Ikurx
By MathiaSweetSlaughterArkoniel
Rating: PG - 13
Warnings: Language, violence, romance
Pairings: Riku x Sora, Axel x Roxas
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
Summary: After the defeat of Organization XIII, Sora and Riku find happiness in the simplicity of a normal life. A year later King Mickey sends a summons that the fight with the Organization isn't truly done yet. Light. Dark. As long as either exists the battle is never over.

Chapter 07

The rays of sun peered through the window, a much kinder awakening than any obnoxious alarm clock or shout of parent. The sun always warmed skin and bedding like an affectionate embrace, bringing good tidings to the promise of a new day.

Colour spilled in like it always had into the room, bathing the decor of stars in hues of oranges and pink. Though the bed was so comfortable, it was hard to think of being anywhere else but cuddled deep within blankets.

Although something seemed off. Someone sat on the edge of the bed watching him sleep, and it felt like they'd been doing so for quite a while; though their gaze was the furthest thing from ill intent. Disturbing the sleeping form was the least of things they ever wanted.

The sun had taken to moving across blankets to the face that peeked out, causing eyes to flinch. It wasn't only the light which had Sora letting out a muffled sound as he started to wake up. It was the feeling of eyes on him which caused his body to grow tense as he moved around in the bed and peeked one eye open slowly.

The face Sora saw had him quickly sitting up in the bed despite anything that had happened earlier to put such a strain on his body. Oblivion was summoned and pointed towards the neck of his captor with a shaking hand as Sora tried not to lose focus this time around on keeping the weapon with him.

Axel didn't look at the keyblade but the bearer of it. His gentle expression didn't falter through the threat of death; he kept his eyes on Sora as if the boy were still peacefully asleep.

".. You should lie back down or you'll open your wounds." Axel gave a slight amused 'heh' before he folded his hands together rather casually. "Heartless can't heal, so I had to make do with what I had." He glanced down to his hands before he looked back to Sora. "I also suggest you put that away. To the heartless you're as bright and shining as a vast star in a cold empty black sky to them when you hold it." He gave a weak smirk. ".. You're in no shape to fight. And we both have dangerous enemies who would love to take advantage of this lovely moment of weakness."

Sora hesitated and seemed content to just keep Oblivion right where it was, but Axel was right. He would only end up attracting enemies that he wouldn't be able to handle in the state he was in. That knowledge alone finally made the blade vanish and his hand drop back down. He didn't dare approach Axel and kept his distance from the heartless instead.

"Enemies like the Organization?" Sora couldn't help question what had been happening and how the rest seemed to see Axel as a traitor. "Like Vexen?" The one heartless' name came forth after what had happened and he kept narrowed eyes on Axel afterwards.

Axel blinked at the name but soon nodded. "Like Vexen." But that topic at hand wasn't one Axel seemed to want to keep. "Recognize this place?" He parted his hands to gesture at the room with a new grin. He scooped up a plush pillow from the cluttered floor and squished it between his hands as he showed it proudly to Sora. "Recognize this stuff?"

Sora's eyes narrowed and he looked around the room. It was a simple bedroom with little knick knacks here and there. Books scattered on the floor as if someone had been too lazy to pick them up. He stared at one of the books for a few seconds and it seemed as if he was about to zone out, but quickly caught himself and shook his head. His attention turned back on Axel, and Sora narrowed his eyes once more. "No, I don't." With those words he looked away from the heartless. He didn't want to talk to the other anymore then he had to.

Axel rested the plush star on his lap, loosely wrapping his lanky arms around it. "I always found it kind of funny how you'd clung so tightly to this life, even though it was a lie. Your very own home, a messy room, a town with neighbors to do odd jobs for so you could earn munny for sea salt ice cream and best friends to share it with." He glanced down at the plush he started to twirl around between his hands. "You had your very own world... just like He did, and that made you happy. It filled a void that we kept telling you existed." He played with an arm of the star. ".. I couldn't blame you for fighting so hard to keep the fake life data that had been downloaded into you. What we had was so empty in comparison. But a lie is so much prettier than the truth, right?"

Axel stopped playing with the star. "Sora... you cried for Roxas' friends. You cried for Riku. You cried for Kairi just now. You have such a big heart." He turned his gaze onto Sora. "... I'm glad that I never made you cry when I died."

Sora tensed up at those last few words. He could remember that moment as clearly had it happened just yesterday. "I couldn't cry." Words were coming from his mouth before he even had a chance to think about what he wanted to say. "You helped me on my way, but despite all that, I just couldn't cry." His voice lowered and his hand moved up to tug at his shirt. "I didn't want to cry for you."

Axel's eyes traveled from Sora's face to his hand. "..Why not?"

"I couldn't feel anything while I was watching you fade except for one thing." Sora looked back at Axel before he continued speaking and not once did his hand let go of his shirt. It was still clinging tightly. "I only felt like you brought the entire thing on yourself and because of that I couldn't, nor did I want to cry." He looked away once again after those words, staring at the wall instead of the heartless across from him.

Axel stared at Sora the silence growing between them after such cold words. But soon Axel looked away; back down at his hands and the plush there. "I did." He quietly agreed. "But in that place I realized something before I let loose that attack." He leaned forward, elbows on legs. "I'd long reached the point of no return. I'd done all I could for him. And as hard as I fought, he still left me. And as much as I missed him, I knew he'd never look back."

A small sound left Axel. "... So I gave him what I had left: my life."

Sora swallowed hard, trying to ignore the pain Axel's words brought on him. "Why are you telling me all of this? Why should any of this matter to me?" He shook his head back and forth as if it would clear the haze that wanted to come through. "I'm not Roxas." He looked back on Axel with a harsh glare. "You accomplished nothing by taking care of me. I'll be after you just like every other heartless. You especially for what you did to Riku."

"No." Axel let the plush fall to the floor as he leaned a hand on the bed to lean nearer to Sora. "It's what you did to him, and then what he did to you." He leaned nearer still. "See, we heartless are very good at hating. Especially things we once loved." A strange sort of smile smirked across his lips. "But, heh, I don't hate you, Roxas. But I will hate those that hurt any incarnation of you."

Sora moved back as much as he could when Axel moved forward, but his back hit the wall. "You're fighting a losing battle, don't you think?" Sora wanted a turn to be in control for once, despite Axel's earlier words. "Roxas never seemed to care very much for you. Besides, he's a part of me now. A part that will stay buried unless I choose otherwise." He finally dropped his hand to cling to the bed sheet beneath him instead. "Just give all of this up, Axel."

"And just die?" Axel bluntly pointed out. "My heart has no where else to go." He reached out and flicked a few of Sora's bouncy bangs from his face. "Who knows what Xemnas did, or if Kingdom Hearts still exists. I might just cease to exist if you 'destroyed' me." He lowered his hand back down to the bed. "And wouldn't that be murder?" He snorted. "You'd be no better than that Riku kid who you seem so taken with. For someone you hold so dear, he sure twisted the knife deep in your back."

Axel rested a knee on the bed so he could crawl closer to Sora now that he had the boy cornered against the wall. "... He doesn't love you anymore."

