Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Behind the Smoke Screen ❯ Obscured ( Chapter 16 )

[ 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 this is&nbs p;likeâ€¦ridiculously and utterly embarras sing but uh yeahâ€¦here's lame 
chapter 16...if you hate me, it's okay, I understand. I will go now. Thank you to anyone who
is still reading.
Word coding:
'Thoughts' & "Speaking"
Random flashbac ks or other stuff & Everything else&n bsp;

Obscured
Outside in the ;night air, Larxene felt oddly peaceful despi te the commotion that had transpired
sho rtly before her trek into her vast backy ard. Whether this was attributed to her lack of emotion
at the moment, or M arluxia's mysteriously soothing aura she didn't&nb sp;know, nor did she care to find
o ut. As it was, the breeze drifting by&nb sp;them was not as hot as usual, which&n bsp;lent to the night being
rather pleas ant. She found it strange that the night itself would have been the opposite of& nbsp;what
had occurred; tranquility as oppose d to hostility. 'Such a weird combination& nbsp;but suitable for us, I
guess.' Her thoughts were interrupted when Marluxia p aused ahead of her, stopping just before ;
the large, dried out fountain that used to be so beautiful during the spring&nb sp;and summer nights
when her parents we re alive. She blinked back bitter, biting&nbs p;tears at this, pushing the feelings
ba ck down into the darker depths of her&nb sp;heart. It wouldn't do well to dwell o n her past more than
already was pr esent. While it had been forced back upo n her, Larxene knew she didn't have to&n bsp;
add more fuel to that already billow ing fire. It would be best to let i t simmer again, just below
the faÃ ;§ade of her well maintained composure. 'Except that now, it's gone to shit.'& nbsp;A scowl
appeared on her lips even&n bsp;as Marluxia turned to her, eyebrow raised in questioning.
"Shut up," she whispere d quietly but firmly.
Marluxia's brow ro se higher, if possible, his fingers reaching& nbsp;up to rub his chin in a thought&nbs p;
provoking gesture. "Ahâ€¦Miss Larxe ne, if I may, I have to insist that you quell your hostility, if
but f or a moment."
"Insist all you want. ;It doesn't mean I'm going to do it,"&nb sp;she replied though the usual fire in her
voice was heavily lacking, and the&n bsp;chestnut haired man noticed. Sighing, she ;fell against the
fountain, perching herself& nbsp;on the granite as comfortably as possibl e. "What did you want to tell
me?"& nbsp;
Seating himself a good amount of in ches away from her, he settled into a&nb sp;comfortable position,
the moonlight creating&nb sp;a silver crown on his hair. "I wanted â€¦I wished to discuss something ;of

pertinence with you, regarding this& acirc;€¦situation." She blinked again, her& nbsp;face blank otherwise. "I
feel thatâ ;€¦it's finally time to tell you about Jacob."
"Your brother?"
He nodded. "Yesâ€¦Jacob was my little brot her." Larxene didn't nod but her eyes su ddenly took
on an interested gaze as&nbs p;Marluxia heaved the heaviest sigh she'd hea rd since his arrival in
Twilight Town&nb sp;all those months ago. "Jacob wasâ€&b rvbar;7 years old when heâ€¦died."&nb sp;Again, Larxene
blinked but her eyes s howed no other emotion and the man wonde red, for a moment, if she was
as&nb sp;heartless as so many claimed. "I can't&nbs p;remember, however, exactly how he died. I&n bsp;do know
that the last time I sa w Jacob was shortly before my father and mother disowned me and kicked
me o ut of the house. I never looked back&nbs p;that day."
"Why not?"
"They blamed&nbs p;meâ€¦orâ€¦he blamed me,&nbs p;for Jacob's death. My motherâ€¦she& nbsp;never said a word,
never stood up&n bsp;for me that day. She just cowered in fear, in acceptance. But now I know&aci rc;€¦I
know it was Sumitse who&nb sp;killed Jacob." Involuntarily Larxene scooted cl oser to him, the interest
in her ey es renewed; it bothered Marluxia mildly becau se he couldn't tell what kind of interes t
she was demonstrating. "Jacob used to& nbsp;go to the doctor's a lotâ€”o ne doctor. When we lived in
Traverse&nbs p;Town, we lived in a special housing co mplex that I didn't, until now, realize belonged
to a block of property owned&nb sp;by yourâ€¦step-father. It explains ;a lot now but back then, I was
simply trying to provide for my family ;and finish school. One cannot blame me for not caring
that rent was cheap, ;or that I was able to find a job&n bsp;with relative ease." He looked away. "It& nbsp;
should've been obvious, all the signs&nb sp;that kept surfacing. I should've known bet ter than to think I
could help us&n bsp;all escape my father'sâ€¦abusive grasp."
Rubbing his temples, Marluxia's voice fell into a deeper tone, solemn and&nbs p;full of an aching
Larxene recognized a ll too well. "Jacob had been going into& nbsp;the Doctor's office far too long to ;
have not fallen more ill, or to ha ve his condition not improve. You seeâ& euro;¦Jacob, I now know, was
being&nbs p;tested. The experimental drugs he had been& nbsp;injected with were to create a new medicine, a
new serum, for some disease& nbsp;that Sumitse had beenâ€¦conducting&nb sp;research on for many years.
Perhaps y ou knew about it, indirectly. Whatever the&nb sp;case, he needed test subjects. What better
way than to offer money to less&nb sp;illustrious, poverty stricken families like min e? Back then Iâ€¦I
didn't k now that Demyx's father was a close coll eague of his. I was young and naÃ ¯ve, my only
concern for our well&n bsp;being." Shuddering, he felt the anger cre ep into his voice. "How foolish of
meâ€¦this is my fault."
"How&nbs p;can that be?" Larxene quickly interjected i n an even tone. "You didn't know. Shit&a circ;€¦the
bastard is my step-father&n bsp;and even I didn't know."
"I was ;too focused on not suspecting that something was amiss. I never miss a sign. I' m always
one step ahead." Shame plastere d his face. "But this time...I was unabl e to keep up with what
was happenin g. The drugsâ€¦I was young. I&nb sp;was not able to resist the effects, n or recognize them

