It's been so long since I've updated this… :C

So sorry about the long delay guys, but as my earlier stories, "Jump" and "Lost and Found" took priority. But from now on, I'll do my best to update "Shade Hunters" as much as possible. Chapter 5 will be written and posted ASAP.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING MENTIONED IN THIS STORY.

Just this story. Enjoy!

Xxx XXX xxX

Chapter 4: Trial by Fire

I turned, the Oblivion still clutched in my hands, to see a tall, thin, redheaded man dressed in a black cloak walking toward me. As he got closer, I could make out his striking green eyes, with strange black teardrop tattoos underneath them.

He had a blood red glow around him.

An aura?

"Not bad for your first Dusk, Hunter!" he called, and then he was right in front of me.

He blitzed.

How the hell—

"How the hell did you—" My face had shock written all over it.

"How did I blitz?" the guy smirked. "I'm a Shade. That's one of my powers and one of yours."

Shade. Shade Hunter. There had to be some sort of connection.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

The redhead nodded. "Shoot."

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

My shout was so loud Naminé yelped and flinched. It was a wonder nobody heard it.

"That's a good question," the guy said. He held out a hand. "But first we introduce ourselves. The name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"

I didn't take the hand he offered to me. "Yeah, whatever. I'm Roxas."

Axel looked a bit offended that I didn't shake, but he covered it up with a snort. "Roxas, huh?" he muttered. "Coulda sworn you were…never mind."

"Now could you tell me what's going on?" I asked in a tense tone.

His expression turned serious. "As I've said, I'm a Shade," he said coolly. "The spirit of a deceased person who refuses to leave this world for Beyond."

I laughed. "Bullshit," I smirked. "So you're saying you're a ghost?"

"Pretty much," he said, shrugging. "And you're a Hunter—a human equipped with Shade powers assigned to terminate Shades with those Keyblades of yours, because apparently our existence interferes with the natural order."

I took a step back and gripped Oblivion a little tighter when I heard that.

"Basically, you're my mortal enemy and vice versa."

Alarm bells rang in my head and I ducked just in time to avoid Axel's first punch, but he then pirouetted around and slammed a foot into my chin, hurling me into the wall.

"Roxas!" Naminé cried, rushing over. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry…" I muttered. "Naminé, stay back. I don't you getting hurt."

She nodded and backed away.

The kick only felt like somebody had tapped my chin and I didn't feel anything from slamming into the wall. Either impact should've snapped my spine. Then I remembered…

"Invulnerability, huh?" Axel said, holding his arms out like a gunslinger. "Cool. This should be fun."

Two spinning rings of fire appeared around his wrists and a pair of spiked chakrams materialized in his hands.

I got up, holding Oblivion in a two-handed grip. If this guy wanted a fight, I'd give him one.

Both of us eyed each other up for a second, searching for weaknesses and openings. I found none, and judging by the disappointed expression on his face, he hadn't either.

I was proven wrong a second later as his chakrams smacked into my shoulder and sent me flying before I could even bring up Oblivion to defend.

"Shit," I hissed as I sprung back on my feet.

Axel smirked. "Too slow, Hunter," he sang, blitzing forward with his chakrams raised.

I swung Oblivion in a scything arc in an attempt to slash off that smart-aleck mouth, but he effortlessly ducked under it and smashed a fist into my side, sending me flying into the wall. Again.

Of course, once again I was unaffected thanks to KE invulnerability, but Axel pivoted on his toes and lashed out with his foot straight at my face. I knocked away the boot with a swing from my Keyblade before blitzing next to Axel.

"Head's up, jackass," I snarled, before slashing at him.

The Shade's chakrams came up to defend, but the force of my attack still sent him stumbling backwards.

"Not bad," Axel grinned. "Using blitzing to attack, I mean."

And then he blitzed forward. I barely got Oblivion up in time to block a punch aimed at my face, but a kick to my knee made my leg buckle. Axel raised a chakram to smash a spike into my head, but I flung out a hand and that strange dome shield from before exploded outwards, hurling him back.

"Finally, somebody who can last more than ten seconds against me," he yawned.

