Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. At all.

Warning: Shounen-ai, homosexual relationships, etc, etc.

Author's Note: I really wanted to write a Demyx / Zexion-centric story. Mostly because they're super fun to write and the Demyx x Zexion section on ffnet is very little. Originally, this was an idea for Riku and Sora and then it bounced over to Axel and Roxas and now here it is at Demyx and Zexion.
Fair warning: Zexion is a dick in this story. I suppose that calls for a slight "OOC" warning? But I promise it's only very slight and essential to the story.

Review, review, review. Reviews (and flattery) will get everyone everywhere. I'm pretty unsure about this idea and I want to know what you, the spectacular reader, is thinking. Good, bad, eh, whatever – just let me know. I thoroughly appreciate every review. I absolutely loathe reviewing things so I often (err, never) do. But don't be like me. I'm not cool. So… be cool and tap this story's ass.

Summary: Question: How do you take revenge on someone who's smart enough tofigure out what you're up to?
A. Promise the pool boy you'll finance his music shop if he pretends to be Zexion's conscience.
B. Get everyone you know to help with your plan for revenge.
C. Convince Zexion he's got six months to turn his life around or he'll die.
D. All of the above.
-Demyx x Zexion- -Axel x Roxas- -Riku x Sora-

Guilty Conscience
•••

•••

By: Freekiwi

Lesson 0: Trusting Your Conscience

"You're in my seat."

Zexion didn't take his eyes away from his book. "Funny. I don't recall seeing your name on it. Even if your name was on this seat, I'm sure it was spelled incorrectly which means any ownership over this seat would be null."

His cheeks heated slightly at the insult and his jade eyes narrowed considerably. He was already having a terrible day because he was being forced to take public transit to his father's cologne company. Axel seldom took public transit, but when he was occasionally forced to he always took the seat right up front behind the bus driver. He hated the bus because it smelled bad. He hated the bus because it was for common people. He hated the bus mostly because Zexion took the bus everywhere and he absolutely loathed Zexion.

Axel didn't know anyone who didn't loathe Zexion and his complete "better than you" attitude.

"This is my favorite spot to sit. Move your bag so I can at least sit next to you."

He flipped a page in his book. His face was expressionless when he spoke, "I'm not putting my bag on the floor. Perhaps you aren't aware, but this isn't daddy's limousine. The floors are filthy."

Axel glared. His father's company was at least thirty or forty minutes away and he was not about to stand for the whole duration of the ride. He reached up and gripped one of the overhead handles when the bus gave a particularly rough jerk. Zexion barely seemed to notice, or care, and merely flipped a page in his book.

"Put your bag on your lap then," the redhead reasoned. He tried to keep his voice even, but he knew Zexion was pushing his buttons. That kid pushed everyone's buttons because he had some sort of sixth sense about what, exactly, pissed people off. He could talk to someone for less than a minute and knowjust want to say or do to make them irate.

"I could, but then I wouldn't be able to comfortably read my book and," he paused and glanced out his window. "I'm going to be on the bus for a good while." Actually, he was getting off at the next stop, but he didn't want to give Axel the satisfaction of knowing he would soon be off the bus and out of the redhead's seat.

"Okay, fine. I'll hold your bag then." He made a move to grab the other's bag and, in unnecessary retaliation, Zexion yelled, "I'm being robbed!" at the top of his lungs.

Heat flooded into Axel's cheeks and he immediately jerked his hands back. Had this been a few years ago, before he had a criminal record and an extremely incensed father who was threatening to cut him off if he got into any more trouble, he probably would've caused more of a scene. But all eyes were on him, including the bus driver who was glancing at him suspiciously in the rearview mirror. So he stood there feeling stupid and looking murderous.

Axel waited for everyone on the bus to go back to their own business before quietly speaking to Zexion again, "Why can't I just sit?"

"Because you're a spoiled, snobby, waste of space and on principle I shouldn't give up this seat. There are plenty of seats in the back."

"What am I? Rosa Parks?" Axel snapped.

Zexion let his eyes flutter briefly from his book so he could give the redhead a withering look. "I'm not sure which is more shocking; the fact that you know who Rosa Parks is or the lack of a filter on your enormous mouth."

The bus jerked to a stop and the doors swung open. People stood from their seats and began to flood down the aisle toward the doors. Zexion craned his neck to double-check if this was his stop and then he closed his book and placed it into his bag. He slung his backpack over his shoulders and gave Axel a hefty bump as he walked past.

It may have looked like Zexion was out to get Axel, but he wasn't.

He was out to get everyone.

••••••••••••••

To say Zexion hadn't always been this way would have been a lie. His ferocity towards people was usually based on no criteria other than he believed himself to be smarter than everyone around him. Even his parents, who had never done Zexion any kind of intentional harm, suffered under his snide remarks and disparaging comments. He was virtually friendless and the people who tolerated him often only did so because they were forced to.

Roxas was an example of this.

"Can't you do anything correctly?" Zexion asked. He snatched the book out of the blonde's hands and looked at the ISBN. He typed it manually into the computer and when the book came up on screen, he scanned the barcode. "If you scan the book once and it doesn't appear on-screen, don't continue scanning it. If it didn't work the first time, why would it work the second or third or fourth time? That's complete idiocy."

Roxas stared. "Um… It's my first day here, man. Give me a break."

"Oh, well pardon me." Zexion rolled his eyes and stamped the due date on the small, square piece of lined paper on the inside cover of the book. "How silly of me to assume you know something about books because you work in a library. People who work here generally have some semblance of an IQ and know how to properly check a book out, but you're right. I'm the one who's out of line."

