This was supposed to be a Two-Shot. And now, for some reason, it thinks it needs to be a full-fledged fic. But don't worry, I'll beat some sense into it. This will be a Three-Shot instead. And I don't even know if those exist. Anyway, I digress.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts isn't mine.

Warnings: Some swearing. General weird. Implied yaoi.

Suddenly, the ground wasn't beneath his feet anymore. Roxas let out a frightened little squeak, swept up into Axel's arms as the lanky man pulled him close and spun them together. Roxas pushed at the mans chest, staring earnestly at the floor his toes so desperately missed, all the while threatening to rip out the mans eyeballs and throw them out the window.

"Oh, Roxas, you stupid little boy, I thought you'd never figure it out! Now we can move on to the next matter!" With a glance at the clock and a confirmation that, technically, it wasthe next day, Axel dropped Roxas and tugged yet another silly band from his wrist.

"Oh, God no." Roxas scrambled to get away, but Axel tugged him in by the back of his collar, dangling a gray square before him.

"It's ice, by the way." Axel whispered in his ear.

Roxas face-palmed.

He should have known it was too good to be true. So he'd figured out Axel's name, big deal. It didn't keep the man from following him, nor did it stop the relentless gift giving. Roxas' wrist was so laden with rubber bands that his arm hair had begun to wear away. Only after a pitiful session of pouting and pleading did he agree to wear them all to begin with, but he had. And as to why, well, he didn't honestly know. He and Axel were still perfect strangers after all, name or no name. And yet...

Only a day had passed since Axel had scrambled into his window, had practically forced his name onto him. The gray band had been added to his collection, and Roxas had promptly shoved the red-head right back through the sill, telling him that, despite their on-name basis, he wasn't welcome within twenty miles of his house.

Later that day, when the sun climbed back into the sky and banished the moon for another dozen hours or so, Roxas left his home in favor of fresh air. His mind was occupied by many things, including his friends, the history paper he had, and Axel. Axel Axel Axel. He hardly knew the man, yet that name was becoming quite prominent in his mind. It was kind of creepy, because, well, the more he thought of him, the more Roxas felt that he was still missing something.

Something big.

But what?

Roxas wasn't quite sure, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before he figured it all out.

But as he was walking through town that day, he passed a small convenience store and found something that sent a chill up his spine.

In the window was an assortment of silly bandz. And at the bottom of each package, written in tiny print, were these words, "Pack of twenty."

It made him wonder... was Axel giving him the contents of one bag, or many altogether? Did that mean, if it was only a pack of twenty, that when that final, twentieth day came around, Axel would finally disappear?

In some ways, he hoped so. But in others...

Grumbling to himself, Roxas blamed it on curiosity. Why else would he possibly care that such a creepy, creepy man would leave him alone?

But... what if he was wrong?

Monday morning, he attended school just as usual. Olette, Pence and Hayner were waiting for him on the front steps, waving as he drew closer. But upon closer inspection, he noticed that Sora was among them. When he looked though, Riku and Kairi were nowhere to be seen, which was quite odd, seeing as how the trio were just as inseparable as he and his friends were.

"Hey, Roxas. Thought I'd join you all this morning, if you don't mind. Kairi called me this morning and said Riku was sick, so she stayed at his house today to take care of him. I got lonely, thinking I'd be all alone today." Sora pouted, and Roxas' heart immediately went out to him.

"No worries, you're welcome in our group any day, right guys?"

A murmur of agreement spluttered around the others, and Olette smiled, "I think it's sweet that Kairi would do that for Riku. Aw, they'd make such a cute couple, don't you think?"

Sora only laughed, but there was something unsettling in it. Roxas chose to ignore it, seeing as how his friends seemed to have missed it, but he ruffled Sora's tousled hair, giving him a smile, "C'mon, let's get to class, alright? What do you have first period, anyway?"

"Chemistry."

Sometime in the middle of third period, Roxas' cell phone buzzed in his pocket. Pence was sitting in the seat beside him, eying him knowingly. The blond was notorious for having an embarrassingly loud cell phone. Luckily, the teacher continued to teach, and all the other students around him paid him no mind.

