A/N 1: Sorry this is probably my shortest chapter, but most will be much longer. Plz Enjoy. Btw, the title comes from a Kagrra song. Visual Kei ftw.

Two Across Chapter 6: Satsuki

Roxas sat in the back row of the classroom on the left edge. The spiky blond had a pen in his hand, a notebook on his desk, and his head in the clouds. The windows were all slightly opened to let in the war sea breeze. It played with Roxas' shorter blond spikes as it entered the room.

Now Roxas usually would try and pay attention, if only to keep up with Namine. The blanket of blonde hair sitting to his right was his motivation. However, nothing could motivate Roxas to listen to a thief and a trickster. Ansem the Wise, better known as DiZ, was their History of the Worlds teacher. Roxas turned his azure eyes to his best friend, and smiled. Namine may hate the man, but she knew she had to pay attention. The eraser of her pink mechanical pencil played with her bottom lip as her bright blue eyes focused on the lecture being given. Roxas' eyes trailed from her eyes, to her lips again, slowly but adoringly making their way to her neck. He could see the faint marks that the black ooze had made when it attacked her, but besides that her plane and small neck only showed a slight blush, probably from the weather. Being a gentleman, Roxas forced his eyes to move past her bust and down her arm. He smiled again when he saw her fingers; two of them were intertwined with his. His gaze then refocused in the window, and Roxas was gone for the rest of the hour.

Namine did notice the darker blue orbs watching her, however she wasn't concerned. Namine could only blush as Roxas looked at her. She felt his glance at her neck, the marks. She was happy when they didn't follow her shirt, and she could only blissfully sigh inside when he noticed their hands. They had recently admitted their feelings, but Namine wasn't sure what was next. At the moment, both were content with just holding hands. Namine remembered when her hands were shaking as they first left the dorms. The incident had clearly shaken her up; she just hoped she wouldn't have a chemistry class. Roxas and Xiruk walked out of the dorm with her, flanking her as they noticed others rushing around and looking at them. They were the only group not running around, and that is enough to attract attention. Roxas, noticing his trembling friend weaved his hand into hers. He relished the feeling of her soft, warm hands intertwined with his larger, colder ones.

"I thought you were trying to stop the shivering, Mr. Freeze," Namine joked. Roxas only smiled as his friend finally cracked a joke. It meant that she had relaxed. Xiruk, their taller, dark haired friend put his arm around Namine's shoulders in defense. She silently thanked him. Together they all walked into the sunlit room, where a certain dirty blond wise man was taking attendance. He had blue eyes that showed a wealth of knowledge, and had the air of a professor. DiZ marked them late and told them to take a seat. They went to the back of the room, no questions asked. Xiruk then decided to ignore the lesson and listen to music. Namine took notes, and of course, Roxas drifted off. Namine was happy that her friends were there to support her, even if they were distracted.

Roxas sat there, lulled to sleep by Ansem's monotone voice combined with the feeling of the breeze and the sun coming from the window. The blond dreamt of the beach, its warm waters caressing his party submerged body. The sun was beating down on him from overhead, and the humidity was low. Roxas had forgotten to breathe when he noticed a pale platinum blond female with slight but cute curves enter the waters. Her white bikini stuck to her like a second skin as she waded closer to him.

"Roxas…Roxas…"

"Namine?"

"Roxas, get up."

"Why, I'm in the water, and it feels good." Roxas then heard a soft giggle.

"No you dummy, class is over."

Well, that was enough to kill the mood. Roxas then realized that he'd been dreaming and got up to follow his friends. His moves were sluggish as he meandered down the stairs leading to the front of the room.

"Mister Roxas," Ansem the Wise stated, "I would prefer if you stayed awake in my classes more often."

"Yes…sir," Roxas reluctantly replied. Rolling his azure eyes, he walked out of the room and followed his friends to their next class, which of course was Math with Leon. Roxas remembered Leon from Sora's memories and thought that the gun-blade wielder wouldn't be that bad. An hour later, his thoughts were proved right, as long as he stayed awake. As they moved from one class to another, Namine rarely let go of Roxas' hand and he was thankful for that.

Later, as the trio was on their way to art, they crossed an older part of the castle. This part of the seemingly ancient yet new castle lacked a stone roof; instead it was made with glass. The trio sighed in contentment as the warm light blessed their forms. Roxas looked down at Namine as she hummed in happiness. He was so happy that his best friend was feeling better. Roxas stopped moving, and with thinking, embraced the blond witch. With a small "eep" she was pulled into his arms. She instantly blushed at the feeling of her body against his, the strong arms wrapped around her. Namine instantly felt small, yet safe. She felt the point of his chin on her head and heard him inhale.

'Does he like my scent?!' Namine thought in surprise.

"Strawberries, Namine?"

The witch in question then did something so un-Namine that Roxas grinned inwardly; she squealed.

"Okay lovebirds, I think it can wait till after classes," Xiruk butted in. He really didn't want to be late to the one class he actually didn't mind. The two blonds reluctantly broke apart when they heard more footsteps. The trio of nobodies turned around to see a trio of Seniors approach.

"Roxas, hey."

