A/N: Ello! Thank you for staying with me after that horrible last chapter. It broke my heart to write the beginning of it, but it felt right in the story. And i needed to try and explain just a little bit of Roxy's past. So anyway, thank you to those who stuck with me and didn't try to throw sharp object s into the vicinity of my head! On with the story!

Axel's POV

"…ello? Axel? Earth to pyro!" I snapped to attention as Demyx's voice filtered through my head.

"What?" I had met with Demyx and Larxene right after chem., and was currently walking with them towards the lunchroom.

"What's with you? You've been zoning out this entire time, we're almost there." I had actually been zoning out since the beginning of math when Roxas never showed up.

"I'll tell you later alright?" Demyx pouted, but nodded as we entered the hectic and noisy lunchroom.

Zexion was already there. He waved to us from the back table my group normally claimed. And…so was Roxas. Not at our table of course. He was three tables down again, surrounded by empty tables and an even larger hailstorm than before.

We sat down, perfectly aware that the area around us had grown quieter ever since the little blonde had arrived.

"So, we practicing tonight? Roxas has the song done,"

"Really? That was fast…"

"Yes Dem. Now as I was saying, Roxas has the song done, and he agreed to practicing this afternoon at Zexy's house." I loved calling him that. It was the only time the silent boy showed any real emotion (except for rare moments, and when he was with Demyx).

"I told you pyro, not to call me Zexy." I smiled innocently…not that he bought it for a second.

"So what's the snowman's house like?" Wow. Larxene showing interest in the guy who snubbed her? Impressive…

I looked over to Roxas, making sure he wasn't listening. Not like I really had to worry. He wasn't there. That made things a lot easier…

Now…do I tell them? I'm not supposed to know…I probably shouldn't tell them. Not like they wouldn't keep it a secret, it's just that it felt…wrong. Just wrong.

"Well, he has three dogs, one being half my weight if not more." Demyx squealed.

"What kinds?" I knew Demyx would ask that. He always did when dogs were brought up.

"Uh…the puppies are Rottweilers, and the big one…what did he called it…an Akita I think." Demyx squealed even louder. Again I felt a fleeting sympathy for Zexion… but then remembered that he subjected himself to this willingly, and the feeling disappeared.

"Other than that, I basically stayed in the living room. He does have a freakin huge TV though." Time for a change of subject.

"So Larxene? How was your mom's trip anyway?" She smiled.

She loved to talk about her mom's travels. Her mom was a photographer, one of the most sought after in the world. You would think that a kid of such a person would be depressed at never having her only parent home (her dad died when she was a baby), but Larxene only had pride for her mom. It was very interesting.

"Great. Except that the shoot she was supposed to do never happened. She still got paid though." Demyx jumped in.

"What was the shoot supposed to be?"

"She was supposed to photograph Shukketsu Hatsu. I had even asked her to get their autographs for us. But the day she got there, everything just went topsy-turvy." Hm…

"How so?" She thought for a second before pulling out a magazine. It was surprisingly in English.

"How'd you get one in English?" I grabbed it from her, Demyx and Zexion leaning in towards me to see as well.

"My mom knew someone who wrote a few articles in there. But look at the cover." I read it out loud since I was kinda blocking Demyx's view.

"'Roxas Ukahara, second son of the prestigious owner of Ukahara Enterprises is missing'" Under that was another thing.

"Also missing, the lead singer for Shukketsu Hatsu." I turned to the page it indicated. Zexion gave up trying to look over my shoulder, as did Zexion. They could read it when I was done.

It covered Ukahara's disapearence first. Basically it said that his father and his brother, a Cloud Ukahara, hadn't seen him for a week and a half, around the same time that Hikage's disapearence had been noticed. The rest was blabber about a bunch of crud that I completely ignored.

I gave the magazine to a waiting Demyx.

"They look a lot alike don't they?"

"Who?" Zexion sighed. Yes I'm stupid in his eyes but that doesn't stop him from hoping that maybe once in a while I could keep up with him. Hasn't happened yet.

"Ukahara and Tetsu." I took a closer look over Demyx's shoulder. The picture of Ukahara had been taken off a security camera, him yet again flipping it or someone else off. But it was still pretty clear. They did look quiet a bit alike. And they're name was the same…dammit! It's making my brain hurt again!

"And Tetsu moved here recently didn't he? Where did he say he was from?"

"He said Seoul, but I know he was going to say something else. But still, can you really imagine Roxas, or as Larxene so affectionately calls him, the snowman, being that stuck up Ukahara?" I didn't have to explain that I had already read about Ukahara. They just knew. I don't know how, and if I thought too hard on it, I start getting creeped out so I normally steered away from that train of thought…

And, thank whatever higher being there was, a distraction came through the lunchroom doors. Not that those crying girls thought the same.