Fishing the device from his pocket, he flipped the keyboard open and pressed a few buttons. Before reading opening the message he'd received, Roxas glanced up at the teacher once more, making sure that her lecture on the Treaty of Versailles was still going strong. Reassured, he allowed himself to take in the two word message and the number above it he failed to recognize.

'You've changed.'

… what?

His immediate thought was that this person, this unknown number and text, could only be the work of Axel. Angry, and a bit shaken, he typed back, 'Axel, how did you get this number?'

The clack of a marker being closed made him hurry to switch his cell with his pencil, which saved him from being caught when the teacher turned right around and asked them to open their textbooks to page two hundred and forty three.

Class continued on, sections of the book read aloud as the teacher assigned certain parts to certain people. It was almost his turn when his cell vibrated once more.

'I'm not Axel. But he agrees, you've changed.'

Oh God.

"Roxas? Care to take the next part? Or are you too busy texting to care?"

Flushed, Roxas quickly stashed his phone back into his pocket, mumbling an apology to his teacher as he began to read.

As soon as the bell rang, Roxas rushed out, Pence hot on his heels, demanding to know what his problem was.

"Nothing Pence, don't worry about it. Just, ah, go to lunch okay, I'll be there in a few minutes."

And Pence had only been able to watch as Roxas promptly shut the door to the boys bathroom behind him.

Panting heavily, Roxas ignored the greeting Waka, a tall, muscular boy, threw him, darting into one of the stalls at the farthest end. Cell phone in hand, he opened it back upon only to discover that he'd received yet another message. This one, however, was from Hayner

'Pence said you're acting funny. What's wrong, kid?'

Kid. Axel called him kid. Oh God.

Typing back some nonsensical, half-assed reply, he sent the message and then re-opened the other, thinking for a moment about what it was he wanted to say to this mysterious person.

Finally, he settled with this.

'Who are you?'

The reply was immediate, startling him into a sweat.

'You know who I am.'

And a moment later.

'But that isn't important.'

Halfway through texting back another reply, the same number popped into his inbox once more.

'Try and remember. The old days.'

Roxas didn't even try to reply this time.

'Before Twilight Town.'

Finally.

'Riku isn't sick.'

Roxas' blood ran cold. His fingers frozen, brain frayed, he typed back a single word, but somehow knew there would be no reply. Nor would there be anymore messages in his inbox from that particular number.

'Sora?'

At lunch, his meal was sitting in his usual spot, friends settled around the tree they always were. Laughing, happy, clueless to the turmoil in Roxas' mind, he didn't trouble them with any details, choosing instead to simply seat himself and nibble on his apple.

But then, suddenly, he realized someone was missing, "I figured Sora would have joined us."

Olette paused, granola bar halfway to her mouth, "Sora went home, said he wasn't feeling well."

"He probably got whatever Riku had." Pence said. "Lord knows they share everything."

"You gonna eat that?" Hayner asked Roxas, effectively ending the conversation. Roxas shook his head numbly, losing the half-empty bag of goldfish he'd been half-heartedly eating.

What in the world... what was going on?

At the school gate, a man was waiting for him. They hadn't met at any point in their lives, but he extended his hand with a friendly, somewhat goofy, smile.

"Hello, Roxas. I'm Demyx, Axel's roommate."

"Nice to meet you." Roxas said exhaustively, simply glad that Demyx had enough sense to give his name upon a first meeting. "Let me guess, you've got something for me?"

"Sure do!... wait, how did you know?"

"I'm kind of getting used to weird stuff like this happening to me. And all of it seems to happen for the same reason. Usually involving-"

"One of these?" Demyx laughed, handing Roxas a multicolored bracelet. Roxas sighed and took it, untangling it until the monkey was in its rightful shape. "He's fond of animals."

"So I've noticed."

Demyx chuckled and patted Roxas on the shoulder, "Everything will make sense soon. But, ah, I feel like I should say something. Maybe like... Um. Well, Axel isn't as creepy as you think he is. His ways are just incredibly unconventional. Really, I think he goes out of his way to be weird."

