A/N: Kay, ya'll are probably going to hate me now for this, but the updates are going to be coming a bit slower. Nothing drastic, but there will be a space of a few day's between updates, at least for a while. Nothin' big.

Heh. I didn't think people would end up caring about an OC, but then again, I didn't go all Mary Sue or anything. Truthfully, I love Shade to death, and he is one of my favorite OC's that I created for a book I'm attempting to write! n.n'

Shade: sniff I feel so loved!

Also, I don't own the character Noah. She belongs to the lovely NoahBluze, my Number One Fan. Have a Shei Plushie!

And Kazutaka Muraki doesn't belong to me either!

Aaaaaaanywho. I know some people are just DYING to know what happens to Shade. So, without further ado, here's Chapter Five of Kismet High!

-------------Chapter Five--------------

"And never again, and never again. They gave us two shots to the back of the head, and we're all dead now." - I Never Told You What I Do For A Living, My Chemical Romance

Genesis was in the kitchen grabbing a late snack when he heard it.

He was ready to call it a night, but his growling stomach refused to let him sleep until it was satisfied. On his way into the kitchen he had noticed his older son and his blonde crush sitting on the couch in the living room, watching some movie. The two had exchanged a chaste kiss, and were paying far more attention to each-other than the movie. He could imaging that Riku and the little brunette were doing much the same thing. Teenagers. Hard to believe I was like that once.

Then came the gunshot, followed by the heavy thud of something hitting the door. Quickly, he ran past the two startled teens on the couch and into his room, returning seconds later with his service pistol. Sometimes it paid to be a cop.

He slowly reached for the door, wondering if one of the local gangs Leon had told him about was responsible for the shot. Standing clear of the doorway, he quickly pulled the door open and was startled when a red-headed teen fell through the doorway. He took his eyes from the boy just in time to see a black van speeding off, with another car parking at the curb. Two people sprang from the car, their panicked shouts echoing in the still air. "Shade!"

Returning his gaze to the teen at his feet, he noticed that the boy hadn't moved. He kneeled carefully next to him and felt for a pulse. It was there, but it was weak. He studied the red-haired teen's tattooed face and noticed how the boy's glazed green eyes were half open and staring, and the skin around them was red, as if he had been crying. There was also a steady stream of red trickling from his mouth. He filed those observations to the back of his mind as he began checking for wounds.

Aside from the bruises visible outside his clothing, the first thing he noticed was the gaping wound in the boy's abdomen. When he saw how ragged the tear in the flesh was, he winced at the thought of how painful it must have been. Though terrible, it seemed that was the only wound of significance until Genesis noticed the trail of blood that covered the boy's neck and dripped onto the floor. With a sinking feeling, the brunette gently brushed aside some of the hair on the back of the teen's head and saw what he had been dreading. There, a few centimeters above the base of the boy's skull, was the hole made by the bullet.

"Shit. Leon, go wake up Seph and the others." When his eldest son nodded and took off up the stairs, he then turned to Cloud. "You, call the paramedics. Fast!" When the blonde didn't move, Genesis was prepared to shout when he noticed the look of horrified recognition on his face as he stared at the wounded teen. "Do you know this kid?"

Cloud nodded, and was about to speak when the two figures from the second car came running across the porch. The taller of the two, a boy with long pink hair, dropped to his knees next to the injured teen on the floor, a look of utmost horror on his face. "S-shei?" He began to tremble, and the smaller blonde next to him wrapped him in shaking arms as he began to sob.

Genesis turned back to Cloud. "Paramedics. Now!" The blonde was off in a flash, running for the phone in the kitchen. When he was gone, his attention returned to the two newcomers. "Who are you?"

It was the small blond that spoke. "M-my name is Demyx Strife. Cloud's my older brother." Readjusting his arms around the shaking teen in his arms, he continued. "This is Marluxia Tarshil. That's his brother, Shade." He gestured to the bleeding red-head. A spark of recognition flitted through the brunettes mind as he remembered his nephew Kadaj talking fondly of the boy, and he could vaguely remember seeing him around the house a few times.

