Twilight Town had sunrises like nowhere else in the world. Some atmospheric anomaly produced orange and pink glows that bathed the town in what many poets had referred to as warmth. While most sunrises in the world are, in fact, warm in color, Twilight Town was especially noted for its beautiful skies and warm hues. The clouds in the sky were always rotund and full, and as the sun rose, they too turned rosy and warm. Birds would begin chirping, and the oranges would fade to yellow, and by nine or ten in the morning (sunrises in Twilight Town were, as was previously mentioned, an atmospheric anomaly), the sky would be nearing a normal blue.

In fact, maybe the only thing more beautiful than its sunrises, were Twilight Town's sunsets. As the very creative founders of the town debated on a name, arguing about location and topographic elements, the sun began to set. They were oh so stunned by this, that they immediately agreed on Twilight Town. Or The Twilight Town as it had originally been, but articles fell out of fashion over time, and the name was shortened. That's at least what the legend says.

Sunsets in Twilight Town had the reds and oranges, but they didn't last as long as the blues and the purples. The sky became a water color portrait of darkening tones. Clouds faded into the background as the town was engulfed by bright blues and violets that revealed twinkling stars as the night drew closer.

Roxas hated the sunrise.

Roxas hated the sunset.

Roxas could probably say he hated the sky, but he thought vocalizing that might actually worry someone.

He had lived in Twilight Town for nearly his whole life, when he was kid he had lived far away in a place called Destiny Islands, and he hated the sky there too. Roxas had never been very outdoorsy.

On one very specific day in late August, Roxas was looking out his window, glaring at the clouds. The sun was beginning to threaten its departure, a hint of orange tinted the horizon. He pulled his curtains closed, shook his head in annoyance, and exited his room. He lived on the top floor of their three-story house with his twin brother, Sora. Houses in Twilight Town were packed together, built like the brownstones that were famous in many cities, but in his town, they were made from some charming stone that reflected the oranges and blues of the sky, intensifying the glorious atmosphere around them. Tourists called it amazing, Roxas called it annoying.

He trudged down the wood stairs, still feeling a little miffed. He reminded himself, although perhaps he was trying to convince himself, that he wasn't always so angry, not even about the sun, but school was starting soon and his parents were away until September. Roxas didn't like stress much either.

He heard footsteps below him, and upon realizing that Sora was home, and was probably not alone, he turned around and walked back up to his room.

Roxas wasn't very social.

"Rox!" He heard his brother call up to him. He didn't respond. "Roxas!" Sora called again, and he rolled his eyes and laid down on his bed. A minute later the brunette boy was in his room, wearing his trademark smile. "Roxas, why're you being like this? I know you're not asleep yet. Roxas!" He turned to look at his brother, Sora's grin faded, his blue eyes feigned hurt, albeit convincingly.

"What." His blue eyes, which were coincidentally identical to Sora's, narrowed slightly.

"Why're you so moody today, Rox? I was gonna invite you out with Riku and Kairi and me!"

"No."

"Roxas! C'mon, you haven't been out in forever!"

"That's not true, I was out with Hayner last night." Hayner was Roxas's best friend. Him, and his other two friends, Pence and Olette, were the only people with whom Roxas tried to socialize. Roxas really didn't like to socialize.

"That doesn't count," Sora whined, "I miss you! Just come have fun with us tonight, I'll buy you some sea salt ice cream." He wiggled his eyebrows at his twin, whose eyes lit up very slightly. Roxas did happen to like sea salt ice cream.

"What're you planning on doing?" He sat up and tousled his blonde hair, not helping the perpetual bed head with which both he and his brother were plagued.

"We were just gonna go for a walk, talk, maybe get something to eat, like sea salt ice cream." He smiled again. Roxas was aware that Sora knew his weak points better than the blonde did himself.

"When?"

"Now."

Roxas glared again. "I'm not even dressed to go out." He had a point, he was wearing boxers and a wrinkled t-shirt, and his blonde hair was looking especially messy.

"So get ready really fast! I believe in you!" Sora said as he ran out of the room. Roxas sighed, he couldn't really argue with his brother, he had been more antisocial than he usually was (if antisocial tendencies were measurable), and sea salt ice cream was a decent enough reward for an hour or two of walking around.

