So, I'm supposed to have this chapter edited, but I was lazy and didn't want to go through and search for what my beta had told me to change... *sigh*

I guess this chapter and the one before it are kind filler, though you do learn a lot about the characters in this chapter, especially Riku, Sora, and Kairi.

Ugh... I'm tired, so this is all I'm going to say for the chapter. I feel dead... dead I tell you...

Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review. Thanks.

~Sunechirei

Full chapter title: Be patient; the people you hate will die eventually.

Yeah, I don't really know how I survived my stay at Destiny Island. I really don't.

Red; he's hard to deal with some times.

My dad; same.

But these people on that desolate island are so much worse.

Of course, when I first got here, that wasn't my reaction. In fact, I kinda liked it at first. Kinda. It's such a beautiful place... but those people... It makes me shudder.

Now then, Destiny Island.

There's something annoying about landing on a gorgeous island at five in the afternoon on the day before Thanksgiving, and having the person sitting next to you think it's funny to drop ice cubes down your shirt.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought that Sora was eight years old.

So my first impression of Destiny Island wasn't exactly the best, though it helped that Kairi was pissed at her boyfriend for making me feel that way, but I was still completely shocked by the scenery that surrounded me when I got off the plane.

Palm trees lined the sandy beaches that golden from the sun's rays, and the ocean's waves washed up multicolored sea shells. Boats lined the shores, and children dashed around them as well, splashing each other with water, and getting into mud wars. It was a calm sight, a nice one, and if I wasn't so pissed at Sora, everything would be lovely.

"Aw, come on, Roxas, stop pouting. I said I was sorry."

Yeah. Sora did say he was sorry, many times in fact. But that doesn't mean I was going to forgive him. I didn't like the cold, especially not when it was being shoved down my shirt. The cold was something I tried to avoid at all costs, which was why I avoided going outside during the winter. I had a strange feeling that Red was going to make fun of me for that...

The four of us got our bags, and I tried hard not to regret this decision. It wasn't easy.

I mean, my parents were still fighting (I heard them again before I left), and as nice as this place seemed, it had an air to it that made me nervous, almost like someone was watching me, waiting to kill me. I think I was just paranoid, though.

Who knew.

"Roxas, you really need to stop spacing out. You're going to get kidnapped or something," Kairi said, poking me in the arm. I looked down at her, confused as to what she was talking about, before I realized that we were outside, and the two boys were clambering into a car I hadn't seen before.

"Oh. Sorry," I said, "I didn't realize..."

"It's fine. As long as you aren't completely brain-dead in there," Kairi laughed, knocking on the side of my head. "Now come on. Sora's dad isn't going to wait forever."

Sora's dad? Oh goody! I get to meet the messed up guy's father! I had a feeling that if I had said that aloud, Kairi would most likely have slapped me for my sarcasm, so instead, I kept it to myself, trying hard not to laugh.

I followed Riku into the car, not exactly sure what to expect when I met Sora's dad. Possibly someone who could deal with the weirdness of Sora, and is stable enough so that he doesn't want to kill himself after hanging around Riku and his son together. I mean, I've barely survived their madness, and I haven't even known them for a year yet.

So, you can probably imagine how unsurprised I was to see a man with a tattoo on the side of his face, spiky hair, and a piece of bread in his mouth.

"Hey there! Nice ta see you guys again!" The man had a very loud voice, and I could immediately tell that that's where Sora got his loudness from. "And you must be Roxas, my son's new boss." It was very hard to understand this guy, seeing as he was munching on the piece of bread as he talked.

"Uh, yeah. That's me." I let out a nervous laugh, and glanced out the window.

"The name's Zell, and I'm gonna be your host for the next two days."

"Um... okay. Sounds good." I felt extremely awkward talking to this guy, and it didn't help that Riku was snickering from the front seat, and Sora was trying hard not to laugh at me. There wasn't much I could do in the car, so instead, I zoned out, trying very hard not to get caught up in another insane conversation with mad people...

Finally, the car stopped, and the first thing I noticed was how normal the house seemed. It was two stories, with a view of the beach in the back, painted white, and nice furniture was set out on the front porch. I was shocked by its normalness, expecting something much stranger if Sora had grown up here, but maybe Sora and Riku were strange by nature...

