So... I'm back! Did you miss me? :D Hope so!

Sorry for the delay, but right now I'm balancing Tantalize, Adrenaline, and The Never Better Syndrome for the Kingdom Hearts section and then about four others elsewhere... a hopeless cause? Yes... I would think so. But! I've already started and it would be a shame to stop just because I'm a horrible procrastinator...

Anywho!

Thank you ALL for reviewing! It really made me smile to see what EVERYONE had to say! Sorry if I haven't responded to any questions, my current ap classes are kicking my butt beacuse of all of the tests they want to cram down my throat, but never fear! Lias has it under control!

And yes, I did just speak in third person.

I'm currently running on very few hours of sleep, so I do apologize for any spelling errors in advance! Just point them out to me so that I know that I really can't spell good running on low energy. :D I'm just a dork like that.

Enjoy! :)

Roxas:

I was contemplating suicide.

Correction… I was going to commit suicide.

There, much better.

With the way Demyx and Axel kept me in between them as we shifted to the next class, chemistry, it was like they were in the secret service.

"Hey, Axel, I wonder… what would it be like to have gills?"

Ok… a very incompetent secret service.

"It would be hard to breathe, Dem." Axel replied easily, turning me this way and that, nodding cheerfully and smugly nudging me to wave as a few people called my name and informed me that they liked my hair. How many people knew Sora, anyway?! A lot of girls, but the looks of it, and yet he didn't date? That was suspicious in itself… he acted like he was girl crazy, but was he? Or maybe he just acted like a girl…

That sounded just about right.

"Er, why?" Demyx asked, confused. I let a harsh breath out of the side of my mouth and looked at him, slightly annoyed.

"He was being a smart-aleck. If you had gills above water, it would be quite impossible to breathe because animals that have gills live underwater and the gills reject the water they inhale for the oxygen in it." I explained as I readjusted my bag and flinched when Axel let out a low chuckle and ruffled my hair. No wonder Sora's hair was always messed up… his friends kept him from looking decent!

"Well isn't he a smart one." Axel chided smugly, turning me down another hallway and leading me into a room where a slightly intimidating man stood at the doorway, glaring with narrowed eyes. His long, light blonde hair framed his face and made his vicious blue eyes stand out. As we passed him he let out a low hiss of anger, and I flinched away from him, brushing against Axel and getting whiff of something that smelled strongly like cigarettes and the cologne, curve. Instead of repulsing me though at the obvious scent of smoke, I was drawn in. It was almost like a calming thing, and I took an instinctive breath in, closing my eyes for a moment to relax from the stress that I could feel building up. God, he smelled… so good. It was amazing, and I took in another slow breath, not noticing Axel staring at me with a frown on his face, as well as confusion.

"You ok?" Axel asked, and I jerked out of my light stupor, shaking my head and feeling my ears burn as I walked towards the lab tables and followed Demyx to the back of the room where a familiar catch of pink hair caught my eye.

"Never better…" I muttered softly.

"Sit with Marluxia." Axel nudged me to the blob of pink and I gave him withering glare, embarrassed with the fact that not only had I leaned in towards him like a captivated teenager, but I also liked how he smelled. One word: mortifying.

"No need to touch me." I snapped as I moved around a group of girls and delicately let my bag fall onto the lab bench. The pink haired man raised an eyebrow at me as I slid onto the stool, and I felt a little nervous to see him staring. What, did this guy want to gawk at me, too?! He looked slightly feminine with the thick pink hair that fell around his shoulders and his slim build, but his slightly angular face made it clear he wasn't a pushover. The way he stared at me with blue/green eyes made me a little unsettled.

"Are you gay?" He asked me bluntly, leaning in to study the way I couldn't help but turn a violent shade of red at his question. Across the bench from us, Axel and Demyx were watching me with similar smirks, silently shaking with laughter at the way I stared, wide-eyed at the pink haired man who had the nerve to ask me what I was. Did he not see how he looked to other people!?

"I- uh, I'm not- I'm not gay." I replied, gritting my teeth and glaring, clearly out of my element with these people. All three guys leaned back with the exact same look of disbelief on their faces, letting out gusts of breath and shaking their heads slowly, rolling their eyes.

"It must be a Strife family flaw…" Pinky stated gravely.

"They all deny it!" Demyx exclaimed.

"Well, just two… the other two seem perfectly normal." Axel shrugged, laughing at the look of confusion and slight mortification on my face.

