A.N. Sooooo, I'm useless when it comes to keeping up to date with my fics. I'm sorry to all the people who read my other stories, especially the hardcore fans of Nobody's Loveletter. I hope that one day I will find my inspiration to take it up again. Until then, enjoy Spanners (:

Disclaimer. I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. I probably don't even own this story and my mind has stolen it from someone else through a psychic link.

Story. Roxas and Cloud are being sent to Radiant Garden where they must endure the summer. There's a carwash, a mechanic and whatever else I can randomly devise. Don't expect me to regularly update because I'm a loser.

Warnings. Boyxboy/yaoi/shounen ai. All the junk like that. Pairings include but not limited to AkuRoku, SoRiku, Cleon, Zemyx and whatever else I can concoct.

Spanners in the Machine

Prologue

Summer was fast approaching and the buzz about the room was what people were going to be doing during their break from school. There were plans to spend it doing anything but homework. Someone had the idea to just spent the weeks sleeping – either in bed or out in the sun. There were trips to the beach, trips to the shops, and trips to the relatives. As for Roxas, well, he was going to spend it in some dusty town in the middle of nowhere. A place where he knew no one and no one knew him.

No, wait, that was wrong. There were people that knew him there.

But family doesn't count.

His older brother was being sentenced along with him to hard labour at their uncle's farm out in the middle of forgotten nowhere.

At the desk behind him, Hayner leaned forwards on his folded arms and grinned at his friend as he attempted to gain Roxas' attention without alerting the teacher. "Yo, Rox, what're you doing during the summer holiday?" he asked. Roxas had kept any and all information about the Hell he was being doomed to from his friends. As far as they were all concerned it was going to be fun, laughter, ice cream and adventures. "You haven't told any of us yet what your plans are."

"I haven't decided on anything yet," he lied.

"Well, you better hurry up and decide, Roxas, otherwise we're going to make plans without you." He gave Roxas' upper arm a friendly punch as he sat back in his seat and returned to his work.

It was better if they made plans that didn't involve him anyway, instead of making plans to accommodate him, only to find out he was being condemned to the world's most boring summer vacation. How Sora could forever remain cheerful about such a boring town was beyond Roxas. Granted his cousin had grown up there, but still – as far as Roxas was concerned it was a pretty dull place to live. Cloud hadn't even given his judgement on the town yet. Roxas could see through him though; Cloud was loathing the idea just as much as he was.

As class was over, Roxas trudged out of the room with a look of doom and gloom settling over him. His summer was officially ruined before it had even begun. Why did his parents have to go off on a holiday without their two darling sons? Cloud was old enough to keep an eye on his younger brother while they went away for a few weeks. They didn't need to ship their boys off halfway across the country to suffer in the heat, the dust and the endless enthusiasm that was Sora.

Olette noticed his foul mood at lunch and shifted over on the bench to sit closer to him, leaning down to talk without Pence or Hayner listening in. Hayner was talking loudly and animatedly about what he was planning to do during the break from school while Pence sat listening to him, eagerly drinking up everything the blond said. "You don't seem very excited about the summer break," she said, hitting the nail on the head directly. Her insight knew no bounds.

Roxas sighed, frowned, pouted and frowned again. "I'm not spending summer in Twilight Town," he told her glumly. "My mom and dad are going away for a 'second honeymoon', and because they think we're not old enough to look after ourselves for a few weeks, Cloud and I are going to stay with family."

Olette 'hmm'ed her acknowledgement of what he was saying, silently urging him to continue.

"In Radiant Garden," he finished.

She gasped, hands flying to her mouth. "But that's miles away!" she announced. "All summer?"

He nodded. "All summer," he echoed. "My dad grew up there, and he seems to think it will 'do us good' to spend some time out there beyond the few odd days we've been there when visiting family." It wasn't as if Roxas had never been to Radiant Garden, but he was hardly a frequent resident. It had to be at least five years since he'd set foot in the town. Cloud had gone up on his own the other year; he'd found it easier to make friends up there than his little brother and still kept in touch with them. Roxas had never found the strength to leave the farm and his mother's side in such a strange and new place. Now he was going without his mother's hand to hold, and it was highly unlikely he would be allowed to stay in his room for the entire holiday.

The girl frowned, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. Judging by the expression on her face, she was thinking hard about something. Finally, her face brightened and she gave Roxas a hug. "We'll write to you every day, and you better write back." Obviously she wasn't as distraught as Roxas was – probably because she wasn't going to some foreign place. She accepted Roxas' fate much better than Roxas had. "You'll be back before you know it."

"Where are you going?" Hayner piped up, catching the tail end of the conversation between Roxas and Olette. "Can you get me a soda while you're there?"

Olette pursed her lips, frowning at her friend. "Don't be so insincere, Hayner. Roxas is going away for the summer."

On most occasions, Roxas would have hated the fact that Olette had given away his secret, but for once he was glad he didn't have to break the news to his best friend. Looking across the table, Roxas attempted to gage Hayner's expression as the realisation of what was happening to Roxas sunk into his brain. There was the crease of brows in confusion before those eyebrows raised high on his head, eyes opening wide. Finally, his brows lowered back into the normal position on his face and he shook his head in dismay, waving a hand dismissively through the air. "Fine, go on, leave us. We can have loads of fun without you."

Roxas' mouth fell agape, and he slammed his hands palm flat on the table. "Don't be like that!" he announced. "It's not like I'm going there because I want to!" With a huff, Roxas grabbed his bag, swinging the strap over his shoulder as he stormed off. It was going to be the most boring time in his entire life – Roxas knew it – and his best friend simply didn't care. Glaring at anyone in his way, the people in the corridor cleared an instant path for him all the way to his next lesson; and each lesson afterwards until the final bell rang and the masses of students fled the school building in a writhing mass of joy and exhilaration. Roxas, however, left in a begrudgingly slower manner. The longer it took him to get home the longer it would be until he was shipped off to the arse end of Hell.

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A.N. Short, I know, but I didn't want to spend forever in Twilight Town since this story takes place in Radiant Garden. The next chapter should be better than this twaddle (: