A/N: Next chapter! This fic has me excited since it's my first crossover, so let's keep cranking them out, hmm? Also, it was a two-day school week, so it's now Friday. That's how school usually started for me in high school, just so ya know! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story.

Give Me A Chance

Chapter 2

My alarm went off the next morning, making me growl in annoyance before I slammed my fist on the off button. Gods I hate mornings… Sighing heavily, I sat up and pulled the blanket away from me, shivering at the morning chill. I gave a yawn as I stretched my arms over my head, popping my back in a couple spots, and then slid off the mattress before heading to the bathroom. Once I relieved myself, I went back to my room and started to get dressed. Same outfit as usual, but I'm not a big fashion guy, so I don't care. Once dressed, I went downstairs and saw that Joshua had already left. He had left the kitchen light on, and there was a note on the coffee pot, which is what we usually do when we can't or don't want to text each other. I read it to myself once I got close enough to see it.

'Neku –

I'll be back later tonight, and we're definitely having pizza for our usual Friday dinner. I'll make sure to bring some home. We'll share a pepperoni, if that's okay. See you this evening, Neku!

– Joshua'

I sighed with a slight smile when I finished; he'll be home either earlier than what he's claiming, or he'll be home later, but either way, there's gonna be pizza. Glancing at the clock, I realized I needed to leave soon, so I snagged a breakfast bar and bottled water before grabbing my things, slipping on my shoes, and running out the door, taking a moment to lock it behind me. As I turned to walk to school, however, I was surprised to hear a familiar voice.

"Neku! Wait up!" the voice called. I turned back to see a familiar blonde hurrying over to me. He skidded to a stop in front of me, his ears up and alert, and his tail waving happily. "I thought we could walk together this morning, seeing as we're in the same classes and we live so close and all…"

"Sure," I shrugged, and began the trek to school. Roxas was quick to follow, keeping pace with me with ease. I pulled out my breakfast bar and began to munch on it as we walked.

"So, how are you this morning?" he asked, attempting to make conversation.

"Tired, but okay," I answered after swallowing. "You?"

"I'm great! I got to talk to my uncle Leon last night about my day yesterday," he smiled brightly.

"So I take it he doesn't live here?" I guessed, taking another bite.

"No, he lives in Hollow Bastion, but we still talk often," he replied. "He actually wanted me to thank you for making sure Seifer didn't beat either of us up yesterday. And I want to thank you, too."

"No problem, I was once one of their victims, so I won't just stand by and let someone else suffer like I did for the past couple years," I told him honestly. "Besides, he can be my punching bag whenever he pisses me off now, too." He laughed at that, and the sound actually didn't make my ears hurt like most people's laughs do. It was a very pleasant sound. Kinda music to my ears, actually.

"That's funny!" he chuckled as he sobered up. "And you said your brother and uncle taught you how to fight like that?"

"No, just my uncle. My brother was just tired of seeing me come home almost daily with bruises," I corrected him. That's when I remembered what Joshua's theory was about when Roxas moved in. "Hey, did you move in overnight or something? My brother thought you might have, considering we never heard anything."

"Yeah, we arrived with a moving truck late at night and just unloaded everything before leaving early to drop off the truck," he told me. "And then my godfather bought the truck before it could rain so we wouldn't have to worry about the motorcycle when it rains."

"Your godfather?" I frowned, puzzled. I knew what a godfather was, and how people ended up living with one, but what happened to Roxas's parents if he's with his godfather?

"Yeah, his name's Axel," the blonde smiled, his ears perking up eagerly. "He's a really nice guy, and he's got really spiky red hair. And when I say red, I mean like fire engine red. Anyway, he's the best. He always helps me when I need it, and he takes great care of me."

"Cool," I murmured, smiling slightly at his excitement. "But what happened to your parents?"

"…I'd rather not say just yet…" he sighed as his ears went back, and I mentally slapped myself. I don't like when people ask me what happened to my parents, so why would anyone else? Now I feel like an asshole.

"Sorry…" I apologized, but Roxas shook his head.

"You don't need to apologize," he assured me. "After all, it's not your fault they're gone."

