Crash! I shot up in my bed. I pulled on my panda bathrobe and slipped out of my room. I grabbed my gunblade off of the hall table and slipped into the living room. I lowered my weapon when I saw that it was just Riku. He said "Have you found a way to awaken Sora without losing your boyfriend?" I said "No. There isn't another way." I looked Riku in the eye and said "I'll end it with Roxas to save him the heartbreak of never being able to see me again." Riku said "Oh." I smiled and said "Don't worry. I'll always have my memories and the rings and necklace to remember him by." Riku said "How can you be so happy if your losing someone you love?" I said "Because, he might not have much time left with me, but he'll be with me in my heart." Riku said "Hurry." I nodded and he left. I sighed and got dressed in a beige off shoulder sweater, a key-lime green knit wrap vest, white Capri pants, a brown sash, and brown converse. I tied my hair up in a half bun with braids hanging down my back. I grabbed my struggle bat and my skates. I switched my converse for my skates and skated down to the sandlot. I skidded to a stop and I said "Ohayo guys." Olette said "Hi River. We're rooting for you." I turned around and the announcer said "Ladies and gentlemen. Struggle-fiends of Twilight Town! It's time for summer's most sizzling clash! That's right! Today is the Day for the Struggle and title match!" I smirked at Seifer, Setzer, and ViVi from across the arena. "Who will be the one to break through the ranks and take on our champion, Setzer!?" Rai yelled "Seifer, y'know?" The announcer continued "And who will leave today as our new struggle champion!?" Pence and Olette yelled "Hayner! River! Roxas!" The fan girls yelled "Setzerrrr!" I rolled my eyes at the cocky asshole on stage. "Yes, the crowd is fired up, so you know what comes next: Let's STRUGGLE!" The weapons shop dude said "Hey, now. It's time to introduce today's combatants. The four bad boys and two brave girls who struggled their way through preliminaries! Regular finalist and head of Twilight Disciplinary Committee: Seifer! Completely out of nowhere, who knew he'd make it so far THIS year? Vivi! Bad girl and local gymnast: Roxanne! An underground favorite and local attitude problem: Hayner! It's his first trip to the finals! Local Gymnast champion and everyone's favorite: River! And struggler number six, who happens to be my absolute favorite customer: Roxas! So who will with this sweltering summer Struggle!? Who will take home the grand prize? The summa cum Laude of Struggle- the Four Crystal Trophy! AND a chance to take on our defending champion, Setzer! It won't be long now, folks. I suggest our challengers go over the official Struggles Rules before we begin!" I glared at Setzer who was being condescending with Roxas. We all walked over to the judge in front of the board. "You already know the rules but a refresher can't hurt. It's easy. You've each got 100 orbs. Attack to take away your opponent's orbs. That's all you gotta do. Land a hit and your opponent will drop orbs. But if yourhit, you'll be the one losing orbs, so watch out! Keep collecting orbs. When the match is over, the participant with the most orbs wins! WHen you're ready, go talk to the tournament promoter. He's in the ring." I went up first against Roxanne. "All right, time to begin! I hope you've practiced battling someone!" I nodded and he asked "Are you ready to take on Roxanne?" I said "Yeah." He handed us our bats and Roxanne snidely said "What's with the winter stuff midget?" I coolly said "I'm not the one wearing a bikini top and a Band-Aid for a battle." She snarled. "Our first match of today's struggle tournament will be between River and Roxanne." The promoter said "Struggle!" I jumped into action immediately and dodged her every move. I hit her five times before gathering the orbs and backslapping over her head and hitting her hard. She dropped the rest of her orbs and I gathered them. I landed and the announcer said "And the winner of this match is.... River!" I smirked and walked off stage. I cheered Roxas on as he won against Hayner. Roxas won and stood next to me. I said "I guess we're facing each other." He nodded and we looked towards the ring and I saw that