Graduation Night
Disclaimer: I do not own KH character rights, how many times do I have to say it?
Warning: boyxboy love below, and yaoi, mature content, slight rape, AkuRoku, language.
A/N: I was inspired when I was at a friend's graduation party. I decided to make it a two-shot because I think it goes better with a cliffhanger-break. Ha.
'Show up at ten thirty.' The note said. Roxas was always obliged to do what the note says. He never had any rights to his life; he had stopped wondering why.
So there he was, standing on the dark and quiet street, waiting for his customer to show him the way. It was cold outside, on this street of the rich. Rows after rows of houses stood firm on the slanted hill, a car or two occasionally passing by.
The lights were all lit in the house and it was rowdy. Noises came from everywhere, as Axel sat and played card games with his friends. Luxord won another round of poker, and everyone was booing, yelling, laughing. Axel pushed Demyx aside and boldly challenged Luxord.
"Congratulations, Axel!" Sora popped up out of nowhere and grinned at the redhead, his hands holding a plateful of food.
"Thanks." Axel grinned back hastily before returning his attention at the cards.
"Hey! What about me?" Demyx pouted, "He's not the only one graduating today!"
"It's your turn, loser!" Axel jeered at the blond, smacking him on the back of his head. Demyx whined, then shoved in a few chips, swallowing as Larxene the Dealer flipped another card around.
"Check?" She asked gently, though something in her eyes glinted.
They agreed. Axel first revealed his single pair of 4's, Demyx revealing a pair of 2's, and Luxord, with an evil smirk, revealed two pairs of Queen's.
"What?" Demyx exclaimed with disbelief, "You didn't just win again!"
"I did, kiddo." The ice-blond laughed, bringing all the chips to himself greedily. Demoralized, Axel threw his cards onto the table and loudly declared his quitting. He stood up and yawned, stretching his arms.
"Present time!" He called, attracting a group of friends after him as he went over to where all the party participants put their graduation gifts.
They all sat down in a circle, Axel with all his gifts laid in front of him. He picked a random box and started unpacking.
"…The fuck is this?" A bottle dangled in Axel's fingers, and he squinted to read what it was on there. Sora and Riku giggled with failed restraint, and burst into hysterics when Axel growled at them, yelling something about 'killing' and 'fucking lubricant'.
It took them about ten minutes before Axel was calm enough to go on with the gifts. Some of them were the silliest and stupidest pranks people could muster, none of them were things Axel needed, and all of them were twisted or inappropriate in some way. The process contained lots of laughter, LOADS of cursing, and one or two interruptions from Axel's mother for the uprisings.
"Is that all?" Axel looked around, finding no other hazards wrapped in deceptive shining paper.
"Hey Demyx, where's your gift?" Riku asked, a half derisive smirk on his face.
"Oh! I have it!" Demyx put down the bowl of ice cream in his hands and jumped up from Zexion's lap, skipping giddily (Axel often wondered why this gaytard was his friend…) towards the front door of the house, "It should be waiting right outside for you…"
"Stop playing mysterious, Demyx." Axel stood up and followed his gaytard friend with curiosity, the others poking their heads and following along. "What the fuck is it?"
"You'll know soon enough…" Demyx unlocked the bolts and poked out his head, trying to confirm the presence of his 'gift'.
"It had better not be a stripper." Axel voiced, "I said no strippers."
"He's not a stripper!"
"Demyx!" Axel yelled, "Don't tell me you seriously kidnapped a person to be my-"
"Ta-da!" From behind the door, Demyx pulled out a short blond boy as if to 'present' him to the redhead. Everyone blanked out for a moment, some shocked and some confused of the situation. Without a word, Axel stormed up to Demyx and grabbed him by the collar, dragged him to a side next to the food table, and conveniently applied a neck lock with his arm.
"Ahh! Axel… hurts…" Demyx flailed his arms helplessly.
"I. Thought. I. Said. NO. STRIPPERS." Axel's voice was dangerously low.
"He's not a stripper! He's a hooker!"
If it wasn't for the presence of so many eyewitnesses, including the boy himself, Axel would've snapped Demyx's neck right then and there.
