I apologize for taking so long. Real life and all.

Author's note: I know that normally, pledges don't move into the frat house until after they've been inducted as a Brother, but I'm tweaking it. So there

Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota

Rolling a giant bin halfway across campus that contained all of his poorly packed belongings was a work out in itself, Roxas decided. He had thrown everything into it in a bit of a rush, much to the dismay of his sleep-deprived roommate. Riku had admitted he was not looking forward to a new roomie (after all, who could complain with a guy that was barely there?), yet had congratulated Roxas all the same for being invited to pledge. The two had said a friendly goodbye, and the blond had all but skipped away from the dorm in a fit of joy.

Cursing the uneven pavement below, he finally grew close to the fraternity houses and increased his pace in anticipation. There were already boys in front of some of the other houses, all new pledges getting ready to move in. When Roxas finally reached the Chi house, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was fifteen minutes early.

"Roxas!" a cheerful voice called from the steps. Meyd revealed himself from behind a similarly large bin full of junk, guitar case strapped to his back. "Alright!"

"Hey," the shorter replied, slapping Meyd a high-five and catching his breath through a smile. "Congrats!"

"You too! Do you know who else-"

"Ale. Should be here soon"

"Oh good! The door is locked by the way," he said, gesturing to the front door behind him. "I wonder if they've already decided on our names. Do you think we'll get our own rooms? I'm so nervous, it's awful. It took me all morning to pack everything. I'm really glad it's you and Ale, you know."

Roxas smiled, shaking his head slightly. Couldn't this guy stay on one thought for more than two seconds? Of what he knew about Meyd, he was a friendly person who could be a little forthcoming at times. Not that he was obnoxious; in fact he could be really serious when talking about politics or music. When excited though, he could come across as a complete chatterbox. Despite that, he was really likeable and it was honestly no surprise he had been asked to pledge. And boy could he hold his liquor.

"Hey!" another voice called out from not too far away. Ale was pushing a precariously balanced stack of boxes on Roxas' skateboard, and had a huge bag strapped to his back. Roxas couldn't help but laugh at the sight, finally able to understand why his friend had asked to borrow the board. "Is that you, Meyd? It better be."

"What are you, against renting a bin or something?" the said boy called, pointing accusingly at the stack of junk as it wheeled to a halt in front of him.

"Eh," Ale said, shrugging. Meyd offered him a high five as well, and they slapped hands in masculine greeting. "Now I don't have to take one back, unlike you idiots." He shrugged off the large duffle bag, letting it fall to the floor with a soft thud.

"After that comment, you're definitely not riding in one," Roxas said.

"Aw…"

The front door to the house jiggled and creaked open, effectively gaining the undivided attention of the three boys. A pajama-clad Xigbar took one look at them, grimaced, and closed the door again. The pledges looked to each other, not daring to speak as they heard some arguing behind the door. It was muffled, but distinct protests could be heard on the vice-president's part, as well as angry curses and an eventual loud slapping noise. Xigbar reappeared, a welting hand mark reddening on his shoulder.

"Get in the house," he said, gesturing behind him. A few of the Brothers were watching from behind the door.

"What about our stuff?" Meyd asked.

"Oh, yea. Uhm, leave it on the porch for now," Xigbar replied before retreating into the house, leaving the door open.

Ale, Meyd, and Roxas wasted no time in lugging their belongings up the stairs, leaving them in piles on the porch as instructed. The bins were left abandoned at the bottom, to be taken back at another time.

Stepping into the house for the first time since the official end of Rush Week, Roxas immediately noted how much cleaner the downstairs areas looked. The dining room table was no longer covered in stacks of papers, and the living room carpet looked recently vacuumed. It even smelled nice, but he knew that wouldn't last when the semester began. The three new pledges fidgeted slightly in the foyer, unsure of what they were supposed to be doing. A few lingering Brothers watched them, exchanging smug expressions.

"Alright, are they in?" Xigbar called from the kitchen not too far away.

"Yup!" Marluxia cheered.

The vice-president re-emerged from the kitchen, a large thermostat of what smelled like coffee steaming in his hands. "Okay then, kiddos. Follow me."

He led the three up the stairs, where some of the rooms were. He explained that the third floor was where the older members lived, while the pledges and younger members resided on the second floor. As they walked down a corridor of the second floor, Roxas noticed that most of the rooms had their doors closed, except for the occasional bathroom. The house really was enormous.

