He took the elevator this time, relaxed and comfortable in jeans, a T-shirt depicting his favorite Struggle champion, and a winter coat. Although it was warm enough inside that he took the coat off and simply held it in addition to his bag, which, for once, wasn't weighed down with school books. There was no homework to worry about, after all.

A ding sounded as the elevator slowly came to a stop. The doors opened to reveal a hallway that was quickly becoming familiar, and he made his way to the correct door without hesitation. He barely had time to knock before the door opened to reveal the room's occupant.

"Hey!"

Roxas smiled, a little shy. "Hi, Axel."

The redhead grinned and stepped aside so the younger boy could go past him into the dorm room, then shut the door behind him. "Thanks for coming. I get really bored when Zexion goes home."

"I can believe that." Blue eyes surveyed the room—it was nearly spotless, which made him think that Axel had cleaned it just this morning. "Did you clean today, Axel?"

"Uh," he could hear the slight embarrassment in the senior's tone, "yeah, I figured it should be clean if we're gonna hang out in here. No one wants to spend their day in a messy room."

"I wouldn't mind." The blond turned and smiled at the senior. "Your room is yours, you don't have to clean just because I'm coming over. It was a nice gesture, though."

Pleased by the almost compliment he'd just been given, Axel quit rubbing the back of his neck and grinned again. "I'll keep that in mind. So, what d'you wanna do? This is the first time you've come over without needing to study."

That was true. There were no schoolbooks or notes in Roxas' bag, just a notebook he doodled in when he was bored, and a disc binder full of his DVDs. He didn't much feel like watching a movie, though, and he'd spent the entire previous evening/night playing videogames with Sora, so he didn't want to do that, either.

"I thought we could just talk. You know, get to know each other a little better," he suggested, keeping his expression and tone calm even though he was slightly nervous about actually getting to know the senior he'd had so much trouble with over the semester.

A smile that, surprisingly, lacked the senior's usual hint of a smirk spread over Axel's face and he nodded eagerly. "Sure."

"Great." Lowering his bag to the floor, Roxas settled comfortably on the redhead's bed, leaning back against the wall. He patted the spot next to him in invitation and Axel wasted no time in occupying the space.

"So, whaddya wanna talk about?"

"Um…" Roxas' eyes drifted over the specially cleaned dorm room in search of a topic. "We could play 20 Questions."

"You mean, just sit here and think up lame questions to ask each other until we can't think of anything else to ask?"

Roxas couldn't help but smile a little at the way Axel described the suggested game. "Yeah, pretty much. For generic questions, though, we should both have to answer."

"All right." The redhead leaned back against the wall and stretched his legs out so his feet hung off the side of the bed. "You go first."

"Favorite color."

The older boy rolled his eyes and grinned. "Oh, we're starting with the really lame questions. Okay. My favorite color…" Then he paused, his grin morphing in a confused sort of frown as if all of a sudden he couldn't actually remember what his favorite color was. "Um, red. My favorite color is red. Yours?"

"I like black and white checkers."

"That's not a color."

"So? Your turn."

Even though he wasn't entirely prepared to drop the fact that Roxas had answered with a pattern rather than a color, Axel didn't push it. "Best childhood memory."

"Probably the time Sora and I snuck a cat onto a cruise ship and it got out of our room."

"Why did you sneak a cat onto a cruise ship?"

Shrugging, the blond let a small smile appear on his lips. "We were about eight, I think, and Sora found this mangy old cat on the docks while we were waiting to board the ship. Naturally, we decided that it was our new pet and that it needed to come on the cruise with us. When our parents weren't looking, we hid the poor thing his backpack and gave it some cheerios to eat so it wouldn't make any noise and give us away. Everything would have been fine if our dad hadn't left the door to our room open. The moment we unzipped Sora's bag, that cat flew out like its tail was on fire and headed straight for the door. We spent the entire trip trying to find it without telling our parents what we did so we wouldn't get in trouble. We never did manage to find it, but I like to think one of the workers on the ship adopted it."

"Nice," the older boy chuckled. "Mine…well, my nanny took me to this park once, when I was really little. I don't remember where it was, but it was during the summer and my parents were busy working all day. That was the best park I've ever seen. She brought food so we had a picnic for lunch, and we stayed at that park until the sun was going down and it was almost my bedtime." He smiled a little self-mockingly. "Not very exciting, but probably one of the best days I've ever had."

"It sounds perfect," Roxas assured him quietly. It made him a little sad to think that Axel's best day hadn't involved his parents or a sibling, but he didn't want to point that out and make things awkward. "What's your favorite smell?"

"Smell? Hmm…I don't know. I really like the smell of match smoke right after you blow out the flame. That's a great smell."

"Oh, yeah, that is a great smell."

Axel looked at the blond sitting next to him and smiled a little. "Yours?"

Looking back at the senior out of the corner of his eye, Roxas took a moment to consider the possible answers. "I think I'd have to say…the smell of the ocean. When it's a sunny day and the wind is really coming in off the water. That's my favorite."

