A/N: Welcome welcome one and all, to the unveiling of my new story, which will feature actual AkuRoku man lovins! Nothing explicit, but definitely some cute and some dramatic moments. Curious? Read ahead for the beginning :3

Why, hello. I suppose you're wondering who the quaint hero of our story will be. In a nutshell he is Roxas Nakano, second year in high school, reserved teen and silent observer.

Roxas had a few good friends, but mostly he was on the outside. He didn't mind so much; it let him watch other people interact. A favorite subject of his to watch was Axel Shirai. He had magnetism around him that attracted many people, and as such, more drama than most others. This girl or that girl was always hanging around him, and although Roxas hadn't seen Axel do anything with any of them, he assumed that they were just the female flavor of the week.

There were occasional rumors about Axel's sexuality: some said he was gay, others argued his straightness, others assumed that he batted for both teams, and others yet didn't understand why which sex someone preferred to get jiggy with mattered so damn much. Roxas was part of the last group. He'd always assumed himself straight, but considering that he hadn't felt much of anything for anyone yet he wasn't sure. But someone else's sexuality? It didn't matter, unless that person was one who he had feelings for.

It was the middle of lunch, and Roxas was, once again, watching others. His eyes were currently focused on Axel and his group of friends. They all had some odd quirk about them: one had a really weird hairstyle that was the freak bastard-child of a Mohawk and a mullet (from here on out called a mullhawk), but surprisingly he seemed to make it look nice; others had weird colors of hair, such as blue and pink -- and they were men; and one even had silver hair and an odd tan that made him look very peculiar.

As Roxas watched the group, Axel then did something very odd, and he'd never done it before: he noticed. His eyes locked with Roxas's, and then he smiled, giving a small wave. This caused Roxas to frown. People weren't supposed to notice his watching! He was too sneaky for that. But, he supposed, he could have been careless this time. "Weird..." he muttered before quickly turning his attention to a group of giggling girls nearby.

Later in the school day, Roxas was exchanging books. He stuffed what he didn't need into his locker, exchanging it for what he did, and locked things up before turning about-face and unexpectedly colliding with a tall, thin being. "Hey, watch it," he spat out, pushing himself away from whomever he'd walked into. Who was it, anyway?

"Real serpent's tongue you got there, Blondie." That red hair, that "I'm-a-cocky-bastard-now-worship-me" attitude... yup, that was Axel Shirai.

"What do you want?" Roxas said, taking the hostility off his voice, but adding a healthy dose of suspicion.

"Nothing, my locker's over here. Thought I'd introduce myself."

"Well, get on with it," Roxas said with an expectant smirk on his face.

"Fine. Name's Axel Shirai, got it memorized?" He held out his hand to shake, and Roxas took it. He didn't introduce himself, though, as he didn't get a chance. The bell rang, signifying that the next class was close. "Ah, too bad. Catch you later, Blondie." He grinned and waved, leaving Roxas to ponder his chance encounter.

"...'Blondie'?" he muttered incredulously. "God, I hate that nickname already."

xxx xxx xxx

Ah, schoolwork: it was the bane of many a child and teenager still in school. Roxas didn't mind it much, but he did wish for more free time. Outside, the sky was darkening. The sun had nearly set and a small strip of red, hovering parallel to the horizon, was all that could be seen.

With parents out, sibling visiting friends and homework being boring, Roxas couldn't help but let his gaze wander from his work to the window, and he found himself staring at any people who happened to pass. One of them was strangely familiar, and had fiery red hair... "Axel?" Roxas asked himself. He watched for a moment more. The blond noticed the other's pace was particularly slow, and he seemed to be gripping his arm oddly. Something is wrong, Roxas's gut told him. In a few short moments, he moved to the front door, opened it and peeked out towards the other male, who pressed a bare hand to his face, and as it came away his fingers looked wet with a dark liquid.

Before he could consider any awkwardness or odd emotions that would get in the way, Roxas moved outside and called out to Axel, carefully shutting the door behind him. "Is that you, Axel?" There was curiosity in his voice, but also an underlying concern. It caused the other male to look up in surprise. The under-eye tattoos that were visible confirmed his identity as Axel. The redhead obviously hadn't expected anyone to notice him at this point, let alone a short blond whom he'd only run into a few times. Something about the situation amused him, and his lips curved upwards in a smirk as his confident air immediately was put on.

"Hey there Blondie," he said, waving his good arm smoothly. "How's life?" There was a slight smudge of what Roxas assumed to be blood on Axel's chin and lip, and on the hand he waved with. Obviously something had happened, and Axel didn't seem to be open to sharing.

"Oh, it's been pretty good," Roxas said, feigning ignorance and walking down nearer to Axel, bare feet stepping softly on the rough sidewalk. When he was just a few feet away from the obviously injured teen, his eyes flicked over where he assumed the wounds to be. Axel had a purple mark appearing around his eye, and his bad arm was hanging limply at his side. Though his arms were covered by a black hoodie, this inactivity was a clear sign. Normally Axel gestured with both arms frequently.

"Not like yours, I presume." He crossed his arms and his eyebrows met in a frown. "You're in pretty bad shape," he commented, nodding his head at Axel's black eye.

