A nobody: the longer the review, the more I love you ; u ;' is that creepy? *bricked*

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Chapter 33: It Stings

"I totally saw you and him in the park last night!" Roxas whispered to Sora across the art table. "So don't think for a second you're getting away from this conversation because-"

"Hey guys!" Zack, to Roxas' annoyance, chimed as he took a seat next to the blonde.

Sora could practically see the steam arising from Roxas' head, as if he were a freshly brewed cup of noodles, when Riku sat next to the brunette. He noticed Riku catch a glare with the blonde.

"What's going on between those two?" Zack asked.

"Haha," Sora nervously laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "No idea?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright class," Vanille clapped her hands together as she stood in the front of the classroom. "We will be working on a partner project, so first I will give you all five minutes to choose your partner!"

"Just my luck."

"Sora, be my partner." Riku said, not even looking at the brunette.

"No, Sora is my partner by default," Roxas sassily told the snow-head. "Considering I've never treated him like shit!"

"Whoaa," Zack's eyes went wide in shock, knowing where this would end up. "Calm down kitty." He put a hand on Roxas' shoulder.

The blonde took a look at Sora who mouthed for him to stop. He considered calming down, but when he looked back at Riku he saw a cocky grin slither on his face. Roxas lunged; leaning over the table with his face close to Riku's holding him by the collar of his uniform. "You make me so angry!"

Sora watched as Riku's grin left his face, the snow-head tilting his head to the side and moving in close to Roxas' ear. He whispered something, but Sora couldn't hear what. The brunette saw all the color leave Roxas' face, his angry expression turning into a more shocked one. Riku moved away from the blonde's ear, looking at his face. Roxas regained some of his color as he looked Riku in the eye for a second, before letting over of his shirt and sitting back in his seat.

"Zack," He said. "We're partners." He smiled quickly at the ravenette before looking down at his hands in his lap. You could hear his wrist bands begin to snap at his skin.

Sora looked at Riku concerned.

"What did he say," He heard the teacher say the instructions before passing out large pieces of paper to each pair. "I wish they were able to get along. Roxas may have a bark, but Riku has a bite which always stings."

Before 3rd Period

"Axel, please," Roxas begged the red head as they stood at his locker. "I don't want to be here anymore. I can't think straight."

"I'll leave with you if you promise to tell me what's wrong once we get out of here." Axel said, putting his stuff in his locker.

"I can't…" The blonde bit his lip.

Axel closed his locker, letting out a deep sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think. "Okay, I'll do it. Just make sure this doesn't become a habit. I kind of want to graduate," Axel smirked seeing the blonde look relieved. "To the bathroom."

Once they got to the bathroom Axel lifted Roxas up high enough to the window that he could crawl out. Doing the same maneuver he does all the time to get himself up, he caught the ledge and pulled himself up and out. They sat in the grass, Axel leaning against the school wall.

"Where do you want to go," He asked the blonde. "We can't go anywhere too public, or we'll get caught for treason."

"You mean truancy?" Roxas grinned.

"Oh, yeah that too." Axel became embarrassed, his cheeks flushing.

"We can go to my house," Roxas stood, dusting himself off. "It's not that far and-"

"You're house," The red head became excited. "Are you being serious?!"

"Of course!" Roxas chimed.

"W-wait, whoever you are," Axel stood, now towering over the blonde he was before looking up to. "You're not Roxas."

"You just realized that," Roxas raised a brow, a grin on his face. "I was wondering how long I could go, tricking you." Sarcasm laced its way through his voice.

"It's scary that I almost believe you," Axel combed his fingers through the blonde's spikes. "But I can tell my Roxy apart from anyone."

"Yeah, just like how you were able to realize that wasn't me on the island," Roxas thought to himself. "And like how you won't be able to tell me apart from Ventus when we get to my house."

"Let's hurry before someone notices us." Roxas walked beside the school wall, looking out for anyone that might notice them. Once they crossed the street they ran for it, reaching Roxas' door step panting.

The blonde opened the door. He wasn't scared. He knew that at this time his brother would still be in his room.

Axel put his hand to his chin. "You're house seems normal from what we used to speculate about it."

"I don't know why you guys would go into such deep thought on my house." Roxas began to take off his shoes.

"Possibly because you never let us inside." Axel mimicked Roxas, pulling his shoes off and setting them near the door.

"No one should be home at this time," Roxas started going up the steps. "You can come to my room with me." He brought him to his room, watching as the flame-head looked around his room. "Take a seat somewhere okay? I'll be back in a couple minutes."

Roxas shut the door and walked over to Ventus' room, seeing him sleeping on his bed. He went to the bedside and placed a hand on his waist, shaking him awake. "Ven, can you do something for me?"

Ventus rubbed his eyes and sat up, looking at Roxas with sleepy eyes. "Why are you home so early?"

"I couldn't deal with being in school any longer," Roxas responded. "But my friend Axel is here. You remember him, don't you?"

"The guy that likes you," Ventus thought of the teen in his head. "Red spikey hair, really tall, green eyes."

"Correct," Roxas chimed. "I want you to pretend to be around him, please. I'll stay in here."

"Okay, I liked him from last time," Ventus got up and began to take off his shirt. Roxas realized he was getting ready to change clothes with him and started unbuttoning his shirt. "He was really fun."

"Just don't let him have too much fun," Roxas gave his shirt to Ven, and proceeded to unzipping his pants and pulling them off. "If you know what I mean."

"I won't."

When Ventus got done getting dressed, he quickly washed his face and brushed his teeth. He fixed his hair by combing through it a couple times with his fingers.

"I hope Roxas is okay."

Ven opened the door to Roxas' room, seeing Axel sitting on his brother's bed. "I was beginning to think you had ditched me." He said.

