disclaimer: i own nothing of course.
pairing/s: akuroku, soriku, potentially more to come
warning/s: terrible things happening to good people
Run Rumspringa
- Summer Vacation -
(prologue)
Taking over this town
They should worry
Summer vacation. Sweet, endless summer vacation.
"Breathe it in, boys, smell that freedom."
"Hayner, we still have last period."
"Yeah Hayner! And don't forget about all the homework we'll get."
"You shut your mouths. Do not ruin this for me."
Hayner turned to Roxas, "Tell me at least you're excited, Rox."
Roxas pulled a face, scrunching it up. Olette was right; they still had another lesson, and it was with the tightest teacher in the school. They would probably be working up till the bell. Past the bell. But then, he guessed, yeah, then it would be glorious vacation time. Pence was wrong though. Homework was not something you think about during vacation. What a dumb suggestion.
"Bring it on, Hay."
"Awesome."
Hayner and Roxas clasped hands in an excited, familiar gesture. A relic from times pre-dating perhaps even elementary. Olette sighed loudly, but contentedly.
"All right, all right. Let's get to this class," she said, throwing her arms out and leading the boys by their backs.
Roxas thought about that conversation a lot as he was forcibly carted towards wherever kingdom of the whatever people. The day after he had been promised freedom and ice cream and glorious, glorious vacation time, he had been told to pack his bags because some distant relative was having a birthday or a funeral or something. And now they were headed to mostly cold, mostly wet Radiant Garden to visit them.
Roxas leant his forehead against the car window and breathed in slowly. He stuck his tongue out unattractively breathing out but he didn't care. Why should he care? No one he cared about was in Radiant Garden.
"Stop moping, Roxas," came the helpful comment from his brother.
"Shut up, Sora."
"OK, cool."
Roxas narrowed his eyes at Sora, a year younger than him, but catching up on sass years. And Roxas didn't like it.
"Yeah, Roxas, cool your jets," added his father, chuckling at the stupid phrase. Roxas hated stupid phrases. He sent a glare to the front of the car too, just for safe measure.
Roxas replied with a quick-witted classic, "What does that even mean?" He snuggled back in his seat and crossed his arms over his knees.
"How the hell am I meant to know, boy? Now shut up griping in the back, you two. It's another ten hours till we even reach Hollow Bastion."
"How long is it from Hollow Bastion?" asked Sora casually, scratching the window softly. Roxas could see the beginnings of rain out there.
"Four hours."
A mass groan ensued from the back.
"Griping. Quit it."
Approximately fifteen hours, a disowned father, four sea salt ice creams, and a re-owned father later, the Highwind family finally reached their destination. Although Roxas had literally zero bearings on where exactly that was, having fallen asleep before they even got into Hollow Bastion, and waking up as they pulled into the driveway of a sweet little blue cottage. Flowers decorated the window sills and fragrant buds were blossoming on a beautiful tree in the front garden.
It was hideous.
Roxas rolled his eyes and grabbed his rucksack from the back of the car, punching Sora awake on his way out.
"Ow, geez."
Roxas followed his dad to the front door, wrinkling his nose at the gross tree and its smell. He immediately regretted this move however, when the door was opened by a beautiful brunette maybe a few years older than him. She had spotted Roxas's spontaneous but momentary face scrunch.
"Oh," she said, with a gentle voice. She looked very concerned. "Do you not like my tree?"
"Uh," said Roxas. "No – it's not that, I just- uh…"
"I'm just messing with you," she laughed, the pink bow in her hair jiggling slightly. "Ha ha, I'm so funny."
Roxas scrunched his face up again.
"All right, all right, Aerith. Show us through. I'm gonna need a coffee," his dad grumbled, lugging two hefty suitcases through the doorway. "Sora! Get out the car!"
Sora yelled something in reply and promptly tumbled out the car, having gotten stuck in his seatbelt.
"This way, Uncle Cid," said Aerith as she led them in.
Cid continued to grumble as he entered the house. Roxas caught snippets. But didn't really care that much. "Told you not to call me uncle, I ain't your uncle. Damn kids."
The inside wasn't as bad as the outside Roxas supposed. Although the wallpaper was a bland kind of yellow he associated more with the council estate back in Twilight Town, but it was all devoid of any loud and unattractive flowers which was a plus. Aerith, the pretty but distinctly unfunny girl, led them down the corridor a little way to a set of wooden stairs.
"Uncle Cid, your room is on the left just there, and boys, you have the room just past that. If you come down in about twenty minutes, I'll have dinner ready!" And with that, she skipped away towards the sound of a television.
"Oh good, they have a TV then," commented Sora, heaving his heavy satchel towards the room.
"Yeah, I suppose so," replied Roxas, wondering why if Sora was going to bring so much, he didn't just took it in a suitcase rather than jam it all into his school bag.
"You don't sound too- mother of Yevon."
Sora had opened the door to the room.
"What! What is it?"
Roxas raced to see what was inside. From floor to ceiling, the walls were covered in grotesquely bright princess pattern. Sparkly golden crowns and shiny smiling faces of beloved cartoon heroines in pink and purple dresses leered down from all angles. The effect was terrifying, only made worse by the lack of artistic finesse in the paintings.
