Author's Note: -shot shot shot shot shot shot-

...it's really cold in my room right now. see, i'm on vacation (SPRING. FREAKIN'. BREAK!!) in a warmer place than back home and the aircon in this hotel room is really, really like WOOSH up in my face, so as i type this i have to refrain from amputating my own fingers. DX BUT OMG HAI GAIZ! i can't belive i haven't updated this story in so long. i need to prioritize my time better, man.

so i worked on this chapter on and off--some nighta getting butt loads of it done and other nights only getting, like, a paragraph in--but all in all it was quite fun, and i hope you all enjoy it! uhm...the title is pretty much a doozie, but you'll see. you'll seeeeeeeeeee.

Chapter 5: The Rice Krispies Argument

“I don’t—I don’t know, man. It’s just...I don’t know if the college scene is really for me, you know? I just don’t see the point.”

A sigh came on the other line. “So you’ll fix your misery by becoming a college drop out, is that it?”

“Hey, loads of people do it.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to. Look, Roxas, if you want to achieve your goals you gotta face certain obstacles that you’re gonna hate. And there’s no easy way around that. You gotta step it up, brush yourself off and try to achieve what you can at your full potential. Besides, it’s only been, what, two weeks?”

Roxas started chewing on his thumbnail as Cloud went on and on and on like some preacher. He was never usually like this. Cloud was usually a quiet dude, never really liked to speak his mind about a lot of things—like, a lot—but for some reason, ever since Roxas hit puberty, Cloud became so anal about so many things, and suddenly he grew a voice. Sure, he’d said some pretty good things in the past, some good advice, but Roxas just didn’t know if he should take all of it. Cloud was like his big brother, a father figure, but sometimes he just felt awkward thinking that way.

Oh, well. What other choice did he have? There wasn’t a single soul at this very moment that he could confide all his emotions in. Cloud it was, and Cloud it was gonna stay.

Leaning back into his seat some, Roxas held his cell between his ear and his shoulder as he replied, “Yeah, ok. Maybe.”

“...Listen, I just want what’s best for you. You know that there’s no other place right now that’ll give you the same education and there’s no other place that’ll give you the full take on life, you got that? I want you to understand that.”

Roxas nodded to himself, squinting as a pair of bright headlights shone in his face, and pretended to understand, you know, for the sake of keeping Cloud happy. “Alright. I just thought I’d talk. But I’d better go.”

“Yeah. You go get some rest. Maybe get out of the dorm for a little bit?”

“Yeah...oh, you have no idea.” And with that he hung up the phone and tossed it on the driver’s seat with a loud sigh. Judging by the digital clock on the dash it’d officially been one hour since the three of them arrived at Make-Out-Point and already he was bored out of his skull. He thought he’d like the place! He thought that, if he was really in the mood, he’d be able to meet a girl he liked and get her number. Maybe if he actually had the gumption to walk and try to enjoy himself,he’d be having one hell of a time!

But no. No, he had to stay stuck in this cramped vehicle with nothing but the smell of cold pizza to accompany him. He ran a hand through his hairspray infested hair and, disgusted, rubbed the residue that stuck in between his fingers onto his ripped jeans. Damn, what on earth was he doing here? This place wasn’t for him at all. Why’d he have to go and let Axel doll him up “so nicely” and let himself become a puppet to Demyx’s little contest? Frustrated, he fisted his hand and punched the horn, letting a loud blare rip through the night and more than likely scare the begeebus out of everyone within fifty feet of the car.

He kicked his feet up onto the dashboard and crossed his arms over his stomach, massaging his muscles to see if he’d be able to lessen the tension in them. Yeah, he was tense all over now, thanks to that...that...jerk. Ugh, why did he have to like a jerk? Why did that jerk have to get it on with another jerk? Why was everyone a jerk!?

He almost hit the horn again on that thought, but when he heard muffled laughter right outside the car and spotted a shadow moving in the darkness his eyes widened and he kept his composure as best he could. Oh, crap.

“Hey, you in there, Roxas?”

He rolled his eyes after recognizing the voice and bit his tongue to keep a cuss from spilling out. Shit, shit, shit.

“Come on, what’re you doin’ in there?”

