A/N: Yay! My first KH fanfic! For some reason, this makes me very happy. I love reading Kingdom Hearts fanfics, but never tried actually writing it. I wonder why. . .

Anyway, I have to give credit where credit is due. I was hugely inspired by Boys and A Careful Remedy, by Vash's Girl. So, that's where we get Roxas's skateboard and Sora's depression. Actually, I always loved the idea of Sora being depressed. But that isn't the point. -RxR

Disclaimer: If Kingdom Hearts was mine, I would be having Riku pin Sora to a wall at the first good opportunity, and more would be happening on the Clock Tower than just Roxas and Axel hangin' out. ;)

Warnings: A character is dead before this even starts, so beware. Also, mean girlfriends, shameless boyfriends, threats of castration, Sora not being innocent, Riku being an ass and/or bitch, Sora being moody, lots of bad language, Rufus not caring about money. And probably more.

Roxas sighed. It was way too early in the morning for this bullshit.

Larxene was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed. "You can tell Marluxia to come out now, or I swear I'll go in there and drag the bastard out myself."

Roxas couldn't help but sigh again before turning to the pink-haired man hiding behind the nearby closet door. "Dude. She knows you're here. Man up." And take your drama away from my house.

The pinkette shook his head violently. "No fucking way. If I go out there, she'll castrate me."

"If you don't go out there, she'll castrate me. And I like my balls." Roxas reached for Marluxia's shoulder. Marluxia tried to shy away, but there was little room to maneuver in the closet, and despite being shorter, Roxas was stronger. Roxas wrapped his hand around Marluxia's upper arm and dragged him out to face his girlfriend.

The pinkette tried to make himself smaller. "I'm sorry, Larxene, I swear I can make it up to you, please don't- OW OW OW THAT'S MY EAR!"

Roxas watched his friend get hauled away for a second, and was inwardly glad he was gay. Then, he shut the door.

Sora groaned, and rolled over in his bed. What time was it? He cracked one eye to look at his alarm clock. Only seven thirty? Urg. He rolled over again, trying to back to sleep, but it was useless. In an immediate bad mood, he sat up and climbed out of his bed, walking out to the little landing that overlooked the living room where Roxas stood, running his fingers through his carefully spiked blond hair.

"What'd Marly do this time?" He asked Roxas, leaning against the banister. Roxas looked up, resting his hand on his hip.

"She caught him kissing another guy."

"Again?"

"Yep."

"He never learns."

"Nope."

"Anyone we know?"

"Vexen."

Sora raised his eyebrows at that. Vexen? Really? Then again, it was about time. The underlying sexual tension between them had been going on for years. Both parties had been denying it, though, to anyone who would listen. "I wonder when she's actually gonna break up with him."

Roxas grinned. "Or neuter him."

"She wouldn't." Now he grinned, too. "Not as long as she's getting' some."

Roxas burst into laughter. "Ouch, Sora." Roxas laughed harder.

"What's so funny?" He asked, raising one eyebrow suspiciously at his best friend, roommate, and cousin. Roxas just laughed harder.

"You, man," he said between laughs. "You used to be so innocent."

Sora smiled. He really had. But he had one person to thank for the change. One very stupid boy, with silver hair and the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen. . . .

Sora scowled. His good mood was totally spoiled now. "Roxas! I'm taking first shower, okay?"

"Sure!" the blond boy replied with a shrug. He was used to Sora's moods. They all were.

Well, all but one.

Riku leaned back against the headboard of his bed. It was early, but that was fine. He'd have to be at work soon, anyways.

He really hated his job. After all his high school boasting, it was flat-out embarrassing.

He was a fucking nurse.

In high school, he had sworn up and down and sideways that he'd be a doctor. A good one to boot. But, med school had been horrible. Away from his friends, he'd bombed. His 4.0 GPA from high school had plummeted. It was totally unfair. Embarrassing. He was a murse. A man-nurse. He spent his days taking condescending orders from the doctors he wished he could be, and empting bedpans.

It was horrible. The pay. The hours. The humiliation. None of this was worth it.

And that was when he made his decision. He'd change.

Fuck being a doctor. He was going to try something new. The question was, what?

What was he good at?

He thought back to high school. He'd been good at art, and (embarrassingly enough) at drama. Literature.

