The "S" Word Is Not Allowed Part 1

A naked Sora was pushed against the wall hard. He was pretty sure he cracked his skull open but he was still awake so maybe he just barely missed death. Sora didn't have time to decipher it that much before the man grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked him to his feet, which were already beginning to give out on him. Knowing he'd be hit for not giving eye contact, Sora looked up into the gold eyes of the man he's been living with for as long as he could remember. And to this day, he was still petrified.

"What was that little display of disobedience earlier?" the man asked calmly, but Sora knew better. Calm was bad, yelling was merciful.

"I didn't mean to, I swear!" Sora groaned. The man slapped him hard across the face, splitting his upper lip.

"You didn't mean to? Well, obviously if you didn't mean to, you would've never said it in the first place," the man said.

"I was trying to-"

"Shut up!" the man roared, flinging him by his fistful of hair to the wall again. Sora's head didn't hit the wall this time, but he felt his back come into hard contact with the shelf that far too low. He cried out as he fell to the floor, arching his back to try and ease the pain. He heard the man walk away from him, and through his one good eye (the man had punched him earlier), he saw him opening the bottom drawer and he felt his blood run cold.

"No...no, wait, please!" Sora begged.

"You know I don't like it when you beg. It only makes me want to hit you harder," the man said nonchalantly as he pulled out one of the leather whips.

"Please, I'm sorry! I swear, I won't misbehave again! Please!" Sora begged. He could practically already feel the pain. The scary part of it was that he never knew where he was going to hit him with those whips.

"You said that the last time, didn't you? I'm starting to think you like getting hit, you little masochist slut," the man smirked as he closed the drawer. Sora watched in pure terror as he sauntered towards him, whip in hand. Although Sora was watching the whip, not the man himself. There was still dried blood on it from the last time he hit him with it.

"On your hands and knees, now," the man commanded.

"Please-"

"If I have to repeat myself, I'm doubling the amount of rounds you're getting," the man warned. Sora looked away from him, and on shaky and barely standing legs, he maneuvered himself until he was on his hands and knees, facing away from the man.

"I've decided on 30, since you decided to beg. You were only going to get 10 originally," the man laughed and Sora swallowed the lump in his throat to prevent himself from throwing up. He didn't see how he was going to throw up, he hadn't eaten in two days.

"You know the drill, I whip and you say...?" the man urged. Sora didn't respond immediately, and the man hit him once with the whip in anger. It whipped against his thighs, and Sora cried out and immediately went to a child's pose, shielding his thighs.

"What do you say?" the man asked again, his temper beginning to get the best of him.

"I-I'm a slut," Sora choked out through a half sob.

"If you say so" the man said, "It's 40 now, just so you're aware. And that one just now didn't count." Before he was forced to tell him to, Sora went back to his original position, his thighs already screaming. The first whip came down.

"I'm a slut," Sora forced out.

"Louder." Hit.

"I-I'm a slut!"

"Louder." Hit. Hit.

"I'M A SLUT! I'm a slut! I'm a slut!"

…...

"He won't stop repeating it," Cloud said as Leon came into the room. It looked like this was one of those nights where both of them were going to be needed to wake him up. Cloud was shaking him severely, which only seemed to be doing more harm than good.

"Sora! Sora, wake up! Wake up!" Cloud was yelling.

"I've got an idea, but I'm going to hate myself for it," Leon said as he left the bedroom. Cloud was trying to keep Sora laying down in one position, as he was twitching in odd angles every few seconds and kept repeating the words "I'm a slut."

"Cloud, watch out," Leon said a few minutes later, coming back with a basin full of water in his hand.

"Leon, why do you have that?" Cloud asked, concerned.

"He's not waking up like he normally does by this point, call it an experiment for next time it gets out of hand," Leon explained, before swinging the basin and splashing the water on top of Sora.

Sora jumped awake at the contact, sitting up too fast and breathing heavy. He threw the covers off him immediately, noticing how wet he truly was but not knowing why. Leon put the basin down, feeling slightly bad but also relieved that he was awake. Sora was still breathing heavy.

"What-what was-" Sora gasped, still reeling from the shock and his nightmare combined. Cloud knew it was only a matter of moments before the hypnosis began to kick in. So he ignored Sora's question as he shooed Leon out the room, sat on the now drenched bed, and tried to console Sora before the screaming began. Leon walked out with the basin in hand, and gave Cloud a look that said "Sorry for wetting him, but it worked."

…...

"What took you so long? You literally live by yourself," Vanitas commented as Ventus got into the passenger seat, throwing his duffel bag in the back. They were on their way to the airport, as Ventus's parents suddenly remembered he existed and wanted him to spend a week with them in Sacramento, where they were currently working. Vanitas had offered to drive him over a month ago, so he was only keeping his end of the bargain.

"I forget where I put things, living by myself," Ventus said, closing the door. He pulled out his phone and Vanitas pulled out of the driveway and sped off towards the airport. The first ten minutes in the car was absolutely silent. It had been two days since Vanitas has his outburst in the stairwell, and while Ventus had text him later that day saying he wasn't mad, Vanitas wasn't stupid, he spent too much time with him to know that Ventus wasn't a least upset about what he had said. Vanitas did feel bad about it. He hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, again, but he just wanted him to shut up because he couldn't think. After another five minutes, Vanitas yanked the headphone out of Ventus's left ear.

