The way he looked at her…so interested, so curious…so…

Xradenom glared hard. "Roxas! You had BETTER not lose this court or I will shove my foot up your *ss!!"

The boy gulped. She was a scary woman. She would probably keep that promise.

The sun, though hazed over by thick dull clouds, beat down upon their heads, stinging his eyes. He had to squint to block out the blazing light, though it did little good. The other's screams and shouts and curses rung muffled through his ears, as the world slowed before him while his heart beat faster and faster. The adrenaline rushed through him, just like it did every fight. He made a fist and relaxed it. His opponent just stood there, motionless.

Then he dashed forward.

He swung out with a balled fist, ready to hit her square in the face. But she side stepped him. He stopped, stumbling a little, and swung out again. She dodged again. He tried to strike, and she moved out of the way.

God she was FAST.

This time, the girl struck out, aiming for his stomach. He quickly caught her fist in his hand, tightly, and punched her across the face. A dull, painful throb ebbed strangely at his heart. Perhaps the prospect of hitting a girl bothered him. But no matter what it was, he had to suck it up and keep fighting.

And suddenly, his breath was knocked out of him and he doubled over in pain.

While lost in his thoughts, she had broken away from his grip and kicked him in the stomach. Hard. He could even taste a little blood in his mouth.

"C'mon, Roxas! Don't let a girl beat you!"

The teen could barely hear Axel's voice over the roaring of the rabble encircling them.

A sharp blow to the face sent him stumbling back, sprawled across the ground. He looked up to see Xed standing over him, about to deliver and kick to his stomach. Acting quickly, he grabbed her foot and shoved her away, not knocking her over but throwing off her balance. It was just enough to allow him time to stand up again.

"Get him, Xed! Kick his *ss!"

The girl ran towards Roxas again, poised for another blow. He ran out of the way and created some distance between them. He breathed hard, his lungs desperate for air. Sweat dripped down his face while blood dripped down the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away on his sleeve. He gazed up at her. She seemed less tired than he, but other than a forming bruise across her cheek, she was in better shape than he.

He could hear his comrades' encouraging words (and threats), and he could feel the piercing glare of Xradenom upon him, making a cold shiver run through him. It fueled him with a fiercer determination.

And he ran forth again, as did she.

000

The match continued on for some time. Punches were thrown, kicks were released, tackles and pulling and hits were made. Blood was shed, bruises were given. But neither gave up.

The sun was setting; the sky was a different color now, darker, orange-red with hints of purple and pink. All slathered in grey.

Roxas had had enough of this. He was tired and sore and his blood was boiling with anger and frustration.

His weary blue eyes shifted slightly and looked to the blonde girl staring daggers into his head. Something burned in her eyes…something wicked, something devilish. He watched as she slowly and inconspicuously moved her hand down her leg, encouraging him to follow her lead. He knew exactly what she was going for.

His hand moved shakily to the side of his pants, and he fingered the knife in his pocket. It'd be so easy to finish this. Who cares about The Code? About a true gangster's honor? All that mattered was ending this and winning the court. Xradenom would think higher of him. Perhaps she would even accept his feelings and maybe they could start something…

He turned his gaze back on Xed, and drew his knife slowly, flipping the cap off to reveal the smooth, cool, sharp blade. By the widening of her eyes, he knew she saw it. He knew she knew what he was going to do.

And then he charged forward, raising the blade, preparing to slash down.

She quickly grabbed his wrist, trying with all her might to push the knife away from herself. They both shook from the strain, the blade inching forwards and backwards, poising to attack.

"Cheat!" the girl hissed, glaring him down with an intensity that could almost match Xradenom's. Almost.

Around them were increased shouts of anger and disgust, as arguing broke out over the breaking of The Code and The Disorder's 'dirty tricks' so to speak.

The blade inched closer and closer towards the girl. But then she brought up her knee, slamming it between Roxas' open legs. The boy yelped loudly and immediately collapsed, dropping the knife to the hot asphalt under him. He writhed and groaned, shaking from the intense pain as the shock of it all caused his world to spin and grow black and quiet.

There'd be hell to pay for, tonight…

000

He woke to the repeated stomping upon his stomach, curtsey of his very angry gang members.

"You *ucking idiot!"

"You cost us the *amn court!"

"*ucking *itch!"

The blows rained down on him for a while, racking his body with more pain. After a while, they ended, and Roxas weakly pushed himself up to his knees, wincing as new and old cuts bled new crimson.

He watched as Xradenom stood over him. She smacked him across the face unbelievably hard, whacking the breath and sense out of him momentarily, making him see stars. She threw him a disgusted glare and stormed off. The other members followed, some throwing angry looks, some throwing sympathetic looks.

Only one stayed behind, and he kneeled beside the boy, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "Want one?"

The teen nodded, took one, and they lit up. Taking a deep inhale of the cig, he looked around to see that they were back at The Disorder's hangout. The skies were very dark; it was obviously late at night.

The redhead snickered. "I can't believe she got you down by kneeing you, man…"

Roxas groaned, the pain still there. "I know….Xradey looks *issed as hell…"

"Hell yeah she is." Axel took a smoke, and released it. "You know, that chick was pretty fine."

"Who?"

"That girl you were fighting. What's her name…Xed?"

"Oh…" Roxas stared at the ground, moving a chunk of broken glass around with his foot. "She wasn't too bad looking."

"Rox, she rivaled the Boss." He smirked. "And don't think I didn't catch the way you were lookin' at her. You were checking her out, weren't you?" He nudged his friend, his grin going wider as the teen blushed faintly, mostly in embarrassment.

"I was not! I was just…studying her moves…"

"Bullsh*t."

"Ah, screw you, Axel…" he finished his cig and stamped the butt out on the ground. After a long moment of silence, "Maybe…I'll go see her again. Should probably apologize for the knife thing…"

"Yeah. That was cold." The redhead flicked his dead cig to the wall. "That ain't right, pulling a knife. You know The Code."

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" The blonde stood up slowly, as to not agitate his wounds. There was always tomorrow to go find her. But for now, sleep sounded amazingly good to him, and he limped off to his room.

000000

SOOOO Sorry for the long update D: I got side tracked…but now I have a new method for writing the chapters and I hope it'll make things go smoother.

Chapter 5 Preview:

She couldn't get him off her mind…

"I don't get this. Why are we fighting? Why the division?"

"Even gangsters like us need rules, too. That's why The Code was made."

"The Code?"

"You don't EVER break The Code. Or hell breaks loose."

"Just…stay away from them. From him. They're not good people."

What about us?

See ya'll next chapter :)