And chapter two is DONE! Can you believe this is a full seventeen pages long in Word? I know! Go ahead and say, "Oh, damn!" Because I typed six pages last night, after I finished the first chapter, and then typed the other eleven today! But don't expect these super long chapters every freaking day, okay? I'm amazed I typed this all in the past twenty-four hours, and it's not even a one-shot, either. No, these first two chapters are done so fast because I know where I'm going with this story, I've had these two chapters planned out. Now chapter three isn't exactly finished being planned out yet, and I have school tomorrow, so while I will have plenty of time to plan it out in my head… I probably won't be able to type it all out. Or, I'll probably get some of it typed out, but I won't finish it tomorrow. I think most of you can expect it by Wednesday night, the latest.

I'd really like to know what you guys think about it! Even if it's just a, "I think it's good," or a direct quote of a moment you thought was funny, or if you're telling me I'm doing a crappy job at something, I really just like to know people are reading and enjoying my story! That's why I bother posting, or else I wouldn't waste my time typing it all out on the computer and spell checking it and blah, blah, blah.

That being said, I'd like to thank "hibaXtsu" for her review…

And the song used in this chapter is "Say Anything" by Mariana's Trench.

2 :: Hell

"Hurts the same when nobody knows,

Guess that's just how it goes,"

Sora's eyes slowly blinked open, bright sunlight spilling through the curtains next to the bed, a soft breeze blew past, causing the material to billow out and let the wind gently caress the innards of the room. The sapphire eyes fell shut again as the calming effect swept over him, making him sigh peacefully.

Guess he's not going to school. After all, pretending to be sick and stay home would look better than the class president being tardy to school. He had an image to up hold, an image for his family, an image for his fiancé, an image for himself. And while that image wasn't exactly something he wanted to keep for himself, or hold up for Kairi, for his parents, he supposed he could do it, they were relying on him.

Sighing gently, the teen rolled over, curling up further into the bed, his eyes ran over the contents of the room, recognizing the coffee table first, littered with Axel's magazines, coke cans, and empty cigarette packs. He didn't let the maids in, so the redhead mostly just wallowed in his own filth. But his room was like an apartment, really. Everyone's was. You could survive by yourself up in one of their rooms for quite awhile, as long as you had food for the mini-fridge, but you even had a small kitchenette and a gloriously decorated bathroom.

Sora was sure that Rufus Shinra's nephew would like staying here, if he was really some poor kid. He'd feel like he was being given a home all to himself. Sora just hoped he would get along with the guy, he didn't need anymore obstacles in his life.

Yawning, the brunette finally sat up, looking around the room one more time, wondering if Axel had come back last night at any point. Probably not, he would've had to climb back in through the window, and with the bed right under said window, Sora would've been awakened.

His parents would've most definitely have left by now, he doubted that they had even slept in their home that night. It was most likely they didn't, they were busy, they probably hopped on a plane and decided to take a quick nap on it, or something. Or maybe they just poured some coffee down their throats and shrugged sleep off.

Sora hated coffee, he thought it tasted nasty.

The sapphire eyes gazed emptily around the warm room, face set into cold apathy. He sniffed, feeling the same uneasy feeling settle in his stomach and heart. The feeling he got whenever he would remember who was the only person in his family home. The only one who would sit at the table and be served breakfast. The only one who would even glance at the morning paper. The only one who would walk through the empty hallways that he lived in.

The silence of the mansion was deafening in it's own way. Sending a ringing through his ears, a void in his gaze, a hole in his chest. The bed beneath him felt much too soft, too comfortable, too false. There wasn't anything so pleasant in this house, no one should wish to live here, in a place whose servants out-numbered it residents. Whose coldness existed only because of the extreme lack of familial warmth.

The knock on the door made Sora flinch violently, sending his heart thundering in his ears and his blood suddenly rushing through his veins twice as fast. He gulped, willing his heart to stop beating so fast from just being scared out of his thoughts, he shook his head and sighed as he heard the knock once more, "Enter."

Leon slowly opened the door, a soft expression on his face, smiling coolly as he saw Sora sitting in Axel's bed, suit from last night still on, the teen smiled brightly and jumped out of the bed, walking up to the butler, "Good morning, Leon, what do you need?"

The man nodded in response, "You have a call from Mister Rufus Shinra, Young Master." He spoke softly, quietly for the still tired brunette.

Yawning again, the teen nodded his thanks and stepped out into the hall way, looking up and down for the nearest phone, spotting it not a couple feet away. He quickly walked up to it and picked up the receiver, squeezing his eyes shut and blinking hard to wake himself up more, "Hello, Mister Shinra? This is Sora Taylor, my parents are out at the moment."

