AN: Haven't been here in awhile…

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, KH: COM, Kingdom Hearts II, or any of the Final Fantasy games.

This is Roxas's chapter! We get to see his side of the story. Yay!

Chapter 2: Who Needs Words?

Roxas didn't really understand the need for words. He could get his intentions across with hand gestures and facial expressions just fine, thank you. And, of course, there were pictures. Like the hundreds of pictures hung on almost every wall in the Kazutaki household. The colorful and inspiring photographs lining the master wing halls were Mr. Kazutaki's work, while the left wing made you dizzy with all the mind-boggling abstract paintings by Mrs. Kazutaki. Most people, however, tended to avoid the right wing in any way possible. Dark creatures that looked somewhat like overgrown ants stared out at you with their glowing yellow eyes. A strange castle towered ominously, casting its shadow by the full moon. Trains rushed past each other at a busy station, paying no mind to a peculiar blue train topped with a magican's hat that seemed to be waiting for someone. But the most disturbing was the last…

A lone brown-haired boy, gazing with pleading sapphire eyes as he tries to escape his glass prison. One single tear runs down his pale cheek and his lip is jutted in a quivering pout. No one can stand to look at this painting for too long. And if they do, Mrs. Kazutaki has to escort them away when they start to cry or breakdown. There's just something about the child that makes your heart bleed. Roxas knew why everyone went ballistic over this painting. Because they recognize him.

They know that the little boy is Sora.

"Honey?" Mrs. Kazutaki whispered, cracking open the bedroom door.

Roxas peeked out from under his blanket, drawing an arm across his face to hide the telltale trail of tears.

"Yeah, mom?"

She shifted uncomfortably, stepping into her son's room. Which was something she hadn't done since he turned thirteen.

"Well… You seemed a bit upset when you came home."

Roxas had fled about two minutes after Sora, sprinting as fast as he could to his house. He just couldn't take those voices, everyone asking him what his cousin's deal was. He had wanted to scream at them, wanted them to stop blaming Sora, because he was the deal. It was his fault that the little brunet went postal and almost ruined the dance. Why couldn't they understand that?!

"I screwed him over again," he mumbled thickly, his throat still tight from crying. "We never should have moved here. I'm just making things worse."

Mrs. Kazutaki nearly rolled her eyes, but stopped herself. The last time they'd had a 'Sora' conversation, it ended with a very pissed off son and a door slamming in her face. Since then, she knew to never roll her eyes when they were dicussing her nephew.

"Dear," she paused to sigh, "You know that Sora's always had troubles. There is absolutely nothing you could've done that would make him feel worse than not having you here at all."

Roxas seemed to consider her words for a moment… And then slammed the door on her, as he'd done countless times before.

"You don't know the first thing about what Sora would think! You HATE him! And I hate you!"

She sighed again, running her hands through her blonde hair in frustration. He was getting too out of hand. Help, help, help… Where was that brochere she'd picked up from church?

Roxas listened as his mother footsteps faded, then bounced back onto his bed, and grabbed his phone from the nightstand.

"Namine?" he murmured cautiously, hoping it wasn't her parents.

"Roxas! Are you okay?"

"I need someone to ramble to."

"I'm listening," Namine said softly and he heard the rustle of bed sheets.

"Did I wake you up?"

"No, I was just getting ready to go to bed. Now… Is this about the dance?"

Roxas hugged his knees and stared at the newest edition to his art collection.

"I feel so guilty, Nami. He… He'd be better off without me."

"Oh, no, Roxas, you didn't…" Namine gasped as she remembered the last time he'd said those words.

"Let's just say… I'm out of red paint."

"I'm not going."

Mrs. Kazutaki glared at her son, tapping her foot impatiently.

"You are," she snapped, pointing at the red building. "Or I'll drag you."

Roxas's eyes landed upon a certain flushed brunet sitting beside some stranger on the merry-go-round in the back yard. The tall guy had his head bent close to Sora and was obviously saying something that embarrassed him.

