"So, do you know when Tidus and Zexion are going to meet up with us?" Sora asked Riku as the silveret sat down in the booth. Sea green eyes flickered down to his watch before examining the coffee shop.

"They should be here sometime soon. I don't know why they would be late-." His worry was for naught as a blue-haired teen and a rambunctious blonde crashed through the door.

"Come on Zexy, help me out will you? We've got to find So-,"

"There they are." Roxas watched the blue haired guy point a finger at his table and the other teen's eyes follow it. The blonde wore a tan vest over a white t-shirt and olive shorts with worn, beach-colored flip-flops clicking against the floor. The guy with the blue hair was a bit odder. His hair was messily arrayed over his head, going off in every direction, and he wore a black jacket that zipped up and black jeans that clung to his form more so than usual pants. As Roxas stared at the two newcomers, Sora and Riku called over to them.

"Hey, guys, over here!" Riku waved over to the pair.

"Hey Zexion! Tidus!" Sora turned around to face his friends, smiling like he'd just won the lottery. Once his friends were standing in front of the booth Sora smiled at Roxas.

"Roxas, meet two of my best friends. Zexion." Sora held his hand out to the blueberry head. "And Tidus." The sandy haired kid. "Guys, meet my cousin Roxas. He's moving into my house."

"Aw man, serious?" Tidus moaned as he sat next to Roxas and Zexion pulled up a chair from one of the tables. "Lucky, we've only got a couple more weeks of school. Man, you probably won't even have to take the finals. Gah, so unfair."

"That's the reason people go to school Tidus, to take the finals. If anything, because he won't be taking the finals, Roxas might have to take summer school." Zexion spoke to the table rather than to any of the four other people that sat around him.

"Hey! Don't frighten the poor guy! Listen Rox, it'll be okay. If you cram with Zexy here I'm sure you'll be able to take the finals! Right, Zexy?"

"Who said I'd help him?"

"Hey, be nice Zex!" Sora chortled into his iced coffee and Riku grinned at two of his oldest friends as they bickered about why the blueberry should help Roxas or not.

"Oh! Hey Roxas!" Tidus turned to face Roxas full on.

"Um. Yes?"

"You're coming to the movies, right? And then we're all going out to the clubs, right?" Tidus looked around at everyone expectantly. Zexion didn't seem to mind what they did later on and neither did Riku for the most part, but Sora looked guiltily over at Roxas.

"It's okay if you don't want to come Roxas, I'd get it if you wanted to go home or something."

"Huh? No, I wouldn't mind going out tonight. Um, where though?" Riku and Tidus grinned at the new blonde as he ran a nervous hand through his hair, Sora smiling happily.

"Now you've got them spun up." Zexion muttered, resting his chin on his hand, listening to his friends go on about the clubs they frequented. Everyone bombarded Roxas with questions about what he liked as the sun marched across the sky.

Axel sped up the road, racing around the street, trying to loosen himself up. Seeing the kid, Roxas, again was a bit of a stunner, especially when it turned out he hadn't put the previous day behind him. The red-head bit his lip, remembering how hard he'd been hit the day before in the graveyard.

"Dammit," he muttered to himself, sliding to a stop as Demyx flew by him. Axel reached up and removed the black helmet and took a deep breath. Underneath he felt like he was going to explode from his frustration. No matter what he did, Roxas' face just wouldn't get out of his head. All that anger and fear just boiling under his skin sort of freaked Axel out and reminded him of Reno for a moment. "Dammit!"

Demyx was back down the hill and leaning against his own bike, watching Axel beat himself up about whatever it was he was beating himself up about. He let his friend punch the motorcycle a couple of times before he spoke up.

"You know, you keep doing that and the motorcycle won't like you anymore." The sandy-haired guy smiled at his friend's bewildered look.

"What?"

"Motorcycles can be very tempermental when their owners don't take good care of them." Demyx grinned as Axel's face turned from bewilderment to disbelief.

"Jeez Dem, are you mental?" Axel sighed as he looked down over the side of the hill, watching the city move around like an ant hill.

"Y'know, we could stay here and I could let you mope around for hours on end, but I'm not that nice of a friend. So-," Demyx held up a finger and grinned at the red-head. "I'm gonna call a couple people and then we're going to head back to the city and have ourselves a bit of a party. 'Kay? LET'S GO!" Demyx didn't wait for an answer before he put his helmet back on and began racing away. Axel watched his friend speed away down the darkening hill before he started to follow after him, chuckling as he quickly caught up to Demyx and hoping a night of distractions would block the blonde from his mind.

Roxas blinked into the bright lights of the parking lot, surprised it was already getting so dark. The movie had been one of those action flicks with a bit of romance, all right in his taste, but the plot was a bit lacking. The sunset made the sky burn with orange tendrils as time wore on as the five boys walked along the sidewalk. The town had been nice during the day, but a whole other side woke up when the sun started to fall. Couples of all kinds strolled down the street hand in hand and arm in arm. Clubs were also starting to get business as lines formed, jostling one another for the shortest wait. Riku and Sora were strolling down the side walk, talking to each other closely while Zexion, Tidus, and Roxas followed a little behind.