I opened the door to the car and clambered out, sure that if I hadn't been surrounded by people I worked with and a crazy guy who was the father of one of those people I worked with, I would have fallen to my knees and thanked God that I was out of that car and away from that Zell guy. My willpower was the only thing keeping me from doing so...

"So, why am I staying at Sora's house again?" I asked, then quickly added, "No offense," towards the brown haired man. He just shrugged, like he didn't care, which was probably true. He never did strike me as the kind who cared what people thought of him, after all, just look at the way he acted around the office...

"That would probably be because you would die if you stayed with my brothers," Riku said, "and Kairi's parents don't like guests."

"Um..." The fact that Kairi's parents thought guests were annoying (at least, I figured that's what Riku meant by that) just kind of flew over my head, because I had no idea that Riku had brothers. He seemed to be the kind to be an only child.

"It's true. I don't know why my parents are like that, but they are," Kairi laughed, "Sorry about that."

"I... don't... mind." I let out a nervous laugh, ignoring the strange looks I was getting from Riku and Sora. "So, what do I do now?" Kairi smiled at me.

"Relax. Well, if you can."

I didn't like the sinister tone in Kairi's voice. She most likely knew something I didn't (obviously), and that something would probably scar the living shit out of me.

Would I ever be able to just have fun? Just once?

Please?

Well, Sora's mom was at least normal. She kind of acted like my mom, only not as pissy. It was nice to see someone who wasn't crazy and messed up, though if I had to guess, I would say that Kairi's parents were probably the most normal out of everyone on this island. After all, she wasn't bad at all, and every strange quirk about her (like when she's high on caffeine, or when she's PMSing and tries to kill me for coming into the office too loudly) were because of Riku and Sora. Then again, the fact that she hung out with them was strange as well.

Anyway, meeting Sora's mom was practically the last typical thing I would see on this island, mainly because the next people I met were Kairi's friends.

There were four of them; Selphie, who I had seen with Kairi, Naminé and Ellie at the mall when I was "stalking" Nami, a girl named Refia, outgoing, motherly, and annoying as all hell, and two guys, Arc and Ingus, who were brothers, one year apart. There was another girl, Sara, but she seemed to be willing to do whatever her boyfriend Ingus did, so Kairi didn't care if I talked to her.

When I first met these people, it was when we were walking on the beach after a kinda lovely dinner that I really don't feel like explaining to you right now. Kairi and Riku had decided they were going to stay for dinner, so they were with me as well as Sora when I was dragged down to the beach.

"OhmygodKairi!" I heard the unmistakable voice of Selphie almost as soon as we hit the sands. Not seconds after this was screamed, a flash of yellow and brown came flying towards Kairi, nearly tackling the woman to the ground.

"Ugh... here she is," Riku muttered next to me, and then, "Ow!" as Sora punched him in the arm. I laughed at this exchange, then turned my attention back to the two girls who seemed to have missed what Riku had said.

"Kairi! I can't believe you're back! I missed you so much! It's just not the same here without you." It amazed me how quickly Selphie could talk. "And you two as well, Sora, Riku. I mean, ever since you guys went to live in Radiant Garden, we've all been bored! There are no more random fights, annoying competitions, and Ingus and Arc think they own the place now. You should come back and live here!"

Riku laughed at this. "Selph, there is no way in hell I'm ever going to live here again. I don't even like to visit."

"Aw, why not? Do you hate us that much?"

"You? Not really. But, if I remember correctly, the last time I came to visit I was nearly killed by three specific people."

"Oh Riku, your brothers aren't that bad. And they apologized for that accident."

Yeah, that news was a little shocking to me. Not only did Riku have brothers, he had three brothers, and they had almost killed him. Quite literally. If I had to guess at that moment, I would have thought there was no way I would ever meet these guys with Riku around, though I kinda wanted to. But, of course, I was wrong. I did meet them, but not until the next day..."

Selphie continued to squeal about random crap that I decided I cared less about, until she finally decided to turn on me.

