Tittle: All That Shouldn't Be

Chapter: Dead

Rating: M

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Square Enix I only own the plot.

Warnings: Possible OOC, Shounen-ai, Possible Yaoi

Author's Note: Bleh

I opened my eyes to a grey-ish pillow snuggling my face. I groaned and sat up, stretching my arms out. The room was dimly lit by the orange of the sun and the TV murmured quietly about a commercial for a cleaning product. I yawned as I stood up and headed for the kitchen. I pulled out a bowl and a half-empty bag of wannabe fruit loops and poured myself a bowl of cereal. After I put my stuff away, I turned around to find a girl tip-toeing toward the door. I chuckled to myself. "The lock goes the other way." I warned her, making her jump almost ten feet high. "Just thought I'd let you know. And don't worry about making too much noise. My brother isn't a light sleeper." She just nodded and went for the door quietly anyway. I shook my head and locked the door after her, carrying my bowl into the living room. The news was on and I had nothing better to do so I turned it up and sat down.

"—found in a dumpster about four or five blocks away from the Destiny Islands Apartments. The body has not been identified and officials think it's connected to the disappearance of Roxas Strife, who went missing last week. Still, we don't know for sure." My heart sunk. Destiny Islands Apartments? Isn't that where I'm living? And where's Axel? Was he the one behind this? "We were unable to get any footage of the body, but witnesses say that you could mostly see the bones of the victim. I won't go into very much detail, but you can view the whole story on our website at…" I stared at the screen, my cereal long forgotten.

Kadaj walked passed the living room and into the kitchen, groaning and opening a cabinet where he kept the medicine. He mumbled a few words and took some pills. "Morning, brother…" He sighed, plopping down in a wooden chair.

"Long night?" I asked, remembering to eat my cereal.

"Rough night…" He laid his head back and rubbed his forehead with one hand.

"A body was found down the street, I think."

"Nothing new." He sounded bored and hung-over. Nothing new? Geez. I moved to the wrong part of town. "Might be that kid from last week…what's-his-face…"

"Roxas?"

"Oh, there was another one?" I rolled my eyes and got up to put my empty bowl in the sink. "Mom would have gone ape-shit if she found out either of us were kidnapped." Kadaj laughed to himself and laid his head down on the plastic fold-out table. "She'd tear this place up." I didn't say anything, mostly because I didn't know our mom, but I didn't feel like talking to him. "I don't really get how kids get kidnapped. How dumb do you have to be to—"

"It's not that they're dumb, asshole. Sometimes they get attacked…" I turned away and went to my room, biting my lip.

"Brother?" I heard the chair squeak across the tile floor as I pulled off my shirt and tossed it on the floor. Kadaj was in my doorway as I opened the closet door. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just…bad memories…"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to insult you."

"You didn't insult me. I just remember not being able to help him…"

"Riku," A knock at the front door interrupted him. He sighed and left the room. I exchanged my jeans for a clean pair and pulled on my belt, following him out into the living room.

And there he was; my tall, redheaded pyromaniac friend looking at me with hypnotizing emerald eyes. "I was looking for Riku." Axel nodded toward me and I went back into my room to grab a white tank top and put on my shoes. I walked outside as I pulled my shirt on and Kadaj shut the door without a word. "He really doesn't like me." Axel laughed as we turned the corner.

"Since when did that stop you?" I said a little bored.

"Never has." He pinned me to the wall with one hand and the other touched my face. "Never will." His lips hovered over mine.

"It stopped you yesterday." I countered. The corner of his lip twitch and he moved away.

"That's only because I…" He glanced at me then started walking away.

"Because you what?" I followed him down the sidewalk.

"It's a nice day, ain't it?" I rolled my eyes and caught up with him.

"Too much sun."

"I agree. Let's go to the park, eh?" The short walk there was quiet between us and it sort of bugged me.

"Why did you leave?" I asked when we were waiting at an intersection.

"What?"

"Why did you leave last night, just to come back in the morning?" I leaned against the light pole as Axel stared across the street.

"I already told you. I'm not supposed to be there or here or anywhere without them knowing." He closed his eyes and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"Are they all like you?"

"We all look different in our full form. Larxene looks a lot like a queen-bee-human-thing. Marluxia looks like…like a garden…thing… I don't know. He looks weird. Zexion looks like a creepy shadow thing with four eyes—I think he's the creepiest by far."

"Zexion?"

"He's the short kid with his face in his book. Number Six." The light changed and we both took our time walking across the crosswalk. "Xigbar looks like a Pterodactyl with feathers and Number One… He's a shape shifter so I don't really know his real form."

"And you look like a dragon." I smirked.

"Don't make fun of the Pyro." He looked at me and winked, blowing out a small fire from his nose. I jumped back and swatted away the smoke.

"What the hell?" I growled as he laughed to himself. "Douche."

"You love me."

"I don't know why." I mumbled as I caught up to him again.

"Ouch." He pouted. We got to the park and sat at the bench, not caring that there were a few kids and a mother on the play ground.

"That doesn't hurt?"

"What you said? Yes, it did." He stuck his nose in the air and leaned back against the table.

"No not that. The thing you did with the fire."

"Ouch again!" He sighed. "No. Not at all. I mean, it hurts if I draw it all out but that's only because I'm breathing out all my air. Like if you let out a huge breath and just kept going. It hurts your lungs after a while. But I'm immune to burns." I felt a pang of sadness and looked at my hand where Axel had burned me by accident. The scar wasn't as puffy as it was ten years ago, but it was still noticeable. "I still have all my scars, don't worry." Scars to us were like friendship bracelets to little kids. His hand fell on mine and his thumb brushed over my scar. "I remember this." He whispered, smiling down at my hand. "I was so stupid." His laughed was shaky and I thought I could see tears in his eyes.

"We were so stupid. We were also kids." I shrugged and he reached up to push my hair out of my eyes. His hand rested on my face and his eyes stared into mine.

"I miss it. I wish I was never taken away from you."

"Axel, stop it." I pushed his hand away. He frowned and leaned away from me.

"What's stopping you?"

"It's just weird… We were best friends for three years, lost each other for eight years, and now we're…kissing…" I shook my head. "And I didn't even know I was gay." Axel's laugh made me jump.

"I've felt this way since I laid eyes on you. I knew I wanted to kiss you from the start. And it got worse with the separation. I started to realize how much I really loved you." His smile faded as he stared off in the distance. "I cried a lot. And I never cry."

"I know."

"Neither do you." He looked at me with his saddening frown. "You really scared me the other night. You really meant it."

"Axel… I didn't know…"

"I know." He cupped my face again and I let him. "Please, if you don't want me to kiss you anymore, please tell me now." My heart thudded in my ears, drowning out my conscience as his face got closer to mine. My eyes shut as our lips touched.

"Come on, sweetheart, time to go." The mother called. My face burned as I pushed Axel away. He groaned and laid his head back.

"If she wouldn't have said anything, would you still be kissing me?" His growl sent chills down my spine but I didn't answer. I didn't know how to answer. "God dammit!" His fist slammed against the table as he stood up, leaving a dent in the metal. I watched him walk away, forcing tears back. My voice was gone and my throat was dry and I died a little more with each step he took.

Don't go…