A/N: Hey everyone! I know I've fallen off the map for a while, but here's a new multichapter story. I learned from prior experiences, so this one is actually completed already, which means I can promise uploads every Friday! Anyway, I give you Intolerance. Please Please Please read, review, and enjoy! I'm trying for 100 reviews. It's ambitious, I know, but with your help I can do it!

I don't own the characters or settings; Square Enix does.

INTOLERANCE

CHAPTER 1- Cheer Up

I lost myself in my thoughts as I fiddled with a plastic fork. Sighing, I speared a piece of what looked like asparagus.

"Hey Xion, you okay?" Aqua stared back at me, concerned.

"Huh? Oh, I'm good, yeah."

"Are you sure? You haven't eaten anything and lunch is almost over. What's wrong? You can tell me."

"Nothing. I promise. " I forced a smile. Aqua opened her mouth, but the bell interrupted her. "Gotta go," I said. Before she could get another word in, I had sprinted halfway out of the cafeteria.

Now don't get me wrong. I love Aqua; she's my best friend, and usually the mother act is comforting. But I didn't want to talk about what was going on with me. Not yet. I just wasn't ready for that.

xxx

The rest of the school day floated by and I found myself at my locker. I looked around. Two minutes after the final bell and nearly everyone had cleared out; it never failed to amaze me.

When I finished putting my books away and closed the door, I jumped. A pair of blue eyes stared back at me.

"Hey!" I joke-punched Roxas on the arm when he laughed.

"Sorry, Xi-you just make it too easy to sneak up on you."

"Oh, shut up. You're in a good mood today." We started walking down the hallway.

"Yeah," he smiled. "I got a B on my algebra test."

"That's great! I guess those study sessions with Namine are going well, huh?" I smirked and started elbowing him. "They going as well as you hoped? Huh? Huh?

Roxas blushed. "Don't be a perv. She's a really good teacher. I'm just trying hard not to look like an idiot in front of her for now."

"Who's an idiot?" Aqua said, turning from her locker to join us.

"Roxas."

"Hey!"

"Now, now, Roxas," I said, patting him on the head. "Being an idiot is turning out to be a good thing for you. If you were smart, you would have to fake it for Namine. And nobody likes a faker. It's much better that you're genuinely dumb."

"And genuinely cute." Aqua grinned and pulled his cheek. He swatted her hand away, and Aqua and I giggled. Roxas hated it when she did that to him. It probably did get annoying sometimes, but really, who doesn't like being called cute?

We joked while we walked out the front door. I smiled to myself as I listened to Roxas and Aqua talk about school and homework and gossip. Things were normal here, at least. I sighed. Home would be a different story.

xxx

When I got off the bus the next morning, I pulled out my phone to check a text from Selphie.

-OMG Xi ur not gunna bleave this!-

I started typing -Believe what? Also, would it kill you to use regular english with me? You know I'm not good at-That was the last thing I wrote before I collided with some asshole-

Holy mother of God I mean the most attractive guy I've ever seen. I was on the ground when he held out his hand to me. He was chiseled, I mean really cut. His eyes were green-blue and his hair was this perfect silvery color. And his voice-wait, was he saying something to me?

"Hey, you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't see you."

I jumped up too fast and almost smashed my head into his. He pulled his face back just in time. "No, no I'm alright," I practically shouted. God, this was not going well.

"Good. Heh, this isn't exactly the best way to start my first day," he said. He ran his fingers through his hair and grinned. He had such a nice smile...Wait. Did he say first day?

"You're new here?"

"Oh, yeah. Look at me, forgetting my manners. I'm Riku. It's nice to meet you-?"

"Xion."

"Xion." He smiled again. He's really gonna have to stop doing that in front of me. "That's a pretty name."

"Oh," I giggled. I was probably blushing, too. God. The bell rang and saved me from any further, girly embarrassment.

"Looks like I gotta go. Do you by any chance have Mr. Xigbar for homeroom?"

"No, I've got Marluxia. But maybe I'll see you in some of my other classes?" I asked.

"I'd like that." He grinned again before running inside. My heart skipped a few beats as I watched him go. Uugh. Why was this happening to me? I wasn't an airhead; I never got like this over boys. Besides, I had more important things to worry about.

