The shrill scream of Coach Xaldin's whistle cut through the stale air of the gymnasium, making the two dozen boys stop what they were doing and look to where the man stood at the top of the bleachers.

"That's all for today. Hit the showers."

Most of the boys sighed in relief and began heading in the direction of the locker room to shower and leave. Four stayed behind. Riku and Sora had yet to stop despite Coach Xaldin's announcement, and Roxas was waiting for his twin somewhat impatiently. Axel had decided to seize the opportunity to talk to the blond once again.

"Are they always like this?" he asked, standing beside Roxas as the two observed Riku and Sora.

"What, competitive? Yes."

"No, I mean…" the older boy trailed off as if unsure how exactly to describe what he was seeing without saying something that might offend Roxas.

"Oh, you mean mere seconds from ripping each others' clothes off and going at it? Yes."

Roxas' description of his twin and friend made Axel's face turn almost the same shade of red as the senior's hair and he cleared his throat nervously—he really hadn't expected Roxas to say something like that. "I didn't realize they were dating."

The blond shrugged, still watching his brother. "They're not."

"But they act very…intimate."

"I don't think 'intimate' is the right word. You wouldn't believe the amount of sexual tension that builds up between those two." There was a bitterness in Roxas' tone that concerned Axel.

"You sound like it bothers you."

"No," Roxas paused to watch his brother be thrown a couple feet only to spring up and launch himself back at Riku, "it just gets annoying sometimes."

"Why? I mean, they seem to like each other a lot. What's wrong with that?"

Shrugging again, the younger of the two continued to observe the intense wrestling match taking place about ten feet away. Coach Xaldin had them practicing their wrestling techniques since winter meant they were trapped inside the gym for P.E. classes and they'd already done basketball. The idea of being manhandled by another student—potentially a senior much larger than himself—had horrified Roxas. He didn't have any interest in being in such close contact with someone else, especially someone who was likely sweaty from running and wrestling and would be breathing on him and trying to bend him into all sorts of unnatural shapes in order to win a wrestling match. Just the thought made him shudder.

Luckily, they'd been put into groups of three, so he'd been with Sora and Riku. Wrestling Sora was easy because they did that sort of thing all the time just for fun. Wrestling Riku had been a little bit strange, but he was comfortable enough around the older sophomore that he didn't really mind. Those matches hadn't lasted long because Riku had much better technique and knowledge of the sport and was stronger than he was, so he'd lost fairly quickly. The matches between Riku and Sora, however, were another story entirely.

Practically drenched in sweat and panting with exertion, the boys were locked together in a struggle that was terrifyingly close to turning into clothes-ripping sex and Roxas felt like he had to stay in order for it to remain a wrestling match. If Sora and Riku were left on their own like this, who knew what would happen?

Another whistle blast finally brought the match to a halt and the wrestling students separated, standing.

"That's enough for today, you two. Keep it up and you'll hurt yourselves. Now get out of my gym." Even though he sounded impatient and annoyed, there was an undertone of fondness to Coach Xaldin's words that betrayed the fact that he actually enjoyed the two students' determination and enthusiasm

"You got it, Coach!" Sora and Riku shouted back to him at the same time then jogged towards the locker room, trash-talking and shoving each other the whole way.

"I give it a month," Axel whispered as he and Roxas followed the brunet and silver-haired sophomore.

"What?"

A grin lifted Axel's features. "They'll be dating in a month or less. Just wait."

"I'm sure you're right. We've been waiting for it for a while now."

Most of their classmates had showered and gone by the time they walked into the locker room, and Riku and Sora were in the showers. In silence, the blond and redhead went to their respective lockers then prepared for their own showers. Not until they were both enclosed by curtains and Roxas had shampoo lathered into the blond spikes of his hair did the sophomore build up his nerve.

"So, uh, you wanna hang out or come over or whatever?"

Axel was so surprised by the invitation that he didn't immediately respond. "Tonight?"

"Yeah…if you want, I mean. We could…do our Calculus homework…or something." Damn it, he sounded way more nervous than he should have! Roxas rubbed his hands over his face in an attempt to get a grip over himself. What was he even doing? Inviting Axel to come over to his dorm? They weren't even friends! Hadn't he said he wasn't going to make it easy for the senior to get to know him?

It was difficult for Axel to contain his enthusiasm. "I'd love to, but I have detention with Larxene right after this. Could I come over afterwards?"

Roxas took a deep breath to make sure his voice was steady. "Sure."

"Cool."

Yes! Roxas invited him to come over and hang out! So what if they'd be doing homework? It was still more than Axel had been expecting, especially since he'd only just managed to genuinely talk to Roxas earlier that day. Maybe he was doing a better job getting on the sophomore's good side than he'd realized.

"Okay, I'll be over in about an hour. You'll meet me in the lobby, right?" Axel asked as he straightened the shirt he'd just pulled on over his head.

