Author's notes: Yeah, this is really weird. I post chapter four, then, three days later, I finished chapter five! Then, chapter six? I dunno. Let's see how long it takes me to write this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or the characters.

Enjoy and review!

Chapter 6:

Secret's Defeat

"So, you're off the hook?"

Roxas nodded at Hayner as he took a bite of his sandwich. It felt good for all four of them to have the 'ol gang back together. It was as if nothing had happened. "During dance, I spent the whole time helping Axel with his homework! The teacher didn't even notice!"

"That's good; now you don't have to humiliate yourself in front of everyone!" The table laughed, but the only female stopped as she felt a rumble in her pocket. She looked down and saw her phone brightly lighting up through her pants. Confused by who would be texting her, she immediately pulled out her phone. She flipped open her phone and kept it under the table. A good thing, too. It instructed her to go to the gym. The message didn't give any details, just the order.

"Hey, you guys," Pence interrupted, "that new ice-cream place opened up! We should all head over there after school. You know, as, like, some sort of celebration for Olette's return!"

Olette looked up from her phone at the sound of her name and smiled at Pence. "You're not going to make me pay for you again, are you?"

Pence shook his head and jerked his thumb toward the other two. "I won't, but I think these guys will!"

Olette pouted, but Hayner made up a reasonable excuse. "Well, it is my car that's driving us there."

She looked over at Roxas for his excuse. "Well…uh…" He looked around the cafeteria and tried to change the subject. "You know how great it felt not to dance?"

The girl smiled softly. "It's okay. I don't mind paying for you." There was a moment of silence and she added, "As long as you pay me back!" Olette got up from her seat and grabbed her backpack.

Hayner looked up at her, "Whoa, where are you going? We still have ten minutes."

It was now her turn to make an excuse. "I'm going to…my class, just to see what I missed. See you guys after school!" Roxas mumbled a "Good-bye" through his sandwich, Pence waved, and Hayner grumbled with disappointment.

"What's up with her?" complained Hayner.

"What do you mean?" retorted Pence. "Unlike you, she actually wants to finish school. She's probably going to get into a really good college."

Roxas swallowed his bite. "No, I think Hayner's right."

"How so?" asked Hayner, glad he was, for once, right.

"Yesterday, when she called me, something wasn't…I dunno. I could tell she was lying. But I don't know what would make her want to lie."

"Yeah," mused Pence, "She's told us everything. Like when her mom was in the hospital and that time when her parents split-"

"-And when her mom got remarried," finished Roxas.

Hayner scratched his head. "What should we do?"

"Well, she's our friend. She won't keep it from us for too long. Let's just give her time."

Olette hurried down the hall, checking over her shoulder to see if anyone was behind her. Secrecy was the key.

Bump.

Maybe caution, too. "Girl, watch out!" Olette whipped her head forward to find Seifer's chest rdirectly in her line of sight. She jumped back and looked up at him. He snarled at her and continued to walk down the hall. "Come," he commanded.

"Sorry, didn't mean-"

Seifer silenced her with a "Shh" motion. "Do you want him to see me with you?" he hissed.

They walked in silence, both of them paranoid, afraid anyone could see them. Luckily, everyone was too distracted by the rush of lunch to notice two bodies wandering away. They reached the end. Olette assumed this was the end of their journey and began to speak. "How did you get-"

"We're not there yet." The hall made a twist to the right and Seifer followed it. Olette followed behind him, this time keeping her mouth shut. She glanced at her watch; this trip cost her five minutes, so far. Thankfully, their destination, the exit, was ahead.

The sun was shining brightly that January day. There was a light breeze outside that caused the leaves to dance together in whirlwinds. The student parking lot could be seen, but not the police officer who was usually on duty to catch truancies; exactly what they would become if they stepped out that door.

"Wait, where are you taking me?"

Seifer noticed she was taking a few steps back; he grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the door. "Come on; don't be so…" They fought against each other; Olette trying to free her wrist from the vice-like grip and Seifer close to dislocating her hand. "…persist-"

The battle ended as the girl slipped away, falling backwards onto the wrist she was trying to protect. She groaned in pain, "My wrist! It hurts!"

