HELLO, AND HAPPY GRENADE! Sorry I took so long to update... you...three people waiting... XD Life got in the way, ya know how it is~! Anyway, real quick before I skedaddle:
~MAJORLY IMPORTANT THE EARTH WILL IMPLODE IF YOU DO NOT READ: Could someone please send me details on the American schooling system? I'd rather use that for this story than Australian. (which I am... ) So just, what are the year levels in primary school, highschool... don't you guys have a middle school or sumfink? . Sorry, I'm hopeless... so help!
~Disclaimer: I don't own KH or anything slightly related... you know how it goes. I do own this story however...
YAOI (!) warning... well, in this chapter, it's up to you what you see... but there are tiny weeny hints, and lots of cuteness...
! Keep reading for short haired Axel, bullies, playgrounds and lotsa LURV...
~I don't like the whole 'recommended listening' thing, so instead I'll just write down any songs that inspired me, or I listened to, under 'inspiration': The Show, Lenka (for the very start, before the bullies) Peacemaker, Green Day (bully bit :D)
~Here are my character notes for this story...don't read them if you don't even the tiniest hint of what might happen! (though I bleeped some out) Larxene (14), Lexaeus (13), Zexion(8), Xaldin(16), - Bullies. Zexion just goes along with it, he hasn't been ok since his /?/, but eventually he erm... turns... good? Maybe? ;D Lexaeus is just the muscle – he vents on others since/?/. Larxene enjoys pain, Marluxia enjoys being in control, Xaldin loves being intimidating. Basically, those 3 suck. Vexen (16)- Still a bully, but only does the thinking – or so it appears. A bit of a coward when it comes down to it. Marluxia (14) – Loner. More to be revealed... possibly some MarNami... Demyx (8) – Nice guy, but lazy as hell. Doesn't bully, but doesn't help, either. Zemyx? Xemnas (36) – Principal, doesn't give a crap what's going on. Saix (33)– Teacher. Stupid mangirl with blue hair. WTF. Xigbar (19) – Axel's older family friend. Luxord (17) – Roxas's older brother. (those last two are NINJA.)
So, yeah... Sit back, relax, and begin to unravel the mystery... (what mystery...? ^^;) xxx Velvet
XXX
Chapter Two: King of the Playground
11 Years Previously
Roxas swung back and forth on the small, black swing, hands grasping the shiny, metal chains on either side of him. One of his feet scuffed the ground every time he passed it, kicking up bark, and his hair ruffled in the wind. He was smiling, but it was a rather empty smile. He was small, skinny, and pale.
He was five years old.
Roxas hummed a lazy tune - one he'd heard being sung by some girl at kindergartens older sister - as he swung, out of time and off-pitch, but he didn't care. There was no-one else in the park to hear him anyway.
He continued to sing along quietly, stumbling on some of the longer, confusing words he didn't know the meanings to, and his small voice drifted away on the wind.
'I dunno where to go, can't do it alone, I've twied,and I dunno why... hm hm hmmm...'
The park was comprised of a double swing set, – one of which Roxas was sitting on – a pair of monkey bars, and a slide with smooth, green stairs molded to look like the back of crocodile, while the slide itself was shaped like jaws.
The entire thing was beginning to show a little wear and tear, but considering all the years it had been around, it wasn't doing too bad. This was probably due to the fact that surrounding the playground were tall, evergreen trees, keeping it hidden from sight year-round.
Roxas had found it one day when he'd snuck through a hole in the hedge that ran along the back of his house. He'd then wandered past a few of the tall, beautiful evergreens, getting used to the feel of moist soil under his Disney sneakers, when it had suddenly turned to bark. Now it was his magical playground, his escape from home once in a while. And even though it wasn't much, it was Roxas's favourite place in the world.
No kindie, no foster parents and definitely no bullies who only picked on you because you were quiet. It was a place, where Roxas was ruler. He was King. King of the playground.
Roxas leaned his head back and closed his eyes, soaking in the sun and pretending that he had wings. Roxas imagined that he could feel a small crown placed jauntily on his head, soft spikes of hair popping out on either side. He was flying, higher and higher, through a bright crimson coloured sky...
'Hm... needs cwouds...'
Amongst the brilliant sky through which Roxas was flying, a dozen or so emerald coloured clouds appeared, and Roxas smiled in contentment, and then frowned when he felt the cold metal under his hands. He wasn't flying yet, not really...
