Are You Crazy Too?
Hi All! This is my first AU fanfiction and I hope that it turns out alright. I am aware that this particular trope has been used before, probably several times but I believe that the way I have put this story together will be different and entertaining enough that you will keep reading. I would love some feedback for this. Constructive criticism would be very much appreciated. Thanks, let's see how this turns out!
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I own the characters, names of things, etc.
Warning: There may be some spoilers snuck in here.
Different warning: This story will contain foul language, violence, homosexuality and sex; not necessarily in that order. There may be dashes of straight on occassion too. If you are offended by any of this please do not read. Thank you!
Introduction
Everything was burning. It was burning and Roxas couldn't seem to move from his bed. He saw smoke pouring out from under the bedroom door, saw the paint cracking and peeling as the fire caught the oxygen in his room and sizzled across his carpet in one quick movement. Faces seemed to twist in the flames like creatures of nightmare to his frightened mind.
In moments his curtains were ablaze and all he could do was pull his knees to his chest in an attempt to make his tiny body smaller. There was a pain streaking up his left arm but his eyes were already tightly closed, the thick grey air choking him before a hand gripped him roughly and hauled him out of the burning house.
"You're alright now kid." The gruff voice of the fireman echoed slightly in his semi conscious mind. An oxygen mask was stuck on him and his Mother held him tightly, his Father's wrathful muttering barely registering. He vaguely heard something about permanent scarring as his arm was wrapped in a length of gauze when it finally clicked. His home was gone, he had almost died. There were monsters in the fire.
All Roxas could feel was terror as he jerked out of his Mother's arms, ripping off the oxygen mask and tearing across the neatly cut lawns in an attempt to escape the flames and the fear. He stumbled slightly, crawling up a grassy hill at the end of the block and nearly falling back down it again when a hot, oddly smooth hand grasped his arm and pulled him to the top.
The boy at the top was laughing in a way that seemed almost surreal, and when he turned his face to look at the young blonde boy at his feet, Roxas could only see piercing eyes before-
"Break's over Roxas! Back to work!"
The nineteen year old raised his head from the break room's table blearily to see his cousin Sora leaning into the doorway. "Come on man, if you're that tired why didn't you just take the day off?"
Roxas grabbed the rag by his side loosely and stood. "'Cause I don't want to get fired?" He shrugged and walked past the other boy. "I swear the Bossman has it in for me." He groaned, pausing for a moment to put on a very strained false cheerfulness. He didn't actually interact with many customers as he was discouraged from doing so, but you never really knew who was watching.
The sign above the massive doors outside read "Organization XIII", but it hadn't always been that way. Roxas could still remember when "Kingdom Hearts" had been written in majestic letters over the outline of a pale blue heart. It had never really been the same after its owner Ansem passed away. The old owner had been a mentor to some, a surrogate father to others. People had even gone so far as to begin calling him Ansem the Wise and all were heartbroken to see both the man and the building go. Perhaps that was why his brother Xemnas had tried to resurrect the restaurant, if altering it significantly.
After he clocked back in he was like a metronome. Clear tables, load plates on tray, bring tray back, wipe table down, repeat. In the brief intervals when there were either no customers or no one was done eating yet, he would roll silverware or clean windows until Xemnas yelled at him to stop and get back to work. At times like these, Kairi and Namine would come over quickly and while one distracted the raging manager the other would attempt to calm the blonde. He was grateful to them for that, because if they didn't he had no doubt that he would have said or done something that would have shoved him back into unemployment.
The restaurant broke down into a hierarchy of workers with servers and the main kitchen staff towards the top and people more on Roxas level at the bottom. He still didn't know the names of all the kitchen staff, but he was pretty sure he finally had the names of the others down. Cloud, Leon, and Demyx were all waiters, though Demyx often ended up washing dishes when they needed it. About two weeks after Roxas had been hired; two of his friends (Hayner and Pence) from back in highschool had also been brought on the staff, making up for the Dishwashers that had left a week prior. After that there were the odd jobs of cashier and Hostess which Kairi and Namine juggled between them and finally, on the bottom rung of the ladder were the bussers, or as Roxas privately thought of them, the crap cleaners. They were composed of Roxas, his amazingly tolerant cousin, and Seifer.