“Nothing, Axel,” he replied coldly, barely nudging his head. In the corner of his eye he saw Axel press his face in closer to the window to get a better look inside of his car. He tried to ignore him...and the apparent flush on his face. No doubt the guy already had one too many. Ah, geez. Now he was gonna have to talk him into giving up his keys. “I’m just tired.”

“Tired?” the redhead replied, chuckling. “Th’ heck’re you talkin’ about? Get outta there! I wanna let you meet this one girl! She’s already pin pointed me an’ Dem, so all we gotta do is let ‘er find you and she’s got it!”

Roxas continued to give him the cold shoulder. Ch. Oooo. A girl. Lucky her. He wondered what she looked like. Probably a ditz. Probably got huge boobs the size of Mount Rushmore and hooker boots up to her thighs. Pft. Yeah. He could see Axel tailgating something like that.

“Aw, Roxas...don’t make me beg ya.”

Nope. Just gotta ignore him. Let him blend right into the night. He’s not even there. He’s not even there! That’s right, you just gotta learn to—

“Come on, Rox, don’t you like me?”

Hm. Now where had he heard that before? Slowly, Roxas’s head rose from his lap and his eyes cautiously turned to the left, later locking onto Axel’s face sitting incredibly still in front of the window. He wasn’t smiling, nor was he pulling off a puppy dog face to try and win Roxas over, but his face was actually pulled into a look of worry, maybe even a bit of sadness. Ok, so maybe that was his idea of a puppy dog face...and he was damn good at it, too.

Roxas exhaled roughly and with one last bite at the tip of his tongue he pulled his legs back into his chest and leaned in towards the driver’s side, using his fingers to unlock the car and pull the door open. Axel moved back as it happened and finally a smile crept onto his face. Ok, ok, you got what you wanted...

With his hands pressed into the seat, Roxas looked up at Axel’s face through the glass and quietly said, “I do like you, ok?” to which the redhead’s smile widened. He heard Axel laugh a bit and as he did Roxas felt a strange wave of elation run through his body. Honestly, he regretted it.

“Good,” Axel said just as soon as Roxas stuck his feet outside of the car. “’Cause you know I like you. Hm, I like you a lot.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s already been established. Don’t you remember when we were kids?”

“That’s the point, man! Tryin’ t’ bring back memories! Now let’s go. I really wanna introduce you to this chick.”

And as Axel ran off through the dry grass and in between cars, swerving a bit as he did, Roxas watched him...and watched him...until he could feel every bone in his body turn to jelly at the sight of his best friend running away.

xxXXxx

In all honesty, Roxas was pretty eager to set his eyes on this girl, whether she would be a total skank or not. He wanted to see what Axel was so hyped up about, and either laugh, or shrug and let the sight pass. Maybe he was a bad person to think like that. Maybe he was too selfish, too intent on his own needs to consider that Axel might actually be interested in her...who ever she was. He shook his head and with his hands in his kanga pocket he slowly stepped underneath a tree beside what appeared to be a lake.

Yeah, there was a reason why this place was so affectionately named Make-Out-Point. Here, there, up, and down...there was no stop to the madness that was sex, or at least pre-sex. He didn’t recognize the bodies standing or lying down all around him—it was either too dark to tell or he simply didn’t know them at all. He could hear the girls giggling and the guys whispering nonsense to them, probably promising their sweethearts that they were the only one. Roxas rolled his eyes and shamefully walked on, trying to remember that it was all pointless necking and sweet talk, and nothing more.

“Yeah, over here, Rox,” Axel called over his shoulder, motioning for the blonde to follow with a flick of his wrist. Roxas stopped in his tracks for a second, thinking this through—after all, he really was having a bloody good time alone in that car anyway—before he swallowed and followed the voice with as much confidence as he could muster...not very much.

That’s when he saw a familiar face. Actually, two familiar faces, now that the other stepped into frame. Marluxia. Demyx. Fancy that.

He smiled up at the two as they ran up to him from the right and he swore that Marluxia was just about to bite someone’s head off. He sure didn’t look too happy to be here. And to think that he had insisted that they come. Pft. Whatever.

“Oh, there you are, Roxas,” Demyx started happily, slapping a hand down on Roxas’s shoulder afterwards. “I was wondering where you went off to!”

