Disclaimer: Do you ever wonder why people post one of these at the start of every chapter when only one in the story is necessary?

A/n: Well, I was reading over that last chapter and decided that it was a seriously shitty place to stop. And I missed it. Axel is all kinds of fun. I'm sorry about his outfit, it's all I can see when I try to think of him in anything other than his coat… It's so Reno it's painful…

Thanks for reviewing, everybody! I actually can't believe I haven't gotten a flame yet, most of the Axel+Kairi stories out there involve people getting violated and bashed to death. Anyway, thanks for the support, I really appreciate it! And umm, if you have any ideas for this story I'd like to know, right now I've got nuthin'.

If you're interested, this story now has a prequel. It's a one-shot Axel+Namine, I.D. number is s/3193686/1/

Chapter Three

"So Kairi, I met the nicest boy working at the bookstore in town, you should meet him! I think you two would really hit it off!"

Kairi sighed heavily and dropped her fork on her plate. It clanged loudly around the room as she looked up at her overly cheerful mother in aggravation. Her father, as usual, avoided joining in on the conversation, preferring instead to stare down at his plate, which he was sure would never throw anything at him. Her mother, on the other hand, gazed at her exasperated daughter happily.

"He was so polite, not like those boys you insist on hanging around." She smiled across the table as Kairi fought to control the rising anger. Taking a deep breath and plastering on a happy face, she picked up her fork again.

"Oh, mom. They're not that bad. You know you love them." She shut herself up by shoveling more food into her mouth, forcing her eyes to stay on the plate in front of her. They went through this practically every night she was home, and she really had no idea what her mother had against her friends. Well, specifically one friend…

"Oh, sure, Riku and Sora and fine. Usually. But that redheaded boy is just so…dear, what's the word I'm looking for?" The older woman batted her eyelashes at her husband, the look in her eyes demanding support. He cleared his throat.

"Uh, unique?" He smiled grimly at the two women and immediately went back to watching his plate. Kairi's gaze softened when she looked at her father, the poor man really had it rough living with the two of them.

"No, well, yes, actually, but I was really thinking more-" Her mother started, raising an eyebrow and watching the man pick at his food.

"Do we really have to talk about this right now?" Kairi cut her off as she saw something move outside the dining room window. Her mother looked over at her suspiciously. "I'm just really tired, I don't want to argue tonight." She said quietly, standing up and grabbing her plate.

"Alright honey, but if you have time tomorrow you really should stop by the bookstore." She glared back at the woman as she walked into the kitchen.

She tossed her plate in the sink and ran water over it before dashing down the hall to her bedroom. Turning on a bedside lamp and shutting her door, she leaned against it and cursed. Her mother was so infuriating, sometimes she just wanted to strangle her and put an end to it all. For some unknown reason Kairi had never been able to figure out, her mother had this image of her with a good little boy in a suit in her head.

She plopped down on her bed, huffing in frustration. A cool breeze blew in through her window, caressing the back of her neck as she leaned forward to rest her head in her hands. She thought she heard rustling behind her, but before she had time to turn and look two strong arms wound around her thin frame. Warm breath rolled down her neck and she sighed.

"How do you do that anyway?" She whispered. A soft laugh boomed in her ear and she smiled.

"Years of practice." His hair rustled gently against her cheek as he hugged her. Footsteps sounded down the hall and they both jumped. A loud knock sounded on the door and it immediately swung inward, revealing the looming form of her mother framed in the light form the hall.

"Kairi, I forgot to ask you to grab your laundry before you disappeared, here you go." She set a basket down just inside her doorway and smiled at her daughter. She leaned back and rested a hand on her hip.

"Aren't you cold? It's starting to get a little chilly outside." She gave the younger girl a quizzical look as she smiled back up at her.

"No, it feels good. It's always too hot during the day, the change is nice." She stood and moved over to get the basket.

"Thanks for my finishing my laundry, goodnight mom." She watched anxiously as her mom gave her a weak goodnight and walked back out the door. She sighed in relief as turned back around to the window. Colliding with a certain man's chest, she stumbled back and nearly shouted in surprise.

"Seriously. How do you do that?" She breathed, staring up at him. He had long since traded his heavy coat for a white button up shirt and loose blue jeans. His green eyes gazed down at her and he couldn't suppress the smug grin.

