Fire Alarm
Author's Notes: Random idea that I thought of. A little friendship piece that I thought would be fun.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Kingdom Hearts or Disney.
Characters: Roxas and Axel.
Words: 3, 569
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The day had started like every other normal bad day. He wasn't suggesting that a normal day was a bad day, just that this bad day started out like every other bad day. The kind of day where you wake up, find out that your parents can't give you a lift to school, burn your breakfast, race to the bus and almost miss it before finally arriving at school.
By the time the morning bell had rung, Roxas had already been muttering and cursing under his breath. He hated catching the bus, mainly because everyone else on it seemed to enjoy re-enacting Forrest Gump; i.e. placing their bags on the chair next to them and saying, "seat's taken". That alone had been enough to make his already frazzled attitude morph into irrational anger, which he had had no intention of hiding.
Of course, he had forgotten the worst thing about bad days: once they start, they always seem to get worse.
It had gone from 'I didn't have time to finish my Shakespeare essay!' to 'what science presentation?'. Needless to say, most people had made a note to avoid Roxas from that point on. A snapping, temperamental blonde haired teenager was the last thing most people wanted on their hands, especially if said teenager was Roxas. He had a reputation for randomly hitting people with Struggle bats or throwing Sea-salt Ice-cream at you with deadly accuracy. And having a sticky, cold popsicle stick stuck to your forehead was a very unpleasant experience to say the least.
Roxas would have been over-joyed at the lunch bell if he hadn't already been in such a bad mood. Seeing the cafeteria line already ridiculously long, he had had a small moment of satisfaction when he had remembered that he had packed his lunchbox that morning despite his rush. Unfortunately, his slight mood improvement did not last long. While the lunchbox had managed to make its way into his bag, his lunch hadn't managed to make its way into said box. He had spent the next five minutes heatedly raving inside his head, wondering why the hell his mother had suddenly decided that she 'was no longer your slave, and you're old enough to make your own lunch', as she had so adequately put it.
When the bell rung to signal the start of the next class, the students within the school had seemed to part like the Red Sea as Roxas had stormed through the halls, physically abusing his locker when he found out it didn't have his math book, which had still been sitting at home. Aforementioned violent outburst had caused everyone to give him a wide birth, maybe even until the end of the week.
Math hadn't lasted long. Before he could even be asked where was something he was sure he had probably forgotten, he snagged a hall pass and headed towards the bathrooms. He had stayed there for a long time, not being bothered to move after he had arrived. If his teacher asked later where he had gone, he would have replied the nurse's office. If the nurse replied that he wasn't there, he would have said his mom had picked him up. If his mom denied it then he would just say he frickin' walked home and screw the consequences.
But, like all bad days, it had to get worse.
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The first thing Roxas noticed was the smell of smoke from somewhere in the hall. The next thing he noticed, because it was impossible to ignore, was the fire alarm blaring through the school, followed by the sprinklers turning themselves on. Swearing as his clothes became absolutely soaked by an inconveniently placed sprinkler, Roxas made his way to the door.
"Of all the days," he muttered under his breath heatedly.
He could hear the commotion outside and tugged on the door, pulling it open. He cursed quite loudly this time. Oh yeah, fate was enjoying messing with his sanity. In their rush to get outside, someone had knocked over several lockers. Said lockers were now blocking his way out. Not to mention that the smoke streaming down the hall was becoming quite thick. His eyes were beginning to water and he could feel a tickle in the back of his throat.
Covering his face with a sleeve, Roxas pushed on the lockers, trying to get them to budge. Naturally, they didn't. He pushed harder but they remained in the same position. He was seriously beginning to worry now, his panic pushing him out of his emo mood. Sure the fire department would probably come soon but the students hadn't exactly been kind to the sprinklers either and most of them didn't work anymore. He was really wishing they did right about now.
Spinning a one-eighty, he managed to catch sight of a window on the other side of the room, nestled up against the ceiling. He made a dash for the last stall, slamming down the lid of the toilet and climbing up on to it. The window was grimy and dusty but it looked as though it might be his only way out. Roxas furrowed his brows and pushed on the window. God it was stiff. He managed to push it mostly open, enough so that his small frame might be able to squeeze through if he was desperate - something he happened to be. Gripping the frame, he started to pull himself up.
He got part-way up, feet scrabbling at the wall when his grip suddenly failed him and he fell back down, one knee slamming into the porcelain bowl as he landed. He let out a muffled scream, biting on his lip. That was gonna hurt in the morning. Hell, it hurt now. Wincing, he tried to stand but his knee buckled underneath him. Apparently it was in worse shape than he had first thought. So, climbing out of the window was out of the question.
