Kingdom Hearts - Blades of Three Realms

[[XIII] Roxas]

Eventually the time came when it was time to get out of the pool. This was at least, in part, because of Axel and Isa turning up to mention that the rest of the stuff in the apartment was going to have to be packed up to be moved into the mansion, thereby saving Roxas the hassle of having to explain to Axel that he might have been thinking of moving out in the first place. This also presented another opportunity to showcase that fun magic ability that Crystal had used earlier to decorate her own room by helping Roxas with transporting his belongings to the mansion. Sora was entirely too eager to watch the spectacle again, with Riku, Kairi, and Namine all tagging along as well because wasn't everyday you get to see a performance like this.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette would have left the mansion to resume their hunt for the mysterious UFO before Pence's camera ran out of film. Most likely they wouldn't be back until tomorrow, unless Hayner got a major second wind and decided he wanted to get in some more training today.

Xion would also be needing some help moving her own belongings, which wasn't much given that between the last time they had been in Twilight Town and their current visit she hadn't actually had the time to properly decorate the room that had been set aside for her at the apartment so it was really just the basics. Naturally, this somehow meant that Shiro would be forced into tagging along and helping with that.


Later, once that was all sorted, Sora and Kairi would have had to return to Master Yen Sid's tower because they had more studying to attend to and shouldn't be spending the night in town. Riku and Namine decided to stick around, however, with the former being very interested in Shiro's rumored singing talents, not unlike the rest of those gathered at the mansion in the vicinity of Demyx and his by now infamous karaoke machine. Riku, Namine, and Xion had each taken to one of the assorted beanbag chairs in the vicinity of the karaoke machine to get comfortable. Roxas, meanwhile, had a very socially exhausted Crystal on his lap being generally cute and tired looking.

"Alright Shiro, the spotlight is on you," Riku spoke with his patented smirk. "Let's see just how good you are."

"You really shouldn't start teasing him before he's even started performing," Namine pointed out although she clearly sounded amused anyway.

"Don't worry, you won't be disappointed," Roxas assured them both. "Shiro is very talented."

"I wonder what kind of songs he'll surprise us with tonight," Xion agreed.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth thankfully had sent off his muscle so to speak to go fetch Isa's and Axel's stuff, following Shiro since he went with Xion to help her pack up and get her stuff out as well and had no problems helping out either as the group would not take long, at most 10 to 15 minutes to abscond with everything and leave the place absolutely barren, while also helping Xion unpack, snce Shiro really didn't have much in the way of items to begin with outside of clothes so he hadn't even decorated his room (not that he would anyway, he was a pragmatic individual, course, someone could actually bug him into it later.) as for Roveth, he'd return back to the basement to continue his work while the moving went on, and once things settled down he'd join in up with the others in the 'Music' room of sorts, not the Recording Studio which Demyx had bugged Roveth about setting up (which he said he'd get to in the morning if he could.) at least he'd be sitting in a normal recliner of sorts, having stolen it from Demyx who was lazing on a couch in the back with amusement as Shiro stood up on the stage, so to speak, looking nervous as hell.

