"Why do you have to be such a killjoy?" Sora whined as he made the finishing touches to his costume in the mirror. Roxas peered at him quietly over the top of his book. "It wouldn't kill you to just loosen up and have some fun every now and then. You shouldn't keep yourself all cooped up like this."
"For me, this is fun," Roxas answered patiently, returning his gaze to his pages, but it was impossible to focus on anything written there.
"How can sitting around by yourself on Halloween be fun?" Sora snapped, refusing to believe him. He whirled around, cape fluttering as he spun. Tonight, Sora was a full-fledged vampire. Complete with a high-collared cloak, tiny wings stapled to his back, and fake fangs, Sora had accomplished quite the...cheesy look. Hands on his hips, he gave Roxas a firm glare. "The whole point of Halloween is to dress up and enjoy the holiday! You can sit around and read any other day! What's the harm in taking advantage of the day?"
"Because I have no interest in playing dress-up," Roxas sighed, leaning his head back on his pillow and gazing up at the ceiling wearily. "Besides, someone has to stay behind and pass candy out for the kids. I'll do my Halloween duty that way."
"Oh, come on," Sora groaned, moving up next to him on the bed and leaning over him with that determined look in his eye. "Grandma can pass out candy just fine on her own. It's your job to be a kid for once in your life and actually do something appropriate for your freakin' age. Stop being such a coward, man."
"I am not a coward because I don't want to go to your party," Roxas answered, eyes fixated on that one brown spot on the ceiling. "Besides, I don't have a costume anyway."
"You can wear one of mine from last year or something!" Sora suggested, dancing over to the closet excitedly, as if he'd made some kind of progress. He threw open the doors and scaled up to the top shelf, dragging down a huge plastic box and dropping it on the floor. "Or you could wear one of the ones I bought this year and decided not to wear!"
"Sora, I still don't want to go," Roxas said, twisting his head so he could watch his cousin. But Sora wasn't even listening anymore. Instead, he was busy pulling out one costume after another and holding them up briefly.
"Look, you could be a...fireman," he said excitedly, throwing that costume to the side before Roxas could even respond, not that he'd planned on saying anything at all. Sora moved too fast for him sometimes. "Or a police officer. What about a gladiator? Zorro? A pirate, maybe? Oh! Oh, a zombie! That would cool! What about that?"
"Are all the costumes you have so...theatrical?" Roxas inquired, turning onto his side and setting his book to the side. He'd given up on reading any more of it until Sora was gone.
"Well, duh," Sora snorted, rummaging through the bin in search of the perfect alter ego for Roxas. "That's kind of the point. Going overboard is the best part of Halloween. You can either be super silly or super sexy or super scary, but you have to be super something."
"What if you don't want to be super something?" Roxas asked, to which Sora laughed dismissively.
"Then you might as well just stay home," he scoffed. Roxas waited the five seconds it took his cousin to realize what he'd just admitted to. Sora paused, then scowled unappreciatively at Roxas for out-smarting him. "Now I'm definitely not letting you stay here."
"What's the point of me going, Sora?" Roxas sighed, tracing lines on the sheets with his finger. "Everyone there is probably a friend of yours, not mine. I don't want to dress up. I don't like crowded or noisy places... I mean...I just wouldn't have a good time."
"Why are you so scared, Rox?" Sora asked, sinking back onto his knees. He tilted his head in what looked to be a mixture of disappointment and pity.
"I'm not scared," Roxas said, shrugging. "I just... I know how it'll be if I go. I won't talk to anybody. I'll be alone the whole time. And annoyed. It's best if I just pretend it isn't even happening."
"Please?" Sora insisted. "Look, you don't have to dress up really crazy if you don't want to. But at least give it a shot. If you get bored, I'll take you home before I drink anything."
"Oh, right," Roxas muttered, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "I forgot about the drinking."
"Spare me your high and mighty, goody-goody moral lessons," Sora replied, holding up a hand and shaking his head. "I really don't want to hear it right now. But will you go with me, huh? It'll be fun. I'm sure someone you like will be there. Hell, everyone's gonna be there."
"Fine," Roxas groaned, planting his hand on his forehead and kicking himself for giving in. "I'll go if it makes you happy, but don't expect me to have a good time."
"Yes!" Sora exclaimed, tossing the costumes in each of his hands up in the air. Roxas watched them flutter back to the floor in the now disastrous pile of cheap clothing. "Now, what are you going to be?"
"I really don't look stupid...?"
