Chapter Four
Bending the Arrow

The following Monday after Roxas' party found Kairi in her first period newspaper class, reading over a sheet of paper and marking things up with a pink pen. As an assistant editor, Kairi had to take on a lot more responsibilities than her friends in the class.

For instance, while she was correcting grammatical errors, Selphie was on the computer behind her playing a random game. Tidus soon popped in from their other work room and looked at Selphie.

"Hey Selph, I'm gonna go get a soda…want one?"

"Yes please!" Selphie answered before she blasted another alien on the screen. "Hah!" Tidus stood there for a few moments before he laughed at his girlfriend's antics, kissing her on the forehead.

"Okay, I'll be back." He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and left the room. Kairi's ears twitched at the sounds from Selphie's game. She turned in her chair and looked at the screen, groaning slightly.

"Selph, can't you do something more…oh, I don't know, productive?" she questioned.

"But everything else is so boring," Selphie whined, not tearing her gaze away from the monitor.

"So?"

"Aliens go boom. Does the newspaper go boom? No." Selphie nodded to herself, successfully blasting another alien.

"Selphie!" Kairi threw her pen down and got out of her chair with a paper in hand. She thrust the article in Selphie's face, setting it in front of the screen. "Edit or something, then you can blow up aliens." Selphie took the paper with a sigh and closed up the game.

"Fine. You're no fun," she muttered as she pulled out a pen, continuing where Kairi left off.

"That's not what Roxas says," Kairi replied airily, editing another paper from the pile in front of her.

"Hmm? What's not what Roxas says?" Selphie kept marking up her paper but couldn't help but send Kairi a confused look. Kairi laughed slightly and shook her head.

"Nothing." The redhead continued marking up her paper. Selphie paused briefly to think this over.

"Oh…he doesn't think you're not fun?"

"Exactly." Kairi nodded. Selphie merely rolled her eyes at this.

"Pfft, that's because he's even less fun than you are, so being with you throws a bit of excitement in," she rationalized.

"Actually, he's more fun than we realize," Kairi countered, turning the page. "I don't think you give him enough credit, Sel." The brunette girl just shrugged her shoulders, scribbling on the sheet of paper.

"I dunno, Kai. Now Sora, that kid's fun."

"Yeah but he's kinda immature you know? But Roxas…" Kairi trailed off, smiling slightly. "Roxas has that refined touch to his personality. I like it."

"Hmm, I see," Selphie said and scribbled out a sentence of the article, marking up other sections. The two girls worked in silence for a bit before Kairi spoke again.

"What about Tidus?" Selphie blinked at the sudden change of conversation.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, Tidus is great. He's fun and all, but he can be serious when he needs to be."

"Yeah…he's kind of goofy though, no offense," Kairi noted.

"None taken. He's a freshman, remember?" Selphie laughed lightly.

"True. Oh well…I still think it's kind of weird that you guys are together. Well more like have stayed together for so long," Kairi rambled, scratching out an entire paragraph.

"Well we haven't had any problems so…there hasn't really been a reason to break it off?" Selphie reasoned.

Kairi nodded in agreement. "That's true too, and that's good," she affirmed and smiled wistfully. "You know…sometimes, I'm jealous." Selphie finally looked up from her paper and back at Kairi.

"Why would you be jealous? Tidus is totally not your type, Kai." She wrinkled her nose at the mere thought of her best friend being paired together with her boyfriend. Kairi laughed out loud and shook her head.

"No, that's not what I meant. You both are just so happy together and belong together. I don't have that…and sometimes, I wish I did," the blue-eyed girl admitted. Selphie blinked, slightly surprised by Kairi's answer.

"But Kai, there are so many people who want you."

'Including me.' She added to herself. But Kairi didn't need to know that.

"Name five," Kairi said flatly. Selphie scooted her chair closer to Kairi and sat next to her.

"Well, I don't know them."

"Well there you go."

"As if you don't feel them staring at you when you walk down the hall," the green-eyed girl scoffed lightly.

"…no, not really," Kairi said thoughtfully. "I'm usually with Sora and Riku, and you know they get stared at…a lot." Selphie gave her a blank stare.

"Wow, your ninja senses suck. And the kids are just jealous that they don't have it as good as Sora and Riku," she added. Kairi laughed again and threw away one of the papers in her hands.

"I don't blame them, I'm jealous too."

"Me too," Selphie sighed.

"…why? You have Tidus." Kairi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh I know, but…you know, Riku and Sora kinda have this different feel to them, you know?" Selphie stumbled over her explanation.

"What kind of different feel?" Kairi pressed on.

"I dunno…they're just so…" Selphie stopped and put down her pen and paper, folding her hands into her lap. "Perfect…I don't know how to explain it." Kairi snorted at this.

"Like you and Tidus aren't?"

"Are we?" Selphie answered with a question. "I never thought of us that way."

"…wait. Are you like, unhappy with him?" Kairi looked at her friend in shock. Selphie blinked and fiercely shook her head.

"What? No! Tidus is great; he hasn't treated me bad once!"

"I was gonna say!" Kairi exclaimed.

"I'm not unhappy with him; I don't have a reason to be unhappy with him," Selphie continued on. "We're fine."

"So why wouldn't you feel like you two are perfect?" Kairi repeated her previous question, grabbing a new stack of papers. Selphie opened her mouth to explain her reasoning, fully prepared to prove her point to Kairi. However, she soon closed it upon the realization that she didn't have anything to say, settling for shrugging.

"Exactly." Kairi nodded. The door opened again and Tidus came bouncing into the room, delivering a can of soda to Selphie.

"And here you are, Gorgeous," he said, leaning against the table the two girls were working at. The brunette smiled at the younger boy.

"Thanks, Tidus," she said halfheartedly, more preoccupied with the conversation she was having with Kairi.

"Of course," Tidus replied, running his fingers through Selphie's hair. "So…what are you two doing?"

"Editing…it's gross," Kairi pointed out the obvious.

"Editing," Selphie said at the same time as Kairi. "Kairi made me work." She stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"I wasn't going to do it by myself!" Kairi protested. Tidus' eyes darted from left to right briefly, sticking out his own tongue and licking Selphie's. The older girl squeaked, not expecting that at all, causing the boy to smirk.