Shiro would look around at the eager faces of those wanting to hear him sing, and of course, being the guy he is he wouldn't say no, so he began scrolling through the song choices, before finding the one he wanted to try, though seeing it was another female vocalist song he'd gulp a bit, before closing his eyes, and focusing, letting the drum beat and starting up guitar guide him a bit as his adam's apple once again hid within his throat to not disrupt things as the chorus hit and all "If ya wanna see some action, gotta be the center of Attraction~ make sure that they got their eyes on you, like the face that you see on every Magazine~" he'd take a breath before continuing with a smirk "Be the focus of Attention, Be the name that Every one Must Mention~ Come out from the shadows, it's your time, cos' tonight is the night for everyone to see~" he'd take another breath before joining the chorus "it's Naaaaaatural, you know that this is where you gotta be, it must be your Destiny~ Sensaaaaational~ And you Believe that, This is what you waited for and it you've that they all a-dore, so baby~ Now you feel like Number One, Shining Bright for Everyone~ Living out your Fantasy, the Brightest Star for all to See~ Now you feel like Number One~ Shining Bright for everyone, Living out your Fantasy~! You're the brightest star there's Ever Beeeeeeen~" he would stop a moment to take a few breaths and head-bopped a bit, enjoying the song all the same before continuing "Feel the Heat that's all around you, fl-ashing lights and ecstasy surround you~ Everybody wants a piece of you; you're the queen of the scene living in a dreaaaam~ it's Naaaaaaatural~ You know this is where you gotta be it must be your destiny~ Sensaaaaaational~ and you believe that, this is what youve waited for and it's you that they all a-dore~! Now you feel like Number One, Shining bright for everyone~ Living out your Fantasy, the Brightest star for all to See~!" he'd then stop a moment to catch his breath as the guitar solo came in at this point for a bit, making him keep his focus on the music alone before taking a breath "ohhhh this is what you've waited for and it's you that they all a-dore~! Now you feel like Number One, Shining bright for Everyone~ living out your fantasy, the brightest star for all to See~! Now you feel like Number One, Shining Bright for Everyone~! living out your fantasy, the brightest star there's eeeever beeeeeeen~! yeah!" with that, the music would go on a bit more into an instrumental part as the words didn't show up, but the music did fade into the guitar riffs and the drummer going at it for shits and giggles.

once the song was over, Demyx and Axel still were staring at Shiro, well, Demyx was staring because he had his jaw-dropped, that almost sounded full womanly rather than girlish! what the hell!?! Axel just was surprised once again Shiro would choose such an outlandish song to use and belt out like that. Roveth... he seemed to be staring at Shiro rather... calmly, well, about as calmly as saucer-wide dinner plate eyes and jaw literally hanging down into his lap, clearly he had -not- expected anything like -THAT-!  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Riku stared at Shiro with such stunned disbelief that he honestly wasn't even sure of himself whether or not he should have been laughing after that performance. In fact, Riku seemed to have been rendered momentarily speechless.

"You were right, he's really quite extraordinary," Namine applauded with a smile of approval. "And delightfully full of surprises."

"His vocal range is something else entirely," Roxas had to agree with a look of something between amusement and being extremely baffled by it.

"Don't stop now!" Xion was actively encouraging Shiro to keep going. Oh boy, this was going to be a long night.

"You heard her, the crowd wants more!" Crystal decided to toss her own encouragement into the mix. It was a good way of stalling for time so she could decide whether or not she wanted a turn later and also what sort of songs she might like to sing.

