Is it just me, or do you guys reviewer faster when there's a cliffy? Because it seems so, and I got a hell of a lot more reviews on the last chapter too. (Thank you guys so much!) Yes, you all are wonderful, and I love getting all your feedback. Especially the one from Jessie Luna. If anyone wants a full analysis of my story, go read her review! No seriously, read it.

And once again, I come bearing another complaint. After submitting the previous chapter I noticed quite a few mistakes in it. It was because fanficnet ATE MY FRIKKIN SPACES! (Just like it ate thoseexclamation marks-they're there, honest. You just can't seem them anymore). So yea, anyways. I apologize for anyone that had to read that chapter with all those words meshed together like that. But don't worry, if you read it now it should be fine. I fixed it. )

Disclaimer: I own nothing….well no not really. I got a Wolfwood plushie from Author sama77 and cake from blockofthewritingkind, yay!

Your Friends vs My Friends

xXxXx

"Hey Ax…pst…Axel!"

But Marluxia's words never hit the redhead. He tried again. And again, with no progress. Failing to get his attention, the pink-haired boy sat back in his seat and took some paper out, quickly filling out a note.

Actually a lot of things hadn't caught Axel's attention that morning. Such as the important lecture notes the teacher had discussed for their upcoming exam, (and had he paid attention, he might have wrote some of them down), or the way Larxene was giving him weird glances from her seat next to him.

But that wasn't to say Axel wasn't attentive. No no no, the pyro was very much the observer. And right now the subject he was observing was the back of Roxas' head.

Yes, the gang was all now assembled at the back of the History classroom, where they usually sat. Marluxia and Axel were at the very back because then nobody would notice them falling asleep. Larxene occasional sat between the two, as she did today, because her answers were usually correct and the two boys had compromised on sharing her on exam days. (But now she wish she hadn't as Marluxia was still trying to get Axel's attention and she was right in the middle of it!)

Demyx sat in front of Larxene because he was not privileged enough to steal her answers. And because whenever he tried to, he made it very obvious and always ended up getting the whole group caught. That left a space in front of Axel where Sora usually sat, but today it was being occupied by his twin brother. Who apparently had really nice hair as Axel noticed.

Of course he shouldn't have noticed it at all. The redhead had begged Marluxia to let him switch places, because staring at Roxas every once in a while was one thing, but having the kid sit directly in front of him and being forced to stare at him every minute was another. (Although 'forced' might not have been the correct word there.)

Unfortunately the petal-obsessed teen had refused. Saying something about him being left-handed so he had to sit on Larxene's left side in order to copy her answers, but of course Axel couldn't see a correlation between the two because it doesn't matter which hand you hold a pencil with because it shouldn't affect your cheating abilities and he was pretty sure Marluxia wasn't left handed either and this wasn't fucking working…..

Axel let out a frustrated breath of air, lowering his head and resting it on his hand, palm up. His other hand was laying on the desk, absent-mindedly drumming his fingers against the hard surface.

The redhead looked everywhere but at Roxas. The walls, the ceiling, his desk. But it seemed that his image of Roxas' head and back was already burned into his memory, accurate to the very last detail. Even the blond's posture, sitting straight up attentively and facing forward. His body slightly leaning forward against the desk like a perfect little student, and whenever he took notes he….no…not good…this had to stop!

He just couldn't think! No wait, he could think. Because right now he was thinking about the way Roxas' hair would brush against the nape of his neck whenever he leaned back, which was much too often than Axel would have liked.

But Axel wasn't suppose to think about that either. He tried to clear his mind of everything and force himself to concentrate on something else. Anything else. Anything other than Roxas.

But all he could concentrate on was that damn kid.

The redhead took in another breath of air, holding it and hoping it might clear his head of all things Roxas. He didn't even know why he was staring at him. He briefly wondered what Sora would have thought about this. Oh god he'd kill me. And with that thought in mind he decided to ignore Roxas seriously this time.

Of course it's pretty hard to ignore someone sitting right in front of you. Axel glanced at the clock on his right, how long had his internal battle been? Surely class should be over soon. To his surprise it read 11:36.

IT'S ONLY BEEN SIX MINUTES?

Class had barely started and Roxas had completely taken over his mind. Even when Marluxia finished writing his letter and crumpled it into a ball and thrown it at Axel (of course the first two times it hit Larxene instead) the redhead had still failed to register it.

Marluxia watched as his attempt at getting Axel's attention hit the student and bounced off unnoticed. Frustrated he went back to leaning over Larxene's desk and whispering loudly at Axel. "Psst, Axel… Hey you idiot! I'm trying to ge-"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP? HE'S NOT LISTENING TO YOU!"

