Hey people! Ally here! So, this is my first story and I love Akuroku. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Roxas

It's September, late into the month. School has already begun and summer is starting to fade away and we're bracing for a cold winter, not that it ever snows in Hikari, Japan. As I sit out on the balcony outside my bedroom, I can hear my brother's muffled voice as he talks to some man. I can see them arguing and Cloud seems really upset.

I sigh and close my eyes, leaning my head back against the railing bars. I hear the front door slam shut and then I can faintly hear Cloud ascending the stairs. I reopen my eyes to find him standing inside the sliding glass doors. He smiles faintly at me before he slides open the door and steps outside, sitting down across from me.

"Who was that?" I ask.

He frowns. "Child support worker."

Now it's my turn to frown. "Why can't they just leave us alone?"

Cloud sighs and rubs his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "They still think I can't take care of you and myself Rox."

"Cloud, I can take care of myself. I'm not a little kid anymore, I'm fourteen." I argue.

"I know, but… maybe they're right. Maybe it would be better for you to…"

"Don't even say it!" I snap and interrupt him.

He bites his lip and leans closer, using his arm for support on the opposite side of my legs. "Roxas, believe me, I want us to stick together."

"And you said we would." I say my voice quiet now.

"Yeah, I remember, but things have changed." Cloud continues.

"We have a nice house, we're getting child support, we've both got jobs…"

"That's not the point." He interrupts me. I shut my mouth, clenching my teeth. "I can't send you to college so you can get a good job and be set for life."

"It's important that you go to college right now, I still have time to get a scholarship." I remind him.

He smiles slightly and shakes his head. "I'm supposed to take care of you."

"You are, but you can't do that very well if you can't get a better job." I tease.

He laughs and lightly punches my arm, making me laugh a little as well. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." I tell him.

His smile turns sad and he climbs to his knees to wrap me in a hug. I hug him back and swallow hard to suppress any tears that might come. "You're right; we're going to work everything out. We always have." He says.

We've always had to. Ever since our parents died ten years ago every day has been an uphill battle. If we lose, we're split up, it's as simple as that, and when we're all each other has, that's like losing everything.

School isn't fun. I'm extremely smart for my age and the work is just boring. People are forced to wake up early, work for six hours, and learn things that aren't going to apply to real life. It sounds like a waste of time to me. Only four years of high school before I escape Hikari and start my own life. Zack, my brother's boyfriend, can move in with Cloud because I doubt Cloud will want to sell our beachfront property… Actually, maybe I should stick around to make sure they don't have sex. Yeah, that's probably a good idea.

"Oof!" I crash to the floor as a result of hitting a brick wall while lost in my thoughts. I'm slightly dazed for a moment before I am able to look up, and I see not a brick wall, but a tall boy who makes my breath hitch in my throat.

This guy has insanely spiky red, and not orangey red but blood red hair and deep emerald green eyes with upside down teardrop tattoos underneath them. Like I mentioned, insanely tall, about two heads taller than me (damn being short) and he is muscular, yet thin.

Something starts buzzing in the back of my mind and I freeze. I have a bad feeling about this guy.

"I'm sorry." The redhead says as he extends his hand to help me up.

I hesitate before I take it and let him pull me to my feet. "I'm sorry too. Bye." I say quickly before walking past him and making my way down the hall.

The guy must be new. It would take a blind person not to see him.

Axel

I shake my head and watch as blondie walks off. I had been so distracted with actually watching him that I hadn't noticed when he had walked into me, clearly lost in his thoughts. I can't get him out of my head now; the spiky blonde hair, the cute face, the deep blue eyes that could put the sky and water to shame. He looks like an angel, and I can even feel a light in him, something so strong that I've never felt anything like it before. He's different; he's not a normal human definitely.

I snap out of my thoughts and manage to find my way to the main office, where I get my schedule and the vice principal, Mr. Ansem, volunteers to take me to my first class: English with Mr. Dilan. We get there just after the bell rings to signal the start of school and Mr. Ansem leads me into the classroom, where something tugs at the back of my mind, making me look to the far corner at the back of the room. To my surprise, blondie is sitting there, staring back at me in shock.

"Mr. Dilan," Mr. Ansem's voice interrupts my thoughts, "This is Axel Cinder, he's going to be in your class now."

Mr. Dilan nods and the vice principal leaves. "Axel, can you take the seat at the back next to Roxas Strife?"

I notice blondie tense up and I smile. "Alright Mr. Dilan." I say before I saunter over to the empty desk next to the angelic blonde whose name I now know. I drop myself into the seat and smile at him, offering my hand to shake his. "Nice to formally meet you Roxy."

Roxas frowns and slumps in his desk, folding his arms over his chest. "Don't call me that." He says coldly.

"Roxas!" Mr. Dilan suddenly yells, making Roxas and me jump. "Pay attention."

