Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Behind the Smoke Screen ❯ Observation ( Chapter 14 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Note to Disclaimers: I do not and nev er will own Kingdom Hearts 1, 2 or Chain of Memories
soâ€¦please& nbsp;do NOT sue me. I have absolutely no thing to give you, should you decide to.
A/N: Umâ€¦.so I'd like&n bsp;to first, and foremost, apologize for the extremely long delay in
regards to this chapter. I kinda fell off the&nb sp;face of the earth and have no real&nb sp;excuse to offer
other than writer's blockâ€”LAME, right? But, here y ou are, after such a long wait, for ;
those still following this story at all . There is still boy/boy love, sexual as sault, domestic
violence, rape, molestation , cutting, drugs abuse, etc. Therefore, the&n bsp;warning completely
applies. If you find&n bsp;it offensive or inappropriate, I suggest you stop reading immediately
and not&n bsp;blame anything on me or the website. ;Thank you. Please enjoy (I hope!)
Word coding:
'Thoughts' & "Speaking"
Random flashbacks or other&nb sp;stuff &Everything else

Observa tion
Yuffie looked apprehensive as Tifa&n bsp;laid a pile of papers on the table&n bsp;before Sephiroth. His long
white hair&nbs p;was pulled back into a semi-sloppy ponytail that made him look young and much less
business like than usual. Yuffie tr ied to hide the blush on her cheeks ;but it appeared he'd noticed
it anyway. He only smiled as he began sifting ;through the pile of papers; silent and concentrated.
Tifa let out a small yawn& nbsp;as she had a strange sense of welco ming comfort to it that neither
woman&nb sp;could pinpoint but liked all the same.&nbs p;Even the colors of the room were oppos ite what
one could consider warmâ€ ”sterile white, harsh black, dark blues&acir c;€”and the dark cherry wood
trims and glass table were contrary to the&nb sp;feeling. Nevertheless they both felt at re lative ease as
they sat in the comf ortably soft dinner table chairs. It seemed&n bsp;Sephiroth spared no expense for
his surroundings or luxuries, which Tifa could on ly appreciate. It was true she had a&nbs p;nice
apartment with decently priced furnish ings though she hardly had the time to&n bsp;appreciate such
things as work was a seemingly endless struggle for career and&nb sp;personal life. The conflict led to
mi graines, frequent bitterness and chronic satisfact ion. Yes, Tifa was, seemingly two-faced when& nbsp;
it came to her job and personal&nbs p;life. Her rewarding career was just that&ac irc;€”very rewarding. It made
her personal lifeâ€”or lack thereofâ&euro ;”more tolerable. 'But for how much longer?' Her train of
thought was se nt into a head on wreck when Yuffie ;tapped her shoulder.
"Tifa?" She blinked.&nb sp;"Mr. Kosaka is talking to you."
"Yes& acirc;€¦Dr. Lockhart, I see you've mad e a note about Dr. Vexen." She nodded&nb sp;at this. "I must say,
I didn't t hink it went this deep, nor did I t hink it was that bad. However, this does complicate a
few things. And you h aven't spoken to the victim, correct?" Yuffie shook her head vigorously.
"Hmmmâ&euro ;¦we may need to rethink our strategy. Dr. Vexen isâ€¦part of a g roup of old colleagues,

shall we sa y, that weren'tâ€¦so ethically inclin ed. To make matters worse they all came& nbsp;from
money and have lots of friends on the inside, like Mayor Xehanort." Tifa looked forlorn all of a sudden, her fingers twitching as she leafed through&n bsp;the paperwork.
"New strategy? You mean&ac irc;€¦go around the system?"
"I'm ;afraid that may have to happen given th e evidence, the offense and the parties involved.
This Larxene Isuki, her younger&nbs p;sister, the victim, was visiting here with& nbsp;my brothers yesterday.
Suffice it to&nbs p;say Dr. Lockhart, Ms. Kisaragi; I do k now the older sister very well by reputa tion.
And now, I have met the young Miss Namine."
"You've seen Namine?" Tif a looked incredulous.
"It seems she's fr iends with my younger brothers," he replied&n bsp;with nonchalance. "They stopped
by to&nbs p;pay a visit here. It seems she is ;doing okay, for now. I suppose you don' t know where to
find her. When is&n bsp;Cloud going to take care of all that ? I would hate to have to ask my&nb sp;younger
brother to bring her here for such selfish purposes."
Letting out a&n bsp;frustrated sigh she slumped on the table& nbsp;in annoyance as Yuffie gave her a questioning look. "Damn him. No, he hasn' t. I think he is having some problems&nb sp;with Chief
Payne. You really ticked h er off, Mr. Kosaka. She's the chief of&n bsp;the FBIâ€”you pushed her
butt ons."
Sephiroth let out a smile as he pulled out a smooth silver pen and&nb sp;began scribbling on one of the
docume nts. Yuffie didn't know much about the l aw but she knew what motions looked like . "I
suppose, good doctor, we will have to put this motion into action sinc e Cloud is taking his sweet
time. U nfortunately, we no longer have that. Since&n bsp;this goes deeper than Dr. Vexen, I'm ;going to
need to have a meeting wi th Cloud and Chief Payne soon. Dr. Lockh art, is there any way you
can arran ge this? I must go draw up a lot&nb sp;of paperwork for this matter. Ms. Kisaragi , I would like
it if you and C loud can go visit the victim. Miss Namin e needs to fully understand her situation&nbs p;
and the dangers involved. If you shoul d need to find her, I have an old&n bsp;address for her. I will
have to ;give it to you tomorrow as it is i n my office. You can ask Aerith."
T ifa breathed. Her mind was going a milli on miles a minute as she took in ev erything he said; it
was spinning. Yuffi e looked enthused as she jotted down not es on her notepad in preparation for
her task. There was a slight excitement&nbs p;to her scrawling as she awaited more i nformation, eager
to the point Tifa thou ght she'd gag. But the enthusiasm was on a whole other level that Tifa
thou ght was somewhat uncomfortable. With a heavy& nbsp;sigh she picked herself up from the ;table
and began to pace in an aggr avating manner. Sephiroth glanced up at her.& nbsp;
"Would you like some tea, Dr. Lockh art?"
She nodded absently. "Oh, yes plea se."
"Yazoo, please, some tea for the&nb sp;good Doctor," he said.

