A/N: Yay! My first AkuDemy story! I've been wanting to write one for a long time, but I never had a proper idea before that wasn't just a little oneshot. Then this morning I woke up with Cascada's Can't Stop the Rain stuck in my brain, and it spawned...this somehow. So yeah, slash- Axel/Demyx, rated for future character death. Don't like slash, don't read, don't comment, otherwise, reviews are more than welcome.
Chapter One – "Umbrella"
Damn Sora. Was the first thought that crossed the blonde's mind as he emerged from a corridor of darkness in the World That Never Was. He leaned heavily against the side of one of the buildings, a hand over his left shoulder. Why do they send me on these kinds of missions? I'm not cut out for this sort of thing. It wasn't that he couldn't fight, he just…didn't like to. And look where that hesitation had landed him; not only had he failed his mission in the Underworld, but his shoulder was hurt, bad.
Sprained…or dislocated, I don't know, but it hurts. Why'd you have to be so rough, Roxas? He winced a bit as he tried to move his shoulder, and found that the action resulted in more pain. The steadily falling rain was soaking his hair, his Organization uniform, but he made no effort to move from where he was. He should head up to the Castle, get Vexen to take a look at his shoulder, but he knew the man wouldn't be happy with his failure, and he'd probably cause the younger blonde more pain than good in fixing his injury.
So, what? He thought to himself, You're just going to stay here and suffer with the pain? But what other option did he have? He already feared Vexen enough as it was, and he was sure his whimpering would only make things worse-the scientist despised him, after all.
"Demyx?"
He flinched at the sound of a familiar voice, looking up to see Axel standing near the mouth of the alley. Apparently he wasn't bothered too much by the rain either, as his hood was back, his red spikes that usually defied gravity weighed down by the water. Demyx straightened, eyeing him a bit warily-he never really got along with Axel, though he really didn't know why. The redhead just usually turned a cold shoulder to the water mage.
"Oh, hey Axel," the blonde said, "I thought I was the only one out here this late." He was trying to pull off a casual attitude-but from the look in the other's brilliant eyes, he didn't succeed.
"You had a mission in the Underworld, didn't you?" Axel said, starting to walk into the alley, and continued when Demyx nodded, "How did that go?"
The Nocturne leaned against the wall again, wincing a bit, "Horribly," he replied, hanging his head, "I failed. Xemnas is going to have my head for this."
Axel shook his head, "Don't worry too much, his bark's worse than his bite."
"Sounds more like Saïx, only his bite is worse," Demyx said with a slight laugh.
He was rewarded with a rare smile from the redhead, and he blinked a bit; what was bringing this so unexpectedly? Why was Axel actually talking to him and being nice?
"Are you alright?" the pyro asked, stopping a few feet away from Demyx and noticing the way the blonde was favoring his shoulder.
"Well…I…actually…" Demyx floundered, mentally cursing himself for sounding like an idiot, "No," he managed at last, "I think it's dislocated or something."
Axel nodded, choosing to overlook the blonde's stammering, "You should have Vexen take a look at that."
Demyx shook his head forcefully, wet bangs flopping across his forehead, "He'll be mad at me for screwing up my mission."
The redhead sighed, and Demyx expected to be scolded for his lack of bravery-however, what he got was quite the opposite. "Let me take a look at it, then?" Axel asked.
Demyx blinked a few times, not having expected this at all. "Wha-what? You?" he said in surprise, "Um…okay."
"You'll have to take off your coat," Axel pointed out.
The blonde blushed, "Not here!" he protested with a pout, "It's raining."
He expected Axel to be a bit annoyed, since the redhead had never seemed big on patience, but he just gave another faint smile, shaking his head, "Of course not," he said.
Nearby there was a boarded up sidewalk café with a canvas overhang, and it was to here that Axel led him, sitting the blonde down on one of the chairs. Shyly, Demyx unzipped his coat, glad that he was wearing a black shirt underneath, and shrugged out of one sleeve. He struggled with the left one though, trying to get it off without moving his arm too much, and was grateful when Axel helped him.
He sat still and silent as the pyro tugged off his gloves before inspecting the blonde's shoulder. For some reason his touch made Demyx blush more, but he just bit his lip and said nothing, wincing a bit when Axel moved his injured arm. After a few moments, the redhead sighed softly, nodding.
"It's dislocated," he concluded, looking down at the Nocturne, "I can fix it easy, but it'll hurt."
"T-that's okay," Demyx said, taking a deep breath and turning his head to the side, "Go ahead."
"Alright," Axel said, "On three."
On two he wrenched the blonde's shoulder back into place, and Demyx yelped at the pain, tears glimmering briefly in his teal eyes.
"There," the pyro said, rubbing the other's shoulder, "Is that better?"
Demyx experimentally flexed his arm a bit, quickly blinking back his tears before they could fall, and then he nodded. "Yeah…thanks, Axel."
"No problem," Axel said, tugging his gloves back on now, "And don't worry too much about Xemnas, he'll probably just lapse into some long winded speech."
"Yeah," the blonde said with a small attempt at a smile, shrugging into his coat again but not zipping it up yet.
He moved quickly when Axel started to turn away, rising to his feet and catching the pyro by the wrist, "Axel…" He felt the redhead tense slightly at his touch, but he turned back to him nonetheless, starting to say something. It was then though that Demyx did something that was quite unexpected by the both of them; he stepped closer to the other and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
Though Axel was caught off guard, he didn't push the blonde away, instead he let Demyx draw away on his own. He didn't act like the kiss was unwanted, though he didn't do anything to signal that he'd liked it either. Instead, he just looked at the Melodious Nocturne, his brows drawn together slightly, "What was that for?"
"Um…" again Demyx floundered for words, looking away so that he wouldn't have to meet Axel's gaze, "A…proper thank you?"
The redhead looked at him for a moment more, his true reaction to this quite well hidden and thus hard to read. "Well, okay then," he said with what could have been a slight chuckle, turning to go again, "Take care, Demyx."
Demyx looked up when the other turned, moving forward. Again he stopped the pyro from stepping out into the rain, wrapping his arms around him from behind and leaning his forehead against his back. "Axel…" he said quietly.
This time he heard Axel sigh, and he feared he was starting to push the redhead's patience, but he continued anyway.
"I don't want to be here anymore," Demyx said in a hushed tone, "I can't do this any longer."
"Demyx?" Axel said, and his frown was evident in his voice, "What are you talking about?"
"The Organization. I can't do this anymore," the blonde said miserably, "Something…something's wrong…"
He paused a moment before continuing, and Axel let him, though part of him wanted to just silence the Nocturne, to tell him to stop talking like that.
"Sometimes…I feel like Xemnas is just using us, like we're nothing but pawns to him."
Axel shifted a bit uncomfortably at this, but he wasn't about to tell Demyx that he shared these concerns, and the sense that something wasn't right anymore. "You think too much, Demyx," was what he said instead, "Just get some sleep, tomorrow'll be a better day."
"Let's leave," the Nocturne whispered suddenly, "Run away together, and forget all about the Organization."
"What?" Axel said, and he actually laughed at how absurd that idea was, "Demyx, man, did you hit your head too? You're not talking sense, just…sleep, okay?"
With that he untangled himself from the blonde, heading back out into the rain towards the Castle without looking back. If he had, he would have seen the way Demyx's shoulders slumped, and the near devastated expression that held his face in its hold. A few moments later, silent tears made their way free from teal eyes.
