Roxas stared at the general direction of the setting sun in the sky. His head was barely registering what he was doing on top of this tower, before he finally remembered that he was, in fact, not alone here. Standing behind him with an eyebrow raised in a less than comfortable scowl, was the childhood friend he had feelings for for a long time now. Roxas knew somewhere in the back of his mind, Roxas knew Sora did not believe in this so-called superstition. After all, what is watching the sunset do to make someone fall in love with you? Roxas knew he was right.

As soon as the sun had finally set, and night had begun to envelope the town, Sora finally spoke up, "You happy now, Roxy?" he said with a half-mocking tone. Roxas decided to ignore the incredulous tone of his brunette friend's comment, and instead smiled at him for what felt like the first time in forever. "Yeah," the blonde said as he looked the brunette in the eye. "It's been 51 days, and I think I should tell the person I like how I feel," he said, getting a feeling of dread. Why does this seem… familiar?

Sora's scowled, and just as the blonde was about to speak up again, he was pushed off the tower. He was falling, falling deeper, and yet he didn't seem to fall into the ground. All he could feel was falling down tower because his love pushed him off.

Now all of a sudden, Roxas' eyes opened wide, and slowly, he sat up to take in the familiar surroundings he and his twin had shared nearly all their lives. He looked around slowly, trying to wrap his mind around his current situation. He looked to the side and saw his twin sleeping beside him, an open notebook set face down on his chest and a pen inserted between the open part of the notebook as he slept peacefully beside his brother.

He began to calm down as he realized that what had happened was just a dream; the same dream that had haunted him for as long as he had known the rumor of the clock tower. Yesterday's events before classes and during lunch seemed to only make the dream more vivid.

When the two teenagers reached the top of the clock tower, Roxas was not really sure what he needed to do. Sora hung around behind him as he tried to stare at the sun, but just decided to stare at the orange hue of the sky instead when he remembered that staring directly at the sun will blind you. Blinking rapidly to try to get the floating black spots from his vision when he tried to stare at the giant bright ball of light in the sky, he merely stood there, not really knowing what else there was to do.

As the sky faded into the night, the two childhood friends decided to descend from the tower and go home. As they traversed through the streets of Twilight Town, Sora suddenly spoke up, "So Roxy." Said blonde looked at his object of affections and saw that he was not looking at him as he spoke and was merely looking down at the road as they both walked. His facial expression a bit too serious for the usual cheery brunette everyone else at school knew. "What is it, Sor?" he responded, managing not to stutter out the words as he spoke to his crush.

Sora turned narrowed blue eyes to the blonde walking beside him. "You gonna tell me who you're doing all this for?" he asked, his tone sounding a bit teasing. Roxas looked away, trying his best not to color his face pink. "T-that's a secret," he said as he crossed his arms, trying to distract himself with a stray cat he found as they passed an intersection in the road. There was a black-haired male in front of the cat. He seemed to be feeding the stray, before piercing amber eyes looked—no, glared at the direction where the two childhood friends were walking. Roxas snapped his head away, and realized he suddenly bumped into Sora as he tripped over his own feet. The blonde breathed a sigh of relief as he realized the brunette had been strong enough not to let the both of them fall down to the ground. "Whoa, careful there, Roxy," Sora said looking down at his friend while gripping both of his shoulders with his hands. There was a slight pause before Roxas suddenly jumped as he realized he was—in a way—being held by his crush. He recoiled back, almost tripping himself again, before standing up straight and looking so obviously tense. Sora raised an eyebrow at his actions and crossed his arms. The blonde just stood there, avoiding eye contact with the brunette.

Sora decided to let it slide for now, and just rolled his eyes at the blonde before continuing on their way in a slightly uncomfortable silence. The distance between the two as they walked didn't help any. When the two had reached the two intersection where they parted ways for the night, they just exchanged goodbyes before separating. When Roxas arrived home, he was still alone. Neither Ven nor Cloud had come home yet, and there were no signs of their parents returning and so he decided to skip dinner altogether and just go straight to sleep.

Now he was wide awake and was feeling all the embarrassment he felt as he probably looked like an airheaded klutz around the boy he has feelings for. Shaking his head, he stood up carefully as to not wake up his twin. He exited their room and went down the second floor hall to where the bathroom was. Not bothering to close the door behind him, he opened the faucet to the sink, letting the water run down to wet his hands. Splashing some of the cold water over his face, he got rid of the sleep in his eyes and managed to calm himself down.