"Tifa, please, " she answered coolly.
A tall, platinum& nbsp;blonde appeared in the doorway, one who& nbsp;looked like a replica of Sephiroth save& nbsp;
for the shorter hair, with a tray&n bsp;of teacups and a porcelain teapot. "Good& nbsp;evening. Brother, you
have guests," he&n bsp;said calmly. "My name is Yazoo, as m y brother has mentioned. To whom do I&nb sp;
owe this pleasure?"
"Ah, this is ;Dr. Lockhart and Ms. Kisaragi; they're worki ng on this case with me." Sephiroth
motioned for him to sit with them. "Tel l me, Yazoo, do you want to assist me with this care? Isn't
Namine a f riend of Riku's?"
The young man sipped&n bsp;his tea, interested. "Oh? Yes, we met&nbs p;her just this past afternoon. Quite a
sweet girl. It would please me immensely to work on this case. I should acc ept all the law
experience I am off ered."
"Why are you offering so much?"&n bsp;Tifa's question made the older Kosaka smi le and Yazoo nod in
understanding of&nbs p;her question. "I meanâ€¦I know ;Sumitse is a bastard and we all want&nb sp;him to
burn...but why so much help?&n bsp;We're not even paying you sir. Am I& nbsp;missing something here?"
"She's a good&n bsp;friend," Yazoo supplied in a straight voi ce, his eyes firm as his hands poured&nb sp;more
tea for them. "I fear, Ms. Lockhart, you doubt the serious nature of&nbs p;our dedication?"
She blanched. "No, not&nbs p;at all. Not by any means. In fact,&nbs p;I'm simply trying to understand your
d edication so that I may provide further assistance to all parties involved. Indeed th is is an
extremely difficult case."
Sephiroth nodded his own agreement. "Yes, it would seem that my younger brother is&n bsp;friends
with Miss Isuki. I fear it&n bsp;presentsâ€¦complications."
"Of what&nb sp;sort?" Yazoo ventured. "I cannot foresee t hese complications, brother. Riku is simply good friends with the girl. I doubt any complication will arise."
The older silver haired man shook his head again. "I meant more of the other Miss Isuki.&n bsp;
Larxene. She is proving to be quite& nbsp;troublesome and less than cooperative."
Yazoo nodded blankly. "I have heard the rumors from Riku himself. It would seem that he visits
there quite often."
"Wait just a minute!" Tifa's eyes were n arrowed as Yuffie shifted uneasily in her&nbs p;chair. "You're
saying you interact with&nbs p;these people on a daily basis?"
"There is somewhat of a mutual connection, yes , but I wouldn't say daily." Yazoo answe red.
"Riku is good friends with all ;of them. As my brother has said, we&nbs p;recently met Namine these
past couple days. How long he's actually been friends&nbs p;with her is a mystery to the rest ;of us."

Yuffie coughed to get thei r attention. "I was wonderingâ€¦I&nbs p;talked to someone named Axel; he
said& nbsp;they were cousins. He mentioned that the older Isuki wouldn't be coming but that he would
in her place."
"When ;did you receive this call?"
She blinked . "Ten minutes ago. He said he's outside ."
"Are you serious?" Tifa rose from&nbs p;her seat. "He's the one that brought h er to the hospital! They
didn't look&nbs p;like cousins to me."
"Regardless, if h e's here, then he's willing to talk. Ple ase, let him in right away," Sephiroth s aid.
He sat patiently at the table as he watched Yuffie disappear then, footstep s coming towards them.
Allâ€”excl uding Tifaâ€”we're slightly caught off guard as Axel sauntered in, flame red&n bsp;hair freshly
gelled and in full on&n bsp;leather. Sephiroth raised a brow as Yazoo smirked. Axel returned it.
"Wellâ&euro ;¦hello there blondie," he said slyly. ;"Aren't you lookingâ€¦tasty this eve ning."
"Axel, I presume."
The red-head&n bsp;nodded. "Attorney Sephiroth Kosaka. Wellâ&eur o;¦Riku wasn't lying about looks. You
certainly are relatedâ€¦but not taken, I hope, because you look absolutely&nb sp;delicious."
"Knock it off; stop acting&nbs p;like a common tart."
All heads turned& nbsp;to see a dirty blonde enter with Yu ffie in tow. She chuckled. "This is Roxa s
Tanako."
"And this idiot is Axel& nbsp;Yamada, my flirt of a boyfriend," Roxas& nbsp;said, rolling his eyes. "But don't
worry. He's harmless, really. So Yuffie tells us you needed more information? Sorry, this isn't
really Larxene's thing."
"Doe sn't she know how important this is?" Ti fa could feel the irritation welling up inside her.
"This is her sister!"
A xel smirked. "You shouldn't make assumptions, ;doctor. It could really cost you."
"Are you threatening me?"
"Cut it out," ;Yuffie snapped. "We need to work together,&n bsp;not against each other."
"Ms. Kisaragi&nb sp;is right," Sephiroth interjected with a si gh. "Mr. Yamada, Mr. Tanako, please have ;
a seat. We have much to discuss. I am pleased you could make it and I deeply appreciate it. My
regards to&nbs p;the older Isuki girl. Dr. Lockhart, please& nbsp;sit as well. We are pressed on time ." He fixed
them with a pointed sta re as they took their respective seats, Yuffie between Tifa and Roxas