“Yeah...Did he taste good, you son of a bitch?” Roxas started to hiss angry words behind his teeth. Very angry words...But he quickly held them in his throat and proceeded to send his gaze off to the left where Axel recently disappeared into the darkness. There weren’t a lot of people by the lakeside, so Roxas felt strangely at peace here, what with the smell of water and hot summer around.

Roxas snapped out of his moment of relaxation when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up and noticed fire red hair hovering over his head...and later noticed that Axel was literally a centimeter away from his body. What, was he so drunk out of his skull that he couldn’t figure out space correctly? He grunted and took a step backward, but Axel only followed him and pulled him back by the wrist.

“Aw, don’t be shy, Rox—”

“Darling, you’re drunk. You do realize this, right?’ Marluxia butted in, slapping his friend upside the head once to catch his attention. Axel blindly whipped his head around to try and find Marluxia with one hand uselessly rubbing at his forehead.

“Ow, hey, knock i’ off, a‘right? Just lemme do this real quick. Rox—Roxas, hey, c’mere.”

“Axel...” Roxas muttered, tugging back on his sleeve to get his best friend to stop yanking.

“C’mere. I promise she doesn’t...bite, ok?”

Well...Roxas decided to give in for the sake of satisfying his curiosity, and he let Axel drag him by the end of his sleeve up to the very edge of the lake. For some reason, he just didn’t feel like trying to stick his fingers out and touch Axel’s hand. It wasn’t that he was...extremely pissed at him. More like mildly annoyed. He felt the ground below him sink a bit and had a feeling that he’d just stepped into mud or dog shit. Sighing, he ignored it and looked ahead where he suspected contestant number one to be...

“Isn’t the point of the game to let her come to him, Axel?” Roxas heard Marluxia’s clearly irritated voice call out behind him to which Axel scoffed loudly.

“Hey! Hi, just thought I’d introduce you t’ my best bud.” With that slurred sentence, Axel tugged Roxas’s sleeve so tightly that the blonde lunged forward and nearly fell on his face at the feet of a girl he hadn’t even seen the face of. Laughing to himself, Roxas stuck a shaking hand out in hopes that she’d take it and, thankfully, she did, giggling nonchalantly into the warm air. So far so good...

“So, you’re Roxas?” she asked, her voice low and surprisingly sweet.

Roxas lowered his head and as he released her hand he replied, “Y-yeah. I guess...you win, don’t you?”

Another giggle, only this time it came out sounding nervous. “I’m usually never good at this sort—”

“Ah, come on, Xion, don’t gi’ ‘im that! You...are so good at this game. You’re perfect. Isn’t she perfect, Rox?”

“Well, I—” Roxas froze when he felt an arm weigh down over his shoulders and a firm hand hold him close. He let out a tiny gasp at that move, but to the best of his ability he pretended that this was normal, that he wasn’t embarrassed or turned on in the least by Axel holding him. Hah...ha ha ha...Oh, Jesus.

The girl—Xion apparently—let out another tiny laugh and Roxas watched her shadow come closer to the two of them. He couldn’t see her face very well, and in fact he could only see the blue in her eyes as they gazed up at him, unblinking and wide open. He wished he could see her face...just to have something to match a voice to. When all hope seemed lost, a quick flash of light shone in between them. He squinted at the cell phone in Axel’s hand. Well, Axel would see to it that Roxas could see this chick.

“There ya go,” he said confidently. “Get a good look at ‘er, man.”

Well...he would if she hadn’t been hiding her face deep inside a hood, a black hood at that. Roxas had to make due with the large blue eyes and small, thin lips upon her small and round face. He noticed that she wasn’t much of a stylista judging by the black hoodie and your average Jane pair of jeans, but for what ever reason Roxas thought she was the most beautiful girl here. A few black locks of hair fell over the bridge of her nose and she was trying to push them away with her tiny fingers while Axel kept her under the spotlight of his phone.

“Ah, there, ya see? That’s Xion. Xion, Roxas.”

“Hello, Roxas.” Xion’s eyes momentarily looked up into the blonde’s and for a second Roxas smiled sincerely just before Axel clicked the phone off and left the three drenched in darkness all over again.

He heard a drunken laugh at his left where Axel had been and knew that he had to get the big palooka outta here. “Hey, Marluxia,” he called over his right shoulder.