Roxas wasn't sure if this guy was serious. He had been warned by multiple staff members of Zexion's attitude, but he had shrugged it off as just gossip. If the guy was so bad, wouldn't he have been fired by now? He reasoned that maybe this was some kind of joke. Maybe this was some kind of "new job hazing" or whatever nonsense. This was, after all, a college library and college campuses were filled with hazing.

Zexion went to hand the book to the girl in front of the counter. She reached out to take it from him, but he quickly snatched it away.

"It's due back on the 15th."

"O… Okay…" the girl stated unsurely. Again, he extended his arm to hand the book to her and as soon as she reached for it, he snatched it back again.

"If it's even a day late, you'll be charged a fine."

"Um… Okay." She looked over at Roxas who merely shrugged his shoulders and offered her a clueless look. For the third time, Zexion went to hand her the book and when she went to take it from him, he gripped it tightly. She tugged, but he didn't let go.

"I'll know it was you if you damage this book. The library doesn't have a stated policy on what they do to students who damage books, but I've taken it upon myself to eradicate those who are incapable of proving themselves worthy enough to borrow books."

Roxas made a noise that sounded like laughter. "What are you? Book Worm Z, protector and caretaker of all mistreated books?" He rolled his eyes and the girl took Zexion's momentary distraction as her chance to snatch the book from him and run.

People seldom checked books out while Zexion was at the front desk. Every book he checked out came with a due date and the threat of punishment (possible death) to anyone who even so much as dog-eared a single page.

"Books are no laughing matter," he replied coldly. "But I wouldn't expect someone who can't even manage to correctly check a book out to understand that."

And then he made a little checkmark in a notebook and Roxas had the nasty feeling that he was being graded.

••••••••••••••

"He's probably got Asperger's Syndrome or something," Riku offered. He was lying out by their pool in his swim shorts and sunglasses. They were enjoying their last week of summer before the fall semester at their college began. Neither boy was looking forward to spending another semester being corralled into classrooms and made to learn.

"That's what you always say." Axel was sporting the same pair of swim trunks and sunglasses. He and Riku were extremely close to each other and had been since Axel's father had married Riku's mom ten years ago. They were step-brothers, both waiting to inherent Un Monde Parfait, their father's cologne company, and spending the majority of their time doing what Axel called, "rich people things."

Like hanging out by the pool, taking joyrides in expensive cars, playing tennis or badminton, and making people think they were a lot richer than they actually were.

"Because that's probably what it is. We've known Zexion since high school. That's seven years, Ax, and he still hasn't changed one bit," Riku pointed out.

The redhead shrugged. "I'm sick of it. Every time I see him around he's got something shitty to say to me."

"Don't flatter yourself. He insults everyone."

Axel looked over at Riku. "Yea, I know. That's why he needs to be taught a lesson. You know I can't even go into the library anymore because of him?"

He raised his silver brows. "That's your choice though."

"No!" Axel sat up suddenly and removed his sunglasses so Riku could see the indignant look he was giving him. "He loudly points out that I have dyslexia and then he'll ask me fifty thousand million times why I'm even bothering." The redhead made his face expressionless and spoke in a very monotone voice. "Why are you even bothering? Your father isn't going to let a dyslexic inherit his business."

Riku laughed at the impression. "I think Zexion might have a point," he teased.

"Shut up. He says shitty things about you too."

The smile on Riku's face dropped and he tried not to look too interested. "Like what?"

"Oh, you know…" Axel slipped his sunglasses back on his face and laid back down. "Nothing really."

Now it was Riku's turn to sit up. "What does he say about me? Tell me."

"No, no. He probably has Ass Burger's Syndrome or something," the redhead teased.

His aqua eyes rolled and he didn't bother to correct Axel. "I don't care if he's mentally handicapped. What does that little shit say about me?"

"Just that your mom is a gold digging whore."

Color flooded to Riku's cheeks and he opened his mouth to speak, but Axel held up a finger.

"And he said the only reason you'll inherit any part of the business is because of your mom's, ah… work in the bedroom."

His eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses and he looked away from the redhead. "Fucker," he spat. "What does he know? And why is it really any of his business? Maybe he should keep his nose in his story books before he finds my foot up his ass."

Axel smirked. "Don't flatter yourself. He insults everyone."

"Shut the fuck up. It's funny when he gives you a hard time because you probably actually did something to genuinely upset him."

"I did not," the redhead stated firmly. "The only thing I ever did to Zexion was introduce myself."

Riku pulled his sunglasses from his face. He was extremely annoyed now. Zexion had no right to go around calling Riku's mother names and making bold statements about her marriage to Axel's father. So what if she was twenty-eight and he was forty-eight when they got married? That didn't make her a gold digger. A grave digger, maybe, but not a gold digger.

"So…" Axel purred. "Let's teach Zexion a lesson."

"How?"

The redhead contemplated this for a moment. The last time he had attempted to teach Zexion a lesson, he had ended up in jail. Granted, it hadn't been a foolproof plan. It had consisted of him getting exceptionally drunk and then storming over to the guy's apartment to whoop his ass. That had been the start of his criminal record and the start of his father's very serious threats to cut him off if he didn't stop causing bad publicity for Un Monde Parfait.

"I don't know. But it has to be something good…" Axel mused. "Whatever it is has to be more than dropping an anvil on his head and calling it a day. If we're going to teach Zexion a lesson, it has to be a lesson he won't forget."

A sudden splash caused both boys to look over at the other end of the pool. The newly hired help had just mistakenly fallen in.