Roxas nods and then glares at me before he returns his attention to the lesson. I chuckle under my breath. I just know this is going to be great.

"Axey!" My face suddenly becomes squashed against the tiled floor of the cafeteria in Hikari High School and a heavy weight sits on my back as someone has their arms wrapped tightly around my waist in what is supposed to be a hug, or a glomp in this idiot's case.

"Demyx! Get off of me!" I yell, although my voice is muffled by the floor.

"Demyx, stop acting like a child." Another voice chides.

Demyx giggles before he gets to his feet and pulls me up with him. I turn to face my two friends who moved here with me, Demyx, and his boyfriend Zexion. My eyes quickly become sidetracked though when I see Roxas walk into the cafeteria with a group of people. My eyes follow him to the table he sits at with his friends and then, as if sensing my presence, he turns his head to look at me. I look back at Demyx and Zexion, but they've already caught me.

"Who's that?" Demyx asks excitedly.

"The person we came here to find." I say.

Demyx immediately becomes serious and Zexion folds his arms, looking back at Roxas incredulously. "He's just a kid, there's no way…"

"I can sense the light, trust me. This isn't exactly the kind of thing we should be talking about here though so let me introduce you." I smile slyly as I pull my two friends over to Roxas' table.

When Roxas notices that I'm going over to him, he hangs his head slightly like he's trying to hide. This makes it easy for me to walk up behind him and scare him, making him screech and the whole cafeteria silence. Everyone stares at the two of us for a moment before they get back to chatting and eating.

"Hey Roxy!" I say happily.

He pouts and mumbles something incoherent, turning back to his food and forking it. His pout is too damn adorable!

"Roxas, who's this?" A blonde girl asks. She's practically sitting in a ravenette girl's lap, giving me the assumption that they're dating.

Roxas sighs before he turns slightly to face me. "Guys, this is Axel. He's in my English class and he's new here. Axel, these guys are Namine, Xion, Kairi, and Sora."

Roxas only hangs out with one other boy? Interesting.

"Nice to meet you all. These are my friends Demyx and Zexion. We all moved in together." I explain.

"That's cool. Are you all… together, together?" Sora asks.

Demyx laughs. "With Axel? No way! We're just best friends. Zexy and I are together though!" He throws his arms around his boyfriend and nuzzles his neck.

Zexion blushes slightly. "Not in front of the crowd Demy." He hates his nickname, even more so when Demyx or I call him Sexy Zexy.

I plop myself down in next to Roxas at the table and Demyx and Zexion take the seats next to me.

"Just join us won't you?" Roxas mumbles.

I chuckle and he turns to glare at me.

"So, where did you guys move from?" Kairi asks.

"Tokyo area." Demyx replies.

"Oh, I've always wanted to go there, but my parents won't even take me out of the city." Xion says.

"How come?" Zexion asks.

"They say that Hikari is a nice little city where I'll be 'safe'." She answers, making everyone laugh.

I can't help but get a weird vibe from Roxas' friends, and I know that when I feel vibes like this, there's something different about people. I can definitely sense it in them.

"Axel!" Demyx whacks the back of my head, bringing me back to the conversation.

"What did you do that for!" I ask as I rub the back of my head. He had already tackled me to the floor, what else would he do to cause me bodily harm in the next ten minutes?

"Gee, both you and Roxas are so alike it's crazy. You both go off in your own little world half the time." Xion comments.

I notice Roxas blush slightly and I smile. I ruffle his hair, earning a glare from him. "I guess we are."

Roxas

Axel was in not one, but three of my classes! I only get a break from him during my spare second period. By the end of the day, I can't wait to get away from the redhead and I quickly run out the school gates and begin my walk home, sticking my hands in my pockets and turning my I-pod up so it's blasting in my ears.

I keep seeing him; whenever I let my mind wander, he's the thing that appears. I don't know why I'm thinking about him so much. Maybeit'sbecauseyoulikehim!

I shake my head, getting rid of the thought. Shut up stupid voice in my head! I gasp as someone grabs my arm and pulls me back, right before a truck honks as it speeds by. I realise that I nearly walked right into the street and got killed. I'm breathing heavily as I turn back to face my saviour, only to find that it's Axel.

"Gee Roxas! Don't you know to look both ways!" He yells in panic. Wait, why's he panicking? Maybe because I almost died.

"Uh… Axel… Thanks." I say stupidly. He just saved my life and that's all I can say? Youcouldtellhimyoulovehim! Shut up!

I realise that he's still holding onto my arm in an almost bruising grip and I attempt to pull free, only to find that his grip is like a manacle! "Axel, you're kind of hurting me." I say.

He's been off in his own little world and he realises now that his grip on my arm has tightened. He quickly lets go. "Oh, sorry."

I shuffle my feet a little nervously, my mind still ringing and telling me to get away from him while my heart says 'kiss him you fool'.

