Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, Donald and Goofy would turn evil and you'd get Demyx in your party. And there'd be a lot more blood. Be glad I don't.
Author's Notes: Wow, it's been a year since I last played in fanfiction world. Time which I've spent mostly…doing nothing. But then, kena-san started me on playing Kingdom Hearts and got me back in on it. So here's an AU fic while you wait for the true masters to update their stories.
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It was seemingly normal for a Tuesday morning. Birds were chirping outside, and men with pink hair were humming James Bond music while studying chem. notes. Perfectly ordinary morning occurrences. Much like the suave way Axel was hanging off the rails of the bus, having given up the last seat to an old lady. Just him being his usual charming, completely thoughtful self. All of this was completely commonplace. Those first daylight hours weren't entirely uneventful though. A fresh face that was inches away from his own had made sure of that.
Not that there was anything wrong with something interesting happening on the bus. The boy standing in front of him was short and had the most amazing bed head he'd ever seen, granted, but Axel had already dismissed that as rather sexy and his type. He'd always assumed that his own type was more along the lines of 'human, and not hideous' but the kid fit that too. He wasn't looking too bad himself either, with a rather expensive outfit that blared 'I am gorgeous and screwable!' to the world quite clearly. Most of the eyes on the vehicle were directed at him while his were down on the blond in front of him.
His voice was being all sultry and cool when he leant forward all casually too, a bonus when he was seducing someone in about ten seconds. He'd managed to get Roxas's name and number without even trying, and the younger boy had stammered a goodbye as he'd been dragged away by his friends, looking all mournful back at him. And that was how it had started.
…In the redhead's fantasy that was. Of course, it was somewhat close to the truth, except Marluxia was whistling something closer to Beauty and the Beast rather than humming, but it was still getting a few glances. Mind, it was September, and the other passengers of the Route 13 bus had somehow forgotten the flamboyant teen and his love of show tunes. At eight in the morning. When normal people were not happy enough to be humming or singing. Ah well, at least he hadn't tried to start a dance number again.
Past that, the entire little fantasy was altered from reality to protect Axel's dignity and pride. Not that he had much of either, but at the time he'd had an illusion of it, before it got tugged down. Seducing was better than drooling and making a fool of himself. Fate and True Love had always had it out for him before, but today they'd decided to join forces to really mess up his life. First he was wearing the worst stained shirt he owned, with a large duffel bag and jeans missing half the fabric. Then he'd lost out on a seat to the hag who always seemed to get there before him- possibly because he never ran for the bus until the last possible second.
That was all pretty standard crappiness, so then the world had decided to throw him a curveball amidst the sea of normalness. Honestly, when the bus had pulled up, he'd have been better off screaming and running home, rather than rushing forward into a bus full of differentness that he was probably better off not knowing about. Stepping on, Axel hadn't noticed anything, distracted by explaining an experiment's results to Marluxia, then blocking out a quick analysis of his clothes and a promise of a makeover. Like hell that would happen. The last time his pink haired friend had offered him a wardrobe change, he'd been ten and ended up with a ribbon in his hair.
Anyways, that had been when he'd blocking out the cheerful voice and started to look around, trying to find a distraction and caught his first glance of him.
Later, he couldn't explain what it was that caught his attention most. Could have just been that he was secretly a sucker for blonds, or the blue eyes hat could have been compared to the ocean, if you were into that poetry stuff. All swirly and a special hue, cerulean or cobalt or something. Like he knew. Besides, the whole magical eye thing was no more likely the culprit of his infatuation than the little scowl as he glared pointedly into space. Chances were it was a combination of the three that was making his mouth hang open.
It stayed that way for about half the ride, closing slowly as Axel leant against the window to contemplate his options. By the time they'd reached Oblivion High, Home of the Nobodies- and the faculty wondered why there was no school spirit- he'd pulled up two ideas of what to do. Introduce himself to the gorgeous guy in the back and then sex him up, or leave the introductions until later.