"Ah, yes, Sora, good morning. Your parents told me about their business trip this morning. I had been planning on sending Roxas to you Friday afternoon, but it seems the situation had been worse than I had imagined. He had been living with friends of his, I don't know for how long, maybe for as long as seven years! I had to send him as soon as possible, and send some sort of compensation to those friends of his for taking care of him for so long. Good people, they must be. So I'm afraid that Roxas will be coming a little earlier than I had previously planned, I am sorry for the inconvenience."

Sora shook his head, then remembered he was on the phone and quickly replied, "No, no, it's alright, I don't mind. Do you know about which time he will be arriving?"

Glancing down, he realized he only had his black dress socks on, which meant he must've kicked his dress shoes off sometime during the night, into the mess known as Axel's room. They'd probably never be found, but that's alright, he supposed, he had a couple other pairs. He can always buy more.

"Well, I had sent my jet out with two of my most trusted body guards to fetch him, Hollow Bastion is such a dangerous city. I suppose around noon, maybe. Would it be alright if I left my two body guards in your care also? They will not need much, I just would like to keep them near Roxas, to learn a bit more about the boy."

"No worry, Mister Shinra, I will have a room for each of them set near Roxas's." He said this while looking at Leon, holding up two fingers, the man nodded quickly and began to walk down the hall, most likely in search of either Aerith, Cloud or Yuffie.

"Ah, thank you very much Sora! I will visit for Roxas soon enough, maybe at the end of this month."

"Of course, sir, I will make sure he's comfortable here."

"It's good to here that from you, Sora! I'm putting my trust in you! I will talk to you again, good bye."

"Good bye Mister Shinra." Placing the phone back on the cradle, Sora backed up into the wall and slide down to the floor, rubbing his eyes once again. Another heavy sigh coming from him as the silence of the house settled over him again. Grunting in slight effort, he threw himself back on his feet, placed a hand on his jaw to hear a painful crack then cleared his throat.

A moment later, he was running down the halls towards his room, mind running through everything that needed to be done. Dashing into his room, nearly taking himself out on the door when it didn't swing open fast enough, he ran to the bathroom to clean himself off the tiredness from the day and night before.

Glancing up at the clock, it read ten-thirty. He had to get showered, change into clean clothes, make sure Aerith, Yuffie, Cloud and Leon finished setting up the rooms, scour the island for a cook, since they never got around to it before but would definitely need one with a long-term guest coming. After which, he would have to call his parents, tell them Roxas was coming earlier than planned, then call Axel and tell him Roxas was coming in general, then call the school and enroll Roxas as a student and…

And he's wasting time by thinking about what he has to do instead of taking his damn shower.

"I don't expect, but try me,

And you will always find me here,"

Roxas groaned as he dragged the bag with his clothes out of the room. Who would've thought a bunch of cloth, a three-inch thick photo album, and Moogle would weigh so much…

Then again, it could just be the fact that it's so early in the morning, and that Roxas has no real upper-body strength, sadly enough. Don't say that to him, though, he vehemently denies it. But really, he hurts himself more when he tries to punch something.

Yawning again, he looked down the set of stairs leading to the kitchen. At the moment, he knew Lulu was waking Vidina up, so they wouldn't be at the bottom. Wakka might be, though, he went down to unlock the door to the shop and let some of his friends in a couple moments ago. So by just letting gravity take the bag down the stairs, he may accidentally hit Wakka or one of his friends.

Wakka could handle it, would any of his friends be seriously hurt if it hit them? Hayner would be severely pissed, but him, Olette and Pence could probably take it. So, without a second thought, he kicked the bag over the first step and listened to the satisfying thumping it made as it traveled down the stairs… And then the crash, yell, and swear of it hitting, most likely, Hayner.

Of course.

"Damn it, Roxas! You attacked me with your fucking bag?!" Roxas sighed as he reached the bottom of the stairs, watching Hayner lift said bag over his shoulder, getting a hard punch, one that would leave a bruise, on his arm from the temperamental blonde as his pay back.

"Ow, geez, abusive much? And you wonder why I attack you with bags." Roxas smirked as Hayner took a play-threatening step towards him, "What, you wanna take this outside, cause we can go, right here and now."

"Not in the kitchen, boys, if you want to kill each other with cutlery, buy your own and take it off my shops grounds. I don't want your dead bodies on my hands." Lulu smirked at them as she carried a drowsy Vidina down the stairs with her, "Good morning, Hayner."

The blonde frowned and hiked the bag farther up his shoulder, "Well, it would've been."

