A/N: Hiya people! Thanx for the lovely reviews! I have over fifty now! Is that a record of any kind for first time writers? No? Oh well, to me it is a record and i will treasure it forever! On with the story!

Axel's POV

I didn't see Roxas for the rest at all on Saturday…but Sunday. Well, I heard him first…

Kinda hard not to when he's on the phone right outside my door. Sometimes people around here can't get signals in their houses. It is really annoying, like really annoying to get a perfect signal one step outside your door and yet not be able to step inside. It's a phone conspiracy!

Ahem. Anyway…

He was practically yelling. Scratch that. He was yelling.

And he was doing it in Japanese. Wanna know how I knew that?

I blame Shukketsu Hatsu but I can recognize most Japanese cusswords…And Roxas was practically yelling them at the top of his lungs.

They got quieter though. Slowly.

I was listening in again, like I had tried to do the first day he had shown up. I was having much more success though.

He started repeating one word. No.

He was scared again. Where one moment he had been angry and ready to rip someone's head off (that was not an exaggeration…you didn't hear him). Now…he had also switched to English which was a good thing for me. I should feel bad about spying on my friend, but if it's something that can make him that scared…

"No Seifer…I'm not coming back. I can't…" It is very hard to hear whispers through a wooden door. Hard, but I caught it.

Seifer? As in Shukketsu Hatsu's Seifer? As in the Seifer I had seen in the pictures with Roxas? The one's he had been smiling in?

Wouldn't he be happy to talk to his boyfriend? Why was he so scared? Too many god damned questions.

Sora was off the ground, Roxas' hand on his collar.

"I don't have a fucking boyfriend."

"No please don't! Please…Alright. I'll come pick you up tomorrow. I won't be late…"

A knock on the door landed me on my ass. At least I'm getting practice at recovering from surprises…

Guess who…Roxas stood there. If anything, and if this is even possible, he looked smaller than when I had last seen him. He looked…I don't know. But I managed to keep an easy going face…at least…I hope I did…ever have those moments when you really want to see how others see you? Precisely…

"H-hey Axel…um…this is gonna sound weird, but…can I stay over here tonight? I mean, I understand if you say no since I live right nex…" I put a finger over his mouth. Only way to get him to be quiet without possibly coming off as mean. Even an idiot like me could guess why he wanted to stay over here.

That room had an entire wall of him and Seifer. From his reaction to Seifer calling, I'm guessing he didn't want him to know where he was. I don't know what happened between them, but I will swear it now.

If Seifer was in anyway responsible for turning Roxas into this…there is no word to describe what I saw. But if he had anything to do with it, I will swear to whatever higher being who is bothering to listen (goddamit! I will make them listen if I have to!) I will make sure Seifer regrets it.

We didn't say much at all. Maybe a word or two. It was scary…

Monday morning, he was already gone, a simple note left on the table.

Thank you, can you tell Xemnas I'll be late to school?

Well…okay then. He was picking up Seifer, that much I knew.

Okay place me maybe two years back, the mere mention of Seifer's name would have sent me to fan central. Now…I just didn't care. There was a reason Roxas was scared of Seifer. And I would find what it was.

Xemnas wasn't exactly happy to hear that Roxas wasn't going to be here, but he'll live with it. We did basically nothing since Xemnas was a lazy ass and didn't really care what we did…at least for a little while. Give him another week and that would change. Fast.

Roxas hadn't showed up by the beginning of lunch and I was starting to worry. Demyx must have noticed, because he started poking me.

Now, make no mistake, Demyx pokes hurt. Especially when he keeps doing it in the same part of your arm over and over and over again.

I sighed. Fine Dem, you win… "What Dem?"

"You seem upset. What's wrong?" No duh I'm upset. Roxas was…I don't know. I just know that it doesn't take this long to get to the airport and back…

And speak of the devil (coughangelcough), Roxas walked through the doors a second later.

And boy did he look like shit.

His shirt (favorite black turtleneck) was ripped at the bottom, the pants were shredded at the knees…his hair stood every which way (he was trying to fix that problem right now…it wasn't working too well). There was also something wrong with his face.

Not like an emotion wrong. It was drawn and desolate like it had been last night, but something was off…what the hell was it?

"Roxas!" Demyx was gone. And promptly dragging (he drags everything) Roxas behind him. The smaller blonde smiled weakly.

"Hey Rox. What took you so long?" I tried to stay calm. Inside my brain was raging. What was it?!

"The traffic. And Seifer's flight got delayed." A little too fast there. Prepared. Liar. Might as well put a big sign above his head that said it.

"Well at least you're here right? I heard Ms. Kotta is sick, so the art room is open to anyone who wants to even come. Hang out there after lunch?" He relaxed minutely, but still, it was an improvement. Art equals good.

I stared at my canvas. The sky didn't look right to me, but I couldn't decide if I should make it brighter or darker. Demyx and Zexion were quietly over in one corner, Demyx working on his project, Zexion watching and reading his book. Larxene was messing with some clay, and Roxas had disappeared into his little room across the hall.

It was dead silent…

"Can someone help me?" That made all of us jump. I hadn't realized that it was a comfortable silence, one you don't expect to end.

"Yeah Rox. What do you need?" It might help me think if I took a break.

"I just need to carry a couple jars of water across the hall, but I only have so many hands…" He shrugged.

"Sure." I grabbed a few as did he. So he was finally starting with serious paint? Cool. I found myself really wanting to see it…

Did I ever mention how clumsy I am?

If you can't guess what just happened, you are worse than Demyx on a sugar high…

Anyway, I tripped, pitched forward into Roxas, and we both went down. Water splattered everywhere. As did glass…oops…

And all of this in the five feet between classrooms…

I shook myself off, trying to get as mush water as I could off my hair and shirt. Fat help that did me…

I looked over at Roxas.

Two things were noticed.

One, he was holding his right cheek. I saw a thin line of red running from under his hand…oh shit…Great Axel just great…

Two, the water around him, and dripping from his face had an odd milky color to it…powder. That's what had made his face seem odd. The entire left side had been covered in powder in an effort to cover up…

…a black and blue bruise that stopped just shy of his eye, but covered all the way down to his jaw line.

That hadn't been there last night. I felt myself grow cold.

Disclaimer: As usual, i don't own anything...i can't even claim Shukketsu Hatsu for this chap becuase they didn't show up...

A/N: Im really sorry for the shortness and crappiness of this chapter, but writers block and the fact that i've been awake for two straight days...too much sugar adn adrenaline...that stuff will kill me...anyway, i am sorry if this chapter sucked more than usual, so i won't blame anyone if no one reviews until i get a semidecent chapter up, but as an author i must ask, for the sake of my sanity, please review! Please! Thanx!

P.S. Am i going to fast? TO me it seems like the story is unfolding too fast, so please let me know if i need to slow it down or something! Thanx!