Thanks for the reviews! I love you all soooo much! :)

Okay, so... it's been a couple of months. But I wasn't lying when I said that I was halfway done! I really was! But it was that other half that got me... I just couldn't seem to finish it without it sounded awkward, or forced. So... throw tomatoes, watermelons, oranges, or whatever fruit you feel is necessary. Just don't stop believing in me!

I'm doing a total revamp of some things in my story files, so there's going to be some changes! I'm thinking of taking off the other stories I have until this one is finished, and then work on the next, and then the next...

Maybe.

You want to know the worst part though? I had the chapter for Just Listen all ready to go, but the thumbdrive that it was on melted. O.O Can you believe that? Melted!

So now I have to try and cough up 20 pages that sound similar to what I had because what I had I felt good about. .

But anyway, here we are again, and now you need to read on, and not hate me! I love you! Good news, we start out with Cloud this chapter :D

:)

Enjoy!

Ten Reasons Why I think the World is out to get me:

A list by Cloud Strife

1. On the way home from work, a policeman pulled me over and gave me a ticket for looking so depressed I made the man driving past my car do a double take and crash.

2. When he realized that I was the manager of The Strife Coffee House, he gave me another ticket for the cashier being such an angry, violent man. I've made a mental note to act out revenge on Roxas in a very cruel way. Perhaps shaving his hair off while he slept?

3. I've been depressed because I can't seem to figure out what Leon is trying to do to me.

4. Even though Leon has told me what he's doing, I still don't know if it's true.

5. I just stepped in gum.

6. I'm sure that gum is the same gum that police officer is chewing. I'm going to spray paint his car.

7. I know that when I walk in through the front door of the burrow, someone in my unlawfully loud family will be there to bombard me with stupidity and meaningless nothings. Wearing ear plugs is not an option. There are no ear plugs to drown out their decibel of loud.

8. I'm going to get hell from Luxord for ordering 1,000 sporks instead of the usual 1,000 spoons and 1,000 forks, even though it was all in the name of saving a few bucks. Heaven forbid the world protect the thrifty.

9. I just tripped and hit the door with my face.

10. Luxord is on the other side of that door.

"Cloud! You're home a little late from your shift! What took you so long?" Luxord threw an arm around Cloud's shoulder, smiling in an all too familiar, all too fake way. It was not the smile of love and tenderness. It was not the smile of happiness and genuine good feeling. It was the smile that said Luxord was about to honestly go a little stir-crazy, and Cloud could do nothing to stop it. Cloud rubbed the steadily growing red spot on his forehead, courtesy of the cruel and heartless door, and scowled, detangling himself from Luxord's hold.

"Don't touch me." He replied, kicking off his work shoes, giving a very small, barely there smile when the shoe with the gum on it landed on Sora's squeaky clean dress shoes. Ah, that would teach Sora to leave his squeaky clean shoes lying around when Cloud was in a bad mood.

And it would get him back for eating the last chocolate chip Chewie bar. Cloud had wanted that for lunch, but no, Sora had eaten it instead.

Well that's what you get, Sora.

Luxord laughed at the look on Cloud's face and followed him into the kitchen where Cloud was rifling through the fridge for some well earned dinner, and when he saw that Aurora had left lasagna out for him, Luxord felt a small amount of pleasure in closing the fridge door right before he could grab it to heat it up.

Cloud scowled and vowed to switch Luxord's hair gel with rubber cement.

"Now what's this I hear about sporks, Cloud?" Luxord asked, leaning against the fridge and watching his son contemplate murder.

"I ordered sporks." Cloud replied shortly, going to the fruit bowl and grabbing a half moldy orange, scowling and throwing it away before grabbing the ripe apple and biting into it. Luxord, disappointed he hadn't tried to eat the moldy orange, sat down at the bar and shook his head.