The smoke creeping into the room was slowing becoming over-whelming, even with the sprinkles vainly trying to stop it. He managed to stand and hop over to the door again, in case a miracle had occurred and the lockers were gone. They weren't. Roxas kicked one of the lockers barricading him in but to no effect. The locker stubbornly refused to move. He had one foot raised, ready to pummel it again when he heard a voice.
"Hey! Is someone in here?"
"Yeah!" he yelled back. "I'm trapped in the…bathroom."
There was a short laugh and he felt a faint blush spread over his cheeks. Ok, so being trapped in the bathroom was one of the more embarrassing places to be trapped in. But he held back a smart retort, not wanting to upset his could-be rescuer. There was a smudge running through the smoke and then a tall, red-head was standing on the other side of the lockers, emerald eyes looking at him in a bizarre cross between worry and amusement.
"I'm gonna get you out. Got it memorized?" the guy asked.
"Just hurry up and do it," Roxas growled, feebly tugging at the lockers.
The red-head just shot him a grin and made short work of the make-shift barricade. Once enough had been moved, he held out a hand and Roxas took it, allowing himself to be helped over the last fallen locker. His knee almost gave out again as he landed but the red-head caught him, his worried face distorted by the smoke.
"You ok?" he asked in concern.
"It's nothing," Roxas hissed in pain, limping towards the exit.
The older teen put an arm around his waist and helped him towards the door. When Roxas tried to push him off, he only held tighter, insistent on helping. The thickening smoke had stopped their non-existent conversation and they simply focussed on the door in front of them, their gateway to freedom. As soon as the door was opened by the red-head, a rush of fresh air met Roxas's burdened lungs and he inhaled deeply.
"Roxas!"
He looked up as his home-room teacher came running, looked extremely distressed and out of breath.
"Thank god," the teacher said, pulling to a stop in front of them. "I have been looking everywhere for you. We were about to send the fire fighters in to look for you."
"Sorry," Roxas mumbled, rubbing his neck apologetically.
"As long as you're ok," his teacher replied, mopping his forehead with a handkerchief. He turned to the red-head. "Did you find him Axel? Thank you. I'm very grateful, and I'm sure Roxas is too."
"Anyone else would do the same, right?" Axel asked with a shrug.
"I'd like to think so."
The teacher quickly ran off again, running to the principal and gesturing back at Roxas and Axel wildly. Looks of relief came over all the teacher's faces as they saw the two students standing together, now out of harm's way. A few smiles and nervous laughs came and the fire fighters gathered nearby nodded in thankfulness; no dead students this time.
"I'm Axel," the red-head said pointlessly. "Got it memorized?"
"Yeah, and I'm Roxas, as you heard," he replied, before scrutinising the older student with a critical eye. "Aren't you the guy who repeated tenth grade and is repeating twelfth grade?"
"Nice to meet you too," Axel said sarcastically, a huge grin forming on his face. "At least I'm well known."
"Only because you're two years older than everyone else and you're always in detention," Roxas replied.
Axel looked almost hurt. "Most of the time, it's not my fault. I swear!"
Roxas just looked at him in disbelief and starting limping towards his classmates, forgetting that they were all avoiding him and his bad-mood aura. But before he could reach them, the principal's voice rang out over a loud-speaker.
"Students," his booming voice called out. "Due to the fire, school has been dismissed for the day. You are free to leave. If you need to call your parents, go to your nearest teacher and ask if you may borrow their cell phone. School dismissed!"
The student body erupted into cheers and quickly scooped up whatever gear they had brought with them against teacher's orders. Seriously, who wouldn't grab their cell phone, iPod or PSP when they were told to evacuate? Some things cost money you know. They began filing out of the school, most either talking to each other animatedly or on their cell phones doing much the same. Roxas, on the other hand, watched everyone leave glumly and decided he'd have to hobble his way to the bus stop. There was no way in hell that he'd ask for a lift from one of the teachers. Creepy. Not to mention awkward. His bad mood was returning in full swing.
"Hey Roxas!"
He turned around irritably and saw Axel running towards him, the same smile still on his face. The red-head came up beside him and slung an arm over his shoulder casually, leading him in the direction of the bus stop.
"Catching the bus I presume?" he enquired.
Roxas grunted. "Yeah."
"Aw, what's with the attitude?" Axel asked playfully.
