I woke up in my room. I was sure I was being sedated a dangerous amount, but I didn't care. I tried to stand, but I fell over right away. I looked and saw that my left leg was wrapped in white. I lay on my back where I'd fallen, waiting for someone to come in and explain why my leg was in a cast.

Ten minutes later, Bern walked into my room. I shrunk away from the man who acted like my father, the man who hated me and my cousin. And my brothers. I could see in his eyes, the fury that he kept hidden from the others, that he hid so well, except in the eyes. Isaac once quoted something to me. 'The eyes are the windows to the soul'. That matched both me and Bern perfectly. His eyes burned with the flames of hatred that blazed within his soul, while mine betrayed the emptiness inside of me.

"Roxas. You are a disgrace. So are your brothers. I hate you all." With that, he backhanded me. It wouldn't have done much to a normal person, but I was less than half the weight I should have been. The force of the blow sent me flying onto my front, twisting the leg I had in a cast and causing me to cry out in pain. "Call all you like. No one will hear you. They're all out at the supermarket." He hit me several more times before he left. I didn't care though, the hood on my jacket would hide it anyway. I just wish that he could care about us more. All I wanted to know was why he hated my brothers.

I sighed and looked at the ceiling. Then I swung, with considerable effort, my legs off of the bed, so that I could try to stand. It took a few tries before I managed to stay standing, and I hobbled over to the door, locking it, before I headed to the bathroom. I locked that door behind me as well, then climbed into the bath, sinking down and sobbing. Silently. It was probably only two minutes before the others arrived home.

The rest of the summer passed uneventfully. I only ever left my room when I was being force to go and eat. At meals, I ate as little as I could get away with, taking my time over eating to make it seem like I'd eaten more. I then threw it all back up once I'd gotten upstairs. I couldn't help it, I wasn't used to food.

My cast came off just before school. I still had to have this annoying padding 'just for safety' which I 'lost' soon after.

The first day back at school started off as normal. I would get ready, then lie on my back until the others were about to leave. Or I'd lock the door and ignore Isaac as he tried to get me downstairs. One or the other. But today was one of the former.

As I followed the others to school, I tried to figure out why Bern hated my brothers. The only thing that the three of them had in common was the fact that they were all dating guys. Sora and Ven may have looked similar, the only difference was hair colour, but Isaac was almost exactly like Mum, save for his eyes which looked like Bern's but were shaded in by a different light, a more calm tone than Bern's, but sometimes flashed in anger, or love. It was sometimes hard to tell which. But other than that, he looked scarily similar to Mum, only taller. That might explain him, and Ventus is probably because he looks exactly like me, but with some flesh under his skin. But Sora? I had no clue at all.

I sighed and looked up. The silverette had joined up with Sora, and I could see Ven waving to that bluette who I'd yet to even talk to. Isaac was walking along with his backpack slung over one shoulder, something most people thought was cool, a fashion statement, but he just found much easier a position to carry the bag in. He was turning round on occasion, walking backwards, probably in order to make sure I was still behind them and hadn't wandered off.

Form period would have been a drag, but we were forced to go to an assembly. They had one at the start of every year, apparently, and so we were herded into the main hall. And it was just my luck that I ended up next to a certain red-head.

To be honest though, it wasn't coincidence. I'd just sat in a corner, as far away from the stage at the front as I could get. Unfortunately though, Axel managed to find me and brought all of his group with him, Hyper, Bookworm, Camp, Scary, Shy and Quiet. Not that the last two seemed it.

Yeah, I treated them like the seven dwarfs. But I barely knew them.

The assembly was a bore, pack with the usual lies, like 'All the teachers are willing to listen to your problems' and 'We just want you to succeed'. Those were along with the 'Any bullies shall be punished' one.

Thankfully, the assembly was mainly for new students, who were probably quite few, and a reminder for us. This meant that I could ignore most of it. Except for at the end.

"Roxas Tsu! I want a word with you after this assembly." He paused. "Now, everyone else, feel free to go." Everyone else stood up and left. I noticed Axel give me a look that defined longing. I sighed, then noticed that all of my teachers were there. I waited for them to start. "Now, Roxas. Do you have any idea as to why you are here?" My headmaster asked. I looked at him, not doing anything else. Just looking. "I'm waiting for an answer." I still just looked at him. "Fine. I'll tell you. You mother has called in..." I highly doubted that. My mum was dead. "...and has told us about all of the problems you've been having." Again, I highly doubted it. She wasn't certain I was resorting to self harm, if she even thought that, and she wouldn't know anything about Bern. "We know that you are being bullied and that you are not eating. Thus, we have decided, almost unanimously, that you have someone with you." I didn't react.

