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The Running Sky

By Openly Red

Chapter Eleven:

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Axel woke Roxas up early for school the next day. Apparently he hadn't meant to, but his elbow in Roxas' ribs had done a pretty good job of waking the blond teenager up, and Roxas hadn't really felt like going back to sleep afterwards. So while Axel dozed, Roxas had a shower, brushed his teeth, and tugged hopelessly at his hair that repelled the waters attempted to flatten it, and stood up in messy spikes. He gave up with a groan and got dressed, tugging on his t-shirt roughly.

Axel had shown him how to work the coffee machine yesterday, so when the blond hit the kitchen, he didn't hesitate to push the right buttons to give him coffee. He managed to locate some cereal, and the milk, and he ate while he listened out for Axel to wake up. He looked around, studying the pictures on the walls of the apartment. There were a few of Axel and Reno as children, playing on the beach, grinning with baby Kairi in their arms, and then stuffy and formal photos from their boarding school, Black Pearl Academy. Axel looked hilarious in the high-necked white shirt with black ribbon around the neck, and formal black blazer, while Reno managed to pull off the uniform with a sort of casual cool. It was amusing to look at. When Roxas had finished, and placed everything in the dishwasher, he made his way back to Axel's room, knocking before entering.

Axel was awake, albeit just, propped up against the headboard and blinking dazedly. He frowned at Roxas, opened his mouth, and then closed it again. He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, catching his fingers on tangles in the fiery red locks that had appeared overnight.

"I," Axel's voice cracked, and he took a moment to clear his throat. "I don't have any cuts on my face, do I?" he asked, blinking at Roxas. The blond frowned, and then shook his head. What a weird question to ask. "Awesome..." the redhead trailed off dazedly. He looked at Roxas for a second or two, then blinked and pushed the duvet off himself. "I'm going for a shower..." he muttered, rolling off the bed and padding out of the room, leaving Roxas blinking after him. The blond shook his head, and began picking things up from around the room, shoving them in his hold-all. As he shoved the last balled-up t-shirt in, Axel padded in, his hair still dripping wet, and the towel slung around his waist. Rxoas couldn't stop his face from flushing red, and without saying anything, he left the room quickly, dragging the half-zipped hold-all behind him.

The blond teenager watched the News with little attention, making a cup of coffee and some plain buttered toast for Axel, waiting for the redhead to appear, which he did about 10 minutes later. His hair was scraped back in a low ponytail and perched on his nose were the black thick-rimmed glasses from before. He still looked very sleepy and grunted in appreciation when Roxas pointed to the toast on the counter. After practically inhaling the toast and asking Roxas how long the coffee had been standing, and then drinking that, Axel jerked his head towards the door and they left, dumping Roxas' holdall in the boot of the car.

They didn't stop to pick up Sora – Roxas assumed he was driving in with Riku. They continued straight to the campus, and Axel pulled into his usual parking space with his usual lack of finesse. Roxas winced when the wing mirror of the car next to them just missed theirs. Roxas was going to have to be a contortionist to get out. With a sigh, he pushed the door open as far as it would go without hitting the car next door, and pushed his body out, legs first and carefully manoeuvring his body and head through. He snatched up his bag as his back clicked in protest and shut the door, glaring at Axel over the roof of the car.

"You need to work on your parking." He said and Axel cracked him a grin.

"Talk to me when you drive, Roxie," he said teasingly, joining Roxas at the back of the car. They carefully navigated their way through the car park until they reached the campus pavement. There was an awkward moment where they just looked blankly at each other, and then Axel smiled and patted Roxas on the shoulder.

"See you in homeroom, Rox," he said before turning on his heel and heading into the High School building. Roxas nodded, having momentarily forgotten that the redhead was his homeroom prefect, and then he shook his head and wound his way round the groups of students huddled outside in clusters to the side doors closest to his homeroom.