"Cool." He didn't say it, but he could easily picture the younger boy standing on the beach, his toes buried in the sand as the wind ruffled his hair. "Your turn."

This time, Roxas hesitated before asking. "Why did you get drunk at that party? When you kissed me?"

Green eyes lowered and Axel fidgeted. "I was…trying to drown my sorrows, I guess. I know it was a stupid thing to do, and I'm really, really sorry about kissing you and everything, but I don't have a real excuse."

Roxas nodded. "I understand."

"Yeah."

Silence ensued, until Axel forced a smile. "What's your favorite late night snack?"

"Triple layer nachos with mozzarella and cheddar cheese."

"Throw some hot salsa on that and it'd be perfect for me," Axel commented, pleased that his favorite midnight snack was almost identical to Roxas'.

A small smile appeared. "Then we'll have to hang out and have nachos together some night."

Axel couldn't help but smirk. "Are you saying you want to sleep over in my dorm?"

The suggestive tone made Roxas blush slightly. "You say that like it means something more than a shared plate of nachos."

He managed to keep from saying something sexual, which was rather impressive for him, actually. "Well, you never know. Who's turn is it?"

"Mine. What's your worst nightmare?"

"You mean, what was the worst nightmare I ever had?"

Roxas nodded, looking up at the senior as he waited for an answer.

"Hm…once, a few years back, I dreamed that I was kidnapped and trapped in this really creepy basement. You know, the classic cement walls, floor and ceiling with the single light bulb and the constant sound of dripping water that you can never figure out where it's coming from. The guy who grabbed me was some businessman that wanted to get back at my parents who I'd met briefly. He didn't give me very much food and if I tried to escape or yelled at him, he'd beat the shit out of me. I was powerless. I couldn't see outside, there was no one to talk to and I was there for months and months. When I woke up, I had to go to the mirror and check to see if I'd lost weight or had bruises. It was so realistic that I didn't know if it was just a dream or not. The worst part was that he was holding me for ransom. I should've only been there for a few days, but my parents didn't want to pay him to get me back." He laughed humorlessly. "Guess you could say my worst nightmare is that my parents care about their money more than they care about me."

"That's terrible," Roxas murmured, wanting to comfort the older boy but not knowing entirely how to go about it. Hug him? No, that would be weird. "I'm sorry, Axel."

The redhead shrugged. "It was just a dream."

"Yeah, but…" Unsure of what he meant to say, Roxas sighed. "Mine was a few years ago after Sora got hurt trying to learn to skateboard. He broke his arm, which was really lucky because he almost got hit by a car. He could have died. I had this really graphic dream of watching him get hit by that car and dying in the street before the ambulances could get there. There was always blood everywhere and he'd smile and tell me not to miss him too much, then he'd die and I'd wake up. I had that nightmare for about two months straight."

Surprising the blond, Axel put his arm around the younger boy's shoulder and hugged him gently. "I can't imagine how terrible it must have felt to see that so many times."

The embrace made him feel uncomfortable for a few moments, but Roxas quickly found that Axel's warmth was comforting and he leaned against the older student. "It was. Sora told me I was silly for dreaming about him dying because he was fine, but it took me a long time to get over it."

"I'm not surprised."

They were quiet for several moments, then Roxas looked up at Axel and gave him a half smile. "I'm glad we're friends now, Axel."

Grinning, the redhead looked back at him, admiring those blue eyes. "Me, too."

X

"Too slow, Brat!"

"Still faster than you!"

"In your dreams!" Spinning, Riku dodged around the younger boy and ran across the gym, dribbling the basketball as he went. Sora was right on his heels, panting and grinning as he swiped at the ball and tried to knock it away from his friend. The older student went in for a layup, his arm stretching out to neatly toss the ball into the net.

"Two points!" he shouted as Sora retrieved the ball, grinning his usual self-assured grin. "That puts me in the lead, twelve to ten."

"Yeah, yeah," Sora replied, rolling his eyes as he dribbled lazily. "Just don't get too cocky or it'll hurt that much more when I beat you."

"I'd say 'if you beat me,' but I know that's not going to happen," Riku taunted. "Now quit stalling and make your move."

Sora didn't react right away, then he drove straight forward, his shoulder down to protect the ball from Riku's attempts to steal it. He'd meant to push right past the older boy and go for the hoop to even the score again, but Riku did something he hadn't been counting on. When his shoulder made contact with the silver-haired athlete's chest, Riku didn't move out of the way like a player usually would. Instead, he grabbed onto Sora's arm and spun the younger boy around so that he lost control of the ball.

"Foul!" Sora yelled, turning furious, confused blue eyes on his friend. "Dude!"

Smiling innocently, Riku just shrugged. "Oops."

The brunet groaned in annoyance and rolled his eyes again then went to fetch the ball from where it had rolled to. "Keep your hands to yourself, Riku. You'd never let me get away with something like that so don't think I'll let you do it."

"Yeah, yeah, Brat. Just play."

Still annoyed, Sora set himself up to start their game of one-on-one basketball again. This time he went right with the intention of banking a close shot. He didn't make it past Riku this time, either, though, because the older boy managed to get an arm around his waist and forced him to a stop when he was only half way to a basket.

