Riku was returning every single one of them.

No wonder Kairi thinks they'd be cute together, he thought, watching Sora and Riku engage in yet another splash fight until he felt a touch on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Namine looking at him in a concerned sort of way. Just behind her were two other students, a girl he recognized and a boy that Roxas didn't know.

"What?"

"Are you all right? I've been trying to get your attention for over a minute," Namine informed him, and he blushed to realize just how intently he'd been watching his twin and friend.

"Sorry," he apologized in an embarrassed tone, rubbing the back of his head. "I was lost in thought. What did you need?"

A smile replaced her worry and Namine gestured at the other two students. "I wanted to introduce you to a of friend of mine. You've met Ariel before—she studied for midterms with us once." She gestured at Ariel and Roxas nodded. He did recognize her, but he hadn't remembered her name.

"Nice to see you again, Ariel."

The redhead smiled. "You, too."

Namine gestured at the other teenager, a blond with a spiked up mullet. "This is Demyx. Demyx, this is Roxas.

"Hey." Smiling, Demyx held his hand out and Roxas accepted it; they shook.

"Hi."

"So, Namine says you're new here," Demyx said as Roxas pushed himself forward and into the pool, bouncing slightly to lessen the impact when his feet hit the bottom.

"Yeah, my brother and I travelled with our parents for most of our lives, but this year we finally convinced them to let us attend a real school."

"Your brother?"

"Yeah." Roxas jerked his thumb towards where Riku was now allowing Sora to play with his hair. The older boy looked amused and he was smiling at the brunet fondly. "That's Sora. We're twins."

"Oh, cool."

The two blonds watched the flirting pair for a few moments before Demyx asked, "So, are they together?"

"Nope."

"But they act like it."

"Yup."

"They're going to end up together."

"Probably.

They looked at each other and grinned, enjoying even that tiny bit of conversation. Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed each boy and Roxas and Demyx were yanked back off their feet. With a loud splash, they fell into the water and were completely submerged, both instinctively holding their breath. They surfaced within moments, sputtering and shocked, and turned to find Namine and Ariel caught in fits of giggles over what they'd done to the boys.

Almost as if she was issuing a challenge, the Ariel splashed the blonds. Roxas shook his head in an attempt to get the water out of his eyes and blindly splashed back, though the girls dodged it with relative ease. He managed to clear his vision in time to see Demyx silently rise out of the water like some odd humanoid aquatic predator directly behind Ariel. He grabbed her around her waist and tossed her a short ways into the deeper water as she shrieked. Startled, Namine ran as fast as the water around her legs would allow, but Demyx vanished back under water only to surface right in front of her and grin.

"Where ya goin', Namine?"

Before she could respond, Demyx picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, easily carrying her farther into the pool, then tossed her in the same direction as he'd done Ariel, effectively splashing the redhead and dunking Namine.

Roxas cheered and gave Demyx a high five when the grinning junior swam back to him. "I've never seen anyone swim like that! You're a fish!"

Blushing, Demyx laughed and swished his hands through the water, embarrassed yet pleased by the compliment. The commotion the four teens had just caused was enough to gain Sora and Riku's attention, and Demyx only seemed to grow shyer as the other two boys moved closer.

"What are you doing?" Sora asked, swimming to Roxas' side and absent-mindedly slipping his hand into the blond's.

"Nothing," he replied, smiling. "Namine was just introducing me to her friend Demyx."

"Demyx?" the brunet repeated, curious blue eyes inspecting the junior.

Smiling again, Demyx offered his hand for Sora to shake. "Hi."

"Hey." That infectious grin made its return.

"Why don't we play a game," Namine suggested, having swum closer with Ariel once the two were sure it was safe and they weren't going to be thrown again.

Sora grinned, eager. "Game?" His expression and posture were reminiscent of a puppy that wanted to play, and Namine giggled.

"Yeah. How about…Marco Polo?"

"Yeah!" Sora cheered, jumping and throwing his fists into the air in excitement. His enthusiasm, though nothing new to his friends, seemed a little extreme even for him.

But Roxas understood perfectly. Even though he'd never been quite as friendly or outgoing as his twin, he knew how Sora was feeling. They'd never had friends apart from each other, and having friends for the first time meant they could do things they couldn't before. Like play Marco Polo. Games like that weren't much fun with only two people, so it made sense to Roxas that Sora was so excited.

"Who's going to be it first?" he asked, slipping his arm around his twin's waist.