The second he stepped into the door, the old fire door creaking ominously, the whole room fell silent. Roxas surveyed his fellow classmates, and ducked his head down, looking at the ground as he made his way to the back of the room where Olette, Pence and Hayner were waiting. As he reached the usual spot, Olette stood up and gave him a hug, Hayner clapped him awkwardly on the shoulder and Pence gave a small smile. Roxas sat down heavily and dropped his bag onto the floor, running a hand through his hair.

Axel entered the room with the register with Saix hot on his heels. The redhead had barely managed to slap the slim red book down before the scarred man had snatched it up again. He flicked to the right page and began to call out the names, bending over his desk and ticking off names as he went down. He paused over Roxas' name.

"Roxas Strife," the blue-haired man called and Roxas could see the smirk spread across his face from the back of the room as he called out the affirmative. "Glad you could grace us with your presence, Roxas," came the drawling reply and Roxas felt his face flush. Axel raised an eyebrow in his direction and then went back to following Saix's hand down the register. Saix finished the last tick with a flourish and gave his usual inspirational message for the day.

"Don't injure yourselves today, children," he said solemnly (creeping a few students out) and then he left the room with a curt nod. Axel picked up the register, used it to salute to Roxas and then left the room as well, leaving the class to get their things together and head off to their first class of the day.

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Roxas' last class of the day was his compulsory music class. Though he wouldn't get a grade for the class at the end of the year, the school made a point of making sure every student did an Arts class if they were academically-orientated, or a sport class if they were Arts-orientated to ensure that the students were 'well-rounded'.

The teacher, who introduced herself in the first class of the year as "Giselle" in a high sing song voice, flitted into the class a few minutes late. She gasped overdramatically and fluttered a hand near her chest.

"Deary me, students, I am so very sorry for my lateness!" she gave them all a sickly sweet smile. She adjusted her light pink skirt, and folded her hands neatly in front of her, though there was nothing supporting them. "Today, we shall be learning about..." Roxas tuned out at that point. He glanced around the room at his fellow students – a few were dozing off, some of the girls (and at least two of the boys) were furiously scribbling down notes, and the rest were doing the same as Roxas, staring at various points around the room.

Giselle rambled on for an hour. She sang a few times, high-pitched and pretty, and then the end of class bell rang, and students scrambled to wake up, gather their wits and collect their things. Roxas was one of the first out the door, glancing down the corridor to the Art classroom where Riku, Kairi and Naminé were. The door was still firmly shut. Sora would be in the library, 'studying' or snoozing during his Free period. Roxas had no choice but to wait by the lockers near the Art room, hoping his three friends would be released shortly.

"Hey, blondie," came a sneering voice from down the hallway. Roxas turned his head and instantly wanted to slam his head against the locker behind him. The school bully, Seifer, was eyeing him up like a lion eyes up his prey, and his two friends, Rai and Fuu, were flanking his sides. Roxas groaned in exasperation. "How goes it?" Seifer said, walking towards the blond, his brown trenchcoat swinging with the movement.

Roxas stayed silent. To engage Seifer surely meant certain torture. Or being hit in the face with a basketball. Whichever was more explainable as schoolboy enthusiasm. He avoided the urge to look at the ground, but kept his head held high and his eyesight locked straight ahead. He would not show Seifer any weakness.

Roxas' rivalry with Seifer wasn't really his doing – it was just because he was good friends with Hayner, who was Seifer's main competition in the Islands Struggle battles. Because neither of the blonds would admit defeat, they had formed a sort of deep-set rivalry that apparently would never fade. Roxas, unfortunately, tended to get caught up in the middle of it.

