AN: Hey! Sorry I took so long to update. Wow, it's been almost a week now. Don't look at me like that, that's a long time for me. Anyway, I have written a one-shot in the time I wasn't working on this (sorry) and I would really appreciate if you guys would check it out and review on it. It's AxelxSora. Anyway, this chapter is a little weird. And I'm sure there are going to be outraged people because of the HaynerxSeifer. Well, the sad sad truth of it is that I'm not going to write about them. This isn't a HaynerxSeifer fic, people. BUT, I will do a spinoff one-shot about them. When? No idea. And Riku gets a little deranged in this chapter. I like deranged Riku. Uh...let's see, what else? Oh yeah, I've decided on a theme song for the story. (No thanks to any of the reviewers) It's Must Have Done Something Right by Relient K. Yes, I love that song and not until recently did I really realize how PERFECT it is for this fic. Reviewers in the sky with diamonds!! (Yes, I am crazy)
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I am in such a good mood and I love you all!!!! XD I recently finished reading Harry Potter 7 and all I had to do was sacrifice sleep! Seriously, I finished it at 5:30 this morning and I was so excited that it took me until 6:30 or so to get to sleep. I know that the sun was up by the time I did finally manage to fall asleep. Yeah, but it was so worth it. Now I can gloat to my friends, who are still in the middle of the books. (That means you, GB :p) So, without further adieu, I now present this chapter.
Disclaimer: Who needs Kingdom Hearts when you control the Orange Leprechauns? That's right, you know you're jealous of my evil-Leprechaun-controlling powers.
It was about 8:00 in the morning, after Roxas had left for school, when it happened. The phone rang.
Axel, who had woken up to see the little blonde off, picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, Axel!"
"Demyx!" Axel grinned to himself. He hadn't heard from Demyx in weeks. Just because he was in a relationship now didn't mean he didn't still love Demyx, and he did like hearing from him every once in a while.
"Yeah, sorry I haven't called lately. I've been…busy."
"Oh, that's alright," the redhead said, still smiling. "So, what's up?"
"Uhm…nothing much…"
Axel could sense the note of hesitation in his friend's voice. "Demyx, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing, I just…well, I called to tell you something and now I can't get it out." There was a pause. "Axel, we'll always be best friends, right?"
"What? Of course we will, Dem."
"Good." There was a small sigh of relief. "And…what happened before I left…what did that mean to you?"
The redhead was taken aback. He had never actually viewed it before as anything other than a request from his best friend. But that couldn't be true because if he really hadn't wanted to, he wouldn't have. So what, then, was it? Leave it to Demyx to ask the most complicated questions.
"Axel?" He had been quiet for a while.
"Oh, uhm…I don't know, why?"
There was another sigh, this time of resignation. "It, uhm, it didn't mean much, did it?"
"No, no, that's not it…"
"I'm seeing someone."
"W-what?" He knew he shouldn't be jealous, knew he should be happy for his friend, but he couldn't help the cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Who?"
"His name is Xaldin," Demyx said quietly, "I thought I should probably tell you, you know…keep you informed and such."
"Oh…" Axel bit his bottom lip absent-mindedly.
"So, uhm…I guess unless you want to tell me something, there's nothing else to say, is there?"
Axel hesitated. He could tell Demyx all about Roxas, how they were together now, and maybe he would hear that satisfying hitch in the other's breath, betraying the jealousy and remorse.
"Axel?" He had fallen silent again. This time he didn't answer, he could feel the tension between them. Eventually, he heard a click and the inevitable dial-tone.
The redhead hung up and set the phone down on the table beside him. It was hard to accept, true, that Demyx had moved on. But if he was honest with himself, he didn't really expect for Demyx to pine for him, did he? No. And neither was he.
Homeroom. That delightful 10 minutes at the beginning of the day where Roxas was free to talk with his friends. Today, Riku was running a little late, so it was just him and Hayner at the moment. Or, it would be if Hayner would stop staring at Seifer.
"Hayner!"
Hayner snapped to attention. "What?"
Roxas rolled his eyes. "You know perfectly well 'what'. Can you please pay attention while I'm trying to talk?"
"Sorry, I just…" he shot a wistful glance at Seifer, who seemed to be deep in conversation with someone at another table, "You reckon I should make the first move?"
Roxas shrugged. "I don't know. I guess if you really like him and he hasn't done anything yet…"
"Yeah, you're right." A dreamy look crossed his face and he was back to staring again. Roxas shook his head in exasperation and nearly cried out in joy when Riku walked in. "Hey, Riku. Thank god you're here; I can't hold a decent conversation with the drooling monkey. How come you're so late?"
"Alarm didn't go off," Riku said, shrugging as if it were no big thing and sliding into his seat gracefully. "So, what about a drooling monkey?"
Roxas chuckled and jerked his thumb over at Hayner, who looked the human equivalent of a starving puppy.
"Huh, I see what you mean." He laughed. "Hey, you guys wanna come over to my place after school? My mom doesn't get home until late and I just got a new game."