"Why would I let you go out looking stupid?" Sora sighed, shaking his head at him as though it was obvious. "You're my cousin, idiot. You have to look good, or it reflects badly on me, you know. You look fine."
"I feel ridiculous," Roxas argued, looking down at himself. It wasn't as bad as it could have been...but still. The entire prospect of dressing up as someone else felt...absurd. And childish. "Why did I agree to this?"
"Because you know I'm right about everything, even if you don't want to admit it sometimes," Sora replied easily, and as they turned down the next street, their destination appeared plainly before them. A decent home, teeming with teenagers and lights. Roxas thought he could even hear the music from here. He shrank a little as they approached, which Sora immediately noticed. "Don't be such a girl, Rox."
"That's not funny," he snapped, earning him an apologetic smile.
"You know that's not what I meant," he said, nudging him playfully. "Come on, you'll have fun, I promise."
"The last time you promised me I'd have fun," Roxas muttered, playing with the sleeves of his cloak uncomfortably, "I ended up with a broken wrist."
"You know that wasn't my fault," Sora insisted, shrugging off the memories with a grimace and a grin. "It was totally an accident. But hey, stop whining! We're almost there!"
"Yes, your majesty," he consented, deflating and hurrying after his enthusiastic cousin. Though not eager to join the frey bustling before them, he wasn't more inclined to get left behind.
Roxas didn't recognize the house, but Sora seemed to navigate it fine once they got up the porch steps and past the front door. Instinctively, Roxas glued himself to Sora as the masses closed in around them. From the outside, the house had radiated light, but now they were inside, he could hardly see a thing. Everything was dim and crowded, the air darkened further by a permanent haze of smoke. They waded through their classmates, some who Roxas recognized, others who were too old for him to know from his own classes. But Sora was a stranger to no one. He was greeted at every turn, so warmly and excitedly, Roxas just wanted to turn tail and run right back out the door. He hung on tight, though, against his greater wishes to flea the hustle and the noise.
Oh, the noise. As if the thundering music wasn't bad enough...it was so loud, everyone around them had to yell over it in order to be heard. Which only made matters worse. Sora didn't seem to mind. No one else did either. But Roxas' head pounded so fiercely, he thought it might explode.
Somehow they ended up in a kitchen. It was brighter, somewhat quieter, and not as crowded in here. A few kids hung around chatting, most of whom said hello to Sora as they entered. He replied in turn with a few cheeky remarks as a couple girls giggled over his costume. Sora wasn't a big guy. In fact, he wasn't much bigger than Roxas himself, but he had a personality that more than made up for it. Besides, he wasn't a bad looking guy in general-aside from their unfortunate size, Roxas' family was more or less blessed with good genes. So girls were all the time flocking to Sora.
"Want something to drink?" Sora asked over his shoulder at Roxas, who didn't have time to answer before his cousin was already pouring something for the both of them. So much for not drinking...
"What a surprise, Roxas," a girl laughed. She was perched atop the countertop, dressed in a red kimono with billowing sleeves and a dangerous hemline. As elaborately as her hair was done, its impossible-to-acheive auburn color was unmistakable. Roxas blushed as Kairi, queen of their class, flashed him a not-so-modest smile. "I wouldn't have expected you to tag along to a party like this."
"I was dragged against my will," Roxas managed with a bitter smile. Kairi and her friends laughed at that-he occasionally had luck amusing them if he was sarcastic enough. "Blame Sora."
"Don't be like that!" Sora said, thrusting a red plastic cup into his chest. Roxas took it with a heavy sigh. "You know you want to be here, deep down inside."
"It's always the quiet ones," Kairi joked, nudging the friend to her right with her leg. If Kairi was Queen B, Namine was her favorite henchmen. Neither were mean girls, so long as they weren't challenged, but they ruled the school with a perfected aura of confidence. But while Kairi was the mouth, Namine was the eyes and ears. Quiet, demure, and gorgeous. She was dressed in white, head to toe, with fluffy white wings and a halo to match. The difference between her and Roxas, though, was that Roxas truly preferred his solitude, and Namine's shyness was all a pretense-or so the rumors went. "Even Namine here is having a good time, aren't you?"
"Of course," she replied, voice eeriely smooth as she cocked her head to the side and gave Roxas once of her signature "dangerous" looks. He'd personally seen her disarm the worst of their teachers with that look.
"See," Sora laughed, bumping his shoulder with his own. "Lighten up."
