Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.
Say It Isn't So!
Chapter 8: Heartless
xXx
There was nothing more nerve wracking than waiting, especially when you had a good 8 hours ahead of you. Roxas could only wait as he hurried around the school gym, setting up banners and festive electrical lighting, his trusty redhead still resting in the courtyard (by his order of course). The last thing he needed was Axel collapsing on him again.
And that scared him to death.
His frantic notions were suddenly halted as he stood at the center of the stage, at the base of their handmade catwalk. He gave the surrounding area a good inspection before deeming it good enough for the night's event. It was still afternoon and the preparations were going as planned.
Roxas nodded his head as he walked casually down the catwalk, making sure it was sturdy enough. Just as he neared the end of it, a deliberate wolf call sounded from the front of the gym.
"Shouldn't you be resting?" Roxas frowned, jumping down from the catwalk, a worried look across his face.
Axel waved the warning away and grinned, "Come on, I can't have you doing everything." He swung an arm around the smaller boy as soon as he was within grasping distance. "I have to be a good president and help, right?"
Roxas shoved the arm off his shoulder and rolled his eyes. "You're still sick, Axel."
"It's already been a week, Roxas. I'm sure I'm up to work by now." Axel gave him a roll of his eyes, though touched by the blond's worry. "I want to help."
The blond frowned. "Suit yourself."
At the moment, only select people roamed the school halls. It was Saturday and other students weren't permitted beyond the front door until 3 more hours. So that left only the council and Roxas to walk around the very empty school. Not even teachers nor the volunteers were allowed in until the night started.
To Roxas, that just meant easy working conditions for preparations.
To Axel, that meant a lot of alone time and secret places where they wouldn't be seen.
"Help me get the extra posters from the student council building." Roxas ordered, ushering Axel to follow him as he headed for their special building. He opened the doors to their isolated building, oblivious to Axel's predator-like grin behind him. "Can you get- Axel!"
The two were suddenly piled on top of the couch, Axel on top and Roxas pinned beneath him. "Roxas," Axel purred in his ear, "I don't want to just buy you anymore..."
Roxas's face heated up as he tried at a futile attempt to push the redhead off of him. He found himself weak against the other boy, but perhaps it wasn't just because of their difference in strength...
"Get off, Axel!" Roxas struggled against Axel's heavy weight, but not fussing as much as he would have a couple of weeks ago.
Axel buried his head at the crook of Roxas's neck. "I love how you can say my name so easily now." He waited for a response, but when he didn't get one, he continued. "Before, you just hated me because I stole away your position as Student Council President... But do you want to know something funny?" He let out a chuckle.
"What's that?" Roxas breathed, unsure of where he was going with this conversation.
Axel lifted his head and hovered above Roxas. "I did it for you." He leaned down a bit, but left a few inches between them. "I wanted you to see me." Closer... "I wanted you to know me." Closer... "I wanted you." He shook his head lightly. Closer... "Not the position."
Roxas gulped, hoping that the beating in his chest wasn't loud enough for the other to hear. He understood what Axel was saying. Even before the competition began, he could feel those green eyes watching him. Back then, it was only a minor bother. Then when he lost to him, he took it as his obvious show of superiority, but now... Now... What did he think of those trailing eyes now?
"Axel..." Roxas stared at those gleaming green eyes, wondering, contemplating, pondering on what to make of it.
"Yes, Roxas?" Axel waited patiently for the blond to continue, anxiety building up with each passing moment of silence.
"GET. OFF."
Axel blinked. Wait... What? So he just confessed and this is what happens?
Glaring blue orbs burned holes through Axel's skull as Roxas's old "get the hell away from me" expression reappeared, more intense than ever. He really screwed up. Now not only did Roxas hate him, he detested him. He would never even be able to be friends with him.
He really messed up...
xXx
Roxas stumbled across the gym, not really paying attention to the wary glances being sent by the other student council members. He could hardly focus on the growing noise outside the school doors, complaining about their refusal to open the doors.
"Uhm, Roxas, I think we should let them in now..." Kairi said as she tapped his shoulder lightly. "It's time."
That's right. It's time to let boys be bought and sold, and their buyers have a night of fun. Whoop-dee-friggin' doo. So who was going to buy him now? ...That's not really the question he should be asking now, was it? No, it was more like, 'what happens from here?'
If he really looked back at the past few weeks, his life had taken a drastic turn. It was almost insane how fast things had changed. And with every change, he was always there to make things better... or worse, depending, but still, he was there. He could almost say that everything happened to him so he could really know him- just to be close to him...
Roxas fumbled with the school's mass of keys and finally found the right one, though still lost in his jumbled thoughts and outrageous theories.
"Hey Roxas!" Sora grinned as he pushed his way through the throngs of girls trying to get in first. The brunette frowned when his brother simply stood in the midst of the rushing students, keys still in hand and eyes still glazed over. Sora waved a hand in front of his eyes, only to receive a blank stare. "Roxas?"
"Hi Sora." That has got to be the most depressing voice Sora has ever heard. It was dull, flat, and completely monotonous. It sounded like a very good computerized synthetic voice. If that's what Roxas was going for, he was amazing, if not... Something was seriously wrong.
The boy shook Roxas's shoulders, eyes wide and worried. "Roxas! What's wrong? Are you okay? Did something happen?" Sora cried, spitting out questions a mile a minute.
He stopped only when a hand placed itself on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. Riku shook his head as he frowned at his boyfriend's attempt to snap his brother out of his daze. "Leave him be for a while..."