"I just got trapped in a burning school, buggered my knee and now have some deranged senior stalking me," he grumbled, running a hand through his hair, grimacing when it came out grey. "And I have soot all through my hair."
"Which is a shame," Axel commented, ruffling said hair, "because it usually looks so gorgeous."
Roxas rolled his eyes. "Great, now he's trying to freak me out."
The red-head laughed. "I like you Roxas. Reckon we could be friends?"
"Maybe in the next life," he answered, trying to push Axel's arm off his shoulder. Needless to say, Axel ignored him.
"Still, it was quite a spectacular fire, if I do say so myself." He chuckled to himself. "Which I do."
"Freak accident," Roxas corrected, now wishing he kept Panadol in his bag like all the girls at school did. His knee was really starting to throb achingly.
"If you say so," Axel replied smugly, brushing his hair back proudly.
Roxas stopped in his tracks and looked up at Axel in disbelief/anger. He had better not be implying what he thought he was implying. "You mean…you set the school alight?"
"And it was brilliant wasn't it!" the nineteen year old exclaimed, looking immensely pleased with himself.
The blonde promptly grabbed Axel's arm and shoved, really shoved, it off his shoulders. He turned and walked away from the other, giving Axel a good push as he did so. Scowling, he thrust his hands in his pockets and walked away, wanting nothing more than to get to the bus without anymore interruptions. Unfortunately, because this was a bad day, it was not to be so.
"Hey!" Axel cried, catching up with him, confusion on his face. "What's with the sudden mood change?"
"What's with it?" Roxas demanded angrily, spinning around to face Axel. "What do you think? I get trapped, almost die-" ok, slight exaggeration on his part "-just because some pyromaniac thinks it's, what was the word, brilliant! Get a life Axel."
Roxas made to move away when Axel grabbed his shoulder, none too gently either. He saw the regret and sheepishness in those emerald eyes but he refused to accept it, his own blue eyes only displaying annoyance and weak hatred. Axel sighed and shook his head softly.
"Look Roxas," he said softly. "It was just meant to be a bit of fun, you know? A little excitement never hurt anyone. And then…then I heard someone say that you hadn't come out yet. I went back inside Roxas. Inside the burning school to find you. That was generous of me."
"Yeah right," Roxas scoffed. "More like you were just admiring your work and happened to hear me."
"That's not true!" Axel protested. "I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt. I really did come to find you, I promise. And I don't take back my promises. Got it-"
"Memorized?" Roxas finished shortly. "Yeah I know."
They stood there together for a moment, waiting for Roxas to reach his final conclusion. Roxas folded his arms out of habit and let his brain churn through his emotions and assumptions, letting it reach a conclusion.
"Sheesh Roxas," Axel said after a time, rubbing his neck. "You're thinking too much. Just listen to your heart."
The younger teen just glared up at him, those steely eyes almost managing to freeze Axel like a deer caught in head-lights. Roxas then sighed and shrugged reluctantly, heading back towards the bus stop. Axel took this as an 'ok' and fell into step behind him. They'd only gone a few yards before Roxas's knee finally gave in and collapsed under him. He let out a yelp of surprise and pain as he began his descent. His impact with the ground never came though, and he looked over to see Axel supporting him.
"Guess you hurt your knee more than we thought," Axel observed.
"We?" Roxas repeated sourly.
"Well nothing for it then," the older teen said.
"Nothing for what?" Roxas asked.
Axel just laughed. "I'm just gonna have to carry you, aren't I?"
Roxas's eyes widened in shock and he tried to back away. "No way. No way in hell."
"Ok, we'll compromise," Axel negotiated. "I'll only carry you to my house, which is just two streets away. You can call your parents from there if you want. Or, I can drive you home if you want. I think Demyx was staying until Saturday so I can borrow his car."
"And I'm supposed to just willingly go to your house? Some stranger who I've only just met like half an hour ago?"
"That's the idea," Axel said with a grin. He pulled out his cell and punched in some numbers. "Yo Demyx-"
"Why doesn't he just pick us up?" Roxas grumbled.
Axel's eyes widened in amazement. "Roxas, you're a genius!" He turned his attention back to the phone. "Hey man, can you come pick me up? I'm just a few streets away…no, I'm with a guy from school and his knee's hurt…lazy bastard…whatever."
He snapped the phone shut and shoved it into his back pocket. "Sorry Roxas, Demyx is too busy with his music to come pick us up right now. He said we could borrow his car though."