“That’s me!”

“Grab his keys will ya? There’s no way he’s driving back into campus like this.”

Axel responded with a loud sigh and forcefully threw his head back to stare up at the sky with his cloudy eyes. “See, Xion? I told you these guys ne’er lemme have my fun.”

“We just met up a couple weeks ago,” Roxas told the girl, negating Axel’s comment. “How do we never let you have fun? This is only the second party we’ve been a part of!” He kept Axel from sliding onto the ground with one arm and with his other he propped the guy’s head back upright so that he wouldn’t make a complete ass out of himself. Xion could only chuckle to herself in the dark as she watched these boys take care of Axel as if they were his parents.

“Hey, Axel, hun, I need you to stand up now, alright? Hellooo?” Marluxia slapped both of Axel’s cheeks with the back of his hand to get him to say something straight, but the more he did the more Axel protested until finally he pushed away from Roxas’s hold and started walking forward in frustration. Xion had to move to the side so that Axel wouldn’t collide into her with his swaying. That’s when it hit Roxas...they were beside a lake. And Axel was swaying. And Axel wasn’t stopping.

Instantly his eyes widened and he threw his hand out toward his best friend’s back. Crap. “Wh-whoa!”

“You’re just so—SHIT!” Slip. And...down you go.

Splash.

“Axel, you nimrod! Ugh, Dem-Dem, come help me and Roxas get this sack out of the water before he soaks it all into his sponge of a head...”

xxXXxx

As Roxas poured milk into his bowl of Rice Krispies the next day, he grimaced under the hundreds of tiny glares shot into his face. The Krispies were positively brimming with harsh words and comments today, and if he really hadn’t been so tired he would’ve ignored their constant nagging. No, they weren’t saying the usual ‘snap’ or ‘crackle’ or ‘pop’, but rather ‘snap, crackle, FUCK YOU’.

Roxas is a bad person! Roxas can’t decide squat for himself! Roxas can’t be genuine! Roxas is a goober! SNAP. CRACKLE. FUCK YOU!

Rolling his eyes, he lifted a spoonful of the crackling jackasses and swallowed them down. That’ll teach ‘em to piss him off at breakfast. He’d had a tough night, didn’t they get that? Man. It was bad enough having to take care for Axel all night.

As he thought about Axel, Roxas heard a door behind him click shut and he glanced over his shoulder to see that Demyx had entered the room with Xion shuffling behind. Yeah, they’d brought her along ‘cause she was so worried about Axel, but it wasn’t like she would be able to do anything once he got dried off. He watched Demyx’s zombie movements through cold and heavy eyes as he crossed the floor and approached the couch where Roxas was sitting, glaring into his bowl of critiques.

“Well,” Demyx started with a sigh, “he’s still asleep.”

Roxas scoffed and drew a circle in the bowl. “Go t’ sleep, Demyx. Don’t worry about that idiot.”

To that Demyx’s eyes rose and for the first time since they’d met up again Roxas heard his voice lower dramatically and become rather serious. “What’s wrong with you lately, Roxas? Axel’s your best friend. Can’t imagine why you’re being so...neglectful to him. ‘Specially after you reunited and all.”

Xion quietly cleared her throat and without the boys noticing she crept out of the dorm. She wasn’t allowed in there anyway—this floor was for boys only. Roxas didn’t even know if she went to this college, but he was pretty sure that she didn’t. Once he heard the door shut again, Roxas’s blue eyes shut and he approached Demyx’s question with as must poise and calmness he could muster. Phew. Alright.

“It’s not that I don’t like Axel. I’m just frustrated at the decisions he’s made so far, that’s all.”

Demyx furrowed his eyebrows and walked away from the couch back to his room on the opposite wall. He had a hand atop his head, ruffling up his faux-hawk limply. “We got anymore of those Krispies?”

The sudden question caught Roxas off guard since he was ready and willing to participate in a banter regarding Axel. “Uh...yeah.”

Demyx nodded at that, but indifferently waved his hand over his shoulder afterward as he went on walking toward his room. “I’ll just eat later. Too early. Mornin’, Roxas.” Finally the guy opened his door and with little effort shut it behind him with a quiet thud. Immediately afterward Roxas heard a thump and pictured Demyx landing face first on his dusty mattress. Well, that was that. And even though Demyx didn’t seem angry, Roxas felt an awkward unsettling in his stomach toward his observation.