"And you must be Roxas!" She said with a large smile on her face. "I've heard quite a bit about you from Naminé. I'm so happy to hear you guys are dating, especially after that incident, when I was visiting Kairi, in the mall and you-" My panic level was rising with each word the brunette spoke, but thankfully, Kairi decided it was time to put a hand over Selphie's mouth, shutting her up. I should have guessed that both Kairi and Selphie (Ellie too, I guess) would have known about that whole stalking incident, since Naminé knew and they were there at the time, but it was still shocking that Selphie would start talking about it.

"Now now, Selph. Don't you remember the vow we made that day? What happened stays a secret," Kairi said, grinning at me. She removed her hand.

"Oh yeah! Sorry 'bout that, Roxas. I'd forgotten. Silly me!"

Yeah... I was screwed.

As usual.

"Wait, what's she talking about?" Riku asked suddenly, draping an arm around my shoulders so I couldn't run away. Suddenly, I was reminded of the way Red had so many issues with boundaries, which just plain old pissed me off, so I elbowed Riku in the stomach.

"None of your business," I hissed at him. Selphie and Kairi were silent, and they watched me curiously as Riku curled up in a ball on the ground. Sora, on the other hand, was laughing.

"Dude! It has got to be something good if you get angry about it. Now I have to figure out what it is!" He said as Riku muttered, "Was that really necessary? I didn't think you would mind, as you play for the same team..." Sora was ignored, but Riku's last comment earned him a kick in the shins.

I was not gay.

Sure, I got embarrassed around Red, but who wouldn't?

Sure, Riku had walked in on me and Red in a few awkward situations, but those were Red's fault!

Sure, I tended to get butterflies in my stomach when Red was near, but that's only because I'm afraid he's going to do something creepy to me!

And sure, despite the fact that Red did nothing but torture me whenever he was near, caused me to have many embarrassing moments, and has probably taken a few years off my life, I didn't really mind being around him.

But none of those things meant that I was gay. Because I'm not. Anyone who says otherwise can just go die.

"Um... I think I missed that," Selphie said, breaking the silence that had fallen over us. "Oh well! Kairi, you have to come see-"

"Selphie! Have you seen Sara?"

I groaned. Another person who would probably make fun of me. I had been on Destiny Island for less than five hours and already I wanted to leave. Actually, I wanted to leave the moment we departed from the airport in Radiant Garden. This place was starting to give me the creeps.

Turning, I saw a boy running up to us, panting heavily.

"Hey Riku, Sora, Kai." The boy nodded at each of the people he named, and when his eyes rested on me, his expression turned into a confused one, then turned away quickly, facing Selphie. "I need to know where Sara is! She was supposed to meet me and Ingus by the docks half an hour ago."

Who the hell is this guy? I thought to myself, He looks like he's twelve.

"Don't get confused cuz he has a baby face," Sora whispered to me, probably noticing my confusion. "Arc is my age."

This guy... this baby faced guy who seems like a twelve year old boy... is twenty-four? I just couldn't believe Sora. That idea was too ridiculous for me to believe. How is a man in his twenties able to look so young? It's just not possible.

"Look, Arc, I don't know where she is. She took off two hours ago from my house, saying that she needed to get ready to hang out with you and your brother," Selphie explained to the childlike guy. "Chances are she got lost. That always seems to happen with her."

"I agree with Selph," Kairi said, placing a hand on Arc's shoulder. "Sara's probably fine. She always disappeared randomly during school, but always turned up a few classes later acting as though nothing strange had happened." Okay, so this Sara chick went to school with Kairi. That didn't prove Arc was frikin twenty-four. "But I'm glad you came to see us. Remember that guy I told you about? My boss' son?" Arc nodded, and I gritted my teeth. Just because Kairi told Arc about me... "Well, this is him!" Kairi exclaimed, pointing to me with both her hands. "Roxas."

Aw screw it.

I gave up trying to deny Arc's age at that point. Obviously this guy was some kind of freak.

I heard rustling beside me and looked down to see Riku standing up, sending me a nasty glare. "Right, I'd forgotten about your little mission, Kairi," he nearly growled, "I think you should just give up on it. No one is going to want to leave this island." Man, I hadn't seen him this pissed at me since the day after I found out he and Ellie were a couple. I didn't realize that hurting a guy would piss them off so much.

