Disclaimer: I own no rights to the Kingdom Hearts franchise, and I wrote this fanfic LOOONG ago, posting it on AFF under the penname "Shwee the Yaoi Fan" and dA under the now-deleted account, "kuroneko52".

Warning: As stated above, this fanfic was posted on TWO DIFFERENT SITES a few years back, but I went through a lot between MSN eating my email after I had torn down my dA account, and I never switched my email on AFF when they overhauled their site. So, if it seems familiar, that's why.

Also I wrote this a few years ago, so the grade is more than a little different from what current readers are used to. XD You've been warned!

Nyaa!

=^-w-^=

Roxas sighed as he waited for the late-night subway. ^The damn thing was supposed to be here five minutes ago!^ he thought, glaring at the clock with such calm ferocity, it was a wonder the thing refrained from melting.

His legs protested at him for continuing to stand, so he walked over to a bench, half-expecting the tram to show up as soon as he'd gotten comfortable. He just hoped he didn't fall asleep – there was no one else on the waiting platform, and it was the first bit of peaceful silence he'd had since moving to the city.

Just as he sat down, he heard two loud voices talking and laughing as they made their way down the steps.

"Man, you're lucky to be alive after that!" the first one said, laughing. "I thought for sure that if Vexen or Saïx didn't, that Xemnas would destroy you on the spot!"

"It's not my fault! I didn't think that it would be too dangerous having a bottle of water near my computer; I always have one and I've never spilt it before!" the second said, almost whining. "You know what? I bet it was Vexen who spilled that water bottle while I was getting that paperwork, dammit! Or Larxene; she's been absolutely pissed at me since the Christmas party last year…"

Roxas sighed, not wanting to hear about the work lives of others after running all over the city looking for a new job, to no success. He fought the urge to glare at the two tall, lanky males who stepped onto the platform and massaged his forehead.

"Hey, looks like we're early!" the first voice's owner said, a red-haired male with a long, black trench that reached his ankles, grayish-black jeans, a white tank top, and kinky boots with soles that were at least an inch tall.

"Yeah…" the other one – a blonde man with a mullet and attire consisting of grungy, torn-looking jeans, graffiti-decorated converse sneakers, a tan, plain blazer and a dingy green T-shirt with an obscure band-logo across the chest – said, turning to look at the clock.

Roxas frowned as he looked down at his own, tired assembly of clothing: a navy blue cutoff shirt, beige pants, sneakers, and his jacket that had a mess of patches sewn on it. It wouldn't bother him if not for the fact that they were, except for another set of clothes at his apartment, his only set of clothes. He really should've thought through ditching his parents' house and lifestyle.

Suddenly there was a loud cry of, "Oh my god, a person!"

"Eh?" Roxas straightened up nervously as they both ran over, plopping down on either side of him. He looked back and forth in confusion.

"So, what's a kid like you doin' out so late?" the redhead asked, ruffling his hair.

"You're not one of those weirdoes who goes around attacking innocent pedestrians late at night, are you?" the other asked, propping his chin on a hand and smiling.

"Um… no?" Roxas replied, now mildly afraid and hoping that these two weren't a set of psychos, or worse… Party junkies.

"Well, that's a relief." the redhead said, kicking back.

"Yup." The one with the mullet nodded, then got a thoughtful look on his face as his blue-green eyes rose to the ceiling. "Would make for an interesting story, though…"

"Don't fret over it too much, Demyx."

^Why are they sitting next to me?^ Roxas thought, mentally panicking; outwardly, however, he just looked like a confused little kid. He gave up looking back and forth between the two and just stared at the concrete floor quietly.

"So, why are you here?" Demyx asked, looking at him.

"I'm waiting for the tram…" Roxas mumbled, already anticipating the actual meaning behind the question.

"Well, dur." the redhead snorted.

"Aw, take it easy on the kid, Axel!" Demyx said before smiling at Roxas. "Obviously! I mean, are you running away from home, or what? You do seem like the type the kids at school would pick on!"

"I don't go to school." Roxas said.

"So you're a high school drop-out?"

"Like us!" Axel interjected cheerfully.

"N-No, I finished high school…" Roxas said defensively, raising his head a bit.

"Wow, really? Did you take a lot of summer classes and correspondence, or what?" Demyx asked, looking confused.

"No… I'm 19…"

"Really?" both males yelled in unison, looking at him with the same, shocked expression.

"Yeah." Inwardly, Roxas sighed, having grown used to this reaction – along with skepticism – many years ago. Still, that didn't keep it from bothering him.

"Man, you're cherub-faced! I want to touch…" Axel said, leaning on Roxas' shoulder and pinching his cheeks.

"Wow, once you realize he's legal, you don't waste any time at all, do you?" Demyx asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're just jealous cuz I have faster reflexes than you." Axel said, sticking his tongue out childishly.

^Wait… these guys are gay?^ Roxas blinked, looking back and forth at them. Despite being bi himself, Roxas wasn't sure what to do with the situation now anymore than he did before.

"So, kid, what's your name?" Demyx asked, smiling brightly.

"R-Roxas…" he replied politely.

