Here is the next chapter. Thanks to japaneserockergirl, Midnight Hikari, and Zacheria for reviewing. I love getting reviews! Also thanks to my awesome editor.
I'm going to apologize in advance for this chapter. It's kind of a filler, but there are some important parts. Also there's a really bad pun in it, so bad no one will probably even notice it, but it is still there. Hope you guys enjoy!!!
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When will this end? Can't they see I'm at my breaking point?
It's not fair! I want to live a normal life. Is that really too much to ask for?
Damn the Organization!
No, mustn't get angry. That's what they want. Mustn't give them the satisfaction. I refuse to be a pawn on their chessboard.
Yet, no matter how hard I try I feel myself losing control. I'm slowly chipping away. The darkness is seeping through the cracks.
What is to become of me?
xXx
Roxas sat in a plush chair doing his Calculus homework. He chewed on the eraser, determined to actually get an answer instead of just scribbling incoherent numbers so the teacher thought he had done his work. Zexion had offered to help, clearly wanting to show off, but Roxas had told him to go away a few minutes later, suspecting him of making up words. Zexion had huffed off and plopped down into another chair in the spacious living room. He was now reading a biography about some dead guy Roxas had never heard of. Out of the Organization Roxas and Zexion were the only ones who read for fun, but neither had similar tastes in books. Roxas loved science fiction, fantasy, murder mysteries, and classics. Zexion read non-fiction and only non-fiction. The only time Roxas remembered Zexion laughing was when Roxas suggested that he read a novel instead of his normal encyclopedia.
"This is just sad Roxas." Roxas looked up from his textbook to see Axel staring at him with a look of disapproval.
"What? I need to finish this. Unlike some people, I at least try to do my homework," Roxas retorted.
"It's a Saturday night. I'd expect this behavior from Zexion, but not you. You're not a social pariah like him."
"Hey! I'm right here," protested Zexion from his chair.
Axel turned to face him. "When did you get here Zexy?"
Roxas laughed silently. He knew that Axel had known that Zexion was there.
"First of all don't call me Zexy. Secondly…"
"You don't have a problem when Larxene calls you Zexy," Axel interrupted.
Zexion opened his mouth to argue, but determined it was pointless. Instead he just narrowed his eyes and returned to his book, muttering something that sounded like "…swear to God Axel."
Axel rolled his eyes, ignoring him. He turned his sights onto Roxas, who had begun to pack up his things, hoping to sneak quietly back up to his room and avoid Axel's third degree.
"Not so fast buddy," Axel smirked, his eyes gleaming with amusement.
"I'm not in the mood, Axel. Besides, how can you judge me? You're still here."
"This isn't about me," Axel replied, sitting down on the arm of the chair. "You've been brooding for much too long. Do you want to be more depressing than Zexion?"
Zexion muttered something from his chair but Roxas and Axel both ignored him.
"That's not fair Axel. It's not possible to be more morbid than Zexion," Roxas stated.
Feeling fed up Zexion snapped his book shut and stomped out of the room. Axel and Roxas waited for him to go up the stairs before cracking up.
"Is it something we said?" Axel laughed.
"Nah. Zexion is just so melodramatic," Roxas smiled.
"Now that he's gone are you going to tell me what the problem is?" Axel asked, his mirth replaced with seriousness.
Roxas took a deep breath before explaining to Axel, "You know that girl Olette?" Axel nodded. "Well," Roxas continued, "Before I came to the Organization I was best friends with her, but now she's…"
"…Forgotten you," Axel finished. His usually sarcastic tone was full of nothing but sympathy for his solemn friend.
"More or less."
Axel gave him a puzzled look, but didn't press the issue any further.
"Damn Xemnas and this whole Organization!" Roxas yelled suddenly, slamming his first on the nearby coffee table.
Axel was taken aback by the sudden burst of anger. "Calm down Roxas," he appeased, pointing to Roxas's other hand. Roxas looked at his hand, where an orb of darkness had formed. Instead of closing his palm to smother it, he threw it across the room where it hit the wall, shattering the glass on the photo frames that hung there. Roxas smiled triumphantly. He hated those pictures. Xemnas had them taken in case anyone outside of the Organization was visiting. He wanted people to think they were one big happy family. The pictures showed Roxas and the others smiling and laughing. None of them were candid. They were just another lie, one of the many that kept the charade going.
"No offense Roxas, but that was kind of dumb. The elders will be pissed."
"I don't really care," Roxas snapped.
Axel narrowed his eyes. "I know you're livid with a bunch of people, but I'm not one of them. So I'd appreciate if you'd stop taking your frustration out on me. I'm only trying to help."
