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Summers in Twilight Town were always nice; the sun gleaming across the many arrayed buildings, the breeze, the various festivals... But the best part of it for Roxas was having time for him and his friends to just be. Ten months out of the year they were obligated to school and family, but the Summers were theirs. Unfortunately, this would be their last Summer before college, or before training to join their family's business. For Roxas, it meant he would either be off to college himself or he would be joining his brother at the grueling Coliseum.That was still two months away, which gave them ample time to enjoy the last dregs of their childhood. All four fresh from high-schoolers had decided to meet at their former school's flower festival, which turned out to be an excellent choice for distraction from inevitable adulthood, despite how Hayner had groaned that they "only just escaped that place, why are we going back?". There were blooms of nearly every kind sprouting from pots as small as little teacups, to so high the rim reached Roxas's knees. In the front of the school were stalls being run by students offering flower-based merchandise, which Olette was mulling over."Why did you have to pick this place? Didn't we suffer enough?"Despite the cacophonous display of colors and joyful flowers, Hayner remained grumpy. There were even rare Petunias and the Butterbells had been well-kept that year, but he only crossed his arms and scowled."Roxas and I don't mind seeing the flowers. I mean, when will we get the chance again?" Pence interjected with an amused chuckle."It's not the flowers that bother me. Flowers are fine," Hayner huffed. "It's the location.""We get it, Hayner, we won't stay long, since you're being such a sour puss about it," Olette responded as she finally picked a set of barrettes. For five munny each, she bought four daisy hairclips in different colors: in her own hair she put the yellow daisy, and then she carefully put the red daisy onto Pence's headband since clipping his hair might be a little difficult."Thanks, Olette. How's it look?" Pence asked with a grin."Absolutely gorgeous!" Olette replied with a flourish as she then turned to Hayner (green) and Roxas (white, though he would have preferred black); she carefully pinned the daisies into their hair, which Hayner bent down for so she would have an easier time. "Besides, it's my day today and I chose the festival. I want everyone to at least pretend to enjoy themselves, please.""Don't look at me," Roxas said as he tapped the clip to make sure it was secure. "As long as it isn't clothes shopping, I'm fine.""But you like clothes shopping," Olette said with a blink at the blonde."When it's you guys. I hate shopping for myself.""Yeah, that's fair." Olette giggled as she put her wallet away."Anyway," Hayner interrupted as he leaned against a potted tree, "you say that, but when it's my day and I want to do something you always complain."Olette planted her hands on her hips and glared at Hayner. "That's because when it's your day we always do something sportsy, and after about three hours of that I'm pooped! You should pick things that can last the whole day and don't try to kill us."Pence chuckled under his breath as Roxas started to laugh, but then both hid their amusement behind a series of coughs as Hayner turned to glare at them."For me and Rox, those things can last all day," Hayner argued back, which made Roxas wave his hands to frantically say without words "Do not involve me!". "It's not my fault you two are so out of shape.""We aren't out of shape! We're average, which you and Roxas are not," Olette replied firmly. "You two always participate in the Struggle Tournament and are candidates for the Coliseum. How on Gaia do you expect us to keep up? Not all of us are fight obsessed!""And how is that my problem again?""You knucklehead! You're ignoring all the crucial details, and unlike you I at least put up with it for hours before I start to get sick of it. And that's because I'm so exhausted I'm practically falling over. We just arrived and you're already whining like a baby!""That's because I'm not comfortable here!""I'm not comfortable with intensive work-outs, but I still participate! At least deal with it for an hour before you start being so immature!"Roxas took a few cautious steps back and sighed. "And here come the fireworks..." He murmured. It had become routine... Something small would set them off, and then Hayner would be too block-headed about it and Olette was quick to get upset. He sighed as he remembered the days before they argued every five minutes.