"I- you can't be serious- you can't seriously think that we're- we're-" I stuttered, clutching my brother's shirt tightly.

"Honey, my gay-dar's never wrong." Demyx informed me slowly, tapping his head. My mouth snapped shut at that, and I glared menacingly at him, knowing my face was still red and childish looking, but not caring one iota about it. Maybe it would make me appear a bit fiercer? They didn't seem all that fazed though, so I have a slight hunch that my brother had warned them about me.

Ah, way to make myself sound like I had psychological problems…

"You must have some sort of screw loose in your brain because I'm not gay." I snapped, pulling out the chemistry book and binder to distract myself from their ridiculous antics. Axel kept laughing at me though, even when Demyx awkwardly looked down, put out by my hostilities and pinky looked away, bored with the conversation already.

"You're a feisty one." Axel commented as I gave a slight look of horror when I pulled out the book to see it in worse condition than the other. What did my brother do to get his books this disgusting? Pulling out the clumps of paper and prying the chunk of gum off with a pencil, I began sorting through papers and ignoring Axel's expectant gaze as he waited for me to reply. As the bell rang and the strange teacher walked into the doorway, I kept working through the nasty pile of trash that had managed to build up in the book, sorting once again by size, grade value, and shape.

And that's how that class went. It took me the entire hour and forty five minutes to get everything in order, my task becoming complex when I could feel three different stares on me, one of them lingering longer than the others. When I looked up, pinky and Demyx had the decency to look away or pretend not to have looked at all, but oh no, Axel just kept staring right on at me, face thoughtful and amused as I'd give him a dark look and continue working, setting the chemistry work aside and slightly surprised that the teacher didn't comment on this lab bench's lack of participation.

What was he staring at me for?!

When the bell rang I was pulled to my feet and promptly pushed and prodded down another long hall, people waving towards our group every now and then as they saw someone they knew. Or, well, someone they thought they knew. People on left wing seemed a little denser than the right wing students. Was my disguise really all that impressive? Was it really as simple as clothing, books, and face shape to convince people of who you really are?

Well, it did help that we were twins… but I digress.

The group guided me down a set of stairs and then took a left, chattering brightly to each other and kindly leaving me out of their conversation. I think it was finally sinking in with them that I wasn't ever going to like them. Ever.

"I wonder how 'Roxas' is holding up." Demyx said thoughtfully, looking up to the connecting hallway where the AP students were moving towards either their next class or to lunch. Because there were so many students, our lunch ran on a schedule of four lunches each, lasting thirty minutes roughly. Thankfully I had first lunch on both days, but as we neared the actual lunchroom I began to be nervous. What would happen if someone recognized me? What happened if I had to talk to more people? How was I supposed to be Sora when I was feeling the feelings I felt as Roxas? Sora wasn't nervous around people so he naturally had many friends, but I wasn't so lucky! This was where I'd mess up, I was sure.

And Axel kept staring at me!

I turned to give him a famous Roxas-Strife-shrivel-your-eyes-from-your-sockets glare, but when the sound of the cafeteria grew, I could feel myself wanting to draw away from the noise and leave. Instead of glaring, I felt my head turning to stare morosely at the ground in front of me, hands stuffed into my pockets. To distract myself I mentally counted steps.

"Probably don't want to count those steps when we hit the chow-hall; Sora isn't that weird."

Dammit! Why did that keep happening to me?!

Axel:

There was no doubt about it; I was screwed. Whether the kid realized it or not, I couldn't keep my eyes from drifting towards him. It was kind of like a slap in the face to do that though because I wasn't supposed to like this kid, at all. But I'll be damned if he didn't look so uke-cute that it was a sin. If only his personality wasn't the equivalent of a clam with rabies, I'd be in trouble.

"Six, seven, eight…" And he was counting his steps again! Looking back at Demyx and Marluxia incredulously, I shook my head and tapped his shoulder, jumping back as he jerked away and gave me a murderous glare that made a little of me die inside.

"No need to imagine me impaled on a rock; just letting you know that you're counting again." I grinned smugly as his eyes grew a fraction of an inch bigger before his ears turned red and he hung his head, scuffing his brother's shoes on the ground, hands clenched in his pockets. What was with this guy? I'd almost been joking when I said he had sutas, but the longer the day dragged on with this kid, the more I decided that I was onto something with this disease. I could be a worldwide famous scientist who discovered the reason why siblings were such pains in their brothers' asses. I would be rich for that, I'm telling you right now.

