Standard Disclaimer: I'm thinking about buying Sora and Roxas plushies…that could count as them being mine…
Notes: To the two of you who reviewed, Angry Girl and Cookies of Lust, here's what's going on. To anybody else who cares, here you go.
Warings: Boys loving boys, crazy Roxas, language…that's about it.
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Radically Inverted Morality
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"No waaay…"
Lunchtime found Riku, Kairi, Sora and a very uncomfortable Roxas sitting among a group of gaping on-lookers, all of whom happened to be close friend of the trio. The gaping crowds of strangers were securely outside of the room where the smaller group was gathered to eat lunch as they always did. Tidus, one of the school's star Blitzball players, was currently in the process of studying Roxas' featured as if he were a new species of fungus.
"Do you mind?" Roxas snapped seriously irked at the kid's close proximity. "I don't see what the big deal is. It's just a really freaky coincidence."
"Coincidence my ass," Riku said from his place sitting on the desk in front of Sora's chair. "You're the same age, have the same last name, and the same face. There's no question that you're brothers. What you should be trying to figure out is why you were separated."
"I still can't believe it…I really have a twin…" Sora said with the same goofy grin he'd had since that morning. He had been in a state of giddy shock since meeting the other boy. Kairi had taken over showing Roxas around—thought the brooding blonde hadn't been particularly interested in anything that she said—and Sora had just continued staring. It wasn't until they made it to their homeroom that Sora snapped out of it enough to ask Roxas a few questions. He learned quickly that Roxas wasn't exactly the 'sharing is caring' type, but he did manage to get some information out of the other boy.
Apparently, he used to live with his father. His father had died at some point—though how Sora couldn't get out of him—and Roxas had been bouncing through the Social Services system for the past 6 years. His case worker had sent him to a home on the Destiny Islands in hopes that a change of environment from the his other homes in Twilight Town would help calm him down. Sora never did figure out what he needed calming from though.
He did, however, manage to put two and tow together to figure out that their parents must have separated and each taken one of them. He lived with his mother and had only seen his father in pictures. His heart fell at the realization that he would never get a chance to meet him now, but that was overshadowed by the joy of finding his brother. He had a twin brother! What were the chances?!
Roxas on the other hand wasn't so willing to accept that he had just stumbled upon a long lost twin on his first day of school. After years of living within a system that really didn't care much about him at all, Roxas prided himself in the knowledge that he was firmly grounded in reality, and things like that just didn't happen. Unfortunately his 'twin' was not so easily deterred. Sora had been giving him the stupidest grin all day, and it was really beginning to grate on his nerves. Now that he was with Sora's friends, in Sora's world while they all gaped and talked about and compared him to Sora, Roxas had just about had enough.
"Look!" he yelled suddenly as Selphie began pelting him with rapid-fire questions. "Could all of you just back off!? There's no way I'm related to anything that…perky, and the quicker you losers get that through your skulls the better it'll be for all of us!" Sora's brows drew together in a slight frown at this and Axel burst out laughing.
"Oh, I think you just got burned Sora," he said still chuckling. "I like this kid." Roxas just glared at the boy with the freaky spiked red hair before standing.
"I'm outta here," he grumbled heading for the door. He didn't even know why he had stayed as long as he had. As he made his way out into the hall, a spike of irritation shot through him as he realized that he had been followed.
"Just come home with me," Sora's friendly voice called at his back. Roxas turned noticing the significantly more serious tone of his voice, but a confident smirk pulled the brunet's lips irritating Roxas further.
"You've seen pictures of your mother right?" An intensified glare was his only response. Taking that as a yes, Sora continued. "Then come home with me; come meet her, and don't try to tell me you don't want to. I can tell you hate all this foster care crap; twin connection kickin' in." Sora winked. "This is a shot at a real family again. Are you really gonna pass that up just because you think I'm a little irritating?" Roxas continued glaring, but Sora was un-phased.
"If I'm wrong about us—which I'm not, by the way—how can it hurt? I'll show you around town and you can go back to your life and never so much a look at me again if that's what you want." Roxas stared at him struggling with himself. Years of solitude had taught him that hope was poisonous to one's sanity and that in the end, it was best to just let it go, but he couldn't deny the tiny glimmer that was forming inside of him now. It had been so long since he felt like part of a family. After a few more moments of futile struggling, Roxas rolled his eyes and turned his back on Sora.
"Whatever," he called over his shoulder and suppressed another spike of irritation as he got the distinct impression that the other boy was laughing at him.
"I'll meet you at your locker after school, okay?" Sora called, and there was no mistaking the hint of humor in his voice. Roxas didn't respond and continued walking, doing his best to snuff out the growing hope inside of him.
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True to his word, Sora showed up at Roxas' locker promptly after his 6th Period P.E. class, bright smile and all. Roxas stared at him flatly.
"Ready to go, bro?" he asked adjusting his bag over a shoulder.
"Don't call me that," he growled, "and I guess," His scowl remained firmly in place as he pulled a black and white skateboard from his locker and tucked it under an arm.
"You board," Sora commented, an unreadable grin stretching his lips. "You any good?"
"I might be," Roxas replied, meeting Sora's challenge head on. Sora just gave him an appraising scan with his eyes before turning.
"We'll see," he said and moved down the hall to the exit leaving Roxas to follow after him glaring daggers all the way.
They met a bunch of Sora's other friends outside the school gathered on the lawn under a large tropical tree. Riku was leaning against the trunk, standing on a tall root. He deftly leapt down when he saw the two boys approaching.
