Phlyx: Hello, and welcome to a new ShounenAi by An-Chan, called Paper Moon! The pairing will be SoraXRoxas, of course.

Summary: Roxas; a poor boy, beaten to the point of giving up. Sora; the boy who might just be able to save him.

So yeah, I hope you enjoy, but these might be updated slower, for I also have to work on Fall Into Your Sunlight =3


Paper Moon

Chapter One

The Only Way


There was silence in the morning, it made everything calm, but it put me on edge. Every sound that was made would make everything seem too quiet.

It was never like that at home. Not usually, anyways. But here I am, and it was quiet enough to make me jittery. No yelling, no father to beat me, no nothing. So, keeping an ear open and holding the strap of my school bag tightly, I walk down the long staircase, turning warily to the kitchen.

My father is a drunk. That's all he does with his time, or he smokes whichever drug his dealer has given him. Sometimes its both.

He becomes very violent when he's drunk or high. My mother has a gambling problem. A bad one. She used to have a fortune left to her by her late grandparents, but she spent it all in a Casino, thinking she was destined to earn a jackpot. They're both unemployed.

Taking the initiative, I have part-time jobs, even if I'm fifteen and technically the age is sixteen. But they always take the money I earn, so we're really tight.

As I look into the shabby kitchen, I notice why they're not making a sound.

My mother is on the floor, passed out – she probably snuck a few drinks from my father or something – and my father is hitting the happy juice hard. At seven in the morning.

He's the only person I know that can get drunk in the morning.

Trying not to attract attention, I walk towards the front door of our shabby apartment.

But my father can hear me walk no matter how quiet I am trying to be. And usually, when I can't sneak out to get to school and he spots me, I end up with a few bruises.

And the routine continues. Closing my eyes to not see his bloodshot eyes, his feral and wild face that looks nothing like me, back up against the wall, and sucking up the torture, as always. It's nothing that I haven't learned to live with. But sometimes it's hard to hide what he does, especially on my face, since my skin is very pale and his bruises include my cheeks and my eyes often enough. I end up lying to whoever asks what happens.

Not to protect them. No, my parents can go to hell.

Just because I can't bring myself to say it.

Spitting out blood from my mouth as I walk along the sidewalk, not giving eye contact with anyone, my head bent down to look at my shoes, as if I'm ashamed with myself.

I hide in an alley, school can kiss my ass for the day. I bring my legs up underneath my chin, wincing from the protest my body is screaming as I rest my chin on my knees.

Always so afraid.

I'm too afraid to run away. And I'm too afraid of selling them out.

But if this continues, I'll end up dead by my father's hand.

You see, my parents never wanted a child. I was an accident, a mistake, that's what they always say. They always drag me down.

To top it off, I don't have any friends, no relatives, no one to help me. I'm on my own.

It's been that way from the start.


New p.o.v

Everything in the part of the city I'm in is quite shabby. Then again, I rarely leave home. But once in a while, it doesn't hurt. There aren't many people out on the streets, other than a few men and women walking to or from their house, and a boy about my age, with his head bent down. As I walk by him, I stop after he passes me and stare at him. From what I can tell from his bare arms, he has a lot of bruises. I saw him leave one of the most shabbiest apartments, with just a small, quick glimpse of his face. He looked scared.

I turn around and follow some distance away from the boy. He seems to be headed to school, at first glance, but he turns into an alleyway instead. I told my head to the side, curious more than anything. He reminds me of myself a little. Lost and scared.

I pause at the edge of the building, looking into the alleyway. He sits down on the cold ground and brings up his legs to his chest, his chin resting on them. His eyes have a blank look in them, as if he's given up on everything.

I walk into the alley warily. He doesn't spot me until I stop a few feet from him, watching him.

He looks up at me, eyes both wary and haunted. Our eyes meet, and I have a sense of recognition as I look at him, as if I know him from somewhere. His gaze is very confused, afraid more than anything, however.

