Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters

Chapter: "261 Days"

Author's Notes: Hello again! I'm getting back into the month per chapter thing again because college is really getting in the way of my writing life. Thanks to all those cool peeps that reviewed, faved, followed and all that jazz! I also deactivated my tumblr for personal reasons too. Anyway, I've kept you all waiting long enough and I am super sorry about the tears that may have fallen during the events of the previous chapters. I also don't know if you guys can tell but this is a pretty Axel-centric fic haha. Also, I'm still pretty shitty at replying to reviews. I'm not sure why.

This is my policy towards reviews since I keep getting PMs about it: I am a horribly busy person. I am a sophomore veterinarian student, a daughter, a friend, and a girlfriend all combined into one. I barely have enough time for myself and most of it is spent with my boyfriend of 4 years and we aren't even in the same state so my time with him is extremely important to me. My mother is tired from intense chemotherapy, school is a bitch right now because FUCK ORGANIC CHEMISTRY (seriously, ughhh don't take orgo) and I'm just tired and stressed. Call me a complainer or review whore, I don't care, I'm just going to be blunt about this. As an author, it's important to give me constructive criticism or comments or anything you want to say because honestly, I need the feedback in order to continue. I always take into consideration everything people tell me about this story and thus, I make changes to please. I won't please everyone and that's fine, it's impossible to please everyone. You all have to remember that I dedicate a lot of time to my stories - A LOT of time. As most if not all of you are writers yourselves, you can understand that feedback is regarded as being necessary in a form of support. Yes, reading is considered support and seriously, thank you guys for reading up to this point but you have to understand that sometimes I need a little reassurance as well.


"This shit is getting ridiculous." Demyx muttered under his breath as entered into Axel's apartment. His oceanic blue eyes scanned from left to right, taking in the horrendous mess that was Axel's home. Clothes littered the floor, dirty dishes were piled up in the sink, couch pillows were overturned, and the foul scent of cigarette smoke wafted about in the air. Shutting the door behind him, Demyx pulled his schoolbag closer to him and kicked some discarded shirts to the side. "This place has become such a goddamn dump." Shaking his head, the blond made his way over to the bedroom belonging to the older Gongaga sibling and did not hesitate to bang his fist against the wooden surface. "Axel! Open the door!"

"…"

"Open the fucking door, Axel!" Demyx called one once more, a noticeable furrow developing between his brows. His lip curled as he snarled angrily, punching the door with his fist. "I swear to Etro, Axel, open the goddamn door before I fucking break it down myself!"

"Alright! Fuck, man, relax!" The redhead finally said from the other side of the door. Huffing irritably, Demyx grunted and stepped back, giving the other man space. The door was thrown open and there stood Axel with one arm leaning against the doorframe, a lit cigarette hanging limp from in between his lips. He was dressed in nothing but a pair of baggy sleeping pants that hung low on his hips. "What?"

Demyx's nose flared a bit from the awful stench of sex, perspiration, and cigarette smoke emanating from Axel's room and took a step back, holding an arm out to protect himself from such noxious odors. "You've been holed up in your apartment for like nine days." Almost the same height as him, shorter by a fair few inches or so, Demyx looked at Axel sternly. "It's not healthy, man."

Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, Axel reveled in its addictive taste before blowing it out away from his best friend. "What's your point?" He asked after raising a thin crimson brow. Feeling hardened eyes on him, Axel snorted and watched as Demyx practically scanned him from head to toe.

"You look like you haven't had a decent meal in days, you've got bags under your eyes which means you haven't had a good night's sleep in a while, and you haven't been to school in a whole week! Your apartment looks like a hurricane passed by, your room fucking stinks, and you look like shit, man! What the hell is going on?" Rolling his emerald orbs at the blond, Axel pushed past him and made his way to the kitchen, ignoring the pile of unwashed dishes in the sink.

"It's none of your business." A shadow crossed his eye as Axel turned to look over his shoulder at the blond following behind. "How the hell did you get in my apartment anyway?"

Ignoring Axel's question, Demyx glared at him. "How the hell can you say it isn't any of my business? We've been friends for years, Axel, years! We're best friends, you dumbass! We're supposed to be able to tell each other everything!" Once his feet took him to stand in front of the crimson haired man, the musician shoved him a little. "What happened to you, Axel?"