"I wouldn't doubt it." Roxas gave a small smile, "So you know him pretty well, huh? What with living with him and everything."

Demyx beamed, "You know it! I've been friends with Axel ever since he-" All the color suddenly paled from the spunky blonds face, leaving him wide-eyed, mouth sealed, as he stared down at Roxas. "You didn't hear anything." He said quickly, hands up, feet carrying him away. "I'm sorry, Roxas. I've gotta go, it was nice meeting you! Later!"

"Wait!" With half a mind to run after the man, to hold him down and force him to speak, Roxas glared after Demyx until he disappeared from sight. "This is getting seriously old." He grumbled, shoving his hands deep inside his pockets.

With nothing left to do but head home, Roxas turned in the opposite direction Demyx had taken, and headed towards the park instead. Home was boring, and with a sheer lack of homework and things to do, he favored a walk and maybe a ride on the swing-set more than sitting on the couch. Besides, with the delivery of the bracelet, he'd gotten his daily weird out of the way, and was now free to do whatever he wanted. Sure, tomorrow would hold the same results, but he could handle that when it came.

At the park, silence was heavy. With nothing but the creak of chains and metal, Roxas peered from side to side, looking for signs of life, only to find that he was completely alone. It was odd, seeing as how many of the younger children of Twilight Town tended to migrate to the park after school. And yet, here he was, utterly alone.

At least that meant he wouldn't have to wait for a swing.

Taking his seat, which required a bit of awkward maneuvering, Roxas settled on the plastic support and took the chains in his hands. It was only after digging his feet into the ground and taking a few small swings that he realized just how lonely it was to be the only one there.

So he closed his eyes, and as the wind began to rush in his ears, he climbed higher and higher into the air, all the while diving deeper and deeper into memories he'd long since stored away.

Roxas hadn't always lived in Twilight Town.

In fact, he'd only been there for about five months.

Olette, Pence and Hayner had welcomed him immediately, taking him into their little group as if he were their missing piece, someone they'd always been waiting for. And he took advantage of that, feeling the warmth of their friendship, finding solace in their presence. It was much better than being alone, that was for sure. And it seemed like, back in the old days, that's exactly what he had been.

All alone.

Back then, there had been family, a friend or two, and that was it. Back then, his mind had been permanently blank, eyes dull, back bent. No one had paid him much mind, because most of them didn't think he actually had one. He was more of a zombie than anything, and that continued each and every day of his life, on and on, until finally, something snapped.

At this point, he'd blocked most of it out. In fact, he could barely remember the faces of the people he'd been around back then, let alone their names. But he did remember, above all things, the white hot rage that had gotten him expelled.

Why had he been angry? That, he couldn't quite recall. He'd asked his parents a few things from time to time, only to be shut down.

'It isn't important. Just forget it, Roxas. Those days are in the past.'

Either they were hiding it from him, or it really hadn't been important.

But then why, whywas Sora bringing it back up? How had he changed?

And... how did Sora know he'd changed?

He tried to remember, tried to delve deeper, but something blocked him. All that came was a wash of blurry pixels, of images that swam in and out of focus. There was a glimpse of red, a spray of blood, and his own face, reflected in a mirror, pale and dirty.

Horrified.

And then... behind him... a shadow, much taller and leaner, and a hand that, even then, completely engulfed his shoulder.

Whose...?

A voice, awash with panic, breaking the silence, his eyes turning in the mirror to find, in startling clarity, Sora and Riku in the bathroom doorway.

Roxas was startled into attention when the very same hand that had grabbed his shoulder in the dream shook him in the real world, pulling him away from the mirror and the faces of friends he'd forgotten weren't from Twilight Town as well. How could he have let that slip? How had he forgotten that Sora and Riku were just as much a couple of outsiders as he was?

"Roxas? Hey, you alright?"

Head turning, chains clanking in his hands, Roxas found Axel staring back at him. Bristling, he threw himself from the swing and rounded on the man, "What are you doing here?"

"I live near here, thank you very much." Axel said, his concern flying through the window. "What, is there some kind of height restriction on the park? 'cause if that's the case, where I've gone over, you've gone under."

