A/N: As always, kudos to my lovely reviewers – always leaving such thoughtful words. :-)

SO… to begin… I should let you guys know that as much as I tried, I couldn't get over the "technical" difficulty of the final scene, so I've removed it from this chapter. Apologies. :-( Unfortunately, that was also a Whiplash scene. Muchos more apologies. :-( :-( :-(

Good news is that the removed final scene will open the next chapter – so I've already got, like, a third of the next chapter done. w00t. And I think the planning is better this way too - so we'll see what teh happens!

I do hope you'll like this chapter, though, despite that it's a tad shorter than the other ones (just a tad, heh). It was meant to be longer… but… y'know…

Anywho, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Should I carve this into my skin, or something? xP

LiD: Rise and Crescendo

Chapter Eleven: Meet Your Match

There was a time, not too long ago, when Naminé had fallen in with mainstream; powerful and unwavering, it was all she do to submit to it. In retrospect, it seemed foolish, and the idea even repulsed her, but there was no way she could've predicted the turn of events that arose from it all. She was a girl, after all. A young, naïve one, at that, but a girl nonetheless.

And most girls then, had had their eyes on a particular social heartthrob, a natural charmer he was with his shamelessly good looks, poise, and grace. Even better yet, his prominence was topped off with an astounding class rank. It was clearly no surprise why he was the most sought-after male in all of Radiant Garden Academy.

Young, and old women alike, Naminé recalled with slight disdain now, when she remembered the several scarves and gloves that were knitted for him.

Even so, her own heart had tripped when she'd first laid eyes on him, his presence loud and intimidating. But what could she have done? She'd heard stories of him from other girls, and her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she just had to look at him – a peek wouldn't have hurt, now really?

She'd almost fallen off her chair when he spoke to her, and she had to keep her lips pressed together so she wouldn't say anything stupid. But overtime, as the clever charmer that he was, he managed to coax her out of her shell, and she was none the wiser. She fell for him, and she hadn't known how hard, until she was left on the ground, the skies of reality a clear sight before her.

Marluxia.

How she should've known… if this was who he was, she never would have looked at him, never had let him look at her, dammit, but it was past now. What had happened had happened, and there was nothing she could do to about it.

The protective dam she'd built to keep all those memories at bay was cracking now, and she furiously fought down the wave, controlling the flood before they could drown her.

It didn't help that the very prominent memory was standing right before her.

She swallowed. What the hell was she going to do?

A hand roughly shook her shoulder, and her sister's voice rang through her ear, "Nami? Keep calm, okay? Whatever you do, don't let him get to you."

Naminé broke her gaze then, and turned to take in her fiery redhead of a sibling. She whispered back, "Yeah, I know." She was glad that Kairi was standing close beside her. She reached up to squeeze Kairi's hand gently, slight smile in gratitude, before bringing it down off her shoulder. Together, their eyes returned to the stage, Kairi's mixed with loathing, Naminé's with disbelief.

"… contract with Crystal Fissures Studio, founded by the late Headmaster Ansem the Wise, an extraordinary man, he was. We couldn't have asked for a more inspiring – "

Bastard! She couldn't believe her ears – how dare he – he didn't even care, the ungrateful, stupid –

"Ow! Naminé!" It took her a moment to realize that she'd still been holding Kairi's hand. She released the death grip. "Don't let him get to you! Didn't you hear me?!"

When she noticed the three boys around them were now staring inquisitively at them, she gave Kairi a look, saying to shush up. Naminé wasn't quite ready to let the others know. Not like this.

What a day this was becoming, honestly.

"… of course, remember that the submission deadline is tonight. On behalf of Radiant Garden Academy for Fine Arts, we wish you all the very best of luck. No doubt that only the best band will come through, and we look forward to the tournament. Have fun, and let the battle commence!"

His words were met with an explosion of cheers, and Naminé could only grate her teeth. Something was wrong. She'd known Marluxia for practically a year, and she could tell that something was going on.

The crowd jostled around them, and Naminé felt Kairi's grip on her arm.

"We should get going," she said, "No doubt there's –"

"– lots to talk about?" a voice quickly interjected. Naminé glanced up to see the blond drummer giving her a funny look. Sora was right next to him, and his eyes were filled with questions, concern etched around the corners.

She didn't need to turn around to see that the remaining teen was probably giving her a penetrating stare. She could feel his eyes, for crying out loud.