"Still…" I mumbled.

"Like I said, don't worry about it, Neku," he smiled at me, his ears perking up again. "It's okay, I promise."

"All right," I conceded, my own ears relaxing, and then decided to change the subject. "Did you finish the homework last night? It's due today."

"Yeah, but I had a hard time with it," he admitted, his ears flattening out to the sides.

"I can help you," I offered. "I tend to be good with numbers."

"That would be great!" Roxas grinned, and I ruffled his hair and ears playfully. The blonde gave an indignant squawk and swatted my hand away. "Hey!"

"Couldn't resist," I chuckled. It was as we arrived at the school during our chat that I realized I should give him a chance and that we were definitely gonna be good friends.

X*X(Lunch)X*X

Roxas and I were at the same lunch table as yesterday, and we were laughing about something stupid when my ears perked up as I heard the unpleasant sound of Rai's guffaws as he followed Seifer over with Fuu. My tail fluffed up a bit with slight nervousness, and I glared at them, seeing Seifer approach cockily with his lackeys. Roxas looked in the direction I was glaring at, and his ears flattened with worry. He set down his food as he quickly packed up his things to make a quick getaway if need be. I did the same, but at a slower pace.

"Why's he coming over here?" he whispered.

"Revenge, and he's got Rai and Fuu with him this time," I growled. The trio walked over, and Seifer smirked at me, making my glare intensify.

"Looks like you won't be able to take me on this time, ginger freak," he grinned maliciously.

"We'll see about that," I spat, getting up from my seat. My biggest issue would be Rai, seeing as he's so thick-headed that he doesn't go down easily. Suddenly, Rai swung at me with a growl, and knowing I wouldn't have a chance at blocking it, I ducked and swung my fist as hard as I could into his gut. He yelled in pain as he staggered back, and then Seifer lunged at me like before, his ears flat against his head and tail fluffed out. Swiftly, I grabbed him by his biceps, blocking him, and threw him into the hard floor of the cafeteria. The adrenaline pumped through my body as I watched carefully, on the defensive. My blue eyes widened in horror as I noticed Fuu slipping over behind Roxas, but before I could warn the blonde, she grabbed him, pinning his arms behind his back. She twisted her wrist slightly, wrenching his right arm, and he gave a pained cry.

"Give in," she ordered with a vicious smirk.

"Let him go first," I snarled. She hesitated, but with a glance at Seifer, who nodded, she pushed him away. Roxas quickly grabbed his bag and stood off to the side, out of harm's way, as she swung at me with a powerful left hook. With a grunt, I caught her fist and squeezed tightly, feeling her knuckles dent beneath my fingers. She screamed, and I shoved her to the floor. Rai charged at me again, but I jumped up and over, kicking him in the back as he passed, and he bellowed angrily before he and Seifer, who was back on his feet by now, began to swing at me repeatedly. I bobbed and weaved, and then lashed out with my legs, sweeping their feet out from under them. The pair fell to the floor with yelps, so I kicked them in their sides to end the fight. The trio quickly scrambled away, and I glared heavily after them as they fled.

"Now you know, don't fuck with me or Roxas!" I shouted after them. Once they were out of sight, I took a deep breath to calm myself. Roxas approached me, and I turned to see him holding his right arm from the pain Fuu had caused. "Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.

"Yeah, but my arm hurts," he mumbled.

"Let's go see Aerith. She'll be able to help," I said, and he nodded. With that said, I grabbed my messenger bag and we left to the office, where Yuffie, the other receptionist for the school, greeted us.

"Hi Neku! How are you…" she trailed off, and then noticed Roxas clutching his injured arm. "What happened?"

"Seifer and his little gang," I spat, and she nodded. "Fuu twisted his arm, I think."

"Good grief! Well, let's get him to Aerith, and I'll go let Zexion know," she told me, and led us to Aerith's office.

"Hello, Roxas, Neku," the kind brunette smiled warmly at us when we entered. When she noticed Roxas holding his arm, she frowned and her ears flattened out to the sides. "What happened?"

