Author's Note: This isn't the real world. It's the Final Fantasy AU world mostly. It won't be holding to the real history at all but most of the characters are featured. Enjoy!
"Ow." Came the muffled voice from within the small lean-to. There was a rustling sound as blankets were pushed aside and clothes were put on. Finally a young man with red hair climbed out, plastic bag in hand. "Laundry day is the pits." Scratching himself a few times he glanced up at the sun. It was just barely rising. "Hmm." Slinging the bag over his shoulder he glanced around warily.
He was living in a deserted lot in a fairly decent neighborhood. It was very working class and his family owned a house only a short distance away. He never intended to stay there again but as long as his brother wasn't home, which he wouldn't be at this hour, he could sneak in and get his clothing done and take a shower. Maybe even steal a bit of food although that was dangerous. The last thing he wanted was for his brother to change the locks. He usually just got a muffin at the coffee shop as he waited for the school bus to arrive. Seeing no dangers he got started walking, ignoring the cars puttering by. There weren't very many. Most people took public transit, rode bikes or went on foot.
Axel walked up the path to an old, threadbare house and saw with relief that his brother's car was missing. He was good to go and opened the door with his key, going inside. The old wood creaked under his feet and Axel reflected that the house got worse every year. Was his brother spending anything on upkeep? Was there anything to spend? Probably. The one think their father was generous with was money.
Shoving all his clothes into the washing machine, Axel went to the bathroom for a good hot bath. The clothes would take a while which was why he'd gotten up so early. He settled in to soak with a sigh, just enjoying the feeling of hot water against his skin. Soon he was scrubbing himself thoroughly. By the time he was done the bath the clothes were ready for the drier and he tossed them in, setting it to as quick a time as possible. His clothes were pretty sturdy and could survive the mistreatment. As soon as they were done he packed them into his bag and carried them back to his shelter. Finally, with all that done, he grabbed his school bag and went to catch the bus.
Axel reflected wryly that most of his fellow students would likely faint if they knew how he lived. He was enrolled in a rather good school, thanks to his father. Not that it made much difference to Axel except that the bus trip was longer. He was a straight C student, although he could have produced A's and B's if he'd had any motivation. Well, and if there had been a good way to do his homework. Life was hard when the days were short and he was trying to study with the help of a flashlight. It just didn't seem worth the effort. The local Burger Barn had kicked him out when he tried to study there.
"Oh well." Axel muttered as he caught the bus. "It's something to do." He didn't mind school. He rather enjoyed the company of the other students. He was friends with almost everyone and people really liked and appreciated him there. It was odd, but school was almost a refuge from the rest of his life.
"Hey Axel!" Axel grinned as he headed to the back of the bus and slumped into place in his usual spot. Demyx grinned at him, plucking a few chords on his Sitar. Axel had no idea where he'd gotten the thing. It wasn't a normal instrument here. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good." He said amiably. "I got a new jacket, see?" He'd actually found it at the local thrift store, cleaned it up and then done the painting on the back himself. The fabric paints seemed to be wearing well and the picture of dancing flames was a bit stylized but very pretty. He turned so Demyx could see the work.
"Nice! You did that?" Demyx admired it. "You should paint one for me sometime." Axel laughed at that.
"Sure!" He knew his artwork was good although he didn't think it would ever go anywhere. Just like his life would never go anywhere. But that was the breaks sometimes and Axel wasn't about to dwell on it. "Just get me a jacket and I'll do it for you." He loved painting and had a ton of materials in his little hideaway. Demyx beamed.
"You're awesome. Oh, have you heard about the new kid who's coming to our school?" Axel shook his head. He hadn't heard anything about a new kid, although maybe he'd just forgotten. His memory wasn't the best.
"No, what kid is that?" It had to be something interesting for Demyx to notice. He was almost as scattered as Axel. The sandy-blonde haired boy smiled for a moment as he strummed his sitar.
"Roxas Shinra! He's related to Rufus somehow. Cousin I think. Anyway, he's really rich. No one is sure why he's coming here." Axel blinked and wondered. Was that a coincidence or had Reno asked Dolang to get him to be friendly to the kid? Probably, but if so the message had died right there. He and his middle brother didn't talk and Reno didn't know that.
"Huh, that's weird. My oldest brother works for Rufus." Axel wondered if the kid would recognize him. It wasn't hard to see his resemblance to Reno. Demyx looked impressed.
"Wow, neat!" The Shinra family were pretty much the rulers of the planet, although no one would put it that way. It was a company, after all. But Rufus was still calling the shots. "I wonder if he'll know you?"
"Eh, probably not. I'm no one important." That was nothing but the truth. Axel felt a moment of bitterness before shrugging it off. There was nothing he could do about that. When he was eighteen he'd be old enough to sign contracts in his own name and he'd ditch school for good. He'd already been held back twice, there was no point in finishing. Axel thought perhaps he'd go see if the construction companies were hiring. He'd already done it in the summer, although he was technically too young to hold down a job without parental permission. A shady contractor had no objections to hiring him under the table. Axel suspected a few of the things he'd done had been truly unsafe but he'd survived. That was all that mattered.
They were all settled in class when the new kid finally showed up. He came in escorted by a man Axel recognized instantly. Tseng. The kid himself had beautiful blond hair like Rufus, but spiky where his was flat. He looked cute as a button, with angelic features and baby blue eyes but his expression was sullen. Axel blinked as he noticed a cuff around his ankle. A motion monitor? What had this kid done? He was sure most of the other students here wouldn't recognize it though. Axel traveled in less savory circles sometimes. Well, a lot of the time. Tseng said something to the boy in a soft voice that didn't fool Axel for a moment. The kid would be a moron to disobey. Apparently he thought so too because the blonde boy just nodded sullenly and took a seat at the back of the class, right beside Axel. Axel glanced at him curiously but the kid didn't look at him.
