Chapter 6: Integration Part 2

Roxas could easily see where Sunset Hill had gotten its name. It was a large hill that stretched out so far it looked to reach the sky, covered with dried grass and away from the main part of Twilight Town but it still over looked a large portion of it. Climbing Sunset Hill had taken longer then Roxas expected. There wasn't much at the top, only a flat plane covered with wispy dirt where the grass didn't reach but it was an ideal place to stretch out on. A fence went around the top edge, unsteady, low to the ground, and wooden, looking as if it could blow over with the wind at any moment. Sunset Hill and everything surrounding it seemed basically deserted. Roxas was glad for that simple fact and at finally being out of the mall, not feeling nearly as closed in.

Roxas had left with Pence and Olette. The three of them quickly found Hayner, waiting at the top just like he said he would be. On Roxas's arrival, Hayner had glanced at him briefly and then went right back to ignoring him. Now Hayner, Pence, and Olette were in their own circle. Olette was in the middle with Hayner and Pence on either side of her. She had out a piece of paper and pencil, taking notes for their homework project that they had yet to start on. Roxas was a few feet away, facing the fence and leaning against it without putting any weight on it. He felt oddly excluded.

Roxas knew he must have been waiting for at least two hours. Hayner, Pence, and Olette were still arguing over their homework project or writing it, Roxas wasn't sure anymore. The blonde nobody would have been gone a long time ago if he wasn't supposed to be staying at Hayner's place. The sun was setting by now. Twilight Town had the most beautiful sunsets, which was really strange since the town was always cast in various colored shadows and it was hard to even tell what time of day it was. Although, when the sun set it was as if the whole sky had been set on fire, the sun and all of the colors looking to dance and come alive. Roxas found himself watching it, captivated. He'd seen sunsets before but they were few and far in between.

"Sorry Roxas, we're almost done." Olette said breaking him out of his trance.

'Yeah" Pence added. "We're still writing up the outline but we are going to have to came back here tomorrow and actually find the seven wonders."

"We'll finish it tomorrow" Olette agreed. "Sorry for making you wait so long Roxas. Give us ten more minutes."

"Yeah" Roxas said distantly, focusing his attention back to the sky.

There was the unexpected sound of crunching twigs and light footsteps. Hayner, Pence, and Olette glanced up. Roxas turned around.

There was a girl leisurely making her way towards them. She had short icy blue-silver hair that fell over one eye and was wearing a sleeveless zipped up blue shirt and tan pants aligned with several pockets.

"What are you doing here Fuu?" Hayner snapped.

The girl tilted her head. "Trespassers" She said in a sing song voice.

"We were here first." Hayner countered. "Shouldn't you be at the Sandlot or something?"

Fuu clicked her tongue and shook her head, pointing accusingly at Hayner "Forgot"

"What did we forget?" Pence questioned.

Fuu pointed back to herself. "Plans. Reservation."

"Fuu just leave us alone" Surprisingly it was Olette who'd spoken. "Like Hayner said we were here first besides we are leaving soon anyway. Then Sunset Hill is all yours"

Fuu crossed her arms and stared down at the trio. "Irrelevant"

"Are Rai and Seifer with you?" Pence asked with a barely noticeable tremor in his voice.

Fuu didn't answer, giving a half smile and shrugging one shoulder.

Hayner stood up, Olette and Pence soon following suit. "Lets go guys we'll finish the homework later."

Hayner, Olette, and Pence began to walk away. Roxas turned to follow, not knowing what all the hostility toward Fuu was about but not really wanting to find out either, plus his room for the night was leaving. Roxas took a step forward when Fuu turned her head, spotting him. "Unfamiliar."

"Right…" Roxas answered.

Olette turned back to glance at Roxas, motioning to him with one arm. "C'mon lets go Roxas." She then quickly raced to catch back up with Hayner and Pence. Roxas began once more to walk after them. Hayner, Pence, and Olette didn't get very far before their path was abruptly blocked by two boys.

There was a blonde with an over sized dark gray cap wrapped around his head. He had on a long white jacket, a short blue shirt that revealed his toned stomach, and baggy pants that were a cross between dark purple and blue. The other had short brown hair and was well muscled with a dark skin tone. A large silver chain with a lightening bolt stood out against his orange tank top which had curling white and black designs going up the collar, both clashing with his dark blue baggy pants.

The blonde who looked to be the leader smirked and advanced on Hayner, Pence, and Olette, forcing them to take a step back. "You going somewhere punks?"

Hayner leaned forward and straightened his shoulders, trying to make himself look taller, rebelliously meeting the blonde's gaze. "What do you want Seifer?"

"You're on our territory." Seifer replied.

Hayner narrowed his eyes. "Since when is Sunset Hill your territory? Besides we can go where we want, regardless of whatever you say."

Seifer shook his head. "Tsk..Tsk…Don't you remember the struggle match deal?"

Pence placed a hand to his forehead. "Oh right that."

Hayner looked blankly up at Seifer. "Huh?'

"Clueless" Fuu said from where she was still standing by Roxas.

Seifer smiled and turned to the orange tank top wearing teen beside him. "Right clueless, so clue them in Rai"

Rai blinked, surprised Seifer had asked him for a moment before he quickly covered it up with a grin. "We had plans on Sunset Hill y'know and we didn't want you three around because you always seem to get in the way and mess everything up y'know. Hayner didn't think that was fair so he and Seifer made a bet at the struggle match two weeks ago, that whoever won would stay off of Sunset Hill for the rest of the month y'know. But Seifer won of course like always y'know."