"I'm okay!" the pool boy called to them once he resurfaced. "I just fell in, but I used to be a swimmer so I won't drown!"

As he climbed out of the pool, Riku sighed and reached up to rub at his eyes. "I can't believe Dad hired him."

Axel shrugged. "Cut Demyx a break. He needed a job. Besides, it's not like you had to go to Un Monde Parfait to pick him up. Poor guy thought he was supposed to be cleaning a pool there."

Riku rolled his pretty eyes. "Did he not realize that's Dad's place of work?"

The redhead gave his step-brother a very serious look. "Riku, he thought that was our house."

••••••••••••••

"Mister, wanna buy a cup of lemonade?"

Zexion stopped in his tracks and eyed the lemonade stand. It was nothing more than a fold out table with a badly drawn sign (these two girls had to be at least eight; way too old to be writing their e's backwards) taped haphazardly to the table. According to the sign, it was ten cents a cup and Zexion, feeling slightly parched from his walk to the bus stop, dug in his pocket for a dime.

"Here." He threw the coin at them and then watched as they quickly grabbed a disposable cup and filled it with lemonade. He took the cup from them and with a bit of hesitation he took a sip.

This had to be, by far, the worst lemonade he had ever tasted. He spit it back into the cup and then placed the cup on the table in front of them.

"That's terrible. Give me my dime back."

"No!" the one girl shouted. Both of them glared at Zexion. "No refunds."

His eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry. Based on your poorly drawn sign I thought you were selling me lemonade, not your mother's morning excrement. Now give me back my dime."

They both crossed their arms over their small chests and Zexion was suddenly locked in a staring contest with two little girls. He should have recognized that being twenty years of age meant he was a little too old to be picking fights with children. However, he felt he had a valid point. He gave them money for a product that was terrible. He didn't consume the product so they should, rightfully, give him his money back.

"Um, excuse me…"

Zexion looked away from the little girls and he rolled his eyes when a woman, maybe their mother, but she looked too young, walked over to him.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, there is."

The little girls took shelter behind the woman and shot Zexion dirty looks. He had no problem reciprocating the same dirty looks. Just because they were children didn't mean they were allowed to be rude little thieves.

"This is the worst lemonade I've ever tasted and I demand my dime back."

She stared. "I'm sorry?"

Zexion kept his expression even. "This. Is. The. Worst. Lemonade. I've. Ever. Tasted," he said very, very slowly. "Now. Give. Me. My. Dime. Back."

Her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open somewhat. Was he serious? He couldn't be serious. Granted, the lemonade probably was pretty bad, but these were kids. And it didn't matter what kind of terrible thing a kid produced. If a kid produced it, it was usually meant to be praised.

"It's a kid's lemonade stand," she said evenly. "Sorry you think the lemonade is so terrible, but it's just a dime. Let it go."

"Are you their guardian?" he asked the woman.

"I'm the babysitter," she answered stiffly.

"So, if I understand this correctly…" He crossed his arms over his chest. "You knew these girls were coming outside to sell lemonade and instead of making sure their lemonade was up to par so they could experience the warm feeling of customer satisfaction, you send them outside with zero supervision and allow them to sell something that tastes like cat urine."

Was he serious? She couldn't even form a real sentence. Who the hell was this guy anyway? Was this some sort of prank? Some kind of joke that was playing played on her?

"You've taught them to create a faulty product that does not quench thirst and instead of correcting the mistake by rightfully giving me my dime back, you're going to just keep my money. Perhaps you aren't aware, but that's technically stealing." Zexion extended his hand. "And unless you feel it necessary to involve the authorities, I'll just take my dime back now."

He had never been punched by a woman before.

And although Zexion had no problem being rude and snotty to strangers and acquaintances alike, he knew enough to not strike a woman.

••••••••••••••

"Question: How do you take revenge on someone who's smart enough to figure out what you're up to?" Axel held a yard stick in his hands and paced the length of the chalkboard. Riku was standing at one edge of the board, a piece of chalk held between his fingers.

Their plot to teach Zexion a lesson had gone nowhere in the last three days. As a result, Axel and Riku had been spending the majority of their time in the pool house scheming various ways to make Zexion suffer.

"This is stupid." Sora sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. He was sitting in a fold out chair in front of the chalk board. Riku had called him an hour ago asking if he wanted to hang out and Sora, who had a fairly large crush on the older boy, agreed excitedly. However, the words "hang out" translated into, "do you want to come over and help my brother and I plot the destruction of someone you barely know?"

Of course Sora would've said no. So when he had asked what "hanging out" consisted of, Riku had told him swimming.

So now Sora sat, in the uncomfortable fold out chair, in nothing but his swim trunks and a pair of sandals. His goggles were around his neck, his towel draped over his shoulder, and he had half a mind to just leave. But he was too nice to just leave. He liked Riku way too much to just leave.

"We could set his apartment on fire," Axel offered.

Riku gave him a look. "Do the words 'criminal record' not mean anything to you?"

"Can we please just go swimming?" Sora half-whined, "Or at least talk about something else?"

The redhead sighed and looked over at Riku. "I thought you said Sora would be helpful, not whiny and annoying."

The brunet passed Axel a dirty look. "I'm sitting right in front of you. I can hear what you're saying."

"Oh, right, my apologies…" He walked over to Riku, cupped his hand around his step brother's ear, and began whispering to him.

Sora stood up. "All right, I'm leaving."

"No!" Riku shoved Axel roughly away. "You can't leave! You're supposed to be helping us!"