"Hey Xi!" I turned to see Roxas running up to me. "*Huff*Huff* Ready to go?"

"Yeah, but are you? You're all out of breath...and sweaty. Don't tell me you ran here!"

"I had car troubles..."

I facepalmed. "Roxas, you do realize we have a bus system. And Aqua has a car, too."

"Oh, right." He mumbled. "Well, I'm here now."

"Yeah, I guess you are." I laughed to myself as we made our way through the double doors.

xxx

When lunchtime came around I grabbed some food and started walking to our regular table. That was when I realized something was up. Usually, Roxas sat with a group of guys-Sora, his brother Ven, Wakka, Tidus-and Aqua and I had our own table with Selphie and Olette. Today everyone had packed into the girls' spot, and when they saw me coming they all stopped talking. I froze. "Ummm...hey guys."

Aqua called me over to a spot near her, and I walked headfirst into the wave of awkward that was our table.

There was silence at first, then Aqua spoke up. "Xion, what's going on? You've been turning down all our offers to go out after school, and you've looked downright gloomy lately."

Had I really? I thought I'd done a good job of hiding it...

"Look Xi," Roxas joined in, "we just wanna know you're okay."

Tidus spoke, too. "We're all pretty worried."

I scratched the back of my head. What to say..."I'm fine, I've just...been having a rough time in a few classes. This year is a lot harder than freshman year." The table took a communal sigh of relief.

"But!" Sora jumped in. "Since we are the best friends anyone could ask for, we're forcing you to cheer up this weekend!"

That sounded scary. "What do you mean?"

"Soraf habbing a party at hif place." Wakka mumbled between bites of his sandwich.

"That's right," Sora nodded. "The parents are out this weekend."

"Sora, your parents are never out." I whined.

"Well they are this week." He grinned goofily. "Hey, don't even try to get out of this! You really need a break from school if it's making you so stressed."

The rest of the table murmured in agreement.

"Fine," I grumbled. Everyone cheered. The boys filtered back to their regular spot, but not before Sora jumped up on a chair and invited everyone in the cafeteria to his house on Friday.

I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"You sure school is all that's bothering you?" Selphie asked.

"Yeah," I said. Aqua kept her eyes trained on me, but it didn't matter. I still didn't want to talk. Not yet.

xxx

Friday came faster than I wanted it to. I do like parties when I'm in the mood for them, but that day I just wanted to go home and crash. The whole "school's harder this year" thing wasn't completely made up; I'd already pulled two all-nighters that week. But of course Aqua made sure to come get me promptly at 9.

xxx

Some kid we didn't know opened the door to Sora's for us. Every square, checkered tile foot of his house had teenagers packed in. Aqua and I had to push our way through them to look for people we knew, but we could barely see with so many bodies and such dim lighting.

"Let's go to the living room!" I yelled over the music. Aqua nodded and led the way. I mentally reminded myself never to come here without someone like her. A lot of times I forgot about the enormity of Sora's house; I mean, his parent's had to have a fortune. And my piss-poor sense of direction didn't mix well with big spaces.

We found Roxas sitting on the leather sofa in the family room.

"Hey!" Aqua and I yelled in unison. He seemed to brighten up when he saw us. He'd been sitting alone, and it looked like he was contemplating something.

"What's up?" I asked as I flopped onto the couch.

"It's...Namine." He stared past me into the huge, packed hallway, where people were dancing. I followed his eyes and eventually found her, moving to the music by herself.

"You should go dance with her," Aqua said while she sat on his other side.

"What? I can't just do that." Aqua and I gave each other a look. Then I grabbed one of his arms and dragged him onto the dance floor. "Hey, cut it out! This isn't funny, Xi-"

"Just dance," I yelled. "Look natural." I shook my hips and bobbed my head. Roxas followed suit.

"Xion, I feel like an idiot. What if she doesn't want to dance with me?"

"Don't be stupid!" I shouted back. "Look, just pretend you're dancing with me, then when we get close to her, I'll say I need a break and duck out."

"What? Xi-"

But by that time we'd already worked our way to Namine. I kept shooting looks at Roxas to see how he was doing. The poor kid looked scared shitless. But Namine didn't seem to mind. When she saw him she started improvising moves and Roxas followed along. Neither of them really knew how to dance, but they were so frikkin adorable together it didn't matter.

