Programmed to Love

By: Nietono-no-Shana

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts. I just own the ideas here.

CHAPTER 1 - Rejection and a Chance

"I'm sorry Roxas, but I just don't feel the same way you do," Selphie replied in the most polite voice she could muster. "Sorry," she repeated as she handed him back a white envelope that had been addressed to her.

"O-Oh, that's okay," he stammered, his hands shaking as he took the letter back into his hands. "That's totally cool, I guess."

"Maybe we can just be friends?" she suggested, though her body language proved the opposite.

After all, how would Selphie, the most popular girl in their grade, want to be friends with a lowlife nobody like Roxas? That would bring her status down, wouldn't it?

Roxas, realizing that what Selphie had said was just to save face, nodded and made a weak smile towards her.

"Sure," he said in a fake cheerful tone. "That'd be cool."

"Okay, then," she said, giving him a forced smile as well. "See you around." She turned around and rolled her eyes behind his back, thankful that this situation had been cleared up. Selphie looked around her; just to make sure none of her popular friends had been watching her actually talk to that loser.

His hands were still shaking, and as he gripped the parchment of paper in his hands, he felt like ripping it right then and there.

It was all over, anyway.

Those two years of undying love to her, and it had all been blown into smithereens.

He stood in the middle of the hallway, looking like a lost soul in a crowded school.

If it wasn't for Hayner, Pence, and Olette coming to his rescue after getting out from their hiding places, he probably would've just stood there for the rest of the day.

Hayner, who watched as Selphie walked down the hallway, glowered behind her back, clenching his teeth with disgust.

"God, what a bitch," he said. Then, he turned to face his friend, who was still watching her as she left. "Want me to pulverize her? 'Cuz I'll be more than willing to."

"Hayner!" Olette quickly cut in, glancing over at Roxas to see how he would react to this. "This isn't the time for jokes!"

"I wasn't joking," he replied. "I'll seriously slap that girl silly."

He narrowed his eyes as he kept them on Selphie, locking onto his target. "Her and her little Prada purse and Moogle and Co. Makeup…" he spat with disgust.

He turned to look at Roxas again, who was speechless and was still watching Selphie's every move.

"But really," Hayner asked, "Why'd you fall for a fake Barbie doll like her?"

"Okay, that's enough out of you!" Olette cried, shoving Hayner away from Roxas.

"But it's the truth!" Hayner protested.

As Olette and Hayner started to bicker again, Pence stepped up the plate and put a hand on his friends' shoulder. "Don't worry Roxas," he said, "She wasn't really worth obsessing about, anyway."

"…Yeah," he finally said, still locked onto Selphie as she began to disappear into the school's crowd. "You're right."

"There will always be a next time, right?" Olette encouraged, blushing as she said this. She pulled her schoolbag's strap higher up onto her shoulder, getting uncomfortable with this new topic at hand.

"A next time…" Roxas repeated, tightening his grip on the love letter he'd written to Selphie.

"Hey, I've got a great idea!" Pence announced. "How about we grab a Sea Salt Ice Cream over at Gram's Candy Shop? That'll do the trick, right?"

"I'd expect that kind of suggestion out from you," Hayner said. "It's always about food, isn't it?"

"Hey, watch it!" Pence fired back, though in a playful manner. "Don't make me sit on you!"

Hayner laughed hysterically at this comment, and nudged his pudgy friend.

Olette, however, kept her eyes on Roxas, who'd finally stopped watching Selphie, and had turned around to face his friends. "So how about it?" she asked. "Let's all go together."

After a long pause, Roxas finally answered, "Nah, it's fine. I think I just want to head back home for today."

As a response, his friends were surprised. They stopped all the friendly matter and took time to stare at their friend, who looked utterly depressed. At times like these, they knew that if Roxas didn't want his beloved Sea Salt Ice Cream, then something was up.

"O-Oh…" Pence said, a little dismayed. "Well, okay then."

"Are you sure?" Hayner asked again.

Roxas nodded, forcing a smile onto his face, when instead he wanted to let out tears. "Yeah, I'm sure," he replied.

"We're here for you," Olette mentioned, putting a hand on Roxas's shoulder very carefully. She looked deeply into his blue eyes, noticing all the sadness he was trying to keep in. "You don't have to keep it all inside, you know."

"Yeah, I know," he said, smiling over at Olette. "Thanks, Olette."

He shrugged off Olette's hand from his shoulder and briskly walked out the school's doors alone. As he walked away, he could feel his friends' eyes on his back, watching his every move, just like he'd done to Selphie all those years…

Walking out into the streets, he decided to take the long way home, back to his apartment, which he shared with his twin brother, Sora.

'Oh, that's right, Sora,' Roxas sighed heavily, remembering how far ahead his brother was with love.

