10A/N: This is the last of the edited content.
Roxas headed towards the back of the restaurant to dump the single glass into one of the cup racks at the wash bin. To say he was agitated would have been an understatement at best, to say he was livid would have even been a stretch. He felt somewhere in between. That girl was seriously starting to piss him off. And yet he had agreed to her conditions. What grave was he digging?
After slamming the glass into the rack he moved to the cash register to pay the minimal amount of her "meal" and then stuffed the remaining bills into his apron to count out later. At least the girl knew how to tip.
Tifa was still at the window with Zack and it made him wonder if Joshua was even paying attention to anything his employees were doing or if he was in the back on his phone playing that bird game. Whatever the case was, it wasn't his business and so he turned and walked back to the front.
Luckily for Tifa, there were no patrons at the bar that had wandered in within the past half hour or so. It seemed the rain kept away most of the sane people and the drunks. Shuffling back up to where Kairi stood, he slid in between her and the seating chart, quickly scratching a line through his name with the marker.
"No way, asshole," She snatched the marker back from him, bumping him to the side with her hip before erasing his name with her finger and rewriting it. He narrowed his eyes at her as he leaned up against the stand. Kairi simply shrugged off his glare and turned to look at him with slight intrigue. "So what was that all about?"
"I ain't exactly sure, to be honest," Roxas replied truthfully, shrugging as he looked down at her. He watched as she crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head in thought. "Don't you start with your crazy theories."
"Oh be quiet," She slapped his arm, before bumping him away from the stand again. "Did you know her?"
He stumbled to stand in the entrance of the restaurant, looking at the torrential downpour outside. He took a moment to kick at the ground while casting the auburn haired girl a few side glances every few moments before finally answering. "I met her a few times."
"She looks a little…Like I think she might even be younger than I am, Roxas…"
"I know."
"You know and you're going out with her anyway?" She asked incredulously.
Roxas turned to look at her, his arms crossed against his chest in a defensive manner. He didn't need her harping over this. He was already beating himself up enough as it was. "I ain't goin' out with her." Kairi shot him a look before rolling her eyes. Roxas decided to let the conversation drop after that.
The rest of the night went by rather uneventfully. Only a few people came in during the storm, and those that did weren't anything special; they were normal customers. Ones who didn't harass him and force him into random outings. And by the end of the night, a pit had settled in his stomach at the mere thought of the coming weekend.
Roxas was prepared to stay in bed all day when Wednesday rolled around. He wasn't about to waste the only day off he had that didn't include a psycho. Well, at least not waste it doing anything productive. With the quilt thrown over one leg and half his body hanging off the bed itself, he was in a dead slumber. That was until Axel burst through the door clapping his hands together and looking around for the teen.
Roxas fumbled out of the bed and onto the cold floor, cursing and quickly pushing himself up and onto his knees as he looked over the bed as his best friend made an entrance into the bedroom.
"D'ya forget?"
"Forget what?"
"Tsk," Axel held up a finger and shook it at him before crossing his arms. "We're goin' fishing."
Roxas groaned and then ran his hand along his bed looking for his phone. Finally finding it jammed under a pillow, he flipped it open, staring at the time in shock. "Axel it's three in the morning."
"Hey fish don't wear watches, pal." Axel tossed a pair of pants in Roxas's direction, hitting the boy square in the face. "Now suit up, we're gonna fry these things up tonight."
Slowly pulling the pants from his face, Roxas pushed himself off the ground and slowly began getting dressed as his friend babbled on about how they were going to cook the fish they hadn't caught. Barely keeping his eyes open, Roxas followed after Axel as the two left the apartment complex. It wasn't long after that Roxas realized that Twilight Town had no place to actually fish at.
"Axel, where th'hell we goin'?" The red head simply waved off his friend's question before turning to face him. The two stared at one another for a few moments before Roxas narrowed his eyes in irritation and growled up at his friend. "Answer me, asshole."
"Alright you caught me. We're not going fishing."
"No shit."
"Just be a good Roxas, and come on." Axel motioned with a wave of his hand before turning away and continuing down the street.
Roxas groaned and shuffled after him once again. The two walked in silence, the only noise being that coming from the buildings they soon became surrounded by. As they got deeper into town, Roxas began regretting allowing his friend to drag him out of bed at three a.m. They were in the business district, and Roxas was pretty damn sure he didn't want to be a part of any business that went on at freakin' three a.m.
The two eventually ended up inside a brick building at the end of a dimly lit hallway. Axel stood at the farthest door, running his hands mindlessly up and down his own arms. Roxas had taken note of his friend's behavior as they approached the building. But it wasn't until his friend spoke that he realize he may have been in over his head.
"You can't tell anyone that we got this shit from here, alright?"
