Author's Note : Here it is, Chapter four. There will be a little bit of a hint of plots in this chapter. :)

Oh, by the way, I've made a new story, A Gambler's Heart, another AkuRoku, SoraRiku, and Zemyx. (Zemyx will be in Nightmares too.)

I'll be continuing both. Please go read it too. It's just starting though, so there's not a really a plot, but it is waiting for reviews from you great guys! Haha…

Anyway, that's just ranting. Just skip over. And review, please. (don't get tired of me saying this coz I'll be asking for it in every chapter… hehe). Alright, here we go.

Chapter 4

A Hint of Love

Axel walked back to the apartment from the Sushi Bar. He was now in the elevator, going up to the fourteenth floor where Riku's room resided. With his key, he unlocked the door and found Riku in there, studying. "Had a fun time with Roxas?" Riku asked, not even glancing at Axel. He corrected his glasses, continued to read the thick academic book of chemistry.

"You wear glasses?" Axel asked, surprised. He stepped in the room and sat down on the floor beside Riku.

"Father insists that I wear these. Just small minus, I can see fine without it."

"Father?" Axel's eyes widened. "Oh, you meant Marluxia?" Riku nodded as an answer. "Ha. You're cute wearing those glasses." Axel laughed.

"You still haven't answered my question." Riku stared.

"Oh, I had a fun time. He's a cute kid and me think he likes me." Axel laughed, pointing to himself, feeling proud. "Anyway, how's Marluxia doing?"

"He's doing fine, the same usual. He's trying to help you with your problems too."

"Give my thanks to him." Axel smiled.

"Oh, I'm going out tonight. Find some fun for yourself." Riku stood up, took off his glasses and puts in on the table, and headed for the bathroom. "Aren't you taking me along?" Axel protested. "Nope, I'm spending time with a friend and I don't need you there." Riku grinned again, turning back, waiting to see what face his best buddy will put on. Axel frowned, tilting his head to the side a bit. "Friend?"

"Yup." Riku nodded innocently.

"Aww, ain't I your best friend? Axie is hurt…" Axel put on a sad face. Riku laughed, having been expecting that. "Aha, I know!" Axel jumped causing Riku to do the same too. Now, Riku did not expect this coming. "Must be a really close friend. Spill, who is it?" Axel walked close and put an arm around Riku's shoulder.

"Not your business."

"Or I won't stop bothering you tonight. Trust me, you won't have a good time on your date." Axel smirked, an evil grin on his face.

Riku stopped to think a bit. Finally, he decided to let Axel knows because he was certain that Axel would certainly haunt him for the rest of the night if he did otherwise. "It's not a date. It's with Sora."

"Cool! You're turning gay! Yippy!" Axel jumped, Riku put a hand on his forehead, rolling his eyes. "Do you understand English?" Riku frowned but Axel continued to tease him. "I guess Marluxia raised you well." Axel added. Having no attention to reason with the red head further, Riku stepped inside the bathroom and took a bath.

--

The Sushi Bar was closed when the small needle of the clock pointed to six. Roxas arranged the chairs and tables to its original positions, Namine turned the 'open' sign around so that it showed 'close', and Olette cleaned the table. Roxas was about to head home when everything was done. His work time was over. He headed to the back of the Sushi Bar, took off his apron, puts it on the counter, took his bag, and headed out. "I'm going home."

"Yeah, take care." Namine smiled.

"Roxas." Roxas looked around, trying to find the source of the sound and he found it. It was Luxord, walking down from the second floor, approaching Roxas. "Can you come with me? I have something to ask." Roxas was puzzled but he nodded, following Luxord to the second floor while eyeing Namine, hoping for her to explain to him or something but Namine was just as confused.

"Is… Luxord going to fire Roxas?" Olette asked, worried.

"There's no way father would do that. He'd have mentioned it." Namine denied it. "I-I mean we're kinda short of workers, he can't just fire Roxas." Namine frowned.

Roxas arrived in a room with lots of books and closed the door. Luxord stopped there, and faced Roxas. He laughed a little after seeing Roxas' tensed face, chilling the situation. "Don't worry. I'm not going to eat you."

"Oh, no. It's just…"

"I want to ask about that red head that comes together with you this noon. What's his name?"

"Axel."

"Do you know him well?" Luxord asked again. Roxas was confused by the question, couldn't think of any reasons why his boss, Luxord, suddenly asked him that but he answered nevertheless, "Not really. I know him only for three days." Luxord nodded, stopped to think how to put his questions into nice words. "Tell me what you know about him." Roxas was startled by the question. Luxord noticed that and explained, "He seems like someone I knew, but I'm not quite sure."