Roxas hated Seifer with a passion that was shared mutually between the boys. Sora had neglected to mention that the confrontational Shit was working there, and for good reason. If Roxas had known his near-nemesis not only worked with him, but was his superior, he wouldn't have bothered even coming to the interview. It was a good thing Hayner was on dishes, because if he had to work alongside Seifer, Roxas was almost positive that they would kill each other on the first day.
"Hey, Chickenwuss, table three needs wiping." Ah, speak of the black beanied bastard and he will appear.
"I thought you weren't allowed to wear that hat in here anymore." Roxas glared, running his rag under warm water to wet it.
"You get to wear that stupid little armband thing, and it looks like shiii-irts are coming in s couple of days isn't that right Boss?"
Roxas froze as a dark hand rested on his shoulder. "Table three has come and gone Roxas. There is syrup and egg everywhere and I suggest you get over there and clean it. Seifer, table twenty two needs cleaning. I do expect you two to do some actual work while Sora is on a break, and take off that ridiculous hat." The amber eyed man looked as though he was about to continue but he was called away by the distressed looking assistant manager. Xemnas and Saix made up the very top rung of the ladder and had managed to keep things running even with the downturn of the economy. Admittedly, now they drew a different sort of crowd and few new workers stayed for more than a few months, but business was doing well.
Roxas wiped the table down thoroughly, pausing briefly to scrub particularly stubborn patches of congealed syrup from the table top when he heard his employer let out a strangled yell and turned just in time to see Saix cringe.
Xemnas looked furious and immediately stormed over to the closest expendable worker and began yelling. "Tell me Demyx, do you enjoy being slow or is it just an inescapable fact of your being? I need you on dishes, now! Roxas, what are you still doing over there! Get that cutlery to the back! What do you think I pay you for?"
Roxas abandoned the table and rushed the tray to the back to see Demyx hiding a smile with his hands. When the busser opened his mouth to ask about it, Demyx just shook his head.
"You'll find out if you go back out there. I wouldn't recommend it, buuut-"
"I have to go out there anyway." Roxas unloaded his tray with ease. "I'll get yelled at otherwise. 'Sides, Seifer's still out there, right?"
Demyx shrugged, still wearing that secretive smile of his as Roxas rolled his eyes and took his empty tray out.
He managed to stay under the radar of his employer, busily cleaning the tables as quickly as they were emptied. He refused to be scolded for a second that time that day, and as even Seifer was nowhere to be seen he was just going to have to pick up the slack. Feeling more than a little self righteous he went to the last table near the door and began to load things onto his tray, reaching over to grab the last glass when he felt the hand grope his ass.
In a flash he whipped around and struck the person behind him on impulse before realizing what he'd just done.
A tall, spiky haired redhead rubbed his cheek and let out a low whistle. He wore ripped jeans, a black tank top, and black gloves on his hands.
'I am going to get fired.' Roxas thought, looking from the shocked man to his quietly seething boss. The restaurant itself seemed to hold its breath. The silence was finally cut by the redhead laughing uproariously and clapping him on the shoulder.
"Damn Xemnas, you got some feisty new staff in." The young man grinned and turned to face Roxas' employer, who stared at the pair of them with cold anger.
"I believe I expressed the wish that you not make any more unexpected visits. Especially during our busy hours. You still have a phone if I recall correctly."
That face was lit with mischief as the man strutted towards Xemnas. "Xehanort, if I was any more expected I figure trumpets and a red carpet would be here to announce my arrival. Also, if this is your busy hour where is everyone? I miss my girls!"
"If you are referring to Kairi and Namine, they are taking their lunch right now." The hostility that Xemnas exuded seemed to roll right off the intruder's back.
"Cool, I'll head back and say hi. Demyx didn't quit yet, did he? Hey Cloud!" He waved with too much enthusiasm to be genuine to the bored looking server. "Still hooking up with Leon and Seph?" After this obvious attempt to draw attention to himself, the redhead began to strut into the back room when Roxas cut him off.
"Listen, I don't know who you think you are but-"
The man's gloved hand caught the blonde's chin and tilted his face to the side before licking a line up his cheek.
"The name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"