until it was too& nbsp;late. Now everything is one big massive& nbsp;ball of debris floating around in my&nbs p;head
like a lost memory."
Before she realized what she was doing, Larxene's&nb sp;hand reached out, covering his own for&nbs p;the
briefest of seconds. At the discov ery of what she had done, she quickly&nb sp;retracted it, turning away
to hide th e sudden blush of surprise that washed o ver her face. "It'sâ€¦it's not y our fault."
Marluxia was still staring a t the spot where her fingers had been&nb sp;seconds earlier, somewhat
mesmerized by th e quick action. But he did not draw ;more attention to it as Larxene seemed
highly uncomfortable as it was. "That is â€¦rather kind of you to say.&nb sp;But I have no delusions as to
wh at part I've played in this mess."
It seemed like there was nothing she cou ld say that would get through to him&nbs p;and Larxene
decided it was best to&nbs p;let him continue with this story. Normally& nbsp;she would have made some
smart ass& nbsp;comment, some ridiculing statement to cut&nbs p;him down like she did everyone else in her
life that made her feel unlike herself. But, as in every other instanc e involving him, she found her
voice&nbs p;lost, her speech impaired to say anything&n bsp;to him if it was not nice. It w as more than
unnerving that this was&nbs p;the case; she was losing her touch. It was an extremely foreign concept to
her to say the least. And it made ;for a very unsettling concept that she was, perhaps, going soft.
Of course, thi s was a general sentiment that didn't ap ply to Namine at all; her little sister& nbsp;was her
biggest downfall, if one co nsidered her emotions on the girl a bad& nbsp;thing to begin with. Curling
back i nto herself, the blonde was able to rema in silent long enough for Marluxia to co ntinue his
story, the details startling as they were revealed one after another. ;His past was anything but
happy and&nbs p;it reminded her, vaguely, of Axel's. While& nbsp;Roxas had been disowned for the mere&nbs p;
inkling that he was gay, Axel's parent sâ€”bible thumpers, she called them&ac irc;€”had sought to beat the
"dise ase" out of him, bruising him until he&n bsp;was black and blue on many occasions.&nbs p;Or so he had
shared with her. At& nbsp;first Larxene didn't think it was possib le for Axel to sound any whinier but&nbs p;
she'd been proven wrong when Roxas had entered the picture. They'd shown up on her doorstep
by pure accident, the ;day a fond if not ridiculously funny an d inappropriate memory for her.
"How did you meet them?"
Startled but masking&nb sp;it well, Larxene cocked her head to t he side. "Meet who? The fags?"
"Is that really what you call them? It seems as though they're your friends," he rep lied, face
impassive.
Sighing, she nodde d slowly in agreement. "Yes, they're my friends, Axel and Roxas," she
admitted b egrudgingly. "How did I meet them? It's not the most exciting story. You sure yo u
want to hear it?"
"Are you s ure you'd like to tell it, Miss Larxene? " She shot him a dirty look and Mar luxia's lips
turned into a sly smile.&nb sp;"I am interested in banter in which t he likes are not so depressing as my&nbs p;
previousâ€¦story. If you would ;be so gracious to extend the same consi deration as I have, I would
very mu ch like to hear such a tale."

"So old worldâ€¦has anyone ever told you that?"
"Thrice, this evening if I'm not mistaken," he said, eyes coy.&n bsp;"Now, if you please."
"Stop rushing me, flower," she huffed as she readjusted&nbs p;her legs on the stone fountain. "I'm o nly
going to tell it once so listen . It's annoying." Marluxia looked attentive. "Quite frankly, there's
nothing glamorous abo ut it. I found those two squatting at&nb sp;my house like homeless people. It was ;
disturbing."

Larxene had managed&nb sp;to hide for the last few months from& nbsp;her step-father's goons with relative
ea se and relative succession. They had yet ;to come check the mansion, which she th ought was
incredibly stupid of themâ&eu ro;”it'd be the first place she'd have& nbsp;checked if looking for a missing
wa rd. She would thank sheer dumb luck that she hadn't been discovered but she knew it had
everything to do with the&n bsp;fact that her father was a cheap bas tard who didn't pay his henchmen
well,&n bsp;with the exception of Xaldin, Seifer and& nbsp;Fuujin. She knew he paid his scientists& nbsp;all the good
money so they would&nb sp;continue their loyal experimentation. By God&nb sp;did she hate him more than
anything&n bsp;else. And he had her sister. She kne w she had to try and fight him for& nbsp;the younger girl,
had to fight him& nbsp;to get her back. Her mother had bee n an incompetent and complete twit,
entr usting them to him when the man was ;a disgusting excuse for a human being. Larxene
shuddered, pulling her raggedy clothi ng tightly about her bruised skin. She h ad too many bruises
and marks on he r pale skin to venture out in public;&nb sp;people would ask questions she couldn't answer. She'd been kept inside so long&nbs p;that the outside world seemed like a s cary place.
High school had become&nbs p;a distant memory after her parents died,&nb sp;her social life suffering heavily
as a result and eventually ending in her be coming home-schooled. This did not occur with out a
fight and she had paid a ;dear price when defying her step-father. He& nbsp;had done what he saw fit to
ma ke her understand that he had the upper& nbsp;hand, everything to make her know that&n bsp;they
belonged to him now. She had&nb sp;become property, an object, a possession t hat he coveted when he
felt like it . The thought made Larxene sick to her&n bsp;stomach and she ended up dry heaving ;
whatever semblance of lunch she had eat en, the contents spilling over her lips like acid, burning
and stinging as they& nbsp;did so. Tears fell from her eyes in the solitude of her cache, the wooden&n bsp;
walls encasing her in a safe hold.&n bsp;She had told herself many times before&nb sp;that if she ever cried,
she'd be ;damned if she did it in front of h im or Namine. Crying had become the ulti mate
weakness and Larxene vowed never to cry in front of those who would ex ploit such an emotion.
This is how she learned to fend for herself, hardened&nbs p;and bitter as a result of her punishme nts.
'Punishmentâ€¦fuck that pack&nbs p;of lies.' She had no reservations when ;it came to admitting what her
step-fath er was, to herself. She knew what he&nbs p;had done was wrong and now, all she&nb sp;wanted to do
was forget and move ;on with her life. But she knew, deep&nb sp;down, this would never be the case until he was at the bottom of the&nbs p;ocean, or six-feet under. And she knew ;she wanted, more than
anything, to be&n bsp;the one to do it.
Until she&n bsp;was able to get Namine back and expo se him, she could not rest. Sighing, she wiped
her mouth with the dirty rag she'd brought with her. It was relative ly quiet in the empty mansion

that she had once called home. When sh e'd returned to it she realized she'd be en away for at
least a few years.&n bsp;It was dilapidated and falling apart. The re was dust everywhere and it looked
like there could have been a fire some where though she wasn't sure who would've&nbs p;put it out. Her
room was as it&nb sp;had been left before she'd moved with ;her step-father. Namine's room, too, was
the same, littered with dust covered pictur es and broken crayons everywhere. The atmosph ere of
the house felt morose and La rxene wondered if this had anything to d o with the fact that it had
been&nb sp;empty for so long. Regardless, when the&nb sp;will was read to her, Namine and her& nbsp;step-father,
she was grateful that the&n bsp;house had been given to her though s he would not be able to inherit it
until she was 18. This was, of cour se, overshadowed by the fact that Cora h ad given Mr. Sumitse
custody of her ;two daughters unaware that, while she'd been living, he was a terribly disgusting excuse for a human being. Larxene snorted. She knew her mother had been so en amored with the
man that the young blonde knew something was up. Her suspicions& nbsp;had been confirmed shortly
thereafter; L arxene was no fool of a childâ€&rd quo;Phillip had raised them well. She knew&nb sp;her mother
was having an affair with& nbsp;Mr. Sumitse but didn't care to address&n bsp;it as long as it kept Cora off her
case, and allowed her to continue&nb sp;living life in peace.
That all ;changed the day her parents died. Nothing&nb sp;would ever be the same.
Rubbing&nbs p;the tears from her eyes, Larxene made her way to the kitchen where the cupboar ds
looked to be in decent condition.&nbs p;At the very least she'd have to figure out how to get food. She
wouldn't& nbsp;be 18 for a few more months, which& nbsp;meant that Sumitse still had a hold ;on her money
and whatever assets Cora&n bsp;did leave her. She knew that her fat her had left her and Namine a
good& nbsp;sum of money, enough that they would,&nb sp;most likely, not have to work for a&n bsp;long time, if at
all. But again,&nbs p;she could access nothing until she was ;18. She was just thankful that he could n't
touch any of her assets either. ;It brought little comfort to her but in a time where barely anything
brought&nb sp;her such a feeling, she'd take it whe re she could get it, complaining aside. She was
hungry and she was extremely&nbs p;tired. She hadn't eaten in days and sh e hadn't slept either. The
fact that&nbs p;the mansion was abandoned amazed her as&nbs p;she was sure it would've been inhabited&nbs p;by
squatters and deviants, especially with& nbsp;how big and beautiful it was. The l ocation, too, was a
primary source for&n bsp;her suspicions that someone might be livi ng in it, only confirmed moments
later&n bsp;when she tripped on something. Glancing d own in annoyance, Larxene came face to f ace
with what looked like backpacks, 2&n bsp;of them placed neatly against the interio r wall of the living
room area. She decided that now was the time to f igure out what they were before anyone c ame
snooping back aroundâ€”that w ay she could dispose of them. She had&nb sp;just about opened the first
one when& nbsp;she felt like someone was watching her.
"Heyâ€¦just what the fuck do you think you're doing?"
The& nbsp;voice was distinctly male and she felt&n bsp;her eyes narrow before whirling around. T he red-
haired male standing before her c ouldn't have been anymore older than she ;was. She gave him a
quick look ove r before deciding that he wasn't nearly as dangerous as she could be.
Straighten ing, she shot him a wild smirk. "What&nb sp;does it look like, you fag? I'm inves tigating."
"You're touching my stuff, which means you're in for a world of&nbs p;pain, got it memorized?"