"But why? How are you supposed to slurp coffee from a spoon without spoons, mate?" Luxord fixed Cloud with his full on pout, eyes shining with emotion. It was a look that could freeze a child of Luxord's in his tracks and make him –or her –think twice about hurting their old dad's feelings, and it was a look that would make passerby donate money, candy, and their car keys just to make Luxord smile.

Cloud however, was immune to its charm. Maybe it was because he had lived a good, long time with it, and had grown used to it? Maybe it was because he was tired, irritable, and grouchy? Or it was quite possible that he'd sold his soul to the devil.

It's debatable.

"Stop looking at me like you're constipated. It's creepy." Seeing that the fridge was free from his father's bulk, he walked over and grabbed the plate of lasagna, popping it in the microwave. Hallelujah, he was going to get some decent dinner for once.

"I'm serious Cloud! Why the hell would you do something like that? No one loves sporks the way they love spoons!" Luxord scowled as Cloud turned his back on him and focused on the way his food was heating up, the apple slowly disappearing chunk by chunk down Cloud's gullet.

"I don't see why it matters. All you have to do is sign the papers, you make Roxas and me handle everything else." Cloud grabbed the plate from the microwave and hissed at the heat, dropping the plate on the counter and sticking his hand under the faucet, running cool water over it. Damn his hurry to actually get a hot meal. It always came back somehow to bite him in the ass.

"Nonsense!" Cloud waited for Luxord to add onto that statement to, perhaps, defend himself, but when he said nothing else, Cloud rolled his eyes and grabbed his plate, testing it first to make sure it was cool. When he received no further scorching third degree burns, he went over to the bar and sat down, grabbing a fork to finally eat.

"You're not using a spork to eat that." Luxord finally spoke again, pointing accusingly at Cloud's food. Cloud didn't spare Luxord a glance as he began to shovel his food into his mouth, tossing the apple core into the trash. How had it disappeared so fast?

You see, living in the Strife household teaches a person many different things. First off, no bathroom is off limits. Many a time, Luxord had waltzed into his bathroom to find Larxene attempting to gel her antennas as if it were her own bathroom! Did she leave at his disgust and anger? No, she merely slammed the door and locked it every time she went back. Secondly, no one was to enter Roxas' room without signing a liability waver. That was just a safety issue no one wanted to discuss. And thirdly, no food was safe unless it had been devoured properly and was safely stored in one's stomach. You learned to eat fast in this household, if you planned to eat at all.

Thus, the apple had been devoured in a time limit that would make the pie eating contestants at the county fair drool in envy.

"Dad, I think you're being ridiculous about the stupid sporks. You're the only one complaining about what I ordered. Do I hear anyone else complaining? No. So just drop the issue." Cloud growled in return, swallowing the large mouthful of lasagna without bothering to chew. As Luxord opened his mouth to argue in return, Roxas chose at that time to walk into the kitchen, and the conversation thankfully, in Cloud's opinion, turned around completely.

"Roxas, why are you scaring off customers at work?" Luxord demanded huffily, turning to look at the younger son. Roxas glanced at Luxord and Cloud, grunting in an almost animalistic way before opening the fridge and peering around for a snack. Cloud smirked behind the large forkful of lasagna.

"Because I'd hate to break tradition and actually be nice for once." Roxas replied, finding a half eaten taco and grabbing it, dropping it on a plate and shoving it in the microwave. Cloud snorted but shoveled the lasagna into his mouth as Luxord whirled around, hearing his mocking snort.

"I'm getting complaints about your behavior, and Cloud's silly sporks!" Luxord declared, slamming his fist down on the bar top unimpressively. "Do you know how weird it is to stir coffee with a fork that has shorter prongs than before? Or how stupid it is to stir coffee with a spoon that could potentially stab someone?" Roxas smirked.

"Probably as weird as the fact that you have a British accent even though you were born and raised in Twilight Town, not England?" Roxas suggested.

"It's unreal!" Cloud rolled his eyes and shoved the last of the lasagna into his mouth, putting the plate and fork in the dishwasher as Roxas took his taco from the microwave and promptly dropped the plate on the counter, holding his hand in pain.