"Riku!"

"What?"

"Stop that!" Angry and embarrassed because that last touch had been a little bit intimate, Sora glared at the older boy. "You're fouling and we agreed to play clean!"

"All right, all right. I was just kidding around. Relax."

He still had that stupid grin on his face and Sora didn't believe him for a millisecond. Regardless, he huffed and set up to play again. As quickly as he could, he faked left then broke right again—both of Riku's arms managed to catch his waist this time, pulling him so far off balance that both boys fell.

"You jerk!" Struggling, the brunet tried to free himself from the older boy's grip to no avail. Riku had him pinned to the gym floor and didn't seem like he was going to let him up any time soon. "Riku, let go!"

"Nope."

With a growl, Sora thrust his elbow back and caught the older boy in the side hard enough to make Riku loosen his grip. Then the twisted onto his back and shoved him to one side so he could get up. What he didn't expect was for Riku to grab onto his wrist and yank him over so that he was half lying on top of the older boy.

"H-hey!" His face was bright red, both from playing basketball for the last twenty minutes and from how quickly things had changed. For once, he regretted taking his shirt off while they played, and he wished Riku still had his on, too. That would have made this at least a little less…sexual.

"What's the matter, Brat?" Riku was smirking as he snaked an arm around the brunet's waist to force him even closer. "You look terrified."

"D-do not!" Sora replied, trying to pull away but not making any progress because Riku was too strong for him to break the older boy's hold. "I just didn't expect, well, this."

One of Riku's eyebrows went up. "This?"

"Yeah. I mean, you holding my waist while we're both shirtless and sweaty, lying on a floor? Not an everyday occurrence, you know."

"It could be worse, though," Riku pointed out.

"How?"

He shouldn't have asked. He really shouldn't have asked. The moment the word left his mouth, he knew he shouldn't have said anything. Because as soon as he asked how this could be worse, Riku grinned and rolled until Sora was trapped underneath him, his wrists pinned to the floor above his head.

"I could be pinning your wrists to the floor while we're both shirtless and sweaty."

Their faces were so close together that Sora could feel the older boy's breath.

Oh, my god…he's gonna…is he gonna…? No, he won't. He won't. No way.

"You look scared again," the older boy whispered, his chest pressed against Sora's so that the brunet could feel his weight but wasn't bearing it. "What, don't trust me?"

Shit, what do I say?

"U-um…no…"

"You don't trust me?"

"No! I do!"

"Then why do you look so scared?"

Damn it! He knows why I look scared! He's just being a jerk about it! Of course I look scared! He's close enough to kiss me!

"Aw, you're so cute when you blush like that," Riku teased him, succeeding in his goal of making Sora blush even more. "Does little Sora want a kiss?"

Instantly, Sora's eyes went wide and his breath caught in his throat.

Yes. Please. Stop teasing me all the damn time and do something.

"No! Ugh, you're such a cocky jerk, Riku." His glare falling back into place, the brunet jerked against Riku's hold and, to his pleasant surprise, managed to pull free and sit up while the silver-haired boy moved to the side.

"If you really thought that, then you wouldn't be my friend."

Sora shot his friend a scowl then stood. "You're lucky I still want to be friends with you after all the shit you pull."

Grinning, Riku slung an arm around the younger boy's shoulders in a companionable way. "All right, I won't argue with you about that one. We can keep playing if you want—I promise to quit fouling."

"Naw, I'm ready for a shower and some food."

"Then let's hit the showers." Before Sora could protest, he steered him out of the gym and towards the locker room, still smirking due to his small victory—Sora had wanted to kiss him.

X

Her blue eyes lit with amusement, Kairi opened the email she'd received the evening before and skimmed through it. At first, it was the same old thing that Luxord had been telling her ever since she first decided to show her interest in him. It wouldn't work out. They would get in trouble. It was inappropriate and he was too old for her, anyway. Reading it was actually a little boring. After that, though, things got interesting.

However, I'm sure you know all of that and have decided to continue this game anyway. So, I'll make you a deal. Since I'm aware of your status as a flirt, I'm not inclined to trust your intentions. What I want is proof that you're not doing this just to toy with me or to cause me trouble, and I want you to prove it to me before classes resume in January. If you accept, I'll tell you my plan for gaining the proof I need. If not, then this is where it ends. No more emails, no more flirtatious smiles or touches. Should you choose to decline my request for proof yet you carry on with your actions, I'll have no choice but to report you to the Headmaster. The choice is yours.

That was how it ended. No goodbye or name at the bottom, not that Kairi would have paid much attention to those, anyway. She was too busy thinking about this "proof" that Luxord wanted so that he would know she wasn't just messing with him. Of course she wasn't just messing with him. Who did he think she was, some thirteen-year-old discovering hormones for the first time?

If it's proof he wants, then it's proof he'll get.

Smiling, Kairi shifted forward in her chair and typed her response.

I accept.

Then she clicked the Send option and leaned back in her chair as the Message Sent icon appeared to let her know that her email had gone successfully. Things were about to get a lot more interesting around here.