After decking Riku, Arias had walked on ahead. Sora stayed behind to help. (And asked Riku if something had happened between them he wasn't aware of.) Making sure his friend was alright (and sneaking a little healing spell to help with his jaw) Sora ran to catch up with his brother.

"Hey!" He slid in front of him more forcefully, glowering. "What is your deal? Are you mad at me or something? Why did you attack Riku?"

"Cuz he ticked me off!" Arias snapped back. "Why else? If you're just gonna lecture me, then back off!"

"I'm not lecturing you, I'm trying to figure out what's wrong! Why're you so mad at me? I haven't even been here!"

"Exactly!" He snapped, this time jabbing his brother's chest to get him away from him. "So you coming in an' trying to tell me how to live my life is just ticking me off! Back off an' leave me alone!"

He stalked off.

"You know what?" Sora exploded. "Fine! See if I care! I'll be a jerk too!" He cupped his hand around his mouth. "I can see why you don't have any friends!"

Arias just rolled his eyes as he kept up his march. He didn't need him to tell him that. Honestly, Arias was just annoyed, and already cursing the oncoming school day.

As Arias expected, the moment that Sora walked in, everyone hounded him. They only had about a minute, however, since he hadn't exactly come early. Sora was barely able to get out a "hello" to everyone before homeroom teacher walked in. Normally, this was where Kairi, the class rep, would call out to the class to get them to stand at attention. But she was absent today, so the teacher did it himself.

"Alright everyone, settle down," he called out, and the murmurs died out. "As you all can see, Sora has returned with us for the school year. Sora, you'll be sitting in the corner right there."

"What?" He hadn't moved from the entrance, so he just glanced down to stare at the empty desks, before looking back to the teacher and pointing at Arias. "Aren't I sitting behind him?"

"We're four months into the school year," he pointed out. "We had to set up the seating arrangements without you."

He winced with an embarrassed smile as the class tittered at his expense. "Right..." Though he seemed to remember he was supposed to be mad at his brother, and scowled as he took his corner seat.

Arias snorted from his seat in the middle, not exactly perturbed. He was already used to it, after all. Only Sora would find it weird, having sat behind his twin on the alphabetical seating system since they were children. Otherwise, class went on as normal, even with the unexpected shift in attendance.

No, that wasn't true. Arias noticed the kids in front of him turning around more to steal glances at Sora, occasionally giggling. And inevitably glancing at him.

A folded piece of paper dropped on his desk from the right, and he glanced at it. He may have picked fights, but he wasn't a total jerk- he was willing to help pass a note if he knew where it was supposed to go. But the girl pointed to him with a grin, and he blinked at her in confusion, before hesitantly opening it.

He recognized the handwriting, and sighed.

Man, what's he going on about? I don't understand any of this!

He rolled his eyes and folded it back up to put it on his desk corner. That figured. Sora was terrible with holding grudges, even as a kid (to be fair, so was Arias- before last year anyway). He could proclaim to never talk to him again and then two hours later be begging to play with him. What annoyed him was the fact that he told him to ask Kairi about this, not him. Had he already forgotten he'd become a no good "flunky"? He didn't even bother pretending to take notes anymore.

… Oh right, Kairi wasn't here today. Still. He could ask Selphie or something. (Tidus was a grade below them, so he couldn't ask him.)

The rest of the period passed uneventfully. Though the second the teacher left, everyone and their friend practically bolted over their desks to crowd around Sora. Arias jumped, ducking to his desk and covering his head for dear life until the stampede passed him.

"Well, well?! Tell us what happened!"

He did, what little he could manage. Arias sighed, hand over his racing heart as he flopped to his desk. Was the whole day gonna be like this? He wasn't sure he'd be able to take it.

The next period when the second note came, Arias just sighed. But he begrudgingly opened it, curiosity winning out over annoyance.

What did Riku do to make you mad?

Aaaand annoyance was back. He scoffed to himself, folding it back up and clapping it back on the table. He plunked his chin on his hand, opting to stare at the board so he could ignore him. He didn't see the way Sora's face fell, or how he looked longingly at the torn notebook on his desk.

The next break, Arias was expecting the rush this time, and whipped out his book like a shield. He held it up threateningly in front of his face, though no one paid him much mind in order to get to Sora faster. He still breathed out in relief as he let his book drop. Man, he wasn't even talking to Sora, and he was still exhausting him. Third period, he expected a note, but didn't get one. Next break he didn't freak out this time, and everyone passed without incident. Fourth period he didn't feel the anticipation, and let himself finally relax.

Lunch was, as expected, as busy as the breaks. Though a little more lively.