Was Demyx...honestly implying that he was being a bad person toward Axel? The more he thought about it and the more the Rice Krispies popped away like tiny volcano eruptions, the more he realized that maybe he was being...a bit of a haughty, bitchy Rice Krispie himself. After all, he hadn’t offered to drive Axel home last night nor had he offered to carry his soaking wet body up to his dorm. Marluxia and Demyx did all the work. All Blondie did was wrap a towel around him, call him a lousy idiot, and drape a blanket over his passed out, cold body...without sympathy or the words ‘get better’.

With a loud clink, Roxas’s spoon slid into the cereal bowl as his hands covered his face out of both shame and embarrassment. The Krispies...cursed him more.

Roxas is bad! Roxas is bad! Roxas is PATHETIC!

“I know, I know, I know...” And then he saw Xion’s pretty little face behind his closed eyes...which incidentally sent a wave of calm over his body. He didn’t have any physical attractions to her—no real attachment to her as of yet—but what he did feel toward her was what he could best describe as ‘ok’. He didn’t like her, he didn’t love her, but he didn’t loathe her either. He wondered if Axel was awake yet...and if he was thinking about Xion as much as he was right now.

That. That would make Roxas start to dislike her.

It was now 2:00 AM. Roxas had been awake for...

A long time. Too long a time.

xxXXxx

Thankfully there were no classes on Sundays so Roxas had the chance to sleep in as long as he pleased. In fact he didn’t wake up until one in the afternoon and it was then that he brutally discovered that he had fallen asleep on the sofa and had managed to roll onto the floor without waking up. With a hand on his head Roxas stood up from the nasty floor and looked around for any sign of movement.

Well, Demyx’s door was open, so he assumed that his roommate was already awake by now. On that thought, Roxas quickly changed into some sweats and a white hoodie before he headed out the door and into the empty hallway. As he quietly shut the door behind him, he felt a strange something rather under his shoe and immediately looked down to see a pair of frilly pink and white polka dotted undies lying on the floor. He jumped to the side as if he’d seen another roach and kicked it away with the tip of his shoe.

As he stared around the hallway with bated breath, he noticed that at every door there was girls’ underwear neatly placed on the ground—like envelopes of invitation or the morning newspaper. His first guess was that this was the girls’ way of kick starting the semester and he groaned. Couldn’t he just have one normal day?

He almost made way for the stairs by himself, hoping that he’d be able to lounge in the library where no pranksters or thrill seekers would attack him, but he stopped when he heard a door unlock to his left,

“Oh? Hello again, Roxas.”

Oh, here we go again.

Smiling as brilliantly and politely as he could, Roxas turned his head toward the voice and sure enough spotted little Xion standing outside of Axel and Marluxia’s dorm room. She was still wearing that black hoodie of hers, but instead of jeans she had a black plaid skirt on with white tights underneath. The heels of her black high heeled boots clacked softly on the floor as she approached Roxas with her hands intertwined behind her back.

“I’ve been meanin’ to ask...” Roxas began, finding that putting Xion’s change of wardrobe together with her coming out of Axel’s room a bit awkward, but shook his head and went on. “Do you go to this school?”

The question seemed to startle Xion since her eyes widened dramatically and she covered her lips with one hand. “No. no! I’m actually a friend of someone who teaches here. I’m...still a senior.”

“High School?” Roxas blurted out, feeling a sudden wave of discomfort and excitement collide inside his stomach. When Xion nodded he had to refrain from running up and down the hallway out of extreme joy. Instead he cleared his throat and, smiling wider, looked straight at her when he replied.

“O-Oh. I see.”

“And I should tell you that Axel left with his roommate a little while ago. He’s doing better.”

While Roxas really wanted to tell Xion not to think too highly of Axel, he bit the inside of his cheek and refrained from doing so. Ok, now was the time to be a good boy. Go prove those damn Rice Krispies wrong, Roxas.

“Where’d they go off to?” he asked, shoving his hands into his kanga pocket as he did. Xion pointed toward the stairs afterward.

