To clarify: Yes I did lie. Riku actually does appear in the fiction besides flashbacks, so there. Now shut up and read.

I swear if Sora didn't shut up I was going to shove one of my old sneakers from when I was seven year old tyke right up his mouth. The second one would surely be shoved into his ass. It was Sunday evening at our house and we were all patiently (or in Sora's case ridden with anxiety) waiting for Kairi and Riku's arrival. Demyx called us earlier from the airport saying they overbooked the flight so he had to take the next flight in the early morning. He also whined to us for ten minutes about how expense a bar of chocolate was over at the airport convenient stores. Sora said he was over-exaggerating about it but I personally agree with the overjoyed musician, as I would never pay four dollars for a single bar of Heresy chocolate. When we got a call an hour later after Demyx's news and found out Riku and Kairi were taking a taxi to our house to visit before they went to their hotel. Mom has been attempting since their call to stop Sora from twiddling his fingers anxiously while pacing around the living room, but nothing seemed to work. It was becoming irritating to listen to, and unlike the know-it-all I had to finish Larxene's essay paper on 'The Great Gatsby' and turn it in by tomorrow (or to be more specific: 14 hours, 25 minutes and 27 seconds and counting).

"Dear please relax," our mother, Quistis (1), soothingly asked Sora, putting her hands on his shoulders. I saw an apparent flinch in Sora. Another reason why the divorce between my parents wasn't the greatest idea, Sora was still uncomfortable being around mom. I don't blame Sora for it at all; if I had a step-mother that was trying to take the place of my birth mother I wouldn't adjust well either. Sometimes when we talked about her he didn't even call her 'mom' like I do, but would call her by her first name. It put a small sewing needle right at the corners of my chest every time he did that yet I doubt even he knew.

Even though there were protests between our parents over who would get custody over us they came to an agreement. That even though Quistis was my real mother she still had full custody over Sora from her previous marriage. I remember the day that Sora was leaving on the plane to live in Twilight town with her. He cursed her name in wretched spite, wishing that she never became his step-mother, so he wouldn't have to leave his friends and I. It was the first time I felt like crying in public for over five years.

That's when a small pause of silence was disrupted by a tiny ring followed by a knock on the wooden door. Before I could even say who it was Sora had leapt from his spot on the living room sofa and was in a massive fight between his jittering hands and the painted golden door knob. In two seconds the fight had ceased and Sora firmly twisted the knob and pulled the door open.

Sora's crazed joy and hugging of his two best friends left me in a blur for three minutes. By the time I finally came fully into my living room they were already sitting on the couch right by me. I was on the right end of the giant sofa, followed by Kairi on my left, then Riku in the middle and Sora on the left end. The two had definitely changed while I was gone for the past several months. Riku's hair just got a bit longer and he was already towering four inches over Sora. Kairi didn't change too much except she wasn't wearing as much makeup right now, which made her look much better (2).

That's when my azure eyes blinked and my mind blanked. No it didn't make her look better. It made her comparison to Namine just far more obvious to me. As she turned to me with a delicate smile my heart ceased beating for a second, yet my cheeks did not tint a light shade of red. It didn't cross my mind for the whole evening.

"How have you been, Roxas?" Kairi sweetly asked, taping her fingers lightly on her long waxed legs. Nothing happened. Why did nothing happen. Did my mind blank and I instantly forgot that first flush on my cheeks the day I met her? Or perhaps she was just cloned to make me believe that she was always there since I first came to the high school in September. It was frightening to think of.

"I've been fine." A simple short answer with barely any kind of special emotion related to happiness in it and I felt dead. Her voice seemed to suck all the life out of me and created a perfect figment in my life. The beauty of spring was over and so was my fling. Perhaps summer would lean for me easier.