*****"Oh, come on--don't fight! We came here to have fun right?" Pence began gently as he forced himself between the two warring factions. The more the two spoke, the closer they moved to each other--and the closer they become, the louder they got. Soon, half the crowd at the festival was watching."Of course, if Hayner would loosen up a little." Olette scowled, her voice calmer and arms stiffly crossed."You--!"Before Hayner could spout out something he might regret, Pence held up his hands and inserted more space between them."We're all friends here, are in public, and we don't have many days left before college. Lets just try to have fun, okay?" Pence sighed. "You two have been arguing way too much lately." Pence looked to Hayner first. "You in particular. I know you guys only broke up a few months ago, but we talked about this. You guys said this wouldn't affect things, you promised." Hayner jerked his eyes away. "You broke up amicably, remember? Please, stop."Pence turned to Olette. "You can always object," he reminded. "We agreed at the beginning of the Summer if we had an issue with anyone's plans we would openly object and rethink the plan. We're here because it was a vote of three to one on people wanting to come here. Otherwise, we would have asked you to pick something else. You always have the chance to object to Hayner's plans, and you never do.""I just don't want to get in their way, either," Olette sounded frustrated. "We don't have to spend every day together, I know, but none of us are on the same path come the end of Summer. What if this is it?" Olette tugged on some of her hair. "So, even if it bothers me I just don't.""That doesn't mean you can get mad about it later, though. If it's too much you need to say so. We are all friends and you shouldn't do anything you're uncomfortable with.""I know... I'm sorry. I guess we should just put in the schedule training days..."Pence smiled again. "That sounds like a nice compromise. We can do our own thing on those days. It's not the end of the world, and maybe at the end of the day we can still meet up for dinner or something?"Hayner pushed past Pence and pulled Olette into a quick hug, which was common practice among all four of them but still surprised her enough for her to make a squeak. They hadn't done much affection since they broke up. "... Yeah, you can say no, but I don't have to be ruining anyone's good time. It wasn't just you who wanted to be here, so I'm the only one being crabby about it. If I didn't want to come, I didn't have to."Pence beamed.Olette loosed a breath and returned the hug. "Okay.""I'll force myself to deal with the horrors of," he paused to shudder dramatically, which caused Olette to giggle, "the school... because I at least want to be around you guys, but you don't have to be included in our practice routines. Now that it's getting hotter, we should probably consider doing them later in the day or earlier in the morning or something. That way we only use part of the day to train, or we can shorten them up to train a little every day. I mean, I'm not feeling any better about possibly losing you guys than you are..." Hayner released Olette with a sad smile, before he turned around to address Roxas who had been oddly quiet. "Hey, Rox, why don't we move practice to--Rox?"Hayner released Olette and they took a quick glance around.*****Let the mediator handle it. I'd just make things worse anyway, Roxas thought with an awkward chuckle as he turned away from the argument and quietly jogged around the side of the school building. He figured the arguing would escalate from there, and wasn't inclined to be apart of that nonsense. As much as he loved Olette and Hayner and wanted to help them with their issues, it had gotten to an almost intolerable level, and they would all have to have another sit-down about it when things calmed down. As it stands, Pence may be the only reason they're still friends... I told them trying to date was a bad idea.Roxas decided to walk down the side-walk toward the greenhouses, which were just a short walk past the baseball diamond and beyond a graveled trail of cherry blossom trees. That was where the plants that required more humidity control or couldn't withstand the wind were kept. At the beginning of the trail there were mini water-wheels on each side along a short creek, and a cute bridge acting as the entrance. An archway of vines completed the look, though the area past the trail and around the greenhouses was actually more industrial than fantasy. Anything in the greenhouses was also for sale, and he was considering purchasing a lavender or a Papou fruit tree sapling (it was advertised up front) when all thought and movement paused.The blonde had stopped at the first set of trees to admire how the petals had fallen, turned his gaze up, and saw something rather unusual. It wasn't surprising to see another person on the trail (it was actually more surprising to see only one person versus a crowd), but the man he spied was... odd. He had bright, fiery hair and a thick trench-coat of some sort that appeared to be made of leather; the man wore matching gloves and boots, too. Yes, the weather was a little cooler than it normally would be around this time of year, but that seemed to be far too much coverage. Most that day were wearing flowy garments or bathing suits in shorts. The red-head stood perfectly still as he peered into the trees with his hands at his side and a serious mien upon his (rather handsome) face. The red-head was tall, skinny as a rake, and pale as alabaster. His clothes were darkest black, which was such a contrast to their surroundings of pink, green, and tan gravel that Roxas found himself tilting his head in fascination. Maybe that was also the reason he found it impossible to look away. There was something so off-putting, so abnormal about the red-head... and yet also intriguing. Roxas felt his skin prickle with heat.I wonder what he's staring at, Roxas thought as he took a few careful steps forward, as if approaching a frightened animal. He shook his head when he was finally able to take back control of his body after realizing he was staring. It doesn't matter. He's probably just