"If you think that it's such a problem, how about you write a formal complaint and I'll look into it when I go to work?" Cloud suggested, grabbing Roxas' arm and shoving his hand under the cool water in the sink. Roxas snorted and let his scorching third degree burn rest. Was it really three degrees of burns? Probably not, but grab a steaming hot plate next time you have something in the microwave and tell Roxas and Cloud it doesn't burn to the third degree.

That's what I thought.

Luxord stared at Cloud, jaw slowly dropping as he considered what his eldest son had just suggested. Cloud, seeing the gleam in his father's eyes, promptly slapped the red mark on his forehead and winced. Dammit, that stupid door knocker had really hit his forehead hard.

"Cloud, that's a brilliant idea! I'll create a customer complaint box! And when they complain and fill out the papers and put them in the box, you'll have to order spoons and forks separate, the way they should be!" Luxord crowed, beaming. Roxas rolled his eyes at Luxord's antics and grabbed his plate, deeming it cool enough to grab, promptly shoveling the taco in his mouth, swallowing it without chewing.

It's quite impressive, if you think about it.

"Whatever floats your boat, pops." Cloud said, turning the water off once it had fully served its purpose in healing third degree microwave burns.

"And when they complain about Roxas' terrible personality and public indecency, he'll have to change!" Luxord's eyes seemed to shine and sparkle like cubic zirconium the more he thought about his complaint box, as if he'd never had a better idea. And though Cloud had to say that creating "The Burrow" was a terrible idea, it was much better than a stupid complaint box. Who cared about sporks, forks, or spoons?

Nobodies like Luxord, that's who.

"The hell I will." Roxas snapped, dropping his plate in the dishwasher and closing it.

"Well, son, a lot of people are starting to notice your little problem with doing your job when you're bringing your little boy toy to work." Luxord informed Roxas gravely. Roxas, not missing a beat, scowled at Luxord in a rather demonic way.

"Sure, point out the fact that I'm being stalked, but need I remind everyone that the person showing up late and leaving early is Cloud because he's meeting up with Leon?" Roxas snarled. Luxord's eyebrows met up with his hairline and his light blue eyes flicked over to Cloud, silently demanding an explanation. Cloud visibly paled before them, and if he could have, he would have made like a Harry Potter character and apparated the hell out of the situation Roxas had put him in. Did he want to discuss Leon? Hell no!

It was an awkward situation, to be sure.

Though, it wasn't like they were doing anything wrong, really… they were just meeting up to talk. Talk… the word sounded strange to Cloud. Since when had Leon ever talked?

But boy was he talking now.

Anything Cloud did or said, Leon would have something to say. He really was making an effort to try and show Cloud he could talk and honestly mean it. When it was just them, it wasn't just about sex, and for once, Cloud felt like he was in a relationship.

Except… he wasn't.

Sure, Leon would love to be Cloud's boyfriend again, but there was one problem.

Cloud refused to talk about that.

Sure, he loved Leon. But that was a given before this story even started. They'd been together for quite some time, actually. But after everything had blown up, Cloud wasn't sure if he wanted to try again. Leon had made it clear before that he didn't love him, why did he want to deal with that?

He didn't.

"Cloud? What the hell is Roxas talking about?" Luxord finally demanded after Cloud's inner monologue had finished. Cloud snapped out of his daze and fixed his cold, ruthless stare on Roxas, taking a menacing step closer to his soon to be deceased younger brother. Sensing danger, Roxas skirted around the bar and made a break for it, fleeing the room and successfully avoiding capture and decapitation.

Decapitation was such a messy thing to go through, after all.

Seeing his prey escape, Cloud promptly turned on his heel and made his way to the stairs, ignoring Luxord calling for him as he made his ascent to his bedroom. Did he want to hear about sporks, complaint boxes, and a lecture about Leon?

