Alright, and now the story shall officially begin! And only month after the prologue! That's actually an accomplisment for me, as sad as it is. Enjoy!
Also, if you haven't yet, check out my nifty little depressing oneshot, "30 Days." Please and thank you! :)
Disclaimer: Me no own.
"Roxas! You are the biggest moron I have ever met!" Roxas's best friend, Hayner, whacked his fellow blonde in the back of the head with a bat. It was a 'Struggle' bat- a game that everyone in their town enjoyed. Only a few of the younger people actually played, but everyone young and old came to watch. In just two days, Twilight Town would be holding its annual Summer Struggle Championship, and Roxas had been practicing with his friends diligently for the past few weeks, intending to win the trophy.
"Hayner! That was a cheap shot. You took my bat away from me and threw it!" Roxas's bat had settled to the right of him a few feet, and he went to pick it up. There were now two painful spots on his head from Hayner that he seriously hoped wouldn't turn into goose eggs.
"Anything to win!" Hayner ran in circles, pounding his chest and hooting at his victory against Roxas. Roxas couldn't help but laugh at Hayner's antics.
"Honestly, Hayner, you look like King Kong." Roxas rolled his eyes at his best friend.
From the sidelines, one of Roxas's other friends, Olette, giggled at the sight of her boyfriend acting like a primate.
Roxas laughed with her. "Olette, what do you see in him?"
Hayner then executed a perfect cartwheel, and Roxas shouted 'Rah! Rah!'
She shrugged, still giggling. "He makes me laugh. I mean, look at him!" She pointed at Hayner, who had finally ceased his George of the Jungle act.
Pence, the fourth and final friend of their gang (who also happened to be their brains) rolled his eyes jokingly. "Well, with a face like that…"
"Hey!" Both Hayner and Olette exclaimed at the same time.
Roxas began to laugh, but his phone ringing in his pocket cut him off. His friends respectfully went silent so he could answer.
He grimaced at the device… he didn't in the least bit want to answer, considering who was calling. But, he knew the consequences if he didn't. His mother wasn't exactly a poster mom- she was a lazy witch.
"Hello." He made sure his tone inflected that he wasn't in the least bit excited to hear from her.
"Where are you? Didn't I tell you to be home by 6?" Her loud voice was heard even by his friends, who flinched for him. They knew what hell he lived through.
Roxas quickly checked his phone, swearing when he saw it was 6:20. "Look, it's only 6:20. I told you that we were practicing today."
"Honestly, I don't care. If you still want to participate in your little game soon, then I suggest you get home about 20 minutes ago." Roxas could picture the spittle flying from his mother's angry, over-lipsticked mouth. "I'm starving, and your father and I are expecting dinner. Ever since your stupid brother ran away-"
"I know. I have to pick up his slack. You tell me every day." Her blathering annoyed him. "I forgot that you hired me as Cinderella."
"Just get home. Now." She hung up, leaving him on the line. He hung up a few seconds after, seething. Maybe his brother was right in running away… sometimes their mom's crap wasn't even worth having somewhere to live.
Olette came over and put her arm over Roxas's shoulders. "She sounds like she took some butthead pills today." Olette held him tight, and it made him feel slightly better.
Roxas ran a hand through his wild blonde hair, frustrated at everything. He felt like he was a slave, and his mother was his master wielding a whip. "What's new?" He replied to Olette's comment.
Hayner came over and claimed his girlfriend by putting an arm around her waist. "Hey now, I don't want to lose my girlfriend to my gay best friend…" He tried making a joke to lighten the mood, but even his voice was heavy.
Olette sighed. "Hayner, shush." She leaned her head onto Hayner's shoulder, removing her arm from Roxas's shoulder and settling into her boyfriend's embrace. "Quit picking on Roxas for being gay."
"He knows I'm just kidding." He leaned over and kissed Olette's cheek lightly. "Right, Rox?" Hayner glanced around Olette's head at him.
Roxas nodded and gave Hayner a quick smile. He'd came out to his best friends nearly a year ago now, and they'd been surprisingly accepting of his orientation. Hayner had been a little freaked out at first, but with Olette's help he soon realized that his best friend was still the same person, whether he liked guys or girls.
