Disclaimer:: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Warnings:: Cussing and one angsty blonde.

IV; kill the messenger

The smell of alcohol polluted the air the small blonde was breathing. Cigarette smoke hung in the air just like the tension between the younger blonde sitting in the corner, reading the same sentence for the fifth time in his book, and the older blonde standing in the doorway. The latter stumbled into the apartment, bloodshot eyes locking onto the quiet boy.

"Get up," he slurred. The boy's grip on the book tightened as he stood up and braced himself. The man crossed the room, swaying dangerously as he did so. He snatched the book out of the boy's hands and laughed bitterly.

"You think reading's going to make you smarter, dumbfuck?" He spat. "Huh? Well? Answer me, you son of a bitch!"

"I-I just want to read my book…" The boy stuttered, willing himself not to cry. He'd just get beaten more for that.

"Oh, so now it's about what you want?" The man said, swinging the book around like a club. "You don't get shit 'cause you aren't worth shit!" He grabbed the boy by his hair. The smaller blonde fidgeted and tried to worm his way out of his captor's grasp. The man threw him against the wall.

"You're going to be as fucking miserable as I am!" He said. "'Cause you're the goddamn reason my life is like this! I fucking hate you!"

The little boy didn't get up from his slumped position against the wall. It wasn't because the sheer force of the throw had made his body numb. It wasn't because he couldn't breathe.

It was because he realized that promises were as easily broken as they were made.

"Kairi, who is this?"

"He's my friend, Nami."

"Why's he all bandaged up? Did he get hurt?"

"… Y-yeah. He got hurt."

"Is he going to be okay? You can fix him, right?"

"I'm going to try my hardest, Nami."

It was conversation like this that I heard while I was… What was I doing? Was I dead? Was I unconscious? I opened my eyes slowly, surprised at how dark the room was. There were thick curtains on the windows not allowing any light in at all and there was maybe one dim light bulb in that entire room.

"Ah, Roxas!" Kairi said, getting up from the chair that was next to me. I was laying on a futon in the middle of a room I'd never seen before.

"Where am I?" I asked, surprised at how raspy my voice sounded.

"You're at my apartment," the girl said. "You passed out at school, so I brought you back here so I could take care of you."

"There's nothing wrong with me."

"That's where you're wrong, Roxas," Kairi said. I could tell she was happy about being able to say that. "You're underweight, for one, so it's easy to see that something's wrong with your eleventh rib. It's at a weird angle, and that's probably what caused you so much pain back there."

"It's always been like that," I muttered. "Nothing serious."

"But you passed out from it!"

"For all you know," I said. "Maybe it's something else. Does it have to be some deformation so that when you go back to your sluts, you can say, 'Oh, my God, guys! You know that Roxas kid? He's got major issues, but that's okay, 'cause I fixed him! Aren't I fucking awesome?? And if you were 'so worried' about my goddamn problems when you can't even get a working lamp in here, then I think you have some priority issues! Why the hell didn't you take me to a hospital like last time? Why'd you bring me to this shitty place?" Kairi was about to say something, but a new voice cut her off.

"D-does it hurt?" I looked over to the doorway. A small, elementary school-aged girl was hiding behind the partially opened door, gazing up at us through her blonde bangs.

"Ah, Nami!" Kairi said, a little surprised. "Wh-what are you doing here? I thought I told you to go play in your room?"

"I was worried," she said, looking down at her feet. "I'm sorry." Kairi's expression softened into a smile.

"It's okay," she said, still smiling. She turned to me. "Roxas, I'd like you to meet my baby sister, Naminé."

"… Hi…" Real smooth, I know.

Naminé surprised me by smiling at me from behind the door. Not one of those fake smiles, but a real one. The kind that made you feel like someone was glad that you were here.

"Do you want some cake, Roxas?" She asked, still smiling at me. I couldn't help but smile back at her.
"Sure, why not?"

"Do you want any, Kairi?"

Kairi smiled. "Yeah. Thanks, Nami." As soon as Naminé left the room, Kairi turned back to me with something between a smirk and a smile on her face.

"What's with the look?" I asked. This was just a little awkward.

"I didn't know you liked kids!" Kairi said, still smiling.

"I don't."

"You like Nami, though. Don't deny it!"

"Well, yeah," I said, scratching the back of my head. "She isn't one of those whiny-ass brats that are throwing bitch fits in supermarkets. She quiet, and I like that." Kairi seemed to take that as an answer, but she kept staring at me with that weird smirk-smile thing she'd pratically invented, for Christ's sake. The door opened and was followed by Namine carrying three small plates.

"Here you go," she said, walking over to the cot and handing me a plate. "We only have angel food cake, if you don't mind.

"Angel food cake is magical, man."

"Only when you bake it, Axel. See, most people don't put weed into the cake and then eat it all by themselves in one sitting."

"Missing out, man. This is fucking better than those hash brownie things. Whatever to that shit."

"… Roxas? Roxas, can you hear me?" Kairi was waving her hands in front of my face. I swatted them away and looked down at my hands folded in front of me.

"Are you okay?" Naminé asked curiously as she glanced up at me. "You don't have to eat it if you don't want to."

"Thanks," I said, not able to look at either of them. What was wrong with me? Naminé just smiled at me and left, leaving Kairi her plate.

"You okay?" She asked once Naminé was out of the room.

"Yeah," I muttered. "Just tired."

"All right. I'll let you sleep." Kairi got up to leave, taking her slice of cake with her. Her hand rested on the doorknob, but she didn't open it to leave. Instead, she turned back around and said to me, "If you need anything, I'm always here, okay?" I didn't say anything and just pretended to be asleep when my mind was racing. The dim light bulb that had been the sole light source in the room was turned off as I heard the door close with a dull thud. I was engulfed in darkness.

"You know, you're my first friend in a long time."

"What the hell? Talk about a change of subject…"

"I'm being serious here, so please try not to be such a douche and actually listen."

"Oy, have to be so mean to your so-called 'first-friend'?"

"…"

"Hey, you know I'm only joking, Rox. You wanna know a little secret? You're the first friend I've had… That I've wanted to just like throw down and rape senseless until they can't walk. … Wait, no, that's a lie. Sorry, man."

"Thanks, Axel. You've completely restored my lost self-confidence. What would I do without you?"

"… You're cute when you're being sarcastic, you know that? Makes me just wanna-"

"Keep it in your pants."

"Oh, all right, but just you wait; when you're sleeping-"

"You'll be castrated in the corner. Don't even think about it."

"Ooh, playing hard to get? How'd you know that was a turn on for me?"

"… Jesus Christ…"

"Fag. Faaaag."

"There goes that gay kid. What a fag."

"Hey, it's the fag! How's the cock-sucking going, fag?"

"Stay away from that kid, guys. He's gay for dick. Goddamn fags."

"What's wrong with you? Something happen today?"

"Nothing happened. Read your damn porn."

"Hey, look at me. Look at me. … That's better. Now tell me what's wrong."

"…"

"You know, even though I joke around a lot, you know I care a lot about you, right?"

"… Really?"

"More than you know. Now, on to more important things; who's ass am I kicking today?"

A/N: Well, the beta for this story has officially died. xP Any mistakes in here, any rushing, hell, it's all my fault. Can't say I'm too happy with this chapter, but hey, I need something. Thanks to all the people who've read this far and even went so far as to review! :] I'll try to update more often and give you something more than this piece of fail. x___x;;