“I think they mentioned something about the cafeteria. I really wish you were there when Axel woke up,” she giggled which oddly made Roxas uncomfortable. He raised an eyebrow and briefly looked left and right to make sure no one was around to hear this conversation taking place.

“W-why?” he stuttered as she giggled. “What’d he do?”

Xion’s hand moved away from his face to her back again when she replied, “He mentioned something about you, actually. He kept repeating how you two were the best of friends since you were kids, and how much you like each other. He just wouldn’t stop saying it.”

Somehow, hearing that coming from a total stranger made Roxas tense. It wasn’t like Axel had said anything bad, but Roxas honestly didn’t want him going around boasting how fantastic his and Roxas’s friendship was. It was just...embarrassing, but he couldn’t really explain why. He pretended to appreciate hearing Xion’s words and let her continue speaking.

“Did he?”

“Mhm. He even mentioned over and over again that he’s a little disappointed because you don’t seem to like him anymore, and how adorable you look when you’re angry. Oh, and he even told me something about how sweaty your hands get when he’s dragging you around places, and...about you still being a virgin, I think it was? I think that’s what he said. I’m pretty sure that was the beer speaking, though.” Immediately Xion covered her mouth for a second and looked straight behind Roxas in shock at what she’d said. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said any of that...Oh, gosh.”

The problem was that Roxas had already heard it. All of it. And the other problem was that those words weren’t even bad words. They weren’t vulgar, much less hurtful, but for what ever reason they set Roxas’s insides aflame and made his hair stand on end. His emotions were fluctuating between angry and happy all at once, but ultimately anger won and he found that looking at Xion wasn’t helping, no matter how adorable she looked in that skirt and those long, oversized sleeves. He was beginning to think that that jacket was Axel’s anyway...

The girl seemed to notice the scrambled look on Roxas’s face since she lowered her eyes and tried to snap him out of his train of thought. “Roxas? Are you ok?”

Before she had the chance to apologize again, Roxas had turned on his heel to the right and started walking off toward the stairs. He swore that he could feel heat rising in his ears and exiting like steam. His whole face felt terribly hot and his fingers were literally gripping onto the fabric of his pocket as he approached the first step.

“Just peachy. Catch you later, Xion.” Hopefully by the time they’d meet again, Axel would be brutally maimed.

xxXXxx

“No, and so I told him that there was no way in hell that I was going to dye my hair that color. Not in a million years, are you kidding me? The nerve.”

“Honestly? I think that color would’ve looked nice on you.”

“Oh, what do you know about hair products other than gel? Please.”

“Can you two shut up for a minute? My head’s killin’ me.”

“That’s your own damn fault, you know.”

Roxas found three familiar faces at the end of his long and winding war path in the cafeteria which was right next to the library. Positively fuming, the blonde stopped before he entered the virtually empty room and simply waited by the archway, watching both Demyx and Marluxia chat about hair products while gesticulating like madmen and his target sitting with his head held in both hands like the dejected nimrod that he was.

He couldn’t see Axel’s face very well since his head was turned down toward the silver table, but Roxas could damn well tell that he was positively suffering from a hangover; he didn’t need to see the pink on his face to prove that. Interestingly enough, Roxas was satisfied to see the redhead plastered and caught dead in the middle of a whiny fashion police discussion going on at his table. Hmph. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

With arms crossed, Roxas finally picked up his feet and strolled between the tables toward the one in the middle of the high ceilinged room where his three buddies were seated—Marluxia with his legs crossed atop the bench, Demyx with both feet up on the table, and Axel with his spread under the table. As he came closer he spotted a Styrofoam cup of coffee in front of Axel’s head, but it didn’t look like it was working to alleviate the pain.

Wonderful! Less work for him!

“Oh, Roxas, there you are!” Marluxia greeted the blonde, turning his head and winking up at him as he drew closer. Roxas didn’t bother to look at him and kept his eyes glued on Axel’s head which hadn’t budged even with the mentioning of his friend’s name.

Demyx was about to open his can of soda but instead placed it down on the table as he addressed Roxas as well. “We were just talkin’ ‘bout you.”

“Really,” Roxas said through his teeth, though the two didn’t seem to notice.

