Glad people are liking this so far. Fanfiction is being a bit wonky right now with reviews where they don't show up on the site, but they're still emailed to me so I can read them all. Anyway, enjoy.

"Are you gonna tell me what happened?"

The two were left alone in their ravished apartment. The dim glow of the early morning sun shone through their torn curtains and left shadows dancing on the walls.

"I got fired-"

"Jesus Christ, Roxas," Sora capped his hands over his head in disbelief. "When?"

"Three months ago…I guess," Roxas hung his head in shame and took a seat on the cleanest side of their couch.

"Three months? What have you been doing all this time?" Sora asked.

"Some odd jobs…here and there, nothing big." Roxas replied.

"I don't understand. Why do you owe Riku munny?"

Roxas was silent for a long while; he looked out at the rising sun and sighed.

"I started slinging."

"Oh my God."

"It wasn't enough…what I was making. You saw, we were barely making ends meet. What choice did I have? I had to do it. I went to Riku, asked him for work, he gave it to me." Roxas explained.

"Gave what to you, exactly?"

"Munny. A lot of munny, he called it an investment. Said that I could pay him back by carrying some of his dope, give him all the profits, and I'd be square."

"What is he doing with that stuff anyway?" Sora questioned.

"Don't you know? Guy's the biggest dealer in school, he's got people, friends, all over, who sell it for him. I don't know where he gets the stuff."

"So what happened?" Sora asked.

"I couldn't sell enough, not in the time he wanted me to. He let it go at first, but then I got busted." Roxas said, looking anywhere but at him.

"You didn't," Sora huffed in disbelief.

"Yeah, I did," Roxas nodded. "I didn't have much on me, just a bit of grass. They let me go, but I guess that was it."

"Is that why you had this stupid party? All so you could - what - make nice with him?" Sora exclaimed. Roxas closed his eyes and sunk his head into his hands.

"I don't know. I thought I could work something out- make it right somehow-"

"Well you did a great job of that," Sora bit out.

"Hey, I didn't ask for this," Roxas remarked angrily.

"Well, neither did I. If you hadn't given me such a hard time about getting a job I could have helped…I could have…why didn't you come to me?"

"God, Sora. I don't know, maybe if you weren't in such a state all the time-"

"A state?"

"Yeah," Roxas said, the edge in his voice growing sharper. "Not talking to anyone, walking around like you're in a daze all the time, not-"

"Alright, alright. This isn't helping anyone. How much do you owe him?" Sora asked.

"A lot."

"How much, Roxas?"

"Ten thousand."

Sora turned away, he wanted to kick something, scream, bury his fist into the wall. He grit his teeth.

"We're ten thousand in debt," Sora chuckled humorlessly. He shook his head and looked at Roxas. "What were you thinking?"

He received no response. Roxas made to stand but let out a pained gasp and clutched his side. "Do we have any Tylenol?" he asked.

"This place is a mess," Sora said, absentmindedly scanning their apartment. Mounds of trash were piled all across the room, furniture was left askew, and the table Roxas had purchased was lying in a corner and missing some of its legs. The smell of vomit lingered in the air.

"Look, it's going to be fine, alright? It always is," Roxas insisted. The words sounded to Sora like a far off drone, buzzing somewhere in the distance.

"What do we do? Can we go to the police?" Sora asked. Roxas shook his head. "We can't do that," he said.

"Why not?"

"What do you think they'll do to us, if we go to them? When they find out how we live, where we live? We'll be out of here so fast, they'll separate us. No, we can't give up, not like that," Roxas shook his head vigorously.

"So what, we just do what he says then? Bend over? Just go outside on Monday and…what? What does he want us to do?" Sora questioned.

"Probably what I did," Roxas said. "He's going to make us sell drugs."

They got to work cleaning the apartment in silence. Sora ran his mop across the kitchen floor, moving it gently from side to side and listened as the swashing of the water punctured the tense silence.

He had hardly found a moment to think. His brain was running a million miles a minute, going through the bombshells Roxas had dropped upon him over and over. The past twelve hours had passed in such a confused frenzy that he had just barely managed to grasp the fact that he had experienced his first kiss.