Isa was perhaps more amused by the reactions to Shiro's singing than by the performance itself as he chuckled appreciatively. This living arrangement was already proving favorable.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro hummed a bit, looking to everyone who seemed eager to hear him keep going, he would sweatdrop a bit and just looked back through the list a bit, sure he could sing more songs he hadn't tried out, but he stopped on one that seemed to call to him, and upon closer inspection sighed, though he would have to hit higher notes as a male vocal range he could handle it at least as he let his throat return to normal with a few coughs and some minor adjustments with a hum as he started up the music which sounded interesting by going piano in nature with some techno and flutes added in as well. "Cultivate your hunger before you idealize. Motivate you Anger to make them all realize. Climbing the Mountain.. never coming down. break into the contents... never falling down." he would take a breath, closing his eyes as he focused a moment before returning to the machine "my knee is still shaking... like i was twelve~ Sneaking out of the classroom, by the back door~ a man railed at me twice though, but i didn't care~! waiting is for wasting... for people like me. don't Tryyyyyy to live so wise. don't cryyyy 'cause you're so right. Don't Dryyyy... with fakes or fears, 'cause you will hate yourself in the end... don't Tryyyy to live so Wise. don't cryyyy 'cause you're so right. don't dryyyyy with fakes or fears, 'cause you will hate yourself in the end..." of course, Shiro would work on controlling his breath and voice before he continued "youuuu say 'Dreams are dreams.' 'i ain't gonna play the fool... anymore.' yooou say ' 'cause i still got my souuuuullll~!' take you time, baby~ your blood needs slowing down. breach your soul to reach yourself before you.. gloom... reflection offf fear makes shadows of nothingggg~, Shadows of Nothinggggggg~" with that, a bit of a interlude with some violin playing as shiro took a couple breaths, before readying himself once more "you still are blind, if you see a winding road... 'cause there's always a straight way to the point you see~! Don't Tryyyy to live so Wise. Don't Cryyyy 'cause you're so right. don't dryyy with fakes or fears, cause you will hate yourself in the end." he stopped a moment to let the music play, having not seen more words come up just yet, when he did he only raised an eyebrow and continued "don't tryyy to live so wise. don't cryyy 'cause you're so right. don't dryyyy with fakes or fears, 'cause you will hate yourself in the end. Don't Tryyyyy to live so wise. don't cryyyyy 'cause you're so right. don't dryyyy with fakes or fears, cause you will hate yourself in the end. Don't Tryyyyy to live so wise. don't cryyyyyy 'cause you're so right. don't dryyyyy with fakes of fears, 'cause you will hate yourself in the end. 'cause you will hate yourself in the end. 'cause you will hate yourself in the end. 'cause you will hate yourself... in... the... end...." with that, the piano dropped off, ending the song.

Roveth of course just sat there, staring still speechless, before bringing up his hands to his face, and begun clapping for shiro, not much he could say really to it, just had to give him props, and it was no slow golf clap either.Axel of course just laughed seeing roveth's surprised expression "holy cow, the mighty Roveth has been struck speechless, and he's not alone with Riku joining in!" of course, this left Axel in stiches, while Demyx was trying hard not to jump up and take the mike from Shiro to save face so he could at least sing himself, but he instead kept to himself for now, but the fuming looks was any indication that he really was jealous as all get-go at Shiro.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Axel's rather comical declaration about Roveth and Riku didn't go unnoticed as it also got both Roxas, Xion, and Crystal all laughing along with him. In the process of all this laughter, Crystal slid down off the beanbag chair she had been sharing with Roxas and ended up sprawled on the floor looking up at the ceiling while still laughing.

"Count me impressed," Riku finally found his voice. "They weren't kidding when they said you could really sing!"

"And yet he insists the before last night he had never even attempted it before," Isa reminded everyone while leering pointedly at Demyx. "That's some pretty steep competition you've got there."

"Perhaps we should have him do one more before he passes the mic to someone else who'd like to give it a try," Namine suggested helpfully while many of the others were still recovering from their fits of the giggles.

Roxas glanced down at Crystal who was still sprawled breathlessly on the floor looking entirely too amused about what had just happened. "You doing okay down there?"

"Yeah, sure, be with you in a second," Crystal answered as she popped up into a cross-legged seated position in front of the beanbag chair. From this position she was easily able to spring onto her feet before settling back onto Roxas's lap on the beanbag chair like she had been momentarily displaced onto the floor because they had both been laughing so hard.

Xion also recovered from her laughing fit, although it was clear that anything else might set the whole lot of them off again at the drop of a hat.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth of course looked from his spot over to Axel with a stink-eye before calming down and resuming his seat and all "what Isa said is true, really.. Shiro has never even so far as to hum a few bars to a song, much less sing. sure, he hums randomly but that's usually the extent of things." he said, before narrowing his eyes a bit and looking at shiro with a calm face once more, as he hummed a bit "still, that vocal range..." he muttered, thinking to himself a bit.