Those words caused Sora to lose his breath for a second as he stared down at the bed with wide eyes. "T-That's not true..." But he could still see Riku's emotionless face as the blade cut through Kairi. The teen acted as if he were doing nothing out of the ordinary. It still hurt to know he had never even heard those three words from Riku to begin with and probably never would since the darkness had him now. "He does." He tried to convince himself more then Axel. "He tried to pull me back when you stole me away." His voice lowered. "Riku still cares about me..."

Black fingers softly toyed with Sora's hair before slipping down his soft young cheek. "..When they ordered me to find you, bring you back or kill you... I found you a lot sooner than when I first appeared to you here." Axel confessed his words in a whisper. ".. I watched you for a little bit. I told myself it was just some simple observation for the mission. But...I'd never seen you so happy. Smiling. Play fighting with those weird foamy swords. You'd found yourself a best friend, kind of like Sora's Riku, but less messed in the head." Axel chuckled just a little and his hand fell away. "You even had your very own Kairi." Axel's other hand came up to touch Sora's other cheek. "But...what I enjoyed most was watching you sleep. I'd seen you sleep before, but never so peacefully as here." Axel paused a moment before going on. ".. I always wondered what a Nobody could dream. Heh... I always figured you'd have the most beautiful dreams, Roxas. You always smiled just a little each time."

Sora stayed silent the entire time Axel spoke, but his entire body had gone rigid. His one hand that was still on the bed gripped the sheet even tighter, nearly tearing it under white gloves. He tried to move his head away from Axel's touch, but found that in the end it just fell right back to where it was under the man's fingers and slowly gave into it. "Shut up, Axel..." The words were spoken in a harsh whisper. "That's not my life. None of that was me." He shut his eyes tightly.

"You can't deny it. It's a piece of your life whether you want it to be or not." Axel's hand cupped Sora's cheek, his thumb softly stroking the warm skin. "Two sides of a coin, and all other clichés. There's you, Sora, the part that can't help but share a piece of his large heart with everyone he meets. Your threads of fate are tied to all of us, straight to our own hearts. Something truer than Kingdom Hearts itself. And then there's Roxas. Apathy. Restless. Needy. But always alone."

Axel placed a small kiss at the corner of Sora's lips. "..His heart can't belong to Riku because he never had one to begin with."

Sora's eyes snapped open with that one intimate gesture. It was that which finally had him trying to pull away as realization dawned on him. The small feelings he had been having every now and then. Roxas had been trying to take a piece of him for his own. It angered Sora to think that the Nobody would try such a thing or even as to when he had been able to. "It can't belong to you either." Sora nearly spat the words, but afterwards the pain washed over him again and he nearly fell over in the bed as he tried to get away from the heartless again. "Deal with it, Axel." He tried to make the words sound forceful, but they came out broken as he tried to get his head clear.

The heartless' hand lashed out to grab Sora's neck, not to harm but to hinder his escape. "I don't want you. See, it's what's inside that really counts." Axel pulled Sora closer despite his struggles. He crawled closer on the bed, grasping the fabric of Sora's shirt to keep him still. He leaned his head near Sora's ear to whisper there. ".. It's time to wake up, Roxas."

Sora went stiff once again at the whispered words. His struggles ceased and the pain washed over him once more, but he no longer had the sheets to grip onto. Instead he clenched his fists tightly, hoping that it would go away in due time, but it didn't. His chest throbbed and he felt as if he couldn't get enough air. It was on his last try for breath that he fell slack in Axel's hold much like he had in the throne room.

It almost seemed as if Sora had only fallen unconscious. It was a good possibility considering how much he had moved around after waking up from such wounds. The theory was thrown away though as soon as there was movement from the small body and after a while quiet laughter could be heard. "You play dirty, Axel." That voice spoke up that was Sora's own, but at the same time had a snarky edge to it.

Axel gave a small shrug but didn't deny it. "I know." His hand slipped from the boy's throat back to his cheek, slipping closer to the other now that he was able. "But I like it dirty. And you can't deny it; it works every time, Roxas." He ran his fingers down the boy's jaw to his chin. "It brings you back to me, so, I must be doing something right."

Axel cleared his throat before the other could answer him. With a flare of hand he gestured to the room, a grin plainly on his face. "Welcome home, Roxas!"

Roxas had been content to just let Axel run his fingers across his skin, but the sudden exclamation of where they were got his attention and caused him to lift his eyes to look around the room. The messy living space which had been home to him for what felt like forever in his mind, but in reality had only been data. "I can't believe you brought me here." Despite how the words sounded it was obvious by the look on his face that Roxas was happy to at least be visiting.

Without any other words, Roxas moved away from Axel and stood up from the bed. The wounds on Sora's body affected him as well and had him catching his balance for a second before he was able to stand completely straight. As soon as he was okay he started to walk around the bedroom to look over everything that was mostly a memory, running fingers across books that had survived not being tossed about. As well as a few pictures on a shelf.

"The mansion was pretty much abandoned, since the real Ansem is gone, and his secret computer area is pretty much abandoned and forgotten. Everyone is pretty much too busy with everyone else to remember about it, and most would just think the old junk you smashed up doesn't work anymore anyway. Thusly-" Axel raised his hands up to gesture to the entirety of the room and world "this world lives on none the wiser, untouched. Your world, Roxas."

Lanky arms slipped around Roxas' chest from behind steadying the boy's shaky stance as Axel loosely hugged him, minding wounds. "It's exactly how you left it. Summer is over and everyone's gone off to start a new school year." He nuzzled his head down on Roxas' good shoulder.

Roxas' hand dropped away from a picture of his friends that his fingers had taken to running across. "My world..." He repeated the words to himself as he leaned back in Axel's arms. He stared hard at the picture for a few seconds until a bitter smile came over his face and he turned his eyes away to look to the side at Axel. "It was all a lie though, wasn't it? My so called life was a lie just to keep me in hiding." The bitter look fell away and he glanced down at the floor under his feet. "I was never meant to exist, remember? Never meant to have any friends or be in a place like this. Why should now be any different from then?"

"What makes one reality have precedence over another?" Axel muttered with bitterness as he held Roxas just that much closer against his chest. "You lived just like any other person; it only makes sense you should be given the same chance." Axel kissed Roxas' ear before he nuzzled the other's head; it felt so good to be holding Roxas again, to be allowed to. "... I wanted to keep you safe. To have that chance. Was 'Sora' really so important?"

"I never really had a choice in the matter." Roxas smiled sadly at his answer. "Once Riku defeated me that was the end and I was taken away." He shook his head as he continued. "I admit I was interested in meeting him, but I think it was just curious nature of being his Nobody. Right now I just don't care about Sora. I want to be myself again. I want to be Roxas and only Roxas. Not the other part of Sora."

Roxas moved to turn around in Axel's hold, facing the heartless and looking up at him. "You think I should be given a chance at a regular life again. What about you? What are you going to do, Axel?" His eyes narrowed a bit and his tone became hard, but the concern was still there. "You and I both know things aren't very easy right now."

"It plays in our favour. You just don't know it yet." Axel grinned down at the boy in his arms. He leaned down to place a kiss on Roxas' nose; Axel found that the boy's face was near identical to Roxas', and begged to be covered in affectionate little places of lips. "But for now, I need you to get stronger. His body is weak, no more fight in it. That crazy blind folded guy made sure of that." He scoffed. "Enjoy yourself, your world. Because here, when you have the cheat codes-" Axel took a step back enough, snapping his fingers. Data circled 'Sora', processing from his head down to his feet, manipulating scripture to change his appearance from who he wasn't to who he had been. When the ones and zeros flitted away, Axel's grin broadened at Roxas' proper appearance. He ran fingers through the proper blonde hair; it was everything he remembered it to be. "God moding is so much fun."