Both of the boys Larxene sat between jumped at her exclamation. Marluxia a bit embarrassed and Axel just the slightest confused. From where he were sitting, he could hear Demyx burst out laughing. Unfortunately the teacher hadn't found it so funny.

"A problem Miss Larxene?" was the cold reply.

Their History teacher Ms. Paine was probably one of the strictest teachers of all. With a tolerance level as high as Axel's IQ and a no funny business policy, she was someone greatly feared. Maybe her students would have found her a bit friendlier if she stopped wearing so much leather and metal, and maybe give up her biker look.

Larxene returned her answer in a polite voice that failed to hide her anger and annoyance. "No Ms. Paine."

By then Axel had started to figure a few things out. Marluxia threw him another note, which he caught this time. As he hid the crumpled paper inside his desk, waiting for the teacher to turn around, he took a look around to see if any of the other students had noticed. The first few curious glances past after a minute or so. Demyx's laughter died down after a stern look from the teacher. He also noticed, to his dismay that Roxas shoulders had stiffen and he looked pretty tense. Maybe he could feel Axel staring at him?

He slowly pulled the note out as the History teacher finished up reviewing, giving another once over to make sure no one would notice. Marluxia was facing forward now as to not bother Larxene any further, but Axel could see him watching him from the corner of his eye. He could also see Larxene still fuming and shaking with anger.

As he opened the crumpled note, he read the words that were probably on all the other group members' minds as well.

We're skipping school today. What are we going to do about Roxas?

xXxXx

At the moment, a certain brunet was being pinned to a locker (in a pretty unromantic way mind you) by another upperclassmen.

Of course this might have been part of Sora's fault. He knew Roxas didn't like talking to people-actually Roxas probably didn't like people in general-and he knew that probably caused his older brother to have a few enemies. But Sora had never imagined he'd run into one on his first day!

Still pressed against the locker, the brunet quickly went over his options. Had he been free, he could have made a run for it. After all, he was on the track team and he was pretty damn fast. Unfortunately he wasn't. The upperclassmen was still holding his shoulders down, but the pressure wasn't forced. So he figured his attacker only meant to keepfrom running away, not hurt him.

In truth, his 'attacker' didn't look very much like one either. From his position, all Sora could see was the boy's face. He had layered silver hair that seemed to go past his shoulders with strands covering his eyes. From beneath those bangs, Sora found himself staring into aquamarine orbs. He might have found them kinda pretty had they weren't staring back menacingly. But all in all, he looked like a normal guy (a bit on the girly side maybe), and not someone that would randomly attack you by shoving you against a locker.

Regardless of that, if Sora didn't do something quick, he'd get both him and his brother in trouble. But the next thing he did probably made it even worst.

"Uh , what are you talking about?" asked Sora nervously. "I'm Roxas!"

The silver haired boy in front of him gave him a look of disbelief. Not because he didn't believe what Sora said, but more like he couldn't believe that Sora actually said it.

Sora thought it kinda matched the look Roxas gave him whenever he said something stupid. Like the time he asked where the light goes when you turned a flashlight off. Or the time he told Roxas he wanted to start a key collection….or…

"Look." The tone of voice the boy used made Sora stop his train of thought.

Riku loosened his hold on the boy. He really didn't have time for this. All he was suppose to do that morning was get to class on time, pretend he was interested in what the teacher was saying, and make fun of Kairi. Unfortunately Seifer and his gang had 'distracted' him for a bit, causing him to be late. And now he was going to be even more late (so much for perfect attendance...) because he ran into some guy that looked exactly like Roxas.

Or at least...Riku thought he looked like Roxas.

Still keeping his hold on theboy, Riku backed up a bit. He let his eyes scan over him, making sure his previous assumption was correct. What if this really was Roxas? This could all be a horrible mistake.

Riku barely noticed as the boy seemed to shift uncomfortably beneath the scrunity. No this couldn't be Roxas. No matter how much they looked alike. Even if the boy claimed he had dyed his hair brown, there was still the matter of his attitude...or the kids' lack of one really. The Roxas he knew would have recognized Riku and pushed him off long ago, and follow it up with some 'leave me alone and go fix your hair' insult.

"I know you're not Katsurada, so quit lying and tell me who the fuck really you are." He said annoyedly.

Well, that was the second time that morning Sora had been subjected to that comment. Either he was a really bad actor, or Roxas had very close enemies…or friends...or both.

"Um, well you see." He started, not quite sure how to explain all this.

"This is actually a pretty funny story and all….and...you're...not…laughing." The boy in front of him narrowed his eyebrows, which made Sora quicken his weak explanation.

"Okay, I get it. Who am I? Um...actually I am a Katsurada. I'm Roxas' brother see? Now...can you let go of me." Sora cowered a bit under the gaze, failing to notice that it had actually softened a bit.

