Title: Picture Perfect
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Rating: M
Pairings: Akuroku, Soriku, and numerous others.
Warnings: Sexual content, slight substance abuse, and foul language.
Summary: Roxas is a fresh-out-of-high-school teenage gymnast with a dream to someday get on the big screen. Thanks to his brother Sora's unlikely connection to an actor in an upcoming movie, he finds out that Ventus Knight, the holder of the lead role in the movie, is looking for a stunt double, and they look exactly alike. Roxas jumps at the chance to be catapulted into the spotlight when he is offered the job, but little does he know that with fame comes a price - and the possibilty of falling in love with the lanky, redheaded sidekick who has a penchant for bad jokes and a smile that can melt your heart.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts © Disney and Square Enix, Final Fantasy © Square Enix, all other references do not belong to me.

Author's Note: Hello again, everyone! So, I finally got my lazy butt around to posting the first chapter of my new story, Picture Perfect! I really hope you enjoy this story, because I know I'm going to have fun writing it. Due to school having a tendency of getting in the way, updates may not be regular, so you'll just have to bear with me while I try and keep my life in order and write at the same time. Anways, without further ado, here's chapter one!

Chapter One: If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

~::~

"Come on, Roxas, pay attention! If you drop me again, I am not taking your home after practice!"

The blonde-haired teen being addressed stared after the brunette girl who yelled at him as she walked back to coat her hands in a new layer of chalk. He picked himself up off the mat and sighed as he did a back-bend, popping his aching back. This was the fourth time in the last half hour he had fallen, something that was unheard of. He'd been doing this for almost his entire life; there was no excuse to be below standard.

"Sorry, Olette," he murmured as he straightened up and walked over to the bucket of chalk dust. "I promise I'll do it right this time. Again?"

Olette held out a whitened hand. "Come on, you klutz."

Roxas grinned and took her hand, following her back to the center of the mat. She turned after walking a few yards and launched into a series of back flips. The blonde boy somersaulted and caught her in his arms, sending her into another series of flips that brought her to the edge of the mat opposite from where she had started. Roxas leapt up from his somersault and did a back flip, landing in a perfect handstand. Olette turned around and ran forwards, diving at the ground and pushing off hard with her hands, just enough to let her clear the bottoms of Roxas's feet and then go into a roll as she hit the ground beyond him. Roxas let himself breath for a moment as his partner started somersaulting her way around the spot where he was still standing steady on his hands. Finally, after a few seconds, he pushed off and began doing flips in the opposite direction as Olette. With a tremendous leap, Olette suddenly launched herself into the air, flying straight at Roxas. This time, he was ready. He rolled into a standing position and caught her in his arms, holding her aloft by her hips. They stayed like that for a moment, chests heaving, before Roxas released her and they hugged, laughing happily.

"We're going to get first place tomorrow at the competition, I know it!" Olette chirped. "That was amazing!"

Roxas nodded in agreement, still out of breath. He walked over to his bag and grabbed a bottle of water, gulping half of it down before wiping his mouth and replying, "I sure hope so. I've never competed in this category before…"

"Oh, you'll do fine," the brunette girl assured him. "You're about a million times better than all of the other male gymnasts I know put together."

"Don't tell that to Setzer, he'll kill you!" Roxas whispered, pointing to the man in purple practicing on the other side of the gym. "Seriously. He thinks he's like… God, or something."

Olette giggled and grabbed her bag. "He sure does. Now, go and shower. I don't want my car to smell like you for days like last time."

"It was not days!" the blonde cried indignantly as he picked up his own things and scrambled after her towards the locker room doors.

"Was too," Olette said over her shoulder as she disappeared into the women's side. Roxas rolled his eyes and headed in to his respective door. He was glad of the chance to shower and wash off the sweat from the intensive practice he had endured that day.

His brunette friend was waiting for him by the door when he exited the locker room. Together, they walked out into the blistering summer heat and hurried to Olette's car, not wanting to undo what their showers had just accomplished.

"Someday turn down the heat," she panted as she slumped down in the driver's seat.

"Sorry, I'm not God," Roxas apologized. "I can't do awesome shit like that."

"If you were God, I would be so screwed," Olette replied, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot as Roxas buckled himself in. "All those times I've threatened to leave you here… I shudder to think how you might get revenge with divine powers."