Axel's eyelids widened with some unknown emotion before returning to their normal position. He shrugged. "Nah, this is n--" He was about to say 'this is nothing,' but Roxas had moved closer while he wasn't paying attention and grabbed Axel's arm, turning up upwards and pulling the sleeve of the hoodie down. "Ahh--" Axel's features twisted slightly in a grimace of pain. Roxas's eyes widened at the sight.

His forearm was covered in many small red cuts, scrapes and deep purple bruises. His hand was no better off; it was in similar condition.

"You were saying?" Roxas said his voice a dry tone. "Obviously this is something."

Axel half coughed, half laughed. He pulled his arm away, grunting quietly at the pain. "Yeah, but what I do ain't your business, got it memorized?" Ah, his catchphrase. Roxas had heard him say it occasionally, and here it was, popping up again.

"Fine, fine. If you want to keep it secret, whatever," he snapped. Then his tone softened just slightly. "But you're beat up, obviously. Come in and let me clean you up."

It was less of a request or suggestion than it was an order. This short, unassuming blond was ordering around Axel Shirai? The situation was quite odd, but Axel was in an odd mood. He grinned, despite Roxas's attitude and his arm. "Sure, kid." After all, a nice seat and some antiseptic sounded just fine right about now.

"Come on, then." Roxas turned on his heel and made his way back inside as Axel walked behind him, being slightly gentle on one foot. Roxas didn't notice this until he watched Axel walk inside. "Take your shoes off; my mom likes to keep the floors clean." As his redheaded acquaintance removed his black sneakers, Roxas could see that his foot, too, had bruises, but they didn't look too bad.

He led Axel to the bathroom and instructed him to sit on the toilet before grabbing some hydrogen peroxide and a washrag. After putting some on the rag he held his hand out and Axel put his arm in it without hesitation. Still, it stung, and he took in a sharp breath as it made contact with the numerous injuries. "Tch, be careful with that thing," he half-growled.

Roxas smirked at Axel's comment and continued to clean. "Be thankful I'm even helping you. I have no reason to." As he said these words, he tried to understand exactly why he'd cared to do this in the first place. Must be leftover nursing instincts from when I used to help Sora, he mused. Sora was his twin brother, younger by only a few minutes physically, but he was innocent and childish enough to seem younger by a few years. Roxas had always acted as a voice of reason and responsibility, and often patched up his younger brother's cuts and bruises.

"So what did you do to yourself to get like this, anyway?" Roxas's curiosity could not and would not be sated until he knew how Axel managed to put himself into this state. "It looks like a couple of people just decided to grab you and beat the crap out of you."

Axel snorted and looked away. "You're not far from the truth, Blondie." Obviously his pride had been wounded; that was a much deeper wound than the physical ones he had. "Some guys didn't like the look of me, got it memorized?"

"That's no reason to beat someone up." Roxas frowned. He rinsed the rag out and began the process again, gently cleansing the remainder of Axel's cuts. He had a sneaking suspicion that Axel was still hiding the truth.

Axel sighed. "Yeah, well, some people think it is." He was about to continue when he heard a gasp from Roxas. "What? What is it now?"

"It... your arm... your elbow has a big gash on it." He looked into Axel's eyes, conveying that this was serious. "It's all bruised around it too. Seriously, Axel, what happened?"

An annoyed sigh escaped Axel once again. "Fine, I'll spill. You know those rumors that go around about if I like to screw guys, right?" Roxas pretended to look as if he didn't know anything about it. "Don't lie, Blondie. Everybody knows, got it memorized? Anyway, around four guys decided to jump me when I was coming home." He sent a glance towards his elbow. "I guess I got that when they threw me into that ditch." He hissed as Roxas applied the rag doused with what Axel would now refer to as liquid pain.

"...that must have sucked," Roxas offered, unable to think of something that would fit the situation. Truthfully, he'd never come across such a situation such as this one. He had no words for Axel. But what would he use them for, to make Axel feel better? Being beaten just for being homosexual --when you probably weren't even gay-- wasn't something that could be taken away with a comforting word or two.

Axel's green eyes stared into as Roxas's blue ones as the blond rinsed the rag again and began cleaning up Axel's face. "Yeah," he said, "but wounds heal."

Roxas paused at the sudden eye contact, but continued his clean-up. "Hey, you never did catch my name." Yes, Roxas will take Quick Topic Change for five-hundred, please!

"Nah, I never did..." Axel didn't sound bothered by it, but he did seem interested on what Roxas's name happened to be.

"It's Roxas Nakano."

"Nice to meetcha, Roxie."

"Call me that ever again and I'll pour this bottle of hydrogen peroxide in your eye."

Axel laughed at this. "You got spirit, Blondie."

"I told you, my name is Roxas. Not Roxie. Not Blondie."

"What, no nicknames?"

Roxas smirked, but didn't answer. He did feel an odd stirring inside himself, and knew that he had quickly grown to like this Axel.

A/N: Love-progress happens next chapter. Right now all they are is friends. Little do they know my hand will warp their views, and fluff will bloom, fu fu fu. Now, leave a review telling me what you thought!