"I thought about it," Ventus responded, he said next to the redhead on the bed. "But then I decided that maybe that'd be just a little bit too mean of me."

"Well aren't you considerate," Axel laid back on the bed, his feet dangling over the edge. Ven decided to sit Indian style beside him. "Sometimes I wonder how I've come to love you, y'know."

Ventus felt Axel place his hand on his knee and slowly move up to the side of his abdomen. "Because I'm cute," Ventus tried to move Axel's hand away. "And off limits." The blonde squealed as he felt Axel sudden get up, grabbing the other side of his waist with his other hand and eventually ending up on top of him.

"A-Axel," Ventus blushed, his heart beat increasing as he became more and more flustered with this situation. "I don't want to!"

Axel kissed the blondes forehead. "Calm down Roxas," he looked into Ventus' frightened blue eyes. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

Ventus began to feel like a fish out of water. As if something heavy was pressing down on his chest, he began to breathe heavy realizing he wasn't getting enough air.

"Roxas?" Axel worriedly looked down at Ven.

The blonde quickly moved Axel from off of him, running for the door and then over to his room. He opened the door, his eyes opening wide as he covered his mouth looking at his twin.

"Ro…xas," He shuffled through his bed side desk drawer taking out his inhaler and puffing the medicine into his mouth. "What…have you done?!" He began to feel the pain ease a bit, air flowing through his lungs like normally.

"Ven," Roxas cried, blood dripping from wrist onto his brother's clothes. "I'm so sorry, I-"

Hearing the door begin to open, Ventus slid under the bed.

Roxas looked at Axel, watching the redhead get angry, muttering curses. Watching him try to find words to say but stopping himself every time he thought he had something.

Axel put his hand to his forehead, trying to take in this scene for what it is. When he knew what to say, he moved his hand back down to his side and walked up to Roxas. "Give me the knife." He said it calm and stern, his hand reaching out towards it slowly.

But Roxas jerked back. "No!" He cried.

The blonde remember what Riku said to him. It had been repeating over and over in his head since he had whispered it. 'And you make Ventus so sad'.

Axel, being just as impulsive as Roxas can be, fought for the knife. Trying to get it from Roxas who didn't seem to feel like giving it up, until he felt friction against it and foreign drops of blood drip onto his face.

"God dammit, Roxas," The red head snatched the knife before feeling the wound on his face. "What happened to you!?" Yelling made his cut sting.

"I don't make him happy." The boy cried.

"Who is 'him'?"

Roxas didn't answer.

"Roxas, you make me happy. So I'm sure you make him happy too," Axel placed the knife down on top one of the dressers. He grabbed the blonde by his arm, pulling him up. "Come on, we need to stop you from bleeding. Show me where the bathroom is."

"But you're hurt too, Axel."

"I'll fix myself up as well."

Roxas led Axel to the bathroom. The red head finally saw the cut that was given to him when trying to get the knife. It started from half way up the bridge of his nose and out a bit past the end of his eye. He gave the blonde a wash cloth to press against his wound as he sat on the toilet seat. Axel leaned against the sink, compressing his own wound.

"This is so weird. In the time that he got out the room and went into the other one, he changed clothes and cut his wrist. I feel like I'm dealing with some satanic shit," Axel slid his phone out of his pocket, beginning to text. "Roxas will be fine, but the cut he gave me is too long and deep. Yuffie will have to stitch it up for me."

"Axel," Roxas looked up at then teen, staring into his evergreen eyes. "Do you remember the first time we met?"

"Yeah," Axel didn't know why he would bring this up in a moment such as this one. "During your freshman year."

"C'mon, I'm sure you remember," Roxas tried to smile. "The boy who was hiding in the bathroom stall. The freak."

Axel made a fist at his side, clenching it tight. "You're not a freak, Roxas. I was just an idiot back then." He felt his phone vibrate, seeing a text back from Yuffie. 'I'll be there as soon as I can. What's the address?'. He quickly responded back.

"You still are now." The blonde laughed.

"My friend Yuffie will be here soon," Axel grinned. "She's a doctor. She'll give you medication for your cut. But I'm warning you Roxas, if this becomes a regular thing for you I'm making you get help."

"I-"

"And don't think you can hide it from me. I'm checking you, every day."

"That's called sexual harassment," Roxas frowned. "But, I won't do this again."

They cleaned up Ventus' room before Yuffie arrived, getting in her car and going to her house where she had better medical supplies. She had them sit in the kitchen; dealing with Axel's wound first. "I'll have to give you stitches. The cut's too deep to depend on it healing correctly," She turned to face Roxas. "And for you, wash off your wound at the sink with soapy water and but some of this ointment on it. Once you get that done I'll help you bandage it."

Roxas watched the way she smiled at him before she took out the tools she needed to stitch together Axel's cut. He did as she told him, sitting with open cut as he waited and watched Axel wince at the stitch work.

"Roxas was it," Yuffie asked. She saw the blonde nod his head from the corner of her eye as she continued stitching. "You look similar to a boy I used to babysit."

"I look similar to a lot of people."

Yuffie finished up the suture, beginning to focus on Roxas. "Self-harm isn't the answer to whatever your problem may be," She told him as she began to tightly bandage the wound. "I've dealt with a lot of kids in the hospital who've purposely hurt themselves."

"It was just a one-time thing."

"I hope so," Yuffie finished her work. "You're beautiful, keep smiling!"

"She's so sweet." Roxas looked down at his wrist. His words were true, he couldn't think of himself to do this again. It was really ugly, just looking at the bandage and knowing what he did.

"And Axel," The ravenette put her hands on her hips. "Never fight with someone who has a knife. You should know this!"

"Yeah, I know I know." Axel waved her off.

"Hey," She pursed her lips. "Treat your elders with some respect!"

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