"What's going on?" Sora asked, waving his hands in emphasis. She watched Kairi send him a look that clearly said we'll talk later. The fact that Naminé hadn't answered was not lost on everyone, and the tension was suspended in the air. Kairi's impatience to leave was only making it worse, as she practically demanded,

"Guys, let's just get outta here, okay? C'mon –" She began tugging on both Naminé and Sora's arms, but Naminé wouldn't budge. Kairi nearly tripped, if she hadn't been holding on to Sora.

"What gives, Naminé?" But the flaxen-haired girl wasn't listening – her eyes were trained back on the now-clearing stage. A ripple was moving through the crowd, as if people were moving aside…

Their eyes locked, in that instant, her own azure eyes once again clashing with a pair of striking blue. Her breath caught, and she bit her lip.

What now?

She could see him… moving, coming closer… dammit…

Move!

And move she did.

Naminé whipped around, nearly crashing into the person in front of her as she tried to barrel through the crowds. She did not need this encounter, she did not need this… whatever Kairi had said about staying calm was flying out the window with Naminé, as her primary instinct told her to get out of there. Nothing good would come out of staying.

Her last encounter was proof enough.

A hand gripped her shoulder, and she heard someone cry out, "Naminé, wait!" She didn't bother to turn around, and choked out,

"I – "

"Leaving so soon?"

She froze.

Nononononono…

Around her, she could feel her peers pausing, too, to take in the newcomer. Her mind and pulse were racing – she wasn't sure which would overtake her first.

"Come now, Naminé, forgotten me so soon?"

Her shoulders stiffened. It was, after all, what she had hoped to achieve this summer.

She turned around, her eyes immediately drawing to the overly-styled, light-red hair. She tried to avoid his eyes this time, and in her peripheral, she could see that Kairi was practically bouncing on her heels, her hands curling at her side. The rest, however, just stood confused.

"What are you doing here, Marluxia?" she finally managed to say. He stood there, eyes narrowed, but with a lithe smile that offset the scrutiny. Naminé nearly bristled at the way he was watching her.

Why did this kind of stuff always happen to her?

"I'm doing what I was invited here to do, Naminé" – she wanted to cringe at the way he said her name – "Of course, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" That's right, Naminé thought bitterly. Make sure the fall is nice and big.

"Sure I do: to be an ass here, right?" she wanted to say, but she knew better than to exchange petty insults. Well, at least in public, anyways.

In spite of herself, Naminé forced her tongue to spew out politely, "Kindly enlighten me." Marluxia's smile was slow and surreptitious; to have called it a smirk was below him. Every movement of his was tacked with timing and grace – an art unto himself, a few have said.

"The Academy," he began, idly, "specifically requested that I come as a representative." But when he saw the slight furrow in her brows, he asked, "Surely, you must have known?"

"Known what?"

"That Radiant Garden was calling in for representatives after school ended. Countless phone calls and emails were sent out – " He paused when he saw her shaking her head slowly, her blonde strands grazing her forehead.

"What are you talking about?" Naminé hadn't received any phone calls – nothing, and she couldn't say anything for emails, since her computer was in for repairs – but surely, it couldn't have been all coincidence?

Marluxia sighed, but she didn't miss the glimmer in his eyes. "Naïve as ever, I see" – she narrowed her eyes (How dare he be so condescending!) – "Dear Naminé, Radiant Garden was invited here – any of the more, well, higher-ranking students could come. After all, the school is sponsoring the event; the record deal is made with its branching studio, remember?"

She bit her lip. He was right – Crystal Fissures Studio did belong to Radiant Garden… well, sort of. It was Headmaster Ansem's studio…

Marluxia was still standing there, his hands now in his dress pants' pockets as he watched her carefully. His expression was clearly amused – if only she could wipe that stupid smile off his face –

"A pity, now – you could've joined us up there. The honour was well-deserved."

To anyone else, the smile could have been warm and welcoming – a compliment in itself, really. But Naminé, dammit, did Naminé know better. Pressing her lips together, Naminé refused to speak even a word more to the faux-mannered boy in front of her.

"No?" Marluxia asked, one elegant eyebrow perched; it was short-lived, however, and his face rapidly melted into its smooth smile again "Well, regardless, Naminé, it was a pleasure seeing you again," he said. Marluxia held out his hand then, and her own twitched reflexively, but she held it back; her conscience taking a bruise at the neglected manners. He only laughed and shook his head, when he saw that she wasn't going to take it. He breezed past her, their shoulders brushing, and he said in a low voice, "I'm sure we can spend time together again, either way, hm?"