Roxas' own true eyes immediately fell down to take in what was his actual appearance. No longer was it Sora's body he was staring down at, but the hands, arms, everything that he remembered as his own. It nearly had his breath stopping for a second. He never thought he would be himself again, and despite the body only being data he still welcomed it all the same and made it obvious by reaching up to pull Axel down into an appreciative kiss, his hands burying themselves in the heartless' wild hair.

Axel was elated to kiss the true Roxas on the lips, pulling him near and possessively. Roxas felt as he remembered from what brief times the Nobody had let him hold him. His hair was just as soft and his skin under his shirt was just as pleasant to the touch as he imagined.

Axel boldly slipped his tongue along Roxas' lips, running them along the edge of the other's teeth. A slow grin slipped on his lips. ".. I wish we'd done this years ago." He didn't care how forward he was as his hands slipped further under Roxas' coat and shirt. "You looked good in that dark Organization coat."

A grin slowly came to Roxas' lips as well to match Axel's own. He didn't even try to move away from Axel's roaming hands and if anything leaned closer into the touches. "Sorry, if I were wearing that then I have a feeling we'd really be attracting a lot of trouble right now." One of his hands moved out of the man's hair to run down the heartless' neck and shoulders. "I'm glad we get another chance at things now. I just hope nothing gets in the way of it."

Axel placed another kiss at Roxas' lips before he spoke. "Everyone has their own woes and angsts. As long as we enjoy what we have, how it ends doesn't matter." He held Roxas nearer for another moment, placing a kiss against his cheek before he began to let go of him to step back. "Watch this."

Axel stood back a few feet as he stretched out his arms in display. "Heartless Axel." He snapped his fingers and like it had happened with Roxas, data streamed around him changing his visuals. The black in his hair turned red, giving him back his once fiery spikes of hair. His skin gained back its colour and his outfit changed to that familiar attire they all wore. Axel splayed out his gloved fingers. "Nobody Axel." He grinned again. "Impressive, right?"

"Very." Roxas breathed out the one simple word as his eyes traveled up and down the familiar look of his friend. He walked the few steps Axel had taken back and reached a hand out to touch a few strands of red hair that hung near the side of the man's face. "It's like nothing ever changed. Well," Roxas smirked at those words and lifted his eyes to meet Axel's green ones. "Almost nothing. I don't feel the need to snap at you and tell you to leave me alone as I stand here and look at you. I feel quite the opposite actually." He dropped his hand and managed a grin.

Axel ran a hand through his own hair to see if he felt any different. He looked down at the Organization coat and toyed with the zipper a moment before flicking the draw strings that hung down.

"We both have hearts now." Axel placed his hands on either of Roxas' cheeks. "That's the only change." He leaned down so he could rest his head against the other's. "It doesn't matter who we were." He brushed Roxas' cheek with his thumb. "I don't need the rest of me...you make me feel whole, Roxas."

"Axel..." Roxas spoke the other's name quietly as he continued to look in the man's eyes. The sentiment meant a lot to the teen; especially in such a moment where they could be their old selves again. When it seemed like nothing else mattered but the two of them.

"You always made me feel, Axel." Roxas started out quietly as he looked down between them. "Whether I was annoyed at something you did or you found some way to cheer me up. No one else could get under my skin like you could. I was never able to connect with anyone else in the Organization like I was with you." He looked to the side at a fallen book. "Maybe it's because of who I was that no one seemed to want to get as close to me, but I'm glad in a way that you tried." He chanced a look back up at Axel. A frown on his face at everything he had just remembered. "I'm just sorry for everything that happened afterwards..."

"That's all I wanted to hear." Axel smiled softly, and he let his eyes shut. ".. That's all I ever wanted to hear." He let silence fall between them. For all the bitterness and hatred in his heart, he wondered how he could manage to love so much and remain what he was beneath his old Nobody facade.

"Hey-" Axel broke the sentimentality with his casual tone, "wanna go get some sea salt ice cream." He straightened up.

The mention of the treat had a ghost of a smile coming to Roxas' face and he was quick to tease the man in front of him. "That's a silly question." Truthfully it had been so long since he had the uniquely flavored ice cream that he couldn't even remember the way it tasted. It was hard for him not to just shout yes at his friend right on the spot and he had to stop himself from acting like a little kid instead of the stoic teen that he normally was.

That was enough to have Axel grinning widely; seeing Roxas smile would have had his breath caught and heart stop, had he been human. "Then let's." He stood tall once more and fiddled with the necklace ornament on his coat. "But I suppose my attire will only ruin things. Hm. How about this then?" He snapped his fingers and a whole new outfit took the place of the Organization's. The outfit was more normal, a shirt over a long sleeved with a long zipper going down the front and either sleeve of the long sleeved shirt, either shirt stopped short baring midriff, pants, boots; he looked like any other pedestrian save for the fiery hair and pointed tattoos under his eyes.

"Opinions?" Axel splayed out his hands. "Believe it or not, I was once a person too. Heh, I think I had decent fashion sense."

"I'll agree with that." Roxas reached his good arm out to pull on one of Axel's sleeves. "Much better then just decent." He looked back up at Axel's face as he let his hand drop back down to his side and gave the man a small grin. "You pass very well as normal. No one will ever know the difference." He reached back up, but this time to tug on Axel's hand, gripping it in his own after a few small tugs. "Now come on. I want that ice cream."

Axel let himself be pulled along. They left the house hand in hand, heading into town to buy the ice cream.

Although the world wasn't 'real', no one who inhabited seemed to notice or care, hurrying about with their lives with no care to what was real or programmed. There wasn't a worry to be seen in Twilight Town, the people there were happily busying themselves talking with each other or shopping for meals they would be cooking later on.

Axel had been taken with watching the tram drive by, stopping ever so often to pick up people dropping in their fairs before starting off again down the tracks. It was a little strange to live life on the other side of the fence, even if it was just a program.

To live like a normal person, it was a little nostalgic to Axel. He remembered having a world and friends of his own before he'd lost his heart and split in two. But those memories had taken a back seat to who he was now. Roxas had seemed to take precedence.

Axel watched the tram go by once again. None of these people had 'hearts', but they were all happy, smiling people. Sora was wrong, all of the Organization had been wrong. You didn't need a 'heart' to live happily ever after.

"I think schools still going... so all your old friends are in class." Axel managed to pull his eyes off the tram to look at Roxas. "Technically you're playing hooky." He wagged a 'no no' finger.

"I believe that just being able to gain control over my other half again, as well as being wounded, will allow me some free time off." Roxas smirked at his own words. "Although, I would probably just have to go with telling the school I have a cold instead. Somehow I don't think what really caused me to play hooky would be a very smart excuse." An amused sound left him after all of that. "It's so weird to even think about school. After everything that happened I never thought I would be right back here talking about it."

Axel tapped the side of his head. "You should know better by now that you should expect the unexpected." He spotted the ice cream and treats stand and he dragged Roxas the rest of the way without giving the other time to speak.

When they arrived Axel tapped the counter with two fingers in gesture. "Two sea salt ice creams please and thanks."