watching the trees, but... why does he look so serious? Chronic bitch face, maybe?Another breeze floated by and caused the Sakura petals on the ground to fly in circular patterns until it became a tiny, pink tornado. It danced about the redhead for a short moment before falling away, and in its wake there were now petals stuck in the stranger's long hair and wide shoulders. It should have looked ridiculous (well, maybe), but instead it appeared as if the man belonged in a painting. Roxas felt his breathing pick up as his heart began to pound, and a shiver ran the length of his spine. There was a small smile carefully gracing his tanned features without his notice.The tall man at last seemed to sigh or huff as he ran his fingers through his wild hair, which unfortunately dislodged the flowers. He suddenly turned his eyes to Roxas, and this time the blonde was certain his heart might have just stopped. The man's eyes, even from that distance were a vibrant green and sharp; they almost seemed to glow and were distinctly cat-like. He had the look of someone who knew what trouble really meant.Their gazes held for what felt like forever to Roxas before the stranger turned on his heel and finally walked off in the opposite direction. It was depressing to let the moment go, but the red-head was most likely a tourist—a temporary visitor. Still, Roxas berated himself for not at least waving “Hello” or saying something, anything, to grab the red-head's attention.Though, now that the man was gone and his feet no longer felt glued into place, Roxas was comfortable enough to walk up to the same tree the stranger had stared at. He wondered what was worthy of a man like that's time, but at first saw nothing. He leaned against the tree on his tip-toes and turned his head this way and that for something interesting, until...“Oh no...”There, on a branch, was what appeared to be a dead mother bird. Above her was a nest with two newborns crying out for either her or for food, or maybe attention. Roxas didn't know much about birds, but either way the sight caused him to frown. His mood immediately dropped. He lowered himself back to his heels and wondered who he should report the birds to lest the babies died, too.oo00oo00ooIt was late into the afternoon. Roxas met up with his friends at the ice-cream parlor after the festival. To make sure the peace remained, just in case, Pence and Roxas sat between Olette and Hayner with Pence closer to Olette. They each had themselves sea-salt icecream.Roxas was listening to another bad joke Hayner had heard earlier that day, which he laughed at despite how corny it was, and then turned his eyes away to stare intently at his ice cream. He had a dreamy look upon his face as he thought of the simple, though mesmerizing scene from before; it kept playing over and over again in his head like a broken record that couldn't be stopped.A tall, hansom stranger with untamed hair covered in petals, flying gently along a breeze... An ere of mystery behind beautiful eyes of perfect emerald... Even his thoughts seemed far away and slightly broken he was so caught up in the day-dream."Hey Roxas," Pence began as he licked his ice-cream. "You seem a little out of it. What's up?"Roxas jumped as he was addressed, but then turned to look at Pence with his usual small smile. "Oh, just thinking about something I saw earlier.""Oh? What did you see?" Olette asked sweetly. "Is it something interesting for us to do tomorrow? It's your turn coming up.""The fair is almost here," he said simply in the hopes of distracting her."You saw them setting up already?" Olette asked with an eager look upon her face."That can't be right. They start preparations on Monday," Pence said."Oh yeah...""I just commented it was coming soon. I didn't say they were ready or anything yet," Roxas replied with a chuckle. "I'll worry about what we do when my day comes. Pence's is tomorrow." He looked at his tubby friend. "Well?""I kinda wanted to go to the beach," Pence said. "We haven't gone all summer, if you think about it. Except that one time, then Seifer and his cronies chased us off."Roxas nodded. "Sounds like fun.""Only one problem." Hayner finally interjected. "No money. We barely had enough for ice cream.""I have some left from the festival." Olette reached into her pocket and pulled out her hand-sewn wallet. She poured out what coins she had before counting them. "... One-hundred-and-sixty-three. I shouldn't have bought those scones...""Don't worry, Olette," Pence said. "Those scones were tasty." He grinned. "Maybe we can take up those part-time jobs again?"Roxas suddenly felt very disgruntled. "I hate the poster run..." He huffed. "I have to jump across buildings, climb walls--I was almost run over by the street car once!""Well, we can always do something else--like hull trash up that hill." Pence said.Olette made a face. "Ew! Do you remember what happened last time? The bag burst because Hayner hit it too hard when we were trying to get it up the hill!""What about delivering mail?" Roxas suggested suddenly."They wouldn't need all of us for that. There are so few letters to deliver... How about one of us deliver mail, and the rest of us handle the bee situation downtown?" Hayner supplied."I don't think I can handle the stinging," both Olette and Pence said at once."Let Olette handle the mail," Roxas began confidently, before he added, "Hayner, you can handle the bees." Hayner rolled his