"Hey!" Ventus exclaimed.

"I'm sorry" Vanitas said, "About...the other day."

"Vanitas, I already told you I'm not mad," Ventus said, taking out his other headphone.

"You know you're terrible at lying."

"I'm not lying!"

"You're not mad, but you're still upset. I know you are," Vanitas corrected.

"It doesn't matter if I'm still upset, I was in the wrong. I should've just left you alone," Ventus said.

"Wait, what?" Vanitas asked.

"I said I should've left you alone-"

"No before that," Vanitas directed.

"I said it doesn't matter if I'm still upset," Ventus said slowly.

"Two things with that statement. One, you're still upset, and you just told on yourself. Two, why would say it doesn't matter?" Vanitas asked.

"Because it doesn't. You were right. Now drop it," Ventus said. He only managed to put one headphone back in before Vanitas yanked it out again.

"Vanitas!"

"I wasn't right to yell at you," Vanitas said.

"Oh, so you'd rather I sit here and indulge in my feelings about you? That didn't go well the last time," Ventus scoffed.

"I didn't say that," Vanitas said, trying his best to control his anger boiling, although it was mostly out of concern.

"Then what do you want me to do? Because obviously being a friend didn't work the last time," Ventus said.

"I want you to stop this!" Vanitas spat out, pulling onto the side of the road. Ventus looked at him, completely confused.

"Why did you-"

"Why are you acting like this?!" Vanitas asked, his voice slightly raised, "You act all lonesome and quiet and quite frankly, I don't like it. You're almost as snappy as me and you've just...closed yourself off. It's been a year since then. Did I hurt you that bad? I only said a damn word. Why are you acting like this?"

For a minute, Ventus just stared at him, scratching his wristband. He bit the inside of his cheek, and sighed. There was another minute of full silence as Vanitas waited for an answer Ventus didn't seem ready to give. But right when Ventus went to open his mouth, Vanitas started the car again and pulled off the side of the road.

"Fine, don't fucking answer me. I don't care anymore," Vanitas snarled. Ventus turned away towards the window, fighting back tears. The rest of the 45 minute card ride was in a new and more uncomfortable silence. When they arrived at the airport, Ventus reached into the backseat and grabbed his backpack. He paused for a brief second, his hand stuck on the door handle.

Just as he was about to open the door, Vanitas suddenly grabbed him by the collar and smashed their lips together.

Five Days Later:

Axel, Roxas, Demyx, Zexion and Vanitas were sitting in the grass in Demyx's backyard, drinking alcohol from a cooler. Roxas was cradled against Axel's side next to him on the grass, Zemyx was reading a book, Demyx was messing around with his Sitar, and Vanitas on sitting on a rock, refusing to get grass stains.

"Zemy, you sure you don't want one?" Demyx asked.

"I can't concentrate if I'm intoxicated," Zemyx said, not lifting his eyes from his book.

"That's good though. Because then all you do is concentrate on me," Demyx smiled.

"You are so needy," Roxas and Zemyx said at the same time. Demyx sat up.

"Says the one who's having a snuggle party with his boyfriend," Demyx laughed.

"That's because I'm trying to go to sleep. Axel makes a great pillow," Roxas said, not in the least offended by Demyx's comment. He felt Axel's phone vibrate in his pocket, and groaned as he had to move slightly so Axel could get it.

"Is it Cloud?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah with his stupid ass facts of the day," Axel said.

"Is he ever going to give us an actual update? I mean, hey, I'm worried about the kid. Been worried since we left him there. Well, worry isn't the right word, Cloud and Leon aren't going to harm him-" Demyx said.

"Dem, we got it" Roxas said, "We feel the same. I want to see him,"

"Cloud and Leon won't let us. I don't see why not seeing we were the ones who saved him," Axel said.

"I'm still trying to figure out why you just decided to kidnap a random person," Vanitas said from the rock. Roxas looked up, forgetting he was there. Vanitas had been quiet the entire time they were there, which was unusual for him. They didn't have any idea of what happened between him and Ven at the airport, and quite frankly, Vanitas wasn't planning on telling them.

"It was a life or death situation," Demyx said proudly.

"Well I wouldn't say that," Roxas laughed.

"Nah, I agree with Demyx. He looked terrible," Axel said.

"Well if Cloud's stupid ass texts are anything to go by, he seems to be doing better," Roxas noted. Axel's phone buzzed again, and when he looked at it, he sat up so fast, Roxas's face hit the grass.

"Ow! Axel!" Roxas whined.

"It's Cloud" Axel said, "Next friday. He says we can come over next Friday."

OKay, not gonna lie, I ran out of steam a bit after the whole Vanitas and Ventus thing, but you can see why. So many questions when it comes to them and their weird friendship. Next chapter, Sora gets reacquainted with Demyx, Roxas, and Axel, as they learn the new rules they now have to abide to in Cloud and Leon's home.