Thank you very much, my lurvely reviewers! I'm ecstatic to receive such positive attention! So here's the second chapter, a couple hours early. Despite some interesting events earlier, I was in the mood to write, so here it is!

My reviewers thus far: Obezyanka Nol, Manipulator-of-Illusion, Break of Dusk, and lovetheHams

You all get cookies from me, if I could transmit cookies by internet! Wonderful as the web is, it is not the best for sharing pastries... oh well. I'll e-hug you instead! hugs

Reviews are quickly supplanting food as my primary source of fuel, so aid my transformation into another author and review addict!

Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing. So don't sue me, I'm just playing around with your characters, makers of KH!

Axel stretched his long limbs out to their fullest, tilting his head backwards in a full-force yawn.

Axel stretched his long limbs out to their fullest, tilting his head backwards in a full-force yawn. His stomach growled as he did, and so, getting up from the air mattress that was his bed in this hole-in-wall apartment, he embarked on a mighty quest to fill his stomach.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the redhead made his way to the refrigerator, and pulled it open to find a nice, roasted ham, complete with cranberries.

No, not really. But it was a nice thought.

The contents of this particular refrigerator were, as far as he could tell, a piece of pizza stuck to the back wall, growing a thick film of mold; an apple in a similar state of inedibility, and a toothbrush. The twenty-year-old narrowed his eyes at the last, wondering why the hell it was in the fridge, before spotting a Tupperware container sitting in the back, behind the apple. Grinning, he fished it out and, with a triumphant cry, opened the lid to find… eggplant casserole.

If his eyes had been narrowed before, they now shrunk to slits. Eggplant. All the food he had, and it happened to be eggplant. Axel hated eggplant. Face falling, the man made his way over to the window, trailing curses as he dumped the unsavory contents of the container out the window. At least the pigeons could get a meal out of this. Of course, his stomach continued to make its displeasure known as he returned to the bed, shaking out his sheets before heading to the tiny bathroom to shower.

Axel showered quickly, not even attempting to wrestle his spiky hair into something more orderly than the usual mane. It wouldn't work anyways, and would cost valuable time. With no food and no money to BUY food, he had only one resort.

He would have to brave Zexion and Demyx.

The redhead grimaced at the thought. They were long odds anyways… Zexion most definitely wore the pants in that relationship, and he was a late sleeper. And by late sleeper, Axel meant that you'd be lucky to see him before noon. But with Demyx, there was a chance… the blonde was tough to sleep through, and enjoyed waking others up at hours that generally brought the response "What the fuck are you doing," almost invariably accompanied by a sharp blow to the head. If he didn't catch Zexy before he fully woke up, the hungry boy could kiss breakfast money goodbye. Miser.

These musings carried Axel through getting dressed (not something that required much thought; there were only so many combinations of plain black T and discount black jeans). Shrugging on the black coat that had been Zexion's birthday gift two years back and shouldering his backpack, Axel twirled his keys around a finger and tucked them into his pocket, then left the apartment.

The sun was bright as Axel dashed up the stairs to the top floor, noticing again the contrast to his subterranean bedroom. Clean hallways with nice (for an apartment complex) carpets lining the floor. Long legs quickly taking him to his friends' door, he raised his hand to knock, and paused. There was a noise.

"Zex-! Aah! Aah!"

Axel turned away, face setting a world record for fastest blush. Looks like Demyx HAD found a way to wake his boyfriend up in the mornings. Almost running along the corridor, he turned his attention towards the ceiling, counting the tiles to block out the crescendo-ing noises from down the hall.

The redhead was relieved when he finally made it outside. Taking a gulp from the water-fountain outside the building's entrance, he grimaced at the city-water taste but swallowed it anyways. If nothing else, it prevented his stomach from trying to eat itself.

But damn it, it wasn't fair! Demyx and Axel had always been best pals, ever since he lit the blonde's hair on fire his first day at the orphanage. Instead of shrieking, as most people would, the boy played with it before realizing that he should put it out. But instead of dumping water on his head, the spaz jumped into the river, sparking an hour-long rescue, complete with fire trucks. Axel had decided to prank the firemen; he HATED them and their trucks… despite the color. Demyx had convinced them somehow to let him play with one of the fire hoses, not knowing Axel was about to turn it on.

They'd be inseparable ever since.

Both had been accepted to Radiant Garden Academy of Fine Arts, Demyx for his guitar and sitar, Axel for vocals and special effects (his audition had included a prominent pyrotechnics display that left one audience member with her antenna-like bangs singed off). And at RG, Demyx had met Zexion in his Advanced Music Theory class.