The tender blinked at Axel, whom he could only figure was some punk kid, but when he noticed his company he looked confused. "Roxas? Shouldn't you be in school?" Roxas was a regular customer with his friends there. But Axel wasn't the teen's regular company, and to the tender he only seemed like bad news. Maybe he was a new member of Seifer's gang. "This punk here isn't making you skip is he?"

"W-what?" The startled question left Axel without thinking.

Roxas could only try his best to hide his amusement. For once Axel was at a real loss for words and it was a rare occurrence for the fire user. He quickly shook his head in response to the man's question as he moved to stand closer to Axel and finally spoke up. "Of course not. Axel is a friend of mine. He just moved here and I was showing him around the town since I wasn't feeling well enough to go into school anyway." He shrugged a shoulder, letting the conversation drop after all of that and hoping it was enough. "I promise he's no real harm." He hid a grin.

Axel blinked at the excuse but soon he was bearing a wide toothed grin and waved at the tender who still didn't seem sold on the idea.

"Hmm. A new kid? Well, welcome to Twilight Town. I hope you enjoy living here." The tender nodded. "You better stay away from Seifer and his gang though, they're real trouble makers." He scratched his head. "Though you look like you'd fit in well with them."

Axel couldn't help but pout his frown. "Oh come on- I'm as gentle as a kitten." He ran a hand through his spiky hair and although his grin was meant to be a friendly one, it didn't ease the tender at all.

"Well, you must be feeling better to be up and about, Roxas." The tender smiled. "Wouldn't want our Struggle champion to be sick." He moved to go to his freezer. "The usual I take it."

"Of course, and don't forget about Axel." Roxas rested an elbow on the small counter that was in front of them while he kept his eyes inside the shop to watch the man get the ice cream. "Don't worry about me. I bounce back from things pretty quickly. I'll more then likely be in school tomorrow if I'm feeling well enough. It all depends." Mostly on the wounds Sora had gotten and the situation he was in altogether, but he couldn't say any of that out loud.

Either of Axel's hands rested on either side of Roxas as Axel took advantage of his height to peer over Roxas' head as well. The heartless knew he was pushing it when he rested his chin on top of Roxas' head. "Hmm. Maybe I should register into this 'school' thing too, huh?" He spoke absently, teasing since he knew the situation full well. "I bet I could do really well." He chuckled. "Bet it'd make that blonde kid you're friends with real jealous."

Roxas made no move to get away from Axel's sudden closeness. He only shifted a little to get more comfortable against the counter. "Hayner?" Roxas raised a brow at the thought of Axel trying to make his other friend jealous and it had him letting out an amused sound. "I wouldn't doubt it. He can get pretty competitive when he wants to." He rested his head on the palm of his hand as he thought over what Axel had suggested. "It would be nice if you could stay and go to school around here. It's not all that bad once you get used to it. It's just a lot of work. Of course, everything we did was a lot of work. So, it's nothing different I guess."

The tender came back holding the ice cream, blinking rather surprised at how chummy Roxas and this new kid was. But he didn't question it as he handed the ice cream popsicles to either.

"At last!" Axel took the ice cream by the stick and moved away from Roxas. He made like he was digging through his pocket and created munny to place on the counter to pay for the ice cream. "There! That should be enough." Axel gestured with the sea salt ice cream. "Think any of them 'like' you like you?" It was hard to keep the wicked grin from his face. "Like that Hayner kid? You two tended to-touch a lot." Now that Axel thought about it, he remembered the rising jealousy that spiked through him whenever he saw Roxas and Hayner touch; unnecessarily. His grin quirked with disapproval. "So much touching."

Roxas had taken to licking at his ice cream and nearly choked on embarrassment at Axel's accusations. "W-What?" He looked up at the other with wide eyes. "N-No. Not at all." He quickly shook his head and looked back at his ice cream, finding it the safest thing to pay attention to for the time being. "Besides, they were just friends. I think you're reading too much into the touching aspect of it all." He grinned. "Stalker." With that last word he went back to licking at his ice cream, giving a small noise of satisfaction at the familiar flavor he had gone so long without.

"I am." Axel didn't deny it. He started walking in no real direction; he just wanted to enjoy the scenery while enjoying Roxas' company in a 'normal' sort of way. "But I was your friend." He snuck his long arm behind Roxas to rest a hand at the other's side not caring if the ice cream tender saw. "And now look what I can do." He slipped his hand down, sliding it into Roxas' pocket as they walked. "I think that Hayner kid would scowl if he saw. And then try to beat me up." Axel couldn't help but laugh. "I may be looking too deep, but that sounds like jealousy to me." He pulled Roxas nearer to his side by the other's pocket.

Roxas didn't give any protest to being pulled along and leaned against Axel's side as soon as he was near enough. "If he tried to beat you up then you'd have to promise me that you would go easy on him." Roxas shook his head at just the thought of a fight between the two. It wasn't very pretty. "He's my friend too. It wouldn't be fair if you just decided to hit him with a nice round of flames. The fight would pretty much be over before it got started." He chewed at the top of his ice cream as he glanced at Axel out the corner of his eyes.

"There goes my fun." Axel feigned disappointment. "Fine, alright, I won't beat him up. No use of mystical powers. I'll just kindly withdraw and damage my masculinity by forfeiting. But I will do it for your sake." He finally licked his ice cream. "Heeey, this is pretty good. Who knew ones and zeros could taste this good." He licked at the ice cream that started to melt away, daring to fall on his hand. "Mmm. Good stuff." He licked his lips. "Just as long as he knows what's mine, and he can't have." His hand slipped up from Roxas' pocket to sneak under his shirt, down his front.

"The way you keep going the whole town will know that soon enough." Despite his words Roxas didn't try to stop Axel's hand. He only grinned at his friend before he shook his head at the other's actions and continued eating his ice cream. "I'm sure there won't be anything to worry about, though. Maybe you guys will get along just fine." His voice lowered a little as he pulled his ice cream away to look at it. "I hope you do. I want you to stay as long as you can and be a part of this life..."

A soft kiss from lips cooled by the ice cream pressed to Roxas' cheek. And Axel whispered his words against Roxas' ear. "I love seeing you smile." He nuzzled his nose against blonde hair, continuing to whisper on. "And I would love to live my life with you here..."

Roxas actually did smile for once at such words. Something that was so rare for him aside from the usual smirks he gave. He turned his head to meet Axel's lips with his own, tasting the ice cream on both their lips as he pushed his tongue out as the kiss went on. The flavored kiss had him smiling a little more under Axel's mouth and he had to suppress the urge to let out a noise.

The ice cream was forgotten as Axel enjoyed tasting the salty sweet flavour far more on Roxas' mouth; the smile on Roxas' lips only made it taste that much better. His tongue ran across Roxas', deepening the kiss, he couldn't help but crave what his Nobody wanted years ago. It easily slipped his mind what he was doing in a very public area of town.

Roxas didn't seem to give any real notice anymore as to where they were. Slowly, he stood up on tip toes as the kiss was deepened so Axel wouldn't have to bend down so far any longer. He licked at the other's tongue, curling the two around before he started to nibble at Axel's bottom lip every few seconds. He didn't even notice that his ice cream had slowly started to drip down his fingers. His mind completely on the one he had locked lips with.

