"A boy I once knew eight years ago,
Is in my thoughts as I return home."
Axel, who hadn't been paying attention, looked up.
"I don't remember much, as it was long ago,
But they were my best friend."
Axel stared blankly, his ears barely catching the words Roxas spoke.
"I don't know who they are, But one day I'll remember."
The class clapped and Roxas walked to the back of the class where his seat was. He noticed Axel giving him a strange look.
"Axel, you're up."
Roxas sat down. The class waited for Axel to get up, but he didn't seem to hear.
"Axel! Front! NOW!" The teacher screamed, her voice steadily getting higher.
Axel shook himself, as if coming out of a daze, and walked to the front of the class.
He cleared his throat and began.
"Food is love."
The teacher raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm in love.
The spices of the food light my fire."
The class laughed, and the teacher had to silence them so Axel could continue.
"As if a lover, spicy food makes me feel whole."
At this, Axel rubbed his stomach lovingly. The class tried to stifle their laughter. Many were in tears at this point.
"When I taste the spice, my life is complete.
Food is love.
Spicy food is hot steamy se-"
"OK AXEL! That's enough. We get the point," the teacher said, motioning for him to sit down. Axel walked back to his seat, his head held high. Many high-fived him as he passed.
"That was classic, Axel," Roxas said as Axel sat next to him.
"I know. I'm just that amazing." Axel smirked and leaned back in his chair.
For the remainder of the class, Roxas noticed Axel fiddling absentmindedly with the orange cap around his neck.
-
English passed slowly. Very slowly. Roxas couldn't understand it. How can a book be so BORING? He could barely get past one page of it.
Class finally ended, along with school. Roxas gratefully left the room and headed for the school's exit. Pushing through the swarm of students around him, Roxas managed to get outside.
"Hey, Roxy!"
Roxas looked behind him to see Demyx squeeze through a group of people. As he finally burst through, he tripped and landed flat on his face.
"Hey, Demyx..." Roxas said with a sigh. He extended his hand towards Demyx, who gratefully took it. After standing, Demyx brushed the dirt off his pants. Demyx grinned and looked over his shoulder.
"See? I told you he was mine!" He called out to Axel, who had been behind him.
"Hey, we still have to play for him you know," Axel said, emerging from the crowd.
"Fine, fine. Let's go to the courts!" Demyx said, dragging Roxas along with them as they headed towards the basketball courts.
"You guys were serious about this?" Roxas said as he was being dragged.
"Of course!" Demyx grinned widely at him.
-
"Shirts and skins!" Demyx exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement.
"Demyx... it's just us two. Shouldn't you be able to tell who the other team is?" Axel said skeptically.
"But the others are coming..." Demyx whined defensively.
"T-they're not playing for me too, are they?" Roxas asked, sudden fear chillng his veins. A hand appeared on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, kid. We're just here to watch," Marluxia said. He had arrived moments before with Larxene and Zexion.
"Fine! Ruin my excuse to see Axel shirtless!" Demyx complained. "C'mon, you wanna see it too, don't ya Roxas?" Demyx and Axel turned to look at Roxas.
"Wha-?"
"Fine, fine. I give." Axel interjected before Roxas could even find words. "Wow, Roxas, who knew you could be so persuasive?" He laughed lightly then unbuttoned his shirt. He threw it and his tie to the corner of the court.
It was hard to tell with a shirt on, but without it Roxas could clearly see how thin Axel was. The outline of his ribs were clearly visible, but Axel was still pretty well toned. A nice fourpack was visible on his abs.
Roxas heard Axel laugh again. He quickly turned away, realizing that he was staring. He decided to watch Zexion bring out the basketball instead.
"First one to five baskets wins Roxas," Larxene said with a grin. It was easy to tell that she was enjoying this.
"Only five? Surely Roxas is worth more than five," Axel replied, winking at Roxas.
"Well he's not worth sitting here watching you guys play basketball for hours on end."
"Sure he is!" Demyx exclaimed, siding with Axel.
"Let's just get this over with..." Roxas sighed.
"Aww, you're not having fun?" Axel said teasingly, draping an arm around Roxas' shoulders.
"He's right, though. Just get on with it," Marluxia said. Axel let go of Roxas and both he and Demyx went onto the court.
"Ready?" Zexion asked. Axel and Demyx nodded.
Larxene blew her whistle (Don't ask where she got it...) and Zexion threw up the ball.
Axel, having an inch or two more in height, got to the ball first. Demyx was quick to the defense however, almost managing to knock the ball out of Axel's hands.
In a split second, however, Axel had managed to break through Demyx's defense and dunked the ball.
Demyx smiled to himself. He knew he wasn't going to beat Axel, but he had no intent of losing so easily.
Demyx scored two baskets in the blink of an eye. Axel glared at him in frustration. Demyx just stuck out his tongue in response.