while ;Axel sat further away, playing with his ;lighter. Yazoo watched the display with mild
interest as Sephiroth ignored the danci ng flames. The older Kosaka was used to& nbsp;far worse than
pyromaniacs on the d aily. "As you know, Mr. Yamato, Mr. Tana ko, the reason we are facing
problems&nb sp;is due to the fact that Namine never& nbsp;filed an initial victims' report. The po lice are trying
to figure their way ;around it but we've had someâ€¦ delays. Nevertheless, to progress we need to& nbsp;
get your stories, the older and you nger Isuki's as well as corroboration from&nb sp;you and Dr.
Lockhart about the rape&n bsp;kit that was done at the hospital." Roxas nodded while Axel mumbled in
annoy ance while shooting Tifa death glares. She&nb sp;shot them right back as Yuffie glared ;at both of
them. Sephiroth felt his&nbs p;own irritation building at their childishness.&n bsp;"I'd really hate to get
subpoenas to force the evidence."
Axel slammed his&n bsp;lighter on the table. "Listen, just becau se you're a big shot lawyer doesn't
mean you need to get on your proverbial , lawful high horse!"
"Shut it, Axel."&n bsp;Roxas' voice was like steel daggers. "Thi s is for Namine so shut up and sit& nbsp;down,
NOW." Axel whined as he slump ed back into his chair while Roxas leane d over, head in his
hands. "Where s hould we start?"
"At the beginning. Anyt hing you provide would be most helpful, Mr. Tanako."
Roxas let out a heavy sigh. "Sir, if I may say, you're asking& nbsp;a lot. The little that we know is&n bsp;
probably not going to help at all.&n bsp;But," he scowled at Axel, who was st ill sulking. "If it will help
Namine&aci rc;€¦we'll do our best."
Sephiroth&nbs p;nodded. "I'm sure you know that their parents were killed in a car accident ye ars ago.
After that, both of them w ere entrusted to the guardian listed on their mother's willâ€¦Mr.
Sumitse.&nb sp;We're not really sure why his name wa s on that damned will. Only Larxene can& nbsp;tell you
that and I can confidently say she hasn't shared any of that with us, or even Namine herself. We
met Larxene when she was almost 18. She ran away, we guess. The mansion belongs to her. It
was all that was l eft to her with a large sum of mone y. Mr. Sumitse could only, then, lay cla im to
Namine. When Larxene turned 18,&nb sp;Namine had turned about 12 or 13. We' re about 6-8 years
apart in age. Su mitse wouldn't relinquish his guardianship of ;Namine but that hadn't seemed to
be&nbs p;a problem before now. He only seemed t o have a sick twisted interest in Larxen e, but never
Namine. She hated living&nb sp;there but he neverâ€¦had an i nterest. Larxene's been trying to get her&nbs p;
out of there but Sumitse has so m uch moneyâ€¦he's thwarted her at ;every chance."
"It's the way he keeps&n bsp;her hostage," Axel spat in disgust. Roxas sighed. "Heâ€¦won't let her go.
But we don't know why. I wish ;we did but we sure as hell don't." ;
Sephiroth appeared thoughtful again as he&nb sp;sifted through some more papers while Tifa began to
count the minutes till sh e could choke Axel to high hell. Roxas&n bsp;looked bored and Yuffie began
talking&nbs p;to Yazoo about his encounter with Namine&nb sp;earlier that week. All of a sudden Se phiroth
stood up, his eyes narrowed. "I& nbsp;know why, and there is no longer a& nbsp;need to meet with Miss
Larxene."
Axel blinked and Roxas threw the silv er haired man a questioning gaze. "Wellâ ;€¦why is it, then?"
"She was&nbs p;assaulted, too, years ago, you'd mentioned on the phone, right Roxas?" Yuffie's soft,&nb sp;
small voice interjected. "If that's the&nb sp;case, I'm willing to bet he's holding ;Namine against Larxene
in hopes that sh e'll return and he can continue with wha tever sick relationship he'd created for
them. Did Larxene ever mention this was ;a repeated occurrence?" Roxas doubled over i n disgust
before jumping out of his ;chair and running to the bathroom. Axel ;followed suit, his lighter and
hairspray&nbs p;can forgotten at the table. The other occupants stared at Yuffie's sudden revelation&nbs p;of
the information. She blanched as sh e began to utter a response. "It's just& nbsp;that when I was going
over her ;fileâ€¦if I remember correctly, ther e were several rape kits done, most inco mplete, and
they were all signed off&nbs p;on by Dr. Vexen. When Tifa mentioned t hisâ€¦I started digging. I had Cloud subpoena his business records and f ound some questionable things. Though at firs t glance
it appears he's a legitimate&nb sp;doctor I noticed that he owns a priva te practice funded my KH
International. It seemed awfully suspicious, considering that&nbs p;private practices aren't usually
funded by& nbsp;other hospitals. Not to mention that KH& nbsp;International funds no other practices in&nbs p;the
medical field. Twilight Town Hospital&n bsp;receives all its money elsewhere. It seem ed odd to me."
Tifa gasped. "That's ;right! There were some major inconsistencies ;in those files. The pictures
were somew hat ghastly!"
"Then it would seem that&n bsp;Cloud has been doing some work after ;all," Sephiroth mused as he
signed anot her stack of papers while Yazoo filed th em into separate manila folders. "This will&n bsp;
simply add to the duties I assigned& nbsp;you, Yuffie. But please, if you should&n bsp;have any questions feel
free to call the office or Chief Payne. Whether she& nbsp;likes it or not, she cannot refuse questions
regarding cases. She's an expert&nb sp;at what she does, no questions asked."&nbs p;
"You sure flatter people," Tifa said, her intent unknown. Sephiroth only smiled at& nbsp;her, which
caused a slight blush of annoyance to spread across her cheeks. 'Why do I always feel like he's
patronizing meâ€¦?' Chalking it u p to be an overreaction on her part,&nbs p;Tifa simply returned her
glance back t o Yuffie who was taking more notes on&nb sp;her notepad. She seemed particularly
inter ested in finding out more information about&n bsp;Larxene's background than Namine's. 'Are we
doing a case on both of these ;young women, now?'Sighing, she took a si p of her tea, which was
now lukewar m thanks to the events that had just&nbs p;transpired. The silence that stretched on a s
every other individual worked, and Rox as and Axel had yet to return, made ;Tifa realize just how
much she wished&n bsp;she was at home at that very moment. Something made her discover just how little time she spent in the comfort of her apartment, possibly curled up watching television or
something of the like.&nb sp;
"Dr. Lockhart, are you feeling well?" ;
Sephiroth's velvety voice broke her from&nbs p;her reverie as she was brought crashing&nbs p;back to reality.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine&nb sp;thank you." She brushed off her momentary& nbsp;lapse of attention by opening her
b riefcase again. "I also have some information on Namine, though it's not much. Since& nbsp;Cloud
hasn't subpoenaed the records and& nbsp;they left no contact information, it's b een hard to really learn
more about ;her. Traverse Town is sending us what t hey have for her but because they're in& nbsp;

cahoots with Sumitse, it's taking a while. What other suggestions might you ;have for me on that
one, Mr. Kosak a?"
"At the moment, I would suggest ;letting Ms. Kisaragi and Strife do some ;of the "field work"
necessary to learni ng more about the victim, if she's willi ng to speak. As the doctor, you've done& nbsp;
a great deal already. You're Rape k it was superb considering the circumstances. Tell me, did you
have any advocates ;involved?" He looked at her expectantly.
She thought back for a moment. "Oh, ye s, I did. There was a woman thereâ €¦her name
wasâ€¦Rikku Ka washima, a very sweet girl. She couldn't ;have been more thanâ€¦Yazoo's age,&n bsp;I
believe. She was the Advocate. I&n bsp;never got to speaking to her after s he met with Namine. I will
give her a call. Better yet, Yuffie!" She called to the girl over her shoulder. Yuffie&n bsp;jumped to
attention. "Can you remind ;me to give Rikku Kawashima a call as&nb sp;soon as possible regarding
Namine? I need to speak with her."
"No problem!"&n bsp;
Sephiroth chuckled. "Dr. Lockhart, you tr uly are the finest Twilight Town has to& nbsp;offer. I must
say, I was impressed& nbsp;before but thisâ€¦it's truly a&n bsp;testament to your finer skills as a doctor."
"You're patronizing me again," she&n bsp;replied.
"Why would I ever do that?& nbsp;I only patronize Strife." He shot her&nb sp;another dazzling smile as she
mumbled ;something under her breath and turned away.& nbsp;"Patronizing is only for those who do&nb sp;not
utilize their skills to the best& nbsp;of their abilities. I'm afraid Cloud Str ife is one of those people."
"Did y ou forget we were all friends?"
He chuckled. "Not at all. In fact, if not&n bsp;for my busy schedule, I would suggest&nbs p;we meet more
often as I was under the impression that we still are friend s, Dr. Lockhart, though you and I spent& nbsp;
very little time together. I assume ;that is why you felt the need to r e-introduce yourself at my
office."
"Or& nbsp;it could've been the fact that you and I spent about a month together with& nbsp;Aerith and Cloud
before you left fo r Law School. Don't you remember?" He ra ised a brow. "You were Aerith's
best&nbs p;friend; I was Cloud's. And they were f riends who decided that we should all me et. We
haven't known each other long&nbs p;enough to consider each other friends, Mr.& nbsp;Kosaka." Tifa shot
him a glare that could freeze hell but he merely shrugge d nonchalantly.
"I suppose that's true. However, I do not forget a face, let&nbs p;alone forget a pretty face."
"Flattery ;doesn't work on me, Kosaka," She bit ba ck.
"Then, I shall make sure to use more lies in the future, my good D r. Lockhart," he replied
casually, his f ace betraying no emotion as he handed he r a stack of motions. "You would do ;well