He rolled his pretty blue eyes. "Don't you guys see something wrong with this? You're trying to teach Zexion a lesson because he occasionally insults you. He probably only does that because he's jealous of you two! I mean, you're both rich and good looking and you guyswill probably never have to work a day in your lives. Being mean to Zexion isn't going to solve your problem. Why don't you trying being his friend? Why don't –"

The door to the pool house banged open and Sora, Riku, and Axel all glanced over at Roxas who was sporting a look of extreme displeasure.

"I. Fucking. Hate. Zexion."

Riku and Axel exchanged a look with each other and then they both looked at Sora.

"What were you saying?" Riku teased. A groan left the brunet's lips and he flopped down on the fold out chair. At this rate, he was never going to go swimming.

"What happened?" Axel asked.

Roxas shut the door to the pool house with a bang and threw his backpack irritably on the floor. "He's just an asshole!" he yelled. "No matter what I do at the library, he's always criticizing me!"

"You work at the library?" Riku asked.

"Irrelevant." Axel shoved his hand in his step brother's face. "Let me guess. Zexion lobs insults at you and makes snide remarks, even if you're trying to be nice to him?"

The blond nodded. His face was flushed with anger. "Yea! Today I was trying to help Hayner find a book and Zexion kept insisting that if he wasn't smart enough to find the book, he probably wasn't smart enough to read the book. And then when I told him to lay off, he put a check mark next to my name in his stupid little notebook!"

Axel's brow furrowed. "His notebook? What's the notebook for?"

"He thinks he's the supreme overlord of the library, so he keeps this little notebook with him and he writes down everyone's name in it and then he puts a check mark next to their name every time they do something wrong." Roxas ran a hand through his mess of blond hair. "And the actual supreme overlord of the library is his uncle or grandfather or something and he takes that bullshit seriously! I've worked there less than five days and I have like ten check marks next to my name! Zexion is trying to get me fired!"

Sora stood up and walked over to his twin. He placed his hands on his brother's shoulders and squeezed. "Calm down. He's probably just ragging on you because you're new."

"No!" Roxas yelled. "He's just evil! He doesn't care about anyone but himself! It's like he has no conscience, Sora! He made Naminé cry because she brought back an art book and one of the pages fell out! He grilled her in front of the whole library and when she started to cry, he rolled his eyes and told her not to make a scene! That's evil! Pure, unadulterated evil!"

Sora slipped his hands from his brother's shoulders and sighed. He just wanted to go swimming. That's all. He just wanted to come over, see Riku shirtless and mentally violate him, and then go home and plot possible ways to make Riku his boyfriend. But nothing was ever that easy.

"Wait a second…"

Axel, Riku, and Roxas all looked at Sora with curious expressions.

"He has no conscience, you say?" The brunet raised a brow. "Everyone take a seat. I have a plan." He walked over to Riku and took the white piece of chalk from him.

"What happened to all that 'be his friend' business you were spewing earlier?" Riku asked. He and Axel took seats on the floor and Roxas sat between them on the fold out chair.

"I came over to swim," Sora said as he began to write on the chalkboard. "And even though I don't condone this revenge nonsense at all, I know no one is going to go swimming until you guys have your half-assed plan."

"Hooray!" Axel cheered.

After Sora had finished writing what he wanted on the board, he took the yard stick from Axel and tapped it against the word 'question.'

Question: How do you take revenge on someone who's smart enough to figure out what you're up to?
A. Find someone Zexion doesn't know to act as his conscience.
B. Get everyone you know to help with your revenge plan.
C. Convince Zexion he's got six months to change his ways or he'll die.
D. All of the above.

"Now…" Sora began. "Everyone has a conscience. Some people are just better at ignoring it than others. However, everyone feels guilty at some point or another. Since Zexion obviously has some issues treating people nicely, your plan to teach him a lesson should show him that he has to change or he's going to die." He slapped the yard stick against the letter 'C.'

Axel and Riku exchanged a look.

"Zexion perceives himself to be intelligent, right?" Sora watched as all three heads nodded. "Getting him to believe that his conscience has manifested into a person in order to help him change his ways will be difficult. Whoever acts as Zexion's conscience will need to know things about him. This is why point B is important." He slapped the yard stick against the letter 'B.' "We need people who know things about Zexion. He might question the hell out of the manifestation and the manifestation has to be able to prove himself."

Riku raised his hand and Sora pointed at him with the yard stick. "Yea, but… What if Zexion asks really personal questions like 'What did I dream last night' or something like that?"

Roxas shrugged. "It's his conscience. It doesn't have to know his dreams. It's there to help him be a good person. All the conscience needs to know is the bad shit Zexion has done to people."

Sora nodded. "Right. And apparently that won't be too difficult because according to you guys, Zexion is pure, unadulterated evil. So we ask around, find out some general things about him, and then we dig up dirt on him so the manifestation has something to throw in Zexion's face."

Axel raised his hand and Sora pointed at him. "Okay, yea great, but… there are three problems with your plan. First of all, who in the world has enough time to waste to follow Zexion around and second of all, he's lived here in this town his whole life. How can we be sure Zexion has never seen or met the person we pick?"

There was silence. They all continued to stare at the redhead and after a few seconds Axel mumbled, "Okay, I'm done talking. Look away."

Roxas gave Axel a look. "Dude, you said three things. What's the third thing?"

"Oh, shit, uhh… Third, if we do pick someone we're sure Zexion doesn't know, that person will know other people. Won't that look pretty weird if Zexion's conscience is slapping high-fives with some girl from his English class?"