"Everyone misses Sora and you at the island. We really wish you two could come back together," she said with a secret plea in her twinkling eyes and a voice full of wishful thinking. I suppose I forgot to mention; Kairi had a small crush on Sora when they were younger. About a few months before our parents initial divorce she told Sora and he rejected her. Though she was now on terms with him as a brother to sister relationship there wasn't a trace of doubt in my mind that she wanted to be the one who would hold his hand through all of his life.

"So how long are you two staying?" A quick question sprang up from the other end of the couch. Peering from behind Kairi I could see Sora fiddling with his fingers. He only did that when he was preparing to have a nervous breakdown. I'm not sure when it happened but Riku told me that last time they were ten and Sora had just learned to swim in Destiny Island's ocean.

"No idea," Riku coolly stated, laying his back on the supported sofa back, face emotionless and smug. Good to know his personality hasn't budged from its place. "Maybe in a month or two, I guess. We chipped in a lot of the money we've both been saving, so it's not a lot but our hotel is pretty cheap."

"I still say we should have gotten a much nicer hotel," Kairi grumbled, crossing her arms stiffly with a frown. Another thing I was never particularly fond about Kairi was that she was a girl of total class. If she wasn't treated in the best manner the worst cast scenario is that she would literally commit homicide. Well it didn't exactly happen yet but we did like to make up our own theories.

"Well we could have gotten a motel," Riku sarcastically said, rolling his eyes at the auburn haired girl, "would that make you feel better, Princess Kairi?" Don't my friends go through enough arguments through a semester?

"A rat infested motel, Riku? I rather sleep on the streets!" Kairi exclaimed, her voice piped up just like a spoiled little brat. How was I ever attracted to her at one point in the big bash? I must have been hyped on punch.

"Well I don't mind. More money for me," Riku mockingly retorted, lightly brushing a few strands of silver hair from his eyes.

"Hey if you want to fight at least do it somewhere private," I said with a grief sigh. No time to hear them argue about something as pointless as a place to stay, I still have my report to do.

"No keep arguing, there's no rush," Sora whined as he encouragingly shaking Riku's hulking muscular arm. I shook my head as he continued to irritate Riku into a short lived argument, followed by Kairi intervening to support Sora. Then the two would start to fight again, not even considering for a split nanosecond what they were fighting about. In reality Sora hated it when the two were always fighting, but being away from them for so long must have made him homesick.

On Sora's command the two continued their constant bickering, Sora watching entertainingly with amusement like their argument looking like a retarded old 80's sitcom that just didn't make much sense at all. People still laughed because the network's subliminal messages forced them to. With a shake of my head I quickly retreated from the squabble, the three too distracted to even notice I left the scene.

You can't repeat the past.
Can't repeat the past?…Why of course you can! (3)

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Okay that's it. I could take her rants, sadistic humor and even going as far as sexually harassing a student by kissing them. My sanity took all of that but this just pissed me off so bad. What happened that pissed me off like this? It was the day the paper was due and she was absent!

Most people were jumping up in joy because she had apparently got sick with a head cold, but it was so plain to see that even a blind person would know that the only reason they were happy was because they didn't do the paper on time. Teachers really need to schedule days when they get sick, because I skipped half a night of sleep just to finish her damn analysis paper on The Great Gatsby. Damn I hate school.

The whole class was a fly of buzz with chatter. Our second bell telling us we had to be in class didn't ring yet, so that meant we had short-lived free time. Everyone, and by everyone I mean just about every girl, was chatting like little fireflies. Whether it was about some boy they called, or the $500 dollar designer dress they were wearing to the prom. Even a couple had some rumors swirling about other students and some material girls showing off their new jewelry or cell phones that had over sixty features that were completely ridiculous.

"Did you hear the news," a blonde haired girl from behind my desk hushed around her three friends, an invisible smile racked with excitement plastered on. Her name was Rikku; only with two k's instead of one. She was a senior Al Bhed exchange student and had the strangest fashion sense I have ever seen. So much yellow and blue colors and a personality like a supernova. Though the only threat she posed to the universe was her sixth sense of gossip and rumor spread. Maybe that's why she got along so well with the other two class seniors with an unusual fashion sense; Yuna and Paine.