She sn orted, shrugging her shoulders in nonchalance.&nbs p;"And I'm so not terrified right now by you,
circus freak. If anyone should&nbs p;be asking questions, it should be me. This is my house, you ass."
He rais ed a brow as if surprised and she r esponded in kind. "Whether you believe it&nbs p;or not isn't
the relevant response. Ju dging by your expression, you, at least, ;know this isn't your house.
What're you doing here?"
He matched her smir k easily, running a hand through his spi ked locks. "Not that it's any of your&nb sp;
business, but we're just staying here&acir c;€¦for the moment."
"For the&n bsp;moment?"
"Axel, I managed to scrou nge up enough spare change to grab us&nb sp;some food!" Both Larxene and
the man, who she now knew was named Axel, t urned to the door in time to see a& nbsp;figure bound in
with dirty blonde h air. He was all smiles until his eyes&nb sp;landed on her; he skidded to a halt&n bsp;next to
the red-head. "Axelâ€&brvba r;umâ€¦friend of yours?"
"Not& nbsp;exactly," Larxene replied. "You've beenâ&eur o;¦shacking up in my house."
"Y our house?" She nodded. The boy almost d ropped the food in his hands. "But this& nbsp;house has
been abandoned for years. ;We've been hear for months and no one&n bsp;said it belonged to
somebody."
" Yeah wellâ€¦Twilight Town wouldn't ;know jack shit about most of its back&n bsp;alleys or uninhabited
parts of town now, would it?" They continued to stare at her, for which Larxene took as
j udgment and became rather annoyed. "Lookâ&eu ro;¦this is my house. I'd have the&nbs p;right mind to kick
you the fuck o ut back onto the streets butâ€¦" her stomach growled. "If you give me&nb sp;a fruitâ€¦we
canâ€¦di scuss some alternate options."
"You ba rely know us, lady," Axel said, his eyes as suspicious as she had been moments&n bsp;before
when he'd caught her rummaging&nbs p;through his pack.
Truth be told ;it was unlike her, these days, to be&nb sp;so kind, in a manner of speaking. But she was
tired, she was hungry, and she was lonely. These two boys didn't&n bsp;seem to be in cahoots with her
step-father nor did they seem to have an ywhere else to go. They seemed harmless and hadn't
asked her any questions. Sigh ing, she leaned back against the nearest ;wall, shoulders sagging
with exhaustion and& nbsp;malnourishment. "Just give me a damn fru it and we'll talk, okay? I'm fuckin
starving."
Immediately the blonde haired&n bsp;boy bounded over to her, shoving an orange in her face, which
she devoured&n bsp;with such ferocity seconds later that the boy could only smile sadly. "You've
beenâ€¦thrown out too, haven't you? "
"No." She chewed thoughtfully on&nbs p;the piece of food. "What's your name?"& nbsp;

"His name is Roxas, and I'm ;Axel." The red-head sauntered over to them,& nbsp;placing his arm
around the younger boy. "And you areâ€¦?"
"I t's not important," she answered, still chewi ng with fervor.
"You must beâ&eu ro;¦you must be that girl we've been&n bsp;hearing about, the one who is missing&nbs p;from
across the bridge?"
Larxene&nbs p;almost choked on her fruit. It was mer e seconds before Axel was lying on his&n bsp;back with
her kunai pointed sharply at his neck. Her scraggly clothing was f alling off as she hovered above
him;&nbs p;Roxas seemed paralyzed behind them. "Who el se know I'm here?"
"No one really . It's just rumors. Wellâ€¦it wa s just rumors. Suffice it sayâ€¦ we know who you are
now." Axel's sm irked widened almost devilishly. "Soâ€&brvba r;you're the infamously missing Larxene
Isuki ."
Pulling away, she brushed her clothes off. "If you can keep that secre tâ€¦you can stay here."
" Just like that?" Roxas looked incredulous.&nbs p;
"Thatâ€¦and don't ask me an ymore questions, or you'll find out what ;it's like to not have a
tongue," s he spat.
And thus began the terms of their friendship.

By all&n bsp;rights it wasn't the most exciting story& nbsp;he'd ever heard but Larxene hadn't told& nbsp;it in the
most exciting manner, eit her. She seemed thoroughly tired and bored;&n bsp;as though the story was
hard to ;tell due to the fact she didn't have&nb sp;the energy or interest in sharing. He ;hadn't quire
imagined their meeting to be of epic proportions but he didn't exp ect it to be so simple. Then
again, Larxene, he was finding, left a lot&nbs p;to the imagination when it came to exp lanations. She
hardly ever finished telling&n bsp;stories or expounding on any particular t hings unless it suited her,
which now,&n bsp;he gathered, the story did not. All in all he hadn't found it quite as disturbing as she
had made it sound.&nbs p;He wasn't sure, either, if this should've&n bsp;bothered him or not. It seemed as if
she was prone to dramatics and he& nbsp;didn't quite know if this was something& nbsp;endearing or madly
frustrating. Larxene was such a hard person to figure out&nbs p;and he was determined to do so, if&nbs p;only
to support his arrogant thoughts that he actually could and would. The ch allenge was great but
then again, Marlux ia loved things that were hard to crack. Whether this was due to his elitist&nbs p;
nature or simply because of the way&nb sp;he was raisedâ€”to overcome all&nbs p;obstaclesâ€”was up to
outsiders ;to decide. As for himself, he would do& nbsp;it for the mere fact that he was&nb sp;outrageously
bored as of the late. Li fe without Larxene and her friend's drama&nbs p;had proved humdrum and
colorless. Not that discovering his brother's murder was any fun or less riveting; Sumitse was
going to pay and he was going to ma ke Larxene help him. She didn't seem unw illing to do so.