"I'm guessing the costume was last minute?" Kairi teased, leaning forward on her knees. The top of her kimono slipped down, revealing more of the tops of her breasts. Roxas pressed his lips together and shrugged.
"It was Sora's idea," Roxas defended. "Like I said, I didn't want to come, so I wasn't exactly prepared..."
"It's cute," Namine said sweetly, and then sauntered over with a few flutters of her eyelashes. Roxas didn't move as she approached, didn't move as she draped her arms over his shoulders and posed at his side. "See? We're opposites."
"He wouldn't wear anything fun," Sora pouted, tilting his head in blatant envy as Namine let her fingers trail across Roxas' collarbone. "That was the best I could do."
"I like it," Namine giggled. "But maybe it'd look scarier with the hood up?"
"Oo, try it," Kairi laughed, along with a chorus of agreement from the rest of them. Namine flipped it up, ignoring Roxas' scowl, and getting the rest of them to laugh even more. "Oh, geez, that just makes him look adorable!"
"You don't make a very convincing Grim Reaper," Namine let him know with a small smile. Roxas sighed. "You should have worn some makeup, or a wig or something."
"I told you, he wouldn't wear any of that stuff," Sora said, leaning against the island. His enthusiasm over Roxas being doted on was quite depleted. "The black cloak was all I could do."
"And you did very well," Kairi teased, reaching over to ruffle Sora's brown locks. He pouted for only a moment more before seeming relatively satisfied with the extra attention, turning away from Roxas. "Let's go dance or something."
"Sure," she agreed, sliding off the counter lithely. Her dress hitched up a couple extra inches, enough to show how much she wasn't wearing underneath. Roxas might have sworn he saw Sora drool a little if he didn't know any better.
"Don't get too bored, sweetie," Namine suggested, kissing him lightly on the cheek before flitting off after her master and the other minions. Roxas sighed, relieved to see them go.
It wasn't that he didn't like Kairi or Namine, or any of the others really. It was just that they could exhaust him very easily, and sometimes he just didn't feel up to dealing with their antics. As Sora's cousin, he had an automatic invitation to what was considered the "in crowd" but more often than not, Roxas being around only led to him getting teased and picked on. Not in a malicious way... It was more like he was the cute pet all the girls liked to dote over. And the kid brother all the guys got to mess with.
With the kitchen now empty, Roxas was tempted to hide in here for a while longer, but he knew the peace wouldn't last long. After all, this was the beer room, and sooner or later, someone would come in search of the precious liquid. Sighing, he slipped into the next room, keeping to the sidelines and squirming his way around the crowds of dancing teens.
The only good thing about parties like this was that, despite all the noise and all the people, it was more or less easy to disappear. When kids came to have a good time and drink together, no one was looking for the quiet kid in the corner. That was the guy everyone forgot about, ignored, or didn't notice. And until Sora was ready to go home, Roxas was content in his corner, being unseen and unheard.
He glanced down at the drink in his hands. With all the dim lighting, it was impossible to distinguish what color it was. From here, it really just looked like a big pool of black. He'd drunk a couple of times before, every time due to one of Sora's antics. His schemes to get Roxas to act like a normal high school student seemed to never cease. The alcohol had never been something he felt like he needed, but it had been able to loosen him up in some social situations. He wasn't much louder or more outgoing or anything. Just less irritable and anxious, he supposed. He took a big gulp and instantly grimaced.
He just wished it didn't taste like shit.
Pursing his lips, he forced himself to stomach just a little bit more. He needed something to take his mind off this dull situation, and if drinking himself silly made that happen, more power to...well, the alcohol he supposed. And what a powerful thing it was.
It was as he was lowering his cup that he noticed him.
Roxas' first thought was something along the lines of Holy shit. He froze where he was, wavering as he caught a glimpse of him from across the room, mind blank of everything in that moment. As his vision cleared up and his mind returned to functioning capacity, a million thoughts ran through his mind. He was an older kid, that much was obvious. Tall, lean, maybe an athlete, dressed for the party in what looked like a Victorian Era ,British soldier's uniform. He had dark hair-he couldn't tell what color because of the lighting-tied up in a long, thin ponytail. His eyes were sharp, his features refined, and his smile as sinful as murder. Roxas had never seen a man more beautiful.
Shuddering, he forced himself to look away. No. He would not put himself through this. He'd seen it happen way too many times, had hovered on the edge of that mistake enough to know that falling for someone-anyone-while he was in high school was bad news. Casual or semi-serious crushes or relationships might be harmless for people like Sora or Kairi, but for a gay guy? No way.