"They look a bit melty, don't they?" said Sora after they had both had their moment to take it in. He threw his hefty bag down onto one of the single beds that Roxas hadn't noticed before then, being so shadowed by the manifold of princess grimaces.
"I've definitely seen better." Roxas took his own rucksack and put it on the floor by his bed. He hopped up onto the mattress and laid back. It wasn't too bad, comfort wise, but looking up he saw the major issue. "How are we meant to sleep with them watching us?"
Sora too sprang up onto his bed and stared above him. "Close your eyes?"
They both tried.
"No good," said Roxas, though not wanting to open his eyes, knowing the actual sight was worse than merely the knowledge of their visages. In a conspiratorial whisper he added, "I know they're there."
Sora shuddered. "Ugh."
"I dealt with them by really tuckering myself out during the day, then by the time I got in bed I was too tired to care," came a female voice from the door.
Roxas leapt up from the bed and heard Sora do the same. Lingering by the doorframe with a snarky smile was a girl about the same age as that Aerith person. She laughed at their embarrassment before entering, and sitting on a rocking chair at the foot of Sora's bed.
"Hi, I'm Yuffie. I'm your cousin that you've never met."
Roxas and Sora looked at each other.
"Ohhh," said Sora. "Ohhhhhhhhh, hi, yeah, Yuffie. Yuffie."
"Or heard of apparently," added Yuffie.
"Yeah, well, dad doesn't talk much about family, so y'know," Roxas told her. But she intrigued him; Roxas hadn't met many family members before and he always wondered whether there were particular family traits he had picked up, or even if he looked a bit like someone else who wasn't Sora. Yuffie had a small, round face which he supposed was similar to his in a way. But her black hair and long legs were just the opposite of what Roxas had always presumed to be Highwind attributes.
"That's all right," she said, crossing her legs over Sora's bed and leaning back in the chair. "We're not a particularly talkative family at the best of times. "Aerith's my cousin, by the way. As in my mom's brother's daughter. But you're cousins on my dad's side. I thought you'd like me to clear that up." She gave them an over-dramatic wink. "Oh, she was also the perpetrator behind the beautiful murals in here. We used to share this room and she did them without permission when we were about ten and my mom punished her by saying she was never going to take them down. Ha ha, now you have to sleep here."
Yuffie laughed. Roxas and Sora did too, but somewhat nervously. Their cousin seemed a little intense.
"Let's go downstairs and meet the gang, yeah?" She jumped up and gestured for them to follow.
Downstairs in the room with the TV, their dad had already managed to make himself a space at the settee with a bottle of beer. He grunted a non-committal greeting to Yuffie without turning from the blitzball game on the screen. Next to him was a taller blond guy who must have been Yuffie's dad. If Roxas was honest, he looked a bit like a more put-together Cid. He gracefully slid from the settee and sidled over to the Roxas and his brother.
"Hello, boys! It's a pleasure to finally meet you both. I'm your Uncle Ansem. I'm afraid I probably won't see much of you while you're here as I tend to be quite busy but I do hope you enjoy your summer here," and then he left to the kitchen, giving Yuffie an affectionate pat on the head as he left.
Yuffie leapt towards another sofa and lay herself across it. She pointed across the room to an old man with a very long beard, getting extremely excited by the match on TV.
"And that's Poppa Merlin. Say hi, Pops!"
Poppa Merlin waved a hand but didn't look away from the TV. Roxas could see where his own dad had got the trait from.
"Is that everyone then?" asked Sora.
"Pretty much. My mom's away on business all summer, but usually she lives here."
"Don't you?" asked Roxas.
"No, I moved out ages ago. Destiny Isles Uni. It's just Aerith, Mom and Pops who live here now. I said I'd stay for the summer though – so I could help out. Dad's only here to say hi to Uncle Cid. So, what do you wanna do after dinner?"
Roxas decided Sora could answer for him. He was too tired for Yuffie's energy. He sat down next to dad, and let himself be immersed in the blitzball game until they were called for lunch.
After lunch, Sora and Roxas followed Yuffie towards the nearest park where she said the swings were "sick". The evening air felt mellow and bright, unlike the cloying atmosphere back at Twilight Town with its humid evenings and heavy mornings. But Roxas quite liked that about his hometown. Radiant Garden was too fresh and too cold.
Light green trees lined the roadside on the way to the park, the streets were cobbled white and grey. In the distance, beyond the beautiful cottages and the lovely mansions of Radiant Garden, the castle rose tall and handsome. Roxas thought he would quite like to draw the castle when they got back.
"Does someone actually live in the castle, Yuffie?" asked Sora, noticing Roxas's gaze.
Yuffie stared at the two of them for a moment, taking it the question.
"Are you serious?" she said. "Only the royal family."
"There's a royal family?" Roxas piped up.
"Do you know nothing about Radiant Garden?"
"Yeah, pretty much," said Sora. "It's not exactly the biggest place ever. We hear more about places like Traverse Town and DI, you know. Closer. Bigger."
"More important," added Roxas.
