Title: Next Life

Rating: T

By: Karesu Gaara Mikosu

Warning: AkuRoku (Axel/Roxas)(m/m) Don't like? Don't read! Flames will be used to cook my ramen.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts II

A/N: This is my second Kingdom Hearts fanfic, so be kind of nice to me on that respect. Reviews are appreciated...

Next Life: Chapter One

All good things must come to an end, that includes the good nights sleep that Axel was having at that very moment. You see the red-heads dreams was concerning him, a flaming sea, and a blonde boy, not to mention that this happened to be the most sleep he had gotten in about a week. So while said person was sleeping peacefully, and about halfway sprawled off his bed, a very loud and annoying sound penetrated room.

"Thank you for tuning into the late show with me, your host, Chris Ryan, and you are listening to 102.1 THE EDGE. Lets start off tonight with a song from Blue October called..." (A/N: This is the rock radio station I listen to in Texas. I forgot if Chris Ryan is one of their DJ's or not.)

A loud groan was heard from our earlier subject of topic as he indeed fell off his bed. A long string of curses left his lips as he sat up and yawned. "Damn it, I have work tonight, new job too, ugh I hate my life." he groaned out and got up, emerald eyes gazing around the floor of his messy apartment. Once he finally threw something on, a pair of tight leather pants and a shirt that rivaled the color of his hair with a black skull on it.

Walking out of his room, still in a bit of that hazy 'just-woke-up-although-I-really-didn't-want-to' state, he came face to face with annoyed blue eyes. Well in actuality said eyes belonged to a person who was across the room, but you get the idea. "Oh, good morning... erm... night, Cloud." he stated with his ever happy grin in place.

"I have asked you once, and I shall ask you again, why do you wake-up at such an un-godly hour to go to work? This job seems to have about the same hours as the last one did." The blonde stated simply to his roommate, staking the many papers that were in front of him.

"And yet my answer stays the same, because any job I can get keeps me off the streets. Working on another case Cloud-the-yet-to-be-rich-but-still-an-oh-so-wonderful-lawyer? You can got get onto me for getting up at said 'un-godly hour' when you work just as late or even later. So who are you up against this time?" Axel responded, then noted the light blush on the others face, causing him smirk, "Squall? Are you serious? Man, I don't think that you will be able to even keep focus with him in the room."

"Shut the hell up, don't you need to get to work Axel?" Cloud growled back annoyed.

"Yeah, you are right I do need to get going, don't want to make a bad first impression. See you later." He said and walked out of their apartment door, down to the parking garage, onto his motorcycle, then out to the streets of New York City.

Somewhere across town

"Stupid late shifts, why do I always get stuck with them?" A very annoyed blonde grumbled to himself as he walked in the general direction of his apartment. "Of course it was 'very important' that Sora got time off today, leaving me with his shift. Hn, and all he is doing is going off to get fucked by Riku, Dammit."

A low rumbling sound alerted said boy, who happened to be named Roxas, of the simple fact he hadn't eaten anything for a while and needed to grab some sort of... something to eat. A sign shown in the distance like a beacon. What it really was though was the sign for a Chinese restaurant that happened to be open late, meaning until about 2 a.m. or so. Roxas sighed happily and entered the door, lightly noticing the bell that rang as he did so.

"Hello and welcome to Suzzy's Chinese Restaurant (A/N: There is an actual Chinese restaurant called that in New York, its just not open that late.) Oh hey Roxas, get stuck with the late shift again?" A girl with hair that matched his sapphire eyes said happily.

"Hey Kare, yeah Sora had some 'pressing' matters to attend to that didn't involve working. My boss knows that I don't have a real life, so I get picked for the job." The blue-eyed-beauty said in a humorless voice, "Well I would like a table please." He stated with a small smile.

"Yeah, you practically don't even need to ask anymore." Responded the bluenett, her violet eyes sparkling as she handed him a menu and gave him a table. The place was deserted, besides one girl siting in the corner reading a book, seeming to be doing some homework. The room was peaceful, some light music played but it was lower then usual, mostly concerning the fact it wasn't as noisy as it normally was. That was the thought anyway, until a loud crash was heard from the kitchen area and heavy cursing in Chinese could be heard.

Stepping out of the doors that led to the kitchen area came a very tall red-head, glaring at whoever was beyond the door, a black apron over his otherwise nice clothing. "Yeah I heard you old man, get the guys order and then clean up." Came the aggravated tone from what appeared to be Roxas waiter. When the other male turned around, Roxas almost gasped as he gazed upon the brightest and vivid green eyes he had ever seen. Although within a few moments of figuring out this guy existed, he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew him somehow.

"So what do you want kid?"

It took Roxas a few moments to realize that he was being spoken at, but quickly cleared his head and placed his order, his stomach groaning after words in approval, and reminding him of his hunger.