Chapter 6

CHAPTER 4 THE 4th DAY “PROMISE?” “I promise.” The exchange came to him in a dream…but who was promising who? Lazing in his bed, Roxas tried to think through the fog of his dreams. “A promise…,” he mumbled, and slowly sat up. From his window, he could see the usual scene—the town was the same as ever. But today was special. The Struggle was a festival day for Twilight Town. Then Roxas remembered how upset Hayner had been yesterday. His excitement fell flat. “Aw, what a mess…” It wasn’t that he’d forgotten their promise. He just hadn’t remembered right then. Four competitors had made it to the semifinals—Roxas, Hayner, Vivi, and Seifer. Those four would fight, and the one who remained would battle the current champion, Setzer. “Oh, well…I guess I better go.” Roxas hopped down from the bed, threw on his clothes, and ran outside. People from all over town were gathered in the sandlot around the square arena set up in the center. “Who’re you gonna root for?” Pence asked Olette. “Both of them, silly,” she replied. In the middle of the arena, Wallace—who as the former Weapon Shop manager usually took the role of MC—was discussing something with the tournament’s producer. “Roxas better get here soon,” Pence remarked anxiously. Hayner, beside him, hadn’t said a word all day. “You know, Hayner…,” Olette started. “I’m gonna check the rules,” he interjected and went to look at the bulletin board where the Struggle rules were posted. Left behind, Olette and Pence exchanged glances. Just then, there came the loud boom of fireworks, signaling the opening of festivities, and then a fanfare. The Struggle finals were about to begin. “There you are, Roxas!” Pence called, spotting him as he ran into the sandlot. “Sorry! Um…” “If you’re looking for Hayner, he’s over there,” Olette gently pointed out. Roxas nodded and dashed over to the bulletin board. “Ladies and gentlemen, Struggle friends of Twilight Town! It’s time for the summer’s most sizzling clash! That’s right—today’s the day of the Struggle and title match!” Wallace announced, and the crowd erupted with cheers. Beside the MC stood last year’s winner, looking entirely too confident. “Who will be the one to break through the ranks and take on our champion, Setzer?!” “It’s gonna be Seifer, y’know!” Rai shouted. “And who will win the title match to become our new Struggle champion?” In contrast to the crowd’s fervor, a chill practically emanated from Hayner, who stood balefully in front of the bulletin board. “Um, Hayner…” Roxas tried to gather the words to apologize for yesterday. But Hayner only shot a brief glance at him and resumed glaring at the board. “All right! Now it’s time to introduce today’s fighters! The four bad boys who fought their way through the preliminaries!” Roxas heaved a quiet sigh under the MC’s booming voice. “Regular finalist and head of the Twilight Town disciplinary committee—Seifer!” Hearing his name, Seifer raised his chin and took in the arena with a barely visible smirk. “Completely out of nowhere—who knew he’d make it so far this year? Vivi!” Vivi headed to the stage from a little ways away from the rest of Seifer’s retinue. “An underground favorite with an attitude—Hayner! It’s his first time in the finals!” “Hay-ner! Hay-ner! Hay-ner!” Pence and Olette chanted. Determined to say something, Roxas tried again. “Hayner, um… About yesterday, I—” “Get ready. You’re up next,” Hayner said, and marched briskly toward the arena. “And fighter number four is a newcomer to the arena, who also happens to be my favorite customer—Roxas!” Cheers rose all at once from the crowd, and Roxas walked over to the stage, conflicted. “So, who will win this summer’s sweltering Struggle? Who will take home the grand prize, the symbol of our tournament, the Four-Crystal Trophy?” The four fighters in the arena clustered around the bronze trophy set with four different-colored crystals. “And not only that, the winner will have a chance to take on our defending champion!” Setzer nodded in response to the title of “champion.” “Now, let the games begin!” the MC declared. Seifer and Vivi left the arena, followed by Setzer. Only Roxas and Hayner were left. The producer handed them each an official Struggle sword. Hayner took his and pointed it straight at Roxas. “Hey… Sorry about yesterday,” Roxas told him, with his weapon still dangling from his hand. He felt so guilty, he couldn’t stand to meet Hayner’s eyes. After all, he was the one who’d made a promise and forgotten about it. Seeing Roxas hanging his head like that, Hayner lowered his sword and sighed. “What, you’re still worried about that? That was a whole day ago—let it go already.” That sounded like the Hayner he knew. “Yeah. I have a lot on my mind…,” Roxas mumbled. Too many strange things had been happening to him lately. Those dreams, those weird creatures…and forgetting about a promise he’d made. “Sorry, dude—Hey, what am I apologizing for?!” Hayner caught himself. That made Roxas smile. Watching from beside the arena, Pence and Olette happily nodded to each other. “Ready, Strugglers?” said the producer. “We’re good! Right, Roxas?” “Yeah.” Hayner and Roxas nodded. “Our first match of today’s Struggle tournament finals will be between two best friends—Roxas and