to look these over before I&n bsp;submit them. While normally I am not ;allowed to do this, I will make
an exception in this case as it is a& nbsp;matter of some urgency and complexity. P lease, have some
more tea while I g o to my home office and gather more ;forms for Ms. Kisaragi."
Tifa was about to retort when she heard footsteps. It& nbsp;seemed that Roxas and Axel had reentered
the room and the younger boy looke d ill. Axel gave her a pointed stare&nbs p;before he set his hands
firmly on ;the table, fingers splayed. His apprehensive ;look made Tifa uneasy but she stood her
ground. "Hey, Doctorâ€¦don't su ppose we could see that file of Larxene' s, could we?"
She looked guarded, cautio us almost. "I supposeâ€¦but why, ;if I may ask?"
Axel's voice dropped&nbs p;to a whisper. "Becauseâ€¦"
"Sh e's our friend, Dr. Lockhart," interjected Ro xas softly, his face wan but eyes vibran tly
determined. "What more do you need&n bsp;to know? We care about her, no matte r what. If you don't
mindâ€¦ ;the file, please."
Slowly, and somewhat ;grudgingly, she slid the file over to R oxas' awaiting hands. Axel seemed
stuck, ;not moving with his eyes focused on the glossed table. It was as if time s topped while the
two young men opened&nb sp;the manila folder to examine the photos&nb sp;inside. Then it seemed to fast
forwar d as Roxas covered his mouth and, once&n bsp;again, darted in the direction of the&nbs p;Kosaka's
bathroom. Seconds later she could& nbsp;hear retching while Axel continued to fl ip through the
pictures, his mien growin g more and more disgusted with each one& nbsp;he saw. Tifa could hear
Yuffie talk ing Roxas through it in the bathroom as& nbsp;Yazoo resurfaced with another stack of papers. Her mind was going a million ;miles a minute as she watched everything&nbs p;happen. She was
interrupted when the f ile was slid back to her, albeit sloppil y and with contempt.
"Yo, doc, mind ;if weâ€¦do some digging of our& nbsp;own?"
"Excuse me? Doc?" Axel merely ;grinnedâ€”all teeth. She blinked in&n bsp;irritation but proceeded to
answer their& nbsp;questions. "Your ownâ€¦digging? For&n bsp;what? Evidence?"
"Not exactly."
"There's& nbsp;no need to ask though I suggest you use ethical methods to retrieve this ev idence, or
whatever it may be," Sephirot h replied, never once looking up from hi s papers. "The good Dr.
Lockhart has&nbs p;plenty on her plate. Speaking to the A dvocate present at Namine's exam is
impo rtant. Tell meâ€¦was there a Pol ice Officer? I know you were the forensi c Nurse, Dr.
Lockhart, one of the f ew who is also a doctor. But most e xams are not done without the Police
contacting the answering service."
Tifa sho ok her head. "No, which surprises me as& nbsp;well. I'm not sure how it fell thro ugh the cracks
like it did; either way, that's why we needed Cloud to do&nb sp;a report. It's why we thought you mig ht
not take the case, Mr. Kosaka. W hen I received the call it was a po lice officer on the other end.
Said ;her name wasâ€¦Officer Heartly."

"Heartlyâ€¦where have I heard that name before?" All eyes turned to Yu ffie, who was rubbing
Roxas' back as&nbs p;they made their way back to the table. "What?"
"Where've you heard her name&nb sp;before, Yuffie?" Tifa eyes were hard. "Bec ause I believe I have
as well."
"I think she used to work with the&nbs p;Traverse Town police but uhâ€¦she&n bsp;may have transferred to
Twilight Town&nbs p;some years back. I can't be sure. At&n bsp;least we know she's not in cahoots w ith Mr.
Sumitse. Otherwise, I'm sure she would've been on Larxene's paperwork and&nbs p;there is no police
officers working fo r him, as far as I know."
"He has cronies. No need for the Police depa rtment to be helping him or for him ;to have them in
his pocketsâ€&brv bar;he probably owns themâ€¦or owns&n bsp;they're chief, at least." Axel spat. "Eit her
wayâ€¦he has his own pe rsonal hospital, police, lab, etc. He has&nbs p;no need to blackmail anyone
except tho se who have tried to leave his employmen t. Orâ€¦Larxene has mentioned as ;much in
the past."
Tifa looked per plexed at the provided information, her eyebr ows rising slightly at this.
"Wellâ&eur o;¦perhaps we should inquire as to the whereabouts of this Officer Heartly and ;see what she
knows."
"Excellent idea,&n bsp;Dr. Lockhart. Perhaps we should have Clou d do that instead, since everything
else seems to be beyond his comprehension an d capacity at this very moment," Sephiroth&nb sp;
interjected firmly while turning to his&nb sp;younger brother. "Yazoo, please see to it& nbsp;that these people
get everything they&nb sp;need to accomplish their assigned tasks. M ake sure Aerith has all this
information tomorrow morning so it will all run&nbs p;smoothly."
Yazoo nodded, jotting down notes on a steno notebook before reaching for his cellular phone and
dialing a n umber. Tifa's curiosity was answered when the person on the other end answered the&nb sp;
phone. "Good evening Aerith. Yes, I k now it's late. You're with Mr. Strife? H mmâ€¦yes, it's
about the case."& nbsp;There was a pause and he appeared t o be waiting for something. She continued&nbs p;
to stare. "Uh huhâ€¦sure. Just let me know when you're alone."
"I s he nuts?" She turned to the older ;Kosaka. "It's past midnight and he's calling Aerithâ€¦for
work?" She looked& nbsp;positively incredulous as she gestured to&nbs p;the younger man. "Isn't this against
t he law, Kosaka? You can't just harass yo ur receptionist whenever you feel like it!"&n bsp;
"Petulance doesn't suit you," he replied& nbsp;calmly. "Aerith and I have spoken about& nbsp;this particular
case and she knows she's on call, which is why, you may&nbs p;have noticed, she is not cursing me to
high hell. I believe she and Strif e discussed it as well. Please do not&nb sp;be alarmed, Dr. Lockhart."
Tifa stiffened, her cheeks flushing scarlet with murderous&n bsp;rage as she heard Yuffie's soft giggle&nb sp;
from her right. The young nurse was&n bsp;still comforting Roxas, who looked green, ;during the whole
exchange. Suddenly, Tifa&nb sp;felt like a downright fool. She hated ;being made fun of, especially
when she& nbsp;knew she was being ridiculous. It was&nb sp;a slap to the face despite the fact&n bsp;that she was

