A/N: I'm back! For a multi-fic! O.o I have had this one started and stuck in my head for a while now. I know that it is kinda pathetically short, but I hope to get the chapters longer again. Maybe. I'm scared that this will end up stealing from Romance of the Two Dancing Girls by Her Sweetness who is my lurver! Miss you Ro-chan! And also afraid that the ending will be stolen from something that dear An-chan wrote. But I shall not, hun. No worries. I won't steal it. Not all. The human auctioning is all I take. Do you remember that, An-chan? XD

My world is upside-down right now, so no more happy stories for a while. Not until Axel gets his rat in a random one-shot. XD

I love you all! I'm glad that so many have stuck with me all this time! Your support keeps me going. hint hint 25 people have me on favourites now. Love you! I am swamped with school and have realized that sickness helps my writing. A lot. So I won't keep you here much longer. Read on, my friends. It only gets better from here.

Must I? It's obvious I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Silly people that are naïve enough to believe that I do.

Hearts. Hearts. Hearts. Why so many Hearts? Hearts. Hearts. Hearts.

What was that? O.o

O.oO.oO.oO.oO.oO.oO.o

The red-head shivered slightly in the chilly dampness of the early summer night, glad that it was no longer spring. He honestly didn't know how much longer his torn, ratty clothes would hold in the heat. The first drop of much-anticipated rain fell, landing on the boy's nose. He used to love the rain, laughing and playing with his brother while getting sopping wet. But he didn't have a brother; not anymore. No more brother. No more father. Never was a mother. No one at all. Just him. Sitting in the downpour.

"Reno ..." his voice was a hushed whisper, lined with misery as tears leaked their way out of his tired, blood-shot emerald eyes. Back pressed against the cool metal of the dumpster, he allowed tears to roll down his face, blending in with the falling rain. He was too tired - too broken - to even crawl around to the back where the cover would have shielded him from the wetness, opting to let the water wash over him, cleansing him of his sorrows.

Axel heard the cars whiz by at the end of the small alley and faintly recalled the days when his father would take him and his brother out for a drive in their fancy, expensive car just to get away from the chaos the world brought. They used to do that a lot, the three of them. But now, he didn't really know how much he would give just to get in a car again. A smirk rippled over his face despite his desperate situation. Screw the car drive! I'm starving!

A grumble from his stomach answered his thoughts as the last few drops fell from the sky as quickly as they had started. Standing, the famished red-head peered in the dumpster that his back had been residing against and noticed with a leap of the heart that there was a Wendy's hamburger wrapper sitting near the top. Snatching it quickly as though a ravage rat would come from the depths and steal his prize, he sighed contently at the prospect of the half of a bacon cheeseburger that remained in the old wrapper. It may not have been much, but it was far better then going hungry. He was used to running on zero, nothing but scraps lining his stomach that protested wildly late at night. Thanking his imagination, the boy thought of the cold, forgotten food as an elegantly roasted ham that his father had just pulled from the oven. Mouth watering, the red-head delved into the stale piece of food that would be his haven for a little while.

"Mmm. It's so good, Reno! I wish you two could be here to taste it. Marvellous job, as always, father."

He could hear Reno's soft chuckle and felt a warm hand resting gently on his shoulder. Spinning around, he let out a sad sigh. He wasn't insane -even though some people would say that he was. He was just a lonely boy with a good imagination. It wasn't his fault. He was only fifteen after all.

-

The older boy pulled impatiently on his brother's hand, dragging him down the sidewalk. Reno grumbled at the fact that he was being treated like a little child - they were only minutes apart!

"Axel? Why the rush? We have another hour before we are supposed to be home."

"But Reeenooo! He is making pizza for us! And we can have a milkshake after! He promised!"

Reno sighed, wondering just how he could possibly be the younger twin - A mix up in birth certificates, maybe? - as his childish elder brother gripped his hand tighter while increasing their pace yet again, this time to a swift jog. Axel was smiling and laughing, his eyes shut off to his surroundings as he ran his way through their world. So it was no wonder that he crashed into a smaller boy with spikes of shocking blonde, knocking the boy back. He fell with a cry of surprised pain onto the pavement as Axel stumbled back into his ten-year-old brother. The blonde boy glared at the two that towered far above him from his spot on the ground, tears welling up in his cerulean orbs. The younger red-head kneeled down to see if his brother had caused the boy any damage. He didn't fully understand the reasoning behind letting such a young child wander around on his own by himself in the first place. Tisk to the parents.

"Looks like he's seven or eight. Poor kid must be lost, Hunh, Axel."