I kissed Kairi

No. Rather, she had kissed him. He wondered if leaving had been the right thing to do. She was upset, about what he could only guess. The feel of her lips on his was etched into his thoughts and the memory of their mouths briefly melding sent his heart into a flutter. But what had she been thinking? He couldn't shake the question. Why had she done it?

He liked it, he was almost certain of that. More than anything, he wished he could just sit her down and talk to her.

"Oh," Roxas spoke, "I know it's not really much, but, um, I got you this," he held out a small white bag to Sora.

He took it, giving Roxas a questioning glance and pulled out its contents. It was a phone.

"It's a flip phone; I figured you could use it. I've got one too," Roxas said, giving him a small lopsided smile. Sora examined the small phone in his hands.

"Thanks, Roxas," he said, and he meant it.

"No problem."

It took them a long while, but as the morning gave way to noon and the sun soon began to set, their apartment had been set back in working order. Roxas dumped the last bag of garbage into the trash bin; he dusted his hands and leaned against the wall.

"Not too bad, huh?" he chimed.

"I guess not," Sora said. "How's your stomach?"

"It's fine, doesn't hurt much now," Roxas assured, giving his side a pat.

"So..." Sora sat down on the newly cleaned couch; it squeaked under his weight. "Now what?" he asked.

Roxas shrugged. "Nothing, I guess. Just stick with me, follow my lead, and you'll be fine. We're going to be fine," he vowed. It was becoming a near constant refrain with him, Sora noted. Roxas took a seat next to him and they sat in the quiet of their apartment. Sora felt himself drifting, he was so tired and the urban sounds of the outdoors filtering in through the open window were lulling him into a peaceful slumber.

Roxas ran a hand across his forehead. "Have you seen mom?" he inquired.

"What?" Sora's eyes snapped open.

"She hasn't been back in a while. I know I shouldn't worry, she always makes it back, I just don't want to have to go out looking for her," he said.

Sora thought back to his last encounter with their mother. He remembered that burning, seething anger that had torn through him when he saw her standing in their living room. He remembered the loss of control.

"Yeah…I don't know," Sora responded, trying to keep his voice even.

"She hasn't come back? You haven't seen her?" Roxas asked, looking at him with anxious eyes.

He thought of the pouches of munny hidden under his mattress.

"No."

The weekend passed quickly, quicker than Sora would have liked. Time always had a way of accommodating one at the worst of times. He lay awake as Sunday night transitioned into Monday morning and he stared up at his ceiling, the nervous tension deep within his intestines growing, tightening its grip while the hours ticked away. He succumbed to the tiredness as the sun began its perennial rise.

Somewhere beyond the haze of light sleep he heard the sound of a door opening.

"C'mon Sora, we gotta go."

Wordlessly, Sora pulled himself off his mattress and went into the shower. He stepped under the stream of warm water and reveled in the wet comfort it provided. He wanted at the very least to be clean before engaging in something dirty. After he was done, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. Autumn was just beginning, but the weather remained fairly mild.

"You ready?" Roxas asked him as he walked into the living room. He didn't look nervous; in fact his expression was one of determination. Ever the optimist, Sora thought. Sora gave a nod and together they walked out the door and made their way down the stairs and out the building. By all accounts, it was a very nice day with hardly a cloud in the sky.

"Nobody's here yet," Sora observed. The street was empty, not a single passerby to be seen.

"We're a bit early, guess we'll wait," Roxas leaned against the very same wall he had been backed up against. And so they waited; five, ten, fifteen minutes passed before Sora sighted a familiar face coming down the sidewalk towards them. It was Tidus.

"Hey guys," he kept his voice neutral, but his greeting prompted Sora to raise an eyebrow. The sandy blonde haired boy paid him no mind.

"We ready to go?" he asked. Roxas nodded and they set off down the road.