Her neck stiffened. – Not if I can help it. She turned around, briefly, to watch him walk away, brows knitting at the strange encounter, when suddenly, she saw him flip her sister a wink. Her heart stopped.

Naminé nearly cricked her neck, when she whipped her head around to face her sister.

Kairi jumped back instinctively. Her own blue eyes were wide, and she opened her mouth, ready to retort –

"You knew something about this?" Naminé accused, eyes livid. Her mind was racing once more, as she struggled to collect the random pieces flung her way. What was going on? Was this why her sister had wanted her to come – because she knew that Radiant Garden would be here? She couldn't believe it – Kairi would not set her up like this –

"No way!" the redhead cried. She was actually grabbing on to Sora's arm – whom Naminé had nearly forgot was there, along with the rest of the group – and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment at the encounter.

"Then why'd he just look at you like that, like – " But Kairi jumped in with a quick,

"I don't know!" The angry expression Kairi had worn during Marluxia's visit instantly evaporated with Naminé heated glare. Her throat burning with accusations, she cried,

"You made me come!" Kairi stepped back, mouth agape, but Naminé only continued, "You knew the school would be here – the winning contract is made with Crystal Fissures, you would have known that!" she gritted out. She couldn't believe how fast she was losing her temper. This was… she… ugh!

In the breath of a pause, Kairi composed herself, as she challengingly cried, "How was I supposed to know that the studio belonged to your school! You never talked about it! Hell, you didn't talk about anything since you came home!" Kairi was reeling now, and neither sister seemed to be paying attention to the curious stares they were drawing around them. Nor to the fact that the boys on either side of them were shocked and alert at the growing argument.

"Ladies – "

"You didn't tell me about the phone calls!" Naminé shot back. "It would've been nice to leave a message!"

"– calm down – "

"You friggin' locked yourself in your room, Naminé! I don't think you would've noticed if a friggin' tornado had blown our house away!"

" – GIRLS – "

"And besides, it's not my fault!" Kairi added heatedly. "Mom and dad were the ones who answered the phone calls – why don't you talk to them?!"

"Maybe I will!"

"Okay!" Kairi flipped out her cell phone, and was about to hit speed dial, when the phone was suddenly grabbed from her hands.

"Knock it off! What the hell has gotten into you two?" Naminé's blush was furious, when a pair of aqua eyes had managed to grab a hold of her own.

"Riku, give it back!" Kairi yelled, making a grab for the phone. Riku merely raised his arm out of reach, his stance rigid. It was Tidus who decided to respond, quipping with a snort,

"And what? So you can like call up and totally bitch at your parents? I don't think they'll take too warmly to accusations, y'know." The silver-haired teen had merely shoved the phone into his pocket, watching the two of them carefully. Sora stood between them now, and he hadn't blinked since the argument began. Naminé almost jumped when she suddenly felt his hand catch her shoulder, asking,

"What is going on?" Noticing that he also had a hold on Kairi, she opened her mouth, and said,

"Well, you see – "

"– Nothing," Naminé cut in. She was rubbing one of her temples, her gaze now lost on the ground. "Just… I need some time to think…I'm sorry, Kai." She began to move away from the group, refusing to meet any of their gazes.

"What?!" the blond drummer cried. "Where're you going? You can't go alone!"

"I'll be fine – don't worry. I won't be far from the hotel," Naminé promised.

"But – "

"It's okay," Kairi suddenly spoke. She, too, was eyeing Naminé carefully. "Let her go."

Naminé left without another word.

LiD

Eyes cast downwards, Naminé glared at the ivory-white sidewalk she was strolling on, barely aware of the people she brushed past. Where she was going, she hadn't the faintest clue – the important thing was that it was away from there, from him… Naminé's scowl deepened. The bastard… how he thought he could just… waltz over and… Naminé paused for a moment, breathing in. It would not do to let this fill up every waking moment – that's exactly what Marluxia wanted, anyhow. The center, the spotlight, the target… stop it! she scolded herself. You said you were going to forget about him last year, so stick to it, girl.

Maybe it was the fact that the voice sounded so much like Kairi's, but Naminé's mouth twitched into a sad smile. That had been no good, losing her temper like that, but then… shaking her head, Naminé finally took in what was around her.

Pity she had no idea where.

