A Struggle sword was not a Keyblade.
A Struggle sword was certainly not two Keyblades.
Roxas was reminded of this the hard way.
By Seifer of all people.
Ugh.
He was Struggle champion in the Simulated Twilight Town. He fought in the second Keyblade War. Even without exploiting his magic and other abilities granted to him as a Keyblade wielder - because that was cheating and Roxas was not a cheater - he was sure he had this championship in the bag, so it wasn't like he needed to practice, right?
Apparently not.
(Roxas could already hear the I-told-you-so's. All together. In unison.)
He spent the second with his back on the stage floor to contemplate all the bad choices he ever made in his life, starting with this one.
"Ready to quit, chicken wuss?"
Roxas glared up at the scarred self-proclaimed head of the disciplinary committee, wishing he could just wipe that smug grin off Seifer's face with a well-placed beam of light. Their rivalry had carried over from the simulated Twilight Town the moment the two boys met and mutually decided they disliked the other, but Roxas had to admit the real Seifer was much stronger than the digital one. The results of that "warrior's journey," he supposed.
He was about to retort, but then a single voice rose above all the others, no small feat with an audience of this size.
"ROXAS!"
A look towards where his friends were watching saw Naminé had gotten to her feet. Beside her, Olette and Xion stared up at her in shock, no doubt caught off burst by the usually-reticent artist's passionate outburst. "Don't give up! I believe in you!"
Not that Naminé didn't end up surprised with herself either. Breaking out of whatever rush had prompted her to make herself heard, she covered her mouth with both her hands as her eyes widened in shock. She slowly and awkwardly sat down again, covering her face in her hands to hide her utter embarrassment. Xion rubbed Naminé's back while exchanging a look with Olette.
(Oh, wonderful. They were so going to tease him about this later.)
His other friends did not have Naminé's anxiety in regards to standing out in a crowd. Hayner and Lea wasted no time taking up the mantle, shouting their support and encouragement for Roxas to hear.
Their cheers warmed his heart, but really, it was the reminder that Naminé was watching him and rooting that did. He's made enough of a fool of himself in front of her already. The last thing he wanted was for her - when she uncovered her eyes again - to watch him kneel over and surrender.
"Sorry, Seifer." Roxas picked up his Struggle sword and stood up, smirking. "But when there's a girl like her cheering me on, quitting just isn't an option."