It was almost weird for Ven to start a new week without any more drama being added to his life. Between his own identity, his brothers, and Vanitas, it had seemed like one thing after another. But now, he was caught up on school work, the plans for his date with Vanitas had all come together, and Ven felt just about ready to take on the world.

There was only one detail left for Ven to settle: he hadn't taken any formal clothes with him to college, so he'd have to stop by Daybreak to get one of his suits back from home. He had one in mind already, one that had been tailor-made for him at his grandfather's behest when he'd started getting involved in the family business over the past year. He'd only worn it a couple of times, but he knew exactly how it made him look.

His original plan was to go Friday evening, when he didn't have the pressure of the next day's classes weighing down upon him. That is, until Thursday, when a text from Roxas came during Spanish class.

911

It was laconic enough to make Ven worry, but clear enough: he was needed back home.

On my way.

He caught Vanitas's worried gaze on him as he made to stand up, and responded with a reassuring smile before excusing himself to their professor, citing a family emergency.

He was barely out of the class that Vanitas texted him as well. Need backup?

I'll be fine, he sent back. True, he didn't actually know what was wrong yet, so maybe he was being overconfident. Still, he didn't want to drag Vanitas into it blind. Text you if I need you.

In spite of his bravado, as soon as he was sitting alone in his car, he started getting antsy. What could be so bad Roxas didn't want to talk about it over text? Was it a call for help? Surely Roxas would have known he could call Ven if he ever—

Sighing to himself, Ven forced himself to drop this train of thought. Imagining what the problem might be was pointless. Instead, he turned on the ignition, and called Roxas through his car's Bluetooth interface.

"Ven?"

He sounded well, at least—Ven let out a sigh at the realization. "Ro? Are you—all right?"

"I'm—" He shifted audibly, then spoke in a lower voice. "I'm in my room. But I didn't call you about me."

"Is it—"

"Tell you when you get there. Gotta hang up."

Ven let out a noise of protest, but the call was already disconnected, and it was all Ven could do to refrain from speeding down the highway back home.

By the time Ven parked in front of his old home, he was just about ready to burst with questions. But when he walked into the house, he found it oddly quiet and deserted. In spite of the absence of his brothers or grandfather, though, Ven could feel the heaviness in the air. He was all too familiar with it: this was an aftermath. To what, he didn't know yet.

He considered going up to his brothers' rooms, since Roxas said he was in his, but he overheard noise coming from the living room, and that made him curious enough to go and check.

The moment he stepped in, and found Eraqus sitting down with Sora across from him, he knew he was in the right place. His grandfather looked worn out in a way he rarely allowed his grandsons to see him, and while he was pointedly working on a laptop, his gaze was glassy enough that Ven doubted he was getting anything done. As for Sora, his back was turned to Ven, but the way he was slumped in his chair, devoid of energy, was worrying enough. Roxas had said the call wasn't for him, after all.

Eraqus was the first to notice Ven, though looking at him was the only greeting Ven got. "Didn't think you'd be over on a weekday."

Hearing the tension lingering in his voice, Ven made the fastest decision in his life. "I had to pick up a suit," he said with a shrug. "I've got a date this weekend." He should have known this was, itself, a mistake: at the mere reminder of Vanitas, his grandfather's eyes narrowed. Ven chose to ignore that too, and slowly came to sit down next to Sora. "Hey," he said softly; Sora glanced at him, pressed his lips tighter together, then looked down again. It was clear enough, as far as Ven was concerned; he took Sora's hand in his, then turned back to Eraqus. "So—what's going on?"

"We're dealing with a situation," Eraqus said gruffly. "Nothing to concern yourself with."

"Well, I'm already here, and I'm already concerned now."

"Stay out of this, Ventus." Eraqus didn't raise his voice, but his brusque tone was enough to make Sora flinch.

Ven turned to his brother, but if he was going to ask for Sora's side of the story, he knew better than to do it in front of their grandfather. Sora silently subjected himself to the examination without meeting Ven's eyes, but Ven knew his brother well enough. He could see the way he breathed too hard, the twitch in his arm, the way he kept shifting in place, favoring one side of his body over the other.

"Sora," he said softly, "do you mind giving us a moment?"

Eraqus opened his mouth as if to protest, but to Ven's surprise, he closed it wordlessly. Sora seemed to take that as approval, and darted out of the room. Ven watched him, and his lopsided gait was the confirmation he needed.