"Oh, stop being such a pessimist-" Kairi began, but yet another strange voice cut in, breaking her off;

"Kairi, he's right." This voice was certainly more mature than Arc, and I had a strange feeling it was his brother, Ingus. He was standing behind Kairi, an amused look on his face, and a young woman standing next to him. "I don't want to leave, neither does Arc, or Selphie, and I have a feeling Refia would rather die than leave her father alone."

She has another person for me to talk to? Why did I agree to this again?

"Um, guys-" I started, trying to tell everyone that it was really late and that we should be getting back, but I was rudely interrupted by a certain brown haired guy who really needed to learn when to shut up.

"Yeah, I agree with these guys, Kai," Sora said. "Living in a large city isn't for everyone. I don't even like it that much. I'm only there so I can work while going to college." I was not aware that Sora was still going to school. It made me wonder what he was going there to become.

But, I was suddenly feeling really nervous around all these people, so instead of asking Sora this question, I tried to talk again. I was interrupted. Again.

"Really Sora? You were so excited to leave this place five years ago. What changed?" It was the woman next to Ingus who was talking this time.

"Yeah, Sara's right!" Selphie added. "Why don't you like the city?"

"Uh... well..." Sora took a step back from the two girls who were staring at him expectantly, while Kairi and Riku just laughed at him. "I don't really know why. I think it's just too noisy and crowded for me."

I was pretty sure that was complete bull-shit that Sora had just randomly come up with to satisfy the two girls.

"Well," Ingus began suddenly, causing everyone to turn and face him, "I think that the three of us-" he gestured to him, Arc, and Sara, "-need to get going. There's a storm coming and we need to get to the smaller island before that and get something." Smaller island? That was the first I'd heard of one. I hoped I was never taken there.

We bade the three of them goodbye, and soon after that, Selphie took off as well, leaving me alone with the three people who had dragged me here.

"Well, that was a waste of time..." Kairi muttered. "Roxas, you didn't talk at all! How are you supposed to convince them to get away from this place if you don't talk?" Well, seeing as I didn't want to do so in the first place... the fact that I hadn't found the opportunity to talk was better than the time I punched Red in the face (well, the moment I did that anyway. Before and after that incident weren't exactly moments I wanted to remember).

"Well, I'm sorry, but if they don't want to leave, then I'm not going to force them to do any-"

"Ooh! There's Refia!"

Man, this girl was determined to not let me speak!

Kairi grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the beach. I wanted to pull away from her, but I was afraid I might hurt her. Well, I hoped that would be what happened, I didn't think I could stand being weaker than Kairi... Ellie, yeah, I could see that, but Kairi? She just looked so fragile, like Naminé.

Anyway, she dragged me down the beach towards a young girl that I looked a little like Arc, but not really... I don't know how to explain it. I looked behind me to see what Riku and Sora were doing, and was irritated to find they were walking in the opposite direction, obviously laughing.

"Oi, Kairi."

"Yes?"

"Riku and Sora-"

"Oh, just ignore them. They're probably going to go find Cid."

Cid? One of the guys on Dad's committee was named Cid. I wasn't aware that it was a common name, though it might be the same person.

"No, Roxas. He's not the same guy as the one on Cloud's committee. They're completely different people." Man, either I'm really easy to read, as Red always said, or everyone around me has developed ESP powers and are going to take over the world. "You're easy to read, and predictable," Kairi laughed as we finally approached Refia. I grumbled to myself about how untrue that was, but Kairi ignored me. "Refia! Hey! This is-"

"Roxas Strife, I take it?" Man, this girl was good. "I ran into Arc, Luneth and Sara not long ago and they warned me you were going to try and get up to leave again." Refia smiled in a mocking way. "I'm not going anywhere, Kairi. I know you, Riku and Sora were all jumpy to get out of here, but the rest of us weren't, and aren't. Please stop trying to get us to leave."

This was starting to amuse me. Normally Kairi got what she wanted, but none of these people were letting her get her way. I was half expecting the secretary to give up with a scowl and go home, leaving me to escape, but she did nothing of the sort. Instead, she nodded at Refia and then turned to me.

"Well Roxas, I suppose that's all I can do for now. Let's go." She turned to Refia. "See you tomorrow." Refia waved at us, and I was pulled away.

