Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

.:C h a p t e r I:.

Pity could be annoying.

Sympathy really was never the same as pity, but closer to a feeling like: "I'm glad I don't walk in your shoes." Because, metaphorically, those shoes were covered in shit.

No matter what, no one ever really felt sorry for you. Pity was just a façade to hide how others would look at you, grinning at you as you struggled, feeding off your misery and sadness like demons.

Yep… Subconsciously, everyone's a sadist.

EEeeEEK! EEeeEEK! EEeeEEK!

Alarm clocks, too…

EEeeEEK! EEeeEEK! EEeeEEK!

Hmm… maybe if I stay in bed enough, I'll fall back asleep and think it's some fucked-up techno music.

EEeeEEK! EEeeEEK! EEeeEEK!

…Maybe not.

Reaching out, my hands fumbled with the buttons on the top of the alarm, searching for the SNOOZE button. After fumbling around a bit, I hit the FM button instead.

"Gooood mooorning! You're listening to 84.5 "The Edge" That was Avenged Sevenfold with their new album coming out in-"

Ehhh… it was better than that damn screeching…

I rode in and out of consciousness, listening to some guy named 'Chuck' reading off the weather report and traffic jams somewhere on the main island before switching to another song.

Just as I thought I could finally fall asleep, the sound of Evanescence crooning in my left eardrum, the door was suddenly thrown open and a sudden cry pierced the room.

"Surrender, silver-haired sex pistol!" Oh yeah… it was Saturday… Selphie woke up early on Saturdays…

Anyway, with her brilliant exclamation, she ran toward my bed before leaping into the air and landing on my bed.

On top of me.

I grunted as Selphie's heel dug into my pelvis. Vaguely, I was grateful it was my pelvis and not my groin. Last Saturday had not been a pleasant one…

"Come on, Riku-u... wake up…" I could almost hear the pout in her voice.

"Selphie…" I half-yawned as I rolled over to face her. "It's the weekend… lemme sleep…" With that, I tugged the comforter back on, sending her crashing to the floor.

"But you promised to take me to the mall today!" Me? Agree to take Selphie shopping?

I hid beneath my pillow. "What did you drug me with when I agreed to this…"

"Nothing you didn't willingly take." She sang.

0-0-0-0-0

Still half awake as I pulled on my jeans, I looked over my shoulder at the clock. It glared at me and read '10:23' in bright red letters. She got me up at ten --in the morning, mind you-- to go shopping? This was way to early… I wasn't supposed to acknowledge the world's existence until two p.m. on weekends.

I moved down the stairs sluggishly while I used my fingers as a make-shift comb. (My brain still didn't seem to grasp the thought that I was going shopping at a mall on the other side of the island. Just so Selphie could try on more clothes than she would ever actually buy.) Selphie was nowhere in sight, probably trying to scrounge up what money her parents had sent her this month, so I popped a piece of bread into the toaster and waited for breakfast.

She had been staying with me and my brother for about half a year now. Having told her parents that she liked girls had apparently dealt a major blow to them and their confidence as parents. To help "resolve" the problem, they had sent her to live with their farthest relatives, Seph and me. They had probably thought sticking her with guys would shake the thought of liking girls from her mind.

What they hadn't counted on (or knew, for that matter) is the fact that all two of us are gay. Well… okay, I'm bi, and the sole reliance for our parents that they will have grandkids, but I still enjoy my share of guys. The point is, is that we were all now just some messed up family… Yippy-skippy…

I opened the cupboard and grabbed the peanut butter from the shelf, scowling to find that Seph had bought creamy again… The bastard just had to have smooth peanut butter… I had told him to buy a jar of the other kind, but he had refused. Saying something about saving money… phft… Saving money… We could probably save a lot more money if he would quit using so many bottles of shampoo on that hair of his…

"C'mon, Riku!" I turned to look at Selphie as she bounded into the kitchen, reaching forward to grab me by the arm. "Eat your freakin' toast later!" She tried to pull me from my spot leaning on the counter, with no avail. I'll admit I was stronger than her, but the brunette was just too damn skinny to move someone who was at least a head taller and weighed about a good couple pounds more.

Giving a dramatic show of rolling my eyes, I folded the toast in half and stuffed it into my mouth, chewing as Selphie led me out of the house.

