A pale hand laced with a tan one, Roxas and Xed walked down the darkening streets together.

It was evening, and the air was cool and refreshing, and a little wet; a sign that it would probably rain soon. The sky above was, as always, hazy and clouded, but tinged with the pinks and purples of the sun setting. By now, most people had settled themselves within their homes and out of the way of any nighttime trouble, so the roads were nice and clear and quiet.

Perfect.

The two teens talked about anything they liked, and nothing they didn't. Though, in truth, words were hardly needed. Just the other's company was more than enough to make the other smile.

"Roxas…"

"Hm?" He looked at her.

"Xigbar knows…" the brunette confessed, looking a little guilty. "But he swore not to tell anyone." She added in quickly, to soothe the distress growing in the blonde's eyes. Roxas looked away.

"I should tell my friends, too…"

She squeezed his hand gently. "You don't have to…we can keep this a secret…"

"But I don't want to keep this a secret!" He stopped walking, and turned so he was facing her. He laughed a little for a moment, exasperated. "This shouldn't have to be a secret! It's not fair…I don't want to have to keep you and how I feel locked up in my heart…" He reached out and gently cupped her cheek, looking her seriously in the eyes.

She reached up with her free hand and placed it over his own. "Neither do I…"

"I want you to meet my friends…" He smiled softly. "I want you to be a conscious part of my life, in the eyes of everyone. Regardless of what they think."

Xed smiled back. "I want that too…"

His sky blue eyes delved deeply in her smoky ones. "I…I really like you, Xed…" he could feel a faint blush crawl up onto his face. He watched as she blushed, just like him.

"I really like you too, Roxas…"

"Really?"

She nodded, shyly.

They shared a quiet, avid stare, and hardly noticed as their own simple attraction drew their faces closer. They barely breathed, they hardly moved, never letting their contact break, until their eyes closed all on their own as their lips pressed together in a kiss.

It started so sweetly, so gently, they barely moved, their hearts beating incredibly fast, until they opened up to it and allowed their passion to flow into the embrace. Roxas gently pressed her up against a nearby building, and deepened the kiss. In response, Xed wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him gently closer, while deepening her end of the kiss.

And they remained in that way, for minutes, or maybe even seconds, just lost in the release and realization that they were truly, honestly, in something very special.

However, despite their knowledge, they had been followed.

Xradenom watched the two embrace from the shadows, her face red with anger and her heart green with jealousy. It took every fiber of her being to restrain herself from lashing out and attacking, but instead turned sharply on her heel and walked off.

She had other plans in mind…

000

The meeting would start in a few minutes.

Xed smiled happily, her mind completely full of tonight and the kiss they shared. She could swear she was still blushing. A little while later, Roxas had to leave to get back to The Disorder, which was just fine considering she had to get back to The Organization.

Taking the main road would take at least 20 minutes, even is she did run, so she decided to use a back alley and cut through a cluster of buildings to cut that time down to about five minutes.

Weaving in and out of the alleys, she stopped every once and a while when she though she heard a voice. But when her ears couldn't pick up anything, she shrugged it off and kept going.

Suddenly, as she was about halfway through a long alley, she could see two figures turn in and start walking down it. She slowed down and looked at them with a little suspicion, but decided not to take any chances and go back the way she came and take another route.

But at the other end, two other figures were walking down towards her, too.

She bit her lip a little, but decided to keep calm. She decided to just keep walking, and excuse herself past the oncoming figures and hope for the best. As she made her way down, she kept her eyes to the ground, and judged by the sound of the footsteps and from what she could see of their shadows to judge how close they were. As they came close, they slowed down almost to a complete stop in front of her.

"Excuse me…" she trailed off as she looked up. She could barely see anything of the figures, but her eyes widened in fear as she noticed something frightening.

Both were wearing white bandanas.

She backed up, and tried to run the other way, but by now the other two figures, they too wearing white bandanas, had caught up and blocked her path.

She was trapped.

The brunette began to tremble a little, backing herself up against the wall. How she wished Demyx or Kuxir were here…

A cruel snicker, "Scared, are we?"

Xed looked up quickly to see a certain teen sitting on the edge of a nearby fire escape, her wicked grin and blonde hair illuminated dimly by the dull moonlight seeping through the fog above.

"Wh-what do you want, Xradenom?" the girl stammered, trying to sound unafraid.

She jumped down and landed with perfect grace, glaring daggers at her. "Stay away from Roxas, you little *itch."

"What?"

"Stay away from Roxas!" She punched her hard in the stomach. The brunette doubled over in pain, but was then punched in the face by one of the figures nearby. She yelped as she hit the ground.

"I-I don't w-want to…" She said, shakily. "I…I love him…"

Absolutely enraged, Xradenom kicked her in the ribs. "I. DO. NOT. GIVE. A. *UCK!!" She kicked her harder with each word to express her anger. "You stay away from him!"

Xed coughed up some blood, but glared at her. "N-no!"

All at once, the four gangsters leapt upon her, kicking, punching, all while Xradenom watched with approval. After a while, the leader stopped them, and grabbed the girl by the hair, wrenching her head up, hard.

There was the sound of scraping against metal.

Xed turned her bleeding and bruised face up, her eyes widening in horror as she realized she was staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Now then," Xradenom said, in an eerily calm voice, dripping with malice and fury, "you will keep away from my Roxas." She jammed the gun against her head, the later whimpering in pain and fear. "Or I'll shove a bullet up your brain. Understand, *lut?"

Without waiting for an answer, she released the girl's head harshly and dropped her back to the ground, as she instructed The Disorder members to follow her out.

She turned back once last time to see the brunette, curled up on the ground and sobbing with pain and fear, before smirking and walking out of sight.

000000

MAJOR CONFLICT. NOW things are gonna get good :)

And sorry about that, Xed. You know I love you :3

Xed: -_-

…yup, she knows. ^^