Stretching his sor e limbs, he stood from his own perch&nbs p;on the dried out water fountain, eyes
alight with newfound determination to scrape& nbsp;up any information he could on the bastard.
Immediately, her movements sharp, La rxene turned to him, her expression tentative . "Where are
you going, flower?"
Th e nickname was not to his liking nor&nbs p;was it a chosen affect he would've dee med appropriate
yet he never really foug ht her on discarding it. Instead, he sig naled towards her house. "Back
inside, a s it were. I believe, Miss Larxene, that a conversation with the local law enfor cement is
in order. It would seem w isest, too, to speak with the Examiner w ho has a hold of your records
and&n bsp;Namine's. I do believe these people are&n bsp;here to help you."
Muttering to hers elf, Larxene nodded though she said nothing&n bsp;aloud in response to his
commentary. ;Normally she would have just stabbed him&nbs p;but she did not have the drive to ;do so,
not today. There were a hor de of people in her house who she d idn't know anything about, let
alone eve r seen, and she just wanted to know ;why. She had a good idea why but k new it couldn't
hurt to find out mo re about them and why they wanted to&nbs p;help her. She wasn't paying them
anyth ing so why would they want to help her?'Some people like to just help,' s he thought,
recalling Axel's own words d espite his jaded past and reservations about& nbsp;peoples' motives. It was
still unusual&n bsp;and she'd been taught that everything com es at a price, nothing was free. And&nbs p;if it
supposedly was, then there was&n bsp;a catch. 'There's ALWAYS a catch,' she thought as she followed
Marluxia ba ck inside her mansion where, no doubt, a variety of questions awaited her. She c ould
smell the strong coffee Zexion had& nbsp;brewed in her absence and was thankful&n bsp;for it; she could use a
cup of& nbsp;it right now. Her eyelids felt heavy&nbs p;and her head hurt something horrible becaus e of all
the stress, she assumed. I t wasn't like her to simply let things&n bsp;go, to let things just slide by her& nbsp;
without notice or action. Sighing, she&n bsp;tried to prepare herself for the onslaugh t of attention she
was about to rec eive the minute she walked into the livi ng room. No more than 1 minute later&nbs p;
had she entered the living room area&n bsp;when all eyes landed on her and Marl uxia.
To his credit he seemed completely unfazed, simply nodding before proceeding to leave her
there with everyone while&nbs p;he grabbed a nice cup of coffee. Larxe ne felt her eye twitch at this;
wha t she wouldn't give for the entire pot&n bsp;of steaming roasted beans. Trying not to& nbsp;seem put-off or
put-out, Larxene met&nbs p;eyes with the first person who met her sâ€”a woman with long black hair& nbsp;and
a doctor's coat. 'Well, at l east it's good to know people aren't goi ng to run screaming,' she
mused. Sig hing, she approached the rather large group&n bsp;of people, making a beeline for the
woman who had pretty much invited her&nb sp;to speak. When she stopped right in f ront of the woman,
she blinked but did not extend her hand.
"Hey. Who's&nbs p;in charge here?"
"Not that I'm surpris ed your already asking questions but I c an guarantee you there is no one in ;
charge. We're working as a team on ;your sister's case."
"And you are?"

"Dr. Tifa Lockhart, head of the Specia l Patient's Unit at Twilight Town Hospital.&n bsp;You must be
Namine's sister, Larxene ;Isuki," the woman replied with an extended&n bsp;hand. When Larxene eyed
it but made& nbsp;no move to return the gesture, Tifa ;let her hand fall back to her lap, ;indifferent. "Ms.
Isuki, there are many ;questions we have for you in regards to your sister's caseâ€¦and yours."&nbs p;
"How did you get a hold of my&nbs p;file?" Larxene was itching to know who ;managed to subpoena
her records from he r Step-father's cronies.
Tifa nodded towards& nbsp;a man adjacent to them with spiked blonde hair. Larxene recognized him as
t he man who had ordered her father out,&n bsp;an agent with the FBI. 'But why w ould the FBI be
involved in this?'&n bsp;Eyeing him warily, she turned her gaze&nb sp;to him. "And who are you?"
"Why don't we just do an introduction circle?"&nbs p;a voice chirped. Larxene's gaze shifted aga in to a
young woman, her age or&nbs p;possibly a bit younger, with cropped back&n bsp;hair and scrubs. 'A nurse,'
Larxen e realized. The young woman smiled though&nbs p;Larxene had yet to return such sentiments.& nbsp;
"Hi, I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, R.N. to T ifa, Head Physician of the SPU at Twilig ht Town, as she
mentioned. This is Agent Cloud Strife with the FBI. To my&n bsp;right," Yuffie pointed to a man with ;
long silver hair and piercing green eye s like Riku's. "This is Attorney Kosaka with the Private
Kosaka Law Offices of&n bsp;Traverse and Twilight Town. This is his&n bsp;Executive Assistant, Aerith
Gainsborough. We'r e all here to assist you with Namine's&n bsp;case."
She stared at them, their fac es and names registering in her head bef ore she glanced at Attorney
Kosaka. "How much is all of this costing? I'm n ot made of money, you know."
"Granted&nb sp;what I do know about you, Ms. Isuki,& nbsp;I'd say money is the least of your& nbsp;concerns in this
case. Now, if no&n bsp;one minds, I'd like a moment alone w ith Ms. Isuki," Sephiroth replied.
She b lanched as his "team" nodded and departed&nbs p;to the outside of the mansion, most li kely to go
over information. Xigbar and& nbsp;Luxord moved into the kitchen with Zexio n and Demyx to drink
coffee. It see med she was all alone with him, and ;a young man who looked remarkably like him
but whose name she did not catc h. She was about to rebuke his request&n bsp;when someone came to
stand next to&n bsp;her. For a split second she thought it was Axel but when she turned to the side she
found Marluxia staring down at her, a cup of coffee between th em.
"You looked like you needed this,"&n bsp;he said, eyes blank as she accepted it. He quickly sat down
on the couc h across from Sephiroth and the unknown man.
"Umâ€¦thanks," she replied as she too took a seat beside him.
"Ms. Isuki, you are comfortable with thi s young man in here, yes?"
She nodd ed. "I can't make him leave. He'll just& acirc;€¦it's fine," she answered and t ook a small sip of
the burning liqu id.
"And who is this, if I may ;ask?" Marluxia's velvet voice broke through the silence.