"And this," Xigbar said, opening a door at the end of the hall, "is where you three will sleep for now."

The pledges stuck their heads in curiously, excited to see their new room. Their expressions dropped immediately; the place was the size of a walk-in closet. There was only one small cot that barely qualified as a bed, and it took up most of the floor space. The room was so immeasurably tiny, there was no way all three of them could possibly be expected to live inside it together.

"Wait," Ale said immediately. "All three of us are supposed to sleep in here? We'll never fit!"

"I'm sorry, do you see a problem with the room we cleaned up for you guys?"

"I, er-" Ale tried to speak, but was cut off.

"Because if you like, you could go right back to whatever dorm you were in before."

"That's not what I meant-"

"And while you're at it, you can forget about pledging Chi. Is that what you were asking?"

"This in fine, really. Thanks, Xigbar," Meyd cut it quickly.

"Good," Xigbar said with a wicked smirk. "We expect you downstairs in two hours for lunch. Take that time to settle in, make yourselves at home." With that, he turned and walked away, snickering to himself the whole way.

The pledges stood there for a while, looking to themselves and the small room they had been dumped in front of. It rendered them speechless. Roxas thought hard, trying to recall any information his brother had told him about pledges moving into the house. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything, and hoped more than anything that this was just a prank. It had to be, they couldn't live here for a year…

"Look, notes," Meyd said, pointing to the cot. Three pieces of paper with the fraternity's letters on it lay inconspicuously on the mattress. They quickly pushed their ways inside, upset to find the space even smaller with the three of them standing there. Each took a note, exchanging them when realizing they were personally addressed.

"Oh god, tonight?" Ale said, having sped through the note.

"Hm?" Roxas asked.

"We're getting initiated as pledges tonight," was the reply, aqua eyes scanning over the letter again just to make sure.

"Waste no time, huh?" Meyd replied with a smile. "Think we'll get our names?"

"Yea!" Roxas said excitedly. "And I bet we'll be assigned our Big Brothers too."

"We're never going to fit our stuff in here," Ale murmured, looking at their tiny room.

"Oh, don't dwell on it. I mean come on, we're getting initiated tonight!" Meyd said cheerfully, giving the redhead a reassuring pat on the back. "This whole… thing. We'll figure it out, okay?"

Ale sniffed dismissively, apparently he did not agree.

"Let's go take the bins back, you can ride in mine, okay?"

"Meyd, stop rewarding his sulks," Roxas said, folding his note into his pocket.

The musician simply smiled, taking Ale by the hand and leading him out of the room and downstairs. Roxas sighed and followed, chancing one last pathetic look back at their tiny closet-room before he set off down the stairs.

"Did they complain?" Lexaeus asked as he worked, flipping some of the patties on his skillet.

"I'll tell you if you give me a damn burger already," Xigbar half-growled from behind the larger Brother, hand snaking around to try and take an already-cooked piece of meat. It was slapped away with a spatula.

"Can you not wait like the rest of us? Have an apple or something," Xemnas said from the kitchen table where he was thumbing through the paper. He was one of the few inhabitants who had already changed from his pajamas, seeing that he had developed into a morning person. It had happened sometime after his 21st birthday, when he had to manage constant hangovers as well as schoolwork.

"Shouldn't we be more excited or something?" Marluxia thought out loud from his position on the counter. "I mean, we finally pick our pledges and here we all are, moping."

"I'm not moping," Xigbar said.

"I don't recall fighting over the pledges last year. This year it was a bit more…" Vexen began.

Xemnas cleared his throat loudly.

"Complicated," the blond finished with a half-hearted sneer. "The balance in the house changes year by year, it's difficult even for us to expect much."

"They're good kids," Lexaeus muttered from the stove.

"I know, I know," Xigbar muttered with a sigh. "I'm looking forward to the whole thing, really. It's just… now that they're here, it's for real that the others aren't coming back; that they really did graduate, you know?"

A strained silence filled the kitchen, broken only by the sounds of the stove.

"Yes. But hey, it's going to be fun!" Marluxia chimed as happily as he could. He practically jumped from the counter, slinging an arm around the VP. "Those boys won't know what hit them! I'm going to go wake the others, and when our new pledges come down for lunch, you better all have your game faces on. Got it?" Before waiting for an answer, he had left the kitchen and was making his way towards the stairs.