"Waiting for someone, blondie?" Seifer said, slamming a hand onto the locker next to Roxas' temple. Roxas continued to stare straight ahead. "Your fag brother, per chance?" Roxas tensed, part of his brain trying desperately to ignore the insult otherwise Seifer would get what he wanted, the other part screaming at him to defend his brother at all costs. The teenager felt his muscles tremble with the effort of not trying to throttle Seifer. "Y'know, I hear he's had it up the ass from everyone on the Blitzball team. That true, blondie?" the trembling in his muscles intensified. "I also heard that you were involved in this little... gathering, as well,"

"Thats it," Roxas snarled, letting his bookbag drop to the ground as he reached for Seifer. The other blond was too fast though and dodged out the way, letting Fuu and Rai take over. Rai managed to pin one of Roxas' arms behind his back while Fuu had scratched his cheek badly with her sharp nails before the Art room door opened. "

"ROX," Roxas barely registered that his name was being called before Fuu and Rai had let him go and were off down the corridor, scurrying after Seifer who had had a headstart in running away. Roxas winced as a soft hand touched his cheek, blinking open his eyes (which he had screwed shut in his attack) to find Naminé staring at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly, showing him her fingertips, which were stained red. Dammit, Fuu had scratched him so badly he was bleeding. He nodded, his throat dry, and he looked around. Kairi was standing in front of him, her back to him, hands on her hips, staring down the corridor. Riku was at the end, his fists screwed into balls at his sides, his face furious. He whipped around and marched back down the corridor to Roxas, his silver hair seeming to crackle with energy.

"You alright, Rox?" Riku asked when he was close enough to not shout. Roxas nodded, clearing his throat.

"I'm fine. Fuu only managed to scratch me before you guys came out," he explained and Naminé stepped back to let Riku inspect the damage. The silver-haired boy studied his cheek carefully and then nodded once.

"Yeah, it doesn't look too bad. Bleeding a little though..."

"Its fine," Roxas said, shrugging a shoulder. He was hit with the realisation that this was the most he had spoken to Riku since the other boys birthday party. He looked to the floor, somewhat ashamed. Here was Riku, looking ready to murder Seifer the next time he saw him, and Roxas hadn't really had the decency to even be nice to him for the last week or two. The blond felt his face flush with shame.

"C'mon, lets go find Sora," Riku said, slinging an arm around Roxas' shoulders while Kairi picked up his bookbag and threw it over her shoulder. Naminé clasped onto his forearm and the group made their way to the main school doors, where Sora would surely be waiting.

Indeed, the brunette was there already, his eyes widening in shock when he saw the state of Roxas' face. He ran over, barely registering the younger girl he nearly ran over in his haste, and came to a sudden stop right in front of Roxas' face. He touched his twins cheek gently and Roxas hissed. It stung.

"Who did this?" Sora asked, meeting his twins matching eyes with his furious gaze. Roxas shook his head.

"Seifer and his cronies. Its fine, Sora, just a bit sore," the blond tried to soothe his twin, but Sora's face had become stormy. He looked at Riku, long and hard, and Riku nodded once, before they were all interrupted.

"Hey Rox, was wonderin' where you got to-," Axel appeared in the corner of the group, his face cheerful until it settled on Roxas face. Roxas wanted to scream "Its only a scratch!", because in his opinion, everyone was overreacting far too much. But Axel's face had taken on the same stormy quality as Sora's and Roxas was aware that there was no stopping him, either of them, now.

"Who?" Axel hissed and Sora answered him with the short answer Roxas had given him. Axel locked eyes with his twin, nodded to Riku and then turned on his heel. "We'll be right back,"

"AXEL!" Kairi shouted after their retreating backs and Roxas shook off Naminé to run after them, the girls on his heels. They exited the school into the bright sunlight, to see Axel, Riku and Sora heading into the gathered crowd of students, their shoulders tense with purpose. Roxas doubted he could catch up to them but he had to try. He sprinted towards them, pushing past the gathered students, both of the High School and the University, and tried to get to them. He could see Axel's red hair and Riku's silver through the crowd, but Sora was already lost to him.

He entered into a small clearing where he gasped for breath, his eyes scanning the crowds. There, by the old Paopu tree which no longer bore any fruit, was Axel and Riku (with Sora close by, presumably), and Axel was looming over Seifer. Roxas pushed through the crowd once more, and ran into Riku's back, out of breath completely.