"Axel? Did someone open the front door?" Axel's mother called from the kitchen, and soon emerged from it. She first looked at the opened front door, and saw the silent blond standing in the doorway. "Oh, there's more people coming!" She welcomed the boy wholeheartedly, "Axel! Don't just let your guests stand out there! You're supposed to welcome them! Wait, I don't think I've seen you before…." She frowned at the boy, who merely stared back with what was nervousness and sheepishness. "Axel, is this a new friend of yours?"
"Uh, yeah." The redhead let go of Demyx and shoved his face down onto the ground. "He's a new friend. He's… uh…"
"Roxas. My name's Roxas." The boy immediately caught on with the drift.
"Axel! How can you forget your friend's name?" He's NOT my friend, Mom… "Well, anyway, welcome, darling!" She led him inside and towards the food table. Axel's real friends stared after Aunty's fearless actions, unsure of whether to laugh or not. "Here's some food, and snacks. And drinks are over there. Make yourself at home, okay?" She smiled. She seemed nice, Roxas thought, and nodded timidly. Soon the lady went away, and the friends exchanged glances before exploding into laughter. Axel grabbed Demyx back up, "You're not off the hook. What the fuck is this shit?"
"C'mon, Axel." Demyx rolled his eyes, "We're all eighteen now, and I think you're in a desperate need of getting laid." Zexion's never gonna get laid again, Axel thought sourly while planning the horrid death of this gaytard. "I'll help you, Axel." Demyx said and struggled out of the redhead's grasp before he could respond, and quickly grabbed an opened soda bottle.
"Roxas, let me help you with this!" He chirped, bumping into the blond with a speed probably illegal for any pedestrians, if possible. The result was soda all over Roxas; fabulous.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" He cried loudly, attracting Axel's mother's attention. Axel could only stand there helplessly, unable to comprehend Demyx's intentions.
"Oh no!" The redhead's mother exclaimed, "Your clothes! They're all sticky with soda…" She twirled Roxas around to look at the damage done. "Axel, don't just stand there! Bring your friend up and get him something to change into, we need to wash this right away!"
Now Axel realized what Demyx had done. The first respond coming from him was a very, very dark death glare towards the smirking Demyx. But Demyx simply looked back at him with triumph. "Yeah, Axel. Go bring Roxas to your room and get him out of those clothes!"
"You… You will get it…" Axel breathed out through gritted teeth, his voice so low that it was a little hard to hear him below all that laughter from his other friends, "I'll make sure you will…"
"No, no, Axel." Demyx laughed, "You're going to get it." He motioned his head towards Roxas. Axel was going to just murder him there, but he was interrupted by Roxas' gentle tugging on his shirt. Axel never paid much attention to the subject involved until then, and realized how hurt he must've been by this rude conversation of which he had been listening through the whole way. Sighing, he put aside his personal hate-motivated project and silently brought Roxas upstairs, glaring after all his 'friends' that were clutching the sides of their stomachs. Larxene smiled mystifyingly and whistled.
Axel closed the door behind him, scanning around for anywhere to hide into.
"I-I'll get you some towels." He muttered before quickly shutting himself into the bathroom.
Roxas first looked around, examining the room. It was a decent place, decorated with band posters and some Gundam figures. There was also a guitar standing next to the desk, silent and majestic in its own way. Roxas went over and closed the blinds, gulping before he started to take off his clothes. He stripped himself of his underwear, too. There were one or two bruises on his legs, and he growled at them, willing them to go away. If he doesn't look perfect enough, Axel might not like it. It was never a nice experience when his clients didn't like him.
Suddenly the bathroom door creaked and Axel came out with a bundle of white fluffy towels in his hands. He widened his eyes in shock at the unexpected sight of Roxas' nudity and promptly turned away.
"Um… er… Here…" He blindly moved backwards until the heels of his feet hit the side of the bed and he dropped onto the soft bed, his arms still reaching out behind him with the towels. Roxas almost smiled at the redhead's childish movements. Axel didn't really give off that kind of an image when he first saw him. He approached the bed and knelt on it, taking the towels and putting them aside.
Axel, thinking that Roxas had wrapped himself in the blankets, relaxed a little. "Er… Roxas?"
"Yes, Master Axel?"
"Oh. Well, um," Axel was not used to being called 'master'. "I don't know what you had in mind, but this wasn't really what I planned…"
"It's okay, I understand." Roxas said.
"You do?" Axel tilted his head sideways a little.