"Um... okay then. What was the point of me coming if none of these people actually want to leave?" I asked, irritated beyond all belief. This entire trip was pointless! If I wasn't so nice, I would have started yelling at Kairi for wasting my time and keeping me from finding out what was going on with my parents. I mean, sure, she didn't know what was going on with them, or that I wanted to find out immediately, but still, she could have asked me.

"Actually, I didn't ask you to come with us because I wanted you to help me convince my friends to move away from here."

"Okay well- wait, what?" I stopped moving, and grabbed Kairi's wrist to keep her from moving as well. "What do you mean?" So, she disturbed my snooping for a reason she has yet to tell me, and she lied about it? That bitch!

I wanted to scream this at her, but she looked up at me with really sad eyes. "Please don't be mad, Roxas. I was just trying to help you." Help me? Help me with what? What could she do to help me with any problems that I have, even though I really don't have any problems, other than my parents fighting and Red being a pervert. "You see, you've seemed really distracted this past week, so I decided to try and figure out what's wrong. I'm not a creeper, I just don't like seeing my friends act strange..." Kairi looked down at her feet and laughed nervously. "While I was searching for a reason, I overheard your parents fighting, something I've never seen before, and I had a feeling that's what was getting you down. I know I get scared and depressed when my parents fight."

So... she did know about my parents fighting.

Wasn't expecting that.

"I'm not scared, or depressed. Just confused. I'm fine though."

Raising her eyebrows, Kairi crossed her arms and shook her head. "Yeah. I'm sure. But anyway, so I figured that you needed to get out of there for a while, which is why I asked your mom if you could come. She seemed to know immediately what my plan was-" I wanted to laugh as every woman I've been around seem to be able to communicate telepathically, "-so she said yes."

"Then why did you-"

"I love Riku and Sora, but they can be really stupid and insensitive sometimes. I didn't want them to know about this cuz... well, they would probably make fun of you, which is something that wouldn't have made you feel better." Kairi smiled. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable here, but that's what I felt like I had to do. Kay?"

For some reason, I felt a lot better. I didn't like Kairi after this, please don't misunderstand me, but I had never realized how good of a friend she really was.

"Nah. It's okay. Thanks."

We began walking back to Sora's house in silence after that. It was dark now, the only light coming from the torches that lined the back yards and docks, and it was really relaxing. However, there was one thing that was really bugging me.

"Hey, Kairi?"

"Yeah?"

"No offense, but why are you friends with Sora and Riku?"

I flinched, ready to be hit, but Kairi just laughed. "I get that a lot," she explained after seeing my confused face. "I don't know, to be honest. I mean, when I was little, I hated them with a burning passion."

"Whoa, really?"

"Yeah. See, I was actually born in Radiant Garden, but I was orphaned soon after I was born. I lived with my grandmother then, but she passed away from cancer when I was five. My parents now adopted me not long after that, and on my first day here, I was nearly run over by two boys who were racing down the street for a reason I don't remember."

"I take it they were Riku and Sora."

"Of course." It wasn't hard to imagine that scene, though I was a tad shocked that Kairi was born in Radiant Garden. She was just full of surprises today. "But anyway, I really didn't like the two of them because of that, and they got even worse during school. I was in the same class as Sora, and Riku was only a year ahead of us, so they were always doing things to get on my nerves. But one day, when I was about eight, I was kidnapped by some guy who thought I was a princess or something."

Wow. First Kairi originally hated her two best friends, then I found out that she was born in the city I live in, then she decides to tell me that she got confused with a princess and was kidnapped. What's next, that her father was a superhero?

"How did you get away?"

"Riku and Sora were the ones who found me."

"Where were you?"

"Over on the small island Ingus was talking about earlier. They stumbled on me by accident when they were having one of their competitions, and saved me from the guy by knocking him out with wooden swords. If I hadn't been so scared at the time, I would have probably laughed really hard." A calm expression washed over Kairi's face as she talked about this. I felt a little uncomfortable, like I was intruding on her life a little bit, but she didn't seem to mind telling me.

"So," I began, "you became friends with them because they saved you... sounds like something out of a story book."

"It kinda does." The two of us laughed at this, and we finally got to Sora's house. "Well," Kairi continued, "I don't envy you tonight. I have a feeling Riku's not going to go home..."

