A/N: Not much to say here. Other than there will be some drama mixed in this time. XD

Disclaimer: I don't own KH.

Chapter 3: The New Look

When he woke up in his safe bed where Ienzo couldn't follow him to, thank Kingdom Hearts, Zexion hoped vainly that seeing his Other had simply been a dream. After all, he disliked having blatantly exasperating people willing to stalk him 24/7. It was disturbing and a severe invasion of privacy. If this all happened to be a dream, he would have the semblance of eternal gratitude. Unfortunately, this was not to be.

"Oi, Zex, wakey-wakey! I got something to show you!" Ienzo yelled rudely.

Great, just absolutely brilliant. Before this moment, Zexion had no idea that it was possible to have a headache bordering on migraine first thing in the morning. Wishing desperately to escape back to his dream world, he had the inability as he slowly cracked his eyes open.

Everything seemed to form into one gigantic blur, which made him ask himself what time it was. His clock looked like it said six-thirty. This had better be good, whatever Ienzo had in store. Blearily, he gradually recognized shapes while getting more alert by the second. And then he saw lumps on the floor, clothes scattered everywhere. What was more, the books on his shelves had been rearranged overnight, no longer alphabetized but in random order. Random...This was his room at the moment! If Zexion had his heart back, he thought he was sure to lose it again through a heart attack.

"What. Did. You. Do?" he asked so evenly, he figured he would surely burst at any second.

What secretly enraged him further was seeing Ienzo wearing one of his Organization robes, only he purposely put it on backwards. However, he didn't wear it for long, for he made a disgusted face before taking it off. Once his eyes drifted to Zexion, he grinned roguishly.

"Not good for your OCD, but good for you, trust me. I feel sorry for you about the regulation uniform, though. Stuffy. Ugh! Anyway, if you want to be cool, you gotta not care about what your room looks like. Most guys don't."

Trying to rub his migraine away, Zexion almost snarled, "I am different from most teenage boys my age."

"Yeah, but would it kill ya to be like them in some ways?" Ienzo then waved this question away. "Never mind, let's eat breakfast. I'm hungry for some tomato omelets."

Even the boy's taste in food was bizarre, Zexion realized bitterly as he pulled on a pair of black jeans and a white T-shirt. But, the black jeans...had...holes...

"Holes?" he spat. "What's next? Are you going to dye my shirts?"

"Great idea but no. I'll tell you later. Come on, breakfast awaits."

Zexion settled on appeasing his other half by teleporting to the cafeteria, where hardly anyone was there. Well, hardly anyone except Demyx. For some reason, Zexion found himself gulping as he cooked some bacon on the frying pan. Meanwhile, not caring if it was conspicuous, Ienzo sliced a tomato and sprinkled the bits on an egg on a separate frying pan. Of course, Demyx was unable to see him, which could create some awkwardness.

However, Number Nine seemed preoccupied with something else at the moment, the something happening to be his food. He moodily stabbed at his sausage but refusing to eat it. Somewhat skeptical about what to say, Zexion turned around to face him after he finished frying the bacon. He was at a loss for words, very disconcerting indeed. His tongue was as normally sharp as his mind. For both of them to fail at a time like this filled him with a kind of dread throbbing somewhere in his hollow chest. And there was something sinking down deep into the pit of his stomach. Unfazed by the prolonged silence, Ienzo ate his tomato omelet greedily, the only one in the room to touch his food.

Noting the hesitant expression barely formed on Zexion's face, though, he stopped eating right away to whisper, "Talk to him."

"I can't. A week has passed since that stupid incident, and what will he think of me if I approach him now?" Zexion was quickly mastering talking without moving his lips too much.

Ienzo shrugged. "Good things, hopefully. If he wants to be friends or whatever with you, he will forgive you. Just apologize. And don't look like he's a piece of dung not worth your time. That might have been the reason he hasn't been talking. Look shy."

Too much advice, but Zexion was confident he got the idea well enough. He must humble himself in order to show how...rather apologetic he was. Knowing that certainly didn't take the uneasiness away. If he was truly a person, he would have been far better at emotion.

Ignoring the darkly pessimistic thoughts that raced through his mind, Zexion eventually made his way toward Demyx, who looked up from his plate of food. There seemed to be some sort of odd emotion stirring in his eyes. Either way, there was no trace of a smile on his face.

"Can I sit here?" Zexion asked haltingly, pointing to the chair across from him.

He nodded without saying a word, so the shorter teen decided to take that as an affirmative and sat down. Neither of them touched their plates. Occasionally, they would gaze at each other before quickly looking away. Ienzo motioned to Zexion impatiently while mouthing, "Talk now."

Surrendering to that command, he resolved to start talking.

He sighed, allowing some bangs to fall over his face. "About my behavior a week ago...I apologize."