Sephiroth gestured towards the man. "Ah, yes, Marluxia Shimotoâ€&b rvbar;this is my associate, and
brother, ;Yazoo Kosaka. He will be assisting me o n this case, along with the people Ms.&n bsp;Kisaragi
introduced to you. We will be conducting a thorough investigation into M r. Sumitse's financial
records, business vent ures and personal background. There isâ&euro ;¦a lot that must be in order bef ore
we can proceed to take such a&n bsp;case to Court."
If Marluxia was surp rised Sephiroth knew his name he did not show it. "What's in it for you?" Larxene's solemn whisper broke through his&nbs p;speech.
"Pardon?"
She shot him an ;irritated, despairing glare. "I said, what's ;in it for you? I haven't been given&nbs p;any
information on the cost of this,&n bsp;or why you're doing this in the firs t place. Hellâ€¦I don't even
know how that FBI agent was able to&nb sp;subpoena my files fromâ€¦" she&nbs p;paused and looked away.
"You don't kno wâ€¦he has spies everywhere, even&nbs p;in the FBI. He's got his hands in ;everyone's
pockets from here to Traverse&nbs p;Town and then some. Howâ€¦how did he get my file from Dr.
Vexen?"
"How Agent Strife managed to retrieve&n bsp;your personal medical file, Ms. Isuki, is a mystery even
to me. But I w ould not discredit these people before you've given them a chance. They excel in ;
what they do," Sephiroth's voice held c onfidence. "And even Sumitse cannot hide fore ver behind
his Corporation and money, hi s lies and deceit. I am truly sorry ;for what you and your sister have
gone through, but you have my word that& nbsp;we will make this right."
"Your wor dâ€¦?" She appeared incredulous and&n bsp;Marluxia could feel it reverberating off her in
waves. He nodded again. "I'm ;afraid I can't accept your word untilâ €¦something changes. All
those before& nbsp;you have failed."
"And do you have& nbsp;anything you'd like to say, young man?"& nbsp;
Marluxia raised a brow. "Should I h ave something to add to this interlude? If so, I have yet to
discover what& nbsp;it is. I, unfortunately, cannot say that I completely trust you. However, it see ms
your intentions are good so I wi ll go along with this, as you say. I can't help but wonderâ€¦what makes you pursue this case soâ€&brv bar;fervently, Mr. Kosaka."
"Whatever my pers onal reasons may be are quite irrelevant,&nbs p;as I'm sure you understand. Please
ret urn when you've made your decision."
The statement left no room for further inte rrogation, not that Larxene was the least&nbs p;bit interested.
In fact, she preferred ;if she could go back to her room a nd crawl in a hole, far away from everyone's prying eyes. Whether Marluxia decid ed to harass her further in this endeavo r, she
could care less for his choi ces. Sighing, she stood, coffee in hand and began to walk away. She
didn't wait for a reply, a halting response and such, content to simply disappear within&nbs p;the
confines of her room. She could&nb sp;vaguely hear Marluxia bid a hasty although extremely polite
departure as she ascen ded the staircase in time to run head-on into Axel. She was about to retort ;

when she felt a hand gracefully st eady her wobbling coffee mug. Shooting the&nb sp;brown-haired man
a glare in thanks, s he returned her stare to Axel, eyes unre adable. Her red-haired roommate
simply raised a brown before gesturing to the room&nb sp;behind them where it was considerably quie t
given the amount of people in her entire house, and Namine's prior tears. ;
"She's asleep. Roxas and Riku got her&n bsp;calmed down enough. I have Roxas in agreement about
you needing to spill you r secrets sooner or late, lightening bug,"&nb sp;he answered pointedly. At her
eye rol l Axel grinned, all teeth. "In the meant ime, pretty little girl, I'll leave you to your
newestâ€¦companion."
Wit hout another word the pyromaniac vanished aro und the staircase banister just as Marluxia's
hand was on the small of her back, ushering her into her bedroom. Normally she would've
protested but at the moment, she was too busy devising ways i n which to castrate Axel. In the
so litude of her room Larxene leaned against&nbs p;the wall nearest to her bed, coffee mu g still in hand
as she waited for&n bsp;Marluxia to do something, anything. He gl anced around a couple times, taking
in&n bsp;the atmosphere, before nodding.
"Your liv ing situation seems cozy enough despite your& nbsp;obvious lack of decorative talent, and pension for dramatic surroundings," he mused.& nbsp;She was about to snap at him when&n bsp;he raised a
hand to silence her.&nbs p;"It's my form of a compliment, Miss La rxene. Nothing more, nothing less, I
pro mise you."
"Funny how your compliments a lways rub me the wrong way and make ;me want to kill you,"
she muttered ;in response. "So." She shifted her weight&nb sp;as she moved towards her bed. "While I
don't really need your opinion to ;proceed with my grand plan of murdering ;my step-
fatherâ€¦what do you th ink about all of this?"
"I believe Mr. Kosaka will do everything he can to& nbsp;help, whether for us or his own rea sons. It
matters not. However, I would&n bsp;agree that working together will be a&nbs p;far better method to
accomplishing your&nbs p;goals than running in like a wild anim alâ€¦" she glared at him; he&nbs p;smirked.
"Or like a savage nymph."
"You pet name is starting to annoying me, flower."
He smiled arrogantly. "Then ;that makes me wish to say it even more, precious nymph."
Larxene's cheeks felt& nbsp;hot as she stared at him, his gaze& nbsp;unwavering to match hers. Her thoughts kept replaying the evening on sunset hill , an evening where her drug habit had&nb sp;allowed her guard
to fall. That night Marluxia had seen a side of her sh e'd worked hard to hide, worked like a&n bsp;dog
to seal away within the recesses of her heart. But that night, too, ;she had seen a side of him she
doubted many people had, or did even n ow. She could remember his fingers on he r skin, his
hand cradling her head even through the hazy, fogged consciousness p rovided by her weed laced
world. She&nbs p;wanted to let go. He made her want&nbs p;to stop pretending, to stop fighting. 'N oâ€¦I can't.
If I ever do&a circ;€¦' she watched while he lean ed back against the wall across from her . 'I can't until
this is overâ& euro;¦I need to end this beforeâ&euro ;¦anything changes.' She promised herself&nb sp;that she would

keep her faÃ&se ct;adeâ€”was that was it was now? â€”until her step-father was dead ;and buried six-feet
under.
"You're infu riatingâ€¦"
He raised a brow.&nb sp;"Oh? How so? I can't imagine what I'v e done that could make you feel in such
a way. I've only done my part& nbsp;in addressing your lack of cooperation a nd the prideful manner in
which you ;carry yourself. Any self-respecting person wouldn 't deny such an opportunity as
Attorney& nbsp;Kosaka is offering. I would think common sense would rule in this case."
"Y our arrogance fits you well, I guess," s he answered with a lack of venom that&nb sp;Marluxia found
unsettling; even in the&nbs p;short time he'd known her. "I don't su ppose that you ever have nicer things to say."
"To the likes of you, M iss Larxene? No, I'm afraid I do not.&nb sp;The lack of ability to compromise
tha t you've sustained puzzles me." His delicate& nbsp;features took on a look of true con fusion. "In all
my years of meeting ;strangersâ€¦you are by farâ€&b rvbar;the most complicated."
She let out ;a bitter laugh. "Complicated? I would have&n bsp;to disagree. If anything, I'm
justâ €¦ordinary."
"Far from it, if I&n bsp;had to be completely honest," he refused& nbsp;to accept her explanations, vague as
they were. "I believe that your faÃ& sect;ade covers up a lot more than you&n bsp;reveal, especially to those
who do n ot know you, or cannot see through the&n bsp;visage." She blinked, the corners of her& nbsp;eyes
tensing when he hit too close& nbsp;to home on the topic. His smile wid ened though now it was slightly
rueful.& nbsp;She didn't understand. "I've never been one to mince words, dear Miss Larxene, b ut I will
say that I've always been good at reading people. And while I&nbs p;will, begrudgingly, admit that I
have had some troubles with youâ€¦" h e paused, to which Larxene leaned towards&nbs p;him a bit on
her mattress, truly curious. "I will find out more; you can& nbsp;count on that."
She blanched, cheeks&nbs p;reddening slightly at this statement. Whatever&n bsp;his reasons were for wanting
to know her didn't seem to revolve around stric tly business. Then again, no man had eve r been
allowed as close to her as&n bsp;he had now become. It was dangerous for her and she refused to let
him& nbsp;ruin her chances of revenge, no matter&n bsp;how handsome he was. 'Beauty is only&n bsp;skin deepâ€¦his
looks will g et me killed. His charm will throw me&nb sp;off track. Ignore him, Larxene.' He ha d turned
away from her, the side pr ofile of his face handsome in the flicke ring lighting of her room.
Cursing in&nb sp;her head, Larxene shook the thought away&n bsp;before standing. He brought his sapphire
gaze back to her and Larxene had to put more effort into not faltering at&n bsp;the way his eyes pierced
her own.&nb sp;Waving away his previous confession, she r eached for the pack of cigarettes on her
makeshift lamp desk, setting the coffee down as well.
"Whateverâ€¦fine, we go along with it. I will do&nbs p;it. But I reserve the right to go ;rogue at any time
I feel like it,& nbsp;understand?"
Marluxia nodded. "I won't t ell a soul, then, Miss Larxene."