Roxas scowled at his friend, "Relax, it'll only be for a little while, as soon as I can talk to my uncle, I'll have him send me back. And if he won't send me back, I'll get a job, get money, and then get myself back."

"Ya, that sounds a 'ole lot better than that hitch-hiking plan 'o yours." Wakka grinned, walking into the room with Pence and Olette quickly following him.

Olette was the first one to run over and nearly suffocate him in her hug, "Please come back soon, Rox! It's not gonna be the same without you here!"

He grinned dropping his other bag to give the girl a proper hug back, "Don't worry, I already promised, like, three times, I think, to come back. I'm not planning on breaking any of those."

"You havta come back, Rockus," The blonde smiled at Vidina's tired expression, walking over to the toddler to ruffle his hair, "You have Moogle, you havta bring him back to me."

"Don't worry, Vida, I'll be back before you know it, alright?" The child just nodded, making another attempt to smile, then promptly conked out against his mother's shoulder again.

Lulu smiled, wrapping an arm around him, making him bury his face in her shoulder in the embrace, "Do call everyday, Vida won't be the only one who will want to hear your voice."

Nodding, Roxas jumped as Hayner's arm was suddenly wrapped around his neck loosely, making the blonde try to pull the arm away futilely. Hayner laughed at his best-friend's sad attempts, "Hey, those body guards will be carrying this bag for you, right? I don't know if you'll be able to handle this tiny load!"

Roxas glared and elbowed his friend in the stomach, finally making the arm drop, "Shut up, Hay. You're trying to kill me, aren't you?"

"Hey, I'm not the one who threw the bag at someone."

"I'm not the dumbass who stood at the end of the stairs when you could hear that thing coming."

"Boys," Both looked up at Lulu, seeing her warning look.

Roxas smiled apologetically, "Sorry, Lu. Hay, help me take these out front?"

"Yeah, sure," The two left the kitchen, dropping the bags in front of the windows of the bakery.

They were quiet for a second, both looking out at the streets that were already becoming busier and busier, even so early in the day. Neither moving, neither making a sound, just watching it. For Roxas, treasuring it in his memory, scared for how long it would be until he saw it again.

Finally, Hayner was the one who broke the silence, "Don't get into any trouble down there, man, I can't protect you when you're on a freaking island, Rox."

The blonde just smiled, knowing what his best-friend was trying to do, "Yeah, I'll miss ya too."

Another pause of silence, then Hayner threw one arm around the shorter blonde, making a quick, barely there hug, "You're such a damn girl."

Roxas just laughed at him, "Thanks man, really, on that parting note, I will be waiting for your proposal underneath the bridge, at sunset, and I want a honeymoon in the Bahamas, fuck this cold Bastion weather."

"I knew it!" Both blondes jumped to see Olette and Pence walking into the room, Pence with an amused smile on his face, "Told ya they had a thing for each other, 'Let. Should've listened to me."

She giggled and walked over to the two boys, standing next to Hayner as Pence put his camera on the counter. Glancing over, Roxas saw it was his old one, the one that printed the picture right after taking it…

What did they call those again? Gah, it's too early to remember that sort of stuff. Like remembering what an aglet is at six am… Why did he just remember what an aglet was at six am, but not the name of the damn camera?

"What are you thinking of, Rox?" Olette asked as Pence set up the camera's timer carefully.

The blonde's gaze snapped over to her, surprising him out of his thoughts, "Oh, uh, I was wondering why I could remember what an aglet was at six in the morning."

Hayner wrinkled his nose, "Aglet?"

Olette frowned at him, rolling her eyes, "The plastic at the end of your shoelaces."

The other blonde gave his friends a weird look, "You're weird Rox, that's why. But don't worry, Olette has joined you in your weirdness."

She frowned at him, "I resent that statement."

"I resent your vocabulary."

She rolled her eyes at the tallest teen, "Shut up, Hay, you have the same vocabulary as us, ours is just more expanded."

Hayner just wrinkled his nose as he looked at her, giving her a disturbed look, "Cut it out, 'Let, you're starting to sound like one of those rich peoples. Being smart is great and all, but not when you get all that money and start treating us broke people like shit."

Roxas snorted, frown coming onto his face, "Thanks, Hay, really, I feel loved."

"And you are, my friend, you are. You want to know why?" Pence spun around, moving to sit on his knee in front of the three, making Olette smile and wrap her arms around his shoulders from behind and rest her head above his. Hayner smirked, throwing an arm around Roxas's shoulders and dragging him behind the two.

Roxas smiled, raising an eyebrow at his brunette friend, "Why Pence, because I used to buy your meals for you?"