"Is that why Vivi isn't with you because you have plans?" Olette asked.

Seifer placed a hand on his hip. "Hmm…something like that"

"I don't get it" Olette replied. "What's so important that you have to do up here anyway?"

Seifer lips quirked upwards. "Wouldn't you like to know? But I'll give you a hint. It could have something to do with wracking havoc on the town"

"Fine" Hayner said bitterly. "A deals a deal. It doesn't matter anyway, we were just leaving so move so we can."

Seifer mock saluted. "Aye aye captain." He and Rai then stepped aside to make room for Hayner, Pence, and Olette to pass.

"We'll be seeing you punks later" Seifer said with a deep throated laugh.

"You're so mature Seifer" Olette said sarcastically.

Roxas who'd been keeping silent and indifferently out of the way since the whole exchange, prepared to leave for the third time when Seifer picked his head up from his laughter, his eyes falling on Roxas, at last noticing him. Seifer lifted a hand out in front of himself. "Wait wait wait, hold on a minute. Who is this?"

"Leave him alone Seifer" Pence said tiredly. "He's just our new friend. He hasn't done anything to you."

Hayner looked from Seifer to Roxas, seeming interested. "Actually Olette found him in the mall. We have no idea where he's from. He says he can't remember anything."

Pence gave Hayner a hard look. "Stop it Hayner."

Fuu walked back over toward Rai and Seifer, standing beside Rai, she pointed back at Roxas. "Outsider" She accused.

"That's very interesting" Seifer said as he smirked dangerously and headed toward Roxas.

Rai grinned. "Seifer has a way with dealing with new kids but if he's an outsider to Twilight Town that's a whole other story y'know."

Seifer reached Roxas and leaned over him. "Yo new kid. You have a name?"

Roxas had taken back to leaning against the fence and let his eyes flicker to Seifer, unimpressed, face emotionless. "Roxas"

"Well Roxas. We have a welcoming committee here in Twilight Town for new kids, so let me introduce myself. I'm Seifer." Seifer then motioned to the silver haired girl and the tank top wearing teen. "And those are my friends Fuu and Rai."

"I gathered that" Roxas said dully.

Seifer scowled. "Do you know who you're talking too?"

Roxas couldn't help but to snicker at the irony of the question. "A nobody?"

Seifer hands visibly clenched. "You know something I really don't like your attitude."

"That makes two of us."

Seifer was quickly growing upset. No one had ever spoken to him the way Roxas had. All the other kids in Twilight Town respected him and knew their place. Seifer jabbed Roxas on the shoulder with a finger, waiting to get some kind of reaction out of him besides the emotionless facade. "You want to say that again punk?"

Roxas glared at him, moving away from the fence. "Don't touch me" His voice was deadly calm.

Seifer grinned and pushed Roxas harder, making the blonde nobody lose his footing for a moment. "Looks like I struck a nerve."

"Seifer stop it!" Olette shouted frantically from the background. "Leave him alone!"

Seifer looked over his shoulder, seeing Fuu and Rai were in front of Pence, Hayner, and Olette, having the trio completely blocked, in case one of them decided to help out Roxas. However, it didn't look like there was much chance on Hayner at least following through with that, a cold expression was on his face and he was looking away. Seifer appeared pleased with the situation, ignoring Olette he turned back to Roxas, surprised to see the blonde smiling at him.

"I'm going to give you another chance." Roxas said unhurriedly. "If you lay so much as one more finger on me again, I'll make sure you regret it."

Seifer bit his lip. There was something about the way Roxas was staring at him that put him off, like Seifer was no more then an annoying insect. Roxas had his eyes narrowed slightly and the way he was standing was relaxed but he looked liked he was ready to murder anything that came at him. Roxas's voice had been low and solid, everything about him, warning of danger. Hayner, Pence, and Olette had even fallen motionless and quiet as they watched the scene play out in front of them. Fuu and Rai also didn't seem like they knew quite what to do.

Seifer felt his blood run cold and a brief moment of panic but quickly pushed the feeling aside and overrode it with detached irritation. He would not allow anyone to intimidate him, especially some outsider kid he just met. "What are you half my size!?" He shouted, taking in the cuts and bruises that lined Roxas's skin. "Besides you can't be that strong. It looks like you've been beaten up enough. I bet you had a mouth back wherever you came from too."

Roxas didn't even blink at the statement. "Come on I dare you then."

Seifer gritted his teeth and threw a punch at Roxas's head. Roxas easily dodged and in the same motion grabbed Seifer's forearm, jerking him backwards and down. In a fraction of a second it was over and Roxas had Seifer's larger form entirely pinned against the fence. Seifer was in an awkward position with the back of his head pressed into the splintery wood, exposing his throat, making it hard for him to swallow, and the rest of his body hanging limply and sprawled out on the ground. Roxas was standing over him, keeping him in place with a single hand wrapped around his neck.

Seifer was looking up at him with wide eyes, as if he was still trying to figure out what had happened. Roxas dug his thumb into the soft part of Seifer's throat with just enough pressure to make him gag. Seifer's face glazed over with fear, lifting both hands and wrapping them around Roxas's wrist, trying in vein to ease the pressure around his throat. "Man I'm sorry" Seifer was barely able to choke out. "I was kidding around. Okay I'm sorry. Let go of me."

Roxas slightly relented his grip. Seifer at once gasped for breath, forcing air back into his burning lungs. "If I let go" Roxas said "You leave."

"Okay! Okay!"

