Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.
Say It Isn't So!
Chapter 14: The Game
Roxas inhaled deeply as he fidgeted with the hem of his black coat, shifting his feet nervously along the school gates behind him. He wasn't panicking. No. No he wasn't. Last time, he was completely in control but this would be the last time. With this last meeting, he'd lock everything he ever felt for Axel away into this one last moment. His passion. His kiss. Those kisses. Every and any thought that passed the boundary of "friend." He'd eradicate them all.
He let out a huff as he forced himself to deflate from all the needless air he was stealing from the environment. A whip of red finally caught his eye just as the last of the students walked past him, eager to get home.
"Hey." Axel greeted nervously, throwing in an awkward wave toward Roxas before averting his eyes to the ground. "So, this is the last time, right?"
Roxas nodded, refusing to let Axel figure out it was him. It was bad enough that they were meeting in broad daylight, but it didn't help that now everything was laid bare for hints to be caught under Axel's eyes. The thundering against his chest bothered Roxas, but he willed himself to act.
He held out a hand, waiting for Axel to take it.
Axel hesitated. Of course he would. He didn't love this stranger. He loved Roxas.
But the stranger was Roxas. But only Roxas knew that. So... this means what?
The redhead eventually reached forward, only to be jerked suddenly down to Roxas's height. Roxas pushed forth the most gutteral and hoarse voice he could muster (slightly sorry for abusing his throat like that) and whispered in Axel's ear. "I know you like him, but I don't care. For right now," Roxas's voice faded as he trailed a finger down Axel's throat, "you're mine."
Axel shivered as his eyes met piercing blue orbs. He pushed himself away, flustered and awkward. "S-Sorry! I uhm, I..." He paused. Wait a minute. Those eyes. "...Take down your hood."
Roxas froze.
Axel took a step toward Roxas, assured that he wouldn't run away since the cloaked boy's back was pressed against the school gates for support. "Take... it down."
Roxas's breathing turned uneven as Axel inched closer. The blonde let out a strong of mental swears and found a solution amidst the crude language. He could. It was their last moment. Right? It was just one.
Just one.
Now Axel stood less that half a foot away. Roxas reached for his hood, but his hands stopped. Blue eyes seeped through the shadow of the hood and stared at Axel. He brought his hands back down.
"Look, if you don't take that hood off now, I will do it for you." Axel's voice was hard and expression cold. He was... enraged? Upset? Confused? Roxas couldn't tell. When Roxas didn't move, Axel lunged forward, aiming for the unmovable hood.
Roxas caught his hand and pulled Axel down. He felt a heavy burden fly off his shoulders as Axel's lips came into contact with his. Yes. All he needed was a reminder. While Axel was caught in the moment (yet again), Roxas reached into his pocket and typed in some half-assed message and sent it to Axel's phone.
The quirky little ringtone Axel had set for Roxas's text messages sounded not too long after Roxas clumsily managed to push what he thought was the send button, forcing Axel to snap out of his daze and pull away. Roxas pulled his hand out of his pocket just in time for Axel to see both his hands.
Axel pulled out his phone. An utterly shocked face replaced his previous panting one. He just received a text from Roxas saying, "Hey, I'm at the store. Do we need anything?" Axel's speculative green eyes wandered over to his cloaked stranger and a huge roar of laughter erupted from his lips. How could he even begin to consider that this was Roxas? It was impossible! Yeah, impossible. Especially for him.
Roxas mentally breathed a sigh of relief as Axel seemed to have bought the text. The redhead put his phone away, choosing to text back later. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Roxas's phone was on silent.
"Sorry about that. So, uhm. Where... were we?" Axel gave Roxas a sheepish grin.
Roxas smiled beneath the hood. Yeah. This was the last time.
xxx
"So what's this I hear about a school-wide game, Roxas?" Sora inquired as he forced himself and Roxas into a "sweet brotherly hug" (though in all honesty, Sora just wanted to see how far he could push Roxas before that unusual grin would be replaced with his usual frown).