"I learned that from Riku," he said proudly. A small blush bloomed on Selphie's face.

"Tidusss…" she drawled out his name.

"Yesssss?" he drawled out, mocking his girlfriend.

"Not in class," Selphie muttered. Kairi sat back and watched in amusement, silently laughing.

"…you're no fun," Tidus declared. Selphie frowned at him.

"How can you say that? That hurts my every being." She pouted sadly.

"Aw, poor baby," he joked and patted the side of Selphie's face lovingly. In turn, Selphie lightly swatted at Tidus' hand.

"Oh come on, Kai doesn't want to see us cuddling and making out in front of her," she pointed out.

"Actually, I don't care," Kairi cut in. "But not right now since I have a job for the one with the penis."

"…I have a name," Tidus protested and Selphie laughed lightly.

"Fine, Tidus. I need you to go deliver these to the front office," she paused to drop a stack of papers into Tidus' arms. "And this to Mrs. Edwards' class," she continued, adding a package to the top of his pile. "And this to Sora," she finished, placing a notebook on top of everything else. Tidus looked at the pile in his arms and stumbled slightly from the sudden weight.

"Now?"

"Yes."

"Haha, you're a delivery boy!" Selphie said gleefully before returning to her editing duties. Tidus lightly bopped Selphie on the head with the notebook.

"Meanie."

"Owie." Selphie frowned.

"Want me to kiss it better?"

"No because you're the one that hurt it!"

"Well, too bad," Tidus retorted, kissing the spot he hit. Selphie whined and pushed him away.

"You're pushing your luck, Mister." Tidus grinned at her and winked.

"I know."

"Tidus, now!" Kairi exclaimed. The younger boy squeaked and scurried out of the room, propping the door open and heading down the hall. Selphie had also jumped and squeaked at Kairi's outburst. Kairi on the other hand seemed pretty pleased with herself.

"You and your mood swings…" Selphie shook her head.

"Well I wanted to get rid of your boyfriend so that I could say 'See? Perfect!'" Kairi exploded.

"What?" Selphie blinked again.

"You two," Kairi stated. Selphie still didn't seem to understand what her friend was saying though. "…" Kairi shook her head. "Never mind, Selphie. Just never mind."

"…you're whack, Kairi," Selphie replied, giving the blue-eyed girl a skeptical look.

"So not."

"So are."

"Lies!"

"Truths!" Selphie protested. Kairi stopped and suddenly laughed.

"Yeah, because that made sense!"

"Totally," Selphie agreed and poked Kairi in the stomach with her pen. Kairi giggled at the impact and Selphie's expression brightened. "Hah! You're like the little doughboy!" she pointed out and poked Kairi again. The red-haired girl giggled again and swatted at the pen.

"Stop it!" she protested but Selphie merely giggled and poked her again. "Selphie!" Kairi choked out between her laughs.

"Hah, Kairi's sensitive!" Selphie launched into an all-out tickle attack on the other girl, causing Kairi to shriek and giggle.

"Selphie!" Kairi squirmed away from Selphie, laughing anyway. Selphie continued and began laughing as well. Kairi continued wriggling away until she fell onto the floor, landing with a loud thump. It was a wonder that none of the other members of their newspaper staff came into the room to check on the two girls. Selphie followed Kairi to the floor, sitting on the other girl's waist and holding her onto the floor.

"Hey," Kairi whined. Selphie beamed down at her.

"You suck," she said cheerfully.

"Really? Tidus says the same thing about you!" Kairi winked.

"Kairi!" Selphie's eyes widened, surprised that she had just said that. Kairi didn't seem so surprised though; in fact, she just laughed it off. Selphie poked her in the stomach again, not surprised that Kairi giggled again. "That was dirty, Kai," she scolded. "…did he really say that?"

"Of course not," Kairi insisted, propping herself up on her elbows to see Selphie better. "It's true though."

"Oh…hey wait! What's true?"

"That it was dirty. Tidus isn't the only one who learned from Riku. That boy's corrupted all of us," Kairi explained.

"Oh…" Selphie nodded in understanding. "He's so awesome though!" she giggled.

"He is, he is," Kairi agreed.

"I love that guy, man."

"As we all do, especially Sora."

"Well yeah, that's a given."

"I hope so!" Kairi grinned. Selphie grinned back.

"Of course he does," Selphie agreed. Kairi scrunched up her face in thought, poking Selphie in the thigh. "Hey!" Selphie squirmed this time. Kairi's grin grew wider and she did it again. Selphie wiggled even more, attempting to get away from Kairi's hands. "Stop it!" She was determined not to lose; she was the Tickle-Queen, not Kairi.

"Not so fun when the tables are turned huh?" Kairi asked, poking Selphie on repeat. Selphie shrieked and fell on top of Kairi, giving up on trying to get away. "Hey!" Kairi protested, still laughing at the oddity of the situation.

"I told you to stop!" Selphie shouted.

"Hey Kai, I can't fin-" Tidus suddenly stopped mid-sentence, standing in the doorway of the room and watching the two girls on the floor. "…what are you guys doing?" Selphie propped herself up with her face not too far from Kairi's, turning to face Tidus.

"Huh?" She was still a bit dazed. Kairi blinked at Tidus' sudden appearance. Selphie looked down at their current position and blushed again, letting out a small "eep!" before rolling off of Kairi.

"Um…nothing," Kairi answered, sitting upright. "So what can't you find now?" she asked. Selphie sat up as well, hitting her head on the desk with a disgruntle "ouch!" Tidus stared between the two girls, a confused and slightly hurt look on his face.

"…nothing, forget it…" he mumbled, turning around and walking out of the room again.

"Tidus?" Selphie called after him, blinking and watching Tidus walk away. Kairi stayed in her position on the floor, also watching the freshman leave. Selphie looked at Kairi, back at Tidus, and then back at Kairi. "…what just happened!"

"Which part?" Kairi questioned.