But the thought of his literature class brought back the face of the boy who'd sworn he would be an author. Sora had been even more set on his dream than Riku had been. Vaguely, he wondered how the boy was doing. He'd seen the books gracing the 'bestseller' shelf of his local bookshop, but he couldn't make himself buy them. Every time he'd tried, he remembered the look on the brunette boy's face as he threw the carefully sorted packets of printed paper at his head, screaming at him to get out, get out and never speak to him again. Or so help him God, he'd kill him. And then he saw the other faces- Roxas and Cloud, shouting at him for being such a jackass. Leon holding both boys back, Rinoa helping him and Aeris and Tifa talking Kairi down before she, too, charged. Namine's quiet stare.

Suddenly, Riku knew what he wanted to do. He picked up the phone, because the boss had to know why he wasn't coming to work today, or ever again.

The shower's hot spray felt good on Sora's back. He relaxed into it, letting it wash the suds off of his body. He was trying to get his brain to wake up, so he could get writing again. He was ahead of his deadline by a bit, but writing wasn't a job to him. It was. . . Soothing. Familiar. Something he really loved. To be able to create and escape to his own world. . . It was liberating.

Suddenly, there was a banging at the door. "Sora! Don't steal all the hot water, you. . ." Roxas paused, presumably top find a good insult. ". . .Douche!"

Sora shut off the water (which, to tell the truth, was already beginning to cool) and wrapped a towel around his waist before opening the door. "How taking a hot shower make me a douche?" he asked, grinning.

Roxas glared. "When it means I have to take a cold one. Seriously, if I have to take one more cold shower, I swear. . ."

Sora's grin could now have the words "shit-eating" applied to it. "Have to take a cold shower? Roxas, my, my. . . Is there something you need to tell me?" The brunette boy cocked one eyebrow and rested his hand near his towel suggestively.

The blond boy's eyes got wide, and he opened his mouth to yell something, but Sora was already running the short distance to his bedroom door and slamming it. The long-standing joke between their friends about Sora and Roxas's "incest" was something they got from both friends and each other. Truthfully, while both boys were gay, they were like brothers. But their closeness, Roxas's dirtiness and Sora's innocence during high school made the joke worth repeating.

Sora heard Roxas's grumbling about Sora being a complete ass as the blond walked back to the shower. He could hear the slam of the door and the quiet hiss of water. And then-

"SORA!"

The brunette snickered, and began to get dressed.

Packing was easy. There really wasn't much in Riku's small room (practically closet) besides clothes, his laptop, and the few pieces of furniture that were his. The hard part was tracking down Reno, Rufus, and Rude, and breaking it to them. They always laughed about being the 'Four R's of Three-A'. Well, Reno and Riku laughed. Rude snickered a little and Rufus, ever the serious one, glared.

Which made them laugh harder.

Riku sighed. He wouldn't miss his job at all. But he would miss his friends.

He found them smoking outside the lobby. Well, Reno was smoking, and trying to get Rufus to start, while Rude ignored them both, but still.

As Riku walked up, Reno turned to him and smiled. "Riku, my man! What can we do for you this morning?"

Riku swallowed. This really wasn't going to be easy. "I. . . I'm moving back to the Islands."

Reno's jaw dropped, his cig falling out to hit the concrete, unnoticed. Rufus and Rude just stared, surprise evident on Rufus's face. (But not Rude's. Never Rude's.) Surprisingly, Rufus was the one to break the silence.

"You got a place to stay yet?" he asked, ever practical.

Riku shook his head. "Nah, I was going to start looking when I got down there-"

Reno cut in. "Dude! No! I thought you said you were never goin' back there!"

Riku shrugged. "I guess I changed my mind."

"What about your job?"

"I quit."

"What about money?"

"I have enough."

"Riku!"

"Okay, I'll be stretching my budget, but I'll be fine, I swear."

Reno opened his mouth, about to say something else to try and talk some sense into this boy, butwas stopped by Rude's hand on his shoulder.

"Reno," he said, his voice quiet and even. No more was needed- Reno closed his mouth, turning away from Riku to either pout or sulk. Riku didn't know which.

"Riku." Now it was Rufus's turn to speak. "I can lend you some money, if you want. I won't miss it."

It was true- Rufus was loaded. He was one of the business types, and his business was doing very well, thank you. But, even so-

"No, I can't. I'd never be able to pay you back, man."

"Then don't. It's a gift. I sure as hell don't need it."