Shiro of course just sweat-dropped at Roveth, who finally spoke up, but seeing him think he just chuckled a bit and looked back to the Karaoke machine, deciding on one last song at least like Namine mentioned, no way in hell was he going to hog the machine all night, and he did want to get some sleep soon anyway, given he did have a productive day of training and all "let's see... ah! here we go, one last one." he said, finding one he felt he could sing, before starting it up with the song having a good beat drums wise "i never really feel quite right, i don't know why... all i know is there's something wrong~. Every time I look at you, you seem so alive~! tell me how do you do it, walk me through it... i'm following every footstep~! Baby on your own you take a Cautious step, do you wanna give it up? but alllll i want, is for you to SHIIIIIIIINNNNE~ Shiiiiine down on me... SHIIIIIIINE on this life that's burning Out~..." with the music playing in a solo movement at the moment he took a few breaths to adjust and get ready to continue singing "i say a lot of things sometimes... that don't come out right, and i act like i don't know why~... i guess a Reaction is alll i was looking for... yeah~... you looked through me, you really knew me like no one has EVER looked before~! Baby on your own you take a cautious step, do you wanna give it up~? but all i want is for you to SHIIIIIIIIINNNNE~ Shiiiiinnne down on me... Shiiiiiiiinnne on this life that's burning out~. i Know, i Know girl you got something~! SHIIIIIIIIIIINNNNE~! Shine it on to me~ Shiiiiiinnne down on me i wanna feel it~! Shiiiiiiinnne on this life that's burning Oooouuuuttt~!" he would then take soem time to relax, calm down and let the music continue to play as he hummed a bit along to it in his mind softly before closing his eyes, and focusing "Baby on your own you take a cautious step, do you wanna give it up? but all i want is for you to SHIIIIIIIINNNNE~! Shiiiine down on me~ just show me something~! Shiiiiinnne on this life that's burning out~! you give me something that i never know~... SHIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNE~! it's gonna kill me if you give something away~! Shiiiiiiiinnnne Yeaaaahhhhhhh~... i wanna know what's going on in your mind~! Shiiiiiiiinnnnne on this life that's Burning oooouuuuuuttttt~...." he'd go on to sing one more repeat of the 'chorus' line before the song ended, leaving Shiro to calmly set the mic on the Karaoke machine and looking up to the ceiling a moment to think on things.

Demyx of course glared at Isa making that comment about having stiff competition "so what if he has insane potential for singing, when it comes to playing instruments i'm still one of the better ones!" of course, there was clear jealousy in his voice over Shiro's super-star if not -beyond- superstar level voice. Axel of course just snickered calmly at Demyx's clear jealousy of Shiro on that front.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"I don't know about the rest of you, but it kinda sounded to me like that song was meant for someone Shiro has secretly taken a liking to," Riku pondered with an amused smirk. It wasn't anywhere close to being as obvious as Crystal had been about Roxas, although it was basically impossible for anyone to get away with being that obvious and not being found out for as long as she had managed to pull that one off, but there was definitely a hint of something in the way Shiro presented himself that suggested that he wasn't so radically detached from his feelings anymore. He was still distorted, yes, but he was definitely showing signs of warming up to people in a way he hadn't before. Of course, even if there was no reaction from Shiro, there was a highly visible reaction from Xion who very quickly covered her face to conceal her own blushing. Oh, this was going to be fun!

Isa was of course snickering in amusement at the reaction he got from baiting Demyx like that. It was remarkable how easy it was to get a rise out of him with Shiro around.

"You know, Riku has a point," Roxas was inclined to agree with him for once. "That song could have had a hidden meaning behind why Shiro picked it."

Namine was also chuckling in amusement although she politely said nothing on the subject.

"Careful Shiro, serenading like that you might become a real lady killer," Isa quipped since that seemed to be the name of the game at the moment.

Crystal was trying very hard not to laugh through all this.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro had lit up with another atomic blush hearing the teasing from Riku, Roxas and Isa as he had at least a -small- crush on someone, but he wasn't going to say who, or look towards Xion as he hummed a bit as if in thought, before looking at the three offending people teasing him "just remember who cooks the food around here." he said calmly enough, but with the underlying threat of 'keep teasing me and we'll see how bad i screw up your food.' before moving off the stage "in either case i need to get some sleep, i still have a whole day of training tomorrow to do before the tournament the next day." he said, quickly making his exit from the music room to head down to his own bedroom mentally cursing himself for even thinking of picking that song and all, atomic blush still there.