They laughed as Pence smiled up at the blonde, "Well, that, and that camera over there is your camera, for your travel to the Islands. Put it in your album, buddy!"

Roxas's smile spread across his face ecstatically, as he looked at Hayner and Olette, too, the girl smiling warmly at him, "We all put some extra cash together, ran out at around midnight last night, and got it for you from some cheap pawn shop."

Hayner rubbed his nose, smirk still in place, "Yeah, and the owner guaranteed us it still worked like new, so if the thing breaks, call and I'll mess the place up, good. Maybe even get Seifer and his goons to help out, too."

Roxas laughed, and suddenly the flash blinding them as it went off, making everyone jump a moment after, "Damn, that's like a fucking-"

"Hayner, language aroun' Vida!" Wakka walked in, looking at the camera as it printed out the picture, chuckling as he saw the moment before their surprise by blinding.

"Chicken-wuss Two, I heard you're running away!" Everyone looked up to the front door to see Seifer smirking down at them, Rai and Fuu standing beside him, like the loyal dogs they were playing.

Roxas smirked at the man, "Yeah, your face scares me half to death, I have to get outta this city as soon as possible."

He chuckled, walking up and throwing another arm around the blonde, making Roxas briefly feel slightly pitiful by being shorter than both Hayner and Seifer. Another bright flash went off, though, making everyone yelp and blink up at Lulu, standing with the camera as Wakka held Vida, "You were having a Kodak moment."

Pence laughed slightly, "That's not a Kodak."

She just shrugged, "A camera is a camera to me."

Roxas ducked out from under the other blonde's arms, walking over to take the camera from the mother, watching as the photo was printed out and began developing. A smile worked it's way across his face as he looked down at the picture, turning back to see the bag with his album in it at Seifer's feet.

As Seifer and Hayner began to bicker about something, Roxas had learned how to tune them out like everyone else over the years, he got to his knees and unzipped the bag to pull the album out. Fuu came up behind him, glancing at the cover, "Russian."

Roxas nodded quickly, flipping it open to the page he marked home just last night, "Yep, my mom bought it somewhere in Russia before I was born. The words mean something like, 'Forgotten Memories.'"

"Sentimental." Roxas just nodded to her, sliding the new picture of everyone in next to the one of Wakka, Lulu and Vidina.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Are you sure you're a man?" Seifer smirked at him, watching as the blonde pushed the album back into the bag, before looping the strap of the camera around his neck. He just hopped he wouldn't look like a lame tourist or something.

Roxas scowled up at the taller blonde, finally getting onto his feet as he realized he was on his knees right at Seifer's feet, something that would be extremely awkward and embarrassing if noticed by anyone else, "I'm positive. I think you-"

"ROXAS Casey!" Said blonde jumped as a tall man with red hair suddenly swept into the room, a smirk stretched across his face. He quickly walked up to the group, swinging the bags over his shoulder as he walked, "Nice ta meet ya, name's Reno, that's all you can call me, got it? Get lost, yell for me. Get attacked, scream for me. Get hor-"

A choked out cry came from the tall man as a hand suddenly flew back to clutch his lower back, from behind him came another tall man, only with silver hair and piercing bluish-green eyes, "Don't you dare say that out loud. Not in public, keep it in check and think with your head."

Reno smirked, something that looked painful, "Riku, thanks buddy, really, I needed a new bruise there. But you now, I could get a head down-" Another cry came as Riku punched his lower back, again, in what seemed to be the same place, "Alright, fine, whatever."

Riku sighed and turned to Roxas, "My name's Riku, that is the name you will call me by. Are you ready to go yet?"

Roxas blinked for a moment at the two, mind still on what Reno had possibly been about to say, slightly scared to try and figure out what he would've said if Riku hadn't hit him. He sighed slowly, nodding in conformation.

"Everybody wants a piece of you,

Everyone takes a piece of me,"

Sora leaned back in his chair, eyes darting around the papers in front of him on the dining room table. He had just enrolled Roxas into his school, his parents would be paying the dues and such, he would take Roxas out to get his uniform tomorrow or something, maybe this afternoon if he is up to it. He re-hired Cid, something every member of the house was happy about, except Sora's parents, but that didn't matter much.

They were never home to see Cid anyways, why would it matter to them?

For whatever reason, Aerith chose the room next to Sora's for Roxas. Sora's was at the end of the hall, Roxas's to the right of his door. And then Leon, under the orders to set two rooms near Roxas, set one room across from Sora and the other next to Roxas's. All in all, Sora desperately hoped he would dislike these people, he was going to be living very close to them for quite awhile.