It took a moment for Roxas to gather his scattered thoughts—he'd never considered the idea that Axel might be the attractive kind of lanky, though he did have a nice enough face. Seeing the older boy without all his clothes on for the first time had been a bit of a shock and Roxas was almost furious with himself for thinking the senior was good looking. How was he supposed to be indifferent if he couldn't stop thinking about his muscles?

"Yeah, I'll see you then. Don't forget your Calculus book."

Axel winked. "You got it. See you in an hour." There was a spring in his step as he left the locker room and headed towards Miss Larxene's classroom. What did he care if he had detention with the whore? It was his second-to-last week of them. Only eight to go after this one. Detention? No problem. He was invited to Roxas' dorm. Nothing Larxene did would ruin his good mood. Nothing.

The moment Axel walked into the classroom, he knew this detention was going to be different from the ones he'd had the last two weeks. It was going to be worse. Much, much worse. Still, he maintained some optimism due to his success with his favorite sophomore as he went to the front of the room and sat in his usual desk. He resisted the urge to look around—it would only encourage her to go through with whatever game she was planning. Regardless of this, he didn't have to look around to know the lights were off and that the room was lit by nothing but white and red candles. There was even music playing from somewhere. Larxene wasn't there yet, but her desk made it obvious she had something "special" planned—it was cleared of its usual pencil cup and books and instead was covered by a red cloth that looked like it might be made of silk. There was also a bottle of wine and two champagne glasses.

It occurred to Axel that he should probably leave before she got there. He definitely didn't like the looks of this, and even though he'd get in trouble for skipping detention, he'd much rather deal with that then see what all these decorations were for. Before he had a chance to move, however, the classroom door opened then closed. The lock clicked into place, and Axel could have sworn he heard the slamming of a jail door as his route to freedom was cut off.

"Axel, you're early," came the pleased purr as Larxene made her way to the front of the room.

Doing his best to ignore her, said senior stared straight ahead at the blackboard and didn't move when she ran a hand through his hair.

"Do you like what I've done with the place?" the blonde woman asked, lifting her hands and gesturing to the room. "It took longer than expected, but I think it's worth it."

Axel still didn't respond, preferring to keep his gaze on the blackboard where it was safe. Even the slightest move on his part could instigate Larxene's little game, and he wasn't about to do it accidentally. Not that he would do it on purpose, either.

"Oh, Axel," Larxene simpered, perching herself on his desk so that he had no choice but to see the long black coat she wore, "you're not still hung up on that little baby blond, are you? I thought we'd taken care of that."

"Roxas isn't a baby."

"He is compared to me." Standing again, Larxene stood before his desk and began to slowly untie the sash holding her coat shut—Axel looked away defiantly. "Face it, Axel. I own you, and the closer to get to Roxas, the worse I'll make his life at Kingdom High. He's better off if you stay away from him."

The words made him want to growl like an animal, to throw his desk, smash the bottle of wine and glasses and knock all the candles to the floor so the whole room started on fire. Then he'd lock that bitch inside and let her burn to death. It was what she deserved for threatening Roxas and making Axel miserable for the past four years. Instead, he remained frozen in his seat as Larxene's coat fell to the floor.

"Look at me, Axel."

He didn't move.

"Look at me, or I'll find excuses to give Roxas a detention every day for the rest of the school year."

Clenching his jaw, Axel lifted his gaze and stared at the woman standing before him. It was an outfit he'd seen before: high heels that went halfway up her thighs, a corset that barely managed to contain her breasts, and the shortest skirt in existence, all made from black leather. She was also wearing black leather gloves. This was the outfit she wore when she intended to wield absolute control. Axel hated everything about it and gripped the edges of his desk tightly to fight against the memories that threatened to flood his mind.

"Get up."

His movements stiff and tense, Axel did as he was told and stood, eyes locked on the floor as Larxene approached him and caressed his cheek with a gloved hand.

"Let me see those pretty emerald eyes," she whispered, lifting his chin and looking directly into his eyes. The senior held perfectly still as she leaned in and kissed him, resisting the urge to shove her away.

Larxene was smiling when she pulled away and grabbed onto Axel's tie. "You will do everything I say for the next hour. Disobedience will earn you…extra punishment. Do I make myself clear, Axel?"

The senior knew this game all too well. "Perfectly, Mistress Larxene."

Still smiling that cat-like smile, the woman patted his cheek. "Good boy." She kept her grip on his tie and led him to her desk. "Open the wine."

Axel was silent as he picked up the bottle and removed the cork, careful not to spill any. He poured an equal amount into the two cups then handed one of them to Larxene; they gently touched glasses then drank—he downed his in one gulp in an attempt to dull his senses enough to get through this.