"You're up early again," came the familiar voice of Cloud. "Morning, Cloud," Roxas greeted, and the older greeted back. "You're not going out today?" Roxas questioned as he exited the bathroom and went down the stairs with his brother. Sitting down a chair in the dining room and watching as Cloud got a few things from the cupboards as he answered the younger's question, "Not until later. You want some coffee?" Roxas agreed to his offer, and Cloud got out the mug that belonged to their youngest. As the older blonde prepared the cups of coffee for the both of them, Roxas suddenly spoke without speaking, "Say Cloud," he started looking straight down at the empty table before him. "Do you believe in…" there was a slight pause of hesitation before he continued, "…rumors and superstitions?" Cloud blinked at his younger brother's words, finishing the preparation of the coffee and setting down the mugs in front of them as he sat down across from where the younger was. He took a small sip of the bitter black coffee before answering. "That depends on the rumor, really," he said, looking at Roxas. Said boy only raised a brow at his brother's response. "Whether the source is credible or not, or if there have been any cases that proved that the rumor is true," the older elaborated as both took gradual sips of their coffee.

There was a long pause between them, before Roxas broke the silence. "Do you know about the rumor at my school, then?" Roxas figured that since Cloud was an alumnus at their school, he would know a thing or two about the things that go down its halls. Although Cloud had never been much of a conversationalist, he was a good observer. "Back when I was still in High School," he began, "There were loads of rumors. Ghosts around campus, bathroom suicides, monsters in the dark, even teachers harassing students," he said, closing his eyes as he took a sip of the coffee as if he was reminiscing his time back in high school. "Which one are you talking about, exactly?"

"The one about the clock tower in town," the younger pointed out, "how your love will return your feelings if you watch the sun set on top of the tower for 51 days." Cloud set his mug down on the table, resting his chin on one hand as he closed his eyes. "Yeah, I know about that rumor," he said with the faintest hint of a chuckle. Roxas didn't notice that, however, and Cloud continued to speak. "I personally don't—or at least—didn't believe in it," Roxas blinked at his older brother's words. He was speaking with a such a gentle tone, as if talking about that rumor was like talking about some fond memory. Could he have tried to see if that rumor was true before?

"This crazy friend of mine," he began, that soft look still in his eyes, "He believed in that rumor and would always drag me up that tower with him. And, well, he actually did get what he wanted after 51 days." The younger blonde stayed silent, taking in what his older brother had said. "So what was that about?" Cloud asked, now looking with a trace of curiosity at his younger brother's thoughtful appearance. "Were you thinking of trying it out for yourself?" Roxas snapped back into attention at the question that had been thrown at him. "About that," he began, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly with one hand, "I already started."

Cloud blinked at that. Roxas actually had someone he liked? Well, he supposed it would be normal for someone his age. "So… who—" he began, right before he was interrupted. "I'm not telling you," came the younger's sudden reply nearly choking as he finished off the last of the coffee in his mug. His cheeks were flushed red, his arms crossed and face tilted away from his brother. Cloud understood that Roxas didn't want to say anymore and promptly dropped the subject. "By the way, has Ven been acting… weird yesterday?" Cloud questioned, looking straight into the smaller blonde's eyes as he turned his attention back to his brother. "No, not really," he said, eyebrow raised at Cloud's question. "Did he come with you when you climbed the tower yesterday?"

Roxas' face scrunched up even more. "No, he didn't. I went home straight after the sun set, and no one was home yet," the younger explained. Cloud crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back against the chair he was sitting on. "Last night," he began, "I ran into Ven on my way home. He was acting like his usual self, but it was definitely weird that he was out after curfew. When we got home, mom told me dad was about to call the police and report him missing when they came home and found only you were home. His phone was turned off, too," he explained. Roxas merely nodded at his older brother in agreement. Innocent, naïve Ven was never one to break rules. "I'll ask him what he was up to," Roxas told his brother, confident that his twin would tell him what something was bothering him. "Thanks," Cloud said before closing his eyes and bowing his head. "I'm sure it's nothing; this is Ven we're talking about here, but it can't hurt to make sure." Roxas nodded and noticed that it was about time to prepare for school. Excusing himself from the table as Cloud cleaned up for both of them, he walked up the stairs and made his way back to the room he shared with his twin.

