Word Count: This chapter - 1,229; thus far - 1,667; in total - unknown.
Warnings, disclaimers, and etcetera still applies.
After their first meeting, Roxas still hated Axel.
In fact, take away the 'still hated' and replace them with 'despised'.
Besides the whole overconfident issue, Axel liked playing mind games on everyone around him. He never did anything to hide who he was – or what his appearance led anyone to believe – but he'd trick you with his buddies, the places he'd go to, and the things he's involved with. He caused girls to fall heads over heels for him, and then drop them like flies. He doesn't even have to bat away all the girls falling at his feet. The girls already do that to each other.
On the day of their first meeting, Roxas was walking home alone, taking the route through the plaza. Usually, he'd either take the bus with Pence and Olette or skateboard with Hayner, but he broke his skateboard recently trying to learn a new trick on it, and he gave all his munny to Rai to bribe him into fixing his skateboard for him. No skateboard meant no riding with Hayner, and no munny meant no bus fare. So here he was, all alone.
Unless you count all the other people around him in the plaza, the shoppers, the hobos, and the group of teenagers hanging around the fountain.
Bored, Roxas glanced this way and that around the street. There was nothing of interest and he sighed. A new trick wasn't worth this kind of boredom and loneliness. It just wasn't fun.
Slowly, his eyes looked over to Axel and the other people. Today, there weren't any girls. It was just the gang of black coated figures. Roxas eyed Axel, who was smoking and playing with his lighter. His eyes traced the fire and he was enraptured by the dancing flames. He didn't know how long he stared, but when Axel suddenly flung his fag into the fountain with a hiss, Roxas jumped a little. Axel turned to look at him from the movement, and Roxas quickly looked away. He stared down at his moving feet, one in front of the other.
And then he scowled.
Sure, Roxas was by no means a tree hugger or a hippie, but that didn't mean he condoned littering. He also rather liked the fountain, with its clean appearance and the simple water. And the fact that it was the irritating Axel who did it just cinched it. His anger was aroused.
"Man, I hate that guy." Roxas muttered to himself darkly.
When a hand unexpectedly landed on his shoulder, Roxas jumped again. "Hate who?" A voice chuckled in his ears. The voice was scratchy, unlike any that Roxas had ever heard of before, but it was deep and accented. If not for the owner, then it might've been attractive. But too bad for that.
When Roxas turned around with a clenched fist, it was to no surprise that it was Axel who grabbed him. "What do you want?" Roxas growled out, enunciating the 'you' with a shaking fist. Axel grasped the fist tightly in his own and chuckled again. And with that hand, he pulled Roxas' body closer to his own.
"How 'bout a number, lovely?" Axel cooed into Roxas' ear. In reply, Roxas snarled at him hatefully.
"I don't have a cellphone, idiot. Let go!" Roxas tried to wrench his hand free, but Axel's grip was tight and unrelenting. Roxas tried to twist his body farther away from Axel, but Axel's other hand quickly shot out and grabbed his waist. "Let go, damnit!" Roxas cried and tried to head-butt Axel, but only succeeded in hitting Axel's shoulder and hurting no one but himself.
"That hurts, love. It does, but I know you're lying." Axel said back gently, unlike his cold hands gripping him. The hand on Roxas' waist dipped lower, reaching into a pocket. "Hm? Not here. Well, I saw you with one before, at the arcade, and you seemed pretty possessive and careful with it. Those kinds of qualities seem to scream ownership at me." With that said, Axel's hand traveled to the other pocket, which didn't have it.
"That wasn't mine! I only treated it like that because my older brother would kill me if I scratched it!" That wasn't true on two accounts. Roxas did have a cell. It was a prepaid one, one that he worked hard for with part-time jobs around town. He wasn't about to let some moron try to waste his minutes. And if he did have Sora's cell, Sora wouldn't be the one killing Roxas. Riku would, since he was Sora's lapdog.
Axel didn't like Roxas' tone of voice much, and Roxas froze, tense, when he felt a hand slipping around his waste and slapping his butt cheeks to look for the phone. It wasn't there, but Axel kept his hand on Roxas' butt anyways.
"Too bad then, love. I think I'd just hold onto you until I get a number." Axel smirked cheekily. When Roxas merely growled with no reply, he laughed roughly and the sound, like the voice that would've appealed to him if it were not the owner, irritated him instead of tickling him. "Oh, don't be like that." Axel licked Roxas' earlobe. "I wouldn't want anyone watching to think this is rape."
"Let me go!"
It was futile.
"C'mon. Just one li'l number. It ain't that hard." Axel whispered.
Roxas suddenly remembered his other hand, the free one. He clenched it tightly into a balled fist but didn't punch Axel. It probably wouldn't have bothered Axel and would hurt him more than it hurt Axel like with the head-butt. So his only choice was to tell him the number...
"Fine! Just let me go!"
Axel let go without a word, a smug smirk on his lips, and some strange gleam in his eyes. He crossed his arms in a, "Well? Go on," fashion and Roxas stepped back from him. But Roxas didn't run away. Instead, he just muttered sullenly, "877-4992."
"Now, that wasn't so hard, now, was it?" Axel cooed again. Roxas simply threw him a cold glare and walked away stiffly.
When he glanced back five steps later, Axel was still standing there, in the same spot, but his arms were now dropped to his sides. When Axel saw Roxas look back, he gave a mocking cheery wave.
Roxas growled to himself, thinking I hate that guy. Axel really did laugh at Roxas, and he really did mock him. Stupid cocky bastard. But those eyes... emerald-like, precious jades. What did they hold at first, when Roxas said he'd tell him the number? Disappointment? At what? Because Axel couldn't hold him further and trample on his pride and ego some more? Because he couldn't make fun of Roxas some more? Bastard.
A block later, he heard that same scratchy voice call out, "Don't worry! I didn't ask for your number because I liked you or anything. My friends just wanted to recruit you for our gang!"
Without looking back, Roxas felt the building pressure in his chest at once.
Building, boiling, hot anger.
Roxas loathed him.
Author's Note: Man, I hate how the dialogue sounds all forced and... unnatural. Bah. This chapter isn't necessarily long, but it's longer than before. Thanks to Fail the real squid and Jupiter 13 for reviewing, and others for fav'ing and story-alerting. :) See you guys next time! (No guarantees about when it's coming, though.) And I have a LiveJournal now, and updates and such should be there beforehand, and friends would be nice! (Yes, that is a hint!)
Any comment is appreciated!