"Let me guess: you're going to tell me he tripped and fell?" He made no effort to hide the sarcasm from his voice.

Once more, Eraqus opened his mouth, then closed it again. "I'm not proud of myself, but I'm not going to lie."

"Oh, good. As long as you're not going to lie."

"I don't need your judgment. I lost patience. It won't happen again."

"I hope not. Twice is a pattern."

"Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a pattern."

"Do you really think now is the time for pedantry?"

Finally, Eraqus met his eyes. "You don't know what he's been like."

"I've known some of it. He's in a new relationship, which he didn't feel confident to share with you until I was here in support. He slept over at his boyfriend's without a warning, and, again, I was the one who found him. What now? What could he possibly have done that could warrant losing your patience?"

Eraqus's breath had grown short. "It—doesn't matter. Like I said, I'm not proud of myself."

"Did you tell him that?" Ven snapped. "Did you even apologize?"

"Ventus—" It felt like a warning, one Ven had no intention of heeding.

"Don't Ventus me. Be better. I'm not here to fix your shit anymore." Ven sighed. "Yeah, teens aren't easy. You got lucky with me, because I skipped over that and went straight to parenting my brothers when you should have. But you can't—" His voice cut off, strangled with emotion. "I need to know I can—" He wasn't even sure how to finish that. Trust Eraqus with the twins? Leave in good conscience?

Did he need to move back in here, college be damned?

"I'm doing all I can," Eraqus said.

"Then do more." Ven sighed. "I'm gonna go check on Sora. Figure your shit out by the time I'm done."

He found Sora by the front door, staring at it as if he was considering to leave. When Ven showed up, he looked cowed, and started heading towards the staircase; instead, Ven nodded at him to follow along, and he went outside. This seemed to surprise Sora, who waited a moment before he followed him out.

The house's front yarn wasn't exactly massive; it was just a stretch of grass by the side of the driveway. Still, his mom had installed a bench there when Ven was still a toddler, so that his grandparents could watch him play here, when they visited. This was also the bench Ven had been sitting on when his dad first taught him to use his old telescope.

Now, he sat down, and when Sora joined him, he wrapped an arm around his brothers shoulder and pulled him up close. "I'm not going to ask if you're okay," he said. "But—do you want to talk about it?"

"It's—it's not like I've never broken rules before," Sora muttered gingerly.

"Yeah, you have," Ven said. "But you should know, nothing's worth—that."

"I know he didn't mean to."

Ven didn't have it in him to argue right now, even though he knew he should. "Look, whether he did or not, if it ever happens again, you tell me right away, okay?"

"Yeah. But—that's not the problem."

At that, Ven couldn't help but frown in surprise. "It's—not?" Frustratingly, Sora didn't elaborate, leaving Ven to guess. "Is it about your relationship with Riku?"

The reaction was immediate: Sora shrugged off the arm on his shoulder, and slid back on the bench, glaring defensively at Ven. "Why? Are you gonna tell me to break up with him too?"

Ven blinked. "Is that what happened? Did Grandfather tell you to—"

Sora scoffed. "He didn't tell me to, but he clearly wants me to." He sighed. "He's doing everything he can to make sure I don't have a moment with Riku. It's like—" His voice trailed off, and he groaned in frustration. "I feel trapped sometimes. And you should hear the way he speaks about you and Vanitas! When Ro mentioned he was having dinner with you guys last Tuesday, he—"

"Sora, you're trying to distract me," Ven pointed out, "and it won't work."

"But I'm not!" Sora protested.

"This is about you, not me. If he has a problem with my relationship, that's for me to deal with, not you."

"But when there's a problem with me, you're here to deal with it."

"Sora," Ven said softly. He reached across the space between them, and was glad to see Sora relax at his touch. "I'm your big brother. Of course I'll take care of you if you need me to."

Sora shook his head stubbornly. "But—I can't. If I need you, you'll want to come home, right? You're worried enough about Ro as it is, and I'm—" He sighed. "I'm just making it worse."

"If you needed me to come home—"

"No! That's the point. I'd love it if you were there, but I don't need you to be. And you need to be on campus." He sighed and looked down. "I promise."

Ven wasn't entirely convinced, but he could see he was getting nowhere. "All right," he said. "But that doesn't mean you can't ask for my help, okay? If anything happens—anything at all—you tell me."

The front door opened, and Ven turned, wary that Eraqus had decided to join them, but it was Roxas, staring at the both of them on the bench with an aching look on his face. Ven motioned him over, and Roxas timidly came to sit on Roxas's other side.

