58.

"Wow, Riku, you're really filling out." Sora poked the chest beneath his head, noticing how it seemed broader than when he first started seeing the silveret shirtless on a semi-regular basis.

"Must be all the 'exercise.'"

"Yeah, right? Maybe I should join the soccer team." Riku casually lifted the arm not under Sora to make a very discrete facepalm.

Sora rubbed his palm from Riku's pectorals to shoulders. "Think you'll beef up in a couple years? Like, as big as your dad?"

"Probably not. My dad lifts weights. I run. I'll probably just get more toned by the end of high school." Riku looked down to Sora's adorably awestruck face. "Why, do you want me bigger?" he grinned.

"No no. I like this." Clearly. The boy went back to feeling Riku up everywhere. "Wow, I'm so jelly." Riku grinned at Sora's slang interpretation of the word 'jealous' and captured the boy's cheek between two knuckles. Ugh, so damn adorable.

Sora angled his face to look up at Riku smiling tenderly at him. "Heeee..." was the sound that came out as he smiled back. He lay his head back down on the creamy expanse of Riku's chest, still facing the older boy but letting his eyes slip shut. There was nothing but breathing and heartbeats for a long while.


Roxas went straight to his room, took a much-needed drink from the tap, and a much-needed shit in the toilet. If two cigarettes in close succession didn't take a toll on his nerves, they did on his digestive system. He was about to collapse into bed when the door opened.

Roxas scowled. "The fuck are you doing here?"

Tidus blinked at him, took a step back and re-examined the numbers on the outside of the door. "Huh. Guess you're my new roommate for the weekend."Roxas stared at him, glanced over to the bed on the other side of the room, then back to Tidus. The other blond stepped towards him, holding out Roxas' forgotten pack of smokes.

Roxas kept his emotionless stare and Tidus quirked his lips to the side. "Sorry 'bout earlier, man," he said casually. When Roxas still didn't verbally respond, only taking back his cigarettes some moment after, Tidus' easy smile returned and they went to lounge on their respective beds. A temporary cease-fire in Roxas' eyes.

It was nearing five o'clock. Checking his schedule, Roxas reminded himself that he did have an evening session –the overnight one where he'd be sleeping in one of the specialized rooms. Not here. No, this room was more like a giant locker for his things while he was at the Core.

The sleep-monitoring session was blocked off between 10PM and 6AM. God, he couldn't remember the last time he'd went to bed at ten unless preceded by an all-nighter.

Inverted writing caught his attention and Roxas flipped the schedule over. 'Breakfast 7:15 Lunch 12:15 Dinner 5:15 ' He quirked an eyebrow at the odd times. There was a fourteen-hour gap between dinner and breakfast? But then Roxas remembered Tidus telling him that five-fifteen was when they would start serving dinner, but then the caf would be open until seven. That made a little more sense.

Roxas looked at his 'locker'-mate sprawled across his bed, reading something on his phone. He still didn't like the boy, but he did have to admit that it was a little easier to have a familiar face –despite how irritating that face could get.

He didn't realize he'd been staring until Tidus stood up and stretched.

"Wanna head up?"

"Do you have an evening session?"

"Naw, my Saturday seshes are all in the morning. I've just gotten used to eating at this time. Freshest food too," he grinned. "Do you have anything else today?"

Roxas hesitated. Well, sleep being monitored didn't exactly give away too much... "Yeah. At ten."

"Sweet. Let's head." And that was that.


There were 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter when Axel's head looked up over his team's huddle and scanned the crowd for the hundredth time. He'd texted Roxas the time of his game and then called him at halftime, but it had gone straight to voicemail. A nervous sort of feeling began to tickle the bottom of his stomach when he thought of why Roxas wouldn't respond. I mean, Roxas isn't the kinda guy who looks at an innocent text and choose to not respond, right?

Blond hair… blond hair … blue eyes … baby face … where are you? ... I'm starving. I hope you're in the mood for a big fat burger after this because fuck, I'm starving … blue eyes … blue eyes … blue eyes white dragon! Hahaha … jeez where are you? … I need a shower … Hey, there's Demyx … different blond … different blond…

"Axel!"

The redhead's eyes snapped to his coach.

"Focus!"

Oh right. Fourth quarter. Our ball. Tie game. Basketball.

"Alright, boys. This is it…"

"It was meat and grain."

"It was your Japanese half rumbling."

"Beef is beef. It comes from a cow."