Riku perked up. "Not necessarily. The conscience is a manifestation, right? So he's allowed to have his own life so he can blend in and keep a watch on Zexion."

Sora nodded eagerly. "Right. Who says a manifestation has to be invisible?"

The redhead thought this over for a moment. "Okay, fine. That's one problem, but what about –"

He was cut off by the sound of the pool house door opening. The pool boy, who looked surprised to see them all there, gave a wave and mumbled something like, "Sorry, am I interrupting? I just need to grab the pool cleaner."

Axel wasn't sure if anyone else saw the golden light or heard the angels sing in a magnificent chorus of Hallelujah, but he sure did. It was like fate was begging Axel to teach Zexion a lesson. It was like God himself had reached down, plucked Demyx from whatever state he had come from, and placed him right in the redhead's backyard for a reason.

"Demyx!" Axel stood suddenly. "My favorite man-servant!"

The blond wasn't sure he appreciated the "affectionate" term, but he found it better not to argue with his boss's son. "Hi?" he questioned. Neither Axel nor Riku had paid any attention to Demyx despite them all being around twenty-one years of age. They generally ignored his presence aside from the occasional "hey, what's up?"

"Just the person we wanted to see!" Riku stood suddenly too and Roxas and Sora exchanged a look. Sora's eyes were saying something like, "Fuck me. I didn't mean to involve some innocent bystander in Axel's retardation" and Roxas' eyes were responding with, "You dick. Now you've gone and involved some innocent bystander in Axel's retardation."

"So, Demyx…" Axel walked over to the pool boy and slung an arm around his shoulders. He half-forced the blond over to the couch that sat in the middle of the pool house. "Take a seat. It's hot out today, huh? You want a drink?"

Demyx's eyes narrowed as he sat. It was hot out. He had taken his shirt off and tucked it into the back of his swim shorts for safe keeping, but the way Axel and Riku were looking at him made him want to slip his shirt on. "Um…" His tongue darted out to lick at his lips. "Okay. Sure. I'll have a drink."

Axel snapped his fingers at Riku and then waved his hand dismissively at him. Riku gave him a very cold look, but he did what he was told because he wanted Demyx to agree to be Zexion's conscience. He'd fight with Axel about this later. He wasn't the help and he didn't appreciate being treated like he was.

"So, how long have you been in town, Demyx?" Axel asked. He had his arm around the blonde's shoulders still and was sitting uncomfortably close to him on the couch.

"I don't know. Less than a week? I moved here from New York as soon as your dad hired me."

"Mhm…" Axel purred. Riku came back with a class of ice-cold lemonade and he handed it to Demyx who took it gratefully. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was until the lemonade actually touched his lips. He immediately downed the whole glass and then handed it back to Riku who tried to keep his murderous look to a minimum.

Sora chuckled and then immediately stopped when the older boy glared at him. Riku walked off for the second time and deposited the glass in the pool house's sink.

"So, Demy… Can I call you Demy?" Axel cooed.

The blond shrugged. "Sure."

"Fantastic. Now Demy… Have you had a chance to explore the town at all? You know like… the college, the campus, the library... Those kinds of places?"

Demyx shook his head. "No. I've been working a lot. I have a second job at a record shop that's maybe ten minutes from your house."

"What kind of record shop?" Roxas asked as he walked over to the couch and took a seat on the other side of Demyx. "Like… Classical music?"

The blond laughed. "No, like rock music."

Riku, Roxas, and Axel all exchanged a look that the pool boy failed to notice. There was no way Demyx had come into contact with Zexion or vice versa. Though none of them knew Zexion on a very personal level, there were some things they could infer (like whether or not he would be caught dead in a record store).

"So, Demyx…" Riku asked. He took a seat on the coffee table across from the blond. "Can we ask you for a favor?"

The pool boy shrugged. "Sure."

"We have this problem…" Axel traced his finger along Demyx's collarbone. Heat erupted in the blonde's face and Axel controlled the smirk that threatened to overcome his features.

"And it's sort of a big problem…" Roxas spoke the words close to Demyx's ear.

Without warning, he suddenly jumped up from the couch. His face was bright red and he yanked his shirt from the back of his shorts and immediately pulled it over his head. "I'm not filming a porno with you guys! I'm very flattered and… and you're all very attractive! But I feel it would be best if we all kept our relationship on a profess –"

Sora erupted into a small fit of laughter. Axel, Roxas, and Riku exchanged horrified looks with each other and then they looked at Demyx as if he had just suggested they all dip their manhoods in cups of hydrochloric acid.

"Dude, we want you to help us teach some guy we don't like a lesson," Axel explained.

Demyx's blush deepened even further and he cleared his throat. "Oh… Well… In that case, I'm not flattered and no." He made a move to leave, but Axel, Riku, and Roxas were suddenly upon him like a Turkey Vulture on road kill.

"We can make it worth your while," Axel insisted.

"I'm sure you can, but –"

"We can give you anything you want," Roxas interrupted.

Riku and Axel both looked at Roxas with raised brows.

"Sorry – have you married into the family?" Riku asked. "What's this 'we' business?"

His blue eyes rolled. "Excuse me – Dingus Khan and Firecrotch can give you anything you want."

Demyx backed away from them. "Right, and I'm glad you guys think I can help, but I'm really just…" He hesitated, "Well, stupid. I'm really just stupid when it comes to anything outside of pools or lifeguarding."

Axel refrained from pointing out that pools and lifeguards fell under the same category.