"It's an Axel thing, got it-"

"Memorized?" She teased, shoving him playfully as he grinned at her. "Why do you say that so much?" She picked up the basket and dumped it on her bed, sorting through the contents.

"It's called a catch phrase. Why don't you have one?" He sat down on the bed in front of her, effectively blocking her from sorting her laundry. She huffed at him and snatched a pair of underwear out of his hand.

"What do you want anyway? It's late and I'm tired." He wrapped his arms around her waist and she fell back onto the bed with him, staring up at the ceiling as he balanced her on his chest.

"I was cold and lonely, Riku was being mean to me again." She snorted at him and struggled away, standing up beside the bed again and slapping him in the face with a t-shirt.

"Whatever, you guys get along great." She finished sorting the clothes and threw the basket in a corner. Axel reached out and took her hand, pulling her back onto the bed. She kicked off her shoes and snuggled up beside him, resting her head on his arm. He pulled her blanket up over them and rolled onto his side, looking over at her. Closing her eyes happily, she felt his other arm wrap around her waist and she melted into the feeling.

Her breathing slowly evened out and he watched her intently as she fell asleep. This was what he had wanted for so long, practically since before he had even met her. And now that she was here in his arms he didn't know what to think. It just all seemed too perfect, there had to be a catch. She sighed softly in her sleep and he kissed the tip of her nose. They were free now, that was all that mattered.

"I love you…" She whispered softly, he almost didn't hear it. He smiled to himself.

"I love you too." Namine… He stroked her hair gently, admiring the deep color. Hugging her to his chest, he let his own eyes drift closed.

xxxxxxx

A cold breeze rushed across bare skin, making Kairi shiver. She winced and pulled the blanket tighter around her exposed shoulder. Already disturbed from her sleep, she opened her eyes and gazed around the room, bathed in early morning sunlight. She heard loud footsteps rushing down the hall and her eyes widened in horror. Spinning around in panic her eyes fell on the empty bed beside her. She sighed in relief. Of course he was always one step ahead. The bedroom door flew open and her mother glowered at her from the doorway.

"You're going to be late for school! Get up!" She growled before marching back down the hall. Fifteen minutes later the woman watched in amazement as Kairi flew out the front door, a book clutched under her arm and her hair still wet from her shower.

She dashed wildly down the path to school, trying to put on her uniform's tie and not drop her book.

"Running late?" She glanced over at Axel, keeping perfect pace with her as she ran to school. She glared at him.

"You could have woken me up! I happen to have a test today!" She said, huffing from the exertion.

"Sorry, I figured nothing exciting happened on Friday." he grinned at her and dodged a playful slap.

They rounded a corner and dashed out onto the grass of the schoolyard. Riku and Sora stood in the doorway to the small building, waiting patiently for Kairi. She panted tiredly as she came to a stop in front of them, waving a brief good morning before their teacher's voice boomed through the doors for them to hurry up.

"Later Axel." Riku called back, waving at him as Sora and Kairi rushed into the schoolhouse.

He watched the door for a few minutes, finding himself hoping that perhaps they had waited too long and had gotten kicked out of class for being late. No such luck, he sighed to himself. The start of another boring day alone, at least by next year Riku would be done with school. Oh well, class on Fridays was shorter anyway.

Axel walked around the side of the building and seated himself in the grass. He had absolutely nothing to do, and at least here he could watch Kairi through the window. Leaning back against a tree, he looked at the sky. A few clouds today, not many. He supposed that could be an exciting change, that meant it might be colder today, and he'd freeze his ass off if he had to sleep outside again. That thought made him curse, he still hadn't found a job yet. There was nothing to do on this island. There were a few stores, but they had all said they didn't need anymore help. He gazed back down through the window, Kairi was chewing the eraser off of her pencil. She had a paper in front of her, must have been that test.

Thinking of the Destiny Islands schoolhouse made him wonder, had he ever gone to school? He supposed he must have, he knew everything she was studying, but it made him sad to think he couldn't remember learning it. There was a lot he had lost when he joined the Organization. Kairi filled in a few answers on the paper and went back to chewing on the pencil. Of course, the Organization had given him a lot as well…

xxxxxxx

A foot collided slowly with his ribs, pushing him over and jolting him awake in surprise.

"What the hell!" he jumped and stared up at Riku. He had a backpack over a shoulder and had gotten rid of his uniform shirt, replacing it with a black tank top. He motioned down the path behind them with his head, and his long silver hair fell in front of his eyes.

