A/N: I'm not going to even try and feed you all bullshit about why this chapter was so late…I'm just a lazy sod. That purdy much covers it.

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It's a sad thing when you decide to come out and face the world, but the sun has already set and the world has gone to sleep…

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"So, how do you feel about Roxas?"

Acylone's disgust almost slipped passed Phoenix, but she had indulged Acylone's presence for many years, at one point nearly going so far as to call her a friend. Nothing in the austere woman's tone could be fully covered, and Phoenix could see past every bluff she fronted. It was why they could never fully be friends, even when their sons were smaller, and innocent, playing at the park around the corner from the houses they used to live in.

In many respects, Phoenix considered them too much alike. They could pass as sisters if trying desperately enough. Their facial structures were nearly identical, though Phoenix had thinner lips and held her body in a way that would make king's bow down to her, and Acylone had shoulder length chestnut hair, which she had passed on to her son. Their eyes could be taken as familial. Their cheekbones were high and regal. Even their jawbones had the same narrow descent. They liked the same coffee, the same music.

But their personalities betrayed them as completely different woman, one cold and the other forgiving. Though it was hard to tell at times which was which, considering one of them played their faults to the worst, and the other played her skills. Phoenix could lie when faced with a gun, and Acylone couldn't, not even to save her life.

Phoenix's face shadowed with comical confusion. "Like a circus conductor…?" She asked innocently, mentally smirking, when her brunette counterpart shot her a curious glare.

"You mean you don't know what I'm talking about?" She asked, taking an elegant sip of her hot chocolate. She set the cup down on the tray, dabbing her lips with a napkin before resuming her previous hobby of looking at Phoenix expectantly.

To look at them, one would also recognize another difference between them. Acylone sat prim and proper in her seat, legs crossed elegantly in the expensive suit she wore for her work at her law firm. Phoenix sat a form-fitting t-shirt with the logo of the bar she worked at painted across her, admittedly, small chest. She had her jeans on, the ones that always got her extra tips and winks. Normally if they had met during the week, she would be in her secretary clothing, and thus would look nearly the same as Acylone. She was glad for once she could see such a stark difference between them.

"So, you're not talking about the leprechaun I live with, also conspicuously named Roxas?" She asked, running her fingers threw her long blonde hair. She didn't dare take a drink from her apple cider, because she knew she would mirror Acylone's image, appearing just as cold and rigid.

Acylone smiled graciously, seeming to have picked up on Phoenix's stray thought. She chose wisely when she said nothing. Nothing regarding her drink at least. "I'm talking about the fact that your son is…" She lowered her voice, "is a homosexual!"

Her blonde haired counterpart smiled humorlessly. "How'd you figure that out?" She giggled maliciously. "Did you see him trying to rape your son?" She quirked a brow, still smiling that cold grin, when Acylone reared back as if she had just been hit.

Acylone found nothing funny about the statement. "It's true! I heard it from a very reliable source." She pressed.

"And this source wouldn't happen to be a blabber-mouth by the name of Ollete…would it, Acylone?"

"I'm not a rat!" She snapped, testily.

Phoenix snorted—very un-lady-like, she could just hear it running witlessly in the other's mind. "No, you're a snake. Zodiacally speaking," she smirked with cold satisfaction that the words still had the same effect on the brunette.

The brunette's eyes narrowed, in what most had always considered a dangerous manner, but Phoenix only found it to be irritating, and headache inducing. "Are you trying to say you knew?" She speculated shrewdly.

"How could I not? He is my son, and he trusts me enough to tell me his dirty and grueling secrets." The trust thing. One of Acylone's several weak points. Phoenix had woven it personally as their children became older, but Sora's mother couldn't repeat what the boy was doing for the afternoon, yet Phoenix could tell anyone what Roxas, and at times, Sora, was doing for the next three weeks.

And just as she had suspected it would, the off-hand comments sparked a flare in her eyes. "My son trusts me too!" she yelled angrily.

"I'm sure he does," She said with a cold, satisfied smirk.

"What wouldn't he tell me?"

"What would he is more the question I keep pondering." The blonde hmm-ed under her breath, but still loud enough for her to hear.

"I don't know what you're trying to imply here, Phoenix, but my son loves and trusts me!"

"I'm sure."

"At least my son isn't a fag!"

Another cruel smile spread across the blonde's lips. "To the best of your knowledge," she glared.

"My son couldn't be!" Acylone glared.