Decisions, decisions. Before he could chose though, the boy was walking towards the door, getting ready to join his friends, or whoever they were. That just couldn't be allowed, not when he hadn't won him over yet. Reaching over to the pole on the opposite side of the bus and pulling his body to the centre of the aisle, Axel flicked his red mane back smoothly and smiled. "Hey."
Instead of the desired "Hi, you're amazing and your every wish is my command."- though, in retrospect, that idea was bordering extreme- the reply was more of a growled "Mrrumph."
The first word Axel had ever heard out of his mouth, and it wasn't even English. Or any other language he'd ever heard. Despite all that though, it was a nice voice in his opinion. Definitely one he wanted screaming his name sometime soon, but that could wait a while. Still, he did want to hear it again.
"What? Sorry, didn't catch that," he answered, cocky grin in place as he leaned closer, arm snaking its way around the shorter boy's back. Oblivious to the calls of "Roxas! Roxas!" from outside, he moved farther forward, uncaring of his duffel bag bouncing into the walls around him.
A cold glare greeted him as the blond spoke up again, loud enough for the first few rows of people to hear him. "Can you move pervert? I kind of need to get off."
It didn't leave much room for argument, even as the people nearby laughed quietly. Still, the red head attempted valiantly to persuade him. "Aw, but I don't want you to leave," he said sadly, taking another step towards the boy. Okay, so maybe valiant wasn't the best way to describe him. "By the way, I'm- damn!"
The last outburst came as he received a tight fist to the stomach, watching the blond dart under his arm. Stupid body, being all reflexive and leaving him hunched over, Axel thought spitefully as the boy apologized to the driver and hopped off the bus. What had caused the kid to call him a pervert anyways? He was just being friendly. Obviously he should just give up now while he was still ahead. Or not losing by much.
Still, that decision didn't stop him from watching out the glass towards a panicking brunet who could plainly be heard screaming. Even if he hadn't recognized the spiky hair and the two teens attempting to calm him down, Axel could tell it was Sora. Who else would completely lose their head like this over…wait, what was he freaking out over?
"Roxas, where are you? Did you even get off the bus?" The boy took a shuddering breath while Axel tried to figure out who he was talking to. His imaginary friend? A puppy? Sora was the type to still have imaginary friends, but with his childish nature, was just as likely to have brought a pet and then lost it.
"Roxas Strife! You aren't allowed to be missing! …I'll get in trouble." The loud calls subsided as the teen who'd snubbed Axel tapped the yeller's shoulder, flinching as he was pulled into a death grip. So that was Roxas. He looked sort of like a puppy. Shrugging the ecstatic boy off, the calmer of the two pulled out a phone pointing to it and talking slowly.
The number thirteen pulled away while the one standing passenger watched, reading Roxas's lips as they clearly said the phrase "Call me anytime," directed towards his friend. It had nothing to do with Axel, and wasn't meant to stop his decision not to go near the boy again.
Still, it was the best invitation Fate was likely to give him.
As the bus pulled away, Axel stood there thinking, trying to devise a plan to get the boy to pay attention to him. The list was long and included everything from mutant bunnies to chocolates. Saving him from an alien invasion could be put in the pile of 'unlikely to ever happen' things. Which basically covered every idea he'd had except one.
Before he could implement it though, or even work out details, a gloved hand tapped his shoulder, forcing him to turn around and look to see who had interrupted his plans. Oh, Marluxia, for once looking a little concerned for his health. "Are you alright?"
Why would the crazy pink haired idiot care about his wellbeing? Well, there was the whole saving him with chemistry thing. Favour returned, more or less. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just need to get that kid's number," Axel answered, trying to work out just how to use that information. There had to be some way simpler than airplane writing. And cheaper
"Get in his pants you mean. Face it man, you're in lust," his friend pointed out with a grin, complete with hand motions.