"Fuu twisted his arm during a fight," I told her briefly as Yuffie went to go speak to Zexion, our principal.

"That girl never learns," Aerith sighed. She had Roxas sit on the bench, where she carefully checked his arm over while I waited patiently. As she looked him over, Zexion entered the room with Yuffie right behind him.

"So, Seifer's group again?" the slate-haired neko sighed.

"Yeah, he picked a fight with us, and I was defending myself," I nodded. "Fuu tried to use Roxas as a hostage, and I kinda tricked them into letting him go, but she twisted his arm beforehand. I ended the fight, and they ran."

"Well, Sakuraba, since it was self-defense, I won't punish you this time," Zexion assured me. "But try not to do it again, okay? Only if they do harm, then you can fight back."

"Yes sir," I muttered, my ears lowering slightly.

"What's the damage, Aerith?" he asked her, and she pricked her ears up before looking at him.

"It looks to me like he'll need some ibuprofen to decrease the pain, but otherwise, he'll be okay," she announced, and Zexion nodded.

"As long as there's no major damage," he murmured. "Will you be okay for the rest of your classes, Roxas?"

"I'm not sure…" he admitted. "Will I be in trouble if I go home?"

"Not at all. Would you like us to call your guardian for a ride?" the principal asked.

"I can walk him home. We live on the same street," I offered.

"Are you sure?" Roxas questioned.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I'll be excused from classes, too, right?"

"Of course," Aerith smiled. She then gave Roxas some ibuprofen, and he quickly downed the two pills with a drink of water. "Have a good weekend, then, boys. And Roxas, take it easy, okay?"

"Thank you, Aerith," we told her.

"And don't worry about Seifer, Rai, and Fuu. I'll have them punished for this," Zexion assured us.

"See you guys next week!" Yuffie grinned, waving. Roxas waved with his good hand while I grabbed his bag for him. As we began the walk to our homes, Roxas spoke up, his ears back slightly.

"Hey, Neku?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind staying at my place for a bit? At least until Axel gets home," he asked. "I want you to meet him, especially since you protected me today."

"Um, sure, I guess," I shrugged, my ears flicking once. "I'll just need to let my brother know, or else he'll be worried if he comes home and I'm not there."

"Okay, no problem," he nodded, and I pulled out my phone to text him, seeing as I knew he wouldn't be able to answer his phone while at work.

'Hey Josh, I'm hanging out with Roxas at his place until his godfather gets home, since he got hurt during another Seifer fight today. I'll come home when you're almost home, just let me know when you're almost there.' I sent the text, and soon after, I got a reply back.

'No problem. It's slow today, so I might be home early, but I'll still bring pizza home like I said in my note this morning.'

'Cool. Thnx Josh, and I'll see you later.' I didn't get a response after that, and I glanced at Roxas.

"What did he say?" the blonde inquired.

"He's cool with it," I answered, and the blonde's ears perked up. "He said it's slow at work anyway, so he might be home early, too."

"Where does he work?"

"At the WildKat café. The cool part is that he usually comes home on Fridays and Saturdays with some leftover pastries that are past their expiration."

"Really? I've never heard of the place."

"Not many do unless they've lived here long enough, or they were born and raised here. But the coffee's good, and the owner, Mr. Hanekoma, is nice. Everyone except Joshua calls him Mr. H."

"Is Joshua your brother?"

"Yeah, he's a great guy. Always supportive," I smiled slightly. "I'm grateful to have him in my life."

"That's awesome," Roxas nodded. "I don't have any siblings myself, but I have a cousin, and he kinda looks like me. His name is Sora, and he's my Uncle Leon's son."

"Huh," I uttered.

"Do you have any cousins, Neku?"

"Nah, my aunt and uncle haven't started a family yet. But Josh and I have placed bets on when they'll announce a pregnancy," I smirked. We rounded the corner to our street, and then walked up Roxas's driveway.

"Maybe we can fix some popcorn and watch a movie until Axel gets back," he suggested.

