I really dreaded going to school after my creepy epiphany that had occurred the night before. Nevertheless, I was drug along by Kairi; proudly, we were now best friends and sibling rivalry meant nothing.

Roxas didn't know anything about my "detention" incident, and thank God he didn't. Knowing my big brother, he'd go up to Samcyxk with this Indiana Jones "I'm-a-gonna kick your ass" attitude, and proceed to bet the crap of my former childhood friend.

Today, I deviated from my normal clothes; to hide the scars and scabs I had donned a black Spitfire hoodie and now sported long, semi-tight blue jeans. My batting gloves were on my hands, though I knew as soon as Principal Gallagher saw them, he'd remind me of my detention and demand that I take them off. He wasn't fair; in fact, as fair as Rosie O'Donnel being allowed on television, and that was seriously unfair (and in my opinion, a threat to national sanity).

I scooted down the hall, pondering what to do when I first saw Riku. The thought of tackling him and frenching him was out of the question. And, that was the only thing I'd really thought up…

The first period of the day was science, with Professor Emerson – Vexen. What's worse, Riku had the class with me.

Come to think of it, here was my schedule: Science, History, Math, P.E., and then English. This was Riku's schedule: Science, History, Math, P.E., and English (different teacher).

Shit. That's four in a row.

Shuddering, I went inside the science lab. Who should be the first person I see but Samcyxk, dark makeup on his face. For a moment, I thought Gene Simmons had transferred to our school – something the place would have to be proud of for once.

"Going emo?" I asked as I went by him. His response was to look up at me. His eyes were filled with that same pain from the day before. They seemed dead and almost comatose. Their cheeriness and usual color were absent; the irises now had a dull gray tint, the color of lead.

As the bell rang and Vexen entered, I plopped down in my seat and let my head rest on my shoulders. I didn't even pay attention as he said our instructions, normal vigor increasing with each sip of coffee.

"Sora?"

I sat straight up. Vexen looked at me. "Stop spacing out, will you? I'm pairing you up with Mr. Falker." My blood ran cold – that was Riku.

Trying my best not to puke on the spot, I got up and went over to him. This was going to be extremely awkward.

For the first minute or so, he didn't even seem to notice me. He just stood there, setting up the apparatus that I had no idea how to operate.

"…Hey, Sora…" Riku's voice was crackly and bleak; it sounded like he had the flu.

"You feeling alright?" I asked.

"Oh, no…I'm fine…" Something in his voice was sad. "Take that and pour it into the beaker…" I realized he was talking about the experiment. Quickly, I picked up a vial filled with green liquid and put it into a glass. When I was done, it looked like a show of biology I'd once seen, where they put a dissected frog into a cup.

Unfortunately, at that moment, my eyes were locked onto Riku's ass. Without thinking, I picked a pink liquid and tipped it over into the beaker. Oh, what the hell was I thinking?

"Sora!"

My eyes crossed as I watched the concoction explode onto my face. The beaker flew off of the table.

I couldn't see what happened next. Everyone said, though, that Vexen had nearly flown across the room from his desk; there was a flash, and the contents of the beaker were frozen. He had caught them brilliantly. From that day forward, he would forever be known at the school as Jack Frost.

But now for the present – my face burned, and I felt skin peeling off. I hadn't even been wearing goggles; now I knew what Vexen had been talking about.

I was quickly ushered somewhere; by whom, I don't know. The path we took? Unclear. All I know is that when I could see again, and the sensation of being scorched was over, I was in the Nurse's.

"Whu…where am I?" Sometimes I'm really stupid.

"Are you all right now? Just what happened to you?"

My eyes were groggy, but I could make out the nurse – Xigbar. Apparently, there had been a lack of choices for the district in the nurse section – most of them claimed the higher-ups were sexist, or they were just afraid of what Principal Gallagher might put them through. The only choice was a guy, and that was Nurse Xigbar.

"Well? What did you do?"

"I…" I murmured for a minute, trying to recollect what had happened.

"Oh, no…I'm fine…"

Ass

"Take that and pour it into the beaker…"

Ass

Pouring in the green liquid…

Ass

More ass

Even more ass.

I gulped. "Um…I accidentally knocked over a substance…"

Xigbar rubbed his forehead with a latex glove. "Your face was pretty badly burned; I bandaged it up while you were out. Just…don't look in a mirror for a while…"

I groaned, moaned, and "Sylvester Stallone'd". Moreover, Nurse Xigbar let me out of the bed after about a half hour. "Oh. And, I want you to see Zexion in the other room. He says he's got something for you."

Once again, I moaned, but nevertheless went into the adjoining room.

It was like I had stepped backing time about 30 years. Ted Nugent and Aerosmith posters were hung on the walls, there had to be at least 5 lava lamps, and the word "Psyche" on the wall was written in that squiggly, fat style. On a beanbag chair sat one of the weirdest people at the school.

Zexion had spiked purplish-blue hair, with one clump falling in front of his right eye. He looked innocent in his gypsy robes, but that guy had been around the block before…if you know what I mean. On a small table with a dark purple cloth draped over its surface a crystal ball sat.

I sighed, and impatiently asked, "What fortune do you have for me today?"

With a light laugh, Zexion replied, "'Tis not a fortune you'll receive today." He stood up (the first time I'd ever seen him do so) and stalked towards me, grinning like a pervert. "Today, you'll get something that Xigbar wasn't trained enough to do.

"He calls himself a nurse, yet he can't fix…" He stroked my chin. "…A little boy's face." Creepazoid 3000 wove his hand, and took off the bandages. Taking a look in the crystal ball, he grinned. "Come."

I did as I was told, and looked onto the odd surface of the ball. My face was normal-looking. If what Xigbar had told me before about not looking in a mirror was true, then this guy really was a freakin' miracle worker.

Zexion bowed, and glided over to his boombox. I heard "Mama Kin" come on; seriously, was this dude trapped in the 70s? Quickly but quietly, I snuck out. Xigbar didn't seem to notice me, but said, "4th period."

Wow! As I glanced up at the clock, I noticed the bell marking 3rd period's closure would ring in only a couple minutes. Grabbing my stuff which had appeared in front of me from seemingly nowhere (Zexion smiled) while I was in Creepazoid 3000's room I was instantly out the door.

I didn't dread the fact that (once again) Riku was in my 4th period class. The fact I dreaded was that 4th period was P.E. – Where all this had started.