"Yes." Roxas placed his hands on Axel's shoulder. "You're nervous. It's okay. Everybody's nervous for their first time…" The hands started pressing soft moves against the tense muscles. "Maybe a little massage would help?"
"Uh…" Axel stuttered a little, his voice giving way to moans that wanted to pop out from his throat. "N-No, I think you…"
Roxas continued his ministrations. His hands moved from the shoulders to Axel's back, tracing patterns along the lines. Then he moved to the sides, softly brushing his fingers against the skin. There was a nice patch of flesh at the joint of the shoulder and neck, and Roxas gingerly licked on it, sucking a little. Axel couldn't stop the moan that ripped through his voice. He wanted to stop Roxas, but he was too distracted. Roxas' hands moved to the stomach, then drew circles around what he assumed was Axel's nipples. There was another loud moan, and Roxas sighed on the inside. At least Axel was new to this, so hopefully he could have it gentle this time. The hands moved down to Axel's legs; then, skimming past the uncontrollable bulge, they moved to press tenderly on the inner thighs. Roxas could tell that Axel was close to losing control, and traveled his fingers along the thigh, finally resting around the bulge constricted by the jeans.
Axel gasped before turning around swiftly and pushed Roxas down, his lips diving for the blond's. Roxas was shocked; they usually didn't kiss him on the lips like that, because the action required more of affection than lust to be activated. But it might also be just because it was Axel's first time, so Roxas went with it and looped his arms around the fiery red hair.
Axel moved his lips down to Roxas' jawbone, then to the shoulder joint, leaving marks. He didn't really know what he was doing; sure, he had watched a lot of porn before, but everybody knew those were fake, and this was more of what he had learned from listening to Demyx bragging about his nights with Zexion. He started hearing whimpers from Roxas, then allowed himself to go a little further down, sucking on the collarbone and then on the nipples. He could feel Roxas' hands in his hair, so tiny and weak like a little child's-
Hold up a minute.
"Master Axel… Is something wrong?" The blond was panting. Axel looked at him; his eyes were hazy, his mouth open and gasping for air, and a hickey was starting to form on where Axel had bit mercilessly. To be bluntly honest, he was an utterly sweet and sexy thing, in Axel's opinion. But… he cannot possibly be at least eighteen.
"My god…" Axel pulled away from Roxas' arms and sat kneeling, his eyes off to a side, his mind running. "I nearly just…"
"What?"
"I almost just raped you…" Axel's hand on his forehead moved to his mouth, his eyes were filled with skepticism. He left the bed and stood in his shock for a while, hardly recovered from his astonishment. Roxas lied on his elbows, his eyes narrowing as he tried to understand the redhead. Axel stared back at him, and then at the heap of clothes on the floor that were once on Roxas.
"Master-"
"No, don't call me master." Axel interrupted, "Just call me Axel." He dropped his arms to his sides and approached Roxas. The blond laid on his back again, expecting Axel to resume their previous activities, but instead Axel just pulled up the sheets on the bed and covered them over Roxas.
"Go to sleep." He whispered.
"But Axel…"
"It's okay, I'll give you your money if you need it." Axel cooed, "Just… get some rest."
Roxas was confused. What was Axel trying to do? He had never met a client quite like him, stopping in the middle of their business and letting him go to sleep, all the while promising to pay regardless of whether he'd get his service or not. Nevertheless, Axel's voice had a spell in it that made him feel reassured and safe, so he closed his eyes, his heart warmed by the kindness of this stranger.
Roxas woke up the next morning with a startle. There wasn't anything big that happened, but it was the blond's habit to just jump up from his sleep, alert and aware even in his exhaustion. No one was in the room but himself, and he wondered where Axel went. He threw the blanket away and stood up, finding his heap of soaked clothes gone from the carpet. He was still in nudes. Looking around he located the closet and pulled out the first thing he found. It was a humongous sweater with Axel's high school's logo printed on it; it was so big that when he wore it, the sleeves covered his small hands and the bottom lip of the sweater was long enough to reach his thigh. He went out to the stairs and walked down, rubbing his eyes a little.
"Axel, don't play video games as soon as you woke up!" Axel's mother nagged, taking the almost-full basket of dirty laundry with her. She was going to go upstairs and collect the rest of the unclean clothes, but stopped when she saw Roxas wearing nothing but a big sweater, the majority of his legs revealed like a mini-skirt would reveal a girl's legs. There was just something about this that made her freak out.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Both Axel and Roxas widened their eyes at her outbreak, Axel immediately rushing over to see what happened.