"Just now!" Kairi looked around Selphie's head and spotted Tidus still in the hallway. The younger boy shook his head slowly and broke into a run, taking off toward the other side of the school. She slowly tore her eyes away from him and trained them back on Selphie.

"Well, we were being retarded and we ended up on the floor," she started out. Selphie nodded in agreement, motioning for Kairi to continue. "And Tidus found us straddling each other I guess."

"B-but we weren't doing anything!" Selphie stuttered, blush still looming on her cheeks.

'Only…we kind of were. But who needs details right?'

"Yeah…I know," Kairi replied, rewarding the brunette with a questioning look. Selphie brushed it off and got up off of the floor once again, avoiding the desk this time.

"I'm going after him…see ya later!" Selphie waved over her shoulder, bursting forth into the hallway to chase Tidus.

"…kay," Kairi replied, staying down on the floor and watching Selphie chase after Tidus, silently wondering what on earth had just happened.

Meanwhile, Tidus had just walked out of one of the classrooms in the English hallway. Selphie spotted him and called out to him.

"Tidus!" The sandy-haired boy looked up from the ground and noticed Selphie standing down at the other end of the hall. He stopped walking and waited for her to catch up, leaning against the wall of the hallway. Selphie caught up to him and stopped, attempting to catch her breath. Tidus waited patiently, although he still looked ready to run.

"What happened? Why did you leave like that?" Selphie asked, looking straight into the other's eyes. Tidus' eyes bore straight into Selphie's as well.

"Why were you straddling Kairi?" he counted back. Selphie appeared slightly taken aback by the question.

"Tidus, it's not anything like that! We were being dorks and got into a poking fight, and then we fell. That was about the time that you came in," she rushed through her explanation. Tidus frowned a bit, giving Selphie that look; the one that said he didn't quite believe her.

"Really now…"

"Of course! What else would I be doing with Kairi?"

'Then again, there is a difference between what I would be doing and what I would like to be doing.' Selphie brushed away stray thoughts and remained focused.

"…who knows?" Tidus shrugged, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Tidus…she's my best friend, that's it. There's nothing more to it," Selphie stated, unsure of whom she was trying to convince; him, or herself.

"Need I point out Sora and Riku?" Tidus countered, knowing that he was slowly gaining the upper-hand.

"But…they're special!" Selphie argued. Tidus stared at her long and hard, trying to pinpoint her true feelings and intentions. But Selphie was hiding everything and he couldn't figure it out. He shook his head in defeat.

"Fine…if you insist."

"I do…there's nothing going on, I swear!" Selphie insisted.

"…okay."

"Okay."

"…you sure?" Tidus questioned again. Selphie nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course I'm sure!" She tried to look as convincing as possible, but knew that Tidus could (and would) see right through her. The boy swallowed thickly and shook his head sadly.

"Kay," was all he said. Selphie couldn't take it anymore. She reached forward and pulled Tidus' face closer to hers, kissing him hard on the lips. Tidus' eyes widened in surprise and he hesitantly started to kiss her back. Taking Tidus' response as a good sign, Selphie eagerly slid her tongue into his mouth.

Tidus continued kissing her half-heartedly, noticing that Selphie wasn't as passionate as she had been before. Her tongue entered his mouth almost too eagerly, rather forced in fact. He continued the little charade until Selphie pulled away, looking at him. He gave her another confused look, stepping back a bit.

"…you weren't into it," Selphie mentioned, puzzled by Tidus' reaction.

"Neither were you!" Tidus accused her. Selphie winced at his words, looking down at her feet half in shame, half in confusion. "Selphie…" Tidus couldn't keep the betrayal and hurt out of his voice. "What's going on?"

"I don't know…" she spoke honestly, still looking at the floor. "I just don't...know what's wrong with me…"

"Well then talk to me!" Tidus practically yelled, suddenly frustrated with the entire situation. "I can help!" Selphie looked up then.

"How do you know?"

"Because it's in the job description." He shrugged. Selphie sighed quietly but didn't budge. "Just…talk to me?" Tidus tried again. Selphie reached up and smacked her cheeks lightly.

"'m'not supposed to be emo…that's Roxas' job," she mumbled to herself. Tidus raised an eyebrow but chose not to comment. Selphie sighed again and began to speak at last.

"The truth is…I don't know if I can talk to you, Tidus."

"What the hell, Selphie?"

"Let me try again," she corrected herself, shifting in her place. "I can talk to you…but I don't think I can tell you what's going on."

"Why the hell not!" Tidus was beyond frustrated now.

"Because you'll get hurt!" Selphie yelled as well, causing Tidus to jerk back in surprise.

"…what?"

"Someone always loses in these situations," Selphie stalled to buy herself some more time.

"You know…I can't…" Tidus trailed off, sighing loudly as well and folding his arms over his chest.

"…I'm gonna try, okay?"

"Try what?" Tidus looked up through his bangs. Selphie took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

"Tidus…"

"What?"

"I think…I think…" Selphie stopped briefly, forcing herself to gather enough courage to go through with this. "I…I think…"

"Spit it out, Selph!" Tidus jerked her out of her slump.

"IthinkIhaveacrushonKairi!" she blurted out without even really meaning to. She gasped quietly and closed her mouth with her hands.

Whatever Tidus had been expecting, it most certainly wasn't that. He blinked once in surprise, and then again to make sure that this was real. His girlfriend still stood in front of him, covering her mouth with her hands and looking at him nervously.

"Okay…" he answered rather stiffly, giving off a shaky laugh. "Okay well, that's very interesting," he managed to say. Selphie remained quiet, anxiously awaiting Tidus' reaction. Tidus stared into Selphie's eyes for what felt like an eternity. Selphie felt as though she could read his entire soul. He was upset, without a doubt and confused…sad…worried? That couldn't be right. The blond boy shook his head slowly, still trying to convince himself that this wasn't real; but it was, and there was nothing he could do to change it.

"I'm sorry I disappointed you so much to make you turn to that," he said as his departing words before turning on his heel and starting to walk off.

"What? No! It has nothing to do with you!" Selphie cried, staying rooted to her spot. "I didn't turn into anything! I just…" Tidus had stopped walking again, but he refused to turn around. He felt his eyes beginning to burn with the beginnings of tears; there wasn't any way he was going to let Selphie see him hurt. She was already a wreck as it was.