He walked over to his mirror, and looked at himself. He was pale, paler than Sora, but he had the same face. His eyes were a warm blue, but not as shiny or pretty as his brother's. Both twins were on the short and skinny side, with relatively plump faces, but Sora wore it better. His hair was blonde and messy, Sora's was nicely brown and soft. Maybe Roxas had an inferiority complex about his brother. Who knew.

He smoothed his hair out, improving its shape slightly, and took his shirt off. After finding a clean t-shirt, a plain white one, he looked at his hair again. Replacing his shirt had messed it up. He sighed and found a pair of jeans. After he had dressed himself sufficiently, he tried to smooth his hair again, but decided it was a lost cause. Roxas didn't like his hair.

He walked down the stairs slowly, sighing at every step. The sunset would be in full bloom by the time they found Riku and Kairi. He walked into his kitchen, pulled on his jacket, which had been sitting on a chair, and found his shoes.

"Rox! You're coming! I'm so glad!" Sora was always so energetic, and Roxas didn't understand why.

"Yeah, but you owe me my ice cream." Roxas said, realizing he sounded more demanding than he had meant to.

They walked down the last set of stairs in their house, which brought them to the outside world. Roxas looked up, and glared. The sun was hitting its first stage of orange orange, and the clouds were beginning to light up. Sora giggled, Roxas turned his glare to his brother, who thought his quirks were funny.

They continued down the road outside their house, walking towards a nearby park. They walked towards the entrance, and followed one of the few paths available to them. Ahead was a silver haired boy, sitting on a bench, playing on his phone. Sora jogged towards him, that silverette was Riku. Sora's dearest friend. He had lived on Destiny Islands at one point too, and so had Kairi. Their parents had all worked for the same company, and when it was bought by a larger firm, their choice was to move, or to lose their jobs. Sora had been lucky, his friends had been a part of his move. Roxas hadn't had as many close friends, but none of their parents chose to move, so he had to start all over.

That had been when he was 7, but he was still jealous that his brother had all the good luck. There was that complex again.

"Hey, Roxas, wait up!" He heard a loud, feminine voice call after him. He turned around and there was the aforementioned Kairi, a petite girl with dark red hair, and dark blue eyes. She smiled at him, " what's up slowpoke, why are you so far behind Sora?"

"He ran off to see Riku." Roxas looked at her blankly, he didn't care much for Kairi.

"Ah, how sweet, he must miss his little boyfriend after a day of being apart." She giggled. Roxas rolled his eyes. Sora was very close to Riku, it probably stemmed from the move. Riku was his security blanket, and everyone knew Kairi was just a teeny tiny bit jealous.

"Guys! C'mon!" Sora called to them, and Kairi picked up her pace, but Roxas refused to move faster than he had been. Roxas didn't really like moving either.

They spent that evening wandering around the town, eating sea salt ice cream (except Riku, he never could get used to its taste), and talking.

Roxas didn't do much of the talking, he always felt disconnected from Sora's friends, so he followed them, happily, in his sense of the word, eating his ice cream, and listening.

A few hours later, they were walking back to the park, the sun had set, and the sky was dark. Roxas was still trailing behind, this time looking at his phone, hoping Hayner or Pence would have texted him about some late night mischief. There were no new messages, so Roxas trudged on.

At the park, Sora said his goodbyes to his friends, and he and Roxas walked towards their house.

"Hey Rox, is something up? You seem... moodier than usual." Sora looked at him, finally asking the question that Roxas knew had been on everyone's mind.

"I'm fine, So." He looked back at his brother, face blank and eyes dull. Truth was, he couldn't articulate why he was so upset. He was bored, he was tired, but he was also restless. He'd chocked it up to hormones and teenage angst, and he was satisfied with that assessment.

"Okay, but just know I'm here for you, little bro!" Sora tried to pull him into a friendly headlock, which Roxas dodged and kept walking.

"I'm not your little brother. I'm seven minutes older than you."

The next morning, Roxas woke up after the sun had risen. He hadn't gone to bed until two or three the night before, and it was only eight. He rubbed his eyes and arched his back. He wasn't a big sleeper either. He crawled out of his bed, rolling onto the ground like a child, and laying there, half wrapped in his blankets still. He closed his eyes again, and sighed. School began in three days, and Roxas hadn't even checked his schedule. He groaned and opened his eyes. Above him was another blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy.

"Cloud!" Roxas was startled, he hadn't heard his older brother walk in to his room.