"Please wait to tell us, Sora!" Some begged. "I have to go buy my lunch!"

"I don't want to have to wait!"

"Oh come on, we gotta eat too!"

"Alright, alright," Sora laughed and then grinned. "Just hurry back or I'll start without you."

"YEEEES!" she cheered. "Thanks, Sora, you're the best!"

He grinned and saw them off with a wave, even as the others groaned in disappointment. But he noticed Arias standing from his desk, and jumped up to meet him.

"Arias!" He called, and shoved his way through the crowd. "Let's sit together! It's fine for lunch, right?"

"I have to go buy mine."

"Huh?" He stared at him, then at the black bento box in his own hand. "Mom didn't… make yours?"

"She stopped a while ago."

"But… why?"

"Probably got tired of it," he picked up his bag before stalking his way through the desks. "Go ahead an' start without me. I've already heard everything."

Sora stared, slack jawed, as he watched his brother stalk out of the room. He looked at the black box in his hand, and carefully lifted the lid. It was amazing. Fluffy rice and carefully seared meat and sauted vegetables. It was like the lunch she had made him his first day of middle school. That she had made both of them. A mother's love poured into every step of preparation. What he didn't understand was why, if she had already put this much effort into it, she hadn't just made a second at the same time.

So lunch passed as lively as before, Sora managing to get through maybe a quarter of the (cover) story before the bell rang. He noticed Arias was late, but didn't think much of it as he settled back down to try (pointlessly) to take notes.

Then ten minutes passed.

Then twenty.

Sora glanced at the clock, and his brother's empty desk. Another ten minutes, and a thought struck him. Had he… had he ditched? He remembered with a start that he had been carrying his bag out with him. At the time he just figured he was bringing his money with him, but now…

'Was it because of my question?' He wondered to himself. 'Is he still mad at Riku? Is he mad at me?'

He didn't know the answer, and it, as well as Arias' overall behavior, was starting to bother him deeply.

The next day, the same thing happened. Except now with Kairi as well, since she had returned too. They had come together for lunch, so Kairi noticed when Sora worriedly watched Arias leaving for lunch. She clenched her jaw, wringing her fingers together as a sense of guilt made her heart heavy.

The next day, when everything almost went back to normal, and Sora could have tried to hang out with his brother again, he had to leave.

"There are people out there that need me," he explained. He was looking down, with one hand holding his other arm in an uncharacteristic show of self-consciousness. "I can't just leave them alone."

Arias, still in his uniform because he'd just gotten home late that evening, simply stared at him. Sora was in his pajamas, but had clearly been waiting in the front room for him. Not only that, he seemed subdued, guilty, worried… this whole personality shift made him feel weird and suspicious. The announcement swept away any "good" feelings he might have had. "When're you leaving?"

"Tomorrow."

"See you next year then." He said, trying to get around him.

"Arias, wait, I-" He didn't touch him, but Arias stopped and peered behind his shoulder anyway. "I don't know if I can get a hold of you- but if there is a way to send a message, I promise I will!"

He snorted, and craned his neck to at him skeptically. "Right. You do that, let me know how it goes. Or not." He adjusted his bag, stomping back to their room. "Guess I'll find out either way."

"It'll be different this time!" He insisted, following him. "It's only for a while! A-And I'll be sure to write!"

The door clicked shut, leaving Sora alone in the quiet.

Arias expected things to just go back to "normal" after that. So he was especially irritated when his classmates started hounding him for Sora's whereabouts.

"Did he go missing again?"

"Is he off on another adventure?"

"Look," he finally snapped. "I don't know when he's coming back, alright? If he writes, I'll tell you!"

They gasped, backing away from the irritated boy and retreated back to their seats to wait for class to begin. They started whispering, gossiping behind their hands out of earshot. Well, most of them out of ear shot, anyway.

"Jeez, how come Sora's so nice when Arias is such a jerk?"

"I forgot he's a flunky- no use trying to be friends with him."

In the front, Selphie looked sadly at him before leaning over to Kairi. "I wonder if he'll get even worse now."

"I dunno." Kairi was quiet for a moment as she looked at her hands. "I know how he feels, though."

It wasn't as though Arias wasn't used to this already.

It just hurt more today than yesterday.

He wasn't above getting into a fight. He'd picked enough of them to jump into the fray without hesitation. Today he was just tired. Dealing with the emotional upheavel of Sora's return, and everyone's excitement and energy had sapped his strength. So he just let them talk, not even bothering to raise his head from his desk to glare at them.

"Can't believe Sora's gone already."
"You think it'll be another year?"
"What if he never comes back?"
"His poor parents. What must they think?"
"Yeah, especially having to be stuck with Arias through it all."

