Homecoming

Roxas remembered the many many bruises Seifer had given him. Granted, they were fake bruises, and it was a fake Seifer - but based off the real one. The real one was almost exactly the same. Hence the urge to punch him in the face. Or tackle-hug him. Both sounded pretty good. However, Roxas resisted - that would only cause problems for him now. Considering that he'd never met this Seifer, and already knew the boy wouldn't like him. He was new to town after all.

Thinking that made his chest hurt, so he dismissed the thought. He stood, just around a building, out of Seifer's sight, and looked up thoughtfully.

"Intruder." Fuu observed, suddenly right next to him. He flinched, and wondered how she could move so silently, then eyed her nervously. The urge to tackle-hug her was strong. She was exactly the same - silent and harsh. He resisted, since Seifer and Rai were quickly behind her - though she stepped aside slightly for Seifer.

"Yes." Roxas agreed, slowly. "And you hate intruders, so I'll just leave now."

That didn't go so well.

The problem with fighting them was that he had his keyblades again, and didn't feel capable of fighting with anything else anymore.

"They'll wake up in a little bit," He reassured himself, leaving the sandlot and the three unconscious teens there. He wasn't quite sure where he was going - honestly, he was just wandering around. His feet kept trying to lead him to the Usual Spot, but he continued to turn away from the back alley each time. Around his fourth circle around the town, he decided that, thrilling as his feet found walking in circles, he was going to do something else.

The sunset was really quite nice from the clock tower over the station. Roxas reflects on this, and on how he is a complete and utter coward. Hayner, Olette, and Pence. They're not his friends anymore, so he really can't go talk to them. He wants to, but doesn't have anything to say. 'Hi, my name's Roxas. I'm someone else's body and have no heart. I was friends with fake versions of you guys.' ... It really didn't sound very convincing.

"Pretty deep in thought, huh?" Olette asked, gingerly sitting down next to him. Roxas jumped, completely caught off guard for the second time that day. She giggled, then looked guilty for it. It was pretty high up, and if he'd been startled enough to fall down... She blinked. That thought felt awfully familiar.

Pence and Hayner were close by, and fell into the same seats as always. Roxas' chest felt heavy from the familiarity of it all, but he forced a smile on his face, unable to say anything.

"Are you new to town?" Pence asked slowly. "You look familiar."

Hayner leaned forward to see Roxas more clearly. "Do you go to our school or something?"

Roxas shook his head slowly and stared out to the sunset. "You guys know Sora," he said. And it hurt that the first thing he said to them was about Sora. "We're related. I always remind people of him."

Pence looked up thoughtfully, and after a moment said, sincerely "I don't think you look like him very much, though." The blond blinked. Reality was surprisingly... Surprising. After another pause the boy added "You look like you. Just familiar."

It was reassuring to hear that, at the very least. "My name is Roxas." He said, and his chest is starting to feel lighter.

"Olette," The brunette said. She kicked her feet against the tower, turning to face Pence and Hayner, who introduced themselves with wide grins.

"So," Roxas said conversationally. It didn't hurt to smile anymore. It hurt not to smile. "Hayner. Are you into struggle fights, by any chance?"

Pastel Ink

Written for TheSeer, who wanted "Roxas coming back to Twilight Town." 3