There were two of them. Kairi and Namine…ugh…and Kairi was balling her eyes out.

"Roxas is a goddamned jerk!" That was Kairi, the one with the lungs. They both walked over to Sora and Riku, who kinda just stared at them for a few seconds before jumping up to help. That's when I also noticed Kairi holding her cheek, like you would do after…someone...slapped you…What the hell happened?!

"Larxene…?" She nodded and walked over there. For some reason, Larxene was accepted by the girls of Sora's little group. They talked to her almost as freely as they did to Riku and Sora themselves. It was a tad bit creepy.

She stayed over there for a few minutes before walking back.

"Well, as far as I can tell, Kairi asked Roxas out, Roxas stared at her, and then asked her 'why would you want me anyway?'. Kairi called him cute and brave and some other crap. Roxas went…freakin nuclear. I think that's how she described it. I'm going to guess that means he was pissed. He mad a move to slap her. According to Kairi he did slap her, but according to Namine he stopped just short of her face, and then ran down the hall. I think I'm going to trust Namine's word since she wasn't the one crying her lungs out."

Well then…what do you say to that? Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought so because our table, and a few surrounding ones that had heard it, were dead silent. And it got even quieter as the story got spread around the room.

That's when the intercom crackled to life. "Would Roxas Tetsu please come to the office. Now." Oh. Not good. The only way to get to the office was through the lunchroom.

Roxas walked in, cold as ever. But there was something…different. He seemed drained…I guess that's the best way to put it. Almost like he did this morning, except a bit tidier.

He ignored the stares, disgusted or otherwise. Only four people actually stared at him with disgust. One guess who…The rest just stared out of curiosity, awe, or even jealousy.

Who was this kid? It was a silent question. That's when I realized that everyone must know of what happened in the gym, more or less anyway. Probably just enough to know that one of the biggest jerks in the school had been beaten. And now that same kid had 'declined' one of the 'hottest' girls in the school (not my feelings, but most of the guys at our school are straight and practically drool over Kairi and Namine).

The intercom came on again.

"Would Kairi Shima also come to the office." Kairi stopped crying at least. She was practically as dead as Roxas as she followed him to the office.

I turned back to the still silent group.

"You guys haven't heard what happened between him and Riku have you?"

"I didn't hear much of anything except that Riku had finally been beaten. I didn't know it was Roxas who had done it…" Demyx and Zexion nodded agreement. I filled them in, leaving a stunned Larxene, a relatively happy Demyx (with him, there is never a reason for his happiness) and an as usual emotionless Zexion.

"Just please don't bring it up later. I get the feeling Roxas will probably walk out on us if we ask." They all nodded. Good.

Kairi and Roxas came out a minute later. Roxas left, and a now silent Kairi went back to her own table.

That's when I realized that I didn't know what Roxas did after lunch. I did know that he didn't have history, none of us did (only kids who failed it had to take it again their senior year), but his chem. class was the same time as mine, just a different teacher. That left a huge chunk of time between lunch and the end of the day.

There were a ton of miscellaneous classes the school offered, but many were meant only for freshmen and sophomores. Basically, only the performing, literary, and industrial arts were open to juniors and seniors, as well as a few random ones thrown in.

I had art with Demyx in a double period, meaning I had it after lunch till the bell rang. We hadn't gone to that class yet since one, yesterday, school was canceled, and two, on Monday and Tuesday, seniors were given the choice of going to afternoon classes or just hanging around the school grounds. Today was the first day we had no choice but to go.

And speak of the devil, the bell rang to get our asses moving to class.

Ms. Kotta. Two words. Scary. As. Hell. Three words…okay I'm really bad at that, but again, you get the point.

You wouldn't think she was until she opened her mouth or turned on her internal 'teacher mode'. Before that, she looked like an eccentric, but kind artist, with a side swept ponytail and a paint splattered jean and shirt outfit.

That was before she said…

"Get your asses in your chairs. This isn't the damn lunchroom." Needless to say we found the suggestion quite appealing…

"I'm Ms. Kotta. I'm not gonna bother with introductions of the class, because like it or not, I will call you whatever I feel like. If it happens to be your name, fine, if it's not, deal with it. You will only have one project per semester. At the end of each semester we have an exhibition to raise money for the school. In short, do whatever the hell you like but make sure it's done a week before the semester is over." She turned around, seeming to stare into her office at the back of the classroom.

