.Not so Fragile.
Summary: Roxas Strife is the sickly child who is protected by his brothers Vanitas, Ventus and Cloud. He's been in the hospital many times and when they say he can finally go to School, he accepts. His brothers are there, watching him and preventing the ones they don't trust to get near him. But sometimes, being protective doesn't help what's fragile. Especially when all he wants is to find Love.
Pairings: Roxas/Axel (Later on, Sora/Riku, Ven/Terra, Cloud/Leon, Vani/Aqua).
What to expect in this chapter:Mention of Violence, Small amount of Swearing, Good news, Bad news and mentioning of important facts.
Disclaimer: Lyco: Mina-san! Konnichiwa! Okay, I'm back with a Kingdom Hearts fan fiction! Yay! Anyway, this is told in mostly Roxas' POV. He's my fragile little baby who is so kind!
NoVa: Terra is mine people! And so is Vincent! HISSSS!
Lyon: Can I have Aqua?
Lyco: You don't get a pick and sharing is caring! Especially if it's Vincent and Terra!
NoVa: Each character is slightly OOC at points in this story and basically they all change as the story progresses and the Akuroku happens/starts quite a few chapters in. So yeah… Anyway… Enjoy!
Lyco: But watch out, Lyon wrote this chapter by himself.
.Prologue. (Friday)
Each day is like a dance routine that I've memorized for the big performance that will never come. But, it's fine as long as if I can see my brothers and father, then I'm fine. My name is Roxas Strife, I'm the youngest Strife child. My older brothers in order from oldest to youngest, are Cloud, Ventus and Vanitas. Cloud, Ven and I have spiky blond hair and blue eyes, it's easy to tell that we are brothers, but with Vani, it's harder to tell, his hair is pitch black and his eyes are a golden colour, the only thing we have in common is the shape of our faces. It'd be hard to believe that Ven and Vani were born a few minutes apart, making them the twins. We had moved from a small area known as Traverse Town into a new house in the well-known area, Twilight Town just two of three weeks ago.
"Roxas! Are you changed? We need to get to the hospital for your check-up!" My father, Cid, was yelling for me down the hallway. I forgot to mention, I'm the sickly child of the family. I suffer from what we call the Heatless disease. When my mother was pregnant with me, she was very sick at the time and she couldn't eat properly. All food that was put down her throat was rejected by her body. The doctor's had told us how I could have gained the heartless disease but no-one is one hundred percent certain because she passed away not too long after I was born.
Now then, the heartless disease is a rare disease that has only affected thirteen people in the world so far. The doctors told me all of the conditions I could face, some scary and some not so scary and easy to avoid. Anyway, the hospital that I first went to wanted to take some tests on me and they wanted to treat me like a guinea pig but, my father told them that we were going to go somewhere else now.
I could hear several knocks on my bedroom door and I stood up and walked to the wooden object, expecting Cloud, Ventus or Vanitas to be standing there, waiting for me to get changed. I turned the knob and in rushed my brown haired cousin, Sora. We look alike and are the same age, many people say we're twins, like his boyfriend Riku. When I fell to the ground with Sora clinging to me, he had clung to my body too tightly and I started to cough violently. The world was spinning slowly and I noticed the cardboard boxes that we're still in the corner of my room, packed to the brim with now foreign objects.
"R-Roxas! Oh gosh! I'm so sorry! I'll go get Cloud or someone!" Sora had jumped straight up and managed to get to the wooden door, but he was knocked back down because he had bumped into my brother's chest. I continued to cough and I curled up into a ball.
"So you wanted to get me?" Cloud paused for a moment before looking over at me and saying, "What did you do to Roxas?!" My brother ran to my side and picked me up gently, his spiky hair was messed up and his blue eyes were half open, mostly because he just woke up. I smiled at my first guardian and a small headache came upon me quickly.
"Can you help me up please? I need to have breakfast and get changed. As you can see, I'm only in track pants…" I felt myself rise slowly while being supported by both Sora and Cloud. They watched as I steadied myself on my wall and when the headache had died down a small amount, I stood up off the wall and walked to my drawers, grabbing out a black and white checker hoodie and a pair of black, baggy jeans.
"We'll be outside until you need us in here. Ven and Vani will be here soon so we'll keep them out. Come on Sora, we need to get ready for school too." Cloud walked ahead of Sora, who was looking at the barren floor beneath him.
"Sora, its fine. Now go before Riku and Cloud come here and drag you out, I'm sure Riku wants to see you smiling like we all do." I was watching Sora closely at this point and when his head moved from looking at the ground to looking at me with a grin on his face, I couldn't help but chuckle softly, knowing very well that he was glad that he could see Riku after two weeks of break.