Standing before the bed where his older twin laid, Roxas noted that Ven had not moved much during the time he was downstairs and talking with Cloud. The notebook was still open and laid face down on his chest, his breathing causing it to heave up and down. For a second there, Roxas was tempted to sneak a peek at what his brother had accomplished, but decided against it. So instead, he tapped him lightly on the shoulder and called out, "Veeeeen, time to wake up." Said blonde stirred a little before he bolted awake and yelled out. Roxas jumped back, eyes widened and arms raised in surprise. "What the heck was that for, Ven?!" he exclaimed at his brother, giving him a slightly angry look before he noticed that Ven had calmed down as soon as he had his notebook in his hands. Heaving a heavy sigh and showing a small smile of relief, the older blonde flipped through the pages, only for the same smile to drop. His back slumped as he closed the notebook. Roxas was reminded of a kicked puppy; he can almost see the dog ears drooping down in sadness on top of his twin's head. He quickly shook off that thought and sat on the bed beside his twin. "What's wrong, Ven?" Roxas whispered to him, his tone as gentle as he could muster. Ven didn't say anything; he only opened his notebook. Roxas peered over the older blonde's shoulders, and saw about half of a page filled with words with a few messy erasures here and there. He didn't read what was written, though. "I wasn't able to write much last night," he explained.

Roxas huffed out in confusion before speaking. "I thought the deadline for that wasn't till two weeks from now. Why are you rushing to get it done?" Ven refused to meet his twin's eyes as he bowed his head and muttered out, "Mr. Xehanort said he expects a lot from me, and that I might fail his class if I didn't get a high score on it. He even told me to look around town if I can't find inspiration for a story. I just don't want to trouble him more than I should." The younger then realized that that was probably what Ven had been doing last night: wandering around town looking for something to base a story on. Roxas reached out and gently rubbed the older's shoulder with one hand. "Ven, these kinds of things take time. If really don't want to disappoint Mr. Xehanort, then you shouldn't rush your work," the younger said as he continued to try to comfort his brother. "You should just take your time and let the ideas flow into you naturally."

There was silence between the two before Ven finally spoke, "Yeah, you're right." A wide smile starting to show itself on Ven's face. Roxas noted that the room suddenly felt… brighter. Roxas inwardly chuckled. 'That's my brother for you,' he thought. Ven had always been there for him, and Roxas would fly to the moon and back just to keep his precious brother smiling. Ven was the first to know about Roxas' sexuality. Ven was the first to accept him for who he is. Ven stood up to bullies who would call the younger names and try to beat him up all throughout middle school. Ven supported him through thick and thin. Heck, Ven was the only one who knew about his affection for their mutual childhood friend, and not once had he called him disgusting, not once had he told him what he felt was wrong. Ven saw the good in the world, and Roxas wanted to protect and support him just as he had done for him.

With one last pat on the back, Roxas stood up and told Ven they should probably take a shower now. Ven agreed and said they should take one together. Roxas didn't protest; he was fine with showering with his brother. Besides, they were running a bit late already.

Spending time with his brother reminded Roxas of much of their childhood. As they showered, dressed and departed for school, they talked about a lot of things. Like how Roxas was so quiet and shy that that older kid their parents introduced them to—Axel—called him a zombie, how Ven always told people to call him by his nickname 'Ven' instead of his birth name 'Ventus' because it sounded more natural to him somehow, and how Sora had been the first one to successfully differentiate between the two identical twins, leaving a lasting impression on both of them as even their parents have told them to wear wristbands of different color—checkered patterns with white edges for Ven and black edges for Roxas—just for them to be able to properly know who they were talking to.

They finally arrived at school, and just as Ventus entered their classroom and Roxas was about to follow, a hand reached out, roughly grabbing his shoulder and pulled him out of the room. Two figures slipped into the room and the clicking sound of a door locking was heard. Looking into the glass window in the door, Kairi and Riku was blocking the door, Riku leaning against it, looking at Sora from inside with a bored expression while Kairi was peering at her phone, typing away. Just as Roxas was about to question what they were planning, he noticed their first subject teacher, the snake himself—Mr. Jafar—striding down the hall, approaching them. Just as he neared the two teenagers, students from the classroom adjacent to theirs suddenly poured out and greeted the teacher a good morning while trying to strike conversation with giant smiles plastered on their faces as they held onto their phones. From inside, Kairi closed her own device and leaned against the door with Riku, holding out five fingers to the brunette outside. Sora then grabbed the confused blonde's hand as he pulled him into a nearby comfort room.

"What are you—" he was interrupted immediately by the brunette's cheerful voice. "Apparently the class next door is having independent self-study, and since Kai's got almost everyone who has a phone's number here in school, combined by the fact that Sir Slithers out there is probably one of the most disliked teachers here, I used all that to buy me some time to talk to you."