"Nose goes!" Ariel exclaimed, placing her index finger on her nose and smiling. In quick succession, Namine, Demyx and Riku followed suit, until Roxas and Sora were left looking at their companions in confusion.

"What?" Sora demanded when Riku started to laugh. The brunet was pouting slightly, unhappy with apparently being left out on some secret or joke.

"Nose goes," Riku repeated, grinning lazily. "It's how you decide who's going to be it. The last person to touch their nose has to be it first."

"Oh." Sora looked at Roxas, identical pairs of blue eyes meeting and agreeing silently.

"I guess," the blond began, smiling ever so slightly.

"That since we're twins," Sora continued.

"And practically the same person."

They grinned at each other and spoke at the same time. "We'll both be it." Then they laughed together as the other students exchanged glances.

"How come you've never done that before?" Namine asked.

"Done what before?" the twins as at the same time.

"That." Riku gestured at them vaguely. "That freaky twin thing. Finishing each other's sentences and talking at the same time."

Smirking, Sora draped his arm around Roxas' shoulders. "We've always done 'that freaky twin thing.' You're just too dull to notice, Riku."

The silver-haired boy rolled his eyes and swiftly dunked Sora, holding the younger boy under the water for only a few moments before letting him go.

"Are we going to play or not?" he asked, ignoring Sora even as the brunet attempted to dunk him back.

"We're playing," Namine replied. "Roxas and Sora are it."

The rules were stated, then Namine, Riku, Demyx and Ariel spread out in the shallow end of the pool as Sora and Roxas spun around ten times each, their eyes closed. When they stopped, they stood perfectly still, their eyes still closed as they listened carefully, waiting. Their ears strained for the smallest sound of ripples, of someone breathing or moving.

"Marco!" Sora called.

"Polo!" came the response, and he lunged towards the sound. This back and forth continued for several minutes as Roxas and Sora tried desperately to catch one of their friends. Eventually, because Demyx used her as a shield, Roxas managed to tag Ariel, and she became it.

The game continued, slowly growing more and more competitive. After Ariel, Namine was it, then Riku shoved Sora into her path and he was it on his own. He managed to tag Demyx, and then convinced Roxas to help him "sacrifice" Riku by holding the older boy prisoner so that Demyx could tag him. That little stunt earned him another dunking before Riku took his turn of blindly wandering around shouting out, "Marco!" every now and then.

Eventually, Ariel abandoned the game in favor of swimming in the deeper end of the pool, and Demyx soon joined her. It was like they'd been born with legs by accident and were actually meant to have fins, the way they dove beneath the water with hardly a ripple, only to reappear somewhere else with a smile so bright it was as if they had just washed away all their worries in those few moments. Roxas and Namine moved to sit in the shallow end to watch the others swim as they talked quietly. Sora and Riku occupied the middle grounds, swimming around each other, splashing and shouting challenges.

Across the pool, Demyx was waving his arms to catch Roxas' attention. When the blond sophomore finally noticed him, Demyx gestured exaggeratedly at Riku and Sora then he and Ariel smiled at each other and held hands, looking for all the world as if they were madly in love. Roxas snorted to cover up a laugh and feigned an innocent expression when Riku turned to look at him.

"What?" the older boy asked as he brushed his hair out of his eyes.

Roxas didn't respond—he was too busy watching his twin, who had turned and seen what Demyx and Ariel were doing before they could pretend not to. Slowly, the brunet turned, and their eyes met. The look in Sora's eyes was heartbreaking, a look Demyx and Ariel had obviously seen, for the two looked incredibly guilty, and it made Roxas feel awful. Clueless, Riku shrugged and turned away, lowering himself into the water to lazily float on his back. Sora glanced at the older boy before making his way into the shallow water and sitting beside his twin, resting his head on Roxas' shoulder and sighing.

"I'm sorry," the blond boy whispered, taking Sora's hand and lacing his fingers through the identical ones that belonged to his twin. Sora nodded mutely, gently squeezing Roxas' hand.

By the time Riku realized that Sora was no longer with him, he'd grown bored of floating around and swam over to sit in front of Namine, Roxas and Sora.

"What do you guys say to showering then going to someone's dorm and hanging out for the night?" he suggested, smiling slightly even though he cast a worried glance towards Sora.

"Sounds good," Roxas replied, though Namine shook her head.

"Kairi and I are having a Girls' Night," she explained. "Ariel's coming, too, and a few of Kairi's friends will be there. You should have a Guys' Night."

