Moving right along, here is chapter 2! Sadly, I won't be able to update every day like this XD but I will try to be better about it.

Thanks for the reviews and favs and such! :D Hope you guys continue to like it!

As much as he tried, Roxas just couldn't get Leon to take the bunny. Sephiroth had already set the beach on fire, so the least Leon could do was get in the water and take the bunny. I mean, he had spent the whole day traversing the ocean being threatened by giant lizards trying to get the damn thing for him, and now he says it's no good. What an ass.

"Roxas?" Cloud's voice said from out of nowhere.

"Cloud? Good thing you're here. Maybe you can get Leon to take this bunny. But first you need to get off the beach. Sephiroth set it on fire."

"Uh, Roxas? What are you talking about?" Cloud sounded amused.

"This isn't funny, Cloud! If Leon doesn't take the bunny, his legs will fall off!"

"Well, goodness. I wouldn't want my boyfriend to suddenly lose his legs. I guess we better get that bunny to him. I think it would really help if you woke up though."

"What?" Then the real world began to materialize around him. He was in his bed in his room with his brother currently struggling not to break into laughter. He picked up his pillow from behind him and chucked it at his head. Unfortunately for him, Cloud caught it before it contacted with his face. Roxas pouted. He was not a morning person and he was really looking forward to the satisfaction of hitting his mocking brother.

"So why exactly were you dreaming of my current boyfriend and my ex? Are you harboring secret affections for them?"

"Hell if I know." Roxas fell back on the bed, lamenting not having his pillow there to cushion his head anymore. He scrubbed at his eyes with his hands, trying to dispel his hanging sleepiness. "Why are you in here anyway?"

"It seems you forgot to set your alarm, so I took its duty upon myself. You're welcome." And with that, Cloud got up to leave, throwing the pillow back at his brother as he did so. It hit him squarely in the face, adding to Roxas's sourness. He groaned and pulled his hands through his hair. He did not want to go to school. Ever so slowly, he pulled himself up and off the bed and stumbled toward the bathroom to get ready. He stepped into the shower, knowing that the warm water against his skin would help wake him up. After shampooing his hair, he already started feeling better. He hummed a tune to himself as he grabbed the conditioner.

His mind was slowly awakening, the thoughts pouring out of the space they resided in when he slept. While most crept out, yesterday's memories hit him like a train, making his fingers stop their ministrations of conditioning his hair.

Yesterday, he… he met a… a ghost? Had that actually happened? He rinsed his hair, hoping the water against his skull might make it into his brain and clear things up. That... It had happened, hadn't it? But… where was the ghost now? Roxas suddenly became extremely paranoid. He glanced around him, knowing his attempts were futile. How was he supposed to find a ghost?

He finished his shower in record time and practically flew downstairs for breakfast after he had dressed. He wanted to be around another person if he were to suddenly be attacked by an invisible dead guy.

Cloud had made omelets and fixed a plate up for him with a glass of orange juice, but strangely wasn't in the kitchen. He tried to calm his nerves by sitting and eating his omelet. Nothing to worry about, Roxas. Nothing at a-

"Psst, Roxas"

Roxas let out a yelp and dropped his fork with a sharp clatter. Fucking ghost.

"Oops. Sorry."

"Shit , Axel," Roxas whispered back breathlessly. He clutched the material of his shirt, breathing heavily from the shock.

"So you're going to school today, huh?"

"Yeah. It's what non-dead people do." He rolled his eyes, still while attempting to catch his breath.

"Ouch. Just trying to make conversation."

"So what, are you going to go to school with me?" Roxas didn't like the idea of that. He'd pester him through all his classes. He'd no doubt cause quite a disturbance. He didn't need people thinking he was crazier than they already thought.

"Naw, I'll spare you that. It's boring as hell anyway. I will be meeting you afterward though. Demyx too."

"Fantastic." He didn't know how much of the two he could handle, especially right after 7 hours of pissy teachers and dumbass students. Yesterday had been taxing enough.

"I'll leave you to your breakfast now."

There was a hint of sadness to his voice as he left. Roxas was acting rather cold to him. If they really had been best friends, he was sure Axel wasn't expecting his unwillingness to welcome the redhead into his life. He felt a pang of guilt. But how was he supposed to react upon suddenly being spoken to by a friggin' ghost? He felt bad, but was still wary of the whole thing.

He finished up his breakfast then went back upstairs to brush his teeth and fix his hair before he left for school. He grabbed his schoolbag then headed out down the road toward Twilight High.