I'll let you think of the answer. Giving it to you is just too easy.

Making his way to his room, Cloud pulled his phone out and saw that Leon had called while he'd been attempting to have lunch in peace. Biting his lip, Cloud called Leon back and sat down on his bed, unable to keep the smile from his face as Leon picked up right after the first ring and sounded honestly happy to hear his voice.

Nearby, Sora currently had a phone glued to his ear, but was in a much worse mood than Cloud was.

"This is Riku. I'm not here right now, but please leave a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

"Hey Riku… um, it's Sora, if you couldn't tell… I was just, y'know, calling to talk…? If you want to talk, because if you don't that's totally fine, we don't have to talk, or see each other, or… or anything… if you don't want it… love you, bye." Sora frowned and studied his carpet, hanging the phone up and tossing it on his pillow dejectedly, burying his face in his arms. He hadn't seen or heard from Riku in a week, and it was really starting to get to him. Did Riku just not want a relationship anymore? If he didn't want a relationship, why didn't he say anything? If he was up front and serious about what was going on, then Sora could take it like a man, accept the situation, and move on.

By burying himself under his covers and breaking down like a real man would.

Standing up dejectedly, Sora grabbed his work clothes and changed into them, making sure to put his phone in his front pocket on vibrate that way if Riku actually called back, he'd be able to answer it the moment he called. One could ask themselves, "Is this pathetic or what?"

Why yes, yes it is.

Walking down the stairs, Sora nearly ran into Larxene and squealed as she twisted around him and shoved him down the stairs, cackling as he went flying and landed in a heap. Sora, a little dazed, stared up at her retreating figure and had to shake his head. Once upon a time, Larxene had been a kind, loving individual that took the time to always be a wonderful, supportive person to those around her.

Then she fell down that man hole, and nothing was ever the same.

The doctors had tried, they really had, but nothing could be done. Larxene would never be kind and loving, ever again. It was a shame, really. The Strife family had held a ceremony for her mercy and happiness, and then promptly moved on from it, doing things like locking Larxene out of the car, or forgetting her when they left the mall so she'd have to walk home.

It was a wonder they hadn't all been murdered by her yet.

Sighing pathetically, Sora picked himself up and looked around for his shoes, scowling as he saw that Cloud had tossed his worn out and ugly work shoes on top of Sora's pristine, shiny ones. Grabbing Cloud's shoe, he attempted to toss it away from his perfectly clean shoes when, to his horror, one of his shoes was also sent soaring through the air with Cloud's. Baffled by this turn of events, Sora went over and picked his shoe up, letting out a less than manly squeal of indignation as he realized that his shoe was connected to Cloud's by a thick, nasty glob of gum that looked suspiciously like it had been in the mouth of a cruel officer.

"CLOUD!" He screeched, taking Cloud's shoe and stomping into the kitchen with fire in his eyes. If there was one thing he wouldn't tolerate, it was people getting nasty, unmentionably disgusting things on his otherwise superiorly shiny shoes. Flipping a switch beside the sink, Sora then shoved Cloud's shoe into the garbage disposal and smiled to himself as the garbage disposal devoured his shoe with a grinding, squealing, painfully loud gurgling noise.

It didn't take much to make Sora happy.

After cleaning his shoes Sora put them on and made his way to The Strife Coffee House where Demyx was supposed to be working with Naminé. Sora was glad it would be Naminé he was working with; he was getting tired of working either with Larxene or Roxas. Larxene was developing a habit of tying his shoes together while he daydreamed so that he'd trip when he tried to walk, and Roxas had a habit of muttering cruel and unmentionable dark things under his breath when Sora attempted conversation.

All in all it made work a horrible place to be.

As Sora walked into the shop, Demyx was in the process of leaving, practically dragging Zexion out of the shop to go who knows where. While Zexion looked slightly panicked, he also seemed a little happy, like he was glad to be dragged as long as it was Demyx dragging him, and no one else.

