HAPPY AKUROKU DAY!

This is not the best chapter for today...I'll try to put something cute up in a minute eheh.

Listening to Dear in Music Box form while writing this was interesting...I swear it was the cutest and saddest scene I've written yet.

Have fun~

(For the record: ... means a break now, because fanfic doesn't like what I was doing for some reason. *shrug*)


Roxas found himself darting through the forest. He paused in the shadows of a tree, blue eyes piercing the shadows of the park. He flicked his tail and shifted his weight from paw to paw, silent despite his fidgeting.

Suddenly the bushes rustled and he froze, fur bristling ever so slightly along his spine and his tail. He crouched lower, prepared to launch himself at any attacker that appeared.

A silver-furred, panther-sized feline slid out of the leaves and eyed Roxas warily through teal optics.

Roxas sighed heavily, relaxing, and eyed Riku with frustration. Riku stared back.

Suddenly they both reared, and smoothly morphed into their human forms.

Riku coughed once and said, "Roxas, you can't keep running from this."

"I can run from it as long as I have legs," he rasped in reply, still glaring at the silver-haired werecat.

Riku sighed heavily. "If that's so, then I'll have to cut them off. Zack says you have to, no matter your reasons for not wanting to."

"Fuck Zack," Roxas snarled, ears flattening against his head. "I won't come back! I quit being SpellMaster for a reason!"

Riku scowled and instinctively they both went into fighting positions, crouched low to the ground, ears flat, tails lashing. "It doesn't matter what you want, Roxas," he snapped. "This is for the good of the Clan."

Roxas shook his head harshly, clenching his hands into fists. "I don't care," he answered, eyes glaring fiercely. "The werecats can all go die for all I care! I want my life back!"

"How dare you!" Riku snarled. "Your words are traitorous! Roxas, stop this! Just come back and do your job, and it'll all be over soon."

"And if I die?" the blond challenged sharply. "If I die, I will never have the chance to fall in love, never have the chance to have a family, never have a chance to actually have a life! I don't want to be a werecat! And you know full well the most endangered member of the Clan is the head spellcaster. People target them, because they know if they take out the person in charge of magic, the whole Clan falls—"

"And if there is no SpellMaster, then the Clan falls quickly!" Riku cried out. He spread his arms in a placating gesture. "Roxas, please, we need you. And if you have no Clan, you will die as well."

Roxas hesitated, unsure after that remark. It hadn't occurred to him that without a Clan to protect him, the other species would still attempt to kill him…

The blond sagged, defeated. "Fine," he murmured softly. "I'll go back. But once this is over, I'm returning to my life again."

"That's all we can ask for," Riku assured him gently. He walked over and clapped him on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "It'll be okay, you'll see."

...

Roxas was back in the café. He had his head resting on the table, arms limp by his side. He was trying to keep his mind blank. He wanted to take up his own mental advice and enjoy the little free time he had until he was called in by the Patriarch to defend his Clan, but if he tried, he would focus on the gloomy aspects of things, and it wasn't helping. He had seen several flowers and instead of thinking how pretty they were, he figured on how fleeting their life was. He saw the sun and rather than thinking about the life it brought, he thought about how the surface could kill, about how it drained creatures of their life source. How ridiculously, irritatingly hot it was.

"Hey, Roxy."

Roxas growled from his position, "Don't call me that."

Axel didn't answer, but his aura of amusement was practically tangible. Roxas heard the chair scrape the tile as he sat across from him and noticed consciously for the first time the interesting smell that washed over him, one of cinnamon, smoke, and fur.

Roxas crinkled his nose in distaste and raised his head. He hesitated when he saw the concern in the emerald eyes, but then ignored it. "Do you smoke?" he inquired in a callous tone. "And have a dog?" Although honestly, he really didn't mind the smell too much. It was strange how rather attractive it was, considering he hated smokers and, most of the time, dogs.

Axel shrugged. "I do smoke, although not often. And yeah I have a dog." He seemed so relaxed as he added the last bit, but something in his eyes…some glint was a bit off that Roxas noticed.

The blond narrowed his eyes imperceptibly, but said nothing. He had cast off his earlier suspicions of Axel being an enemy—anyone would look at you funny if you growled, really—but this was making them resurface. If Axel was lying about a dog…He decided to test the theory. "What kind of dog?" he asked curiously.

Axel made a face like he was concentrating. "A German Shepherd," he replied, looking satisfied with himself.

Roxas nodded to himself; the scent was rather like a German Shepherd. He dispelled his fears again and gave the redhead a questioning look. "So?" he asked. "What're you here for?"

"Coffee!" Axel answered happily, showing him the cup in his hand. "Although, I'll admit I was hoping to run into you again."

Roxas smiled weakly. "I may not come around here anymore after today," he murmured without thinking.

Axel's casual smirk disappeared. "Why not?" he asked, his concern back. "It's not because of me, is it?"

Roxas's head shot up. "No! Of course it's not your fault."

Axel smiled a little. "Well, that's good," he chuckled. "I was worried I was annoying you."

