A/N: So... I kind of already had this chapter written, that's why you're like, WHAT? TWO UPDATES IN ONE DAY? Umm... yeah... this is rare... anyway, enjoy!

o.o.o

Follow Me Home

Chapter Eleven

o.o.o

Vanitas went to the bar in search of Kairi. It was amazing how quickly these people forgot that he was actually banned from here, but as long as they didn't notice, that was fine for him. He was accompanied by Shiki, whom was skanky in his opinion. She drank way more than he did and just laughed the entire time.

It had been nearly a week since he got this new "look," but he hadn't seen Kairi once.

Kairi, on the other hand, actually was coming back to work that night; she was just a little late. Her reluctance to come was part of it, as well as Roxas' reluctance to bring her. They came to a compromise, however. If Roxas could stay there with her, he might feel a little better even if he did have to watch her with other men. They loaded into his car and made their way downtown.

Roxas didn't understand why Kairi wouldn't just quit. Sure, the money was good but was it really worth it?

They parked in the back where only employees were allowed. Roxas stayed close to her as they went inside; he almost felt like a bodyguard walking next to such a beautiful girl. Just before they entered the building, Roxas looked up and saw the new billboard. Kairi's picture was there.

"Oh, looks like they put it up..." Kairi said in a worried tone, "...oh well..."

Roxas put his hands on her shoulders. "Just remember to go in there and do your best. I won't let anything happen to you..." afterward, he pulled Kairi closer to him and hugged her. She hesitated, but for the first time in a long time, hugged him back.

"T-Thanks..."

o.o.o

Aqua was surprised to see Kairi back so soon. Terra observed them over at the bar. As Aqua took Kairi to the back to get her dressed and ready, Roxas joined Terra. This was his first time actually being inside the club. Some girls came up to him and tried to take him back to a table, but he kindly refused.

"It's definitely a place to get used to." Terra said as he shined some wine glasses and set them neatly on the counter.

"I really don't want Kairi to work here..."

Terra shrugged and poured him a glass of red wine. "I don't like seeing Aqua with everyone all the time, but I trust her."

"That's you."

Vanitas noticed the blonde haired boy over at the bar. 'Isn't that... that guy that's with her?'

He knew that Kairi might fall for it, but not this guy.

"I'm going to the bathroom." He told Shiki as he got up. He maneuvered past the mixture of hostesses, customers and butlers swiftly, but right before he reached the bathroom, he ran into one of the girls carrying a bottle of whiskey. She dropped the bottle and it shattered onto the floor. Everyone looked in the direction of the commotion.

"Oh... no..." The girl whined. Instead of getting upset like he normally would and knowing all of the attention was on him, Vanitas went to get a broom and a mop.

'Do it for Kairi... do it for Kairi...'

The truth was, he just wanted to punch the closest thing to him.

But no—he had to keep his cool and not mess anything up.

While he was at it, he placed Kairi's wallet near the wardrobe room on the way back.

Roxas noticed something fishy about the guy and he got up to take a closer look. The dim-ness in the club didn't help much, but he had to check it out anyway. Kairi and Aqua came out of the wardrobe room to see what was going on. She looked down and noticed her wallet on the table next to the room.

"I found it! Aqua, has it been here the entire time?"

"Found what?" Aqua saw Kairi holding her wallet and then shrugged.

Vanitas glanced up as he picked the pieces of the glass off of the floor; a few butlers came to help him. The girl he ran into kept apologizing. He could see Kairi behind Aqua going through her wallet. He only used about $200 of her money, but put the rest back thinking she wouldn't remember. He smiled at the girl (with all of his might) and accepted her apology.

"Don't worry about it."

Roxas was close enough by now to see him clearly. Vanitas quickly turned and walked back to his table.

"Alright! Nothing to see here, everyone." Aqua said, breaking Roxas' focus. The crowd dispersed.

"Roxas, look! It was here the entire time..." Kairi sighed in relief.

"Oh, that's great." Roxas said halfheartedly. He looked back over in that guy's direction.

Vanitas knew that Roxas was burning holes in his back, but he tried to play it cool as Shiki returned to the table.

"I'm glad that the whiskey didn't get on your clothes!" She told him. "That would have been a bummer."

"Haha... yeah..."

Kairi didn't seem to notice him for the entire night; she was off in another part of the club. But Vanitas knew exactly where she was, what she was doing and what she was saying. Aqua made sure to explain to her regulars that Kairi was taking it easy on drinks for a few days, but she would be back in no time. They didn't seem to mind; they just enjoyed looking at her pretty face. Roxas watched from afar as Kairi put on a fake smile for them. It was heartbreaking.

Getting impatient, Vanitas needed to avert Kairi's attention and somehow get her over to him. He smiled politely at Shiki and asked, "Is Kairi here tonight? Actually, I'm... an old friend of hers... and... I came to see her."

"Now that I think about it, I do remember her saying something about a guy named Sora... but..." Shiki gave him a concerned look, "I don't mean to be rude, but... I thought... Sora was dead..."

'Dead...?'

Shit.

Vanitas didn't know this. The guy he was trying to portray was apparently no longer living?!

He had to come up with something—fast.

"Well... that's why I came here. I have a lot of explaining to do... and I would like to talk with her... if that's okay..."

Shiki wasn't sure what to say, but eventually she got up. "I'll go and get her."

Now Vanitas really had to think—how would he explain something he didn't know about? If this Sora guy was dead, how did he die? What were the circumstances?