"I know." Axel sighed, half tempted to throw his arms in the air and beg for mercy. Twenty minutes on a bus, was all it took to be completely, one hundred percent infatuated with the blond, who'd actually attacked him. It wasn't reasonable, but since when had he fit into that mould?
"Pure, insatiable 'I've got to get him into my bed soon or I'll die a tragic, horrible death' lust," Marluxia threw in cheerfully, grinning happily at the redhead and twirling around, coat fluttering around his waist.
"I know." As if it needed pointed out that he was a hopeless failure. And a hopeless failure to be. So far he hadn't even done anything and he knew he was doomed. Helped put things into a negative perspective at least. Bastard.
A pair of arms snaked over his back, pulling him into a dangerously close hug. "So, want me to help?"
Glaring down at the lavender coat sleeves- not only the colour but it was still summer, even if only for a few more weeks- Axel attempted to reason with his captor, having tried to escape him before with no luck. For whatever good guy vibes his outward appearance might give off, his heart was filled with evil. Force never worked, nor running or pleading. Sometimes distraction did as well, but logic was his best weapon. "You might be flamboyant enough to be a woman, but you're straight."
"Uh huh," his attacker murmured, distracted by a lock of red that had escaped the spikes it had been grabbed into. The hair might have been gravity defying by itself, but it took plenty of hair mousse to clump it perfectly.
Panicking, Axel began to struggle, searching for some sort of fact, some impossible to deny information that would get him free, at whatever cost necessary. "As in, you like boobs." Stupid thing to say really, but Marluxia seemed to take it as a genius point, letting go of his friend and striking a dramatic pose.
"Of course I like boobs Axel! What's not to like?" the confused look he'd started with faded with excitement, and Axel could almost swear there were rose petals swirling around the more self absorbed teen. Full blown rants usually would come in here. He needed to argue.
"Well…in Larxene's case…they're attached to her." The blond girl was pure evil, after all. Her sister was sweet, though pretty shy, but the elder Savage daughter seemed more likely to be related to the devil. Just like Marluxia, who was currently looking into space with a frown. "What?"
"Lucky you, you get to be with her all day," the pink haired man grumbled, pose dissolving into hunched shoulders. Well, that was weird. Normally it was laughter that followed that sort of comment, not a pathetically girly sulk. Axel barely noticed though, already panicking about the day ahead.
"Lucky me? Your day isn't spent with a homicidal sociopath out for your blood!" Sociopath probably wasn't the best phrase. Sadist had a much more fitting ring, what with all the traps set up around the office. Playing with fire was supposed to be dangerous, but it was nothing compared to messing with her.
"Yeah…" The soft agreement was a little too hesitant and longing. Damsel in distress behaviour was normal though, so the red head shrugged it off, finally realizing something that should already have been apparent.
"Speaking of that…don't you have to go to school?" he asked blandly, sarcasm nearly lost as he watched his friend's reaction. Since having chosen to be a career man- also known as being expelled for making four different bathrooms explode and setting the music room on fire- Axel had spent the four months since laughing evilly at those who did have to go to school.
"Uh hu- oh shit!" Senior year was meant for getting farther in life and partying and all that stuff. Not talking on a bus that was now more than a handful of stops away from Oblivion High. Pulling the cord and swearing to himself, the pink haired teen wondered how he'd gotten this distracted. A certain redhead was going to pay.
Meanwhile, Axel had stopped chuckling long enough to remember he was supposed to be brooding. Or thinking. Or had it been both? Both, he decided, mulling over possible scenarios. Today would be good. After all, he had Roxas Strife to think about.
First days at school sucked. Especially when said first day was everyone else's second day. Having lived there when in elementary school didn't help if the only person you'd kept in contact with was your cousin, and you were now a junior in high school. Add in that said cousin was Sora, who had the attention span of a guinea pig on crack- though a much sweeter disposition, admittedly- and you had a recipe for disaster.
