a/n I swear to god I would have started this sooner but my editor and I got distracted while talking about birds. Hatoful Boyfriends is destroying my life and it's only kind of hilarious. I bought this game for shits and giggles and all I got was tears. Someone send help.

Also send help to Roxas this child has no idea what the hell is going on. Only I know what the hell is going on and even that's kind of a stretch.

"Hey, it's time to get up sleepyhead. You can't just lay in bed all day!"

"Wake up!"

"Wake up!"

"Wake up!"

Roxas's eyes flashed open, and he once again momentarily forgot where he was. He looked up into green eyes, and all the memories of the previous day came flushing back into his brain. He groaned and shut his eyes again, rolling onto his side and trying to push Axel away. The older boy was insistent though, and pulled Roxas out of his bed, eventually settling for dragging him across the floor out of his room. Once they passed the door frame, Roxas agreed to stand up, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"There, that wasn't so bad." Axel said, and Roxas looked at him with the slightest hint of annoyance. "Hey, I'm not a morning person either, but I want to eat breakfast before Saix starts doling out Xemnas's orders to us. By that point we just have to leave, so we should fill up while we can." He led the blond to a room with a long table, where most people were already gathered. Marluxia and Larxene were sitting together, as usual, though the pinkette seemed more focused on brushing his own hair than drinking whatever liquid was in the cup in front of him. Vexen, Lexeaus, and Zexion were even eating at this point, likely having woken up early and already finished, and instead the tall brunette was listening to his shorter friends debate the merits of some scientific rambling in the book in front of them. Xigbar was with his two usual friends, Xaldin sitting across from them, scooping eggs off his plate and into his mouth. Axel led Roxas past the table and into the kitchen, where Saix was fixing himself a bowl of cereal.

"Good morning." Axel cheered, reaching up next to the blunette and grabbing to bowls. He showed Roxas the cereals and told him to pick the one he wanted, and began fixing his own bowl, grabbing the milk when Saix was done with it. "How'd ya sleep?"

"Fine." Saix said quickly. "The boss wants you in charge of Roxas's training for today."

"Yeah I know. Can we talk about something other than work? You're so boring in the morning." Axel quipped, causing his companion to roll his eyes.

"Sorry, but some of us like keeping our duties in mind. It just happens to be more exciting than watching over coma victims." Saix scowled. With that he left the room, and Axel frowned, watching him leave. Roxas quietly poured milk in his own bowl and returned the liquid to its spot in the refrigerator.

"What's he angry about?" The blond asked hesitantly after a moment of watching Axel slide off the counter and search for spoons, accepting the one he received.

"He has a stick wedged so far up his ass that I'm pretty sure he can feel it poking his brain." Axel scowled, and Roxas couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle. The redhead sighed and looked down at his food. "He's been weird the past few weeks. We used to be really close, actually. We woke up here together, and I think our lives before here involved each other in somehow, cause there's always been a bond. But...a few weeks ago he went to the boss's office, and when he came back he was just...cold. I'm amazed I was even able to convince him to spend any time keeping me company while I was watching over you."

"Were you two...?"

"Were we what?" Axel asked, before realizing. He blushed a little and laughed. "Oh, you mean together? Me and Saix? No, no of course not. I mean like kind of but no." Roxas cocked his his head, confused, and the redhead sighed. "Saix and I have had a weird relationship since pretty much forever, okay? That's enough said. Now eat up, no one likes soggy rice crispies."

"You will be taking him through the city's underground tunnels." Saix instructed. The two teenagers stood before him, Roxas feeling a bit awkward while Axel nonchalantly crossed his arms, stretching his neck. "Make sure you get him a cloak and that he knows what he's supposed to be doing."

"You got it." Axel nodded, and walked away, the blond tailing him close like a lost puppy. Roxas couldn't help but be nervous. He'd been here for not even two days, and hadn't seen a hint of the outside world. Was the outside world dangerous? And why were they going through underground tunnels? Were the streets covered with horrendous monsters and wild animals that would tear him piece from piece if he even breathed the wrong way. Okay maybe he was overreacting, but his first steps outside were still a nerve-wracking experience, with or without monsters.

Axel wrapped a black cloak over himself, somehow fitting the hood over his gravity-defying locks, and handed one to Roxas.

"Always keep your hood up." He explained as Roxas pulled his own hood up. "If we run into any weirdos, or anyone who knows the boss, we don't want them seeing our faces."

"If he's saving us than why should we worry?" The blond asked.

"Nice people can make some pretty bad enemies." Axel stated simply. "So if we're discovered to be connected, it puts not only him in danger but all of us. You don't want to put everyone in danger right? We don't know what kinds of things other people can do. It's best if they don't even see us to begin with, so honestly do your best just be a shadow in the corner of someone's eye if they happen to catch a glimpse of you at all. Fortunately the tunnels tend to stay pretty empty, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue today." With that he led the younger boy down the hall and up the stairs once again, leaving the building this time.