"What are you even talkin' about Axel?" The teen narrowed his eyes, looking up at the older man with an uneasy gaze.
"Just gonna pick up a few oxys, but you can-" Roxas cut him off with a sharp curse.
"Are you serious? I can't afford this shit right now, man, you know that," Axel stared down at his friend with a hurt glance before it changed to that of concern.
"Yeah I know, I don't know I just didn't want to come down here alone," the red head said with a shrug, leaning against the door now. "Go on home, pal, I'll catch you at work tomorrow."
Roxas started up at his friend in gratitude before nodding and exiting the way they came in. He wasn't surprised in the least by the goal of tonight's expedition, but he had hoped Axel would at least be a little more mindful of his situation. He knew though, his friend was under just as much stress as he was. But something told him he didn't really have any idea how much.
Roxas sighed heavily as he laid his head on the counter, his eye lids drooping as he stared at the tall glass. He couldn't believe it was Friday already. Nor could he believe that he didn't have to work, though, he had a strange feeling that Kairi and Tifa were behind that somehow…
"Cheer up Roxas, it won't be that bad." Speak of the devil he growled mentally, lifting his head to stare up at the busty bartender. She was watching him with crossed arms, an amused smirk playing on her lips. He merely grunted in a reply before laying his head back down on the counter. He heard her chuckle before she walked off, leaving him "alone" at the bar amongst the other gathered patrons.
This week had been absolute garbage and tonight he feared would be no different. Whatever it was this girl had planned tonight, he wasn't so sure he wanted to be a part of. Letting out an audible groan, he pressed his forehead against the counter, trying to fight off an impending headache. His body tensed when he felt a sensation at the nape of his neck, relaxing straight after as he heard the voice from across the counter.
Tifa continued to pat the boy on his head as she spoke, "Do you want another strawmanade? Huh? Will that make the little baby feels better?"
He used his own arm to knock the bartender's arm away as he sat up, resting his chin on his palm as he stared at her with a frown. "Sometimes I really dislike you." He watched her eyes light up before she shrugged and turned to walk away again, "Hey, wait, bring me another-"His words died on his tongue as he felt a tap on his shoulder.
He watched from out of the corner of his eye as she slid up on the stool next to him. "Hey, Roxas, you ready to go?" The stalker's -Naminé he mentally corrected himself- chipper voice sent him on edge. Tifa had left him at the bar to flounder.
He couldn't help but let his eyes roam over her body. What the hell is she wearing!? In his mind there was a fine line between dressing inappropriately, and then dressing for going out. He was quite sure she was clearly on one former side of said line. He inwardly choked, looking away from her rising skirt as he turned his head back to look at the bottles and sink that were on the other side of the bar. Never more had he wished for Tifa to be back up here than in that moment.
"Roxas?"
"Y-yeah, les' go." Then again if anyone but Tifa saw him walk out of here with her he'd never hear the end of it. He quickly turned and hopped off the chair, speed walking towards the exit and only praying that she was on his heels. Thank whatever divine entity there was, Kairi wasn't standing at the door.
He didn't slow his pace until they were well down the road from the Tower, and only then did he slow because she asked him to. If she was aware of his desire to leave so quickly she didn't show it, instead she just walked beside him, seemingly oblivious.
"Uh…" He slowed to a stop, turning to look at her with his arms crossed against his chest, "Where are we goin'?"
The girl arched a brow before narrowing her eyes and leaning in towards him. He inwardly panicked as they locked eyes, her stare making him want to find the nearest tree and scale it. "You were the one leading the way, I thought you knew."
He scoffed, turning away from her. Roxas didn't have a response to that, instead he just shrugged and let the silence hang in the air until she sighed and continued walking. He followed suite, mimicking her actions until he was walking alongside her.
"We can't go to Traverse yet, they don't let people in until ten or so." He stared at her incredulously, Traverse? And what kind of place were they going that didn't start business until ten at freakin' night? She seemed to have taken note of the look he was giving her because she frowned in response, "Don't give me that look. I was going to offer you some dinner for helping me out!"
Coughing in response, he remained silent as they continued down the street, the sky finally tinting to a shade of orange as the sun began to lower on the horizon. Roxas however was not intent on watching the sky, he was trying to figure out a way to tell this girl that he didn't want to be seen with her just anywhere. But even when he tried to word it nicely in his head it came out rude no matter what way he went about it. Sighing, he finally responded telling her he had already eaten, thanking her for the offer regardless.
"Oh…" She sounded so disappointed he felt a pang of guilt shoot through him. But he wasn't guilty enough to take back what he said by any means. "Hey I know, how about some ice cream then?" To that he could only nod in affirmation. There was no ways to dodge around that without being a total ass.
She grinned, grabbing his hand and pulling him in the opposite direction of where they had been walking before deciding on where they were going. Roxas did nothing but allow himself to be dragged through Twilight Town towards the one ice cream shop the town had.