Or at least, you had part of it, lacking the garnishes. That hadn't included his brother, who'd lived in Twilight Town since finishing high school five years ago and still had a perpetual case of teen angst. Mind, that might have to do with the picture of him in a dress super glued on four doors of the house. Cloud had scraped them off twice since Roxas had moved in, but still they kept coming back. That pointed towards Yuffie's involvement. Which just wasn't good. For any of them.
That should have been enough to create the crappiest life the average teenager got. You know, without any real problems. But no, Sora's best friends had to be Kairi and Riku. Of all the people he could possibly be best friends with, it was those two. Well, she wasn't that bad, just one of those pretty, popular types who had the compulsion to find good in everyone. Roxas could handle that. Maybe. If she didn't keep punctuating everything with 'Right Roxas?' and a huge smile.
No it was him the younger Strife had a problem with. His cousin's other friend, the silver haired spawn of Satan, who kept checking out his best friend when he wasn't looking. Why couldn't Riku see that Sora just wasn't interested? At least, the blond hoped Sora wasn't. His own father had been disappointed enough when he'd discovered his own genes weren't likely to be passed on to another generation. If his cousin was enough like the rest of them, they'd all be dead. Well, Cloud first, for setting the bad example. But then the other two also.
That however, had managed to be overshadowed by something else, which was quite the feat. It was what Roxas referred to as 'the beginning of the end' or 'hell'. As if they needed any more confirmation that Sora, while hopefully being straight, was also the only optimist in the family.
The cause of said cynical observation did not immediately seem dangerous. After a few minutes sitting on the bus alternating between answering Kairi's long stream of questions ('so you lived here before? What's your favourite colour?') and plotting the whistler's demise, the vehicle stopped yet again, idling while someone ran towards the open door.
Really, Roxas should have already known something horrific was about to happen. He should, technically have been prepared. They were on the number thirteen bus for Chrissakes. Outside the window the words 'the end is nigh' were printed quite clearly in big bold letters. They were on a poster for some big sci-fi movie that looked sort of cool, but whatever. It was a sign that he should have understood but didn't. Curse the failure to pay attention before nine.
Still, the blond managed to ignore the newcomer another short while, as Kairi continued the rapid fire interrogation ('moving here must be tough for you, right Roxas? Do you like sushi? Are you even listening to me?') before the prickling on his neck started. At first he ignored it. Then, assuming it was just some itch, he scratched at it. Once that failed, he cautiously turned from the window and looked to the front, only to meet a pair of rather stunned green eyes.
A fluke, Roxas decided, flicking his eyes back to the passing scenery. Must have been a side effect of waking up two hours early and then finishing a pot of coffee. When he looked back, the red head was concentrating on the floor, not staring at him. Yeah, choosing to get up that morning had definitely been a stupid idea.
That decision only lasted long enough to get him to the school, having a brief 'conversation' with the older teen as he tried to get off. Roxas was pretty sure it wasn't in his head now. That bastard deserved more than a quick punch, even if there hadn't been enough time. Maybe tomorrow, he thought as his cousin finally stopped lecturing him on disappearing, the rant switching to something cheerful without skipping a beat.
"You don't have math first, but you have the same as me for the rest of the morning, right?" Sora was like an eager puppy occasionally, and most of that time Roxas wanted to scream at him for it. But he wouldn't do that to his cousin, instead mutely nodding. "Great! Kairi will be there too, and some other friends! Riku won't though, cause he's a senior."
Forced smile becoming a smirk, Roxas nodded again, catching a glare from the taller student while the brunet chattered to his female best friend excitedly. "Great."
"Axel!" Upon entering the plain brick garage, the redhead climbed the stairs as he did every day to switch into his uniform and grab reports on the day's work. Having hung around since he was a kid, the place was like a second home to him, a playground where the only rule was 'don't touch the cars'. Now he was paid to hang around and do repairs and oil changes. It came with only one downside. Larxene.
Getting there an hour after her was probably a dangerous idea. He was quite sure the girl skipped on checking messages until after she'd booby trapped the area, setting every doorknob to spark whoever opened it. The daily ritual involved him trying to get through with minimal burns and his bushy hair not standing on end.