Roveth just chuckled a bit, having a very good idea who he might've been singing to, but he wasn't going to say anything and just smirked a bit lightly "well that was... enlightening." he said calmly enough, with Axel snickering a bit at the still jealous look Demyx had and all.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"It sounds like we must have hit the nail on the head," Riku smirked after Shiro had left the music room. "He won't be much fun to tease if he keeps taking it so seriously though."

"Well, that's just Shiro in general," Crystal pointed out. "Being teased and being the center of attention puts too much pressure on him. Still, he at least seems to be opening up his heart and showing real emotions without them becoming immediately clouded by his distortion so maybe there's hope for him finding his humanity after all."

"You know, I always figured Shiro was going to be a tough nut to crack," Riku admitted. "Although, I also didn't expect you were going to be such an easy one. Honestly, you both used to seem pretty hopeless."

"It's all a matter of perspective," Crystal shrugged. "Mine was skewed by the idea that I can't accomplish everything I need to by letting my feelings get in the way. I wasn't being true to myself and the reality of that decision is that my own emotions started weighing me down like the burden I treated them to be. Which was stupid, I'll admit, because my feelings are the source of my power and I kept betraying myself."

"But at least you knew, deep down, that it was the wrong thing to do and that you were going to have to face up to it eventually," Namine reminded her. "You weren't so lost that you couldn't find yourself."

"That's true," Crystal scratched behind her ear. "Shiro is going to need a lot more help."

The conversation was getting a little heavy handed so Roxas decided to take up the microphone for a few songs to distract away from it for a little while. It worked wonders on Crystal who hadn't gotten to appreciate his singing before given that Shiro had been stealing the show ever since he came into contact with Demyx's karaoke machine. Xion hadn't gotten to hear him sing before either given that it wasn't exactly an activity he had thought to pursue while being in the Organization. Riku and Namine had visited often enough by now that they'd heard him sing before at least. And hopefully now that Shiro, the extreme superstar, was out of the room it would also help Demyx to cool off since while Roxas was talented it wasn't anything to get so worked up about like it apparently was with Shiro.

Once Roxas was finished he handed the mic over to Crystal. "You wanted another go at it, right?"

"Oh... right!" Crystal needed a few seconds to snap out it, partly from the distraction of the past few minutes listening to Roxas, but also because she was still pretty out of it in general from being dragged into such excessive socializing today. She took the microphone and got up off the cozy beanbag chair to move into position to actually start singing once she made her selections on the karaoke machine. For tonight she chose to go with Open Up Your Mind (Saiyuki), Every Heart (Inuyasha), and You're Not Alone (Escaflowne the Movie). Incidentally, she was actually somewhat less embarrassed than usual because she'd already burned out her social inhibitions from all the cumulative stress of the day. This became all the more apparent when she was scrolling through the song selection to see if anything else might catch her eye and sure enough she found a good one for a duet with Roxas. As such, she waved him over and after some rushed whispering he readied the karaoke machine's second microphone so they could give it a try. And that was how the two of them ended up going into a rendition of Love Will Find a Way (Return to Pride Rock). They took a quick bow once they were finished and Roxas put away the second microphone.

"Okay, who wants to go next?" Crystal offered up the main microphone to whoever might want it.

Riku just stared, dumbstruck. "Okay, I definitely wasn't expecting for you two to be this sappy."

"It's sweet isn't it?" Namine mused with that all-too-knowing smile.

"It's sweet alright," Riku agreed. "Just not at all what I would have expected from the tough-talking tomboyish princess over there."

"Even I get tired of trying to sound like a badass all the time," Crystal rolled her eyes at Riku.