"Ok! Anyway, we'll chat during breakfast! I can smell the pancakes already!" Sora broke out into a run, heading for the room he had just moved into. Oh! I forgot to mention that Sora is now living with us, my Aunt had no time to spend with him and my uncle was ignoring the poor kid because he was dating Riku. I asked our father Cid if he can stay with us from now on and he talked it out with his, 'siblings.'
I looked around my new bedroom and sighed, knowing that I'll have to move everything from their boxes and place them in a spot where they belong. At least my clothes were out of their boxes and in their rightful place. I could hear the four guardians talking behind my door and I decided to ignore the noise and I began to hum a tune which I randomly made up. I could hear them all stop because you can hear anything in this house, which is why Sora tends to sleep over at Riku's a lot. (cough cough)
"Hurry up in there Roxas, Dad's about to come in there and drag you in what you're wearing." I could hear my older look-alike call out from behind the wooden door, if you couldn't tell who that is, its Ventus. I could hear Vanitas sighing and knocking on the door softly, hoping to come inside. I placed the hoodie on and sighed at the comfort it gave me. I looked at my track pants and realised that I can stay in them for the start of the day. I heard another soft knock and decided to respond to my poor brother.
"Vani, you can come inside if you like. I'm in clothes so it's fine." The door was opened quietly and I could hear the other's trying to come inside, luckily Vani was quick enough to close the door in their faces.
"Are you feeling Okay?" I turned to stare at Vanitas and I decided to just nod my head, he doesn't need to know about the headache. "Ok. Shall we go and eat now?" I walked to the drawers and grabbed the wristbands that I always wear. They matched my hoodie and fit around my wrist snugly. I could feel Vanitas' gaze on my arms, sure they were a very pale colour but I always try to show them, hoping for a small amount of colour to appear.
When I opened the door, I could see Sora sitting on the ground clutching his head and Ventus and Cloud were standing there with their fists clenched, Ventus had his fist closed and on top of Sora's head. Obviously Sora said something annoying to them and they decided to hit him in the head like usual. I stuck my hand out for Sora and waited for him to take it. He slowly extended his arm out and he started to hesitate when he was near my hand, I quickly grew impatient and grabbed his wrist and pulled him up, laughing at the look of shock all of my brother's gave me.
"Breakfast anyone?" Our father was at the bottom of the steps which lead to the living room and kitchen. He was standing there with a casual yellow top and long track pants on. He was leaning against the entrance to the kitchen, he had a smug look across his face and he was watching us move down the steps.
"Morning Dad." We all chimed as we walked past him, receiving a 'good morning' in return each. When we got to the kitchen table, we saw a certain silver-haired teenager, sitting there and waiting for us all with a small cup of tea in his hands.
"Good morning Strife's, Sora. Did you all have fun trying to get inside Roxas' bedroom? I've been drinking green tea for five minutes… Roxas, are you okay? I heard you have to go to the hospital in a few minutes." We all blinked at the same time but when Sora snapped out of the shock that we all were experiencing, he jumped on his lover and hugged the boy tightly.
"RIKU! I missed you so much!" Sora was squealing and jumping all over the place, luckily Dad walked over to Sora and dragged him off of Riku, successfully placing him in a chair with a plate of pancakes in front of him. The kid has an attention span of a dog or something because he completely ignored us and started to eat the pancakes in front of his face.
"Hey Riku. Your hair got longer didn't it?" Riku looked at me, his left eye covered but you could tell his other eye was closed because he looked like he was going to laugh like a maniac. I could see Cloud was eating his food slowly, taking his time while Ventus was racing Sora. Vanitas just had his book open and he had food in his mouth as well.
"How did you notice? It wasn't that much was it? I looked at the silver-haired teen before me and smirked.
"I notice things about people. Like how Sora has a bruise on his neck hidden by his hair. Do you know anything about it Riku?" I heard Cloud start to laugh and Ventus and Sora started to choke on their food, Vanitas was just sitting there with a book open and his plate suddenly empty. Cid looked at Sora and then Riku and sighed before speaking up.
"At least it wasn't in my house. Oh, Roxas! We need to head out soon! You kids better hurry on to your school. I'm sure you've all made friends already. Cloud I know of because all of his friends moved as well. Ven, Sora, Vani? Why don't you bring your friends over? Plus they can meet Roxas who I heard you all talk about."
Vanitas and Ventus looked at each other and grinned before looking at me and saying, "Well, we both hang out together but sometimes Vanitas has to help out in the office so he leaves most of the time. We're friends with Aqua and Terra who Sora and Riku should know." The two of them stood up from the table and walked over to my seat, giving me a quick hug and a farewell before walking back up the steps to grab their bags. Not long after that, Cloud and Sora repeated their actions and left the kitchen, leaving Dad, Riku and myself alone.