Roxas opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off again, "Kai said we only have five minutes give or take before Jafar manages to slither his way into class, so I'll make this quick. I wanted to talk to you about yesterday. Like, I'm sorry if I did something to make you uncomfortable because you were suddenly avoiding me when we were about to go home and you were dead silent and didn't even look at me so I guess what I'm trying to say here is I'm sorry," he was speaking so fast, not even bothering to breathe, that his face was turning red and his eyes refused to meet the nearly identical azure ones of Roxas. "Also I wanted to ask," there was a pause as he took a sharp breath of air to continue his sentence, "if you really do believe in that crazy clock tower rumor." His voice slowed to a normal pace, eyes now locked to the blonde's. "When we reached the top you looked so spaced out—like you didn't know what the hell you were supposed to do," Sora's phone buzzed in his hand. Opening the message, the brunette clicked his tongue before grumbling out, "Damn, he dealt with those guys from the other class so quickly." He grabbed Roxas by the arm once again before saying, "Anyways, my point is, if you're just gonna half-ass your way through this, then it doesn't matter if that rumor is true or not. Unless you give your whole heart into what you want to do, nothing's gonna happen with you. If that's the case, it'd be for the best if you give up on that guy you're after."

Roxas flinched as Sora's strong hand pulled him out of the bathroom as he was still dazed and trying to process the things the brunette had told him. The two entered the classroom to see a very pissed off looking Jafar glaring daggers into the souls of every student present in the room which seemed to work on everyone—except Riku who was preoccupied with writing on a piece of paper, Kairi who was probably on her phone which was hidden under her desk, thanking the people from the other class for going along with their plan, and Zexion who was reading his book hidden inside his History textbook. Right now, that chilling glare was suddenly directed towards the two who had just entered, and Roxas felt like sinking into a hole right now. The last time he was scolded by a teacher was back in fourth grade when Sora convinced him that putting glue on Zexion's chair was a good idea. Both of them were scolded by the teacher, and then by their parents, and were forced to wash the boy's uniform free from the sticky substance. Now they were going to be scolded again. "Just where were you two?" came the deep voice of the teacher. Roxas' voice was caught in his throat, he was unable to speak up. "Sorry for coming in late, sir, but Roxas and I went use to the bathroom," Sora ended up saying. Roxas nodded, it wasn't exactly a lie. Just as the teacher seemed like he was going to blow up into a giant with blood-red skin, Sora cut in once again, "Sir, with all due respect," he said with a beaming smile, "I understand why you're mad, but don't you think it's unwise to waste any more time with worthless exchanges of emotion instead of discussing the lesson?" That comment didn't seem to calm down the enraged teacher completely, but it was enough to bring him back to his senses. Grumpily telling the two boys to sit down, they started with their lesson.

Zexion joined Roxas' usual group during lunchtime, mainly because the library was set to go under renovations for the time being. He sat at the far end of the table, reading a book next to Roxas who was just poking at his food as his brother—who was now acting like his usual happy self—and the rest of their friends were talking amongst themselves. Taking small sips from a plain milk drink he purchased from a nearby vending machine, he silently pondered the words Sora had drilled to his mind this morning. 'Unless you give your whole heart into what you want to do, nothing's gonna happen with you, huh...' he thought to himself. Letting the refreshingly cold milk rush down his throat, he muttered to himself, "How do I give my whole heart into something?"

A few seconds passed, and no one responded—not like he was expecting a reply, since everyone was too engrossed in what they were doing to pay him any heed. To his surprise, though, a voice to his left answered a few seconds late. "To give your whole heart into something," the voice began, "is to devote your time and effort into something without hesitation. You're passionate about it, and will therefore work tirelessly into whatever it is you would be spending time on," the voice sounded so dignified, that the entire table went silent and stared at the source of the voice. "Whew, so you can talk, huh?" Terra said with a smile before he was shushed by his girlfriend. "W-what do you mean by that exactly, Zexion?" came Aqua's gentle voice as both she and Terra heard this silent underclassman talk for the very first time.

Zexion merely stared down at his book, not bothering to spare a second glance at the other people at the table, but he did slightly glance at the arms of the person to his right, before returning his attention to his book. "I was merely answering Roxas' question, since no one was listening hard enough to hear him," he pointed out. "You're one cocky kid, huh?" Hayner suddenly said, before he was silenced by Olette who offered an apologetic smile at the silent male. Ven turned his attention to his brother. "Is this about…?" Roxas sighed. Ven knew him too well. Said older twin merely smiled and gave answer of his own. "Like you told me earlier, there are some things that just need some more time to come true. Especially when it comes to love—" Olette, who was having a drink from Pence's usual chocolate milk suddenly choked on what Ven had said. "—you can't just expect him—" this time it was Hayner who was sipping on strawberry milk who nearly choked on his drink. Terra and Aqua just stopped drinking altogether. "—to suddenly return your feelings based the clock tower rumor. You have to put in more effort than just trusting in blind fate."