Deciding to ignore the comment on his shorter stature, Roxas asked, "Do you know a guy named Sora? Maybe a Riku?"

Instantly, Axel's expression, which had been schooled into his usual half-smirk, fell blank. In fact, he almost looked angry. For a moment, he simply stood there, one hand on his hip while the other grasped one of the chains on the swing Roxas had vacated. Then, slowly, "I think you should go home now, Roxas."

"No! I want a straight up answer, and I know how hard that is for you, but I'm getting fed up. Tell me, do you know either of them?" At the look he received, Roxas added, "And don't lie. That won't help your position at all."

So Axel answered in his usual style, "I recognize the names. They're not uncommon in the more, ah, tropical, parts of the world."

"You're an idiot." Roxas snapped, throwing everything to the wind as his resolve finally broke. "All you do is make more questions out of questions. I ask you if you know Riku and Sora, you say you know the names. Which implies that you don't know the people. And they're the most important part! Why can't you just give me an answer? What are you hiding? What are they hiding?"

"Because I enjoy confusing the hell out of everyone I know. And as for what 'they're' hiding, I don't know the people you speak of, so I can't help you there. But, I reiterate, I think it's time for you to go home, Roxas."

"Why? Why do I have to go home?"

"Because it's going to get dark soon, and it isn't safe after dark. So just go on home, okay? And while you're at it... turn your cell phone off. Wouldn't want any nuisances texting you while you're trying to get some sleep, would you?"

"No... I guess n- Wait, what? How the hell did you know?"

But Axel, as always, was running away, laughing like a madman as he waved over his shoulder. Roxas wished he had some sort of weapon on hand, because he would have loved to take a chunk of out the red-heads skull at that moment. Dejected and confused, he headed home, but that night, he left his cell phone on. The bright, rectangular ring it cast up on the ceiling comforted him somewhat, knowing that, if anyone tried to creep up on him in the night, he'd be able to see exactly who they were.

And there would be no questions.

Before school, Roxas stripped his wrist of all the silly bandz he'd taken to wearing. After laying them down on the desk in their respective positions, he swept them all off in one fell swoop, sending them all flying into the trash can at the side of his desk.

His cell phone had lain quiet all night, and so had he, deep in slumber as he waited for the next day to arrive. Even as he shouldered his backpack and left his small bedroom, he felt no remorse for what he had done.

Once outside though, he started to wonder if it had been the smartest of moves. After all, Axel wasn't going to leave him alone until either all of this was settled, or Roxas called the cops. And even then, what could they have done? Axel hadn't hurt him, or tried to assault him, nor did Roxas have any proof that the man had done anything traditionally stalker-like, save for the fact that the man knew where he lived. But that wasn't all that hard to figure out, seeing as how Roxas walked home everyday, and just by knowing the layout and people on his street it could have been deduced which house was his just by catching a glimpse of him taking that particular road.

Groaning, he realized he was royally screwed, and that the only clues he'd been given to save himself were now lying in the bottom of his garbage can atop a couple of balled up pieces of paper and ice cream wrappers.

And to make matters worse, when he finally made it to school, it was Riku's turn to act strange. He approached Roxas before the blond could make it to the safe circle of friends waiting for him, and quickly pulled him aside. Just to be an ass, Roxas asked him if Sora was sick.

"Actually, yes, he is. Kind of ironic, isn't it?"

Suddenly, Roxas didn't feel very good at all. Riku was straight-faced, and ten times harder to read than even Axelwas. Emotion wasn't something the silver-haired boy seemed to grasp, and instead of smiling to relax Roxas, he gripped him by the shoulder instead, kindling a fire of panic at just the sheer familiarity of it.

"It's time to remember, Roxas. You can't block us out forever. It's time to remember what you did, and who you saw. Who was with you."

"I don't want to." He said quietly. "I don't want to remember. It was something bad, I can't remember."

"Yes, yes you can. You remember me, don't you? I can see it, just in the way you're watching me. You know I'm not from Twilight Town. And you know Sora isn't either. But what about-"

"Don't say his name. I don't want to know that you're on close terms with him as well."