"Neither could mine." Phoenix shot back.

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"Wow. I've never been in your place before," Kairi breathed out as she took as step into the expensive, but lived-in, looking apartment on the thirteenth floor. The wooden floors were covered in designer rugs, and the walls were a beautiful well-kept beige. The walls were lit with round lights, making the rooms and walls glow. Along the walls, Kairi could see paintings hanging on the wall, authentic, even to the untrained eye.

Yuffie shrugged, "Well, our place," she said, watching as Kairi went to pull off her sneakers. Yuffie didn't bother; she just walked across the floor, tracking dew, grass, and leaves across the floor. Kairi followed behind her hesitantly, faltering as she heard curses and explosions from the room Yuffie was entering. "These are the boys," the student-teacher yelled over the living room television, with a nonchalant wave in their general direction. "Rude. Reno. Reno's an asshole. Rude doesn't talk much. Pick your poison." Yuffie said with no hint of humor in her tone.

"Nice to meet you!" Kairi yelled too

"It always is." Reno, the one closest to her, said, twirling the controller in his hand to get his character to do what he wanted. He looked a bit like Axel Wise did, in respect to the hair colour and seemingly untamable way it sprouted up oddly at whatever angle it wanted.

Rude just nodded his acknowledgement. He was further away from her, and calmly sat tapping the controller buttons, unlike Reno who looked like he was about ready to snap the controller with all of the button-pounding he was doing. His head was shaved, and, odd, even in the darkened room he had his sunglasses on.

"See what I mean?" Yuffie sighed, with a roll of her eyes. "Come help me in the kitchen," She said to Kairi. She gave Reno's appearance a once over before smiling sweetly. "Reno when you lose, you need to do the dishes."

Reno scoffed. "I'm not going to—NO!" He suddenly hopped off of the chair, throwing his controller at the ground angrily. He stared at the television screen in horror before he looked to Rude, and then to Yuffie, fixing her with a look Kairi couldn't place.

Yuffie obviously could though, because she smiled and waved her fingers at him, saying, "Toodles," before she tore away from the doorway, running to what was presumably the kitchen.

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Namine sat in the passenger seat of her little car, hugging her blanket carefully to her chest. Marly was driving, leading a moving van through the outer-streets of her home town. She had been sleeping earlier, as it was damn near two in the morning, but she found she couldn't with dreams of her friends shocked and crestfallen faces, her family's disappointment, her goal and dreams left behind at the city borders.

It had been seven when she called Marluxia on her cell phone, telling him to pack his house, while she packed her room as silently as she could. She had stored most of her clothes into a duffle bag, and taken a few precious pieces of jewelry, things that meant the world to her. A necklace Kairi had given to her on her sixteenth birthday, her grandmother's engagement ring, the dolphin anklet her father had given her when she was six. She also had a few keepsakes with her. The posters of angels that she had hung on her wall, a crystal statue of a fairy Axel and Roxas had given her one Christmas. Things she couldn't bear to live without.

She needed the memories to help her through this drastic step. She needed them to help ease her guilt about telling no one that she was leaving. Causing her family so much unhappiness, her friends to worry… But she knew if she told them, they would find her and take her back somehow. Maybe get a restraining order put on her fiancé. She almost couldn't decipher which was worse loss of friends or family, or loss of the one thing that made her happy.

But she had made her choice, and had spent the last five hours helping Marluxia pack his house and bargain with the movers to move his plants. Every single one of them. It wasn't very efficient, and some things were sure to be broken by the time they got to their new home in Midgar. But Namine felt that this was worth it. Leaving her friends, family, breaking probably more things than they had kept safe…It was all worth it to be with Marluxia, if only for a fleeting moment.

She looked back at the fading lights of the city, too much like her memories. She tried to imagine the look of everyone's face when they found out she was gone…for good. She could see Axel's slumped shoulders with his hair pulled back from his neck, as he so often did when he was sad. She could imagine Roxas leaning on Sora for comfort, and almost smiled at the thought that they, like her, had found happiness in this blackening world. She could imagine her father, yelling at her mother that 'this was all her fault!'

She tried not to imagine her mother at all. So confused with her inner conflicts. Wondering whether she should pity her mother, or feel smug that all she could see in her mind was her mother standing in her doorway, looking in at the pulled out empty drawers, her jewelry box in disarray, and bare walls… crying.