He opened his eyes, but didn't look at them over his arm, just leered in irritation. It was amazing what people would say in front of you when you didn't speak up.

"Why is he such a jerk?"
"Not only that, he's a punk- no one wants to be friends with a loser like that."
"If he was nicer, I'd probably feel sorry for him."
"Man, you saw the way he acted towards Sora- he wasn't even happy he was back, and he's his brother!"
"I bet they fought a lot at home."
"Maybe he's the reason he left."
"I bet his parents wish Sora had stayed behind and he was the one that went missing-"

CLONK!

The whole class jumped- Arias included as he whipped up straight. Kairi was still standing, arm stretched out from where she had decked the last speaker. No one said anything, too shocked at what they were seeing to say anything right away.

"K..." Except Arias, who tried to make his mouth move just so he could make sense of what he was seeing. "Kairi?"

He still couldn't believe it. If he hadn't seen it for himself, he would have thought someone was pulling his leg.

"Ow!" she hissed under her breath as she grabbed her hand. "Ooooh, that really hurt..."

"Kairi!" And of course, it was now the teacher just waltzed into the classroom to take stock of things. "Wh-what are you doing?! What's gotten into you!?"

"They were being mean to Arias!" She snapped- almost brattily, if not for the heavy topic.

"To the principle's, office, now! Kel, you may go to the nurse's office to get that looked at."

Kairi harrumphed, but otherwise didn't seem the least apologetic as she turned on her heel and marched off. Everyone gave her a wide berth. Kel waited until she was gone before trudging after her. The other kids turned to stare at Arias, but he couldn't really bring himself to care.

She… defended him. Him. Kairi, defended him.

Now, Arias had always crushed on Kairi growing up. He'd crushed on Selphie too occasionally, though he'd grown out of that. The reason he never pursued anything was because of Sora and Riku constantly butting heads. He did not want to get in the middle of that nonsense.

But as he sat there, stock still as the students around him went back to their seats, he couldn't help but start emotionally shifting that view. He gaped in awe, unable to tear his wide, blue eyes away from the doorway for nearly a full minute.

'I… I think… I'm in love...'

His heart skipped a beat, as though to confirm.

At lunch, he knew people would get on his case again. So he booked it out of there, rushing to get to the cafeteria as fast as he could. He snagged his lunch, a measly pork burn and soda, and promptly retreated outside, where he found a quiet corner of the building, and settled down. He took his time, eating slowly in his anger, and had gotten half-way through his bun and drink when someone came around the corner. He glared, ready to bite their head off- until he saw a flash of red. Then he gawked, mouth stuffed in his confusion.

"...Hey Arias," Kairi greeted awkwardly. Her hands were behind her back, and she squirmed self-consciously. "Can we… talk for a minute?"

He stared another few seconds, and then nearly choked trying to chug down some soda to get his food down. His eyes traitorously went to her skirt, which to be fair was eye level, and he jumped to his feet to face her properly. "Uh, sure, Kairi." he said, ignoring how warm his cheeks got. "Wha-what's up?"

She noticed his glance, and she stepped back self-consciously as her cheeks went pink, but otherwise made no comment. "I, I just… wanted to ask how you were feeling, since Sora left. You must be pretty upset."

He didn't know why her question bothered him. It wasn't that she had mentioned his brother, but just how she assumed he'd be feeling bad for his absence. There was an uncomfortable squirm of guilt and worry in his chest. Because the truth was, he… he hadn't been feeling anything, besides anger. So he shrugged as he glanced aside. "Okay. I's not like it's anything new."

He studied him a moment, before nodding. "Yeah. It's hard to have him gone again after finally having him back."

He didn't say anything, lips pressing together. Of course she would only want to come to talk to him about Sora. "H-how's your hand?"

"It's fine. Stings a little," she confessed, looking at her knuckles in amusement. "The principle said I couldn't get it looked at, so I could learn my lesson. Mom was so upset when she heard. Dad probably will be too."

"Ah." He said, lips twitching in slight amusement as he found the humor too. "Next time you should go for the stomach. Hurts your hand less."

She glanced at him in surprise, and he looked away in alarm. Shoot, shoot, shoot! Don't go corrupting the mayor's daughter, Arias!

"Good to know," she said. "But, actually..." She looked down, and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear gorgeousand brought her hands to the front, wringing them together uncomfortably. Until she winced, holding her right hand to the side. "I wanted to come and say I'm sorry. For avoiding you the past year."

He gaped. It wasn't like he wasn't used to people avoiding him. But no one ever admitted it to his face. And having someone even apologize for it? Arias didn't know how to handle that.