"Probably chuck a whole bucketful of holy hand grenades at you."

The brunette rolled her eyes and ignored Roxas as he continued listing off the many, many ways he could kill her with said powers. She was relieved when they pulled up in front of the blonde boy's house, a quaint little pale blue two-story with navy shutters and doors, along with a porch facing the street. "Here we are," the girl said. "Make sure you're not late tomorrow, okay? Is your family coming with you?"

"I… think so, yeah. If we can get Sora's lazy ass out of bed," The two friends chuckled. "See you tomorrow, Olette."

"Bye, Roxas."

The blonde boy climbed out of the car and walked up to his front door, ringing the doorbell once he got there. No one answered. After several more presses of the button, his brother, looking like he had just gotten out of bed, jerked the door open without a word and then stumbled back upstairs to his room. Roxas shook his head as he watched Sora go.

As he walked past the kitchen door, the blonde stuck his head inside to say a quick greeting to his father Cloud, with whom he shared a striking likeness. The blonde man looked up at him from over the top of his glasses and nodded to acknowledge him. Roxas then continued up to his room only to find Sora passed out on his bed.

"Um… Sora?" The blonde boy poked his brunette brother's shoulder until he rolled over and grunted unhappily at him. "You're sleeping on my bed."

Sora's eyes opened a little wider. "Say what? No I'm… Aw, shit. Sorry, man. I'm still getting over that shitty cold from last week. Been asleep all day."

"I can tell," Roxas wrinkled his nose as he caught a whiff of Sora's way-past-morning breath. "Only you have the ability to catch a cold in the middle of ninety-degree heat."

Sora laughed humorlessly as he sat up and slid off the bed. "Yeah, aren't you jealous? Germs love me almost as much as chicks love you." Sora bolted for the door.

"Wait a second…" Roxas blinked. "Hey!" He grabbed a pillow and chased his brother to his room, but before he could hit him, Sora shut and locked his bedroom door behind him.

Muttering dire threats under his breath, Roxas retreated to his room and shut the door. He dumped all of his stuff next to his bed and sat down, kicking off his shoes before lying down on the still-warm sheets. He glanced at his clock, wondering when his mother would be home. He knew today was one of the days she had extra lessons at the martial arts school she taught at, but he didn't know how long that would take. His stomach growled, and, reluctantly, he headed back downstairs to raid the pantry.

"How did practice go?" Cloud asked as his son walked into the kitchen.

"Great. Olette's sure we'll win first tomorrow," the blonde boy responded as he grabbed a can of soda out of the refrigerator and then fished a box of Cheez-Its out of the pantry. "I take it you guys are all going to come and watch?"

"Of course we are. And yes, we're actually going to find a way to get your brother up before noon. Knowing your mother…" Cloud smiled wryly. "Well, I pity Sora if he's too stubborn. Tifa's not a sensei for nothing."

Roxas chuckled. "Don't sound so jealous. You can fight too, you know."

"Yes, but she still beats me every time," his father replied with a sigh.

"Dad, she's your wife. If you always beat her down, how else would she take her anger out? Besides, we all know you get distracted by her… oh, what did you call it that one time… luscious figure?"

Cloud set down the book he was reading and looked over at his son. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that and let you go back to what you were doing."

"Sir, yes sir!" Roxas saluted mockingly and then fled upstairs as his father began to rise out of his seat.

Munching on a handful of the cheesy crackers he had purloined from the pantry, Roxas sat down on his bed and stayed there for a while, wondering what he should do with the remainder of his afternoon. Olette was the only friend of his who was in town at the moment, and he'd been with her nearly all day, so hanging out probably wouldn't be smart. Summer time meant no homework to do, no books to read, and no incentive to really do much of anything except eat, sleep, and practice his gymnastics.

After almost ten minutes of sitting there being bored, Roxas shoved one last handful of Cheez-Its in his mouth and walked down the hall to his brother's room. The door was closed, something he found a bit strange, because Sora usually didn't care about his privacy. If anything, he lacked all notions of the word.

The blonde boy pressed his ear to the door when he realized Sora was speaking to someone. "You're sure about this? Tomorrow? Really?" His brother sounded shocked by whatever the other person had just told him. "That's great! I don't know how my brother will take this, though… any of it. He's not exactly… open-minded. Hell, he'll probably flip his shit, if I know him."