"I'm surprised you didn't ask for chopsticks."

"Oh no, according to you, it's bad enough I ate it with a fork!"

"D'you ask for salad dressing on the side and just dip bits of lettuce like chips?"

"No."

"How about popcorn cereal?"

"No. But that sounds interesting."

"Then you obviously dip your McDonald's fries in your ice cream."

"Well, of course."

"Sugar in your spaghetti."

"Ok, that's actually good."

"You are fucking weird as fuck, Strife." Tidus chuckled around the cigarette as he lit it. "Who the fuck eats burgers with rice?"

"Dude, it was a freakin' cow. You eat steaks with rice, don't you?" Tidus passed the lighter and he lit up as well.

"I eat my steaks with potatoes. Fried or mashed," Tidus countered, procuring one of five pepsi colas he'd hidden in his pants. The boys popped a squat by the wall they had met at previously.

"And what happens when your cook - lemme say that again, COOK, because your dad is fucking loaded and has someone who COOKS all your fucking meals - what happens when he serves you steak with vegetables only? Do you whine and bitch until you get your goddamn french fries?"

"Oh yeah, I'm a total bitch if I don't get my food the way I want it," Tidus grinned. "It's actually a good testament to this place now that I say it."

"Spoiled fucking rich kid." Roxas shook his head and took in an extra-long drag.

Tidus cocked his chin up, cigarette in mouth, palms open in a defensive manner. "Ey, c'mon. We all have things we're picky about." He puffed out of the corner of his mouth like he was in deep thought. "Like if people mistook you for Sora."

"Meh, it's happened. Comes with the twin territory."

"Kay, what if you were to wear something gold and silver at the same time?"

"I don't own much of those colours or wear jewellry to begin with," Roxas shrugged.

Tidus squinted and stared off towards the skyline. Then his eyebrows shot up as he stumbled upon his next thought. A grin slowly formed, then turned into something almost pure evil.

"What if… I took all the bills in your wallet and put them back with the bigger bills in the front."

Roxas had inhaled smoke, but it did not come out right away. Slowly, his gaze fell upon the other blond.

"What if I went into your bedroom, took all your manga series - because I fucking know you own mangas - and reordered them last to first."

Now was the time for Roxas' mouth to drop open.

"What if I handed you a pile of books with the smallest ones on the bottom? Or better yet! Put them in your bag, with chem in the front and that tiiiny civics book at the very back with like… your pencil case … water bottle … and whatever else bulky you keep in there?"

Tidus' grin was positively shit-eating as he saw Roxas' stony reaction.

"… Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"What isn't wrong with me." He smiled, proudly.

Roxas snuffed out his smoke, shaking his head, and just stared at buildings in the distance before swiping Tidus' pepsi. Seriously, comparing all of that to eating rice with a burger. What a lunatic.


"Hey, Ax." Demyx walked over to the redhead, scanning the gradually emptying court. "Bummer bout that last shot, eh?" He gave a small grimace.

"Yeah…" Axel replied, still looking around. "Eh, you win some, you lose some. Guess they were just better than us today."

During the last eight seconds, the other team had managed to get the ball and Axel hadn't been able to properly block the one who'd performed the winning layup. It'd all happened so quickly, Axel barely remembered exactly how that ball had gotten around him, but it was all behind him. For now, he had other things in mind. And it wasn't lost on Demyx.

"Hey, have you seen –."

"Roxas?"

"Yeah, is he with you?"

Demyx looked at his friend for a moment. While he wanted to pry just a little bit more, he made Roxas a promise and right now he was on a mission. Operation Divert and Distract!

"He asked me to tell you that his dad got him into some fitness retreat program thing and he's out of town for the whole weekend. I think it's one of those random study things for statistics, actually, you know?"

"Oh yeah, that sounds cool," Axel replied, nodding his head. He wished he'd known sooner, but hey, given the circumstances and knowing Roxas' relationship with Cloud… he probably didn't mean to just completely ditch him. At least he told someone, right? Just kinda wish it had been me…

"So, what do you wanna do now?" Demyx asked, as they started for the exit. "Wanna go grab some dinner?"

"Sure."

"What are you in the mood for…" Demyx quickly ran through all their known hangouts between the school and their houses. "We could do tacos, sushi, pizza, burgers?"

"Fuck it, let's do sushi."

"All-you-can-eat at dinnertime?" Demyx laughed with astonishment. "Damn, you're splurging!"

"Why not."

End of Saturday