"Get away from my son!" came the hiss of a man's voice from above them. Reno gazed up in surprise at the sound of the cold voice and reeled back in fright against his brother's legs. Axel put his hand down onto the younger boy's spikes for reassurance as the blonde child was pulled to his feet by his father who he bore a striking resemblance to. The man snarled at the two boys as though they were monsters that had come to steal his precious son from his grip. "You are Marluxia's boys, aren't you?"

Axel glared at the man for a second before his eyes traveled down to the sniffling, glaring child. "What's it to you?" he spat out.

"Keep your homosexual filth away from us. That man needs to keep his vermin on a tighter leash."

The older red-head twitched his fingers in his anger as his blood boiled white hott - he may only be ten but he had more intelligence then the average child five years his senior. Reno scrambled to his feet, being pulled back behind Axel defensively. Axel growled, feeling his twin wrap his arms around his stomach, pressing his face into his back. How dare this man speak of his father like that? How dare he have the pure nerve to scare his baby brother so?

"What is that supposed to mean, Strife? You afraid of him just because he is better then you?"

The blonde man smirked at the use of his name in such a harsh tone from such a small child. Reno tightened his grip around Axel's waist, burying his face deeper in the older boy's back. "That proves my point right there. Can't go two minutes without making some sort of scene. That just screams incest!"

Reno was glad he still had a hold of his brother as Axel tried to lunge at the man that was taunting them, snarling like a rabid dog.

"You see, Roxas, why you must never play with strangers?"

"Yes, father."

The little boy was whisked away by his father, sparing the boys one last glance, not mentioning that these were not strangers as Axel continued to fight, tears leaking down his face as he screamed. No one disrespected his father like that and got away with it.

-

"Run, Reno, run!"

-

His eyes shot open in the dreary darkness, blinking a couple of times to get used to the soft ray of light that drifted down past the top of the building. A sigh escaped his lips as he tried to get up, walking over to the opposite side of the alley and down a bit to another dumpster where he relieved himself. He decided blandly that he would go out today. He would see if anyone would take pity on a little boy who look ready to quit. Well, really, he wasn't a little boy anymore. He was alone – independent - even if it wasn't his own choice. His fist slammed against the brick wall at the thought as a hiss issued from him in his anger. He staggered to the end of the alley and shielded his eyes from the bright light that he was now bathed in. I must look truly awful, he thought dully, feeling the grim on his cheeks and face. Glancing up one way, no one was in sight, but up the other direction, Axel could see two red-headed boys running through the bright, murky haze.

A blonde boy stood, watching as they ran and frolicked and Axel had half a mind to think that the boy was staring at him, past the two that were barrelling down the street towards him. The slightly smaller one let out a laugh that sent shivers though Axel's body.

"Come on, Axel! What are you waiting for! Come and catch me!"

A twitch of the legs almost brought Axel out of his safe spot by the edge of his alley.

"But that isn't fair, Reno! You had a head start!"

Axel shook his head and the dream vanished. He moved his eyes up to where the blonde had stood and noticed blue orbs dancing at him out of his daze. He felt an emotion close to hatred boil up in his stomach. A low rumble of a growl pierced the silence as the two gazed at each other, their stares intensifying. The blonde smirked, digging into his pocket before pulling out a wallet. From this wallet, he produced a twenty dollar bill and tossed it into the air, that smirk still taunting the red-head, teasing him to come forward and grab at the money. And so he did. He dashed forward and grabbed at the paper just before it got sullied on the ground. Axel gazed up once again and realized with a stab that his savour had vanished. Checking to see that the paper was real -which it was- he folded it and held it close to his chest, looking everywhere for the blonde. Nowhere was he to be found and so Axel opted to hide back in the safety of his alley, blocking out the world and his lost fantasies.

-

"YOU!" he growled, his voice a harsh whisper as the figure smirked that evil smirk, brandishing the weapon in his face.

"Yes, it is me."

--

TBC

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A/N: gasp who is me? Do you wanna find out? Or are you An-chan and already have a good idea of where this will go? Well, the only way for me to find out is if you review. Flames are gladly excepted. I want to improve any way I can! So, tell me what you thought, okay? Tell me what you think will happen. You never know. I may get to like ya and give you some details. Oh, and Dreamer. I'm still waiting for the thing from three in the morning, hun! XD! Lurve you! After you review, go check out Paradox by Azurela (or any of her others! XD She is amazing!) or Romance of the Two Dancing Girls by Her Sweetness. –heart symbol- They are both amazing!

Thank you!

There's a fire in your eyes and I hope you let it burn into your heart

Tootles;

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