Tada! Chapter two is up and running!

And guess who you get to meet in this chapter? A lot of people! Mwahahahahahahahahaha :)

Anyway, please enjoy this new chapter, and I hope you will actually review this time XD (I'm not joking. Please review)

Also, I'm debating whether or not to make this a crossover story, because later on there will be a lot of characters from other Final Fantasy games. What do you think? Should I make it a cross over with Final Fantasy?

~Sunechirei

I can hear the music. I shouldn't be able to hear the music.

Those were the thoughts running through my head as I stood, waiting for the elevator to come. Why was I thinking these thoughts? Well, it would be because the guy standing next to me was listening to his music so loud that I could hear it. I shouldn't have been able to. He seemed oblivious to the fact that I had been standing next to him for the past two minutes, nodding his head to the beat of the metal music playing in his ears, and when the elevator came, I debated whether or not to wait for the next one to come.

Unfortunately, I was running late for the meeting with my dad, so I sighed, and joined the strange red-headed man. Almost as soon as I entered the elevator, I could feel that someone was watching me, so I looked up, right into a pair of sea-green eyes. The guy was staring at me intently, watching my every move as I pressed the thirteenth floor button, and only looked away once the doors behind me closed.

I found this to be very strange.

There was no one in the elevator besides me and that man, which left an awkward air lingering between us. I was okay with it, but it seems the guy next to me wasn't. He yanked the earphones out, turned off the music and looked down at me.

"I hate the current atmosphere," he said, almost mockingly. I glanced up at him, only to see a grin on his face. "You look familiar. What's your name?" He asked, leaning down a bit.

Feeling uncomfortable with the current lack of distance between us, I took a step back, and answered, "Roxas Strife. Who are you?"

"Roxas Strife? The boss' son? No wonder you looked familiar." The guy laughed. "You also act the same. Who would have guessed?" He continued to snicker, and I had to resist the urge to punch him in the stomach. I was nothing like my dad. I didn't even look like him, did I?

"What does it matter to you?" I grumbled, not enjoying this conversation. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Which question would that be, Roxie?"

Roxie? Did he just call me Roxie? This was getting ridiculous. "Don't call me that. I only asked you one question."

"Aw, does the spoiled little rich boy not want a nickname? How adorable," the man cooed. I couldn't help but wonder what the hell was wrong with him. "Now, I had forgotten your question. What was it again?"

"I asked you- You know what? Never mind." I didn't know this guy, he didn't really know who I was, and there was no way we were ever going to meet again, so I figured there was no point in trying to beat an answer out of him.

Sadly, he didn't seem to think the same way I did.

"Never mind? You asked me a question, now I want to know what it is. Come on, just tell me," an arm wrapped around my shoulders as this question was asked, but I shrugged them off. Turning to the guy, I glared at him, and he caught my gaze, glaring with equal intensity. "What's wrong? Scared of the answer?"

Rolling my eyes, I looked away and said, "Why would I be afraid of your answer? I just don't care anymore." That was only half the truth. The guy did kinda scare me. Okay scratch that. He really scared me. I did not want to associate with him.

Silence filled the elevator again as I watched the numbers change on the little screen. Only two more floors before I would have to face my father. Things had been... awkward when I had gotten home from my party last night. Dad had gone to bed already, but Mom was still up, reading a report by her old college professor. I think his name was Ansem. But that's not important. She was very unhappy with the fact I had taken off during lunch, and she kept me informed of this from the moment I walked into the door, until I had escaped upstairs to go to bed.

The sudden ding of the elevator doors opening disrupted my thoughts. I had a feeling Dad would be mad at me for yesterday, but then again, he almost never got mad. It was highly possible that he was just going to scold me to please Mom, and then get on with his life. Yeah, that was much more likely.

I stepped out of the elevator, feeling more confident than I had this morning, and I turned to see what that strange guy was doing, but he was gone. I was taken aback.

Did he get off on the twelfth floor? I couldn't remember it stopping there, or the button being highlighted. Then how did he…

I didn't have time to think about it, because a person called out to me.

"Roxas? There you are!" I turned to see the auburn haired secretary that worked directly for my father; Kairi. She had a broad smile spread across her face, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. "Mr. Strife told me you would be in today. Gosh, it's been a while hasn't it? You haven't been to the office in about a year, right?" I nodded.