The remaining Brothers looked to each other, strange smiles finding a way to all of their faces. When one was in a sour mood, it was easy to forget just how much fun it was when new pledges came into the house. They were the new objects of torture, humiliation, and fun for the rest of the house.

"…Can I have a burger now?"

"No."

Ale was leaning over the edge of the bin as Meyd pushed him, cigarette barely between his slack lips. He looked rather pathetic when he was dejected.

"Sit back, already. You're going the make the thing topple over," Meyd said.

The redhead huffed and sat back inside of the bin, adjusting his position so that he was facing Meyd. He wasn't terribly upset, just irritated at the idea of living in a closet. Something told him that it was just a prank, a test of their dedication… but he knew that once classes started, he'd want a real place to sleep. He'd fail all his classes if he couldn't get a good night's sleep. Hell it was hard enough paying attention as it was.

"What if we pull the cot out of the room, put our stuff in it and just sleep in the hallway?" Roxas called out. He was behind the other two, pushing his bin.

"But we still only have one cot. Two of us could fit maybe, but then what?" Meyd called back. Apparently they had been discussing how to deal with their rooming situation, but Ale had been in his own world.

"Go sleep in someone else's room?"

"That's what they want us to do. We need to figure this out on our own and show them they can't break us so early in the game," the brunet answered. "But I like the idea you had before. We can camp out in the hallway, alternate using the cot. Use our blankets and stuff to just sleep on the floor."

"Yea, that could work. What does Ale think?" Roxas called back.

"Fine with me," the said boy called, waving his hand out of the bin. Roxas grinned.

When they finally made their way back to the house, operation move-in officially began. The three helped each other carry all the belongings into the house, up the stairs, and into the tiny room. They had pulled out the cot and left it in the hallway, piled with their bed sheets and pillows while the room filled with their clothes and other belongings. They even designated areas for clothes, books, and shoes. ("Ale, you have way too many shoes," Roxas had said. "Shut up, I love my chucks!") For what it was, it seemed relatively organized. They left their toiletries in the corner for the time being, until they knew which bathroom they could leave them in, and their laptops lay useless among the rest of the junk.

They did this all fairly uninterrupted. They earned a few raised eyebrows from passing Brothers, obviously slightly shocked to see the cot outside of the room. They were relatively finished before lunchtime rolled around, and scrambled down the stairs excitedly to eat their first meal in the house.

Lunch was… surprisingly uneventful. It was similar to rush week, minus all the other potential pledges of course, in that most of the meal was spent on idle conversation. At first it centered around snide questions about the pledges' new bedroom, but soon the topics switched to the start of year's events. Roxas and Xaldin discussed try-outs for combat team, Demyx and Zexion talked about the mystery concert the next week, and Ale talked about classes with Marluxia. Of course, these conversations were immediately derailed when Xigbar mentioned the frat's first mixer.

It wasn't that Chi Iota Iota was considered the 'wild party' frat. Okay, maybe it was a little. To be fair, all the fraternities and sororities went all out at the beginning of the year with their mixers; that was just the way it was. So when ideas started flying across the dining room table about their first party, all attention was focused strictly on that. It took a lot of planning and coordination to throw a successful party of considerable magnitude, but the Brothers were pros.

"It won't take too long to throw this together, like 3 days tops," Xigbar said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "And that's just out of courtesy, fair warning and all."

"The kegs take time," Vexen pointed out. "But I'll take care of that as usual."

"I'll do decorations," Marluxia offered.

"The pledges can be on poster duty," Xemnas said with a smirk. The three youngest held their tongues and internalized their groans. Xigbar laughed, accidentally coughing some food onto Luxord.

"I can't find the shirt I want," Roxas said from inside the tiny room where his belongings were currently strewn all over the floor. So much for keeping the place neat.

"Jeez, Rox. It's an initiation, not a date," Ale teased from the door. Meyd snickered.

"You're due in the basement, ladies," Xemnas said from behind them. The three pledges smiled excitedly and Xemnas turned to walk downstairs, his demeanor calling for them to follow. Roxas slipped on a shirt, not the one he had wanted but good enough, and followed his friends two flights down and into the basement.

The furniture had been pushed to the walls of the main room, and in the center of the cold concrete stood three stools. Xemnas nodded his head towards them, and the pledges each took a seat. The Brothers stood in a sort of semi-circle around them, leering down at their fresh meat.

