Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

"Roxas, I know how you feel," Sora said lowly, trying a different approach. "I know. I've been exactly where you are." He thought back to the pool with Brock, and he frowned further at the memory. "Trust me, you may want this now, but soon enough you'll wish you didn't do anything so rash."

Namine stepped out from underneath Kairi's hand, moving closer to the tree she had been by before. She hid her face in her hands, trying her hardest not to cry anymore tears of pain, sadness, or fright.

 

Roxas gritted his teeth and then released heavy breaths through his mouth, panting in anger. He took in Sora's words, glaring at the boy no more than a few yards down the hill. This guy... This guy beat his girlfriend, and then tried to kiss her. Who in their right mind did that? Roxas struggled briefly again against Sora's hold. "Didn't I warn you before?" he screamed at Jeff. "I told you the next time you touched her you'd be dead!" And Roxas desperately wanted to get close to that; he was irate.

 

Jeff winced at the threat, his fists staying raised. Of course he remembered the threat; he had just never expected to be in this situation again. Before he could even utter one word, the brunet across from him did.

"Roxas!" Sora shouted, trying to get his friend's attention. Was I this bad at the pool? he thought momentarily. He left the thought behind and focused on Roxas again, his voice low as he spoke again. "Namine's waiting for you." He didn't know that for a fact, but he was guessing she was still near the place she had been before.

Namine felt a few sets of eyes on her despite the fact that her eyes were closed and covered, but she ignored them in hopes that the people would just go away. "Please, just stop," she whispered, not sure if she was referring to the people watching or to her boyfriend near the bottom of the hill.

 

Roxas stiffened at the name. Namine. The boy felt his heart thud against his chest, the beat having skipped at the mention of her. His glare fell from Jeff to the grass and he gritted his teeth, breathing heavily as he squeezed his eyes shut. Namine...

Kairi watched the boys for a moment, glancing between Sora and Roxas to Jeff. She then turned her head, looking to where Namine was. She walked over to her and saw that she was covering her face. Kairi instanly put an arm around her best friend.

 

"Don't keep her waiting any longer," Sora added less firmly, the teen sensing that he had finally said something that would stop Roxas from initiating a fight. He had hoped he could have talked some sense into his friend without bringing Namine back into this, but Roxas had left him with no choice.

Namine lowered her hands at Kairi's gentle touch and she turned around, hugging her without thought. She was glad Kairi had come over, and she hoped her actions showed that. She shut her eyes tightly and hid her face using her hair. Not only that, but she faced the side of Kairi's head so that there was no way anybody could see she was tearing up again.

 

Roxas swallowed hard, at the same time trying to push away the anger. He needed to focus on what was important, and that was the person he loved more than anything; Namine. Roxas clenched his fists as he kept his eyes closed, exhaling. He was still a little tense, but he realized what Sora had been saying now. As much as Roxas wanted to pummel Jeff, and as much as the punk deserved it, it wasn't worth it. "...Let me go, Sora," he said calmly, though his voice was firm as he controlled his anger.

Kairi hugged Namine back without hesitation. She recognized that it was quiet throughout the park, and people were still staring as her eyes darted around. But that was the least of her concerns. The boys were no longer yelling, and that was a relief. Maybe things were calming down...

 

Sora hesitated for a brief moment, not sure if Roxas was really ready to be released or not. He looked from Roxas to Jeff, his eyes becoming more feirce and serious. "You'd better leave," he said harshly, his glare showing his hatred. He may not have hated him as much as Roxas did, but it was still strong enough to frighten the jock.

Jeff lowered his fists and ran off to the side opposite of where Namine and Kairi were at the top of the hill, the teen being wise enough to know that he wasn't welcome there. He wiped at his bloody nose again as he ran, making a mental note to never take such a stupid dare ever again.

Namine felt her cheek burn, but she couldn't very well lift a hand to it while she was hugging Kairi. She furrowed her eyebrows more tightly as she tried to tune out the pain, the girl only slightly aware that things had calmed down on the hill.

 

Roxas didn't need to look up to know that Jeff was gone. But he did notice that Sora hadn't let him go. "Sora," Roxas said, his voice calm but at the same time insistent. He was okay now, for the most part. Yes, he was still going to be outraged by all this, but he could handle it. He needed to, for her.

 

Sora nodded and withdrew, his arms raised in surrender as he took a step back. He wasn't sure if Roxas was mad at him or not, and if he was, he wouldn't have been surprised if Roxas took a swing at him. Fury had a strange way of making you want to turn against those who got in your way, even if they were your best friends. Still, though, he felt as if Roxas really did have a grip on his anger. At least, he hoped so.