A loud banging came from the kitchen, making the brunette flinch and nearly jump out of his seat. Then he remembered Cid was in the kitchen, and he settled back down, sighing slightly.

"Tired?" His eyes snapped open to see Cloud standing not too far away, a smirk settled over his features, "It's almost noon."

Sora bit his lip lightly, looking up to the old grandfather clock near the kitchen door, it read eleven-forty-five. He fought back a groan, as he still had to call his parents and tell Axel that Roxas was arriving at all. Yeah, this would go over well with the redhead, "Oh, hey, Ax, yeah, well, you see, this kid neither of us know is going to be moving in with us for awhile. When? Oh, in about fifteen minutes." Yeah, go over excellent.

Wincing at the on coming headache, he reached over and snatched up his phone, preparing to dial his parents first. Maybe he would wait until Axel actually showed up, maybe it would be better with the guy there with them? Probably not, but he would rather procrastinate it anyways.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Mother, Roxas Casey has arrived a day early. Everything as already been prepared for his arrival."

"Alright, I'll tell your father. He's here with me. Call us if anything comes up."

"Yes, good bye." The dial tone was heard before he even reached the end of his sentence, making him sigh and glare at his phone. It wasn't the phone's fault, but he could pretend, right?

"Young Master?" Sora jumped, looking up to see Cloud still in the same spot, having forgotten he was there, the man was so quiet.

Sora just nodded towards the butler, "Has Cid finished preparing lunch yet?"

Cloud nodded, frown coming over his expression, "Although, he seemed disgruntled by the… lack of his usual flair."

Sora laughed, smile brightening his face significantly, "Sounds like him, it will be fine. I had not been expecting much with on such short notice."

Cloud nodded, smirk returning to his features as Sora sighed again, "And the others are…"

"Aerith and Yuffie are making last minute adjustments to the garden, Leon is waiting for them to arrive any minute now by the door, to carry the luggage up to the rooms with me." Sora nodded, about to comment when the kitchen door swung open revealing Cid and a tray of… unique food.

Sora blinked, eyes wide as Cid placed a giant tray of what looked to be ham on the table, jutting out from it was a sword, "A-A, um, Cid, is that a real sword?"

The gruff man looked from the teen to the weapon on the table, "Yep, that my double-edge meat cutting sword! Just wait until those guest o' yours get 'ere! We'll show them some real men's dining!"

A small part of Sora told him to order Cid to take the sword out of the ham and hide it in some dark part of a closet somewhere, never to be seen again. But the brunette chose to ignore that part, as another, much bigger part, was a lot more excited to see Cid cut the meat with the sword.

Like you wouldn't?

A knocking at the front entrance was heard, as it was more like a very loud banging. Sora sighed as he glanced at Cloud and nodded, he quickly thanked Cid for the food and jumped up from his chair, his blonde butler holding the door open for him as he stepped out into the foyer. There, Leon was holding the door open for three people, and Sora took the chance to quickly look them over.

The first man was tall, muscled, with silver hair and the most dazzling bluish-green eyes Sora had ever seen. The man was carrying three bags, which he dropped next to Leon as the brunette had asked, so Sora assumed he was one of the body guards Rufus had sent.

The next man was taller than the first, with hair as bright red as Axel's, also similarly styled, except tied in the back so it looked like it had some minor control to it. His eyes were a light blue, though, which was probably the biggest difference from Axel, who had green eyes from their mother. Squinting, Sora thought he could make out curved red lines under each eye, but it was hard to make out from so far away since they were red like his hair. This man had also dropped three or four bags next to Leon, leaving Sora to assume he was also, not Roxas.

And the last man… teen, was a blonde, more around his height. His hair was curled to the side, sweeping up in a strange way that made Sora believe he probably hadn't tried to brush it down after he awoken that morning. His eyes, though, were even more dazzling than the first man's. His were a deep sky blue that seemed to draw him in. Sora noticed at that time, that the he was not carrying any bags, just a single camera that was hanging from a strap around his neck… And on old camera it seemed. It was one of those ones that printed the photo after it took the picture. Where did he ever manage to get one of those?

But, judging by how he was not carrying any bags, he looked to be the least capable of fending for himself out of the three, it left Sora to assume that he was Roxas. So, breathing deeply and fending off his headache, he plastered on another smile and began walking up to the small group, Cloud following closely behind him.

The first ones to notice him were the silver haired and red haired man, Roxas was still staring at Leon's scar. Leon had some baring though, not even reacting to the gaze that seemed to be glued to him. The redhead jumped up in front of the other body guard, hand out with a smile spread across his face, "Yo, Roxas Casey, how you doin'?"

