Disclaimer: I don't own KH.

Chapter 3

I listened to the bell ring.

"It's time!" I heard Demyx tell Riku excitedly. I heard Riku mumble something in response.

I grinned and grabbed my bag. I couldn't wait, today we were going to meet an Olympic swimmer. Like, a real live Olympic swimmer. This was going to be awesome. I looked over at Sora and waved, and he looked at me in dismay. "I wish I had joined the swim team!" He said, putting down his book and standing.

"I wish you had too, swimming is so much fun!" I replied, putting a hand on his shoulder and grinning.

He shook his head. "Nah, swimming is your thing, Roxas!"

I hesitated for half of a second before saying, "You would be awesome at it if you really tried."

He waved me off with a smile and sat back down just as the teacher dismissed us. I looked back at Demyx and Riku and nodded towards the door. They nodded back at me and we made our way into the hallway. Once we were outside and the classroom door was shut, Demyx fist-pumped and said loudly, "We're going to meet an Olympic swimmer! Not only that, but we don't have to go to class at all today!"

Riku cringed. "Don't be so loud, Demyx." His hands went up to rub his temples. "I already have a headache from you ranting about it all morning."

Demyx instantly quieted. "Sorry, I'm just so excited!"

Riku gave a small smile and, seemingly not wanting to douse Demyx's mood any further, said, "Well, I once heard that the swimmer we're meeting and Coach Saix went to school together here. And that they were both on the swim team."

"What?" Demyx and I both asked at the same time.

Riku nodded. "I never lie," He replied, answering our unsaid question.

"That's amazing," I gasped, getting lost in thought. "What if one of us has the same locker he did? That would be cool."

Demyx grinned and grabbed my wrist. "Don't go off and space out, we need to hustle if we want to get to the swim building on time!"

With that, he grabbed Riku's wrist, still holding mine, and began dragging us down the hall. I took a sideways glance at Riku, and he looked ready to wrench Demyx's hand away and take off. I always knew Riku was never the most social person, and I knew he wasn't too fond of being touched and all, but wow. I never knew how strong those feelings were.

Demyx must've somehow sensed my anxiety, or Riku's agitation, because he instantly let both of us go when we stood at the entrance to the swim building. He rubbed the back of his head and said sheepishly, "Sorry again, I'm just extremely excited right now. I feel like I could burst at any moment!"

Riku rubbed the wrist that was in Demyx's hand a few seconds ago and said, "That's fine."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I feel the same way! I've always wanted to meet an Olympic swimmer, and now that I finally have the chance... Words can't express how I'm feeling right now!"

I opened the door to the building and walked inside, followed closely by Riku and Demyx. We did the usual routine: put your stuff down, shower if you need to, change into swim trunks and shirt, get sprayed with cold water, and sit next to the pool to wait for further instruction. Since I was always a bit faster than everyone else on the team, I was the first to sit next to the pool. I dipped my feet into the water and was about to relax when a boisterous, "Hiya!" was thrown my way. Overly startled, my body threw itself forward and I fell into the pool.

I heard the splash, even though I was underwater. I instinctively swam back to the top of the pool and gagged on some water as I draped myself over the edge. I heard a groan come from above me and I looked up. The first thing I noticed was the hair. It was ridiculously red, and it made the owner look like a red version of Sonic the Hedgehog or something, it was just that spiky. I noticed the laid back outfit, a t-shirt that said "4 out of 5 doctors agree that the owner of this shirt is beyond awesome," some loose-fitting jeans that had flames sewn on, and red Converse. I looked up again and noticed the man had these wierd tattoos under his eyes. Small, purple triangles. Then I saw his eyes. They were almost unreal, they shone so bright, like an emerald glistening in the sunlight. The last thing I noticed was the fact that he was soaked.

I quickly got out of the pool, looking apologetically at the man. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to get you wet!"

He grinned and chuckled. "Well, you scare easily... Anyways, it's my own fault I'm wet anyways, I'm the one who scared you. So I should be apologizing."

I just stared at him for a moment, and then I realized that I was looking up and not forward. Instead of saying something smooth like I usually would have, I pouted and said, "...You're so much taller than me."