Roxas slowly released Seifer, the taller blonde standing up but instantly feeling used and humiliated. Roxas had taken him out like he was nothing and Seifer's pride and dignity meant everything to him, his expression changed from fear to unbridled anger. "You think you can treat me like that!? I won't let anyone make me look bad!" Seifer said sharply, immediately trying to use his new found mobility to gain the upper hand, aiming to catch Roxas off guard and kick him in the stomach.

Roxas was prepared and evaded. In another second Seifer's head was back against the fence and Roxas had his hand wrapped back around his throat. This time Roxas did not hesitate to bring his fist down on Seifer's face. The blonde's head was forced to the side, his nose instantly broken on impact. Blood rushed down his lips and dripped from his chin. Seifer didn't even have a chance to register what was happening before Roxas struck again and his jaw cracked with a sick wet crunch, Roxas's hand coming back with gleaming red.

Seifer was making pained gurgled sounds, clawing at Roxas's arm in a desperate effort to free himself. Shouting was coming from all directions but Roxas wasn't paying attention, striking over and over, not noticing Seifer's tightly shut eyes or when the pained sounds turned to strangled sobs, didn't notice how soon there was so much blood that with each strike it flew from Seifer's torn skin and splattered onto the thin covering of dirt below. In a matter of seconds nearly every inch of Seifer's face was tainted red, his hands falling lifelessly from Roxas's wrist as he stopped fighting back altogether.

There was the sound of snapping twigs and rushing air as Fuu and Rai ran towards him, each grabbing one of his shoulders. Roxas could feel Fuu's fingers pressing into his arm as she tried to force him back, her face hard but with conflicting anguish shinning through her eyes. "Enough" She said icily.

"This is going way to far. Let go of him!" Rai echoed her. His voice had lost all of its playful tone from before, now harsh and on the verge of terrified.

For all of their effort Fuu and Rai were not having much luck. Roxas could break their hold in a second, could call Oblivion and Oathkeeper, cut through Fuu's and Rai's vocal cords, and sever their heads before they even had a chance to blink. Roxas smirked to himself, removing his hand from Seifer's neck, the taller blonde immediately slumping forward without the support. Roxas placed his foot in the center of Seifer's chest, roughly holding him up against the wood, his body making a muffled thud on contact. With his hands freed and with a startling act of flexibly Roxas leaned backwards, grabbing Fuu's and Rai arms, brutally twisting.

Fuu cried out, falling to her knees and Rai cursed loudly before sharing her fate. Roxas let them go, turning back to Seifer.

"Roxas!" It was Olette's voice and laced with hysteria. "Stop it please!"

Roxas didn't look back at Olette but her voice was enough to make him pause and he wasn't sure how to proceed. Seifer was in front of him, barely breathing through the blood in his mouth and nose. Roxas didn't feel anything, only a numb sensation but looking at Seifer now, he'd forgotten why he was doing this. Roxas removed his foot, finding it useless, Seifer obviously wasn't going anywhere and he fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Soon Roxas didn't have to worry about his indecision because it gave Fuu enough time to act.

The silver haired girl wedged herself between him and Seifer, dropping to the ground beside the blonde, wrapping her good arm around his shoulders, holding him up against herself. Her back was turned towards Roxas, shielding Seifer with her body, the side of Seifer's face right underneath her collar bone, and Fuu's head over his, her nose brushing the dark gray of his cap. "Stop" Her voice hitched and came out strained.

Olette and Pence were there a moment later, moving in front of Roxas, blocking him further from Fuu and Seifer, both staring at him in shock as if they'd never seen him before.

Olette's carefree and enthusiastic expression from earlier had changed, her large green eyes glimmering with guilt and fear. "Roxas…why?" She whispered and looked as if she wanted to say something else but quickly closed her mouth and swallowed.

"We kept yelling for you to stop." Pence said suddenly and disbelievingly. "Why didn't you?"

Roxas glanced down at his clenched hands still dripping with Seifer's blood, looking blankly back up at Pence and shrugging.

"You don't care. Do you?" Pence asked in astonishment.

"No" Roxas said aloofly. "I can't feel. It doesn't matter."

Pence studied him, face hard in thought. "It matters." He said at last.

"Seifer doesn't look so good y'know." Rai cut in shakily.

Pence and Olette glanced behind them. Fuu and Rai had laid Seifer out on his back and between the two of them. Rai had a hand on his friend's shoulder while Fuu had distanced herself somewhat, any venerability she showed from earlier was gone, now she just looked angry.

Seifer seemed to come alive at that moment, eyes blinking opened lethargically, an unfocused blue, glassy, and distant. The blonde moaned and curled onto his side as his fingers dug into the dry soil. Rai shifted his hand form Seifer's shoulder to his hack. "You okay?"

Seifer didn't answer, moving further so he was on his stomach, supporting himself with his forearms, and coughed violently. Flecks of blood fell from his split lip and pink tinted saliva stained the small bits of brown grass. Rai gripped Seifer's shoulders, helping him to sit up. The blonde nodded jerkily, trying to speak which only resulted in another round of coughing, and rubbed at his throat until it subsided. "Fantastic" He was able to choke out, voice low and harsh.

Rai chuckled deeply. "Nice to have you back man y'know."

"Should we call someone?" Olette asked softly.

Rai glanced up at her with an unreadable expression. "We've got him y'know"

Olette nodded. "Alright, if you're sure. If there's anything we can do…"

Olette was cut off when Fuu rose to her feet. The silver haired girl came between Pence and Olette so she was standing right in front of Roxas, her gaze heated and Roxas could see the pure hatred on her face. "Freak"

"Fuu help me out y'know" Rai called. He had Seifer's arm around his neck and was struggling to support him fully.