"I was busy with school and whatnot, so I didn't have a lot of time." I pushed a piece of my hair out of my face, and I looked at the door hesitantly.

Kairi laughed. "I understand. Senior year can be a lot of fun, but it can also be really stressful. Anyway, your father said you can go in as soon as you get here, so go ahead," she said, pressing a small button on her desk, unlocking Dad's door. Why he had his door locked all the time didn't make any sense to me, but I suppose he had a reason. He always had a reason.

As I walked over to his office, I heard the phone behind me ring, and Kairi answering it. Normally, I wouldn't pay attention to things like this, but what she said was… interesting, to say the least.

"Hello, Cloud Strife's office, this is Kairi, how may I help you? Axel! There you are! Mr. Strife has been looking for- What? Yes. No. Axel, where are you? Why are you on the twelfth floor? Please don't tell me you've gone to bug Ellie and Riku again… Fine, I'll let him know."

Interesting, right?

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay to ask Kairi who she was talking to and what she said meant, as I had a meeting with Dad.

Crap.

I opened the door as quietly as I could, trying not to alert my dad I was present, but apparently no one had bothered to oil the thousand dollar door, and it squeaked. Squeaked goddammit! You'd think that if my dad could afford a door that costs a thousand dollars for his office, he could afford to buy some oil. Heck he could probably afford to buy a company to oil doors once a day (not that it needed it)!

"Ah, Roxas. There you are. I was already asleep when you came in last night. How was your party?" Dad asked, not really paying attention.

"Um... it was fun. Aren't you... you know, mad that I ran out on you yesterday?" I asked hesitantly.

"Why should I be mad? You had every right to be irritated. But, seeing as you're here now, I take if you've decided it's alright to start earlier than planned." A statement, not a question. I had to smirk at how well Dad knew me.

"Now then. I suppose you're wondering what you have to do this summer-"

"Mr. Strife?" Kairi interrupted my dad, her voice urgent.

Sighing, Dad pressed the button to speak to his secretary. "Yes, Ms. Takedo?"

"Ax- I mean, Mr. Lea is here an-"

Before Kairi could finish her sentence the door banged open and guess who just happened to walk in.

The crazy red-head from the elevator.

My jaw dropped.

"Cloud!" The guy exclaimed. My father rolled his eyes and muttered "Mr. Strife," under his breath, but was ignored. "Sorry I'm late. There was a little problem down on floor twelve." He strode past me, and looked down, a smirk on his face. "I see you're here, Roxie. It's going to be fun workin' with ya."

Wait, what?

I backed away, and glared at my dad. "Working with him? What is he talking about?" My voice was sharp. Dad sighed, placing his pencil on the desk.

"Roxas, this is Axel Lea. He will be working alongside you to run this business once I have retired." The man, Axel, winked down at me, his smirk still present. "Also, he is the one who is going to be teaching you everything you need to know."

Silence fell among the three of us as I stood there, watching my dad, in complete shock. I couldn't believe what he was telling me; rather, I refused to believe what he was saying. There was no way this guy, whom I assumed was a selfish lazy ass, was going to help run the company. How did he get a job here anyway? I assumed that he used the power of his parent's, though I don't know who they are, or if they're even rich, to get the job he had. I knew for a fact that hundreds of qualified people apply for work here every year, and I highly doubted that my father would hire... Axle (?)... in his right mind.

However, I was completely wrong about that.

"Well, Roxie, let me introduce myself, myself, so your question from the elevator can finally be answered. My name, as Mr. Boss-man over here said, is Axel Lea. A-X-E-L L-E-A. Got it memorized? I have my masters in business and I've been with this company for three years. Nice to meetcha," he said, holding out his hand for me to shake. I ignored it dutifully and glared at my dad.

"May I speak to you?" I asked, then after a second thought, turned to the red-head and added, "Alone." Alex (I think) grinned at me, but left the room before Dad could say anything. Once the door was closed, and I heard the latch lock, I spun around. "Are you insane?" I nearly screamed. "That guy is messed up! How am I supposed to work with him?"

Dad sighed and replied, "Roxas, he knows what he's doing. I know what I'm doing. You'll be fine working with him."

"Uh, no I won't. That guy-"

"Axel."