Oh, so he was right. Well, that made things a lot less awkward. Riku let go of the boy and stepped back, crossing his arms. That left plenty of space to run away, but the boy stayed put...or maybe it would just makes things more awkward.

Sora noticed that the silver haired teen had moved back. But just a bit. Did that mean he could leave now? Or did the guy still want to talk to him? Or maybe he hadn't believed him when he said he was Roxas' brother because he had lied to him before! Yes, that was it.

"No really! I really am his brother! I know I lied and said I was Roxas at first, but that was only because...well I can't tell you why. But anyways, now I'm telling the truth, honest! I-"

"Whoa, easy. Calm down kid."

One minute Riku had been staring at a slightly scared kid leaning against the locker, the next he had freaked and started acting like Riku was going to beat him up. Well, he couldn't really blame the kid after his actions.

"I'm not gonna hurt you so just calm down. You two look exactly alike, I'd have to be blind not to believe you two were brothers."

To further express that he meant his rival's little brother no harm, he put both his hands up in a calm-down gesture. And it seemed to have worked, because the brunet had stopped panicking. It was still weird for Riku to imagine that this look-alike was related to an emotionless Roxas.

"Oh, that's good!" Exclaimed Sora, sounding like it was a huge relief now that he had his identity covered. The tone of voice he used next suggested that he and Riku had been friends all along.

"So uh, you any ideas what hall we're in? I'm kinda lost." And now the kid was smiling at him!

Riku, still not used to getting so much emotion from a kid that looks just like Roxas, wasn't quite sure how to respond. Hadn't he been afraid that Riku was going to beat him up just a minute ago? And now he was trying to socializing with him?

"You're lost?" asked Riku, more suspicious than curious.

"Um...yeah! I'm a new student!"

"That would explain why I haven't seen you before...but why would a student transfer to another school at the end of the year?"

Sora mentally kicked himself. He hadn't thought of that yet and his lies were just getting him into more and more trouble. Oh, why did he have to be so obvious? With the boy's arms still crossed, a foot tapping on the floor impatiently, and the silver eyebrows still narrowed at him, Sora was pretty sure there was no way out of this. But the interrogation didn't stop there.

"And since when does a magnet school accept one right before the final exams? Especially if it's a senior. Don't you think it'd be pointless to take the exams at a prestigious high school without attending it for more than a week?"

Yes, let's see the kid talk himself out of that. Riku tilted his head and smirked. There was no way someone was going to make a fool out of Riku Hamazaki...well, unless they happened to be a really desperate Sora.

"Fine!" The brunet threw his hands in the air above his head.

"You've got me! I'm not really a new student!"

Aha! So Riku was right. Satisfied with making the boy confess, he was about to just leave it at that. He really didn't care what his rival's little brother was doing in his school. And talking to this kid was enough excitement than he wanted for one day. Unfortunately he got more than he bargained for.

"And ya know what else?" Sora dropped his hands and placed them on his hip, in a frustrated pose.

Everything about his first day was going just wrong. He gets lost, he finds out his brother might be potentially gay, he gets lost again, and now some random guy had just found out about his identity-and possibly about the switch up. So what else could possibly go wrong if he pushed it? As if it could get any worst than this.

"I didn't just lie about attending this school or about pretending to be Roxas, I LIED ABOUT BEING RELATED TO HIM TOO!"

Riku raised an eyebrow as the brunet exploded on him.

"Yea, that's right! I'm not really his brother! Roxas is actually my clone!" screamed Sora manically. Because once Sora got started, there was no stopping him.

"Created by the DARKNESS from the other side of my heart! That's why he looks exactly like me-but meaner! And the reason you haven't seen me before is because he stole all my memories and locked me in a pod. But then I broke out and got my memories back. And then I stole Roxas' clothes so I could attend his school and get back at him!"

When Sora was done with his outburst, he was left panting and took a much needed breath of oxygen. His hands, which had been gesturing animatedly the whole time, then dropped to his sides. He leaned back against the locker in a defeated manner with a loud 'thump' as he awaited the other boy's judgment.

But all Riku could do was stare at him.

"You...are...the...worst...liar...I have ever met."

xXxXx

Axel wasn't really quite sure what to make of the situation. Oh one hand, he really wanted to skip school. I mean come on, who doesn't? It's like the most boring thing in the world, even the teachers don't like coming-and they get paid to come!

But on the other, he had a feeling Roxas wasn't really the type of person to go around playing hooky whenever he felt likeit. A shame really. If the kid did, then he might have had more friends, and maybe a bit of a social life. But regardless, Axel knew it would take one hell of a reason to get Roxas to ditch with them.

"Alright class, clear your desk. We're taking the exam NOW."

Axel's jaw dropped. He had totally forgotten about the exam!