He finally clears his throat and speaks up. "Do you want me to walk you home in case you decide to walk into anymore busy streets?"

I scoff and turn to walk away. "Goodbye Axel!" I call over my shoulder. I manage to get across the street before I feel something yank one of my headphones away. "Hey!" I turn to find that Axel is listening to my other headphone. He followed me. I frown.

Axel starts bobbing his head to the beat. "Nice taste in music."

I shake my head and start walking again. Axel has to walk next to me to keep the headphones from falling out. "If you follow me home how are you going to get home?" I ask.

"I've been in Hikari for a week now; I think I should know my way around quite well." Axel replies.

"How come you didn't start going to school until today then?"

"I had to get a job first. Plus my brother Reno has the only car so Demyx, Zexion, and I had to wait until he had registered at the university."

"You have an older brother?" I ask, and then I nearly smack myself because I just repeated what he said.

"By one year."

I stop abruptly, making the headphone fall out of Axel's ear as he keeps walking. He stops and turns to face me. "What?" He asks confused.

"How old are you Axel?" I ask.

"Eighteen, why?"

I blink in shock and then shake my head and continue walking. "Fuck."

"Whoa, what's the problem with being eighteen? How old are you?" Axel asks when he catches up to me.

"Fourteen and my brother's going to kill me if I hang out with an eighteen year old. What are you doing in high school anyways?"

"Victory lap. Your brother the overprotective type?"

"Oh and yes." He's the same age as Cloud and I have a crush on him… Wait! I did not think that! I do not have a crush on him!

Axel suddenly smiles suavely and wraps an arm around my shoulders. "I guess I'll have to make a good impression on big bro then."

I feel my face heat up and I push him away. "Yeah, good luck when he's aiming a gun at your chest the second you walk through the door." I say dryly.

"Roxy, I am a natural charmer. Men have no choice but to fall in love with this." He motions to his entire body.

I raise an eyebrow. "Men? And I think a lot of people could resist the 'charm' of an arrogant jerk."

Axel frowns. "Ouch Roxy that hurts, and of course, I'm gay."

"Stop calling me that, seriously." I say, trying to keep annoyance out of my tone.

"Hm, how about Foxy Roxy instead?" He suggests.

I think my face turned about as red as his hair at that. I take off running, which surprises him.

"Roxas! I'm sorry!" Axel calls after me.

I shake my head and keep running. I do not, repeat not, love that arrogant… Wait, why did I just think love instead of like? Damn it!

I'm so glad when I get home and slam the front door shut behind me, because before I walk into the living room Cloud and Zack are luckily detached from each other, although my brother's hair is a little messy… I drop my bag onto the floor and with a sigh; I slide into the chair next to the couch. Out of the corner of my eye, I can feel the two of them staring at me from the couch.

"What?" I ask testily.

"What happened?" Cloud asked.

"Do we need to go beat someone up?" Zack asks, earning himself a whack upside the head from his boyfriend. "Ow!" He rubs the back of his head and tries to kiss Cloud, who dodges and turns back to me.

"Well?" Cloud presses.

I sigh. "We got a new student at the school and he's just kind of annoying me."

"Whoa, wait, did I hear 'he'?" Zack checked.

I freeze and bite my lip, silently begging Cloud not to go commando.

"You know, boys at your age often are perverted and just look for a good lay… Ouch!" Zack cries out as I whack his arm this time.

I grin as I pull back. "This isn't a boy at my age, more at yours Zachary." I nearly slap myself after I say that. Stupid!

"Wait a second, so this boy who I'm going to assume likes you is Zack's age?" Cloud asks. Zack's age meaning just a year older than him.

"No, he's yours." I say quietly.

Cloud sighs and shakes his head, turning to his boyfriend. "See why I can't leave this kid alone? Only a month without me and he's already got a stalker."

"Cloud!" I yell. "Axel isn't a stalker!" I can't believe I'm defending him.

"Ooh, so his name's Axel huh?" Zack asks, leaning closer and making me press back into the chair to get further from him. The ravenette receives another hit to the head courtesy of Cloud.

"Look Roxas, older men aren't as mature as they are often made out to be. Take this idiot I call my boyfriend for example. He's like a puppy that needs to be trained." Cloud explains.

"Cloudy!" Zack pouts.

Cloud smiles and kisses him, making the boy smile again. "That doesn't mean I don't love him though." My brother finishes.

I stare at the two, blinking. "So what does this have to do with me?"

Cloud turns back to me. "I'm just saying that you should be careful. You don't know Axel."

"Yeah. Besides, you're practically jailbait." Zack remarks.

I frown at him. "You suck Zack."

He grins. "No, I blow."

Cloud's face turns beet red and I face palm. How on earth did Zack ever get my brother to go out with him?

So, tell me what you thought. I'll post the second chapter sometime next week so, until then, PEACE OUT!