"Guys, stop." Sora sighed and shook his head. "If Demyx doesn't want to help, he doesn't want to help."

The blond nodded eagerly and Riku, Roxas, and Axel all backed off. There was silence in the pool house and Demyx wasn't really sure if he could leave. He had never dealt with rich people or rich kids before and he didn't know if he could just leave or if he had to be dismissed by Riku or Axel.

"So…" Sora played with the yard stick in his hands. "What's your biggest dream, Demyx?"

He snorted. "Making my father proud of me." He was half-kidding, half-serious. His father had been pretty angry to learn that his son, a very talented musician, was not going to college, but, instead, was running away from New York to work as a pool boy for some rich guy whose success lay in bottles of expensive cologne.

"And how would you go about doing that?" Riku inquired.

"I'd open up a music store. I mean like… a real music store where you can buy instruments and take private lessons from teachers and stuff. Not like… a music store that sells CDs or whatever." He shrugged. "My dad wouldn't be so pissed off at me for ditching college if I had a successful business."

Axel and Riku exchanged a look with each other.

"Okay, Demy, let's make a deal."

Demyx eyed Axel suspiciously. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the redhead to speak.

"You help us out with this guy that's giving us a hard time and we'll finance your music store."

His blue eyes went wide and he looked from Axel to Riku and back again. "What? Really?" He paused. "Do I have to kill this guy or have sex with him or something?"

"You obsession with sex is cute, but no," Axel teased. "All you have to do is pretend to be a manifestation of this guy's conscience."

Demyx frowned. "That sounds too easy."

Riku and Axel exchanged a look. "Easy?" they spoke in unison.

"Yea, easy. So, what? I follow him around and make him be good when he's bad. That can't be that hard." He shrugged. "So there's some kind of catch, right?"

"Aside from the fact he's the meanest guy to ever walk the planet, no," Axel said more to Riku than to Demyx.

Sora sighed gently. "Well…" He stepped away from the chalkboard and pointed to the letter 'C.' "You have to convince him he's going to die if he doesn't start being a nicer person. That's kind of a catch."

Demyx reached up and fingered a strand of his hair. He really, really wanted to make his dad proud and show him that he could make it on his own without college. He really, really wanted to open up his music store and teach. He really, really wanted to make real money so his dad could stop slumming it in the ghettos of New York.

"Isn't that… Isn't that sort of mean?" the blond asked softly.

Sora blushed and blurted, "It was Axel's idea."

The redhead shot him a dirty look from over his shoulder. "Jeez. Relax, princess. Demyx isn't a cop. Pull up your dress and take some responsibility."

Roxas failed to see the connection between taking responsibility and flashing people, but he didn't voice his opinion on the matter.

"Look, you're just an actor," Riku explained. "The four of us, we take responsibility for whatever happens. You're just the guy we hired to play a part."

The blond bit his lower lip in thought. Was he really hurting anyone by helping the four of them out? He would be getting what he wanted, they would be getting what they wanted, and this guy would learn to be a nicer person. It seemed like a win-win-win to Demyx, but the nagging voice of his own conscience was telling him otherwise.

If he did this, he could get his father out of the ghetto. The whole point of running away was so he could find a way to make enough money to start a life here instead of in New York. The whole point of running away was so he could avoid having to go to college because he wasn't college material. His talent for music may have gotten him accepted to the music school his dad wanted him to go to, but Demyx knew he didn't have the brains for it.

So he ran. And now he was being given the chance to redeem himself.

"Demy?" Axel put a hand on his shoulder. "What do you say?"

All eyes were on him. He felt sweat drip down the back of his neck and he was suddenly aware of how hot the stupid pool house was.

The blond shrugged. "Sure."

Despite the victorious movements the four boys were making, Demyx was pretty sure this was a horrible, terrible, awful idea. He was pretty sure there was nothing good about this and he was pretty sure that by the end of this his conscience would be withered and dead.

••••••••••••••

"I thought you had a criminal record," Riku whispered irritably.

"I do," Axel whispered back. "But the last time I did this I was drunk. Excuse me for taking more than two seconds to unlock his door."

Demyx was antsy. He was pacing back and forth down the hallway with his hands clasped behind his back. Riku was standing casually by Zexion's door and Axel was fiddling around with the handle. He wanted to get the door open without breaking the lock. Demyx's entrance as Zexion's manifested conscience had to be flawless and there was nothing flawless about a busted lock.

"I don't know if I can do this," the blond confessed suddenly to Riku.

"Too bad. We've been planning Guilty Conscience for a month and a half. You've had all this time to back out and you can't do it now." He hadn't meant to sound so unkind about it, but their plan to teach Zexion a lesson had become taxing. He, Axel, Sora, and Roxas had been so focused on their plan (a plan they had entitled 'Guilty Conscience'), he had begun to fall behind somewhat in school. Riku was very prideful about his grades and this bothered him immensely.

"Got it," Axel murmured when he heard the lock click. It was six in the morning on a Saturday. They had chosen this time because Zexion's apartment complex (a complex they had been stalking the last few weeks) was virtually dead at six A.M. on the weekend. It was minimum security complex. Axel, Riku, and Demyx had strolled in without so much as a word and taken the elevator upstairs. There were no cameras along the hallways which Axel felt was pretty stupid.

"Okay, Dem…" Riku put his hands on the blonde's shoulders. "Guilty Conscience is now totally in your hands."

Axel, who was putting his lock picking tools in his backpack, looked over at the wide-eyed boy. "Don't look so anxious. Zexion is mean, but he's not dangerous. And it's not like we're really doing anything illegal."