"Whoo!" I wiped my head. "I'm getting kinda hot, Rox. Think I'm gonna sit this next one out."

All I got from him was a muffled "Mhhmmm." Hah. Looked like he was enjoying himself now.

I started to push my way back to the living room when I felt a hand on me. I turned to see Selphie.

"Hey!" We shouted.

"Where you headed?" She asked.

"The living room."

"Okay, I'll come with." We started to make our way there, but I stopped when I saw a tall guy-a tall, handsome, brown-haired guy I'd never seen before-chatting it up with Aqua.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who's that?" I said.

Selphie followed my gaze and grinned. "Oh my God I forgot to tell you. Apparently we got like three new students this week, and two were transferring from that preppy high school, you know, Radiant Gardens? I think he's from some other private school, though...Anyway, they're all really cute, and that tall, brown-haired one, is filthy rich. Handsome, too."

"Tell me about it." I said. Man, Selphie's gossip habit could be pretty nice sometimes. "Well, I guess we should leave them be."

"Hey wait," She shouted over the music. "So you're just gonna leave his poor friend girl-less?"

"What?" I turned back to the scene and looked closer. That's when I saw the boy sitting next to him. He had jet black hair, yellow eyes, and pursed lips. But of all his features, his furrowed brow stood out the most. "Who, Oscar the grouch over there?" I scoffed.

Selphie grinned and nodded. "I heard his name's Vanitas. Apparently he's just a loaded as the tall guy, maybe richer. And God, look at those eyes."

"Yeah, he's positively beaming" I laughed. "I think staying here another hour might kill him."

"Well, he does have a reputation for his bad attitude." She looked back at Aqua and the boy. "Hmm...Aqua looks a little uncomfortable."

Selphie was right. Without thinking, I moved over to the couch to be with her. Aqua didn't do well meeting new people.

"Hey, Aqua. Hi there, um..."

"Terra." He smiled at me. Man, he really was handsome.

"Nice to meet you. And you must be Vanitas." I smiled at him, but he wouldn't look at me when he grumbled 'it's a pleasure' back. Hmph. Guess he really did have an attitude problem.

"Oh, this is Xion." Aqua finally spoke up. "She goes to our school, too."

"Yeah," I said. "I heard you were new. What day did you guys start?"

"We got here Wednesday. It really is a nice school; the people are pretty friendly." Terra said.

"Nauseatingly so." Vanitas chimed in. I scowled at him, but he still refused to look at me.

"That's not it at all," Terra shook his head. "We really do like it here."

Vanitas scoffed. "Speak for yourself."

Ok, that was the last straw. I was either leaving in the next minute or wringing that kid's neck.

"You'll have to forgive him," Terra said. "He doesn't do well with parties. Or people."

"You have a problem with parties, Vanitas?" I asked.

"Not so much with parties. Usually, it's the sort of people attending." He stared out the window while he spoke.

"And what sort of people attend, would you say?" I asked.

"Overly-horny boys, ridiculously skanky girls." He turned to me for the last part, and narrowed his eyes. "Then there's just the general annoyances."

What a jerk! Fine, if he wanted to play that way..."Those cover all party-goers?"

He'd gone back to staring out the window. "I'd say so."

"So which of those categories do you fall into?"

Aqua giggled. Terra laughed. "I think she's got you there, Van," he said.

I turned to see Vanitas' face harden even more. But I couldn't help but notice a certain glimmer in his eye.

Terra turned to me, grinning. "Don't let him ruin your night. Wanna dance?"

"Well, I'm a little tired right now. But I don't think Aqua has at all tonight." Aqua shot me a death glare. Sure, I knew she hated dancing. But Terra seemed like a nice enough guy. Anyway, it was obvious she liked him, the way she kept staring at him.

"Ha, I don't know. Your friend here already turned me down twice." He looked to her and smiled. "Said something about being a terrible dancer."

I faked surprise. "But Aqua's so good."

"No, no I'm really not," she jumped in.

"Well," I said. "Terra won't know who's telling the truth unless you get on the dance floor." Aqua death-glared at me again.

"Great point." Terra smiled and held his hand out to her. "What do you say, Aqua?"

