Notes: This chapter has been a while in the making. Actually, what inspired me to finish it was a song, one featured in this chapter, by the fabulous musician Richard Shindell. The song is "By Now," and it's on his first album, called "Sparrow's Point." Now, I don't like country or folk music generally, but this man is unbelievable. He has the cobra-2k Seal of Approval. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this fascinating installment.

The Third Day: Afternoon

Roxas could taste the metallic tang of his blood almost before he actually felt the sharp pain that came with biting his tongue. He mentally swore and spat out the bread that was in his mouth. Eating anything would be pointless now, and he took a quick swig of ice water to try and numb his tongue. It helped a little, but the blood had seeped from his mouth into the water, turning it a sickening pinkish color and ensuring that it would taste faintly of blood until the glass was washed.

"Did you hear me?" came Kairi's voice. "I said Sora called, and I invited him over. That woman who was killed was a friend of his, and he's really upset about it, so could you please try to be civil?"

Roxas didn't say a word (it would hurt), but instead gulped more icy water and waited for Kairi to come out of the bathroom. A wide range of reactions occurred at once, and he was actually glad that he was bleeding, because it made him think twice before speaking.

How dare she say that to me?

I remember a time when I'd actually care about a friend of hers being upset…

Why doesn't she see that it's a ruse?

"Are you listening?" Kairi said, irritated, as she opened the door to see Roxas there. She jumped a little in surprise, but recovered fast. "I said that-"

"I know," Roxas interrupted. "And I think you're being an idiot."

This took Kairi a while to regain her senses from. Roxas just…he's never…

"Think, dammit!" he shouted, and grabbed her shoulders to shake them roughly. "Either you do it tonight, or I will."

Kairi looked soullessly at the floor as she replied. "Don't worry. I'll do it."

Roxas let go of her and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, she gets it. "Okay. Good. I'll be next door. So if anything goes wrong, just give me a sign."

"Yeah."

God willing, we'll be out here in a few days.

"I'm so sorry, Sora."

Roxas twitched. She was touching him. Stroking his arm with her left hand while her right hand was on his back. Comforting him, my ass. As if he needs comfort.

"Thanks," Hikari responded deadpan. His hands quivered as he reached for the tea Kairi had made for the two of them. Roxas had rejected the tea, opting instead to finish off his blood-water. "It's just so hard to believe."

Oh, please. It's easy to believe Katsuwa's dead. Easy to believe all the others are dead.

"One minute she was fine, I got up to go to the restroom, and when I came back, she was…" he trailed off into silence, and Roxas had to admit that his adversary was a fine actor. I wonder…maybe he really didn't kill her?

What if he didn't have anything to do with the incident? What if we've been pursuing the wrong man?

"Roxas."

Roxas blinked once or twice and looked anew at Hikari. "Hm?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to you alone."

Kairi was just as shocked as he was, but she showed it more. She said nothing but obligingly left the room, though both men could see that she was tenser than a violin string.

"What is it?" Roxas tried hard to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but he could tell that some of it still showed through. "Something on your mind?"

Hikari glared at him. "No, not a thing," he replied sarcastically, but after that he seemed sincere. "It's just that I apologize for getting between you and Kairi." He stretched out his hand in a peace offering. Jackass, he thought.

Roxas shook it automatically. "No, no, I'm sorry for being such a jerk about it. If you two want to become involved, that's your business." Jackass, he thought.

"Thanks, Kairi," Hikari called out, and she seemed relieved to not be greeted with a bloody mess when she reentered the room.

"Well, I have some things to do. I'll see you later, Kairi," Roxas said as he started for the door. And now…he hated to do it, but he supposed he would have to. "And Sora?" Hikari looked at him in shock, as he wasn't expecting to be addressed directly any more than necessary. "I'm sorry about your friend."

"Oh…thanks, Roxas."

"It's not worth it," Cloud muttered to himself. No matter how much money they were being offered, nothing was worth losing Larxene. "You can't buy a human…life…" Cloud pondered just what the hell he'd just said. And how ridiculous it was, coming from him.

Had he and Larxene been friends? Truth be told, their relationship was an enigma, especially to him. Cloud felt awful about losing her, like when he'd lost…well, that was in the past. The point was that he felt like another piece of him had died.

And with it died the silence. For the first time in years, he heard them.

"You hadn't forgotten me, had you?"

Cloud shook his head, straining his eyes shut to hold back the tears of despair and fear that threatened his eyes. The voices had always been there, but a few days ago, they'd been jovial and laughing, giving him cause to giggle and make jokes no one but he and they understood. Now they were back, and it appeared that they were less than pleased.

"It's your fault, Strife. You could have saved her, just like before."

"You could've gone with Sora, could have helped him do whatever he was doing."

"What about Yuffie, Strife? She hasn't accepted it."

"It's your fault. She'll blame you, and Sora blames you too."

"Please," he pleaded, even though he knew from experience that it would do nothing. "Leave me alone."