Roxas scowled at the white-painted door. His temper wasn't that bad… was it?

"Look, I probably need to go before anyone hears me… My mom's gonna be home soon. Yeah. Yeah, I know, tomorrow. I've got it, trust me. I can't wait to see you. Okay, bye," There was a short pause, and then a light chuckle from Sora. "Yes, I love you too, you idiot. Bye."

Roxas bolted for his room when he heard Sora's footsteps heading for the door he was standing in front of. He managed to somersault into his room and simultaneously kick his door shut as he did so. "Well, at least gymnastics are good for something," he muttered to himself. "I wonder who the hell Sora was talking to…"

The rest of the night was uneventful. Roxas's mother came home almost two whole hours later to a houseful of very hungry men begging her to cook something. Tifa Strife rolled her eyes and pulled out a couple of frozen pizzas from the oven and let them cook. When the table was finally set, the others immediately tackled the food and devoured most of it like a pack of rabid wolves.

"What I wouldn't give for a daughter," the dark-haired woman grumbled.

After dinner, the boys retreated back to their respective rooms. Roxas crept back out into the hallway to listen at Sora's door, but his brother never called the mysterious stranger again, so the blonde got bored and returned to his room. A couple hours later saw an exhausted Roxas getting ready for an early bed time, wanting to be in top shape the next morning for the gymnastics competition. Once the necessary preparations were done, the blonde boy crawled under his covers and lay awake for a while, contemplating the things that were going to take place the next day.

Roxas desperately hoped that he and Olette's routine would go well. If he fell in front of all the people that were sure to be there, he'd never forgive himself. Also, he wondered who Sora had been talking to. Why was his brother so excited about meeting this person? Were they going to be at the competition?

The blonde sighed and rolled over. He had more important things to worry about. Sleep was one of them.

~::~

"Five more minutes…"

Roxas scowled down at his older brother as he rolled over and shoved his head under his pillow for the third time in the last fifteen minutes. At this rate, they were going to be late, and that was not something Roxas liked to be. "Sora, if you don't wake up right now, I'm gonna break your Mickey Mouse clock!"

The brunette instantly shot out of bed and raced to get ready to go, glaring at his brother the whole time. "You're an evil son of a bitch, Roxas."

"Don't I know it," The blonde chuckled as he grabbed his duffel bag off his bed and then headed downstairs to eat.

"Good morning, honey," Tifa said sweetly, setting a plate of eggs and toast in front of him as he sat down at the table. "Your father's cleaning out the back of the car so you can put your things in. It seems like Cid's been using his car for a junkyard lately."

"Not again," Roxas rolled his eyes. "Uncle Cid's got to stop doing that. He knows how much Dad hates it."

Tifa's eyes flashed dangerously. "Oh, believe me, if he doesn't stop, I'll go and give him a nice, long lecture about why it's wrong to pick on your little brother."

Roxas wasn't sure whether to laugh or be afraid, so he shoveled a huge bite of breakfast into his mouth and stayed silent. Sora came down about three and a half seconds later, stole his toast, and then walked through the kitchen into the adjoining garage where his father was.

"Sora, if you even dare think about eating that, I'm going to make you eat broccoli for breakfast!" Tifa barked. The brunette froze and turned around slowly, the piece of toast already halfway raised to his mouth. Roxas watched in amusement as his brother returned the bread to his plate and sat down at the table across from him. "Thank, you dear."

Within a few minutes, both boys were done eating and the family began loading up the car. It would be a long hour and a half to get to the arena for Roxas. He could finally feel the pressure getting to him, turning his palms sweaty and making him shiver in fear and anticipation.

The building the competition was being held in was a huge athletics compound, complete with a swimming pool, indoor fields and even an area for dancers to practice. Roxas had been there many times before, but the place still left him awestruck when he saw it.

As soon as he and his family walked in the front doors, Olette and several others from his class tackled him and dragged him off to the practice rooms without so much as a warning. Waving frantically at his confused relatives, the blonde let himself be pulled along until they came to the locker rooms.

"Go change," Olette ordered, the seriousness in her tone very disconcerting. "I saw the name of the best team in the state on the roster. We've got work to do."