"Selphie, it's okay…really," he said, unable to prevent his voice from shaking.

"Tidus I…" Selphie went quiet again. "I'm sorry," she whispered an apology.

"…so am I," Tidus replied and the bell rang, causing the freshman to bolt down the hallway and out of Selphie's sight. Selphie's palm soon met her face and she groaned.

"I need Riku...now," she decided but made no effort to move from her spot in the middle of the hallway.

"For what?" someone spoke from behind her. Selphie turned and came face-to-face with Sora, tears beginning to fill her eyes.

"Sora…tell Riku," she stopped to sniff and look up at the ceiling. "Tell him that I…just tell him to meet me in the nurse's office okay?" she finally managed to speak, wiping at her eyes. Sora tilted his head slightly, concern hitting him like a semi-truck of concrete.

"Yeah, sure. You okay?" he prodded, hoping that Selphie would clue him in. The green-eyed girl hiccuped and brushed Sora off.

"Just tell him for me okay?" she repeated and quickly walked off toward the office, leaving Sora to stand alone in the hallway.

"Right…" he answered, despite the fact that Selphie was long gone. Sora hummed quietly and began to walk down the hall in search of Riku. Instead of finding his boyfriend however, he found a Roxas.

"Hey Rox, have you seen Riku?" he asked the blond boy, falling into step with him briefly.

"Not recently no. Try calling his cell," Roxas suggested, waving over his shoulder and walking into his next class. Sora laughed slightly and rolled his eyes.

"Duh, why didn't I think of that?" he asked himself as he dialed Riku's number, heading back toward the main office.

Riku jumped a bit from the vibration of his phone in his pocket and he reached for it, not even needing to look at who was calling. "Yeah Sor?" he answered.

"Hey…I think we have a problem," Sora said, readjusting the backpack on his shoulder.

"Oh? What's up?"

"Selph. I just ran into her and she was like, crying," Sora explained. Riku raised an eyebrow, his own concern starting to grow.

"Did she say anything?" he asked, already preparing himself to leave class and go find Selphie.

"She said she wanted to talk to you in the nurse's office, but I wanna go with you cause now I'm kind of worried…and I don't like being worried," Sora ranted, huffing slightly. Riku nodded, despite the fact that Sora couldn't see him and began heading toward the office.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll be right there kay?"

"I'll meet you outside of the office," Sora replied, already heading that way.

"All right, see ya there," Riku said and hung up, hurrying toward the office as quick as possible. By the time he arrived, Sora was already waiting for him. With a quick wave to the front secretary, Riku headed toward Sora.

"Hey, she in there?"

"I don't know…I think so," Sora answered, grabbing onto Riku's wrist. "C'mon." He then proceeded to drag Riku back through the office, straight into the nurse's office where Selphie was sitting on the lumpy bed, wiping at her eyes.

"Selph?" Sora called out to her, stopping shortly in the doorway. The young girl looked up, spotting her two friends.

"Hey Sora…Riku," she greeted them and sniffed quietly. Sora glanced over at Riku, unsure of how to handle such a situation. Riku made his way over to the bed and sat next to Selphie, wrapping an arm around her and allowing her to lean against him.

"Hey Sel. What happened?" he asked quietly. Selphie leaned her head on Riku's shoulder, staring at the floor.

"Riku…I think I," she was cut off by another hiccup. "Messed up." Sora cautiously crept up toward the bed, approaching his friends.

"How?" he asked. Selphie sniffed and wiped at her eyes again, trying to get the tears to stop.

"Well, we were in first period right?"

"We?" Riku interrupted. Selphie nodded.

"Me and Tidus and Kairi," she filled in. Sora hopped up onto the bed and cuddled up against Selphie's other side. Selphie didn't bother pushing him away and continued her story. "Anyway, Tidus went away to go get me a soda while Kai and I edited some papers. We somehow got into a poking fight and the next thing you know, we fell onto the floor."

"Right…" Sora said, just for the sake of talking. Riku didn't say anything however, rather listening intently to every word Selphie was saying, gently stroking her shoulder.

"So then I was on top of her and then she poked me and I fell on her. Then Tidus walked in and saw us and I quickly got off because he didn't look too happy." Sora leaned his head on Selphie's shoulder.

"I think I know where this one's going," he commented but let Selphie continue. The brunette was starting to calm down a bit.

"So he left all angry-like and I followed him. I told him there was nothing between me and Kairi, but he didn't exactly believe me, so I…I kissed him to reassure him. But I wasn't totally into it, and I think that just made everything worse," Selphie explained.

"Then why'd you do it?" Sora asked quietly. Selphie sighed and shrugged.

"I dunno…I think I was just trying to convince myself that I liked Tidus more or something."

"Aw, Selph," Riku started to say but suddenly sat up straight. "Wait…you told him, didn't you?"

"He kept asking me what was wrong!" Selphie blurted out, sending herself into a frantic state. "I was so confused and I was trying to keep it from him because I didn't want to hurt him, I really didn't!"

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down. It was just a question," Sora reminded her. Selphie didn't calm down though.

"So I blurted it out and he just…" she stopped.

"He just?" Riku repeated, still brushing fingers against Selphie's shoulder, relaxing the younger girl a bit.

"He looked so hurt you know?"

"Selph," Sora started to say but Selph just sniffed again and ignored him.

"And I don't know what to do," she whined. Sora cuddled against Selphie, burying his face into Selphie's shoulder and nuzzling against it. Selphie shifted and hugged Sora tightly, starting to cry again. Riku continued holding onto Selphie, watching his boyfriend and "younger sister" cuddle next to him.

"Well…I think," he started to say to gain their attention. Selphie blinked away a few tears and looked back at Riku. "I think that maybe it might be a good thing if you and Tidus stay apart, especially since you're so confused right now."

"B-but, he thinks I 'turned that way' because he disappointed me, and he didn't! He never did anything bad to me and here I go, tossing him aside like an out-of-style video game or something," Selphie babbled. Sora pursed his lips in thought, mulling over both sides of the argument.