"Ventus!" Roxas exclaimed. The aforementioned Senior drew his keyblade. The trio of sophomores tensed instantly and Roxas drew the NeverWas. Xiruk followed him with Way to Dusk. The Seniors were mildly surprised to see that Namine just moved behind the boys.

"Has the 'white witch' lost her weapon? Or did she never find it in the first place?" Aqua asked. She summed Blue Tempest as Terra summoned Crusade. Namine stayed behind her friends, a look of anger in her eyes as she remembered the nightmare from earlier that day.

"The White Rose has yet to blossom. That is a big problem." Roxas could only clutch the Never Was in anger as the three approached. However, Xiruk relaxed.

"My Masters, is there a reason you've drawn your blades?" the tall Nobody asked. Roxas and Namine were shocked at how he addressed the Seniors.

"Yes there is actually. King Mickey has appointed us as your Masters, all three of you," Terra answered. "Ven, you work with Roxas and the Two Across. Aqua, take Namine and unlock the White Rose. I'll take Xiruk and play a little game of catch up."

Terra's partners nodded at the orders and grabbed the arm of their chosen apprentice. As Ventus grabbed Roxas, the young apprentice could feel the blood in his arm start to freeze. Namine was quickly ushered into a different room without resistance. Terra and Xiruk stood there with their keyblades drawn, ready to spar.

"Roxas, welcome to Lost Rivers." The duo entered a room with a high vaulted ceiling. The floor was solid, but water seemed to flow under it. The water shone through the clear floor, illuminating the entire room. Farther in the room stood a platform and on that platform laid a keyblade. Its neck was silver and at the top it was bent like an upside down A. From that shape, the head formed a crescent shade head with four spikes, two black and two silver, were protruding from the head. The Guard of the blade was black and the handle was checkered black and silver. At the top of the handle was the Organization's symbol. The keychain was also silver, and had Roxas' personal symbol as the ornament.

"The Two Across is right over there. Question is, can you get past me and touch it?" Ven challenged. The blonde master stood in the middle between Roxas and his true keyblade. His eyes again showed that Ven meant business. They were hard and cold and the area around him started to grow cold. Ventus' gaze was enough to plant fear in Roxas. Tired of waiting for his apprentice to strike, Ven charged ahead with blinding speed. Roxas barely had enough time to block before he was plowed into a wall. Kicking Ven in retaliation, Roxas freed himself from the wall and the two boys clashed. The dance of bodies and clash of metal upon metal consumed the room for the next thirty minutes. The two struck with supreme skill and speed, and while Ven had the clear advantage, Roxas was far from weak. They parried blows from each other with a grace only seen by dancers, incorporating a kick or elbow smash to mix things up. They did not pay attention to their surroundings only focused on each other, as Roxas grew accustomed to the rate at which the battle was proceeding. Roxas's proximity to the Two Across wavered like a match of tug-a-war. Finally the younger blond slipped into a form of fighting that he hadn't used in a while, the style of the Thirteenth. A keyblade of pure light, a poor substitute for a real keyblade but enough to accommodate the circumstances, appeared in Roxas' left hand. Roxas slipped back into his duel-wielding style of fighting like a second skin. With this advantage and a shot of adrenaline, Roxas preformed a complex set of melee attacks with his two keyblades, keeping up an intense tempo of blocks and parries along with hard hitting attacks.

After another successful melee, Roxas slid under Ven kicked him in the air. Ventus shot spikes of ice down at Roxas, but the blonde again kicked off and slid, spinning off the leverage he created and twirled the keyblade of pure light in his hand, blocking the projectiles. Dashing towards the podium Roxas managed a light touch of the Two Across before being sent flying by Ventus. The NeverWas flew out of his hand and the light blade disappeared. Getting up before Ven could strike again, Roxas held out his right hand and the Two Across came to him, then while parrying Ven's strike, he held out his left hand and summoned the NeverWas from its place across the floor.

Knowing his task was complete, Ventus stopped his attack and breathed deeply, letting the adrenaline slowly seep out of his system. The frostiness of his gaze dissipated and returned to their normal cloudy appearance.

"Congratulations Roxas, the Two Across is yours, on one condition," the frosty Master said sternly. He watched Roxas tense up.

"And that is?"

"You'll remain as my apprentice until you can become the Thirteenth at will."

"The Thirteenth? But I'm always the Thirteenth." Roxas answered. Ventus shook his head in disagreement.

"You don't get it. When you summoned the second keyblade, you embraced the part of you that you've kept hidden, the part that Xemnas originally brought out when he found you, along with embracing the Two Across. Now you just have to wake that side up, and be able to become him at will. You aren't able to do that yet, unless under pressure. That must change, and I will be the one to make you change, understand?"

"You really know how to bring the Thirteenth out of me?"