"What's really more surprising here is that she hasn't run off blushing yet," noted Xion who had seen Crystal's almost immediate escape attempt the previous night when Crystal had sung for them at the apartment.

"Oh yeah..." Crystal considered that for several long seconds. "Hang on a second... nope, not feeling it. I think that part of my brain must've been fried today."

"That can happen?" Roxas seemed vaguely amused by this development.

"Over-stimulation, sleep deprivation, and excessive sugar can all off-set my ability to feel properly embarrassed about certain things," Crystal nodded. "Although that last one can also wreak havoc on my sense of self control so I might do something foolish or crazy so it isn't really advisable ever again."

"Well then, being as you're so mentally exhausted, your highness, perhaps it would be best for us all to follow Shiro's example and get to bed so we can be well rested for tomorrow," Isa snorted in amusement. He certainly hadn't been there during the afternoon when Crystal was fending off the inquiries of Hayner, Pence, and Olette so he couldn't have found out about the princess thing that way. Crystal hadn't exactly told him or Demyx about it yet either. Meaning that it was Riku's previous comment that had tipped him off.

"... wait, when did..." Crystal started as she began to flail. "Riku, you can't just casually mention me being a princess in front of everyone!"

"Why not?" Riku shrugged. "It's going to get out eventually. And it's not like keeping it a secret is going to keep Xehanort from coming after you now that your group has demonstrated how much of a threat you pose to his plans."

"Now this is interesting," Isa smirked a bit. "I thought 'Ojou-sama' was just a twisted term of endearment that Roveth was using to try to get a rise out of you, but now it sounds like there might be some actual basis for it. To think we've been in the presence of another charming little princess."

Crystal promptly set the microphone down over by the karaoke machine and then returned to the beanbag chair as she commenced with flailing. "Even if it is true, I hate formalities like that and it's a title I've never been particularly fond of because it reminds me of just how much I was being used. All they really wanted was someone they could use as a weapon against the forces of Chaos. I barely even registered as human to them! But, it wasn't all bad. I learned the way of the sword from Tyriel and he also taught me the skills I would need to survive on my own. I guess he must have figured I was planning to run away someday. Jake was the one who kept me sane with his compassion and kindness. They were the only ones who treated me like I mattered. I couldn't save them though. In the end, I couldn't save anyone but myself from being killed by the forces of Chaos or swallowed up by the darkness as the Heartless eventually claimed our world. It was all I could do to stay alive. And what good is being a princess without a kingdom? So, really, I shouldn't even be called a princess."

"But you aren't responsible for what happened," Riku spoke up. "Considering that all happened leading up to the Keyblade War, most likely the one to blame for that whole calamity is Xehanort."

"Believe me, I know that. I was still only a kid and I didn't really know the full scope of what was happening," Crystal admitted. "There was nothing I could have done to stop it. All I can really do is make sure that it doesn't happen again."

"A survivor from the Keyblade War, eh?" Isa considered. "Suffice it to say, Xehanort isn't at all aware of your existence or he would have targeted you instead of Shiro. That might still work to our advantage because you are someone who doesn't fit into his predictions."

"Not that Shiro or Roveth really fit into his predictions either," Crystal pointed out with a bit of a yawn. "Anyway, I think I'm going to follow Shiro's earlier example and get to bed. After today I really need to sleep."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth seemed to stay resoundly silent through the discussions, before gently getting up and walking out of the music room, not joining in on the teasing as he had things to think about, shiro's singing capabilities for one, and why mentioning chaos as a god sounded vaguely familiar, like it was on the tip of his tongue... either way, the others wouldn't see him for the rest of the night, or the next day for that matter.