Axel drew Roxas nearer, grinning against the other's lips when he stood on his tip toes; it was cute. And it pleased him to know that Roxas wanted this as much as he did. Axel's free hand slid down Roxas' back down to the other's rear, uncaring to what people saw.

Though he should have, considering this was Roxas' world, and people knew him well. For a curt voice cut through their pleasant moment quite rudely.

"Hah! I didn't know you were into boys, Roxas. But I should have known better. No girl in their right mind would like you."

Roxas jumped a bit at the words and pulled away from Axel. He turned to look where the voice had come from and wasn't surprised to see Seifer and his lackeys right behind him. He was easily embarrassed at first since the position they had been in was far from an innocent one, but soon he only gave a light shrug as he tried not to care too much about it. "That's funny, considering I've never once seen a girl throw herself at your feet the entire time I've known you." He brought his ice cream back up to lick up what had started to melt. "Oh, and having one as a pet just so they can agree with you on a daily basis doesn't count." He couldn't hide a grin after those words and ignored the cruel look sent his way by Fuu.

Seifer sneered at Roxas for that remark but his expression soon cooled as he crossed his arms, trying to regain his stand offish attitude once again. "So what city dumpster did you pull this punk from?" He gestured to Axel.

That remark got Axel's hackles up; for a sprite in a program, this NPC sure had an attitude. ".. Man he's good at being a bastard." He frowned as he noticed his ice cream had started melting all over his hand. "Guess every town has to have an inbred hick." He switched hands and flicked the melted ice cream off, licking away the stickiness.

Seifer growled and his arms lowered as his hands drew into fists. "That's a big mouth you got there city boy. But I suppose Roxas already knows about that." He smirked meanly at the aforementioned teen. "This where you've been hiding yourself, Roxas? Kissing your girlfriend here." He scoffed.

Roxas narrowed his eyes and pulled his ice cream away once more. He knew that if he didn't keep his cool then he wouldn't be able to keep Axel from running his mouth, and in the end doing something he'd regret. Of course, Roxas was having a hard time controlling himself as well. "Actually, if you really need to keep tabs on me that badly Seifer, I've just been out of town. That's all." It was close enough to the truth.

"Axel decided to come back with me." Roxas pointed his ice cream towards his friend. "He's going to be staying in Twilight Town for a while." He pointed the treat back and forth between the two. "Axel, Seifer. Seifer, Axel." He smirked and brought his ice cream up to bite into it, quieting himself once again after the introduction.

"New kid, huh?" Seifer sized Axel up. It was obvious he didn't like just how tall Axel was.

"Hmm. Pleasures all yours, I'm sure." Axel realized that being fire orientated didn't work well when you were trying to keep a temper with ice cream in your hand. He decided that he best be done with the delicious treat, and eat the rest of it quickly.

"Uh-huh." Seifer glanced back at his posse. "Yeah, he doesn't look so tough." He glanced back at Roxas. "You think adding some red haired city punk to your little gang is going to make you guys any less lame. Ha."

Axel gave one last lick to his popsicle stick before he threw it at Seifer's head. "Such a charmer."

Seifer growled. "Keep pushing it, flamer, and you'll be eating it."

Roxas watched the back and forth with careful eyes. Mostly to make sure Axel didn't try to bring forth any real flames and get anyone asking weird questions. He already noticed how quick his friend had to get rid of his ice cream. "You should probably shut your mouth Seifer, before it gets you into any real trouble." Roxas couldn't help throwing back his own threat. In all actuality he didn't care what trouble Seifer got himself into, but Roxas wanted at least a little bit of peace on his first day back into town.

Axel seemed to take a calm note, and he slunk to Roxas' side, slipping an arm over his shoulder as he stayed nice and close. "Maybe he's just jealous." He cocked his head to the side as he looked Seifer over with no real interest. "Probably can't come to terms with himself…or find the door to his closet."

"Hey!" Seifer shouted loudly, he gestured to his posse. "You'll regret saying that, punk."

Axel waved them off. "Sorry, made a promise I wouldn't kick any asses." He boldly pressed a quick kiss on Roxas' cheek and then nudged his shoulder gently. "Let's get going somewhere else."

Roxas took one last look at Seifer and his gang, finding a sort of accomplishment in their angry expressions. He had never been able to get under their skin like that while he hung out with Hayner and the others. It was fun to finally annoy Seifer so badly and in the end he smirked at the gang. "I'm sure I'll see you guys later. I always do, right?"

At Axel's suggestion, Roxas turned and finally started walking away. There wasn't very much to the town as far as privacy was concerned, but it didn't bother Roxas that much. He was perfectly fine just walking around with Axel for the time being since the only time the heartless had been around Twilight Town had been to come take him back.

"You don't make a very good first impression I'm afraid, Axel." Roxas couldn't help but tease as he tried to balance himself on one of the rails that led up a small ramp, holding his good arm out the entire time. His ice cream had been completely eaten and the stick discarded.

"Nope." Axel shook his head. He watched Roxas balance along, quite taken with the carefree action Roxas was trying to accomplish. "I have a confession though. And I trust you can keep it from your other half." He looked else where as he continued to speak. ".. It's been here that I've been hiding out from the rest." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Most expected me to be hiding away somewhere in the vastness of the darkness. Or even on an uncharted world. But it's been here I've been staying. Most might find it too obvious; maybe that's why I chose to. Or maybe they thought this place had ceased to function and was all but abandoned." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But I fixed it up the best I could without being conspicuous. Hmm, I guess I just felt closer to you, wandering around in your home town. As a non-descript NPC, mind you."

Axel lowered his hand with a half a laugh as he looked back to Roxas. "M. My bad bringing that all back up when we're enjoying a carefree day together." He waved it off. "Forget it. Tell me about your life here." Even though he'd spent most of the actual 'real time' Roxas had been in the computer watching him, but he wanted to hear about all the fake memories as if they were real. The deceit seemed to make Roxas so happy; he wanted to know all about it, even if it wasn't real.

Roxas had stopped halfway through Axel's speech and stood still on the small rail just to stare at his friend. He would have gladly answered Axel's questions had the man's other words not effected him so much first. "Axel..." He jumped down after the name left him and walked over to the man to stand in front of him, looking up instantly. "They're all after you aren't they? The rest of the Organization or, what they are now at least." His eyes narrowed as that small bit of concern showed in his expression. "And it's all because of what you did, isn't it? Most, if not all of this, is my fault isn't it?"

Axel had always found it easy to pour Roxas' blame on Sora with each time they met. But it had always been to lure the little blonde rabbit out that was inside him. And now that Roxas was with him, standing with him under a soft blue sky and warm sun, enjoying simple things that they were robbed of, Axel found himself learning a new emotion that wasn't of his orientation as a heartless; apprehension. Suddenly he didn't want Roxas to hurt like he'd hurt him like before.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Axel rested either of his hands on Roxas' shoulders. "Roxas, the heart remembers even though the body is far apart. I felt for you, that's how I remember. And hatred is a memory that scars the heart as well as love. That's how their heartless know me without having met me." Axel's hands fell down to Roxas' arms. "Even though I'm someone completely different from my Nobody, I'm still the same. So, yes, they're after me to destroy me for what my Nobody has done. ... I've already taken out Lexaeus' heartless. Him, Vexen and Zexion had joined together in their own little group. And I had managed to get the drop on them before they could to me." He scoffed. "Buncha low leveler schemers." He wasn't going to mention the others, not to mention there was probably a psychotic Riku who was out for his blood now.