Fuu walked back over to Seifer, placing his other arm over her shoulders and Roxas didn't miss that the action caused her to wince. Fuu and Rai were able to balance Seifer's weight between the two of them. Seifer looked dead to the world again but he was able to move with their support. He didn't even glace at Roxas, choosing to look down toward the ground or to out of it to care, blood still running from his face. "Get me out of here"

"That's what we're doing y'know" Rai replied.

Fuu, Rai, and Seifer stumbled forward. As Fuu passed Roxas, she turned her head to meet his gaze and narrowed her eyes. Roxas had felt something behind Fuu's last comment. Somehow the silver haired girl unknowingly had voiced a part of the truth in only one simple word. Roxas stared back at her twice as hard. "Run" He said dangerously.

Fuu frowned, not seeming concerned but Rai blinked, looking highly troubled and picked up his pace. "It's best we leave Fuu y'know" Rai was nearly running and Fuu was forced to keep up with him so Seifer wouldn't slip. Grudgingly, Fuu turned her head away from Roxas and with one more piercing look the three of them were quickly gone.

Olette watched them until they were out of sight, looking torn before she seemed to decide something, turned away, and hastily walked off.

"Olette!" Pence called and followed after her.

Roxas was left with Hayner and glanced over at him. The blonde teen hadn't said or done anything throughout the whole ordeal, staying out of it and impassive. His back and one foot were resting against a tree, arms hanging limply at his sides. There wasn't the expression of fear and shock that Pence and Olette had worn. Hayner looked interested and perceptive, almost faintly amazed but his face instantly hardened when he realized Roxas was watching him. "That was smooth man real smooth" He said bitterly.

Roxas sighed and went after Pence and Olette, finding them quickly enough since they were only a little ways off and on the slope of the hill. Olette was sitting on a large rock with her elbows on her knees, holding her head, Pence sitting down beside her, both looking solemn. Roxas kneeled in front of them, neither Olette or Pence acknowledged him, not even glancing up.

"I'm sorry" Roxas didn't really know what he was apologizing for but he felt the need to say it.

Pence breathed deeply. "Don't worry about it."

Olette picked her head up. "Are you alright Roxas?"

Olette's question was not what Roxas anticipated and it took a few moments for him to register it completely. "I'm fine"

Olette smiled vaguely. "That's good. We were worried. When you didn't stop we weren't sure what to do."

"Is there something wrong with you?" Pence asked reluctantly. "I mean…"

"There's nothing wrong with me" Roxas shot back defensively. "I stopped right? Seifer walked away."

Pence gave a nervous chuckle. "Alright sorry I believe you. Its well you know with everything from before and now this. Just don't do it again. I know you said you don't remember where you've been before and I definitely have no idea either but you can't do things like that in Twilight Town."

"Right, got it."

Olette's eyelashes looked suspiciously wet and she lifted a hand to wipe at her eyes. "If you ever want to talk to us about anything Roxas. You know you can…because your our friend now."

Roxas wanted to deny it more then anything. The concept irritated him as much as it scared him, wanted to bite back a retort that would make the girl in front of him run and never look back but looking at Olette's and Pence's faces he realized he couldn't so Roxas remained silent.

Olette was already moving on. "Not that I'm approving of what you did Roxas but I guess if you look on the bright side Seifer, Fuu, and Rai aren't going to bother us anymore."

Pence smiled broadly. "That's an understatement." The burnet glanced at Roxas, eyes shining with building excitement. "Roxas where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Around"

"That's all you're going to say?" Pence asked sounding disappointed. "You totally owned Seifer, Rai, and Fuu in five seconds flat!"

Olette shook her head. "It was still an awful thing to do."

"I agree" Pence said quickly "But if Roxas is our friend then it's up to us to help him out and keep tabs on him to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again."

Olette nodded enthusiastically and Roxas groaned. "No, you really don't have to do that."

"Well you could be like our secret weapon" Pence added, making Roxas glare.

"Can we go now?" Hayner's voice came from immediately behind them, impatient and bland but it wasn't enough to lessen the recently established and easy atmosphere.

Olette by this time was holding back soft laughter. "Sure Hayner!' She said breathlessly.

0o0o0o0

It was dark or as dark as Twilight Town could get when Roxas arrived at Hayner's house. The door wasn't locked and Hayner pushed it opened carelessly and walked inside, followed shortly by Roxas.

Hayner's house was small. The carpet at one time looked liked it may have been a very light blue but was discolored with several large brown stains and flecked with dirt . Paint was peeling off in strips from tarnished white walls and the few windows the place contained were badly rusted, the glass cracked. A heavy smell of cigarette smoke lingered in the air, making Roxas fight back the urge to cough.

Hayner turned on the light to the living room. It flicked before it stayed on, casting a dim shadow. "Here we are" Hayner said mockingly. "Home sweet home."

"You live here?' Roxas asked vacantly.

Hayner shut the door behind him with a loud click. "Yeah, listen Olette and Pence know about some of what my home life is like. They've never been to my house before so they don't know it's this bad. Don't tell them. I'd like to keep it that way."

"Why would I? It makes no difference to me." Roxas returned easily.

Hayner stared at him a moment, before snorting, and walking through his living room, kicking several chip packages and aluminum cans that littered the floor out of the way. "You can have the couch" Hayner called from behind him before he disappeared into another room.

Roxas looked down at the couch. It was a stale shade of green, covered with cigarette burns, ripped in numerous places, and the stuffing was coming out. Roxas placed his shopping bags from earlier on the floor and sat down, letting himself lean against it, to tired and sore from the past two days to protest. The couch was about as comfortable as it looked, the hard frame and the springs jabbed at his back and legs. At least Roxas thought it was better then a bench although not by much.