"WE'RE TAKING THE EXAM?"

Fortunately, since all the good little students around him that were paying attention were packing away their stuff and made enough noise so the teacher hadn't hear him. But Larxene did.

"Yes you idiot. Weren't you paying attention?" She asked annoyedly.

Honestly. Today was just not her day. First she ran out of hair gel that morning after doing only one side of her bangs. Then Axel and Marluxia tried to have a conversation with her in the middle of it (and it was so distracting she wasn't even able to concentrate when their teacher were reviewing-she swore, if she failed that exam both of their heads would come off). And now the redhead was asking her stupid questions.

"Wh-Which subject is the exam on?"

"We're in HISTORYclass, so I assume it's history Axel!"

The redhead shielded away from the angry blonde. Okay, so maybe he had gotten on Larxene's bad side a bit too much that day. He didn't mean to, but hey! Maybe she could help convince Roxas to skip school with them. It wasn't like they couldn't just leave the kid here and fend for himself.

"Honestly Axel, what the hell have you been doing the whole time?" She asked again. Yes she knew Axel had ADD, but it was always a good thing to make sure.

"Umm..."

Well he couldn't have very well told her he had been staring at the back of Roxas' head the whole time now could he? Actually he could, but she just wouldn't believe him. Or maybe she might, but then she'd laugh at him or-

A packet of sheets fell upon his desk as a brown haired girl passed them out. She then moved up to the row in front of Axel and handed one to Roxas.

"Oh wow Sora! When did you bleach your hair? It looks really cool." she giggled.

Axel watched as Roxas tried to look at anywhere but her. Desperately hoping the girl would leave, but not without abrief change ofconversation of course. "Um thanks...uh..."

Quick to the save, the redhead leaned in on the other side of Roxas so she wouldn't see. He didn't even notice when the blond suddenly stiffen as he felt Axel's breath on him. In truth, he had just wanted to get closer to Roxas after sitting behind him for so long.

"Her name's Olette." he whispered.

"Uh, thanks Olette!" replied Roxas nervously. As she gave him another friendly smile and returned to her seat, Roxas quickly relaxed. Or maybe it was because Axel wasn't so close anymore.

But either way, Axel hadn't been watching for once and he missed it. Instead he was looking the problems on the sheet. Problems he might have known the answer to had he done the homework, paid attention in class, attended school regularly, or one of the above.

He only vaguely heard the teacher tell them to start as he bubbled in the first answer.

It's definitely B.

Axel stared at the question again. Maybe B wasn't the correct answer. It was too obvious.

Aha a trick! Axel quickly erased it and circled A.

After a few seconds Axel started to reconsider it again. Maybe it was B after all? He erased that and changed it again.

Or maybe that's what they wanted us to think! Changed his answer again.

No wait, A for Axel.

Convinced that this wasn't working the redhead adopted another strategy. I wonder what Larxene has...

Green eyes quickly flashed to the left. It read D on the scan-tron sheet. Axel pondered this a bit. Well Larxene was a lot smart than him. As he was about to change his answer yet again, another thought hit him. What if Larxene was still mad at him for annoying him in class, so she wrote down the wrong answer purposely knowing that he would copy it!

Ha! There was no outsmarting the ingenious Axel.

The redhead proudlyf illed in the circle for C. Hmm, he wondered what Roxas had put for the first question. No wait, if he started staring at the kid again there'd be no telling when he'd finish his quiz!

But Axel had already made the mistake of looking up. Roxas was currently leaning against the desk with his head down, completely absorbed in the test. He could see his head move slightly from side to side as he scanned the questions lightening fast. The blond's pencil never staying in one place at a time as he used it to underline a sentence or fill an answer, or occasionally bite on it. Not that Axel could tell since he was sitting behind him, but he had seen Roxas do that quite a few times that day to know it was a habit the blond had.

He leaned over a bit further to see Roxas' answers, only to see that they wouldn't do him much good since he was already on the third page. Well it shouldn't have been a surprised that Roxas could answer all those questions so fast, but considering the fact that Axel was still on the first question...he should probably hurry up.

Well, it couldn't be too hard. His first answer was totally C or at least he thought so. And now for his second answer...he briefly wondered what Roxas had for the second one and looked up again.

Weeks later, when they had gotten their scores back in the mail, Axel found he had gotten almost every question wrong on the history exam-including the first one.

xXxXx

The silver haired teen was giving him that look again. The one that usually meant 'I can't believe you just said that' or 'Why didn't you quit when you were ahead?' Not that Sora was very much ahead in the first place. Okay, so maybe it was a 'Why didn't you quit when you weren't that far behind?' kinda look.

But either way, it was better than having those aquamarine eyes glaring at him. If anything, they almost looked amused which made Sora feel slightly more comfortable. He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side in the same fashion that the boy in front of him had done.