"-Axel, reminds me of Hayner. You know how bad Hayner is when it comes to working. If it hadn't been for that scholarship of his, he wouldn't be going to college and you know that. How the hell did that guy get a job here?"

"I wasn't aware that you were the kind to judge people before you get to know them."

"Dad, the first time I met him was outside the elevator. He was listening to screamo music and completely ignored everyone around him, not to mention the fact that he doesn't seem to understand what 'dressing nice' means." I was furious. I was beyond furious. Pissed actually. I didn't want to be here in the first place, but now I had to work with some weird guy who has upside-down teardrop tattoos under his eyes. How messed up was that.

"Roxas, do you want to inherit this company?" This was always my dad's threat when I was acting like this, and when I was younger, it worked. Now however...

"No. I don't. I want to go to college. I want to hang out with my friends. You can pass this company onto Alex or what ever his name is. I don't care anymore."

With that, I turned to stalk out of the room. Dad didn't protest, but I could tell he was a little bit upset. When I opened the door, Alex (Axe? Axle?) jumped off of Kairi's desk and tried to say something, but I stalked past him, heading to the stairs. Behind me, I could hear Kairi call out to me, and I probably should have listened, because she was warning me about the hyper boy who came bouncing out of the stairwell.

There was a second when I thought we were going to crash into each other, but the boy...err... guy, stopped suddenly, looking at me curiously with crystal blue eyes.

"Who is this?" He asked, turning to Kairi and Axe (Ave... Ale... screw it, I'm just calling him Red).

"That's Roxie. He's Cloud's son," Red replied with amusement. "It seems he doesn't want to work with me."

"Well, I don't exactly blame him. I mean, it's you, Axel."

Obviously they knew each other.

"What's that supposed to mean, Sora?" Red sneered, walking over to me and placing a hand on my shoulder. I cringed at the touch, but was still too surprised to do much about it. "This little boy is just a spoiled brat. I'll knock some sense into him."

This day just keeps getting worse and worse, were my thoughts as I finally reacted to Red's hand on my shoulder. It was true, of course. I woke up early, really early, and was forced to come to this stupid office where I run into the most ridiculous guy I've ever met in an elevator, then I find out that not only does he work for my dad, I'm going to be working with him soon, then I realize that he has some of the strangest friends, and they all seem to work here.

There's something wrong with this place.

"Look, person," I started, not able to remember the red-head's name, "It has nothing to do with you, and more to do with the fact I don't want to be here. So don't take it personally." Of course, I was lying, but he didn't know that. Or did he... it was hard to tell by the expression on his face.

"So, this guy is Cloud's son? I thought he was going to take over this company. Why is he so short," the guy named Sora asked. I flinched. I was not short. 5'6 is not short. It's medium height.

As I was fuming, I failed to notice that Sora had moved in front of me, and was now observing my every move. "Seriously, how old are you?" He asked me.

Still pissed about being called short, I snapped, "I don't know. Mentally or physically? Because chances are I'm older than you in the first one." Not a very good diss, I know. Hayner would have been so disappointed in me if he heard that pathetic attempt, but Red (I'm really liking this nickname of his) and Kairi still laughed.

Sora seemed to ponder this for a while, but finally, he said, "I meant physically. I have no doubt you're more mature than I am, but I'm being serious here." He glared at the other two in the room as he said this, but his voice still sounded somewhat cheery.

I didn't really want Sora knowing my age, but if I didn't tell him, who knew who would.

"I'm eighteen. Happy?" I muttered, crossing my arms. A whistle sounded behind me, but I didn't need to turn around to know it was the red-head.

"I didn't think you were that young. I mean, I know you just graduated, but seriously. I thought nineteen, maybe twenty."

Well, at least he thought I was older, rather than younger.

Sora looked as though he were about to say something, but the door to Dad's office opened before he could, and out came, guess who? My dad. Obviously.

"Mr. Sky, why are you up here? I just got a call from your supervisor saying you disappeared."

His name is Sora Sky. Wow. It must be so weird to have your first and last name mean the same thing. I thought, smirking at how ridiculous this guy was. I wondered how old he was, but I never did find out.

"Sorry Clo- Mr. Strife. I was just coming up to see what the commotion was all about. Riku told me that something interesting was happening up here." Sora let out a nervous laugh, but he had said Riku. That name again. It seemed to me that there was a small clique in my dad's company, and it included the red-head, Kairi, and Sky dude.