After a minute Roxas dug through his shopping bags, looking for something to change into but not really finding anything, before Hayner reappeared from wherever he went, standing by a door that Roxas assumed must be the entrance to his room. "I didn't know if you had anything, so if you want you can barrow these" Hayner said before he threw a wad of clothing at Roxas's head.

Roxas automatically caught the clothes, holding them up to see a pale yellow T-shirt and red plaid drawstring pants. "Thanks"

"Don't thank me. I'm not doing this for you" Hayner said irritably and knocked on the door behind him with the back of his hand. "This is my room. Don't come in. You're in the living room. Behind you is the kitchen. Don't eat anything. Not that you'll find anything in there anyway" Hayner pointed down a short hallway. "My mom's room and the bathroom are at the end of hallway. Take a shower at least before you go to bed. You need it." Hayner said bluntly.

Without looking back Hayner slammed the door to his room and a minute later Roxas could hear muffled but heavy rock music.

Roxas stared up at the ceiling, eyes traveling over the many water stains. In truth a shower did sound like a very good idea, whatever Hayner's bathroom looked like. Roxas hadn't had a shower since he left the organization. In that time he'd slept outside and been basically covered with blood and other grime. The warm water would help to loosen his fatigued muscles and wash away the dirt from the lacerations on his skin. Roxas suddenly wanted a shower very badly.

Roxas gabbed the clothes Hayner had given him and picked himself up from off the couch. He made his way down to the end of the hallway, finding the bathroom almost instantly, and locked the door behind him. The lock was flimsily at best and the bathroom was cramped with a white tiled floor and cheap green wall paper but at least it was clean. Roxas stepped over to the tub, turning the hot water on all the way to full, only to have it came out freezing cold.

Roxas sighed, going to stand back in front of the sink, waiting for the water to heat up. A sour taste was in his mouth that had been with him all day, making him yearn for a toothbrush. Doing the next best thing, he turned the sink on, cupping the water in his hands, bringing it to his lips, before forcefully rinsing his mouth out.

He looked up at the small mirror hanging right over the sink, studying his reflection, almost not recognizing himself, his eyes hollow, face expressionless, wearing strange clothes, and in the home of some kid who obliviously didn't care for him and he'd only met hours ago. For an instant Roxas missed Axel and felt a sharp prang of homesickness, wanting to be back in The Castle That Never Was. That place had always been like hell but the familiarity was also there and so was his own room. Roxas pushed the thought aside and the desire was gone as soon as it had came.

Last night Roxas had fought for his own survival, summoned deadly keyblades, climbed a skyscraper, killed countless of heartless. He cut open a human's neck and watched him bleed. Roxas was lethal, a killer, the universe's fate lied within him, some of the most dangerous beings ever known in existence, wanted to control him, wanted him dead. The blonde nobody wondered how Olette, Hayner, and Pence would react if they knew this, they'd want to run away but be to terrified to move. The three of them could have never experienced the adrenaline rush of dangling between life and death. They never dragged themselves though a maze of twisting streets with broken bones, couldn't even begin to understand.

Roxas could enter Hayner's room with the heavy rock music and snap the blonde's neck in a split second before he ever knew what happened. Roxas felt entirely out of place. He was here, in Twilight Town, to have a chance at a new and different life, something he longed for but also detested, had made the decision to actually stay on the spur of the moment. Roxas chose to leave everything behind, to search for near nonexistent answers, and he found them more or less by some random streak of luck. He met his other but didn't know if that was enough to keep him happy, knew he didn't belong in Twilight Town. He could pretend but would never belong.

Just a week ago Roxas had delivered a report to Xemnas about the number of heartless he'd destroyed, voice cold and dead, eyes uncaring as he stared forward with out seeing. It was always the same when he delivered reports to Xemnas.

How many?

894

How long?

Fifty two minutes

Status?

Five broken ribs. A torn ligament in my right knee. The keyblade slipped and sliced through my finger.

Roxas held up his hand with out flinching, index finger nearly severed off, hanging on by a small strip of skin.

Very good. Take a potion. You may leave.

Roxas ran his hands under the water of the sink. It was hot by now, so was the water pouring out of the faucet from the tub. He could feel the steam in the air as it began to fog up the mirror. Water pooled in his palms and ran down his wrists, reminding him of the way blood flowed, exactly like Riku's blood that had all to recently coated his hands.

The memories of Riku, Roxas had gotten from when he first saw Sora flashed before his eyes again, unbidden and unwanted.

He was running with Riku out on the beach. Riku was in front of him, kicking up sand and laughing.

Riku was leaning against a tree, watching the ocean, a craving in eyes, a desperate need to escape. "If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?"

Riku was standing before him with his hand outstretched while the darkness wrapped around his skin, dragging him under.

Then the memories faded into an endless night, concrete, rain, and Riku lying in a rain soaked street with his throat split open. Dark red spilled from his mouth as his lungs filled with blood. Roxas was over him, had laughed. The silver haired teen smiled up at him with trusting eyes. "Sssssooorrraaaa" Riku's voice was barely recognizable.

Roxas grabbed the yellow bar of soap from off the edged of the sink, a faint smell of pineapple hitting his nose. He felt suddenly unclean and pressed the soap into his hands, scrubbing hard before running them under the hot water.

Something DIZ said came back to him.