Roxas paled at this, but obeyed instantly, hurrying to get into his gold and orange team outfit. He had always liked the design of their performance uniforms, a mostly gold leotard and tights with a few orange stripes and an orange sun directly over their hearts. The Twilight Town Sunsets weren't going to lose today, not a chance, even if the Radiant Garden Stars were competing against them. They'd find a way to win… wouldn't they?

The blonde boy gathered his things and hurried out to his waiting team. They instantly set off for the practice room assigned to them, knowing they'd need every spare second they had to warm up and perfect their routines. Roxas himself was entered in three categories: the floor performance with Olette, the vault, and finally, the high bar. Roxas was only really worried about the dual performance since it was so late in the day when that section was, and they would both be exhausted by then. Olette was also in three events, meaning between them, they would have to do four whole routines before they got to their last one, not to mention the rhythmic routine the whole team would be doing at the very end of the day…

"Roxas, let's go. We've got the mat to ourselves right now," Olette pulled him onto the carpeted, springy surface and they deposited their bags on the side before chalking their hands and walking to their starting positions. "And don't worry, okay? Remember, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. And then maybe throw it in your opponent's eyes to distract them. We'll make do with what we have."

Roxas nodded, confused but somewhat reassured by her strange words. Olette gave him the signal, and they began.

Several attempts to get it right later, Roxas had fallen twice when he was supposed to catch Olette. The brunette girl was clearly frustrated with him to no end, but she just smiled and helped him up so they could try again. Another member of their team, Selphie, watched from the sidelines as they practiced.

"Roxas," she called, "Try spreading your feet apart a little more this time at the end. That way you won't lose your balance."

The blonde nodded and waited for Olette to begin the routine once again. At the finale, he did as Selphie suggested, and, miraculously, he was able to stay standing without even a tremble in his legs.

The three were about to congratulate each other when a man walked in and said, "Twilight Town Sunsets?" Olette nodded. "Good. It's time to come to the main room. Please get your things and follow me."

The team of six did as they were told and followed the man through several hallways until they came to a room with stadium seats on all sides that were packed with people. Roxas felt his legs turn to jelly and he almost knocked another member of their team, Wakka, over.

"Hey, you better be careful, brudda," the tan boy said. "Don't wanna hurt yourself before you get to compete, ya?"

"He's right, you know," Tidus, the third and final male on the team said. "You and Olette are our best bet at winning."

Tidus's girlfriend Yuna, the sixth member of the team, rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, you guys are great too. Have some confidence."

"You tell 'em, Yunie!"

"Rikku, what are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be with our families in the stands?" Yuna said with a sigh.

The other girl, a blonde with bright green eyes, frowned. "But one of the people judging said I could be you guys' helper person."

Tidus and Wakka snickered, but instantly shut up when the four girls gave them their best death glares.

"Those women are scary," Roxas muttered to the now very afraid teens. "Don't mess with them if you want to live a long, happy life."

"I hear ya, brudda," Wakka whispered fearfully. "Lulu's just as bad. Maybe even worse sometimes. "

The group was suddenly pushed into place by a red-faced man who was running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everyone in the right spots. As soon as this was done, the announcer's voice came over the loudspeakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Twelfth Annual Hollow Bastion Gymnastics Competition!" The crowd applauded for a moment before the speaker continued. "Thank you all for attending today's events. We have ten of the highest-ranking teams from around the state here to compete for the honor of first place. Last year's champions, the Radiant Garden Stars!" The crowd cheered wildly, and Roxas and his teammates tried to hide their disgust. Seifer, the captain of the Stars, waved to the crowd, a smug smile on his face. The announcer went on down the list. Roxas's team struck a pose when their name was called, earning cheers from their friends, family, and fans in the stands.

Finally, it was time to compete. Roxas was stunned to realize that his first event, the vault, was actually the very first of the day. His almost as stunned teammates pushed him towards the section of the floor where the vault was set up. The woman running it took his and his team's name and then told him to wait until he was called up.

Finally, after seeing three relatively good displays from teams that weren't any real competition to him, Roxas's turn was up. He slipped on his special gloves and coated them in chalk dust for some extra traction just in case he needed to make a quick landing if something went wrong. He stepped up to the runway and breathed deeply for a moment. The woman counted down from three, and then he sprinted forwards, legs pumping. He took a deep breath when the trampoline was near… and jumped.

~::~

Author's Note: So, what do you think so far? Any feedback is always welcome. 3