"We're breaking and entering," Demyx pointed out.

"Pft." The redhead waved his hand dismissively. "You're breaking and entering. Besides, that's the only illegal thing we're doing and we're only doing it once." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a black notebook. "Here." He offered the notebook to the blonde.

Demyx took the notebook from him with a quizzical look.

"That notebook has the entire plan in it, okay? It's everything we've done over the past four or five weeks. Most of what you need to know about Zexion is in that notebook. If you get stuck, look through it," Axel explained.

"What if he finds it?" Demyx asked in a whisper. "What if he looks through it and -"

"It won't matter." Riku smiled and opened the first page of the notebook. "It's written in code."

The blond looked down at the first few words on the page and then he gave them both a look. "The entire plan is written in Al Bhed?"

Axel shrugged. "It's a language Zexion doesn't know exists."

"That's because it doesn't exist," Demyx pointed out.

"You don't exist," the redhead retorted.

"Enough," Riku whispered to both of them. "Dem, keep us updated on the status of Guilty Conscience, okay?"

Demyx nodded and held the notebook close to his chest.

"Oh, on the last page," Axel said, "there's an evaluation sheet so you can grade Zexion."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Exacting a little revenge on Roxas' behalf?"

"Hey, if Zexion think it's cool to walk around grading people then he won't mind being graded himself," the redhead stated.

Demyx checked his wristwatch. "You guys better go. It's almost 6:10. Zexion's gonna be getting up in like twenty minutes."

Axel and Riku both nodded. They mumbled 'good luck' to Demyx, ruffled his hair and clapped his back, and then they made their way down the hallway and into the elevator. Guilty Conscience was now his job. Sora had been volunteered to be the new pool boy while Demyx was with Zexion. His second job at the record shop had been taken over by Roxas who, lo' and behold, had been fired from the library for undisclosed reasons.

And Demyx, who was now technically a professional stalker, would be living in Riku and Axel's pool house when he wasn't with Zexion. He didn't really mind that so much. He had been living out of a really, really shitty hotel room with his last bit of money and having a free room at a way nicer place was more than fine with him.

He took a deep breath and stashed the notebook Axel had given him into the back waistband of his jeans. He grasped the handle on Zexion's now unlocked door and very quietly let himself inside.

••••••••••••••

The buzzing of his alarm clock was an unwelcome sound. He wasn't exactly a morning person, but he preferred mornings because they were quiet. One of the many disadvantages of living near his college campus was how loud the night time tended to be. It was like a never-ending party; a party Zexion was not cordially invited to.

He hit the 'off' button on his alarm clock and sat up in bed. His hands came up to rub at his tired, gray eyes and then he let out a large yawn. Zexion slipped from his bed and stretched his pajama clad body before immediately going to make his bed. His apartment was unusually clean, but only because he never had guests or visitors and he had been taught from a very young age to pick up after himself.

He would've made a good roommate if he didn't detest other people.

After he had finished making his bed, he ambled out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. The sun was rising, throwing strips of early morning sunshine onto the floor of his apartment and creating shadows all across the walls. At one point the shadows had been very unwelcome because when Zexion woke up early, and his brain was refusing to fully function, the shadows would sometimes catch him off guard and he would think they were intruders. Now he was used to them and just ignored him.

Demyx thought Zexion's behavior to be quite strange. He had taken a seat on the countertop and the slate haired boy had walked past him without even so much as a second glance. He watched as Zexion opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice. He watched him retrieve a glass (and then a different glass) from one of the cabinets near the fridge. And then he watched Zexion drop the glass and the orange juice to the floor when he turned and saw Demyx staring intently at him.

"About time." The blond crossed his legs. "You just strolled right by me without even saying 'Hello.'"

Zexion stared. The orange juice he had dropped to the floor was spilling out everywhere and the broken pieces of glass floated lazily in the wake. It was way too early for a breaking and entering. It was way too early for rape, murder, or any other kind of terrible misdeed that would result in definite jail time.

"It's rude to stare, Zexion," he said not unkindly as he slipped from the countertop.

"Don't come near me." He took a few steps back.

Demyx raised a brow. "Whoa, easy boy. I'm just going to clean up the mess." He knelt down and picked up the carton of orange juice. It had a small split down the side and he quickly placed it in the sink so the contents could finish draining out. He then knelt down again and began to pick up the pieces of broken glass.

Zexion watched with slight fascination. If this was breaking and entering, it was definitely the strangest one he had ever been involved in. He had actually never been a victim of crime (he never counted Axel's breaking and entering because that had just been stupid) but he was intelligent enough to know that most criminals didn't stop whatever they were doing just to clean up some spilled juice and a broken cup.

"Who are you?"

"Well, Zexion, what do you think?" he asked gently.

"I think you're some kind of really confused criminal." His chest rose and fell. He was debating whether or not to panic. "And I think I'm going to call the police." Zexion began inching away from Demyx and when it became clear to him that Demyx had no interest in stopping him, he hesitated.

When the blond had most of the broken glass in his hand, he stood and tossed the juice-covered pieces in a trashcan that sat underneath the sink. He then grabbed the paper towels from the countertop and began to sop up the wet mess on the kitchen floor.

"I don't understand." Zexion's brow furrowed. "What are you doing?" He didn't add, "And how in the world did you know where my trashcan was?" because it seemed rather trivial at the moment.

"Cleaning this up," Demyx answered simply.

There was silence between them and Zexion stood, uncomfortably, in the kitchen with the strange boy. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched as the juice he had spilled was so willingly mopped up by someone he didn't know. Someone he had never met. Someone who had probably broken into his apartment, but for what reason?