"Soooo, if Roxas and I look exactly alike. Then how did you figure it out?" he asked, partly to get rid of the silence that was starting to form.

"You don't have an attitude problem like he does." Was Riku's nonchalant reply. He said it without thinking (much like the way the other kid talked-or so it seemed) so it might have sounded a bit harsh.

A bit too harsh maybe, because the brunet in front of him stopped smiling. Riku watched as the kid's face fell and as he looked off to the side, his shoulders began to sag. The once twinkling blue orbs that were animated with life during his 'explanation', were now replaced with something akin to sadness. It was just too much emotion in one conversation for Riku! How could the kid change so fast?

Feeling a bit sorry for him (and now completely convinced that Roxas had gotten all the smarts and left his brother with all the emotions...) he decided to change the subject. Not that they were really talking in the first place. And since Riku wasn't very skilled at cheering people up, he used the first excuse he could think of.

"Katsurada, you better get to class." he said, and waited for the boy to leave. Instead he the boy turned and his head to face him again, the enthusiasm gone.

"I'm lost remember?"

Riku sighed.

"Oh right, didn't Katsurada give you any instructions on how to get to class or something? I mean for crying out loud you're his own goddamn brother. You'd think that idiot Katsurada would show some hint of kindness and self-lessness..."

"Um..." Sora didn't really feel comfortable interrupting, but the matter had been bothering him for a while now.

"...since Roxas and I are brothers we kinda share the same last name. So when you say it like that it kinda sounds like you're talking about me and that's just weird-"

"Get used to it."

Riku stared at the boy in a manner that left no room for discussion.

"Look, if you're really Roxas' brother then he wouldn't want you talking to me." He said.

But did Riku really care? Of course not! If Riku became friends with his rival's brother, then that would no doubt anger Roxas. And as much as Riku would have liked to get back at his rival, this kid just wasn't worth it.

But as he turned his back to leave, Sora called out again.

"Why not? And why do you keep calling him Katsurada! He has a first name you know. Actually I do know you know because I heard you use it whe-"

Okay this was getting annoying. You'd think by know the kid would recognize who Riku was. Popular or not, if he really was Roxas' brother than surely he would have heard of him?

Riku wheeled around on the spot, never wanting to get to class so much in his life before. "Do you even know who I am?" he asked annoyedly.

The brunet, who was about to walk up to him stopped in his tracks. He used both his hands gesture animatedly in his reply.

"Of course not! You never told me your name! And I told you who I was."

Riku definitely did not have time for this. "You're brother calls me Hamazaki."

The upperclassmen waited to see a spark. Any spark, maybe one of recognition at the name. Or maybe one of shock at finding out he had been talking to his older brother's arch enemy the whole time. But Riku never saw one.

"You still don't know who I am, do you?" He let out a sigh and brought a hand up against his forehead and temple.

Sora, still completely confused just stared at him. Was he suppose to recognize him? After all, the silver haired teen had known who he was. Maybe he was friends with Roxas after all if he could sit through all of Sora's explanation and put up with their interesting conversation. He was about to ask what the teen had he meant by that comment when the person he was looking for found him.

"There you are! I was looking for you an-oh…it's you! What are you doing here!"

Both males turned around to see a fuming redhead storm towards them. Her death glare focused directly at Riku.

xXxXx

He didn't know how, but he knew it. He just knew it. Or more rather-he felt it. There was no denying it. Axel was staring at him...AGAIN.

Roxas had sat down in front of the redhead, dispite his wishes. But everyone had already known where they were sitting and he was the last one to claim a seat. It was later pointed out that it was Sora's seat all along-and had he had time to pick another seat, he wouldn't have been able to anyway. But the thought that he could have avoided all of this was hopeful.

It wasn't that bad at first. Sure it wasn't next to a window, but he hadn't brought his sketch book either. And if he slouched a bit and leaned back just right, he could avoid watching the creepy female goth teacher and stare at his desk. Of course it probably didn't matter whether or not the teacher saw him paying attention. Because the guy sitting next to him was making paper footballs in plain view and the teacher was either completely blind or chose not to notice.

That guy also happened to be Demyx. Who, from time to time would accidentally flick a football onto his desk and make a loud ruckus trying to receive it. Just when he thought he had escaped the musician, he ended up right next to him.

The beginning of the class had gone by uneventful at first. Demyx had flicked another one of those footballs, which was intercepted by Roxas' head, and he was about to tear up. Yes, to shreds just like the way he wanted to tear its owner up as well. But then he found a better use for it. The blond unfolded the football and flattened out the creases on his desk, with cries of dismay from Demyx at having his lovely form of entertainment ruined.