"Thanks for the message," Ven said softly.

Beside him, Sora frowned. "I thought you needed a suit—"

"Oh, right! I almost forgot." Ven chuckled—for a brief time, all thoughts of his upcoming date had deserted his mind.

"So, you got a daaate?" Sora teased him.

Ven examined him quietly, wondering if he should accept the change of topic. Then, with a sigh, he figured he might as well—for now, anyway. "Yeah. This weekend. I'm taking Vanitas to Maagho."

Roxas whistled and Sora smiled excitedly. "Fancy."

Ven shrugged. "It'll be our first time going out for dinner like that. Gotta make it count. And I thought—" He paused, unable to get the words out, but he knew the twins would understand why he'd chosen the place.

"It's perfect," Roxas said. "I hope you have fun."

"Yeah," Ven said. "Thanks."

Ven spent some more time outside with his brothers, catching up as best they could. When they finally went back inside, the three of them headed upstairs, the twins insisting to come help Ven pick out his suit—as if he hadn't already decided on one. He indulged them anyway; besides, they instantly approved of his choice, and it was with a smile that he parted ways with them.

That smile faded instantly when he came downstairs, and his grandfather was waiting by the door. "I'm going to apologize to Sora," he said. "And I want to apologize to you, too. For all the pressure I let you carry all those years."

Ven sighed. "Look, just—you can't keep him on a leash."

"I—will try my best." Eraqus glanced at the suit slung over Ven's shoulder, packed in its cover. "You—" He cleared his throat. "Stay safe, all right?"

Sora's words still rang into Ven's ears—of how Eraqus apparently spoke of his relationship with Vanitas. Still, this was close enough to an olive branch, and strike an actual conversation instead of an argument. "Thanks," he said softly. "And, hey—do you still have your copy of our baby albums?"

Eraqus frowned. "I'm—not certain. Why?" From his tone, Ven guessed the thing he was not certain about was whether he was willing to share them with him.

"Abuela sent me a bunch of pictures over the weekend, but I think she lost the one you took of Mom and Dad right before I was born." Ven shrugged. "If you had it, I'd appreciate."

The frown on Eraqus's face didn't waver, but he nodded. "I'll see if I can find it."

Ven nodded in return. He paused, wondering if he should give Eraqus one final warning, then decided against it.

Vanitas burst out of his room as soon as the elevator doors opened on Ventus. "What happened?"

Ven couldn't help but smile at his display of anxiety. "Let's—go inside," he said. He'd had enough rumors started because of conversations they had out in the hallway. To his surprise, Vanitas urged him into his own room, where he found Terra and Aqua sitting on Terra's bed. They perked up when Ven came in, looking just as eager as Vanitas. Ven looked between the three of them. "Is—this an intervention?"

"We were just worried," Aqua said.

"Vanitas told us what happened," Terra added. "What was it? Are your brothers okay?"

Ven sighed, unsure what to even answer to that question. But he knew what he wanted to do about it—he'd had the entire ride back to think about it. He sat down on his bed, and turned to Vanitas. "I want to apply to be the twins' legal guardian."

All three of them looked at him with surprise, but Vanitas's eyes held something else—a recognition. "You sure?"

"I was their guardian in all but name before, I know how to take care of the twins. And it's not like my parents named Grandfather our guardian, it just defaulted to him. And if I hadn't moved out—"

"But—that's the point," Terra said. "You're living here, on campus."

"I can figure that part out," Ven said. "One thing at a time. But Vanitas, I was wondering if you could tell me how you did it for Xion. What it required, that sort of stuff."

"I should still have digital copies of all the paperwork," Vanitas said slowly. "You'll need a lawyer, though."

Ven nodded. "I know a guy." Brain was technically his mom's attorney, and Ven had never needed his services since her passing, but he was also the only one Ven knew who didn't work directly for X-Blade Industries. Hopefully, the connection would be enough to make him take Ven's case.

Vanitas nodded quietly, but Aqua and Terra didn't seem as convinced. "Ven, whatever's going on—"

"Look, I always knew my grandfather wasn't the best at it, but I thought, well, at least he never hurt any of us, right?" He didn't have it in him to tell them what had just happened, though he couldn't help but hope one of them would pick up on it. "I should have realized it wouldn't work out when Roxas went to the hospital. We weren't okay—we were just getting by. The twins still are. They need me."

The two of them traded looks, then nodded. "We'll do whatever we can to help," Terra said.