"Roxas, why are you…" She gulped. Axel turned his attention to the blond, and was even more shocked, if possible. Well, he couldn't really be blamed for his eyes looking like they were gonna pop out. After all, Roxas was standing there with his goddamn adorable pouty face and skinny smooth legs exposed from the oversized sweater.
"Um, I can't find my clothes…" Roxas mumbled, then the shock on Axel's mother's face went away. "Oh, right!" She hurriedly went back to the laundry room to search for Roxas' clothes. Axel was still staring at Roxas.
"Stop staring at me." Roxas frowned a little. It wasn't all that intimidating to be around Axel anymore, so he let himself to be a little less formal. Axel realized his rudeness and looked away, only to find Demyx's drunken face snoring back at him from the sofa. He had not abandoned his personal hate-motivated project just yet, oh no. He'd make sure Demyx get it, remember?
"Hey, Roxas." Axel smirked, an idea coming to him.
"Yeah?" He asked, a little unnerved by the deviation in the redhead's voice.
"Wanna have some fun?" He pulled a marker from the key stand near the door and pointed it towards Demyx's face. "Some real fun?"
Roxas was given a bowl of cereal, the first breakfast he'd had in years. Axel's mother cleaned up the house as she talked on and on to Roxas about various tittle-tattles that Axel had long stopped listening to. The redhead just played video games, music player plugged in his ears.
Roxas watched Axel play for a while, not really trying to understand the redhead's actions in the game. He was more anxious about getting back to the 'headquarters'. He'd be doomed if he doesn't get back by noon.
"Axel?" He asked first, but Axel was oblivious to anything outside the world of video games. So with a small frown he abruptly stood in front of the television, successfully blocking Axel's view and gaining attention.
"Get out of-" Axel paused the game and stared at Roxas, "What?"
"I need to go." Roxas stated defiantly.
"Well then go; I'm not keeping you." Axel shrugged. His mother came in and started nagging him again, "Axel! Be polite to your friend! Drive him home."
Axel sighed in defeat and threw away the game console, standing up and grabbed his car keys off the table. Roxas followed him out of the house and past Demyx whom they stripped down to only boxers and hung him upside-down on the tree out in the front porch, his face littered with beautiful marker art. Axel's car was an old second-hand Silica.
They were silent as Axel drove, the car making small grumpy noises at times. Roxas looked out and found the sky brightly clear, his mood not at all lifted by this scene. Axel was focusing on the road, but his thoughts soon deviated from road safety to the fact that he didn't know where he was going and to the questions of Roxas' home, or origin, or pretty much everything about him.
"So uh… where am I driving to?" He asked uneasily.
"You can drop me off at 4th street." Roxas quietly replied. Axel skimmed his eyes over a little to the blond, seeing that he had no emotions on his face.
"If you don't mind me asking…" He tried a little more, still uneasy with the silence. "Who are you, really? I mean, where did you come from? How old are you? And why are you doing… that?"
"That's a lot of questions…" Roxas mumbled and put his chin into his hand, resting his forehead against the cold glass window.
"Sorry." Axel scratched his ear a little with one finger. "Well, it's okay if you don't want to answer… I'm just curious."
"I don't know where I came from. I was an orphan." Roxas shrugged. "No, more like, abandoned, to be exact. I sometimes see this lady in my dreams, and I just know she's my mother, but I could never remember her face. It was just a blur. I think I was too young to remember what she was like. The nuns at the orphanage told me they found me in a bundle on the doorstep. You know, the usual abandoned orphan shit."
Axel didn't make a sound; he was listening intently. Something about the way Roxas presented his own life made it too interesting to interrupt.
"There was an earthquake two years ago – when I was fourteen – that destroyed the orphanage." Axel couldn't see Roxas' face, for he had turned completely outwards. "So I had to wander on the streets, and that's where I picked this up." His legs twitched; the bruises were still there. "I don't have a choice. I'm too young to be hired. I have to eat."
"Do you know that what you're doing is illegal?" Axel whispered, his voice unable to hide the sympathy.
Roxas chuckled pathetically. What a mocking question that was. "Did you seriously just ask me that?"
Axel opened his mouth, then closed it. What a stupid question he had asked. Of course Roxas knew; he probably knew better than anyone. What a stupid, dumb question he had asked.