being juvenile. Sighing , she simply ignored him and left the&nb sp;room, cellular in hand. Meanwhile,
Yuffie& nbsp;returned to the table to speak more ;with Sephiroth. Axel and Roxas gave a s lightly quick
goodbye before departing. As&nb sp;they passed Tifa on the way out, Axel threw her a withering look.
She sh ot it back with equal fervor before Roxa s yanked his hand and they disappeared i nto the
darkened night.

Sora was utterly bored and equally confused as&nbs p;Larxene and Xigbar bickered over the rusted key.
Apparently, they were waiting for& nbsp;someone named Luxord to come and help.&n bsp;Whenever his
name was mentioned Larxene&n bsp;looked ill; but Sora knew better than&nbs p;to inquire. In the meantime
he sat&nbs p;there, tired and on his 4th Paopu Latt e while the girl behind the counter, Ole tte, stared at
him. It was making h im especially uncomfortable since he thought she was interested and he'd
only just&nb sp;asked Kairi out. Either way, he was s eriously beginning to rethink his agreement t o
come and speak with the crazy wom an sitting next to him when she suddenly grabbed the collar
of his shirt. S urprised, he flailed unceremoniously as he wa s dragged across the floor, stumbling
th e entire time, until they came to an&nbs p;abrupt halt by the entrance.
"Hey, wha t the hell is the big idea, Larxene?"&nb sp;Sora looked harassed and cranky.
She pointed to the man standing in the doorw ay behind her though her face looked as& nbsp;though it
had turned an interesting ;shade of yellow and green, like she was sickened or something.
"Luxord."
He&nbs p;blinked with mild interest. "Yeahâ€¦ ;so what? Andâ€¦?"
"He needs&nbs p;to talk to you about the keyâ€&b rvbar;and your brother," Xigbar answered with ;the most
serious face he'd worn all&nbs p;night.
Sora looked perplexed. "Myâ€&b rvbar;brother? But why?" He glanced from Xigb ar, Larxene then to the
man named L uxord. "Waitâ€¦just what the hell&nbs p;is going on? How do you know my b rother?"
"He works for my step-father's company. You do know you're brother is o ne of the top
technicians there, right?" Larxene's voice was biting and full of& nbsp;venom though who it was
directed to wards, Sora wasn't sure. He only knew it wasn't him. "He's the one who keeps&nbs p;the
systems in check so no one ca n break the firewalls, security codes, etc.&n bsp;Come on, hair boyâ€¦don't
te ll me you didn't know your brother's pro fession at all."
The brunette haired boy gaped like a fish. 'All this time&ac irc;€¦I hadâ€¦I had no id ea what Leon did for
a living. If&n bsp;he's so importantâ€¦why aren't we living in a better house? Why are we soâ€¦poor?'
While all thi s swirled around the younger boy's head Larxene had taken it upon herself to lea ve,
Luxord and Xigbar sticking around to stare at the boy. Sora felt his fa ce grow hot with anger and
feelings ;of betrayal when he realized what was h appening. It didn't take a genius to fig ure out
that his brother was being blackmailed. 'And thatâ€¦this asshole&n bsp;boss of my brother's probably has
my parents in his pocketâ€¦or wors e.' He felt like punching something but&n bsp;held the urge in as he

sighed,& nbsp;trying to release some tension from his& nbsp;aching muscles as he fell back on t he nearest
chair, defeated. Shaking his head, the brown-haired boy turned to look&nbs p;to the right where Olette
had spilled& nbsp;latte on herself as a result of Lar xene's persistent demands that her coffee was n't
scorching hot. Disgusted, he brought ;his attention back to the two men tower ing above his tired
form.
"Soâ&eur o;¦I guessâ€¦the conspiracy didn't& nbsp;end with Marluxia's family, did it?"
Luxord nodded. "You look a lot like yo ur brother. And kind of like the boy."&n bsp;
Sora sighed again. "You mean Marluxia,&nb sp;right? Wellâ€¦we're not brothers. I may have looked like
Jacob but I' m most definitely Leon's little brother." He& nbsp;glanced around. "Can someoneâ€¦please
explain to me what is going on,&nb sp;in depth? I have a right to know ;what this bastard is doing to my
f amily. We've been torn apartâ€¦I ;deserve a better explanation."
"You know&nbs p;what he did to Namine," Larxene offered.&nb sp;"It only gets worse. You sure you wan t to
hear everything, hair boy?"
"S top calling me that," he replied, harassed.&n bsp;"Even if I'm not ready...I need to k now."
His blonde counterpart appeared as ;though she'd rather have disappeared into ob livion at the
request to explain further details. Luckily for her she didn't hav e a chance to offer such when
Luxor d cut in, his fingers rubbing his chin.& nbsp;"Larxene may not be apt to share. B ut I
doâ€¦remember quite a bit. Miss Larxeneâ€¦would you care&nb sp;to walk away now or later?"
"You're&n bsp;a scumbag for working with him behind&nbs p;my parents' back!" She spat before storming
off, wisps of blonde hair dancing wildly behind her.
"What's her problem? Am I missing something?" the young brunette&n bsp;inquired as he stared at
Xigbar and& nbsp;Luxord. "You worked for her parents?" "Yesâ€¦once, long ago, I was a master cook."
Xigbar rolled his eyes&n bsp;as Sora gave Luxord a blank look, sc ratching his head incredulously.
"Umâ€& brvbar;seriously? You don't look like a chef, man." Luxord nodded in agreement.
"Okay â€¦whatever. So you were saying, ;Master Chef?"
Luxord would've chuckled had&n bsp;the explanation following been all fun an d laughs; instead he
sighed. "Yesâ&euro ;¦I was once a Master Chef for th e prestigious Isuki Family. I lived with ;them,
cooked their meals and served the m for quite some years. Of courseâ&euro ;¦I didn't, at the time, know
tha t such a gamble of my finer talents ;would be used toâ€¦destroy the lives of four people I had
come to& nbsp;appreciate for my employment."
"As if.&n bsp;They didn't even employ you, remember? Th at was all an arrangement made by Sumits e
withâ€¦what was her nameâ ;€¦" Xigbar looked pensive after he'd& nbsp;interrupted his friend. Luxord