She pulled back from the thought before she could get carried away from it. Her mother disserved this. She deserved it! And she kept repeating that thought in her mind as she turned around and pulled the blanket higher over her arms to ward away the cold that she could feel seeping in through the passenger side window. She deserved it, she said again in her mind.

This was what she got for treating Namine as if she were six, or worse; as if she were a dog! Namine was eighteen, had been for a few weeks. When she told her mother that she was engaged to Marluxia, she had expected to be treated as an adult, but no…

"You can't marry him. I forbid it!"

Her mother's words came unbidden into her mind, and she felt she had to smirk. Her mom could forbid anything she wanted. She could forbid the very air that Marluxia breathed, but he seemed to be doing just fine in the driver's seat. Breathing in and out, in defiance.

Just like Namine was doing.

Her smirk widened. She had fixed her mother's wagon. And she would do it over and over again, as she married Marluxia, stayed married to him, had kids with him, and grew old with him.

She would not regret this!

…but her mother sure as hell would.

Looking over to her pink-haired fiancé, she smiled fully, grabbing his hand that rested on the center console, and lacing her fingers through his. He didn't look away from the road but he squeezed her fingers in reassurance.

No. This would not be a mistake.

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Riku had been sick most of the weekend. He had a cold or something, but the point was that he was exhausted. Too exhausted to go with Axel to the grocery store. Axel hadn't seemed to mind, really. Riku gave him the number to his bank account, and he had kissed Riku on the forehead before leaving him to a 'Colombo' marathon and a book that they were required to read in English.

He hadn't read two pages before Axel came wheeling back in yelling up a storm so fast Riku could barely understand the words he had been speaking. All he had been able to do was scrunch back into his seat, feeling fear of what Axel was saying. Even if he couldn't understand a lick of it, he knew this was bad.

Axel strode about the house knocking pictures off shelves and wall. Smashing his fist into the living room sheetrock. His face was red and his hair was flying about wildly as he ranted and raved, snapping his head to look where he was hitting and then look back and glare at Riku like he was the spawn of all evil.

The only thing Riku had truly been able to understand was Axel saying, "You're a stupid fucking whore and I never should have kissed you that day in the library." With that Axel had stormed out of the house, leaving Riku alone, breathing hard and trying to quell down unshed tears.

Later, after Riku had moved to the kitchen to on legs he wasn't sure could carry him, Axel came in holding a bag of groceries, and whistling a tune that Riku had never heard before. He came into the kitchen with an air of confidence, setting the bags on the counter and saying a quick, "Hey, Riku," to the lunar haired teen behind him. Robotically, the redhead began putting the groceries away, and it wasn't until he turned around to put some food into the refrigerator that he noticed his boyfriend was in his seat, hyperventilating and practically glaring daggers at him with his red, tear-filled eyes.

His brows knitted in worry as he walked towards his boyfriend carefully. "Riku, what happened?"

"Wh-What happened?!" Riku surged. "How DARE you! What happened?"

"Riku, calm the fuck down." Axel said, kneeling down on the floor to set himself equal with Riku's blood-shot eyes. "What happened?" He asked again, his worry making his heart pound in his ears and his breathing labored.

"You come into my house and yell at me! You tell me that I'm a stupid, fucking WHORE, and now you're asking me what…"

Axel pressed his hand over Riku's mouth, staring dead into his eyes. "Riku," He said evenly. "I didn't say any of that." Slowly he released Riku's mouth, still staring into his eyes that were now releasing tears.

"Don't insult my memory. I'm not stupid." Riku snapped. He had been so sure Axel wasn't going to come back, and he had been wallowing perfectly in misery. But his misery was put on hold that Axel actually had the gall to come back and act as if nothing had happened. "You left and then not even two seconds later you came charging in here with something stuck way up your ass, and you started calling me stupid, and worthless, and…and…and a whore!"

And that was what had stung the most. Since they had been 'dating' Axel had only brought up prostitution as a concerned lover. Begging him to stop going. Never once in the month they had been staying together had he insinuated Riku to being a whore, and no matter if it was the truth or not, Riku had felt some redemption in the thought that Axel didn't see him as some sort of sex puppet. For Axel to do so after he had stopped going to Hollywood and 10th was just salt in the wound.

Axel pushed his hand back over Riku's mouth. "Riku," He said, as if indulging a five year old. "I never came back into this house. I just got home from the grocery store."

Riku pushed the pale hand away from his face. "Bullshit!" He spat.