It was suicide. Still, he couldn't help but sneak another glance over the rim of his cup. He was laughing now. He had one of those throw-your-head-back-and-really-laugh kind of laughs. Roxas couldn't hear him, far away as they were, but that smile of his... Roxas took a deep breath and held it. He was busy joking around with a few other people Roxas didn't recognize. No one from his high school, at least, and seniors by the looks of it, if not older He held a dark glass bottle in his left hand. He held it gingerly between the tips of his fingers as he talked, only taking it by the neck with his entire hand when he wanted a swig. He even drank beautifully. Roxas could see it in his Adam's apple every time he swallowed. A lovely, defined Adam's apple that looked so ready to be licked and sucked...
And then suddenly their eyes met.
Roxas felt his eyes pop open wide, his blood turn cold, as those razor eyes caught him mid-ogle. At first, he hoped the guy was only looking in his direction. But no. Because that deadly smile drained away, and one of his thin eyebrows slowly cocked upward. There was no mistaking it, as the older boy tilted his head one way, took another drink, and didn't laugh in unison with his friends the next time someone cracked a joke. His eyes were right on Roxas.
His first instinct was too flee. It was the only thing he knew how to do in situations like this, rare as they were. Tucking his head down in his chest, Roxas inched back along the way he'd come, trying his hardest to remain out of sight. He had to ignore his racing heart, ignore the painful reminder that he was stuck on his own. All he wanted was to walk right over to that guy, yank his head down, and kiss him with everything he had. He wanted to pull him onto a bed, and make a mess of each other all night long. His cock pressed against his pants at the mere idea of it. Oh, how he longed for a romance like that so badly. How he longed for a romance at all. Being the quiet kid got pretty lonely, and sixteen years was a damn long time to go with no sexual contact. Except with himself. If you counted that.
He paused just outside the kitchen entryway, glancing over his shoulder in spite of himself. His eyes flitted to the place where the mysterious boy had just been, but the more he searched, the more it became obvious he wasn't there. Yep, those were the friends he'd just been hanging with...but hotty was nowhere to be seen. Sighing in both disappointment and relief, Roxas returned to the kitchen with his head hung in defeat. A group of people he recognized from his grade were just leaving as he entered. They shouted at him in greeting, but thankfully didn't linger. He just smiled and nodded in acknowledgement as they passed each other.
He found himself at the sink, where he poured out the small remainder of his drink and filled the cup with water instead. It went down pretty easily, and Roxas drank nearly the entire thing at once. He leaned over the sink and poured the rest on top of his head, to see if he couldn't clear it up a little.
"Lightweight, huh?"
Roxas whirled around, slamming the cup onto the counter beside him and flinging water in the process. Not four feet away did he stand. Taller than he'd realized, with flaming red hair, and devilish emerald eyes that glinted in amusement at Roxas' reaction. He leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, looking 100% ravishing, costume and all.
"Uh...what?" It was really all Roxas could manage. The boy-a man, really, now that Roxas could see him up close-tsked out the corner of his mouth and pushed himself off the door frame to come a few steps closer. Roxas immediately moved to take a step away, but the counter was already pressed to his back.
"Dumping water on your head to see if you can't get rid of that migraine?" he asked, eyebrow cocked, moving in steadily. Roxas flinched as he lifted a hand and deftly flicked aside a limp, damp strand of hair. "Or maybe...you got a little too hot?"
"No!" Roxas denied, then bit his lip as the guy's brow rose in interest. In disbelief. Roxas looked away, frantically searching for some form of sense in all this chaos. But his heart was beating too hard, and his head felt like it was full of air. He couldn't focus. "Um... I mean, I just..."
"Of course," he laughed, and he had a laugh that matched his smile. "You were just..."
"I don't normally drink, but I can manage half a cup," he snapped, but his attempt at intimidation only earned him another fascinated smirk. Gritting his teeth, he continued, "What's it to a stranger anyway?"
"An excuse to talk to you, obviously," he retorted, so smoothly, so charmingly, so confidently, Roxas stopped breathing. Just all together stopped. Until the redhead bent his head a little closer, fingers playing with a couple more strands of hair. "I didn't think you'd be so cute."
"I..." Whatever words Roxas was trying to get out were stuck in his throat. Hell, he didn't even know what he was trying to say-he only knew that he needed to say something. "I..."
"How about you and I find a...quieter place to get to know one another, hm?" he suggested lowly, lips nearing closer...and closer... Roxas' lower lip trembled. He could taste his breath. "Somewhere we won't be interrupted?"