They laughed cruelly at him. That's when Cloud realized something. He stood up and spun around in a display of extreme bravado. "You're laughing now, but just you wait, Sephiroth, or whatever your name is! Sora will kill you, because he's the best there is! Then you'll have to leave me alone!"

"Oh, please," the voices replied in a condescending tone. "Stop deluding yourself, Strife. I'll kill Sora, and it'll be your fault. It'll be your fault because you want me to kill him."

"That's a lie!" he screamed.

"You're the liar! You wanted Aeris out of the picture so you'd be free to flirt with that stacked waitress!"

"No!"

"You know it's true. You wanted her to die, and so I granted your wish. And you're getting bored, being around Larxene, Yuffie, and Sora all the time. You want them to die, and so I kill them, Strife. I may be the one doing it, but all the blood's on your hands."

"I think my business here in the city will be over pretty soon."

Those words would have broken Sora's heart, if he hadn't locked away that part of him for a while. "You'll be leaving soon, then?"

"I think so."

The two lapsed into silence, sitting side by side and staring at the table in front of them, each two timid to look at one another's face, each dreading what was to come. It was Sora who finally broke the silence. "I want to let you know…"

"Yes?"

"…that even if it has just been a few days, that…you're a very special person to me." Why is this so hard? I've lied like this before…but I guess the truth is much tougher to bring out. "I feel…I really don't know how to put it. But since you're leaving me soon, I thought I should tell you…"

Kairi stopped his speech with a delicate finger brought to his lips. She leaned close to him and whispered in his ear, "I know. I understand."

He looked over to her and tried to comprehend what he saw in her eyes. The radiant blue sparkle, which normally shone with happiness, now conveyed an expression of hollow sadness, the sort of feeling that Sora assume was in his own blue eyes now. He was too focused on her eyes, and wasn't exactly ready for her when she leaned in and brought her lips to his.

He'd kissed women before, this was nothing new. But even as he thought that, he could tell it was wrong. This kiss wasn't born from lust, and that sensation made it precious. He tried to make it last as long as possible before pulling back to see her face.

Kairi had flushed to within a few shades of her hair, and seemed disappointed that he had stopped. "I'm sorry if that was inappropriate…"

He shook his head, and Kairi smiled at the way his hair fluttered about haphazardly as his head swung from side to side. "No, that's not it. Just that I wasn't ready…and this couch isn't quite big enough for both of us."

She kissed him again, this time on the nape of his neck, her small tongue brushing against his flesh as she raised her head to whisper in his ear, "My bed's just the right size."

Yuffie slept on her floor.

How long had she been there? She had no idea.

She was dreaming of a story that Larxene had told her about a time when Sora had taken Larxene out in his car to drive her to an airport. Well, technically, she needed to go to the airport to take a flight, and Sora needed to go there to meet a target. It had been late at night, and they had taken a road through the woods. Along the way, they had seen a girl who looked a little older than Yuffie, carrying a suitcase and looking very tired.

At her insistence, Sora stopped and let the young woman sit in the back seat. It turned out she was going to the same airport that Larxene was. To keep himself awake, Sora hummed to himself. It eventually lulled both Larxene and the girl to sleep.

A few hours later, Sora had jostled Larxene awake, and she didn't see the girl anywhere. He said that she had gotten off at her stop a while ago.

"Where was she headed, anyway?"

"Here, actually. I assumed she'd spend the night at a friend's, then come here in the morning."

"Did you…see her get to a friend's house?"

"Nope," Sora confessed. "I let her off on the highway."

"What? Don't you think that was a bit stupid?"

He shrugged. "She left me no choice."

"Well, you do you think she'll get here alright?"

"Hell, she doesn't have a chance if she hasn't got here by now."

And he wouldn't say anything more on the subject. Larxene chose not to press him, since she did have a flight to catch. She thanked him and made him promise to tell Yuffie she loved her in her stead. He agreed and wished her a safe trip.

As she walked away, though, she could hear that Sora was singing to the tune he'd been humming before. She remembered the words clearly.

Window open wide

Blowing through the north wood

No radar gun in sight

Moon shines on the asphalt

Two eyes in the dark

Young doe in the high beams

She don't stand a chance

If she ain't already got there by now

The sun was setting.

Sora could see it through Kairi's window. They'd dozed off after making love, but Sora could see that Kairi had woken up before him. He turned towards her to see her sitting on her bed in a green bathrobe. He held her gently and said, "I love you, Kairi."

She whispered back, "I love you, Sora." But her voice was broken.

Is she…crying?

"That's why…" she continued. "I'm sorry."

Sora's eyes widened in the darkness as he heard the click of the hammer, and felt the chill of cold steel pressed up against his chest.

Heh heh heh...yep. That's right, think, all of you! You will never discover my plan!...

Ahem. Yes, well. I decided that it would be best not to show the sex scene between Kairi and Sora, even though it is within my ability to do so. I feel it would be better if you, the reader, filled it in. Imagine a passionate and pure lovemaking scene. Since everyone has a different version of that, you get to make your own, and I don't have to worry about something thrilling and erotic for me being dull for someone else. Yes, it is a bit lazy. But it's also rather effective.