Author's Note: Written for my Twilight Town post at KH Request (on LJ), for lazzchan, with the prompt: dangerous and untrustworthy. She wrote me some lovely Hayner/Naminé in return! As always, I had fun!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Predator

Seifer sees him around sometimes, on the occasions he doesn't quite succeed at blurring into the shadows or the starry net of night. The first few times his hood was always drawn and he moved like an apparition, never staying in one place long enough for Seifer to get a second look. But he must've gotten more comfortable, because lately his hood is loose over his shoulders – but he's still disappearing before Seifer has the chance to ask him what he thinks he's doing on his turf.

All in all, the kid looks lame. Gelled blonde hair and big blue puppy eyes that just scream Punch Me. But maybe he has some kind of deep voice that intimidates people. Seifer wouldn't know – the guy's never said a word, never talked to anyone. He doesn't seem to have any friends, or know anyone in town. And Seifer's asked around – no one knows him either. No one's even seen him, which just makes Seifer more pissed off knowing there's some dude in black going around making him look like a schizo. (Fuu believes him, though, so it's not as bad as it could be, and Rai would take him seriously if he told him the ocean was purple.)

Maybe he should just let it go. He's supplied Hayner's gang with a whole new insult to throw at him, and the shopkeepers sometimes give him concerned looks. It's not like he goes around screaming at the top of his lungs. He asked about the guy once, and all of a sudden it's like he's the village idiot.

But that's not even the reason, really. Seifer doesn't care what most of these small-town idiots think about him. He's going on to greater things, so why should their opinions matter?

It's the guy. He's dangerous. He's never hurt anyone, and he exactly doesn't look scary. Every time Seifer catches a glimpse of him he's just standing there, watching.

And those're the worst. Watchers. They're there for a reason. Seifer doesn't like being watched, doesn't like his friends being watched, doesn't like his town being watched. Not by anyone, and certainly not by some freak in a long black jacket. Cloak n' dagger stuff doesn't belong in a place like Twilight Town. And that's the real rub. The kid reeks of something that doesn't belong. Something unnatural. Something wrong.

Something Seifer can't fix with a struggle bat. Something he might not even be able to fix with his fists, or Rai's fists, or Fuu's quick jabs. Something that he definitely won't be able to fix if it never stands still.

But one day it does. It's afternoon, and Seifer's so surprised to see him standing there in the middle of Station Plaza that he just stops and wonders what to do for a second. For some reason, charging at him seems like a very bad idea.

"Hey," he calls, walking up slowly, carefully. It's weird to feel like the prey for once, instead of the predator. Seifer being afraid – it's just one step down from being afraid.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the guy says. His voice is soft, placid, befitting of his blonde hair and blue eyes. Seifer's hands ball into fists anyway.

"What're you doing here?" Here meaning Twilight Town, meaning the shadows, meaning the world. "Who the hell are you?"

The guy's calm like a damn pond. Doesn't even blink. "I come here to think. You don't have to worry."

"Yeah, well you do," he threatens. Maybe it's an instinct. Fuu's his better half, and if she were here, she'd know not to attack strangers in black cloaks that could be hiding anything. Alone, Seifer doesn't have time for caution.

But the guy just shakes his head, hands lax at his sides. "I wanted to tell you that. If you don't believe it, that's fine. I'm not going to fight you. You're not worth it."

"Excuse me?" Seifer might not know anything about this kid, but he knows even less about Seifer. And no one makes those kind of remarks to him, watcher or not. He slips into the skin of the predator and closes in on this punk-ass, hackles raised. "Say that to my face."

He doesn't shrink, just sighs. "Goodbye." He turns and walks away – walks away! – leaving Seifer so dumbfounded he can only stand there and stare after the guy. Not even Pence walks away – even the porker has some spunk in him. But this makes Seifer angrier than even Pence's good insults. He stalks after the guy (doesn't run, never runs), but when he rounds the corner, he's gone.

Something tells him there's no use running after him. Guy's like a shadow in the sun. If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be.

Just then, Fuu's at his side. He hadn't even noticed her light steps down the stairs toward him, or the whistle of the train pulling out of the station.

She places a hand on his elbow to snap him awake. "Who're you talking to?"

Seifer wants to growl, wants to punch something, wants to be believed by someone other than Fuu. Instead, he shirks off her touch and mutters heatedly, "Nobody."