As we walked into the cafeteria I dragged Roxas through the line, not wanting to lose sight of him and get into trouble for losing Sora's emo brother. The kid didn't put up much of a fight though, his eyes jumping from place to place and his hands stuffed into his pockets like they were stuck there or something. When Belle walked past and waved, I noticed that his fists would clench in his pockets and he would grit his teeth painfully like it hurt him to be noticed.

"You'll be discovered, acting like that and all. Loosen up a bit, will you?" I began guiding him to the group where everyone was seated, eating and joking around.

"I'm trying." Roxas said through gritted teeth. Glancing down at him-seriously, how short was this kid?!-I saw the way his eyes darted around, almost nervously, and I laughed, not able to help myself. Was this kid really that anti-social that he hated being around people? Oh man, that was just priceless. Really.

"Never take drama class." I advised him, nudging him towards the blind spot where people wouldn't notice him unless he moved in my direction. We didn't need any AP kiddos seeing him and ruining our plans now did we?

For Sora, I'd say no.

"So this is the guy?" Larxene leaned in slightly, her eyes sparkling with sadistic amusement. Marluxia was sitting next to her but I could tell that there was tension. Obviously he wasn't off the hook yet.

"Yeah, this is 'Sora'." Demyx make little hand quotations and smiled brightly as Roxas pulled his lunch out and stared at it dejectedly.

"Scrawny little thing, isn't he?" She asked curiously, tilting her head to watch as his ears turned red and he forced himself to concentrate on the PBJ and the Doritos. Demyx reached around him and handed him his ho-ho, stealing his chips that I promptly stole from him to give him my baked Doritos. Roxas didn't even look up from his lunch to watch the exchange, though he seemed a little happier to see the ho-ho than the Doritos.

"Not anorexic or anything like Axel is." Marluxia bit into his chicken fingers and looked over at Roxas speculatively. "Though he denies being gay." Larxene raised an eyebrow at the still unresponsive blondie.

"That's interesting… do you think it's genetic?" She asked coolly, aware that Roxas was gripping his sandwich a bit too tightly to be normal. Slightly fearing that he would snap and go crazy ape-shit, I edged away a little, leaving Larxene wide open.

"Probably not, he just doesn't believe in a gay-dar." Demyx said brightly, tapping his head and ruffling Roxas's hair. Said blonde flinched away from the gesture and I imagined him hissing like a snake. Smirking at the thought, I didn't notice him looking up at me with his death ray until it was too late. Dammit, I was staring again!

"Do you think that he-"

"Good Lord, maybe you should simply direct the questions towards me since I'm the subject of your scrutiny? I believe I could answer them better than any dimwitted fool here." (A/N- Am I the only one who pictures him speaking with a British accent here?) Roxas finally snapped, dropping his sandwich to the floor and leveling Larxene with the glare I'd just gotten moments ago. Demyx flinched and we both turned worriedly to asses Larxene's reaction to his direct attack. Marluxia was holding her hand and starting to say something, but Larxene merely smirked and leaned in, eyes deadly.

"I could snap your neck in eight different ways, kid." She whispered sadistically. I looked over at Roxas to see his eyes a wee bit wider than before and his mouth hung open in slight shock. Yeah… Larxene had that affect on people. Clearing his throat a little, Roxas leaned back and shook his head slowly, disgust pouring out of him like a waterfall.

"You're a monstrosity." He stated calmly, making me face-palm and Larxene grin brightly.

"Why, thank you." She simpered before releasing Marluxia's hand to continue eating.

As the ending of lunch grew to a close, I began to be a little nervous. It was a two day, meaning we had classes 2,4,6, and 8. Classes were fine and all… if I ever showed up to them. But the next class was one that as students it was our sole duty to never attend. In fact, the only kids that ever attended were ones that had no life, no hope, or no self-preservation.

Health class.

We all had health class together, and we all happily skipped it, deciding to hang out at the front of the school like we had an off campus study hall. Did we have off campus study hall? No. but no one ever asked, so we never got caught. And usually we were all fine and dandy with that idea because it never occurred that we'd have Mr.-I-attend-all-of-my-classes on our backs for a month. I knew that Demyx wouldn't have the courage to convince him to skip with us and Marluxia wouldn't care either way. Larxene wouldn't have the patience, so naturally that hellish lot would fall to me. How in the world was I going to convince the star student to skip?