Tidus led them through the streets and Sora's familiarity with their surroundings faded the farther they went. Dingy complexes and two story shops turned into residential homes and poorly maintained parks before they passed through an industrial area. Sora gazed at the tall grey buildings that rose up from the ground, their smokestacks spewing dark clouds that drifted up and across the neighborhood, covering the sky with their noxious fumes.

"We're here," he heard Tidus say, and they stopped.

"Sunset Park?" Roxas asked. Sora took in his surroundings, there were some docks farther off down the road, but the city itself was blocked by buildings.

"We're dropping Sora off here, you're going to Red Hook," Tidus replied.

"What? You're going to leave him here by himself?" Roxas questioned. Sora knew his brother was worried, but his words left a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"We've got people here, just go over there," Tidus pointed to a corner on the sidewalk across the street, "and they'll meet up with you soon."

Sora did as he was bid, with one last look at Roxas as he crossed the street and stood on the corner. Roxas and Tidus walked up towards the docks and were soon out of sight. He stood for a while, before his aching legs began to pound with pain and he sat down on a stoop, propping his head up with one arm. He watched beat up old cars pass down the street and several times wondered if they would stop and ask him for things he didn't have. Soon enough, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Are you the new kid?" someone asked.

Sora looked up into the deep blue eyes of a girl with messy jet black hair. His first thought was that she looked like Kairi. She was followed by another girl clad in a navy blue tank top and jean shorts who stood behind her and peered at him curiously.

"Yeah, that's me," he confirmed. The girl looked at him for a moment before offering him her hand, he shook it hesitantly.

"Xion," she greeted. "And this is Yuffie," she motioned towards the other girl, who waved at him.

"Sora," he nodded at them. "So, you guys are with Riku?" he asked. Xion laughed.

"I don't know if I'd put it like that, but yeah, we're with Riku," she said. Her statement piqued his curiosity, but he decided to let it pass.

"So…what do we do here?" he asked unsurely. Being in the presence of people, girls no less, with experience in this line of work was leaving him feeling a bit awkward.

"We sit here and wait for customers," Xion responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She walked over to the side of the stoop Sora was seated on and lifted up a vase, pulling out a bunch of tiny baggies from under it. Sora held out his hand expectantly.

"Oh no no, none for you," she clucked, handing a few of them to Yuffie.

"Why not?" Sora asked, unable to keep the indignation out of his voice. He was here to do a job, wasn't he?

"Don't take it personally, you're new. For now, you just sit here and watch us, we'll show you the ropes," Xion explained calmly.

"Yeah! Don't worry about it!" Yuffie added cheerfully. Sora sighed and leaned back against the steps. What choice was there?

"Okay," he resigned himself.

So he watched. The hours passed quickly and Sora felt himself getting comfortable, the anxiety that had plagued him throughout the weekend dissipating rapidly. A couple of people came by looking to score and to Sora's virgin eyes the transaction did not seem overly complicated. Yuffie took the money and counted, sending the customers across the street to Xion once the amount had been confirmed. They switched roles regularly, keeping to a schedule of bi-hourly rotation.

It was nearing six o'clock when what could best be described as a ghetto car pulled up to the stoop. Ostensibly red but topped off with all sorts of peculiar graffiti, larger wheels than Sora had ever seen, and a thundering stereo, Sora figured this was the kind of patron natural to these corners. The car door opened and Sora's eyes widened when he saw Huey step out.

He quickly averted his gaze and stared down at the ground; Xion looked at him strangely as she got up and approached the boy. He heard them murmuring and then Huey was walking quickly towards Yuffie on the other side of the road. Sora breathed a sigh of relief, he hadn't been spotted.

He heard Xion counting the munny, whispering the numbers to herself, and then she shouted.

"Hey!"

Huey was already speeding away from Yuffie, tiny baggy swinging in the wind. Yuffie looked at them in confusion.

"He's short!" Xion shouted to her.

Yuffie snapped her head to Huey's quickly receding figure, and Sora saw her eyes harden. She was gone in a flash, sprinting down the sidewalk after him.

"Should we-?"

"Go," Xion said to him, looking him straight in the eyes. "See what happens to people who do that."