With paper on his desk and a pencil in his hand, Roxas was content with just drawing which was what he was about to.He vaguely heard the shout-like whispers from that weird pink haired guy behind him as he drew. Something about...ax...axe...Axel?

Wait a minute. Why hadn't he heard a single word from Axel lately? Usually the redhead wouldn't shut up, and now he was acting like he wasn't even there.

And that's when Roxas felt it. Axel's stare. There was no doubting that the pyro was yet again staring at him. Just his back, but still. It made him feel exposed. It was a prickly feeling that made the hair on his neck rise, which made him feel even more exposed because Axel was probably staring at his neck too.

But of course he couldn't just turn around and tell the damn freak to stop. Because then he'd be staring right at his face. And there was always a chance that Axel wasn't staring and the feeling was just his imagination, and that would be awkward.

Well, that was until Larxene shouted. After that he was positively sure that Axel was checking him out.

And it was freaking him out. Goddamn it was creepy to have a guy behind your back staring at you. Because then you can't turn to the side and see if he had stop staring at you so you can calm down. Or if he is, then sometimes making eye contact will make the guy stop staring at you and stare somewhere else. But since Axel was sitting right behind him, he had no way of telling if the redhead was still watching...his...every...move.

But he was safe right? As long as Axel was all the way back there and not here, Roxas was safe and had nothing to worry about right? Wrong.

Because when that was when that frizzy brown haired girl showed up. Kinda like Kairi but not as annoying. She was friendly enough and seemed pretty nice about it when Roxas had so obviously 'forgotten' her name, but why did she have to pick him to be nice too? Because if she hadn't then Axel wouldn't have had to help him.

It was the scariest damn thing, getting help from that guy. Thinking that Axel was still all the way back there in his seat, and then the next minute have him right. Next. To. You.

He had barely heard Axel call her Olette or something. The name of the girl. But whatever, it still scared the hell out of him to have Axel breathing on his ear like that. And he wasn't sure, but it seemed like the pyro had stayed there longer than he should have after relaying her name.

"Hey...Rox...Roxas!"

And now it was Demyx's turn to bother Roxas, interrupting his thoughts. Yes, they were taking their exam now. Actually Roxas' was taking Sora's exam, but you get the point. The blond tried to ignore him, but Demyx kept pestering.

"Rox, hey buddy what's the answer to 28? Hello?"

The teacher must have been deaf not to have heard him. And Demyx must have cheated his way into Destiny High. That much Roxas was sure of.

"Okay nevermind, what about question 29?"

Demyx still hadn't given up with getting an answer out of Roxas. And of course the blond went along ignoring him. Because ignoring people was what Roxas did best, and cheating was something he couldn't stand.

It was wrong. People shouldn't be allowed to get credit for other's work. And if they had just studied a little bit, they might actually learn that they know a lot more than they thought they knew. Or something like that. And yet here he was cheating for his brother.

"Rooooooooooxas!"

The blond sighed. Why wouldn't Demyx just shut up? He wasn't going to give him his fucking answer! And with that he tried to concentrate on his exam again, ignoring Demyx and ignoring the feeling that told him Axel was staring again.

xXxXx

Kairi had turned around for just one second-just one little second to talk to one of her friends, and the next Sora was gone. It was as quick as talking to Selphie about her new shoes then turning around to find a sea of students and no Sora.

Well okay, maybe she did take a while talking to Selphie. But it important! She had just bought the cutest pink skirt over the weekend. She was serious, it had frills at the bottom and a cute purple belt to hold it up and everything. It was so much prettier than the plain plaid ones the school required them to wear of course. And with that she also had bought these white slip-ons shoes that not only matched her new skirt, but this other tank top...But anyway, the point was that she had been distracted for a minute too long.

So after apologizing to Selphie for the rush exit, she immediately turned around and back-tracked to where she might have lost Sora. Apparently she must have been talking for a lot longer than she thought, because she ended up walking past two empty hallways. And at the end of them, guess what she found.

Riku.

"...oh it's you! I should have known!"

Sora turned around at the sound of her voice. At first a bit surprised since he hadn't seen her, but then relaxed as he recognized his helper. Who at the moment, wasn't exactly helping.

What was going on, Sora was confused. Did they know each other? He was about to turn around and ask the silver haired guy but noticed that he was already leaving. And he was moving hurriedly too. Maybe he had somewhere to go? But they were still talking, sort of.

"Uh, hey wai-"

"Come on Roxas." said Kairi angerly, stressing his brother's name and grabbed his arm. For a girl she was a lot stronger than she looked, since she was now dragging him out of the hall.

Roxas. Oh right. He was supposed to pretend he was his brother to keep people from finding out about the switch-up...well a lot of good that did him.

"Um, yea. Kairi about that. There's something you should probab-" he started but he was cut off.

