For Kaylan,

for without whom, there would be no Rane

and for my readers,

for without whom there would be no story

Foreword: You probably don't want to read this story. I know that sounds like a strange thing for an author to say but I'm saying it anyways. If you haven't read any of my other work, you may not want to start here. My first two stories are: Battered Hearts and Better Endings, and Black Butler III: The Unrecorded Contracts. I began writing this story in the ending stages of Battered Hearts and Better Endings. I had written it for a good friend of mine who was more enthusiastic about my work than I had expected. I asked for her three favorite characters in Kingdom Hearts and from there, I ran with it. But as I continued to write, I grew nervous. It wasn't like anything I had written before. Romance and humor isn't a genre I'm used to. But my friends liked it. Kaylan REALLY liked it. So it gave me the confidence I needed to post this here for you. I hope you enjoy it just as well. And as always, thank you.

-D.B.

"How do I look?" Axel turned to face Riku, who was lounging back on his bed with a book open. Peering up from the book, Riku's eyebrows shot up.

"You look like a priest from hell." He said flippantly.

Axel's normally shaggy red hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail that exploded into spikes behind the tie. He wore a black suit jacket and a white shirt with matching slacks. He was still working the knot on his tie. Giving up, Axel let it hang loose from his neck.

"You are by far the worst roommate in the history of this school." He replied with an unamused glare.

By this point you must be thoroughly confused. Let me back up a bit. Does a week sound good? I think so. Let's start there.

Axel flung his dorm room door open and nearly nailed another student with its brass knob. His arms stretched over his head, he was dressed in his normal school uniform. White shirt, black slacks and a matching jacket. His hair was messy as usual over his vibrant green eyes. His roommate, Riku, pushed past him in a half-asleep attempt to get to class. His white grey hair wasn't quite as long or wild as Axel's but it still made him look like the school "bad-ass."

The hall was as you would expect in a boarding school. Tile flooring, lined with dorm rooms on either side of the hall. A high ceiling that showed a few of the wood beams that held it all together and a few skylights every few feet. The hall was filled with students heading in various directions, mostly for the same reason.

"Hey guys!" Came a shout from down the hall. The call had come from a shorter boy with spiked brown hair.

"Morning, Sora." Axel called back when the boy finally reached them. Riku muttered something that could be taken as a greeting as well.

"Did you guys hear the news?" Asked Sora. Axel arched an eyebrow.

"Hear what news? We just got up, literally." He said the last while nudging Riku who had dozed off against the wall beside him. Riku nearly fell over but woke up just in time to catch himself.

"Classes are canceled today. All of them!" The boy replied excitedly. Riku, now a little more awake, rubbed the heels of his palms in his eyes.

"Any specific reason why?" He asked. Sora shook his head.

"Dunno, but they sent a text message to everyone's phones to tell us. Wait, why didn't you guys get the message?"

"No we kinda slept in." Axel grinned and pushed Riku again, this time Riku fell onto his hands.

"Exhibit A." Axel explained. Riku, Stood and dusted himself off, throwing a glare at his roommate.

"Well if there's no class, I'm going back to bed." He said pushing past Axel again who stepped aside this time.

Axel eyed Sora's clothes. The shorter boy was dressed in black shorts and a matching over shirt left open revealing a blue under shirt and a crown necklace.

"I guess this explains why you're not in uniform." Sora smiled and shrugged in response.

"Let me get changed, then meet me out front. We can go into town finally." Axel said turning back into his room. Sora agreed and scampered off, lively as ever into the thinning crowd.

Axel shut his door and set to changing out of his uniform. When finished, he wore a pair of loose black jeans and a grey t-shirt. Picking up his wallet and keys he saw his phone glow with a new message. It was the text everyone else had gotten earlier, followed by a second message from Larxene.

-We still on for tonight?-

Axel replied with a simple "yes" and clicked off the screen stuffing the phone in his pocket. Axel picked up one more thing before heading out. He pulled a pair of riding goggles around his neck where they hung loose.

Outside the school, students were already putting their day off to good use. They sat in the shade of trees reading, talking, and if they were a couple, making out. Axel ducked away from an incoming frisbee. The girl that threw it called out an apology but Axel just waved it off as no big deal.