"Do you have a name?"

The blond nodded. "It's Demyx."

Zexion immediately began searching every part of his memory for the name 'Demyx.' He had always been a name person, not a face person, and he was mildly annoyed when the name 'Demyx' didn't seem to have any kind of place in his memory at all.

"Are you going to bother explaining yourself or are you going to force me to play Twenty Questions?" Zexion muttered irritably.

He threw the juice-covered paper towels in the trash and then he turned his attention to Zexion. Demyx was slightly miffed that no one during the entire planning period of Guilty Conscience had bothered to mention that Zexion was, well…

Hot.

Not that it particularly mattered (in fact, it made Demyx's job as a professional stalker a little more fun), but it really would've been nice to know.

"I'm your conscience."

Zexion stared. He stared and stared and stared and then he said, "Yea. I'm calling the cops. You're obviously a few pages short of a book." He made his way across the kitchen, now unafraid of Mr. Crazy Blond Man, and into the living room. He picked his cell phone up from the coffee table and then turned to Demyx who was watching him curiously from the kitchen. "Last chance to leave."

He shrugged. "If you feel calling the police is the right thing to do –"

"Oh, I get it." Zexion rolled his eyes. "'The right thing to do.' Right, because you're my conscience."

Demyx shrugged.

This infuriated the shorter boy. "I don't know if you're crazy or if someone has put you up to this, but I –"

"Fifth grade, Mrs. Gainsborough's class. You stuck her long, beautiful braid in a bottle of industrial glue. You know she had to cut five inches of her hair off? How about in third grade when you shoved Kairi off the top of the jungle gym and broke her collarbone because she won the class spelling bee? We can go to tenth grade when you told everyone Larxene was pregnant and that she smoked and drank until she miscarried." Demyx raised a brow and smirked slightly at the expression on Zexion's face.

"I… She…" He paled considerably. His cell phone was still gripped tightly in his hand and he was heavily debating whether or not to call the police. What if Demyx was a figment of his imagination and he was the crazy one? What if he called the police and then they couldn't even see Demyx?

No. No, that was way too crazy. His brain wasn't functioning correctly because it was only 6:40 in the morning.

"Let me explain." Demyx walked into the living room and Zexion watched him carefully as he took a seat on the couch. "I'm a manifestation of your conscience." Zexion opened his mouth to protest, but Demyx ignored him. "And if you don't start listening to me, you're going to die."

His cell phone slipped from his hand and landed on the carpeted floor with a dull 'thud.'

"I kind of have a problem with the whole 'dying' thing because if you die, I die too. So it's in my best interest to keep you from dying and it's in your best interest to stop pissing people off and make amends with the people you've hurt." Despite the serious look on his face, he was now just making shit up. He was just trying to make this as believable as possible.

Zexion's jaw was clenched and he stood completely still. He was searching his mind for who might be capable of such deceit. He was trying to think of people he had pissed off to the point that they would come up with something so wonderfully elaborate. Unfortunately, the more Zexion thought about this, the more he realized that even if this was some kind of strange joke, the list of possible suspects was endless.

"Zexion?"

He jerked his attention toward Demyx and tried to make himself relax.

"You okay there, Champ?"

"Don't call me that."

A low sigh left his lips and he pulled the black notebook from the waistband of his jeans. He opened it to the last page (where Axel had already created an evaluation page for Zexion), removed the pen from the notebook's binding, and placed an 'X' next to the boy's name.

"What is that?" Zexion pointed. He looked completely scandalized. "Are… Are you grading me?"

Demyx closed the notebook and shrugged. "Sure."

"No! Not 'sure!' That's not any sort of affirmation! That's one step above 'maybe!' My question is of the 'yes' or 'no' type! You're either grading me or you're not!" His cheeks were slightly red and he glared hotly at the blond. Under his breath he mumbled, "How is it that I'm of exceptional intelligence, but my conscience is no smarter than a bag of rusted nails?"

Demyx didn't even care he had just been insulted. What mattered was Zexion had just called him his conscience. And while he opened his notebook to put another 'X' next to the other's name (Zexion immediately began to protest and argue why the insult was warranted), he couldn't help but smile just the smallest bit.

Hook. Line. Sinker.

A/N: This is about 9,000 words. Most of my chapters are anywhere between 9k-11k words. I try to update as frequently as possible, but school keeps me pretty busy. Generally, you'll find an update of this length (or slightly longer) every two weeks to a month.

Thank you Aindel S. Druida for beta-editing this. As some of you know, I shamelessly advertise her because she is amazing. So take a gander at her profile and be amazed by her writing and grammar.

Couple of things: Please, please, please review. These chapters take so long to write and I really adore feedback. Because of time constraints with school and work, if this story doesn't generate enough interest I'll just remove it. I hate to be that author that does that sort of thing, but I want to know what everyone thinks and if I should continue. I have a feeling I'm already stretching myself pretty thin by posting a new chapter story before Axel's Fables is finished so this one is under extra threat of being removed.

Also, this is not a one-dimensional story. I've tried to set up the plot just the way I want it. It's mostly Demyx acting as Zexion's conscience, but there are other things such as Riku and Axel being heirs to Un Monde Parfait, the relationships between Riku/Sora and Axel/Roxas, Demyx's former life in New York, Zexion's own hopes/dreams/fears/etc, and blahblahblah you get the point.

Last thing: There's a reason I didn't detail the month and a half of planning that went into Guilty Conscience.

Thank you for reading.