"Sounds good," I agreed as he unlocked the front door. Once inside, I looked around, my ears twitching a bit as I studied the interior. It was a nice place; the walls were painted a light sky blue color, the floors were a plush white carpet beyond the entryway, and there were a few framed pictures here and there on the walls. I copied Roxas, kicking off my shoes by the closet in the hall, and set our bags down next to our shoes.

"Axel should be home in a couple of hours, especially seeing as Fridays are his short days," Roxas told me as he pulled out a bag of popcorn and put it in the microwave once we were in the kitchen. "He always makes sure he's off for the weekend so he can spend time with me."

"Same with Josh," I said. "He hates when he thinks I'm lonely."

"That's how Axel is, too," Roxas chuckled. "So, what movie do you want to watch? I'm good with just about anything, and we have a lot of movies to choose from."

"Do you have Resident Evil?" I asked. The blonde nodded nervously, and I smirked. "Then we'll watch that." The popcorn finished popping, and he grabbed a bowl, emptying the bag into it before leading me to the living room. He slipped the disc into the DVD player, and started up the movie once the main menu appeared. While we watched, I casually ate the popcorn, but as it progressed into the gorier and more intense scenes, I noticed Roxas was jumping whenever there was a loud noise from the speakers or something jumped into view from out of nowhere. Which was often. Without warning, a creature shot out from hiding at the main character, and my friend suddenly yelped and clung to me in a panic.

"HOLY SHIT!" he shrieked, and I laughed loudly before pausing the movie.

"You don't handle scary movies that well, huh?" I chuckled.

"No, I don't," he mumbled, and then he realized he was still clinging to me. He let go of me, muttering an embarrassed apology.

"Meh, don't worry about it. Joshua doesn't handle this stuff well, either," I smirked. That's when the garage door opened, and the sound of a truck's engine became a bit louder before stopping altogether. Soon after, the door leading out to the garage opened, and a man's voice called out, "Roxas, I'm home!"

"Hey Axel! I'm in here, and I've got a friend with me!" Roxas hollered back. Then a tall, lanky neko with bright red hair and matching ears walked into the living room, his green eyes curious as his tail waved.

"Well then, and who's your friend, Rox?" he asked with a smirk, ruffling Roxas's hair and ears.

"This is Neku, the guy who showed me around and defended me from that bully yesterday," the blonde smiled, his ears perking up once Axel stopped.

"Nice to meet you, Axel," I greeted, standing and shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you, too, Neku," he grinned. "I assume Roxas told you a bit about me, seeing as you know my name."

"Yeah, we chatted on the way to school this morning," I nodded. "He really thinks highly of you."

"Good to know," Axel chuckled, and then he noticed the movie. "Rox, you hate scary movies! Why are you watching one?"

"Neku wanted to, and I didn't want to seem like a wuss…" my friend pouted.

"Hey, you could have said no, man," I smirked. "Besides, you said you were good with just about anything."

"Roxas…" Axel sighed, his ears flattening out to the sides. "All right, no more scary movies. Can't have you waking up with nightmares."

"Sorry, Axel," he apologized. "I didn't know it would be this scary."

"No worries," the redhead assured him. "How was school today, guys?"

"It was good, until Seifer and his crew tried to mess with us," I told him. At Axel's puzzled expression, I explained. "Seifer's the bully from yesterday. One of his lackeys, Fuu, twisted Roxas's arm a bit, so after we went to the office, we were able to leave early."

"Geez! Please tell me they're getting punished for that," he groaned.

"Yeah, and Neku beat the crap out of them, too," Roxas laughed lightly.

"Good to know you're not a pushover, kid," Axel smiled at me, ruffling my hair and ears lightly. I yelped, and then fixed my hair when he stopped. "Neku, would you like to stay for dinner? I know it's sudden, but think of it as my thanks for protecting Roxas."

"I'd have to ask my brother first, but it shouldn't be a problem," I replied.

"Go ahead, then, I understand," he said. I pulled out my phone, flipping it open and seeing that Joshua had texted me already, saying he was on his way home with the pizza.

"Damn, he's already on his way home with dinner," I sighed. "Maybe some other time, then."