Looking away, Axel grunted softly. "It really doesn't concern you this time, Demyx." Turning his back to the blond, Axel lifted his head a little, focusing his gaze on the door that led to Kairi's bedroom. "It's got nothing to do with you." He repeated, this time a little softer. Regarding his best friend with curious and worried eyes, Demyx followed the direction that Axel was looking at and frowned. Taking a step forward, he placed a hand on Axel's shoulder.

"Is it Kairi?" Demyx questioned, almost afraid to ask. The moment the name 'Kairi' left his lips, he felt Axel tense sharply and his heart sank in reply. He knew how important Axel's little sister was to him. Hell, she was almost like a little sister to him too; he had watched her grow just as Axel did. But what was wrong with Kairi? "What happened to Kairi?"

"She's gone, Dem."

And just like that, Demyx's heart tightened in his chest. His blue eyes widened in shock, "Is she…dead?" His voice was small as he spoke, almost as if he couldn't believe he was saying such an incredulous thing. He was hoping that that wasn't the case but he needed to hear it from Axel's lips first. He felt Axel shake again and he opened his mouth to console the redhead before a deranged sound emitted from Axel's throat.

"Goddess, no, but I might as well be though." Sighing mentally, Axel turned to face his best friend and nodded his head over to the couch as he ruffled the back of his spikes. "I'll tell you what's been going on with me." Nodding, the blond quickly made his way over to the couch but whereas Axel collapsed onto it tiredly, Demyx simply stood by the armrest, not at all sure how clean it was due to the apartment's atrocious state. Inhaling some more smoke, Axel blew it out cleanly, his chest rising and falling slowly as he did so. "You remember my old man, that big-time Turk that answers specifically to Rufus Shinra?"

"Reno Gongaga? Yeah, what about him?"

"You know how Kairi and I pretty must lost touch with him and my mom a long time ago?"

"Yeah?" Demyx questioned back, drawing out the last letter to emphasize his curiosity. From his position by the arm of the couch, he crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Did you have a run-in with them or something?" Axel nodded in reply, causing the blond to whistle in surprise. "Wow that must have been something." Reaching over to place a hand on Axel's shoulder, he gave the strong shoulder a gentle squeeze. "What happened?"

"Kairi and I were invited to attend this huge party hosted by the President. Naturally I declined but I could tell that she really wanted to go," He then sighed, his thoughts drifting back to his younger sister, "And so, we went." Lifting a hand, he covered his left eye with the palm of his left hand, feeling his blinking lashes fluttering against his skin. "How could I have known that that would be the last time I would see her?" The crimson haired man asked to no one in particular. Demyx remained silent as he listened to his best friend's story, his brows turned downwards in thought. His eyes traced along Axel's arm until –

"Wait a second! What the hell is this?!" The musician shouted, thrusting his arm out forward and closing his fingers over Axel's wrist. Turning it over so that the timer he knew was there was visible, Demyx hurriedly looked towards the numbers. "0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, and 0 seconds…" Clenching his fingers tightly around Axel's thin wrist, Demyx fixed his so-called best friend with a harsh glare. "You didn't fucking tell me you met your soul mate! What fucking gives?!" Throwing the arm down forcefully, Demyx jumped to his feet. "We're supposed to be best friends, Axel! Tell me why this is the first time I'm hearing all this?!"

Not having the energy to argue back, Axel narrowed his eyes forward and cradled his left arm against his torso. "'Cause I'm a shitty best friend." Ruffling the back of his spikes, Axel looked towards Demyx apologetically. "To be honest Dem, my soul mate has been the farthest thing from my mind and since Kairi's been gone, I've been so frazzled that I can't even think straight." As Demyx shifted back towards the arm of the couch, the redhead let out a soft pitied chuckle for himself. "I'll tell you everything." And so, Axel began his story and like the good friend that he was, Demyx listened earnestly.