"Yeah." His brother replied, staring down at his brother with a very slight hint of amusement. "Are you going to get up? Or are you going to stay here and look like the baby that you are." Roxas glared at his brother, Cloud had always taken care of him, and Sora insisted that Roxas was basically a smaller version of his brother. He scrambled to his feet, feeling a little ridiculous now that Cloud had pointed it out.

"So, Cloud, why're you here?" His brother was supposed to be off at the University of Hollow Bastion, in Radiant Garden, a city about an hour away from Twilight Town.

"School hasn't started yet. Figured I'd check up on you and So, seeing that mom and dad abandoned you for that trip." Cloud smiled at his brother. He didn't smile often, but he had a weak spot for his moody brother.

"They didn't abandon us, dumbass. They had to go." Roxas glared. He liked his brother, but he didn't like smiling.

"Dad had to, mom chose to."

"I like being alone Cloud. And Sora has Riku to take care of him. We're 16, we don't need them to baby us anymore. And we don't need you either."

"Don't say that, you know you miss having your family around." Cloud shook his head, and walked towards the hall. "I'm gonna wake Sora now, so get started on breakfast."

Roxas rolled his eyes and walked down to the kitchen. It was nice seeing Cloud, but breakfast for both Sora and the other blonde would be torture. Cloud ate food like a vacuum sucked dirt, and Sora was the same. He shuffled to the fridge, and looked at what they had to make. There was bacon, but not nearly enough to feed the three of them. They had some bread, so toast was an option. There wasn't much else, and he hadn't realized they were so out of food. Roxas wasn't the most observant teenager, and since his parents had been gone, he had taken to ordering fast food and take out. He closed the fridge and turned around. Behind him was a strange brunette man, staring down at him, holding a couple plastic bags. What was most striking about him, however, was the scar running between his eyes. Roxas screamed.

The man looked somewhat startled, but his expression hardly changed. Roxas backed up into a corner, felt his pocket for his phone, realized he didn't have it, then yelled out, "Cloud!" He cowered a little further into his corner as the man approached. "Cloud there is a strange man here, please come save me!" Roxas was getting emotional, he didn't like people, especially strangers. He also didn't like home invasions, but he figured that was common sense, not him being moody.

"Kid, I'm not a strange man." The guy started, putting his bags onto the table. "I'm Cloud's roommate from college, Leon?" He looked at Roxas like he should know who that is, but Roxas just glared up at him.

"Why should I believe that?" Roxas was still in his corner, looking around for some weapon, where were the kitchen knives when you needed them?!

"Why shouldn't you? I brought you food, and looking at your kitchen," he opened the refrigerator door and quickly examined its contents, "Cloud was right when he said you'd need it." Roxas blinked up at the man, relaxing just slightly. If the man was trying to kill him, he might have tried to stop Roxas from screaming earlier, and he didn't seem like he wanted to steal anything, but Roxas remained wary. He still didn't like strangers.

Sora came rushing down the stairs seconds later, followed by Cloud.

"Rox, what was that screaming about?" Cloud looked at his brother, who was still cowering to an extent in his safe corner. Then he looked at the man, Leon, "oh, shit. Yeah. That's Leon. He's my friend from school. Sorry I didn't mention that he was coming with me." Cloud looked amused. Roxas glared back at him.

"Probably should have mentioned that." Roxas said, getting up, eyeing Leon angrily.

There was an awkward pause, Roxas glaring at both his brother and the stranger, Cloud unpacking some groceries, and Leon looking very uncomfortable. Sora jumped up and began to talk, "oh, hi Leon! I'm Sora, Cloud's other brother." He tried, trying to prevent awkward silences and glares that Roxas and the new man would have shared

"Hey, nice to meet you." Leon responded, relaxing a little as well.

"So Rox, you gonna help make breakfast, or just stand there?" Cloud looked over at the other blonde, who just grumbled and walked out of the room. He stood in the hall, listening to what his brothers had to say. Roxas was curious about Cloud's visit, but he didn't need them to know that

"He's not a morning person." Sora tried to explain. Cloud nodded in agreement, and began to heat up their stove. "So, Cloud, why are you here?" Cloud hadn't gotten a chance to explain his visit properly to either brother.

"Just felt like showing up, Leon wanted to see Twilight Town, so I figured I'd show him." Cloud said while he cooked, beating some eggs together.

Roxas rolled his eyes, tourists, he thought, all they care about are the goddamn sunsets.

"Oh, that's cool. When does Hollow Bastion start again?" Sora looked at Leon this time, trying to be a gracious host.