"Hey Sora!" Demyx called out as he pulled Zexion through the doors. Sora gazed solemnly at Zexion and waved in farewell, pitying him. He most likely would be taken to The Burrow where he'd be subject to unspeakable horrors that Sora didn't want to imagine.

Things like seeing the house Or worse…

Meeting the people inside.

"Hello Sora, how are you?" Naminé smiled kindly at him as he grabbed his apron and tied it around his waist, going to the counter and leaning against it.

"Hey Naminé…" Sora attempted a small smile at her, any sort of indication of happiness, real or not, but all he could manage was a grimace with a side of wincing.

"That was a terrible smile, Sora." Naminé remarked softly, scooting her stool over to him to put a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing…" Sora mumbled. He didn't want to tell Naminé what was wrong. Why, you may ask? Because it wasn't safe. Naminé was the renowned Strife family miss-fix-it and Sora didn't want his love life scrutinized by her. If it was, he'd find himself subject to being manipulated at every turn until he found himself right where Naminé wanted him.

And where Naminé wanted him wasn't where Sora wanted to be.

Where was that, you may ask?

Only Naminé knew. Just know that to Sora's imagination, it wasn't a pleasant place to be.

"You know I really know what's going on, Sora." Naminé informed him softly, setting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Sora stared at her in shock for a moment before he shook his head and laughed nervously, picking at his shirt. Naminé couldn't know what was going on, just like no one else could know. Even Riku didn't know what was going on, since he was never there to find out, and wasn't returning Sora's calls or texts. So he was lopped into the group with the rest of the ignorant.

"No you don't, Naminé." Sora replied firmly, acting a little more confident than he really was. In truth, his confidence was about the size of a pea, but he didn't want Naminé to know that. He didn't want Naminé to know anything about his life, really.

"A caramel macchiato please!" The customer chirped from her spot at the counter, and Sora nodded, pushing himself from the counter to make what the customer wanted. The girl was sweet, really, and she always asked nicely, but it was remarkable to Sora that a thirteen year old girl could be so addicted to coffee at such a young age. Soon, she wouldn't be polite anymore, not in Sora's opinion. Soon, she'd show up with her hair a ratted mess, her eyes wild, and her hands shaking as she demanded all the coffee from the shop so she could just get that fix one more time.

But for now she asked sweetly, and that was enough for Sora.

As the customer left and Sora resumed his post at the counter, Naminé watched him carefully before shaking her head at him.

"Sora, I'm sorry, but I feel like I have to say something, or you're going to end up a lonely old man with no one to love him." She stated firmly, much to Sora's horror. He stared, jaw making a firm smack against the counter, disbelief sketched all over his face.

"I… you…"

"If Riku is hurting you so much, and isn't making an effort to fix anything, then I think you need to break up with him, and find an outlet for your pain. You being in this much agony isn't healthy, and it's going to give you premature wrinkling." Naminé gravely informed him. "I know this is hard to take in, but deep down you know it's true, and I think that once you find distractions for yourself to detour you from heartache, you'll find it's pretty easy to get over someone that doesn't care."

Sora stared at her, his jaw firmly glued to the counter.

"And, I mean, I know he's pretty and he can be sweet, but right now he's acting ugly, and he's being the opposite of a good boyfriend. So you need to get a hold of him somehow, and say that you're done with him, and end it, or else you'll become so consumed with grief and sadness that you'll start to look like a rotten pumpkin, and no one wants to see that happen to you. And if he's not going to return your calls or speak to you, I think you need to just end it without his knowledge and move on because that sounds like what he's doing –breaking away from you without breaking up from you. It's something a lot of nasty people do when they're done with a relationship, and I don't think you should have to put up with something like that when you're just a sweet, naïve little boy." Naminé took a deep, slow breath after she finished her tangent and nodded, smiling at him and adjusting the bow in her hair.