A blush spread fast over Roxas's face, attention snapping to the redhead as a indignant scowl flooded his features quickly, "Shut up! I don't talk like that!"

Sora bit the corner of his lip to not laugh at the blonde teen, finding amusement in the way he reacted to the jest, "Am I to assume you are Roxas Casey, then?"

Roxas finally cut his glare from Reno, turning his attention to the brunette teen in front of him for the first time. He nodded quickly, not wanting to seem dumb or anything in front of the rich people, "Yep, you're one of the Taylor's, right? Um, my uncle-"

Sora was already nodding, sticking his hand out to shake Roxas's. The blonde looked surprised by it for a moment before taking the handshake, quickly. "Yes, my name is Sora Taylor, it is a pleasure to meet you, Roxas. Leon and Cloud will bring your bags up to your rooms while we eat lunch."

The brunette suddenly remembered the sword that was sticking out of the ham, a small smirk tugging at his lips as he turned to the body guards, "You are hired by Mister Rufus Shinra, correct?"

The silver haired one quickly cut in before the redhead would have a chance to speak, "Yes, I am Riku and this is Reno. We understand that we will be staying here, near Roxas for his stay?"

Sora nodded, turning to lead them back to the dining room, Cloud and Leon quickly taking the chance to grab the bags and bring them to the rooms. Roxas personally took the chance to look around at the home.

From the outside, it has just seemed ancient, well kept, but still like it had been standing for damn near forever. Inside was different, the walls were painted a deep rouge, the color still seeming to be as vibrant as the day it was painted. The furniture were all rich, dark brown colors, the tables clean enough to see your reflection on, and the cushions on the love seats and chairs fluffy enough to still make it look new. The rugs were a pure white, no stains or trails worn in, soft even underneath his own ratty old sneakers…

Oh, god.

Roxas fearfully looked over his shoulder and gasped as he saw the trail of dirt he had tracked over the once beautifully clean carpet, his heart picking up speed at the thought of how mad Sora was bound to be at how Roxas had already dirtied his perfect home. Rich people were always overly concerned with absolute perfection in that stuff. Great, already they're not gonna get along.

Said brunette turned around at the sound of the blonde's quick intake of breath, seeing Roxas staring wide-eyed behind himself, "Is something the matter, Roxas?"

He quickly turned to face Sora once again, smile being pasted onto his face, "U-Uh, no! No, nothing at all. Great! Um…"

Sora raised an eyebrow at him, making the blonde turn away from the gaze, fingers twiddling the strap of the camera nervously. Reno looked around the shorter boy and laughed, "Hey, chief, looks like he brought a little of his home with him, yo!"

Roxas scowled again, glaring at the redhead, "I don't live in dirt!"

Sora blinked, "Why is the dirt significant?"

Reno raised an eyebrow at him, "What, don't all rich people have little issues with their homes?"

"Excuse me?" Sora frowned at them, eyebrows furrowing as he felt slightly insulted, "No, I honestly don't care. I have neither paid for it, or will have to clean it. Roxas, if you really feel guilty over such a trivial matter, than you could apologize to one of the maids or butlers, as they're the ones who will be cleaning it. But I wouldn't let your conscious take such a beating over it."

The blonde sighed in relief as the other turned away, eyes darting around to see if any of said maids or butlers witnessed the embarrassing scene. He just wasn't made for the rich life, he was going to screw up a lot, he knew it the moment they had pulled up to the house and he snapped a picture of it. Seeing no servants anywhere around, he felt his shoulders relax slightly from the relief. He definitely didn't want to get on their bad sides, especially if he didn't get along with anyone else, he could at least not have the staff purposely trying to make his life miserable.

On the flight over, Roxas had realized two important things. He would not get along with Reno. At all. The man flirted with him, then poked fun at him when the blonde ignored him, tried to anger him when he realized the blonde would yell if provoked enough, and generally did all he could do to annoy Roxas. And Riku would only help with the flirting, hitting Reno everytime he made some sort of advance on the short blonde, but otherwise, he was silent mostly the entire trip. And quiet had always made Roxas nervous and antsy. So the trip, as probably obvious by now, was not pleasant.

Just reaching the doors to what Roxas would assume was the dining room, Sora turned to face them with a polite smile, "I will ask you to please not be disturbed by anything you may witness in here. Everything is completely under control, and I promise no one will come to harm… Most likely."

Reno blinked, "Say what?"

Sora opened the doors and lead them inside, no response given as Reno started to bumble things about the giant ass sword that was sticking out of the ham in the middle of the table. Walking around said giant wood table, Sora took a seat in what Roxas assumed would be where the head of the house would be, making the blonde wonder just where the other teen's parents were.