"Yes m'dear?" came the sarcastic reply as he poked his head around the corner, only to retract it as a pencil was flicked at him. Right, no cheerful comments allowed until her first coke of the day washed down her breakfast.
Striding in, he sat on the desk, attempting to steal the toast sitting on her desk. A handful of pointed nails hit Axel's hand, the blonde finally looking over at him. "How'd you get in here looking like…you?" she asked curiously, shoving him onto the floor, where he stood and wandered off to change. 'Normal' didn't fit, but he wasn't shocked or tired like he ought to be.
Tossing his shirt off in the small bathroom the garage had and opening his duffel bag, Axel called back to her. "Storage door. After flicking stuff at it for a few minutes, the batteries the wires are hooked up to died." It hadn't been guaranteed to work, but a few minutes spent testing the idea was better than the hour spent later trying to comb his hair into some semblance of order.
"I'll write that down," Larxene said with a hint of annoyance as he wandered back in, dressed and going through the shelves along the wall. Watching, she waited for him to speak or give her some way of getting peace. After a few minutes that made it apparent he wasn't going to just ask for help, she spoke up. "Why aren't you gone?"
Bright emerald eyes looked at her pleadingly. On most children, it would be the puppy eyed beg, but with Axel it just looked idiotic. "Do we have a phone book?" Trying to figure out the catch, the blonde paused before nodding slowly, paler olive eyes glaring distrustfully. "Where is it?"
Obviously he was planning something, probably a prank of some sort. Of course, it could be amusing for her as well, but as she pulled the large book out of a drawer and handed it to him, Larxene decided it probably wasn't worth knowing. As though he'd let it end there.
"…Don't you want to know why I need it?" After him sitting there another minute, flicking through and muttering to himself, the blonde really was getting curious. But then, she'd spent years in the same classes as him and now work. When she'd told him she was quitting school for work, he'd immediately taken advantage of it, insisting to every employer they came as a pair. She was more hireable, but he'd been made to regret it. Many, many times.
Giving him any chance for revenge didn't sound like a good idea though, especially not when she was still half asleep and had paperwork to organize. And a book to read too, though that could technically wait. "Understanding you before noon is as bad as babysitting," Larxene answered, opting for a neutral answer. Not a 'yes', but not an argument in any case.
It made him beam though as he scribbled down a number on his hand. Or then, that could just be the number making him happy. What did he need it for anyway? "I'll tell you at lunch then?"
Apparently she had no choice. "You're buying, and I'm not paying you back."
Nodding happily and bounding down the stairs to the garage, Axel tugged his phone from his pocket, opening up the text messages and typing away. There was a weird thrill about it, along with dread. What if he said the wrong words and came off pedophile like? Roxas had already attacked him once that day. Maybe since then and now he hadn't already felt the call of destiny?
The redhead pouted at that thought. If he hadn't, he'd just have to make him feel it. Tapping at the number pad for a moment, he carefully sent the message. 'Hi, you don't know me Roxas but hi. How are you?' Possibly not his best work ever, yet it did the trick okay. Ish.
Ten minutes later, he found out whether or not it had been too creepy. Halfway through checking tire pressure on one of the few SUVs helping to crowd the garage, the cell began to vibrate, causing him to shout- not squeak, he was far too manly for that. Marluxia squeaked. He shouted.
Pausing to flip it open Axel stared down at the words it displayed, face a mixture of shock and dismay. 'I was fine, and then some stalker bothered me. Never do that again, or I will hunt you down with a knife.'
It wasn't rejection at all. There was innuendo in there, Axel attempted to convince himself, as he closed the phone as continued working, a scowl on his face. He'd just hidden it. Really well. Under a few death threats. That was all. …Right. The truth was, Fate was an evil creature who wanted to make his day even worse, and then add in the fact that he had to ride the bus every day.
Yes, life sucked.
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And done, for this chapter.
-Josiy x