Maybe I could tie him up and just drag him along with us? Ah, that would work… until I had to untie him for his drama class with Demyx. Then he'd really go nuts! Or we could just knock him out… he'd have a concussion the size of Europe, so he couldn't complain! Or maybe I could just ask him to shut his yap and follow nicely? Maybe that approach would soften him up into actually complying with my wishes?

Yeah… No.

And so it continued… the list of ideas ran from setting him on fire to just abandoning him to the mercy of health class. That was tempting, but I knew I'd have to face Sora afterwards, and that would just be painful. He could make anyone feel guilty with just a stare alone. Why? Because he was innocent looking, innocent acting, and- hell, he's just innocent. Nothing could touch the kid.

And then the bell rang and I almost pissed my pants. Everyone stood up in unison except Roxas and me, him calmly putting his trash together and moving across the way to dump it in the trash can the way Sora never would. I was about to make my way over to him to correct him like he was a little puppy dog when I saw another kid intercept him on his way back. He was wiping his hands like he had something undesirable on them and his lips were lax in obvious depression, but when he saw the guy making his way towards him his eyes grew a fraction bigger and his mouth snapped shut like someone had slapped it.

"Hey, Roxas!"

Oh.

Oh no.

It was an AP kid.

I stopped from running over and stopping the meeting, knowing that it would simply give things away faster. What could I do? It hit me that the AP kid probably didn't know that "Roxas" had dyed his hair yet… and thought that this was just an out of the norm sighting of his anti-social school mate. Or maybe he'd seen Sora and now he was freaking out because he thought he was going crazy?!

He seemed not to have noticed how Roxas's outfit had changed, or his hair for that matter. Or maybe he was running the comparisons in his head? What if he was comparing Sora and Roxas in his mind, confused. Oh no… what if he figured it out? These AP kids weren't there for no reason… they were smart!

Roxas's back was to me, but I could see that something was different about him. Around us, his back was ram-rod straight and his fists were clenched. The Roxas that I was staring at though… honestly looked like Sora. He looked relaxed and was actually swinging his arms back and forth, rocking on the balls of his feet. The AP kid was nodding slowly and thoughtfully, his face a little embarrassed as he listened to what Roxas had to say. The AP kid then glanced over at me and then nodded in understanding. What?! What was Roxas saying about me?! Oh, oh no…

He was laughing.

Why were they laughing?!

The AP kid seemed a little awkward as he laughed and raised an eyebrow to a beaming Roxas.

Wait, a beaming Roxas!?

His smile… was huge. It was a bright, rainbows and kittens smile that looked like it would be welcoming on an actually happy and loving person. It was a stunning smile that mirrored Sora's so well that it was almost like a slap in the face. In front of the other kid he looked so relaxed and happy that it was like seeing another person.

If he acted like that all the time then it would be only a matter of time before the smile was a natural one instead of a fake one. And though I mentally back handed myself for thinking it, I couldn't help but think that it was a pretty nice smile for a face like his. I'll give you a moment to shake your head at my hopeless situation.

Take your time.

… Are we good?

Good.

Saying something to the AP kid Roxas let out a bubbly, excited laugh before waving and making his way towards me, a light about him and a bounce in his step. Giving me a light wave he passed by me and turned the corner, heading towards health class.

Turning back to the kid with the shit-eating grin still covering his face, I scowled as he smirked and wiggled his fingers at me before walking away, all high and mighty.

Oh. He was going to get it.

"Whoa, little one." I grabbed his shoulder and inwardly winced as he let out a muted curse under his breath. Whirling around he yanked his shoulder from my grasp and fixed me with a baby murdering glare.

Yeah… regular Roxas was back.

"Where are you going?" I asked him blankly, my actual question running right out of my brain. My actual question really was something along the lines of, "What the hell was that?!" But I withheld the desire to ask him. I had a feeling that he would bite my head off.

"To class." He replied shortly. "I suggest that you do the same." At this I froze and scratched my head awkwardly, ruffling my spikes and shrugging. This was the moment; this was where I blurted out what I'd held back since lunch.

"Uh… we don't really… go to class during this period." I informed him lamely. Roxas froze at that and stared long and hard at me, his icy blue eyes narrowing as he processed the words I'd just spoken. Suddenly I doubted that he had actually flashed that smile in the lunch room earlier.