Sora finally managed to rip his jaw from the counter, and he shook his head at Naminé, boggled by what she had said. It was profound, really. Break up with Riku? The guy that could calm Sora down when everyone else was pulling out elephant tranquilizers? The guy that could help Sora resist other men's charms because his sexy factor far exceeded ten? The guy that was able to make Sora blush and squeal because he was so romantic it was illegal in five different countries?

It was inconceivable.

Or was it?

"Naminé… you think I should break up with him?" Sora asked. Naminé stared at him incredulously, hands tangled in her hair as she fixed the large, white bow.

"That's what my entire rant was about, Sora." She said slowly, like she was speaking to a child that had just barely begun to learn English. Sora stared back, like a child that had just barely begun to speak English. When her words finally clicked, he slumped against the counter, pulling on his spikes, horrified. How could he ever break up with Riku? How could he even begin to fathom not being together with him? Riku was an amazing person, and Sora was just… just Sora. Without Riku as his boyfriend, what did Sora have to offer the world? A dinky internship at the key museum? Though, that was going swimmingly, in Sora's opinion, and he felt that by the end of his internship he'd really have a career set out for him no matter what his rivals at the museum said. He was amazing as an intern. He worked hard and he always knew where which key came from, and exactly what it was capable of. And just the other day, Mickey had patted his back and had given him his trademark giggling smile. Take that, rivals!

But I digress.

Sora just couldn't comprehend that. Whenever he'd thought about the end of his and Riku's relationship, it had been when one of them was dead in some tragic, ass backwards accident. He'd never thought that they would end because of a breakup. A breakup was a terrible way to go, in his opinion. It meant that the couple had tried, but had failed, miserably.

And thinking about how his relationship has been up to this point, he'd have to agree with himself –this was failing miserably.

How would he break up with him, anyway? It's not like he could just appear wherever Riku was and say, "Hey, we're over!" There were a couple of different problems with that:

1. He didn't have the ability to just appear and disappear. He wasn't a wizard.

2. Riku would most likely think he was joking.

3. He'd then tangle up his words when he tried to explain that he was very serious, and that Riku was so busted for being the worst boyfriend ever.

4. And… also… he wasn't sure if he had the heart to do that.

Sora frowned as he realized that breaking up with Riku would be much harder than he thought. Not only would it take him actually finding Riku or getting him to pick up the phone, it would also take strong willed courage in order to look him in the eye and say that he was calling it quits. Because the idea of staring into his beautiful, oceanic eyes and saying that he didn't want to be with him made Sora feel like he was getting hit in the gut with a Rhinoceros' foot. And that, good readers, hurt very much.

Naminé watched Sora's face go through a dark array of emotions before she felt the need to step in.

"Sora, would you like my help?" She asked, reaching out and tapping his shoulder lightly. Sora jerked away from her hold, startled, and stared like a deer in the headlights.

"Help how?" He asked cautiously.

"I think I can help you either get the courage to break up with him, or the guts to move on without his knowing."

"Naminé…" Sora looked at her, awed by her offer. Naminé wanted to help him? She wanted to honestly assist him in his hour of need?

It had to be too good to be true.

"Oh, sure, of course you want to help…" He said, gaze narrowed.

"Yes, that's why I offered." She smiled innocently at him, eyes sparkling with promises of rainbows full of skittles. Sora didn't buy it though. Behind those rainbows of skittles, unmentionable pain and suffering fueled her body the way water and celery fueled a runner on his high.

"I don't think so, Naminé…" Sora replied, nonchalantly, "I think I've got this covered."

"That's why you're waiting on his call." Was the every dry reply.

"I'm not-" They were interrupted as Sora's phone began to spit out a cheesy pop ringtone, complete with a picture on the phone that showed who was calling.

"Sora-"

"OH MY GOD SHUTUP, HE'S CALLING!" Sora squealed and picked the phone up as quickly as he could, grasping it as though it were a life preserver, answering with a high pitched voice, "Hello?"