"Roxas? Could you unlock the supply room for me?" Well…I now knew where Roxas w…Wow. That is basically all I can say.

Roxas had walked out. And I had to do the equivalent of a double take to actually recognize him.

He had changed his shirt in favor of a white paint splattered tank top. His face and hands were covered in clay dust and charcoal. His hair was also coated in a very thin layer of dust. And it was beyond messed up. He dusted his hair out with his hands, drawing attention to two bandages wrapped around his writs.

That's when the memories of his scars popped back in my head. Before I had left so rapidly, I had thought I had seen…something…oh what the hell…I had thought I had seen cuts on his wrists. I wasn't able to make sure though.

He didn't exactly smile but that's also when I noticed how he stood. He was…relaxed. Roxas was actually relaxed. It was amazing the affect it had on him. Gone were the hard lines in his face, gone was the scowl. He looked like any normal kid…with muscles you don't want to mess with.

The tank he had on was tight enough to just barely show his abs…damn. That is all I will say. And the rest of his arms were exposed. Now it was kind of easy to see how he took down Riku…and climbed that rock wall…and did that flip…

"Sure Ms. Kotta." She tossed him a set of keys, which he caught without a thought. He unlocked the door in the back and then took a seat in the group of desks that were vacant (there were only twenty or so people in the class, and there were over thirty desks). And get this. He actually reclined. He was fully relaxed. Never thought I'd live to see that…

"Well? What are you lazy asses waiting for? Get started." Amazing what a few words can do to a class. Everyone was up, trying to figure out what they wanted to do, except myself, and another girl who's name I didn't know.

We were the smart ones. I had a notebook I kept with me at all times. It had random notes, thoughts, drawings. Basically, anything that was on my mind was represented someway in that book.

I saw Roxas out of the corner of my eye (he was kinda hard to miss) talking with the other teacher from hell (Xemnas being the first).

Said teacher was also practically glowing as he told her something that no one else could hear.

I could hear her reply though. She. Is. Loud.

"There's an extra room right across the hall, and lucky for you I do have one. Left over from the mural project they did last year. Take however much you need. Here, I'll have someone help you get the supplies over there." I expected Roxas to give his usual answer of 'no thank you' but instead, he just nodded.

Ms. Kotta scanned the room. I think I unconsciously ducked lower in my seat, trying to hide from her hard as steel green eyes.

"Yo Porcupine! Get over here!" Porcupine? Come on! Why the hell does my name have to be porcupine?! Then again…I get the feeling she was being nice…

"Yes?" I acted like I didn't hear the last half of their apparently 'secret' conversation.

"Help Roxas get some supplies to the room across the hall. Come on, I'll show you boys where the canvas is. I imagine that will be the hardest to get." Canvas? Okay, I was interested.

We finally got it into the room and situated on the wall. And I do mean finally. The thing was huge. It was taller than me (me being 6'1") by about five inches and twice as wide. What was he planning on doing with the thing?

"I'm sure you would like to get started on your own project Axel, but thanks for the help." And I take it that was him basically telling me to shoo. The paints and a huge set of colored charcoal pencils littered the floor around him as he stared at the blank canvas.

I left quietly, cursing my luck for getting first dumped with that stupid talent competition and now the end of semester exhibition.

I shrugged it off, telling myself that it could be worse…couldn't think of how, but I stubbornly held onto the thought.

I went back into the room and sat next to Demyx who was busy sketching something that looked like a stylized music note. Cool.

Now what to do for mine? I don't draw often, but when I do, normally I don't know what I'm doing till I stop.

I set the pencil to the paper, and thought for a second before the pencil started to move. My thoughts moved onto more interesting topics. Like Roxas.

What had made him so relaxed? Why were his arms bandaged? What was he planning to do? I had many more questions, but I didn't have any answers. And I really wanted to slam my head repeatedly into something hard. It's not like I could talk about any of this with the blonde. It was just too confusing.

And as I'm sure I've told you, confusion is a big, fat, no in my book.

Disclaimer: Me. Own. Nothing. There ya happy Square Enix?! But just you wait!

A/N: Hello people! I'm sorry if this chap sucs, but i've had a lot on my mind, such as another story. But i don't want to start that one till i get a bit farther into this one, but it is damn hard to resist the urge to write. But anyway, thanx to all the people who reviewed! And i'm sorry FireEyes, but you will have to wait a few more chapters before i reveal what song Roxas wrote. I want it to be a surprise! So anyway, please review! It might get my attention fully back to this story! I don't care if youre just writing to say how much you don't like my story, but please write something! Thanx!