DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own any of the KH I & II rights.
Warning: Yaoi, shonen-ai, AkuRoku, SoraRiku below
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Chapter 2: Confession
It was hot.
It was calming and soothing.
Thoughts of escaping sank in Roxas' mind as he rimmed his fingers around the paper-made coffee cup, sipping the sweet yet bitter liquid. He enjoyed the peace for a while, not noticing that emerald eyes have been studying him.
"You know," Axel suddenly broke through the silence, causing Roxas to jump, "When you groaned after I announced the assignment, I really didn't think you were such a good writer…"Roxas could do nothing but smile slyly. Well that's because I'm not…"So what say you about this competition?" Axel asked anxiously; the question pulled Roxas from his tranquil state and put him into a position to frown.
"Well like I said… I don't really think I'm interested…"
"May I ask you a question?"
Roxas creased an eyebrow questioningly and nodded.
"What were you feeling when you wrote that passage?"
"…" Roxas couldn't think of a thing on first impulse; but he quickly recollected the poem and read it mentally once again, "…I'd say that I was dedicating my feelings to someone very important."
"And may I be fortunate enough to know who that is?"
"Unfortunately," Roxas laughed, "That person doesn't exist."
This time Axel creased his brow confusedly. Roxas saw this and explained, "I guess I believe that someone very important to me, someone that I love would appear at some point in my life. I believe that someone out there, someone very special to me is waiting for me; and in return I am waiting for that someone too; even though I don't know who that is yet. I believe that Fate will bring us together, and I'll treasure that chance." By the time the blonde finished his explanation, he was looking vaguely into thin air, smiling at the hope.
Axel gulped in awe once again as he gazed firmly at Roxas.
"I can't find a reason why you won't go to that competition. If you simply just write down what you just said, you'll be walking up that stage and owning all the others already!"
Roxas chuckled as he turned to Axel's gaze. The blonde was soon lost in those immaculate green eyes. They are so mesmerizing, so hypnotizing…
"Do you maybe want another cup of coffee?" Axel asked, waving his arm violently in front of Roxas' eyes. Roxas jumped slightly and said, "No…I just need to go to the bathroom…" He stood up, but hesitated at Axel's childish behavior and turned around, "How old are you again?"
"Twenty-three, why?"
"Nothing…" Roxas smiled sheepishly as he turned to walk into bathroom.
So he's five years older than me… The blonde thought to the reflection in the mirror, God what am I thinking?
But his thoughts were interrupted when a hand crept onto his chest from the back. Roxas stared at the mirror to see a pervert behind him grinning covertly and shrieked; as natural instinct he tried to pull away from the man and ran for the door. And as expected the man grabbed his shoulders and hair, pulling Roxas through the door to the back alley.
"HELP!!!!!!! SOMEBODY HELP!!" Roxas screamed at the top of his lungs, the only person he could think of now was Axel, "AXEL!!!!"
People began gathering to the source of the noise and Axel was the first one to bomb into the bathroom. But he only caught a glimpse of Roxas' shoe out of the back door before it disappears along; the blonde's screaming was now reduced to muffled noises. The redhead followed the shoe and immediately saw what happened. He rushed up to the pervert and focused all his strength onto his fist, which landed on the crook of the man's nose not very long after.
With all that pressure onto the soft piece of bone, the pervert released Roxas to free his hands so that they would hold onto the broken bleeding nose. The blonde fled to Axel, his arms shaking in absolute fear while his hands tugged to the redhead's shirt tightly. Axel embraced him into a hug, whispering lightly in his ear, "Shhh… It's alright now, everything's ok. I'm here."
Having his mind entirely blanked during the attack, Roxas finally started crying when he realized what just happened.
Roxas' head slumped onto Axel's shoulder when he slept quietly in the taxi. The two were heading back to Roxas' place. He must be exhausted, Axel thought, if only I was there to prevent it from happening at all…
The taxi slowed to a graduate stop. Axel silently paid, opened the door, and scooped Roxas up into his arms to take him out of the vehicle. The poor boy was so tired that he didn't even wake up from any of these activities. Somehow, Axel managed to ramble through Roxas' pant pockets and retrieve a single key; assuming that it was the door key, the redhead inserted it into the keyhole and opened the door.
