Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. I only own the plot. I also don't own any of the brands of cereal listed in this chapter, or Microsoft Word.

Warnings: None.

Author's Note: I'm kind of going through writer's block right now, and one of the ways for me to go through it is to write something. And that's how "Pretending" was born. Also, the warnings under the disclaimer will only apply to that certain chapter.

Pretending

Chapter 1: The Epitome of Summer

Summer is a wonderful time of the year, especially if you're a student. Then summer means one thing: summer vacation. It's the most anticipated event of the year, where you can finally drop your curfews and notebooks and stay up to the wee hours of the morning playing video games and eating ice cream. You can hang out with friends and shop at the mall for the latest fashions, or perhaps just wander around town all day eating sea-salt ice cream.

For the Hikari family, a mother and father with three teenage boys, it meant total chaos in the household. The father was never home during the day, save for the weekends. The mother was home every day, cooking and cleaning for her three boys. Sora and Roxas were twins, born fifteen years ago. Sora was a hyper boy with a large appetite, but he was blessed with a high metabolism. Roxas was the quiet one and enjoyed to write. Cloud was the oldest out of the three, being seventeen years old. He was admired by Sora and Roxas.

"Mom, we're out of orange juice!" yelled Sora, closing the fridge door harshly, causing Roxas to wince from the loud thud that occured. Roxas was sitting at the kitchen table next to Cloud, who was drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper, waiting for their mother to make breakfast.

She was only forty years old, but didn't appear to be a day older than 35. While she cooked breakfast for herself and her three boys, she had her dark brown hair tied loosely behind her with a navy blue hairtie.

"Thank you, Sora! Can you add it to the list?" she asked sweetly as she took out several boxes of cereal from the kitchen cabinets. Cocoa Puffs for Sora, Cinnamon Toast Crunch for Roxas, and Peanut Butter Crunch for Cloud. She, like Sora, prefered Cocoa Puffs. How could anyone resist chocolate, especially in the morning?

Three glasses were put gently on the countertop - one for herself, Sora and Roxas. Sora walked behind her with pen in hand to scribble "orange juice" on the grocery list. Their mother took out four spoons and placed them by the four stacked bowls. Sora removed two pieces of toast and placed them on a plate that held six other slices.

Sora grabbed four small plates, one for each of his family members. He placed them on the counter to the right of the four stacked bowls. He grabbed two containers of peanut butter and two bars of butter from the cabinet and placed them next to the cereal. They had to keep the dishware and the food seperated, or else everyone would be bumping into each other even more than they already did when they scrambled for food. Their mother placed the two jugs of milk next to the cereal. Everything was all set.

"Hey, mom?" Cloud asked, looking up from his newspaper. His mother smiled sweetly at him.
"Yes, dear?"
"Why don't we just hand out the dishware and place the food on the table? So we wouldn't be bumping into each other?"
She thought about the suggestion for only a moment before nodding. "Wonderful idea, Cloud! I don't know why we haven't thought of that before!"

Roxas got up from his spot at the table, and along with Sora and his mother, they all moved the food and dishes to the table. For Roxas, it was the first breakfast they had together where they hadn't been bumping into each other as they were trying to get some food.

Cloud was always the first done; though he ate a lot, he ate fast, just like Sora. He rinsed his plate and bowl off before placing them in the dishwasher. He returned to his seat to finish his coffee just as Sora was getting up to place his dishes in the dishwasher. Roxas and their mother were slow eaters, enjoying every bite rather than shoveling it down their mouths. The two finished at the same time and returned to the table to enjoy the conversation about what to do over the summer.

Soon, the three brothers and their mother left the kitchen to finish their morning routine. Cloud and their mother, Kayla, would head to the downstairs bathroom. Sora and Roxas would go to the upstairs bathroom.

"So, Roxas," began Sora, "What are you doing today?"
Roxas spit out his toothpaste before replying. "Well, I got this new idea for a story."
"Yeah?" urged Sora. Roxas' ideas were always amazing.

"It's about how the stereotypes in high school can affect a person's self-image and confidence, both negatively and positively."
"Where did that come from?" asked Sora.

"Well, it came from last year, our freshman year. Everyone seemed to stereotype us almost immediately, and I didn't like it at all."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Well, see you around, Roxas."

Sora left the bathroom, leaving Roxas to finish washing his face.

Cloud had left to go to his best friend's house, who went by the name of Leon. Roxas hadn't seen the man more than once or twice, except when he wandered over to see where Cloud was. Roxas got the vibe that Leon and Cloud were going out, but were keeping it secret from their parents. The Hikari family was religious, attending church every Sunday. According to the church, homosexuality was a sin. Roxas didn't know how his parents would react if they found out Leon and Cloud were dating, so he kept it a secret.