"I know." Roxas sighed and gathered up all his Struggle equipment. "But, I've gotta take off now guys. Lets practice more tomorrow, kay?" His replies were a small chorus of dejected 'Bye's,' and 'Yeah's.'
Roxas set off for home, basking in the setting sun, not knowing it was the last time he'd ever witness one of Twilight Town's famous sunsets.
*1*
Roxas pushed open the shabby apartment door, not even bothering himself to turn the knob. The door was broken, and was really only shut when the deadbolt was turned and held the door locked in place. The knob was really there for show- or at least, that's what Roxas's dad said because he was too lazy to fix it.
"It took you 10 minutes to get from the town practice grounds to here?" His mother's piercing voice sounded from their ugly floral couch. Roxas looked over at her, first seeing his mother's stupid show about wedding dresses, then seeing her grubby head. She turned around, staring him down with her blue eyes. They were identical to his and his brother's; it always bugged him. Everyone had told the twins that their eyes were their best trait, and his mother didn't deserve anything endearing like that.
"I had to wrap things up with my friends. You wouldn't understand because you really don't have any." He kicked a shoe off, watching dust float off the wall as his shoe ricocheted on to the ground. He kicked off the other. The dust settled onto the light blue carpet.
She rolled her tiny, bird-like eyes. "Roxas, when have I ever cared about your friends? If anything I should ground you from seeing them. Didn't I tell you to vacuum the carpet today? That didn't get done because you were off training for pointless things with your 'posse.'" She sniffed, tiny pug nose twitching.
"Mom, the vacuum is broken. I told you that already, and dad told me he'd fix it. And he hasn't." Roxas added just loud enough for her to hear, "Surprise, surprise."
Roxas's father was indeed a handyman; and a good one at that. But, he was only good when he was at work, where he made a living as a handyman. At home, he was practically worthless. Ask the doorknob, the three cabinet doors hanging off their hinges, the window that was always stuck half open, and the creaky stair on the staircase to the basement. And of course the broken vacuum.
"Your father's busy, you know that. He makes the money for us. Don't disrespect him like that." She turned back around, and started watching her show again.
Roxas opened his mouth to retort, but she turned up the volume, tuning out anything he would've said. He sighed and headed over to the kitchen, where he prepared to do his daily chore of making dinner for his mother. The cupboards were practically bare, but Roxas managed to scrape up enough to make an unsatisfying soup dinner.
*1*
After getting chewed out at dinner for anything and everything by his mother, he escaped to his room- the only clean room in the house. Even though they didn't have a working vacuum and had barely any cleaning supplies in the house, Roxas managed to keep his room spotless. He hated how much of pigs his parents were.
Roxas looked over to the empty bed on the other side of his room.
Where Ventus used to sleep.
His father suggested that he just drag Ven's bed over to his and have the two twin beds create a queen size, but Roxas couldn't just let go of Ven like his parents could. Roxas walked over to Ven's bed and sat on it, sinking in. Nothing had changed about this bed in the 6 months that his twin had left.
Roxas remembered that night perfectly, and it ate at his memory all of the time.
After some time, Roxas fell asleep thinking of that night.
*1*
Roxas awoke to a clumsy fumble from Ven's side of the room. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and glanced at their shared alarm clock.
It was 3 a.m. on a school night. What in the world was Ven up to?
"Ven, what the heck are you doing over there? You're making so much noise." Roxas grumbled and sat up, squinting to locate his twin in the darkness.
Ven suddenly appeared at his bed side, looking frantic and half insane. Roxas let out a yelp of surprise and Ven quickly clamped a hand over his loud brother's mouth.
"Shh! I don't want mom and dad to hear." Ven hissed.
"What are you doing?" Roxas hissed back. This was so unlike his brother, and the sudden change was freaking him out.
Ven's face fell into torture. "Rox, I'm leaving. I can't be here anymore. Mom and dad are just… horrible!"
Roxas's mouth nearly fell open. This was Ven? This was his loving, quiet, brother? He knew the resentment that they both felt toward their neglectful parents, but he didn't know that Ven's hatred stemmed into wanting to run away.
