Author's Note; This is my first fanfiction. And most likely the only one I'll be doing for a long time.

Disclaimer: Everything is not mine and goes to Square Enix & Disney except for the plot.

"Mass murder occurred last night in the Central Station, forty people died while several others were injured. The suspected murderer, Xion Stampher, has been taken into custody. Her sentence has yet to be decided…" Axel listened to the radio on his phone, hoping to catch the weather but only managing to catch a portion of the news. The redheaded adult sighed. He pulled one of his ear buds out and glanced around to see where he was, noting that he was close to work. Axel worked, happily, at the school just a block away from his home. He was the teacher of a ninth grade class, more like classes considering that he had a different one each hour. He taught math, being in Honors and AP math classes throughout his school like. People were usually shocked at this when the flame haired, tattooed, and pierced man told them this. He made sure to take out his piercings, which happened to be in his ears, and to put his hair back whenever he went to teach. Couldn't be looking too unprofessional on the job.

Axel shoved his ear bud back in, listening further in on the story. "Xion's trial will be held sometime in early November, but we are still awaiting more information on the subject. A candle lighting for all those who lost their lives will be next Sunday, surely having their loved ones commemorating them. If you have any information on Xion Stampher's involvement, or any other suspects, please contact us…" Xion? That name sounded very familiar to Axel the more he heard it. He'd tried to recall where he'd heard the name elsewhere as he unlocked the main entrance to the school, shrugging his shoulders when a blank was drawn at Xion's name.

The building was empty, students weren't supposed to be arriving until an hour later. The heat was turned on and the windows were all closed because the season outside was beginning to turn to that of one that's cold. Axel would have to start driving his car instead of walking, much to his dislike. He actually like walking because it meant he got to keep up a form, not to mention the cold air made him feel much more awake than the black coffee he drank each morning. The "cool" janitor was bobbing his head off in the corner. He was "cool" because he had a dragon tattoo that traveled up the length of his arm and a few piercings that littered his face. Axel hadn't been the one that dubbed him "cool" though, it was the students. The seemingly rebellious ones took an obvious liking to the man.

Axel headed off to his classroom, where he would sit for the next eight hours. He loved teaching, much to anyone's surprise. The students were nice, even the ones that caused trouble, and never really did anything worthy of suspension. Seifer was the only student he really ever had trouble with, mostly because the male seemed to fine it funny to speak out or act out. He wasn't even in ninth grade, he was in tenth. Seifer was only in Axel's math class because the boy failed his Freshmen year and had to retake the course.

The redheaded teacher pulled out the tests he graded the few days prior and stacked them on his desk. He was going to be passing them out sometime during the class, seeing as the students were usually antsy to know what their grade was. He glanced at the clock, noting that there was about twenty minutes before students would start showing up, and a half an hour until they would be required to sit down and learn.

A buzzing sound emitted from his pocket, as well as soft vibrating. Axel's phone had gone off, so he pulled it out to check who was calling.

Saïx…

Had the phone been set to Saïx's ringtone, Axel would be laughing his ass off, for Saïx's custom ringtone was Born This Way by Lady Gaga. Axel pressed the green button glowing on the screen, bringing the phone to his ear. He was wondering why his best friend would decide to call now, seeing as he knew that they both had work at this time. What could be so important?

"What do you want right now, Saïx? Don't you have a job you need to be attending? Not to mention my first class will be getting here sometime in the next fifteen minutes," Axel sighed loudly, putting emphasis on how annoyed he was with the blue haired man. If Axel got caught on his phone he would surely be in trouble with his boss…

"It's really important," Saïx replied calmly, yet his tone seemed rushed. Axel was about to ask what it could possibly be, but his door was being knocked on.

"Listen Saïx, I know this is important, but can it wait for a few hours? I have a job to tend to!" Axel pressed the end button on his phone after a few protests from Saïx, shoving the damn thing in his pocket. The persisted knocking continued and seemed to even become louder. Axel tried his best to act professional towards the annoying noise.

"Just a second!" Axel huffed and hurried to the door. He opened it quickly, suddenly peering at the top of a head. A head covered in dark charcoal hair to be exact. Confused, Axel looked down, staring at a man who looked very serious.

"Hello," the short man said. Axel raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Um, hi? What brings you to my classroom," Axel glanced at the clock, "twelve minutes before class starts?"

The man laughed. "Class doesn't start in twelve minutes. The students start showing up in twelve minutes, but begin learning in twenty two." Smart ass.

"Excuse m-"

"I know you're Axel, or more formally: Mr. Chakram, and I just wanted to tell you that I will be teaching in the classroom next to yours from this day on. You will know me as Zexion. Have a nice day, Axel," Zexion practically purred, grinning oddly and striding into the classroom next to Axel's.

"Weird…" Axel murmured, scratching the back of his head as he backed into his classroom, preparing to teach.

Axel was having trouble paying attention which he taught the class. Seifer's occasional outburst and the questions of the student's seemed to not faze him in the slightest. He was too busy trying to think of what Saïx could have possibly wanted to tell him. The red head was itching to snatch his phone out from his pocket, though he knew that would be risking his job.