"Oh, uh, mid-September." Leon's answer sounded gruffer than he had meant. He wasn't the most gracious guest. Roxas sighed quietly, and and finished the walk to his room

"That's cool, we start school really soon, so you two are gonna have to find other entertainment." Sora said with a wink, and excused himself to find Roxas.

Roxas was back in his room, laying on his bed and staring at his ceiling. He wanted to go back to sleep, but he couldn't. He rolled over and stared out his window. There were people outside, taking strolls and basking in the nice summer weather. He rolled away, watching people enjoy themselves made him angry. He wriggled a little bit more, and was back to staring at his ceiling.

"Rox, wanna come down?" Sora asked before walking into his brother's room, Roxas was easy to sneak up on, and Sora hadn't wanted to sneak up on him. Roxas thanked him silently for that piece of common sense.

"No. Not hungry" Roxas turned to the window again.

"Alright, but I think Cloud's gonna be disappointed if you sulk in your room all day." Sora looked at his feet. Roxas was being moody again.

"So, I don't care. Let him be disappointed. I'm tired." Roxas turned to lay on his face, the people outside his window were bothering him again.

Sora turned to leave, but as he opened the door, Cloud walked in, silently. He strolled over to Roxas's bed and hoisted him up over his shoulder. Roxas cried in protest, kicked his brother's chest a little, and squirmed as much as he could. But, alas, it was no use, the larger blonde was also the stronger blonde.

"You're gonna come eat with us, and you're gonna like it." Cloud grunted as he got to the stairs. Sora smiled and followed them down.

Back in the kitchen, once everyone was settled, and Roxas was trapped between Cloud and Sora at the table, their meal began. It was not unlike many other meals they had shared as brothers, piles of food, Sora talking more than anyone else, and Roxas sulking in a corner. This time was slightly different, as Leon was seated across from the brothers. Roxas didn't like guests, and glared at his brother's friend throughout the meal. He was still upset over the home invasion.

"Sora, Roxas, you two are juniors, right?" Leon asked, trying to break the ice.

"Mhm, I know we don't look it, but we're finally upperclassmen!" Sora responded, his eyes glowing with unnecessary pride.

"That's nice." Leon replied. He wasn't a conversationalist.

"So what're you studying over at Hollow Bastion?" Sora asked, genuinely interested in his brother's friend.

"Uh, engineering." Leon said. "Chemical engineering."

"Wow, that's so cool. You must be, like, super smart then, right?" Sora grinned. "I'll bet I'll be real bad at chemistry, maybe you could help me sometime! Cloud's no good at science either, and Roxas is mean and won't to help me with anything." Sora chirped. Leon looked over at the other twin, who was busy eating his food and didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation.

"Yeah, sure, if Cloud brings me back to visit, I'll try and help you." Leon said, and looked down at his food and began to eat. Talking to people was tiring.

Sora spent the rest of the meal chattering on about how excited he was for school to start, how unfair it was that Riku was a senior and he wasn't, and anything else that he could think of. Roxas spent the meal eating in silence, checking his phone occasionally for a text from Hayner. Cloud and Leon listened to Sora talk, and found themselves more amused by him than they should have.

As soon as Roxas had finished eating, he stood up, looked at Sora (who was blocking his path to freedom), and asked him very politely to move, "move." Sora stood up and Roxas walked back up to his room.

Everyone else at the table just blinked at his exit, and Cloud asked, "since when has he been this upset?" Sora sighed and shook his head.

About an hour later, Roxas's salvation had come. Hayner had texted him.

Yo, you up?

Mhm. Sup? Roxas responded. He did, in fact, enjoy texting. It kept people from talking to him.

Olette and I were gonna go get Pence out of the house, it's been a week since he's left and we're worried. Roxas smiled, Pence had just gotten a new PC, and was probably holed up in his room playing MMORPGs and talking to Koreans on the internet.

I'll be out in 15. Roxas was planning on skipping a shower, he was lazy, but he had to make sure his hair was behaving itself. He probably also needed to get dressed. He looked in the mirror, and discovered that no, his hair was not behaving itself, and he mashed it down, too frustrated to do anything to it. It bounced back to place, and he gave up. Roxas didn't have much patience.

Roxas pulled on the first clothes he could find, and looked at himself once more. Why does Sora get all the good genes? He looked at himself, the black shirt he had on made him look even whiter than he already was.