Hayner!” Roxas ran to the starting position marked by lines in the middle of the arena. I’m glad he’s not mad at me, Roxas thought. Now I can fight for real. The Struggle rules were simple—fight with the provided weapons and whoever gets knocked over first loses. Anyone who didn’t fight fair would be disqualified. “Here goes, Roxas!” Hayner shouted. “Are we ready?” the MC called. “Let’s…” “Struggle!” the crowd finished, and with that, the battle began. Hayner didn’t waste a second in springing at Roxas. “Whoa!” Roxas blocked him. “I’ve been training in secret!” Hayner grinned. “You’re not gonna win against me!” “Yeah, well, I’m not gonna lose, either!” Roxas counterattacked, and the toy weapon caught Hayner under his chin. A hint of a frown came to Hayner’s face, and Roxas followed up with a fierce body blow. “Ow-owwww!” Hayner tried to readjust his footing but failed and fell flat on his back. “And the winner is Roxas!” Wallace ran up to them and took Roxas’s hand, pulling it up into the air. Cheers rose from the crowd. “Not even friendship will slow this kid down! And Hayner put up a good fight, too!” Roxas shook his wrist free and went to Hayner, who was still on the ground. “Are you okay?” “I lost! Ugh, I can’t believe it!” Hayner fumed. Roxas let out a tiny sigh of relief and pulled Hayner to his feet. Hayner brushed the sand from his pants. “Man, you really are good.” “It was fun fighting you,” Roxas said. “Not for me, it wasn’t!” Hayner screwed up his face in a pout. “You can have some of my fun. I’ve got fun to spare.” “How about no.” At some point while they were bantering, Seifer appeared beside them. “Outta my way.” Roxas and Hayner stepped out of the arena, making way for Seifer. From the opposite side, Vivi stared straight up at him, Struggle sword in hand. Under the hood of Vivi’s hat, his eyes were hard to see—but they were dark. He looked at the pod where Sora slept. Sora was right there in front of him, and yet he couldn’t sense Sora any more than before. What should he do to make that happen? He reached out, but the wall of the pod stopped his hand so that he couldn’t touch Sora, either. “I can feel Sora.” So said Naminé, the witch who could control people’s memories. Now he felt uncertain—was she manipulating his memories? No, that couldn’t be. He had chosen to keep his memories. He had chosen not to seal away the darkness in his heart. That was why he stood facing Sora in this form now. He had already abandoned his old name. And not only his name, but his appearance, too. But…he couldn’t meet Sora like this. He didn’t want to, and he couldn’t. He stared at his own hand that had reached out to touch the other boy. Ditditditditdit, the computer beeped in the dark room. “What, more scum?” DiZ complained. “No, that’s…” He looked closely at the so-called “scum” on the screen. That was a figure he knew. He would rather not let it get close. DiZ quietly got to his feet and went up the stairs. Cheers rang out through the sandlot. In the arena, Seifer was laid out on the ground after one blow from Vivi. “When did Vivi get so tough?” Hayner remarked next to Roxas’s ear. As Seifer got up, dazed, Rai and Fuu ran to his side. “Uh…well, the winner is Vivi, ending the fight with a lightning-quick move!” Wallace the MC announced. Amid the thunderous applause, Seifer slowly approached Roxas. “Seifer…?” Roxas said tentatively, noticing the grim look on his face. Seifer’s eyes flashed and his voice was low. “That’s not Vivi.” “Huh?” Roxas had no idea what Seifer was getting at. “Take him down,” Seifer said icily, and with that he left the sandlot, followed by Fuu and Rai. Vivi wasn’t Vivi? What was that supposed to mean…? Roxas looked at Vivi standing in the arena, and Vivi returned his gaze. A chill slid down his spine. Vivi’s eyes seemed to glow from under that enormous hat he wore—just a little bit frightening. “It looks like Seifer’s withdrawn from the match for third place,” the producer told Hayner. “So that leaves me in third? Aw, yeah!” Hayner struck a victorious pose. “Ready for the final match, Roxas?” the producer said. “Uh… Yeah.” As Roxas turned to head for the arena, Hayner thumped him on the back. “Don’t forget about our promise again!” “I know.” Roxas waved to him and went back into the arena. “Okay, guys. Keep it clean.” The producer handed the toy swords to Roxas and Vivi. The two fighters took their starting positions and faced each other. “And now, the match you’ve been waiting for—Roxas versus Vivi!” Roxas lifted his sword, and Vivi stared straight at him without moving a muscle. “Here we go! Let’s…” “Struggle!” the crowd called out, and in the same instant, Roxas hurtled at Vivi. But Vivi evaded with a high jump—and Roxas thought he would land farther back, but instead Vivi had launched himself forward. “Whoa!” Roxas barely managed to dodge. “R…Ro…Roxas…,” Vivi called with his sword wavering. That voice didn’t sound normal—it was almost mechanical somehow. “Vivi?” “…Roxas!” Vivi raised his weapon. Roxas moved to block the strike—and then it happened again. The world warped…and stopped. “Not again!” Roxas looked around to see that Hayner, Pence, and Olette were all frozen with their arms in the air as they cheered. Strangely, Vivi’s eyes were glowing.