"Not now Sora. And hurry up, we're late for class." It was okay to use his name now since they were already at another hallway. Wow, they were moving pretty fast.

Well Sora had no trouble keeping up with her, he wasn't on the track team for nothing. But he was still curious about what the hell had just happened. So he slowed down, when Kairi noticed she stopped as well.

"What?" She asked. And she actually sounded concern, not at all annoyed or anything. If she was desperate to get to class-as Sora sure she was since they were pretty late-she didn't let it show in her voice.Kairi was a really nice girl.

"Who was that guy?"

"You mean you don't know?" He had Kairi' full attention now. All thoughts of getting back to class forgotten. Sora briefly wondered what had gotten her so worked up.

"Well not really I-"

"So your brother never told you?" she asked with a tilt of her head, her brows knitted in concentration.

"Well, Roxas doesn't really talk about his friends in sch-"

"That wasn't Roxas' friend. Didn't he tell you his name?"

Sora was actually starting to notice that all his sentences were being cut. Ever since Kairi arrived, he hadn't been able to finish a single thought.

"Yea, he said he was Hamazaki."

Silence. Yes Kairi had actually let him finish his sentence. In fact, she hadn't spoken at all afterwards, she was just standing there, with her arms crossed and staring at him with that tilted look of hers. Like she was waiting for him to say anything. Not that Sora knew what it was.

"That's his last name." he tried.

Maybe there was a chance Kairi didn't know him either and she just didn't like guys other than Roxas in general. But the statement left Kairi unchanged. The redhead was still quiet and giving him that look. As if understanding Sora's confusement, she unhooked a hand and waved it in the air in a circular motion several times. Clearly expressing for Sora to move on.

"Uh...most people don't introduce themselves by their last na-"

Kairi rolled her eyes and sighed. Yes, a sigh! It was almost like an interruption, so Sora stopped anyway in his sentence. Glad that he was getting a response, and hopefully an answer soon.

The redhead looked back at him and titled her head the other way, in a tired pose.

"You still don't know who he is, do you Sora?"

"Not a clue."

Kairi gave another sigh. If she was so worried about getting to class early before, she was sure taking her sweet time now. Sora waited patiently, still unsure of what the big deal was. Why was everyone acting like he was suppose to know some guy he just meet? It wasn't like Roxas talked about that many people in his school anyway. Just Kairi sometimes and that other kid nam-

"Like you said, he's Hamazaki. Riku Hamazaki."

The words rung in his head. His jaw dropped and his eyes widen in disbelief. It was as if the hallway they were in just got bigger and the last two words were now echoing off the walls and getting louder each time. He might have found it ironic how Kairi had interrupted his thoughts too, but the only thing he could think about now was how badly this situation had gotten. It was like everything was screwed up and the hallway had suddenly gotten too empty.

Sora barely heard the next words Kairi said. But he didn't need too, he already knew them.

"Riku Hamazaki, that's the guy your brother hates."

xXxXx

The exam hadn't taken that long. In fact, it was ridiculously easy. Roxas had known all the answers-but just to make sure he purposely missed half the questions at the end so Sora would only barely pass. Or else suspicions might rise from his brother's sudden burst of genius.

So with nothing to do for half an hour, Roxas just sat there. A few students had finish their exams after Roxas did and had gotten up to leave. The teacher had allowed anyone who finished early to go to their next class. But of course without Axel, the blond had no idea where to go next…unfortunately.

"Demyx hurry up!"

Roxas hadn't turned around but recognized the voice as belonging to Larxene's. The blond looked sideways and noticed that Demyx was the last of the group to finish. Of course it wasn't at all Roxas' fault and his decision to not help the musician cheat.

The only girl sitting behind him was getting pretty annoyed. "The last ones are A, D, B and B. Now come on!"

Demyx furiously copied the answers Larxene had given him down. "Got it!"

It slightly disgusted Roxas at watching them cheat. Yes, cheating was pretty common at his school too since grades were everything, regardless of whether you earned them or not. But here the answers were thrown outcarelessly, without a single thought of actually passing the exam, but just to get it over with.

"Great then let's go. Come on Roxas."

The next voice came from behind his this time, and he knew it immediately as Axel's. After hearing it so close to his ear with Axel breathing on him like that, it was kinda hard to forget. Roxas practically had his voice memorized. Yeah, it was that creepy.

The group headed for the door, with Demyx in the lead who had bolted immediately after finishing the test.

Once they were in the hall, Roxas began following them to his next class. Assuming that all of them had the same class, since they were still walking together. He noticed-but wasn't surprised to find- that Axel had fallen into step next to him.

The other three were talking animatedly with each other up front, but the redhead was quiet again. Just like during the exam, which Roxas knew Axel had tried to cheat off of. He could feel the redhead staring at him the whole time. And because he didn't want that to happen again now, he spoke up.