Roxas was standing in front of the bandaged man in the computer room. DIZ's voice was strong and collected, sounding so sure of himself. "You were never supposed to exist. You are nothing, a mistake. The only way you can amount to anything is to join with Sora."

Roxas gritted his teeth, forcing the soap harder into his flesh, washing his hands again.

Blood covered every inch of Seifer's face and dripped from Roxas's fists. Seifer was sobbing and clawing at Roxas's arm, hopelessly trying to get free.

"We kept yelling at you to stop" Pence said "Why didn't you?"

Roxas's hands were raw, starting to sting.

Naminé had screamed his name, looking up at him, eyes shimmering with emotion that a nobody wasn't supposed to possess.

After all Axel had done, Roxas had told him off like he was nothing. Axel hit a brick wall "This is why you're always going to end up alone."

There was Xemnas, a man with a placid face and drilling voice who told Roxas over and over again that he was incapable of feeling.

There was Saïx with his cold sneer and quite brutality.

Then after everything it came down to Sora, drifting peacefully in a pod. Sora. The entire reason why he was here, who threatened everything he was, who he hated, who had all the answers but he would never be able to talk to. Roxas wanted nothing more then to bring the keyblade down onto his other's face.

Roxas found the soap wasn't enough and added his fingernails into the mix until he could feel his own blood.

Fuu was before him, a look of loathing in her silvery eyes. "Freak"

The blood ran from Roxas's fingers and splattered into the sink. He still didn't stop, losing track of time, washing and ripping away at his skin with hands that were capable of crushing bone. The water eventually cooled, making his hands go numb but he still did not feel clean.

There was a knock at the door and Hayner's voice. "Roxas what are you doing? You've been in there over an hour or at least that I know of."

Roxas ignored him, not looking away from the sink.

The knocking came louder. "Hey Roxas!"

Roxas could hear Hayner trying the handle and finding it locked, only making the door rattle. "I know you're in there. I can hear the water running open up!"

Roxas stopped tearing at his hands, letting the water run over them as it washed away some of the blood, and stared blankly back into the mirror in front of him. 'Go away' he hissed under his breath.

"Are you okay?"

The pounding at the door came back. "Roxas, answer me!"

Hayner pulled at the door again, lock scraping into the wood as it was strained backwards. "I can break this lock. If you don't answer me I'm coming in."

"Alright fine" Hayner shouted when Roxas failed to respond. "Don't say I didn't warn you. If you're dead in there or something its going to be on my head, so is the water bill."

Roxas heard nothing but silence for a moment. Then there was a low bang as Hayner crashed into the door, twisting the handle, frail lock breaking and the door flew open, leaving Hayner standing in the entryway. His eyes landed on Roxas, seeing the blood glistening and streaming down his hands, the white of the sink completely discolored with it.

Roxas and Hayner stared at each other, neither of them moving. Hayner was breathing hard with a look of disbelief and repulsion on his face. The teen blinked, quickly coming out of his trance and in the next instant ran the short distance to Roxas, turning the water off and grabbing Roxas's wrists, pulling them away from the sink. "What are you doing?!"

Roxas harshly jerked his arms out of Hayner's grip. "I could say I was feeling guilty for something but then I'd be lying."

Hayner's expression turned from panic to thunderstruck, half closing his eyes, looking intently into Roxas's face without replying, as if just coming to some kind of realization. Breathing deeply, Hayner stepped around Roxas and turned the water to the tub off, glanced back to the blood coated sink, and bit back a groan at the sight of it. "Look, my mom has a first aid kit in her room. I'm going to go get it. Alright? Just hang tight."

Hayner swiftly left the room, leaving Roxas alone. Not wanting to stay inside of the bathroom any longer, Roxas left it, making his way to the living room, and sitting back down on Hayner's torn couch.

Hayner's voice came from the hallway a minute later with a slight trace of alarm. "Roxas?"

"Here."

Hayner turned his head, spotting Roxas and ran into his living room, snatching a chair from the kitchen, he dragged it over to the couch, sitting down in front of Roxas, and laying a pearl gray tin out on his lap, his hands shaking badly. "I never thought this thing would come in handy. I guess my mom must be good for something after all." Hayner attempted a smile but it fell flat and he cast his eyes back down to the first aid kit.

Hayner had gotten the lid off and Roxas could see the kit contained gauze and disinfectant as well as other various things. Hayner picked up a roll of gauze but his hands were still trembling and he nearly dropped it. He fumbled with it, trying to unroll it. "Sorry I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do. I've never done this before."

"I never would have guessed." Roxas said mockingly as he grabbed the first aid kit from Hayner, undoing the roll of gauze and tearing it into strips, using his mouth to help him as he expertly began to bandage his hands.

"You don't need any help?"

"I've got it" Roxas said without looking up.

Hayner's eyes traveled to Roxas's hands. They were cracked and the flesh was so badly shredded it looked grotesque. Red was instantly soaking through the white bandages. "Are you okay? You really did a number on yourself."

Roxas snorted. "This is nothing."

Hayner fell silent and watched Roxas for a minute. Roxas seemed detached, unconcerned like this sort of thing happened every day, tending to his hands with a quick and professional air that Hayner even with both hands free and unharmed could never hope to match. "This isn't the first time you've fixed yourself up before is it?"

"No, broken bones, gashes, torn muscles you name it, I've done it. Like I said this is nothing."

Hayner gave him an odd look.

"This is the first time its ever been self-inflicted and I'm not planning on repeating it anytime soon." Roxas added

"I wasn't going to ask that."

"Well now you know"

Roxas finished with his hands a second later. "That's good for now" he said as he gave the first aid kit back to Hayner. "I'm just going to have to redo it when I take a real shower anyway."