Through his ridiculously long bangs, he noticed Demyx's teal eyes flash with something relative to anger. Since he was normally a peaceful member, this was startling.

"Why? You're right, you know. I am weak and pathetic and all that. You agree with the others. Perfect."

Zexion bit back a cruel retort. "I find that rather bitter of you. Besides, if you were really weak, your attitude right now is suitable for weakness. I notice that when you're yourself, you don't let our—my—comments bother you. That's the Demyx I know. That's real strength."

He had not expected such...encouraging words to come out. Ienzo laughed happily.

Demyx's jaw clenched and so did his fist, though his face was slightly flushed from a mixture of confusion and other things. Zexion felt a wry smirk appear on his face.

"I assume you are thinking I'm the last person to ever tell you something like that. Personally, I think it's rather odd myself. Please understand I was in the wrong."

"Let the records show Zex is wrong for the first time!" Ienzo declared from behind him. That was unnecessary, but he could see what he meant. For most of the time, he considered himself to be correct in every possible way. Of course, it was silly, looking back, how he could be right all the time. If anything, he erred in his ways. He stared at Demyx and felt a rush of something throughout him that he couldn't explain. It must have been hope.

This hope was established when Demyx truly smiled. "I guess you're not so smart after all."

That casual remark practically made him wince, even if it was a mere joke poking fun at his intelligence. Rome wasn't built in a day, and his pride wouldn't go away so soon either. Ienzo frowned as he licked his lips soon after finishing off his omelet.

"But, it will, dude! It will. Besides, how are you gonna win the—?"

To Demyx, Zexion commented in a lighter variation of his monotone, "And I suppose you're not a complete idiot."

"Oh, that's a relief. Shorty McDwarf doesn't think I'm dumb...at least not totally."

He rolled his eyes. "You're exaggerating my height or lack thereof, I'm afraid."

Demyx chuckled and started eating his sausage. "Nah, I don't think I am."

They went on to converse rather civilly, much to Zexion's surprise, because he found he could talk without using barbs directing toward his former pest. Instead, he sarcastically made fun of the other members, especially Saix.

At one point, he quipped about him, "He's such a madman. Lie to him about business that's strictly yours, and he perks up his elfish ears like a demented werewolf."

Demyx grinned, responding with, "Yeah, Saix would be the perfect werewolf."

By the time their conversation had concluded, it was about seven-thirty, and two of the other members (Luxord and Xaldin) wearily trudged inside. Zexion was soon off to Xemnas' office.

Every day, Xemnas would order each of his members to report to his office as soon as they got up and had something to eat. A mission was usually arranged, for the Superior rarely allowed for day-offs unless he deemed things were going well. Ienzo was beside Zexion, whistling a tune breezily and raking back his purplish hair.

"So, the big boss makes you do this every day? Working?"

Zexion gave him a curt nod. "Yes, something you wouldn't know about."

"I did...then I quit, because of that accident."

"You implied that accident took a lot out of you."

For once, Ienzo was serious. "Yeah...yeah, that wasn't fun. I almost died."

An awkward silence ensued before Zexion entered the office to receive his mission.

A few hours later, the mission had been completed, and Zexion was for once exhausted from all the work. He found himself having to push himself to the very edge to combat the Heartless. There was no standing on the sidelines this time. Lexaeus even looked like he was working much harder to eliminate the creatures. Even though they were assigned to Hollow Bastion, where the worst of the Heartless count was located, Zexion worked out this theory within his ever keen mind. It consisted of him basically being the target of the Heartless within a day, when he first met Ienzo. No thanks to him hanging close by, it was nearly like he had his own heart again. And of course, the Heartless were always starving...So, he had had no choice but to use his powers.

Not only was he tired then, he was also weakened to the point he couldn't do too much more today. Maybe if he ate lunch, he could recover, regain his strength. Ienzo wasn't so sure.

"Man, you look like you took a beating. Should you even walk to the cafeteria?"

Zexion glared at him. "I can't exactly leap tall buildings at present. I would create a dark passage to the cafeteria...if not for the fact...I haven't the strength."

His eyebrows disappearing up into his fringed bangs, Ienzo appeared incredibly worried. "You mean you can't even make one of those portal thingies?"

"I thought you could read my mind, Ienzo."

His other half chuckled but not with his usual gusto. Indeed, it sounded like he was nervous. "I can. It's just I can't believe—Dude!"

Sure enough, as Zexion dreaded, darkness leaked out of his arm. He should have known he had overexerted himself today, especially with those illusions. This was the one main flaw with his power: it was too great to be contained at times. As he stubbornly continued to trudge down the corridor, he sensed himself growing faint and fast. His gloved hands trembled before he collapsed on the floor.