Tidus was giving looks to every girl that passed by him, some of which even smiled at him, but Zexion and Roxas stayed silent no matter how many googly eyes were aimed at them. As they walked by club after club, slowly going further into Midgar's more industrious side, Roxas wondered where they were going to end up and how on earth they were supposed to get home.

"How much further are we going to go?" Roxas asked aloud.

"Shouldn't be too much longer. I think it's just around the next corner." Tidus swatted Roxas on the shoulder as Sora turned around.

"Just stick with us cuz, we'll get you the furthest." Sora grinned back at the trio as he and Riku turned a quick corner. When Roxas saw where they were going he seriously considered the idea that the four of them had mafia connections.

The building was a huge, black monster that rose higher than most of the buildings around the area and glowed with a neon green. The windows all seemed to be clogged with some sort of gas, or film. A line ran from outside of the doors to about where the street reached the main drag. People were pushing and jostling one another, trying to get closer, but Riku and Sora just forged ahead.

"Come on Roxy, you comin'?" Tidus waved over to the blonde as he looked around bewildered.

"We're going in there? But- what about the line?"

"Huh? Oh, Riku's folks own this place so he can get in for free, so can anyone he brings along." Tidus smiled at Roxas' face. "Aw come on Roxy, you're so naive."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Roxas moved closer as they moved forward, dodging most of the people who were waiting in line.

"Well," Tidus moved in closer to Roxas so not so many people could hear him. "Riku and his folks don't get along all that well. They don't quite agree with him and Sora being together, so they've been on ice with each other for a while." Tidus nodded his head sagely as they stood in front of a large, bald, bouncer.

"Hey Rude. It's just us. Oh, and Roxas. He's Sora's cousin." The bouncer nodded at the five boys as they passed the velvet rope and entered an entirely different world. Roxas' last view of the outside world was the bouncer, Rude, closing off the velvet rope and guarding the door like a pitbull.

"Don't worry 'bout him Roxas." Sora said, shocking Roxas a bit. The brunet had let go of Riku's hand in favor of Roxas'. "He's a big softy, but he was hired for his looks." Sora grinned as they all made their way thru the crowd.

"Where are we going?" Roxas called out, hoping Sora could hear him over the noise all right.

"Up." That was all Roxas heard Sora say as the mass of people pushed and pulled them along with the beat. Roxas wondered how they were going to get up if everyone was stuffed together, but he kept a firm grip on Sora's hand as he was pulled through the beating current. Music assaulted him from all sides as the five of them made their way towards the center of the room. Bright, flashing lights came from a bar where neon lights burst and Roxas could see some people try to stand on top of the countertop before they were pushed or pulled back down.

Finally, they all arrived at the bar where a tall brunet was handing over drinks quicker than Roxas thought possible and a blue haired woman took orders and slapped the pages up over the taps. The woman was slowly making her way towards where Riku stood and as she moved closer the silveret called out.

"A fuzzy naval." He called out, grinning as she jotted it down before looking up.

"Sorry, we don't- oh! Hey Riku!" The blue-haired woman smiled at the teen and looked at the crowd that was surrounding him, but then she saw a blonde head bob up over the side with a curious look on his face she froze. "Ven? Ventus?" She rushed over to where Roxas was leaning over and grabbed the blonde's hand. "Is that really you? Terra get over here!" The tall brunet rushed over after yelling for one of the bar monkeys to man the counter.

"Huh?" Roxas looked up at the blue-haired woman with a vague feeling of deja vu, but he could have sworn he'd never seen her before in his life. "I-I'm not Ventus. . ."

"His name's Roxas, Aqua. Hey Terra." Riku smiled as the brunet came over to stand beside Aqua a bit protectively.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry bout that Roxas, you just look like one of our old friends. Uncanny resemblance, right Terra?" The blunette, Aqua, pointed behind herself at the brunet, a sad smile playing across his lips.

"Yeah, he sure does." Terra didn't linger on Roxas too long before looking over at Riku. "So, what's up?"

"Just wondering where all the beautiful women are." Tidus grinned, looking around the club, grinning like a cartoon wolf.

"Running from you no doubt." Sora laughed, hitting Tidus on the shoulder before looking at Terra. "We came thinking tonight was going to be big. Is it?" Aqua and Terra grinned knowingly at each other.

"Well . . . not that we're supposed to tell you-,"

"Tell us! Tell us!" Sora and Tidus bounced up and down in place.

"There's supposed to be some big shindig up on the top four floors and you know how big those parties get. We actually have to get up there around ten." Aqua smiled at the five teens knowing they'd get up there with no problem. "Make sure you don't go too crazy, otherwise it'll be on our heads." The two bartenders waved goodbye to them as the boys said 'see ya' and tried to make their way over to the stairs in the center of the room. Roxas wondered who Ventus was for a moment, but that was quickly gone as he was swept up in the music again and dragged by his cousin up the seemingly endless flights of stairs.