Riku made a noise in the back of his throat, a noise of disapproval and worry, and of thoughtful recollection, "You really are different. But you're still Roxas. You're still the good kid you were back then." Riku's hand slid down Roxas' arm, along his forearm, and into his hand, grasping it tightly, "But you used to be braver."

And with that, Riku tipped his head and left. Roxas looked down to find a crumpled slip of paper in his hand, folded in two. Yet even through the paper he could see the bright yellow of yet another bracelet. It was a guitar.

'Instrument.' The note read. And beneath it, 'We were a group of four. But you left. We followed. But who is we?'

Who indeed, Roxas thought. He already knew, vaguely, who the others were. It was as if he knew, but he was afraid to say, unwilling to remember the past, and to accept who had been a part of it. Because, truly, he still couldn't remember. Not all of it, at least. What had happened, he wondered...

In the dream, there had been blood.

Before stuffing the note into the back pocket of his jeans, Roxas noticed that there was a sentence that had been erased near the bottom of the page. Whoever had tried to wipe the writing away however had done a half-assed job, and therefore he could make out what the words read. He almost chuckled.

'Sora's not sick.'

"So Roxas, we were thinking of going to the beach this weekend. Get some sun, some fresh water, do a bit of surfing... how does that sound to you?"

They'd opted for eating in the cafeteria, seeing as how everything weird seemed to happen outside. At the far corner of the eatery they'd taken their seats, bathed in the light of the windows. Hayner had immediately delved into a story of heroic bravery involving a fight he'd gotten into with Seifer in which he'd thrown himself over a balcony just to body slam the guy. But Pence and Olette had mostly ignored him, choosing instead to begin planning for a trip they'd all been saving up for.

"I think that sounds awesome." He replied, smiling. "Though, I'll need a new surfboard, seeing as how Hayner broke mine over Seifer's head."

"Hey! It was necessary! He was going to drop ice cream down my swim trunks!"

"So you bludgeoned him with my surfboard?"

Hayner blushed, grumbling to himself, "I didn't want to take any chances. But anyway, I'll buy you a new one, so no worries."

"Then we're going?" Olette asked them all, a bit starry-eyed as she imagined all the eye candy that would be spending the weekend on the beach. Plenty of tall, more mature guys to strike up conversation with, as opposed to her crew, who seemed enjoy video games and comic books more than girls. Although...

"Pence, didn't you say you were going to ask out Naminé? It would be perfect to do it now! She could come to the beach with us! I could spend time with my own gender for once!"

"You just want us to rake in some girls so you'll have someone to shop with." Pence said through his blush, biting into a potato chip. "But I might... I dunno... You think she'd say yes?"

Roxas grinned, shoving Pence in a brotherly way, "Of course she will. Naminé is really nice, and so are you. And you're both kind of quiet at times. I think it would work if you wanted it to."

"Plus," Hayner added around a mouthful of sandwich, "she's pretty cute, too. A real catch, Pence."

"Don't talk about her like she's a fish!" Olette groaned, rolling her eyes at the immaturity of her friends, even at their age. Something had stunted each and every one of them, and just as boys younger their age were, they were very awkward when it came to women.

Except for herself, which did nothing for her ego. It made her one of the guys, and therefore nearly impossible to bring more girls into their tightly-knit group.

"Alright guys, alright. So we'll all meet at the train station this Saturday, okay? Pence, you can bring Naminé if she wants to go. Roxas, I'm putting you in charge of holding our money. I'll try to gather up all our funds by Friday, and then you can take over. And Hayner, you're going to buy Roxas a new board tonight, so don't go getting yourself into another fight!"

No sooner had she said it, Seifer waltzed in the room, lackeys Rei and Fuu at his side. Hayner had been in the process of untangling himself from their bench, but at Olette's words he settled back down, opting to glare and grumble instead at his long-time rival.

For the rest of the day, Roxas planned his trip to the beach. What they would do and who they would see, and the prospect of Naminé joining them, of perhaps even Seifer tagging along. It would be fun, and a nice parallel to the confusion and annoyance he'd dealt with for the last thirteen days. Even as the teacher assigned not only notes, but an essay as well, he was still in high-spirits, and as the final bell rang he practically skipped from class.