"So are you saying… that my brother skips class when he should be in health class?" Roxas asked me quietly, gaze not wavering. If anything, he seemed to zero in on my face like he was trying to burn the skin off.

"I…yes." I really had no good reply to his question. It was either that or lie and him turn around and go to health to be eternally scarred. Sora had put him under my care, so I was stuck with him whether I wanted him or not.

"And he has been doing this since the beginning of the school year?" He asked in a very dangerous voice. Meekly, I nodded under his death gaze and he rolled his eyes, probably disgusted to be looking at me.

There was silence between us as the bell rang again for a two minute warning and students milled around us, either going to class or lunch.

"And do you honestly expect me to condone this?" Roxas finally asked me angrily. Pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and pointer finger I exhaled slowly. Though I was a little terrified of what he was going to do to me, it was still frustrating to have to have this battle. Sora just skipped, that simple. Why did his brother have to act like it was against the law?

"Sora does it." I hedged.

"This does not make it an acceptable thing." Roxas countered just as easily, if not angrier.

Sighing, I scratched my ear before I shrugged and leaned down close to him. I didn't want to make it a battle and I was just annoyed enough to pull off what I was about to do. I don't recommend this for anyone under the age of 16 or anyone who has to deal with a very smart teenager who suffers from stick up the ass syndrome.

"Look," I said softly, trying to match his murderous stare, "I'm going to break it down in a way that you can understand. You're an AP student, right, Roxas? You can keep up then. You've got a cover. In order to keep your cover you have to do certain things that you don't necessarily want to do. Instead of seething and moping around like a child, how about you suck it up like a man and stop acting like I've asked you for your first born child on a platter." Straightening up to my full height I assessed the way his eyes flashed in begrudging acceptance before I smiled brightly and put my arm around his shoulder to guide him towards outside and temporary freedom from school.

"I am only complying with this to get this hell over with as soon as possible." He informed me with gritted teeth. I laughed brightly at that and shrugged, uncaring. I had one month to rip the proverbial stick from Roxas's ass and so the first day wasn't necessarily going to be the nicest day. I was planning on it being an absolute hell. And hey, if Roxas wanted to rise to the fight, I wasn't going to burst his bubble. He would loosen up sooner or later, that was just a fact of life. And once he did then I wouldn't have to deal with his b.s. whenever Sora wanted to hang out with my friends and me.

"Oh, I know. I know all about the bet, Roxas. You hang out with us for a month; if we can't sway your decision then Sora doesn't hang out with us." He nodded along to my words, apparently satisfied that I understood.

"And with the way you and your rabble are behaving, you're not going to win any popularity votes." He said scathingly. Rolling my eyes I shrugged and informed myself that I didn't care, really. He could talk all he wanted but any human that spent enough time around us was bound to loosen up, which was Sora's original objective anyway. Sure, Roxas thought that he was getting involved in a bet that would "help" him get rid of Sora's nasty friends… but he didn't know that it was my job to show him a good time away from school and away from his whole depression that he'd lodged himself into. That was ok though because if he knew that that was Sora's goal, he'd never allow it. Apparently, he was just difficult like that.

"Well it's nice to know where I stand, Roxy." I forced myself to say cheerfully, giving him a wink.

"If you're going to make obnoxious, annoying nicknames for me then can you please create one that's not centered around a girl's name?" Roxas bit out scathingly. Laughing, I shook my head.

"But that wouldn't be a part of who I am, Roxas. And I'm all about being real with people." A little disgusted with me, Roxas rolled his eyes and looked down at the ground, mouthing numbers as he counted his steps. I watched the steps fly past us as we made our way to the designated spot, a bounce in my step as I knew that he was thoroughly annoyed with me. When someone walked past he made sure to wave and smile brightly, but other than that he followed along silently, lips pursed and face blank.

Roxas:

I hate my life.

Correction… I hate Sora's life.

There, much better.

As we reached the official "skipping spot" I detangled myself from Axel's hold and promptly seated myself on the stone wall next to Demyx who was listening to music and swinging his legs along to the beat. Marluxia's and Larxene were talking about something that sounded strangely like overthrowing a party plan and Axel sat on the other side of Demyx, listening with an easy smile on his face.

I really dislike that man.

"Do you want to listen to my music?" Demyx asked cheerfully, pulling out a head phone to hand it to me. Shaking my head I started to let my mind wander when a head phone was shoved right into my line of vision.

"Oh, come on! I think you'd like it!" He exclaimed brightly. Glancing over at him, I raised an eyebrow.