"I... I don't think that's a good idea," Roxas finally muttered, turning his head away and trying to escape, but the guy's arms were suddenly on either side of him, trapping him in. "I need to go now...please..."
"What's with the way you were staring at me, then?" he whispered lowly at his ear. Roxas bit the inside of his cheek as soft lips just barely brushed his skin. "You're telling me you got me all horny for nothing?"
Roxas had no words. He had no sounds. Only a tiny whimper, that the older boy chuckled at gently.
"Come on," he urged, and suddenly one of his hands was gripping Roxas' chin, turning his head, and those flashing green eyes captured his. Roxas melted, let his lips part, let the strange young man tilt their mouths together. "Good boy..."
"Yo!"
Oh, shit.
"Get your filthy hands off my cousin, bastard!"
The redhaired boy tsked again, his mouth so close to Roxas', he felt the little puff of air on his face. Face the brightest of reds, Roxas ducked his head away as the boy straightened up and cast an irritated glance behind him. There in the doorway stood Sora, looking not nearly as threatening as he probably thought he did. Sora wasn't a big guy to begin with, but that costume made him look like an even bigger idiot. The look on his face, though, said there were no games about what he'd just said. And the rather large group of onlookers lurking behind him said it wasn't about to end in a friendly little pissing contest.
"Get lost, would ya?" the stranger said, sounding annoyed rather than intimidated. Shocker. "He's a big boy. He can take care of himself."
"Shut up," Sora snapped, balling his fists at his sides. "Get away from him. He isn't used to creeps like you."
"I'm pretty sure, if he wanted to get away from me," he snorted, running his hand along Roxas' cheek smoothly. "He'd actually try to leave."
"Well we are leaving," Sora snapped, and moved forward to grab his cousin's wrist without any more arguing. Just like that, Roxas was yanked out from beneath the strange man's shadow, out from beneath his hypnotic green eyes and that lovely, terrible smirk. Though now it'd been replaced with a scowl. But even that was handsome on him. "The hell's with you, Rox? You trying to get raped or something?"
"I can walk on my own, thank you," he replied indignantly, yanking his hand from Sora's grasp. His cousin turned on him, but Roxas beat him to it. "I appreciate the concern, but you don't always have to be so damn protective. I was handling it."
"You were about to get molested!" Sora shouted, and Roxas had to bite his lip to refrain from yelling back. It wasn't often he said cruel things to his cousin, and he wasn't about to in front of half the town. "You wanted to go home? Fine. We're going home. Now."
And that was that. No ifs or buts about it. As Sora grabbed Roxas' arm again, the blonde couldn't help but glance back at the strange redhaired man, who had crossed his arms and propped himself on the counter. Even as they disappeared into the crowd of bystanders, that hungry, predatory look followed Roxas all the way home.
"You didn't have to embarrass me in front of everyone like that, though," Roxas hissed as they walked through the front door and locked it behind them. All the lights were out, and their grandma was already in bed. They tiptoed their way to their room, which was thankfully not near hers. "You brought way too much attention to it."
"Well, if you hadn't been so damn helpless, you would have noticed that the majority of those people were watching you two before I even got there!" Sora growled, putting his hands on his hips and glaring at him. Roxas paused, frowning and looking to Sora hesitantly. The question was in his eyes. "Yeah, you dumby. It's why I went over there to check it out in the first place. I thought it'd be something cool, you know? But instead it's my baby cousin about to make out with the creepiest guy of the century!"
"He wasn't that creepy," Roxas defended weakly, turning away and hugging himself uncertainly. Everyone had been watching them? That was the exact kind of thing he wanted to avoid... It wasn't a secret that he was gay, to anyone, but he'd avoided relationships because of the kind of gawking attention it got. Like he was some circus spectacle. "He was just...flirting..."
"He looked like he wanted to eat you," Sora muttered, plopping down onto his bed. Roxas glowered at him.
"What's so wrong with that?" he shot back, warranting a half-shocked, half-grossed-out look. "It's not like you haven't given that look to Kairi a million times."
"Yeah, well, Kairi's a-" He bit back his next word, even though it was obvious what he'd been about to say. Roxas turned away again, even as Sora sighed and started over a little calmer. "Look, Rox, it's just that... I know Kairi, okay? She's like...a friend, you know? But you don't know that guy. He can be dangerous."
"Oh, what, like you know him?" Roxas asked, looking down at the floor. There was a brief pause.