didn't&nb sp;seem that bothered even as the pirate ;wannabe attempted to remember some woman's name that Sora couldn't even begin to&nbs p;guess. "Her name wasâ€¦shit; man&ac irc;€¦what the hell was her
name? "
"It was Cora, you prick!" Larxene ;spat, causing Sora to jump from his sea t as she'd reappeared
from nowhere, it&n bsp;seemed. "Just get on with it. I don' t even know why I'm listening to this&nb sp;crap. I
already know the whole damn&n bsp;story."
"You don't know mine, Miss L arxene," Luxord soothed as he continued. "Yes â€¦Cora hired me to
cook fo r her family as the referral of Mr. ;Sumitse, myâ€¦other employer at the& nbsp;time.
Howeverâ€¦none of us counted on what happened next. Yesâ€&br vbar;the plan was for Mr. Sumitse to
have Coraâ€”the woman practically th rew herself at him every time we had&nbs p;a meeting for the
firm. They began&nbs p;to have relations that were rather unscrupu lous considering she was married to
Phil lip and Mr. Sumitse and he were best&nbs p;friends. Phillip began working at the Law&n bsp;Firm not too
long after they got&nbs p;back in touch. At that point Cora and& nbsp;my boss were already sleeping together.
But now with her husband and my bos s working together, this was a lot easie r of a task then it
had been b efore."
Sora looked disgusted while Larxene&n bsp;looked paler than a sheet, her eyebrows&n bsp;knitted together so
tightly the brunette& nbsp;thought they could've been sewn at the&n bsp;edges. He wanted to offer her some comfort, as the current discussion was, o bviously, making her ill. But he wasn't sure what he
could do since the wom an next to him was so abrasive he m ight lose a finger should he say a
word. Across from him Xigbar still looke d pensive though he looked as disturbed as he could
possibly be, though not ;at all surprised. Luxord was shaking his&nbs p;head as he started to speak
again,&nbs p;once again catching the young man's attenti on, Larxene momentarily forgotten.
"At first& nbsp;I thought that now, with his position&nb sp;secured within the Isuki family, Sumitse w ould
continue sleeping with Phillip's wife&nb sp;and I would continue to pretend I was there merely for that
other connection& nbsp;should Phillip fail to stay involved wit h the firm. Howeverâ€¦as time pr ogressed
I noticed Cora's increasingly sour&n bsp;mood, which, at the time, I attributed&nb sp;to her discontent with her
husband an d Miss Larxene's sudden bout of rebellion.&nb sp;Though later it became apparent that
Cora's mood was in direct involvement with&nb sp;Sumitse's lack of interest in her over&nbs p;time. It seemed
he was interested in&n bsp;something else, someone else, which I cou ld not picture." He suddenly
glanced ove r to Larxene; she'd gone completely rigid&nbs p;and looked like she was going to faint . He
proceeded as cautiously as possible , all the while keeping an eye on h er, gauging her reaction.
"After about a year it became apparent to meâ€&r dquo;and no one else it seemedâ€” where Sumitse's
interest now lay. It see med heâ€¦had taken a rather perv erted and twisted interest inâ€¦anoth er
Isuki."
"I'm outta here," Larxene&nbs p;said quietly before storming out of the&nbs p;cafÃ©, her steps harsh but posture&n bsp;
anything but angry.
Concerned, Sora made to run after her when Xigbar caught his arm. "The story ain't done, little& nbsp;
man."

Furious, the brunette yanked& nbsp;his arm away. "Fuck off, pirate wannabe! I'm going after her. I need
to&nbs p;see how she's doing!"
"After I tell&nb sp;you this last pieceâ€¦I fear you'll know exactly how she's doing," Luxord& nbsp;replied
calmly, though not without remor se and shame etched all over his face.&n bsp;Sora stopped dead in his
tracks, sta ring and waiting. "Sumitse had taken in interest inâ€¦Young Miss Larxene, who , back
then, could not have been mo re than 15 or 16 years old."
True&n bsp;disgust and hate coursed its way through& nbsp;his system but Sora had no time to& nbsp;dwell on it as
he turned and d arted out the cafÃ© door, shouting&nbs p;the whole time. "Larxene! Larxene, where ar e
you? Larxene!"
Back inside, Luxord&nbs p;stood silently next to Xigbar, who looked&n bsp;more tired than he ever had. They would've continued to sit in that silence, shamed and regretful had they not heard the gasp behind
them. Luxord remained&n bsp;calm-faced even after Marluxia grabbed him&nbs p;by his shirt collar, anger
evident in& nbsp;those endless blue spheres. "Why didn't you stop him? Why didn't you do anything ?
You just let him tear apart her&n bsp;family, my family! You just let him commit atrocities while you
picked up a& nbsp;fuckin paycheck!"
Xigbar shook his head. "As if, flower boy. We did everything&n bsp;we could. I lost my best friend as&n bsp;a
result. You're not the only one&nb sp;hurting here. We've all lost someone or&nb sp;something when it comes
to Sumitse."
"But my brotherâ€¦"
Luxord sighed. "I cannot bring Jacob back to yo u, Marluxia. All I can do is offer you, Sora, and
Miss Larxene my condolenc es and a way to stop Sumitse." Xigbar&nb sp;looked anxious. "We owe it to
them,&n bsp;and to our friend, Xigbar." He turned&nbs p;back to Marluxia's enraged but shocked form . "You
need to go and find them.&nb sp;We have a lot of plans to discuss&nbs p;and there is much more to reveal to&nb sp;
you about Jacob and your father, but& nbsp;in time."
"I'm not a messenger," Ma rluxia spat, not sure which emotion to l et take over. He had always
prided himself on being cool, rational, and logical. But after what he'd just heard and ;witnessed,
as well as realizing that Ja cob's death was no accident, he wasn't s ure whether to follow his
raging emotion s or his logic. Hew knew where both ;paths could lead should he choose one o r the
other; but how was he going&n bsp;to follow both right at this moment? ;Sighing, he slammed fist into
Luxord's chest, sending him flying backwards into a&nb sp;table. Xigbar jumped up but the young ;man
stopped him from getting too crazy. "I'm going to get the crazy witch and the boy. Don't ask me
to be&nbs p;level-headed or you'll be sorry." With that said he walked out to find Larxene ;and Sora, his
mind anything but calm,&n bsp;heart racing as he searched for them.&nbs p;He ignored the noises behind him,
peev ed that Luxord was laughing and Xigbar w as chuckling. He didn't find any part of the
situation remotely funny. He wanted nothing more than to cut something in&n bsp;half, or maim
somebody. He hadn't wa lked very far when he found Sora standin g in the middle of the Second
distr ict looking beyond lost and confused. 'Pro bably doesn't know anything about this place,' the
older man mused. "Hey, kid&aci rc;€¦you looking for that crazy witch? "

"She's not crazy. She's in pain!" Sora shot back, his eyebrows narrowed. "Have you seen her?"
"No, but I pro pose we should look together. Perhaps we ;can get more accomplished."
"Why do you talk soâ€¦old world?" Sora inqu ired, arms hanging at his side in genuin e
wonderment. "I meanâ€¦we don't live in the Victorian ages. You can&nbs p;cut the act already. Or is that
h ow you actually speak?"
Offended, Marluxia&nb sp;huffed. "I don't see why how I talk&n bsp;is of any importance. Shouldn't you be&nb sp;
more concerned with your friend?"
"Sh e's not my friendâ€¦butâ€&brvba r;" he looked in the opposite direction. ;"Roxas and Namine would kill
me if ;I didn't find out what happened to her. She's all Namine's got left of a f amily."
"Then I advise we start looking& nbsp;and fast. She's quick, isn't she?" Sora& nbsp;nodded at Marluxia's
observation. "I thi nk I may know where she went. Follow&nbs p;me."