"Ven, you're kidding. You have nowhere to go!" Roxas wanted Ven to smile and say 'I'm just messing with you Roxas. Go back to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up.'
But that's not what Ven said.
"I'm not staying here another day. I'm going to Oblivion City… I can start over there, Rox. I love you, but I hate them. I'm leaving now." Ven's hopeful face broke Roxas's heart.
"No!" Roxas felt like sobbing.
Ven smiled. He was only a few minutes older, but he was acting a few years older as of now. "Come with me bro, we can get out of here. This would be much easier with you there! Think about it!" Ven grabbed Roxas's hand and squeezed.
Roxas shook his head. "Ven- we're only 15! You're going to live on the streets?" What happened to his down-to-earth brother? The brother that thought logically? Had his parents' neglect completely gotten to Ven's head?
Ven no longer smiled and dropped Roxas's hand. "I don't care how old I am. I'll get a job, I'll get a place, and even if I live on the streets for awhile it will be better than here. Come with me Rox, please!" By now, Ven's wise demeanor began to break down, and he began to show the real, timid person that he was. Tears started welling in his eyes, and it broke Roxas's heart all over again. "Please Rox. I'm going no matter what, but I'd love if you came with."
Roxas shook his head. He didn't know why he was rejecting his brother, because getting out of their dilapidated house sounded like Heaven. But his mind was screaming at him not to go. Ven had his head in the clouds. It was too dangerous.
"Ven, you're a moron! Sit your butt down on that bed, and go back to sleep! You've never acted this… stupid before!" Roxas snapped, pointing toward Ven's empty bed.
Ven looked hurt and shook his head disobediently. "I'm not stupid. I'm making the smartest decision I can… and I don't know how you don't see it that way." Ven carefully hid his emotions, and gave his twin, his other half, his best friend, a hug. Without saying another word, Ven ran over and jumped out the window. He gave Roxas a quick, goodbye glance as he went. Roxas felt like he would never see his brother again.
*1*
Roxas beat himself up every day for not tying Ven down and doing everything in his means to get him to stay.
But as of now, these thoughts weren't troubling him. He wasn't troubled at all… he was dreaming of a better life- one with a lover and his brother by his side. One in a sunny place, not a place always cloaked in dusk. His dreams carried him on trips to other places, away from the ball and chain of his parents.
His dreams were interrupted by a sharp sound on the window on Ven's side of the room. The window creaked open, like someone was trying to be stealthy. Through the dim light, Roxas could make out a figure scrunching through the small entryway. His heart burst- Ventus! He must be back!
"Ven!" He called, almost certain it was his brother.
But, when the figure stretched to its full height of 6 feet, he knew it wasn't his brother. The pressure of his crushed hope almost made him cry.
It was then he realized there was something extremely wrong with this sight. Rational thoughts clicked in his brain, and he grabbed his Struggle bat he always kept by the side of his bed. It was padded, but when swung hard enough with enough brute force, it sufficed as a weapon. He jumped up on his bed and swung at the intruder, putting his entire body into the hit, stumbling over the unevenness of the mattress.
The intruder grunted in pain as the weapon connected with his neck, but the man quickly gathered himself back up and took the bat from Roxas, who was trying to right himself on the unsteady mattress. Roxas saw the man reaching for him and quickly dropped to the bed, took a stab in the dark and punched, trying to hit him in the genitals.
The man grunted in pain again, doubling over. Roxas smiled in victory, knowing that he took a hard hit.
"Now, what are you doing breaking into my room?" Roxas demanded, getting off the bed so he was steadier.
"I'm doing my master's bidding." The man spoke through his teeth, letting the pain of his recent injury seep through. He was breathing heavily, trying to control his enormous discomfort.
"And what exactly is that?" Roxas thought he was starting to get the upper hand in this confrontation.
The intruder stopped breathing heavily, and Roxas could almost feel the amusement radiate off of him. His long gray and white ponytail bobbed as he chuckled silently. "You will find out soon enough, won't you tiger?" With one swift movement, the man stood up and clocked Roxas in the side of the head.
Roxas's room exploded in pain and white light. He passed out immediately, dreaming of nothing.
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