He proceeded to walk down the stairs, Cloud and Leon were still in the kitchen, and as far as Roxas could tell, they weren't talking, just sitting. Even for him that was weird. He continued down the stairs and found his shoes. With a slight skip in his step, he left his house.

He walked down the road, but barely had gone 20 yards when he saw the familiar dark blonde hair of his best friend. Hayner smiled and walked towards Roxas. His brown eyes were shining, and his teeth were showing. Hayner usually wore a scowl, not a smile, so something must be up.

"Dude, how're you?" He called over. Roxas chose not to answer until he was close enough not to yell.

"I'm fine. You seem happy though." He answered once they were walking side by side.

"Seifer's screwed, man. He was giving me such shit, and then this cop came over and shat right back on him."

"What?" Roxas was surprised. The police didn't usually get involved in Hayner's scraps with Seifer, they never went anywhere and no one ever got really hurt.

"Yeah! I think he's just getting a warning, but still. He was practically pissing his pants!" Hayner laughed and cracked his knuckles. He had a habit of doing that, cracking his knuckles.

"Cool." Roxas looked down at his phone, "where's Olette?" No new texts, although he wasn't sure why he was looking. Hayner was with him.

"She's gonna meet us at Pence's, he better not be dead, dude."

"I think he's just playing games or something." Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, alright, maybe."

He and Hayner walked down the road until they reached the commercial district. Pence lived on the other side of it, and if anything the houses over there were more packed and even skinnier than where Roxas lived. Olette hadn't gotten to Pence's yet, she was distracted by some new shop opening, and they saw her walking ahead of them.

"Hey, Lettey!" Hayner whistled after his friend.

"Don't call me that!" She spun around quickly and glared. "Oh, hey Rox!" She smiled at her other friend.

"Hi, Olette." Roxas stared back. She was wearing orange again, it was her favorite color, and she looked good in it. Her green eyes were framed by thick eyelashes, and her hair was shiny and soft. She was pretty, Roxas knew that, and both Pence and Hayner had been going for her for years. Roxas had removed himself from that fight. Roxas liked fighting, just not over girls.

"So, what's the strategy? He hasn't answered my calls, so I dunno if he'll come to the door." Hayner obviously wanted to break in.

"What about his parents?" Roxas looked at him, even if Pence was their friend, he wasn't down to climb through a window.

"Oh. Right." Hayner's face fell a bit, "we'll just have to hope they're home and hear us."

They kept walking, and Hayner talked to Olette the whole way, earning himself a smack about a block from Pence's house. Hayner liked to talk, Roxas liked to listen, and Olette was somewhere in between.

They arrived at Pence's old house, one of the only ones in town made of red bricks. His neighbors called it unsightly, Pence's parents called it historical. Roxas liked it, the lack of reflectivity was more beautiful than any sunset.

After a moment of debate, it was decided that Olette should knock on the door, Roxas didn't want to, and Hayner thought Pence would take the bait faster if Olette was the one asking for him. She walked up to the door, and lifted the brass knocker. After knocking twice, she stood there, looking slightly uncomfortable. A minute later, the door opened just slightly, and Pence's face peeked out.

"Oh... Hey guys." He laughed nervously.

"Where the hell have you been, man?" Hayner asked.

"You know, around..." Pence smiled a little, hoping he wouldn't have to explain himself.

"Were you playing that new MMO?" Roxas asked, "Hades' something, or whatever it was called?"

"Hades' Underworld." Pence said, somewhat ashamed.

"And that trumps spending your last week of summer, your last week of freedom, with us?" Hayner demanded. He wasn't trying to be rude, but he was. That was Hayner for you.

"Uh, no?" Pence responded.

"Well, then come on! We're going out!" Hayner pushed the door open a few more inches, and forced himself inside. Roxas and Olette waited outside, after they heard a struggle.

A few minutes later, Pence emerged with Hayner close behind. Pence's dark hair had been forced into a sweatband, and his clothes looked mismatched. Olette giggled, and Pence blushed.

They spent the rest of the evening in their usual spot, a small hideaway in the back of an alley. It was furnished with a few crates and a poster, but was largely just a hole in the wall that Roxas's friends had deemed theirs. They talked, and Roxas joined in on the conversations whenever he was feeling up to the task. They snacked and joked around, and by the time the sun was setting, Roxas was tuckered out.