Hayner met him by the entrance and immediately started telling him excitedly about the struggle match he had watched last night. Roxas smiled and laughed along, reveling in the normalness of the situation. No freaky dead guys needing his help, just regular conversation with his best friend. School might be nice compared to the alternative.

--

Roxas went through his classes like normal without disturbance. He even slept in the first two, making his permanent bedhead even worse than usual. But then it happened. Chemistry. He felt a slight chill, then Axel's voice sounded in his ear.

"Whoa, hey! I love this experiment!"

Roxas started upon hearing the voice, but thankfully didn't drop the small piece of wood with copper sulfate on it into the flame below.

Pence, his lab partner, noticed his small freak out and gave him a worried look, asking, "You okay, Roxas?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, sorry. The… uh, fire sparked up and scared me," he lied.

"Oh, well here. Just let me turn it down some."

"Noooo," Axel protested as Pence turned the flame down. Was this ghost some kind of pyromaniac or something? Maybe that's how he died… His flame-happy self got himself incinerated. If that were the case, Roxas thought he might be a bit put off by the flames instead of the giddy schoolgirl reaction he was having.

Ignoring Axel, Roxas proceeded with the experiment by holding the stick over the flame, turning it green.

"Yesss. That one's my favorite."

Roxas whispered under his breath to the ghost while Pence was busy writing down the results the chemical produced. "What happened to not bothering me at school?"

"What can I say? I got bored. Besides, I've always liked chemistry."

"Pyro," Roxas responded, covering it up with a cough.

"Heh. That's me." Roxas could hear the grin in Axel's voice.

Roxas grabbed another stick and held it over the flame, producing a purple-ish color.

"Potassium chloride."

"…Potassium chloride," said Roxas to Pence, repeating Axel's answer. Pence nodded and wrote down the answer.

Axel didn't need to say anything. His silence resonated with smugness.

The three continued on like this through the experiment: Axel telling Roxas about the chemicals as he marveled at the colors they produced.

"I'll go turn these in," Pence said as he left their lab station and went up to the teacher's desk. Roxas took the opportunity to talk to Axel a bit.

"So, uh… thanks for helping." Roxas scratched his head and looked down at the desk, unsure of where the invisible Axel was standing.

"No problem. Gotta get back to Dem now though. See ya 'round, kid."

Roxas felt a wave of cold crawl down his arm, as if Axel had tried to clap him on the shoulder. Sure enough, he heard Axel grumbling to himself as his voice faded.

--

The rest of the day went on pretty uneventfully. Roxas was thankful he hadn't seen Seifer around yet. Maybe the ugly bastard had finally been kicked out.

Right after the last bell rung, Roxas excused himself to get away from his friends. He didn't know when Axel was going to show up, but he knew he didn't want his friends to be around to see- or not see- when he did. He took off down the road toward his house, trying to put as much distance as he could between himself and his peers.

"Roxas?" Axel's voice inquired softly in an attempt to not scare the blond.

Roxas peeked over his shoulder to make sure no one was around him then whispered, "Yeah?"

"Hey!" Axel said, enthused, as he began to materialize to Roxas' left. "Ready for a good time?"

"By 'good time' do you mean…" He instantly envisioned a drunken Axel and a game of strip poker. Could ghosts strip? The threads were probably a part of the ghost get-up and non-removable. That dirty cheater…

"Oh, calm down Roxy. We're going to go visit Demyx and his anchor, Zexion." Axel fell in stride next to Roxas after his legs fully materialized.

"Did you say 'Zexion?' Where have I heard that name before...?"

"Well, he does go to the university right down this road. Top of his class. People do tend to talk about him a lot. Quite a looker too." Axel winked and nudged Roxas in the ribs, causing his elbow to go right through him, making the blond shiver even more than he already was from the cold outside.

Axel made a face at this and apologized, saying, "I just can't get used to that…"

"Me neither," Roxas replied, wrapping his arms around himself to keep in more warmth. "So we're headed to the university then?"

"Yeah. Dem said he'd meet us outside."

Roxas hummed in response, and a semi-awkward silence settled between them as they made their way down the road. Before they even reached the university, Roxas heard Demyx chatting excitedly to a slate-haired boy who he assumed was Zexion.

As soon as the two were in his line of sight, he waved them over enthusiastically. "Axel! Roxas! This is Zexion, my anchor. Zexy, this is Axel's, Roxas."

"Pleasure to meet you, Roxas," greeted Zexion. "Axel." He nodded, acknowledging the redhead next to him.

Demyx grinned and said, "Zexy thinks we should all go get coffee since it's chilly out, right Zexy?"

"Please don't call me that," was Zexion's only response.