eyes. "Me and Pence can do the street act and handle the garbage.""I like that idea," Olette said happily. And they all agreed. Tomorrow morning they would handle the jobs, and then by the afternoon would have enough to go to the beach.Roxas nodded in agreement. They all left the shop together a few moments later: Pence walked Olette home from the shop and Hayner lived in a whole other direction, which meant Roxas was left to walk home alone. He moved down the side-walk, which stood beside the street car tracks, over a bridge, then around a curve... suddenly stopping in his tracks as he turned the corner toward home. His bright blue eyes went wide in surprise and recognition. He stared, breath caught in his throat, at the entrance into the next sector. Roxas had to take a moment to remember he couldn't live very long without breathing, and forced himself to remember the basic functions of his body--like blinking and shutting his gaping mouth.Standing there in the near darkness was the man from before; the one he had seen at the flower festival. Roxas stood a good few feet away from him, but began to back up slowly to keep from being noticed too soon. Despite his own mental recriminations (he felt like a creep with the way he just stared at the man), the blonde couldn't seem to help himself and continued to watch what the red-head might do next. He had been certain he'd never see him again. He immediately began to note the redhead's eyes were once again averted upward as he stared intently at something like he had before. Roxas could just make out a slightly crumpled piece of paper in the man's gloved hands--a small spot of white that seemed to glow against the black leather and blue shadows of Twilight Town.The redhead finally looked down after another second or two, which felt like a millennia to Roxas, in order to scribble something down on the paper. He crumpled it further in his fist once he was finished.Roxas tilted his head like before, more curious than the last time he saw the man to see what he was looking at. The sunset stood behind Roxas, which caused his shadow to elongate until it was near the redhead's feet--moving as he moved.
I wonder what he's doing?
The redhead stood there for what seemed like a long while before he looked down at his feet. His own shadow was off to the right, but the one on his left... He trailed his eyes over to where Roxas was peeking, then quirked a brow once he made eye contact.Roxas jumped visibly--surprised to have been caught staring... again. He just smiled and waved as casually as he could, as if he were looking at Hayner or Olette (he would do the French Wave with Pence).The tall man didn't smile or return the greeting. In fact, he didn't show any emotion at all. He just turned and began to walk in the opposite direction away from Roxas like he had before in the gardens. Where he once stood was just that piece of crumbled paper, now smashed into a ball.Roxas had to fight off the pout of disappointment with great effort. His hand stood in the air a moment longer until finally drooping down to his side. He moved toward where the man had stood, since he had to pass by there to get home anyway, and stopped at the piece of paper. He contemplated picking it up and reading it, but that was rude...Then again, the guy did discard it in a very public place, losing all privacy privileges. Not to mention he's probably long gone by now. Roxas reasoned, and then bent down to pick up the paper. He unfolded the scraggly note only to find a mess of drawings and words. It looked like a bunch of scribbles and lines; they read things like "train station A" or had the names of the streets. It appeared to be a map. Roxas looked up in the same direction the man had been peering; the first thing he saw was a sign--a street sign with the bold letters "Market Place Plaza Rd" written on the green background in white. Roxas turned back, noting what seemed to be a new mark with the street sign written on it.Roxas tilted his head curiously, much like a puppy. "He must have been lost." He decided as he folded the paper up neatly and tried to smooth out the terrible wrinkles. "And got frustrated." Roxas chuckled to himself, pocketing the somewhat-a-map. "Most people do."He walked toward home again once the paper was secured away and rubbed at his exposed arms. The air suddenly turned chilly on the way home.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was about noon when Pence and Roxas began to prepare for the local Street Act, which mainly consisted of a Ball Toss and some pin juggling. It was extremely simple, yet it never failed to draw in a crowd. It seemed the tourists of Twilight Town, their best revenue, were easily entertained (as for the locals who always stopped by to watch... it was the only entertainment). As the boys readied themselves behind a velvet rope to keep people at an appropriate distance, a curious crowd began to form.Once they were finished with their preparations, both Pence and Roxas grabbed a stick with the intention of starting the day off with the Ball Toss. Though it was in no way spectacular, the crowd always loved it--especially when they got to join in on the fun. Like usual, it would begin with the boys bouncing the ball on their own (doing a few tricks here and there, like tapping the ball up between their legs or performing flips before knocking the ball high into the air again) and would eventually