It was late into the evening, around 8 o'clock or so, and Roxas was still doing homework. He sat alone at his desk with a variety of books spilled all around him on the desk's wooden surface. To his right was his laptop that although on, was blackened due to its screensaver mode but he paid it little to no attention. He held a pen in his hand and was currently tapping it against the corner of his college-rule notebook. 'Okay, so an aldoheptose is a heptose carbohydrate with an aldehyde functional group at the first carbon and an aldopentose is a pentose carbohydrate with an aldehyde functional group at the first carbon.' Roxas recited mentally, his eyes zeroing in on the notes in front of him. 'An aldohexose is a hexose carbohydrate with an aldehyde functional group at the first carbon. Okay, I just need to remember that they all are attached by the first carbon.' Resting his elbow on the table and cupping his chin, the blond hummed thoughtfully. He had a feeling that a pop quiz would occur sometime this week and so he was mentally preparing for it now, knowing that he needed to study to get the material down.

He wasn't a bad student, in all actuality, Roxas was an amazing student. With a friend like Olette, it was impossible to do poorly in a class; she would always remind him about doing his homework to which he was thankful for. While he excelled at his other studies, he was not as lucky when it came to his sciences. Specifically, chemistry was not his strongpoint; he'd study and study but all he would get in return was a C or B- if he was lucky. Sighing under his breath, the high school student flipped a page in his notebook, "Now onto aliphatic amino acids." Twirling his pen in his hand, he continued on with his studying. 'Aliphatic amino acids are amino acids that contain an aliphatic side chain functional group. They are both non-polar and hydrophobic.' Covering the examples with his hand, Roxas looked up at the ceiling, wanting to see if he could recite them from memory. 'Examples include alanine, isoleucine, leucine, and…' He paused, raking his brain for the answers he remembered reading about. 'Shit, what where they? Methionine? Wait no; didn't Mr. Glacies say that it was sometimes considered aliphatic? Dammit! Why can't I remember?' Cursing under his breath once again, Roxas gave up and peeled his hand away. "Fucking A, its proline and valine. Goddammit." Tossing his pen somewhere behind him, Roxas leaned back in his computer chair and covered his eyes with his forearm. Roxas couldn't begin to understand why chemistry was so hard for him to understand. He would study his ass off for a test, literally night and day, and just get the bare minimum for a grade.

'Maybe I should just get a tutor.' After sighing in frustration, Roxas abandoned his studying and hopped off his computer chair. Reaching for his cellular device, he held it tightly in his hand and sauntered over to his neatly made bed, collapsing onto it almost immediately. Folding his arm behind his head as a makeshift pillow, Roxas looked up at his white ceiling with weary eyes. "I really don't want to fail this test and I really don't want to get a C again." He could either A) Suck it up and just study some more tomorrow, B) Ask Mr. Glacies for a tutor, or C) Give up. Obviously C was out of the question. A on the other hand wasn't too bad but in all honesty, doing just that still gave him average grades. And so, Roxas was left with B, ask Mr. Glacies for a chemistry tutor. 'It's not all bad.' He thought, weighing the pros and cons mentally. 'Luckily for me, Radiant Academy employs college students to tutor us part-time.' The good thing about that was that college students obviously knew more than he did and being students themselves, they knew how to teach in a way that he could understand. 'But then again, I really hate staying after school unless I really have to.' Ultimately going with plan B, Roxas took a moment to relax. He stretched out his stiff limbs, curling his back upwards before settling back down on his bed.

Pulling his phone out, he brought in front of him and searched through his contacts, something he usually did out of boredom when he was awaiting a text or call. Okay, he wasn't really waiting on anything; he was just really bored and didn't want to be thinking about chemistry. Roxas started at the beginning of the alphabet, swiping his thumb downwards as he read over each of the names in his contact list. He passed by 'K' and paused, lingering on the first name in the list. "Kairi." He said aloud, his voice soft. In all honesty, not a day went by that he didn't think of her. How could he not think about her? Because of him and his temper, he caused her and Axel to be separated. Kairi was always on his mind: Was she okay? Was she happy? What happened to her after the party? Roxas then clenched a fist, "And Axel, how is he doing?" He voiced out loud. Normally, Axel was the furthest thing in his mind but perhaps that wasn't the case right now. He'd be lying though if he said he didn't think of Axel every once in a while. 'I can't even begin to imagine what he's going through right now. He must hate me even more now too.' Truth be told, Roxas didn't like him very much either. He wasn't a heartless person though, he felt awful for separating the two redheaded siblings. "I don't know what I'd do if Sora was taken from me like that."