The blonde thought about it. He had never actually gone over to Riku's before and, as far as he knew, he had nothing to do after school. "Alright," he said, nodding, "But I'll need to borrow your phone after school so I can call Axel and tell him where I'm going."
"No prob. What about you, Hayner?"
The darker blonde turned his head dazedly. "Hmm?"
"You wanna come over after school?"
Hayner stared at him for a few seconds before nodding absent-mindedly and going back to his obsessive staring.
When the bell rang, Hayner blinked and looked around like he had never heard it before. He stood up slowly, noticing that Riku and Roxas, shaking their heads amusedly, were leaving without him. No matter, he would see them in first period.
As he walked past the doorway, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him off to the side, out of the torrent of students moving both ways.
Hayner blinked as he found himself looking straight into sharp cerulean eyes. "You've been watching me," a low voice said softly. It wasn't a question.
The dark blonde didn't answer, just dropped his gaze, blushing furiously. He felt, rather than heard, a low chuckle. "It's alright, ya know."
Hayner looked up and found a smirk planted on the thug's face. "Meet me after school near the old church." With that, he left, leaving a stunned Hayner against the wall.
"Where has that boy gone?" Riku said in mock annoyance, "The bell's gonna ring any minute now."
Almost as if on cue, the bell started ringing. Hayner managed to stumble in, red-faced and panting, right before it stopped. He looked up sheepishly as the teacher stared down at him, an eyebrow raised amusedly. "S-sorry, Mr. Strife," he mumbled, moving quickly to his seat right behind Roxas. The blonde man shook his head and started class.
"Hey, Hayner," Roxas whispered back, "How come you're so late?"
Hayner opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again. There was no reason for him to tell his friends about what had happened. Instead he leaned over to Riku, who sat to his right. "I, uh…can't come over. I forgot I have something else to do."
Riku nodded but didn't try to hide his disappointment.
The day went by excruciatingly slowly for Hayner, but for Riku and Roxas it seemed to just zip by. When the day ended, Hayner seemed to just disappear. But he'd said he wasn't coming over so they didn't look too hard for him. Roxas borrowed Riku's phone when they went out to the school garden to get away from the noise.
"Hey, Axel. I'm gonna be going over to Riku's, okay? What? No, Riku. You've met him. Platinum hair, kinda tall. Yes, he's one of my friends. Don't worry, I'll be back by 5:00. Yes. Uh-huh. Okay. Bye." He hung up and handed the phone to Riku. "Lead the way."
Riku, it turned out, had gotten a new racing game. Everyone knows that racing games are no fun alone. They sat on the floor side by side, concentrating on the controllers, cans of soda by their sides.
"I am so beating you!" The blonde laughed as his car passed Riku's.
"Oh yeah?" Riku pushed a few button in succession and suddenly a torpedo came from his car, destroying Roxas'.
Roxas stared at the screen. "No fair! You used some kind of code!"
"All's fair in love and war," the platinum haired boy said, sticking out his tongue playfully as he was declared the winner.
The blonde pouted. "I'm not gonna play if you're going to cheat."
"Aw, don't be like that," Riku said, ruffling his blonde locks in the same infuriating way as Axel did.
"I mean it. Stop using cheat codes or I'm leaving."
"Come on, please don't leave Sora."
Roxas' gaze snapped over to the platinum haired boy, who had his hands clapped over his mouth, a light blush tinting his cheeks.
"I…I'm sorry, I…"
"Did…you just call me Sora?"
"Roxas, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, it just kinda slipped out…"
The blonde stood up dazedly. A few people had, a long time ago, once called him Sora. But nobody had ever called him by his brother's name since his death.
"W-wait," said Riku, grabbing him by the wrist to stop him from going. Caught off-balance, he fell back onto Riku's chest, his head falling and hitting the latter's chin. Riku wrapped his arms around him to keep him from leaving. "You could be his double, you know," the platinum haired boy mumbled, "Except for that blonde hair. Your expressions are the same; you have the same eyes, the same scent…" he tilted the blonde's head back to examine Roxas' face, "I wonder…"
Without warning, he dipped his head down and kissed the blonde full on the mouth. Through the slackened jaws, he was able to sweep his tongue through the wet cavern before pulling away. "You even taste the same," he whispered against Roxas' cheek.
Roxas was, for all intents and purposes, in shock. He barely even realized what was going on, so he couldn't push Riku away. It wasn't until the platinum haired boy started to bite his neck that he broke away and stood up. Riku's arms provided little resistance.
Roxas gazed with pity at his friend, curled up pathetically on the floor. He kneeled in front of him. "I can't be Sora, Riku."
"But don't you see? You can. You're the only one who can, you could replace him. You're just like him…"
Riku leaned forward to kiss him again, but Roxas pushed him away. "Look, I know okay? I know it's hard for you to deal with the fact that he's gone. But that's just it, he's gone. And nothing can ever bring him back. For me to impersonate him would be a lie."
Riku had his knees drawn up to his chest. "What if I don't care?"
Roxas stood up again. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." He walked towards the door and this time Riku did nothing to stop him.