The man grinned again. "Nah man, I've only got about four and a half inches on you!"

I raised an eyebrow. "And that's not considered much taller than me?"

He laughed and held out his hand. "I guess it is. Anyways, I don't think I introduced myself properly." He then raised his other hand and tapped his temple. "The name's Axel Sinclair. Got it memorized?"

I smiled and took his hand, shaking it. "I'm Roxas Strife." I then tried to copy Axel's movement, tapping my temple. "Got it memorized...?" He smiled and I looked down. "Ugh, that was such a fail."

Axel grinned. "Don't worry Roxy, it just takes practice, that's all!"

I was about to agree with him when I realized what he had said. "Did you just call me Roxy?"

"Yep!"

"...Don't call me that." I said in all seriousness.

"Okay, Roxy!" He replied, grinning.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You did that on purpose!"

He was about to say something, probably some obnoxious comment or whatever, when I heard Demyx walk up to us and ask, "Oh, Roxas, who's this?"

I was about to introduce him when Axel went all... crazy... and said loudly, puffing his chest out and putting his hands on his hips, "I am the great Axel Sinclair, awesome god of swimming!" He then thought for a moment and added, "And um... being awesome!"

Demyx just looked at him and I facepalmed. It was then that I heard Riku say, "Sure. Awesome god of swimming and being awesome."

I looked up from my facepalm and saw Axel beaming. "In my awesomeness, I declare that I was just kidding. I'm only Axel Sinclair, the Olympic swimmer that you guys are supposed to be meeting today."

My eyes widened, along with Demyx's. Maybe even Riku was surprised by this, but he didn't show it. His face was almost always either expressionless or thoughtful. So the other day, when he actually almost laughed, I was so amazed I didn't even think about it until now. "What?" Demyx asked incredulously. "WHAT?! I just met an Olympic swimmer?! OH MY GOD!"

Demyx suddenly started running around in circles, of course around Riku, yelling something really fast that sounded kind of like, "OHMYGODIJUSTMETANOLYMPICSWIMMER!" or "WHYDIDN'TISAYSOMETHINGAWESOMEORSOMETHING!" Again, he's talking really fast so it all sounded like gibberish to me.

Poor old Riku was trapped in the middle, rubbing his temples with his eyes closed. I could tell he had a major headache- I would too. And it's not like he could just walk off; Demyx was running around him too fast for him to avoid a collision. Finally, Riku's patience snapped, and he waited half a second before grabbing Demyx's shoulder, stopping him. His eyes opened and then narrowed, and he just looked at Demyx for a moment before saying shortly, "Demyx. Shut. Up."

Demyx quickly nodded and took a step away from Riku, practically shaking. Note to self: Never, ever, EVER, make Riku angry. I'll probably never be more scared in my life again than I was right now. While we all waited for Riku to calm down, is was so silent that if someone even took a dropper and dropped one drop of water into the pool, we would all jump ten feet into the air. And I would fall in the pool, because that's been happening a lot lately. Geez.

So we were all silent for what seemed like forever before Riku had that 'Mr. Cool and Collected' air about him again. Axel, Demyx and I simultaneously took a deep breath and continued with introductions.

"Um, anyways," I started nervously, glancing warily back at Riku every now and then, "That's Demyx," I said, pointing at Demyx, "And that's Riku." I finished, pointing at Riku, who seemed fine now. Still a little on edge, but fine.

Demyx nodded, seemingly afraid to speak for fear of angering Riku again, and Riku nodded slightly at Axel as in acknowledgement.

I made a double mental note to self to not make Riku angry. Ever.

BNS YOU BETTER HAVE READ THIS CHAPTER! I was about ready to threaten! I dedicate a whole STORY (a request, to add to it!) to you and I don't get any feedback for 2 WHOLE DAYS?! What was going on over there?! I was totally like, I sent you a PM on FictionPress and here, and you said you would check it out, 2 DAYS AGO! I'm like, totally not happy with you right now.

Anyways, to the rest of you readers out there, I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it really sucked. Like, seriously. It was horrible. I don't write well when I'm angry, obviously. *cough* BNS *cough* So yeah. Please review, and try to ignore the angry rant above.