Around her, bustling people clutching children's hands and loaded shopping bags moved on, eyes locked straight ahead. Rusted minivans and shiny cars mingled with pedestrians and public transit on the road, accompanied by a fair amount of hostile words. Naminé winced as a particularly aggressive driver was forced to stop in mid-road for an equally aggressive mother and young son: Naminé had been certain the insane trucker would maul them over. But once they had passed into safety, the young son (to Naminé's horror) had promptly flipped the driver a rather rude hand gesture with impunity from his mother.

Naminé shook her head in disgust. Thank goodness the citizens of Hollow Bastion had a smidgeon more class than this.

Chewing her bottom lip, Naminé anxiously glanced around. Behind her was what looked like a beading specialty shop; across the street, there was an inn, a small travel agency and a private theatre. Trying not to allow her nerves to get the better of her, Naminé began to move down the street (again, having no real clue – but better to look busy, Naminé thought). She passed a number of stores – Ten Munny Typhoon, McGregors Fast Food, Hoochie's Bar and Grill, Salem's Tricks and Secrets…

… woah, wait. Naminé went bright pink, and quickly turned back the way she came. She had definitely turned down the wrong street to be here.

It was a while before Naminé reached somewhere that looked somewhat inviting: an arts district, it seemed. Around her, she could see arts and crafts supply shops, record stores, exotic fashion havens and even small instrumental boutiques. For the first time since leaving (more like running away, Naminé's conscience scathed) the others behind, Naminé felt at ease.

Slowing down to a more leisurely stroll, Naminé allowed the warm afternoon air to sink down over her. The material of her attire was thin, providing comfort against what would be stifling heat and humidity. This particular street was quieter than the others – any noise that was from the entrance to an elegant theatre house. Somewhere, though, over the babble of the crowd, Naminé heard the faint whistle of a flute.

The sound clicking immediately in her head, Naminé began walking towards the source. That tune, that movement, that ring… wait… ring? The acoustics that were rattling into the air were from no flute – no… the only instrument that could produce those ringing chords and dramatic touch had to be…

… the piano. Of course.

A smile forming slightly on her lips, Naminé slipped inside the small instrument boutique. Along with the sounds of a piano coming from another room in the store, a light choir CD was playing through the overhead sound system. It was a quaint shop – there were all sorts of custom made instruments, most common, some that Naminé had never seen before. Potted plants and artfully cut windows were around as décor, with a faintly burning incense on top of that. A wizened man stood behind the Cherrywood counter near the front, chatting with a mother and her young daughter over the purchase of a harp.

The man gave Naminé a warm smile as she entered – which Naminé returned gratefully, goodness, she needed to smile more today – and then went back to his customers. Naminé picked her way through to the back room, where she could see the larger instruments rested. She was sure the music was coming from here – whoever was playing had truly mastered the piano: the pianist wasn't just banging keys, they were gliding as smoothly as a figure skater on ice, with all the tricks and spins decorating the sound.

Peering around, Naminé gave a start when she saw the back of the person who was playing. Whatever Naminé had been expecting, it certainly wasn't this: a young man (at least Naminé thought it was a man – it was hard to tell from the back, after all) clad in navy, baggy jeans; worn down skater shoes; and a pure black hoodie that was being fully used. A frown creasing her forehead as she contemplated whothis person could be, but not a bell was ringing. Instead, Naminé contented herself with leaning against the doorjamb and listening to the person's prowess, closing her eyes to allow the sound to fully wash over her.

The melody rose and fell for the duration of the first movement – it was shadowed by a gentler harmony that could only just be caught swaying over the stronger baseline. A scale in thirds jumped in at regular intervals, adding for a bouncier touch to the reoccurring half and whole notes that seemed to mesh together to form a comforting hymn. There was no dramatic finale – the piece began, little by little, to slow down and 

quiet, summing up to a whisper-out-the-door finish with a light tremolo. Opening her eyes, she saw the person wiping pale hands on their jeans, and Naminé couldn't help but bring her hands together in a brisk, solitary applause.

The person gave a start (nearly falling over out of their seat) and whipped around. Naminé had barely gotten a look at the pianists face before he had shot his head right back around, but she conclude he was indeed a he. Blond tufts of hair had fluttered over his face and covered his eyes, giving her a glimpse only of the tip of his nose and the pale, cracked lips. He said nothing, so instead, Naminé praised, "Very nice – I've always loved Scrooge's concerti." A pause, and then the teenager replied in a gruff voice,

"Thanks." Another pause, and the next time he spoke, his sounded as though he was trying his hardest to sound apathetic. "You… ah… you know about Scrooge? The composer?" Naminé bit back a smile, even though the teen still wasn't facing her.