The group made their way over to a small coffee shop near the university, got their coffee, and settled into a booth in the corner, away from onlookers who might notice that Roxas and Zexion were speaking to others besides each other. Roxas took the opportunity of getting settled in to ask Zexion a few questions.

"So, uh, Demyx hasn't been around you for that long, has he? Just a couple weeks?"

"Yes. He appeared to me not long ago but has already managed to destroy my daily routines." Zexion glared at the table as he talked. He and Demyx seemed to be polar opposites. He could understand why they weren't getting along.

Roxas made a face at the ghost next to him. "I can see that happening…"

"Hey. I resent that," Axel made a face back as he absently ran his fingers through the surface of the table.

"It's not my fault! It's practically our job to interfere," Demyx retorted.

"Tch. Annoying," Zexion stated his view on the matter.

Demyx frowned. Roxas felt sorry for the both of them: sorry for Zexion for having to deal with Demyx, and sorry for Demyx for having to put up with Zexion's coldness. This spurred a question in Roxas…

"Were you guys supposedly friends before, like Axel and I?" he asked.

Demyx nodded, then paused. "Well, sort of… It's complicated."

"I'll try my best to keep up," Roxas urged him along.

"Eh…" Demyx's eyes glanced over at Zexion, implying that he didn't really want to talk about it around him.

"Ah," Roxas said, taking the hint. "That's okay, Demyx." He then looked to Axel, silently asking the redhead if he would explain it later. He nodded in response.

The group drank their coffee (well, at least the living persons did) then departed on their separate ways. Demyx had to use every bit of strength in himself to resist from hugging Roxas. The older blond found him to be "adorable," to which Axel grumbled and huffed about. Zexion merely acknowledged their leaving with a nod and took off without even bothering to see if Demyx was following. Demyx was hardly deterred though. This appeared to be normal behavior for the two.

On the way back to his home, Roxas asked Axel about the previous discussion about Zexion and Demyx's relationship.

Axel hummed as he thought of the best way to put it. "Well… okay. I should probably explain all this to you anyway, so I might as well tell you now."

Roxas' interest piqued upon hearing the latter part and he gave his full attention to what Axel was saying. Maybe he'd finally get some insight into why he had this floaty dead possibly pedophilic freaky-ass guy following him around.

"Okay so… Demyx and I, after we died, we kind of got put into this…" he searched for the word, "organization of sorts. All the people who are in it have something on earth that they're still attached to in some way. We call these people, or things, 'anchors.' My anchor is, obviously, you."

Roxas blushed- wait. He blushed? The hell? Why was he blushing?

"And Demyx's was… well, not Zexion at the time. His was his sitar. Demyx really loves music. Still does. All of us in the organization knew that there was no way he'd ever be able to let go of his sitar. But apparently we were all wrong, because in came a new member to the organization: Zexion."

"Wait. So Zexion died? Then how is he…?"

"I'm getting to that! Patience, Roxy. So as I was saying, Zexion came into the organization. Demyx instantly fell head-over-heels in love with the guy, but Zexion never knew. Turned out, Zexion was only in the organization for a couple hours, tops. He had died, but was then resuscitated at the hospital. He died in a car accident. The reason he wears his hair covering the right side of his face is because he has a wicked scar from a blow to the head. But I digress… So now that Zexion was alive again, Demyx's anchor switched from being his sitar to Zexion. Now you know."

Roxas blinked. He definitely was not expecting all that. "Jeez… Poor Demyx."

"Yeah… And Zexion isn't even giving him a chance. As I'm sure you've noticed, Demyx can be a bit much at times, but he's a really great guy. He'd do anything for that emo bitch and he won't even spare him a passing glance."

"Not that I know Zexion very well, but you can't blame him entirely. Being haunted by a ghost isn't exactly like being asked out on a date."

"We prefer to call it 'accompanying,'" Axel smirked.

--

When the two got back to Roxas's house, Roxas was not surprised to find Leon's car parked out front. Cloud had been dating him for a while now so he was quite used to the brunet's presence.

Roxas purposely made all the noise he could opening the front door to alert the two lovers inside of his arrival. Sure enough, when he did get the door open, he spotted Leon and Cloud on the couch, breathless with rumpled clothing. Cloud was even still in the process of getting his shirt back on.

"H-hey Roxas," Cloud panted as he tugged his shirt down, "How was school?"

Roxas shrugged. "It was alright."

Cloud cocked his head to the side, getting a better view of Roxas's person. "No bruises from what I can tell. Did that Seifer kid finally get kicked out?"