"If you touch me...I will...murder you to within an inch of your...life, Ienzo."

"Holy crap, Zexion, you're getting delirious! Here, have some water."

A jet of water that obviously wasn't controlled smacked him in the face.

Since it hit him directly in the mouth, Zexion started coughing and felt like he was drowning. Demyx must have shown up quickly. How weird. They had only very recently just made things good between the two of them. Why would he care if he was bleeding darkness? He felt himself being carried by the water wielder and was surprised that he couldn't think of any objections. Settling his head on Demyx's shoulder, he sensed this sort of overwhelming gratitude. Oh, they would get along much better after this.

Ienzo hovered over him. "You were right by his door, luckily, so I made you knock."

"Demoted to a puppet...wonderful," he muttered, feeling rather fuzzy over the loss of darkness. Flopping him onto his bed, Demyx brought out bandages and peroxide at lightning speed.

"I'm surprised it's just your arm that's causing you trouble," he commented as he rolled up the sleeve of Zexion's robe. "I would have thought it'd be your chest."

"I'm hurt...not dead," Zexion retorted before he reverted back to weak light-headedness. Fate just had to interfere with his life and have Demyx tend to him like a baby, didn't it? Lightly irritated by this inconvenience, he allowed his head to fall back against the pillow, which felt like a cloud. Suddenly, it was as though he plummeted from the cloud and flat on the ground once Demyx swabbed the peroxide on.

After muttering some curse words, he hissed, "Now...is that...necessary?"

Number Nine glanced up from Zexion's arm to beam appreciatively at the very much intact cynicism. "You're being sarcastic again. Great sign."

"Uh-huh, sure." No thanks to his injury, he couldn't even talk properly, according to him. Close to dozing off, he remembered all this mess started because of his hunger. He needed food. Demyx flung a plate of some sort of pasta like a Frisbee, which he managed to catch. Whatever was on the plate smelled delicious. Coupled with the scent Demyx gave off, Zexion sensed that he could possibly be in good spirits again.

Demyx smiled gently. "Chicken and noodles—made them myself. Now, eat."

Pleased to discover that he was a fairly good cook, Zexion enjoyed the meal.

Gradually, as he sensed most of his strength returning to him, he knew he needed to leave soon. He was unsure where, but he had to go. Things were becoming abruptly more serious than what he anticipated. For, he didn't expect to be on the verge of passing out or this friend yet not-a-friend to heal him like he did. Any other member would have left it up to him to mend himself. To be tended by a fellow member showed caring. That was why he had to escape this bedroom, to avoid any further closeness, especially since his arm still felt tingly at having Demyx's fingers touch it. The sensation thrilled him deep down yet somewhat frightened him. He resisted the urge to bite his lip nervously when Demyx sweetly smiled at him. Too close.

"I have to go. I have recovered well enough, more so than I initially anticipated. I thank you for treating my wound, I assure you, I just..." He trailed off.

His fellow member sighed, the smile fading a little. "I understand. You're all better."

"Yes, good day," Zexion murmured too quickly before opening the bedroom door to exit. What a relief. Who knew what would have happened if he'd stayed a minute longer?

Ienzo soon stepped in stride beside him. "Come ooon, man! You know yourself now that Dem isn't that bad a guy. He fixed you up when no one else probably would have. What's holding you back?"

With the urgency of his prior condition about fifteen minutes ago, he had been caught up to the point he forgot Ienzo was even there. Startled, he glared at him for an initial reaction but then retrogressed to nearly emotionless.

"I don't know," he replied. "I fear I will get too close and lose my inhibitions."

Ienzo rolled his eyes. "You act like he's alcohol or something."

"He kind of is for me."

"You're just worried that, hey, you might actually care about the guy."

"I can't care," Zexion growled through gritted teeth. "I'm a Nobody. There's no such thing as pain or happiness or love."

And he stalked off toward the library to read the day away.

In fact, he fell asleep with a library book in his grasp that night, and it talked about the sights of the ocean. He had picked it out subconsciously, for it reminded him of Demyx. Then, he heard the music. Inexplicably drawn to the unusually soft melody of the music, he couldn't believe that it could be played so beautifully. Compared to the harsh, electric sound he heard, he liked this change. Zexion grabbed his pillow instinctively and was disgusted to hear himself sigh. Was he honestly being sentimental over a musician's creation, a soft ballad? Sleep leaving him, he shot up to a sitting position. Quite frankly, he was properly ashamed of himself for becoming attracted somehow to this. However, what was worse was that Ienzo stood right by his bedside, that foolish grin on his face.

Seeing him put him in a foul mood almost instantly, and he moodily wondered what his Other had planned for him next. Though he found himself not as boring as he had been in the past, he knew that goal would have to be achieved before anything good could happen.

