Disclaimer: Arekuzanra does not own Kingdom Hearts or any of it's characters… Because if she did, there would be yaoi everywhere.

A/N: Yeah, I'm made of fail. My first fanfiction after the Zelda one is a friendship one-shot. I wanted to make it shounen-ai, but I really couldn't find a way to do it without ruining the emotion of the one-shot… So I left it at a friendship fic… But I will write some shounen-ai soon! I just need inspiration… Blah.

Enjoy.

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It didn't rain often in Twilight Town. The sky, however, must have been feeding off the emotions that a certain blonde haired boy gave off for it was pouring the rain. It was a very dreary day and it didn't seem like it was going to get better any time soon. Cold air blew through the blanket-door that covered the entrance to the Usual Spot.

If it were up to Olette Trepe and Pence Kinneas, they would be at their respective homes where it was warm and safe… However, they stayed in their spots, not daring to move an inch as they kept their eyes locked on the blonde boy who lied on the couch, his back turned to them. Hayner Dincht was curled into the couch, shaking occasionally, but not entirely from the cold.

You see, the three had recently lost a dear friend. One day, he simply went missing. The three had searched for hours trying to find him themselves before they finally went to the Twilight Town police. The police did their search, but there was no advancement on finding the missing boy. On the third day, Hayner, Pence, and Olette ventured to the abandoned mansion at the edge of town where they found the gate had been unlocked. They went in further and searched as much as they could, but the only clues they had were odd pictures that had been scattered around a white room. Some pictures were ones they were unable to decipher, but others had images of their lost friend and they had began to gain some hope…

However, by the fifth day, the police had figured that the boy wouldn't be coming back any time soon. His parents had called off the search and that was the end of it. The teenagers weren't exactly too keen on letting the search end so soon, but by the second week without a sign of the boy anywhere, Olette and Pence had begun to lose hope. It was Hayner who never lost hope and he kept searching desperately. He would go to school, go search, go home, and go to sleep. He'd been skipping meals in order to search… But there was no sign of the boy. It was as if he had just disappeared into thin air.

On that dark, dreary day, there had been a cold morning, before the rain had released itself from the sky, there had been a memorial service for the boy for it looked like he wouldn't be coming back. No other towns outside of Twilight Town had heard from the boy and it was simply as if he had never existed. Hayner, Pence, and Olette had attended the service, along with many other people from the town. The three were surprised to see that even Seifer Almasy and his friends, Fuu Natsuki and Rai Nakai, had shown up to pay their respects.

During the ceremony, Hayner had actually broken down in front of where the picture of the boy sat. He had fallen to his knees in front of the alter and screamed out, "You fucking bastard! How could you fucking leave me like this?!" And as he punched the ground and the tears started falling, the rain began to fall. It was as if the day had been waiting for Hayner to finally break before exploding into a rainstorm.

Olette and Pence picked Hayner up off the ground and led him back to the Usual Spot, where they had been for the past two hours. Hayner hadn't moved from his position on the couch unless it was to shiver or shake in anguish. Olette and Pence could feel their friend's pain, especially since he had been the one who had refused to give up. He had kept going on and on until they finally said it was over… They were sure he would have kept going on forever… And it only broke their hearts more to know that Hayner was suffering.

Soon, Olette rose from her seat as she heard the sound of the clock tower, telling the time of six in the evening. She had promised to be home for dinner that evening due to it being the whole family. As she was leaving, she let a single tear escape as she heard Hayner let out a loud sob from his spot on the couch. Everything was hitting him all over again. It killed her inside as she felt like she was abandoning him, but there wasn't much she could do.

Pence had to leave soon after and he told Hayner to call if he needed anything. He made Hayner swear on his life to call and wouldn't leave the blonde alone until he made the promise.

And then, Hayner was all alone in the Usual Spot.

He could still remember when his best friend had shown up in Twilight Town as the new kid. He remembered how much of a jerk he was to the boy at first, but he warmed up after a while with the urging of Olette. The two became good friends, and then got to the point where Hayner absolutely trusted him with his whole life. And now… he was gone and there was nothing Hayner could do to bring him back.