Roxas smiled back. "You might be, a little," he joked. "Anyway, yeah…I probably won't be coming around here, because I, er…" He hesitated and quickly came up with a white lie. "…I got my job back and it's going to take up a lot of time."

To his surprise, the redhead's eyes darkened. "I can understand that," he murmured, looking down at his gloved hands splayed out over the tabletop.

Roxas looked at them as well, confused. He waited for Axel to go on, but he didn't, so they just sat there, staring at his hands until the taller man suddenly exhaled sharply and said, "Well, I need to leave soon. My, er, assistant is still new to our job and he wanted to do something later. I'll need to help him out with it."

Roxas nodded absently, but as Axel went to stand up, the blond suddenly reached over and snagged his wrist. They both stared at the connection in surprise. Roxas realized why he had done that, and, without thinking, blurted out, "Just…Just stay a little bit longer."

Axel looked down at him, expressionless, for a moment. Then he nodded and sat back down with a faint smile. He remarked, "Well, that's perfectly fine with me."

The blond couldn't help it; he smiled in reply and let go of Axel's wrist. But the redhead caught his hand and held it, still smiling at him.

Roxas froze, unsure of how to react. He decided after a moment that it wasn't so bad, especially since Axel's hand was rather comfortingly warm, and relaxed.

They sat like that for some time before Axel sighed regretfully and murmured, "I really do need to leave."

Roxas unintentionally squeezed the gloved hand before gently freeing his own and standing, feeling a faint blush on his face. He smiled at Axel again and said, "Well, it was nice seeing you again."

"Yeah." Axel bit his lip like he was thinking something over, and then he shook his head and just grinned at him again. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime, Roxy."

He didn't have the heart to tell him off for the nickname for some reason. He felt like his insides were being clenched in a fist and he almost wanted to ask Axel to hang out sometime, or at least for some further connection…but they didn't even know each other that well. He bit his lip as well, then shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away. "Yeah," he murmured. "I'll definitely see you again."

Axel nodded once, sharply, then turned and left, waving vaguely over his shoulder.

Roxas didn't understand why he felt so empty.

...

The blond walked in the door to his apartment, head down and thoughts chaotic.

Sora came plunging down the stairs, grinning, a cheerful greeting on his lips. But he took one look at Roxas's face and the words died, his expression turning to a frown. "Hey, Rox?" he murmured cautiously.

The blond shook himself free from his preoccupation and looked up at the brunet. "Yeah, So?" he asked. He didn't notice how bleak his voice was.

Sora blinked at him and remarked, "You look pretty down. Are you okay?"

Roxas flinched. "I do?" He rubbed his arm unconsciously and bit his lip again. "Um, yeah, I'm fine. I'm…perfectly okay." He couldn't tell Sora, and that depressed him. He couldn't tell his brother about anything…not about being forced to rejoin the active werecat army, not about his terrible choice with Axel…Sora wouldn't understand. He felt his mood sink lower and wondered if he was headed for a depression. He sighed and told Sora, "Really, I'm fine. Tell me when dinner's ready, okay?"

"Actually, about that…" Sora fidgeted nervously, blushing. "I was going to tell you…I was going to go out with Riku tonight…but I think I'll cancel." He frowned at the blond. "I don't think I should leave you alone."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine alone, I'm not going to do anything," he sighed. "You go ahead and go out with Riku." An undeniable feeling of jealously shot through him and he inwardly frowned; he could understand being jealous, as he hadn't had a real date in years, but for some reason, it felt more like his jealously was focused around a person. He perused it, and he was surprised by the result.

He wanted to go out with Axel.

Strangely, the moment he knew what he wanted, his resentment and gloom filled him even more. He growled in his head and reassured Sora, "I'll take care of myself."

Sora eyed him uncertainly before nodding slowly. "If you say so," he replied cautiously.

Roxas went up to his room and collapsed on his bed, his head in his hands. He felt so depressed…Why didn't I give him my phone number? he wailed inwardly. Why did I return to the army? Why did I give in? WHY? He didn't realize he was crying until he was choking on sobs and continued to hold them back. I wanted a life, a chance at something other than being a werecat…he thought. I ruined it. Not only did they force me back, I lost my one chance at falling love. God, I hope I find Axel again.

He was probably a werewolf, you know, a voice inside him commented. You're better off this way. No chance that you'll fall in love with a wolf that will rip your world to shreds, and you, too, if he found out you were a werecat. And you're part of something important again. You can protect your friends and family, your real family.

My real family…Axel is not family…

It was almost like he was brainwashing himself into accepting all that had happened in the course of a couple of days. There was no going back. He would just have to live with it.

He transformed into a cat and curled up on his bed…It was better trying to sleep as a cat, because cats can't shed tears. That didn't stop the pain, though.


Well that's sad! XP I'm sorry, it's a bad chapter for Akuroku Day, but at least there's some cute stuff in there, too. I have no idea where this is going to go at the moment XD.

Since no one told me any thoughts about my question, the next chapter will start Soriku. I'll switch out from now on, I just needed this to be Akuroku for today.

Going to post something short and sweet in a bit for Akuroku Day. Keep an eye out for it! :D

Thanks for reading! ^w^ Please critique