In the Shadows

Rated: T
Genre: Romance, Friendship
Pairing: RoxasXKairi {Roxiri}, SoraXKairi {SoKai}
Summary: At nightfall, someone is lurking in the shadows. He is hard to miss with that flaming hair of his, but still, the job needs to be done. He's swift, he's sharp and he strikes when you turn your back on him. He's a living jeopardy. He's- "Sir, why are you hiding in my apple tree?"
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KINGDOM HEARTS.
Author's note: Happy new year! Let's all make a good year out of 2014! I wish you all the best and all the inspiration for 2014! This story was written a couple of weeks ago and originally I wanted to upload it with Christmas, but I was really busy (like usual, I suppose) and this story is not really a 'Christmassy' story, according to me. So, I decided to upload it now. I've written it very carefully, because I knew that if I uploaded a couple of chapters, I would lose the motivation to complete it, how strange it may sound. I hope you like it and as always: thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review!

Chapter One:
The plan

Things did just not go quite according to plan. And comfortable was a very different situation.
Axel, known as number Eight, let out a angry huff. He shuffled a little, causing the entire tree to shake a little.
It all started when the big Master, Xemnas, had a genius plan. In order to capture Sora and put Kingdom Hearts to work, they had to lure Sora to the Castle That Never Was. The only provocative bait Sora would respond to, was his childhood friend Kairi, or rather the person he was in the 'friendzone' with. Though Axel doubted that this was the only provocative bait, he had to admit Kairi was the easiest one. But, if they could lure Riku to the Castle, Sora was definitely going to show up as well. Even kidnapping a chipmunk would put Sora to a great rage.
Axel sighed and shifted again, feeling indignation rising as he remembered the meeting in which Xemnas had explained his master plan. Of course Axel had, like usual, said that he didn't think it was a master plan at all and explained it would be much easier to lure Riku to the Castle with the excuse that Sora was there, and tell Sora Riku was in the Castle. The big Boss did not like this statement at all and bellowed that Axel should be the one to conduct his plan. Axel was going to be the one to kidnap the bait, Kairi. Even though this should be easy, Axel felt this was far below his level of operations. Why didn't they put Demyx on the job. That stupid idiot didn't have anything else to do, anyway. This whole 'kidnap the princess of light Kairi'-job put him straight on the laughing stock of the Organization. Assholes.

Axel yawned. Time was ticking away slowly at the Destiny Islands. Where was the damned girl in distress? Twilight began to fall and his foot started stinging. Just when he was about to curse and rub his foot, he suddenly spotted an auburn haired girl walking on the shore. He held his breath for a moment, but the girl froze on the spot, as if she sensed the stranger staring at her. Then she put down her basket with groceries and sat down. Axel started to curse and finally lifted his aching foot and rubbed it. But the girl didn't move anymore. She just sat there, gazing at the sky and the sea. Axel grumbled. "Why does she have to admire the view now of all days?" He stretched himself and sat back against the tree trunk. It seemed she was waiting for someone or something, but he couldn't quite catch what or who she was waiting for. They let her down, apparently, because when the sun was gone, she stood up, picked her basket up and came towards the house. Axel sat up straight and waited, a tense feeling in his stomach. Something about this was just not right, but well, orders from the Boss.
The girl went in the house, and he could follow her by following the lights that went on. But he had to wait; this was not the right time yet. When she slept, in the room next to this huge apple tree he hid in, he would take the chance and rip her straight from her bed. He would go straight to the Headquarters and there, he would go to his fluffy bed and sleep for at least twenty hours. At least.

He gazed up at the stars. It was night, but the girl wasn't sleeping yet. He could hear the shower running from over here. She had left the window open, the sweet girl. It would be so easy. The only thing that bothered him was this godforsaken apple tree. It stung and itched everywhere and he felt stiff from the amount of time he sat here. Finally, the shower stopped running and ten minutes later, she was in her room. She looked kind of glum as she put on a shirt. Then the lights went off and Axel's view was blocked by the curtains. He waited for another thirty minutes, just to make sure the stupid girl was asleep. Then, he started to stretch a little bit. Yes, he was Axel the Swift, Axel the Jeopardy. He was as sharp as a knife. A wild tiger, a beast. He stood up, ready to jump straight in and kidnap that princess. Yes, this was the plan, he was the man, and he would kick some auburn haired booty.