"I know it wasn't fair of me," she kept her eyes glued to her clasped hands, but she went on. "But you just reminded me so much of him, and I didn't realize, and-" she shook her head quickly to get herself back on track. "You must have been lonely, and I… I didn't do anything to try to help."

Something stung him, right in his heart. Not a painful thing in the sense of his feelings being "hurt", but a painful thing in that something was acknowledged, some deep-seeded pain that woke up when she called to it.

"So I… I just wanted to say I'm sorry," she finally concluded. And she bowed lowly, in a proper stance that fit a mayor's daughter. Had her uniform sleeves not been tucked at her shoulders and been rolled down like a good girl, it may have suited her. "I hope that you can forgive me."

He stared, for a moment too shocked to say anything. It was strange enough to have her talking to him, but to have her apologizing to him like this just blew his mind. But he seemed to return to his senses, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.

"Look, you weren't the only one, so don't beat yourself up too bad about it."

She straightened. Though instead of relief, she looked to him with some concern as she let her hands drop. He glanced at her, expecting that to be the end, and for her to say her goodbye and leave. But then she smiled at him, and his heart nearly stopped.

"You wanna hang out today?" She tilted her head, which was really only making her more adorable, and clasped her hands behind her again. "We could catch up."

"Uh..." he went slack-jawed, brain processing effectively halted. He gave a tiny shake of his head, blinking back to awareness as he forced himself to look away. "I mean, I guess I don't have a reason not to..."

"Great!" Her smile turned brilliant, her eyes sparkling like jewels. "I can meet your new friends!"

"NO!" He halted her, both metaphorically and with his bun-and-soda-filled-hands, making her blink in surprise. "I mean… they're… busy. With something..." He winced. There was no way he was letting her meet those guys. "But we can, uh, hang out! By the..." he mentally scrambled, trying to think of any place he stayed that wasn't a hideaway for deadbeats like him. "The… center. The shopping center." He forced himself to smile, uncertainty making it strained. "We can go… eat something?"

That was something normal kids did, right?

It seemed to do the trick, and she smiled at him again. "Great! I'd love that. But, can we stop by my house first? I'd like to change before we go."

"Oh, yeah!" he said quickly. "I can just meet you there."

"Great!" She waved, before finally darting off. "Meet you at my house!"

Arias waved dazedly at her, too stunned from what had just happened to even move. But then the bell rang, and he swore when he realized his lunch was only half eaten.

He stayed in class for the rest of the school day.

As he walked home, he realized one slight snag in this impromptu plan. Going home early would have meant facing his mother, and he definitely didn't want that. So he snuck in through the back window, trying to be as quiet as he could, though it was still broad daylight. He carefully closed his shutters, then peeled off his clothes and went to his dresser to find something casual. He threw on some black pants and had just put on his black tee with cartoonish skulls and crossbones when he came back to his senses, stretching out the bottom of his shirt as he looked at it in horror. He couldn't wear this! What would she think of him? He hastily yanked it off and tossed it, rummaging around for something more suitable, and eventually deemed the pants unsuitable as well. He finally settled on an outfit, and twisted himself around to look it over, since he was too chicken to try to sneak out to the bathroom for the mirror. He went with a dark blue tank top, with graphic designs of orange arrows and cartoonish explosions, and beige capris with his white sneakers with black accents.

It would do.

So he made sure he had some munny on him, and snuck back out the window, careful to close it behind him, and walk behind a couple houses before finally going back to the front path so that his mom didn't see him through the windows. Kairi was leaning against the her fence as she waited for him. She had on a cute pink jumpsuit, and he was immensely glad he had decided not to go with his first outfit.

"Hey there," she greeted. And she had a smile that could light up a thousand suns in an instant, and he was stuck trying to quell his racing heartbeat. "Ready?"

"Yeah," he agreed, shoving his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't fidget. "Let's go."

He swore to himself he'd be on his best behavior today. So he was. He let her do most of the talking, though tried to answer her questions and respond when he could. While glossing over a few of his more… unsavory details. So enraptured he was on her, he barely felt the urge to take a hit. Which was good, since he didn't have his pack with him anyway, and he certainly didn't want her to think less of him (or for him to look bad next to her). They got sandwiches at the cafe, and had an ice cream treat after.

All and all, it was… a really nice day.

Kairi groaned dramatically. "I'm gonna be up so late tonight to catch up with homework," she complained, taking another bite of her mango ice cream. "Why does school have to make us so miserable?"

"I thought you liked studying," he teased, scooping up a bit of his coconut flavor. He knew that was a lie, he just wanted to goad her a little.