Axel still wasn't sure how it had happened, though he had a hunch that Demyx fell for Zexion because the silent boy was the only person who didn't tell him to shut up, and Zexion simply got used to the other boy's chatter as nice background noise. In any case, the emo boy's family was loaded, enough to get him and his boyfriend a cushy apartment on the top floor of a building right next to campus and help out Axel from time to time. Their fridge wouldn't be empty, the redhead thought with a scowl. It would be loaded with sweets (for Demyx) and large quantities of healthy food alternatives for Zexion, like celery and peppers and baguettes and apples and-

The green-eyed boy shook his head sharply. If he kept this up, he really would starve before lunch time. So he turned and jogged towards the school's west-facing gate, where the maintenance staff were located. Opening the door to the maintenance headquarters, Axel caught a whiff of apples from the other room. Padding quietly in, he reached out a hand for the juiciest apple he could see.

And stopped suddenly as callused fingers closed on his ear. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marluxia's pink hair, and immediately started to bargain for his life.

"Marly, I swear I really need an apple just this once, my fridge is empty and Zexy and Dem are having some 'fun' (accompanied by a wink and a smirk) so I can't bother them! Plus, I promise I'll plant the seeds when I'm done and use the core as fertilizer!" Axel stood stock still, hoping that the pink-haired man would take pity on him.

"Those two? Are they really that vocal?" Marluxia replied with an innocent expression.

"Eh? Well, Demyx is, Zexy's completely silent as usual… wait a minute! Marly, you can't ask me for details on them! That's just creepy, man!" The redhead grinned at his friend. "Plus, I know your recent boy toys are all away, but that doesn't mean you can get off to those two. I can't let you, as a friend… it'd scar you for life."

The gardener smiled back. "So says the guy who hasn't gone on a date in years. You shouldn't be talking, you know. But given the gravity of the situation and the fact that you're way too skinny already, you can have the apple. Stop by for dinner, too. Larx is making samosas."

Axel hugged his friend. "Thanks! But I can't make dinner today. You know that Kadaj kid? He says his brother wants to meet with me, says he might let me play at a club. And I need a night job. The cooking job just barely covers school, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Get off to class now, Professor Valentine will kill you if you're late again."

The redhead started. "Fuck, I do have history first today… gotta run, Marly!" He turned to go. "Pack up some samosas for me, okay?" he asked over his shoulder as he started running.

The Social Sciences department, dubbed the S.S. by the students, was located in what had been a large church centuries ago. After extensive remodeling and the construction of a large tower, it was easily the most intimidating building on campus, ruled over by one Vincent Valentine. The man was almost as famous for his red overcoat as he was for his icy gaze and frighteningly polite manners. He also taught the Science of Warfare class. Axel had not been aware when he'd signed up.

After an hour's worth of lecturing, Axel was relatively certain that his teacher had stolen years of his life using only his eyes. At least his grade wouldn't suffer. Practical experience was a very useful tool in the class. Now it was time for work. Whistling merrily, the tall boy headed to the cafeteria.

Axel blinked in the sunlight, running a hand through his hair as he left the school kitchens, before turning to walk home. He had just enough time to pick up the promised samosas and bike over to the club. All the way on the other side of town, too. This job had better work out.

Waving to Demyx and Zexion as they passed, the redhead started jogging, then broke into a full run, long legs quickly carrying him to the apartment building. Setting out a black button-down with flame motifs at the cuffs and a pair of black boot-cut jeans, he stripped and showered before dressing at top speed. Pausing only grab a mix tape and his bike, Axel hopped on and started the long ride over the river to Club Jenova.

Okay, people! Chapter two is officially up. Chapter three... hard to name a time-scale, but it should be within a week, probably on the two-to three days scale. Why is Seph calling for Axel? What's poor lil' Roxie doing (or who smirk)? Are they gonna meet? When will we REALLY meet Cloud, Leon, Demyx, Zexion, Sora, Riku, and all our other familiar buddies? Will we? All these questions and more answered next time!

Tootles, love you all! Except for the ones who don't review! So yeah, review for me. Pwease?

I honestly don't know how long this is gonna be. I'm just writing a chapter at a time with no concept of how the plot will go or anything like that! Whimsy! Yes!

That's about all, I'll talk to you all later!

Waitwait, I forgot! Most people online call me Aki-chan. So yeah, you can use that if you wanna talk to me or are posting a long review (please? with helpful tips about writing better?). Okay, that's it now. I promise. I hope.