To Roxas, Sora was always one step ahead of him in the girls category. After all, the only girl Roxas ever felt comfortable around was Olette. If it was any other girl, like Selphie, he would always turn red out of embarrassment of even being a six feet away from her. Even though Sora was the exact same age as him, he'd managed to fish out a girlfriend first in the end. And, in Roxas's opinion, Kairi, Sora's girlfriend, was surprisingly pretty. AND nice.

…And to think that he'd actually believed that Selphie would say she loved him back. What a fantasy that was!

Sora was semi-popular. Roxas was not. Sora was athletic and jockey. Roxas was creative and an art freak. Sora was cute. Roxas was…

'…Pathetic,' he thought, finishing the sentence in his head as he waited for the crossroad's stoplight to turn green. He hung his head low as he though this, and spotted the love letter that was still in his hand.

"I guess I won't need this anymore," he mumbled, ripping the envelope in two.

…After all, that was what Selphie had done to his heart. Not that it was her fault, though.

"Ugh, why can't I get a girl?" he whispered under his breath, sighing heavily again. "What I'd give to have a girlfriend…"

"So what exactly would you give?" a voice asked from behind him.

Startled, Roxas jumped out of surprise and spun around to see a spiky redhead with piercing green eyes.

"W-Who the heck are you!?" he cried, clutching his heart. "A-And why were you listening to me anyway!?"

The man merely shrugged, his hands in his jeans pockets.

"I dunno," he said blankly. "I was just passing by and heard you."

'Well he's got good hearing,' Roxas thought to himself.

"So what would you give?" Axel asked again. "To have a girl, I mean."

Roxas, embarrassed now that this stranger had said this out loud to the world, looked around him self-consciously. Luckily, the businessmen that were gathered at the crossroads could care less about teenagers' conversation. They were just talking away on their cell phones, or texting someone on their Black Berry.

He turned his attention back to the redhead, who was still waiting for an answer.

"I don't know," Roxas replied. "I was just talking aloud."

"But are you serious about it?"

"W-What!?" Roxas looked at the man strangely. Was this guy for real?

"I mean, you kinda look like you've been turned down recently," he mentioned, leaning down to inspect Roxas with vulture-like eyes.

"W-Who says I was turned down!?" Roxas spat, taking a step back from the man. "And you don't even know me! Why am I even talking to you!?"

"I dunno," he said again with another casual shrug. "Maybe it's because you're lovesick," he said with a wink. "And you're looking for a man instead of a girl."

Roxas blushed a deep shade of red and glowered up at the man.

"Trust me," Roxas said flatly, "I'm not into homosexuals."

The redhead laughed out loud, enjoying Roxas's sense of humor.

"I like you, man," he said, wiping a humorous tear from his eye. "You'd make a perfect customer for my business."

"Your what?" he asked, even more estranged by this man. This guy looked like he was a little over 18. How could he possibly own a business at such a young age?

'Must be one of those dropouts with the rich families,' Roxas thought to himself. 'That's probably the only answer.'

The man fumbled through his jeans pockets and pulled out a pink card – yes, a pink card – and handed it over to Roxas.

"Here you go," he said.

Roxas reluctantly took the card, as if he were taking candy from a stranger. He looked down at the sturdy little piece of paper.

'Maybe this guy really is gay,' Roxas thought, blinking down at the pink business card.

"Yamamoto, Axel?" Roxas read aloud, looking up at the redhead and then looking back at the card. "That's your name?"

"Yup," Axel replied, raising his head up high as if he were royalty. "That's me. Got it memorized?"

"Uh…"

"Just call that number if you're for real," he said with a laugh. "This isn't fantasy, if that's what you're thinking." Then, with a slight nod of the head, Axel turned around and started to walk down the streets of Destiny Islands City.

Roxas looked down at the card again. It read:

SWEEThearts: Making Men's Fantasies Come True

He had to read the company's name three times before blushing a deep shade of red. Was this what this freak was giving him!?

"A prostitution deal!?" Roxas cried out loud. Realizing what he'd just done, he turned even redder as he saw the businessmen turn to look at him with eccentric expressions.

He scooted away and gave a wide berth between him and the adults and leaned against a newspaper stand. He looked around for Axel, but he was already gone.

'It must've been some kind of joke,' he reassured himself, shaking his blonde hair before looking down at the card in his hands again. 'It's just gotta be.'

After re-reading the perverted company title and Axel's weird name, he saw that he would be able to contact the company by a website or by phone.

Talking to strangers was something that his parents had always told him never to do. But maybe, just maybe, this one exception to that rule would lead him in the right direction.

Roxas wasn't good with girls.

And he wasn't some kind of perv that would use this company to his advantage.

All he wanted was a girl to like him back.

And maybe this would the solution…

Hm...I like how this is turning out, I guess. But this is the story I've been wanting to write for the longest time! And, thanks to all who voted, it came with a VERY close poll...but the winner was Olette/Roxas/Namine! (And just by one vote! WOW! And this included the anonymous voters, too!)

I'd like to hear what you thought about this. :D

-Shana-san