 

Roxas stayed in the same position even when Sora let go, his eyes still shut. He flexed his fingers, curling them into fists and then uncurling them repeatedly as he tried to get a grip on himself. He wanted to take out his anger on something, or someone in particular. But that moment was passed, and he needed to calm down. Roxas was better than before, but he still stayed where he was, unmoving.

 

Sora stood back about two feet away, his eyes staying on his best friend. He knew Roxas was still infuriated, but he would have been even more upset in the end if he had gotten his way. Sora knew that from past experience...sort of. He understood that if he had his chance at the pool, then things would have turned out much worse than they had with Roxas' intervention.

 

Roxas felt like a million eyes were on him at that moment, and so he opened his and turned his head to gaze to the side. He saw that people were still, staring at him. He sighed softly, his eyes closing again as he lowered his head. He really had made a scene...hadn't he?

Kairi turned her head a little to see that things were silent around them, only the sounds of birds and cars nearby reaching her ears. She saw that Sora had let Roxas go, and that the blond was just standing there, still. Regardless, she remained in the embrace with Namine, knowing her friend needed some comfort after this.

 

Sora turned his head when Roxas did, the brunet seeing that the people around them still hadn't dispersed. "There's nothing to see here," he informed them calmly. "Go back to what you were doing." He was pleasantly surprised when one group of people turned around and walked away from the scene. Hopefully that would start a trend and everyone would leave.

Namine stayed still, her head on Kairi's shoulder. She was glad she was facing away from the crowd; the last thing that she wanted was people looking at her and seeing that before the kiss, she was slapped. Hard.

 

Maybe I over-reacted... Roxas thought, but then he shook his head slightly. No he didn't! He acted perfectly rational for this kind of situation. Jeff was a creep, a jerk. And he thought he was just going to get away with kissing Roxas's girlfriend?! Not a chance. The punk had gotten a beating for hurting her as severely as Smith, and that was enough to put Roxas over the edge. But this... This was beyond the boundary; Jeff crossed a line he shouldn't have crossed, and for that, he got Roxas's wrath. If only Roxas could have really gotten a hold on him... The blond boy clenched his fists at the thought, the want.

 

Sora stood patiently by the sidelines, his head down and his arms folded across his chest. Obviously Roxas was still steamed, and he needed a few moments to calm down before he approached Namine. Unfortunately for him, he was able to comprehend the main emotions Roxas was feeling. Anger. Wrath. Wanting to provide justice. Yeah, he knew exactly what that was like.

 

A soft grunt left Roxas's throat, the boy gritting his teeth as he squeezed his eyes shut even more. Where was the justice? Why did Jeff have to get away with that? One punch wasn't enough, not for that punk. He deserved more, so much more. And Roxas wanted to give it to him. Badly.

Kairi lightly rubbed Namine's upper back, trying to soothe her in the silence that surrounded all four of them. The stares had cleared, everybody going back to what they had been doing before the fight. "Are you alright?" Kairi asked quietly. She hadn't asked that yet, ever since she even reached her friend.

 

Namine shook her head faintly. No. She was far from being alright. The kiss was bad enough, but the fact that Jeff slapped her made her feel pretty terrible. She just wanted to cry...So badly. But she couldn't do that, because it felt like that had been all she had done the past few days.

 

Roxas ground his teeth together harder, his jaw flexing when he got the urge to scream in anger. But he couldn't do that, not here, in front of all these people and most of all...Namine. He opened his eyes and whirled around, looking over his shoulder and up the hill.

Kairi bit her lip lightly at her friend's response, not loosening her embrace. Namine had gone through enough, and from what she had just seen, enough of that. From what she had been informed, just now and a while ago, Namine and Roxas had trouble with that guy before.

 

Sora lifted his head when he sensed movement, the teen seeing Roxas looking toward the top of the hill. His eyes wandered up there as well, but he couldn't see the girls from his position. He would head up once Roxas made a move; he didn't want to interrupt if Kairi was helping out Namine in any way.

Namine briefly wondered if Kairi, Sora, or Roxas had seen the slap. It had sure taken her by surprise, and if any of them saw it, then they were surely comprehend why she was upset. She was positive that her cheek was still red due to the strength behind the smack, too.

 

Roxas knew Kairi was near the tree just up the hill, and Namine was with her. His blue eyes began to lose their piercing look, the boy knowing that she wasn't doing well. Roxas began to feel his anger washing away as he gazed up the hill, the emotion being swept away by a wave of sorrow. "Namine..." he whispered in a very hushed tone, the name leaving him instantly.

"It's going to be okay," Kairi said to her best friend, trying to soothe her. "I'm sure he won't bother you again." And she was being truthful; even though Jeff looked like he was ready for a fight, it had been easy to see that he was uncertain when things involved Roxas. The blond must have had a really big impact on the jock, and it was obviously negative.