Axel shook his head. ".. But that doesn't matter right now. Not right now." He held Roxas' arms just a little tighter. "They won't find us here, anyway. It's well hidden. And although I'm not exactly a hacker, I've thrown few safety measures and passwords here and there."

Roxas still seemed a little worried after everything had been confirmed, but with Axel's last few words he tried his best to loosen up again. "That means we can stay here as long as we want and at least try to live some kind of normal life. Or, normal for us at least." He looked down between them, bringing his hands up to stare at his own fingers and palms. "I hope I can keep holding on for that long. I was only in control for a short time before. This is different." His eyes narrowed and he clenched his hands into fists. "Everything that happened though, it just feels like Sora didn't even try to fight against it." He looked up back into Axel's eyes. "Maybe I will get to stay this time."

"As long as you don't summon the keyblade, I'll keep you shrouded in darkness from their sight." Axel leaned down and placed a lingering kiss to Roxas' forehead. "I'll fight to keep this world safe, and yours."

A small smile tugged at the corner of Roxas' lips because of the words as well as the gesture. He really did feel like he would be okay as long as Axel was near him. The heartless was the only one he had and the only one he could really trust. Still, Roxas couldn't help but grin a little as he tried to lighten the sudden somber mood. "Don't summon the keyblade? Axel, that's like asking me not to live. I have so much fun with those things. You know that." His grin grew wider.

Axel snatched up Roxas' hands in his as if that would be enough to keep the keyblades from appearing in his hands. "Nope. No keyblade. Besides, I think the towns folk would think you pretty strange to see you walking around whacking things with a giant key." He pressed a kiss to Roxas' cheek. "No keyblade. You're a giant neon sign for heartless when you summon it. So no, no keyblade."

Roxas huffed a bit, but didn't struggle against the hold on his hands. "And you talk about me ruining your fun." The disappointment fell from his face as he kept a close eye on Axel for a few seconds and finally smiled again. "You did keep your promise to come back for me, so, why shouldn't I believe that you'll do anything to protect me again?" He twisted his hands in Axel's grip so he could hold the heartless' hands instead. "I trust you more then anyone." He spoke his earlier thoughts out loud. "Even more then myself." He laughed a little at that.

Axel grinned a little unsurely at that but he shrugged all the same. To see Roxas smile so much, it didn't matter. He grinned a little more assuredly. "So, you were just going to tell me about your life here, right? Go on." He encouraged Roxas with a nudge of one of his captured hands.

"My life." Roxas actually thought over those words carefully once he was pushed into thinking over the topic once more. "It was so much different then living life with the Organization. That's for sure. There was no real work to be done. I would get up, get dressed and run outside to try and find out where my friends were hanging out first thing in the morning. Usually I was the first one awake, so I'd just hang around at a few of the shops until Hayner ended up coming out along with the others."

Roxas leaned back against the rail to get more comfortable, but kept his hands in Axel's own. "Most of the time we never really knew what we wanted to do during the day. It was usually hit or miss on whether we would all agree on one thing. Not to mention there was practice for Struggle sometimes." His eyes had fallen to stare at their hands while he moved his fingers at random moments. "The one thing I do know I enjoyed most was sitting on top of the tower. It was dangerous, sure, but the sight was so nice that none of us cared. You can see everything from up there. The entire town." He finally looked back up at Axel's face. "It's really nice."

"The one you 'fell' off of." Axel smirked some. "I remember it. We should go up there sometime. Just you and me, and watch the town." He gave something some thought. "You'll be busy studying for exams and stuff soon. You should enjoy your free time while it lasts. Free time is so fleeting." Of course 'school' was such an obscure topic when only moments ago they had bore witness to horrors on another planet. But suddenly the silly minute things were what mattered most now.

"Hmm. Does your school have uniforms? You do so well in uniforms." Axel was grinning again. "I suppose I'd look decent in one." He swayed his hips from side to side.

"You're so full of yourself." Roxas' own comment had him smirking at the fire user, but his eyes weren't on Axel's face. He moved away from the railing to walk closer to Axel so he could slip his fingers though the loops on the other's pants. "I'm not really sure, though. I was only put in this world during a vacation of sorts, so I don't think I've ever seen what was worn to school." He leaned his head to the side as the smirk on his face grew. "But I guess uniforms wouldn't be so bad if it means I would get extra attention from you, hmm?"

"Consider it done." Axel snapped his fingers; whatever he did it couldn't be seen where they were. "All my attention is yours." He ran his fingers through Roxas' blonde hair, enjoying the illusion of the soft swept up hair while they had time to themselves still. "Out doors, in the center of town, in doors," he leaned nearer to finish his words quietly against Roxas' ear, "in your room." His arms slipped lower to wrap around Roxas' middle. "All over town I'll give you attention." He playfully bit Roxas' ear.

Roxas let out a quiet sound at the bite and moved in closer to Axel. "And you think that's wise?" He couldn't help teasing the other just a little bit. "We were already caught once. I take it you're trying for twice with that kind of attitude." Despite the words, Roxas made no move to even try pushing Axel away and instead, inched his hands up to touch the man's bare skin that was showing.

"Afraid that Hayner guy will catch you with some 'punk'?" Axel murmured with amusement against Roxas' ear. "The whole town is probably buzzing about 'Roxas sucking face' with 'that city punk'. 'He looks like bad news, and that Roxas is such a nice sweet boy'." Axel laughed. "I suppose it depends..." He rested his lips against Roxas' ear "what kind of attention you want." He playfully sucked on the rim of Roxas' ear.

Roxas allowed his eyes to fall shut while his hands continued to trail up Axel's skin. "You pretty much hit it right on the nose." Another noise left him, louder then the first, before he was able to continue speaking. "If they only knew what I was really like. Their thoughts of me being nice, sweet Roxas would fly out the window in a second."

"I would feel bad if I tarnished such a 'nice, sweet boy's' reputation." Axel placed a few kisses beside Roxas' ear. "I could always tarnish it somewhere more private. Say-", He slipped his hands under Roxas' shirt, ignoring the staring looks of strangers walking by, "that little area in the ally way you hang out in." He attacked the crook of Roxas' neck with a few fiercer kisses. ".. I remember there being couches." Axel added slyly.

Roxas tried to protest to the idea since that area was where his friends hung out in. It was like Axel was begging him to let the other's find out. The way Axel was kissing his skin had him shutting up before he even had a chance to speak and all he could do was moan quietly.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to go back there for a little bit." Roxas managed those few words finally as he raised a hand to run it through Axel's hair. His will to fight against his friends seeing had cracked long ago. "Especially since we're causing a bit of a show for the people that are walking by." Despite those words, Roxas pulled Axel even closer by his hair.

One of Axel's crafty hands slipped up to Roxas' front to grasp the large X zipper of his shirt and slowly began to drag it down. The teen had such appropriately convenient clothing. "Well then," Axel murmured against moist skin, "lead the way." Otherwise he truly didn't care what intimacies people would soon see them doing.

Roxas didn't need to be told twice. He pulled himself away from Axel even though he didn't want to, but he knew he had to be the one to take them to the spot. He leaned up to give the other one quick kiss before he turned away from the heartless and walked from the stairway, motioning for him to follow.