Seifer, who only ran into the door, immediately went to her side, "Olette, are you okay?"

Tears began to flow out of her eyes, "Does it look like I'm okay!?" she screamed. Her high-pitched wail bounced against the tiles and ceiling of the hall. Seifer tried to quiet her, afraid of getting caught. "What do you think you were trying to do? Why don't you talk to me instead of dragging me all over the place?" Footsteps could be heard from a distance, echoing just like Olette's scream. Seifer panicked and grabbed the girl's wrist, yanking her to the outside world.

Olette pleaded for him to slow down, but fear took control of his actions. The girl had no choice but to obey, since her injury was in his hands. They cut across the car pool lane, no one there, due to the fact that school was still in session, through the school garden and into the student parking lot. Seifer stopped at his car and checked behind him to see
if anyone was there. He saw a speck of bright red in the distance.

"Olette, get in!" He let go but instead of getting in, he helped her. He opened the door and grabbed her bag. The girl was shocked by the change of heart, but feared the distinct shift in personality. Seifer ran over to the other side and got into the car, throwing the backpack into the back seat.

He drove out of the parking lot like a madman, almost scraping his car against his fellow students. Olette began to panic with him, "Seifer, slow down, you're going to kill us!" She grabbed onto his arms while watching the road. He was speeding, cutting people off, and breaking numerous other road rules.

"No, I can't! He'll catch me!" Seifer took a glance behind him, and Olette nearly had a heart attack.

"SEIFER, THE ROAD!" He looked back forward and froze as Olette shielded her face for impact.

Hayner popped up next to his friends with a wide grin spread across his face. "Hey, you guys ready to go to the ice-cream place?" He turned to Pence, "I have no clue where this place is so you'll have to tell me."

"It's in the Twilight Shopping Square."

A light bulb turned on in Hayner's head. "Oh, you mean the empty place next to that medicine store?"

Pence smiled, "Yeah, that's the place. The empty place that's now an ice-cream shop."

Roxas licked his lips, thinking about the sweet goodie, but had a tinge of guilt as he thought about borrowing money from his friend. Thinking of her, he reached for his phone and called her. She immediately answered, "Roxas? What-oh! I'm sorry; I can't go to the ice-cream place. I'm…in the library…studying."

Roxas was surprised how quickly she reacted. "What do you mean? I thought we agreed on this. Besides, you can study afterwards."

"Sorry, maybe another time. I-" her voice seemed to have traveled away, "-Ow! That hurts!" Her voice came back, "Sorry, I'll call you later. A bit tied up." The line went dead without Roxas saying anything.

"Bad news, guys. Olette can't come." All eyes landed on Pence and he let out a sigh.

"I guess I can loan you guys…"

"Yes!" Hayner high-fived Roxas dragged Pence to the exit. "Let's go, pal. I've been waitin' all day for this!" Roxas bounced along, but stopped jumping in glee at the sight of a redhead waiting outside the front door of school.

"Sorry for showing up like this, guys," he began. "I need to steal Roxas from you again." Roxas nervously looked at his friends. Hayner nodded and Axel pulled the blond away from his friends. "Next Friday is grade check."

Roxas shrugged, "So what? That's plenty of time?"

"Plenty of time?" Axel repeated.

"Yeah, sure. When I want my grade higher, it usually only takes me a week."

"Only a week? For who? You or me?"

Roxas looked down at his feet and sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll tutor you today." He looked back up with a smile, "At least it isn't a total loss," he commented, thinking about Olette. "Hey, you guys," he called to his friends, "You go ahead without me. I gotta do some things." Hayner shrugged and walked away. He raised a hand to signal a good-bye.

"I have a paper I need to write, and my math homework is kinda like…'ick.'" Roxas smiled and began to reassure Axel as they walked to the library.

"I can't believe I lied…again." She looked over at Seifer who was more calmly driving the car. "And I can't believe we survived."