"That's not going to happen for a bit" Hayner replied while running a hand through his hair. "It takes awhile for the water heater to warm back up."

Roxas leaned back into the couch. "I can wait. It's not like I have anything better to do."

Hayner placed the first aid kit on a small coffee table that was directly beside him and glanced back to Roxas, looking like he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to phrase it. Then he just seemed to give up altogether "You weren't lying were you… about the memory thing I mean."

"No"

"Yeah" Hayner said slowly. "Something happened to you out there. Didn't it? Something terrible happened. It seems kind of obvious now." Hayner then gave a weak try at a smirk. "Besides the broken bones and all that."

"I wouldn't know if I can't remember anything" Roxas replied casually. "But you could say that."

"I was thinking. You see I took this psychology class once. They said that if something really extreme happens to a person. They can block it out and even lose their past memories. Maybe that's what happened to you."

"It's as good as any other idea"

Hayner laughed nervously. "Right, sorry for being such a jerk earlier."

"Thanks" Roxas replied dryly.

Hayner turned his head away, somewhat uncomfortable, hesitating before he spoke next. "I thought you were… tying to get with Olette."

Roxas narrowed his eyes slightly. "I don't get with anybody."

"That's fair" Hayner reassured. "But when I first saw you I didn't know what to think. You were all cut up and I didn't like the way Olette was acting like you were her best friend. I thought you were trying to take advantage of her or something. Then when you told us about your memory and not having anywhere to go I thought it was just a lame attempt at a sob story. You do have to admit it wasn't that believable."

Roxas shrugged. "I don't care. It's the truth."

"I believe you now, but you can see where I'm coming from right? Olette is my friend. I have to look out for her."

"Fine, don't worry about it" Roxas said dismissively.

Hayner nodded but didn't answer, getting up from his chair and dragging it back to the kitchen. Roxas let his head fall against the back of the couch, closing his eyes, entirely worn-out, only wanting this day to be over with. Maybe he could sleep for a couple of hours while the water heated back up. Roxas felt himself instantly drifting off when he heard the sound of a fridge door opening.

"Want some pizza?" Hayner suddenly called back.

Roxas snapped his eyes open "What?"

Hayner dug through the fridge, pulling out a large brown and oily pizza box. "I lied to you before, I've got some left over pizza. It's been awhile since we had lunch and I'm hungry so I thought you might be too. Do you want some? It's pepperoni."

Roxas did realize he was hungry now that Hayner had said something. Roxas only tried pizza once. Demyx loved it and Roxas had stolen a piece off him. Pizza wasn't Roxas's thing, honestly not caring for it one way or another but with his stomach growling at the mention of food he was more then willing to make an exception. "Pizza sounds good."

"Okay" Hayner said with a smile, taking down a plate from the cabinet, putting several pieces on it, and sticking it in the microwave. "Just don't try to gross me out again like you did with the ice cream."

Roxas faintly returned the smile "You're safe."

Hayner suppressed a laugh. The microwave beeped a couple of minutes later and Hayner walked back to the living room, balancing the pizza on one arm and a couple of napkins and cokes in the other, putting everything down on the coffee table right beside the first aid kit. The blonde teen sat down on the couch beside Roxas but at a comfortable enough distance away before instantly reaching for a piece. "You have had pizza before, right?" He asked with a smirk.

Roxas took a piece, trying it. The cheese was dripping, the pizza smelling heavily of grease, and it was slightly hard and stale but still good, tasting much better then Demyx's at least. "Yeah…once"

Hayner shook his head in denial. "Whatever you say Roxas."

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Hayner spoke next. "I'd ask if you'd want to watch a movie but the TV is kind of broken."

"Doesn't matter to me. I don't really watch TV anyway."

Hayner shrugged and they went back to eating. Then Roxas noticed Hayner was glancing at him oddly with his eyes deep in thought and expression conflicted like he wasn't sure what he wanted to say. "Can I ask you something?" Hayner said finally.

"Go for it."

"In the bathroom..why did you do that to yourself?"

Roxas swallowed a mouthful of pizza. The question was easy enough for him to answer, not even having to think it over. "It felt like something I needed to do at the time. I have no idea why I did it now."

"You said something about feeling guilty" Hayner's voice was reflective. "Was it because of Seifer?"

"It wasn't Seifer" Roxas said quickly. "Not most of it anyway" Roxas paused and took a breath. "Some things happened…I think it was mainly because of something…someone else. That's as much as I'm telling you"

"That's fine with me. I only wanted to know because if it was Seifer I was going to say not to worry about it. Seifer bullies everyone. I know you shouldn't have gone as far as you did but it's about time someone stood up to him. If you ask me that prick got everything he deserved."

Roxas took another piece of pizza. "If you say so. It's wasn't any big deal."

Hayner's face paled with surprise and his eyes widened in disbelief. "No big deal! That was really amazing how you fought like that! I've never seen anything like it. You told Pence you learned it from around, right? But that's not something you can just pick up. You must have really practiced it. Do you know how many kids would give their right arm to be able to do even half of what you did!?"

For an instant Roxas thought back again to last night when he had run up the side of a skyscraper, killed hundreds of heartless, and fought Riku, all in an intricate dance with two legendary and deadly keyblades. Roxas snickered. "That really was nothing."

"I should enter you in a struggle match and then take bets." Hayner continued as if he hadn't heard Roxas. "I'd win for sure!"

"What's a struggle match?"

Hayner grinned. "Tell you later"

Roxas didn't reply, instead picking up his soda, settling for taking a long drink of it.