Another wave of pain fell over the blonde and he soon felt he needed to get up and leave the place of memories. The Usual Spot was their spot… But it just wasn't the same anymore…

He pushed himself off the couch and shoved his hands deep in his pockets as he went out into the dark, wet streets. He didn't care that his gelled hair was getting absolutely soaked and sticking to his face. He didn't care that the cold rain was seeping through his clothes and nearly freezing his skin. He simply didn't care anymore.

He walked down the hill until he found that he'd come to the Sandlot. Another place of memories… They had played so many Struggle matches against each other and they ended up in a dead tie… It looked like they would never be able to settle the difference.

However, Hayner was not alone as he approached the Sandlot, which confused him since he didn't think anyone would actually be dumb enough to be out in the storm, aside from himself. He tried to squint through the darkness and the rain to see who was swinging a Struggle bat around in the middle of the ring. He came closer and closer until he was able to make out a tall, muscular figure.

It took him a minute to recognize the figure as Seifer. The other male often wore his large white jacket, but since it had been raining, he had thrown it off to the side to make it easier for him to move while he practiced. His beanie was still in its usual place on his head and he still wore his blue vest that left his firm stomach exposed with black pants and combat boots.

Hayner watched Seifer train for a couple of minutes before he jumped at the sound of a voice.

"Are you going to just stare the whole time?"

Hayner realized the words had come from Seifer's mouth. He had paused in his swinging to direct the question at the smaller boy before he swung again at his imaginary opponent.

Hayner's first instinct would have been to get mad at Seifer for being such a dick. The two had known each other for as long as they could remember, but they had also been rivals for about this long. They competed in everything in and out of school and many would believe they had a hatred for each other, though in more recent times, Seifer had shown a slightly nicer side in the presence of Hayner and his friends.

However, Hayner just couldn't bring himself to be angry at Seifer. He was much too worn out to feel any other emotion besides the empty sadness he felt in his chest. So he just shrugged and threw his expression to the ground as he turned to walk off. He didn't get very far, though, before a hand clasped down on his shoulder, preventing him from going far. At first, he thought it was a hostile motion, showing that Seifer was going to hit him…

But it wasn't. Hayner felt Seifer squeeze his shoulder comfortingly, looking down at the boy in front of him. Hayner had always found it odd how there was such a difference in their sizes even though they were the same age, but at this moment, he felt the size difference was almost comforting. He turned his empty brown eyes to look up at the face of his rival. He was shocked to find a soft expression on the other male's face.

"You're just not the same, Lamer." The insulting nickname was spoken in a very gentle tone, almost as if it were a pet name rather than an insult. "It's hard to see you like this…"

Hayner just couldn't stop himself. He threw his hands forward and he began to pound his fists against Seifer's chest, letting out loud cries as he did so. Seifer stiffened his body in order to take the blows that were being aimed at him and, for once, he didn't fight back. Soon, Hayner stopped hitting Seifer, but gripped the boy's vest as he dissolved into a sobbing mess. Seifer grit his teeth and he pulled the smaller male closer to him, wrapping his arms around him comfortingly as Hayner sobbed.

"Hey, now… You don't got to go off and do that now…" Seifer said softly, a small smile in his voice. "I know you're stronger than that. You take my beatings without a single tear…"

Hayner's sobs soon dissolved into a couple of hiccups and sniffles as he turned his head to look up at the taller boy.

"All done?" Seifer asked and Hayner looked down, nodding slowly. "Good." He then gave the shorter boy a light tap on the shoulder with his Struggle bat. "Losing a close friend is one of the worst things that can happen in someone's life… But it's part of life. It's going to haunt you forever and it's going to hurt, yeah… But you can't let it eat away at you forever. You gotta hold your head up high and just go through with it.

"Now, no more of this, you hear? If I see you crying like a baby again, I'm going to have to kick your ass." The threat was very playful and Hayner didn't take it too seriously, but it did cause a tiny smile to come to his lips as he gave a small nod.

He turned to leave, going in the direction of his home, but he stopped not too far away to turn back and look at Seifer.

"Thanks…" He said, to which Seifer rolled his eyes.

"Forget about it."