"Come on, I'm done for today. Let's get out of here." he said, helping Axel to his feet.

Kairi watched them walk away, happy that they were getting along. It seemed like Riku could get along with pretty much anyone, though. Chewing the pencil nervously, she glanced over at Sora. She noticed him quickly look back down at his desk and her heart thumped sadly. She had hoped he wouldn't take it like this, but what could she really expect after all those years of flirting with him? The eraser finally came off in her mouth and she spit it out onto the desk in front of her, poking at it with the tip of the pencil until it had completely crumbled.

She stared down at the test underneath the murdered eraser. All the answers had been filled in, but she didn't want to turn it in yet. She had another test to do after it and she wanted a break first. Glancing back at Sora, she caught him watching her this time and he shifted guiltily in his seat. Shaking it off, he offered her a goofy grin and took out a piece of paper. She watched him scribble on it in interest. Folding it quickly so their teacher wouldn't notice, he passed it to Selphie, instructing her to pass it on. She handed it to Kairi and winked at her, motioning out the window.

"That was your boyfriend, huh?" She whispered as quietly as she could, leaning over towards Kairi. She nodded as she opened the note from Sora.

"He's hot!" Selphie giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Kairi blushed, sticking her tongue out at the younger girl.

"You can't have him!" She growled playfully, wrinkling her nose.

She looked down at the note from Sora, trying to figure out exactly what it said. It looked like it said something about best friends forever, then it kind of moved off into a sketchy little picture of what looked like a dinosaur with their teacher's head on it, breathing fire over an image of her, Riku, and Sora. There were textbook demons crawling up over the edge of the paper and attacking them, and a lovely sign over the top of the page that read "Destiny Islands Hellhouse". Kairi let out a laugh, then immediately covered her mouth in horror as the teacher glared at her. Sora grinned as he watched her, then Selphie grabbed the note off her desk to look at it. She held it up towards Sora in mock anger.

"Where am I?" She mouthed to him, pointing at it and giving him a questioning look.

He took the note back and scribbled on it some more. He handed it back and she looked at it in horror. Kairi took it and looked down at the image of Selphie riding a broomstick over the three of them, using her jump rope as a whip and tossing little hearts down towards the teacher. Kairi laughed quietly this time and nodded in agreement, receiving a glare from her friend.

This time Selphie took the piece of paper and starting sketching on it. Kairi leaned over to look at it, her eyes widening in a mixture of mirth and horror. She had added a picture of Axel standing beside Kairi's crudely drawn stick figure, obviously groping her. She grabbed the note away from her and tossed it in her backpack. Selphie pouted at her, but her head snapped back towards her own desk when the teacher yelled at them to stop playing around.

xxxxxxx

"I haven't seen Kairi this happy in a long time. She was acting really sad after we got back, I was starting to worry about her." Riku took another drink of soda before flipping through channels on the TV again. Axel glanced over at him.

"Weird, I can't imagine her being sad." He mumbled, taking another bite of his sandwich. If it wasn't for Riku, he was sure he would have starved by now.

"Yea, it's not common, she's usually really good at seeing everything good in life. I guess it must have been something about you, she changed as soon as you got here. I didn't even know you guys knew each other." Riku replied, finally getting up to put in a movie.

"I guess you could say we've known each other for a long time, but she doesn't really know that. Or at least, she doesn't really remember." Axel said, setting his sandwich down and crossing his legs on the couch. Riku glanced back at him, nodding knowingly. He popped a copy of Silent Hill into the DVD player and moved back towards the kitchen for more soda.

"Well, they should be out of class soon." he said, glancing up at the clock on his way past it.

"Oh yeah, my mom said that if we move all that junk out of the old computer room, you could stay there for a while. We aren't using it anyway, and she's a sucker for homeless bums." He called from the kitchen, slamming the refrigerator door. Axel shivered at the thought of Riku's mom hitting on him.

"Cool, we could do that when they get here. Do you know anywhere in this town I could get a job?" he asked, grabbing his food again as Riku tossed him a new soda.

"Hmm, maybe. An old friend of mine is a fisherman, he might need some help. He always seems really busy anyway." Riku laughed. "But then you might smell like fish all the time!"

Axel grinned. "Thanks."

End of Chapter Three

A/n: I was going to write a lot more, but I have a big weekend coming up and if I don't update now it'll be another week.