"Of course – I study music, myself."

"Yeah?"

"Yes – the flute… and Scrooge has written scores for complete orchestras, no?"

"Mhmm."

Frustration was beginning to build in Naminé – so far, she had gotten only one complete sentence out of the guy, and he still wouldn't turn around and look at her. In fact, from the way he was behaving, she highly doubted she'd even get a name if she asked for one. Instead, she moved forwards a few steps, on the pretence of actually studying the sheet of music propped up. Sheer curiosity demanded that she see this fellow musician's face, and so once beside the teenager, she turned to look at him. And stopped dead.

"Roxas?"

Oh, he wasn't wearing the crisp shirt and the designer shades, and certainly wasn't flashing any million-dollar smiles at anyone – but this was definitely him, judging from the picture Sora had shown her oh-so-long ago. However, if Roxas had been surprised, he covered it up quickly and merely asked (in that same, idle voice):

"Have we met?" He still wasn't meeting her eyes though – not that it mattered. Naminé was still reeling in surprise – that made two less-than-likely people she'd run into in just one morning. Gathering herself, though, Naminé answered incredulously,

"You went to Radiant Garden – Sora's cousin, right?"

There was the delayed shock reaction – Roxas threw himself around to face her so fast the he really did topple the piano stool over towards her, legs flying up –

"Damn!"

– and crashing straight into the piano, which thankfully remained upright despite the loud thud that had accompanied the conclusion. Naminé, unfortunately, hadn't fared quite as well – Roxas had knocked her over as well, landing messily on the hardwood floor. The shopkeeper came around, and frowned disapprovingly. Brow still furrowed, he asked,

"What is going on in here?" Naminé flushed a deep red, and scrambled back to her feet again. Roxas, however, threw back his hood for the first time and stood up quickly and – Naminé was startled at the rapid change – gracefully. In a much different tone than what he'd used with Naminé, Roxas replied,

"Nothing at all; I was just startled – my apologies, it won't happen again, sir." After a moment's thought, the man nodded and walked away – but Naminé was left almost wanting to cringe with all the formalities she was having to deal with today – and with a sickening wrench, she all-too-clearly was back to that morning, and Naminé had to physically shake the thoughts away. She couldn't, she wouldn't deal with this – with him. While Naminé was still wallowing in these thoughts, however, Roxas turned to her and asked tentatively (Naminé noticed the lack of attempted indifference), "How… how do you know Sora?"

Naminé quirked an eyebrow. "He's my sister's boyfriend," she responded. "I came down here with them for – "

"You – he – she... what?!"

Roxas was still spluttering, poise completely forgotten, be it the grace of an ex-Radiant Garden student or the attitude of a hard-ass teenager. And for some insane reason, Naminé had to fight the bizarre urge to break into hysterical laughter, despite the anxiety of the present circumstance. Ducking her head, Naminé pretended to smooth out her dress, watching Roxas out of the corner of her eye. He was still looking utterly shocked; too stunned for words.

"Where is he?" Roxas asked sharply, as soon as he pulled out of his reverie. Naminé couldn't help but be suspicious – this was never how she had expected Roxas (despite how fitting it seemed, oddly enough), and she had a funny feeling that neither would Sora. So Naminé chose her words carefully when she answered,

"Around."

Brilliant, if she did say so herself. Roxas wasn't an idiot though – his eyes narrowed slightly, and he said rather aggressively, "Want to come for a walk?"

Lips twitching, Naminé managed to agree.

LiD

What the hell was going on was one thing Riku would definitely like to know. Some pink-haired idiot shows up, starts a whole lot of shit, and then smirks off leaving behind two very pissed off ladies. One of which got her freaking ass out of there so fast that 

Riku hadn't even had time to ask her as to whether or not she wanted the pinky-guy dead.

Then again, Riku already personally wanted him dead, anyways, so that was enough reason right there.

So here he was now, sitting at this little café with these dorky (or adorable, as Kairi squealed in spite of everything) Hypello taking their orders. One of them was raving to Sora (whom the Hypello seemed to have taken a liking to since they had walked in and the Hypello had shouted, "You liked the foodsh, then?") about how he ought to try the Shea-Shide-Shubs and Sora was actually conversing right back, with the accent and everything.

"Yesh?" said Sora. "Thesh shubs are the besht, no?"

"Yesh, yesh!" The Hypello nodded excitedly. "Besht shubs in all Twil-li-light Shity!" Tidus, predictably, snickered at this unintended profanity. And, just as surprisingly, Kairi smacked the blond over the head while hissing,

"Grow up!"