Roxas carefully unwound his fingers off one side of the chains. He stretched his arm forward, a thrill running through him. Though he had done this so many times already, it was still just as scary...
'One hand left...'
Roxas pried his fingers of the other chain, ignoring the small jolt of fear that ran through him – now, he was truly flying... Eyes still closed, Roxas smiled once more, and though it didn't quite reach his eyes, it was still the truest smile that had been on his face for weeks, since he last visited the park. When he was flying, when he was King, none of his troubles mattered... they didn't even exist. Well, that's what he told himself, anyway.
Roxas was balancing carefully, being sure not to move too much, as he knew what that resulted in – torn pants and hands, with a stern lecture on the side.
However, a sudden nearby shout startled Roxas, and with a small yelp of his own, he flew off the swing, eyes bursting open, only to land amid the hard, pointy bark on his exposed knees.
"Owwie..." Roxas sat back and held his newly grazed knees, feeling tears well up in his eyes. The flying part had been exhilarating, but still a little scary, and even though the landing hadn't hurt too much, between all the mixed up emotions and sudden shock, Roxas was prepared to full-on bawl. He probably would have too, if the next thought hadn't found its way into his head.
'Wait... that shout...then someone is near me! My playground! Have'ta stay quiet...'
Roxas bit his lip to stop the crying and rocked back and forth on the bark, not sure what to do. However, he didn't have to worry about that long, as what he heard next decided for him.
"Come on you freak! Afraid now that mommy ain't here to help you? The stupid cow shouldn't have complained - you know that it's gonna get worse now." The voice was harsh and grating and Roxas knew he should run. He was about to, but stopped when he heard the next voice.
"Don't talk about my mom like that! She's not a cow!" They were scared and nervous, but stubborn and proud at the same time. If Roxas had have been there, he would have told the boy to be quiet, for he knew what was coming next.
Sure enough, following these words was a loud slamming noise, and wet pop like something had been dislodged. Directly after was a low, painful moan, and Roxas knew that the boy – for the voice was definitely male – had been punched. Probably in the face. Roxas wasn't expecting that – he thought it would probably just be a shove, like when he was bullied.
Roxas had been in the other boy's situation more than once, and he knew that if someone had heard him being hurt, he would have been hoping for their help – but no help had ever come. If anyone had ever known what was happening to Roxas – not that it was as serious as what was happening now, by the sounds of it – then they had ignored it or pretended not to know. He didn't want to be that kind of kid.
Making his mind up with this seemingly simple logic, Roxas raced towards the sounds of fighting, heart pounding in his chest. Tripping once or twice on the bark, he ignored the small grazes on his palms that he received and continued to run. He passed a few rows of the closely planted evergreens, and as he reached the fifth or so row, the voices were definitely closer. Roxas spun to the left, hearing that cold voice again, and was greeted with an unpleasant sight.
Barely metres away from him the scene unfolded. A group of 4 kids that seemed to range from 8 to 16 years of age were gathered around a young boy with short, spiky red hair. He was panting and his emerald green eyes glinted in anger, and though his nose was twisted slightly and dripping red, he was not crying. Roxas found this remarkable – if had been in the boys position, he would be bawling by now. Then Roxas gasped, remembering his fantasy from before – a crimson sky and emerald clouds...
Roxas quickly clamped a small hand over his suddenly quivering lips, but it was too late. The group turned to face him, sneers on their faces. The tallest one, who had black hair and small, nasty eyes, sniggered and stepped forward, murmuring, "Well, what do we have here?"
Roxas gulped and took a small step back, brave words dying in his throat. He recognized this boy's voice as the one he'd heard earlier, and his mind went blank as he recalled the several times he'd been bullied himself... now he was in trouble.
A short boy with purple-gray hair that swept over one side of his face spoke up from the back of the group. He looked like he was the youngest there, and he was the furthest away from the action, holding a book in his hand. "Forget about him, Xaldin. He hasn't done anything, right?" Roxas was too panicked to notice, but this was his cue to leave. When he didn't, the purple haired boy sighed and turned back to his book, not paying any more attention. The black haired boy didn't seem to notice he'd even said anything.
"Heh, look at that, the baby's awed by our presence." The only girl there, a blonde with a very strange hairstyle, smirked and nudged the one called Xaldin. "Why don't we show him a good time?"
Roxas trembled, knowing how much older and stronger than him all these people were. He'd forgotton his reason for coming, and all of a sudden, he felt a desperate need to leave – but his feet were rooted to the ground. Then, at Roxas's left, came a slam and a cold voice saying, "We haven't even finished with this one, yet."