Shiro meanwhile took his last day to train himself in an empty room with the struggle bat, not needing to spar with others but to get used to wielding the thing when not in the heat of things. this would go on much of the day (not including mealtimes at least.) as well, thus came the day of the struggle tournament, where Shiro stood opposite his vi-- err, opponent, one Raijin "i'll make sure you take some pain for what you did to seifer, yanno?" of course Shiro had on a neutral gaze though the slightly glowing eyes were there for intimidation "may the better man win then." he said calmly enough, but definitely spoke that this was not about to be a fight, but a one-sided massacre.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Roxas was more than a little confused when it seemed like Crystal was busy with Xion for the whole day before the Struggle Tournament, but now he understood what the two of them had been getting up to and it was both adorable and pretty hilarious. Both girls were dressed in matching Moomba onesie pajamas and accompanied by an actual Moomba that was summoned by Crystal so that all three of them could stand on the sidelines cheering cutely for Shiro's victory. It looked like Seifer was none too pleased by this arrangement too, partly because he was majorly ticked off to see Crystal as a noncombatant once again, but also because it made him feel inadequate for not having his own adoring cheer leading squad. Roxas was certainly there to cheer for Shiro too, but with the girls taking the spotlight alongside the Moomba he didn't stand out at all. Riku and Namine, knowing Shiro would be fighting in the tournament, were also back in town again to cheer him on from the crowd. Of course, Riku was finding it difficult to keep a straight face seeing the comically cute cheer leading trio at work.

"I've got to hand it to them, they really know how to put on a show," Riku chuckled in amusement.

"I'm not really sure which of them came up with the idea," Roxas admitted. He did remember that the pajamas were something Crystal had picked out on that shopping trip in Radiant Garden, but this probably wasn't the intended use she'd had for them at the time. "But they were working on it all day yesterday."

"Shiro is very fortunate to have such good friends," Namine chimed in.

Hayner was also there in the crowd along with Pence and Olette. Pence had his camera at the ready to take plenty of action shots during the tournament. Hayner would be fighting after Shiro was done with Raijin and his opponent according to the schedule sheet was going to be Vivi. Going up against the little Black Mage didn't seem like it was going to be too bad so Hayner was really looking forward to it.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth was more surprisingly there as well, though one would've thought he would've stayed at the mansion tweaking the basement stuff out even more. "true enough, though he doesn't need the cuteness overload, he might die from it." he snarked out in reply, though he knew Shiro would have wante. the others to have fun with it, Roveth knew Shiro would join in as his chibi self by glomping his own cheerleaders.


thankfully, Shiro was more focusing on the match, and the moment that he was allowed to go, Raijin would charge in recklessly, while shiro effortlessly dodged each swing, but in retaliation also dealt painful blows on his own, and meticulously gathered the orbs as they dropped, paying little care to how seifer saw this one-sided fight. eith e r way it would only take about a minute before Raijin was down to his last orb and Shiro ending it with a vicious vertical slash right on Raijin's head, collecting the last orb and declared the victor due to not only holding all the orbs but also thoroughly KOing Raijin in that last hit at the same time.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

When Shiro's match ended Crystal and Xion were part of an inverted pyramid with the Moomba at the bottom holding each of them up with one paw while they hung onto each other to keep their balance. Of course, as an added precaution, Crystal had also cast Float so even if they did stumble a bit they were lighter than air and wouldn't actually fall despite the precarious appearances of the arrangement. "Way to go, Shiro!" the girls called out in unison. Then the girls hopped down, landing lightly on either side of the Moomba and waving to the adoring crowd. Honestly, the spectacle they were creating was likely to become a new Twilight Town tradition at the rate things were going.

"I dunno, I think the cuteness overload might help to curb Shiro's murderous intent later on when he actually goes against Seifer," Roxas pointed out. It was really, really cute though. The girls aside, the actual Moomba that had been summoned by Crystal was probably one of the cutest creatures he had seen apart from Shiroi Senko and the usual assortment of Moogles. Crystal had mentioned something to him earlier about how the Moomba was actually her first summoned creature and that she could probably sustain it for days if she really wanted to. It was good to know that she wasn't actually draining herself too much by playing around like this. And the fact that Xion was in on it too actually made Roxas happy. Honestly, it was nice to just see them both having so much fun. And it did look fun. Sure, it might have been embarrassing, but the girls were both smiling and laughing and just having a good time with it.