Roxas's eyes followed the voice and waited to hear Riku's explanation for his current state.
"Why? What happened?" Sora placed his hands back to his sides wistfully, a frown playing at his lips.
Riku cast a cautious glance toward Roxas before bending over and whispering in Sora's ear, "Axel."
He hadn't meant to, but as the name registered into his brain, Roxas's hand twitched slightly. He hadn't seen the older boy since the incident; he assumed he went home. Maybe decided to run away for all he knew. Not like he'd want to participate in the auction now. Not anymore.
The other two boys left his side as he continued to stare at the empty space where Riku was previously standing.
Roxas blinked, his eyes focusing a bit. "Was I wrong?" He frowned. The keys were dropped easily into his baggy pants as he made his way back into the gym and into the locker rooms. Axel would have to wait.
The auction would begin soon.
xXx
"It's the freshmen first, right?" Sora asked, flipping through the "Heartless" pamphlet for the auction. He sat on the locker bench, a leg on either side and wearing only his pair of boxers and a headband to keep his hair out of his face. "So it goes by grade..."
The auction began at 5, each grade getting an hour for to complete their auction. That meant that Sora and the other juniors would go up at 7, while Roxas and the others went at 8.
Roxas had to wait 3 more hours.
All the volunteers were packed in the boy's locker room, changing into their respective outfits, adorning their own theme. Many went for sleek and stylish, while a few tried their hand at cute and cuddly.
Sora's outfit was -you guessed it- cute and cuddly. The brunette donned a pair of big, fluffy white rabbit ears that swayed whenever he turned his head and a similarly white and blue get-up, complete wih white gloves, a blue vest with a hanging antique pocket watch and plaid shorts.
Riku liked his tall, dark and mysterious look that he was constantly associated with. He took the liberty of cosplaying as Sherlock Holmes, magnifying glass in hand and old English attire completing his facade.
Roxas had no idea what theme he wanted so he let Sora decide. Perhaps he should have asked someone else. With his brother's insistence, Roxas was dressed in a royal blue prince outfit. He even had an intimidating plastic sword tied at his waist for emphasis. ...Definitely should have asked someone else.
Last Roxas had heard of Axel, he was saying something about wolves and grandmothers. Roxas didn't care to listen much since he was still brooding about giving in to Axel's request and all, but now he was curious.
The princely blond flipped his hair out of his face as he took a quick peek at the excited audience from behind the locker doors. Just as he had thought, every person was dressed in their own costume, whether if it was a cosplay outfit or simply a mask to shield their face, but not a single student looked like their usual self.
Roxas didn't know whether to be thankful or curse because of it, but all the same, he retreated back into the changing room, frowning at the absence of his redhead.
He still had 3 hours.
xXx
It was the juniors' turns. The other grade level participants retreated into the crowd to observe their upperclassmen and how well they'd perform. Roxas recognized many of the boys, but he only really paid attention to the ones he was actually friends with.
He stood beside Riku and managed a sly grin as the silver-haired boy tilted his hat to further cover his face when Sora's cheery figure popped out from the red curtains.
Sweet music played from the speakers on either side of the stage as Sora skipped around. Then, out of the blue, his pocket watch dropped from its perch within his vest pocket. He didn't seem to mind it much, but once he managed a glance at the time, he suddenly shot up in shock, a hand pressed against the side of his head in horror. He was suddenly turning his head left and right and jumping up and down frantically. Sora suddenly raced down the catwalk, only to trip halfway through, the pocket watch flying to the end of the wooden platform.
With his face slightly lifted from the ground, Sora pulled out a white picket fence sign saying, "I'm late! I'm late!" His horrified expression suddenly twisted into a sweet, yet somewhat bitter smile as he flipped the picket sign and sat up, crossing his legs. The arm holding the sign was propped up against his knee while his other hand was laid casually on its own respective knee.
The new words painted on the sign were, "But I don't mind... As long as you give me some of your time."
A few of the girls giggled as they argued on how much they would put together for Sora. The first bid came up as a loud shout of "$50!" Within minutes, the amount had gone well beyond triple the price, ranging from $500 to a good $750.
The bidding for the happy bunny came to an end when a gruff "$2,000" echoed in the gym, the only sound being Sora's theme song for the evening. No one moved. The auctioneer (being Demyx) cleared his throat into the mic to end the awkward silence and announced the winner as "Sherlock Holmes."
Roxas turned his head toward Riku, eyes wide and practically popping out of their sockets. "T-Two... thousand?" He choked out in disbelief.
Riku hid his face even more with his hat, catching Sora's more than just cute wink in his direction just in the nick of time. Now he sincerely wished he went with that batman outfit instead... At least the mask would have covered his face...
Roxas shook his head.
So far, Sora had the highest price with a shocking 2,000. Second was some cute freshman with a face that screamed "I'm a cutie." He had a good $630. After that, the prices dwindled so low that they weren't even worth mentioning.
Roxas's lips drew into a thin line across his mouth. How much would he sell for? ...Who would buy him if not-
The boy stopped himself and drew in a deep breath. He had one more hour.
xXx
TA: Soo this chapter's a bit sadder than the other ones... No, actually, this might actually be the only sad chapter. LoL! Things'll get better though. They always do, don't they?
Sorry this one was a bit late... I'll be sure to update soon though! We're well on our way to the end of this story! :( Let's savor every chapter then, yeah? :)