"Roxas, I heard you had a coughing fit from Cloud. Is that true?" I turned my head and stared at my father whose arms were folded on the wooden table. When I looked at Riku, he nodded his head towards my father, signalling for me to tell the truth. I breathed in and sighed quietly, realising that I'll have to tell the doctor as well.
"It's true. Sora was knocking on my door and I thought that it was Vani, Ven or Cloud. When I opened it, Sora had hugged me, we fell to the floor because I lost balance and he clung to me just a bit too tightly and I couldn't breathe properly and I started to cough… It's fine though! That's all that happened! Cloud helped me and so did Sora!" Riku stood up from his seat and walked off, obviously to Sora's room…
"I can tell you're worried about Sora." I looked up at my father, expecting him to continue on saying that he deserves this, but we just sat in silence.
"It isn't his fault… Shouldn't we go to the hospital again…? That doctor needs to check up on me again…" I like to try to hide the pain in my voice and emotions because then my family doesn't have to worry. Sometimes they catch on and feel worse though, but luckily I'm good at doing this by now. A high-pitched beeping noise was coming from a black, leather watch around Cid's wrist, signalling that we need to go to the hospital. Alarms aren't helpful to me.
"Ok. Shall we say good-bye to your brothers before we go?" I nodded my head and walked up the steps, first going to Vanitas and Ventus' room. When I stepped inside they were both changed and were just putting their bags on.
"Hey Rox! I'm guessing it's time for you to go? We'll see you after school and hopefully, we can have some of your great cooking!" They both seemed to like talking at the same time because they did it quite a few times. I quickly hugged Ven and then moved on to hugging Vani. They both looked at me, hints of sadness in their eyes but with a smile on their faces.
"I'll be making dinner again I'm guessing? I'll do it and if you want anything in particular just tell me. I'll see you guys when you get back." I managed to walk out of the room without crying to Vani or Ven. Next is Sora because I'm sure Riku is being a bully to him.
"Sora! I'm coming inside!" When I stepped inside the bright blue room, I saw Sora sitting on Riku's lap, his back was towards me, and I could see that the two were kissing rather passionately. "Umm… Are you going to keep on trying to eat each other or are you going to head out for school and give me a hug." When the two of them had finally realised I was in the room, Sora fell off of Riku's lap both with a blush on their faces.
"R-Roxas! How long were you there!?" I noted that there was another hickey on Sora's neck and they were both breathing rather heavily. Can't they save it for school? I let out a sigh and shook my head, quickly hugging the two of them and walking away. I am not going to question that at all.
"Roxas! Hurry up, I'm almost ready to go you know?" Down the small hallway, Cloud was waiting by the staircase, his arms crossed over his black tank top. He had his black backpack on and he had keys in his hand.
"Sorry Cloud. I just walked in on Sora and Riku, I thought he was being yelled at but instead he was getting a bit hot and steamy. Say hi to Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, Vincent, Zack and Leon for me. Is Leon coming home for dinner by the way? If yes, I'll make an extra plate, if no, It'll be extra's." Cloud came over to me and hugged me softly, he gently rubbed my back and then let go.
"I'm sure Leon is coming here for dinner. He loves you're cooking because he tries to steal the lunches you make. I'm going to be quick, I'm taking fenrir to school today and if you ever want a ride, you know who to call." I quickly hugged Cloud again, letting him go to his motorcycle, when he got to the front door, he turned around and waved at me, signalling his departure. Not long after that, Vanitas and Ventus started to leave and then Sora and Riku left, tiding up their uniforms on the way.
"Roxas! Let's get going we're going to be late!" Cid was waiting at the front door, his posture the same as Cloud's earlier one. I hopped down the stairs and when I reached the bottom, the small headache came back again. Ignore it Roxas! Ignore it! I looked to the ground for a few seconds and then shot my head straight up, the headache had quickly subsided and I was feeling better already.
"Sorry Dad! I just said bye to everyone and it took a little bit longer than usual!" I hurriedly walked over to my blond haired father, noticing that he's chin was covered in stubble. "Shall we go then?"
"Your brother's are good kids but I think you may be one of the best Rox," I felt Dad place his warm, large hand atop of my head and he decided to ruffle my spiky blond hair, leaving it looking like it was when I woke up, "Now then get your butt inside the car and we'll head out! Away we go! Haha!" I quickly followed my father out the door and I headed straight for the black car parked in the driveway. Dad was locking the door and he slowly made his way to the car, stepping inside and quickly starting the car.
"Buckle up son, we're going for a ride!" Now then, I'm just going to say this, whenever Dad says something like that, it means that he's going to drive fast and make me want to vomit from the speed. "Yahoo!" Dad was cheering as he drove through all the traffic, dodging cars and quickly moving into other lanes without being stopped. My already pale face went completely white, and I was clutching the seatbelt, knowing that it is my one protection from Dad's dangerous driving.