"Well, it's all Axel's idea." Roxas replied as he continued to eat his lunch without bothering to pry off Sora. Unusual indeed. "It's basically like Easter Egg Hunting." Roxas looked at Sora, remembered his Mr. Rabbit get-up from the auction and snickered. "Anyway, the president, Axel, chooses 3 important treasures in the school and each day there'll be an announcement on KHTV, y'know, our school's daily TV show thing. Well yeah, so the first 3 people to figure out all three important treasures get one wish granted by StuCo if they're capable of it."
"Things important to Axel or important to the school?" Riku asked, curious as to what Axel might have chosen.
"Don't know." Roxas shrugged. "Only Axel knows what the three objects are, but there are clues all around the school to figure out what they are. After the announcement tomorrow, the whole student body has one week to figure it out. If the one week goes by and no one figures it out, the president and the teachers are allowed to change school rules how they see fit without objection from the student body."
Sora's jaw dropped. "Can they do that?"
"Sora, I'm pretty sure this school can do whatever it wants. It's got enough money, especially after that auction, to send the whole school on a trip around the world 3 times over and then some!" Riku snorted with a roll of his eyes.
Roxas only nodded in agreement.
"Well damn, I guess we'd better find those three things."
"Sora, don't swear." The other two sounded off.
"Ok."
xxx
Olette smiled warmly at the camera as she introduced a new announcement for the school. "So, in other news, our Student Council President Axel has a new idea to motivate the students! He proposes a sort of searching game which he dubs "The Game" and no, you techy freaks, not THAT game." Olette continued on to describe what Roxas had said to Sora and Riku just the day before. "The president also said that the hints will have this symbol on them, but these hints come in various sizes and shapes, and sometimes even hidden in the scenery! So be on the lookout people!"
And just as the television program was ending, Olette ended it with, "Thanks for watching KHTV. This is Olette. Signing off! -OH, and FYI." She stopped. Smiled sweetly and said, "I just lost the game."
A chorus of groans echoed out into every hallway in the school. Olette grinned with satisfaction as the sound reached her ears. Ahhh, how she enjoyed causing people misery. Or whatever this was.
xxx
"Hey, Roxas! Want to watch a movie with me?" Axel grinned as he held up some sappy romance movie called Sunset. Roxas had heard about Sunset. It was some romance chick flick with a mediocre plot and pale as fuck- err, the moon, pale as the moon actors and actresses. Something about werewolves and vampires and some girl that doesn't know how to show expression except by moving her eyebrows up and down.
"You're a joke." Roxas replied coldly as he walked past Axel and into their room.
"Wait! Wait! I'll change the movie!"
"Already ahead of you." Roxas tossed a DVD case at the redhead's face and smirked as Axel look taken aback. "The Ring. Probably the only English remake that was done better than the original. Put it in."
Roxas sat on the couch with Axel, though kept their distance at a constant distance of 1 couch pillow away. He waited for the DVD to get to the menu screen and twitched when flashes of random disturbing scenes flickered on the television.
"I'll go make popcorn!" Axel piped up, hopping out of the couch and into the kitchen behind them.
When Axel returned with the delectably delicious aroma of buttery goodness, the one-couch-pillow distance was ignored much to Roxas's dismay and soon, the only thing Roxas could think about was the brushing of their shoulders against each other. How he could feel each time Axel reached for a popcorn, how he could tell when he breathed in or out. It was nice, and surprisingly, comfortable.
Roxas didn't need Lea's kisses. He didn't even need Axel's. He just needed this. This constant closeness to each other, where it seemed like in the world, it was just the two of them. Roxas let out a breath, apparently loud enough to catch Axel's attention through the gripping movie.
"What's wrong, Roxas?" Axel asked, worried. "Bored? Do you want to do something else?"
"No. I like this."
"The movie?"
"That too."
Yay! One chapter down! Now all that's left is the game, blah blah, and then the end! :D I'll FINALLY be able to finish this story! Huzzah! Reviews, yes? :D Make the author happy and you get a new chapter! I think that's a pretty good deal. XD
And yes, I just had to put that "I just lost the game" part in there. If you don't know what I mean, then you don't need to know. XD