Vivi won. Seifer walked passed us and said "That's not Vivi." I looked at him. He looked at Roxas and said "Thrash 'im." I felt lost. Then Roxas went up to face Vivi. He kicked his ass and everything froze. I paled and unsealed my gun-blade. I back-flipped into the ring and Roxas said "Again?" I said "It's a first for me." The kingdom Key formed in his hand and we jumped into battle. I took out two and he took out two. We defeated Zipper faces One, Two, Three, and Four. I turned and saw that everything was still frozen. Then I heard clapping. I turned quickly and saw a cloaked person. I said "Okay, that's not Ansem." I switched it to gun mode and stepped in front of Roxas. "Roxas. All right. Fight, fight, fight." I glared at him and he said "Calm don't kitty cat. I'm here to see Roxas." I scowled and said "Don't call me a cat!" He ignored me and said "You really don't remember? It's me. You know, Axel." I was suddenly assaulted by a scene. It was faded but I recognized Roxas and Axel. "Nobody would miss me." Roxas said. Axel said "Your wrong. I would." I blinked and said "I remember you. Why do I remember you?" Axel said "This is odd. You aren't a Nobody." I said "Of course I'm not." Axel said "Man oh man. Not even the dusks can crack this one." Roxas said "Wait a sec, tall me what's going on!" Axel said "This town is his creation, right? Which means we don't have time for a Q & A. You're coming with, conscious or not." I said "No he's not!" I barred my teeth and stood protectively in front of Roxas. Everything began warping around Roxas as I accessed the ninetails Chaka. My teeth sharpened and the whiskers on my cheeks became defined. Axel said "Oh no." Roxas glared at his keyblade and yelled "What's going on!" I went down of all fours and snarled. He threw it and it reappeared in his hand. Axel said "Number 13. Roxas. The Keyblades chosen one. And the Nine-tails jinjuuriki. Annika Hyuuga-Uzumaki." I said "IT'S! RIVER! NOT ANNIKA!" Roxas said "Okay fine! You asked for it." I snarled and ran at Axel. He dodged and slapped a seal on my forehead. I fell and pushed myself up. I grabbed my sword and attacked from behind. I got knocked back and hit my head on the ground hard. Axel suddenly stopped attacking and said "So it was you." Axel leapt backwards over me and started spinning his flaming Chakrams. He threw them but they bounced off of DiZ's shield. "Roxas, this man speaks nonsense!" Axel said "Roxas, don't let him deceive you!" My head began hurting and I saw snatches of scenes. It hurt badly and I yelled loudly. I felt Roxas lift me up and he yelled "Stop it! You're hurting River!" The pain died down once the two older men stopped yelling Roxas' name. I opened my eyes and said "DiZ, you don't get to boss Roxas around. Axel, he left of his own accord. Tell your superior that." Axel said "What? How'd you-" I gritted my teeth and said "I have all of the memories from before." I narrowed my eyes at him. I stood up and walked up to him. "Annika, leave the stage before time unfreeze." I nodded and hopped off stage. "HAYNER! PENCE! OLETTE!" Time resumed and the announcer said "What? What just happened?" Vivi rubbed his head and said "How did I get here?" He left the stage and I went up. "Our next match is Roxas vs. River!" I grinned and said "Don't hold back Roxy." He said "Same to you River." We went at it and I lost. I landed on my back end and I laughed. He helped me up and the announcer said "And our new champion is Roxas!" I got off stage and Roxas went against Setzer. I yelled "Go Roxas!" He grinned at me and I grinned back. He ended up winning and I ran on stage right as Setter turned to face us. I flying hugged him and said "You won! That was amazing!" He smiled at me and said "Thanks River."
We sat on the watch tower looking at the twilight. Roxas broke off pieces of the trophy and tossed them to us. I caught the orange one. I smiled at Roxas and panicked when he fell. I jumped after him and, using chakra to catch up, grabbed him. I turned us so he landed on me instead of the ground. I used substitution jutsu and switched places with a branch. We landed safely, but Roxas was passed out. I sighed and snuck him home. I looked at the sky and said "I have to break up with him soon."