Roxas' face softened. "I'm sorry. That was out of line," he apologized.
"No worries," Axel replied, waving his hand dismissively in the air.
"I guess I've been kind of a jerk lately."
"No worse than Larxene," Axel laughed.
"Ouch. That bad?" Roxas asked, cringing
"It's okay. Everyone has bad days. You've just had several in a row."
"Heads up. There may be more to come," Roxas sighed.
Axel raised his eyebrows. He knew Roxas was keeping something from him. "I know Olette isn't the only thing bothering you. Come on Roxas. I'm your best friend. What aren't you telling me?"
Roxas was about to respond, when a loud noise came from the foyer, causing the two boys to jump.
They both chuckled sheepishly, feeling ridiculous as they realized the source of the noise was the front door shutting. Roxas glanced at his watch. He looked up confused.
"What?" Axel asked.
"It's eleven. Who's just getting back? The elders are all in a meeting, Larxene is still grounded from creating that thunderstorm and we just saw Zexion."
"Then it's got to be Demyx," Axel determined.
"Or Naminé."
Their question was answered when they heard a soft giggle.
"That's Naminé. Unless Demyx's voice has gotten a lot more feminine since I last talk to him," Axel smirked.
"I'm gonna go with the former. But where was she?"
"Have you forgotten Naminé has friends outside the Organization? She hangs out with that Kairi girl and those two other guys." Axel explained.
"So this is where you live? It's pretty cool," said a male voice from the hall.
"That's not Naminé," Roxas stated.
"No shit, Sherlock," Axel retorted. He crept toward the doorway, trying to make as little noise as possible. "Who did she bring over?"
Roxas followed him, still a little bit peeved at Axel's last remark. He stood on the other side of the doorway, trying to see Namine's guest without being seen by the two of them. Normally he didn't care what Naminé did, but he was slightly intrigued to discover who the boy she was with was. Roxas had always had a creeping suspicion that Naminé had a crush on him, but from the tone of her voice and the constant giggling it sounded as if she had just been on a date with whoever she was talking to. Who is it? His voice sounds familiar, Roxas pondered. Suddenly a light bulb went of in his head.
"It's Riku," he whispered to Axel.
"The silver-haired kid?"
"Um what are you guys doing?" asked a voice from behind them.
Axel and Roxas both jumped and turned to see Demyx, who staring at them with one eyebrow raised. Both gave him a death glare.
"How'd you get in here?" questioned Axel.
"The secret passageway," Demyx answered pointing to a hidden door in the wall. There were several passageways hidden throughout the Organization's mansion. The elders didn't really have a purpose for them, but the teenagers usually used them for sneaking out at night.
"Oh yeah. Why didn't you just use the front staircase?" Roxas asked.
"This was faster. And I'm lazy," Demyx answered, crouching down next to Roxas. "Now, what are you guys doing?'
"Naminé brought her date home," Axel explained, coming to the same conclusion as Roxas had.
"Fascinating," Demyx replied, sarcastically.
"Shut up, Demyx," Roxas retorted. Now that he knew who the voice belonged to, he ached to get up to his room and blast his music so loud, that he was incapable of thinking. He was just glad that Naminé and Riku had distracted Axel long enough for him to forget about their earlier conversation. What he didn't understand was why Axel cared so much about Naminé and Riku.
"You're really pretty Naminé. I bet you hear that all the time," Riku complemented, suavely.
"He's a real Casanova," Axel smirked.
"Naminé can't be falling for his crap," Demyx stated.
"I believe she is. I can practically hear her smile," Roxas replied.
"That bastard," Axel snarled suddenly, shocking Demyx and Roxas.
"What?" they both asked in unison.
Axel gave Roxas a look that seemed to say 'Are you kidding me?'
"Axel, what's the prob…?" Roxas trailed off, realizing what Axel was mad about.
"Olette," he whispered, feeling the anger starting to build. "That asshole!"
"Huh?" Demyx asked.
"It seems that Riku here is a two timing tool," Roxas growled. His hands shook with rage. Must keep in control, he told himself, trying to hold back the darkness that wanted to explode from his fingertips.
"Wait a minute. Olette? You mean that girl in our Music History class?"
"Calm down Roxas," Axel soothed, noticing that the blond was shaking. "He's not officially dating Olette, so technically it isn't cheating. I've only seen him flirt with her."
"How can you defend him?" Roxas barked.
"Dude, I'm confused," Demyx said. But the other two just ignored him.