"Where are we going?" he asked curiously, watching Axel through the corner of his eye.

The teen next to him looked a bit surprised as Roxas spoke. But not at all embarassed that the blond had caught him staring again. Roxas decided to change his thought to really creepy.

"What?" came the puzzled reply.

"I asked where we were going." Said Roxas, he took a good look of his surrounds and noticed that they were in a different section of the school he didn't recognize.

"We're not…going to class are we?" It sounded more like a statement than a question to Axel.

Wow, this kid was fast! He hadn't really expected Roxas to catch on that fast, hopefully buying him some time to convince Roxas to skip school with him. But in truth, it seemed like the blond was going to come with them willingly, but he still didn't look pleased.

"Oh, yeah. Well since we're done with the exam and everything we can just skip the rest of school day. It's perfectly okay, ya know? It's not like the teachers care whether or not we're there unless we're taking the test and all."

"That's not what I'm concern about." cut Roxas.

Axel stopped in his excuses on why it was okay to ditch class. In all the other high schools, classes usually ended right after the final exams. But Twilight Town felt that they needed to keep their students in for the whole day. Something about a gang problem if their students weren't being productive in school. Ha, like that would really stop them.

"Does my brother skip school with you guys too?"

Oh, so Roxas was being a concerned older brother? How touching. Now Axel could tell Sora later on that Roxas actually cared about his well being and asked about him. Even if it was because he found out Sora skipped classes. Which wasn't a good thing for his older brother to be asking about. Quick, change the subject!

"Well, sometimes yeah." Said Axel, he didn't really want to lie. And besides, he had a feeling Roxas would know if he did.

"How often?"

Okay, now Axel was starting to get a bit worried himself. Roxas' voice didn't sound too happy. And although he didn't look angry either, the blond had proved he could be quite the personality problem kid sometimes.

"Well, ya know. Every once and a while. It doesn't hurt since the teachers ditch class all the time too." Okay, that was a lie but Axel wasn't about to tell him that.

"And besides, why do you care?" he asked.

It was only to get Roxas to stop asking questions, he hadn't meant it in any way. In fact, he was sure Roxas-being the smart kid he was, could have plenty of reasons why he was concern with his brother's education. But the blond had taken it the wrong way.

"He's my fucking brother. Of course I care about him." He shot back a bit defensively.

And maybe it was because Axel didn't like it when people raised their voice at him. Or maybe it was because Sora would always complain to him about how his brother could be such an emotionless uncaring jerk (not Sora's words of course…Axel might have twisted them a bit) and now Roxas was acting like he cared. Either way, the reply slipped before Axel could stop it.

"Your brother doesn't seem to think so."

Roxas suddenly halted. His breath caught in his throat.

Axel, who was still walking stopped as well and turned around. I can't believe I just said that. The blond's face was still emotionless but it looked rigid this time. His eyes flashed something that looked like hurt. And although Roxas wasn't shouting or crying or looking angry, Axel thought that was the most emotion he would ever see from him. And he really wished he hadn't.

"Umm...I didn't mean that." He said hurriedly.

And of course he hadn't! What was he thinking saying that Sora didn't think he cared. Sora probably thought he cared lots, which was probably why he was always talking about Roxas. And even though Axel knew that half the thingshe was just thinking was made up, he still wanted to take back his words. Only to make Roxas stop looking like that.

The blond started walking again and moved right past him.

"Whatever." The reply sounded cold and he hadn't looked at the redhead when he said it.

Axel watched Roxas walk away, his head faced forward with his hands in his pockets. Obviously trying to brush the pyro's last statement off. Axel took a breath of air, not realizing he had held his breath in the first place. With everyone else already in front of him the redhead ran to catch up, still cursing himself under his breath and wondering why he felt so bad.

xXxXx

Yes! Two cliffhangers! Well, sort of. Now you guys can kill me over twice. Heh heh.

This chapter switched back and forth between them quite a lot, so sorry if anyone got confused. And that whole thing with Sora...yea. I have nothing else to say about that other than that if someone locked me up in a pod and took my memories, I'd be pretty pissed too. XD And the scene with Axel and his test answers idea came from a PM with Jessie Luna.

Oh, and also. Some people asked about Sora's and Roxas' parents. Well I didn't just write the chapter to leave their background hanging like that. I'll expand on it later. (Roxas didn't become emo over night mind you………or maybe he did. XD)

Well, this chapter is actually shorter than the previous one. That means I'm getting better at controling the length! But that also means that their first day is going to take up three chapters…and I have two whole weeks of storytime to do. So I'll probably have to get better at this. Anyways, everything I promised in the previous chap will be in the next one. So….

….Review!