DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. This fic, however, is mine.
It was pity. It had to be.
It couldn't be anything but pity that made Axel reach out to Roxas.
The kid looked so sad and confused after those three kids in Twilight Town ran past, laughing at nothing in particular. Roxas looked so pitiful standing there, not understanding what being friends meant.
So, out of the goodness of his hear—Ha! What a joke—Axel had to change that.
Axel offered to go get ice cream, just like how those other kids had done. He made a pathetic joke and laughed for no real reason, just like those kids. He acted like he was a friend to Roxas, just like how those kids were friends with each other.
Roxas looked confused. He didn't seem to understand the concept of friends or companionship. Or maybe he linked friendship with having a heart or having emotions. Nevertheless, he seemed to accept what Axel said. He seemed to think that Axel had some great, grand knowledge regarding friendship to impart on him.
Axel said he was Roxas' friend, even though initially he just treated Roxas as a babysitting duty. When he said that—only the first part, of course—Roxas appeared happy. But of course he wasn't truly happy, considering he had no heart. But still, he seemed content and understanding and he accepted the fact that Axel offered to be his friend. Not only that, but Roxas thought that he better share his prize—the extra sea salt ice cream he won with his Winner stick—with Axel, his first and best friend.
Hearing that, Axel was damned embarrassed. (But that couldn't be, because Axel certainly had no heart.)
But why did he feel embarrassed? It's not like he honestly thought of Roxas as a friend. It started off as pity for the pathetic, kicked puppy look the kid had, and Axel was annoyed by it.
It had to be pity. It just had to.
There was no way that Axel could grow any feelings for Roxas. He couldn't actually care whether or not that Roxas was his friend.
So it had to be pity.
Because, if not, then what could it be?
It couldn't... possibly be...
love.
