#3 – Rivalry
Axel encountered his first challenge as "body guard."
Larxene.
In their advanced literature class, Xion had written a poem for the creative writing assignment. Everyone had gone silent as she read the poem about first love and the innocence of it. Occasionally, she glimpsed at him, a blush blooming on her cheeks whenever she met his gaze. Axel smiled back at her.
Apparently, Larxene had noticed.
In P.E., when the boys and girls split up, the very moment his back was turned, Axel heard a fight break out across the gym. In the midst of the thronging bodies, he spotted raven locks, and heard Xion's voice.
With the speed of desperation, he was in time to catch Larxene's fist from landing. Larxene turned on him trying to scratch at his face, but Axel had two years on every student in the room and twice as much strength.
"Leave her alone."
"She was messing with my personal property! The brat needed to be punished!"
She struggled in his grasp, but he held her fast, fiercely grinding through his teeth, "Keep your mouth shut." Then, holding out a hand to help Xion off the floor, he took her over with him to the boys' side to do the exercises with him and Roxas.
"Why did she attack you?" the blond eventually asked in the middle of push-ups.
"She said something about thinking I was good enough to be her rival," Xion panted.
Roxas frowned. "Her rival in what?"
"Did she say?" Axel asked.
Xion hesitated. "No. She didn't say."
Axel raised himself up and down, effortlessly. "Haven't a clue?"
"Not a clue." She could have been flushed from the push-ups...
"Mm-hm." Axel thought he knew the real reason.
Roxas stopped mid-push-up and stared suspiciously at the two. "Wait a second. Did I miss something? Xion, are you blushing?"
A/N: To be clear, Larxene thinks of Axel as her personal property, and Xion is messing with that. And Larxene said Xion was her rival concerning Axel (kinda sounds like Juvia from Fairy Tail, haha!).