Exhaling sharply, almost in a spur of the moment, Roxas quickly pressed the green button labeled 'call' and sucked in a breath. He listened as the dial tone sounded, his throat suddenly turning dry. It rang twice before a voice he knew well spoke at the other end. "Roxas?" The blond bolted straight up into a sitting position, berating himself for calling her. What was he thinking? He was probably the last person she wanted to talk to!

"Kairi, hey." Mentally punching himself in the face, color flooded his cheeks. He probably sounded so stupid right now! "Um, how are you? How has everything been?" The line was silent for a couple minutes and he could have sworn that she was about to yell at him but instead, she spoke in a relatively calm voice.

"It's been okay, I've been really busy lately. Mom and Dad keep me on a strict schedule."

Ouch. That must mean her and Axel still weren't together. "I see." Roxas replied back, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. "What kind of stuff are they making you do?" She proceeded to explain that her parents had set up multiple tutoring sessions and cram school in order for her to advance her studies. Kairi spoke briefly about other things they forced her to do such as music lessons and running cross country. "That sounds brutal. How do you find time to hang out with Xion and Naminé?"

"I don't." Kairi answered simply. "I don't even go to Our Lady of Radiant Garden anymore. Mom and Dad enrolled me over at the Gaia Academy for Girls a week ago after that whole party fiasco. I barely even have enough time for me." Someone shouted something in the background and Roxas heard her pulling the phone away. There was an awkward pause before Kairi came back on the line. "Listen, I'm late for cram school. Sorry Roxas, this isn't a good time."

"Kairi? I'm sorry about what happened at that party. I didn't think that you and Axel would be -" His voice suddenly quieted shamefully. He didn't know what to say or how he should say it. He just wanted to make sure she knew that he was indeed sorry for the events that occurred that day. Would she believe him though? "Really, I'm so sorry." He heard her breath hitch slightly and he thought she might have started crying. Well shit. Biting his lower lip, he felt a rush of pain in his chest. Was he feeling Axel's pain right now? Or was it his own at causing Axel and Kairi pain?

"Goodbye Roxas." Kairi said swiftly.

"See you soon, Kairi." Roxas in turn replied, altering the words a bit. Her words made it seem like she definitely wouldn't be seeing him again and like hell he would let that happen. He heard the soft click signaling the end of the call and placed his phone over on his night table. Sinking back in bed, the blond sighed. "All this just because you couldn't hold in your anger for a few more seconds." His eyes fluttered close before a knock forced him to reopen his eyes. "Come in!"

The door was pulled open and there outside his door stood his two fathers, Leon and Cloud. The parental units were sporting stoic expressions but that was normal, that's just the way they were. "Roxas, we need to talk about what happened at the President's gathering." Leon stated simply, allowing his husband to walk in first and then following in afterwards. Cloud moved over to sit at the edge of Roxas' bed by the boy's legs while Leon stood before him with his arms crossed. "We didn't say anything until now because were hoping that you would come to us but I see that you don't plan to." Roxas held his breath, not at all wanting a lecture right now, especially from his two dads. "You're going to tell us all about this 'Axel' guy, starting right now." There was no way he could escape them now.


Author's Notes: Its 1:33 AM! I'm not even sure if I am even coherent right now! Anyway, I grinded this all out in one night so I apologize if there are errors. As always, I am way too lazy to go through and edit everything. Let me know if you liked it though! Next chapter will be fun to write. I wonder what Leon and Cloud have to say about a certain Axel Gongaga? And how will Demyx react to his best friend's soul mate being a high school student? Let's find out! Read, review, fave, follow, and all that jazz! Since I've gotten a lot of hate (to which is fine, I'm overly go-lucky so I don't get upset easily haha), understand that reviews are appreciated but I'm not going to hold a story ransom just because not everyone is reviewing. Do as you please, just try to understand that it's frustrating not to get at least a sentence of reassurance that this story is pleasing you. Okey dokes! Until next time, I've got orgo homework to do :(