"Riku! It was all in your head." Axel said, pulling Riku's face to look at him squarely in the eyes.

He reared back from the poison-green eyes in front of him, saying vehemently, "No, it was…" Then suddenly, he took a sharp breath. "What…what did you say?" He demanded his voice filling with terror.

Axel looked sad, as he repeated in a heavy tone, "It was all in your head, baby. It was all in your head." He threaded his fingers threw Riku's long silver hair and started to message his head.

Riku stumbled back, pulling away from Axel and nearly knocking both his redhead and his seat over in his attempt to stand. He stared at Axel with wide, scared eyes, his hand going over his mouth as he though about the words Axel had just spoken.

"No," He said after a while. "No. It wasn't in my head! You're just using that. You want to make me think I'm crazy!" He shook his head refusing to believe. "You know I'll think that I'm getting Angel's disease. You just want me to believe you because…because you know h—how wrong…" He stumbled to a loss for his words, looking down at the ground as even more tears came to his eyes. His breathing was coming in short gasps and, after standing there for a full minute he threw his hands into his hair and tugged. "You just realized you were wrong," He tried again nodding. "You're just telling me that—that it was in my head so I'll think I have Angel's disease and…and take you back!" He looked back up to Axel, looking at him as if he would say—even if that was what had really happened – that Riku was right.

Axel stood slowly. "Riku," He said calmly. "That doesn't make sense, even in your own head."

Riku shook his head in agreement, and he sniffed. His hands were no longer pulling on his hair, but now pushing into his temples as he tried to sort out what had happened to him. He didn't feel anything. It was all seamless. There had been nothing that had made it seem like an 'episode', but Axel…Axel wouldn't do that to him in real life. He wouldn't. He wouldn't.

I don't have Angel's disease. I don't have Angel's disease. I don't…

Oh, but you do don't you? The nasty little voice was back; his appearance even less wanted than it was when it had tried to talk him out of kissing Axel. You knew that. I knew that. Just because you wish it away doesn't mean it's going to listen. No higher being likes you that much, and once you've been formally diagnosed with Angel's disease, Axel won't like you much either. The voice snickered. Oh this is going to be too fun to watch.

Riku whined pathetically at the words the mean voice whispered in his head. He stomped his foot, and hit his temples with his hands repeatedly until they were being grabbed, and held down by his sides. He opened his eyes and looked up at the figure that hovered above him, gazing at him nervously. He felt a stab of pain at the fact that this person would soon leave him alone in this house that was much too big for him.

Oh but that would be fair, wouldn't it? That's what you did to Sephiroth, you worthless piece of filth. He squeezed his eyes shut, begging for it to go away. He didn't realize he had spoken his plea out loud until he was in a bone-crushing hug, and he heard his redhead whispering that he wasn't going anywhere, no matter how much he may want him to.

"Please tell me you're fucking with me, Axel?" He whispered into the other's chest. "Please. Please, please, please just tell me this is a cruel joke." More tears moved down his cheeks as he moved his arms under Axel's jacket and clenched the t-shirt under with ferocity. "I'll even forgive whatever you said," he continued. "Just tell me this isn't really happening."

"I wish I could."

Later, when Riku walked into the living room, the walls were flawless, and the pictures set on their shelves unbroken.

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Larxene stared down at the paper in horror.

A baby! How could she have been so stupid?

What the hell had she done wrong? Who…who was—a wave of nausea hit her—the father? Oh, god, this was world-shattering. Life-threatening. All those other hyphenated words that meant instant horror in her eyes!

She put her hand to her forehead and attempted to calm herself by taking deep even breaths. It didn't work. Her hands were shaking, and her heart was thundering inside her ribcage.

A child! A child? Why couldn't she have some death-inducing disease? What the hell was she going to do with a child! She could barely take care of herself. She didn't have a job; she sure as hell didn't want to tell the 'father'. Her parents, oh, her parents would freak and she would be out of the house before you could say, "stroller"! And Axel…Jiminy Cricket what would he think of her!

She could just see the disappointment in his eyes right now.

NO! No, no, no! She couldn't do this. There had to be a way to get rid of this…this…thing without anyone knowing! Adoption. Lot's of people were looking for a child but couldn't have one. Of course, she had read a lot of stories on the internet of what happened to adopted children. Slavery, abuse, worse! She didn't think she could stomach the thought that she had force something into that lifestyle…especially thinking of the verbal abuse her parents had lashed at Axel, and he was her father's actual son.