Roxas felt courage well up inside him as he turned to the red haired boy, who was struggling against the thick arm that held him against one of the evergreens. Roxas balled up his fists and struck out, landing a blow square on the jaw of the black haired bully in front of him. Being only five, it wasn't a powerful hit, but it was enough to cause a commotion.
As all eyes turned to Roxas, who had tears welling in his eyes for reasons he didn't fully understand, the red head took advantage of the situation and punched the one who was holding him up. The fellow red-head – who was considerably bigger -stepped back, nursing his bruised jaw and a small fight broke out between them.
Roxas didn't notice this however, as Xaldin had a death glare locked on him, and his legs had once more turned to jelly. He let out a small whimper, and a few tears leaked out of his eyes, much to the blonde girl's amusement.
'W-what did I... do? Now they're gonna...'
Roxas scrunched up his eyes, waiting for the punch that was sure to come his way –and it did. Roxas felt himself hit the ground, hard, as pain ripped through his chest where the blow had struck him. He curled into a ball, awaiting more pain... but it didn't come.
Instead, he heard a loud yell rip through the air, and upon opening his eyes, he saw that the plucky redhead had jumped on Xaldin's back, causing the boy to topple over and land on top of the blonde, who let out a shrill scream. The two began a punch on, forgetting about their younger targets altogether, while the other redhead – the beefy one – sat on the ground, moaning – apparently he had lost.
Roxas stared in awe as the shorter redhead brushed himself off and reached up to gingerly touch his nose, wincing in pain. The scuffle continued, the blonde ripping at a large chunk of Xaldin's hair, earning a surprisingly girly scream for her efforts.
Meanwhile, the youngest of the bullies group continued to read, apparently oblivious to what was going on. Roxas changed his mind about this when the purple-grey haired boy murmured, "This is worse than the time Larxene got high on pain medication and mistook a truck for her Great Aunt. Ah, the memories..."
Roxas blinked in confusion as the redhead chuckled. The blonde was still in far too much pain to comprehend what was going on, so - in true 5 year old fashion - he started to cry.
"Aw man..." Roxas flinched as the redhead he had essentially just saved reached a hand out towards him, scooting back on the soil. "Jeez, kid, I'm not gonna hurt you. Hey, you alright?"
Roxas looked up through his lashes, still sobbing. His chest really hurt, and even though the fight seemed to be over, the fear was still clutching him. Then a thought struck him.
"Hey! Youw are a kid too!" Roxas sniffled, satisfied that he had got the words out, then promptly let out another wail.
"Ah! Come on, ki- um, oh... what's your name?" But Roxas couldn't find it in himself to do anything but keep crying.
The redhead sighed, then leaned down and whispered, "Look, we gotta leave now, 'kay? Before they stop fighting and remember us. Let's go." But when the boy leaned in Roxas jumped and shrieked in fright.
"Argh... that's not helping kid!" Roxas winced at the volume and tone of the slightly older boys voice, and his face seemed to soften. "Sorry. But I don't know your name, so... Anyway, look. I know you're scared. But you just helped me out a ton here, and I have no reason to wanna hurt you. That guy kicked your ribs, right?"
Roxas stopped crying for a moment to send him a puzzled look.
"Up here?" He lightly touched Roxas's chest, and the boy nodded, fresh tears coating his face at the memory.
"Woah, woah... okay, look, it obviously hurts, so just let me carry you, okay? They're not gonna fight forever, and Lexaeus will get up, so we gotta move now." As if to contradict his statement, another scream pierced the air, while the boy with the book hummed the theme to 'Stargate' under his breath.
Roxas sighed and nodded, lifting up his arms like he did when his Aunty carried him.
"Good. By the way, I'm Axel."
"...R..as." The boy mumbled as he felt himself being picked up.
"Huh?"
"I'm... R... Roxas."
XXX
"Lucky you're a small kid, huh?"
The pair wandered through the trees, heading in the direction Roxas pointed. Roxas was gently clinging to the boy named Axel's shirt, whimpering every time his chest moved, which was... well, every time he breathed. What had seemed like a short run from the playground to Axel must have actually been a lot further... or maybe they were lost. Dried blood was encrusted on the redheads face, but he wasn't complaining, so Roxas didn't say anything.
They didn't get very far before Axel gently sat Roxas down on the dirt, receiving another questioning look from the blonde.