Roxas looked around to see a far more beautiful setting than he'd expected, based on how the others had described the world. It didn't look like shit at all. There were a few people on the streets, with relatively short orange and yellow buildings, and trolley went along a track, bringing people back and forth across the town. The town itself was surrounded by a wall, and there was a castle in the center of it.

"That's where the king lives." Axel said when he noticed Roxas staring at it. "The boss absolutely hates him. He says that the king is the reason why he lives in an abandoned building, and why all of us had to come into his care in the first place instead of living the normal lives we should have been given."

"So the king is the bad guy..." Roxas said to himself. "Everything looks pretty nice though. It seems like everyone is happy."

"Everyone has different perspectives of the world." The redhead shrugged. "However, I don't like living under the clock tower, and feeling like I have to hide at Home. So, if that's the situation we're in, then there's clearly something wrong. We walk around in the shadows of this world, scavenging from boxes and killing the aggressive animals and king's guards when they get too close, so why shouldn't we feel like the world has gone to shit if this is how we have to survive?"

"You have a fair point." Roxas said, unable to really do anything but agree with the statement. It made at least a little bit of sense. He wouldn't mind being able to hang out up here all the time, but if it would put himself and Axel in danger, then he'd have to wait until Xemnas was able to fix this. He followed Axel through the streets, watching as the other boy expertly weaved his way through ally ways, avoiding any and all people. They came upon a entrance with a set of stairs, and walked down without hesitation.

"These are the underground tunnels." Axel explained, and Roxas looked around. The area was relatively clean and well lit, with stairs to make the whole journey easier. He still couldn't place a real use for its existence, but it was pretty none the less, and held a comfortable atmosphere. It was familiar, but the blond couldn't quite figure out why. It was almost like he'd been there before. "Today, you and I are scavenging. There are boxes around the city in which people will leave belongings, and when no one is around, we go through them to find useful supplies. Also, sometimes candy and other sweets, cause who doesn't want those?"

"Isn't that stealing?" Roxas asked as he followed Axel down one of the tunnels. The redhead shrugged.

"Hey, if you're going to leave your belongings out in boxes because you're going to a restaurant and don't want to have bring it inside, you can't be surprised if something goes missing." He reasoned. "Finder's keepers, loser's weepers. If you're going to weep, then I can't help you." He led Roxas up to a box placed along the wall next to a tunnel exit. "Here's one of them." He bent down and lifted the top. "See, even more reason to take from it. It's not even locked."

"Isn't that because citizens leave their stuff in there?"

"Yeah, to get stolen." Axel snorted, sifting through the box. Roxas shrugged and bent down next to him, joining his search. After pulling out the stuff they wanted, they repeated this action three times. After getting what Axel deemed to be a satisfactory amount of items, the redhead split the items between their bags, and they left the tunnels. Neither of them really wanted to go underground yet, and as there was no real reason to go yet, they stopped inside of a mostly empty store. The only person there was the clerk, who was too interested in his newspaper to notice the two cloaked teens walk in. Axel quickly grabbed a pair of ice cream bars, strawberry for himself and sea salt for Roxas, grimacing a little when the blond gave him his request. They both left and began walking back to the building.

"Hey, who's this?" Roxas asked, looking up a missing person poster plastered on the wall. "And the person next to him. Who are they?"

"Hm? Oh. They're the king's missing son and daughter." Axel said, looking up at the poster as well. "They went missing a while ago and the king ordered that posters of them be placed all over the kingdom."

"Kingdom?"

"Yeah, we're in the capital right now, Twilight Town. There's a few other cities as well, but the kingdom isn't that big." Axel explained. Roxas nodded, but continued to look at the photograph of the girl. Something about those eyes, and the smile, all of it seemed so familiar. He almost got lost in the photo until Axel finally waved a hand in front of his face. "Come on, let's go. Your ice cream is going to melt."

"Right. Sorry." Roxas said, and the pair continued walking to the building. They went inside and walked up an extra set of stairs that led up to the top of the clock tower they lived underneath. They sat in the edge, looking out over the city. They were almost as tall as the castle. "Axel, do you think there's ever going to be a day where we can walk around without the cloaks?"

"Who knows." Axel replied, licking his ice cream. "You shouldn't ask those kinds of questions. You're just going to bum yourself out." Roxas nodded, and looked down at his ice cream, giving it a lick. Sweet and salty, just how he likes it. "How the hell can you stand that stuff?"

"You shouldn't ask those kinds of questions. You're just going to bum yourself out."

"...Touche asshole."

a/n Chapter four DONE. By the way, if you look at cutscenes, Axel does not like sea salt ice cream. HE DOESN'T. FIGHT ME. Also, I don't care what you say, I have no idea why there are just treasure chests everywhere and the only explanation I have is that people put their belongings in there and we are all just stealing. There ya go. Have a good day.