"I don't really listen to music." I said in what I hoped to be a detached, monotone voice. Since I was breaking school rules with a band of delinquents I figured that if I treated them like I really didn't want to cooperate with their scheme then they would sooner or later get the hint and let me go to class. Honestly, Sora would be lost without me. Didn't he know that if he didn't show up to class, he'd fail? How was he going to graduate hanging out with people like this?

It was hard to keep that façade up however when I glanced at Demyx to see that he had a look on his face like he'd been kicked in the balls with steel toed boots. Next to him, Axel was shaking his head slowly and arrogantly. Honestly, what did he always have that smirk on for? He glanced over at me before his lips curled up into a Cheshire cat grin and he leaned back to watch.

Suddenly, a hand clamped down on my upper arm and I was jerked around to see Demyx staring at me with a demonic, possessed look.

"What are you-"

"What. Do. You. Mean. You. Don't. Listen. To. Music?!" He asked in a low, scary voice that made me question not only his intelligence but also his sanity. A little freaked out I leaned back and away from him, glancing over at Axel who was watching with bright eyes and a shit-eating grin.

"I mean precisely what I say; I don't listen to music." I yanked on my arm but the grip on it was surprisingly tight and strong. What did this guy do, a hundred pushups a day? His eyes took on a scary luster and he shook his head slowly, leaning in close to me.

"How can you- what makes you think that- music. Is. Life." He intoned in a dark voice. A little scared for my safety I yanked my arm out of his grip and stumbled back, tripping over his book bag, managing to lose my balance and fall flat on my ass, once again. Larxene giggled at the show and Marluxia managed to smirk before he looked back at her expectantly. And Axel…

Well, his grin had grown like he was a cat that had finally eaten the canary.

"Oh, Sora, are you ok?" Demyx's face cleared of any demonic shadows as he leapt over the bag to help me to my feet. Giving him a glower that I hoped would dispel any hope of him befriending me, I hopped back onto the wall with as much dignity that I could muster. Unabashed with my hostility Demyx hopped up next to me and sidled close, holding the ear phone out to me. Honestly, was he truly this persistent?

"Sorry, Sora, I just couldn't imagine that there was someone in this lifetime that didn't listen to music! I love it; music is beautiful!" He offered me the ear phone but I hadn't forgiven him yet. I shrugged and looked around the front of the school, watching as teachers came in and out and hardly gave our group a second glance.

"I just don't have time for music." I replied as he pushed the ear phone to me once again. Would he honestly not let up?

"Have you ever really listened to music before?" Demyx asked with wide, wide eyes. I gave him a look of disbelief and disgust but he was serious. Ok then…

"Yes, I have listened to music before. I used to listen to it quite a lot." I wasn't sure why I was sharing that information with him; maybe I thought that if I told him that he'd leave me in peace? Either way, I merely shook my head at his gasp of excitement.

"So you listened to it a long time ago! Oh, so we just have you get you back into the habit!" Demyx pressed the ear phone towards me and I glared.

"You make me sound like a project or something." I pushed the piece of junk away from me.

"Aren't you?" Axel asked quietly from his spot, his smirk still in place. In truth, I was beginning to despise his smirk. And everything about him, actually. Axel just wasn't an easy person to like. Regardless, I ignored him and focused back on Demyx's bubbliness.

"Oh yes, of course! Just listen to… hmm… wait, I've got it!" Bursting at the seams with excitement he scrolled through his I-pod that looked about the size of my hand. After a couple of seconds of searching he finally found what he was looking for and then turned to me, pressing the set of head phones in my direction.

"Look, Demyx, you probably don't have the music I enjoy." I didn't want to associate with these people; that would be helpful for Sora, not me. In order to win this bet, I had to remain detached, not involved with their antics!

"I bet you I do! I have over 8,000 songs on my I-pod, Sora, I'm sure I've got something you like." Demyx shook his head slowly at me and rolled his eyes like I was the idiot. "Music isn't complicated, silly!" He tapped my head. "It's not like those little books and complicated science that you've probably mastered like the back of your hand." He winked and then sidled the head phones closer. "Music's just…music." Seeing my slightly resigned face, he beamed. "All you have to do is just… listen." Passing me the head phones he watched as I yanked them irritably out of his grasp and glared.