"What news?" Yuna, her cousin, asked in an equally hushed voice waiting impatiently for an answer from Rikku. Though I could not see Paine, an extremely short haired dull brown haired tomboy, I had a feeling she wasn't the least bit interested in her blond haired friend's special 'news'.

"Well," Rikku started, turning her head quickly from left to right to see if anyone was watching their talk, "the rumor is that Larxene is being visited at her house by one of our teachers, and he's suppose to be taking care of her for the day."

Yuna just let out a small fluttered gasp and with the eyes from the back of my head I saw a joyful yet awed smile slip on her glossy lips. Why was I even listening to this? I think Sora is right; I am more like Olette than I know.

That's when a received a slap to my back. My eyes almost bulged out of my sockets and I resisted the urge to let out a scream. After the pain was over I crookedly turned my head to of course see the moron who hit my back with a fist as hard as a rock. Axel.

"How was your weekend?" He asked, a trademark copyrighted grin emerged on his face. I don't know how long his memory span is but my is normal enough to tell me that he was two inches away during Saturday detention from molesting me. It was enough to make me have to suppress the urge to shiver in my seat.

"Oh it was just fine." Besides the fact that you tried to molest me on Saturday in detention of course. Luckily that part stayed in my mind.

"Glad to hear it," Axel said, tapping his slender anorexic fingers on his desk. "So did you ask that Namine girl out yet?"

"I told you I don't like her." Lying was always a sign of denial, but I didn't want anyone to know until I actually officially started dating Namine…if I ever got the chance to.

"Please, Roxy, you're crazy for her. It's so plainly obvious by the way you stare at her all the time," Axel said with a shake of his head. That was not- okay so it was true. I sometimes stare, but not all the time.

Right when I was about to scorn him about the matter and say something I was really going to regret a black-haired angel appeared at the front door. "Good day, slackers!" Well a loud one that was lacking the soothing angelic voice you only hear in Christmas specials and church. "My name is Miss Tifa Lockhart and I'm substituting for Larxene while she's sick with the flu," she paused, slamming the door behind her back, so strongly that I thought the door wouldn't slam shut but just unlock from its door clamps and fling outside, and walked over to the wooden teacher's desk. "Now this is English, right?" Before anyone could answer with an unenthusiastic nod or a simple yes she started again. "Well she called me about some paper due and she said she wanted to specifically 'see the look on all the people's faces when they had an extra day to do the paper and they didn't do it', so it'll be due tomorrow."

I groaned incoherently with several of the students, while the rest of the class let out in a hushed bunch of 'yes' and high-fives. It was very common in our class to have slackers. Our teachers were probably more influential on us than our own parents, and they were either bastards, lazy-asses or just incredibly abnormal (more than the recommended amount that is). The idea of us idolizing our teachers was scary, but sometimes my mind played tricks on me and made me think I was starting to act like Vexen. Let's just pray I don't become influenced to look like him. Though knowing the class half of the people that didn't do it wouldn't take the extra day to finish it.

"Though she did say you were all starting a new book," she started, pausing for a moment as half of the class groaned in unison. "It's called 'The Crucible' by Arthur Miller." The Crucible? I read it before, but I didn't think she would actually make us read it. Then again it has a seventeen year old whore who has sex with a guy who's married and is around his late-twenties, witch trials and a lot of deceits and bastards. Should have seen it coming from a mile away.
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Lunch time was quite…different today. For one thing Seifer must have somehow inexplicably caught Larxene's demented flu bug and wasn't in school today. Another thing was that half our table had disappeared. Hayner and Pence had to go to the library upstairs to finish Xigbar's physics paper and Olette was off theorizing with the pro-rumor control group, Rikku, Yuna and half-sided Paine, which only left Namine, Sora and I sitting at the round red table in a state of awkward silence. Sora was quietly munching on the radioactive steamed hamburgers while Namine was drawing more sketches as usual.