0-0-0-0-0

He hated crowds. He hated being surrounded by so many people that he didn't know. People who would scrutinize him and stare.

Well, okay… He pretty much hated people in general.

Axel shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat, glaring down at the marble floor. 'He must like crowds… Probably knows I'm here and he's just doing this to piss me off…' He growled --his expression souring and causing a mother to herd her children in another direction-- thinking of reasons why he would strangle the other when he found him.

And he was close. That is what really frustrated him. He was somewhere in this building, he could feel it, but, for some reason, he just couldn't find the spiky-haired twerp.

"Hey, Axel."

The addressed spun on his heel, green eyes narrowed and glaring at the grinning blue. 'Couple hundred years of living and he thinks he's hot shit…'

The owner of the blue eyes was leaning against the railing of the second story mall, absently licking at an ice cream cone while watching him. A hundred years and the boy hadn't aged a day over seventeen… though his wardrobe certainly had changed. He had abandoned his old clothing and opted now for wearing a black and red tee-shirt jersey with blue jeans hanging off his slim hips.

Axel raised an eyebrow. A smirk stretched his thin lips. "Had a feeling you weren't dead."

"Heh… And here I thought you were gone for good." Sora smiled, using his free hand to comb through his cinnamon spikes.

"An' what about Roxas?"

The Keyblade master seemed to falter, smile still maintained, but his hand had frozen, refusing to return to his side. After a while, he let it drop to his side, fingers patting blue denim jeans.

"Wanna head to the café? They've got some good coffee 'round here."

Axel watched Sora for a minute, before he nodded, "Sure."

0-0-0-0-0

Ten minutes later, after placing their orders --straight black coffee for Axel and an iced latte for Sora-- and seating themselves near the back of the shop, Sora let out a long tired sigh. It seemed to be such a deep sigh that Axel thought the kid looked like those years had suddenly caught up to him, making him seem so much older than he looked.

"I've been jumping around a lot." The brunet started, giving his drink a shake so the ice would allow the straw to reach the bottom. "I haven't been to Destiny Island in years."

Axel took a gulp of his coffee, barely noticing the scalding heat as it burned down his throat. "Then where've you been, shrimp? You're certainly not the easiest person to track down." The other set his coffee down, watching the steam rise from it.

Sora laughed, "I've been staying with the King. He told me each world tilts on a different axis, so time goes faster or slower --depending on the world-- the King's just so happens to go slower than other worlds." Sora set down his drink on a napkin and began tracing the moisture on the outside of the thin plastic.

Now that Axel thought about it, it was true. He himself had been hoping around so much that he was probably just as old as Sora --give or take a few years.

"Anyway, I thought I'd wait it out."

The redhead raised an eyebrow at the teen across from him, "It?"

"Riku, Kairi and Naminé… everyone's gone. Even Roxas."

"What!" Coffee was thrown into Axel's lap as he tried to stand up, knocking his drink off the table. The redhead quickly grabbed some napkins from the dispenser, fumbling with a few of them, and began dabbing at his coat. He wasn't dissuaded; however, "Why's Roxas gone?"

"I dunno… It felt like he just wasn't there anymore. "

"What, did blondie refuse to pay rent?" Axel joked; but mentally, he was reeling. "You… you can't just get rid of your other half like that. It… it just doesn't work that way."

"But… I don't think he's my other half anymore, Axel." Sora looked up into Axel's eyes, "I think he's his own person now…"

0-0-0-0-0

The mall was conveniently built near the boardwalk, so no matter what day in the week you came, it was always busy. Hustling and bustling with islanders in groups or couples and tourists in their underdressed or overdressed manners, it didn't matter what time you showed up.

With those two and the beach being built so closely, the city had obviously thought that one parking lot would be enough for the crowds.

"Ohh! There's a spot! There's a- noo!"

I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white as Selphie pointed out another spot, which, of course, was taken seconds later. "That meanie! He's as red as a lobster anyway! He doesn't need to go to the beach!" Selphie began to rant on about an overweight tourist as he pulled out a beach blanket and a cooler from his trunk and waddled toward the beach.

