Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, we'd get flashbacks showing how Axel and Roxas became friends. Since I don't, I wrote a fic about it instead!

Warning: Er, Akuroku if you read heavily between the lines, but I was seriously trying for a friendship!fic here. Even though I'm an Akuroku fan at heart, any and all yaoi overtones in this were purely unintentional.

Other: Well, a friend of mine says it reads a bit like a time-travel AUish thing in one scene, and I agree, but, uh, let's just say that Roxas is extremely observant and/or curious, alright? (sweatdrop goes here)

Everything I Know, I Learned From Roxas

"The name's Roxas. R-O-X-A-S, the Key of Destiny. Got it memorized?"

Larxene smirked, Marluxia blinked, Luxord frowned, Demyx nodded, Saïx raised an eyebrow, Zexion sighed, Lexaeus grunted, Vexen sneered, Xaldin gaped, Xigbar chuckled, and the Superior did nothing.

Axel waited until everyone else left. Axel clapped.

"I like you already, kid. You're not like the others."

"Of course not. And it's Roxas."

Roxas huffed, and Roxas walked away. But Roxas came back and talked to him every day after that.

"I am NOT a dumbass!"

"Oh, of course you aren't! I'm sorry, I forgot, they SCREWED UP when they made you, and took your BRAIN out as well!"

"Shut UP!"

Axel didn't remember what they were fighting about, or why Roxas had called him a dumbass. Axel did remember that he had grabbed a training sword at one point, and threw it at Roxas.

Roxas dodged easily, scowling. "Swords aren't your type, Axel."

He blinked; they weren't fighting anymore? Well, that had to change. "Just shut up! I don't need your advice, Number Thirteen!"

Frowning, Roxas did as he was told and shut his mouth, but he also straightened and walked towards the door. That wouldn't do, not at all. "Hey, get back here! I'm not done with you!"

This time, Roxas didn't obey. He kept walking, but grabbed something on the way out. Looking back over his shoulder, he smirked and threw whatever that something was at Axel. "Whatever, Axel. Try this." And he was gone.

Axel stared after him for several seconds, wondering what the heck had just happened. After those seconds, he looked down to the item that Roxas had thrown him, and held it up.

As he stared at the chakram in his hand, a pleased grin spread across his face.

"Hey, Axel, you seen Roxas around?"

"Nah, haven't for a few days. Why, what's he been up to?"

"Oh, just fooling around with Larxene and Demyx. I swear, that kid is a genius."

"Really? What'd he do?"

"Got 'em to pretty much hate each other, but they're both eating out of his hand. I hear that the Superior's so fed up with it, he's going to send one of them out on the next mission."

"Ah..."

Roxas was a busy little Nobody, Axel thought. Busy politicking with the lower-levels of the Organization, playing them off against each other. All of them trusted Roxas, all of them liked Roxas, and none of them could stand each other. Except for Axel, who stayed out of it.

Axel wasn't sure whether he was happy about it — or as happy as a Nobody could get, anyway — but he figured that it if Roxas wanted to play little games with the others, it was none of his business. Besides, if he pushed too hard, Roxas might just up and leave, and already he was a big part of Axel's life. Axel wasn't sure about that either, but he was resigned to it. Roxas was quickly becoming his friend, and the Superior hated it.

Enough to send him away as well? Probably, but Roxas wouldn't mind. Axel was sure of that.

"Hey, Roxas, what're you doing?"

"Not much, just thinking."

"About what?"

Roxas hesitated a moment before responding. "Hey, Axel, how many Dusks do you think you could wipe out if you slammed all your being into one attack?"

Axel drew back, alarm on his face. "What are you talking about, Roxas? Why would I attack Dusks?"

Shrugging, Roxas turned away. "No reason, I was just wondering. Hypothetical, you know."

"Oh." Axel sighed in relief, safe from any charges of treason now that they had hit the hazy grey area of hypothesis, though Vexen would argue that hypotheses always led to experiments. "Well, I don't know, a lot?"

"I was thinking maybe a room full. One of those rooms between dark portals."

"The corridors of darkness, you mean? Why would I fight Dusks there?"

"It was just a theory."

Roxas walked off after that, but Axel stayed there, troubled by his friend's words.

"You know, if you changed that fire-wall attack a bit, you could make a ring of fire and scorch the ground in the center."

"Why should I?"

"Well, if you're trying to capture someone, or make sure they don't escape. And scorching the ground would burn their feet, as well as enhance the power of your fire attacks."

Axel thought about that for a few seconds. "Hey, Roxas, wanna try it out?"

"Sure," came the reply, and in an instant he was there, his keyblades held idly in his hands. "If you burn my clothes, though, you'll owe me new ones."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Axel promised with a smirk.

He summoned the ring just as Roxas had suggested, but it was pitifully small. They stayed there for several days, until it covered a decent amount of ground.

Roxas lost both of his gloves and sleeves, plus some of the bottom of his cloak. Roxas also spent the next two weeks teaching Axel how to sew and supervising the creation of his new cloak.

Axel spent those two weeks grinning a lot, and the rest of the Organization spent those two weeks wondering what the heck the two of them were doing in Roxas's room all day every day.

"No one would miss me."

"That's not true! I would."

Roxas pauses, then keeps walking, and Axel knows that he didn't learn enough.

He doesn't have the words. He doesn't have the power. He doesn't have the answers. He doesn't have the heart.

Everything he knows, he learned from Roxas.

But everything Roxas knows, he learned from others.

Now, it's Axel's turn to go to others. He'll never forget, though.

"Roxas. R-O-X-A-S, the Key of Destiny."

"What was that, Axel?"

"Nothing, just something I memorized."