"S-sure." She stuttered, and they both walked toward the mass of moving bodies. I'd stayed so focused on them that I sat on the sofa without realizing a certain malcontent was still there. I thought he'd say something. Something rude, of course, but at least something. Instead he ignored me until I spoke up a few minutes later.

"You know, I was just kidding before."

"Hmph." I shook my head and starting scanning the house for someone I knew. Then Vanitas spoke up again. "I wasn't."

I turned back to him. "Wasn't what?"

"Wasn't kidding, about what I said about parties."

I scoffed. That was it-I stood up and left without saying anything else. God, he was such a jerk. I wandered through the house, fuming. I'd like to get my hands around his neck. Just for five seconds, that's all I'd need. That pompous ass. I pushed through a dancing group. Five seconds, that's all. Wait. Shoot. Where was I again?

I looked around and realized I'd gotten myself lost. Damn Sora and his rich parents and his huge house. I decided to try to get to a door, any door that led outside. I needed some air, anyway, and it'd be easier finding my way around if I came back in through the front. I had to push past about five more dancing groups and two crowds blocking the main hallway, but eventually I found a side exit. I pulled it open and sighed at the soothing, cool air that touched my face. The porch was nearby, so I decided to go over and sit in a Wicker chair. Maybe I'd stay there until Aqua wanted to leave. I just wasn't in a party mood, and if I had been that asshole would have ruined it anyway. I shook my head and groaned. What a piece of work.

"Xion?" A familiar voice called. I looked around and found Riku standing in the parking lot. He waved and walked over to me, taking a seat on the closest chair. "Hey, what's up? Parties not your thing?" He smiled. He had such a nice smile.

I turned away. "Not today at least," I mumbled.

"Need a ride home?" He asked. "I'm on my way out right now."

"Really? But you seem like a party-type guy. What's wrong, it not crazy enough in there for you?"

He laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Nah, but something sorta came up."

The front door burst open and made us both turn. Aqua poked her head out. "Hey! Xion, I've been looking all over for you."

"Oh. Um, I have a cell phone...you could've just texted."

"Oh, yeah. Well, I just wanted to know what time you'll want to leave..." She turned her head and saw Riku.

"Hi there. Uhhh...sorry if I'm interrupting something."

Riku laughed. "Don't worry about it; I gotta head out anyway. See you guys around."

xxx

After Riku left, of course, Aqua would not stop bugging me about him and how I practically forced her to dance with Terra. It was nice though, especially because she wasn't prying about why I'd been so down lately.

The car ride back was different. It started in quiet, but soon Aqua's voice broke through the silence.

"Hey, Xion-"

"Like I've been saying, Aqua. I'm fine."

"Actually, I wasn't going to ask anymore. Look, we've known each other for forever. I know when something's up. You don't need to keep lying to me about-"

"Aqua-"

"Please, just let me finish. I know something's up and it's fine if you don't want to talk about it. I understand. But you can just tell me that. You don't have to pretend you're fine when you're not. Just tell me you're not ready to talk."

...What I said next came out as a whisper, quieter than I wanted it to. "I'm...sorry Aqua. It's...it's my sister."

"What'd you say?"

My face felt wet. Was I really crying right now?

"Xion?"

Guess I still wasn't ready-better change the subject. "Maybe a little notice would be nice before the next interrogation." Aqua's car pulled to a stop in my driveway, but I didn't get out right then. I wanted to see what she had to say for herself.

"What?"

"You were the one behind that, right? At lunch?"

"We were worried-"

"You were worried, Aqua. I doubt if anyone else noticed. Most of them aren't that perceptive..."

"Other people have noticed, Xi. Even so, I thought maybe if you wouldn't talk to me-"

"That I'd spill my guts to everyone?" I scoffed. "Look, Aqua. It's nice to know you care, it really is. But you're right; I'm not ready to talk. And whatever problems I have I can take care of myself."

"But you don't have to-"

"I'm a big girl now." I threw open the door. "I can handle whatever life throws at me!" I didn't mean to slam the door, but I did.

...Sorry Aqua. Just give me some time.

Wooh! First chapter! Liked it? Hated it? Leave a review and I'll send a PM. (I'm trying for 100 reviews. It's a high bar, I know, but please help me get there). And as always, thanks for reading!

New chapter next Friday. I guarantee it :).