I groaned. Dealing with both Riku and Sora for a whole night might kill me. No, scratch that. It will kill me. "You have got to be kidding me," I muttered. "Why doesn't Riku like his brothers? I mean, surely them almost killing him isn't that bad." Glancing over at Kairi, I saw that she was biting her lip, like she was trying not to laugh.

"Well, I could tell you, but I think you'll understand better tomorrow when you meet them."

"Wait, I'm meeting them tomorrow?"

"Yep. Good luck." With that, Kairi patted me on the shoulder and headed off into the night. I sighed.

Tomorrow was Thanksgiving, and it was going to be interesting.

"Please don't make me go. I don't want to talk to them."

Never in my life had I heard Riku sound so whiny, and I treasured the memory. Chances are there would never be another opportunity like this again.

"Oh stop being like that," Kairi snapped, "We've been absent from the last three parties, and we need to go this time." We were at the docks, getting ready to boat across the ocean to the small island Kairi had told me about the evening before. Apparently, every year for Thanksgiving, Riku, Sora, Kairi, and all of their friends held a small party at this island (for Christmas as well), which apparently Riku's brothers always crashed. Which would be why Kairi said I was going to meet them.

I was really tired, however, so nothing that was going on really seemed to matter to me. Riku and Sora had so much god damn energy last night, I could not fall asleep. Of course, it didn't help I was in the house of a guy I work with, and don't really consider my friend.

"Actually," Riku said again, his voice not whiny this time, but smooth, business like, "we really don't have to go, do we now?" I looked over at Riku and Kairi, and saw the silver-haired man rest his chin on his friends head. "I mean, they survived the past three years without us, surely one more year won't kill them."

"Oh my God, Riku. You're so pathetic! What would Ellie say if she saw you like this?" Kairi said with a roll of her eyes.

Riku seemed to be pondering this for a while, but I guessed he already knew the answer to the question. "Probably," he mused, "that I'm like a suave five year old who needs to learn I can't get everything I want."

"Exactly. Now, stop being so stupid and learn to deal with your brothers."

"I refuse!"

This conversation was rather amusing. Kairi seemed to be acting like she was Riku's mom (or sister, but I don't really know how a sister acts), which got me wondering where Riku's parents were. He had never talked about them, instead just complaining about his brothers.

It was then I realized how little I actually knew about the people I worked with.

I knew a little bit about Naminé from when we talked, I learned a few things about Kairi last night, Riku... well, I knew he hated his brothers, and I knew Sora's parents. Red... he was an orphan, I learned that from our little drive down to Hallow Bastion, but other than that...

And Ellie... well, she was like a mystery to me.

How weird was that?

I had been working with these people for months, kinda become friends with them, spent almost all of my time with them, and my knowledge of their life was extremely limited. But not only that, but they knew quite a bit about me! Of course, they did work for my father, which meant they knew my parents, and I was born in Radiant Garden, so my entire life revolves around that place, and of course, my best friend always bothered me when I was at work, so it's not that surprising that they know a few things about me. But still...

"Hey guys, the boat's here. Let's go." Sora's voice broke through my thoughts, and I looked out to the calm waters to see a motor boat heading towards us rather quickly. Ingus was the one driving the boat, and he seemed to be rather content in doing so.

"So..." I started to say, "what exactly should I do when I get there? I barely know any of these people."

Riku patted me on the back. "I don't know. Good luck."

"Oh, thanks."

He was probably trying to get back at me for God knows what reason now. That guy could hold grudges for a very long time...

When the boat finally arrived, we climbed into it with Ingus greeting us, a smile on his face.

"Nice to see you guys aren't taking off this year," He said with a laugh.

Next to me, Sora rolled his eyes. "To take off we have to actually be at the island in the first place."

"True."

Nothing else was said for the rest of the ride to the small island, which I was thankful for. It gave me time to think about how I was going to deal with all these people.

Sara and Refia: Easy enough. They seemed to be nice girls who were normal and spent a lot of time to their selves.

Arc and Ingus: A little more work. I might have to actually talk to these people, but it seems they are like Sara and Refia; simple.

Selphie: This was going to be my issue. Truthfully, the girl scared the crap out of me. I never knew what she was going to do next. Like Red.