"He's my brother's friend and well… I really don't know him very well." Roxas was surprised to see Luxord's relieved face. This sparked questions to Roxas' brain. 'Doesn't he want to know about Axel? Why's he relieved when I said I know nothing about him?' Luxord smiled then. "Thank you, Roxas. That's all I need to know." Taking his cue to leave, Roxas excused himself. Luxord eyed as the blond left the room. "I guess he hasn't told him…" Luxord muttered under his breath.

When Roxas arrived at the first floor, he was surrounded by two curious and worried girls, asking him what happened. Roxas scratched his head a bit and answers, "Nothing, your father just asks me some questions." Namine was relieved. "Good."

"Well, then. I'm going back to the dorm. I still have work tonight." Roxas smiled a bit. Roxas headed out, followed by Olette, Namine waved them goodbye. "Take care." Olette smiled and the two go separate ways.

--

The clock pointed to six forty five. Riku, who had been neatly dressed with a button up black colored shirt and long jeans, headed out of the apartment. Riku was annoyed when Axel followed him out. Axel just smirked, waiting for Riku to burst but Riku just stayed calm. "Ooo, you put on nice smelling cologne." Axel said, inhaling the smell.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Axel laughed.

"Don't you have someone else to bother?"

"Hey, you're the second person in a day that says that to me."

"That means the first one is Roxas."

"You are so smart." Axel messed with Riku's hair a bit. Riku groaned. "Don't worry, I just wanna ask Sora where his brother works at night. If I know, I can find my entertainment for the night." Axel explained.

--

Sora was already waiting in the cinema for half an hour. He got too excited and arrived forty minutes early. The cinema was full with people going in and out, either to buy tickets or had just watched movies. Sora had bought the tickets for the thriller movie that Riku requested. He yawned, sitting on the bench right outside the cinema, holding a notebook, once in a while looking at his watch just to count how long it is till seven. He would then read his small notebook which was full of the notes taken from class. He looked up to see the people passing by, still no sign of Riku. When the clock shows 6.54, Riku finally arrived, greeting Sora who was sitting on the bench. "Hi there."

Sora was startled and he quickly hid his notebook into his pocket. He looked confused when he saw Axel standing beside Riku. "I'm not here to tag along on your date. Don't worry." Axel laughed. Sora blushed, quickly putting on a smiling face to cover it. "So, where'd Roxas work at night?"

"He mentioned it was in a supermarket, but I don't know which one. Why?"

"Nothing, just wanted to know." Axel smirked. "Well, I'm off." Axel went away. Sora looked at Riku, hoping to find an answer. After a sigh, Riku explained. "Seems he had something to talk about to Roxas."

"Does he know which supermarket it is? There are a lot of supermarkets in the town."

"Knowing him, I know he would just search every last one of them until he finds Roxas." Riku laughed, followed by Sora. "So, you got the tickets?" Sora nodded. "Let's go in." Riku smirked and took Sora's hand. Sora is startled, not expecting Riku to do that. He blushed, face as red as tomato, all blood going up to his face. He was relieved that Riku didn't seem to notice that. Riku told Sora to go in first while he buys popcorns and drinks. And so, the movie started. Sora couldn't even concentrate, he held his large coke with two hands, drinking slowly, sinking in his seat, heart beating fast. Riku though was enjoying himself, watching the movie without looking at Sora one bit.

Finally the movie was over and the theater was lit up again. Riku looked to the side to eye Sora. "You okay?" Riku asked, smirking.

Sora was still staring to the screen, eyes opened wide, sucking the coke from the straw. When he snapped out of it, he found that the movie was already showing credits and that Riku was looking at him. "U-Um… Let's go…" Sora jumped up and walked out, followed by Riku. Riku caught up to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Sora. Don't tell me you're still afraid of blood."

"No! It's nothing like that."

"Oh, really?" Riku took a big step and stood in front of Sora, stopping him abruptly. "You look scared." Riku laughed.

"Not! The movie's over right? Let's go home!" Sora stepped to the side and walked passed Riku.

"Hey, why'd you suddenly get mad?" Riku held Sora's wrist, not letting him go.

"I'm not mad, Riku!" Sora was frustrated, he couldn't even look at Riku in the face. Riku was again, standing right in front of Sora. Sora suddenly had the sudden urge and he couldn't hold himself. As if drunk, he wrapped his arms around Riku's neck, pulled him in, and leaned in to kiss him. Riku's eyes were widened to an unbelievable size. He just watched as Sora kissed him, his brain was suddenly blank, and when he came back to his senses, it was all over. Sora was terrified after knowing what he had done. There was terror written on his face. He glanced to Riku and quickly ran away in embarrassment, heart still beating uncontrollably, leaving Riku standing alone outside the cinema, awestruck.