"Hey, love, it's Riku." Riku's voice sounded apologetic and regretful, which was music to Sora's ears. He could almost imagine him sitting on his bed, cradling the phone. If Sora imagined hard enough, he could see his eyes wide and full of remorse, and his lip poked out with the desire for forgiveness.

You'll have to forgive him; he's a little desperate.

"I know it's you, I have caller ID." Sora replied breathlessly. In truth, to him they shouldn't be talking about who was calling, and whether or not he had caller ID. In Sora's mind, they had so many other things to talk about, so caller ID was so irrelevant that he wished he had gotten rid of caller ID, just so he didn't waste his time informing Riku that he had caller ID.

"I'm sorry we haven't been hanging out a lot lately, Sora, it's just… I've been… busy." Riku's excuse sounded as shoddy as a blind man saying he knew how to fly a plane because he'd read the instruction manual, but Sora ate it up.

"Oh I figured as much, I mean, you wouldn't purposefully not return my texts or calls, or rarely visit, or, or anything…" Sora laughed a hollow, high pitched laugh that caused people in the coffee shop to turn and stare, but he didn't notice. "And besides, I've been… y'know, really busy…"

"Oh yeah? That's good you're keeping busy, what have you been doing?"

"Oh, you know…" Sora attempted to sound blasé, and ignored Naminé's look of horror. "Just been teaching Axel a few tricks…"

"Axel? I didn't know that you two hung out."

"Oh we hang out, Riku. We've become, you could say… pretty close. Really close, I'd say. Just ask him!" Riku laughed at that, and didn't sound at all concerned.

"Okay, when I'm back in town that's the first thing I'll do, after coming to see you." Riku promised. Sora scowled at that, not understanding why Riku wasn't falling for his trap. He'd basically just attempted to say he was cheating on Riku with Axel, and Riku was just nodding along like everything was fine and dandy!

"Yeah, well, you'll have to call and make sure neither of us are busy… 'cuz, 'cuz that's how much we've been hanging out." Sora nodded firmly. "We've just been hanging out, all around town… and sometimes not around town."

"That's great, Sora." Again, he sounded genuinely happy, much to Sora's disgust.

"And sometimes we're all alone and it's just the two of us… and we're doing stuff." Sora whispered the last part like it was a secret, moving around from the curious onlookers and his annoyed sister.

"Yeah? Stuff? What kind of stuff?" Though his questions seemed concerned, it was apparent that Riku was far from it. He sounded curious and happy, like it didn't occur to him what Sora was trying to do. Well Sora would show him!

"Just… stuff."

"Well that's great, Sora. Hey listen, I've got to go, but we'll talk later when I can, okay?"

"Oh… oh, okay." Sora nodded glumly. "I'll just get back to Axel and me… doing stuff."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later. I love you." His tone was so casual and calm, and just hearing him say those words tore Sora up so badly that he almost cried. It was nothing for him to say that he loved Sora, but lately Sora just didn't feel like he meant it. And he wasn't at all concerned that Sora was hanging out with Axel, even though Axel was a notorious player. Sora gripped the phone tightly.

"I love you too…" He whispered. It was too late though –Riku had already hung up.

Sora stared at his phone, the backdrop a picture of the two of them kissing. Sadly, he stuffed the phone into his pocket and resumed his post at the counter, watching the inhabitants go back to their usual day to day lives now that Sora's lifetime drama moment was over. Beside him on her stool, Naminé patted his back in an effort to console him.

"I just screwed that up, didn't I?" Sora asked glumly.

"Yes, you did… I'm sorry, Sora."

"I just want him to be here for me, Naminé; what's so wrong about that?" He turned to look at her, eyes full of sadness and confusion. Naminé shook her head and kept patting his back, frowning.

"There's nothing wrong with that, Sora. But it's like I said earlier… I think your best bet would be to break up with him. If he's not going to be here for you, why should you waste your life away, waiting on him?"