"No worries, it's cool," Axel assured me. "Like you said, we can another time."

"Well, I'd best get going, then. Joshua will be home soon," I told them.

"All right, see you soon, Neku!" Roxas smiled.

"Cool. See ya, Roxas," I nodded, and went to the front door, putting my shoes back on and grabbing my bag before leaving. Once I got home, I saw Joshua's car was pulling up in the driveway, and he waved me over.

"Just come in through the garage," he said, and I nodded, following him into the garage as he pulled in. When he was parked and the ignition was turned off, Joshua closed the garage door, and he hopped out, holding the pizza box. "Heya Neku."

"Hey," I greeted.

"Go ahead and go inside with the pizza, I just need to grab something from the trunk," my brother told me, and I took the box from him before heading into the house. I kicked off my shoes by the front door, and went to the kitchen, where I set down the box on the counter and pulled out a couple of plates and sodas. Shortly after, Joshua came in, and I heard the door close behind him.

"So what did you have to grab from the trunk?" I called to him, about to dish myself some pizza.

"Why don't you come over and see?" the silverette replied back, so I put the pizza back in the box to keep it warm before wiping my fingers off on a napkin and going to investigate. My ears popped up as I was stunned when I saw Joshua holding a little orange and gold tabby kitten in his arms that had a royal blue ribbon tied around its neck. "Surprise, Neku~"

"Wha—?" I started to say, but Joshua interrupted.

"He's an early birthday present, despite your birthday being a bit over a month away," he giggled. He then held the kitten out to me, and I carefully took him into my arms, holding him comfortably so his back legs were supported by my arm. "Happy early Birthday, little brother."

"He's precious, Josh!" I grinned, and he laughed lightly.

"I had a feeling you'd love him. That's why I went to the shelter this morning," he explained. "I was putting him on reserve so no one else could adopt him."

"Well, you did amazing," I told him. "Thank you."

"What are you going to name him?" Joshua asked.

"I think I'll name him…Taiyo," I smiled softly, petting the little kitten's head gently.

"I like it," my brother nodded in approval. "Now, come on, let's put the pizza in the oven so it stays warm while we get little Taiyo here set up in one of the spare bedrooms."

"Sounds good," I agreed, and then Joshua put the pizza in the oven, setting it for a low temperature so it stayed warm, and then he grabbed some of the supplies he'd purchased for Taiyo while I held said kitten. Taiyo gave a small mewl as I stroked his head and scratched behind his ears, and I knew he was hungry. "You bought food and water bowls, right?"

"Of course, and a bed, toys, scratching posts, litter boxes, food, treats, and litter," he assured me. He carried up a majority of the supplies, and while I set things up, he went back down to get the rest. Taiyo sniffed about the room, curious of his new surroundings, and I gave a soft laugh.

"Do you like it, Taiyo?" I asked him, making him look up at me.

"Mew!" he squeaked happily, showing his tiny teeth. I ran my hand along his head and back, and he began to purr, revealing how satisfied he was.

"I take it he likes you and the room?" Joshua smirked as he walked in, carrying the rest of the supplies.

"I would assume so," I smiled. We soon finished putting everything together, but as we were about to head back downstairs, Taiyo began to cry, so I picked him up, and he immediately stopped. "Let's have him with us while we have our Friday night TV show catch-up session."

"Definitely," my brother agreed, and we had Taiyo on the couch with us while we ate our pizza and watched TV shows we had recorded but hadn't had the time to watch. As the night went on, I noticed Taiyo had curled into my side, and was fast asleep. "Want him to sleep in your room? I can bring some supplies in from his room."

"I think we'd both like that," I nodded, and carefully, so as not to wake him, I picked him up, and carried him to my room, where Joshua soon appeared with a litter box and the food and water bowls. "Night, Josh."

"Goodnight, Neku," he smiled, and then left. I set Taiyo on my bed, and once I was changed into my boxers and a t-shirt, I climbed into bed with him, where I pulled my new kitten close and fell asleep.

A/N: Finally! It's finished! What do you guys think of Taiyo? Isn't he cute? I certainly think so! R&R, peeps!