"We hope you understand what you're getting yourselves into," Xemnas said with his distinct air of superiority. "This is by no means going to be as easy as rushing was."

A pause; the pledges shifted uncomfortably on their stools.

"We know you can do it, otherwise you wouldn't be here now. But it's going to be hard. You, as the youngest members of the house, are at the bottom of the food chain. You do what we tell you, drink what we tell you, and carry out your obligations no matter what. Every action, every word you utter will be a test of your loyalty and your trustworthiness. We say jump, you ask how high. Basically, boys… until you are initiated as Brothers, you are our bitches."

"Bitches, bitches," the Brothers chanted behind their president.

"Blindfolds," Xemnas called. Lexaeus, Xaldin, and Xigbar stepped forward to blindfold the pledges, shit eating grins and all. "Through this time, you will have to work together and against each other. You will have us, and you will have your 'Big Brothers' to guide you. From this day forward, you will go by the name we give you, and all your loyalties will lie within this fraternity as you become part of it."

"Ale," Saix said, stepping forward from the group and walking to stand in front of the redhead. "I am your assigned Big Brother. From now on, you will be called Axel. Do you accept?"

"Yes," the said boy replied quickly.

A loud whump sound resonated through the basement as something hard came in contact with Axel's chest, knocking him off the stool and onto the ground. He coughed hard, hand on his chest.

"Take off the blindfold and stand, Axel," Saix said, extending his hand downwards. Axel did as he was told, accepting the hand up and smiling despite his watery eyes. He saw that Saix was holding the fraternity's paddle in his other hand and, while it hurt like a bitch, he was filled with some sort of bastardized happiness.

"Meyd," Zexion said, stepping forward swiftly. Saix handed him the paddle, which he took with both hands. "I am your assigned Big Brother. From now on, you will be called Demyx. Do you accept?"

"Y-yes," he said, still unsure of what exactly had happened to Axel and less than thrilled to find out.

Again, the paddle smacked against skin, and Demyx fell backwards onto the floor with a surprised groan. Zexion suppressed a laugh.

"Stand up and take that thing off, Demyx." Zexion extended his hand as well, sporting an uncharacteristically large smile as he helped his friend off the ground. Demyx rubbed his butt, whispering a low 'that hurt' through a smile.

"Roxas, it's your lucky day," Vexen said. "You were suited for this place the moment we met you. I am your assigned Big Brother, and your name will remain Roxas, seeing as it's already suitable. Do you accept?"

"I- wait, what?"

"Do you accept?" Vexen repeated patiently.

"Yes."

Thump. Roxas fell to the floor with a thud.

"Remove the blindfold and stand, Roxas." The elder helped Roxas from the floor, a knowing smile offering its apologies. Roxas looked far from happy, but did not speak.

"I suggest a good night's sleep, freshmen. Starting tomorrow, your hell begins," Xemnas said. "But before you teeter off to your luxurious bedroom, I propose a nightcap, yes?"

"Yes!" a few of the Brothers cheered, immediately moving to retrieve liquor and cups from the downstairs fridge and freezer. Cups were passed around to the twelve young men, some of whom were in conversations of congratulations to their newest pledges.

"A toast," Vexen proposed, raising his own cup over his head. The others followed suit. "To our new pledges. Here, here!"

"Here, here!" everyone repeated, cups smacking against each other jovially before being emptied into waiting mouths.

"Roxas?" Axel called, sticking his head into his tiny bedroom.

"Go away, Ale."

"That's Axel. A-X-E-L, okay?"

"Go awaaaaaay."

"Don't sulk, dude," Axel said, walking into the room carefully until he was right in front of Roxas, towering over his sitting frame. "Everyone is still downstairs, why'd you run off?"

"It just sucks, I wanted a name," Roxas said with a sigh.

"Yours has an 'x' in it, no one will know-"

"I'll know! You guys got them, it's not fair that I don't get one!" Roxas exclaimed, maybe a bit louder than he intended. Damn, he really needed to build up his alcohol tolerance.

"Oh shut up. You're still here, you know?" Axel crouched down so he could be at eye-level with the blond. "The name thing doesn't really matter. You're still pledging, isn't that what's important? Isn't that what you wanted?"

"…Go away."

"Tool. You know I'm right." Axel stood, a smirk stretching his face. "When your balls drop, come back downstairs, alright?"

"Fuck you."

"Thatta boy."