Of course, Selphie had been sure that we could make it and 'beat the crowd'. Oh fucking yeah right…

My patience having run out about twenty-five tries and seventeen minutes ago, I abruptly turned the wheel sharply and sped toward the shop on the corner. I turned the key and killed the engine as I came to a stop behind the small beach shop. Hopefully the old man wouldn't kill me for parking back here.

Hopefully.

Selphie seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Cid's gonna kill you for parking here." She deadpanned.

"Like I care…" The old coot is so protective of his parking spot; Cid would probably give his own shop up just to keep the parking space behind it.

'If you start parkin' there the whole fuckin' island's gonna think they can park for free behind my damn shop! Then what am I gonna do when those fuckin' skateboarders think it's a free loitering zone!'

Sure he was my boss, but he was also Selphie's uncle. From how I look at it, it's a family matter, so he couldn't throw too much of a fit over it. And it got me a free parking spot when Cid was in a good mood.

"Better check in with the old fart, anyway." I snorted, pulling the keys out of the ignition and making my way out of the car. Selphie followed.

The cowbell above the door gave a worn clang as we entered, the AC hitting us in a blast of cold air.

Nobody was in the shop except a blond, who was behind the counter, feet propped up on the conveyer belt, the latest issue of some magazine sitting in his lap.

"Welcome," Roxas began flatly, not even bothering to look up from his magazine. "If there's anything you need help with, please, don't hesitate to ask." He let out a long sigh and turned the page, head leaning on his other hand.

"Your charismatic skills suck, you know."

"Really? And here I thought I was the reason people came to this shithole."

I grinned and fingered a bag of Skittles on the shelf of candy next to him. "You know the only reason customers come in here is because of me."

He rolled his blue eyes. "I'm so glad you're not conceited."

"…"

"…"

"Ignore me any longer and I shove this bag of Skittles so far up your ass you'll be shitting rainbows for a week."

"Annoy me any longer and I'll call a lawsuit on your ass." He shot back.

O-kay… He was starting to piss me off. Trying a different approach: "Have you seen Cid? I need to ask him something."

Roxas obviously wasn't going to let up. "You parked in the back again, didn't you?" Was it that obvious that even blondie here could pick up on it?

"At least I can park in the back, Mr. Got-his-license-temporarily-banned."

There was a pause and I could hear that even Selphie had stopped whatever she had been doing.

Selphie's short giggle broke the silence, "Your comebacks suck, Riku." I could feel them both grinning at me. Roxas was smirking, though. Smug little blond bastard…

I threw the bag of Skittles I had been messing with over my shoulder; smiling as I heard it hit Selphie and hearing her exclaim: "Hey! I don't wanna taste the rainbow!"

"So where is he?"

"In the back." The blond sighed out, returning to read his magazine.

"Thanks…" I said turning toward the back of the small convenience store. With a second thought, I turned around and grabbed the magazine from Roxas, looking at the cover. "Tsk, tsk; Roxas. Reading J-14 these days, huh? Read it for the horoscopes?"

"Fuck you."

0-0-0-0-0

"So… you're sure they're both here?"

"Positive." Sora paused. "Probably Kairi and Naminé, too." Blue eyes scanned the crowd below the second level balcony, watching as people moved about the mall, carting shopping bags and scurrying from store to store. "The King said that there have been some odd readings coming from here… Like it's not just Roxas and Riku…" The brunet watched a man standing at a booth began to play with some sort of gliding toy, letting it fly above the heads of a group of children who had stopped to watch.

Axel placed his hands on his hips, popping the joints in his back as he arched his back. "Then we're not alone, huh?"

"Nope." Sora moved away from the railing, looking at Axel with a smirk on his face. "What? Don't think you can't handle it?"

Axel snorted.

"I can handle anything. Got it memorized?"

.:E n d C h a p t e r:.

Author Ramblings:

Well, a little Axel/Sora bonding there… Those two seem like they'd sorta get along. Maybe the occasional insult or teasing, but that's it.

Is it just me or does anyone else really look at the relationship between Riku and Roxas. I mean, in the game, Riku helps Roxas destroy the Heartless… but they end up fighting --with Roxas almost beating Riku… to me that really would spike a bit of an edge to any relationship they would have…

That pointless little ramble aside, what do you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Have the strangest urge to kick a puppy? Erm… I mean, press the review button?

Sora: You're sick…

You're stating the obvious, love.