"So how do you get by?" Axel kept on asking; he had too much he wanted to know. "Like, how do you find your um… clients?"
"I work for this dealer." Roxas sighed, "She's the one that gets all the request and shit from the 'clients', then she decides who serves who and tell us through phone calls and memo notes. I've never seen her face, though."
Axel shuffled a little, shifting his weight to sit a little straighter. "Then how does she know if you'd really be there and not run away?"
"She watches." Roxas answered. "it's not like I'd run away anyway; this is how I earn my living. You don't just go missing from work, do you?"
"I guess." Axel nodded a little. The next question that he wanted to ask was stuck in an argument between his heart and mind, debating whether he should spit it out. Roxas studied Axel's face, reading the redhead's confusion.
"You want to ask how many people I've served, don't you?"
Axel looked up at the blond, shocked. Then, with embarrassment, he nodded. "But you don't have to tell me, if you don't want to…"
"I don't really remember, but I think about thirteen, including you." Roxas didn't look at Axel, but instead played with his fingers. Axel relaxed slightly, feeling enlightened and no longer hidden in the dark oblivion of Roxas' secrets. Then the feeling of pity and sympathy came to him, as he drove on towards 4th street. What would happen to Roxas if he leaves him on that street, returning him to that shady life of his? How different will Axel be from those 'clients' who had once raped – or maybe even abused Roxas if he just so simply placed the boy back to where he is trapped helpless?
The red light turned green, but Axel didn't go. The car behind them honked, and Roxas looked at the redhead perplexedly, "Axel?"
Axel didn't say a word; he glared up to the road in front of him. If he continued down this road… Suddenly he shifted gears violently and made a wild illegal U-turn, speeding away from Roxas' destination.
"Axel! What are you doing?" Roxas gasped, frightened from the sudden jerk of the car.
"I can't do this." Axel kept his hand firm on the steering wheel. "I can't just leave you back there like that."
"You're crazy!" Roxas cried, his voice muffled by the vicious wind wheezing by the open window. It was twelve minutes before noon. "I'll get killed!"
Axel slowed down his car and remained silent for a moment before turning to Roxas, his eyes narrowed. "I'll protect you."
Roxas' mouth was left open, his mind unable to come up with anything to say. Why? Axel barely knew him. Why would he want to protect him? Roxas was only an underage prostitute ordered by Demyx, his friend, to get him laid as a 'graduation gift'. He was just an unclean boy used by everyone. How can Axel say something like that to him?
"H-How?" He managed to stutter out.
Axel stopped his car at a red light and parked off the road. Roxas' question got him thinking. How is he, a fresh adult, going to protect Roxas? He could barely manage his own life; his mother still does the laundry for him. Who is he to promise Roxas that he'll protect him and give him a good life?
Axel's silence got Roxas nervous and disappointed. See? Such promises cannot be so lightly said. There was still seven minutes before noon; and Roxas would still have time to make it back to 4th street if he moved now.
"Exactly. You can't protect me." Roxas sighed, unlocking the car door. "I appreciate your kindness, Axel; but I really have to go now." He couldn't control the tears that welled in his eyes, and he moved in to give Axel's cheek a light peck, turning to leave the rumbling car.
All thinking stopped in Axel's mind and he jolted out of the car; no, he didn't know how to protect Roxas. He didn't know the answers to a lot of things. But there was one thing that he knew, however, and it was the fact that he wouldn't let Roxas go back to his rotten life anymore. He ran after the blond and pulled him by the wrist, turning him around.
"I don't know how I'm going to it." He held Roxas by his shoulders, looking into those cerulean eyes earnestly. "But I know I will. I'll manage somehow. I'll do everything I can. Or cannot. All I need, Roxas, is for you to believe in me."
Roxas stared back at Axel, a new unknown emotion dawning in his eyes. "And what if… I do?"
They went back to Axel's house, the redhead telling Roxas to stay in the car. He went into the house, saying goodbye to Luxord and Larxene who prepared to leave. They laughed at Demyx who was still hung upside-down, but is now fully awake. The dirty blond yelled and demanded to be put down, and Luxord called to Roxas.
"Hey! Who's the genius who did this?" He grinned at Roxas, his finger pointing at the squirming Demyx. Roxas looked over his shoulder and smiled back at him and Larxene. "Axel and I."