Riku rolled his eyes – at least things had calmed down after that morning's blow-out. Granted, what could've possibly happened to Naminé was still lingering in the back of his mind, but for now, everything else was… well… back to normal, so to speak: Sora the dork, Kairi being cranky (well, Riku figured she must still be reeling a bit) and Tidus… well, Tidus being the babe-watcher. And it seemed from the way his attention had suddenly diverted, that he had indeed found something to watch. Make that stalk – Tidus was already stretching as he stood up, faking an overly large yawn.

Riku frowned, having half a mind to just warn the three girls to leave now. One of them was a mousy brunette, whereas the other two were a perky and an apathetic blonde. All of them were seated around one of the other outdoor tables, scanning the menus. They looked vaguely familiar to Riku, but he couldn't place from where. But then again, Riku could just as easily be making himself a target for misandrist slander by assuming they couldn't handle themselves.

Tidus – Riku groaned – leaned back in his chair and eyed them carefully. One of the girls – the cheerful blonde one – was talking animatedly to the other two, accidentally knocking over a salt shaker onto the floor with one hand. The girl let out a giggle and leaned over to scoop it up, when Tidus (after a knowing look at Riku) declared loudly, "Nice view from here, isn't it, Rik?"

Riku scowled deeply – that was seriously pushing it, and the asshole didn't need to include his name in his lewd games. Not that they had actually seen anything when the girl had leaned over, but the girl straightened immediately and glared at him. She opened her mouth to snap something equally crude back; then Sora cut in (who had been conversing eagerly with the Hypello the whole time),

"Dudesh! Lishten to thish Hypello! He'sh shaying I got the acshent down pat!"

Riku, incredibly suspicious of this excellently timed remark, simply grinned and replied, "Great. Now me and Kai will just grab some paint and we'll merge you right in with the crowd."

"And I'll bash your head in, so that we can get you short enough as well, okay?" Tidus threw in, annoyed at the interruption. And, amazingly, the blonde girl, who had looked so pissed off a minute ago, cried in response,

"Seriously? Ooh, I've been working on it to… its so cool, isn't it?!"

Sora looked equally surprised, but pleasantly so, and replied, "I think its just awesome, all these different races and stuff, you know? We all – " Sora waves a hand around the table " – come from a mostly Hume area, you know?"

"Yeah, completely! Well, actually, where me and my girls live, we've got a few other races, and I've even met a few Hypello before… but never so many before! It makes coming here a blast, don't you think?"

Sora grinned, and the blonde girl pulled up a chair to straddle backwards so they could continue their conversation about all the wonderful and exciting diversity of Twilight Town. Riku rolled his eyes, but had to stifle a snicker when he saw Tidus glaring at Sora. If Sora noticed, he made no acknowledgement of it – Riku noticed, though, that Sora did subtly take notice of his girlfriend's jealous glare, and he calmly slipped an arm over her shoulders without breaking off his conversation. Kairi looked immediately contented.

More for lack of anything else to do, Riku turned to Tidus and asked, "So, he still the whore, then?"

Tidus scowled very deeply, and with a voice laden with envy, he replied, "I don't get it, man. Sure, I can charm the ladies, but how come Sora gets to keep them all? He hits it off with this chick, Naminé's already fond of him, and him and Kairi have been dating for practically three years now! Dammit!"

Pushing his chair back so that he could rest his feet on the café table (to which a number of Hypello glared at him for – which wasn't very threatening at all, really), Riku replied thoughtfully, "I dunno… maybe its because he's so positive and shit, and women want to know that everything will be all right all the time – its reassuring?"

"Or women just want what they can't have, the lucky bastard."

"Yeah, that's probably it."

Riku and Tidus fell into a manly-sort-of silence of manly-sort-of-thoughts, at least, until the 'lucky bastard' interrupted them. Grinning, Sora relayed, "Hear that, guys? Rikku – " Riku's eyebrows shot up and Tidus snickered idiotically " – here says that her friends came down as a band as well! Dude!" Trying to gracefully recover from the momentary loss of composure, Riku managed to slightly perch an eyebrow and ask calmly,

"Yeah? Nice to meet you, then." Riku inclined his head towards the other two girls who were still sitting at their table, but now sending them curious glances every now and then. A slight surprise hit Riku when he saw that Tidus was watching the brunette – but not with his usual flirty manner. Instead, it was almost a careful, attentive face that Riku had rarely ever seen before. Trying to both figure out what the hell was up with Tidus, and remain in the conversation at hand, Riku asked Rikku (damn, that sounded strange even to him), "Those friends of yours… is that your band, too?"