I take another two steps towards him, crouching on my toes beside the strange boy.

"What happened?" I ask him, a little worried for him. He looks very thin from what I can see, and he's shaking.

He looks away from me.

"None of your concern." He says icily. He's used to being asked that question, I can tell.

I sit down beside him, looking at him.

"Okay, I guess I started off wrong." I scratch the back of my head, smiling a bit. "My name is Sora. What's yours?"

He looks at me from the corner of his eyes.

"Why do you want to know?" He asks, turning to look at me.

"Because you seem like a very nice person." I tell him, which is true. I have a very good sense of what people are like. Takes one look at them for me to know their entire character. "But you are afraid of a lot of things, and you've given up on everything, on hope."

He stares at me a while, trying to see if I'm kidding. I keep eye contact, unafraid to show my sincerity.

"It's Roxas." He says after a while. I hold out my hand to him, making him flinch.

"It's nice to meet you." I tell him. From the haunted look in hi eyes, I can tell he thought I was going to hit him, which makes me a little sad.

Warily he takes my hand, shaking it.

"So, can I ask what happened?" I ask after he lets go of my hand. He wraps his arms around his legs.

"I… I can't."

"You're afraid to sell them out, aren't you?" He looks stunned as the words leave my lips. "From what I can tell, it's a normal occurrence in your life. And you've never told anyone because you're afraid that whoever did this to you will find out you told, and you'll be in bigger trouble."

"…yeah." He says softly. "He's ruthless… he doesn't want me around."

I want to comfort him, but I'm thinking he wouldn't like that. So I stay where I am.

"They never wanted me… I've known that from the start." He sighs shakily. "I've tried suicide a few times, but I've never been able to."

"Don't do that." He looks at me as I speak. "You may have been unwanted, but there's a reason you exist, Roxas." The words flow off my tongue easily, his name even easier, as if I've been saying it all my life. "There's someone who'll appreciate you, even if they don't."

"No one does." He closes his eyes again, hugging his knees to himself tighter. "My family doesn't want me, and no one wants to be my friend. I'm all alone in this."

I bite my lip in thought. Smiling I stand up and hold out my hand to him.

"I'll be your friend." His confusion is marked clearly on his face, and he doesn't believe my words. "No one has to be alone, and I believe it would be an honor to be your friend, Roxas."

"Can I ask you something?" I nod, and he takes my hand, wincing as I help him up. "Just who are you?"

"Sora Hikari, at your service." I smile widely. "Wanna come back home with me? I'm sure you'll like it."

He just stares at me, stunned.

"Come on!" I pull him along.


Roxas

It's hard to believe, really. Here I am, being dragged by a Hikari, of all people. Everyone in this town knows that name.

It's the name of the Royal family, and mostly everyone is afraid of them. They have a large amount of power, enough to erase your face off the globe, for crying out loud!

Just what the hell is going on?

He pulls me inside a lavish gate, and down a paved path within the gates.

The brunette slows down as we get to a marble staircase leading into his… house, if you will, though it looks like a castle to me. It's just that huge.

But I can't deny the fact that I've seen the boy somewhere before. I just don't know where.

"Have you ever tried to run away?" He asks me suddenly as he pulls me down a large hallway.

"I've never had the guts to, really. My father is… frightening." I tell him. He turns cerulean eyes to look at me.

"I think I can help you, then."

I stare at him blankly, confused.

"You can stay, if you want." He smiles at me. "I wouldn't mind in the least; it would give me someone to pass the time with."

"You live here alone?"

"Yeah, mostly. Other than the maid, the cook, and the head butler here. They're always busy, so I don't really get to do much with other people. My parents never come by, and if they do, it's very rarely."

"But I… it's… you don't have-"

"I want to!" He smiles at me.

Have I gone mad? I like to think so.


And voila! I hope you'll enjoy the story, and I'll post up when I have the time.