Another huge distraction was the teacher next door. Zexion was creepy, there was no mistaking that. Axel felt the need to avoid the man, wouldn't want to end up murdered or something after all.

"Come on, pick up…" Axel groaned, gripping his phone tightly. He was attempting to call Saïx back; the urge to know what was so important was practically eating him alive.

"Axel! Don't hang up on me like that again!" Axel immediately pulled the phone from his ear, glaring at the device.

"Gee thanks, I might never be able to call you again due to my now broken ear drum!"

"Stop complaining. There is something extremely important I need you to do. I don't want any questions, you just have to trust me on this," Saïx said, tone calm.

Axel was currently pulling his house keys out of his pocket. "Just spit it out…" He shoved the key at the keyhole, missing and adding to the millions of scratches on the red paint around the doorknob.

"I need you to watch my… cousin."

There was no time for Saïx to explain, for Axel began laughing uncontrollably, shaking so fiercely that he dropped his keys. Shit… Axel bent down and grabbed the shiny object, shoving it into the keyhole this time and opening his door.

"I am a teacher, not a day care owner. I am not watching your stupid cousin, who I've never even met, just because you want me to. There's not even anything in it for me."

"Axel, you don't understand. He has nowhere to go, please just do this. There will be something in it for you, I promise." There was a pause. Axel was about to let out a blunt 'hell no,' but Saïx said something that would leave Axel's blood to turn to ice.

"I'll pay your mother's debt."

"Are you kidding me? She's still in the hospital, recovering from that goddamn accident, don't joke around with me. She has thousands of dollars in debt to pay to that hospital. They haven't even said that she'll for sure live yet. So please Saïx, do not joke around," Axel pleaded nervously.

"Oh I'm not. I have plenty of money, you know that. I could pay her debt without making so much as a dent in my account. All I need you to do is watch over my—cousin."

Axel felt like his grip on the phone was slipping. He hurriedly scrambled to sit down so he himself wouldn't fall. His knees felt weak. He took position on the black leather sofa in the middle of his living room. He would be visiting his mom in the hospital tomorrow, most likely going to be in a grim mood because that could be the last time he'd ever see her. She had a high chance of slipping at any time.

"I'll watch your cousin as long as you pay off her debt," Axel said, not caring about anything than seeing his mom healthy again at the moment. He would be sure to ask questions later, Saïx wasn't getting off that easy, but for now he would just agree to whatever the man said. It was true that Saïx was rich, he had found a breakthrough in medical technology that had scientists and doctor's all around the world practically dumping money into the man's pockets. Axel was sure he would feel guilty too, he hated taking things from other people, but realistically, there was no way he would ever earn enough to pay off his mom's debt, and here Saïx was with money being held out in the open. And idiot would pass up this offer. All Axel had to do was watch the kid… right? So there were a few questions he had…

"Great, so you'll do it then!" Saïx nearly shouted, obviously enthusiastic.

"Wait, Saïx, how old is your cousin anyways? What's his name? What's he like? When would he get here?" Axel asked, pinching the phone between his shoulder and ear so he could turn on the TV. Saïx sighed on the other end of the phone.

"I knew that there would be questions coming. His name is Roxas, he's seventeen. He's… well Axel, it's pretty hard to say this, but I don't know how to describe him. He acts kind of like a child or a dog—no, scratch that, puppy. He's just really clueless about things, okay?" Saïx sounded like he was getting agitated, which was confusing to Axel because he was sure he hadn't said anything to piss the guy off. Roxas huh? The name rang a bell somewhere in Axel's mind, but he just brushed it off because it was his best friend's cousin, so of course it should sound familiar. "He'll be there in two days, so tidy up that dump you call your home and set up some room for him. When you meet him, don't make him too upset, he had a really fragile mind state and it would be benefitting to both of you if you tried to keep him happy."

"Okay~ And my home is no dump, it's fitting for my age if I do say so myself," Axel bit back, smirking to himself. Saïx could be such a killjoy sometimes. It made Axel wonder how they even became best friends in the first place. Saïx and him were practically opposites.

"Whatever. Be ready in two days or else you'll be suffering."

"Yeah."

"You'll receive a large portion of money once a week for your mom. Sorry if this feels like blackmail or something, it's really not. Trust me Axel. I just need you to watch my cousin and this is my way of paying you."

"Of course! I hadn't thought of it as blackmail or anything. I think you got the term mixed up with something else."

And then Saïx hung up. Axel sighed, running a hand through his mess of red hair. He had really gotten himself into a disaster waiting to happen, but making sure that his mom would see the outside of that hospital was worth it.

Wow, slow and short start. The title really needs improvement. It's hard uploading stuff to this site. Everything is probably really confusing right now, but there was a lot of foreshadowing. The plot I have in mind is one of my strongest yet, out of the stories I've tried to make [on other websites.] I also decided to post this because it's AkuRoku day and I wanted to contribute something. Other chapters will be longer. Please review with lots of encouragement~