A/N: Things get kind of interesting in this chapter. Though Zexion is absent in this, Namine has to deal with that troublesome Axel. You guys will be surprised with how she does deal with him. XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, because if I did, I would commit copyright infringement. And I don't want to go to prison, thank you.

Chapter 6: An Unexpected Ally

Axel strode briskly down the corridors of Castle Oblivion for lack of a better task to accomplish. He despised these meetings he had with the other two, so what else could he do? Marluxia would talk for hours on end while Larxene would agree with him on everything. If Axel didn't know any better, he could have sworn the two were lovers. But, considering their status as Nobodies, this would remain impossible. Besides, the impetuous blond woman preferred to flirt with him, the charming redhead. Still, he took no interest in her due to her sadistic ways. He liked sarcasm in a woman rather than deadly cynicism. As he meandered about the castle halls, a portal formed in front of him. Axel knew who it was before the person stepped out of it.

"Axel, you do know that Sora is expected here in just a few short days, do you not?" Marluxia asked, his smirk growing with anticipation.

Number Eight merely snorted in response as he took out a chakram, which he idly spun with one finger. "Yeah, I know. What are you doing here, asking me that?"

The lord of Castle Oblivion started pacing back and forth calmly. "I merely thought that you should be doing something more productive. Like looking after our young charge, for instance."

Another snort came out of Axel. "Was I honestly picked to be the babysitter around here or something? You and Larxene seem to have your fun and rarely look after the girl."

"Well, if you recall, Xemnas assigned you to this castle at the last minute. It's as though he thinks we're up to something...and that you are his willing spy," Marluxia sneered, though his sapphire eyes glinted dangerously. It was known that he hated rebels who dared to defy him. If Axel served as one of these renegades, then he would have no choice but to eliminate him. Besides, Xemnas gave Marluxia this power for reasons unknown. The latter often wondered why Axel was assigned here to this castle too, unless it had to do with spying.

Meanwhile, the redhead only laughed this comment off, as though it was a mere joke. He often did that just to irk his inferior, who did not take this too lightly.

"Pray tell, what is so funny about me suspecting you of espionage?" Marluxia snarled menacingly, already fed up with him for today. Usually, he possessed limitless patience; however, Namine had looked almost too happy when he came to her room this morning. It seemed as though his presence no longer struck fear into her, a fact that annoyed him. He loved to intimidate that normally spineless witch, but why must she cast off that fear today of all days? It was almost as though someone in this castle had made her outwardly happy, what with that demure smile she wore. She even sketched as though it was her true passion instead of resignedly doing it with a drab expression. These slight differences in her personality infuriated Marluxia. She wasn't supposed to be like this. She was never supposed to be like this, as long as he was the lord of this castle.

At last, the sardonic redhead managed to answer him as he simply replied, "If you think I'm Xemnas' kiss-up, you are definitely wrong. I don't like the guy much better than you, Marluxia. Believe me, I convinced our Superior to allow me to help you two. I intend on being part of this plan."

Marluxia was unsure about the seriousness of this statement, for Axel wore his irrepressible smirk the whole time. Not only that, but he continued playing with his chakram like he truly didn't care about helping. These little clues made Marluxia furrow his brows even more while he took in this sight. However, Axel seemed to say his words as honestly as a Nobody could. A highly gifted actor if ever was one. His credibility was almost too perfect, practically impeccable. Deciding to not further this discussion, Marluxia heaved a frustrated sigh and told him, "You are fortunate that I believe you. Otherwise, I would have killed you on the spot."

"Oooh, that frightens me! I suppose those rose petals of yours are deadly."

Instead of taking his scythe out as he was tempted to do, Marluxia smirked yet again, amused at Axel's childish antics. That's what he gets for hanging around with that delinquent Roxas, he assumed. Then again, Roxas had ran away a long time ago, didn't he?

"You know, Axel, I think it's time you visit Namine and solve this mystery regarding her that's rather irked me for a while."

"Oh?"

"Yes, she seems...almost happy. We can't have that, now can we? Go to her, lower her spirits. I cannot stand to see her this much out of character. It could easily lead to her rebelling from us."

Axel mock bowed to the scythe wielder as he replied, "Will do, boss."

"Good, now get to it."