"It definitely looks like Shiro intends to go for a total knockout against each of his opponents," Riku nodded mainly to himself. "Once this is over he'll probably be declared the undisputed champion, until Sora comes back into town and makes him work for that title anyway."

"At least they can't hurt each other as much using Struggle bats as they did fighting with their Keyblades," Roxas chuckled a bit remembering that.

"That's true," Riku agreed. They definitely weren't going to be letting those two go at it like that again for a good long while.

Once Shiro stepped out of the arena it would be Hayner and Vivi's turn to go at it. Hayner certainly wasn't the only one who had been practicing for this year's Struggle Tournament given that Vivi also practiced rigorously every day hoping to impress Seifer and all. And, while Vivi's movements were a bit unpredictable and his small stature made him a difficult target at times, Hayner did eventually get the hang of fighting him well enough that he was able to scrape by with the win.

Next up was going to be Shiro VS Setzer. That would certainly prove to be an interesting match-up.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro had waved to the cuteness trio with a smile after the match, though when he spotted Seifer he did narrow his eyes with a bit of mild anger, he quickly pushed it down though and turned to focus on watching Hayner's match, which was a good one in his opinion.

Roveth snorted lightly while shaking his head a bit lightly "oh no, trust me, the cuteness overload will do nothing to stop Shiro from making Seifer suffer, the only thing one can hope for is that Seifer knows better this time and keeps his mouth shut about one of the few triggers that sets Shiro off, that will be what determines Seifer's fate more than anything right now." Roveth however chuckled a bit in thought "as for Sora making Shiro work for it, well... i'll have to agree that i'd be glad that they're not using Keyblades and Shiro is holding back his instinctual use of his reality marble in most spars. some times i wonder if he doesn't know another setting except lethal force." he said with a sigh, before turning back to see Shiro return to the field, against some gaudy looking idiot, in Roveth's opinion "ugh, this guy makes even Seifer look bad..."


Shiro of course had gotten back to the field and readied himself "let's have a good match." he said, while setzer chuckled a bit getting a raised eyebrow from Shiro before Setzer walked over and whispered to Shiro. "speaking of this match... why don't you let me win... i have a score to settle with that brat seifer, and i'll make it worth your while." Shiro immediately narrowed his eyes and a bit of his killing intent was starting to seep out when he coldly whisper back "you want me to lose on purpose? how low of a cheater can you be just for some petty score with that a*****e?" he would then growl out as his tone went entirely frigid cold, and definitely heard by everyone "get ready for this fight, Sir, as i will not accept anything less than that." of course Setzer backed up, but he did ready himself with an over-dramatic shrug, as if he was trying to do Shiro a favor and not embarrass the boy too much, which put Shiro slowly losing his cool faster than ever, and his eyes 'switching', presence included, to the sharpened blade mode as a cold killer.

Roveth noticedx the change and winced a bit before lowering a bandanna he wore down over his eyes "might want to cover your eyes... this is about to get ugly..."  

[[XIII] Roxas]

The girls and the Moomba were all in perfect sync as they gasped dramatically while covering their faces when Shiro's gaze went cold and his presence shifted.

"Oh man, he's getting serious," Hayner slid into the crowd near where Roveth and the others were gathered.

"I almost feel bad for Setzer," Roxas agreed. Sure, it was only a simulated version of him that Roxas had fought against, but the simulations really weren't that different from the real people and Roxas had a pretty good idea of what Setzer had said to set Shiro off like this. He'd probably asked for Shiro to throw the match so he could save face. Not very sporting, obviously. So, of course, Shiro had every right to be upset as far as Roxas was concerned. "Almost," Roxas reiterated. Whatever else happened next, Setzer had brought this on himself.

"Well then, let's see how it goes," Riku watched with interest while placing an arm lightly Namine who was averting her gaze from the impending massacre that was about to take place.