He shrugged again. He knew Cloud was trying to be a good brother by asking him these things, especially now that his parents were no longer around to do it themselves. But Roxas also knew that Cloud would really like to get back to his makeout session, and Roxas didn't want the wrath of Leon being unleashed upon him if he kept him from snogging the blond to his heart's content, so he kept his replies short or practically non-existent.

"Alright… Well, dinner's at seven."

"I'll be here," Roxas said as he climbed the stairs up to his room, letting the lovers get back to business.

"Man, you're brother's hot," Axel commented when they got to Roxas's room.

"Perv."

"Hey, I just appreciate the human figure. Besides, if he didn't want to get ogled at, maybe he should stop working out."

"Or maybe you should stop ogling."

"What's this? Do I detect some jealousy, Roxy?" He smirked and moved closer to the teen.

"What? Hell no!" Dammit, he was blushing again! Fight it, Roxas!

"Don't worry, short-ass. Yours is the only ass for me, even if it is short."

Just then, Roxas felt something cold on said ass. Axel had actually tried to grope him.

"Ah!! You perv!" Roxas jumped back and tossed his pillow from his bed at him. But, of course, it went right through and smacked against the wall behind him. "Aaarrgg!"

Axel just laughed at his plight. "You know, for not being able to touch you, that was pretty satisfying."

"Get out!" Roxas shouted, blushing furiously.

"What? Out? Really, Rox? It was just a joke."

"Go… bother Demyx for a while!"

"… Okay, Rox. Sorry about the uh…" He made a groping motion with his hand.

"Go!"

"I'm going, I'm going." And with that, Axel disappeared.

Roxas let out a frustrated groan, then slumped into his desk chair to start on his homework.

--

Leon would never really talk to anyone besides Cloud, other than the occasional "yes" or "no." Cloud wasn't a big talker either, but he had improved out of obligation due to the lack of parental figures for Roxas. This made for very quiet dinners. At first, it was almost unbearable, but after hundreds of dinners in the same manner, the Strife brothers were now quite used to it.

Tonight was no exception. The three ate their exotic, yet utterly delicious meals of something Roxas couldn't even begin to pronounce, when who should stick his ghostly head up through the plate in front of him, but Axel. Roxas yelped and practically fell out of his seat at the sight.

Cloud nearly choked on his food upon Roxas's reaction to seemingly nothing. "What the hell, Roxas?" Cloud wheezed out when he was able to talk.

"I, uh…" he fished around for a lie. "I thought I felt something brush up against my leg. It startled me, but I'm okay now." He glared at Axel's head coming up from his food.

"This is the second time you've freaked out about something at dinner in the past two days. Are you sure you're okay?" Cloud arched a concerned eyebrow at him, Leon matching his expression, but slightly more subtle.

"Just peachy," the blond responded, driving his fork into Axel's forehead.

The ghost stuck his tongue out at him, then promptly disappeared. Roxas let out a sigh of relief, then turned his attention back to his brother and Leon. The two were giving each other worried looks. Great, they were talking silently again… He hated when they did that.

"Oookay, well I'll just back to doing homework then." Roxas excused himself, leaving the two lovers to discuss Roxas's behavior. Or rather send messages to each other through eyebrow wiggles, or whatever the hell they did.

Axel reappeared at his side as he entered his room.

"What the hell was that about?!" Roxas demanded as he shut the door to his room with a bit more force than necessary.

"Aw, come on. It's not like when I'm bored I can pick up a book or play a videogame. Cut me a little slack."

"So now you've taken to terrorizing me. Fan-fucking-tastic." He slumped on his bed, letting his head fall into his hands.

"You love it. I know."

"Love it like shoving a knife up my ass."

"Oohh, Kinky."

He looked up at him and raised his eyebrows in disbelief at his statement. "God, do you ever stop?"

"It goes along with my charm and incredible good looks." He smirked and struck a pose, flipping his hair over one shoulder.

"Right… How I ever put up with you before, I'll never know."

Axel smiled, but the expression soon faded. He appeared to be deep in thought, of what Roxas could only assume was their past life together; the life he didn't remember.

After a moment of silence, Roxas asked Axel a question he'd been thinking about ever since he met Axel. "We're… best friends, right? How long did I know you?"

Still in his reverie, Axel chuckled sadly and shook his head, responding, "I'm not even sure."

"How old were we?"

Axel started, Roxas's question bringing him out of his train of thought. He was suddenly defensive. "Why does that matter?"

Roxas raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Was Axel hiding something? He let it go for now, wanting to trust Axel's motives. "… I guess it doesn't."

Axel let out a heavy sigh as he went into a squat on the floor. "Don't you have homework you should be doing?"