"Well you guys are brilliant!" Larxene smirked; something in her eyes glinted again. Roxas said a 'thank you' and the duo left soon, leaving Demyx still hung up on the tree.
Axel made up a big story about Roxas going to the same college and random shit to convince his mother to let Roxas stay for the time being until Axel moves into the university dorm. She agreed to that much; but of course, Axel had much more in mind. That night, he wrote a letter to his college to request a change from dorm housing to independent housing. And Roxas was given Axel's laptop, his job to look for a place near the campus Axel could rent.
"You know, you're really crazy." Roxas stated randomly, looking up from behind the laptop.
"Thank you." Axel replied sarcastically and put down the readied letter, then lied next to Roxas who sat on the bed. "I never thought I would've seriously gone this far either."
Roxas bit his bottom lip. It was still kind of hard to believe in this miracle-like happenstance. After all, his life had changed drastically since yesterday night. He suddenly regained his rights to his life; and now he wondered what it would be like to live freely.
"Axel…" He murmured, closing the laptop and putting it away.
"Hm?" Axel hummed tiredly; he was exhausted, but his mind was still running, wondering if this was really what Roxas wanted.
"I…" Roxas started hesitantly, unsure of how to put his thoughts into words. "…Thank you for everything."
Axel cracked an eye open, and found Roxas looking at him with complete honesty. He grinned, raising a hand to ruffle Roxas' soft blond hair. "You're welcomed."
Roxas whined and patted Axel's hand away, then stood up from the bed. "I should go to sleep…"
"Well, the bed's here." Axel sat up and came down from the bed. "Where're you going?"
"You did so much for me already… I should just take the couch."
Axel laughed a little and pulled Roxas back, pushing him onto the bed. "No, you're sleeping here." He took away one of the two pillows on the bed and grabbed spare blankets from the room cabinet. "I can just sleep on the floor." He laid down the blankets and the pillow on the floor and situated himself into the makeshift bed. Then he looked up and found Roxas gazing at him with tears in his eyes. He grinned again and wiped away the tears with his fingers, ruffling the hair one more time, and whispered 'good night' before lying down, falling fast asleep.
Roxas remained looking at Axel gingerly for a moment or two before whispering his 'good night' back, snuggling into the warm sheets for the second time.
It was a new experience for Axel, too, to have to maintain a life like that of a couple at his age. None of his peers had this experience. It was basically the same as forming one's family on your own. Only he's eighteen and Roxas was sixteen. Simply said, it was not easy.
But Axel managed. He went to school in the daylight, and went to work at night. Roxas had obediently listened to Axel and attended high school like a normal teenager. When he's home after school, he took care of the small apartment Axel rented for them, including the redhead's laundry. Occasionally when Axel had time, they'd go to a movie. Roxas was living freely.
Good things never seemed to last for long, though.
"Hello?" Roxas stopped his hand that was wiping the kitchen counter and answered the phone.
"Long time no see, Roxie." It was a lady's voice. Her voice.
"H-How did you find out…?" His face was dreaded white.
"I told you I was always watching…" Her voice was low and dangerously seductive. "You have been very, very bad."
"What do you want from me?" He yelled, his blank widened eyes staring into the air before him as if she was there.
"Oh, something quite simple, actually." She chuckled. "Just come back."
"And be your working slave again? NO!"
"Well, let's see…" Her voice sounded nonchalant. "What will the college think of your dear friend if they find out that he lives with a sixteen-year-old boy who he once nearly raped?" She paused, then continued. "Oh, look what I found – a tape."
Some clicking sound emitted from the other side of the speaker and soon the sound of a playing video followed. At first it was just moaning – like that in a pornography video – and then it grew louder and Roxas looked horrified.
It was his voice.
"I didn't know you enjoyed your job so much before, Roxas." She chuckled again, turning the volume louder. There was a continuous sickly smacking sound, and – although Roxas couldn't believe it – his old self was screaming 'God!'
"I don't think I need to explain what I'm thinking of doing, do I?" She spoke delicately, her voice turning darker. "You have three days."
Then the line went dead. Roxas dropped the speaker, the machine smashing into pieces on the floor. His life… This life he built with Axel... It is now just like the phone, falling and shattering into a million pieces, never will he ever be able to save it again. His fate is doomed; he has no choice but to return to her, to the unclean boy.