Sora jumped up off the stoop and jogged after them, he didn't want to run lest he invite suspicion from the occasional pedestrian. He couldn't see the two of them up ahead, they must have turned the corner, he thought. He stopped at the junction where the road met another and took a left into the neighborhood. He heard the distinct sound of shouting emanating from an alley up ahead; he breathed hard and pushed forward.

Sora turned into the alleyway and was greeted with the sight of a Yuffie standing dangerously over Huey, who was clutching his left arm tightly and whose head was turned fearfully into the brick wall. The little baggy dangled from Yuffie's fingers.

"Please…" he gasped, "I'm sorry."

"I see you around here again and you're done, got it?" Yuffie growled, bearing down on him.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," he nodded weakly.

"Good," Yuffie's voice returned to the initial cheer that Sora knew. She stuck the baggy in her back pocket and turned to leave, giving Sora a knowing look as she passed him by.

Sora remained rooted in place. He watched Huey whimpering on the ground, leaning against the wall and holding onto his arm which Sora now could see was bent at an odd angle. He seemed…

So small

Huey managed to lift his head and their eyes locked. Sora saw the look of recognition flash across his face. There was no anger, nor the familiar glint of mischievousness.

Only fear.

Sora and Roxas arrived back at their apartment that evening, collapsing in a tired heap onto the couch. Sora had returned to the girls, paying no heed to their questioning glances, and sat himself down on the stoop until the sky had darkened suitably and he was relieved of his quite stimulating responsibilities. He called Roxas on his flip phone and together they met up and trudged the rest of the way home in silence.

"Rough day?" Roxas chortled, looking over at him.

The smallest of smiles touched Sora's lips.

"Not so bad, actually."

They returned to school the next day. Though only a weekend plus holiday had passed, it seemed like a lifetime had been spent beyond the grey walls of the building and now that he was back, he wished for nothing more than to leave. The teachers and the students played their little game, ran their little race, cat and mouse, queen and worker bees, master and slave, going on and on, drowning everything else out.

He was sitting in English when the teacher announced their coming group project. A report, she said, on the intricacies of Fear and Loathing. She would be choosing the groups, and those with issues could appeal after the fact. Sora felt the familiar feeling of sickly anxiety settling over him, taking root deep within his chest. This was what he had feared, and of course it was only natural that all his fears would come to fruition.

"Rikku and Tidus."

She was reading names off a list. It was all very carefully contrived.

"Wakka and Selphie."

Suffering was suffering. But this was something else.

"Olette and Hayner."

It was always something. Creeping just around the corner, waiting to leap out and leave you reeling.

"Sora and Kairi."

The words slammed into him with the full force of a cargo ship careening bow first into a wooden dock. He made sure not to move, not to give off the slightest indication that he had been blasted off balance by the realization that Kairi was now his partner in what was bound to be a weeks long, if not months long, school project. He was going to have to face her, speak to her. Now that his fantasy had become reality, he wasn't sure if he could handle it.

The bell rang and he jolted up, pushing through the crowd of people in a desperate effort to escape, but it was too late. He felt a hand clasp his wrist as he started down the hallway, and reluctantly turned to face the girl he knew was standing behind him.

"Can we talk?" Kairi asked him, he could hear the quiver in her voice. Nerves, perhaps.

"Yeah, of course," he conceded. He leaned against the lockers and waited expectantly. Kairi took a deep breath, taking the time to conjure up the words he knew were coming.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry," she stated firmly.

"Okay," Sora nodded. Kairi looked at him, clearly expecting more.

"Do you hate me?" she asked tepidly, fiddling with her hands behind her back.

Hate you? I hardly know you, he wished he could say. He settled for something less inflammatory.

"Of course not. We're partners now, aren't we?" Sora gave her a big smile, which appeared to put her at ease, the tension seemingly deflating from her shoulders.

"Yeah," Kairi returned his smile. "I'm glad you're my partner," she said.

"Me too," he concurred.

"So…friends?" she offered, her hopeful eyes betraying her cooling demeanor. He had to give her credit.

"Friends."