"Maybe…maybe Riku's right," he slowly said. Selphie returned her attention to Sora. "I mean, maybe you should just take a short break, find yourself and stuff. Besides, you guys can still be friends and stuff."

"Though, you might want to wait a while before you approach him again," Riku advised. Selphie looked down at her hands and nodded. Sora, however, shifted his gaze to Riku.

"Are you crazy? Dude, if she waits, who knows what Tidus will do!"

"He's not gonna cut himself or anything, Sora," Riku pointed out.

"That's not what I meant," Sora started to say but Riku cut him off.

"I meant like, wait a couple of days or something."

"I still say approach him soon," Sora argued. Selphie listened to the two boys bicker, head spinning from all of the protests and points they were making. Sora suddenly sat up though and his face lit up, guaranteeing that he had a "brilliant" idea.

"…what?" Riku asked cautiously, also spotting the look.

"Or…maybe we can approach him." Sora nodded.

"Oh…I dunno," Selphie started to disagree, but Sora wouldn't hear of it. He bounced off of the bed and got to his feet.

"In fact, that's what we'll do now!" he exclaimed. Riku raised an eyebrow and stared at the younger boy.

"Are you sure?"

"Can't hurt, can it? 'Sides, maybe we can figure out something," Sora retorted.

"…guess not," Riku reluctantly agreed. "Is that okay with you, Sel?"

"Sure…just be careful with how you word things, okay?" she requested. The last thing she needed was to screw up her fragile relationship (if it was even that anymore) with Tidus.

"Totally!" Sora pumped his fist in the air. "You can count on us!" Riku nodded in agreement.

"Will do, don't worry about it," he assured her, petting her hair affectionately. Selphie finally smiled weakly, nodding in gratitude.

"Thanks guys," she said. Sora suddenly leaned over and planted a wet sloppy kiss onto Selphie's cheek.

"No big thing."

"Sora, ew." Selphie smirked, jokingly rubbing her cheek.

"Oh you love it." Sora gave her a cheerful smile.

"I don't…" Riku piped up, frowning a bit. Sora rolled his eyes and leaned over Selphie, making a bit of a show out of kissing Riku on the lips.

"There, you big baby."

"Pfft, whatever." Riku smirked as well.

"…I think we should get to class now," Selphie said to them, sliding off of the bed.

"Screw that, we're going to find Tidus!" Sora exclaimed. "But I mean, uh, you should go to class." He nodded quickly. Riku merely shook his head at Sora's antics.

"Kay." Selphie hugged both boys tightly, smiling again. "Thanks! You guys are great."

"Yeah, in bed and as friends!" Sora chipped in. Riku covered his eyes with his hand and shook his head again.

"Let's just go," he suggested, pulling Sora out into the hall. Selphie waved one last time before scurrying down the hall to her second period class. Sora waved goodbye to Selphie and waited until she was out of sight, turning to face Riku.

"We're screwed, aren't we?"

"Probably." Riku shrugged, taking Sora by the hand. The brunet sighed and began walking down the hall, leading Riku behind him.

"Let's go get this over with then."

-------------------------------------

The doorbell rang downstairs and Roxas jumped off of the couch, throwing his math book to the floor.

"I got it!" he hollered up the stairs toward Hayner, who was currently in his own bedroom. The youngest blond raced toward the door and ripped it open, coming face (well, really, chest) to face with a tall redhead. Roxas slowly felt his excitement melt away.

"Oh…it's you," he said flatly, leaning against the doorframe. "Seifer isn't home," he added almost immediately.

"Who said that I was here to see Seifer?" Axel raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the younger boy.

"Well why else would you be here?" Roxas shot back. Axel chuckled under his breath.

"Okay so I was here to see Seifer."

"I knew it!"

"Yeah, but what if I wasn't? You shouldn't jump to conclusions, Roxas. It's not a pretty thing."

"Whatever." Roxas rolled his eyes. "So…see ya later then," he said and began to shut the door. Axel shoved his foot in front of it to stop him.

"Hey now, just because the blond I was looking for isn't here doesn't mean I can't hang out with his younger bro right?" he reasoned, giving Roxas a charming grin.

'Actually, that's exactly what it means because I'm kind of unhappy with you at the moment kay thanks bye.' Roxas thought grudgingly but kept his calm façade in place.

"Well yeah, but why would you want to?"

"Why not?"

"Stop answering me with questions," Roxas demanded, glaring up at the redhead.

"And if I don't?" Axel asked, just to annoy the other boy.

"You are such an annoying little shit!" Roxas exclaimed without even thinking it through. Axel raised an eyebrow and laughed again.

"Well aren't you just a badass," he commented.

"Look, what do you want?"

"I told you, I was looking for Seifer."

"And I told you, he's not here. He'll be back in like, two hours."

"Well then I'll wait," Axel decided and brushed past Roxas into the house.

"Wait a second! What the hell do you think you're doing?" the blue-eyed boy protested, closing the front door and following Axel into the living room.

"Are you always this slow on the uptake? I'm waiting for Seifer…so I figured I'd crash here and hang out with you for a while. Is that okay?" Axel asked, dropping himself onto the couch ungracefully.

"Um…" Roxas started to say no but quickly bit his tongue. First of all, there really wasn't a problem with Axel being there. Secondly, it was rude to shun people away for no good reason. "I…guess it's not a problem," he replied slowly, sitting down next to Axel (but not too close).

"Awesome." Axel's gaze turned to the TV that was on, idly watching Parental Control. He glanced at the blond from the corner of his eye, noticing that Roxas was too absorbed in his Biology book to pay attention to the show. "Whacha workin' on there?"

"Bio…I have to read and answer these questions for tomorrow." Roxas frowned, erasing part of his answer. "I don't understand any of it though."

"Like what?" Axel leaned over, peering at the book.

"Why do you care?"

"Because I happen to be good at Biology. So spill, what are you working with?"

"Cell life or something like that. Something to do with cells…I don't know." Roxas threw his pencil down and leaned back against the couch. "It's all a bunch of useless crap." Axel picked up the pencil and the book, peering over the curriculum briefly.