Rikku pumped a fist into the air energetically and exclaimed, "Hellz yeah! Ladies! Get your asses over here, you gotta meet these guys!" Riku actually winced from the sheer vibrance radiating from the girl – that, and she was yelling loud enough for the entire café's occupants to hear. Indeed, a number of the female customers actually peered around in interest – including some that were already looking bored with their male companions. Riku didn't even have to look at Tidus to know he was smirking and waving at them.

And then, of course, the Rikku-girl made it worse by actually yelling to the café, "Not you guys, even if you all rock! Yuna, Paine!" At this, even Tidus dropped his smirk, and Riku was left wishing these seats came with an eject button. The recovery of Tidus was quick, though – the brunette had hopped up and looked excited, and the pineapple blonde stood up (at the prodding of the brunette) as though she couldn't have cared less.

The brunette, once over, said with a warm voice, "Hey! I'm Yuna, and that's Paine over there. Don't mind her; she's just a little antisocial." Paine, in all the goth fit for a queen, merely scowled at this comment, red eyes watching Riku and the others carefully. Riku wasn't entirely sure if he should laugh at her theatrical attire, or take her indifferent aura as a challenge to his own. Inasmuch, Riku crossed his own arms and settled on his moodiest glare at everyone. He could have sworn Paine's stiff lips almost twitched into a smirk when their eyes met. Almost.

" … and we've been running over the lyrics over and over, trying out different hooks and melodies for my vocal range, you know? How about you guys? Who's your lead singer?" Yuna was saying, and her eyes fell on Kairi. There was a pause for a moment, before the entire band burst out laughing.

"Ka-Kairi?" Tidus managed to choke out. "Oh, for sure, her off-tune melodies and scratch vocals are just sheer art! We swear!" It was one of those rare moments when Kairi laughed equally as hard as him, and they even slapped a high-five. None of them had to try particularly hard to recall the only attempt at singing Kairi had ever done.

It must have been at her thirteenth birthday party, and during 'karaoke-time' that her mother had insisted they try, Kairi had been the first to take the microphone, as birthday girl. And, well, despite it being a brand new system her parents had just bought, after Kairi had finished wailing along to Girl, I Feel Like a Man (by some country singer)… well, nobody else had quite been able to use the thing after that, what with the TV short circuiting and such.

"Well… well, I'm sorry! Really! I just… just…" A red-faced Yuna couldn't continue, spluttering and ducking her head. It was most likely this that brought Sora to his wits, and still grinning, he corrected her by inclining his head towards Riku.

"Naw," Sora said, eyes sparkling. "We've got the grumpiest one out of all of us writing the lyrics and belting them out… adds character to the band, see."

Yuna hid a smile behind her hand and managed an, "Oh! Come on, he has to smile. We all have to every now and then, right?" Caught off guard by this peculiar comment, Riku raised his aquamarine eyes to hers, and realized with a start that her one eye was green; the other was blue. She must have noticed that he noticed, and she lowered her hand to reveal a genuine smile, multi-coloured eyes sparkling. Riku returned it with a playful smirk of his own and said,

"Yeah, maybe. But my voice isn't exactly suited for cheerful melodies, if you know what I mean – and its hard enough getting lyrics down as it is." He didn't mind talking to Yuna about these struggles, for some reason. There was quiet for a minute, but a loud banging from the indoors of the café interrupted them briefly. Riku paused, frowning at the doors leading to the patio, expecting a fight almost.

Turning her gaze away from the building once the noise quieted down, Yuna raised an eyebrow at Riku, and asked, "Well, at least you've gotten them over with, then."

"Not really," Riku grimaced in response. "I… well… I dunno. We're still finishing up the words to our final song, you know? We still got time till the deadline but… like, we've got most of it done, but I dunno… it just doesn't… feel right." Yuna nodded empathetically.

"I know what you mean. When I'm singing a song, even if the words rhyme and fit the beat or whatever, and even if the stanza I'm on makes sense with the rest of the lyrics… sometimes, I'll change it up every time I sing it, until it just soothes you, 'cause it feels so right – "

"Look-ee here, the punks are still stinking up the air I'm tryin' to breathe," an unfamiliar voice sneered from behind Yuna. The brunette turned around curiously, whilst Riku peered around her to get a look at the intruder. A blond young man wearing a navy tuc was standing at the patio doors (and flanked by a few friends, it seemed), glaring at Sora, Kairi and Tidus. Riku's own eyes narrowed slightly – he definitely could not recall meeting this dumbass any other time.