"Rufus-"

"Either accept it now, gracefully, or it'll be wired into your bank account during the night. Now, say 'Thank you, Rufus.'"

"I don't even know how much-"

"Just say thank you, bitch."

"'Thank you, bitch.'"

Reno snickered, and even Rude and Rufus smiled. "You're welcome, whore," said Rufus, satisfied.

"Hey, Riku, my man," Reno said. Even though Rude was glaring at him, he continued, "My brother lives out that way, and he needs a roommate. He's annoying as hell-"("Riku, better be careful if Reno claims he's annoying-" "Rufus, Reno says you're annoying-" "Shut up, Riku-") "-but he's a good guy. I'll call him for you."

"Thanks, man."

"No problem," Rufus said, smiling. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Yeah," Reno added, "and keep in touch. Or I'll make my little brother beat your ass."

Sora smiled at his computer. The book he'd been working was almost finished, with only about a chapter and a half to go. It gave him a sort of satisfaction- seeing something that was created, almost entirely, by him. It didn't matter if no one else liked it at all- he did.

Roxas had left for his job a while ago, so there was no one, really, to tell. He owned and ran a small skate shop in the downtown area. It was about the only job Roxas had showed up to for more than three days. (Roxas's non-skill with jobs was legendary, envied by slackers everywhere.)

Sora checked the time on the bottom of the screen. Almost noon- time for lunch. He would finish up, and then go out for food.

Riku's flight landed at eleven thirty. Rufus Shinra had paid for his ticket, and had told him don't worry about bringing his furniture, he would Riku more than enough to buy more, pay for rent, groceries, and anything else, for quite awhile. Riku's protests that it was too much money were soundly ignored.

Axel was supposed to be waiting for him, Reno said. When Riku asked how he'd be able to recognize the older boy's little brother, Reno had laughed and said not to worry about it. "He stands out. Trust me; you'll know him when you see him." And when Riku asked how Axel would recognize him, Reno had laughed more and informed him that Riku stood out, too.

And boy, was Reno right. Axel had the same flaming red hair, longer and just as messy/spiky as his brothers. A lot of other things were similar too- facial tattoos like black, upside-down tear drops (against Reno's red "birthmark" slashes), his punk-goth attire, his don't-mess-with-me attitude contrasting with the easy smile he received when Axel noticed him.

"Riku!" Axel yelled, waving. As if there was any doubt who he was. Riku walked over to him, waving back and smiling. "Man, Riku, my brother's told me all about ya. Nice to finally meetcha! I'm Axel, don't forget it!" And then: "Damn, he wasn't kidding about your hair."

Riku laughed. "Heh. You're pretty hard to miss yourself, you know."

Axel looked down at his clothes. "Yeah, I guess you're right, huh?" Then he laughed. "Come on, let me show your new place."

A/N: Hah. I'm having way too much fun. Especially with Axel's "Don't forget it!" "Got it memorized" is overused, in my opinion. Oh, and let me clear a few things up:

RENO, RUFUS, AND RUDE:

Yeah, I love these guys. They never get enough love. By the way, they're all a year or two (give or take) older than Riku, who's about 24-ish. So, they're like 25-26. I think. I really do love 'em, though.

FAMILIES:

I'm still thinking about who's in whose families. I've decided that Reno and Axel are definitely siblings, as well as Cloud, Roxas, and Namine. I keep going back and forth about whether Xion should be Sora's baby sister or not. Everyone else, I just have no frickin' clue.

AGES:

Like I said, Riku's, like, 24 (so is Axel), and Reno, Rufus and Rude are 25-26. Sora and Roxas are about 23, but where in the same year as Riku in school. Namine and Kairi are 22, and Xion is 21. Cloud is 25. But, these are all subject to change on my whims, so. . . Yeah.

SORA AND RIKU:

Yes, you will find out what the falling-out was about. In fact, I plan on telling all about what happened in senior year for Sora, Riku, and Roxas, from how Sora and Riku met to how they got together- everything. (They didn't know Axel, though he may make a cameo or two.)

OTHER PAIRINGS:

Definitely AkuRoku. (Yum.) I always saw Marly and Larxene as kind of sluts, so they'll probably get around. I may or may not write much of it. Other people, I'll do as popular demand asks. ^-^

WHO DIED:

Guess. C'mon, guess.

Okee, I think I've wasted a sufficient amount of your time. –RxR

Review button is calling to you.

Click it.

V