"Just a second... you might want to look away... I need to do this before it sets." Roxas wasn't sure what the older boy meant, but when he saw him reach for his nose, he got the idea, quickly turning away.
Snap! "AAAH! Oh, man! JESUS!" Roxas turned back around to see Axel clutching his newly straightened nose, a pained expression on his face. Roxas gulped and held back fresh tears, ones that didn't really have meaning behind them – they were just from experiencing so many mixed emotions so quickly, like when he fell off the swing.
Axel pulled a few tissues out of his pocket and spat on them, much to Roxas's confusion and slight disgust. However, he soon understood when the boy raised the now wet clump of tissues to his face and wiped away the dried blood around his nose and mouth, tidying himself up a little.
"...That's better." Axel sighed, and then winced as he found that even breathing hurt his sensitive nose. "Okay – Roxas, is it?" The blonde nodded. "Right, Roxas. Do you have anywhere we can stay for a little while? I can't go back home yet."
Roxas cocked his head to the side, a puzzled. This boy was so mysterious, in so many ways...
Axel sighed. "Long story. Anyway, you need patching up too, right? I can help ya, if you know a place." Roxas looked down at himself, taking in the cuts on his hands and knees that were oozing small drops of blood onto his clothes. Up until now, he'd completely forgotten about them, but now that they were brought to his attention, the pain came back full force.
"Mm hm..." he whimpered.
Axel grinned, a toothy, wide, sincere grin. "Cool. By the way, before we set off, how old are you?"
Roxas drew in a shuddery breath and forced the words out. "F...f-five..."
"Huh. I'm seven. Only two years, huh? But you really are a kid."
Roxas pouted, and a fresh load of tears streamed down his face once more.
Axel raised his hands in apology, patting the boy's shoulder. "You gotta stop crying, okay? You can't point the way with tears blocking you're vision up, right? Just wouldn't work."
Roxas sniffed in response, but the tears stopped, and Axel – satisfied with his result - lifted him up once more, this time, in a piggyback. He could feel the small body shivering against him, not out of cold, he knew, but fear.
Sighing, Axel spoke in a quiet tone. "Hey, Roxas." The blonde turned his head towards Axel, who was looking back at him over his shoulder. Sharp, emerald eyes met watery cerulean, and for a moment, there was silence as a small blush coated Axel's cheeks. This kid was kinda cute...
Axel shook his head, dismissing the thought as brotherly impulse – even though he'd only known the quiet kid for what was about 10 minutes, he seemed kind-hearted and brave, and Axel was eager to make friends with him. "I was just gonna say... don't be afraid anymore, 'kay?" I got you, and you're not gonna get hurt again. I'm not gonna hurt you." I'll protect you.
Roxas nodded and buried his head in the crook of the redhead's neck. He felt he could trust him, and he certainly was curious about the boy. Maybe enough so that he could show him...
"We can go to my magic pwaygwound." Roxas spoke in a whisper, still not sure if he was doing the right thing. "But... wight now, I'm da only King..."
Axel raised one eyebrow, and Roxas shrunk back, sure that he had said the wrong thing. It was just that he hadn't known this boy very long yet, and even though he seemed nice, so many had judged Roxas already for his imagination. Plus, something about him seemed to radiate 'I'm dangerous' vibes. Though, when Roxas had been looking into his eyes, he hadn't felt those vibes at all...
"Well then, Roxas, which way am I going? You're the King!" Axel smiled brightly, not a trace of unease on his face, and Roxas felt himself brighten at the prospect of a friend. Maybe things would work out after all...
The two boys set off, Roxas shyly giggling whenever the older boy made horse noises or bucked back a little, pretending to carry his King like a noble steed, yet being careful not to knock the boy's sensitive chest too hard.
Neither of them knew it, but this day was the one they would look back on in hours of need. It was the one they would whisper about on cold nights to help keep each other warm.
And ultimately, it was this day of acceptance that brought them together, and tore them apart.
XXX
*dies from fluffiness being forced down her throat* Well... so it begins... :D Next chapter will have them at the playground, plus possibly more age progression... I haven't decided how long I wanna drag it out yet.
R&R please! Thanks so much for reading, I hope you liked it! (dunno about you, but tiny Roxas seems so cute to me, I just wanna pick him up and squeeze him... ^O^ and tiny Axel... sigh. so cool!)
xxxVelvet! forever a fangirl...
p.s. Did it suck? Tell me!