"If it will shut you up." I snapped as I put them into my ears. Beaming, Demyx then pressed the play button and I waited for the head banging, screaming, drum soloist metal music that I was convinced that Sora's friends would listen to.

It never came.

It was soft at first, barely a hint of a tune that drifted from one speaker to the other. Slowly, a hint of a flute whispered around and the sound of wind whistled through. A low undertone of barely there instruments began to build into something noticeable. A smooth hum from a woman before a slow and steady drum beat added to the mix. A soft, gentle voice began reverently murmuring the words, an Italian lilt that twisted everything around and made my heart begin to burn.

No.

It wasn't.

"Yeah, I pegged you for the gentle opera styles. A closet artist, I think." Demyx's voice sounded much farther away than before as my blood began to pound and I felt my stomach turn to ice. He couldn't be playing this, could he? And yet, as the chorus hit I almost caught myself beginning to mouth the words along with The Voice, one of my favorite singers of all time.

"I mean, you wouldn't be much of a Beethoven lover, he was too rash and angry, but you didn't seem like the cut my wrists and black my eyes of Hawthorn Heights, and-" Why was this happening to me? I could hardly see the ground right below me as I looked down and tried to keep my gaze away from the group that I was with, trying to wish myself very, very far away as the music played, taunting me and threatening me with every note that the whorish flute played. Why? Why in hell would they be able to know this about me? What was so open about me that Demyx would be able to tell what music I liked?

"There's something about opera that your mother loves. Personally, I think it's how every opera always ends in tragedy."

"And I mean, why wouldn't you like it? I think that if I just gave you the CD's then-" I want to run. I want to leave. I want to get as far away from this as I can. Why, why did I let Sora trap me into this bet? Was I really ready to interact with these people and show Sora just how much he needed me to help him from making bad decisions? What made me think that I could do this when my own monsters still followed me wherever I went?

"And then if you're feeling really deadly and just itching to broaden your horizons then I can always let you have a rock opera artist, someone flashy and just attention grabbing; someone like Nightwish! She's got this amazing voice that just makes me-"

"Demyx cut it out." Axel's voice cut through his and successfully stopped his tirade about music. I was hardly aware that they were all suddenly staring at me as I burned holes into the ground with my gaze. I didn't see the way that Axel was giving me a very piercing stare as I numbly pulled the ear phones from my ears and handed them back without a side glance. Demyx's over eagerness was still intact though, and he leaned towards me brightly.

"So, was I right? Did you like Russell Watson or what?!" He demanded with far too much energy. I finally looked up at him, and right behind him I could vaguely see Axel scrutinizing me with an unreadable expression.

"He was adequate." I forced myself to say. "But music's really not in my central interest." Demyx's face fell at that, and I'm positive that Axel's eyes narrowed at my reply, but I didn't care. I would do anything to stop the roaring in my ears. Relief poured through me as the roaring faded and I almost found myself wanting to thank Axel who had inadverantly stopped Demyx from torturing me.

"Oh…I was so sure that I had you pinned! Usually I can pick anyone's favorite just by looking at them!" Demyx shook his head sadly and thumbed through his I-pod absentmindedly. Axel continued to stare at me though, the most peculiar expression on his face. If I was in a better mindset I might have been able to pinpoint what that expression was, but I couldn't. It was almost like a mix between slight surprise, wonder, and then a begrudging pity.

But I wasn't in my right mind, so I must have imagined it.

"You alright there, Sora?" Axel asked me with a raised eyebrow. I turned away from them and continued gazing at the walkway to the school in front of me, my breath squeezing from my lungs painfully as I nodded.

"I've never been better." I lied between clenched teeth.

Hit or miss? Let me know in a review!

So, there's no excuse for why this is so late... it's just hard to write Roxas in this story. In other ideas he's just such a strong and out there guy while in this one.. gah. Can't explain it!

Anywho, please review and let me know if I'm forgiven for neglecting this story! And thanks to Ldrmas for inadvertantly kicking me to finish this up to post it!

Much love! :D

Axel- Man... she must really hate us... putting off our story for basically months

Roxas- Oh, it wasn't that long, you just over exaggerate. Like a child.

Axel- At least I'm not the one who listens to opera. Psht, what a baby.

Roxas- I don't see any particular problem with opera, thank you very much!

Axel- Yeah, yeah yeah, you and what army? What about you, Lias, do you like opera?

Lias- I'm not going to lower myself to your level of immaturity... I refuse to pick on Roxas.

Axel- :3 That means yes.