She could—her stomach lurched—get an abortion. Oh, but no she couldn't! She would never be able to live with herself.

But she couldn't raise this child. There was no way. She couldn't handle a baby. She would never be able to help another human being get through life… look what she had done to the people around her! And that was only being being associated with them! If she had a child…oh, she could only imagine the therapy it would need.

She couldn't do that to a child. Not her own child. But she couldn't get rid of it.

God, she needed to talk to someone. She needed someone to console her.

But who could she call? There was no one.

No one at all.

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School came again that Monday, but Kairi didn't go. She felt distraught and out of sorts.

Her mother had called the Saturday before, while she had been watching Reno and Rude play video games, and declared in an unfathomable tone, that Namine had run away with her cradle-robbing boyfriend. Her mind was in such shock, she hadn't even thought before she corrected her mother.

"It's Namine's fiancé."

"So, you knew?"

She didn't quite understand how that was important. "You knew?" Of course, she knew! Namine told Kairi everything before she even thought to tell the rest of their families. At one point, Namine had actually liked Kairi, and the habits of their friendship had yet to wear off in the time they had spent virtually against each other.

She pressed her head into her hand. Oh, but no. Namine couldn't tell her she was leaving. No one had known, and in the back of her mind somewhere, that had made sense. To tell someone you were leaving would entail someone trying to stop you from going. It made sense, truly it did. But why couldn't she have told Kairi at least?

Well, that made sense too. Towards the end there, Kairi had become Namine's personal anti-Christ. Everything Namine hated—self-absorption, hypocrisy, bitchiness—Kairi personified to a tee.

So, she was still at Yuffie's, alone mostly. Yuffie had had to resume her position as a student teacher, and Rude was asleep in his room after having come home from his graveyard shift early that morning. Reno…was out. And in the silence of the living room, sitting on Yuffie's couch, she began to remember every terrible thing she had said to or around Namine, and it was a plentiful list. And each time her mind replayed her lines, she shrank further and further into the couch, hoping silently that the leather would somehow come alive and swallow her.

She shrieked at the feeling of someone's hand on her shoulder, then, grabbing the first thing her hand landed on—the remote—swung her arm around to hit the offender. The remote collided noisily with the man's jaw, letting out a sickening 'crack', before Kairi realized with a cold start that it was only Reno.

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Monday morning was a breakdown-inducing process for Riku. At seven in the morning, Aerith had come by his house and picked him up to go to the hospital for a screening with one of the doctor's who treated Angel's disease. The woman had said that it would take many more observations of Riku, but from what she had heard, she was 'sorry to say, but it does look like he has Angel's disease'. The stage was left out completely, as was when these observations would be.

Riku wasn't sure whether or not to be happy about the brief lack of information. He wanted to be left in the dark, to live life as if he had never even heard of the damn disease. But, then again, if it was only first stage, he felt that he should know, so he could get the therapy he needed and just carry on with life.

And then going to school…

It felt like school was more and more of a hassle with each day he showed up. The classes moved to quickly and he was slowly becoming aware of the fact that he couldn't keep up with the pace. He felt lost, and it was only the second week back. His focus was shot to hell and had the terrifying feeling that it was because he had a more developed case of his family's disease. When he looked at the board it was nothing but…chaos! His mind couldn't wrap around the words at all. They might as well have been speaking to him in another language, and for his first hour class, his teacher really was.

It was days like this he wished that Axel had been transferred to all of his classes. Whereas before he felt threatened by his redhead's presence, now he felt an acute sense of anxiousness without him. His skin felt hypersensitive, and everyone passing by him made him jump. His head was constantly buzzing. He couldn't focus worth a damn, which did not go unnoticed, especially by Vexen, who kept pulling him aside after every class to 'discuss his winter holidays'.

Worst of all, he had an overwhelming sense of dread that something bad was going to happen. He felt like he was being watched, and when he didn't have that feeling his anxiousness only doubled.

He snorted.

He was losing his mind.

Just as suddenly as the thought flitted through his mind he was pulled between two buildings; the same two, he noted vaguely that he had forced Axel into the first time they had…ahem, done the 'dirty'. For a moment he almost thought it was Axel too, as lately he had a habit of popping up when the worst of thoughts were on Riku's mind, but it wasn't. Not a moment after he had been dragged in the shadowed alleyway—so to speak—he was slammed against the bricks in a none too gentle fashion, and found himself staring face to face with Seifer and Rai, the latter of which held him firmly against the wall.