Roxas listened to the words of his twin. Really, it was times like these that he was reminded that Ven was the older one. Taking Ven's and Zexion's words to heart, Roxas took a deep breath and tried to recollect his thoughts. 'I have to put in more effort.' he thought, 'I have to work tirelessly into attaining my goal.' As he thought more about steeling his resolve, his smile grew and he chuckled lightly before uttering modest words of gratitude for the words that became the foundation of his resolve.

"Wait, wait, wait," Olette cut in, "You're in love?!" she nearly shouted, red-faced. "And with a g-guy?!" Hayner joined in. Roxas and Pence tried calming Hayner down as Aqua and Terra did the same for Olette. "Well I'm not hiding it," Roxas said, "but I'm not broadcasting it either, so please try to shut up, please! You're causing a scene," Roxas nearly pleaded as his friends were attracting unwanted attention from the people in surrounding tables. As everyone was starting to calm down and finish up with their lunches, Roxas noticed from the corner of his eye a certain head of chestnut hair with his red-headed and silver-haired best friends. Riku seemed to actually be enjoying himself at school for once as a smirk was planted on his face. Kairi was looking down on her phone as usual but was speaking as she pressed on the screen of her phone. Sora's face seemed to burn a bright crimson at her words which did nothing but make Riku's smirk grow wider. Roxas unconsciously pouted. Sora never made a face like that when he was with him, not even back during their childhood. But a few words from Kairi and he's so worked up and flustered that his face goes completely red like that. He felt a pang of… something in his chest. He felt like charging over there and… what, exactly? He wasn't sure, himself. So he decided to take what the next logical step of his thinking would bring him: Swallow that feeling down, it'll probably go away later.

… Looks like he needed more resolve to actually put in the 'effort' that he needed. The bell rang, signaling lunchtime's end. The students scurry back to their classrooms to resume classes.

Mr. Xehanort exited the classroom as the rest of the class packed their things and got ready to go home. Ven approached his brother with a bright smile on his face "Hey Rox," Roxas put away the last of his books and turned his attention to that angelic smile of his twin. "'Sup, Ven?" Roxas said, flashing a smile of his own. "You go on ahead for today," he began, "I'm heading over to the student council room to wait for Terra and Aqua. They said they'd help with my story." Roxas agreed and started walking outside and towards the gate where he spotted Sora and his friends. Riku nodded at Sora, signaling to the brunette that the boy he had been waiting for had arrived.

Turning his head to look at the blonde, Sora greeted him before he gave the other two a look. Nodding, Riku and Kairi left to wait outside the gates to give the other two some privacy to talk. "So, about my question earlier…" The blonde nodded before taking a deep breath and looking the brunette straight in the eye. "Yeah, you were right," the blonde began, "The way I was being yesterday, it probably would have saved me the heartbreak if I'd just give up on him. Now I've been thinking about what you've said, and well, I've decided that I shouldn't give up after all. I have my resolve now, and I want to prove that I can give it my all, that I can succeed." Sora blinked at that. "And what does climbing a tower and watching sunsets have anything to do with whether you succeed or not?" he snapped back, frowning. He just didn't understand why Roxas would do all this for some guy. Riku's frame was seen poking from beyond the gate, ready to intervene, but was held back by a smaller arm which probably belonged to Kairi. Riku turned away, and hid back behind the gate, silently waiting for the outcome of this talk.

"I never said I believed in those rumors," Roxas pointed out. "Huh?" was Sora's dumbfounded reply. "This is just a good luck charm of sorts," Roxas continued, "I have other ways of showing my effort for the person I like." There was a light growl from Sora, but it was so quiet that no one really heard it. Sora glared at Roxas for what felt like an eternity, but Roxas stood his ground. Then, Sora suddenly heaved a sigh of defeat, slumped his back a bit and covered half of his face with one hand. "Fine, Roxy," he said, both eyes closed in exasperation. "If I can't persuade you out of this, then I'll accompany you," he said. He turned his head back and called out to his two friends, "Y'hear that, guys? You can go home now." At that, Riku and Kairi took their leave, walking in the opposite direction of where Sora and Roxas were headed.

Walking up the stairs and standing on top of the tower, Roxas faced the setting sun. Behind him, Sora rolled his eyes and glared at the beautiful sight in front of him. Roxas closed his eyes, mustered up his courage, and wished as fervently as he could.

'Let my feelings reach that sky!'