A few looks were shot their way, either because of their previous show, or just because people had taken to staring at the new face in town. Either way Roxas didn't really seem to care and waved at the few people who waved to him first.

The walk wasn't a long one and Roxas was grateful. Only a few turns and they were soon standing in front of the makeshift door that kept the spot hidden from prying eyes. Roxas wasted no time in pulling Axel inside by his shirt, causing the curtain to ruffle and nearly pull completely inside with them. He ignored it, paying more attention on bringing Axel down so he could better lean up and kiss the heartless, biting at the other's lip a little.

The noise Axel made was muffled against Roxas' lips as he kissed the other near forcefully now that they had their little bit of privacy. He placed his hands on Roxas' shoulders to push him backwards as he kissed him. Despite the wounds of someone else that Roxas harbored, Axel pushed him back until he clumsily fell back on the couch. He crawled on top, not letting Roxas' mouth escape his.

The sound of complaint Roxas made because of his wounds was muffled under Axel's lips and just as quickly silenced by a moan. He let his tongue sneak out, licking the other's lips before it pushed its way past to curl around Axel's own. His hand continued to cling tightly to the heartless' shirt, bringing him even closer which caused his own body to be pinned against the couch cushion.

The sound of a zipper denoted Axel had went and undone the rest of Roxas' shirt. The heartless barely managed to tear his mouth from Roxas', kissing what he could before he dipped his head to kiss the bare skin he'd exposed of Roxas' chest, tasting skin with flicks of tongue. Never in all his years of existing as a Nobody knowing Roxas, did he ever expect anything like this; never did he expect Roxas to be so cooperative or willing. Especially in a place he called 'home'. Thrilling to say the least; he pitied his Nobody never had this chance.

The small flicks of tongue had Roxas squirming under Axel. His eyes had shut and he let out small noises here and there as the heartless kissed and licked his skin. One of his legs had moved up to wrap around the back of Axel's own, and silently he cursed to himself that he still had his shoes on. For the moment he didn't feel like toeing the annoying things off. He had other things in mind and was soon pulling Axel back up so he could bite affectionately at the man's neck, licking each spot afterwards.

There was the loud sound of a school bag dropping at the door.

"What. The. Hell!?" Hayner's voice shouted shocked and embarrassed to what he'd just walked into.

Axel didn't seem detoured by their new audience, noticeably so when the throaty sound he made had Roxas' friends growing far redder in the face than they already were. The heartless only pressed closer in a way he shouldn't have, nibbling on Roxas' ear.

Roxas had to choke down the moan he almost let out at feeling Axel's teeth. The sound of Hayner's voice had nearly sobered him right up and his eyes had snapped completely open. As quick as he could he shoved the heartless away from him which was something he didn't want to do, but he didn't need his friends to see more then they already had. "G-Guys. U-Uh...Hey..." The greeting was weak, but Roxas had no clue what else he could have said.

Olette only blushed harder and averted her eyes after Roxas' greeting. She was curious as to whom the stranger in their spot was, but she didn't speak. She was too embarrassed that the three of them had walked in on what they had and looked towards Hayner who had seemed the most upset.

Axel's tongue still stuck out and he sat upright, running a hand through his hair looking mildly disappointed though more amused. "Hm, there goes my fun."

Hayner was near fuming at that comment, his face beat red. "Who is that guy?" He pointed a finger at Axel who only waved with a sly smile; it didn't help Hayner's anger at all. "And why the hell did you bring him here to- to-!" He stumbled on his words.

Pence frowned, finishing what Hayner couldn't say. "... do stuff on our couch."

Roxas flinched at that and raised his good arm to scratch at the back of his head. "Uhh...his name is Axel and he's an old friend of mine that I used to know. He's moving here to Twilight Town." Roxas dropped his hand and looked up at his friends again, trying his best to move the conversation away from what had been walked in on. "We were trying to catch up with each other since we haven't talked in a while."

Axel took it upon himself to become completely comfortable, more comfortable than Hayner liked, on the couch beside Roxas. "'Talk' being a loose metaphor." He added slyly. He was far more amused that Roxas had given three different stories explaining who he was to three different parties.

Hayner had narrowed his eyes on Axel; they were already getting off on the wrong foot. "Funny, you never mentioned him before." He looked back to Roxas.

Pence glanced at Olette. "Roxas had a boyfriend before?" He couldn't recall a time they didn't know Roxas, so he couldn't really figure a time that Roxas knew someone they all didn't.

Olette could only shrug her shoulders. "I don't know. He never said anything to me about it." She felt less embarrassed about the situation, but that was only because she knew that pretty soon a fight was going to break out between the person known as Axel and Hayner if the two weren't watched carefully. It was obvious enough just by the way Hayner was acting.

"I never mentioned him because it was a long time since I had talked to him. I didn't think old friends would be important to new ones. Besides, I never thought I would see him again." Most of it was true and after the words left him Roxas shrugged a shoulder. He wasn't surprised by Hayner's attitude. His friend became upset very easily and he had learned to deal with it over time unless it affected him too much.

Hayner didn't look impressed over the situation. "..Riight. So you disappear for a long while without saying a word, come back with this punk, and took him here to 'talk' on our couch. Thanks, Roxas." He looked away, if anything disgusted. "Way to sort out your priorities there."

Pence looked at Roxas and pointed to his own chest and made zipping up motions trying to be as subtle as possible without Hayner noticing; Roxas' shirt was still unzipped wide open, and it was best he made himself less conspicuous before Hayner got angrier.

Axel noticed and tapped Roxas' shoulder. "Zip up."

And the faces all around got redder.

Roxas was quick to zip up his shirt, flinching at the loud sound it made in the small area they were in. Once the zipper was as it had been he coughed nervously into his hand and shot a look at Axel as if the entire thing had been his fault to begin with. In a way it was.

"Well, um, I'm sure Roxas didn't mean anything bad by it." Olette tried her best to be the voice of reason while trying to push away the blush on her face. "Besides, it does no good to snap at each other like this. It makes a bad impression on people you're meeting for the first time." She gestured to Axel after those words, hoping Hayner would listen to her and lighten up a bit.

"See, now she's a bright one." Axel pushed himself up and stood up from the couch. Roxas' three friends stared up at him.

"...Tall." Pence blinked several times.

Axel walked over to Olette and extended a hand to her in greetings. "Axel. Although I've already been introduced." Hayner had turned to glare at him since now he was standing near, but Axel ignored him, giving the girl before him a sly smile.

Olette seemed to relax quite a bit and smiled up at Axel as she moved her bag to a different hand so she could shake the man's own. "My name is Olette." She took her hand back to point at her friends. "That's Pence and the one glaring at you is Hayner." She smiled a little more at her own comment. "Don't worry about him. You'll get used to it after a while."

"He's just jealous because I didn't say hi to you guys first, that's all." Roxas had walked over to stand beside Axel, keeping an eye on his friends. In the end his attention fell on Hayner out of them all, trying to lighten the mood around them as he smirked after those words.

"Pence." Axel turned to the boy that Olette named off and shook his hand as well. "Don't worry about your couch. We didn't defile it." He took back his hand. ".. yet.."

Pence rubbed his hand that Axel shook, not sure if he liked what he said.

