Another short piece to set up the main conflict in part 3.
The part within the -hyphens- in italics and BOLD is Maria's voice over the phone.
Axel sat in every class, staring blankly at Roxas' empty seat. Maybe Roxas forgot that he told him not to pick him up? No, he was very firm. And he had gotten another message third period saying to not pick him up for the rest of the week.
During his lunch hour, he sat in his usual place on the ledge of the rooftop garden, looking over at Nova, who was seated on a bench. He and Roxas had ended the day badly yesterday so he had brought Nova to cheer his blonde up… but now Nova was keeping her 'father' company in Roxas' place.
"What am I going to do, Nova? I didn't mean to make him upset, I was just looking out for him! There was no other choice but to be firm with him. …right? If I had tried to play nice he wouldn't have gotten my point. A serious matter deserves a serious reaction. He would have been in danger if I hadn't told him off. He thinks I was being cruel, but I was being reasonable. Roxas just needs to see that there are some people he just can't trust, and that he can't do whatever the hell he wants without being wary of the consequences! There was no other way. It was vital that I was harsh. He'll understand one of these days that he can't just assume that someone wanting you means that they love you. That guy wants him to use him! That's not even close to loving!"
He looked at his 'daughter', whose flowers seemed dull with sadness.
"You don't think I did the right thing, do you?" he sighed. "It's safer that he stays away from that guy."
A quiet voice spoke in the back of his head. 'Don't jump to the conclusion that he gave up on meeting him just because you scolded him. Wouldn't it be safer if you went with him to meet this man rather than making Roxas go… alone?'
Axel shot up. "He wouldn't…" his eyes widened. "Shit. Roxas!" he took Nova and rushed to his car. "Don't let me be too late to stop him…" he took out his phone and called Roxas.
No answer. 'That's right… he's still angry… He won't answer if he sees that I'm the one calling…'
He called the house.
-Auditore de Firenze.-
"Signora Maria! It's Axel. Is Roxas home right now?"
-He just left to go to the bus station. He said he was taking the bus to the mall district so he could get some cold medicine.-
"Thank you," he hung up and turned to drive to the mall district.
Roxas wasn't getting cold medicine, Axel knew that. But this guy was in the mall district… probably in one of the fixed-up warehouses. If he was lucky, he could find him in time and at least offer to go with him to keep him safe.
"Wait for me, Roxas… please!"
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