'I guess that explains why Kairi is so crazy...'

Kairi was chatting with the customers when Shiki arrived. "Hey, boys! Mind if I steal Kairi for a moment?" The guys just stared at her in awe. She pulled Kairi aside and whispered into her ear. Roxas watched them.

"S-Sora? That's impossible!" Kairi yelled. "No... it's just... that guy... that's stalking me!"

"What?!" Roxas ran over to her and guarded her. "Where is he?!"

"He said that he has a lot of explaining to do... or something." Shiki clarified.

"I don't want to hear it! Roxas, let's go... please..."

"Gladly!" Roxas grabbed her hand and took her around to the back.

Now was the time for Vanitas to make his move. He hurried after them.

"Kairi! Wait!"

"He's coming!" Kairi panicked. Roxas had to get her to safety, but he also wanted to beat this guy to a pulp. They entered the parking lot and ran towards Roxas' car. Vanitas was closing in on them. Kairi jumped into the back seat and hid, locking the doors. Roxas faced the Sora clone.

"It's me... your friend..." Vanitas was just winging it. Okay, maybe he should have thought this through a little more.

"You're not-" Roxas stammered, looking at this guy's face; his hair...

'I'm imagining this, right?!'

No. It was some sort of trick.

This would have been a good time for Vanitas to know his name, but he just didn't. Instead, he used a different tactic.

"I'm sorry for making you think that I was dead!"

Roxas' eyes widened. Kairi lifted up in the back seat in shock.

"T-That's... a lie... you're not Sora!"

"I am! I wanted to tell Kairi that I miss her... and that I'm really sorry!"

'He... misses... me...'

"Why, you-!" Roxas charged at him, only to be thrown to the ground on impact. Roxas, however was able to fight Vanitas off of him and punch him in the face.

'Sora... misses me... Sora's... alive...'

"You twisted freak!" Roxas screamed as he punched him over and over. "You're not Sora! I know my best friend when I see him!"

And then it hit Roxas like a brick wall.

Did he really just claim that Sora was his best friend?

More specifically, his delayed reaction gave Vanitas a chance to hit him. Roxas fell to the ground. Vanitas was about to run over to the car, but Roxas grabbed his foot and he fell over. Terra, Aqua and a few others found them and stopped the fight.

Kairi sat in a daze in the back seat, watching everything transpire. Aqua knocked frantically on her window, causing her to snap out of it. She opened the door and Aqua hugged her immediately.

"This guy should be killed!" Roxas yelled, trying to get out of Terra's grasp.

Vanitas glared at him. This guy was going to be more trouble than he anticipated.

Police sirens were heard. This made Vanitas run in the other direction. A few of the security guards chased after him, but he had disappeared.

"Let go of me, damn it!" Roxas broke free from Terra's grip. He rushed over to Kairi, who was still trying to figure out what was happening. "Kairi, are you alright?!"

"Roxas..."

"Oh my God..." He held her tightly.

"Roxas..." She repeated; he looked into her eyes. "Was that... Sora?"

Roxas' mouth gaped open in shock. "N-No! Of course not!"

Aqua placed her hand on Kairi's shoulder. "I'm very sorry to do this, but..." she took a deep breath, "...don't take it personally... Kairi, you're fired."

"Huh?!" Kairi gave Aqua a terrified look. "N-No! I can do this! Really!"

Aqua shook her head. "It's too dangerous to come here. Terra and Roxas agree with me. It would be best if you skipped town..."

"Thanks, Aqua." Roxas said to her, much to Kairi's dismay.

"Kairi, get a normal job... you're so much better than this."

"Aqua... why...?" Kairi cried, but it didn't phase her.

"I think it's time that we move back to the Islands." Roxas determined.

"Right." Terra nodded in agreement. "Keep in touch, okay?"

"No! I don't want to go there!" Kairi yelled, but no one would listen.

The police pulled up to the scene and began asking everyone questions. Only Kairi knew the guy's name, but she was having trouble saying it.

"Van... Van..."

"Vanitas?" The policeman asked. She nodded quickly. He sighed. "Not again..."

"Again?" Everyone said in unison. They wouldn't get their explanation, though.

o.o.o

Vanitas ran as fast as he could down the street. He could still hear the police sirens echoing in the distance. He couldn't go back to jail. He hated it there.

Also, he just felt stupid now for changing his appearance. If only Roxas wasn't there... it probably would have worked in his favor...

"DAMN IT!"

Now he had to figure out another way.

His obsession with her was insane. He could barely understand it himself.

Once he finally felt like things had calmed down, he got a taxi and went home.

o.o.o

Roxas was restless the entire ride back to the apartment. Kairi couldn't believe that she lost her job.

"What... am I going to do now...?"

"It's like I said... we're moving back home."

"No! We can't! Anywhere but there! Please!"

He understood that if Kairi went back to the Islands she would constantly be reminded of Sora, but that didn't really change the way things were now. His top priority was to keep her safe. If they left town, there would at least be a higher chance of doing that. Whoever this Vanitas guy was—whatever he wanted with Kairi—he wasn't going to get it.

Roxas opened the door to Hayner and Olette's apartment. They were already in bed. In truth, Roxas wanted to leave right away, but he was too tired. He decided to wait until tomorrow to pack. He got into the bed with Kairi, who seemed like she was already asleep and held her for the rest of the night.

o.o.o

o.o.o

Leave lovely reviews, will ya?

Who thinks Vanitas is stupid? ME!

Peace out!