Larxene held her stomach, w anting nothing more than to expel all th e Irish Coffees she's just
drank. All&nb sp;the memories had come flooding back like&n bsp;a river breaking a steel damn, when she'd
sat to listen to Luxord. She'd&nbs p;know from the very beginning that this ;was a foolish endeavor;
heart breaking memories only led to one thing, in her&n bsp;experience. She quivered in fear and
disgust, ignoring the prostitutes walking around& nbsp;as she ran to the nearest bush and& nbsp;heaved her
coffee into the dirt. Sh e didn't care who saw her or heard. ;In Traverse Town she was a nobody;
just like she was everywhere she went. Tears made their way to the brims of&nbs p;her tired eyelids as
she attempted to& nbsp;hold them back but did not succeed. ;For the second time Larxene felt like h er
world was falling apart. Ever since&n bsp;Marluxia had shown up everything in her&n bsp;past had unraveled
unceremoniously right before her eyes. She hadn't been able to stop it so she figured she'd stop
fighting it. But the repercussions of tr ying to remain so nonchalant had threatened&n bsp;to become her
undoing and so far,&nb sp;she'd been losing. With the memories and&n bsp;images flooding back through that
broken& nbsp;damn, she'd been able to control nothing . Fear had slithered its way back into&n bsp;her
bloodstream, hate invading her every& nbsp;cell. She'd know she'd never quite let&n bsp;go of the pastâ€”all
she ;wanted was revenge for the last few yea rsâ€”but she had thought that, at least, she'd come to
terms with he r situation and how to live with it.&nbs p;
'But then he had to comeâ€&br vbar;and ruin everythingâ€¦' she mused bitterly as she listened to the catcalls and whistles of the women around& nbsp;her. She heard footsteps approaching but ;no longer
cared. She'd deal with the&nb sp;person if he or she happened to stop& nbsp;next to her. Her mind was still
focused on the fact that she had just& nbsp;vomited in the bushes for the second&nbs p;time that week when
she felt a ha nd on her shoulder. Petrified, though she&nbs p;wouldn't admit it, Larxene threw a blind&nb sp;
punch backwards towards her assailant. Whe n she felt someone's fist curl around he rs she
automatically knew who it was,&nb sp;and she hated him all the more. "What do you want, Flower?"
Her voice wa s hoarse, harsh and broken.

Marluxia&nbs p;sighed, Sora standing uncertainly behind him&nbs p;and shifting from foot to foot. The chestnut haired man had never heard someon e so torn in his life, not even him self, and he
reached out to pull he r from the bushes with extreme caution. She didn't seem to have any fight
i n her as she allowed him to bring h er out from her hiding place. When he&nb sp;turned her around she
didn't look dow n, instead glaring at him with defiantly ;distant eyes, which were red-rimmed. He
wanted to reel back in sickness at the& nbsp;stench floating up from behind her, and& nbsp;the obvious gleam
of wetness trailing&nb sp;down her lips and chin. He didn't nee d to ask if she'd thrown up as the& nbsp;
evidence was in the air and all&nbs p;over the lower half of her face. He&nb sp;didn't have time to question her
or&n bsp;make general inquiries when she roughly s hoved him away, her head whipping to the side to
face Sora. The younger boy stepped towards her from behind the old er man, his eyes determined
despite his& nbsp;fear of the crazed looking woman he ;was supposed to be looking out for, eve n if
indirectly. She glared at him, ;too, her eyes hard and unforgiving. But ;this did not seem to deter
Sora in the least, Marluxia noted as he observe d the scene unfold. The young boy reache d into
his pocket and pulled out a& nbsp;handkerchief, crisp and white with the n ame "Kairi" embroidered on
it, before ex tending it to Larxene. She stared at it& nbsp;incredulously before taking it gentlyâ€ ”unusual
for her, they both thought&aci rc;€”and wiped her face. She nodded&nbs p;silently to him before handing it
back , her own quiet thanks.
"Leonhartâ&euro ;¦?"
"Consider it done." Sora gave&nbs p;her a small nod, no other words needed as he waved goodnight to
them.
"That kid sure is something else," Marluxia interjected after the disappearing figure of the boy
that reminded him so much& nbsp;of his brother. When she said nothing&nb sp;he brought his attention back
to her. "They're offering us a way to fix all of this, nymph. Are you going to&nbs p;wallow in self-pity
or are you going&n bsp;to help?"
Standing up, still silent, ;Larxene began walking in the direction of&nb sp;Twilight Town. Marluxia was
about to protest when she stopped, abruptly looking hi m dead in the eye. "You knowâ€&brv bar;at first I
thought I hated you because I thought you were pathetic. But ;now I know the real reason why."
H e raised a brow. "I hate you because&aci rc;€¦you're my mirror image and you're full of self-pity more
than I coul d ever be."
With that said she was& nbsp;gone, her figure, too, vanishing into th e distance and leaving him all alone
in the midst of hookers, pimps and lad ies of the night. Her words hit him ;like a ton of bricks. He
wouldn't call it an epiphany but now, in that&nbs p;instant, he knew why he was so full&nb sp;of distaste
himself, of why he couldn 't stand the likes of her. He, too, ;was looking into a mirror image of
emotions every time he saw her. They we re so similarâ€”prideful, hateful, rec lusive, hurtful,
angry, depressed, abandoned. ;He was bitter and vengeful and twisted just like her.
"Ironic, isn't it, how&nb sp;much alike you two really are? And ye t you spend all your time hating her,&nb sp;
don't you?" Marluxia ignored the voice,&nb sp;wanting Luxord to disappear into a ditch.& nbsp;He hated being
wrong, and more than that, he hated being wrong in front&nbs p;of complete strangers. "You don't
remember& nbsp;any part of your past, do you?"