"Axel!" he shouted, and the redhead glanced over his shoulder, eyes glinting. Seifer seemed to sense this was his chance, launching his fist at the redheads jaw, but Axel's reactions were too honed and he caught Seifer's fist in his hand before it could touch him. With barely a flick of his wrist, Axel twisted Seifer's arm and the blond looked close to howling in pain. "Axel, let him go. That's enough," Roxas said sternly, brushing past Riku and moving closer to the redhead.

"Yeah, listen to your boyfriend, freak," Seifer spat at Axel, and the redhead twisted his arm again, sharply, and the blond really did howl this time. Then, Axel let him go.

"Not doing this for you, Seifer," Axel said calmly, looking back at Roxas again. "Remember that,". With a huff, Axel turned on his heel and reached for Roxas, slinging an arm around him before leading him away. Roxas was a bit too stunned to shrug him off, but by the time they had reached the girls again, still standing where Roxas had lost them, the blond had shaken himself out of his reverie.

He jerked away from Axel's grasp and fixed the redhead with a furious glare.

"You didn't have to hunt him down," he snapped, and Axel eyed him curiously.

"He attacked you," the redhead said simply. Roxas shook his head, noticing vaguely that Sora and Riku had caught up, their hands linked.

"He didn't. Fuu scratched me while Rai kept me still, and Seifer was halfway down the corridor. Besides, thats not the point. You can't just... go hunting people down when they hurt me!" Roxas tried to explain and Axel shrugged one shoulder.

"Why not?" he asked, and Roxas was ready to tear his hair out.

"Because you just can't, Axel," he said, angry. The other man eyed him slowly and then nodded once.

"Alright... Come on, lets get you moved into my parents," he said and he strode off towards the car, shrugging off the earlier drama instantaneously. Roxas' jaw would've dropped if he hadn't been in a rush to catch up. He clapped Riku quickly on the shoulder, gave Sora a one-armed, rib-crushing hug, grabbed his bag off Kairi and hurried with her and Naminé over to Axel's car. Roxas slid into the passenger seat while the girls climbed into the back, the blond boy thankful that their earlier neighbour had already left so he would've have to dislocate his joints to get in.

They arrived at the Elliots house with no fuss, Axel parking smoothly in the driveway. The redhead grabbed Roxas' holdall before the blond could even get to the boot, and had carried it up to the house without a word. Kairi unlocked the door for them all, and Axel kicked it shut on his way in, Kairi shooting him a glare from her place on the stairs. She and Naminé were going straight to their rooms, it seemed.

"Uh... where will I be?" Roxas asked, and Axel put the holdall down to lift his bookbag over his head. Roxas did the same, placing his bag near the shoe rack.

"My room," Axel explained simply, lifting the holdall again. Roxas followed him up the stairs and down the corridor to Axel's brightly decorated room. Axel stood to the side when they reached the door, gesturing for Roxas to open it, so the blond did, letting them both in before pushing the door to. Axel had put the holdall down by his desk and had slung himself down on the bed, arms crossed behind his head. Roxas perched himself awkwardly on the desk chair.

"Why are you so mad?" he asked before he could stop himself. Axel glanced at him and let out of a huff of air, pushing himself into sitting.

"I'm not angry, Roxie," he said simply, looking out the window. "Look, as I said, I... care about you, a lot, and I'm, as a general rule, not gonna like people who fuck with you. Which is what Seifer did. And, like, I wasn't gonna mess him up bad or anything, I just wanted to scare the little creep, because to be frank, he deserves it. I don't like people... fucking about with whats mine," the redhead finished off, spitting Seifer's name as he spoke. Roxas shook his head.

"Thats just it, Axel," he said and the redhead looked at him. "I'm not yours. Never have been, I'm afraid. So... don't get all creepy possessive again, 'kay?" the teenager said, attempting to be cheerful and upbeat. Axel eyed him suspiciously and then cracked a small smile.

"'Kay,"

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A/N: Once again, I'm sorry this took forever. But now I have a good friend cracking the whip at me for writing, so hopefully these updates should be coming out a lot faster!

Please enjoy!

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