Marluxia ran a few fingers through his bangs and jauntily gestured toward Demyx with a flip of his wrist. “Dem-Dem says that he can’t get his hair to stay in a perfect faux hawk all day. I told him to talk to you since you look like the king of spikes and hair styling, hm? ‘Course I could help poor Demyx, but I don’t think he’d appreciate what else I’d do.”

Demyx inched his head away at that. “You’d just turn it pink, I know it.”

“Hm. Y’know what I think you should do?” Roxas grumbled, reaching for Demyx’s soda. Both he and Marluxia eyed him curiously, not moving, and watched with keen interest as Roxas started to shake the can up and down, side to side and even toss it in the air once. When he could feel bubbles from beneath the can, Roxas moved up closer to the table and in one quick movement he popped open the can and immediately the liquid shot out of there like hell, spraying everything in its path—meaning Axel only.

“I heard this method works wonders!”

“ROXAS, WHAT THE FUCK!?” As the soda erupted all over Axel’s head, Roxas heard him cuss wildly and saw his head abruptly shoot up from the table, sending droplets of cola in all directions. Roxas had completely forgotten that Demyx and Marluxia had even been there in the first place and ignored their words of protest as Axel shook his head and frantically looked around before gluing his eyes on him. There. Roxas could see the fire in Axel’s eyes now—he’d been waiting for that look all week. Axel wiped his dripping forehead with the back of his hand before he stood from his seat and started up yelling again.

“What’d you go an’ do that for!?”

Roxas tossed the near empty can on the floor, kicked it toward Axel’s feet under the table, and glared daggers into his friend’s face. “I don’t need to explain why.”

Then, to all their surprise, Axel wiped his face one last time before, with a loud grunt, hopped on top of the table and suddenly lunged toward Roxas almost like an animal would do. Luckily, Roxas managed to maneuver off to the right and avoid getting trampled on or possibly punched in the face. Let’s just say that Axel did not look too happy. Not happy at all. Roxas swore that he could see the droplets of soda evaporating into steam when Axel straightened up and faced Roxas with eyes narrowed and positively brimming with hatred.

“Ya got a three second head start, Roxy.”

Oh...

Oh. Oh. Oh.

Needless to say that Roxas was starting to regret shaking that can, coming to this college or even meeting Axel in the first place as he whipped his body around and dashed toward the nearest outside exit like a bat outta hell. Just as he promised, Axel sped on after his ol’ buddy ol’ pal after the three second count and slammed into the door that Roxas had flung open. After scanning the area left and right and after hearing Marluxia’s loud ‘GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE’ from behind, Axel shot to the left where he spotted Roxas running at top sped toward the gardens.

His hangover was working against him as he ran and tried to pick up speed. Roxas zigzagged through the bushes without a clear sense of where he was really going and leapt over a few potted flowers that the gardener had been working with, but regardless of his poor sense of direction he knew he had to keep going else he wanted to be completely emasculated. A big gust of wind rushed past his face and nearly blinded him when he jumped over another bush and landed on pavement. Panting crazily, he looked over his shoulder and spotted Axel running—rather straight for a drunk guy—right through the foliage, and decided to run head on into the street without bothering to look.

What the heck was he even doing? Something in the back of Roxas’s head told him that this was what he’d been longing for ever since he’d met Axel again—a thrill, a good time, a rush...anything remotely similar to sex, he guessed. That was what he wanted out of Axel, and that was why he was trying his hardest to push his buttons. He wanted Axel to be pissed, to rough house him a little bit, just for the thrill.

And now that Xion had mentioned that Axel found him adorable when he was angry, he figured that he might as well test him. Let’s just see if that’s true, huh?

Did that make him a bad person?

Colors flew and several different smells swirled around Roxas as his run began to slow down considerably. Soon he could no longer feel the pavement below him since his feet had suddenly deteriorated into nothing but jelly. At this rate Axel would catch up to him for sure. Now as to what Axel would do after that, he just didn’t know. Oh, man, this wasn’t smart at all.

Roxas is bad! Roxas is PATHETIC!

“Roxas!” Axel yelled, crossing the street and immediately catching up to the blonde in a huff. Roxas always knew that Axel was a good runner—he rarely tired out even after an entire afternoon of playing Blitzball—so to see him hunched over and gasping for air was weird and if anything out of character. He tried to catch his breath as well while facing with intense anxiousness at Axel’s hunched over self.