"Oh yes, I do. In one week we'll meet here again and continue our training. But for now, we need to go, your friends are waiting, and I think Namine unlocked the White Rose." At Roxas questioning gaze, Ventus answered "It's her true Nobody weapon. A pure white katana if I'm not mistaken. The guard is shaped like a flower in bloom and I think with her powers, she'll be able to control some enemy forces. You'll see sooner or later, hopefully later. Neither of you are ready." Ventus finished with a grin. He had completely calmed and now had his usual laid-back attitude. Ruffling Roxas's shorter spikes, they both left the Lost Rivers and entered the bright hall they left before. Namine and Xiruk sat with their masters, discussing the training they were going to do, as well as parts of the school they had yet to see. The four others welcomed the spiky blonds and when they sat down, Namine sat very close to Roxas, her usual confidence returned now that she wasn't helpless. They shared a brief look before rejoining the conversation. There they all stayed until the period ended.

They had wandered the halls until they found the cafeteria. The Seniors left them and joined their fellow year mates. Xiruk and the others scanned the lunchroom before they found Sora and friends. Roxas also saw Axel and gave him a nod before joining his friends at Sora's table. The cafeteria was loud and one wall was dedicated to full sized windows with an amazing view. In pairs, everyone went to the food lines and grabbed something to eat. Roxas got a ham and salami sandwich while Namine got a salad. Xiruk picked up a burger while Kairi picked up an order of pasta. Finally Sora got pizza while Riku got grilled chicken. They all sat and made polite conversation, cracking jokes about Roxas's shorter spikes and his relationship with Namine. Neither blushed about it, yet seemed overly happy. Riku then heard his name called out, and saw a brunette with green eyes and tanned skin running towards them. She was wearing Sheridan's uniform and carrying a bag lunch.

"Hi guys!"

"Hey Selphie" they all chorused. The Nobodies didn't know Selphie personally, but remembered her from their other half's memories, and Riku's wide grin only supported those thoughts. Xiruk looked at him with a raised eyebrow. So this is the to make Riku happy. She really doesn't seem like his type…

"So Riku, are these your new friends?"

"Uh, yea, meet Sora's cousin Roxas, Kairi's cousin Namine, and my long lost twin Xiruk," He responded. Everyone raised their eyebrows at the blatant lie and gave the older teen a significant look. Riku hadn't told Selphie a damned thing about their adventures.

"So why haven't I met you all before?"

"Uh, I guess you never got the chance? We're not from the Isles. Namine and I are from Twilight Town, and Xiruk is from Hollow Bastion." Roxas answered, supporting Riku's lie while giving him a look that said "you've got some explaining to do."

"Oh wow, I've never heard of those places," Selphie said innocently. The Nobodies rolled their eyes, while Kairi shot Riku a glare. He grinned sheepishly in response to their looks. Selphie sat down next to Riku and they had their own private conversation as the others talked together. Roxas eyed Namine's salad a couple times. Along with iceberg lettuce, it had sliced grapes, tomato, cheese, and carrots.

"Want a bite, Roxas?" Namine asked her friend. He nodded eagerly, ignoring the sandwich he had bought earlier. Namine fed him a bite off her fork, and grinned at the look on his face. HE loved the taste of the cold grapes and lettuce along with the raspberry vinaigrette. Licking his lips, Roxas thanked Namine and offered a bite of his sandwich. She declined, saying she had sworn off meat for now. Xiruk mumbled a dirty comment about Roxas, Namine, and meat, and earned himself a punch in the shoulder from both blond Nobodies. Selphie then redirected her attention to the Nobodies, and the felt that trouble was coming.

"So why do those freaks keep looking at you guys?"

"Freaks?" Namine asked, and Selphie pointed over their shoulder. Roxas noticed Axel and Demyx trying to get their attention. Roxas smiled, Selphie shivered.

"I swear, they're like wanna-be Goths." Selphie muttered, disgusted. Unfortunately, that was the last straw for everyone. Roxas immediately stood up.

"I'll have you know that they are our friends, and they are NOT wanna be Goths, you preppy wench."

"Yes they are! Oh wait, the "I-don't-have-a-heart" thing, that's emo right?" Selphie corrected herself. The other two Nobodies along with Sora and Kairi stood up, as they all tried to hold Roxas back from doing something he'd later regret.

"Riku, I advise that you tell her about what we've been up to" Sora said seriously with a look that nobody ever thought they'd see on his face. He was deeply insulted. They all left the table, deeply insulted and angered by Selphie's stereotypical comments. The Nobodies when to the Organization's table while Sora and Kairi went to sit with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Riku sighed in defeat.

"Selph, we need to talk."

End Ch. 6

A/N: Sooo? What do you guys think? I'm thinking about keeping Selphie, relatively this way, just not as…bitchy. I initially was going to wait to give Roxas the Two Across, but I figured I've waited long enough. Just don't expect him to automatically be all powerful. What's a good weapon if you can't wield it right? Also sorry about the long wait. I've been 10 kinds of busy, and I was waiting on my beta, but she lost her computer, and I couldn't contact her. She's still my friend, but no longer my beta. If you know who you are, I just wanted to say "you ROCK SO HARDCORE! See you on G." Also, I wish I knew what Ven's, Terra's and Aqua's real keyblades were called. I've only recently discovered Ven's full name. I can't wait until Birth By Sleep and 358/2 Days come out. Well, for now, I'm done, so please comment! A "add to favorites or story/author alert would be nice too…

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