"Darn right." Ienzo winked at him. "Tonight, we're gonna break in."

"Where?" Zexion shut his eyes tightly, already ready to go back to sleep.

For dramatic effect, Ienzo put on a necklace made entirely out of soda bottlecaps. "To a clothing store. You're gonna get a new look. The vintage look."

"Exhilarating," Zexion muttered wearily but got up just the same.

To his mild shock, he watched disbelievingly as Ienzo created a portal of darkness as a shortcut. Despite their connection, he assumed that his Other held no trace of evil or anything like that inside of him.

"Come on, if I couldn't teleport, I wouldn't have shown up in the first place," Ienzo informed him, pushing him into the portal in the process. "Let's go."

The colors swirled around them while everything melted away around them. Seconds later, they came out of the other side to a familiar place. Even in the dark, Zexion could identify this world, this specific town where he grew up.

Surveying the closed-up shops and houses, he said flatly, "Hollow Bastion."

"Yep, our hometown. What a place, huh?"

Zexion snorted condescendingly at the thought of ever being remotely happy in this place. Almost everyone had shunned him, treated him like he was some sort of quiet, intelligent freak. Perhaps they were afraid of simply the power of his mind. Or maybe it was his size that could never catch up with the other boys' heights. Awkward at sports and terrible at socializing, he was always ostracized by other people.

"Home sweet home," he said with biting sarcasm. "No one ever welcomed me."

Ienzo patted his shoulder. "Not even our parents, huh?"

"No," he whispered. "Never them. They didn't have time for me."

Before he got too absorbed in his bleak thoughts, Ienzo dragged him toward one of the stores.

Through the glass store window, he could see a mannequin wearing a punk rock T-shirt and tight looking leather pants. As little as his fashion knowledge was, Zexion was fairly sure vintage was far cheaper than this. Then again, if the two of them planned to break in, then cost didn't matter. After all, the sign on the door clearly stated "closed." No one would think to come out here this late at night, practically well half-past midnight. Ienzo picked up a rock from the ground and tossed it up in the air.

"I say we literally break those windows open."

Zexion could already pointed out half a dozen flaws within that plan, one of which being the most obvious. "What about the alarm system?"

"Pfft, I would think you of all people would know how dumb these people are. I've been here before, and there are absolutely no alarms here. None! Isn't it great?"

Still reluctant at breaking in like a common thief, Zexion replied, "Sure...I suppose... Granted, this makes me feel as though I'm some filthy criminal."

Without considering his opinions on the matter, Ienzo shoved another rock into Zexion's hand. "Channel your inner rebel, Zex. Sometimes, not boring people take risks. 'Sides, remember how much you hated this entire town? Remember how all those idiots treated you like crap? Think of them. And take it out on that window."

Determinedly, Zexion straightened up as he flicked some obstructing strands of hair out of his eyes. Now was the time to show those citizens what he could be capable of. Just thinking of the alienation alone fueled him with a fire he let get out of control. Summoning all the false anger he possessed over those bitter memories, he hurled his rock at the window, which shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Yes! High-five, Zexion, way to take on authority!" Ienzo cheered as he threw his own rock toward the store itself. Nothing happened, for the sheet of glass that had been window was destroyed. Zexion actually high-fived his other half and couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. He was finally acting like a real teenager, full of rebellion.

As soon as they went through the hole that had been the store front window, Ienzo immediately grabbed some T-shirts, jeans, and even some flannel shirts off racks. He appeared to have the time of his life. Meanwhile, being the more mature one of the two, Zexion resolved to stand aside to watch this insanity take place. Ienzo danced around, snatching quite a few clothes away, before he decided to get in on the action, too. He stole a stylish fedora and tried it on in front of the mirror. With an exhilarated expression, Ienzo patted him on the back. However, Zexion didn't like the fedora and put it back. But, he stole a T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans before high-tailing it out of there.

Before they could teleport out of Hollow Bastion, Ienzo elected to check what his other half stole, to make sure it had been steal-worthy to begin with. The blue jeans were baggy, and the T-shirt had a cool graphic art design on the front.

"You didn't steal much...But, you're one of those thieves who goes for quality rather than quantity. Cool. And oh well, at least you broke the window."

"I did," Zexion murmured half to himself, that same rush going through him. There was something else, too: the palpitation of a heart that vanished in a millisecond.

"And?" Ienzo smiled expectedly.

A vague smirk flittered across his lips. "I daresay I have never felt better in my non-existence."

They teleported back after checking for any witnesses to their midnight rendezvous. Safe to say, there were none.

A/N: Ah, teen angst. Zexion hated where he lived. That was easy to put into words, because I hate where I live, too. Among other many things that happened in this chapter. I'm in a hurry. Please review if you like. Bye!