They reached the small white building, the girl excitedly leaning against the counter as she stared up at the different flavors. Roxas didn't need to browse any; he knew what he was getting. He was about to give the boy in the window his order when he noted the intent gaze the shop boy had on Naminé's figure. Oblivious or used to it, she continued to mutter to herself about what flavor she was going to get. Roxas's eyebrow twitched in annoyance before clearing his throat to get the guy's attention before telling him what he wanted.
He stuck his hands in his pockets as he turned away from the window and headed to a bench positioned a few feet away from the building. When he sat down, he saw that she had come to a decision and was paying for their treats. He found himself staring once more at her as she stayed with her back to him. He didn't know if he should feel guilty about it or not, but she did have a good figure. And she's probably twelve, you dickhead. Mentally reprimanded long enough to get his train back on track, Roxas turned his attention to his shoes. At least his shoes wouldn't get him in trouble.
"Here you go, sir." He took the blue bar that was inches away from his face from her hand before leaning back and sitting up. Sticking the bar in his mouth, he let out a content humming.
For whatever reason, though he supposed it to be some sort of decency shining through, she decided to stand instead of sitting on the bench. He looked up at her as she licked at the cone of pink ice cream, a rather large dab resting on her tongue before drawing it into her mouth. She squeaked before clenching her eyes shut and lifting her other hand to her head in an attempt to nullify the brain freeze.
He couldn't help but smirk in amusement as he watched her. She shot him a glare when he muttered an insult under his breath but otherwise kept her attention on the cone of ice cream. The silence was welcoming to him at least, it kept his attention off of her, and more so off of things he felt he shouldn't be taking notice of, like how low cut her shirt was. He sighed before shutting his eyes to block out said thoughts.
"What's Sea Salt taste like?" Roxas lazily looked up at her, his mouth still locked onto the bar of ice cream.
With an arched brow, he pulled the ice cream away from his face, "Salt."
"I meant the ice cream, jerk." She raised a hand to wipe some ice cream from her chin before holding out what was left on her nearly empty cone to him. "Can we switch?"
With nearly half of his bar left Roxas felt like he was getting cheated in this deal. He shook his head, making a point to open wide before sticking the ice cream back into his mouth. She in turn glowered at him before she stuck her lip out in a pout. This however didn't have the desired effect on Roxas as he only increased his attempt at inhaling the ice cream.
The girl grumbled before she walked over to the nearest trash bin, tossing the remaining cone and treat in. She cast a glance over her shoulder at him, making sure he was watching before she shuffled back over to where he sat. She stood beside him with her arms crossed; holding her phone in front of her as she scrolled the screen, making, at what Roxas could only assume, an attempt at making him feel bad.
With an audible sigh he took the ice cream out of his mouth, "How have you never had Sea Salt ice cream?" He wasn't so keen on sharing for a number of reasons. One being he didn't want to catch some disease of the mouth and two being he didn't want to share his ice cream. Period.
"Well why would I want salty ice cream? That just sounds, nasty?" She questioned, holding her finger to her chin in a vain attempt at looking cute. At least this is how Roxas took it.
"You soun' nasty," he replied lamely, "you do know you have to use salt to make ice cream in the first place, yeah?" Her eyes widened and she turned to face him fully, "Wow okay…"
"There's no way!"
Roxas pointed his bar of ice cream at her, shaking it slightly as he spoke, "How do you get this far in life without knowing that?" She frowned in response, only causing his amused smirk to grow. "You know, you can have the rest of this if you want it."
She slipped her phone back into her bag before hastily grabbing the bar of ice cream from his outstretched hand. He couldn't help but watch as she brought the bar of ice cream to her mouth. Roxas usually wasn't one to brag, but a lot of his friends had once turned their nose up to the glory that was sea salt ice cream, and ever since he had been converting them slowly one by one. It wasn't like he had invented the flavor himself of course, but he took so much unnecessary pride in someone claiming they liked something he suggested. And he knew she would be no different. He was was waiting for her giddy excitement over the treat when he was shocked by a gagging noise coming from above.
He looked up to see her eyes clenched tight, her tongue out as she tried to wipe the flavor from her taste-buds. Roxas looked on in horror.
"Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick… That was disgusting, Roxas."
"You're insane."
"No," She cringed again as the aftertaste lingered, she hastily handed the stick of ice cream back to the shocked teen before making a disgusted face in his direction. "You're insane for liking that."
Roxas could only glare at her as she continued to bash his favorite frozen treat. He knew he had a reason not to like this girl.
A/N: everything after this is freshy fresh. A lot was changed, some big, some minor.
Tifa is here and shes the true hero also sorry if I spill some Roxiri on the Namixas shit happens.