“You—you better...tell me what the hell you’re—”

“So tell me I’m—I’m adorable now, Axel! Tell me that!”

“What?”

“She—”

“I guess that’s true, right?”

“Oh, Axel’s just a riot back home.”

“Oh.”

“Shit,” Axel hissed upon hearing his name. Roxas honestly expected them to get caught by a prefect or even an officer for what they’d been doing, but after he heard his name he never in a million years expected to be caught by his own flesh and blood. Nervously he turned his head upward and nearly collapsed when he spotted a familiar head of spiky blonde hair standing behind the square bushes.

“Cloud?” Upon further examination Roxas also noticed a woman standing to Cloud’s right—her brown hair tied in the back and her green, green eyes staring directly at his cousin who looked like he was positively beaming. Who...?

“Mom.”

“Mom?” Roxas asked and immediately Axel turned around to confirm his assumption. Cloud...and Axel’s mom? What the hell were they doing here?

Roxas wanted so badly to just hide himself behind Axel’s body, but knew that would only make him appear foolish, so he remained where he was and watched as the two adults chatted on the street, not once turning their heads or noticing them. Didn’t they see the two of them tiptoeing through the tulips back there? Upon feeling a nudge on his shoulder, Roxas looked up, nearly blinded by the sun in the process, and saw that Axel was facing him directly, his hair soaking wet with soda.

“That your dad?” Axel asked, nonchalantly as if nothing had happened.

Cloud was dressed in his usual black long sleeved shirt, jeans, and brown combat boots. The woman, on the other hand, appeared dressed for some formal occasion in a white sun dress and white high heels, both complimented with her white diamond necklace and earrings.

Roxas shook his head. “No. He’s...my cousin. Cloud.” He paused for a second to motion toward the lady dressed in white who was oddly standing really close to Cloud, close enough to touch, that is. “And...she’s your mom?”

Axel hm’d a reply and, just as mystified as Roxas, stared out at the two of them talking and laughing with each other. From the looks of things they were enjoying each other’s company, and maybe they’d been standing there beside Cloud’s car for hours already. Who knew? While it was nice to see the family again, the thought of them on campus and talking so comfortably was definitely out of the ordinary. For one thing, Cloud was the king, probably the leader of the antisocial club. Axel knew that Aerith was way too preoccupied with work back at the hospital to even look at a stranger outside of her practice.

Both of them turned their heads and faced each other in question, but Axel brought up the verbal statement first, which happened to be painfully similar to what Roxas was thinking.

“I think...your cousin is hittin’ on my mom.”

Roxas could only stare at Axel—watch the cola seep onto his shirt and smell the sweet caramel scent wafting around him—and desperately, desperately wish for a distraction.

OH SHIT. WUT? I SAY, WUT? XO

i dunno. i've been having these weird urges to look at cloud's face lately. i've never really had a total crush on him, but he is pretty, right? so i guess that counts for something. and he's got this...teddy bear-ish side to him that i adore, and on top of that he's quiet and reserved. i'm pretty sure that if i married a guy like cloud i'd get bored with him after a couple of days since he wouldn't talk much. "HONEY, FOR GOODNESS SAKE I HAVE NEEDS -prod prod-." DX ...wow. i'm so drunk.

XD so that was that chapter. i hope it wasn't too long. i like writing out long chapters for this story in particular because there's just...a lot going on and a lot more to get to. axel is such a ho bag, i'm not even kidding. a bag fulla ho, that's what he is. and, dammit, roxas, you have to go and fuck everything up, don't you? stupid rice krispie. OH! i'm going to a convention this weekend!!! HOORAY OMG I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOREVER AND A DAY ONLY A LOT. i'm gonna end up buying another axel action figure ('cause i kinda ripped off a piece of the other one...;;) and possibly cloud, reno, and sephiroth if i'm just that rich in a couple day's time. (likely as not!)

well, catch y'all on the flip side with the next installment! and let's hope that i'm well enough to make the wait short. DX i'm just the epitome of fail. i might as well built a cardboard box city and name it FAIL CITY. i'll be the mayor, ok? 'kay. let's shake on it!

your mom goes to college,
kokoro77