"I think I'm gonna head back, guys." He stood up. "I haven't even started my summer homework, and school's so soon, I should get on that." He just didn't want to talk anymore, he wanted to stare at his ceiling.

"Aw, alright Rox. Be safe!" Olette called, obviously warning him about Seifer.

"Seeya bro." Hayner called.

"Bye!" Pence was simple.

He began his walk out of the alley, and walked towards the sandlot. He and Hayner had met there when they were just kids, right after Roxas had moved to Twilight Town. They had gotten in a fight, and it took a few years for them to get over themselves and become friends. Roxas shook his head, now wasn't the time to reminisce, the sky was turning red, and he wasn't in the mood to watch the sun set. He kept walking, stopping at the ice cream stand very briefly to get a sea salt ice cream. Those were worth the sunset. He meandered onward, and reached the park near his house. He was planning on sitting on one of the benches for a minute (the trees blocked the sun enough that he would survive) and enjoying his snack, but his bench of choice was currently occupied.

By a stranger. A smoking stranger, nonetheless.

The man had bright red hair, as cheesy as it was, the same color as the sunset behind him. Roxas glared. That was his bench, and that guy's hair was pissing him off. He stood there for a moment, glaring, and decided to just walk on by the strange man. Just as he was softening his look, the redhead glanced in his direction, and smirked. Normally people in Twilight Town were friendly, they smiled at each other even if they didn't know one and other. But this wasn't a smile, it was a smirk. A challenge. Roxas's feathers were already ruffled, and now he was downright angry. He didn't normally approach people, especially not strangers, but that man was in his space. He marched towards the guy, and hesitated for a second, the man looked big. But he kept walking, he was going to get his bench back, and that man was going to be sorry for smirking at Roxas Strife.

"How's it going, blondie?" The man drawled, taking a drag from his cigarette and blowing the smoke in Roxas's direction. That made the blonde even angrier.

"Who're you?" He asked, not making eye contact. The man's eyes freaked him out, they were bright green, and looked almost as fake as his hair did. Not to even mention the tattoos underneath them. Were they diamonds? Upside-down tear drops? Whatever they were, Roxas stared at them instead of the redhead's eyes.

"Who're you?" The redhead mimicked, although Roxas was sure he sounded more genuinely interested than he should have.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is you are on my bench, and I don't know you. So who are you!" Roxas was mad. He sounded childish, but he didn't care.

"Kiddo, we can share the bench, I'm not gonna bite." The redhead winked. "Oh, and the name's Axel. A-X-E-L." He smirked again. "Got it memorized?"

Roxas gaped a bit, who went around saying stuff like that?

"Got it memorized?" He asked, his anger subsiding slightly. The stranger, Axel, didn't respond, he just took another drag of his cigarette and looked at the trees. Roxas glared at him again, not liking being ignored.

"No need to glare, kid." Axel looked back at him, still smirking. "I'll be leaving in just a minute." He said as he breathed out the smoke he had been holding in.

Roxas just shook his head and walked away. He wasn't angry anymore, just freaked out by the redhead. As he exited the park, he was sure he could hear the man call "nice ass," but he wasn't certain. He shook his head again and moved on.

After Cloud and Sora had said goodnight to him, Roxas was staring at his ceiling again. That redhead was getting to him, and he didn't know why. Perhaps it was because nobody ever sat on his bench, perhaps it was because the man had smirked at him. Roxas huffed angrily, and turned onto his stomach. He wasn't going to think about stupid strangers any longer, he had to think about school.

The next morning, Roxas woke up before either of his brothers or their guest. He wandered into the bathroom, and looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was a mess and he had bags underneath his eyes. He had gotten a decent amount of sleep the night before, but Roxas needed more than a decent amount to look refreshed. He scowled a little, cursing his brothers for their naturally good looks. He stepped into the shower, and turned the water on. It hit him cold, and he yelped a little. That hadn't been a smart move. As it heated up, Roxas shampooed his hair lovingly, willing it to come out neater than ever before. As he rinsed out the shampoo, some of it made its way down to his eyes, and he yelped again. Today was not starting well for him. He quickly got the rest of the shampoo out of his hair, and found his conditioner. Yes, he conditioned his hair, and although Hayner was quite rude about his personal hygiene habits, Roxas was convinced that would improve the overall quality of his hair. He waited the two minutes that the bottle instructed, and rinsed his hair once more. He finished his shower by lathering himself up in soap, and washing himself down.