Axel got home at around nine, as usual. Tired and exhausted, he slumped into the couch, his textbooks still in his arms. A silence fell in the apartment, which was unusual.
"Roxas? Something wrong?" He poked the blond at his side, pulling him out of his daydream.
"Huh?" He looked at Axel's questioning gaze. "Nothing, I'm just tired." He stretched and yawned.
"So am I…" Axel nodded and rested his head backwards. Roxas watched him, studied his features, and went around to the back of the couch. He placed his hands on Axel's shoulders, and started massaging like he did the first night they met.
"Perfect…" Axel grinned like a child, sighing as Roxas kneaded the stress away from his muscles. Roxas had a strong urge to wrap his arms around Axel's neck and just hold him there like that, but he didn't want to do anything more that would add to his attachment to the redhead. So when Axel started snoring slightly, he eased up on his hands and quietly slipped away.
Axel woke up next morning lying on the couch sideways, his textbooks fallen onto the floor. He rubbed his eyes, sat up and looked for Roxas. He couldn't find him anywhere. He checked Roxas' bedroom, and discovered, to his horror, that it was completely empty. Not only was Roxas not there. But all the things on the desk, the photos they took together, and even the necklace Axel bought him with money he saved from hardworking, were gone. It was almost as if…
Axel widened his eyes and ran for the only telephone in the apartment. He couldn't find it anywhere. Growing unceasingly anxious, he stormed out of his place and ran to the school campus. He found the nearest payphone and inserted two coins.
Roxas' cell jumped to voicemail. Axel growled and dialed in Demyx's number.
"Yo! Talk."
"Demyx!" The redhead almost howled into the speaker, "About Roxas… how did you find him?"
"What do you mean?" Demyx asked, confusion and interest clearly laced in his voice.
"I mean, how did you like… find him among all the other uh… hookers…?"
"Oh, Larxene connected me up when I suggested the idea." He answered. "What? Are you looking for another one now?"
"No!" Axel smacked his forehead. "Can I talk to Larxene?"
"She's not here today." Demyx shrugged on the other side of the conversation, "I don't know why."
"Argh! Fine!" Axel groaned. "That's all I wanted to ask, thanks bye." He shoved the speaker back into the stand and stood frustrated. Where did Roxas go? His hand was on his forehead as he thought. Roxas, hookers' dealer, Demyx, Larxene, absent, phone calls, 'I'll get killed!', the dealer, clients, Larxene, cards, the Dealer…
Stop.
Axel took out another two coins and shoved them in.
"He's all yours." She smirked to the lust-driven man, handing him the whip in her hand. The man was more like a monstrous creature than a human. Roxas could hear him, the sound a mix between laughter and spastic slurs. He couldn't see though, for he was blindfolded. He'd rather not, actually. He heard the whip scratching slightly against the floor, and anticipated – not with panic, but calmness – burning pain on his skin.
The first two blows were always hard, especially since he hadn't been 'in the industry' for a while after Axel had liberated him. Blood rushed to the abused skin, and he bit his bottom lip, not daring to make any sound.
It hurts. He couldn't see, and now he'd rather he couldn't hear either. The man was screaming, piercing into his ears along with the sickly smacking sound. It hurts. How do you make this pain go away? It hurts. Axel, it hurts…
Axel.
Maybe he should regret. Maybe he should've been a little more selfish and stayed with the redhead. Being with him was the only time in his life that he was, to his realization, truly happy. Why didn't he realize that earlier? Was it too late now? The pain was still there; how do you make it go away?
Roxas groaned. The client was getting close, he could tell. To his shame, he found that he was getting close, too. But…
"God! …yes… AXEL!"
So that was how you make the pain go away.
If it was Axel who just screwed him senseless into the metal table, then he bore no shame. If it was Axel who just touched him everywhere, then he had no regret. If it was Axel who just whipped him, he would feel pleasure rather than pain.
So that was how you make the pain go away.
Her other phone rang. She closed the door, made sure no sound from the outside was to be heard in here, and flipped open the mobile cell.
"Hello?"
"Hey Larxene, it's me, Axel."
"Oh hi." She greeted back. "What's up?"
"You see, I have some questions on Professor Xemnas' lecture, and you're the only one I know in that class, so I'm wondering if you're free right now and I can meet you up?"