"You're making me think you're all bark and no bite," I retorted.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

A bolt of fire appeared out of nowhere and slammed into my chest, making me stagger back. I knocked away another fireball like a baseball batter, but the impact left my sword arm feeling like somebody had struck it with a hammer.

Jesus Christ. This guy could control fire?

"Pyrokinesis," Axel declared, conjuring a sphere of orange flame in his hand. "It's hell on wheels against Hunters."

Oh, spare me the puns, jackass.

"Of course, fireballs are only a scrap of my real power," he grinned, closing his hand and instantly snuffing out the fireball. Then he raised his wheels and slammed them into the ground. "Burn, baby, burn!"

A roaring wall of flame materialized and surged towards me and Naminé. I immediately tackled her to the ground, using myself as a human shield. Hopefully, that dome shield would appear as well so I wouldn't get incinerated.

It did. The inferno crashed into and washed over us, disintegrating the shield. For a moment the world was smoke, ash, and fire, like something out of a young child's nightmare. I coughed as smoke penetrated my lungs and fire prickled my skin. Finally, the flames and smoke disintegrated into disjointed strands into nothing.

How in hell had nobody had seen our battle yet? Furthermore, what was wrong with the fire alarm?

Naminé had soot all over her pale skin, and she was unconscious (probably from carbon monoxide inhalation), but she looked uninjured. I sighed in relief before picking up Oblivion again, standing up and turning around to face an amused-looking Axel.

"You know, with the way you treat her, somebody could mistake you for her boyfriend," he said.

I scowled. "Shut up, fire-head," I growled.

And then I heard a familiar voice. "Roxas!"

"Sora!" I called, whirling around to see my brother's cerulean glow. Then he blitzed towards us, appearing at my side.

"Dude, what the hell's going on?" Sora snapped. He tilted his chin towards Axel. "And who the hell is he?"

"I'll explain later," I replied, crouching and holding Oblivion in a two-handed grip. "Right now, I've got to beat this guy."

Axel snorted in derision. "You? Beat me?" he laughed. "Yeah, right."

The spiked wheels he was holding disappeared the way they had materialized—in rings of fire—and Axel shoved his hands into his cloak's pockets. "Spend some time improving, Hunter, and maybe then you'll be a challenge," he said. "Later."

And then he was gone.

"Now would you tell me what the hell just happened?" Sora growled, stepping in front of me.

I sighed, glancing at Oblivion, wishing that the Keyblade—the symbol of my powers—would disappear. To my surprise, it vanished in a plume of smoke.

I opened my mouth to answer Sora, but a soft moan caught my attention. I immediately blitzed to Naminé's side and helped her sit up.

"Are you okay, Naminé?" I asked.

Those dazzling ice blue eyes of hers blinked once, twice. "Yeah…yeah, I'm fine," she mumbled, rubbing her throat. "What—what happened?"

I glanced at Sora. That's when it hit me—she'd seen our powers in action.

Fuck.

"Naminé, whatever you do, you cannot tell anybody you saw this," I said tersely, gently but firmly gripping her shoulders. "Do you understand?"

"I wasn't going to," Naminé replied. Her voice was getting stronger.

"You don't seem too freaked out by us," Sora observed, crossing his arms. "Why?"

"Because you look human to me," she grinned, wiping a bit of soot off her cheek. "Besides, who'd believe me when I say I saw all this happen?"

Whew. One problem solved.

"Let's get you to the nurse," I said, standing up. "You probably breathed in a lot of smoke."

I didn't know how I'd explain where said smoke came from, but right now all I could think of was that Naminé needed help.

"Right," she said, and she got up.

And promptly fell over—or would've, had I not caught her.

"Whoa, careful there," I warned, gently easing her around so that her arm rested on my neck. "I don't want you falling and cracking open your head…"

She giggled. "Okay," she smiled. "I'll attempt to avoid falling, then."

My brother smirked. "Aww, young love…"

"Sora, shut up before I run you through."

Xxx XXX xxX

Nobody questioned why Sora was assisting me in supporting Naminé. Actually, I was more surprised that nobody was asking why we were helping Naminé walk to the nurse's office in the first place.

Except for a certain beanie-head.

"Hey Curtiss," Seifer sneered, crossing his arms. "Whatcha doing with that girl?"

