Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts of any of its characters.

Warnings: Slight yaoi, slight language, slight violence.

Author's Note: It took me forever to start writing this chapter. I felt like I had to create schedules for Roxas and Axel, which took me a while. I gave Roxas the classes that I was taking this year. Axel's schedule is the same as Roxas', except he has a study hall instead of driver's education. Yeah, I was feeling kind of lazy.

Pretending

Chapter 3: Firsts

Roxas groaned and slapped the button on his alarm clock as it buzzed loudly. The alarm clock quickly shut off, much to Roxas' delight. Roxas stretched and yawned as he placed his cold feet on the floor. He shivered as he made his bed, no longer surrounded by the blanket's warmth. He opened his closet door and removed his usual pants and shirts. After dressing, he made his way down to the kitchen, rubbing the last remnants of sleep from his eyes.

He found his brothers Cloud and Sora sitting down at the table, waiting patiently for Kayla to finish cooking breakfast. On the first day of school, it was a family tradition to have the three brothers and their mother eat breakfast together. After the second day, breakfast was no longer a family thing. The brothers had to finish projects and schoolwork from the night before; Kayla would be cleaning and cooking.

"Good morning," said Roxas, sitting next to Sora at the table.
"Good morning," mumbled Sora, obviously lacking the ten hours of sleep he loved. Cloud only nodded; it was his way of greeting a person.

"Good morning, dear!" chirped Kayla, placing four plates and four glasses on the table. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I guess," said Roxas. "I can see that Sora didn't, though."

"Hey!" Sora shouted. Cloud smiled softly at Sora and Roxas' antics.

The three boys suddenly found a healthy breakfast on their plates - scrambled eggs, buttered toast and many blueberry pancakes. Sora drooled as he eyed the food on his plate. Roxas rolled his eyes and dug into the large amount of food on his plate. He wasn't very hungry, but Kayla's cooking was amazing! His taste buds were in heaven from the wonderful taste. Luckily, Kayla's food never had a nasty aftertaste.

Roxas soon found himself and his brothers in the living room, by the door. Kayla was with them as well, trying to smile, but anyone could see that she was trying not to cry. Roxas suspected that she felt that way because it was Cloud's last first day - he was a senior this year, and soon he would be leaving the house, heading off to college and getting a career. Roxas admitted to himself that he would miss Cloud. Cloud was never one to talk much, but whenever Kayla wasn't there, Cloud was always glad to offer advice to Roxas.

Roxas found himself in the backseat of his mother's car, with Sora on the opposite edge. Cloud sat in the front, next to Kayla. Roxas knew that eventually, he and Sora would be fighting over who would be able to sit up front. Roxas, personally, didn't care. The family lived in a city, so Roxas figured that he could take the city bus should he ever need to. Roxas figured that he could actually walk to his high school, but Kayla insisted that she drive the three brothers to school. Roxas always appreciated Kayla's kindness, whereas Sora would sometimes take it for granted.

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The hallways of the school were a majestic white. The marble floors had been recently cleaned and had no dirt upon their surface. Roxas was wandering down the hallway, but stopped walking abruptly when he bumped into someone.
"Sorry," he said hastily, not even bothering to look up at the person's face. He tried stepping around the person only to feel a hand rest on his shoulder, holding him back.
"You haven't changed, Roxy," said the person. Roxas knew that nickname. The only person who called him that was...
"Axel!?" Roxas half-shouted, looking up at the person's face.
"The one and only, Roxy," Axel chuckled, before walking off. Roxas, curious, followed him.

Roxas couldn't help but let his eyes wander up and down Axel's slim body. Axel was wearing a black trenchcoat and black baggy jeans with combat boots. Roxas thought that Axel would be hot wearing such attire. Roxas jumped back slightly as he noticed someone waving a gloved hand in front of his face.

"Yo, Roxy, I was calling your name for five minutes!" Axel said, trying his best to sound exhausted.

"Maybe I didn't answer because my name isn't Roxy. It's Roxas," said Roxas, glaring at the redhead. He was tiring of that nickname.

"Ok..." Axel said, defeated. Roxas released a sigh, feeling like he had finally won a battle.

"...Roxy," Axel finished, chuckling as he dodged Roxas' fist.

"Okay, okay, relax, relax!" Axel half-shouted as he realized Roxas was still trying to hit him. "Roxas! Roxas!"
Roxas stopped trying to hit Axel.

"Well, I'll see you around," Axel said, walking off. A warning bell rang throughout the hallway, causing the students to scatter and head to their homerooms. "Roxy."
"Don't call me that!" Roxas shouted before walking away.

Roxas sat in at a brand new desk. Its clean surface would be doodled and scribbled on by the end of the day, Roxas knew. No half-chewed gum was placed on the underside, but it wouldn't be long before large lumps of half-chewed gum could be found under there.

Roxas sighed as the homeroom teacher came in. The middle-aged man began explaining his homeroom rules. The man's voice clearly showed how bored its owner was. In the middle of explaining rule number one, the man suddenly stopped talking.
"Why'd you stop?" a student asked.
"Because he knows that we're going to break them all in five minutes anyway!" said another.
The teacher sighed. All of the rules had already been broken in three minutes, anyway.

