The Second Day: Afternoon

Roxas knelt respectfully once he'd got inside the church. He noticed that Kairi wasn't with him, but he was used to her skepticism. Truth be told, his devotion seemed to be something that had always annoyed her, yet he thought she would come around eventually.

To his shock, though, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Kairi approaching a confessional booth to his left. He gaped for a moment, then heard a hymn beginning, which he joined reverently.

"Ieyui

Nobomenu

Renmiri

Yojuyogo

Hasatekanae

Kutamae"

"That's pretty," said a voice to his left, one that he knew as belonging to a person he had only met once, but hated instinctively. "What's it mean?"

Roxas didn't turn to face Hikari, but responded as coolly as he could without sounding rude. "It translates to 'Pray, savior. Dream, Child of Prayer. Forever and ever, bring us peace.'"

Hikari grunted and faced the front of the church. "Does Kairi subscribe to this, or is it just you?"

"Subscribe to it?" Roxas finally turned to glare at him, ignoring the comment about Kairi. "What, exactly, do you mean by that?"

"Does she follow these superstitions?" he clarified.

"Superstitions?" Roxas asked incredulously.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hikari said as he waved a hand in front of his face apologetically. "Let me rephrase that: does Kairi believe this primitive bullshit?" he clarified further.

Roxas leapt to his feet, his fury amplified by Hikari's complete nonchalance. Ordinarily, he would have punched the man then and there, but couldn't bring himself to do it in a church. "It is not bullshit!"

Hikari looked askance at him. Slowly, his eyes trailed off of Roxas' and went to the area behind him. "Look, a unicorn."

Roxas said nothing. Hikari raised an eyebrow, a slight smirk coming to his face. "You don't believe me when I tell you there's a unicorn behind you, but you do believe that there's an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent being that rules our lives? I'd say you should reconsider what you believe in."

Roxas was about to come back with a snappy retort, but when his mouth was halfway open, he realized that he didn't actually have a snappy retort to that. Hikari's smirk seemed to increase in intensity.

"Sora!" Kairi's voice came from behind him, and Roxas turned around to greet her. As he did, he saw two things. One was that Kairi hadn't been going to confession, she had been seeking a corner so she could use her cell phone, which she was now tucking into her pocket.

The other thing he noticed was that there was a bronze statue of a unicorn a few feet behind him.

Kairi was never happy when Roxas insisted on going to church. She wasn't even sure why she went in with him, as it would have been easier to make her phone call to their boss from outside. Maybe some part of her still didn't want to offend Roxas too much. That part was small, though.

When you spend enough time with someone, Kairi reflected, you almost always wind up hating them.

Oh, dammit, but I don't hate Roxas, he just…aggravates me.

Well, regardless, here's a chance to get away from him for a little while!

"Sora, you busy today?"

"Not terribly," he replied, a genuine smile coming back to his face as he shifted his attention to her and away from the fuming blonde. "Though I've got some business at the Badminton Theater to take care of later. As do you, if I recall correctly."

"How'd you know?" Roxas asked, raising an eyebrow.

You just told me, you doorknob, Sora thought, but opted to say, "Kairi told me you were going to see 'Phantom' tonight. You'll love it, it's a terrific show." Here he lowered his voice conspiratorially. "You know, I know the manager of the theater very well. If you want, I could arrange to get you really great seats."

Before Roxas could interfere, Kairi had already agreed and thanked Sora for his generosity. Suppressing a scowl, Roxas tried to wrest some control of the conversation. "What brings you to the theater?"

"Like I said, I know the manager, and she invited me over to have dinner at the theater this evening. It's actually kind of cool, being able to hear the show right in the same building, but not actually watching it."

"Come to think of it," Roxas said nonchalantly, as though he were actually warming up to Hikari, instead of fishing for information, "I heard a teensy rumor that the Badminton has its own 'phantom': a man that watches the shows from the rafters. It's not true, is it?"

Sora knew full well that he was being accused, but precisely why, he had no way of knowing. Besides, he had heard those rumors too, and had always wondered about them. "I've heard the same thing, but no one I know has ever really believed them. It's probably just a stage hand or something." He shrugged and smiled, making sure that his eyes were cold when they were set upon Roxas before returning warmly to Kairi. "Well, maybe I'll see you later today."

"You sure you don't want to grab lunch or something?" Kairi asked, trying to conceal the desperation she was feeling. What's with me? I just met Sora for yesterday!

"Well…" Sora paused and considered. I don't have much to do today before meeting Larxene in a few hours…but he's here…oh, what the hell? I want to…I need to be with her again, before…before the show. "Sure. What are you in the mood for? It's my treat."