"Well, ya need me to lead ya to yer seat or somethin'?" Roxas flinched as he turned to see a rough looking man, probably in his forties, a stubble clear across his face and a tooth-pick sticking out from between his lips. His short blonde hair was disheveled, unkempt for what looked like years of time. The man was looking down at him harshly, eyebrow raised at he snorted.

Roxas quickly looked back at the table to see Riku and Reno walking over to two table settings on one side of Sora, the brunette smiled and made a small head gesture to the single place setting to his other side, silently telling the blonde to hurrying his ass up and stop embarrassing himself…

Or maybe Roxas just thought that to himself and Sora was trying to help, either way, the teen nearly ran to the seat to get the stares off him, he hated when people laughed at him.

Cid smiled, an act that seemed far more maniac than it really should have, as he quickly walked to the ham, hand grasping the sword's hilt and instantly putting Reno and Riku on edge, especially since he was only a foot or two from Roxas. The man didn't even notice them, though, pulling the sword out and holding it over the ham with both hands, "Now, who wants the first slice, eh?"

"That one stings a little,

I'm always in the middle,"

Sora groaned as he laid back onto his bed, already in his boxers and t-shirt for sleep. He yawned, feeling the soft mattress begin to work out the kinks that had developed in his back from just one day of stress. After discussing with Roxas things about school, the uniform, his grades, getting a physical, and other important things he had discovered needed attention, he could see the blonde's head spinning.

He decided he would take care of most of the things for him, Roxas didn't seem to know where to even begin. And so he turned to Reno and Riku, the two body guards of Shinra. He certainly had to wonder exactly why Rufus wanted them to stay here. Maybe because he had researched and discovered Sora's kidnapping when he was younger, and so wanted to make sure there was protection for Roxas?

That was most likely not the case. His parents never stopped bragging about how safe their house was, with all the advance alarm systems, Sora's personal self-defense knowledge, and every butler and maid being paid able to defend not only themselves but another fairly easily. So he honestly doubted it was exactly for that, and even if it was, one body guard would probably have made him content, there was no need for two.

Sora brushed off the mystery, though, figuring Rufus Shinra was most likely just one of those paranoid wealthy people, or that he deeply cared for the nephew he never knew until now.

He then proceeded to discuss with Reno and Riku where their rooms were conveniently located, the security systems the mansion has, the specific brands of locks they owned and how there were three master keys. One Sora kept on himself at all times, one Axel kept hidden in a safe place in his room so he wouldn't lose it, and one the head butler, Leon, possessed.

After this, they asked for a tour of the mansion, probably to survey it, which Sora didn't mind too much… But it took three hours to get all around the place, including the garden, courtyard, and every single room.

Sora, to say the least, was exhausted. So when Axel came into his room, throwing the door open and stomping into the center of the place, Sora nearly cried.

"What the fuck, Sor?! You didn't tell me people started living here! What if I had seen one of them before you told me! I would've thought they were trying to rob us or something, I would've attacked them!"

"Ax, calm down. Father and Mother invited Roxas Casey, Rufus Shinra's nephew, to stay here. The other two are Riku and Reno, they're his body guards, courtesy of the owner of Shinra Corps. himself."

Axel sneered at the wall, "They invited him before even asking us? Ha, can't say that surprises me…"

Sora looked up from his pillow, frowning at his brother gently, "Ax, I am sure-"

"Did they even ask you before they invited him?" Axel was nearly glaring holes into the wall, making the brunette sigh and bury his head in his pillow again.

"They asked me if I would mind-"

"So they didn't ask you if it was alright?"

"I said they did ask if I would mind, don't pretend you didn't hear me, Ax!" Sora scowled, throwing himself into a sitting position to at least see him while they fought.

Axel finally turned his piercing green eyes onto the brunette, grimace holding more sadness than anger by this point, "Don't give me that bull, Sor, we both know telling them how we really feel when they ask if we mind doesn't make a difference. I proved that! And now they lock me in my room when there are other people around so they don't have to walk around with their shame in plain view!"

"You're not shaming them!"

"Then I'm disappointed in myself!" Axel was back to glaring at the wall again, making Sora bite his lip to keep himself from saying anything he'd most likely regret. Finally the redhead turned to look at him, "I just… I don't want you to be controlled by them Sor, and you doing all of this for them. No, them telling others they will do something, then turning around and telling you to do it instead, for them. It's not right, they don't treat you like a son, they don't treat either of us like a son. They give you trouble, and they do it so easily that they don't even have to be here to make you so miserable. You…"

Axel hesitated, debating what to say, and Sora took the chance to cut in, "Roxas, according to Mister Shinra, he needed a place to live, or something like that. What was I suppose to do? Father had already agreed to take him in, was I just suppose to look at him and say, 'No, I will not take care of some poor kid in need?'"