Yuffie put her head in her hands jokingly.
"OK, so basically we have a regent at the moment because the prince isn't of age, so he doesn't live in Radiant Garden at the moment. He lives in Castle Oblivion as a ward, since his parents died when he was like two. And, though they'd never admit it, he was probably sent there for being a bit too … rebellious."
"Rebellious?" asked Roxas.
"Yeah, he'd go out and bang anyone he could find, and he smokes and drinks and probably took drugs. Not a very good image for the future King."
"Whoa," said Sora. "Can't believe dad's never told us about this place before."
Roxas could believe it more. His dad didn't tell them about much.
They finally made it there; a typically shitty park full of rowdy kids and sullen teenagers. Though he had to admit, the swings did look pretty decent. They headed over to the nearest bench, in front of the forest behind. The sunlight felt light and watery, compared to Twilight Town's sunlight. Sat down on the bench, Sora punched Roxas lightly on the arm.
"Why so glum, Rox?" he asked, smirking.
Roxas narrowed his eyes.
"It's just my face, Sora," he replied. Just as he always did when Sora asked that question. "It's just my face."
"Yeah, Sora," chimed Yuffie. "Some people just look naturally moody. Take my friend Squall for example."
"Squall?" chuckled Sora.
"The name matches the face, let me tell you."
Yuffie and Sora laughed together about how their faces effortlessly fell in a content way, while Roxas rolled his eyes. He got up, deciding he could search the forest behind them, away from the screaming children and Yuffie and Sora nattering on about whatever.
"Just going to get eaten by wolves," he said as he left.
"Have fun, Rox," chimed Sora.
"Will do," he replied.
It only took ten minutes of walking before Roxas was lost.
"Oh," he remarked quietly to himself.
He turned on his heel to try and get back, but in doing so, Roxas realised suddenly how dark the place had become.
"Oh no," he said, clasping his hands.
It was getting cold too.
Through the thick foliage he couldn't hear any squawking children anymore, and apparently Radiant Garden was not the sort of place where the rush of cars could be heard from all places, unlike back home. He had literally no sense of where he was, or which direction to go in. Why couldn't he have just taken a path?
He clenched and unclenched his fist. He couldn't be too far into the forest. Roxas just decided to just keep walking, and surely he would find a way back. He rubbed the back of his neck and set off through the darkening undergrowth, catching his feet on roots twisted above ground, and big rocks. After about twenty minutes of walking in Yevon knows what direction, Roxas found himself tripping face first over a bigger pile of rocks than any of the others. Standing up, he realised that it was the crumbled bricks, having fallen from some sort of ancient, ruined tower. He hadn't been able to see it in the darkness, but as he sat on the ground staring up at it, its characteristics began to bloom as his eyes became accustomed to it in the light. It was only about six feet high and the roof had been completely blown off, presumably many years ago. A rotting wooden door hung off its hinges.
Roxas stood up and brushed himself off. He gently touched the mouldy door and pulled it to. Beyond was a short set of steps downwards, and beyond them – if he wasn't mistaken, Roxas was sure he could see a light.
A light!
He slowly stepped down the icy stone steps and entered the tunnel beneath. A cold electric light ran across the ceiling of the tunnel, far into the distance. Roxas bit his lip. He wasn't sure whether he should continue or not, but after another moment of deliberation, he figured that at least in the tunnel, there was direction and light and probably people, whereas in the woods there was confusion, darkness and distress.
He started his shaky way along the passage, and could feel that the floor was slowly rising. After walking for about five minutes down the stone grey tunnel he came to a turning, and just beyond the turning the tunnel ended in a heavy-looking door. Without thinking about it, Roxas started pulling at the door but it was too weighty. He clutched the door handle desperately, pressing it down over and over. He tugged it one last time, but still no luck. In his rushed yank though, he managed to push the door forward, and with a shocking lightness it opened and threw Roxas through the open door and down.
It was only a short fall, but Roxas felt his whole body screaming in agony upon landing on a hard laminated floor.
"Uhhhh," he groaned as he clutched his wrist. Which was hurting a lot.
He tried to open his eyes, but everything was blurry and Yevon he was just so tired.
He could see a ladder across from him, leading up to the door he had just fallen through. And he saw something bright red moving towards him. Something very red and very blurry. He thought about the conversation he had had with Hayner only the day before. About having a sweet, endless summer vacation.
He faintly heard the red and blurry shape say, "What the ... fuck ..."
But with one last groan and the sudden flashback image of one of those horrifying princess faces, Roxas passed out.
an: hello! please review if you even enjoyed it in the slightest, even if you liteally just write "k" or something. it makes me face go like this :D also i like talking to people
concrit is always helpful ofc and equally if there are any spelling/grammar errors (i'm so bad sometimes omg), and if you have any particular pairing preferences (other than the whole soriku / akuroku things obvs) then feel free to suggest them! literally any other character in kingdom hearts, and i can pop them in as long as it works. i just love love, y'know. also re: the soriku part of the story, i'm not sure whether to make it part of this one, or do a spin-off. what would prefer?
the title is taken from the song by Alex Winston