"Okay so, a cell is an autonomous self replicating unit, in principle that may constitute an organism, in the case of unicellular organisms, or be a sub unit of multicellular organisms in which individual cells may be more or less specialized differentiated) for particular functions. So what that means is-" It was about then that Roxas got lost, giving the side of Axel's head a blank stare.

Did he really expect him to understand all of this?

Either way though, it wasn't a bad situation. He pretended to understand what Axel was teaching him while letting his mind, and his eyes, wander.

'Okay so I admit it, Axel is actually very good-looking. And I mean that in the straightest w-…okay you know what? Fuck it; I'm a little less than straight, big deal. But that doesn't mean I have a crush on him. I mean really, I have Kairi…Kairi's pretty…I really like Kairi. Oh shit, what's Axel talking about? Oh yeah, cells. But what about cells? I wonder if Axel has a cell. Oh my god, Roxas, focus!'

"So do you get it?" Axel suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Get what?" Roxas replied, immediately kicking himself.

"…everything I just explained to you. You were listening right?"

"Oh! Yeah, of course I was listening!" Roxas lied through his teeth. "I'm not sure if I still get it, but I was definitely trying to." Axel laughed slightly and shook his head.

'Dorky kid. Did he really think I didn't notice him staring at me instead of the book?' He smiled and took the pencil, scrawling down a phone number onto Roxas' notes.

"Well, that's my cell number if you need more help. Go ahead and call me," he said and pushed the paper toward Roxas, standing at his full height.

"Um…okay sure," Roxas replied, accepting the paper awkwardly. "Where are you…"

"Just tell Seifer that I stopped by and that he can call me if he cares. I just remembered that I have places to be," Axel said briefly, already heading to the front door. "But thanks for letting me chill here for a little bit and remember that you can call me if you need more help in Bio."

"Okay…thanks," Roxas said unsurely. Axel grinned and waved over his shoulder.

"Or you know, you can just call for whatever. Later." And with that, he was out the front door. Roxas stared blankly after him, trying to process what had just happened. He sat there for about five minutes before the front door opened again, revealing Seifer. The older boy gave Roxas a skeptical sneer and folded his arms over his chest.

"What are you looking at?"

"…somebody was just here to see you," Roxas retorted, packing up his book and papers.

"Who?" Seifer raised an eyebrow, already heading over to the couch to claim it as his.

"That red-haired boy you're always with," Roxas chose his words carefully, picking up everything and moving out of Seifer's way. He didn't want to sound suspicious.

"…you mean Axel?"

"I guess that's his name."

"What'd he want? And go get me a soda," Seifer ordered, already changing the channel on the TV. Rolling his eyes slightly, Roxas obeyed his oldest brother and wandered into the kitchen, grabbing a can of soda and returning it.

"He didn't say, he just stopped by and said he was looking for you. He left though."

"Yeah, obviously." Seifer rolled his eyes. "Whatever, it probably wasn't anything important anyway."

"Probably not," Roxas muttered.

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing. Going up to do my homework," the youngest blond called over his shoulder as he raced up the stairs, getting as far away from Seifer as possible. He stopped shortly inside his bedroom door, shutting it behind him and dropping his books on the floor. In one hand, he held Axel's phone number; in the other, his cell phone. Sneaking a glance over his shoulder both ways, he quickly plugged in Axel's number and saved it to his address book, crawling under his desk and sending the original note through the shredder.

-------------------------------

"Seriously, don't you have anywhere else to be?" A brunet boy asked from the kitchen of a small apartment, rearranging the bouquet of flowers that rested in the middle of the table.

"Yeah, Axel. People might start to think that you're living here too," the other brunet commented from his position on the couch, sprawling out and stretching.

"Oh come on guys, you can't tell me that you don't love having me over," Axel argued, dropping himself onto the couch, sitting on top of the other boy's feet. Demyx grunted and kicked Axel, pulling his feet out from under the extra weight.

"Of course we do, but you always eat our food and use our shower and our washing machine and-"

"Marluxia, cool it," Demyx cut off the other boy. "You know Axel's got it kind of rough right now."

"So I've heard," Marluxia mumbled under his breath, turning his attention back to the boiling pot of soup. "Ax, are you staying for dinner?"

"…are you going to let me stay?"

"Might as well," Marluxia sighed, stirring the soup and checking on the sandwiches he was grilling.

"Then fuck yeah I'm staying. I'm starving. Thanks for the offer, Marly!" Axel grinned cheekily and settled even further into the couch, swiping the remote from Demyx's hand. Instead of getting angry, Demyx merely laughed and rolled his eyes.

"You're horrible," he simply said, amusement lacing his voice.

"So I've heard," Axel repeated Marluxia's earlier words, stopping on Dr. Phil. "Do you think this quack really knows what he's even talking about?"

"Depends on the topic." Marluxia came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of sandwiches and dropping it on the table in front of the other two boys. Axel immediately seized one and took a huge bite, savoring the flavor and chewing slowly. Marluxia might have had a permanent stick up his metrosexual ass, but he did know how to cook. His attention returned to the TV, briefly tuning in to listen to what Dr. Phil was talking about that day.

'Oh, pedophiles. How lovely.' He thought idly, finishing off his first sandwich and reaching for another. He stopped in mid-bite then, a thoughtful look crossing his features.

"...Axel?" Demyx called his name, waving a hand in front of his face. The green-eyed boy blinked and returned back to earth.

"Yeah?"

"You were doing it again," Demyx informed him.

"Sorry, just thinking."

"Oh? Care to share?" Demyx sat up in interest, gnawing on his own sandwich.

"…can I ask you something without you judging or freaking out on me?"

"Of course…I'm your best friend. I'm not allowed to judge you," Demyx joked, leaning back against the couch. "So what's on your mind?"

"Okay so…let's say there's this 17 year old…and there's this other boy that the 17 year old is mildly interested in. But, the 17 year old is a little wary about doing anything because of the age difference."

"What's the other boy's age?"

"Uh…he just recently turned 15." Demyx raised an eyebrow for a second, blinking in surprise and it was then Axel realized that Demyx looked slightly retarded when he tried doing both. That wasn't the issue though; the issue was that Demyx hadn't answered him yet.