"Class, we have a new student today." The teacher said brightly, smiling. "This is Roxas Shinra. Roxas, please stand and tell us something about yourself." Roxas glowered and stood.
"Hello. I'm here because I did drugs and stole money from my parents." There was a shocked silence then whispers and Axel couldn't help a surprised laugh. Roxas shot him a poisonous look as he sat down and Axel gave him an apologetic smile. The teacher looked a bit stunned but managed to recover.
"Uh, I see. Well, I'm sure you'll do well here. Now class, let's begin with page 58…" Axel let the lesson wash over him as he glanced at the blonde out of the corner of his eye. He was really incredibly cute and pretty interesting besides. The fact that he might know his brother was the only thing that put off Axel.
Maybe he would have to try to get to know Roxas better. He was interesting at least.
Roxas already hated the school.
It was preppy and fake. All the students were from 'good' families, although not as rich as the ones at the last school he'd gone to. Not as decadent in their tastes either. No, this was an upper-middle class school for the good children. It made him want to grit his teeth. He was sure they would all be trying to be friends with him for his connection to Rufus.
The only one who seemed a bit out of place was that annoying redhead beside him. The boy was whistling to himself softly and it made Roxas want to stab him with his pencil. But then, a lot of noises were bothering him right now. Going through rehab was turning out to be a bitch. But the redhead didn't seem to fit in with the other kids. They were all diligently taking notes and he was just doodling something… and wasn't he too old for this class? Roxas was fourteen but this kid looked sixteen at the least, maybe older. He looked a bit like Reno but Roxas quickly dismissed the resemblance. He'd heard about Reno's brother. Apparently he was some kind of super-kid with great marks, not a slacking kid in the back of the class.
Roxas realized he was paying far too much attention to some nameless boy and bent his head down over his work, working at it. If he got his grades back up maybe he could get out of this place, back to the school with all his friends. Although maybe not. But at least it was something to do.
He was oblivious to an interested glance from warm green eyes.
Several weeks later.
Axel was having a very hard time getting Roxas to warm up to him. It was very surprising really. Usually newcomers to the school succumbed to his charm and easy manner immediately. Axel sometimes thought of himself as the welcoming committee. With his personality and striking looks, Axel was a popular figure despite his grades. But Roxas was standoffish and cold, refusing invitations to lunch and after school games. It was puzzling.
Then a perfect opportunity arose. The class had to do a project on various athletic games and he and Roxas were paired together to do the Wutai national games. Axel knew nothing about it at all but faced the prospect of research with good cheer. It would be fun, especially with a cute blonde beside him. They were all given time to go to the library and Axel sat down beside Roxas at a table.
"So are we ready to rumble?" Axel said happily as he pulled out his books. Roxas grunted and looked down at the books he was researching from. "What do you want me to start with?"
"You can work on the illustrations." Axel's smile wilted a bit around the edges. That was the easiest part of the assignment. Did Roxas think he wasn't capable of more? But then his smile came back in full force as he considered exactly how to do it. He loved art and was really good at it, Roxas was probably just giving him what he was good at!
"Sure!" Axel grabbed a piece of paper and began drawing. It was a tentative sketch and Axel's eyes half closed as he tried to capture the movement of running. "Hmmm." Glancing up at Roxas' lowered head he grinned and impishly gave one of the runners short, spiky hair. The other he gave a wild mane similar to his own. "Sooo Roxas! You just arrived in town right? Know any of the sights?"
"My cousin's people have been showing me around." Roxas voice held no warmth but Axel was far too caught up in his own happiness to care. He leaned close to the blonde with a grin and Roxas looked up with a frown. Axel examined bright blue eyes and smiled, his own green eyes warm.
"Nice! But would you like to go out for coffee after this? Or to a movie, or the arcade?" Roxas' lip curled in disgust and Axel tilted his head to one side. "What, you don't like coffee?"
"I don't like you." Roxas said sharply and Axel flinched away like he'd been slapped, astonishment on his face. No one had said something like that to him since… He stomped the memory flat, locked it in a box and tried to bury it in a tar pit. "Can we get on with it?"
"What do you mean?" Axel couldn't keep the bewilderment out of his voice. "I'm just trying to be friendly. What's your problem?" He didn't understand why Roxas wouldn't like him. They hardly knew each other. Well, sure, some people thought his loud voice was annoying but still…
"I don't like social climbers or idiots, and you're both. You're also annoying. Now, can we get on with this? I'd rather not spend anymore time with you than I have to." Axel stared at the blonde boy for a long moment, stunned into silence. Then he stood and shoved his books back into his bag. Roxas looked up with a frown. "Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving." Axel's voice was rough and Roxas blinked as he saw the anger in the redhead's face. "Do it yourself." That astonished him.
"What! I'll tell the teacher. You'll get a zero." Axel laughed derisively as he slung his bag over his shoulder and began to walk out. "It's the middle of school!" Axel couldn't just leave. Could he? Axel paused a moment and looked over his shoulder with a vicious smile.
"I don't give a fuck. And here's another thing. I don't give a fuck about my grade and I hate Shinra. So fuck off Roxas." Axel stalked out, not listening as someone called after him.
What did he care?