"Would it kill you to talk a little more?" Hayner asked through a mouthful of pizza but with humor in his voice. "You're beginning to remind me of Fuu."

Roxas roughly set his soda back down on the coffee table. "Why?" he snapped. "Because she called me a freak?" Roxas wasn't sure why he said it but it was out before he could stop himself. Usually Roxas could shrug whatever anyone said off but for some reason Fuu's comment was still bothering him. Now it was laid out between him and Hayner like something dead and rotting.

Hayner didn't appear to be put off at all, just rolled his eyes. "Right, you're a freak coming from I-can-only-say-one-word-at-a-time-I-must-be-brain-dead-Fuu. Seriously don't listen to her. She's just full of herself."

It was nice to hear the comment and Hayner disregarded the whole thing like it was unimportant. It wasn't enough to completely diminish the building doubt Roxas had ever since the whole Twilight Town ordeal had started but it was enough to lessen it. "Thanks" Roxas said and found he meant it.

"No problem" Hayner waved a hand airily. "By they way you don't have to sleep on the couch either. I have a sleeping bag in my closet. It's not great but at least it's better then the couch."

"All I want to do" Roxas said wearily. "Is take a shower and sleep for the next week. Its been a really long couple of days."

Hayner leaned forward and moved the plate aside on the coffee table now that they'd finished with the pizza. "We can clean the blood up in the sink tomorrow." Hayner relented before giving a tired sigh. "Roxas" He said slowly. "I don't know what happened to you out there but you're not alone anymore. You've go Pence, Olette, and me. We're your friends now."

"I don't want friends." Roxas replied shortly

Roxas was expecting Hayner to become angry and snap back with something but instead the blonde teen smiled, punching Roxas lightly on the shoulder, skimming his knuckles against his sleeve. "To bad you've got us anyway. Besides when Olette decides she likes somebody it's pretty hard to get rid of her."

Roxas looked to consider it for a moment before he frowned. "I don't get it." He bit out. "What's so important about friends? They only slow you down. There was someone who used to tell me we were friends but he only got in my way. Their not useful at all. They've never done anything for me."

Hayner looked in front of him to the blank, dusty, and chipped TV screen. "I used to think that too." He said distantly. "Then I met Olette and Pence. Without their support I don't know where I'd be. I probably would have dropped out of school by now and ran away from home but I'm still here. Whenever I feel like I can't stay in this place another minute Pence and Olette are always there. My friends mean the world to me and I owe everything to them. I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to them."

"So it's an emotional thing then" Roxas concluded.

"I guess" Hayner scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "I hope that didn't sound too sappy"

Roxas fell silent. Hayner didn't look like he was going to say anything else either and began to gather up the trash that was left over from their pizza. Roxas watched him, a question forming in his mind. He wasn't sure if he should ask Hayner or not, half wanting and half dreading the answer but so far talking to Hayner hadn't led to anything bad. "What's the feeling like?" Roxas asked abruptly.

Hayner looked up and blinked at him. "What?"

"Friendship, how is it supposed to feel. I don't remember so well. I think I want to know. Describe the feeling to me."

"That doesn't make any sense" Hayner said sounding confused. "How can you not remember a feeling?"

Roxas paused, trying to think of the best way to explain it to Hayner without giving too much away. "It's not that I can't remember it exactly. Its just hard for me to feel things…like how did you feel when I wouldn't get off of Seifer?"

"I don't know" Hayner said grudgingly. "I guess a part of me felt sorry for the guy but I was also glad someone was finally sticking it to him. It was kind of distressing when it started getting too out of hand. I was about ready to step in, although I don't think it would have made much of a difference now. Anyway, Fuu and Rai got to you first."

"Right" Roxas said confidently. "That's the point then. I could hear the others screaming my name. I heard Seifer crying out but I didn't feel anything. I don't know when to stop because there is nothing in my mind that tells me too. Boundaries and limits don't exist for me. There are fragments of feeling sometimes but their hard to grab a hold of. It's nothing compared to how you can feel. That's why I want you to describe the feeling to me."

Hayner was staring at Roxas in a mixture of astonishment and shock. The blonde teen wanted to deny everything Roxas had said. It seemed so unreal but their was a look of yearning so great in Roxas's eyes that Hayner nearly had to look away. Before he know it he was already attempting an answer. "Well…it's like never having to be alone. You always have someone to talk to or just laugh with-"

"No" Roxas interrupted, voice coming out a bit impatient. "That's not what I meant. I know the concept. I mean how does it feel in your mind, in your heart. Does it make your stomach twist? Does it make the place behind your eyes burn? Is there a high or a low? Is your skin supposed to crawl? What are the high and low supposed to feel like? Is it like needles are something else completely different? Describe the exact feeling to me."

Hayner looked blank. "I…I'm…not-"

"You can't" Roxas cut in. "Can you?"

"No…not when you put it that way"

There was something about Hayner's face that struck Roxas as funny, his expression stunned like he wasn't sure what was reality anymore and eyes blank with confusion. Roxas made a futile attempt at trying to hold back the laughter. It soon fell short and Roxas clutched his stomach and doubled over, choking on it. Everything from the past two days was crashing down on him the betrayal, the killing, the blood, and this pointless attempt at a new life. All Roxas could do was laugh and he couldn't stop.

Hayner was staring back at him, looking like he wasn't sure what to do and then the vacant look slowly faded into a grin. "Yeah, life is so screwed up."

If anything Roxas laughed harder and then Hayner joined him, the two of them laughing together until they could no longer breathe.