He stepped out of the shower, and shook his hair off. It was already spiking up again. He grabbed his towel and dried himself off, avoiding his hair for fear that messing with it would only make it worse.

He shuffled back to his room and opened his blinds. The sun was still rising, and Roxas closed his window again. He laid down on his bed, hair still wet, and stared at his ceiling yet again. Roxas was quite fond of that ceiling.

"What're you looking at?" Roxas tensed slightly, having not heard Sora walk in.

"The ceiling." Roxas didn't bother looking at his brother.

"Why?" Sora was already eating something, probably potato chips, and he was chewing them too loudly for Roxas to handle in the morning.

"Because," Roxas began, glaring at his ceiling, "it's not red." He emphasized the word, red pissed him off more than any other sunrise color, and that stranger was still stuck in his head. Roxas was basically a bull, tormented daily by God-The-Matador's choice of cape.

"Rox, why're you so down? The sunrise is so pretty!" Sora chirped through his food.

"It's like 8 am and the sun is still rising. That's not normal, So."

"So? It's what makes us a tourist attraction!" Roxas could hear the pride in Sora's voice.

"I don't want to be a tourist attraction. I want a normal sky with normal colors."

"But it's so pretty!" Sora smiled and walked over to his brother's bed. He leaned over and stuck his face between Roxas and ceiling. "Get up, I wanna go out."

"No." Roxas swatted at his face. Roxas wasn't a morning person.

"But Roooox!" Sora whined, moving his head closer to his brother's.

"No." Roxas rolled over and decided to ignore his brother.

"Fine." Sora huffed. "But one day, when you're de-socialized or something and are all alone, I don't want to hear any complaints." He walked out of the room and Roxas rolled back over to look at his ceiling.

Axel was staring at his ceiling. He'd never really looked at it before, it was white and boring, but he was too deep in thought to care.

Who had that boy been? He was so angry, but he couldn't stop thinking about him. Sure he was cute, lots of blonds were cute, but something about him stuck with Axel. He was irritated.

He decided that he would make smoking on that bench a routine, at least until he figured out what it was about the blond he couldn't get over.

Roxas was wandering about his house, looking to see if anyone was home. It was afternoon, and already he could see hints of yellow in the sky. Or maybe he was just paranoid.

Sora was still out with Riku, probably, and Cloud wasn't responding to text messages. Leon was (hopefully) with Cloud, so Roxas concluded he was alone.

He walked into the living room, and turned on the TV. Roxas didn't really like television, but he was feeling kind of lonely, and he hoped some TV personality would be able to fill that hole.

His phone buzzed. He ignored it. Roxas was fickle. He was lonely, but he didn't want to be bothered with people.

He settled on a reality show marathon, Real World: Traverse Town. Traverse Town was a college town, there were three schools there, and it had a reputation for being a party haven. The show's premise was dumb, some people were chosen to spend a month or two drinking and partying and having it recorded so people like Roxas could feel better about their life choices.

He might be de-socialized, but at least he wasn't drinking until he vomited.

Axel was sitting on the bench, smoking his third cigarette. He'd been there for an hour, and the blond wasn't showing. He sighed. Maybe sitting around like that was a bad idea, it was kind of creepy how he was just waiting for a boy who so obviously did not like him.

But Axel wanted answers. And another glimpse of that blonde's ass. Mmm.

Roxas was falling asleep on the couch when Cloud and Leon got back, he heard them come in and quickly turned of the TV. They didn't even notice him, Leon seemed upset and Cloud was annoyed.

"Fuckin' Sephiroth." Leon growled, "why is he even here."

"Leon, there's nothing we can do, just avoid him."

Roxas perked up. That name was familiar. He didn't know from where, but it was so unique, he knew he had heard it before.

"I can't believe it though, Sephiroth showing up in fucking Twilight Town, is he here for the sunsets or something?" Leon was mad, and Roxas lost interest. He laid back down on the couch and closed his eyes.

Aren't the sunsets why you're here? Roxas thought to himself.

Cloud and Leon walked upstairs and Roxas couldn't hear them anymore. He sighed and shook his head

He blinked lazily and looked around, it was completely dark. Roxas had fallen asleep on the couch, and no one had woken him up. He looked at his phone, there were three missed texts. Two from Hayner and one from Olette.

Hayner's were pretty stupid, broooo let's hang and where are you dickhead?

Olette's was probably just Hayner trying another route to get at Roxas, assuming Roxas would jump at a text from Olette just like he or Pence would. Rox, where are you? We wanna do something (:.