This is reminding me of high school again.

"Mr. Sky, I don't really care what Mr. Finnigan told you, you know that you aren't allowed on this floor during work hours, and last time I checked, it was only ten o'clock, which means you need to get out of here." Dad's tone surprised me. I never knew him to be so... strict. Normally he just let me do whatever I wanted and left the scolding to Mom, so it was strange to see him act like this. To everyone else in the room, however, this was normal.

"Yes Mr. Boss-man, sir!" Sora exclaimed, saluting Dad. He took off down the stairs before Dad could say anything about the obvious sarcasm dripping in the guy's voice. Dad sighed.

"Roxas, have you calmed down a bit? I really need you to help me out here. I would give this company to Mr. Lea, but he is, as you say, too irresponsible sometimes."

"I am in the room." Red (It's so easy to remember) muttered.

"I'm aware."

I didn't know what to say. Sure, my feelings about working here were changing pretty much every two seconds, but I still didn't know if I should comply to my parents' wishes, or not. I didn't have long to think about it, however, because a certain tattooed freak answered for me.

"Yeah. He's cool with working with me. Aren't you, Roxie?"

All I could do was blink. Did this guy actually want to work with me?

Dad looked between us, and once again, sighed. "Alright. Today, Roxas, you may leave. I just wanted to introduce you to Mr. Lea. Tomorrow, however, you will start to learn what you need to about this business. Understand." I nodded, not really paying attention.

I could swear that this guy I was going to be working with was bi-polar. First he seems nice, then mean, then assish, then mean, then nice again. It was like a diamond of emotions that made no sense. Still thinking about this, I waved goodbye to my dad, and headed down the stairs, afraid I would meet another weird person in the elevator.

"-and then he told my dad that I would be perfectly okay working with him, when it's obvious I'm not." I said, finishing the explanation of my morning to Olette, Pence, and Hayner. We were at my house, sitting at the poolside with lemonade, a bag of doritos, and nothing to do but talk.

"That guy is messed up. What did you say his name was again?" Hayner asked, munching on a few chips.

"I don't know, Axe, or something like that. All I know, is that he has some weird issues and I don't know how I'm going to work with him." I snatched the bag from him and rolled it up.

"Roxas, I think you may be over reacting to this," Olette mused as she lifted her feet out of the water and watched the liquid drain off of them. "I mean, Mr. Strife isn't stupid. He obviously hired this guy for a reason, and he probably thinks it will be good for you to have a role model that you'll be working with for the rest of your life."

I thought about this for a while as I tried to keep the bag of chips away from Hayner. (Don't ask why I was doing that, I don't have an answer for you). But maybe Olette was right. Dad did know what he was doing, I mean, he was one of the richest men in the world right now, so he was obviously doing something right.

Finally, I threw the bag of chips at Pence so Hayner would stop annoying me and turned to Olette. "I guess... but still. That guy is creepy. Really, really creepy. I don't think this is going to go well for me." Olette rolled her eyes.

"Stop exaggerating. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. I mean, sure, you might end up miserable, but you still have us, right?"

I laughed. "Yeah, until you all move away for college, or some other reason. Who'll I lean on after that?"

"Hmm... Well, I suppose you'll make new friends at your work. Sora and Kairi don't sound that bad. And you said a guy named Riku was mentioned? Maybe he'll be normal enough for you to get along with." She was right, I suppose. Sora, as weird as he seemed, wouldn't actually be that hard to get along with, same with the secretary, despite the fact that Kairi was in her early twenties, and I assumed Sora was as well.

I didn't get to think about this long, however, as Hayner decided now was the perfect time to ditch the chips and do a cannon ball into the pool, splashing the rest of us with cool, chlorine filled water.

Squeals of protest escaped from Olette, and she slipped into the water to try and get revenge on her crush, soon to be followed by Pence. I, on the other hand, did nothing but wipe the water out of my eyes and once again think about how sad things were going to be once Pence and Olette had left for their summer adventures. There were only two days left until the both of them left.

I feel like such a girl. I couldn't help but smile at the thought. Hayner and I had always been adverse to "feminine" feelings such as lamentation, sulking, or reminiscing, so the fact that I was doing all of these things, entertained me greatly.