Marluxia promptly walked away, assuming that Axel would carry out his duty as professionally as he had done with the all the others. However, Number Eight was inclined to rebel himself...in a subtle manner, of course. If his rebelling became too drastic at this stage of the game, he would never go through with a plot of his own creation. Surely, Flower Boy would immediately tell on him, and he would have to reluctantly say goodbye to his human Nobody form to turn into a Dusk. And Axel didn't want to lose his cunning mind for such a depressing venture as that. So, he casually sauntered into Namine's room, where the artist busied herself with sketching as usual. Though, he had to admit, Marluxia was right in his assumptions. For, Namine did wear a soft smile on her face as she drew with a firmer resolve than Axel had ever seen from her.

What a transformation indeed!

Still, he wished to keep up the guise as her one reliable friend in this place.

True, he actually didn't mind her to the point that his plot would take her into account. Honestly, it had to, if he wanted to continue with the plan. Maybe he could become a friend as well as a sort of enemy to her, so as not to arouse her suspicions too much. As he assumed, he was being partially cruel to be kind. After all, he sort of sympathized with her, even if he didn't have the heart for it.

"Hello, Namine. Marluxia tells me you've been acting different lately," he greeted in his uniquely smart-alecky manner.

Surprised that he had appeared, Namine dropped her colored pencil to eye him guardedly. She had no idea what he was up to, but it definitely couldn't have a decent end result. In her mind, she knew Axel too well to the point that she doubted she would go off scot-free. The delivered sarcastic comments would probably lower her already low self-esteem. She admitted to herself, though, that it had heightened in the past few days. So, why should she be scared of this conniving redhead?

Coolly smoothing down the skirt of her dress, she asked, "What do you want? Oh, let me guess. Marluxia sent you down here, didn't he?"

"Smart one, aren't you?" Axel rhetorically asked as he leaned against the overly white wall. "Nope, apparently you're less gullible than I gave you credit for."

"People can change, you know. Besides, you don't really scare me as much as the other two."

"Why's that? I, for one, think you should fear me the most. Who knows what I might do to you? Why are you assuming you should trust me?"

He was testing her, Namine could easily tell. For some reason, she found herself reading the others better than ever before. With that recently discovered ability, she could pass his test without dwelling on his words too much.

"I don't trust you, actually. I think you're OK, but not worthy of trust yet."

Axel scratched his chin, mimicking deep contemplation. "Good answer—cryptic, yet I kind of like it. Hm, suppose we become friends?"

A random proposition actually tossed to her, she figured. Then again, this was probably another test, too. Axel enjoyed testing people, almost like a second hobby to him. Then again, she gave him her own little quizzes in turn. This conversation had practically turned into a tennis match within the first five minutes. Axel had thrown out the ball (metaphorically, the first test), and she had used her racquet (her response) to hit it back to his side of the court. Now, he had given the ball to her again. What to say to such a suggestion as that? Why would he even remark about them befriending each other. An interesting venture, but Namine wasn't prepared to fall for it. She resolved to answer this carefully, in a neutral way that would neither say yes or no. It would just have to be a definite maybe. Axel possessed many tricks that could twist the mind to the extent of hapless confusion.

Namine responded, pencil now poised in her fingertips again, with, "I don't want to be friends with you, yet I don't really want to hate you either. What I'm thinking is that there should be a borderline between the two. As they say, there's a fine line between love and hate. I choose the fine line."

She innocently smiled while Axel looked like the gears in his head turned slower than usual. Of course, she would smirk like him, but she thought that too weird. Now, she hit the tennis ball again as she wondered whether he would strike back with his own racquet. This metaphorical tennis game had progressed in intensity, with the two of them competing exuberantly for the win. Yes, it took a while, but maybe this would reap satisfying results.

Axel, to her surprise, had taken half her time when it came to thinking up a clever response. "OK, then, so we're just neutral allies. How about that?"

The tennis game had been tied up, and both of them knew it.

A/N: Filler chapter, I know. But, for some reason I can barely understand, I managed to put 3 POVs in here instead of the usual two. Hm. Well, anyway, I used tennis to compare with the situation between Namine and Axel. Ever since Death Note, I've been coming up with stuff like this, I swear. I'm starting to think that Death Note is an awesome influence on writing, hehe! XDD

Please review this chapter, the next one won't disappoint. I promise. ^_^