--

The map shop…

Axel had been spending hours in the Twilight Town map shop. As the name implied, the shop sells a lot of maps. Since it was already night, around eight, only a few people were there. To the back corner, stood two tourists, a couple to be exact, discussing on which maps to buy and on which towns they should visit next. To the left corner, stood a shopkeeper, busy rearranging the maps which had been made a mess by children coming earlier. One woman was standing outside, leaning on her car, smoking, while Axel was rolling his eyes, leaning his sides to the counter inside the shop. He felt like it has been an eternity, hearing the woman in front of him preaching. He yawned loudly, hoping to give a sign to the woman standing in front of the counter to stop. However, the blonde woman with messy hair continued to smile, laugh, and talk. "God! I just need you to tell me which map contains the location of the supermarket in town!" Axel finally shouted, annoyed beyond annoyed. The shop fell silent and everyone in there stared at Axel. However, they soon go back to their own business.

"Oh yeah, the supermarket. You know, it's bad to shop there. The things there are so expensive! Pfft… Just because they're big and all they think they can just raise the prices. You know, last time I went to the supermarket to buy a bottle of milk, it costs me 98 munny! 98 munny! Can you imagine that? The shop that sells milks next to my house only sells the exact same one for 95! I feel so ripped off!"

Axel's face was painted red, as red as his red head. There's smoke going from his head. He tapped his fingers on the counter impatiently. This was the first time that Axel felt this annoyed. No one has ever managed to irk him. "Well, Rikku. Thank you. Now, can you just tell me…"

"That's my point! Don't go to the supermarket. You'll regret it." She smiled, cutting Axel abruptly.

"I…"

"So, last time, there's this cat that's lying on the street. It…"

"Here."

Axel stood straight when someone suddenly gave him a small book of map, written 'Twilight Town Supermarkets'. Axel took the book quickly while staring to the person. "You've had enough of her, right?" The girl laughed. She wore tight black leather jacket with no sleeves, revealing a XII mark on her left arm with mini shorts. There were two strips of blond hair standing up from her face looking like antennas for cockroaches. Axel's grin came back to his face again, all anger vanished suddenly. "Larxene, I've been looking for you." He laughed.

"Looking for me?" Her eyes widened but smirk painted her face again just as soon. "You don't even tell me that you're coming to this town." Larxene tilted her head to the side a bit.

"Uh, yeah, about that…" Axel scratched his head. "I kinda lost your address and phone number."

"Kinda?" Larxene laughed. "I swear. You must be getting old, Axel."

"So, are you guys buying or not?" Rikku asked, feeling annoyed that she was ignored all of a sudden.

"Yeah, I need this." Axel took out money to pay and he quickly walked out, followed by Larxene, before Rikku starts with her chattering again. "Never thought I'd meet you here." Axel laughed.

"Oh, I had fun watching you with that girl. Never seen you with that face before."

"You should have come and saved me earlier." Axel pouted.

"So, whatcha need me for?"

"Xemnas."

Hearing that word, Larxene's face became serious. "Isn't he absent after your last fight with him?"

"Yea. You said you'll help me if I need it, right?"

"Hmm. What can I help with?" Larxene put her hands on her hips, not exactly thrilled about to hear Axel's explanation, but she put on a usual face, encouraging Axel to say something.

--

Roxas was arranging the things on the rack, though it was already eleven, the Twilight Supermarket was still full of customers. He yawned a bit, feeling sleepy but tried as hard as he could to keep it down. He sure didn't want his boss to come passing by and watch him yawning. He kept arranging the stuffs patiently. They fell off the rack a couple of times but Roxas managed to put it back neatly. After he was done with that side, he stood up, went to the storeroom and took out a box of snacks. He went to the snacks department and started arranging things in place again while memorizing some lessons from school for tomorrow's exam. He was startled when Yuna suddenly reached out a hand to him, "Roxas, go help Wakka out. He's outside with a truck full of goods." Roxas nodded and Yuna continued. "I'll take care of things here, thanks." She smiled.

Lazily, he walked outside the supermarket. This was not the first time. Being the youngest and the smallest, everyone always told him to do this and that and he had no choice but to obey so long as they are happy. He was not going to complain though. Wakka was at the other side of the road, busy loading off the goods. The streets were silent. Few cars passed by once in a while. Roxas was about to cross the road to Wakka when someone suddenly grabbed his hand and pushed him to the dark alleyway filled with trash bins. Roxas was startled when he was backed to the corner by a punk holding a knife. He tried to slip away but the punk quickly stood in his way, holding his knife to Roxas' throat.

"What are you trying to do?!" Roxas shouted.