Olette's had been sent an hour ago, at midnight, Roxas decided going out in the middle of the night meant they were doing something exciting, so he responded.

What's up? I was sleeping...

He put his phone down, and walked towards the stairs to get some pants on. Roxas was going out.

In his room, he found a pair of jeans that smelled clean enough, and threw them on. He looked at himself in the mirror and glared. His hair was sticking up again, and he looked tired. He shook his head and descended back into the living room.

Roxas's phone lit up, Olette had responded.

We're at our usual spot. Meet us there?

He responded, Be there in 10.

Roxas was walking along his road, basking in the darkness that was Twilight Town at night. He looked up at the sky, it was black as could be, and there were no hints of blue to ruin it. He smiled.

He was walking towards the park, he liked to cut through it even though it added a few minutes of walking, when he heard someone shouting behind him.

"Blondie! Baby!" He froze. It couldn't be the redhead, whatever his name was, it really wouldn't be.

He turned around, and there he was, the lanky redheaded man. This time he wasn't alone, he had a friend with him. The other boy was blond, and his hair was gelled into a weird mullet-mohawk combination, but he looked almost menacing. He looked back at Axel, who he hadn't realized was so tall. He was pretty skinny too, and his body almost looked feminine in the dark.

"What." Roxas glared. He didn't know if they could see his glare, but he glared anyways.

"What's you're problem with me." Axel slurred. Roxas wasn't sure, but he might have been drunk.

"Why do you care?" The blond boy stared up, this time blankly.

"Who's this kid, Axey!" The other blond boy whined, he was slurring his words too. They were probably drunk.

"This, Demyx dearest, is Blondie. He won't tell me his real name, and he won't tell me why." Axel presented Roxas to his friend, whose angry look melted into a cheerful smile.

"Nice to meetcha!" He grabbed Roxas's hand and shook it. As soon as he was let go, Roxas began walking away from the two boys. They were definitely drunk.

"Blondie, don't go!" Axel called out. Roxas held up his middle finger and didn't turn around. Axel narrowed his eyes. That blonde boy was beginning to piss him off.

Roxas arrived at the usual spot more disgruntled than usual, and his friends noticed. After much pestering, they got the barebones, a drunk guy was pestering Roxas, and Roxas didn't like strangers.

His friends had built a little fire in the middle of their spot, which was probably a fire hazard, seeing as it was kind of a cave, but he couldn't complain. Marshmallows were definitely better than any drunk stranger. Pence had single handedly eaten all of their chocolate before Roxas arrived, so he was eating his s'mores sans chocolate. Which was his favorite part.

"Hey guys, was this really the plan?" Roxas asked after about an hour of pointless conversation and marshmallow burning.

"Naw," Hayner managed, his mouth was full of marshmallow. "We were gonna find Seifer and give him some shit, but then Lettey here said that'd be a bad idea. So this is our alternative."

"Don't call me that." Olette began, "I just didn't want to get into a fight with that Fuu chick. She's like twice my size!"

"You're underestimating yourself," Hayner smiled at his friend, "she's not nearly that big! Plus, you could definitely take her. She's so thin!" Roxas immediately thought of the redhead, who was far thinner than Fuu.

"Are you calling me fat?!" Olette glared. She was teasing Hayner, but he did not realize it.

"N-no! I think you look great! Olette looks great, right Rox?" Hayner stumbled over his words more than he usually would have.

Roxas didn't respond. He was too busy thinking about all the skinny bones he could break in that guy's body. He really had been in a bad mood.

"I think you look fantastic!" Pence chimed in, smiling at Olette. She responded with a giggle and a twirl of her hair around her finger. "But guys, it's like almost two in the morning, do you think we could get some rest?" Pence just wanted to go home and play his games, and Roxas knew that.

"Yeah, I'm heading out, I'm tired." Roxas stood up, having been ready to leave for a couple of hours.

When he got home, he walked in on Cloud and Leon watching a romantic comedy. His shock was amplified by their reactions to the screen, scoffing at the man who was too pig-headed to see that there was a woman in love with them, and shaking their heads at the tragically awkward moments. Cloud was supposed to be emotionless.

Roxas left the hallway before they noticed him, and he walked up to his bedroom. He laid down, and sighed. He was full of marshmallows and couldn't believe school was starting so soon. He just wanted to curl up in his blankets and sleep his life away.