Monday morning rolled around all too quickly. And homeroom passed just as quickly. Axel met with Xion in their first period class, which was science with Vexen. They sat in the back of the room, far from Saïx and Seifer, who sat in the very front.

"Starting the day with Vexen kinda sucks," Xion stated.

"Kind of?" Axel repeated. "It does suck. And it sucks even more that he adores Saïx. I mean, the douche practically has him eating out of the palm of his hand."

"Yeah, but Marly loves you."

"I feel like he loves everyone."

She laughed. "That's not entirely true. For example, as you've mentioned, he's not a fan of Saïx."

"This is true," he recalled.

"Good morning class," Vexen said in his annoying voice as he started the class once the bell rang. "Today, we will be learning…"

"I just don't understand what Marluxia sees in this guy," Axel continued in a whisper. "Mar is so outgoing while Vexen is just so…" he trailed off. "I don't even know. I peg him as the kind of guy who would be obsessive and possessive and just…not good company."

Xion shrugged. "Opposites attract, right?"

"The whole gay factor kinda defeats the purpose of that ideal."

She held back a laugh. "I don't think it's okay for you to say that."

He chuckled as well. "So long as my two best friends are gay, then I can get away with it."

"And what's so funny back there?" Vexen then questioned the two of them.

They both shut up instantly.

"Sorry," Xion said hastily.

"Well, what's so funny? Because your giggles are disrupting my class."

"We didn't mean—" Axel began.

"I don't care," Vexen cut him off.

"Maybe they should share the joke with us," Saïx spoke up. "I mean, if they interrupted your class with it then it must've been very funny."

"Yeah," Seifer agreed. "Share with the rest of us the hilarious joke you two were laughing at."

"That's not a bad idea," Vexen replied.

Axel shot the smirking Saïx and Seifer nasty looks. Then he looked back at the teacher. "It wouldn't be funny to the rest of the class."

"Sorry," Xion repeated. "We'll be good now."

"You better be."

Vexen returned his focus to the lesson. And Axel tried to pay attention, but Saïx and Seifer wouldn't stop turning around to stare at him. He tried to ignore them, but he couldn't take it any longer; they were making it obvious that they were watching him.

"Stop staring at me!" he shouted, jumping to his feet.

"Excuse me?" Vexen replied.

"Axel," Xion muttered seriously.

"I'm sorry, sir, but Saïx and Seifer won't stop staring at me."

"What?" Seifer exclaimed. "We've been watching Vexen this whole time!"

"That's not true," Xion denied.

"Go to the principal's office," Vexen then ordered, ignoring Xion's defence.

"But I didn't do anything wrong!" Axel denied.

"Go to the office," he repeated sternly.

He sighed out of aggravation. "Fine."

As he passed Saïx, the blue haired boy slipped a note to Axel. He read it once he was outside the classroom:

Don't lose that temper of yours with the principal.

He crumpled the piece of paper and tossed it aside. Then he made his way to the front office. When he got there, he slowly opened the door and entered.

"Hello Axel," Xemnas greeted him without even looking at him.

"Hi."

"Vexen paged me to let me know that he sent you. Sit down, please."

The redhead took a seat.

"So," he now looked up at him with yellow eyes, "what seems to be the problem?"

"Honestly, it's Saïx Foster and Seifer Almasy, sir."

"And what are they doing?"

"Well, it's more of Saïx's doings, but Seifer's following along."

"You do know that Mr. Foster is one of our star students, right?"

"Yes, I'm aware of that. And I'm sorry, sir, but I really don't care. Being a star student doesn't automatically make him a good kid. And he's definitely not a good kid."

He looked back down at what he had been doing beforehand. "Do you and Mr. Foster have some sort of history?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did something happen between the two of you in the past? Because Marluxia mentioned something to me about the way you two acted towards one another during morning homeroom on the very first day of school. And that's not nearly enough time to develop such a problem with someone."

"Oh…well…yeah, we do have history. I don't really feel like getting into it, though. I mean, it's a long story."

"That's fine." He looked up again. "So why exactly did Vexen send you to me?"

"I accidentally disrupted his class," Axel explained. "Saïx and Seifer were staring at me and smirking and all this stupid bullshit, so I told them to cut it out. But I may have shouted it."

"How do you know they were staring at you?"

"I sit in the back of the classroom, sir, and they sit in the front. And they weren't trying to hide the fact."

He nodded his head once. "Very well, then. You are dismissed. Send Mr. Foster and Mr. Almasy down when you return to class, please."

"Will do, sir." He left and returned to his first period.

Vexen faced him as he entered the classroom. "Well?"

"Xemnas wants to see Saïx and Seifer," he answered.

"Fine. You two go."

As they passed, Saïx bumped Axel's shoulder…hard. Axel didn't care, though, because that smug look had finally been swiped from Saïx's face. He then took back his seat next to Xion.

"What did Xemnas say?" she whispered.

"Nothing bad. I'm not in any sort of trouble, I mean. But I feel like, if anything, Saïx and Seifer will be punished for this. To an extent, at least."

"Good."

"How many times do I have to tell you two to stop talking and pay attention?" Vexen asked them out of exasperation now. "Especially you, Mr. Rizure? Would you like to be sent back to the office?"

"No, sir," Axel denied. "I apologise, sir."