Sh e scowled in reply. Seconds later she co uld hear bustling downstairs. "Guess we bette r go talk
to that Attorney again." Marluxia nodded, again. "Wellâ€¦let's ;get going Flower."
Meanwhile, downstairs, Ya zoo was trying to calm down Riku who&nbs p;had descended the stairs with
an annoy ed look on his face. "What is the m atter, brother?"
Riku scowled. "Kairi is ;sick again and Lexaues is out of town.& nbsp;I can't go right nowâ€¦" he glanced
back towards the upstairs part& nbsp;of Larxene's mansion. "Roxas and Axel ar e going to do
someâ€¦recon with the guys. And I don't want to leave Namine alone."
"She's sleeping, is ;she not? I think she'll understand if y ou need to check on your best friend,"&n bsp;
Yazoo replied while shuffling through a&n bsp;stack of papers Sephiroth had handed to&n bsp;him. When
Riku didn't answer the oth er man looked upwards. Riku's expression was& nbsp;torn, and Yazoo
smiled. "Brother, stay&n bsp;with your friend. I will check on Ka iri in about an hour, alright? Sephiroth ;
should be fine with this, yes?" At ;their oldest brother's nod, Yazoo gave his&n bsp;younger sibling a
sympathetic, reassuring ;clap on the shoulder. "Go upstairs and keep watch. I'll call you in the
mo rning." Yazoo watched as his brother disappea red from sight before turning to the old est
Kosaka. "You have my word for a nother hour brother, and then I will lea ve."
Sephiroth agreed. "Are you sure it' s wise that you go over there?"
Yaz oo laughed. "Brother, really now. What's the& nbsp;worst that could happen?"

Larxene& nbsp;sat on the chaise, picking at her n ails with feigned deep interest as Marluxia&n bsp;conversed
with Attorney Kosaka. Both men& nbsp;seemed to be having a heated discussion& nbsp;on methods revolving
around "bringing KH International down" or to justice, as i t had been put before. The
aggravation&n bsp;rising in her body left little room for actual receptive listening, which was why
Larxene was not really involved in ;the conversation; she'd all but blow-up when it "took too
long" for her standar ds. Planning wasn't really in her vocabulary, let a lone waiting around for
othe r people to help solve an issue. She&nbs p;was a classic "act first, ask questions&nbs p;later" kind of girl,
which never seeme d a problem before, until she met him.&n bsp;Marluxia had a nasty habitâ€”she&n bsp;
recently decidedâ€”of ruining all& nbsp;her previous methods and raining on her& nbsp;grand parade of
sadism. It wasn't t hat she was about to give up such a part of who she was, but rather sh e would
have to let it take the&nbs p;back burner in certain instances, like now, when he was talking with
Sephiroth ;when she'd rather being ripping the shit&nbs p;out of Seifer's ribcage. Letting out a ;heavy
sigh she resigned herself back to the confines of the chaise, her nail&nb sp;beds showing wear and tear
from her&n bsp;constant picking and mutilation of her sk in. 'How much longer is this going to take? I'm
going crazy sitting here. '
"It shouldn't take too much longer,&nb sp;I'd imagine, Miss Larxene."
The haughty&nb sp;voice of their newest addition, Graceful A ssassin or not, did nothing to appease t he
rage simmering just underneath the su rface of her slowly ebbing patience. Nodding& nbsp;stiffly,

Larxene continued to pretend&nb sp;as if this whole "patience" concept did&nb sp;not bother her, when, in
fact, she'd& nbsp;rather send the entire idea to hell ;just so she could stab Sumitse in the&n bsp;throat all pretty-
like. The fact that&nbs p;Marluxia seemed to know what she was f eeling was eerie enough. If she didn't know better she'd be sure he had eye s in the back of his head and was&n bsp;staring her down where
she sat. Howe ver, when she glanced up again, it was&n bsp;not surprising she found nothing there bu t
his long, shiny chestnut hair, every&n bsp;strand perfectly placed. It made her want to gag, how much
he primped and&nb sp;how much she, as a female, did not.&n bsp;She didn't necessarily believe in stereotypes& nbsp;
but she would be lying if she didn't think they applied on certain occasion s. Sighing, she
waitedâ€”albeit v ery impatientlyâ€”for them to get ;moving, for anything. She hadn't heard any&n bsp;
noise from her fellow housemates, a signal which usually meant Roxas and Axel&nbs p;had made
progress with Namine, though she never doubted that they did. She had overheard Riku say that
her two fr iends were going to do strategic planning&nbs p;with Demyx and Zexion, which meant that&nbs p;
Namine had indeed fallen asleep in Rox as' room, and Riku had rejoined her foll owing Axel and
Roxas' departure. Though she would never admit it to anyone other than herself, Larxene was
happy for&nbs p;Namine, happy that, despite what had occurr ed; her sister was able to find comfort& nbsp;in
Riku. Larxene was happy that Rik u still liked her even with all that&nbs p;had happened. In fact, if not
for ;mere happiness, Larxene begrudgingly admitted, to herself alone, that she was even jealou s
of her little sister.
She couldn' t remember the last time she'd been happ y. As of the last few years, the on ly thing
that made her happy was th e thought that she might be able to ;torture her step-father as he had
done& nbsp;so to her for years, and eventually ;kill him with some choice options she'd ;concocted over
the years. It gave her&n bsp;a sick sadistic pleasure to think she&nbs p;might be able to do this soon as she'd
been waiting for over 5 years.&nbs p;The worse yet was that she knew where& nbsp;he was and it made her
fingers ;itch in anticipation. The whole red-tape and paperwork process only slowed things down&nb sp;
and made for lengthy, drawn-out revenge&nb sp;plots that never seemed to occur. It made her angry.
And most of all, an ger turned into sadness, forlornness, a sombe rness that reached to the depths
of ;Larxene's soul and made her want to bre ak down into a useless puddle of tears.& nbsp;
But such a luxury was not allowed.& nbsp;
Those around her couldn't see, wouldn't& nbsp;see. When she was younger, she distinctl y remember
Cora's sorry excuse for paren ting, recalling all the times her mother ;would remind her that
Larxene was lucky and had nothing to complain about as&nb sp;a young girl. Larxene made a nasty face at the back of Marluxia's head a s she recalled a particular moment in he r 15 years that made
her want to&nb sp;slap Cora across the face.