Riku thought about it for a moment then nodded. "Cool." Turning, he raised his voice, "Hey, Demyx, you wanna come over for a Guys' Night?"

A wide grin spread over the junior's face. "Sure!"

"Then it's settled." Standing, Riku climbed out of the pool and headed for the locker room, shaking the water out of his hair as he walked. "You coming, Brat?" he called over his shoulder.

"Yeah…" Still holding Roxas' hand, the brunet stood and followed the older boy as Demyx left the pool as well.

Sora took his time with his shower, and this time he let the water heat up before stepping into the spray. He cranked the handle as far as it would go, biting his lip as the water grew hotter and hotter until it burned and turned his skin red.

Without turning it down, he took his shower supplies from his bag and lathered shampoo into his hair. Next came the body wash, and he carefully scrubbed his agitated skin, examining the faint scars that showed through. They were from that day, that morning he'd tripped and fallen and skinned up just about every bit of exposed flesh on the track. Then the fight with Riku—his cheek hurt just thinking about it, as if the punch had happened moments ago instead of weeks ago.

You're an idiot, Sora, he mentally accused himself. Why are you flirting with Riku? He doesn't like you that way, and you don't like him that way, either. You're both boys. He's only being so nice to you because he's trying to earn your friendship back. Quit flirting with him and just be his friend.

It wasn't that he didn't want to flirt with the older boy. Flirting was fun, and he liked feeling important and special, but after seeing Demyx and Ariel mocking him, he felt like an idiot. He'd never been so embarrassed in his entire life as he'd been in that moment of seeing the two older students making fun of him.

"I have to pretend everything's fine," the brunet whispered, closing his eyes. "If I don't, he'll figure it out, and he won't want to be my friend any move if he finds out I like him. Besides, this is probably just some stupid little crush that'll go away if I ignore it for a while."

Reassured from his mini pep talk, Sora turned down the heat and finished his shower at a more comfortable temperature. When he was done, he shut the water off and quickly rubbed himself dry with his towel.

"Are you done yet?" an impatient voice asked from the other side of the curtain that was the only thing hiding Sora from view of the locker room.

"Almost," he replied, voice muffled by the shirt he was pulling on over his head.

"Well hurry it up. The rest of us are just standing around waiting for you, Brat."

"You shouldn't nag, Riku." A smirk spread over Sora's face as he pulled on his pants. "It makes you sound like you're my annoying wife."

Laughter he recognized as Roxas' and an unfamiliar chuckle that must have been Demyx sounded, and Sora knew his comment had made Riku blush.

"You wish, Brat. Out of the two of us, you would definitely be the annoying wife."

"Ooooh, someone's a little cocky." With his bag over his shoulder, Sora opened the curtain and stepped out of the shower stall, fully dressed. "But I'm afraid you'll at least have to buy me dinner before I'll let you come even close to calling me your wife."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Like I'd take your skinny ass out for dinner. At best, you'd get a coupon and a can of pop."

"Then I'm afraid my skinny ass will forever be out of your reach," Sora replied calmly, pretending that the older boy's comment hadn't hurt his feelings. He turned to leave the locker room; a hand suddenly slapped his ass. Surprised, the brunet let out a yelp and stumbled forward. When he regained his balance, he whirled around and glared at Riku, who was smirking. Obviously, he'd been the one who'd smacked Sora.

"What the hell was that for?!" Sora demanded, his face turning red from both anger and embarrassment.

"I guess I just wanted to see if it was really out of my reach." Riku's smirk turned into a grin. "Looks like your ass is within my reach, after all."

To his surprise, Sora felt tears beginning to form and hastily wiped them away. "Not cool, Riku! You can't just touch people like that! It's rude and invasive!"

Disbelief then shock and guilt made Riku's grin slip off his face. "I'm sorry. I didn't think it would bother you so much."

"Well it does! And I'd appreciate it if you'd never do something like that again!"

"Okay, okay," Riku attempted to placate the younger student. "I won't."

Sora huffed, clearly not ready to calm down. "Good."

With that, he spun around and left the locker room, stalking off down the hall to leave the pool hall. It was longer this way than going back through the actual pool room, but he didn't care. His throat felt tight as he fought not to cry. It was stupid, really. Why should he want to cry, anyway? Because Riku had touched him like that in front of his twin and new friend, after more or less calling him worthless.

Why do I even like him? He's such a jerk, and I knew that. It's why I didn't just accept his apology and forgive him at the Masquerade. I'm wasting my emotions on him. He's not worth liking.