Seifer bit his lip, "How's your wrist?"

"Well…I think it might be sprained, no thanks to your grabbing!"

He pouted, "Well, it's not very polite to act as if you're going to crash when you're not. Especially if you're not the one driving!"

"But…it was so close! I could have sworn you were going to hit that car!"

"Forget about the car, let's take care of your wrist first." Olette looked down at her lap and blushed. It was a new experience. Seifer caring? It seemed almost unreal to the girl. Before she could question his kindness, he parked the car in front of a medicine store. "You have money, right?"

Olette nodded. "I won't take long," and exited the vehicle. She power walked up to the door, holding her wallet in hand as she pushed it open. Instead of wasting her time, milling in the aisles looking for something she could never find, she approached the front counter. An elderly lady looked at her and smiled.

"What can I do for you, child?"

"I need something for my wrist; I think I sprained it." The girl placed her arm on the counter and the woman leaned in to examine it.

"I have just the thing. Follow me." She slowly walked out from behind the counter and into one of the aisles.

Olette thought to herself, "At this rate, I'll never get out of here."

"Ah, here it is!" The old woman, with her shaky hands, gently pulled the box off the shelf and handed it to Olette. "When you get home, put some ice on that, and then put this wrap on. As you said, your wrist is sprained. Just keep this on for about a week." Olette pulled out some money from her wallet.

"How much do I owe you?"

The old woman smiled and pushed her money away. "You have such delicate hands, child. It would hurt me more to see your hand untreated than to be rightfully paid."

Olette put the money away and smiled back, "Thank you." She took the wrap and stuffed it into her healthy hand along with her wallet since she could not hold anything in her injured hand.

"Don't forget, child, the recipe 'R.I.C.E.,' " the old woman called as the girl exited. As Olette left, the wallet and wrap fell out of her hand. She let out a short gasp and dropped to the ground to pick it up.

"Olette!" She froze right on the spot. She knew whose voice that was. She knew she wasn't supposed to be here. She knew she had some explaining to do.

"Hayner," Olette said sweetly as she carried the things in one hand and forced the other to stay behind her back. "Uh…what are you doing here?"

Pence, who had followed Hayner, panted behind him, "We should be asking you that!"

Olette quickly glanced over at the car next to her. Seifer was waiting as he tried to keep low. Luckily, Hayner and Pence did not notice their enemy was sitting only a few feet away. "You guys, I had to go home. I'm going somewhere with my mom…like…now and I have to go…now." She turned her back to them but stupidly, also, flashed her hand to them.

"Olette, your wrist!" Hayner rushed forward and grabbed the bruised ligament. "What happened?"

The girl winced as she turned around, "I fell…down some…floor-I fell down on the floor!" She mentally cursed herself for telling so many lies. Soon, she would not be able to keep up with all of them.

Hayner let go and let her hand fall limply to her side, "Oh. Well, be more careful. It seems like these days you can't help but to get in some sort of trouble."

"Bye, Olette. Hope you get better," Pence said as he and his friend walked back to the ice-cream parlor. Olette waved back and rushed into the car when the two were a good distance away.

"Damn, I thought for sure they were going to see me," Seifer sighed as he pulled out of the parking spot.

Pence, on the other hand, was wondering how Olette had arrived at the Twilight Shopping Square. "Isn't Olette's mom a doctor?"

Hayner scratched his chin, "Yeah, I thought so, but maybe her dad took her. She looked like she was in a rush, so maybe she wasn't thinking."

"But isn't her dad also a doctor?" The duo stopped and looked at each other. They had just been witnesses of Olette's lie.

They looked back toward where they had the conversation and saw their friend rushing into a beat-up, old, white car. As the car drove off, they were able to catch a glimpse of the driver. Both of them gasped in terror. "I gotta call Roxas."

"Axel, that's good. Just keep it up!" The blond felt a vibration in his pocket, which could be heard over the scribbling of Axel's pencil. "Excuse me for a second."