" Larxene dearâ€¦I cannot understand wh at you're whining about. You're simply so&nbs p;lucky that you
now complain about usel ess, fleeting moments which have no consequen ce and are of no real
importance. T hey're simply small issues in the bigger ;scheme of my life and your father's."&nb sp;
The young blonde was fuming as she watched her mother pace back, two and&n bsp;fro, as if the older
woman was irritated with the entire situation. No idiot to her mother's antics, Larxene rolled her

eyes. She may not have h ad an urgent problem but as Cora's daugh ter, she at least expected
some empathy& nbsp;from her mother. Rolling her eyes, the&n bsp;blonde scowled. "Mother, you act as if&nb sp;we
were always rich. Last time I ;remember, it was only last year that we were living in a 1 bedroom
apartme nt with you unemployed and dad struggling&nbs p;to make ends meet. I hardly think you& nbsp;can
act as if this change is n o issue whatsoever. Namine and I are hav ing a hard time adjusting to
this. Can't you understand that?"
Cora narro wed her eyes at Larxene from her spot&nb sp;by the window. "No, I can't. You have money
now. You should be grateful to Mr. Sumitse."
"Why? Father's hard&n bsp;work is what got us here, not that&n bsp;scumbag of an attorney."
The anger in her mother's eyes couldn't have been normal, Larxene surmised. "Don't speak
about Mr. Sumitse that way. If he hadn't given your father the offer to join&nbs p;the Sumitse Firm then
we would still&n bsp;be poor. Be more thankful. Besides, he&nb sp;is joining us for dinner this week an d I
need you girls to be on yo ur best behavior. Really now, Larxene, swallo w your pride and be
accepting of wh at we have now. That you cannot see ;your friends anymore is not something you&nb sp;
should be so upset about now. They're probably very jealous of you now that&n bsp;we live in upscale
Twilight Town. Do n't most of them live in Traverse Town&n bsp;anyway?"
Larxene dug her fingernails&nb sp;into the chair she was perched on, ey es blazing. "Motherâ€¦you're
missing& nbsp;the point. This isn't about my friends&n bsp;so much as me not liking this new&nb sp;living style. Can't
you at least TRY& nbsp;to understand that?"
Again Cora r olled her eyes at what she deemed to&nbs p;be an unnecessary complaint from her eldest
daughter. "Really, that's enough now, L arxene. Now, go upstairs and speak to Na mine. Dinner
will be served soon." If feeling defeated was her number one feeling then it definitely matched. Larxene& nbsp;huffed in
annoyance as she made her way towards the door to her mother's&nb sp;studyâ€”Cora didn't seem to
no tice the irritation in the room. Slamming&nbs p;the door didn't even have much of an&n bsp;affect on the
woman as Larxene stomp ed her way towards her little sister's r oom. Instead she made a sharp
right ;and entered her own room. She had felt& nbsp;the tears coming, brimming at her eyelid s as she
ascended the stairs. It ma de her fill with shame as she collapsed& nbsp;on her bed, the tears falling,
slid ing down her cheeks in small rivers. Emb arrassment wasn't something the young blonde
wore well and she fought like hell to maintain the image that her mother's words hadn't felt like
needles stabbing her heart. The coldness in which Cora sp oke to her, the aggravation in her
mother's voice drove her to tearsâ€&rdq uo;anger, hurt, betrayal. Nothing had changed,&nbs p;and everything
had. She would love to& nbsp;blame it all on Mr. Sumitse but her mother played an active role in
pr etending like she cared about her family,&nbs p;then shunning them and mistreating them beh ind
closed doors. Larxene wasn't really sure how Phillip, her father, put up wit h it. It made sense
now, she though t. It was no wonder Namine never came&nb sp;out of her room other than for mealti me
and family parties. Her sister was&nb sp;a perfectly emotionless little doll that C ora molded to be
pliant, obedient and&nb sp;without opinion. Fortunately, Larxene hadn't be en fed the same lies or

forc ed into the same role, thanks to her&nbs p;father. However, as time passed she could&n bsp;see the gap
between her parents grow wider and wider, and it made her c omplacent and somber.
In fact, she&nbs p;now realized she spent more than moderate&n bsp;amounts of time crying and breaking
thingsâ€”most of her fine jewelry ;had been smashed into fine powder. The useless pieces of
decoration held little ;to no meaning for her when her world&nb sp;had been warped and her mother
had&nb sp;been completely brainwashed into a false s ense of security. Or at least this is&nb sp;what she felt
had happened. A number& nbsp;of her personal possessions had been des troyed in her random fits of
rage, most of which resulted in her having to& nbsp;hide everything from her mother's prying ;eyes.
Larxene knew that things were not right in her world due to some unk nown factor but Cora did a
superb j ob of making the young girl feel like&nb sp;she was crazy. Wiping her eyes, she s ettled back
into the pillows atop her&nb sp;bed as she heard Namine's door open, then close shortly after. She
could hear the padding of her little sister's foot steps pause right before her door; it wa s short
lived when the young girl c ontinued on past Larxene's domicile. Sighing in relief, she was barely
leaning back&n bsp;on her pillows when she heard footsteps&n bsp;storming upstairs followed by her bedroom ;
door being thrown open. She gasped as&n bsp;she came face to face with her mothe r whose face was
set in a mask ;of disdain. Cora pointed an accusing finger& nbsp;at her daughter.
"How dare you&nb sp;tell your father I've been mistreating you !"
Larxene blinked in surprise for&nbs p;a moment before realizing her mother was&nb sp;truly angry. Not one
to back down&nbs p;from such a demonstration of rage, Larxene& nbsp;hopped to her feet in front of her& nbsp;
mother. "Me? How dare you lie to&nb sp;him and pretend like you aren't being ;a terrible mother!"
Cora paused, agha st for mere seconds when her face turned scornful. "Myâ€¦Larxeneâ€¦ar e you
crying?"
The young girl's&n bsp;eyes widened in question and confusion. " So what if I am?"
Cora's smirk&nb sp;became cold. "Crying is for those who ;are weak, and not becoming of one known as
my daughter." Making her way to exit the blonde haired girl's roomâ&eu ro;”Larxene was too stunned
to reply&ac irc;€”Cora threw one last biting commen t over her shoulder. "Weakness is unbecoming& nbsp;of
you, dear. Now, clean up your&nb sp;face before Mr. Sumitse gets here. I don't want him thinking I
have such ;a crybaby as my daughter."

Sn arling, Larxene bit her tongue to fight back the unshed tears that threatened to ;fall from her
eyelids. It seemed that&n bsp;reminiscing about the past only served to make her angry or sad, neither
of& nbsp;which emotions helped her when trying to bring down an entire corporation full o f corrupted
old men. But, now as sh e thought about it, such a luxury would' ve been nice, especially when she
was&nb sp;feeling completely drained from her constant&nb sp;battle to keep up her stone-faced fa&Atild e;§ade. Truth
be told, she was exha usted when it came to maintaining a deme anor of anger and distaste for all
those around her. Such a feat had been&n bsp;easily accomplished before her world has been turned
upside down, the silence dis rupted by the recent events and recent p ersons who had barged into