Sora was laying about in his room, reading manga, a form of Japanese comic. Roxas, currently, sat in front of his computer screen. It was eleven in the morning. Only two hours ago, they had breakfast, but Roxas was already feeling hungry. He knew that if he was this hungry already, Sora must be wasting away.

Soon, he found an empty Microsoft Word document displayed on the screen. He cracked his fingers and knuckles and began to type. It was a sort of oblivion to him, in which he'd lose track of all time and forget everything from that annoying homework assignment that needed to be done to how hungry he was. Only when he took a break he realized how hungry he had gotten. He saved his work; he preferred proofreading once the entire story was done. He wandered into the hallway and down the stairs, into the kitchen.

Once there, he found lunch waiting for Sora, Kayla, and himself. They were sandwitches, stuffed with all sorts of meats and vegetables. Roxas found his mouth watering as he stared at the food on the counter.
"Hey, mom," he greeted while getting three glasses out of the cabinet.

"Hey, dear, would you mind getting Sora for me? I tried yelling for him to come down, but he must be reading another one of his manga again."
"Sure, I'll go get him."

Roxas wandered back up the stairs and into Sora's room. He had immediately regretted opening the door. Once he did, a horrible stench made its way into his nostrils and almost made him gag. Piles of dirty old socks and other articles of clothing littered the blue carpet, making it almost invisible.
"Sora, mom said that lunch's ready," Roxas said while backing out of the room.

"Lunch? Yeah!" yelled Sora as he sprinted past Roxas and down the stairs, nearly hitting poor Roxas in the process. Roxas shut the door before walking down the stairs calmly, a contrast to his twin.

By the time Roxas arrived, Sora was devouring the sandwitch and chips, crumbs flying everywhere. Roxas sat down next to his mother and started eating calmly.
"Thanks for getting your brother down here, Roxas," she said while smiling sweetly at her sons.

"No problem," replied Roxas after he had swallowed the bite of sandwitch.
Roxas was last to finish and offered to put the dishes in the dishwasher. Kayla was proud of her sons - they were everything she had hoped for.

Roxas had wandered into his room and was reading a book on his bed when his mother came in. He placed the bookmark on the page he was reading and shut it. He muttered a thank you to his mother before answering the phone. "Hello?"
"Yo, Roxas."
"Hayner, what's up?"
"Nothing. Me, Pence and Olette were going to go get some ice cream, wanna come?"
"Sure. Are we meeting at the usual spot first?"
"Yeah; I'll see you there, then. Bye."
"Bye."
He clicked the talk button on the phone and momentarily placed it on his dresser.

He had gotten dressed earlier in the day, wearing a black sleeveless shirt with a white t-shirt like jacket over top of it. He wore layered black and white baggy pants and his sneakers, black and red, were sitting by the door. He wore his trademark checkered wristband with his black and white ring bands. He shoved his black leather wallet in his back pocket and put his cell phone and mp3 player in the front pockets.

He walked down the stairs and saw his mother putting the now-clean dishes away. He put the phone back on its stand, where it would charge up for a future use. "Hey, mom, I'm going to get ice cream with Hayner and the others."
"Okay, dear, but can you be back at 5:30? I need some help preparing dinner tonight, and you know how Sora is in the kitchen."
"Alright, I will."
"Do you have money?"
"Yes, mom. Oh, and I have my cell phone on me too."

"Alright, have fun, dear."
"I will. Bye, mom!"
Roxas slipped into his sneakers and was out the door in record time.

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Roxas had met Hayner, Pence and Olette at the usual spot. They were now all sitting by the banks of the river that ran through the town, eating sea-salt ice cream. Roxas enjoyed the slightly salty, slightly sweet treat. It was the cheapest ice cream on all of the menus around town, but it was, in Roxas' opinion, the best.

"So, what are you doing tomorrow?" asked Hayner.
"Not sure," replied Roxas, finished with his frozen treat.

"We could all go to the mall!" Olette exclaimed, suddenly attacked by a barrage of ideas.

Pence, Hayner and Roxas looked at each other in slight horror. You couldn't disagree with Olette, because then she'd find a way to make you feel guilty. Either way, the situation was hopeless.

"Okay. Sounds like fun," Roxas said, laying back on the grass.

The group sat in silence for a few moments before Roxas cursed. Hayner, Pence and Olette stared at Roxas as he reached for his cell phone. It was a quarter past five...he had to be home in fifteen minutes, and his home was half an hour away.

"I got to go, bye!" shouted Roxas as he started sprinting towards home.

"...Man, he loses track of time just as much as I do," remarked Hayner.

