Chapter 49 – Rec. Room

That afternoon, Larxene and Axel found themselves engrossed in a ping-pong game. A common spot for Nobodies to go when they were finished with their missions was the rec. room. The rec. room had many enjoyable activities to offer. Television, video games, a snack bar, a gym, an indoor pool; just to name a few. It was usually crowded around that time of day, so Nobodies' voices rung out. Sometimes Larxene hated going to the rec. room; certain Mario Kart-playing Nobodies such as Demyx and Xigbar irritated her greatly. But this particular day she had nothing better to do, and she wanted to get even at Axel for winning ping-pong the last time they had played.

"Give it up, pyro!" Larxene exclaimed, striking the ball with her paddle. "This is my game!"

"You haven't won yet, Larxene," Axel responded calmly, returning the ball. While Larxene got all worked up, Axel seemed to remain calm as the game winded down. As Larxene let out a grunt every time she hit the ball, Axel just sighed. "Can't you ever just play for fun or relaxation?"

"Nope," was her reply, her eyes not wandering from the ball for a second. She returned the ball with all her strength. Axel could have hit it if he put a lot of effort into his swing, but he was tired of the tension. So he let the ball whizz right past him, giving Larxene her winning point. "Yes!" she cheered. "Take that, loser!"

"And to think we're dating…" Axel muttered. "Okay, Larx, can we please just play for fun now?"

Larxene set down her paddle on the table, a smug expression on her face. "What, tired of losing?"

"Tired of competing," number VIII answered.

Larxene trailed a finger across the table. "All right…since I totally defeated you." She picked up the paddle with a smirk.

Axel found the noncompetitive game quite relaxing, but Larxene found it rather dull. After a few long minutes of just hearing the sound of the ball being hit back and force, and the cry of Mario as he kept driving off a cliff, she started a conversation. "I think we should keep an eye on Roxas and Xion."

Axel raised an eyebrow, lazily returning the ball. "Why do you think that?" he asked.

"I was just thinking" - she paused to hit the ball – "how furious Xemnas would be if Xion was to wind up pregnant."

"Pfft, goody-two-shoes Roxas?" Axel was too busy laughing at the prospect to return the ball. After he retrieved the ball from the ground, he handed it to Larxene.

"That's what I thought at first," Larxene said. "But then I remembered – he is a boy after all. About fifteen years old, too. And you know what they say…the worst things can happen to even the best of people in the wrong situation." She grinned as she served the ball.

"You sound as if you want that to happen," Axel remarked, swinging his paddle.

"I admit it would be quite humorous," replied Larxene.

"Okay, now you're sounding like Xigbar," he said, hitting the ball a little harder.

"Sadistic side showing through again, sorry," she stated, though she didn't sound sorry at all.

Axel caught the ball in his hand and put down his paddle. Then he stared into Larxene's eyes, a strict expression on his face. "Well whatever you do, don't you dare harm them in any way, or mess up their relationship."

"Of course not," Larxene said, sounding more sincere. "I'm on your side. I just think the expression on Xemnas' and Saix's faces would be hilarious if that was ever to happen."

Axel nodded, relieved. "All right, just as long as you're with me on this." He tossed the ping pong ball to Larxene, a signal to her to re-serve. "But you are right. Roxas and Xion won't be allowed to sleep together anymore, no matter how innocent they seem."

"Aw, they'll be so 'heartbroken'," Larxene said in mock sympathy. "Shall I tell them or do you want to?" She served the ball.

"I see no reason in telling them now," Axel answered, hitting the ball lightly. "When the time is right. Like tonight or when we're on that topic. It would probably hurt more if we just suddenly came up to them after their mission and said "NO MORE SLEEPING TOGETHER!""

Larxene let out a laugh. "I could just see Roxas' expression if you did do that."


Roxas and Xion were the only ones in the Grey Room when they arrived back from their missions. It was much a coincidence that they happened to enter the room simultaneously through different dark corridors. A coincidence that they very much enjoyed.

"Oh, hi, Roxas!" Xion greeted, closing the gap between them. "Just finished your mission?"

"Yep," Roxas replied, taking the girl in his arms. "And I see you have too."

Xion embraced him for a moment silently before she spoke. "How was your mission?" she inquired.

Roxas shrugged as he gently pulled back from her. "I thought it would be easy. Usually those purple orb thing missions are easy. But noooo, they had to be way up high on the tallest buildings. I can't fly, Xemnas!"

Xion let out a giggle. "That's too bad."

It was silent for a while; the two just stared into each other's eyes. No one said anything, for they did not know what to say. So they just stared. Roxas enjoyed looking into Xion's eyes; bright blue, shining, and oh so beautiful. And Xion felt the same way about Roxas. After it had been silent for too long, Roxas spoke.

"So…what do you wanna do?" he asked.

Xion thought for a moment and then replied. "I don't know, what do you wanna do?"

Roxas chuckled. "I have a feeling we're going to spend all our free time asking that back and force. How's about we go to the rec. room? It's pretty fun."

"Okay!" Xion agreed, excitement in her eyes.

As they made their way towards the rec. room, they discussed the possibilities of their leisure. "We could play some two-player video game. Like Mario Kart, Wii Music, Super Smash Bros Brawl," Xion suggested.

"Yeah, or we could do something physical," Roxas said. Suddenly they both stopped. From the influences of others, they realized how wrong that sounded.

"Uh…" Xion said nervously. Her face was red, as was Roxas'.

"I mean like a sport!" he exclaimed. "Ping pong, basketball, darts, something like that!"

"Oh, yeah," Xion responded, nodding quickly.

When they arrived at the rec. room, it seemed as if the noise level was at its peak. Practically the whole organization was there. Axel and Larxene were at the ping pong table, Demyx and Xigbar were playing video games on one of the televisions, and Vexen was swimming in the indoor pool. Saix and Xemnas were sitting at one of the tables, discussing something dead-serious over cups of hot chocolate. Luxord was playing cards with Xaldin and Lexaeus, and Zexion was sitting in the corner reading. And finally, Marluxia was playing chess with himself.

After a couple moments of looking around, Axel and Larxene noticed the two young Nobodies and beckoned them to join them.

"Hey you two, what's up?" Axel asked, twirling his paddle.

"Just looking for something to do," Roxas replied. Xion nodded in agreement.

"Well how's about you two play ping pong?" Larxene suggested. "Axel and I just finished." She handed Xion her paddle. Axel got the message after Larx had sent him a few glares, and handed his paddle over to Roxas.

Roxas looked over at Xion with a smile. "Do you want to, Xi?" he asked.

Xion grinned. "Sure," she replied happily. So they started to play; no completion, no stress, no tension. Axel admired them for a short while before Larxene dragged him off to play some video game where you torture people.

Roxas and Xion's presence did not go unnoticed by all the other members. Grumpy Saix had a tendency to notice when people he did not like appeared.

"There's the puppet," Saix muttered in disgust, putting down his mug. "And her 'bodyguard.' It's so disgusting…"

"Yes, so you've mentioned numerable times," Xemnas spoke.

Saix took up a spoon from the table and began to stir his hot chocolate. "What is their performance record?" he inquired. He was hoping it would be unsatisfactory.

"Same as usual," number I answered. He did not seem to care about Saix's disappointed expression as he picked up his mug and took another sip of his drink.

"What about-"

"And so are Larxene's and Axel's."

Saix grunted and slumped back in his chair.

"Everything in the organization is finely tuned, to my best knowledge," Xemnas stated. With that, he stood up and walked away. But as he walked, he mumbled something to himself. "Now if only I could find a way to keep them from remembering everything…"