turn into a game of counting for how long one of the teens could keep the ball in the air without dropping it using only the stick. The ball would also be tossed into the crowd; kid and adult alike were invited to hit the ball back. Everyone counted aloud how many times the ball would jump back into the air. And the more people came to watch, the more the boys got paid.Roxas still remembered the first time they were offered the job years ago as children by the woman who ran the act. She had claimed it was, "A very simple, but cost effective act," and Roxas had not been too convinced that anyone would care to stop and watch, but money was money. He had been good at it, taking the job at least five times every Summer, since he was about ten years old."All right," Roxas said as he tossed the stick confidently into the air once and caught it without effort. "I'll go first. That okay?""Fine by me!" Pence replied cheerfully as he held the ball in his hand. "Tell me when you're ready."Roxas walked out to the middle of the open circle before the crowd. "Okay, throw!"Pence tossed the ball into the air and the crowd immediately started to clap. Some had witnessed the act before and began counting out loud. Among them was a familiar, tall man in a black zip-up coat that reached his ankles. He had his hood up this time, though some of his red hair fell out about his neck. Roxas was too busy concentrating on the ball and what he might do next to notice him.Roxas knocked the ball high into the air from an angle, causing it to spin rapidly as it descended down. He lifted his stick up and used the tip to balance the spinning ball before hitting it back toward the sky again. He did a few more similar tricks, with a spattering of twirls and jumps for flavor, before finally giving it a few tiny hits to calm its rapid jumping so when he tossed it over to the kids lining the area they could hit it back easier. Even the adults seemed excited about hitting the ball, and some carried their kids on their shoulders.Even the red-head got involved. As the ball floated over the crowd, he took the time to gently knock the ball back toward a group of children toward the front of the rope, who bounced it back to Roxas. The blonde caught it easily and began a series of quick taps. The crowd was up in the three-hundreds, but he wasn't really paying attention to the number. Roxas turned to Pence, and as he spoke he had to raise his voice to be heard over the chittering crowd, "Hey! I'm getting thirsty. Wanna trade?"Pence nodded and held his own ball baton at the ready with some mild excitement. He couldn't do the same tricks and acrobatics as Roxas, but he enjoyed playing with the ball all the same--and the crowd never seemed to mind his more simple approach. Pence was better at knocking the ball so high into the air people would begin to worry it might be taken by the wind and disappear, which was thrilling enough. Roxas tossed it over just as Pence hopped the rope, and the raven-haired teen caught it just in time. Roxas limbo-ed beneath the rope instead of hopping over; he was sweating more than he would like to (outside of training) and immediately waltzed past the crowd toward the open slushy stand nearby. He didn't notice, at first, as he was joined by someone else a second after."Hello, Rox! What can I do for you?" The man in the paper hat and colored apron asked Roxas first.Roxas smiled. "Sea-salt, please." "And you?" The man asked cheerfully as he turned to his other customer. "Might I suggest the Brainfreeze? It's a hot, hot day and that jacket looks awfully heavy."Roxas curiously turned his gaze up as he took a seat at the counter, only for his eyes to bug out. He just suppressed a gasp as his body clenched up from surprise. More and more people with that same black coat had been showing up in town, so it really could have been anyone under there, but the red-hair was the next tip-off."Bottled water is all I want."The same jacket, red-hair, the fact he was very tall and skinny... those were just circumstantial things. However, what Roxas would recognize immediately after that is what clenched it for him that this man was the same man he had seen twice now (and what also made the blonde start to wonder if he really was a creep): the red-head's bony hips."Here you go, sir! One cold, bottle of water!"The man took the plastic bottle without so much as a side-glance to Roxas and walked away from the booth after handing over some coins. The man's gait was the final clue, as he had a certain quality to his walk, and Roxas flinched as he realized he was letting him get away. Without a thought to how he had no plan what-so-ever, Roxas called a quick, "I'll be right back!" to the clerk before darting from his seat to follow after the other man. The words "stalker" and "pervert" flittered through his mind as reason slowly crept back into the recesses of his brain, but his body refuses to listen. The stranger had a fast walk, and in no time he was around the corner from the Sandlot. Roxas paused a short distance away as the red-head paused to finally take a swig from his water, which the man drained completely in a matter of seconds. He tossed the remains in a recycle bin.He's probably ridiculously hot in that jacket, Roxas thought as he watched and tried not to be too obvious about his spying not-at-all creepy, casual observing.The stranger seemed to be taking his time observing the street; he looked at all the strange poster advertisements and stains on the walls. It felt like an hour when in actuality it could only have been a minute or so before he stopped peering about at last and began to fumble about inside his sleeve. It seemed he was expected to pull something out as he dug around, and whatever it was he couldn't quite find. He began a more frantic search inside both sleeves, and in every pocket--he even shook his arms out, but nothing. He seemed to growl to himself as he tried again and again without success.Roxas quickly jumped behind some large barrels just outside the local wine brewery that sat between the entertainment district and the Sandlot. He looked around one large barrel, and gently pressed his hands into the wood and steel rim as he studied the other man carefully.