"Oh god, get me out of this car!" I closed my eyes throughout the whole ride, my dad was laughing away while I was sitting there trying not to throw up. When we finally arrived I felt the small amount of colour return to my face and I started to breathe in and let a sigh of relief escape from my lips. "I feel lucky to be alive…"
"That was a good ride. We should do that again son." I just looked at my father, wandering what kind of lunatic this man truly is. We stepped inside the familiar building and the smell of almonds filled the air while the colour white was all there was with the exception of a very light blue and the red neon lights.
"Hello, how may I help you two men?" The nurse at the front desk looked at us in the quiet waiting room, a small smile was on her face and her short brown hair was framing her heart shaped face.
"Hello, we have an appointment for my son, Roxas Strife. He's here for his check up with a doctor we haven't met before." The Nurse at the desk smiled before typing something into the large PC in front of her small form.
"Oh yes! Now then, the doctor will be out soon, and Mister Strife, you will be in the room with your son I presume?" I watched as the two adults talked amongst themselves having their own conversation. I looked around the room and saw many different kinds of people, young children to the elderly were all sitting in the white office chairs. I sat next to a very young boy with blue hair and a pale complexion like my own.
I looked over to beside the young boy and saw a boy who would be around my age sitting next to the child with his hand on the child's arm. The two were most likely brothers because they had the same sort of hair, the teenager having his hair covering one of his eyes instead and silver-rimmed glasses hanging loosely on his nose. I think it would be polite to say hi and it would also kill some boredom. I noticed the eldest had a book with a red leather cover on it, in his hands. Maybe I'd annoy them if I ruined their time.
"Hi there mister!" I looked down to the younger of the two bluenettes and smiled at the boy's friendliness. He seemed like a rabbit in a way…
"Hello there, my name's Roxas what's yours?" I noticed that the eldest looked up from his book, his silver rimmed glasses hanging very low off of his face.
"My name's Ienzo! This is my brother Zexion! He's a book worm! And I'm Six! " Okay, this kid is the cutest child ever! I started to restrain myself from hugging the child before me and I focused on the boy named Zexion who was staring at me behind his glasses.
"Well now, if you're six then that means you're a very big boy. Your older brother Zexion must be very proud of you each year." A small blush appeared on Ienzo's small face and very small giggles escaped the boys' mouth. "It's nice to meet you by the way Zexion, Ienzo."
"It's nice to meet you too…" Zexion had spoken up from his seat, his voice was soft and calming and he seemed to be one of the nicest guys around. "You said your name was Roxas right?" I nodded my head, a smile on my face from the sudden friendliness coming off of the teenager.
"Ienzo? Is there an Ienzo in here?" A doctor wearing the typical white lab coat entered the waiting room, looking around for the little blue rabbit. Zexion and I watched as Ienzo pounced out of his seat and he bounced his way over to the doctor who looked at the young bluenette and smiled. "Alright now is your caregiver somewhere around here for when you need to leave."
"He's over there! That's big brother Zexion!" I recognised the doctor as one who had done a previous check-up on me. I noticed Ienzo waved at Zexion who happily returned the wave back, and then Ienzo looked at me and waved at me as well, I eagerly returned that small wave and watched the boy bounce away with the doctor. A look of worry was plastered onto Zexion's face once Ienzo was out of sight. I looked at the teenager and smiled before speaking up.
"Don't worry about the Doctor. I've had him before for one of my check-ups and he's a really nice guy. He jokes around and tries to make you feel like he's one of your brothers. He's a good man and you can trust him with Ienzo." The small look of worry disappeared and a soft smile was the replacement.
"Thanks Roxas. How old are you anyway?" I smiled before replying softly.
"I'd be a Sophmore, I'm fifteen but during the next school break that my brothers and cousin go too, I'll be sixteen." A small nod was the reply I got and also a smile was added too.
"Well, I'm sixteen already and I'm also a Sophmore. What school do you go too and also what are you here for? Ienzo is here because he's actually going blind but the doctor's want to check his brain for anything different." I shifted my gaze towards the ground, realising that I may never speak to Zexion again.
"I don't go to school because of my disease. I was born with that really rare disease and so it's too dangerous for my body and myself. My brother's and cousin on the other hand go to the local school here, Twilight High. My cousin may be staying at the dorms soon. I'm sorry about the Ienzo thing but I'm sure he'll do fine." I could see that Zexion was having a hard time picking out an emotion to show with all of the information I had just given him.
"I'm sorry about that Roxas. But, either way, I go to the same school as your brothers' and cousin. Thanks for your words too. So what are your brother's names, I may know them. Oh, and your cousin too!" I could hear the friendliness in Zexion's voice increase and his face seemed to brighten with each word we said to each other.