I closed my eyes when I thought of Red. You'd think that after being away from him for a few days would be nice, and I wouldn't have any thoughts about this guy, but no. I seemed to be missing him.

Damn.

Finally, we reached the island, and I was kind of shocked by the look of the island. There were many small buildings, and bridges, and all of them seemed to be built by kids, made of plywood and nails. But the structures seemed natural, like they were supposed to be there, blending into the trees and brush in a rough way. It amazed me how well they were built, and if it wasn't so kid looking, I would have thought professional contractors had come over here and spent a few years on it.

"Um," I began, climbing out of the boat, "who built all this?" I looked down at the boat and reached out my hand to help Kairi out. "It looks to... well, complex to have been built by you guys. No offense." The red-headed girl took my hand, shooting me a grateful look, then replied;

"Well, it started with Riku's brothers-" Riku snorted from behind Kairi, pushing past her and muttering something, probably about the men Kairi had just mentioned, "-and we joined them after a few years, taking over the projects."

"Ah," I said, continuing to observe the scenery around me.

"You seem very excited."

"Hm..." I wasn't really paying attention to what Kairi was saying to me, and I hardly even noticed when Sora said something that I assumed was mean because he and Riku started laughing, because I saw three people who I had never seen before, but I immediately who they were.

Silver hair, creepy blue eyes; there was no doubt they were Riku's brothers. They looked very much alike, and they seemed... normal, actually. Completely and totally normal as they stood around, chatting with some of the others. I was internally laughing at how stupid Riku had been acting earlier. I mean, these guys couldn't be that bad. Then again, Riku and Sora seemed completely normal when they dealt with people they didn't work with or didn't know very well... it was very possible that Riku's brothers were like that as-

"Little Riku! You're home!"

A flash of silver passed by me, and next thing I know, Riku has been tackled by a guy at least four inches shorter than him. It was one of the guys with silver hair, the shortest at that, and he seemed to be... um... well... I have no idea how to explain it really. Drunk, maybe?

"I thought for sure that you hated us for what happened last time!"

The look on Riku's face was absolutely priceless, and it took all of my will power not to laugh. I mean, seriously, he looked disgusted, irritated, and angry, all at the same time.

"Kadaj, get the hell off me," my co-worker hissed, pushing his brother away. "I'm extremely pissed at you guys. But these two-" he jerked his thumb over at Kairi and Sora, "-dragged me here. So leave me alone."

"This isn't fair! Loz, out little brother is being mean!" Kadaj whined, looked back at the other two. The man with short hair looked over and grunted, but said nothing. The other one, however, glanced over at us with a smile, but that smile soon faded. He flicked a strand of his silver hair over his shoulder, and strode over to us. An evil aura seemed to be surrounding the man as he walked, and Riku started to freak out.

"Oh fuck! Get me the hell away from here!" Riku turned around and tried to run to the boat, but was stopped by Kadaj.

"What's wrong, Riku? Yazoo isn't scary," he cooed, a hint of sadistic humor lingering in his voice. "You have no reason to run."

I backed away from the three silver-haired men, and poked Sora in the side.

"So, what happened the last time you guys were here, and why is Riku so afraid of... that one. I mean, he can deal with Ellie when she's really mad. Surely that guy can't be worse."

"Yeah, Ellie is way worse than Yazoo, by about a thousand times, but Ellie tends to calm down when Riku's around. Plus he's taller, and stronger than she is, plus Riku has ways to shut her up. None of those things are true about Riku and his brothers," Sora explained. "Plus, the three of them are triplets, so they always team up against poor Riku." Shaking his head, Sora began to walk towards the beach.

"Uh... okay, but what about the incident-"

"That, is none of your concern."

Yeah... Every time I asked about "the incident," I'm told it's none of my business and that I would be better off without knowing. That just made me want to know ever more.

"Whoa! Yazoo, what the hell are you talking about!" Riku's voice was laced with fear, intriguing me. It was like when he was acting like a whiny baby, but this time, I knew that something interesting was going to happen.

"You're hair. It's longer than mine now." Sora and I stopped moving, and turned around with interest.