"Ready to go?" Sora asked from the end of the sidewalk. He held a long board almost as tall as he was.

"You're not really going to make me pull you on that thing right?" Axel groaned.

"Hey not everyone has a license you know." Sora replied defensively. With a sigh, Axel shrugged.

"Just watch out for the exhaust pipe this time. I don't wanna fry you again like last time."

Axel swung one leg over the seat of his motorcycle and fired up the engine. The sound filled the courtyard gaining him a few glances. The bike was slim but held more power than most cars in the school. The red paint job was sleek and unblemished with flames blazing down the sides. He revved the engine twice and pulled his goggles up over his eyes. With Sora clutching the tail of the bike, the two sped off to town, taking the side streets to keep from getting pulled over.

"Let's head to Traverse plaza!" Sora shouted over the growling engine. Axel nodded and turned easily down another street that would take them to the center of town. Traverse plaza was the center of everything. It had a mall, park and the occasional tourist trap. All-in-all it was the perfect place to go on an unexpected vacation. The off-kilter architecture of the surrounding buildings gave the whole area a kind of amusement park feel.

The boys arrived only a moment later. There was an exceedingly low crime rate in the area so Sora left his board beside the motorcycle and walked away.

"So what did you want to come here for?" Asked Axel. He wasn't given the response he had expected, but it wasn't exactly unexpected either.

"Kairi!" Sora exclaimed and bolted down the street. A short red haired girl ran towards him as well and the two latched onto each other like magnets.

"Of course." Axel sighed rolling his eyes at them.

Kairi wasn't a student at Twilight academy like the others but that didn't stop her from stealing Sora away any chance she got. On more than one occasion, Sora had snuck out at night to meet up with her. Axel knew about it but couldn't hold it against him seeing as Axel had done the same for a few other women at the school every so often.

"If you two keep that up you'll suck each other's face off." Axel joked. The couple pulled reluctantly away and Kairi smiled up at him.

"What's the matter Axel? Jealous?" She teased.

"Yeah. You keep stealing my man." He teased back. Sora opened his mouth but couldn't find his voice. Instead he flushed almost as red as his friends hair. Kairi laughed and kissed Sora's cheek comfortingly.

"Well I guess you'll have to get used to it." She said with a smile.

"So, what's next?" Kairi asked cheerfully. It had been three hours since the trio had met in the plaza and since then, they had browsed several stores for nothing in particular, eaten ice cream, and gone to see a movie. Axel shrugged in response. Just then his phone buzzed in his pocket.

"Well Riku is finally awake. He wants me to help him study for his final." Axel said while texting his reply.

"Can I trust you to get him home tonight?" He asked. Sora glared at him.

"I'll be fine Axel. Go on." Sora shooed him away and took Kairi's hand. Axel said his goodbyes and drove home.

"No, strike up, strike left then block! It's not that hard." Riku instructed for the 800th time. Axel adjusted the fencing mask over his face and tried to follow the steps again.

"I don't see why Sora isn't helping you with this. I'm not even in fencing." He complained.

"Because Sora is busy and you're not." Riku replied stepping back from the high strike again.

Axel stumbled again and missed his mark.

"Wait a second." He dropped the tip of his foil to the ground.

"You don't really need help with this. Sora got you to call me away so he could be alone with Kiari didn't he?"

"Took you long enough." Axel pulled off his mask and tucked it under his arm.

"You guys suck." He said. Riku pulled off his own mask. It was obvious there wouldn't be anymore so called training today.

"Larxene is still waiting for you tonight anyways so what are you complaining about?" Riku reminded him. They tucked away the equipment neatly in a large gym bag which Riku slung over one shoulder.

"I'm complaining because he could have just said 'hey I wanna go on a date with Kairi' and I would have left." Riku shook his head.

"You and I both know it's not just a date." He said with a smirk.

"Listen I'm really sorry I lied. He was just afraid you'd be hurt if he just kicked you to the curb." Riku tried his best to be easy. He knew that Axel was tough but everyone can still be hurt by little things once in a while.

"It's cool. You meant well. I'm going back to the dorm. I need to change before Larxene shows up." Axel replied. Riku nodded and followed him.