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Roxas' chest felt like it was on fire when he got home. He caught his breath for a few moments before walking into the house. Upon entering, he saw that it was twenty five minutes after five. He had come home five minutes early.

"Did you have fun today, Roxas?" asked his mother as he entered.
"Yeah, but I almost lost track of time. I had to sprint to get back here on time."
"Roxas, Roxas, Roxas. You're like your father, back when we were in high school. He was always losing track of time, too."

"Really?" asked Roxas, now curious about his father's behavior in high school.

"He was just like you, a hard worker, but he'd always lose track of time. Sometimes, he'd be half an hour late for one of our dates, but it was hard to stay mad at him for a long time."

Kayla was going into what Sora had dubbed "Nostalgic Mode". Kayla would zone out, remembering her high school and college days. When in this state of mind, Roxas would often leave her alone.

He found the recipe and menu for tonight's dinner on the counter. Lasagna was the main course, with a salad as the side. A loaf of bread was also waiting on the counter to have with the lasagna and salad.
"Roxas, which would you like to make tonight? The lasagna or the salads?" Kayla asked, smiling at her son.

"You make the better lasagna, so I think I better leave that to you. Last time I tried to make it, I burnt it."
Kayla giggled, remembering Roxas' first attempt at making lasagna. It was good; burnt, but good, nonetheless. "Alright, but one of these days, you're going to have to make it."
Roxas groaned before getting two heads of lettuce out of the fridge.

The five bowls sat before him, ready to be filled with salad. Sora would only eat salad if it was made by Roxas, although Roxas didn't see why. All salad tasted the same to him. The lettuce had been cleaned and the different types of cheeses had been sliced into tiny cubes, and the extra things like croutons and bacon bits were sitting on the counter. Roxas had heated up the leftover chicken from last night's dinner and cut it into thin, narrow strips to add for a little more flavor.

The lettuce had entered the bowls first, followed by the mixture of cheeses. He added croutons to the mix, but didn't put any in his bowl. He had once had braces and was no longer used to eating croutons. Bacon bits were added, and then the chicken. Everything was mixed around to add a little bit of variety, and the bowls were placed on the table. Roxas took it upon himself to also place the plates, cups and silverware on the table. Before leaving the kitchen, he put a spatula on the table to get the lasagna out of the pan when it was ready.

He had entered his own room, and was annoyed at the mess inside. He knew that he wouldn't be able to clean everything before dinner, so he began to organize his things. He put his books away in his bookshelf, put the video games back in the drawer, and put all of his dirty clothes in a pile by the door. His mother had laid some clean clothes on his unmade bed, and he put those away as well before making his bed. All of the organization had been done; now he needed to vaccum and dust and he would be completely done.

Just then, his mother's voice rang through the hallways and through his open door, saying that dinner was ready. He heard Sora's loud footsteps as the hyper boy ran through the hallway.

The boys' father, Michael, had arrived home from work. It was thirty minutes past six, and Michael had gotten off work at six on the dot. He was sitting at the table, waiting patiently for dinner to be served. In the meantime, he was talking to Cloud, who had just come back from Leon's house.

"Dad! You're home!" Roxas heard Sora shout, and he was sure that Michael was attacked by a big bear hug from Sora.

Roxas had entered the kitchen to see Michael in a bear hug from Sora, just what he thought he would see. Cloud looked grateful not to be in that hug.

"Hey, Roxas, how're you doing?" asked Michael. He seemed happy to be home and out of the office.

"Pretty good, thanks," replied Roxas, smiling. Usually, his father got home much, much later than this, when they were all in bed and sleeping.

Roxas took his seat at the table and found his glass full of a dark liquid. He took a sip of it and found it to be Pepsi, one of his favorite sodas. A large steaming pile of lasagna was placed on the plate in front of him. "Thanks, mom," he said before digging into the pile with his fork. He always loved Kayla's lasagna. He could only hope to have his own match up to hers in perfection one day.

Dinner was full of conversations of what had happened that day. They all seemed to feel the same emotions during dinner. Roxas always felt happy during dinner. It was, to him, the best time of the day, especially when Michael was home. Even if he didn't show it, he admired his father more than anyone could ever imagine.

Roxas had managed to vaccum and dust his room without being told to, which always made Kayla happy. She was always telling Sora to clean his room, but he would never clean it, except for once a month at most. The members of the family were once again in their pajamas, finishing their nightly routine of brushing their teeth, flossing, and gargling mouthwash. Afterwards, the house was silent.

Roxas tossed and turned in his bed. He was lost in the realm of dreams, one of his favorite places.

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Author's Note: So, how'd you like it? The future chapters will have a little bit of Cloud/Leon, Zexion/Demyx, and of course, Axel/Roxas. Please send me a review and tell me what you think!