This day just kept escalating to the top of his 'Worst Day Ever' list. But being held against a wall by an ogre and facing a shit that he had beat the teeth out of was slowly becoming nothing at all on his list.

Because Seifer smiled a sinister smile that months ago wouldn't have fazed him in the slightest, and then he chuckled, giving Riku a hungry once-over. "You know, I never thought the name 'Hollywood' referred to anything more than your super-star attitude." He leered, leaning forward so an ominous shadow covered his face and made his eyes glint coldly, "Who would have guessed that your barbed tongue could have so many uses."

Riku's blood ran cold in his veins, freezing him more efficiently than the cold January air. His breath caught in his throat, and his eyes bulged in his skull. But he remembered who he was dealing with. This was only Seifer. He had beaten him into a bloody pulp once; he could do it again, even with the sleaze's crony here.

Pulling out his best glare he told Seifer in a deadly even voice, "They gave you good medication at the hospital, didn't they?"

Seifer didn't rise to the bait. He snorted, actually. "You can't throw me off. I know what you do. Rai's brother here was on of you customers." He said, patting the rock troll on the shoulder, reminding Riku much of an owner with his dog. Rai stepped away from him then, and Seifer took his place, only standing much closer to Riku. He looked over the lunar-haired teen again; his lust clearly evident in his gaze, and it took all of Riku's will-power not to give in. Not to push him away, or squirm against the wall.

But his anxiousness was clearly written all over his face. Seifer smirked "Here's the proposition I'm going to give you," Seifer whispered into Riku's ear. "You get to be my little bitch any time, anywhere, anyway I want and your dirty little secret stays between us…"

"Eat dirt, dickwad!"

"You haven't heard the other part of the proposition," The blonde tsked. "If you don't like that idea, you can get cozy with the idea of the entire school knowing your little after school hobby. And I do mean the entire school." He smirked victoriously. "Wonder what that would do to you. Your friendships, because I know that little brunette boy you cherish so much doesn't know. What about the little redhead bitch? Does your uncle know?"

Riku looked away, his eyes wide with every passing scenario of all those he held dear finally finding out what he was doing almost every night for two and a half years prior to January.

They heard footsteps coming and Rai instantly let go of Riku. Seifer didn't step away from Riku though. In fact, he took a step closer to where he was only an inch away from Riku, his mouth hovering uncomfortably close to his ear as he whispered, "Well?"

Riku glared at him, though it was weak with the immobilizing fear he was feeling. With a churning stomach and a knot in his throat he managed to whimper out, "Go to hell."

The footsteps became louder, and Seifer took a hurried step away from him as he heard someone call, "Riku?"

"Axel! Axel, I—I'm here!" He choked around the lump in his throat.

"That was the wrong answer," He said with ice practically forming on every syllable. A smile formed on his lips as he looked to Rai. "I just can't wait to see everyone's reaction!" He said jovially. But the joyous mood he was in was quickly dampened as Riku's saving grace rounded the corner. Seifer quickly grabbed Rai and they ran off before Axel was close enough to see who they had been.

Riku was left leaning against the wall, though he was slowly sliding down it. Nausea washed through him. What had he set himself up for? Everyone was going to know! His uncle, Kairi, Roxas…Sora. He put his face in his hands miserably as his redhead came closer and closer. The world beneath him was spinning. His head felt heavy; his hands were shaking so bad! He realized his entire body must be shaking as well, because when Axel reached his side, he leaned down to try to feel his forehead which was still being held in his hands.

"Riku, are you alright? Class has started…"

Riku felt the beginnings of tears forming in his eyes. His life was ruined! Axel had been right when he said that anyone could see him. They just didn't have to see him with their own eyes. Rai's brother had been one of his customers! Oh, and he remembered the day it must have clicked in the stupid cave-troll's head. He remembered a man who looked vaguely like Rai running after him calling his name… he had even seen Rai. That was why he had gone home that night, without even taking a customer.

Tears fully formed in his eyes as he realized that he probably wouldn't make it through the day before the entire school knew about him. The look on their faces… "Axel, help."

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A/N: Okay here's the breakdown. I've got one more REAL chapter. Then I've got the final chapter/epilogue combination. I would ramble more but you all have been waiting long enough so if I waste more time typing…I may be scalped.

Toodles!

InnocentGuilt