HA! I have bulletproof glass this time! You can't shoot me for being gone so long! HAHA! *ppl come around the glass, shoot me* Ow...

Yes I KNOW I was gone forever. e_e It's hard to explain. I was lost for a while. Its been tough. But I'm back on my feet now! Mostly. So, hopefully I'll be updating more often. If anyone still cares. e_e Anyway, here's chapter 3. Enjoy!

Math class dragged on forever. Roxas tried to focus on his work, but Axel kept staring at him.

"Cut it out!" he hissed.

Axel turned forward in his seat, but continued to watch Roxas from the corner of his eye. Roxas puzzled him. There's just something about this kid... he thought to himself.

He turned back to Roxas. "Hey, do you mind helping me find my next class?" he asked.

Roxas sighed. But it was better than being stared at.

"Sure. Let me see your schedule." he answered.

Axel grinned and handed it to the blonde. Roxas' heart sank. He had all the same classes the whole day.

"What?" Axel frowned.

"You have all the same as me." Roxas explained. Axel smiled even wider than before.

"Great! I'll already know someone in all of my classes." he said. Roxas sighed again.

"I guess you will..." he mumbled unenthusiastically.

Axel frowned again. "What, is that a bad thing?" he asked. Roxas looked up at him quickly, panicking.

"No, it's not that! It's just-"

" Just what?" Axel interrupted.

"What, you don't like being friendly to the new kid?" he asked almost angrily.

Roxas put his head in his hands. Now he felt guilty. Sure, the first impression hadn't been great, but the kid had been pretty nice so far. It wasn't right to blame him for how Roxas was feeling. He looked back at Axel.

"Look, Axel, I'm sorry. My life isn't too good right now. I don't mean to take it out on you, ok? It's great that you have my classes. I don't really have anyone else to talk to right now." he apologized, then smiled.

Axel blinked, surprised. Wow . . . I got him to smile. he thought, and smiled back. "Hey, it's no problem. Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" he offered.

Roxas' smile faltered, and the usual depression seeped back into his face. "No . . . No, it's okay . . . " he mumbled, staring down at his desk.

Axel once again frowned. Oops . . . "Hey man, sorry if I was imposing by asking you. If you don't want to tell me, it's cool. I don't mind." he said.

Roxas looked back up at Axel, relieved. "Thanks. It's just that I only met you today and-"

" No problem. You can tell me when you're ready." Axel interrupted. Roxas nodded. The conversation probably would've went on much longer if Ms. Tifa hadn't shushed them and made them do their work.

The two new friends resumed their conversation on the way to second period Science.

"Yeah, science is cool, and Mr. Vexen is good at teaching it, but he's kinda weird, so-" Roxas was telling Axel when suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Oh, no . . . Not him. Roxas thought, panicking.

He slowly turned around, knowing before hand what he would see: A big, mean, and bad-tempered Seifer with hands balled into fists and ready to beat someone up.

"Hey, Shorty. It's time for your daily pounding. Are you ready?" Seifer sneered.

He pulled his fist back and was about to punch Roxas right in the jaw when he suddenly noticed Axel standing there. "Who's this? My new victim that I ordered two weeks ago from Ebay?" he taunted Axel.

Roxas just stared at Axel in shock. He'd thought that Axel was the kind of guy who kept his cool, but he'd thought wrong. Axel looked extremely angry.

"Yo punk, you aren't scaring me the least bit. I could tie you into a knot in five seconds blindfolded. Beat it, my friend and I are talking." he said, his voice almost a growl.

Seifer laughed. "How could a weakling like you even HOPE to beat me?" he said disdainfully. "Fine, you'll BOTH get the beating. I think I'll change around my schedule to add you in right after Shorty here," Seifer drawled, a sneer on his face. Before he could do anything else though, there was a massive pressure right in his guts and fell to the floor. Axel stood above him, hand still in a fist.

"I'll tell you one more time. BEAT IT, unless you want to spend the next month in the hospital!" the redhead threatened.

Seifer scrambled to his feet. "Y-you'll regret that move, Skinny. Tomorrow you'll both get it twice as bad as usual!" he stuttered, then ran away, his friends following immediately. Axel allowed a small smile onto his face. "

That oughta teach him not to mess with me!" he said, satisfied.

Roxas just continued to stare at him in amazement.

What a punch! He's a lot cooler that I thought he was before!

TO BE CONTINUED

AFTERTHOUGHT: Can I at least have 3 reviews? I've only gotten one per chapter so far...