"That's actually not too bad. I mean, if you want to hear about bad, ask Luxia."

"What? Why?" It was Axel's turn to raise his eyebrow.

"Oh no reason…other than he's almost 19 and scamming on a 14 year old!" Demyx shouted. Axel chose that exact moment to choke on the bite of food in his mouth.

"What?" he coughed, looking at Demyx with wide eyes.

"It's true."

"What's true?" Marluxia questioned, walking back into the room with a tray of soup.

"You're hitting on a 14 year old?" Axel asked in disbelief. Marluxia let out an exasperated sigh and contemplated whether he should pour Demyx's soup over his head or leave it in the bowl.

"It's not as bad as it sounds all right? Naminé's actually really mature for her age. She's not like most freshmen," Marluxia defended himself, settling into a chair kitty-corner from the other two boys.

"Okay, sure whatever you say," Axel snickered, grabbing his soup and slurping at it.

"Well you're not much better. You're almost 18 and scamming on a barely 15 year old!"

"I don't turn 18 'til May though!"

"And I don't turn 19 until March!"

"Guys!" Demyx broke them up. "Does it matter, honestly? Besides, we have bigger issues to discuss."

"Like what?" Both boys blinked in confusion.

"Like…do we know this boy, Axel?" Demyx grinned. Axel rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I highly doubt it…and no, I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not? I told you about Naminé; it's only fair that you tell us about your mystery boy," Marluxia protested.

"Yeah but that doesn't mean that I know who she is!"

"So…does that mean we would know who the guy is?" Demyx cut in again.

"You guys frustrate me…lots. And lots." Axel sulked, slurping up the rest of his soup and setting the bowl on the tray again. "Maybe I'll tell you later, I don't know. Let me toy with him a little bit longer and see if it's even worth it."

"So I guess this means you're over Leon huh?" Marluxia dipped his sandwich into his soup, biting into the semi-soggy bread.

"Oh, of course. Mostly…"

"Are you, or aren't you?" Demyx questioned.

"Mostly," Axel repeated, getting to his feet and pulling his shoes back on. "Look, you know you guys are like the brothers I've never had right?"

"Of course." Marluxia nodded.

"Then just back off a bit and trust me on this one. I promise I'll keep you updated on this one," Axel promised, already heading for the front door.

"You definitely promise?" Demyx asked, watching Axel closely. He trusted him, really he did…but, he was Axel. Axel always had something up his sleeve.

"Of course I do." Axel nodded and grinned slightly. "Now, you know how I hate to dine and dash, but I've really got to get going. I've got a shitload of homework to finish up. Thanks for dinner guys." He waved and opened the front door.

"Anytime, Axel," Marluxia sighed heavily, still eating his dinner and changing the channel to HGTV.

"Bye, Red!" Demyx waved back and with that, Axel was gone. Demyx shifted his gaze toward Marluxia, green eyes dancing with mischief.

"So..."

"So…?" Marluxia repeated, looking away from the TV and back at Demyx.

"Who do you think Axel's mystery boy is?"

"Dem, if Axel doesn't want to tell us, he doesn't have to tell us," Marluxia reasoned, returning his attention back to the TV.

"But I wanna know," Demyx whined, pouting slightly for extra emphasis.

"…well…maybe we can do a little bit of investigative work. C'mon," Marluxia said, setting down his empty soup bowl and heading into his bedroom, Demyx trotting along right behind him.

-------------------------

"Roxas, pick up the fucking phone!" Seifer shouted from downstairs. Roxas reached over to his right and picked up the cordless phone.

"Hello?"

"Uh…hi, Rox," Kairi's voice spoke from the other side of the line.

"Oh, hey Kairi!" Roxas pushed himself away from the computer desk, heading over to his bed. "What's up?"

"…did I call at a bad time? Your brother sounded kind of pissed off," she pointed out the obvious, but Roxas didn't say that.

"Nah, he always sounds like that, don't worry. So what are you doing?" he asked, shifting around on his bed to find a comfortable position.

"Nothing really, just working on this stupid assignment for math. What about you?"

"…nothing out of the ordinary," Roxas replied, glancing at the computer from the corner of his eye.

"Sounds like fun, really."

"Well of course it is," Roxas let out a nervous laugh, immediately cringing.

'I sound like a loser.'

"How could I ever have thought otherwise?" Kairi laughed as well, causing Roxas to grin.

'Okay, so maybe not that much of a loser.'

"So um…what made you call me?" he asked, fiddling with the edge of his blanket.

"Well…Sora said you were smart with math. Think you could help me out?"

"Depends…what are you working with?"

"Inequalities," Kairi groaned, rolling her eyes. "They just kind of suck." Roxas chuckled and leaned back against his pillows.

"Well I can't exactly help you without seeing what I'm doing."

"So write it down," Kairi barely got out before she started reading off numbers and equations, leaving Roxas' head spinning as he tried solving it for her.

"Okay…I think I figured it out. You have to solve for x and to do that you have to multiple the first set of the equation by the third set divided by the square root of x minus 12 to the second. Does that make any sense?"

"Truthfully? No," Kairi replied, laughing slightly.

"What number problem is this?"

"Thirteen."

"Check the back of the book then. They always have the odd numbers in back," Roxas suggested. "I know you don't like cheating, but seriously, just do it." Kairi flipped to the back of the book, copying down the answer listed there.

"I don't like this…but I'll live with it. Thanks for trying though."

"No problem," Roxas replied. Suddenly it hit him; he just had to pull an Axel. "Say Kairi, maybe I could just tutor you sometime, show you how to solve this shit so that you don't have to call me every time you get stuck."

"…yeah sure, that'd work out great," Kairi replied shortly after, sounding rather thoughtful. Roxas licked his dry lips and swallowed thickly, going even further.

"And then maybe on Friday I can take you out," he said slowly, waiting for her to say no.

"Take me out?" Kairi repeated.

"You know…like a date…" Silence filled the line as the two teens sat, one thinking of an answer and one waiting impatiently.

"…yeah. I'd like that."