"Hey cutie," he purred as Sora stepped up to him. "I've got something long and hard for you." Sora responded to his words with a lecherous grin.
"And I'm gonna ride it hard, all the way home," he said taking his blue and black skateboard from his boyfriends hands. "Thanks for grabbing this for me!" he stood on his toes to steal a quick kiss. "Have fun figuring out your budget thing!" Riku gave a dry remark to that as he headed back to school waving goodbye to the others as he went. Sora and Roxas both dropped their boards and carefully made their way through the thinning crowd of students.
"What was that about?" Roxas asked blandly doing his best to sound like he didn't actually care.
"What? The budget thing?" Roxas grunted and affirmative. "Apparently the Student Council Treasurer ditched and left a mess behind. Since Riku's President, it's up to him to fix everything and work on finding a replacement."
"Fun."
"Riiight, if your idea of fun is spending almost every free hour you have at school in meetings with Teachers and Counselors. I've barely seen him all day." They rolled smoothly out onto the sidewalk in front of the school where there were fewer people.
"So you guys dating or whatever?" Roxas asked in the same flat voice, but Sora glanced at him and shot him a knowing smirk.
"He's hot, huh?" Roxas looked away denying the slight heat that colored his cheeks with every fiber of his being. "But yeah. It'll be a year next month. Valentine's Day." Roxas raised an eyebrow, looking back at Sora to check if he was serious. Sora just shrugged.
"Corny, I know, but at least this way we'll never forget an anniversary!" With that he kicked off hard picking up speed. "Try to keep up!" he called over his shoulder and they were off. Roxas refused to be shown up by this kid who he couldn't take seriously at all. Clenching his teeth and smirking slightly, he upped this own speed to catch up to Sora.
The two boys zipped through the streets of Paopu Grove, dodging pedestrians and benches, leaping over obstacles, grinding down rails. By the time Sora stopped them in front of a small blue and white house, they were both laughing and out of breath.
"Not bad," Sora gasped taking a puff from a small white inhaler. "You should come with us to one of the skate parks around here. We'd kill."
"You're asthmatic?" Roxas asked, still stuck on the inhaler that had appeared out of nowhere and returned just as quickly.
"Yeah. Why?" Sora asked eyeing him with a raised eyebrow. "That a problem?"
"No," he replied, not even sure why he was saying anything. "I just used to be…grew out of it."
"Oh. Cool. Guess that means there's hope for me yet." He ignored the not-amused look Roxas shot him and grabbed the other boy by the wrist.
"C'mon. Mom should be home soon. Let's get started on dinner so we can have more time to talk." Roxas was feeling more and more like he should never have come to this house as Sora dragged him through the front door, but he knew that his fate was sealed as the door slammed shut behind them. He was stuck.
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As it turned out, it was a good thing they had started dinner. Sora treated Roxas as though they were long time friends, telling him what to do, what to grab and where to find it. It gave Roxas an odd feeling inside; something familiar, like a distant memory. They were just putting the salad in the refrigerator when Sora's mother arrived home and when she walked into the kitchen to find the two boys there working together, she froze on the spot in a state of shock. Roxas looked up at her as well, and froze. He hadn't wanted to believe, but it really was her. Until that moment, she had only been a face in pictures; a name, Rie, and a vague impression of mostly forgotten emotions. Roxas had dreamed of meeting her one day long ago when he still harbored feelings like hope and possibility, but he had given up on those long ago. But now…somehow, here he stood staring in shocked silence at his mother.
The shock only lasted a moment and then, with a choked cry, she had rushed Roxas, pulling him into a fierce embrace the like of which Roxas had never experienced in his entire life; a mother's hug…a mother's love. As he felt her trembling and quiet sobs, something in his chest seemed to give way and he found himself hiding his tears against her shoulder. After a long moment of holding him and crying, she reached a hand out and drew Sora into the embrace. Roxas did his best to suppress the wave of irritation that his twin (he really couldn't deny it anymore) was taking attention from his moment, but then Sora threw an arm around his back squeezing tight, and any irritation he may have felt vanished. It was a bit of an awkward hug with all three of them clutching at each other at once, but it felt like family; it felt like home. That was a feeling that Roxas hadn't experienced for a very long time.
They sat down that night to a simple dinner of chilled pasta in a diced tomato and basil sauce with a salad then talked. The twins learned of their parent's messy break-up early in their relationship; of how they were discussing how to handle custody of their sons; of how their father had left one night without warning taking an 18 month old Roxas with him. Rie had been left with next to nothing; no means of supporting her remaining child, no clue as to where her husband had taken her other son, and no clue what to do next. She had obviously managed somehow, but she had lost all hope of ever seeing Roxas again.
Roxas took all of this in thinking how strange it was. A simple matter of chance had determined how both his and Sora's lives had played out. It had been 50:50. Two twins, two parents and each parent got one. He just as easily could have ended up with their mom instead of Sora, and as he looked at the close relationship that clearly existed between mother and son, as he thought about the friends that Sora had at school and how clearly well-loved he was by everyone, Roxas couldn't help the wave of jealously that flooded through his chest. While he had been out there alone, searching for something that he didn't even understand, Sora had been here enjoying their mother and his friends and the ever-summer that existed on the islands. It could have been Roxas who had it all.
It wasn't fair.
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ya, I'd be pretty irked too…but still. Life happens. Reviews are my inspiration, which leads to writing, which leads to faster updates. Go ahead…inspire me.