Things did just not quite go according to plan. Axel stood up, but being so clumsy from sitting so long, he tripped a little bit and after a moment of fierce arm waving, he regained his balance again.
"Okay, now, let's go!" He mumbled to himself and was about to jump in when he made eye-contact with a pale face and narrowed violet eyes.
"Sir, why are you hiding in my apple tree?"

The plan had failed and now he needed another one. After he spend the night sleeping on the beach and having sand all over him, he was in an even worse mood than before. He walked through town, looking for something to eat, when a new, brilliant plan crossed his mind. He searched for the nearest pizzeria and he opened the door. "Hello?"
"Hi." A ginger girl with bouncy hair greeted him in a bored way. "Can I help you?"
"Do you need someone to deliver pizza's?"

The sand itched in his new suit, and the fake moustache looked like he slammed a dead slug under his nose, but he was ready to go. It was nearly six o'clock and it was time for some action. He did have some trouble with starting the scooter, but after a while, a humming sound came to life. He drove very slowly, very carefully, since he'd never driven a scooter before. It was a weird thing and he couldn't regain his balance every time. After the sixth crash, he decided to walk the last part.
At half past eight, he finally reached her house. Axel slumped himself forward to the front door and rang the bell. The girl opened, a surprise look in her face. "It's your pizza," he said, thrusting the cardboard forward. The girl looked confused. "But I didn't order anything," she said, pointing at the cardboard. He stood up straight and was about to grab her when she suddenly narrowed her eyes. "Hey, aren't you the one from my apple tree?"
He staggered back and thought quickly in alarm. Should he just go for it and grab the bitch, or should he wait and think of something else?
She made it rather easy for him. "Sir, excuse me, but what exactly do you want from me?" She said, closing the door a little bit. "Do I know you?"
He smiled a bit uneasy. "I'm sorry, miss, but I heard you're an acquaintance of Sora? Sora Strife?"
The door opened further. "Yes," She said, a worrying look in her eyes. "Is something wrong with him? Did something happen?"
"Well, to be frankly, yes," Axel improvised. "He's hurt very badly and he's been asking for you. I fought with him against the Heartless and I brought him to a safe place. I reckoned I could look for you, because it is… his last wish."
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she bit them back and swallowed hard. "Where is he? Could you take me with you?"
With much delight, Axel opened a Dark Portal and pointed towards it. "Of course! Let's go immediately! We don't have much time to lose!"
But suddenly there was a glimpse of suspicion in her eyes. "But wait… why didn't you just ring my bell? Why did you hide in the tree? Why didn't you explain it all to me then? Why are you using a Dark Portal? Are you one of them?"
Axel felt nervous. He had to do something now. "Look, I'll all explain it to you later! But we have to go now! Sora has got little time left to live!"
That seemed to pull her over the line. "Okay," she said softly. "I trust you, okay?"
She hesitantly walked over to the portal, but then she stopped right in front of it. She turned and glared at me. "Wait a second! If something bad happened to Sora, why wouldn't Donald or Goofy inform me, but you? Something is off here!"
There was nothing else left to do as she saw through him. He reached for her arm, but she stepped back and started running. Luckily for Axel, he had been training for a while, because he'd hoped to battle Sora one day and find out what made that kid so exceptional. He got a hold of her just in time.
But then she started to struggle, hitting him in his stomach and kicking against his legs. "Let me go!"
Axel bit back the pain and then hit her hard on her head, causing her limp body to fall in his arms.
"Sheesh, that did not go as well as I'd hoped," he muttered as he threw her body over his shoulder and walking towards his waiting Portal.