"Whatever." Hayner shrugged off Roxas' comment; though it probably wasn't a far cry from the truth. "You obviously seem set on doing your own thing. Just don't be upset if you get expelled for missing so much school." Hayner picked up his bag from the floor and walked away from the group.

"Hayner." Roxas tried to say something else to at least get Hayner to stay, but it was no use. Once Hayner's mind was made up then he was too stubborn to listen unless he wanted to. It caused Roxas to slump a little in defeat since the one reunion he had with his friends hadn't at all gone as well as he had hoped it would.

Olette watched Hayner walk away, but quickly turned her gaze back on Roxas and smiled sadly. "Don't worry about him, Roxas. You two could never stay mad at each other for more then a day at most. He'll come around eventually." She tried to reassure her friend, but still Roxas seemed more then a little upset and it caused her to sigh.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry yourself about grumpy face." Axel sidled over to Roxas and slipped his arms around the boy's small shoulders. He ruffled the teen's blonde hair. "Cheer up; you have so many tomorrows to look forward to."

Pence was still weirded out to see the stranger being so friendly with Roxas. He glanced at Olette before looking back to Roxas. "Soo... how did you two meet?"

Roxas squinted an eye as his hair was ruffled, but made no move to shoo Axel away. The question caught him off guard and he looked back up at his two remaining friends. He hadn't really thought up a story for how he and Axel had met. He couldn't exactly go around talking about how he had been picked up by some type of evil Organization. That just wouldn't sound good at all.

"Uhh, well..." Roxas looked to the side as he tried to think up something quick. "We just sort of ran into each other a lot, here and there. The place I was at before I came here wasn't all that big and it was hard not to, so I ended up seeing Axel pretty often and we just sort of became friends." Roxas shrugged a shoulder and looked back at his friends hoping that what he said was good enough.

Axel cut in before any of Roxas' friends could talk. "He was totally taken in by who I was. Completely enamored." His hand snuck to the X zipper, lazily fiddling with it. "He followed me everywhere, and was always trying to paw me." He tugged down on the zipper just a little bit. "Something came up and we had to put our little obsession on hold. Only now did we pick things back up." He pulled down on the zipper a little more, seeing how far he could get away with.

".. I see." Pence gave a slow nod, trying not to act as uncomfortable as he felt.

Roxas was quick to move his hand up to slap at Axel's own. He looked back to narrow his eyes on the heartless for a quick second, shaking his head before he looked back at his friends. "He gets like this sometimes. Sorry about that." He zipped his shirt back up for the second time that day and smiled nervously at the other two. "He'll learn to behave over time, I'm sure."

Olette blinked her eyes at the back and forth and was once again blushing over what had occurred. Not to mention Axel's earlier words. It was strange to see Roxas acting so forward with anyone. Her friend was usually so reserved and to himself most of the time. Roxas was always the one to sit off to the side while the rest of them sat in the group talking and laughing. It was such a change. "Well, it sure is an interesting story. Especially since you've never spoken up before about your past, Roxas."

Axel pouted, his fun swatted away. "I'm truly wounded." He held his hand to his cheek as if his hand was more than slapped. "Everyone thinks I'm a terrible guy." He leaned down to rest his chin on Roxas' shoulder and tried to look as sad as possible; it didn't help that the corners of his lips kept perking up in amusement. "I'm harmless, really."

Pence looked from one to the other and raised a hand to scratch at his hair. "Sooo..." He hesitated, wondering if he should be so forward. But no one else was taking initiative. "You two.. are-an item now?" He coughed but his cheeks grew hot again. "Never thought I'd see the day you'd go out with someone, Roxas." Pence blinked and waved his hands. "Not I- er- you're not very- uh.. well, you're not very social. And I'll shut up before I stick my foot in my mouth further." He gave a nervous laugh.

In truth Roxas wasn't sure how to answer Pence at all. The question was something he knew he would have had to think about, but being a Nobody most of his existence he'd been told that feelings didn't matter much in his case. Even now, when he wanted to feel for his own he still didn't believe he would ever be able to, and it seemed as if three words were still too far away for him to be able to say.

"No worries, Pence. Besides, some things just change I guess." Roxas shrugged a shoulder. He decided to just bypass Pence's question in the end. "Axel is just someone I can loosen up around. That I feel like I can be myself around a lot more." He realized how that came out and quickly shook his head. "I mean, not that I can't act like myself around you guys. Of course I can. It's just.. well.. you know..." He quickly quieted himself and let out a frustrated sigh.

Olette laughed a little at Roxas' sudden struggle to find the right words. "It's alright, Roxas. It's good to see you finally happy in some way. It was always so hard to get you to smile most of the time. I was beginning to think it was impossible." She shook her head at such memories, letting out a sigh as if it were the saddest thing ever.

"Even in the previous place we lived it was hard getting a smile out of him." Axel waved a hand at what he knew all too well. "He was such a disgruntled Roxas." He placed a kiss on Roxas' cheek right in front of his friends and patted his chest before he let go to go back and lounge on the couch.

Pence watched Axel go and make himself quite at home on the couch in their hangout. He looked back at Roxas. "Guess he's a permanent addition to our group, huh?" He laughed a little. He knew Hayner wasn't going to like this one bit.

Roxas hadn't protested to the one simple kiss he was given and watched as Axel claimed the couch for his own at the moment. He turned his eyes back to his friends when Pence was finished speaking and smirked at just the thought of Axel hanging out with them constantly. It was an idea he actually enjoyed. "I guess so. Maybe people won't mind him as much if he's hanging around with us. Although, so far the people in town just think he's some bad influence that's hanging around me." He tried to joke around with his friends, but slowly Roxas' thoughts seemed to stray towards where Pence's own had gone. "I just hope Hayner can warm up to the idea as well as you two have."

"He will. Just give him time, Roxas." Olette reached out to place a hand on her friend's shoulder, trying her best to cheer him up again. "He's your friend, right? He'll see it your way if he sees that you're happy. Besides, Hayner can be just as understanding as the rest of us if he tries hard enough." A small laugh left her after those words.

"Hmm." Pence slipped his hands in his pockets. "Why don't you go catch up with him, Roxas? I bet if you talked to him now you could smooth things over. Better than letting him stew until tomorrow." He moved a hand to loosen the tie of his school uniform. "You're going to school tomorrow, right?" He glanced at Axel a second. "Axel signed up to go too?"

"He still has to check some things out first, but he might be signing up soon. I'll be going tomorrow for sure, though." Roxas couldn't believe what he just said. It made the entire situation seem even more normal, but that's what the two of them were trying to do. To live life and be normal like they wanted to be. Or for however long it was allowed.

Roxas turned away from his friends, deciding that Pence's idea of talking to Hayner hadn't really been much of a bad one. He wanted to make some kind of amends with the other teen and to do that he would have to catch up to him first. "Hey Axel, I'm gonna go find Hayner. You wanna just stay here until I get back?" He gave the other a small grin. "I promise my friends won't bite while I'm gone."

Axel waved a dismissive hand, returning the grin. "Sure. I can't promise that I won't bite though. But I'll try to behave myself. Go on."

Roxas almost laughed at how Axel's words had caused his other two friends to tense up. He held his amusement in and only shook his head, saying nothing and trusting the heartless to behave himself like he said he would, leaving through the small curtain in the doorway to go out and search in town for his missing friend.