"I'm not defending him. I'm just saying that he isn't cheating. He's not dating both of them. Only Naminé. But," Axel added after seeing Roxas's face, "he is still a jerk for flirting with Olette if he is going to date Naminé." He didn't mention to Roxas what he had seen while he had been in the library a few days ago, for fear of angering him even more. Riku was sitting pretty close to her, he thought. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he had been spending his free study period in the library and had been searching for a book near where Olette and Riku had sat. From the way Riku had looked at her it was pretty obvious of what he was thinking of. If I mention that to Roxas, he'll probably kill Riku. He seems slightly unstable right now.
"Guys quiet. I think someone is coming," Demyx whispered. Sure enough they heard two sets of footsteps getting louder. All three of them rushed to a chair, and pretended to be doing something else. Demyx pulled out his iPod, Axel grabbed a magazine off the coffee table, and Roxas opened his notebook and began writing down random numbers, as if he were engrossed in his homework.
"Hey guys," Naminé said from the doorway.
The three boys looked up, realizing that Riku was standing next to her.
"Hey Naminé," they greeted, in unison.
"Do you guys know Riku?" she asked.
"Yeah he's in my math class," Roxas replied. "Hey, man," he said, raising his hand in a quick wave. Get a grip man, he told himself. Can't lose control. Not in front of that bastard. He looked over at Axel who was watching him anxiously, as if he was waiting for a bomb to detonate. Roxas mouthed angrily I'm fine.
Axel stood up and held his hand out to Riku, who shook it firmly. "The name's Axel."
"Got it memorized?" Roxas and Demyx chanted, unenthusiastically, at the same time that Axel asked Riku.
"Very funny guys," Axel laughed, half annoyed, half amused. "That idiot over there," he said, pointing to Demyx, "is Demyx."
Demyx threw a magazine at Axel's head, missing him by an inch.
"Nice to meet you," Riku responded coolly. He put his arm around Naminé and whispered into her ear. She giggled as her cheeks turned pink.
Roxas felt his hands begin to shake again. He stuck them into his pockets, hoping Axel and Demyx wouldn't notice. He glanced at them, feeling relief as he saw that they were oblivious. Instead both were frowning slightly at Riku. Naminé stood there, twirling her hair, captivated at whatever Riku was talking about. Roxas was shocked. He'd never seen her act this way.
"Well, I've got to go. I had a great time," Riku smiled after a few minutes. Without even caring that the three other boys were in the room he pulled Naminé to him and kissed her on the mouth. From the corner of his eye, Roxas saw Axel tense up. The both of them stepped forward just as Riku and Naminé broke apart. With one last wave Riku walked out into the hallway. Roxas waited until he heard the door shut before saying to Naminé, "Are you two a couple?"
"I think so," she answered dreamily. She stood there dazed, grinning from ear to ear. Roxas and Axel exchanged worried looks, but she didn't notice.
"I have to call Kairi," she exclaimed suddenly, breaking out of her trance.
"Naminé wait," Axel said, but she had already skipped out of the room.
"What were you guys planning on doing? Punch him?" Demyx asked.
"I felt like it," Roxas mumbled. He wasn't very happy with Naminé at the moment, but he still felt protective of her. Almost like an older brother. Apparently Axel felt the same way.
"Should we tell her?" he asked gloomily. No one answered him. "No. It'll break her heart," he whispered to himself. "Besides," he added more loudly, "if Riku is officially dating her, maybe he's stopped pursuing Olette." He turned toward Roxas and gave him an encouragingly smile. Roxas didn't return it.
"Don't give me that look. I'm trying to be optimistic. You do know what that feels like right? Or have you've been angsty for far too long, you've forgotten how it is to be happy?" Axel joked.
"It comes in bursts these days, but there are times when I don't feel like a temperamental teenager," Roxas responded, flatly. Axel's right. Must stop overreacting. I need to control my anger and jealousy better. Besides, he thought, Olette's face forming in his mind, she can never be mine.
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As much as I love Riku, I had to make him a wee bit of a jerk, or else Olette would fall for him instead of Roxas, which would be terrible.
Hope this chapter was good. Next chapter will still be about Roxas. I wanted to add a lot more after the one scene, but I have a mild case of writer's block. And this part has been done for a while, so I figured I'd post it now and write more later. Please review! It means a lot to me to hear what you think.
Also if you managed to catch my terrible pun Huzzah! If not I don't blame you it was BAD. Remember when Roxas wanted to escape Axel's third degree? Get it? Axel controls fire. Third degree burns. Lame. I know.
Review!!!!