Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, or Disney.

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Everything is done for a reason, right? Well, why did I skip school today?

There's nothing to be done during school hours. Work doesn't start for me until after, the television only has game shows and soap operas, and my friends are at school. But even if they weren't, I wouldn't hang out with them. It's getting pathetic. I'm always breaking promises we've made, never meeting them when I said I would, and always blowing them off for an extra hour behind the register. I'm surprised they haven't given up on me yet. Olette and Pence are loyal though. That's why they still ask what I'm doing on Saturdays. Hayner though…He's loyal but he doesn't show it like the others.

When I couldn't make it to the Struggle match as promised, Olette and Pence just nodded and suggested another day. Hayner showed his disappointment. I could tell that he was getting tired of it, but his stubbornness wouldn't let me go, and he agreed with the others. He'd wait another day.

I just don't want to lead them on. That's what I find pathetic: ME. How could someone who has thrown away their life for their family, try to have friends? Friends require as much attention as family. So, by now, I should've accepted it and just told them: Hayner, Pence, Olette…I'm sorry, but you guys don't deserve this. You don't deserve the way I treat you. You need to find a friend that hasn't reached this dead end.

For what reason did I hand in that letter?

For what reason did I write on said letter that Roxas Strife will not be returning to Twilight High?

For what reason did I make it to this point of no return?

This point of no return, where my mother has worked herself to exhaustion, my brother considers the unacceptable, and I have achieved the unthinkable.

The unthinkable, I sigh. This isn't unthinkable anymore. This is my life.

There is a reason for everything. The reason I skipped school today was to meet the man I emailed. To meet Axel Flynn.

"Axel will be here soon, Roxas." The pink haired man, who had introduced himself as Marluxia, says as he steps into the waiting room and sits in the fluffy chair across from me. "So, you want to apply for the butler position. Well…there are quite an amount of positions I think you'd be suitable for other than that but...this is fine with me."

I swallow a big lump in my throat and resist the urge to show my nervousness by fiddling with my hands. Last night, after having read the email requesting we meet and telling where to meet, I replied, saying that I'd be there. I ended up in front of a mansion, bigger and fancier than my house, but not as big and fancy as some munnillionaires'. I was afraid that I had gone to the wrong address, but rich people hire butlers, and I assumed whoever lived in the mansion must be rich enough to hire butlers. I had been right, and was pulled in by a mad man when I had introduced myself. The inside was fancier than the outside. It looked like that famous castle owned by the beast, at that world where he and his beauty lived. The huge hallway you step into after passing the front door looked like this one, except this one was brighter and smaller. Right when you walked in, a dozen feet away was a staircase that stretched to flooring where two other sets of stairs stretched to the left and right, and a large door stood ahead on the second floor. Above the stairs was a medium-sized chandelier.

It had all taken my breath away. It didn't strike a bit of jealousy in me though. I would have this one day if I worked hard enough.

But did I really need to do this to get a house like this? I think to myself as Marluxia stands and strides closer and closer to me.

(...)

"Mr. Strife?" A deep, smooth voice calls, and before I know it, the man who had moved from his chair to a few inches from my face was pulled off.

An angel! An angel has saved me! I think as I open my eyes. I raise an eyebrow in confusion at the spikes of dark red. An angel of fire?

"Hey, sorry about Marluxia, he tends to be very…open about his thoughts." The red haired man who had saved me says as he pushes Marluxia out of the room. He turns back to me and smirks as he holds a hand out to me. Something about his face makes me pause for a second. It feels like I've heard it before. "So, you're Roxas Strife? I'm Axel Flynn."

"Nice to meet you." I reply, and stand to shake his hand, ignoring my earlier thoughts. I do so firmly, showing that I mean business.

Axel smiles at my attempt. "You look real young, Mr. Strife. Are you sure you're over eighteen?"

"Yes, sir." I'm not really lying. I turn eighteen in a few months. It's close enough.

He stares at me, probably pondering whether he should ask for identification or not. His eyes begin to wander down, (Another perv? !) but there's a crash in the next room and he quickly looks to the door (Phew…) where a blond woman with two wisps of hair coming out on opposite sides on top of her head, making her resemble a cockroach, stands.

"Forget homemade lunch, I'm ordering take-out. That fine with you, Axel?" She asks, waving a butcher knife around until finally just flinging it into the floor a few feet in front of her, getting it lodged in place.

"Sure, Larxene. You know what I want." He nods casually and turns back to me, who doesn't look as calm and collected as him. "Oh, and by the way, this is Roxas Srtife. He's applying for the butler position."

Larxene nods at me. "You'd look good in other positions too, you know."

All of my blood rushes to my cheeks. Are all gay people this out there with sex? !

Axel laughs and shakes his head. "Spare him, Larxene. I bet Marluxia tried the same line."

"He did." I mutter, making Axel look at me again with a smirk on his face. His tattooed face, I should add. Who tattoos their face? I wonder as I stare at the two green upside down tear drops.

The front door slams, signaling Larxene's departure. Axel steps closer to me and I notice how tall he is. Probably a foot or more. His spiked back red hair must make him look taller though.

He lifts a hand and holds my face delicately, as if it will break. I stare up into acid green eyes and realize that I haven't been touched like this since I was thirteen, back when I had a girlfriend named Namine. We had gotten pretty intimate, but not too intimate. We were thirteen, after all. We just kissed a lot, held each other, and talked about how great the other was. We were together for three years and broke up a few weeks after I turned sixteen. It was because right the very next day after my sixteenth birthday, I had gone out and applied at McDonalds, working as long as I could and completely forgetting about friendship and romance, and focusing solely on family. Our break up was filled with tears.

Just at Axel's gently calloused hand holding my face and reminding me of my losses, tears well up in my eyes. Axel furrows his eyebrows in confusion and lifts another hand. He moves them both from my face, down my neck, and onto my shoulders.

"You have nice shoulders for a suit. A nice, innocent face too. Some people like that and might get close to you. Now, Mr. Strife, if someone does, will you be okay with it?" He asks, keeping his voice low. "Regardless of their gender?"

I stay strong. "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I'm straight, Mr. Flynn."

"Then why do you want this job?"

I hesitate, but soon mutter, knowing that it'll grant me the job, "Curious."

Axel smirks. "How about we go take your measurements now, Roxas?"

(...)

Marluxia takes a deep breath in.

"The uniform must never leave this house. You wear it once, and then put it back. Like it? Tell us, we'll sell it to you. Be here every Friday at eight o'clock sharp to prepare. Everything must be ready by nine because guests arrive a little later. You know the whole fashionably late thing. Just don't try it. What's black and white and red all over? A fashionably late butler. Ha ha…good one, Marluxia. Anyway, after the guests arrive, you go around, offering hors d'oeuvre. At ten, you help the others serve dinner. The party officially ends at some point, usually before noon. You stay throughout the whole thing, and also after to clean up. Once that's all done, you take off the suit, collect your pay, which is ten dollars an hour plus you keep your tips, and leave."

"Got it memorized?" Axel adds and taps his temple.

I nod. Marluxia crosses his arms and demands, "Prove it this Friday night."

"Congratulations, Roxas. You've got the job." He shakes my hand and I smile unsurely, wondering if I've truly ventured into a dead end.

Please review with any comments regarding spelling or grammatical errors, correct personification, opinions about plot, and if you enjoyed it. Your opinions matter so much to me.

By the way…munnilionaires…I don't know. I like the word 'munny'.