Genesis was about to question them about what had happened, when his attention was drawn to his own brother running down the stairs. There was a bag of emergency medical supplies in his left hand, and he immediately dropped down next to the police officer.

Shaking his head sadly, Seph turned to his brother. "I can't really do anything for him here. The sooner we get him to the hospital, the better."

At that moment, Cloud re-entered the room. "The paramedics are on their way. An ambulance happened to be close by and it should be here within a few minutes."

Genesis stood slowly and nodded. At the moment, that was the best any of them could do. Then, he heard a sharp inhalation of breath behind him, followed by an exclamation of 'Shade!'. He turned just in time to see Kadaj's eyes roll back in his head as the boy collapsed, his two brothers catching him before he fell.

---

Axel's knuckles were white as his hands clenched the steering wheel. Stealing a glance at the car's other three occupants, he applied more pressure to the gas. Roxas looked like he was about to cry and Rufus's icy eyes were even colder than normal, while Reno's expression was a perfect match of his own. Panic, fear, and rage were warring for dominance, and fear was winning. He barely applied the brakes as he turned the last corner, slamming them on hard to come to a sudden screeching halt in front of the Hojo house. Then he was out of the car like a bat out of Hell, his brother and the two blondes behind him.

An ambulance was parked in the driveway, and as Axel and the others closed in on the house, they could see the two Emergency Medical personnel wheeling a gurney from the house. All he could see as they loaded the gurney into the ambulance was a head of bright red hair, but it was enough. He jogged quickly to catch up to them.

"Let me go with him." The two emergency workers regarded him skeptically. "Please. I'm his brother." After a moment's hesitation, they nodded. Hopping into the back of the vehicle, he turned to Reno. "You follow with Rufus and Roxas. The others are sure to follow as well."

---

Reno nodded as the doors to the ambulance were closed. Moving out of the way as the emergency vehicle passed, he ran back to the car as Rufus and Roxas followed. He was dimly aware of Demyx and Marluxia hopping into the sitarist's old car, as well as Genesis and Sephiroth loading their sons into G's black hummer. He was surprised, however, to see Sora hopping into the hummer next to Riku, while Leon hopped onto Cloud's bike. Ah, well. We'll have time for that later.

The ride to the hospital went surprisingly quick, and soon everyone was left standing in the waiting room, anxiousness written over their features. Reno was leaning back in Rufus's arms when he noticed a smoldering pair of blue eyes locked on him.

"You got a problem, Strife?" His agitated tone got the attention of the rest of the group, though only a few understood the malice in his words.

Cloud bristled from where he stood next to Leon. "Not really. It's just that it didn't take you very long to find yourself a new boyfriend."

Reno growled low. "Looks like I wasn't the only one, either."

Cloud stepped forward quickly and grabbed Reno by the collar of his shirt. The two probably would have glared at each other for hours on end if it weren't for the voice that came to them from up the hall: "Cloud Strife, you put Reno down this instant!"

Cloud let go of Reno in surprise and looked up just as a feminine hand knocked him to the floor. The girl then threw her arms around Reno in a strong hug.

Looking at the girl, Cloud recognized her as the girl named Noah, whose friend had decked him in school. She had long silver hair that fell two her knees that was pulled back and wrapped in long black ribbons, with several wispy strands hanging loose in the front. Three golden hoops hung from each ear, with a small metal die hanging from her right. A black choker hung around her neck with the kanji for metal in silver on the front, and a long chain dangled from the back with a dragon pendant on the end, ending at her waist. She was wearing a black shirt with a rubber duckie and the word's 'Quack job on the front, a pair of rainbow gloves that went from knuckle to elbow, an old pair of jeans with a black rose patch on the knee, and black combat boots with skull laces. Over all of this was a white hoodie jacket, with a chibi angel wing and devil wing embroidered across the shoulders.

This was Noah Takaminei, Reno's girlfriend before he had started dating Cloud. She had been the first and only girl that Reno had dated. They didn't break up on bad terms, but rather decided that their relationship just wasn't working. They had stayed good friends and Noah had even become very protective of Reno. She was currently dating Duo Maxwell, the captain of the school soccer team.