Yuffie sighed to herself as she nuzzled Larxene's neck. Ordinarily, she would have complained about her lover's office being way too cold, but, seeing the usual whining coming, Larxene had stripped down and invited the younger girl to do the same. The chances of someone bothering them were practically nonexistent, as the various hands were too busy setting up for tonight's performance to check in on the boss and her paperwork (which lay on a small table in a corner, a sign taped to it which read 'DO THIS ONE OF THESE DAYS').

Larxene usually didn't put off work like this, but she made a special exception because Yuffie was here. She didn't normally like coming to the theater, and she especially didn't like being present for musicals, but today she was eager to talk about Sora, an eagerness that could not be sated, even by pressing her own naked body up against the gorgeous Larxene's. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer, and forced herself to speak, breaking the palpable silence that had built up around the two. "Do you think Sora's in love with that Yamato girl?"

Larxene thought. And thought. And thought a bit more. When Larxene thought, she tended to close her eyes, so someone who didn't know her would assume that she had fallen asleep. Yuffie, though, waited patiently for a response.

"Maybe," it finally came, and Larxene's eyelids slid open slowly. "But he'll be rid of her tonight, so I guess her can't love her too much."

"But what if he doesn't do it tonight?" Yuffie asked. "What if he lets her go, and by the end of the week, she's still alive, and the contract is up, and then he doesn't have to do it at all?"

"You think he'll screw up?" asked Larxene, amused.

"No!" Yuffie nearly cried out. Being Larxene's best weapons customer, doubting his skill was almost impossible for either girl to do without feeling very guilty. "But what if he decides to, you know, have mercy for his true love?"

At this, Larxene had to force herself not to start laughing loudly. As her potential paroxysm passed, she stood Yuffie up and locked eyes with her. "I want you to do three things for me."

"Okay," Yuffie asked, half of her hoping these things would answer her question, the other half hoping it had something to do with them both being nude.

"First, picture Sora when he's doing bad."

An image of Sora jabbing a hypodermic needle into a man's neck popped into her mind. "Done."

"Okay, now picture the nicest, most generous thing you've ever seen Sora do to someone he didn't know very well."

This time, Yuffie had to think a lot harder before coming up with a nice memory. "Okay."

"Fine, now, someone who does that first thing would also have to do something really incredible to show his true, pure heart in order to save someone he loves. So, if he had, I don't know, saved a dying child, or put out what could have been a really bad fire, then, yeah, I'd say he's the sort of guy who would let that Yamato girl go free. What was the nice thing he did, anyway?"

"Once, he petted this dog as we were walking by it."

"And…the first thing?"

"Needle in neck."

"So, let me get this straight," Larxene groaned. "The nicest thing you've seen him do for a stranger is pet a dog. The most horrible thing he's ever done is kill someone. Lots of people, in fact. In a variety of ways. Some of which were very cruel and unusual."

"Wait, wait!" Yuffie protested. "Some of the really cruel ones were ones you made up, and you love me, right?"

Seeing that Yuffie had taken this the wrong way (Or is it the right way? she thought), Larxene wrapped her arms around the other girl and hugged tightly. "Oh, honey, of course I do. It's just that I really don't think Sora has it in him to fall in love with someone he's just met. I mean, it just doesn't seem like him."

"Maybe…" Yuffie trailed off and let her eyes fall to the floor. Larxene frowned.

"Hey, cheer up, Yuffie! Now, why don't you take a cab to Cloud's, and Sora and I will be along late tonight, okay?"

"You promise you'll be home?" Yuffie looked to her with wide eyes. Larxene worked late a lot, even on days when she didn't have to deal with the Syndicate (the weapons dealer she worked for) breathing down her neck.

She flashed her lover a winning smile as she slipped her black bra on. "I promise, sweety. Now get dressed, Cloud's probably wondering where you are. And I've got to make sure the chandelier is ready. Sora told me to seat the girl right under it, and I've got to make sure the Syndicate gets the payment for the Jackal."

"See you later, then!" said Yuffie as she bounded out of the room.

"So, what do you do, Sora?"

Roxas cringed inwardly at using Hikari's first name, but was determined to at least try and make casual conversation. The brunette took a sip of coffee before answering, "I'm a writer, but I don't do very much of it. My roommate and I live mostly off investments."

Kairi had gone to the restroom, leaving the two rivals to sit with one another and try to choke back the bile of resentment. It seemed to be working so far. "And what exactly do you and Kairi do again?"

"We're researchers working for Umbrella Pharmaceutical. We got transferred, and we're just staying here for a week or so."

"I see. What exactly do you research?"

Roxas had prepared the story well, and didn't hesitate like Sora was hoping he would. "We're in charge of the molecular biology department. It's interesting work."

"Sounds like it," Sora replied.

The two lapsed into silence, smiling with their faces but glaring with their eyes.

"You'll like 'Phantom,'" Sora said at last, a genuine grin coming over his face. "Are you seeing it too?"

"Of course. I'll be right next to Kairi."

"I see." Sora relaxed a bit. Two birds with one chandelier. "It's one hell of a show."