Roxas walked away from the table, out of hearing distance, and answered
his phone. "Hey man, what's up? How's the ice-cream?"

"Screw the ice-cream! We just saw Olette!"

Roxas rolled his eyes, "Well, I wouldn't be surprised. She lied to me; she's not in the library." He frowned at the ridiculous habit his friend was making. Not only was he disappointed in her, he also felt hurt. They were best friends, proud and true. But, his friendship didn't mean anything to her, obviously.

On the other end of the phone, Hayner's jaw dropped. "Another lie? Well, I bet she has plenty more to explain because you won't believe who I just saw her with!"

Roxas raised an eyebrow and mockingly commanded, "Try me."

"Seifer." The blond turned to a busy Axel at the sound of that name. The lies, the skipping; it seemed to fit. Axel had to have done something.

"Hayner? Can I call you back? I'm going to get to the bottom of this." He hung up the phone without a response and sat down at the table. "Axel, you're already getting better! Even after two study sessions. If you keep these study habits up, I'm sure your grades will be much better than passing by Friday!"

The red-head smiled and lightly blushed. "Thanks Roxy! You're a really good tutor!"

Roxas smiled back and also had a little pink on his cheeks, "I'm glad you think that. Lemme quiz you. You have a test tomorrow in English, don't you?" Axel nodded and he proceeded, "Well then, question one: Who is the protagonist of the story?"

The dancer happily answered, "Edna Pontellier!"

"That's right! Number two: who is she madly in love with?"

Again, he answered along with some confidence, "Roger!"

"Roger who?"

"Roger Lebrun."

"You're doing great! Number three," Roxas fiercely got up and leaned over the table into Axel's face, "What the hell did you do to Seifer?"

Axel yelped and leaned away. He sat there for a moment, looking into the fury of Roxas's sweet blue eyes. "What do you care? I don't understand…"

"Whatever you did, it's affected Olette, too. She's not acting the same," he snarled.

"Now, Roxy-"

"Roxas!" he corrected.

"Right…Roxas, what does 'Omelet's' weirdness have to do with what I did to Seifer?" he snickered.

Roxas let out a triumphant 'hah' in his face, "so, you did do something to Seifer!"

Axel let out a chuckle, "I never denied it." The blond grabbed his essay and threatened to rip it apart. He stopped laughing and stood up from his chair, "you wouldn't dare!"

"Tell me what you did!" Roxas's scream rang throughout the library. Luckily, no one was there to hear it.

Axel ran his hand through his hair and sat back down. "Fine, I'll tell you." With paper still in his hands, Roxas took a seat and intently watched the dancer. "We took him to the woods behind the school and we…roughed him up a little."

"Are you the one who gave him the scar on his face?"

Axel shamefully looked down at the ground. "Yeah. Saïx brought a knife and I just…used it."

"Saïx is the one with the blue hair, right?"

"Right," he confirmed.

"Is that it? I didn't see so many bruises the times I passed by him."

Axel's heart began to beat faster and his blood began to rush. "Saïx…hurt him."

"Not you? But you were with him. Are you saying you just watched?"

"Yeah…well…no…I did some things too…like the cut on his face and the ones on his legs."

Roxas scowled, "you cut him on his legs?"

"And back…maybe once on his neck…"

"Why?"

"I was…"

"High," Roxas assumed, since Axel was in the forest were druggies mostly hung out.

"…aroused." The red head looked at his hands, embarrassed by his own answer.

Roxas leaned away. "What the hell?"

Axel shifted uncomfortably in his seat. His cheeks were a turning a red as bright as his hair. He looked into Roxas's eyes, showing him the pain from the secret he'd been holding back. "Me and Saïx raped him."

FINALLY! THE SECRET IS REVEALED!! MWAHAHA!

Sorry, it's kinda…'eep!' I think I might change the rating to M. But
I'm
not quite going into detail about anything so I'll keep it Teen.

If anyone's wondering, those questions Roxas asks are about a book called The Awakening, that I am currently reading against my will.

Hope you enjoyed!

Please review!

-Lady of the Cards-