"Well, My oldest brother is Cloud Strife who is a senior, my second oldest brothers are Ventus and Vanitas Strife who are junior's. My cousin Sora is fifteen and a Sophmore like I would be."
"Well I can see the resemblance in you Ventus and Cloud, but Vanitas looks very different from you all. I'm a friend of Vanitas and, I'm also in Sora's homeroom. We don't really talk much but if I need to tell you something I'll talk to Sora in the morning." The conversation's continued going on like that for a while until another doctor came out and Ienzo reappeared alone.
"Roxas Strife? Is Roxas Strife in this room at the moment?" I stood up from my seat and waved good bye to Zexion.
"Bye bye Ienzo. Maybe you and your brother can come over to my house one day? I'd be glad to see you again you little bunny rabbit." I gave the boy a quick hug and waved my farewell to my two new friends who had to leave the hospital. "Hello there Doctor."
"Hello, are you ready to go?" The doctor was very tall and he had short spiky black hair that was lazily tied up with a thin white ribbon.
"Oh, my father is supposed to be coming into the check-up today. He's just over there." I pointed towards the front desk and the doctor could tell that the only man at the desk was my father. "Dad! Hurry up it's time for my check up!" The doctor put his hand on my shoulder and replaced my call.
"Yuna, your husband Tidus will try to harm this man if he sees you both like that! Oh and Roxas, my name is Angeal. Angeal Fair. Just call me Doctor Fair or else just Angeal." My father walked over to me and the grown man standing beside me with a silly grin on his face as if to say, 'Woops!'
"Sorry for the wait. Shall we head off to get this check-up over and done with?" With a nod of my head we followed the man dressed in a white lab coat to another room, up the corridor take the first left you can and it's the fifth door on your left. When we entered the room, the smell of disinfectant grew stronger and there was more white and pale blue furniture in this room.
Doctor Fair sat in a small wheelie chair and I sat on the large bed like usual. The doctor was searching through files and when he finally found the one he was looking for, he grabbed a small see-through clipboard and placed a few documents on it.
"So, I heard you have the heartless disease? And that it also gets pretty bad at some points. Can you explain different situations where you cannot breathe or you feel very faint and any other strange symptoms?"
"Well, when I do physical exercise, I haven't had enough water or types of food, I get hugged tightly or constricted." I watched as Doctor Fair started to write down all of the things I mentioned and the questioning continued. It was the same usual things like, have you eaten enough red meat and such.
"Now then, have you had any of the usual symptoms in a while Roxas?" Well, this was a new question. None of the previous doctors have asked this question before and it's an actually useful one at that.
"Well, apart from this morning when my cousin hugged me too tightly and surprised me and made me fall to the ground, no. I haven't had any of the symptoms in a while now." I saw a small appear on Zack's face and it made him seem cheeky.
"Now then, we'll just get a blood sample quickly and then we'll finish this conversation with my last question." I nodded my head and stuck out my finger like usual. I felt the small sting of being stabbed and I watched as he placed some of the blood onto a very tiny glass tray that is used under a microscope. "Ok then, Roxas Strife, do you wish to go to high school with your brother's and family?"
I let a large grin appear on my face and I nodded my head quickly, hoping that I'll be able to go to High school and see new things.
"W-Wait! Does that mean that Roxas is getting a little bit better?!"Dad stood up from his seat, a grin wider than my own on his face.
"Well, Roxas seems to be doing better than usual which means he can go to school, he just needs to avoid Physical activities, Stress, and anything else that could cause him to faint, get extremely nauseas/dizzy and every other symptom he suffers from." I stood up from the bed and hugged the man sitting in front of me.
"Thank you so much…" I'm sure Angeal could tell I was crying because his lab coat was beginning to get soaked from the tears that would not stop falling from my eyes. Not long after that Dad replaced Angeal's position as the person to cry on.
"Now then, I'll see you both out and we'll call you to tell you when your next appointment will be." We all walked down the familiar white corridor and when we arrived at the waiting room, we had to say good-bye to the man who gave me the news I was waiting for. "See you soon Roxas, Mister Strife."
"Bye Angeal. Thank you for everything." Dad and I spoke at the same time, except for the fact that I called him Angeal and Dad called him Doctor Fair. We walked out side-by-side with a grin on our faces.
-After the car-ride-
"Oh, Dad what should I make for Dinner? Leon may be coming over as well so I'll need to make a few extra's…" The time had just hit 3:30 and my brother's would be coming home soon. I get to tell them great news and I'll also be making a really nice Dinner for the occasion!
"Hmm… Well why not your famous Pizza's? They always taste good with good news and I'm sure the boys would enjoy them both." I turned my head and looked for the apron I always wear when I cook any sort of food.