Back at the dorm, the two of them found themselves playing video games rather than getting Axel ready. Before they knew it, two whole hours had passed and Axel was going to be late in the next few minutes if he didn't hurry. Quickly, the red haired man threw on a clean shirt and jeans and took off out the door.

"I almost thought you had forgotten." Teased Larxene as he came rushing down the stairs into the main hall. "It's not like you to be late." She was dressed in a black tank top and a matching skirt. Her blonde hair pushed back as usual. Axel silently thanked Riku for throwing a buttoned shirt at him in his rush to get changed.

"I just got caught up helping Riku with his fencing." He lied. It had been two whole hours since then. What he had really been doing was helping Riku finish a boss battle they had been stuck on for a week. Their victory dance had saved him when he had caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall.

"I thought you hated fencing." She remarked, taking his arm and leading him outside.

"I do but he needed the help." Another small lie as Riku had never needed his help at all.

"So where are we going?" Axel asked, steering the conversation away from him. Larxene smiled up at him.

"I thought we could go dancing." She replied. Axel's eyebrows shot up.

"You want to go dancing? Where?"

"Tron's. It's that nightclub downtown." Her smile grew wider. Axel was genuinely surprised. Larxene wasn't usually one for making public appearances. Let alone in a crowded club. He let it slide and climbed into the passenger side of her small car. They had agreed it would be best to take her car because his motorcycle wasn't designed to have passengers. Axel grinned inwardly at the thought of Larxene holding onto the tail of his bike while riding Sora's longboard.

The drive into town was short but mostly quiet. Larxene tried to make small talk but found she wasn't very good at it. Minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of a huge building with a large neon blue sign that read "Tron Legacy." Inside, electronic and techno music blared from hidden speakers all around them while various lights danced around to the rhythm, filling the dark club. Larxene tugged Axel to the dance floor immediately. The whole thing seemed odd to him. Never in his life would he have pegged her for a dancer, but there she was.

The whole night played out smoothly. They danced, laughed and even relaxed at the bar. Neither of them old enough to actually drink but it was nice to just sit down for a while. Everything seemed to play out like a normal night, but all good things must come to an end and tonight was no exception. For nearly twenty minutes, Larxene had been stealing glances past Axel. Finally he turned in his barstool to see what she was looking at. Seated at the other end of the bar was a man with black spiked hair and golden eyes. He wore a black and red skin tight t-shirt and jeans. It took a moment to register but once it did, it put Axel in a fowl mood.

"How long were you going to wait to tell me?" He asked Larxene trying to keep the ice out of his voice. Larxene's gaze shot back to Axel in a mixture of confusion, fear and guilt.

"You didn't want to go dancing at all did you?" He continued. Larxene had lost her ability to speak in full sentences.

"I...Axel...he..." She stumbled.

Axel stood up and down the rest of his drink.

"Next time you want to use someone to make your ex jealous, find someone who doesn't know your name." He snarled. He turned and left her at the bar dumbfounded. For weeks rumors had gone around that Larxene was desperate to have her ex, Vanitas, back after a bad break up. When she had asked Axel if he wanted to go out sometime, he had discarded the rumors as just that, rumors. Now he was kicking himself for not thinking twice. Axel left the club and walked home. In a normal story, Axel would have run into a friend on the way home, Sora perhaps. Or maybe someone would pass by and offer him a ride or it would start raining to make the scene all the more upsetting for him. But none of these things happened. Axel just walked home alone under the clear night sky with the street lamps and a sliver of the moon to light his way.

"How was the date?" Asked Sora as Axel closed his dorm room door behind him. Sora had apparently beaten him home and was seated on the edge of Riku's bed, game controller in hand.

"It was wonderful. I saw 37 black cars 12 white ones and 6 red." He replied as it it was the most normal answer to that sort of question. Sora looked at him confused.

"And? What about Larxene?" He pressed.

"Oh I left her ass at Tron's. I figured it was a perfectly suitable way to end the night with a girl who was using someone else to get her ex back." The room was silent save for the music coming from the pause screen on the tv. It was Riku who broke the silence.

"It sounds like you need to vent your frustrations in a violent way. Here, the werewolf Alpha is on the next level." He said handing him the controller. Axel smiled and took the controller, flopping on his bed.