Roxas watched in silence as the two went at each other. Both Axel and Demyx were breathing heavily, and sweat was rolling down their faces. The two were smiling, and it was obvious that they were enjoying themselves.
Larxene was too, apparently. She had made a bet with Zexion and it looked as if she knew she'd win.
-
Soon the game was over. The score, five to three. Winner, Axel. Axel and Demyx high fived.
"Hey, you're getting better!" Axel said.
"Learned from the best," Demyx replied with a grin. Axel walked over to where his shirt lay and put it on.
Roxas had been watching them for a while. He didn't even realize that Marluxia was right behind him.
"They've been playing together for years. Axel always wins, but Demyx is getting pretty good," Marluxia said. Roxas jumped.
"Y-yeah, they're both really good."
"Of course you'd think that, shorty," Larxene said, joining in the conversation. She had been too busy counting her winnings before.
"So you bet on Axel? Even though you-" Marluxia asked.
"Yes I did." Larxene said quickly, cutting him off. The look on her face caused the others to back away a step. "Well, I have things to do, so I will see you later." Larxene waved and left, Zexion following her.
"Guess I'll head out too," Marluxia said. He too turned and left.
"Man, I need a minion..." Demyx whined, hopping over to where Roxas was. "Hey, Roxy, ya got any friends?"
"Not really..." Roxas said.
"Why would he need friends when he's got us?" Axel said, joining the two.
"Yeah, we're awesome!" Demyx agreed.
Demyx's watch beeped, and he looked down at it.
"Shit, I'm late for work!" Demyx swung his backpack on his shoulders. "See you later guys!" He ran off, trying to keep balance while putting his arm through the other shoulder strap of his backpack.
"C'mon, let's go," Axel said, motioning for Roxas to follow.
"Go? Go where?" Roxas gave him a bewildered look.
"Your place, my place, somewhere," Axel said, shrugging. "I won you fair and square."
"Okay, for one thing, that rhymed, and two, you were serious?"
"What, you don't wanna hang out with me?" Axel asked, almost sounding hurt. The smile that had slightly faded quickly grew back into his goofy grin. He put his arm around Roxas' shoulders. "But I'm just so awesome!" He began to drag Roxas away from the courts. "Don't think. Just go with it. Otherwise your head'll explode." Axel laughed as the both began to walk.
-
"So where do you live?" Roxas asked as they walked down an empty street.
"Pretty close to your place," Axel replied. Roxas turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "I saw your moving truck," Axel quickly added.
Roxas seemed to accept that. He shrugged and looked forward. A silence fell between them.
-
Roxas walked in the front door to find the house empty.
"Guess they started work today."
There was no reason for his parents to stay home. Everything was already unpacked.
Roxas put down his stuff and turned to see Axel looking around the front hallway with and odd expression.
"It's exactly the same..."
"Huh?-Oh yeah, I'm good."
Roxas shrugged and headed fot the kitchen. Axel followed, closing the door behind him.
"So, uhh, you used to live here?" Axel asked as Roxas pulled two Cokes out of the fridge. Roxas tossed one to Axel, who easily caught it.
"Yeah, a long time ago."
"Looks like you never left," Axel said, looking around the kitchen.
"Well, my mom wanted it to be exactly the way it was before," Roxas said. He shrugged.
"Women..."
Axel laughed and took a sip of his soda. He almost spit it out though. His pocket was vibrating. Axel took out his phone and flipped it open. Before he could even put it to his ear, loud shrieking could be heard from the other line.
"AXEL! HEY, WHAT'S UP BUDDY? YOU STILL WITH ROXAS? DID YOU TELL HIM ABOUT THE-"
Click.
"Was that... Demyx?" Roxas asked.
"Yeah..." Axel rubbed the back of his neck. "He doesn't seem to realize that you don't need to yell even though you're far away."
Roxas laughed. "So, do you know what he wanted?"
Axel shrugged. "Eh, I'll call him back later."
Silence fell between them once more.
"You have a nice house." Axel broke the awkward silence.
"What's with you and my house?" Roxas asked. "Anyway, what do you want to do? Didn't think I'd have company for a while..."
"You got a TV?"
"Yeah."
"Then lets see what movies you got." Axel headed for the living room, Roxas close behind. Axel continued to the TV while Roxas lounged on the couch.
"Wow, you have a lot of movies."
Roxas shrugged. "I'd rather choose what I watch."
"Then why let me pick?"
"I wouldn't have the movies if I didn't pick them."
"Hmm." Axel sifted through the rows of movies. "Haven't seen that..." Axel said to himself, picking up a movie. "What about this one?"
"Ehh..."
Yay, chapter three. Yeah I'm a lazy bum. I've been having issues and now that they're almost fully dealt with I can get back to fanfiction. Yay