"His name is Axel." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Roxas whipped his head around and blinked at him, but his cousin was totally deadpan. "He graduated two years ago, and now he goes to the community college."
"How do you know that?" Roxas demanded, to which Sora shrugged.
"I know everything about this town," he answered simply, but sobered up a little to say, "But there are some pretty vicious rumors about that guy. I mean, it's pretty rare to see him hanging with a bunch of high schoolers, so I've never even considered running into him. But I... I want you to stay away from him, okay?"
"Why?" Roxas asked, genuinely curious this time. "What did he do that's so bad?"
"Well...he'll sleep with just about anything for starters," Sora informed him, leaning back onto his mattress. Roxas walked over and sat opposite him on his own bed. "So getting with someone like that is probably the dumbest thing you could ever do. Talk about a walking STD."
"Not funny," Roxas said, insistent on defending this stranger he'd been terrified of-whether he'd admit that little detail or not-just a few minutes ago. "Even so, that makes him gross, not evil."
"He's been to jail," Sora added, and that one threw Roxas for a loop.
"Really?" he asked, eyes going wide.
"Don't look so damn impressed by that!" Sora yelled, to which Roxas looked away quickly and stubbornly. He wasn't impressed... It was just...interesting. "Some type of domestic violence thing, I think."
"You think?" Roxas snorted. "That's not very reliable, Mr. I-Know-Everything-About-This-Town."
"Shut it!" Sora commanded, then softened, "Just stay away from him, okay?"
"What's it matter now?" Roxas said, rolling his eyes and standing to discard his costume and get dressed. "Where am I going to run into a guy like that ever again? The library? Starbucks? I'll make sure to keep my mace with me wherever I go."
"It's not a joke, Rox," Sora insisted, grabbing him by the shoulder and turning him around. "I mean, the guy knew you were free game just by looking at you."
"I don't exactly scream hetero, you know," Roxas muttered, glaring at him. "Unless you forgot, it's always been pretty easy for people to figure out."
"No..." Sora glanced away. The memories were as bad for him as they were Roxas. Well. Maybe not as bad. But he had more nightmares about them. "I remember."
"Well, it's no big deal, okay?" Roxas promised, looking his cousin in the eye. "I won't even see the guy again. But hey, maybe next time you won't drag me to your lame parties."
"It wasn't lame!" Sora countered, practically frothing again. "In fact, I think I was about to convince Kairi to finally go out with me when you screwed everything up!"
"Blame everything on the gay cousin," Roxas sighed pathetically, to which Sora snarled again.
"Quit trying to make me look like a homophobe!"
"But you make it so easy..."
Eventually, somehow, they both got to sleep.
But Axel, the stranger, remained not too far from Roxas' conscious all the while.
Hello, everyone! I know I've promised other things, but it simply can't be helped. Until I get Microsoft Word on my new laptop, all my files concerning previous fanfictions are unattainable. So, I'm trying really hard to give you guys some extra stuff while you wait. The first chapter to the sequel of Chains/Birth IS coming. I promise. For anybody interested, I'm also trying to pump out a couple Ouran High School oneshots, a oneshot for The Legend of Korra before Season 2 comes out, and the fifth chapter of Mute, which has been on hiatus for...well, you know me. It's probably been a couple years.
Anyway, this entire fanfiction is dedicated to homra-kid, who was kind enough to inform me that a certain author on this website (OtakuYaoiGuy101) decided to take Chains and re-write it, after I declined his request to do so. He took down the story, but blocked me and asked his readers to message me with requests to let him continue re-writing my story. Safe to say, no such thing has happened and everything seems quite resolved. Back to the point though, because she was very good to me by helping me sort this entire mess out. I appreciated the selfless act very much, and wanted to do something in return. So this story is for her. I hope you enjoy! ^-^
I will say, this first chapter is my least favorite. Perhaps it's so lack luster because I was planning on making this a oneshot when I started it, so I didn't really go for a huge hook or anything (and the ending to it is HORRIBLE, I am SO sorry about that). However, my inspiration for this story is coming directly from Junjou Romantica and Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi. I've literally been doing nothing the past few days (in my new apartment, with nothing else to do) watching every season of both those shows (as well as Black Butler) and writing simultaneously. I'm not taking anything, but I think those who are familiar with my writing style might find it different for this story than in my previous ones. It's a bit more...anime-esque, if that makes any more sense. So the next couple chapters are much more interesting, I think. Either way, I hope you like it very much and keep on reading! Remember to tell me what you think!
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