"Oh okay, where are you now?" She replied, looking over at the map that was pinned to the wall of her office.
"4th street." Axel replied. He was glad that cell phones didn't include camera features just yet, because he was smirking.
Larxene's heart did a small panic skip, and she gulped. "Okay, that's kind of close to where I am right now." She located the 'safe zone' coffee shop. "What about that coffee shop right at the intersection of 4th and Main Street?"
"Sure." Axel agreed and shoved the speaker into the stand immediately after she hung up, rushing to his car and sped straight for 4th street.
He made it in three minutes, luckily without being caught by any police. She showed up two minutes later, looking perfectly normal. Axel started their session with normal questions concerning the lecture, and she replied patiently. She was so good at acting that Axel almost doubted his own judgment. But he was going to make sure.
"So why aren't you at school today? I thought you have class right now…" He asked, sipping another sip from his coffee, looking at Larxene intently.
"Oh, I had a doctor's appointment." She shrugged, "And it's just kinda too troublesome to go back to school after that, so what the heck."
"I see…" He drank more from his beverage and thought to himself, must've been a hell of an appointment… "Well, thanks a lot for the help. I think I better get going." He stood up and shook Larxene's hand. They walked out, Larxene telling him how to get back to the college. He thanked her again and walked down the street, turning around a corner and disappeared from her sight. Then he drove the car out of the small lot and waved to her one last time, driving down the road. She sighed, feeling safe and thus turned around to go back.
Axel watched the rear-view mirror until she turned around. It was the second time he made an illegal U-turn in this particular intersection. The car rumbled to silence as he parked and walked out. He kept a good distance between himself and her, and passed by a newspaper stall. He bought a lighter, lengthening their distance a little before she turned around the corner into a narrow alley. The path was dirty and stunk. She pushed into a door; Axel let the door slip almost completely closed so she'd hear the sound. Then he reopened it quietly, sneaking in.
Immediately he noticed the loud noises in this complex. It was just a lot of moaning and screaming. Well, what could he expect? Larxene was the Dealer… She went into what he assumed was her office, and he was free to walk around.
There were numbers on each door. Which number would Roxas be…? 'I don't really remember, but I think about thirteen, including you.' Lucky number 13, huh? He walked along the long hallway until he reached the very end, an old 'XIII' engraved onto the door.
"…AXEL!"
He stopped dead in his track. That was Roxas' voice. That couldn't have been anyone else. No one knew his name… Why did Roxas call out his name? He didn't have time to think of an answer before a hideous alien-like voice hollered with anger.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?"
Axel just kicked. He kicked the entire door open. The occupants of the room looked up, one of them the owner of the hideous voice, and the other a blindfolded Roxas.
"Who the fuck are you?" Roxas could feel his client sitting up and leaving him. He felt panic for whoever stormed in and saved his life.
Axel grabbed one of the iron bars dumped in this trashed room, and swung it across the man's face. "Name's Axel. Commit it to memory."
"Axel!" Roxas cried out, struggling against the strings that tied his wrist. The redhead freed him and tugged off the blindfold, seeing the most beautiful eyes again. "Let's get outta here." He was going to pick up Roxas, but something knocked him out cold.
Roxas screamed; the client was ambling towards him, his veins pulsing against the skin. The iron bar was now a hazardous tool on the other side. He gasped, scooting back but felt the end of the metal table like it was the end of his life. The outraged monster held up the bar, and Roxas closed his eyes.
There was a scream of agony; but Roxas realized it was not from him. Axel was pressing the lighter against the man's leg, the flame lit and corroding into his skin.
"Roxas, go!" Axel cried out before the man picked him up by the collar and practically threw him over to the other side of the room, the lighter in his hand dropping on a pool of petroleum that leaked from a rusted can.
"Axel!" Roxas was standing, his mind refusing to leave without the redhead. Larxene rushed into the room, yelling something incoherent. All was chaotic now. The client was towering over Axel's weak body. The flame from the petroleum crawled up the wall, triggering a fire sprinkler and the fire alarm. All the doors unlocked themselves. There were tears in Axel's eyes; and he whispered 'Go.'
Larxene's eyes chased Roxas'. Out of fear, the blond turned and pushed. It was much colder on the outside, but he ran, the cold wind slapping mercilessly against his naked body. Larxene followed him, and found herself surrounded by fire trucks, firefighters and, well, policemen.