"Yeah, I should get on that." Jeez, he must've hit a nerve with that one. How old was Axel anyway? Definitely older than himself. Maybe that's why Axel didn't want to mention ages. Because he was older than him and he was afraid Roxas would be put off by that?

He sighed as he dug his calculus book out of his bag. Despite having conversations with a dead guy in his room, he still had to do calculus homework.

--

After an hour of headache-inducing math problems, he finally finished, letting out a groan as he fell backward onto his bed.

Axel had left him earlier claiming that being in the same room as calculus would melt his brain, causing him to only be able to communicate by show tunes. Roxas all but threw him out.

"I hear groaning and you're on your bed. What am I missing out on?" Axel's voice sounded from out of nowhere.

"Perv. Why are you here? My calculus book is still open. I could start up again at any moment."

"Hey, I like show tunes. You're the one who would have to suffer."

"… Good point. So could you materialize already? Your disembodied voice kind of freaks me out."

"Oh, sure. Sorry." Axel's form shuddered into view… right next to Roxas on his bed.

"Whoa!" Roxas sat up with a start upon realize his close proximity with the ghost.

"Jeez, calm down, Roxy. Why do you always flip a shit when I'm near you? It's not like I'm going to hurt you. I'm not even capable of that. Literally." He waved his arms around to make them pass through every object that they could reach, emphasizing his point.

Roxas eased back down onto the bed, realizing that perhaps he may have over-reacted. "I know… It's just a little weird, okay? I know you're probably used to being able to do things like that with me, but I still barely know you."

Axel shifted, the normally creaky bed not even noticing he was there, and fixed an intent gaze on Roxas. "So, what do you want to know? Ask me anything."

Roxas wavered. "I-I don't…" Axel's eyes were too intense. Though a watery blue-grey now, he could sense the fire behind them, delving down into his very being.

"'You don't' what? Come on, Roxas." The eyes narrowed, growing impatient.

"I-I don't know." Roxas shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. "I can't think."

"You say you want to know more about me, but you can't even think of a measly 'what's your favorite color!'" Axel stood, his legs going right through the bed, and threw his hands up in frustration. "Seriously, Rox. I doubt how much you're trying."

"How much I'm trying?! Do you have any idea of how hard this is for me? A ghost, which I thought only existed in horror flicks, comes to me and claims that he's my best friend and that I just 'forgot' him. Then proceeds to say that I have to help him move on because I'm keeping him tied down here. So you just expect me to welcome you into my life with open arms? Fuck, Axel. Can't you see what's wrong here?"

Axel was silent, his eyes downturned away from where Roxas sat breathing heavily, winding down from his outburst.

After a moment, with a voice filled with apology, he said, "I'm sorry Roxas. I lost control. You're accepting me is more than I could have ever hoped for, and I almost ruined it because of my own selfishness. Please don't think badly of me. I just… I missed you, Rox."

Roxas softened his expression at Axel's words. It must be hard for him too. Now Roxas wasn't one for sappy friendship talks, but he had to say something. "We're both struggling right now. We're going to have to work together for this, okay?" He awkwardly inched closer to Axel to show him he wasn't mad.

"Yeah…" Axel looked up at him, dead eyes reflecting total relief and a bit of weariness from fighting. "We can do this, right Roxy?" He grinned.

Roxas couldn't help but smile back. "Only if you stop calling me that."

"No can do, Roxy." His grin transformed into a smirk.

Roxas fake-punched Axel in the shoulder, the cold traveling all the way up his arm.

"What do you know? There are perks to this job."

"Shut it, ass hat," Roxas retorted as he hugged his hand to his chest to get some warmth back in it.

"You should sleep now, don't you think?"

"Sleep?" Roxas looked at the clock on his wall. "It's only 9."

"Well fine, I guess you won't have the privilege of my tucking you in then."

Roxas made a face. "Where are you going?"

"I have some ghostly business to attend to."

Ghostly business…? "Like what?"

"Like, things for ghosts. You know."

Blink. "Not really…"

"Well good! Means you're not dead. But I am, so I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Gets some sleep."

"Alright…" Was it just him, or did Axel seem to be hiding more and more things from him?

"Later, Rox." He gave a brief wave before he melted away from Roxas's view.

The abrupt silence engulfed him. He suddenly felt very alone… He was beginning to think that maybe he should have taken Axel up on tucking him in.

--

Axel strode down the long hall to the massive double doors at the end. His held his head high and kept eyes confident despite being silently terrified underneath his flawless façade.

He reached the doors and tugged them open, stepping into a circular room embellished with 13 tall chairs.

"Ah, there you are VIII. Please take a seat."