"You know, if everyone had followed that advice then you'd be a free girl, Naminé." A soft, smooth voice said from the other side of the counter. Sora looked up to see Kairi, and then he looked at Naminé, shocked. Naminé also sported a look of shock and horror, except unlike Sora she was also backing away from the counter like it had a disease.

"Maybe you should listen to it; I'm known for my words of wisdom." Naminé informed her softly, hands up to show that she meant no harm and was completely innocent. Kairi didn't seem to get the hint though, and climbed over the counter, sliding to the other side, smiling in a way that reminded Sora of Axel.

"I think it's much more fun to play a game of chase though –especially when the catch is as good as you." Kairi declared, sauntering over to Naminé with a predatory stare. Naminé looked to Sora for help, but Sora shrugged, entirely too depressed to lend a hand. Kairi, noting that she had no backup, leaned in and linked arms with Naminé, pulling her out from around the counter and taking her apron off for her. Naminé was defenseless, and could only let it happen, horrified.

"I'm taking Naminé out for some fun and shopping, okay Sora? Don't tell your daddy!" Kairi winked and tossed the apron on the counter and promptly dragged Naminé out of the shop.

Sora could only wave solemnly goodbye as Naminé was pulled to her doom. And poor Naminé could only let it happen, eyes locked with Sora's as she disappeared into the distance.

Poor girl. She'd be remembered fondly.

Sora hung her apron back up after a few moments of thinking. And he had to agree with what Naminé said, no matter how much logic Kairi had. Of course it didn't make Riku jealous that Sora was hanging out with Axel. If he was really cheating with this mystery texter, then why should he care that Sora was fooling around too? And why should he care that Sora was busy? Of course he'd want Sora to be busy! If he was busy, then he wasn't sitting at home, watching and waiting for Riku to walk through the door. He'd be able to stay away more since Sora wasn't always worrying about him!

That clever bastard.

Now that he knew what he had to do though…

All it took was getting the courage worked up to do it.

Could he actually break up with Riku, the man that he loved? Could he look him in those gorgeous aquamarine eyes and say that it was over?

Probably not.

But at least Sora had a plan of action. All it took was seeing it through.

Sora was distracted from his thoughts as he saw a flash of red in the doorway. Looking up, Sora locked eyes with Axel, and an animalistic growl was loosened from his lips as he realized that it was Axel. Oh yes… he had a bone to pick with Axel. Several, actually.

Axel, seeing that he was in danger, promptly turned around and fled from the coffee shop. But did that stop Sora? No. Sora grinned viciously and tore out of the shop, imagining the things that he'd do to that date wrecking redhead the moment he caught up to him.

Five Reasons Why I'm Chasing Axel:

A list by Sora Strife

1. It's good exercise for me since I'm pretty lazy when I want to be.

2. He must pay with his blood for ruining the date with Roxas

3. I told him that if he failed on his date with Roxas, he'd pay in blood.

4. I'd hate to break a promise of pain that I made to him.

5. It's a wonderful distraction from the fact that I'm going to have to work up the nerve to break up with Riku. As long as I'm doing this, I can put off doing that! Hurray for procrastination!

Hit or miss? Let me know in a review!

I know, I know... I shouldn't be asking for a review. But it's my pathetic nature as a fanfiction writer that makes me do this. Let's face it -I love reading what you have to say. And now that I'm going through old chapters and attempting to correct them, I'm going to be on track with this story a lot more than usual! I'm also going to fix different things in the earlier chapters, like what I thought was awkward, or seems forced... so look out for that, too.

But please take pity on me. It's my senior year (HUZZAH!) and I'm bogged down with 2 online classes (to avoid losing my off campus study halls XD ) and I'm working in ROTC a lot more than usual, so I'm swamped. And I totally missed paying senior dues, so... we'll see how that turns out, now won't we? D:

Also, I'm looking for a beta... anyone interested? Just PM me if you'd like, and we'll discuss how we want to do this.

But please review, and as always... I'll update soon! :)