Maybe that's what I liked about her so much. Whenever she looked at something her mind took a high-quality digital picture and stored it with an unlimited memory bank. Using those pictures she created simple pencil sketches, but with more depth. Some of them were professionally done art that could sell for hundreds, even thousands. Other times they were just simple little drawings, yet they still held so much deeper meaning than some of the best art work. Her drawings were a recording of life. Without them you would think that nothing in between moments even happened.

"So, Namine," Sora started, swallowing a piece of his sewer meat, "I heard Roxas likes you." Wait, what?!

Namine didn't say a word but just looked up from her sketch book with a dumbfounded look and a tinted pink blush on her cheeks. Oh Sora, screw that fact that Riku and Kairi are here and are probably twice as strong as I am. You are going to be murdered in your sleep for saying that just to break awkward silence.

Before Namine could say another word I grabbed Sora tightly by his wrist, not even caring if the current of his blood flow through his veins was disturbed. Soon enough his blood would be all over the bathroom floor, along with his intestines. He made a small squeak of pain as I started to drag him away from the table, not a word uttered but every action unrecorded. Sora tried to squirm his way out of my clutches but unlike the smartass bookworm I actually got exercise and muscles from all those Struggle matches. The world seemed to disappear in an instant as I pulled Sora into a metal door by the corner of the lunchroom, which led us to what could be the fifth stairwell in the school. "What the hell is wrong with you?" A quick scramble of words cried from my mouth, glaring at my brother like he had just murdered a puppy on a Sunday morning, just for the hell of it.

"Well you were going to eventually tell her, right?" I would never admit I was, but I think he knew the definite answer. "Besides the dance is in three weeks, so why not ask her out?"

"I just can't right now," I said with a groan. Sometimes I envied Sora. He was always so open with all his feelings and never doubted them. For me it was entirely different story. I always felt that if I said or did the wrong thing someone would judge me for it and then hate me. Namine wasn't glamorously popular like her polar opposite but she was my friend first and my not-entirely-secret crush after. Ruining a good relationship over a love relationship was not on my agenda.

Sora made an unhappy sigh and looked at me with disappointment. Before I could even respond to it the monotone bell rang again, signaling the end of lunch. Looking from the bell back to Sora I noticed a whole mess of sprawling people coming back inside from the breezy outside air. Sora had vanished into the midst of the crowd.

Just for a moment after it was all over I thought I had just made the whole conversation up in my head. It wasn't possible though, because then a sob wouldn't want to break from my throat and I wouldn't be forced to chuck it down with my feelings.

"What will we do with ourselves this afternoon? And the day after that, and the next thirty years?"

(1) Quistis comes from Final Fantasy 8
(2) Is it me or did anyone else think Kairi looked too much like a slut in the KH1? Seriously; way too much eye shadow.
(3) More Great Gatsby quotes :B Just wanted to point out that Nick said the first line and then Gatsby said the second one. -hinthintshot-

Sorry for the wait all, busy week D: -had to turn in a lot of work- But yes: Thanks so much ;3; The story almost has 1k hits. Keep it up, for I love you D8! Oh and for the record: Yes I read 'The Crucible' but the story will still have quotes from The Great Gatsby. Also ironically during the process of finishing the last part of the chapter I was told that I had a week to do a paper on The Great Gatsby XD

On the next chapter of 'What's so special about four leaf clovers':

1. Demyx finally enters in (and if the magic fairy cupcake likes you then there might be hints of Zemyx :B)
2. More AkuRoku (I swear it this time )
3. Roxas asks Namine to the dance (Okay so maybe more Roxamine D: Gimme a break, I'm just one crazy woman)
4. NO SoKairi what-so-ever :D
5. ...There's a number 5 owo

Also I'll be in Washington D.C. from Wednesday-Friday without my laptop so don't expect another update for a while R&R and I love you