In contrast, Larxene sipped hers as she examined the senior. When her wine was finally gone, she pulled him forward by his tie and kissed him again, sitting on the edge of her silk-covered desk and wrapping her legs around his waist to hold him against her. It wasn't a small kiss like the first one. It was demanding but patient, as if she had all the time in the world to claim him completely. Axel did his best to remain nonresponsive as his mouth was invaded.

"Axel." The word was a warning—she expected him to participate and wouldn't hesitate to make things worse for him and Roxas if he refused.

Burning up with fury on the inside, Axel put his hands on her small waist and kissed back, trying to imagine she was Roxas. It wasn't easy. Larxene tasted like wine and smelled like expensive perfume. He didn't think that was anything close to what Roxas would smell and taste like. His half-hearted kissing seemed to be enough to satisfy Larxene, at least for now, because she pulled away after a moment.

"On your knees, my pet."

Now Axel knew exactly what Larxene had planned, and he didn't like it one bit. Still, he did as he was told, and Larxene smiled.

"Good boy," she cooed.

XXX

He was late. Roxas had been waiting in the lobby of the freshman dorm hall for nearly fifteen minutes. It had been an hour and twenty minutes since he'd agreed to meet Axel an hour after P.E. The senior was late and Roxas couldn't decide if he should text him or not to see if he was still coming. He figured Axel would let him know if he changed his mind or if something came up, so there he was, waiting.

Another five minutes passed and the blond was spacing off when he heard the door open, though he didn't register the fact right away.

"Hey, Roxas…"

Startled out of his reverie, Roxas looked up at Axel. "Hi." He paused. "You look awful. What happened?"

"Nothin'."

Roxas knew the older boy was lying, but he didn't want to make Axel talk about something if the senior didn't want to talk about it, so he let it go. "Come on. You can take a nap in my room before we do our Calculus."

He led the way up to his dorm as Axel silently followed behind, feet dragging as if he barely had the energy to lift them off the ground. It unnerved Roxas a great deal to see the usually cheerful redhead so listless. He knew Larxene was nuts and dreaded the prospect of ever having another detention with her, so he figured Axel was probably dealing with whatever had happened during his detention, but he had no guess as to what that might be. The senior didn't appear to be injured in anyway. Just drained. Sort of…defeated.

Because of me. He got in trouble for standing up for me. That's why he's like this. It's my fault.

Crap. How was he supposed to give Axel a hard time if he thought of that? Axel had willingly subjected himself to a month's worth of detentions with their math teacher just for him, and it took Roxas two weeks to even talk to the senior.

I'm a jerk, he realized, surprised by the concept. Axel messed up, but at least he tried to fix it. I haven't done anything to deserve his efforts.

Now that he'd admitted it to himself, Roxas was almost disgusted with the way he'd been behaving. It was very immature of him to give Axel a hard time the way he'd intended.

Maybe I should just be his friend. There's no harm in that.

XXX

"Headmaster, there's a package here for you."

Xemnas looked up from the forms he was reviewing to see his Vice Principal standing in the doorway. "Bring it here, Saix."

Obedient, the scarred man took the box he was carrying over to the Headmaster's desk and set it before him. "There's no markings other than that it's for you."

"Hm." With a mildly curious expression, Xemnas opened the package to see a blank CD case holding a disc, and a folded slip of paper. He ignored the disc for now and unfolded the paper to read one sentence.

I hope this payment is sufficient.

Wordlessly, Saix took the disc out of the case and put it in the slot on Xemnas' laptop. The device automatically pulled up a program to play whatever was on the disc, and a video started. It was a classroom, though the lighting was dim and there was music playing that didn't belong in a classroom. The picture was centered on the teacher's desk at an angle as if the camera was positioned above the desk and aimed down at it. Only a moment later, two people entered the screen. One was Axel, the senior who Xemnas and Saix knew was a favorite of Miss Larxene. The other was Larxene herself, and she was wearing something that definitely didn't belong in a classroom.

"Interesting," Saix murmured after the video had been playing for a few minutes. Both he and Xemnas continued to watch as the teacher and student kissed multiple times as Axel kneeled before the desk and Larxene perched on the edge. Before long, the woman was lying back on the desk with a hand tangled in the student's hair, giving him orders. To Xemnas' amusement, the boy followed each one without complaint.

This went on for just over an hour, growing progressively more and more sexual until Axel was the one lying on the desk with Larxene on top of him. When the video finally ended, Xemnas sat back in his chair, fingers steepled as his elbows sat on the armrests.

"Very interesting," he commented, then looked at the note again. "Miss Larxene seems to be under the impression that taping herself…interacting with young Axel will persuade me to allow it to continue."

Saix grinned slightly. "Does it not, Headmaster?"

The white-haired man chuckled and stood, leaning against his desk. "Perhaps. Now, I have a job for you, Vice Principal Saix."

"And what might that be, Headmaster?"

"Get on your knees."