"Ooh, Kairi's going to hate missing this," Sora muttered to me. I nodded, though not sure why she would hate missing whatever was going to happen. She had already taken off to talk to her friends, and I debated calling out to her, but Riku's third brother, Loz, had come over, his eyes glinting with something that I thought was revenge, but the aura around him was so evil, my voice got caught in my throat.

"Hey, no. You get back! All of you, get away from me."

I watched, somewhat horrified, as Yazoo pulled out a pair of scissors.

"Um... what are they going to do?"

"No idea, but I have a feeling it's going to be funny."

Riku was sulking in the corner. It was like the very first time I met him, only this time we were in his office, and his hair was really, really, really short.

And Red wasn't there. It was just me, Sora, and an emo Riku.

See, while we were at the Thanksgiving party, Riku's brothers decided as punishment for not showing up for a couple of years, they were going to cut his hair, which had gotten longer than Yazoo's. I don't know why that was relevant, but Kadaj said that was their reasoning. The three of them were actually really nice guys, surprisingly, but they were just a little insane around their baby brother. The thought made me laugh.

"Shut up, Roxie. This isn't funny," Riku mumbled. "They cut my hair. I haven't cut my hair since I started college!"

"Yeah, I could tell." Riku growled at me, but let it go after that. After his hair had been cut, Riku had bailed from the rest of the party, and we didn't see him at all until the next day, when we left Destiny Island, but even then he didn't speak until we landed. Kairi and Sora were worried about him, but it just made me laugh. I mean, Riku's hair had reached halfway down his back for the entire time I'd known him, and now, by force, it had been cut to be about as long as my father's, which wasn't very long.

And the fact that he was sulking made the amusement all that much sweeter. I considered this to be the revenge for all the times Riku has made fun of me.

Finally.

"So," I said nonchalantly, "when is Ellie going to get here? Don't we need to talk to her?"

"How am I supposed to know? Just because I'm dating the woman doesn't mean I know where she is every minute of every days!" Riku snapped, glaring at me. "Do you know where Naminé is all the time? Or Axel? Huh? Do you?"

I leaned back as far as I could, and next to me, Sora laughed. "Calm down Riku. He was just asking. You don't have to freak out on-"

"Riku?" The sound of Ellie's voice interrupted Sora, and all three of us turned towards the doorway where the brown-haired woman was standing. Her eyes were wide, scared almost, though I figured that was actually shocked, and she was pointing at Riku. "What happened to your hair?"

Riku let out a nervous laugh. "About that..." He walked towards Ellie, "Remember the brothers I told you about?" he asked, placing one hand on Ellie's shoulder. I watched, amused, curious to know what was going to happen."

"Yes..."

"Well, they went kind of psycho and-"

"Cut your hair?"

"Yeah."

Sora leaned towards me. "This is going to be hilarious. I wouldn't miss this for anything." He laughed quietly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, "What's going to happen?"

"Who knows. It's Ellie."

"Ah."

The two of us watched with interest as Ellie brushed Riku's hand off her shoulder and took a step back. It was then I noticed Red standing behind her, his eyes also wide, but with amusement. However, before he could say anything, Ellie took another step back.

"Alright then. I'm just going to go to my office. Kay?" She laughed nervously before taking off down the hall, leaving a dumbfounded Riku to be laughed at by me and Sora. I figured Red would have joined in, but he still just stood there.

"Aw, poor Riku," he said, patting the silver-haired man on the head. "Looks like Ellie was just dating you for your long hair."

"Oh shut up."

Okay, so maybe I exaggerated a little bit about everything that happened to me while I was on my little vacation. The people weren't that bad (other than Riku's brothers), and I certainly learned a few interesting things. Then there was Riku's hair getting cut, which was absolutely priceless and will be forever remembered by me and Sora.

But I still never figured out what the heck was going on with my parents! When I got home, they were acting normal again, happy, actually. It was strange, but kinda nice. But, life continued like normal again.

It seems that Ellie could care less about the length of Riku's hair, and the two of them were acting as though nothing had changed; Riku still flirting with Ellie at work all the time, and her telling Riku to bug off, even though she knew he wouldn't. Nothing bad every happened to Sora and Kairi, so they were normal, and Naminé was really happy to see me. Sadly, so was Red, and I had to deal with their nonsense about whatever they were fighting about.

Yeah, things were back to the way they were before Halloween.

I just hope they stay that way.