"Give me all your money." The punk who was wearing black hat said with a smirk on his face.

"Go to hell." Roxas muttered, again, trying to escape, but he was pushed to the wall with the knife close to his throat, making it bleed.

"Do you want to die that bad?"

"I don't have any money." Roxas glared, a little bit terrified, but was too stubborn to let it show.

"That means a yes. Isn't it?" The punk was about to stab the knife to Roxas' stomach but was stopped by someone suddenly beating him. Axel stood, looking absolutely angered and mad. The punk quickly retaliated and tried to stab Axel. Axel didn't have time to avoid, so he stopped the knife by holding it causing his hand to bleed horribly. While holding the knife, Axel landed a kick to the punk. Axel beat the punk up, there's a faint hint of fire coming out from his body. However, it quickly vanished as Axel calmed down and told the punk to scram. The punk who had been beaten badly got up to his feet and ran. Axel, with his hand still bleeding, approached Roxas. Roxas just stared, looking terrified. He didn't want to imagine what would happen if Axel hadn't got there on time… the punk would had stabbed him and ran away with his money. "You're bleeding." Roxas quickly ran to him. He was startled by Axel suddenly hugging him.

"Are you okay?" Axel asked with a worried tone in his voice.

"Y-Yeah…" Roxas answered, feeling awkward. "Hey, I thought it's just your hand that's bleeding."

"Yeah, why?" Axel asked, confused.

"So? Don't start acting all dead and taking advantage on me." Roxas pushed him away, putting on an annoyed look on his face.

Axel laughed, scratching his head a bit with the non-bleeding hand. "Oh, so you notice." He smirked. "Are you embarrassed?"

"Of course!" Roxas almost screamed.

"Oh! That means your heart now must be beating terribly fast. You're in love with me." Axel laughed again.

Roxas blushed. 'Is it that obvious? But!' "Hell no! I am so not in love with you!" Axel gives Roxas an evil smile. Roxas, who had just looked so frustrated, suddenly softened. "Thanks." He said.

Now, Axel was the one who blushes. "What?" He asked in disbelieve, never thought that he would receive such a sincere 'thanks' from Roxas. "This is bad, Roxy." Axel's eyes widened. "I think I lost too much blood that I start to imagine you smiling and saying thanks." Axel put a hand to his forehead.

Roxas rolled his eyes and laughed. "I can show my gratitude too. Seriously, I don't know what would have happened if you didn't come…"

"Aww, don't worry about it. I love you too, Roxy."

"I didn't say I love you, dimwit!" Roxas was frustrated again.

"You just said it." Axel smirked.

Roxas grunted. "Let's get you treated."

Roxas took Axel back to the supermarket. Yuna and Wakka were surprised seeing the blood dripping from Axel's hand. Roxas explained a bit and took him to the resting area. The resting area was a room for staffs to take a break from their work. There, Roxas told Axel to sit on the bench while he went to fetch the first aid kit. Roxas came back with it, and started treating and bandaging Axel's hand. "Done."

"So, you work in Twilight Supermarket." Axel sighed, Roxas nodded. "I looked all over the supermarkets in town to find you." At that, Roxas laughed.

"Why?"

"Nah, I just need to see you."

"I thought we just seen each other seven hours ago." Roxas said as he put back the first aid kit to the cabinet.

"Yeah, but I miss you, Roxy. I just wish that I can take you home with me and have you all day." Axel smiled.

"You maniac." Roxas backed away. "Save that for your girl."

"Roxy, I don't have any girl. I only have a boy-friend and that's you."

Roxy stuck a tongue out. "Well, you've seen enough of me, right? I still have work to do."

Axel was saddened, "No fun."

Roxas sighed. "If you really have so much time to kill, I guess I can spare a few hours tomorrow after school for you." Axel beamed, "Really? Promise, Roxy?" Roxas sighed again, wondering if he will regret his decision. He owed the guy for saving him after all. Roxas nodded finally. "Hooray!" Axel jumped, feeling extremely happy. Roxas laughed. Axel really looked like a kid that had just gotten his first candy. He was still curious as to why Axel acted like that though and he did not believe that Axel was really trying to date him. "Tomorrow, I'll wait for you at school. Nighty night, Roxy." Axel said as he leaned down to kiss Roxas cheek.

Roxas was about to punch him again but Axel had quickly run away.

--

Ummm… This chapter's feels a little off to me. Sorry about that… I guess the exam has been getting into me (mood drop). But I promise the next one will be better. Sigh… I hope I'm not losing readers for this…

So, what's going to happen next? Will Riku be mad at Sora? What about Roxas to Axel?

Thanks for reading and reviewing! XD

And please keep reading. :)