"No way! No one likes studying!" She declared, and pointed at him with her spoon. "And anyone who says otherwise is a liar!"

He laughed just before the spoon hit his mouth, and she smiled in self satisfaction before taking another bite of hers.

"You're so lucky, Arias." she sighed almost wistfully. "You can get away with slacking off."

He stopped, staring at her in surprise. He grimaced, uncertainty making him switch his attention to the ice cream. "I don't know if I "get away" with it. My parents an' teachers still get pretty mad."

"Oh, I know, I don't mean like that, it's just..." she went quiet, trying to formulate her thoughts. "Mom and dad work so hard for the islands. They have a job to run the city, and I can't make them look bad. They've already done so much for me since I've been here."

And then he understood. And felt a little guilty. He'd been judging her for that too, whether he admitted it or not. But now he could see that her attempt to keep up her grades and stay out of trouble wasn't for her own sake, but the mayors'. It was a heavier burden on her shoulders than he realized.

"I guess I was a little jealous," she admitted, playing with her ice cream thoughtfully. "No matter how much I missed them, I still had to try to focus on my grades, and be happy for everyone. And even if people didn't like it, you could still act the way you wanted without it ruining the rest of your life. Everyone knows who I am, I don't have that chance."

He studied her quietly, and looked thoughtfully at his ice cream. He'd never thought about that before. He could just get a job or move if he really wanted, and start a new life. No matter where Kairi went, she'd always be recognized, and her history more or less known. He turned back to her. "Then… what do you want to do?"

"I want..." she held the little cup tightly in her hands. "I want to go wherever Sora and Riku are. I'm tired of waiting. I want us all to be together, just like before."

Even though he should have seen it coming, his heart still sank. And he glared at his ice cream, suddenly wanting to throw it away and get the heck out of there.

"You're coming too, right?"

His glare shifted to confusion, and he looked up at her. "… Huh?" He blinked.

"To see Sora!" She leaned toward him, and he leaned back. She had her hands up, eyes bright and face set in determination. "We'll go together and see them! No more being left behind!"

"I..."

Dang. All this time away from her had made him forget how much of a fire cracker she really was.

"Come on, Arias!" She pleaded, one hand over her chest. "I'm sure our hearts are connected! They'll lead us to Sora, even if we have to go out there ourselves!"

He flushed, not even mad that she was talking about going to see Sora. Because she was so sure of something they had in common, even going so far as to say they were "connected". It made him weirdly happy and flustered. Except for her assumption.

As he lay in bed that night, he stared up at the ceiling with his hands behind his neck. For hours he asked himself the question: 'If I could go with Sora, would I?'

It was strange, because the answer should have been "yes", right? His life was miserable, he had no real friends, and he didn't want to stay here. Going on some "adventure" far, far away from here should have sounded like a dream come true. So why wasn't he, even hypothetically, jumping at the chance for it?

The answer didn't hit him until two nights later, when there was a slight rap at his window.

"Kairi?!" He whispered. He jumped to his knees, pushing his window panes open. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to rescue you!"

"… huh?"

"It's Riku!" She stepped back and gestured to him, where he was standing expectantly. He had his arms crossed and was glaring down at Arias, well out of arm's reach. He had also gotten a hair cut. Which, as impossible as it seemed, made him look worse. "He said Master Yen Sid wants to see me. Now's our chance!" She said excitedly. "We can go with him and Sora!"

And then, as he looked at her, he realized with a start why he hadn't "jumped" at the chance to go before. It wasn't that he didn't want to go on an "adventure"- and honestly if he was just going to see Sora, he would have been fine with that. He just didn't want to be with all of them. "… you go." He answered, "I'll stay here."

"Huh?" She gaped, completely flabbergasted. "But, Arias-"

"Look, I don't know what's going on," he argued with a frown. "I could barely follow the story as it was, and I don't know what you guys are getting into. If you're so eager to be with him, be my guest."

She flinched, hands lowering. "But, Arias-"

"Just go!" He yelled. "It's what you want, isn't it?!"

Riku slid his arm in front of her automatically, bringing Arias' glare at him instead. He was looking at Arias through the darkness- not angrily like a moment ago, but thoughtfully. And was that… was that concern?

"What do you want?" Arias spat.

"Nothing." He said easily. And reached into his front pocket to pull out an envelope. "I have a letter for you. From Sora."

He leered at the envelope, then snorted with a scoff. "Keep it. I doubt there's anything important in there."

Then he closed the shutters and shut the panes, leaving him alone in the darkness.

Fun fact: I forgot where I was keeping this story HAHAHAHAHAHA it's okay I remembered. Enjoy!