"See ya," he muttered distractedly to his mother, starting off toward his cousin.

Was the blond flirting with Sora? Because it certainly looked like it to Roxas. Don't get him wrong, he didn't have any incest-involved thoughts about his cousin. But he was still fairly protective of him and having someone that close to Sora made his blood boil. Another thing that Roxas did to make the boy's life miserable was getting in the way of the few rare people that actually wanted to be his friend. Unintentionally, of course. He just couldn't help it.

"Sora!" he said a bit more harshly than he'd intended, causing the tall man (he noticed with a growl) to jerk away from Sora. "What are you doing?"

Roxas almost flinched as he was pinned by the most hateful glare his cousin had ever directed at him. Apparently, little Sora hadn't wanted the handsome man who was now anxiously shuffling his feet to back away. In fact, if Roxas would have waited a second longer to interupt, the small boy would have delivered the line that had been forming in his head while he was blushing and possibly might have landed a date with a college student. But no, big cousin always had to interfer when things were getting good for him. Hmph.

"Socializing," Sora replied shortly, his arms crossed over his chest defiantly. "Something you've obviously never heard of."

Roxas supposed he deserved that, but he still didn't like it when the stranger smirked with something akin to satisfaction. Sleazy jerk!

"I need to talk to you, Sora," Roxas grinded out through clenched teeth. "Alone."

Sora huffed irritably. Despite his dislike for him at the moment, he decided to cooperate for once. Not without being a smartass, though.

"Forgive my cousin. He can be so rude sometimes… Can we talk later?"

The man nodded with a small smile and turned to go back inside the building. A black-haired girl (who had a ninja star tied to her hip?) met him at the doorway and drug him across the threshold, lecturing about something that sounded suspiciously like "pedophilism". Roxas suppressed a twith at that, but at least he wasn't the only one who thought it was wrong.

"You hate me," he murmured when his attention returned to Sora. "I get that, okay? And I deserve it. If I could move away so as not to make your life miserable, I would. But I can't."

"And why not?"

"Sora, my parents are-"

"ROXAS!" Mrs. Kazutaki yelled for the fifth time, still standing beside the car. "You forgot something!"

The blond nearly snarled at being cut off and rushed over to her angrily.

"What?!"

She pulled what looked like a board with a white sheet covering it out of the backseat, followed by another, and fixed her son with a level stare.

"The glass prsion… And your newest painting," she said softly, glancing at Sora. "I think he should see them."

Roxas gaped at his mother. She hated Sora. His whole family did. Why the sudden change of heart?

"Just go! Before I change my mind!"

He picked up the paintings gingerly, backing away slowly. When he was sure she wasn't going to snatch them, he broke into an eager run. Maybe Sora would understand if he saw them…

"Here," Roxas panted, holding the canvases out to his cousin. "These are some paintings I've made."

Sora seemed skeptical, but pulled back the sheet to one of the paintings, which happended to be the 'glass prison'. His blue eyes went blank as he stared down at himself, and he immediately noticed the slight reflection of Roxas in the glass. He traced the outline of his cousin with his fingers, his gaze still unwavering. Is this what Roxas thought? That he was trapping Sora?

"I… don't hate you, Roxas."

Sora tugged at the other sheet, his reaction severely different from the first. As soon as he saw the painting, his hand swiped across Roxas's face. So much for that.

"Don't you EVER think like that!" Sora screamed, half angered, half scared, promptly cleaning the small cut he'd made on the other boy's cheek. "I don't want you to die, you emo bastard!"

And the next few minutes before the leaders called for them were spent with Sora hugging and fussing over him. Not that he minded. Ever since Hayner left, Roxas had found Sora's presence to be more important than it used to be. Families love you, no matter what. They had just proven that statement true. There were some days that Roxas wished to find a special someone… But Sora would do for now.

AN: Total crap, that was. Ah, well. Roxas is a little strange, isn't he? My friends call him emotastic... Reviews?