His friends were waiting for him in the main hall, grinning and laughing about something or another.

But Roxas never made it to them, because a hand suddenly appeared from the shadows and tugged him back. He turned just in time to see a head of silver-hair, and then was thrown into darkness as the door Riku had opened to grab him slammed shut once more.

Inside, it was cold, and Riku's eyes practically glowed in the darkness. Roxas stared back at him in worry, wondering what it was all about, and why Riku was acting so oddly.

"You can't leave Twilight Town." He said, voice hollow. Raising an eyebrow, Roxas shook his head in confusion, "What? Why?"

"You can't leave until you remember us, or everything will go wrong. Axel had to know now."

"I'll come right back, geez, Riku, chill out."

"You're not remembering fast enough." The boy replied, ignoring him. "Tell me, where did you use to live?"

"I..."

"Where?"

Sweating despite the chill, Roxas said quietly, "On the Islands."

Riku went silent, then sighed, "I'm sorry if I scared you. You can go on home if you'd like."

"What was all this about?" He asked, even as Riku re-opened the door and pushed him out. And even though he didn't answer, Riku smiled apologetically as the door shut once more, leaving Roxas out, and Riku in.

And Roxas didn't waste in time leaving, jogging to catch up to his friends who had disappeared, and who he hoped hadn't gone far.

When he got home, Roxas gave his mother a brief hello, tossing his backpack on the couch as he dashed upstairs to his room. She stared up at him, wondering what had possessed the poor boy, then turned back to her dishes, continuing the jaunty little tune she'd been humming prior to the interruption.

Upstairs, Roxas was digging one bracelet after another out of the trashcan, lining them up on his desk. As weird as things were getting, he wasn't going to throw his one chance at salvation away. Once they resumed their colorful little parade once more, he chucked the instrument down with them, rubbing his wrist where the rubber had rubbed his skin raw.

"Roxas?" His mother called up the stairs. Her voice sounded a bit worried, so he answered immediately, "Yeah?"

"Someones at the door for you."

Breath stilling, Roxas stared blankly at the door. What had she just said?

Someone was at the door for him? Someone? That meant whoever it was, she had no idea what their name was. Which meant he hadn't introduced them. And that only left one person.

Entertaining thoughts of sane people like Demyx, Roxas opened his door and made his way back downstairs. His mother walked back through the hall that led to the front door, a towel over her wet hands, and said, "I see you've been making new friends." Smiling, she disappeared into the kitchen, completely unaware of the look of horror on her sons face.

Cautiously, Roxas peeked down the hallway, only to find Axel's acidic green eyes staring right back at him. Bending over to reach Roxas' level, Axel widened his eyes comically, matching the look of despair on the blonds face perfectly, "Hello there, Roxy." He said, waving a bit. "Just thought I'd pay you a visit, give you your daily dose of Axel."

"Go away." Roxas hissed, shooing at the man as if he were a bug and not a lanky limbed human. "You're going to scare my mother."

"She seemed just fine a moment ago, kiddo." He said, inviting himself in. "Even said I was welcome in, if you were okay with it. What a nice mommy."

"Get out of my house." Roxas threatened him, glaring darkly. "You're really creeping me out."

"On the contrary, Roxy. You are the one creeping me out, what with your freaky forgetting powers. How the hell does a guy forget everything and everyone he grew up with?"

"It's called therapy, dumbass. It helps. You should try it, 'cause you obviously need it. Stalking me everywhere I go, obviously you have unkempt feelings towards me. That makes you a pedophile, too! Get out of my house!"

"Hey, hey now." Axel retorted, looking a bit ruffled. "I'm only a year older than you, Roxas. And I'm not stalking you. If I was, I'd know what color your bedsheets are."

"You've been in my room." Roxas hissed, fingers flexing into claws. He was quickly making to approach the man, and to physically remove him from the front walkway of his home. But Axel held his hands up, grinning sheepishly, "Okay, so that wasn't the best example. If I was your stalker, well, I'd know what your school classes are! And your middle name. And what color your underwear you favor!"