"All right then, shall it be two large one's or a decorate your own small pizza?" My father looked at me as if I was stupid for a moment before chuckling quietly to himself.
"I say just make two large ones and the first pair that walks through the front door get to pick one Pizza's flavour and we pick the others. Deal?" I nodded my head and gave him the normal, quick reply.
"Deal!" I moved around the kitchen, grabbing every ingredient I needed and every utensil I was going to use. "Now, then, where's that apron…" Obviously Dad heard me talk to myself because he called out to me.
"It's in the pantry, hanging up on the hooks on the other side of the doors." I yelled out a thank you and got a snort in response from my own father. Talk about childish.
I looked inside the pantry and I noticed that my apron was hanging up neatly and on its own away from the other dirtier aprons. I placed on the White and blue striped apron and tied it up at the back. I quickly moved over to the kitchen counter and started getting the scone pizza dough ready. I had just finished the dry mixture and I was placing the butter inside the measuring cup filled with two cups of milk when I heard my father's sudden outburst of laughter. I quickly placed the measuring cup inside of the microwave and set the timer for a minute and a half just to melt the butter.
I suddenly heard the sound of Fenrir parking outside and I smiled through the window when I saw Cloud at the front of the bike with his black sunglasses on and Leon sat behind him, clinging to Clouds' waist. The duo walked through the doors and yelled out to both dad and myself, "We're back from School!"
"Welcome home Cloud, Leon!" I yelled out to the duo from the kitchen, hoping that they would come in and greet me face-to-face. The timer started to beep as the milk and butter had finished heating up. I grabbed the measuring cup out and smiled when I saw that all of the butter had melted and it was sitting on top of the milk. I know they'd stop and say hello to dad so I continued with making the scones.
"Hey kiddo! I heard you're making pizza for dinner and cloud and I get to pick the flavours!" I turned my head around and smiled at the regular guest, Leon. His brown hair neatly brushed like usual and his signature black leather jacket was draped neatly over his shoulders, leaving Leon standing there in a white tank top covered with the jacket and black jeans.
"Hey Leon. You ruined the surprise and…" I noticed something red on Leon's hand and a very quiet dripping noise could be heard as something was hitting the ground beneath us. "Wait, what happened to you?! You're bleeding!" I quickly raced towards the injured man and looked closely at his hand, noticing the blood was coming from higher up his arm, almost as if his shoulder was cut… "Sit over there and I'll need to look at the wound, can you apply some pressure to it at the moment just to slow down the bleeding?"
"Okay, thanks Rox, you'll need to see Cloud too, he's in pretty bad shape as well but he's mostly bruised…" I quickly walked to the pantry, searching for the first aid kit and when I found the large white box, Cloud had walked inside the kitchen, clutching his stomach that was obviously in pain. "Cloud… Sit over here, Roxas is going to check your bruises and help clean up my cut. Do you think it was them?" A low grunt was the reply that Leon got from my brother.
"Okay, Leon can you remove your jacket? And Cloud, can you show me where you got hit so I can see the state of the bruises?" With a nod of their heads, Leon took of his black leather jacket, revealing a long cut that was rather deep while Cloud was taking off his tank top. "Okay, Leon can you please not move around because I need to disinfect the wound after I've cleaned it up and wrapped it."
I moved over to the sink with a small flannel in my hands, carefully placing under the tap and turning on the cold water. When the small piece of cloth was soaked enough, I rinsed it out and brought it over to Leon's shoulder. I heard him wince at the feeling but it was the only way to clean up the cut. I quickly moved the cloth so that it was able to clean up the blood and I ran it down his arm, cleaning up the crimson substance that had fallen earlier.
"I'm sorry about this Leon… This will hurt a lot…" I grabbed the disinfectant spray and placed it a few centimetres away from the cut and quickly sprayed it onto the wound directly. Leon let out a warning hiss and a glare at my direction. "I said it would hurt a lot… I'm sorry and how did you get a cut like this!? And Cloud how did you get those bruises!" The two looked at each other a hint of worry on their faces.
"It's okay, well I think Cloud and I can tell you this later. But please tell me you aren't going to spray that evil fucking stuff again. It burns like a bitch… I mean the water hurt and I am not putting up with that burning shit again!" I giggled at the choice of words Leon used to describe the burning sensation he had experienced. I quickly started to wrap up the cut and when it was all wrapped up, I had taped the bandage wrap so that it could stay in place.
"Now then, Leon avoid moving your arm around and let it heal over time, Cloud it's your turn now." I turned to my brother to see that he was looking at the bruise on his stomach, he gave me an expression that he only shows when he was defeated and ashamed of something… "Cloud, you alright? Remember I'm here for you…" I hugged my brother's body softly and I felt his arms snake their way to my back as the clung to me for safety for a short while.