With that, he and Xion both shut up. And they were quiet until right before the end of class when Saïx and Seifer finally returned from the principal's office. Neither of them looked too pleased, either. But before any more questions could be asked, the bell rang. Axel and Xion sprang from their seats as they gathered their things. They exchanged goodbyes and headed for their next classes.

For Axel, the next class was math with Luxord. It was his first real period with Roxas, too. Kairi and Pence were also in the class.

"Hey there," Kairi greeted Axel with a big smile.

He smiled back. "Hey."

"What's up?" Pence asked.

He shrugged now. "Vexen sent me to the office last period."

"Why? What did you do?" Roxas wondered.

"I 'spoke out of term,' I guess. I don't really know. But it was because of Saïx and Seifer."

"How is it you and Saïx already hate each other?" Pence thought aloud.

"Don't even worry about it."

"Well, what else happened?" Kairi asked.

"I went to Xemnas's office. We talked a little and he sent me back calling for Saïx and Seifer. But I had been sent down a little before halfway through the period and probably came back at the halfway point. Then Saïx and Seifer went down when I returned and they weren't sent back until right before class ended."

"So they were down there for half the period?" Roxas confirmed.

Axel smiled smugly. "That's right."

Pence laughed. "That's a good thing."

"Of course it is," he agreed. "Hey, where's Luxord at?" he then asked, abruptly changing the subject when he realised that no one in class was on task.

"Sleeping," Pence answered, gesturing to the teacher's desk.

Indeed, Luxord was passed out with his head on the desk.

"Don't tell me he's drunk on a frigging Monday," Axel said.

"Oh no, he's not drunk," Kairi denied. "Just hung over," she added, speaking so nonchalantly about it.

"Mondays are typically hangover days," Roxas declared.

"Otherwise known as skip days for everyone who has him first and last period," Pence went on.

Axel chuckled. "This has to be my favourite class."

"Don't speak too soon," Kairi cut back in. "You haven't experienced a Thursday hangover yet."

"What do you mean?"

"For some odd reason, his Thursday hangovers are always the worst," Pence informed him. "They're the rarest, but still the worst. Everyone always assumes it's because Luxord realises over and over again that it isn't Friday yet and there's still one more day left until the weekend."

Axel nodded curiously. "I still can't believe he hasn't been fired yet."

"Xemnas can't find a good enough replacement so he just sorta deals with it," Roxas explained. He shrugged. "What else is he gonna do?"

"Teach it himself, perhaps?"

"Xemnas prefers to have as little interaction with students as possible," Kairi told him.

"Demyx said he was laidback."

"Oh, he is," Pence confirmed. "And that's because he doesn't typically punish students because he doesn't like dealing with them."

Now Axel chuckled. "Interesting."

The rest of the period was spent goofing off. When the bell rang, Axel and Roxas said goodbye to Kairi and Pence. They then headed for their next class, which was physical education with Xigbar. Riku and Sora joined them in this eventful period. That day, the half blind man was in an overall good mood. So that meant that he would actually go easy on anyone who couldn't complete his crazy boot-camp-like course that day. And on this particular day, it was a lot of running and hurdling and just a lot of legwork in general.

"So Axel, how do you like it here so far?" Sora wondered as they waited at the back of the line to start the course.

"Sora, he's only been here for a week," Riku replied.

"That doesn't mean he can't have an opinion," he pointed out.

Axel laughed. "It's not too bad here. I mean, having Saïx around kinda sucks, but other than that it's a pretty decent place."

"Is there anything that makes being here worth it, despite having Saïx around?" Roxas questioned.

He shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I haven't really thought about it."

"What about Demyx and Zexion?" he thought aloud.

"Oh, well, yeah, of course. But that just goes without saying."

"And is there anyone else?" Sora questioned.

"I don't know," Axel repeated.

"Stop chatting and start running!" Xigbar suddenly yelled.

That's when the group realised it was their turn to start the course. Roxas and Sora went together first, followed by Riku and Axel.

"You know," Axel began when they made it back to the other two, "Roxas here has made it pretty bearable." He nudged the blonde, smiling and out of breath.

The blonde blushed at the comment, causing the redhead to laugh. "Shut up," he replied.

Now Riku laughed a bit. "That's cute, Rox, you have a little crush on Axel."

His blush deepened. "I do not!"

"Stop teasing him, Riku," Sora said.

"C'mon, babe, it's all in good fun."

"It's also not true," Roxas declared.

"It's okay, Rox," Axel assured him, still smiling and wrapping his arm around his shoulders. "Dem used to have a little crush on me, too."

"Get away from me," Roxas muttered back, pushing the redhead away.

"You guys are awful," Sora stated.

"No, it's okay," Roxas told his cousin. "I don't mind the teasing."

"See? Stop worrying," Riku replied.

"Fine," he gave in, folding his arms across his chest.

"Stop being such a chick, babe."

"You're lucky none of the girls were around to hear that."

"I wouldn't have said it if any of them were."

Laughing at the couple's bickering, Axel turned to Roxas. The blonde looked away and blushed again. At this notion, the redhead nudged him once more to let him know that he had noticed this. Roxas returned his glance to Axel and smiled shyly.

"Don't stop moving!" Xigbar yelled at them again.

The four of them all jumped back into action and went on their way with the rest of the course. But the entire time, Axel couldn't help but to watch Roxas. Better yet, he knew the blonde was watching him as well.