"She got hurt and I'm helping her to the nurse's, numbnuts," I replied without looking at him. "What does it look like?"

"I think I can take over from here," Seifer said, sauntering over. Then his face morphed into the ugliest seductive (or so he thought) smile I'd ever seen. "Say, babe, how's about I…help you to the nurse's?"

That was the cheesiest pick-up line I'd ever heard. Ever. Trust me when I say that I've heard my fair share of them directed towards Kairi, and quite a few to me as well.

"No thank you," Naminé said, smiling, before turning to me. "Roxas, I think I can walk now."

"Oh, right…" I swiftly but tenderly moved her arm off my shoulder.

And then Seifer, the stupid bastard, stepped forward and swept Naminé off her feet and into a bridal-style carry position.

"Dude, what the hell?" I demanded. "She can walk, you know!"

Beanie-head smirked. "Well, I'm enough of a gentleman that I wouldn't let such a beautiful girl dirty her feet on concrete."

"Well, are you enough of a gentleman to let a girl walk on her own?" Naminé asked. She looked more than a little annoyed. Or at least I think she did.

"But of course, Miss Stunning," Seifer said in an oily tone. Then he set her down with an excessive amount of touching in inappropriate spots, the pervert. "Would you still like an escort to the nurse's?"

"She already said no, Seifer," I growled, stepping in between them.

"Roxas, I can speak for myself," Naminé said, stepping out from behind me. She turned to address Seifer. "I appreciate the offer, but I think I can make it on my own."

"Of course, my dear," he smirked. "Au revoir for now…"

When he was gone, Naminé closed her eyes and shuddered.

"I know," I advised, reassuringly setting a hand on her shoulder. "The guy's a bastard, but don't let him get to you."

"I feel so violated," she murmured, still shivering. "The way he touched me…ew, ew, no. I don't want to remember that."

"Nobody would," I muttered.

"You got it handled here?" Sora asked, nervously shifting. I couldn't blame him; everybody would assume the worst if he got caught around somebody as attractive as Naminé. "I really have to go. As in to the bathroom."

Okay, never mind what I just said.

"Roxas can manage," Naminé said, shooing Sora away.

My brother nodded gratefully and rushed off.

The nurse's office was located in the main building of the school, on the upper level's right side. Surprisingly, the nurse, Mrs. Heartilly, didn't ask how or why Naminé inhaled smoke, just made her sit down.

"You probably should've just let her stay there and exhale the smoke, Mr. Curtiss," Mrs. Heartilly said dryly. "The human body is very efficient at cleaning itself out."

"Okay," I said, shrugging.

"And what's your name, dear?" the nurse asked, turning towards Naminé.

"Naminé Fleuret," she answered.

Naminé Fleuret. I let the name swirl in my mind like wine in a glass.

Naminé Fleuret. It sounded so exotic and alien yet alluring and dazzling at the same time.

"Such a beautiful name," Mrs. Heartilly smiled. "Do you have foreign ancestry?"

"French and Japanese," Naminé answered. She smiled sheepishly. "That's all I really know of my family tree, actually."

"Good, good…"

Mrs. Heartilly bustled off, muttering something about "leaving the two lovebirds alone". I sent a glare chasing after her. Why did people assume Naminé and I were together?

As if to prove my point, there was an awkward silence after she left.

"So, umm, Naminé," I began. "I've never seen you at Kingdom Key before. Are you a new student?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I was tutored at home until now."

"Oh," I said. I scratched my head uncomfortably. "So…what do you like to do?"

What an awkward and highly clichéd question, what do you like to do? I mentally berated myself.

"I like to draw," Naminé answered. "I can keyboard, too."

I gaped at her when she said that.

"You know how to use a musical keyboard?" I cried.

"Yeah," she grinned. "I like playing rock and metal—Linkin Park, Breaking Benjamin, Evanescence—have you ever heard of them?"

Pinch me. Pinch. I'm not dreaming, after all.

"My favorite bands," I sighed. "Wow…"

"Mine, too," she said, with another of her dazzling smiles. "So what do you like to do, Roxas?"

"I like to read," I replied. "Sci-fi, mostly. I listen to music on Youtube. It's been a while since I've picked up a guitar, but I think I can still play."