Roxas glowered at him for a moment, weighing up the options. At his current rate, it would take him another good twenty minutes to make it to the bus stop. Man, how slow had he been walking? It usually only took him twenty minutes to get to the bus stop. His knee must have slowed him down more than he thought. His other option was to get carried - he shuddered - to Axel's and catch a lift home from there. Quite frankly, that was looking like the best option at the moment. At least it would be mostly pain free, though his dignity might suffer a few blows.
"Yeah okay," he muttered.
"Huh?" Axel asked gleefully, teasingly begging him to repeat himself.
"You heard me," Roxas snapped, pouting indignantly.
"Aw, isn't Roxas cute when he's mad?"
"One more smart-arse comment and you'll see how 'cute' I can be."
Axel laughed nervously and took two steps back, hands raised defensively. Even he'd heard the rumours about Roxas's anger management problems and vicious temper. He didn't exactly want to be on the receiving end of the kid's fists and feet and whatever else the hell it was he used.
"Okay, okay, I got it memorized," Axel said calmly. "Now come on, I'll give you a piggy-back."
Roxas outwardly groaned but obeyed, Axel kneeling down so he could climb on more easily. With a simple hoist, Axel was back on his feet, which was surprising for such a skinny guy. He slipped his arms under Roxas's knees, keeping him in place. Roxas linked his hands under Axel's chin, making it absolutely certain that there was no way he could fall off and further injure himself - or worse, embarrass himself. They remained silent for awhile, Axel slowly making his way towards his house.
"So…" Axel started.
"…"
"…what do you think your parents will say when you get home early?"
"They won't notice," Roxas said simply. "They both work."
"Till late?"
"Usually." Roxas stopped. "Why?" he asked suspiciously.
"God, I was only trying to make conversation!" Axel declared. "Excuse me for being interested."
Roxas lowered his eyes guiltily. Why did always assume the worst in people? It was bad habit he had. "I'm sorry."
"Nah, don't worry about it." Axel said, brushing the apology off.
"…"
"…"
"So…what are you gonna do when you get home?"
He could practically hear the smile in Axel's voice. "I'm gonna take a certain grumpy blonde home and make sure he's all tucked up in bed."
Roxas snarled softly. "And after that?"
"Oh, well I might just call said blonde to make sure he hasn't killed himself walking to the fridge or something."
"And how would you get my number in this plan of yours?"
"Why, you'd give it to me," Axel answered simply.
"Good luck," Roxas shot back.
"You know…"
Roxas waited several moments. "You know what?" he asked in exasperation, his patience quickly giving out.
"You wanna hang out at my house until your parents come home?"
The blonde's eyebrows shot up at this. He had to find a way out that didn't sound rude. After all he could tell that Axel was just trying to make up for the whole I-made-you-get-stuck-in-a-burning-building scenario. Then it came to him.
"I thought Demyx was doing something with his music."
"He can just wear his head-phones," Axel said cheerfully. "What do you say Roxas? We'll watch a movie and order pizza." He tried to look at the blonde over his shoulder. "Come on," he whined.
"On one condition," Roxas agreed, giving in.
"Condition?" Axel asked sceptically.
"We do not get ham and pineapple pizza. I hate it, passionately."
Axel burst out laughing. "I thought you were gonna say something serious, I was worried for a moment." He continued laughing and Roxas joined in this time, albeit quietly.
There was a peaceful silence until, "you have a sexy laugh Roxas."
"That's it!" Roxas yelled through badly hidden chuckles. "You can call me gorgeous, cute and whatever else, but I draw the line at sexy!"
"But why?" Axel complained.
"We haven't known each other that long yet."
Axel's face brightened. "You mean if I spend more time with you, I can call you sexy? Alright!"
"Wait, what? No!" Roxas protested, realising what he'd said. "I didn't mean it like that."
"Sure, sure."
Further conversation was put on hold as they arrived at a house, music crystal clear even though all the doors and windows were shut. Axel pushed open the gate with a knee and kicked it shut behind him. The music was louder once they reached the front door and now Roxas could hear the singing that accompanied it.
"Is that your friend singing?" he asked quietly. The guy was good.
"Yep, that's Demyx!" Axel said, nudging the door open. "Wait till you meet him."
"Sounds great," Roxas said, and he meant it.
So maybe every bad day had its good points. Axel was definitely one of them.
"Hey Roxas?"
"What Axel?"
"What's your number?"
Roxas simply laughed.
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A/N: I'm amazed. This didn't actually take as long as I thought it would. Hope you liked it. Reviews are also awesome, flame or not.
DeathGod777