Roxas was last to leave homeroom, but one of the first to enter his first period class. Unfortunately for Roxas, his first class was history. As much as the teachers tried to make the subject interesting, Roxas always found the subject boring, as did many of the other students. It seemed to be a universally boring topic. Roxas stopped in the doorway as he saw who sat in the back row.
"Oh...my...God..." muttered Roxas, slapping himself in the forehead.
"Oh, Roxy!" Axel shouted flamboyantly. "Over here!"
Roxas found himself unwillingly walking towards the black-clad teenager. His face went bright red as he noticed the teacher and students staring at him as they entered the room.

"Don't call me Roxy," Roxas said. He tried to walk away and to sit in the front row, where he was comfortable, but he was pulled into the free seat by Axel.

"Axel, who's your friend?" came an unfamiliar voice.
"Oh, this here is Roxas. He likes to be called Roxy," replied Axel.

"Do not!" I said.
"Oh, so you don't like to be called Roxas? I can work with that," said Axel, causing Roxas to sigh audibly.

"Come on, Axel, quit picking on the poor kid!" said the owner of the unfamiliar voice.
"Alright, Demyx. You win...for now," Axel said.

"Yay!" cheered Demyx, causing Roxas to stare in shock. How old was this Demyx? Nine?

"Alright, class," came the teacher's shrill voice. "Today you'll be learning the rules of my classroom..."
"She means 'prison'," Axel whispered, causing a few of the nearby students to giggle. The students sitting in the front seemed to be annoyed at the distraction.

Roxas stared at Demyx, taking in his appearance. He had an odd mix of a mullet and a mohawk. He was wearing a tight sleeveless ebony shirt and baggy black cargo pants that were held up by a studded belt. Demyx's wristband seemed to becoming worn out, but the upside down cross on the thick chain around his neck seemed to be relatively new.

"Thank God!" Roxas muttered as the bell rang. He rushed out of his seat, frustrated with having to put up with Axel's and Demyx's antics the entire class period. For second period, he was scheduled to take geometry. Once again, Roxas found Axel and Demyx in the back row. Once again, Roxas slapped his forehead before being forced to sit down between Axel and Demyx. The events repeated for Roxas' next class, English. For fourth period, Roxas took physical education. When he entered the locker room, he was thrilled to see it lacking Axel and Demyx.

If only for a moment.

Demyx glomped Roxas, proclaiming how much he had missed him. Roxas' face was beginning to turn odd colors due to lack of air. Luckily, Axel was able to pull Demyx off, allowing Roxas to inhale precious oxygen.

Roxas suddenly found himself in a heated game of dodgeball. Most of the opponent's team had yet to be hit, and only Demyx, Axel and Roxas remained on the other team. Axel was skilled at dodging the ball, and Demyx was skilled at throwing the ball. Roxas was skilled at...

Being hit in the head.

Roxas felt a horrible pain tear through his head. The teacher ran over to Roxas' aid as Axel and Demyx ran over to the person that threw the ball. Axel shoved the person to the ground. "Why the hell did you do that!?" Axel shouted.

"It was an accident..." the teenager replied, curling into a ball in order to prevent further harm from coming to his body.
"Bullshit!" Axel said, glaring at the trembling teenager.
"Axel, let it go," Demyx said, grabbing Axel's arm. "I know you're upset, but look at the poor guy! It really was an accident!"
Axel growled, ripping his arm away from Demyx's grasp.
"Besides," Demyx said, pushing Axel towards Roxas. "You know you should be with Roxas!"

Axel sighed, letting go of his anger. He turned towards Roxas, who was sitting up and blinking, rubbing the back of his head.
"What happened?" Roxas asked. Demyx kneeled by Roxas.

"Some guy threw the ball and it hit you in the head. You fell backwards and whacked your head against the floor," Demyx said softly.
"If anything," the teacher said, relieved to see Roxas conscious. "If anything, the bump on the back of your head will be bigger than the red mark on the front."
"Red mark!?" Roxas half-shouted. "What red mark?"

Demyx led Roxas into the locker room. "This one, right here," he said, gently shoving Roxas in front of the mirror.
"Oh, man...mom's gonna kill me..." Roxas muttered.
"It'll probably fade soon," Demyx said. "Luckily, he didn't hit you hard enough to make a bruise."
Roxas nodded. "Yeah."

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During lunch, Roxas found himself sitting under the cool shade of a large oak tree. He sighed as the gentle wind blew through his hair. He closed his eyes, leaning against the old tree. He had finally obtained some peace and quiet. The other students found it much too hot outside to eat lunch anywhere but inside. Roxas was glad. The peaceful quiet soothed his pounding head. The pain remained from his last class, physical education. Demyx, however, was right. Like Roxas had been hoping, the mark had faded. The back of his head still throbbed, however.

"Hey," came a familiar voice. Roxas didn't need to open his eyes to see who it belonged to.
"Hey yourself," replied Roxas.

"So, are you alright? He hit you pretty hard," the voice said.
"I'm fine, Axel. The only thing I have from it is a large bump on the back of my head."

Axel sat down next to Roxas. Roxas wanted to inch away. Axel was too close...much too close...

Roxas' face looked like a tomato as Axel's lips approached his own. He could feel Axel's breath on his lips, quickened by nervousness. Axel slowly closed his emerald eyes, tilting his head slightly. Roxas didn't know what to do. Suddenly, Roxas found Axel's lips pressed against his own.

It wasn't long before those soft lips left Roxas'. Roxas' eyes had closed during the kiss. As he opened them, Axel was nowhere to be found.

He didn't see Axel for the rest of the day.

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Author's Note: This chapter is short, but I felt like this was the perfect place to end it. Axel and Roxas finally kissed. Will this cause love to blossom between the two teenagers?