"Thanks Rox… I'm fine just sore and feeling bad because I lost…"I placed my small hand on his broad shoulder and smiled at the brother who seemed to protect me from everything. I looked down at Cloud's toned stomach, there was a large bruise the size of a fist plastered firmly in the middle of his stomach. "It'll be fine Rox."
"Hush, you need to lie down somewhere and leave some ice on that bruise. Would you prefer your bedroom or the sofa in the living room?" I know I'm not a doctor but I know the basics when it comes to first aid and this was basic knowledge. I stood there waiting for the reply from my big brother but when it started to take him awhile I grabbed the small ice pack that we kept on reserve and kept it in my hand, ready for when Cloud could move.
"Cloud, why don't we get to the living room? According to the house doctor, I can't move my arm around that much and you need to lie down with some ice. Plus, we get the television as well." Leon the wise spoke up from his spot and he stood up, holding his good hand out for Cloud to take.
"Okay then, we'll be out there and hopefully we won't get questioned by dad again. He seems like he's in a good mood, what happened?" I waved my hands at my brother and his lover, they were both standing up at this point but with Leon's bad arm I had to help support Cloud's movements. When we reached the plush white sofa we gently placed Cloud down on it and watched as he slowly laid his back straight. "That feels better…" I heard Clough sigh as I placed the small Ice-pack on top of his bruise, hoping that he doesn't feel too bad even though he's been through worse.
"Rox, Cloud, Leon, Sora and Riku will be here very soon so I'd be careful for his actions. Leon you are in charge of making sure that you both don't get harmed even more while I make sure Roxas stays safe. After the lovely dinner Roxas is making, you will both tell me who did this to you, do I make myself clear?" We all saluted our father who was serious when it came to one of us being harmed. I then suddenly realised that I needed to roll out the dough for the pizzas so I quickly excused myself from the room and rushed into making the bases.
"We're home! Cloud! LEON! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU BOTH?!" Well, I at least know that Sora's home. I could hear the murmuring from the room just next door and when Riku stepped into the kitchen to escape he noticed me standing at the counter, rolling out the scone dough to the right length.
"Is it your famous Pizzas for dinner? That sounds good and Ventus will be coming late because he's spending time with Terra, Vanitas will be here shortly because he had to do another chore for Mansex the Vice-principle. Now then, where's the green tea in this place…" I looked at Riku from the side, noticing his Teal eyes were searching every inch of the kitchen and his long silver hair was shining and swaying with each movement.
"I'll make you the green-tea soon as thanks for telling me where the other two are. I was getting worried about them so I'm glad someone told me. Do you want to help me place the toppings on them? Cloud and Leon were supposed to do it but as you could see, they are sort of unable to do that." I watched as Riku gained a smirk before whispering into my ear,
"Of course but we won't tell Sora, will we?" I chuckled at the way Riku made it sound like I was betraying my brother-like-cousin. "Now then let's get this sorted, I'll make one you make the other?" I nodded my head, realising that my blond spikes were out of place and when I looked at my hands, they seemed to be slightly paler somehow. I quickly ignored the fact and got to decorating this pizza immediately.
"I'm back…" Vanitas' quiet voice reached the kitchen and everyone either waved or yelled out their greetings, such as, 'Welcome home!' and 'how was your day?' Luckily, the pizzas were just placed in the oven and they would take a few more minutes to cook. "Hey Rox, Riku, how are you both and is that green tea I see?"
"Well I've had an okay day and yeah, I just finished making Riku his cup of green tea, would you like one Vani?" I watched as my brother's golden eyes started to shine and when they start to shine you know the answer is yes or something good/great has happened. "It'll be a minute, go sit with Riku at the table until its ready please." I decided to speak in a sing-song voice and laughed at the disgusted face I received from the two boys before me.
"Roxas!" I could hear Sora and all of a sudden he was jumping up and down on the spot, his face stuck with a wide grin that seemed to show all of his teeth, including the remains of many different lollies. "Guess what happened today! Well you see the P.E teacher was really impressed with my running and so was Riku and so Riku brought me lots of candy!" I gave a quick sideward glare directed at Riku and sighed before placing Sora in a chair right next to Riku who was being suffocated by hugs.
"Riku, never give Sora too much sugar, it's bad for him and most of all, all of us. Since you fed him the junk, you can be the one who puts up with his sugar high." I laughed at the way Vanitas was watching the two lovers from behind his small cup of tea. A smirk was set on his face and when he saw my smug look he quickly went back to his regular poker face.