"Like a guard." Aerith explained. "He's going to follow you and make sure that no body beats you up, as they say." She smiled. "And here he is." I turned to see the person I least wanted it to be.

Axel.

I sighed.

"Axel was the first volunteer for the job, the only other one being your older brother." The headmaster explained. "We figured that this would mean you had someone for you at home as well, and Isaac could have a break."

"So, should we head off to first lesson Roxy?" Axel asked, patting my shoulder. I shrugged it off and started walking.

Spending the day with Axel was a nightmare. I wanted to punch him at least twice a minute. And half the time, I did. Several times when he tried some bad flirting. I didn't realize that he was joking that night until he kissed me. But now, he was being so flirtatious. He seemed ready to pounce on me whenever he could. He even tried to bit my ear at one point, but forgot about my hood. Which I was glad for. This carried on all day, even when I went to the bathroom. He was convinced it was so that we could make out, and seemed disappointed when I locked myself in a cubicle. I didn't actually need the toilet, I just wanted to be on my own.

To have a chance to cry.

Soon it was time for lunch. Axel came in with me. Why didn't they let us not come in. As I grabbed the cup that was all I normally got, he pulled me other.

"Oh no you don't. You are getting something to eat." He handed me a tray, plate and full set of cutlery, then dragged me to a stand covered in cooked foods. There were several of them dotted around, some with sandwiches, salads, pasta and even desserts. Seriously, who eats dessert with lunch?

Apparently everyone.

I took a small amount of salad and headed over to the usual table. Axel was there in under a minute. "Got ya dessert." He said, handing over a bowl with some unidentifiable thing drowned in custard. I sighed and passed it back to him. He looked hurt. "But you can't eat only salad." I sent him by best I-don't-care look, which was just my normal face. He pouted. "Come on Roxy! It's raspberry crumble!" I raise an eyebrow. Did he really think I'd eat that. Or trust him.

The other six arrived soon after that. "Hey Axel. I see you're not trying to get him to talk." Quiet said. Oh no.

"What?" Bookworm asked. I sighed.

"Didn't I tell you? I heard Roxas talk!" I sunk into my seat, hoping the floor would swallow me. Or that the knives were sharp enough to kill.

Wait. When did I become suicidal?

"Really? When?" Hyper asked.

"You know that receptionist job I have?"

"At the psychiatrists Leon works at?" Scary.

"Yeah. Anyway, he came in over the summer, and then he started to panic about something as he was leaving. I heard him say...'No' wasn't it?" She asked me. I shrugged. "He passed out right after that."

"Really? Why?" Axel directed the question at me. I sighed. "Come on! Tell me!" He pleaded. I shook my head. "Tell me and I'll give you a kiss..." He teased. I shook my head. "Come on!" He grabbed my wrists. I tried to pull away, but he grabbed my wristbands, them falling off in the process. I quickly tried to grab them back, but he grabbed my wrists again. "Roxy? What are these?" He'd seen the scars on my wrists. I increased my struggles, managing to get one hand free. I reached for a jug and threw it at Axel. I hit, making him loose his grip on my wrists. I grabbed the wristbands off of him and pulled them on before I fled.

I reached the door before I fainted.

"..long before he wakes up."

"Thank you Paine. Would you mind if I...sorry we wait here?" That sounded like Isaac.

"You can. Just be quiet."

"That should be difficult for him." I had an odd feeling that this other person was Axel.

"Hey!" Definitely Axel. I sat up, opening my eyes. I was on a bed in an empty room. I tried to remember what happened, but couldn't remember anything after entering lunch. I sighed, then stood and looked for the door. I walked through it into a small waiting room. Isaac and Axel were waiting there.

"You're awake. Come on. We've got to get home." Isaac said, getting me away before Axel could say anything. I guess I'd have to do something for him sometime. I tried a smile, but I didn't have any idea as to how to do one. We walked home in silence.

The next day came quickly. Unfortunately. I was constantly being pestered about the scars by Axel and Shy, the others asking whenever they could. They wound me up to no end. And I was constantly trying to escape from them and hide, but I never succeeded. They always managed to track me down.

Lunch was horrible. All seven of them were there, refusing to let me out. Eventually, I got too annoyed at Axel. I picked up one of the water jugs, and was about to throw it at him, when I started to get a headache. I overbalanced, and fell, landing on the table, on thankfully empty dishes. The last thing I noticed before I fell unconscious was that Axel still got soaked.

Ooh!

...The endings of these are becoming cliche. Sorry.

Next chapter will be up soon.