Arguing voices sounded behind him but he didn't slow or look back. He didn't want to talk to or see anyone. The voices stopped after a moment and were replaced by a single set of running footsteps. Sora forced himself not to tense, expecting it to be Roxas come to comfort him. But the arms that wrapped around him weren't Roxas', and suddenly Sora couldn't stop himself. Silent tears began to roll down his cheeks and his breathing became short, painful gasps.

"L-let me go," he whispered so that his voice wouldn't crack.

"No."

"Riku, please."

The arms around him loosened, but rather than letting him go, they turned him to face their owner. They pulled him closer until his face was pressed into Riku's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," the older boy murmured into his ear. He held Sora tightly, one arm around his shoulders and his other hand placed gently on the back of the brunet's head. "Really. I wasn't trying to upset you. Please forgive me."

Sora was shaking, quietly crying into Riku's shirt as his arms hung limp at his sides. It was all so stupid, but he couldn't help it. Even though Roxas and Demyx were probably watching and Riku would think he was a wuss for crying. He didn't care, and eventually, he snaked his arms around Riku's waist and held onto him just as tightly as he was being held.

The feeling of Sora hugging him back made Riku smile, and he began rubbing the smaller boy's back in an attempt to calm him down. Slowly, Sora's breathing returned to normal, and he stopped shaking.

"Sora."

Still holding onto the older boy, the brunet lifted his face from Riku's shoulder. His eyes were red and his cheeks were tear-stained, but he offered Riku a watery smile.

"You okay?" Riku asked, radiating concern for his young friend.

"Y-yeah." Sora blushed and gently pulled out of Riku's embrace. "Sorry. I don't know why I got so upset. Of course I forgive you."

"Good, and I am sorry."

"I know."

They smiled shyly at one another, both unsure of what to do next.

"So, um, is Guys' Night in your dorm?" Sora asked after a moment, and Riku nodded.

"Is that okay with you guys?" He turned to look back to where Roxas and Demyx were waiting by the locker room door. The two blonds took that as their cue that it was now safe and hurried to catch up.

"Guys' Night in my room?" Riku repeated, and the other three boys nodded. He grinned and slung his arm around Sora's neck, pulling him close. "Cool. Let's go."

Still blushing, Sora allowed himself to be led away from the pool hall towards the sophomore dorms, content for now just to be close to the silver-haired boy beside him.

XXX

"See ya, Namine!"

"Bye, Ariel."

As quickly as she could without looking like she was in a hurry, Namine crossed the school's central courtyard and went up to the dorm she shared with Kairi. When she got there, her cousin was in the exact same place as when she'd left.

"Kairi?" She dropped her bag inside the door and moved to stand in front of her cousin. "Kai?"

The redhead didn't move—her eyes flickered to signal that she'd heard Namine, but that was all.

"Kairi, what's wrong?"

It was obvious that she'd been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy in a way that could only be explained by having shed tears, even though her face was clean and there was no sign of smeared makeup under her eyes.

Concerned, Namine climbed onto the bed and settled next to the other girl. She slipped her arm around the redhead's shoulders and hugged her.

"Tell me what's wrong."

"…he…he doesn't…like me…" came the mumbled response, so quiet that Namine almost didn't hear.

"Who?"

"Professor Luxord…"

Oh. Right. The history teacher Kairi had been trying to seduce ever since the pool-prank incident that had landed her a month of detentions.

"How do you know that?"

"Heard him."

"When?"

"Today."

"Did he tell you himself?"

"No. Heard him tell Mister Marluxia."

"You eavesdropped on teachers?"

"Yeah…"

They sat quietly for a moment as Namine tried to think of something to say that would make her roommate feel better.

"Hey, I bet he just said that because he'd get in trouble for liking you, since he's a teacher."

"But…Marluxia likes Demyx…"

"Not anymore, so Luxord is probably just pretending. He doesn't want to get in trouble."

Kairi paused, thinking it over. It made sense. Sort of. "Yeah. Okay."

"Okay?" Namine squeezed the redhead's shoulders gently.

"Yeah."

"Good. Now, call your friends. I lied and told the boys we were having a Girls' Night, and I'd prefer for it not to be a lie for more than a little while."

"You lied?" Kairi giggled, surprised, and the blonde nodded, almost proud of herself. "Wow. Okay, yeah, I'll call some of the girls."

"Good, because you're not allowed to mope around for another second."

"Yes, Mother."

Both girls laughed at that, and set about arranging their spur-of-the-moment Girls' Night.