"N-noah! What are you doing here?" Confusion was written plainly across Reno's features. The silver-haired girl giggled nervously.

"Well, silly Duo fell out of his window when he tried to sneak out of his house. Poor guy broke his leg, so here we are. But what are you guys all doing here?"

Hearing the worried tone in her voice made Reno nervous. Though she was close to Reno, one of her best friends was Shei, who was now fighting for his life on the other side of the operating room doors. He knew that she would take the news hard; her parents had died when she was young and she lived alone, and she got really attached to the few friends she had.

"Well, Shei was…-"

"-he was shot outside of my home." All heads turned towards the speaker, who happened to be Genesis. "It appeared that he had been stabbed sometime before and had, for some reason, run towards our house. He took a bullet in the head as he reached our doorstep."

Noah clapped her hands to her mouth as tears welled in her eyes. "Is he…?"

Reno quickly shook his head. "Right now the doctors are doing what they can for him. You know Shei, he wouldn't go down without a fight." He tightened his arms around her in a comforting gesture, but didn't feel too sure himself.

"Speaking of a fight." Axel turned towards Demyx and Marluxia. Demyx was seated in one of the waiting room chairs, with Roxas sitting next to him offering comfort. Marluxia, on the other hand, was sitting in the seat next to him, staring blankly into space. "You guys wouldn't happen to know what happened to him at the school, would you?"

Demyx whimpered and seemed to fold in on himself, while Marluxia seemed to recover from his daze. Marluxia glanced over at Axel, wondering just how much he could tell him. Making up his mind, he was about to answer when a doctor approached the group. Everyone immediately focused on what he would have to say.

The doctor that stood before them was tall, standing just over six feet. Every inch of him was covered in white. His hair was a wispy silver that fell to cover his right eye. His visible eye was a steely grey, behind the rim of his glasses.

"I am Dr. Kazutaka Muraki. I am looking for those related to Mr. Shei Tarshil."

It was Reno who spoke. "That would be the three red-heads standin' in here, sir. But go ahead and tell everyone here what the news is about Shei. We all need to know."

Looking mildly irritated, the doctor nodded. "I'll start with the knife wound. Though it was deep, it seems to have missed most of his vital organs. The only complications from the wound, as far as we could tell, was slight damage to his left kidney and some damage to his stomach and left lung, which accounted for the blood in his mouth. The damage wasn't too extensive, however, and he should recover fully from that wound."

Those gathered heaved a sigh of relief, but Reno had a sinking feeling that he would like what he heard next.

"As for the bullet wound, however, he wasn't quite so lucky. Thankfully, it didn't penetrate too far into his brain, but some brain damage did occur. We won't know the extent of the damage until he awakes, but it could mean a loss of hearing, speech, or even his sight. Only time will tell what form the damage takes and how permanent it is. Though, brain damage aside, that would should also heal nicely."

Now Reno was trembling, and he could hear Noah sobbing into his shoulder. The looks of relief that had crossed the other's faces had disappeared at the words 'brain damage'.

Swallowing thickly, Reno asked, "May we see him?"

Brushing a small strand of hair away from his face, Dr. Muraki nodded. "Yes. But I only want two of you in there at a time, for now."

Sighing in relief, Reno turned to his two other brothers. "Axe, Marl, you two go ahead. I'll go in with Noah afterwards, okay?"

Nodding, the two red-heads entered the room, closing the door softly behind him.

It was only a few minutes later that the rest of the group heard a loud commotion down the hall. Turning to look, Reno saw a flash of cropped red hair down the hall and stiffened.

"Where the FUCK is my son! You assholes better tell me where the little bastard is, RIGHT NOW!"

Noah saw the terrified look on Reno's face and immediately became worried. "What is it?"

Voice trembling, Reno spoke in a barely audible whisper. "It's my dad."

-------------------------End Chapter Five----------------------------

A/N: I know, most of you guys probably want to lynch me by now for not updating sooner. I'm sorry! Blame the parentals! They are total Computer Nazis!

Reno: That and you're a lazy bum.

Shei: Yeah, I'm surprised Noah didn't try to strangle you.

Hehe. Aaaanywho. You know what the little button there is for, so use it and review!