"Please tell me you don't know any of those things."

"I don't." Axel said quickly, "But I do know who Sora and Riku are."

Surprised, Roxas cocked his head, pinning the taller man with a glare, "Oh, so now you know who they are? Tell me, what jogged your memory? Silly bandz? Did they give, say, eight of them to spell out their names for you?"

"Did you know they're in a taboo relationship?"

Roxas spluttered, turning quickly to make sure his mother wasn't within hearing range, then decided it would be better to just shove Axel outside. Closing the door quietly behind them, Roxas restarted his brain and, eloquently, "What?"

"Well," Axel began once more, tipping his head thoughtfully, "I guess taboo isn't the right word. Maybe forbidden. Or, well, maybe it would just be easier to say that they're together. In, you know, that way."

Eying the rude gesture Axel portrayed for his imagery, Roxas felt his eyebrows furrow.

'Riku isn't sick.'

'Sora's not sick.'

Why then, had they not been at school? First one, and then the other? And why had Kairi stayed home with the both of them?

"There's a girl, as well. They're in a polygamous relationship, I think. Either that or they just can't decide who is better." Chuckling at that, Axel grew quiet, thinking deeply.

Light-headed, Roxas tried to wrap his mind around what the man had just told him. But knowing that three of his friends were in such a relationship, made him feel a bit uncomfortable. It would have been better if Axel had never told him. It wasn't that he thought it weird, exactly. But he felt like it was something outside people didn't need to know. Something that was best left to the trio in question, and the trio in question alone.

"I guess they've changed just as much as you have. 'cause as I remember it, they would never have allowed anyone into their little relationship back in the day."

The creak of wood beneath someones shoes woke Roxas from his thoughts, but by the time he'd registered what the man had said, Axel was already halfway down his driveway.

But this time... Roxas gave chase.

Sprinting, he caught the red-head square in the back, bringing them both to the gravel. They rolled and wrestled, fighting for the dominant position atop the other, until finally Axel stilled and Roxas found himself with the advantage. Without thinking, he began punching every inch part of Axel he could reach, beating out his frustrations on the very man who had began them. He could feel the slide of blood beneath his knuckles, could feel flesh bruise and tighten beneath him. Yet he continued on, uncaring.

Until, that is, he realized Axel wasn't even trying to defend himself.

That same eye, the one with the shiner he had come to ignore, was staring passively up at him even as the other began to darken as well. Tomorrow, Axel would look like some sort of half-raccoon, half-lion, half-human hybrid.

And it was all because of him.

From the doorway, Roxas' mother was screeching at him to, "Leave that poor boy alone!" and below him, Axel was smiling.

"I knew you still had it in you, Roxy. You're one step closer."

Horrified, Roxas scrambled off the lanky mans body, running home without looking back. If he'd turn to see, he would have noticed that Axel showed no signs of pain as he heaved himself up, dusted off his ass and then ambled from their driveway with naught but a final wayward glance.

Perhaps it was better that way as well.

"I don't know whether to ground you or congratulate you." His mother said sternly as he trudged past her. Shaking his head, he could only chuckle weakly as she closed the door behind them and ushered him into the kitchen.

"Let me wash your face, baby." She cooed, leading him to the sink.

Retrieving a fresh rag from the pull-out drawer on the counter, she turned the dial to warm and wet the rag, turning him sideways to brush at lip. It had begun to bleed, but only because he had bitten it himself in his fit of rage.

But he paid no attention to his dear mother, or to the sting of the rag, or the gush of water that proceeded to run at his side.

Because before them, over his mothers shoulder, was a mirror. And in it he could see his face staring back at him in horror, gaunt and pale, dirty.

To his mothers utmost surprise, Roxas began to scream.

First, sorry for the ugly ass bars. I've yet to figure out a way to put spacers between sections, and I don't want to use numbers or random letters.

Second, can anyone tell me what the deal with the traffic is? I see I'm getting reviews and alerts and stuff, but according to my traffic I haven't had a single reader on anything for about a week now. Anyone who can tell me what the deal is gets something shiny. Like a hubcap.

Reviews are Love!~