Thank-yous: to Dannychris57 for favouriting and following.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

Enjoy the read.


III. Friends
491 / 500

"Ven, what's a friend?"

Typical of him, Ven crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head, all while working up a simple explanation digestible by a four-year-old's brain. "A friend, huh? When you've got someone you feel comfortable being with, then you can say he's your friend."

"So, since I always feel happy when I'm with you and Sora, you two are my friends?" asked Roxas again.

"No, no! That's different," Ven laughed at his little brother's cluelessness. "You're my and Sora's brother. A brother is, um… more than a friend. A brother is the best thing you could ever ask for, just like you and Sora are to me."

With that, Ven gave Roxas a hug that would surely make Sora jealous—luckily said boy wasn't around. He lifted the kid high in the air and swung him around like an airplane, causing him to let out an excited laughter. After that, he cuddled him and ruffled his blond spikes of hair affectionately.

When Ven finally slacked his grip, Roxas hopped out of his embrace and spoke again. "So, Ven, a brother can't be your friend? And a friend can't be your brother?"

"Well, let's just say… a friend is your brother or sister outside the family," replied Ven. He was amazed at how sharp Roxas was despite his age.

"So a friend is someone outside the family you're happy to be around?"

"Yup, you got it."


Roxas never liked it whenever Riku came over to play. Everybody was unanimous in saying that the silver-haired boy was indeed Sora's friend, but was he really?

Riku never acted like a friend should. Instead of playing nice, he always bullied them. Roxas hated how the guy stated that he should always be the king, the prince, the good guy, or whatever while he and Sora always got stuck with the role of the bad guys.

Also, despite being outnumbered two-to-one, Riku never wanted to accept defeat. He would just twist the rules on the fly to his advantage. Roxas saw this as unfair, really; no matter how well he and Sora had fought, they would always lose because of Riku's 'flexibility'.

"I can do this because I'm older than you," he had once said. "That means I make the rules and choose who becomes what. You two have to obey me."

That explanation contradicted what Roxas had known all along. He remembered Ven had promised to protect him and Sora and put them first before himself since he was older. He knew for a fact that Ven was a good big brother because of this.

He then remembered their conversation some time ago. A friend should be a person outside the family someone was comfortable with; why, then, did Sora think of Riku as his friend? The guy certainly wasn't a fun person.

Roxas just couldn't understand. Was there something else to this thing called friendship?

What, indeed, was a friend?