"So, Roxas, what're you doing out so late at night? Ya look like a college student… since you're not a high-schooler, anyways… You got some secret job as a stripper in town or something?" Axel asked cheekily, his arms now wrapped around Roxas' shoulders in a hug.

"Naw, he's too quiet to be a stripper or a pole dancer…" Demyx said, poking Roxas' cheek.

Without remembering to stop himself, Roxas sighed and mumbled, "That's what they said, too…"

Both Demyx and Axel went quiet, then broke out laughing. "Well, if you're looking for a job or something, we don't mind helpin' ya." Demyx offered. He then shot a look at Axel before adding, quiet solemn-faced, "And we don't mean making you sleep with anybody."

"Why are you looking at me when you say that?" Axel asked, putting on his best innocent expression.

"Why are you still hugging a random stranger you just met who's 5 years younger than you?" Demyx retorted.

"Cuz he's lettin' me." Axel said bluntly, then smiled at Roxas. "You can sleep with me if you want!"

"Um… No thank you…" Roxas replied.

"Aw, you're no fun." Axel pouted, pulling away to cross his arms and pout.

"Don't mind him, he's just a flamer!" Demyx said, grinning.

"Stop with the play-on-words, would'ja?" Axel snapped, glaring at him. "You're the one with the mullet!"

"Back off my mullet." Demyx said as he flipped Axel off.

"Um… the tram's here…" Roxas said as the tram did, indeed, pull up.

"Hey, great!" Axel said as he and Demyx jumped to their feet, grabbed both of Roxas' arms and ran onto a car.

The train was as empty as the platform had been.

"You know, though…" Demyx said, "If you had any really neat skills, you'd be able to join our work group…"

"Hey, don't even start Dem—"

"Well, I have mad hacking skills. But other than that, nothing really…" Roxas grew quiet when he saw the looks of interest he was getting from the other two. He blinked nervously. "S-Sorry, please forget I said that…" he said. ^Dammit, why do I always say that stuff when I'm nervous?^

"Can you really?" Axel asked, crossing his arms and scratching his chin.

"H-Huh…? Y-You're not cops, are you?"

Demyx laughed and patted Roxas on the shoulder. "Far from it, kid!" he said. "Listen, we may have an opening with someone of your skills. Just meet us back at the stop tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Um… Okay…" Roxas said. He couldn't really refuse; he needed the job, and he was willing to take these two up on their offer despite the possibility that it could be a set-up.

Roxas showed up at the stop from the previous night on the 10 o'clock tram. He looked about nervously, trying to maneuver through the crowd without being crushed by any of the pedestrians who now filled the platform, making it seem infinitely smaller.

A hand reached out from the chaos and grabbed his arm, dragging Roxas over to the less-crowded stairs. He looked up to see it was Axel dragging him out of the subway tunnel.

"Man, I hate how crowded that place is in the mornings." the redhead grumbled when they were up on the sidewalk. He let Roxas' arm go, then continued walking with the shorter blonde in tow. "I'm surprised you didn't have classes or something, kid."

"I'm not going to college…" Roxas said.

"Oh, so you still live with your parents?"

"No, I kinda picked up and ran off…" he replied sheepishly.

"Really?" Axel gave a sigh of relief. "That's good; it'll be easier getting you a job that way."

"O-Okay…" Roxas said, wondering what exactly he was getting himself into.

They walked up to a big skyscraper, which had people coming in and going out. They all looked pretty normal, for the most part, but there was something monotonous about it.

Inside, the building had nothing but white walls, ceilings and floors. No sooner had they entered, when Axel pulled Roxas onto an elevator and pressed for the top floor.

Roxas sighed, then looked at Axel anxiously. The redhead just smiled. "Don't worry, you'll be fine!" he said reassuringly. "I already told my boss about your special skill, so all you'll need to do is take a little test."

"What kinda test?" Roxas asked.

"I'm not really sure. Mine was getting rid of some… evidence." Axel smiled grimly.

"Okay…?" Roxas fell silent as the elevator door opened.

There was a man sitting at a large desk, wearing a clean, dark blue business suit. He looked up at the two as they walked over, Roxas feeling like he should be running the other way.

^Bah! I'm just being paranoid, that's all…^ he told himself as Axel introduced the two.

"Superior, this is Roxas, the kid I was telling you about. Roxas, this is Xemnas, my boss." Axel said, picking up quite the formal tone.

"H-Hello." Roxas said, bowing his head slightly.

Xemnas looked at him lazily, then stood and walked over to a door. "This way." was all he said while leading them inside another room.

Roxas followed behind nervously, unconsciously reaching out and grabbing Axel's sleeve for some small level of support as they walked into a room filled with computer screens.

Xemnas gestured to the screens. "Erase all of this evidence in a way that the FBI won't be able to track. I don't care if Axel stays in here with you; he has no computer literacy whatsoever." he said, turning on his heel and leaving.

Axel looked down when Roxas gave a sigh of relief. "From the looks of your boss, I thought this would be hard…"

=^-w-^=

Just a little FYI, because I didn't state it earlier: This is yaoi. That means a homosexual relationship between two men, for those of you who don't know. Slash. That kinda stuff. And, yes, there are sex scenes in this, hence the rating. You've been warned, albeit a little late.

Just a friendly heads-up.

Nyaa.