her sile nt, still abode of thoughts. Marluxia's entra nce wasâ€”she'd be the first to&n bsp;sayâ€”
unwelcome. He upset the ;balance her life had come to know and&n bsp;it frustrated her to know that
someo ne so mysterious, a complete stranger, had&nb sp;managed to throw everything off kilter and
destroy all that she had fought to rebuild, everything she had carefully constr ucted in the name of
protection. He ;got under her skin like no other and&nb sp;he had even managed to tear down the& nbsp;
barriers of her friends. As it stoo d now, it seemed like Namine liked him&n bsp;very much. Even Axel
and Roxas appea red to have warmed up to him, if ev en a little. The fact that Demyx didn't& nbsp;seem
too keen on getting rid of&nbs p;him anytime soon pissed her off as wel l. It meant that everyone else
had turned their backs on her, abandoned her ;decision to keep him as an outside. And now it was
too late.
He was&n bsp;here, and she had the feeling that h e wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
'D amn it all,' she thought bitterly. She w as still picking her nails when she felt his haughty,
arrogant glare upon her.&n bsp;Raising her eyebrows, Larxene shot him a& nbsp;dirty look. "What?"
"It would please&nbs p;you to know, Miss Larxene, that we hav e a plan now."
She glanced around, taking quick note that Attorney Kosaka was&nb sp;no longer present. "Where'd the
lawyer&nbs p;go?"
"Mr. Kosaka has left to retrieve& nbsp;some more paperwork from his office." La rxene looked up into
the firm but f riendly face of Tifa. "Miss Isuki, can w e please speak for a moment?"
Sighing,&n bsp;she consented, surprised at how easily sh e was letting people push and order her& nbsp;around.
She gestured, lamely, to the&nbs p;chair across from her. Marluxia had yet&nbs p;to move and she didn't ask
him to leave, which unsettled Tifa. The blonde ;noticed. "Problem, Dr. Lockhart?"
"I have&nb sp;no problem as long as what I say ;is okay being overheard by this young m an," Tifa
replied comfortably as she poi nted to Marluxia. The young man looked t oo intrigued for
Larxene's liking but sh e didn't bother to ask him to leave;&nbs p;he'd probably just tell her to fuck of f.
Shaking her head, Larxene looked back at Tifa and nodded. "Well, then, I ;will only ask you a
few questions. ;I'm sure you've had a very long evening and I can assure you, this process ;will
only become longer. That saidâ&eu ro;¦I have to as youâ€¦how&nbs p;long did you know Dr. Vexen before he& nbsp;
became your primary care physician?"
Larxene blinked. "You're joking, right?" When&nb sp;Tifa's expression didn't change, the young ;
woman gritted her teeth. "I didn't know him before I was 15. After that, h e was made my primary
physician by my step-father. Why does it fucking matter?&n bsp;Why ask me a question like that? You
have my file. I don't see the ;need for questions."
Tifa was not derai led by the animosity shooting forth from ;her mouth and pressed onward. "Miss
Isu kiâ€¦how much would you say you& nbsp;knew about him?"

She shrugged. "Not much. I just know he was a corrupt ed bastard of a doctor, and he was a
pervert. He never touched me but it's not like my step-father would've allowed it, the sick fuck.
Dr. Vexen was&n bsp;a twisted man who used children for his experiments. He used to have a thing for
this one boy who seemed to&nbs p;react well to the serums he constructed&nbs p;butâ€¦" she looked away
sudden ly, avoiding Marluxia's eyes as the chestnut& nbsp;haired man's widened in realization. "The&nbs p;boy
eventually died. Before thatâ€&br vbar;the boy would remain in a steady st ate; there was no improvement,
there was no decline. He justâ€¦was Vexen 's favorite. I don't know much elseâ&eu ro;¦I never wanted
to."
"Jacob wa sâ€¦hisâ€¦"
"Stepping st one to a new pharmaceutical drugâ€&brvb ar;a drug that would make him rich, a&nb sp;drug that
would change KH international&nb sp;into the leading medical and pharmaceutical&nbs p;consortium that it is
today," Tifa fin ished quietly. Seeing their young faces made& nbsp;her cast hers down. "I'mâ€¦I'm&n bsp;so
sorry for what's happened. I prom ise youâ€¦we will fix it."
"You're too late," Larxene supplied hollowly. ;"Nothing anyone can do, not you, Kosaka,&nbs p;or even
I will bring back my pare nts." She looked at Marluxia. "Or his br otherâ€¦or all the families and
children that perished." Standing suddenly, s he started towards the door. "I have to& nbsp;go. Excuse
me."
Marluxia and Tifa&n bsp;watched her exit the living room, her&nbs p;destination made known at the signal of&nbs p;
a slammed front door to their right.&n bsp;Tifa smiled forlornly. "Noâ€¦I su ppose you're right."
Glancing at the bro wn haired man sitting to her left, Tifa& nbsp;smiled kindly. "Aren't you going to go&n bsp;
after her?" Marluxia blinked, perplexed. "She may not look it, for all her h ard exteriorâ€¦but she
probably needs someone right now."
He nodded. "I& nbsp;will need your assistance with some woun ds as a result, Dr. Lockhart. I hope&nbs p;you
will be available. If she asks,&nb sp;I will blame this entirely on you as& nbsp;Doctor's orders." Tifa nodded in
return, her smile still evident.
Outside, Larxe ne had walked down the path through her& nbsp;gate and into the open forest. She was
leaning up against a tree, her nails digging painfully into her palm as ;the tears began to fallâ€”
one,&n bsp;two, then three, then more. Seconds later she was a sobbing heap, curled up behind some
bushes out of sight, trying& nbsp;desperately to stop the signs of weaknes s from showing should anyone
walk by.&nb sp;It was with great distress that she b ecame slightly unaware of her environment and did
not hear footsteps coming towards&n bsp;her. By the time she realized what w as going on, a finger was
gently br ushing the rivulets away. Gasping, Larxene's knives were at this throat, even as he&n bsp;
gazed down at her, face emotionless and finger still resting against he wet skin.
"Soâ€¦you do cry after&nbs p;all, don't you, nymph?"
Blushing to th e roots of her hair, the shock set in so strong Larxene found she could not move so
frozen from the sheer surp rise. Marluxia took the opportunity to raise& nbsp;her from her fetal position,
bringing&nb sp;her to her knees as he too knelt ;before her, hands steadying her shoulders. H er kunais

had slipped from her gras p, resting immobile on the floor as she& nbsp;struggled for words. His
sapphire eyes&n bsp;shone brightly in the moonlight, his slig htly tanned skin silvery beneath the beams&nb sp;
of light that made him seem unreal.&n bsp;She knew she was still in severe sho ck at being caught mid-
emotional breakdown&nb sp;but she couldn't control herself. The tear s kept falling and he wasn't
laughing,&n bsp;he wasn't scorning her. In fact, he was simply looking at her as he always&n bsp;did. Able to
finally find her voice, Larxene opened her mouth after what see med like an eternity.
"Youâ€¦I&a circ;€¦why youâ€¦"
Smiling&nbs p;quietly, a hint of mischief and grace on his lips, Marluxia raised a finger to her lips, a sly
smirk now replacin g his indifferent mien. Her eyes widened ;as he leaned forward, lips stopping
rig ht before hers. Panic set in and Larxene froze again, losing herself. 'Shitâ€&b rvbar;what do I do now?'

(Oh wowâ€¦this was okay. I'm not sup er proud of it, mostly the ending that&n bsp;is. But I did like
writing some ;of the other parts. Andâ€¦yeah. ;Soâ€¦thank you for reading, for ;reviewing, for being
awesome and having ;faith. Love you all. Peace out, until n ext time, which I can't promise won't be longâ€¦I hope.)
Sadistickuna is