Axel shook his head violently, the spikes bouncing along with the shakes, "No, but I'm just saying, this is getting out of hand, Sor. You do whatever they tell you to, even if it causes you pain, and you do it to get their praise and approval, to get their love. Trust me, Sor, they're not going to give anything to you, they didn't show any love to me, no matter what I did. I don't want you to feel the same as I did in the end, when I realized I would never get it."

The brunette rolled over, turning his back to his brother, "I will be fine, you do not have to worry about me."

The redhead stared at his younger brother's back for a moment, watching for a tremble, for a weakening to show he needed someone to comfort him. But nothing showed, just his back, like a sturdy wall of bricks.

So Axel laid down next to him and hugged the shorter teen to his chest anyways, comforted him despite the seemingly lack of need for comfort anyways, because he knew that Sora wasn't who he seemed.

In just the next room over, Roxas yawned loudly, looking around to see what he would be living in until he could get back to Hollow Bastion. It was nice, he could tell, probably beautiful, but it was dark in the room, and Roxas was too tired to turn the lights on, properly appreciate it, and then go to bed. So he just skipped the process, placed the camera on the coffee table placed in front of a couch to the side of the room, and then trudged over to the bed.

He threw himself onto the heavenly soft mattress, a deep sigh of contentment flooding from him as he felt his body practically melt into the bed. He became much to comfortable like that, feeling his eyes shut and himself beginning to slip into unconsciousness every second he remained awake and on that bed.

It's not like you could blame him for being so exhausted, though. He had woken up early, six fucking am, said goodbye to his friends, was escorted by one lunatic and another mute to an airport, boarded a private jet after the mute finished searching his bags, leading Roxas to being teased by the redhead for having Moogle…

The blonde's eyes snapped open, remembering the doll that was shoved into the confines of his bag. Homesickness suddenly washed over him in a wave of heart crushing pressure, compelling him into lifting himself from the bed and searching for where Leon and Cloud had placed his bags. Spotting them by the door, Roxas wondered vaguely how they knew they were his, because they didn't have his name on them, but then shrugged it off, pulling them to the couch. Falling back on the cushions, he quickly unzipped one, huffed in annoyance when he realized it was the one with all his art things, so he picked it up and put it on the coffee table, next to the camera.

Reaching for the other bag, he unzipped it and pulled out the doll, smiling softly as he remembered how cute Vidina looked as he grew up, always dragging that doll around with him. He glanced back down at the bag and spotted the photo album and skateboard. Sighing softly, he placed the doll beside him and pulled the album out, putting it on the table before tugging his skateboard out and placing it on the floor.

Sitting up, he reached into his pockets, pulling out two pictures that he had taken between that morning and now. One was, clearly, on the jet, Reno, his face screaming hilarity as he looked to be in the middle of laughing, getting punched in the arm by Riku, whose scowl looked just as disgruntled and annoyed as always. Roxas rolled his eyes, remembering how Reno had just said something perverted, that being the reason why Riku had punched him, he had decided that moment to take the picture because…

Well, those two were always like that, it seemed routine to them.

Slowly, he slid it into the album, in the page behind Home, and he hesitate before picking up the pen and writing on the label: Just Reno and Riku.

They hadn't given any last names, and from how he saw them behave, this was all he was going to expect from them. So he shrugged it off and reached for the other picture, looking down to study it better than he originally had time to the first time. It was a picture of the front of Sora's mansion, showing just how ancient of a feeling you got from the place. It creeped him out slightly, if it had been for how well kept it was, he would've thought the mansion was abandoned, it just gave that kind of feeling.

He sighed tiredly, slipping it into the next page, and looking down at the label. He held the pen carefully in his hands, hovering over the label and wondering what he should write. Obviously, he wasn't about to name it "home" or "new home," because this place wasn't and never will be his home. He was planning on getting out of it as soon as possible.

If anything, with a constant annoyance like Reno, Riku seeming to be nearly mute, lunch and dinner with Cid hacking away at meat with his sword, and Sora seeming to be a rich kid, that someone who has lived in dirty Hollow Bastion would never be able to compare to, was even more motivation to get the hell out of here.

Sighing to himself once more, he furrowed his eyebrows and glared at the label, quickly scribbling out: Hell.

"And I, I won't say anything at all."