"You would? I mean, yeah, okay! That's great!" Roxas smiled widely. "So Friday night we'll go out."

"On a date," Kairi reminded him with another small laugh.

"Right. On a date. And tomorrow I can come over and help you with math.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Okay, awesome! So, I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing. See ya later, Roxy!" Kairi said her goodbye and hung up the phone, leaving Roxas to do the same thing. Roxas grinned again and pumped a victory fist into the air.

"Yes!"

"Yes what?" Seifer inquired, sticking his head into the doorway. Roxas didn't even bother glaring at the older boy for entering without permission.

"I've got a date for Friday!"

"With a girl?"

"Duh."

"Hmm…must not be that great of a girl if she's going out with you."

"Shut up!"

"Is she hot?"

"Uh…I guess."

"Bang her."

"What?" Roxas' eyes widened. Seifer merely shrugged and swiped the phone out of Roxas' hand.

"You heard me. You might not get another chance after this to do her."

"…I'm not having sex with Kairi! Are you crazy! I'm 15!"

"So? Age doesn't matter for you, you're male."

"Seifer, stop being sick…and gimme back my phone," he demanded and lunged for the cordless phone.

"Why? So you can call that little faggot friend of yours?"

"So what if I was?"

"Too bad, squirt. I need to call Rai and Fuu. Just use your cell phone." Seifer walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him, taking Roxas' phone with him.

"Ass," Roxas muttered, glancing over at his computer. A devious smile replaced his dreamy one as he slipped into his desk chair, logging onto the internet. It wasn't even ten minutes before he got the results he wanted.

"Roxas you little bitch, get offline!" Seifer hollered from the other end of the hall. Roxas calmly rose out of his chair, locked the bedroom door, and turned on his stereo, blasting music through his room and pretending like he couldn't hear his brother.

He'd definitely pay for it tomorrow; but today was his day. Nothing could stop him now.

----------------------

He was all over her, kissing her deeply yet softly. She was pressed against the wall, red hair being held in his hand that supported her head. Soft, tiny little hands made their way up his shirt, caressing his ab muscles and trailing cool fingers in little patterns. He pulled his lips away from hers, moving his own down to her neck and sucking on the sensitive flesh lightly.

She tasted of strawberries and jasmine.

His own hands slipped up her shirt as well, trailing to the back of her bra and unhooking it with ease. She slowly unbuttoned her shirt, removing both shirt and bra and throwing them onto the floor. She pulled his shirt over his own head and threw it on the floor in the pile she had started. She pushed him back toward the bed, guiding him backwards until he felt his back hit the mattress. She stood above him and slowly slipped out of her skirt, pushing it down to her ankles. Lavender panties were all that were left on her. She rolled down the skimpy piece of fabric, tossing it carelessly on the bedpost. He quickly yanked off his pants and boxers, standing up again to meet her eyes. Blue eyes were dark with lust as she pushed him down again, knocking him flat against the mattress. She climbed onto the bed as well and straddled him down. He closed his eyes slowly, waiting for any sign that she was ready.

That sign never came though because the next thing he knew, he was on his stomach with his face in the pillow, additional weight on top of him. He looked back over his shoulder and found himself meeting cat-like green eyes. He opened his mouth to protest but let out a loud scream as searing pain soared through his anal cavity. Pain blinded him briefly and he turned away, waiting until he could see straight to tell the other boy off.

He never got that far though. The other boy suddenly hit the younger boy's prostate, sending pleasure rippling throughout his body. Little cries and moans of pleasure left his mouth. He could hear the red-haired boy's ragged breathing in his ear, warning him that he was close. Larger fingers trailed down to the younger's crotch, wrapping around his member and pumping slowly. He was soon being pumped in time with the green-eyed boy's thrusts and without warning came with a loud shriek all over the other's hand. Not long after that, he felt warmth flood into his body as the older boy rode out his orgasm. He felt the other pull out of him and settle in beside him. He turned and curled up next to him, cuddling for the source of warmth. Green eyes filled with love and compassion fixated onto him, a small smile playing on pale lips.

"Roxas…you're going to be late for school."

"Huh?" Roxas blinked in confusion.

"I said, you're going to be late for school! Come on, get up already!" Hayner tugged at his younger brother's blankets, poking him until the other boy would wake up. Roxas opened his eyes blearily and peered up at Hayner.

"Wha…?" he mumbled, still feeling tired and disoriented. Hayner, on the other hand, was smirking at him.

"We're talking about this later. School starts in half an hour," he said and walked out of the room, snickering slightly as he went. Roxas still wasn't quite sure what he found so amusing but decided to brush it off. After all, Hayner was kind of nuts. He yawned quietly and stretched his limbs, jerking slightly in surprise as he felt his leg brush against something wet.

Come to think of it…his pajama bottoms felt kind of wet too…not to mention his boxers. Roxas flipped the blanket back and looked at his bed, instantly feeling his cheeks grow warm.

"What. The. Fuck.," he stated, staring down at his wet sheets. "Fuck," he muttered as he set to work, already feeling the onset of a bad mood. Suddenly it hit him like a bullet train. Hayner was laughing because he knew!

"Shit." Roxas rolled his eyes heavenward and prayed to every deity that he could think of that Hayner didn't hear much of anything, not even giving his dream a second thought.

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Dun dun dun! Yes, after two months, I'm back with a new chapter! Sorry for the wait, I recently started college so...yeah.

Anyway, thanks to: JohnneyAntonelli, inoku, random fan, redmushrooms, Astrazoxity, Shimmy123, CrimsonRose18, Kenpachi, Cringe, Shiguna, Cherky, Squirrelgurl, DragonDame57, Dreamcrafter, RaeDragongirl, bcz, amandazgreat, Naughty Sensei, Dreaming in HD, uki-fune, Mako, silentxlovex, Amber-chan, Midnights Heart, DanteMoon, AngelicOrgueil, Tysonkaiexperiment and black vapor. You guys rock and I love you.

Well, can't stay for long, must run off to work now! Feedback is love and hope you enjoyed chapter four!

Also, thanks to Apwil like always for editing shit for me. I heart you.