"Hey Rox! Is the food almost ready!?" I heard dad call out from the living room and he seemed to sound hungry and I could also hear Leon and Cloud laughing. I noticed that Sora's head perked up from trying to bite off Riku's arm, and Vanitas just turned his head at me, a small grin on his face. Okay Roxas, choose your words carefully or else Sora will maul you to death…
"It's just finished dad! Are you going to eat in the living room or in the kitchen with the rest of us!?" I heard a snort for a reply, which most likely meant that he was busy with some of his work and that he was going to be sitting in the living room for a while and that he'll be eating later. "Cloud, Leon, I'll bring you a few slices of each pizza and you can both fight over them even though you were already in one." I grabbed out the dinner and placed it on the counter-top, placing four slices of each Pizza on a large plate which I quickly carried out to my brothers. My father smiled at me and gave me a word-less thank you.
"PIZZA! I LOVE YOU ROXAS!" I could hear Sora screaming at the sight of both pizzas, his mouth was overflowing with drool and his mouth was hanging open and hitting the ground. "This tastes so good…" I could see a proud smirk on Riku's face as Sora continued to bite into the slice of pizza.
"Umm, everyone… I have some news…" The loud chatter was stopped and all blue, golden and teal coloured eyes were on me. Every Blond, brunette, pitch black and silver coloured hair person had their bodies turn so they were completely to me. "At the hospital, the doctor there told me something interesting," The silence was slowly destroyed by the sound of whispering and murmuring, "I can go to school with the rest of you!" I did a sort of girlish squeal and I didn't care because this was the greatest day of my life. Well it should be great news for them all.
"Congratulations Roxas! We can all hang out together! Oh my, who's going to tell Ventus at the moment!? Whose cell phone is charged people?!" Sora was jumping up and down, running around with his hands in air and his brown spiky hair was being pushed around by the wind from his movements.
"Umm… Rox, can Leon and I speak to you quickly, Dad can you please excuse us…" I had managed to sneak one slice of pizza from the set on the table and I made my way over to my injured brother and friend. When I sat down Cloud seemed to speak up again, "At the moment, there's a group, or a gang, known as 'The Organization'. They try to have their way with most students and beat others. There are eleven of them, twelve if we include the vice-principle who seems to support them. That's how Leon and I received these injuries. They seem normal but if you annoy them in any way possible they will hurt you…"
"So, now the school is filled with delinquents. I've already known that there was a trio of stupid thugs but now there's an actual gang? I'll be fine Cloud! I'm sure that I'll be smart enough to avoid that situation." I waited for cloud to speak up but this time Leon did.
"Roxas, we're going to be protecting you every day and we can't trust most people now. We ran into one of the members, he had hair that looked like fire and he was chatting with one of his friends who had short blond hair and a British accent… When we accidently ran into them, they looked at us and grinned before the pyro-head decided to punch Cloud in the stomach. I ran to his side and managed to pick him up before the stupid Brit cut me with a small blade before saying something about luck… Cloud and I are now somehow involved with this fucking gang because we made contact with them. We will have to watch over you and if any of them approach you, you must act coldly to them or else scared…"
Well, what great news for when I start school… Is this the first mistake about this path? I continued to ponder on what my brother and friend had just told me and when it became late, I looked at the duo before heading to my bedroom, closing the door quietly and falling down onto my soft bed. What did the doctor say, avoid stress? Well, let's just say if I'm only slightly stressed, what will happen when I encounter any of them… That reminds me, Vanitas knows Zexion so I can get Vani to take me to my new friend and ask about Ienzo too…
And that's when my life started to take a turn for the worst and better…
Author's Commentary Time!
Oki, Time to explain Roxas' disease in a better way! The Heartless Disease is one that has affected thirteen people so far today. The disease is on that destroys your emotions and damages your body as it grows. The disease has various symptoms and it ends up A) leaving the person as an empty shell 'a Nobody' or B) the person's heart was damages too greatly that death occurs.
NoVa: And this is what happens when you let your brother write the first chapter Lyco!
Lyco: Oh shush NoVa! Lyon was being so nice!
Lyon: Well you both still were yelling at me for not writing something you wanted…
Lyco: Well anyway, Yes Angeal is Zack's father! Don't judge! He's super cool and totally the best fatherly figure Zack the puppy has!
NoVa: This is why you don't give us a PSP! We play Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts and fan girl over characters! I mean, Lyco here was screaming, "SEPHIROTH! YOU SEXY MAN YOU! WOOO! OH YEAH GENESIS WOO!" Her exact words just missing out the very over-rated stuff about taking their shirts off… Not to mention when she saw Reno!
Lyco: Okay seriously? You practically fainted listening to Vanitas' voice and Terra's too! PLUSSS You were screaming out, "DAYUM TSENG! YOU SO FINE RIGHT NOW WOO! OH DAYUM RUDE~" So HAH!
Lyon: I just want my PSP back… Help? Please?