Axel gently placed Roxas into his bed and turned to leave; but he nearly tripped before he realized that Roxas was clutching onto a corner of his pants. Axel sighed and grabbed a chair nearby, removing Roxas' hand from his pants and put it into his own; then he slumped into the chair for a nap, but ended up falling deep asleep too.
Noises of oil dancing on a frying pan and a delicious scent of food woke Axel up. The redhead rubbed his eyes as he yawned lazily, then he stopped when he realized something changed. Before he woke up, his butt was sitting on the chair while his torso leaned over to rest his head onto the bed, his arms comfortingly cushioning under it.
"Good morning." Roxas greeted at the doorway.
"Oh! Good morning." Axel replied while leaving the chair hastily, mumbling a 'sorry' as he did so. Roxas chuckled at Axel's messy state, "Why don't you go take a bath? I'm making breakfast."
The redhead nodded in reply, but before he started for the bathroom he asked, "Roxas, are you okay?"
Roxas turned to him and smiled with slight bitterness, "I'm fine… Yesterday…Thank you."
Axel waved with carefree instantly and grinned innocently, "It was nothing, I'm sorry I didn't notice earlier. But I was there wasn't I?"
"Yeah…" Roxas whispered, more to himself, "About that one thing you said yesterday…you said, 'I'm here.'…"
"What about it?"
"I-Is that a promise? I mean you don't have to but you said it so I was just wondering not that I really wanted to know but-"
"Yes it is," The redhead grinned at Roxas' nervousness and placed his hands on the blonde's shoulders, "I promise I'll be there to protect you."
His eyes are shining with honesty… Roxas could feel his heart beating faster, "Um…! I'll go back to the cooking…"
"You cook?"
"Is there a problem?"
"No, of course not. It's just…you don't seem like the type of guy that would cook…"
"Ha… You'll be shocked." Roxas smiled mysteriously before going back into the kitchen.
"You never told me you're so good at this too!" Axel muttered as he ate his omelet hungrily.
"You never told me you have this funny side of you either!" Roxas giggled, "I always thought you were so serious."
"Heh, there's a lot you don't know about me," Axel replied.
"Like what?"
"Like the fact that I like guys." Axel wiped his lips with a napkin.
"You mean… Like homosexual kind of like?"
"Yeah, I mean like homosexual kind of like." Axel mimicked the blonde's over abuse of the word 'like'.
"Axel… Do you remember what I told you yesterday in the coffee shop?"
"You mean about what you felt when you wrote the poem? Yeah."
"I said that I believe there's someone out there for me, right? And… And that promise you made me…" Roxas slowly connected the dots together while blushing like crazy all the while, "I-I think you're the one."
For what did I just say that?!! Dude, I barely know him and he knows that! I'd probably be doing the same thing as scaring him away!
For a while Axel couldn't come up with anything to say, or he was more like dumbstruck.
"Silly, things like this aren't so easy to tell." He smiled as he ruffled the blonde's stresses, "You can't just say that to anyone."
"I'm not…! I'm serious." Roxas argued; his eyes stared right through Axel's with sincerity. For some reason – maybe it's because of the adorable gaze Roxas was giving or his words – Axel felt the need to lean over to the blonde and kiss him softly on the lips.
Conscience nearly slipped Axel's mind until his lungs started screaming for air; he pulled away to take a huge intake of oxygen before realizing what he was doing, "I-I'm sorry…"
But that felt so right… His subtle conscience expressed back at his mind; he stood swiftly and turned to leave, only to be stopped by Roxas.
"Don't be." The blonde smiled to him as he held Axel's hand, which Axel quickly withdrew.
"Roxas I… I don't think I know you well enough yet…"
I knew it. The blonde thought dryly to himself, his face quickly defeated by the emotions and revealed disappointment.
Seeing this, the redhead quickly changed his mind, "But I'd love to know more about you, how 'bout we go to dinner this weekend?"
Roxas happily nodded his head, "Where and when?"