What is he looking for?
"Guess I'll have to draw a new one," the red-head murmured to himself in a deep, highly dissatisfied voice. "The boss is gonna kill me..." His shoulders slumped and he sighed in defeat before he pulled his hood down. His hair, just like before, was a wild array of bright-red spikes that bounced as he shook his head out and fanned himself as best he could.
Draw a new one? Roxas wondered as he tapped his chin in thought.
Roxas was fortunately the type to wear the same trousers without cleaning them for at least a week, so of course he had the same bottoms from yesterday. And he still had the chocolate crispy from last week in there, too. He pulled out the piece of paper he had picked up from yesterday and threw the moldy crispy aside; he then tried to wipe the chocolate off as quickly as he could. Once the paper was relatively clean, he ran up to the stressed out red-head and tapped his high shoulder cautiously.The red-head turned to look over his shoulder down at Roxas with those same sharp eyes from before. He had a dangerous frown on."Can I help you?"Roxas unfolded the paper and smiled as he showed it to him. "You--" He gulped nervously, but maintained his smile. "You dropped this. Um, yesterday night."Two long fingers moved to pull the paper away from Roxas. The same lines and notes were there, somewhat hindered by the crinkled surface, and--he brought the paper close to his face to inspect it. "... Chocolate?"Roxas chuckled nervously. "I forgot I had food in that pocket. Sorry!" He waved a hand awkwardly as a way of saying good bye before turning to leave. He didn't look back lest his cherry-red face be seen as he jogged away. For the first time in his life, Roxas wondered as he fled if his run looked strange (were his legs straight? Did his butt stick out? Was he bending his knees too much/too little?) and if the red-head might be judging him on it, but refused to slow down and ensure a more elegant exit.The redhead quirked a brow as he watched Roxas run off. He shook his head. "Weird kid..."oo00oo00ooRoxas and Pence did their juggling act next, which was a huge hit--especially when Roxas turned around and started catching the pins between his knees and throwing them back over his shoulder to Pence. Afterward was trash duty. First, the trash had to be gathered and then pushed up the hill to the compacting facility. Pence always tired out easily, so after picking the trash up around the court and carrying it to the hill Roxas had told him he could go rest and he'd handle hauling the trash to the compactor. He pushed the cart up the hill with some difficulty--hitting the cart now and then with the available bat to get it moving when it seemed stuck. It was obvious he had done this a few times already with how fluid he moved.*****Pence ran off toward the food court with the intention to get them a pair of smoothies. He passed by a tall man in the thickest, black coat as he passed, but only took a quick glance. It was weird to see, especially given that it was the Summer, but to each their own in his opinion. That, and whatever the new trend involving those coats was seemed to be growing, so it was slowly becoming less strange to see. The oddest thing about this man was how narrow his waist was, especially in comparison to his height. Pence shook his head and hummed to himself as he ran around the corner.*****The man had his hood down and was busy drawing lines again. He paid the chubby teenager no heed, and instead turned his attention to the tight-knight buildings. He came to a stop at the bottom of the trash hill just as Roxas gave a final whack to the cart, and it was finally settled at the top. The man, almost as if Roxas were invisible, made note of the unique streets of the area, the trash compactor, a flash of fire to his left where the garbage was being burned beyond a tall, stone wall, and the leftover carts--skimming over the blonde completely.*****Roxas fell to the ground and waved his hands toward his face while panting to cool down. He had his shirt and jacket off, but less clothes didn't mean much between the heat and heavy labor. His entire body was slick with perspiration. Roxas ran a hand through his sticky hair with a grimace and tried to wipe his chest off, but that only caused rivulets of sweat to pour down to his waist band.Ew, Roxas thought with a cringe. I'm so glad we're done. I might throw myself into the lake... Roxas looked down to his shoes and blinked until his vision straightened; it had grown a little blurry, probably from exhaustion.Roxas stood up as carefully as he could once he thought he had finally caught his breath. He had all the balance of a newborn fawn, however, and the moment he attempted a step on wobbly feet... he went crashing down. If the hill hadn't been quite so vertical he might have been able to catch his balance, or at worst fallen face first into the concrete. It was yet another time when the flash of a thought as to why the dump was built the way it was (in every way, it felt like it was built merely for inconvenience) before panic set in. "Watch out!" Roxas warned as he practically glided head first back down the steep hill, and only just catching the sight of someone at the bottom.