The blond walked – no, sauntered – over, his white, sleeveless trench coat flowing out behind him as he did so. He stopped right in front of Sora, Kairi and Rikku, though he completely ignored the last. Distaste mixed bizarrely with a sadistic sort of enjoyment was written on his face. Riku had tensed – but though he was dying to jump up and stand in the way of the asshole, he was trying his utmost hardest to respect the others.

Everything had gone quiet at the table, and Sora ventured to greet, "Following us, now? Did you miss us whooping your ass that bad?" Riku's eyebrows shot up at this – firstly, that was not how Sora normally welcomed strangers (although, by the sounds of it, this 

was no stranger at all), and when had these three gone ass-whooping without him? Riku was running through his memories when he heard Rikku snap,

"Oh, whatever – you're just jealous that you couldn't win against these guys, you big meanie!"

"Excuse me? I was kicking the redhead's pretty little tooshie completely fine, and if her swatty boyfriend and buddy hadn't jumped in to rescue her hide, than I'd won the match fair and square!"

"Right!" burst out Sora, who had jumped to his feet with the words. "Sure! Like trying to break someone's arm is fair play, you – "

"Screw this! Doesn't matter if we won that stupid Sandsea thing or not! We'll take you on, you and your buddies, right now!" Tidus was glaring heatedly at the stranger, with an alarming amount of anger on his face – Riku also realized that Tidus had been unusually – unnaturally – quiet for the entire duration of the three young women joining them…

But that was pushed very far from his mind with far more important discoveries. Like what, for example, these three idiots had been up to while he and Naminé hadn't been around. And it didn't take a genius to piece the clues he was hearing together – although, it did take people as stupid as this stranger, Kairi, Sora and Tidus in order to spill the beans when they had so dearly tried not to.

Tension was running high, anger was apparent on everyone's face (except for Paine, who looked as bored as ever) – scowling, Riku stepped over. It was not his job to play intermediary, dammit, that was what Sora was for, but this was very quickly going to get out of hand; the Hypello waiters were already eyeing them nervously, no doubt wondering if they'd be able to put a stop to it.

Slamming his fists down on the table, Riku stood up and spat at the stranger, "Look, dumbass, you wanna fight, then we'll fight you – no problem. But your outnumbered by a lot – let's just hope you're not as stupid as you look…" Riku gave him the once-over, and sneered, "I'd book it while I had the chance, if I were you."

The stranger scowled equally as deep, and replied, "It's Seifer, to lamewads like you. And you know what? I came here to eat, not to crush suckers like you – " Seifer punched one fist into his other hand to demonstrate his 'brute strength', no doubt " – and its not my problem that these twerps have found a couple more loser friends to hang out with. Stay outta my way."

And with that, Seifer turned and left rather theatrically, and the muscles in his friends and the three girls relaxed almost instantly. A grin had just spread over Sora's face, and Kairi was saying, "Sorry about that, ladies – some men just don't get it, ha! Have to lie just to get outta troub – "

Riku was so enraged, he could barely speak – he merely let out a threatening growl at the statement. His friends fell silent, while the three newcomers were watching him 

with the expression one wore when confronting a wild gorilla that had just escaped its mad zoo-keepers that were feeding it peanut butter while people threw peanuts at it. Ugh, the irony of such a tragic situation.

But Riku was no gorilla – Riku knew shit had gone down, and he was effing pissed. Eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, fists balled, the muscle in his cheek working and static practically flying from his hair, Riku spat,

"What. The. F – "

"All right! All right!" Sora cut in hastily, his eyes shifting around, as he rubbed his neck. "We'll explain…"

It was just oh-so-convenient right then that Kairi and Tidus both needed to use the bathrooms.

A/N: Heh, heh. I hope Riku's scene didn't seem too odd… I did the best I could. If I'd added anymore, I think this chapter would've blown over 30 pages!

So yeah… and I apologize for the back-to-back Naminé scenes. It was Roxas' POV that got cut out here. : S If I get the next chapter right, then Whiplash will be more... prominent in it... well, they'd better, cuz some shitz gonna be goin' down in a few, and they can't be left out of the fun, now can they? xD

Lol, so yeah, yayzerz, comments/reviews are always welcome!