"I don't have the manual dexterity to play a guitar," she confessed with a peal of laughter. "And frankly, I'm much too lazy to try."

I laughed, too. "You could've been describing me when you said 'lazy'. It took my brother forever to convince me to play."

"You have a brother?" Naminé asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's so cool, I'm an only child. Who is he?"

"Sora."

"The same one who came to help you with that Axel guy?"

I felt a pang of guilt. It was basically my fault that Naminé had gotten hurt in my fight with the Shade.

"Yeah," I muttered, casting my eyes to my feet.

"What's wrong?" she said, turning to look me in the eye. She was shorter than me by a couple of inches.

"I let you get hurt," I mumbled. "You could've died in that fight. That guy could've stabbed you or those flames could've incinerated you."

Naminé smiled again. "But I wasn't hurt, because you protected me," she said softly. "That's all that matters. Thank you, Roxas."

Something warm filled my heart when I heard that. I grinned weakly. "Thanks, too. For making me feel better." I sighed and scratched my dirty blond spikes again. "Naminé, why didn't you—why aren't you—I mean—"

"Why am I not afraid of you because of your powers?" she prompted. Her expression became thoughtful. "Well, you don't deserve to be shunned because of things you can do that others can't."

I was stunned. Naminé looked about as mainstream as could be—blonde, blue-eyed, beautiful, and yet she was supporting a freak of nature like me?

"Actually, I'm kind of jealous of you," she admitted, scratching her head. She smiled slightly, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "You can do all these amazing things—those Keyblade swords, your invulnerability, that energy shield, that superspeed power—"

"We call it blitzing, actually," I cut in with a small smile of my own.

"See what I mean?" Naminé said. "You even have a title—Hunter, or whatever that Shade guy called you."

She hung her head. "It seems like you're needed for something," she continued. "Like you were chosen to go further than anyone else, to do important things for all humanity."

Her expression turned sad. "I wasn't," she mumbled. "I'm just my mother's daughter, nothing more than simple little Naminé."

She thought so little of herself? Amazing…

Before I could stop myself, I wrapped my arms around her, burying my face in her silky hair. Judging by her gasp, she was surprised by the hug.

"You're more important than you think," I whispered into her ear. "Even if it's just to one or two people. Don't be so hard on yourself, Naminé."

She was silent for a moment. "If you say so," she whispered back. "If you really mean it…"

"I do." Because you mean a lot to me, I added silently.

Her smile slowly returned, curving her pale pink lips upwards.

"Thank you, Roxas," she said. "Again."

"Anytime," I grinned.

"And…umm…the hug feels kind of nice…" She blushed. "But…you can let go now."

I instantly jumped back, wringing my hands in embarrassment. Where the hell had I gotten the idea to hug her again?

"S-sorry," I mumbled. I was blushing, too.

And then Mrs. Heartilly came back in. I wonder what she saw—Naminé and I looking away from each other, our faces the color of strawberries. What could possibly be inferred from that?

"Don't worry, Miss Fleuret, Mr. Curtiss," she cooed. "I won't tell a thing."

"We're not together," I growled through clenched teeth.

Naminé had a forced smile on her face. "I just asked Roxas an embarrassing question," she said quickly. But the real story was in her ice blue irises.

The knowing smirk on Mrs. Heartilly's face told me exactly what she thought of Naminé's lie.

"Whatever," the nurse sang, waving a hand.

The bell rang.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now," Naminé said softly.

A pang of something at absolute zero stabbed me through the heart.

"Yeah," I muttered, shoving my hands in my pockets. "See you tomorrow, maybe?"

"Maybe," she echoed.

Neither of us moved.

Xxx XXX xxX

I wrote and rewrote this chapter at least four times before I found it satisfactory. BTW, satisfactory doesn't count as good in my book.

Well, some action, some more information, some Namixas fluff. That last is always good, no? ^^

R&R, please! It'll make me write faster and better!

Thank you:

ForceFic: Thanks! And yeah, Xion's awesome. ^^ I'm never going to write a fic with her as an antagonist.

The Silence Will Set Me Free: It was actually going to be Noctis, but I switched it to Axel because you thought of him. Number VIII turned out to be a better choice. Thankies!