*****The red-head looked up into the open garage that led into the town dump, and at least eyed the large bags of rubbish that sat at the top of the hill at its entrance--along with the blonde who was now practically cart-wheeling at him. He only had time enough to sigh in resignation before the blonde skull collided with his stomach, and they both went crumbling down.The redhead grunted as he landed on his back with a new weight on top of him. His head had just managed to miss the ground, though that meant he was bound to have a crick in his neck later. Groaning as he sat up and bringing the blond on top with him, he muttered disdainfully, "Thanks for the warning."*****Roxas rubbed his forehead and quickly looked around. He sighed in relief when no one but them was anywhere near. However, that's about when he noticed just who it was he had landed on. He stared blankly at the tall man at first with his hand paused on his bruised brow--his face quickly turning crimson.It's him! And I'm sitting... I'm sitting...! Roxas's breath caught in his throat with a squeak as he unconsciously touched the other's jacket where his other hand had landed; he noted somewhere in his subconscious that it was leather. Real, matted leather.Roxas was still frozen from shock on top of the redhead, but his face and brain felt as if they had just exploded with pleasure. His legs were curled over the red-head's hips in a way that was almost too perfect."I, um..."The redhead below him quirked a brow. "You what?"Roxas moved to stand up quickly when he realized it was probably impolite to just sit there, but only fell right back down into the man's lap ("Oof!") with a wince. His knee had given a sharp spike of pain."Sorry! Sorry, sorry..." Roxas replied quietly. He tried again, this time without putting a lot of weight on that knee. He stumbled at first, but was able to stand straight without knocking into the man a third time. After, he held a hand out to help the red-head up. "Sorry about that. I should have given myself some time to rest before trying to stand up again. Last time I rolled into a fruit cart." He chuckled, giving his usual (though it was a little crooked this time) smile.The jacketed man took Roxas's hand, stood up, dusted off his coat, and then looked at the paper still clutched in his hand. It was torn slightly. He folded it up instead of crumbling it this time and stuffed it back into his sleeve. "No harm done, I guess."Roxas's knee throbbed, but it didn't feel sprained or broken. He'd just put a wrap on it later--Olette carried tons of medical supplies in her purse (all for good reason. Even Pence would occasionally horse play too hard)."You sure you're okay, er... What's your name?" Roxas asked, both because he wanted to make sure... and because, well, he wanted a name."Three times," was the murmured response as the red-head shook his head. "... the name's Axel."Axel? I like that name."Three times?" Roxas questioned with a tilt of his head. "You know, it's really dangerous around this block. You shouldn't walk around this area if you don't know where things are.""This is the third time I ran into you," Axel explained. "This time being a little more literal." He trailed off, shaking his head again. "I'm trying to figure out where everything is."Roxas seemed embarrassed at that first comment, and then brightened up considerably. "Oh! You're making a map, right?" His eyes widened. Oh no! Now he knows I looked at the paper! What if he thinks I'm too nosy? "A-Anyway, I wouldn't go this way if I were you. The trash compactor is back there and so is the demolish site for the compacted trash. They're having trouble with a bee infestation at the moment."Axel didn't say anything about the map. He just nodded to the warnings, but didn't seem phased at all. "Right." He crossed his arms, "So what were you doing just now? Wouldn't the workers worry about the trash?""Odd jobs. Around here we rely on small shops in the market sector for food, supplies--anything. But all those shops are family-owned, so there are no jobs here besides a bunch of grunt work no one else wants to do." Roxas pointed to the trash bag that was being pulled inside by a worker. "Like that. Me and a friend collected it from the shops. Sometimes we even help with compacting and then destroying it. We also do street performances to bring in tourist crowds for the food court, help get rid of the bees when they come in during summer, deliver mail, set up posters... that kind of stuff.""Sounds like a ball," Axel commented as he looked back up at the hill and then higher toward the sky. The twilight was growing dark. "I should go back."Roxas wanted to ask where Axel was heading, but he kept it to himself. He had been a bit stalker-ish already. He just nodded and walked a few steps over to retrieve his shirt and jacket from where he had left them at the bottom of the hill on a pole. He frowned at the drooping sun as he dressed."Guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow to go to the beach," he murmured before he turned to look at Axel again. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Axel." He said before waving his goodbye like before and jogged back up the hill toward the man waiting to give him his pay.*****Axel didn't say anything or even watch him go--just waved over his shoulder as Roxas ran off. He disappeared around a corner.oo00oo00ooNo matter what fights had gone on throughout the day, no matter what issues were left untouched and therefore still broken, no matter what circumstance that might have befallen the group the end of the day meant the end of all negative matters... at least until tomorrow. As the sun began to twinkle slowly downward in the horizon, Hayner, Roxas, Pence, and Olette were making themselves comfortable as they would at the end of nearly every day at one of their usual spots--this time the top of the clock tower. The top of the tower was especially important for the end-of-the-day cleansing ritual, as it was decidedly the most peaceful and isolated of all places. Though public, no one dared visit the tower but them after the place was declared haunted--and they treated the place almost as if it were a sacred running ground."..." Roxas stared thoughtfully out into their little world of shops and blue lights while the ice cream in his hand melted away without his notice."What'cha thinkin' about?" Pence asked as he licked away at his own sea-salt ice-cream.Roxas jumped as he was suddenly addressed in the quiet. He turned to look at Pence. "Wh-What?"Hayner gave Roxas a frown. "You've been acting weird since yesterday...""Yeah," Olette agreed. "You seem distracted. I mean, your ice-cream is melting all over your hand."Roxas looked down at his ice cream and indeed it had made his hand a complete mess. He quickly switched hands and then flicked the sticky substance into the air, making sure to aim away from the tower."What's up, man?" Hayner asked mid-lick."Well..." Roxas turned a bit pink. "I sorta... met someone.""Really? Who?" Olette asked and kicked her legs out of habit. She licked up more of her ice-cream."Is it someone we might know?" Pence went on.Roxas shook his head. Hayner rolled his eyes as the blonde's face turned even pinker. He then sighed dramatically and hugged Roxas close so that his blonde hair smashed against his chest. "My little baby! Growin' up, discovering men!"Roxas pushed him off and gave Hayner a scowl. His hair was already kind of a mess from the day, but now he was certain it had been totally flattened. "No, you wouldn't. He... Just came into town. His name is Axel.""Is he hot?" Olette giggled as Roxas turned another shade of pink.Roxas looked away from Olette and continued to eat his ice cream as he mumbled, "Maybe..."Olette sat back up and clapped her hands with a smile of delight. "Are you going to try and ask him out?""Don't rush him, Olette." Pence said with a soft laugh. "When you first meet someone you get to know them. You don't want Roxas to scare him away, do you?""Oh, I know!" She sighed. "I'm just really excited for Roxas. He never really crushes on anyone, so..."Roxas finished off what was left of his ice-cream and proceeded to lick his fingers clean. "Well," he said between sucking one finger and the next, "he's really distant. I'm pretty sure I've scared him already.""Maybe he's just not very social," Pence shrugged."He seemed busy all the time, and kind of annoyed. Or maybe bored?" Roxas shook his head. "Well, he was nice enough for sure. He's skinny, really tall... Nice shoulders, tattoos under his eyes, awesome hair--plus a butt that went on for miles." Roxas turned a bright red when he admitted to that last detail.Olette laughed. "Wow, that good looking, huh? So when do we get to meet him?""When you happen to be around when I run into him randomly again," Roxas replied with a nervous chuckle. "I honestly don't know if I'll ever even see him again. It's all been coincidental, honestly.""Aww..." Olette pouted."How many times did you run into him, anyway?" Pence asked as he pocketed the stick from his treat for throwing away later."Hm... About three or four times since yesterday. Well, technically, it has been four times, but the first time we just saw each other and didn't do anything. The second time I waved, but he just walked away. The third time I actually spoke to him and the fourth time I fell on top of him." Roxas nodded to himself in confirmation, as if mentioning falling on top of someone was normal."You fell on him?" Olette giggled. "How was that for your first technical bodily encounter?""Nearly broke my knee; pretty sure he bruised his fine ass. I-I mean--" Roxas coughed."Aww!" Olette cooed. "I'm sorry you got hurt, though. Are you all right now? Was he mad?""I'm fine." Roxas looked out toward the scenery again and took a long breath to calm his cheeks. "No, not mad... He didn't seem to mind me, actually. And he gave out his name freely, even after I landed on him half-nude--""Half-nude?" Hayner asked with a laugh. He playfully added, "and you didn't have a one-off? For shame!""Hayner, you're crazy," Roxas replied quite fondly.Olette only pouted. "Well, you are going to try and talk to him again, right?" She asked eagerly."If I ever see him again..." Roxas murmured.