12.
Axel taking off his shirt…
…Axel unscrewing his water bottle…
…And dousing himself from head to toe.
All manner of bodily fluids were escaping Roxas' face. Blood from his nose, sweat from his forehead, drool from his mouth– whatever. He watched as each drop of water dripped off the ends of his vermillion hair; how streaks of water were outlining each muscle in his arms, broad chest and toned stomach.
Roxas could feel himself melting as Axel shook his hair back and forth. He looked positively… immaculate at the moment and it was extremely hard to look at anything else. He probably wouldn't stop gawking if a meteor hit him.
"Roxas!" Was that a meteor already? He shot his head to the side. Oh no, it was just Xion, closing her religion studies and jogging over to him.
The gears in his head began to revive. Did anyone see him staring like an idiot before he looked away? –Nevermind that! Did Axel see him staring like an idiot before he looked away? He prayed over and over in his mind as he said absently, "Hey Xion."
"Oh my gosh! I haven't seen you around here for a while." Her smile was sweet as always and her eyes seemed to sparkle with each word. "How've you been?"
"I've been fine." In actuality, his head was starting to ache from all the movement and direct sunlight, but it was bearable. "So what have you been up to?"
"Oh you know, Islamic test here, cosine law quiz there…" She trailed off into what other assignments where occupying her time. Of course. Apart from hanging around these people, she studies her cute little ass off. "…but then my lunch is right before English, so I can put it off 'til then." Her smile was proud and as sunny as Sora's.
Roxas suddenly felt a little worried. So Cloud wasn't exaggerating when he ranted about how much school he'd missed. Looks like a bunch of things were happening in his absence. Roxas had no doubts about being able to catch up. If need be, he'd just bullshit his way through everything and settle for a passable mark. He had done this many a time.
Sora had complained once: You didn't even study and you got a higher mark than me! That's not fair. I went over this for hours! And it was true. Leon had also praised him by saying, "If you studied and got a good mark, it's because you studied. If you didn't study and got a bad mark, it's because you didn't study. If you didn't study and got a good mark… you're smart." Roxas smiled at the memory, and began to calm his thoughts.
"You'll get everything done. If anyone can hack it, it's you." Roxas had never not seen Xion without top marks. Roxas suddenly caught a scent of cinnamon and Old Spice. True enough, when he turned his head, a mass of red hair caught his attention.
"With that being said, you should take a breather and play basketball once in a while!" Axel playfully boxed Xion's shoulder and smiled at the two teens before him. Roxas couldn't help but feel nervous under that sly grin of his. Though it made him want to look away, he could not pry his gaze from those emerald eyes that were so enticing. He tried to distract himself with Xion.
"I'll play if Roxas plays!" She said happily.
Roxas jerked his head up. "Huh?" Xion tilted her head to motion to the court. "Oh… yeah. Sure."
"Great, let's go." Axel took one more side glance at the blond before he strode off to fetch the basketball. Roxas and Xion went over to the bleachers to discard their sweaters and to re-tie their shoes.
Xion was wearing black mini-shorts and a yellow, fitted tank top that brought out the blueness of her eyes. She clearly had a sense of style, whereas Roxas wore his plain, low-rise beige pants and a black wife-beater.
Axel called over to them. "Hey, hurry up!" Roxas saw him dribbling around Riku's head (who was still lying down in the toss up circle,) threatening him with a bloody nose if he didn't get up and play.
Soon everyone was assembled and the silveret grudgingly got to his feet. "Alright!" He looked over to Demyx, now draped over Zexion's lap. Zexion was scowling from behind The Bell Jar. If he would just stop wiggling! The blond yelped and desisted all movement as a hand swiftly made contact with his buttocks.
Axel looked over to Xigbar shooting empty pop cans down with a rubber band. Lexaeus was taking the fallen tin and flattening them between his palms.
On the edge of the cage, Marluxia was cautiously attempting to braid Larxene's hair. He barely grasped the strands of golden hair, as her eyes automatically scowled and Marluxia received a box to his face. No one disturbs Larxene when she's asleep! Alas, three seconds of whining, pouting and clutching his head, Larxene's glower faded as she sighed and held out her arms languidly to welcome her boyfriend's sorry embrace.
"I guess it's…" Axel paused. "Me and Xion against Riku and Roxas." Roxas looked to the older boy beside him as a sort of acknowledgement but received none back. Instead, the silveret walked over into position. Xion saw this and shrugged at the blond.
Riku crouched, hands on his knees from the middle line outside the center. "First to twenty, thirteen seconds per possession." Riku called out to mostly Xion, since this was the way he and Axel practiced. Also, thirteen second possessions made things go faster, and they had a smaller than normal court.
The redhead winked devilishly at Roxas before he threw the ball up infront of him and Xion. The game started with Xion in possession, dribbling in place behind Roxas, as Axel got clear of Riku. She made a high lob past Roxas and Axel jumped higher to catch.
He sprinted over to the net, Riku at his heels. The silveret jumped as the taller man made a shot, but it went in. Xion cheered while moving back into the center with Axel and Riku caught the ball and looking rather annoyed at it.
Was it just his imagination, or did Riku look… mad? At him? "Hey, sorry." For not covering Xion better, or… otherwise.
"Whatever." Riku shrugged casually and made a hard chest pass at the blond, while jogging out from behind the net. Roxas did a double take at the boy running past him before he continued to dribble down the length of the court.
Riku jostled around Xion's arms near the basket, as Roxas was approached by Axel. He matched him sidestep for sidestep, until Roxas was forced into a pivot on his left foot, Axel right behind him. Roxas' height was such a disadvantage at the moment, as he felt caged in. He heard his heartbeat growing louder as a warm breath snaked around his neck. He did not need to look at the redhead to know that he was smirking at how helpless he was.
Roxas' blood ran cold when his opponent whispered into his ear, "Thirteen seconds." Axel dropped his guard as did Xion.
"What?" He asked, still dazed.
"Thirteen seconds. Our ball!" Xion chirped as she playfully stole the ball from Roxas. He didn't even see Riku's reaction to his blond moment (which was probably a better thing), as they immediately moved back into formation.
Half an hour later, Xion and Axel were wiping the floor with Riku and Roxas, nineteen to sixteen. The last shot had been a free throw, with which Xion had made a swish. "Alright Xion!" Axel patted her encouragingly. "One more point." He turned to Riku. "Ready to lose?" Cocky bastard.
Roxas dribbled the ball near his basket. Stepping past the line, he dodged around Xion, speedily dribbling into the other half of the court. Riku, coming from the other, waved his arms for the ball. The blond made a quick chest pass, seeing Axel not too far behind him.
Riku jumped, but collided with Axel's shoulder. His shot didn't follow through, but hit the front of the rim and back out… into Roxas' nose.
Oh, it's so just beginning
Hope you liked it :]
YHS
xDelfin