Shaking his head, the graceful assassin&nbs p;looked at the gambler of fate. "I reme mber
laboratoriesâ€¦and Jacob's cries . I remember walking down the halls of&n bsp;a hospital, white walls
and sterility&nbs p;everywhere. I remember kids shouting and cr ying, screamingâ€¦and I remember
walking past a room where a girl was&nb sp;shouting at a man in a business suit. I remember there
being another girl&nbs p;with them, and they both looked..." His&nbs p;head hurt suddenly. "What is
happening ;to me? Damn itâ€¦"
"You're ;remembering the suppressed memories," Luxord answ ered. "You're remembering the
visits to KH International's specialized testing labs. You&n bsp;weren't that young when Jacob was
be ing tested. Those two girls were, very l ikely, Larxene and Namine. They used to be there
rarely but they had gone a few times, Sumitse's request."
"How wer e these memories suppressed?" Marluxia looked ;enraged.
"A special solution that Sumitse&nb sp;carried for those families whose children did not survive. Unless
triggered by som ethingâ€¦those families will not ever remember they had children to begin wit h,
I'm afraid. You may very well no t remember a great deal of what happened . The only reason you
remember Jacob&nbs p;dying is because it happened before your&nb sp;very eyes but you did say you can't&n bsp;
remember how or why, right?" Marluxia&nbs p;nodded. "Another one of the twisted wonders of
medical experimentation, I suppose." ;
"Why didn't you stop him?"
Luxord sighed. "By the time I realized what was really going on it was too late. H e had already
driven Cora and Phillip&nb sp;to their deaths. He'd had me fired an d blackmailed my two friendsâ€”
th reatened to kill us, really, if we ever& nbsp;said anything." The blonde man gave the& nbsp;brunette a
warning look. "Leaving the&nb sp;Company usually means suicide. How Xigbar and I managed to do it
was remarkab le butâ€¦it came at a price&acir c;€”Xaldin stayed so we could leave.&nb sp;It's the price we all
paid for o ur naÃ¯ve stupidity. Greed kills, boy. As a true gambler of fate, I've wi tnessed it time and
time again. I c annot change the past, nor can you. But, as I said before, I can offer you& nbsp;a way to
correct those mistakes and provide a better future."
"You sound&nb sp;like you're writing a sappy story with&nbs p;a happy ending," Xigbar cut in. Marluxia&nb sp;
shrugged his acknowledgment. "It won't be& nbsp;easy. Sumitse isn't like a comic book&nb sp;villain. He's
dangerous. He'll kill you&nb sp;if you get in the way of what he desires. And for as long as all of us
have known him and worked for&n bsp;himâ€¦even we don't know what&nbs p;he really wants."
Marluxia looked into ;the direction of Twilight Town, eyes narrowe d. "I think I know."
Meanwhile, Larxene& nbsp;was at the end of Moogle Bridge; no w safely back in Twilight Town where
it was as if everything that just occu rred at the CafÃ© in Traverse Tow n had never happened. The
dreamy feel&nb sp;of the town remained and, despite the ;very late hour, there were still couples&nbs p;
wandering around in the warm early mor ning air. She could see the tram running and knew that
it would soon pass&n bsp;the never fixed hole in the wall tha t led to her "creepy" mansion that no&nb sp;one
ever bothered to go near anymore. Her mouth felt gross from the vomit&nbs p;and her body ached in

exhaustion. ;Mentally, Larxene had felt a wreck like ;now only once before in her life. She&n bsp;wanted
to disappear so badly in that moment, her tired body barely realizing ;that she'd been walking her
way back&nb sp;home. Sure, she could've hopped on the&nbs p;last tram but she didn't want people s taring at
her. As it was, since she was hardly ever seen to begin with ;and people always stared at her like she was an alien, especially in her h eavy black coat, which made sense since Twilight Town was
hardly ever cold. Anno yed at the feeling inside of her Larxene paused for a minute outside the
op ening to her home. The trees seemed peac eful, quiet whispers rushing around the breez e as she
started the trek up to&nbs p;her mansion. She didn't need much of s ign to know that Axel was, more
lik ely than not, standing at the top of&nbs p;the hill by the black, wrought-iron gated&n bsp;entrance. Sure
enough, there he was in all his flaming glory, flicking his l ighter back and forth with Roxas
planted wearily at his side.
She didn't fe el like an interrogation tonight, of all ;nights. But she already knew better than&nbs p;to
expect Axel to let her enter w ithout even a biting comment to follow. She began walking past
him when he stuck out his hand to stop her, though&n bsp;he didn't actually touch her. "Yo."
"What the fuck do you want, flame boy?"& nbsp;
"I spoke to Attorney Kosaka for you . This goes a lot deeper than I tho ught. You've been hiding
important informatio n from me, girlie," Axel replied, his vo ice low and tense. "It's time to stop&nb sp;
fuckin runnin, Larxene. It's time to grow up."
"Bite me, faggot," she spit&nb sp;back though the malice in her tone wa s heavily lacking. Sighing, she
shrugged.&nbs p;"Nothing's gonna change. Just leave the pas t where it should stay, got it?"
"N ot this time, lightening bug," he answered,&n bsp;his eyes ablaze and face in a snarl. "Your little
faÃ§ade ends tonigh t. Cut the bullshit. We need to talk.&nb sp;About yourâ€¦medical files from Tr averse
Town Hospital."
Larxene paled aga in, her mouth opening and closing with n o words coming out. True surprise
washed over her unusually harsh mien and she'd suddenly felt rather discouragedâ€”sh e hated her
life. Falling to her kn ees in utter fright, she couldn't stop t he tears from falling as she hugged
herself. 'I worked so hard for thisâ ;€¦damn it, I worked so hard to&n bsp;never crack!' Despair began to
leak&n bsp;through her system like a curse; she ;couldn't even look Axel in the eye, or& nbsp;Roxas. She'd felt
beyond pathetic but&nb sp;a large part of her no longer cared.& nbsp;The entire day had wrecked her carefully
built fortress, and the walls were ;crumbling under the heavy weight of her ;pretending. Although
she knew it was ti me to stop running, time to stop hiding& nbsp;from her past, she couldn't seem to ;let
go of the protective barrier she'd& nbsp;constructed. As the tears continued to f all, Larxene felt her
world growing blea ker and bleaker. 'Oh godâ€¦why&nbs p;is this happening to me?'
TBC... 

(Wowâ€¦I can't believe ;Chapter 14 is now complete. Weird how s omeone can just fall off the
face o f the earth. Eh. Anyhowâ€¦still having some trouble making this move along&nb sp;but hopefully
it won't be for too&nbs p;long. I know Canvas of Imperfection seemed to take priority but I've alrea dy
hit a nice writer's block there as well. Anyhowâ€¦Please, let me ;know what you think. I welcome
all ;criticism, though flames are a less effectiv e formâ€”so keep that in mind.&nb sp;If you have questions
please ask. I&n bsp;will answer them to the best of my&n bsp;ability. Thank you for still reading, rev iewing,
etc. Love you all. Peace out,&nb sp;until next time.)
Sadistickunais
&n bsp;