Chapter 5

Sora stepped up to the four bullies and spoke, “Let go of him now!”

                “Get out of here yo, before you make ME angry,” threatened Rai, twisting Roxas’s arm causing more tears to fall onto the floor.

                “Shut up Rai!” commanded Seifer, he strolled up to the brunette until they were but an inch apart, their eyes challenging each other to whoever would be foolish enough to make a move.

                “Let go of him now!” repeated Sora, clutching onto Seifer’s white t-shirt.

                “Why should we listen to someone like you?” mocked the bully, grabbing onto his opponents shirt and hoisting him in the air to meet his gaze.

                Sora smirked, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he clasped his hands together to make a megaphone shape, “VANI!”

                Vivi ran up to Seifer and tugged on his sleeve, “We-we better run Seif!”

                “I don’t know who this Vani is but if you think he can save you then you are…”

                “LET GO OF MY BROTHER, BEFORE I RIP OFF YOUR HEAD!” commanded a certain ebony haired boy, his fists shaking in anger.

                “Va-Vanitas…” they all mumbled in fear. Fuu and Rai threw Roxas into the fountain and ran off with Vivi, leaving their leader in the lion’s den.

                “Look man I’m sorry,” apologized Seifer, forgetting to drop Sora because his mind was focused on the advancing menace.

                “DID YOU NOT HEAR ME? DROP HIM!” he did not wait for an answer, he sprinted up and jabbed him in the nose, causing blood to drip from it. The bully, knowing he was outmatched, ran off to find his fleeing lackeys; mumbling plots of revenge.

                Sora ran up to the shivering blonde as soon as his feet touched the floor. Roxas was in fetal position, crying his eyes out as his tears mingled with the fountain water. The brunette said nothing; instead he picked him up and set him down carefully onto the dry ground. What he did next surprised the sobbing victim.

                Roxas let his tears fall on the brunette’s shoulder, relieved by the comforting hold that felt like sanctuary. “Shh, it’s okay Roxas, I’m here.” He cooed, rubbing circles on his wet back.

                “Are you okay guys?” asked Vanitas, kneeling down to match his twin. Sora nodded in response. “Roxas… do you want me to get Ven?” the ex-bully’s question now directed at him.

                Roxas did not answer, instead he buried himself deeper in Sora’ neck; he didn’t seem to mind. He was embarrassed still sobbing like a two year old in front of his crush, but didn’t want to leave his hold, so he shook his head; still unable to form words through his tears.

                “Do you want us to take you to our house?” Sora asked, starting to stoke the soggy hair on Roxas’s head; he shrugged.

                “Okay let’s go to my house then. We’ll get you cleaned up then we can hang out!” Sora stood, carrying Roxas bridal style while he continued to grasp Sora’s neck.

                “MOM! WE’RE HOME!” called out Vanitas, throwing his and Sora’s bag on the couch.  Sora took the sleeping blonde up to his room so that he could rest.

                A beautiful woman, who had the same hair color as Sora popped her head out of the kitchen, “What took you guys so long?”

                “We were talking to a friend,” he lied, walking over to the TV.

               

                A soft something was running through Roxas’s hair. It felt amazing; like he was being cleansed. He opened his eyes, expecting to be at the schools fountain again; to have been abandoned by the Fair twins. Instead he found himself in a room not his own. It’s blue walls comforting him, he had never been inside but he could tell this was Sora’s room.

                “Hey you’re awake!” whispered a voice beside him, he looked up to see his savior. He looked like a glorious prince.

                “Ye-yeah,” confirmed the ‘damsel in distress’. He looked away, ashamed that he couldn’t stand up for himself. “Thanks for… helping me.” He tried to sit up but a sharp pain in his stomach told him not to. He groaned as he lay back down.

                “Stay here, I’m going to get something.” As soon as Sora left, he finally had a good look around the room. Lining the walls were an assortment of books, games and movies all arranged in two book cases. On the farthest side of the wall lay a black and silver laptop resting on a wooden desk with a Final Fantasy screen-saver projecting from it; next to that hung a huge flat screen TV. He heard footsteps again and a woman kneeled down beside him.

                “Hello, I’m Aerith,” the kind woman introduced herself and began examining his wounds. “You look pretty beat up, what happened?” obviously Sora and his twin have said nothing about the incident yet.  

                “I-I fell!” He lied, smiling awkwardly. He gasped in pain as she pressed against his stomach.

                “Oh really… from what Sora and Vanitas told me, a certain someone did this to you,” she reasoned, now checking the developing black eye.

                “No… I mean- yeah...” Roxas admitted, wincing again as she checked a few other minor injuries from being thrown into the fountain.

                “Glad the truth finally came out!” she turned to her son who looked away ashamedly. Well it looks like they didn’t say anything about it after all. The two Leonharts left the room for a moment, before Sora came in again, this time accompanied by a few bags of frozen peas.

                “Here,” he said, placing a cool bag on Roxas’s eye.

                “Thanks,”

                “So how long has Seifer been doing this to you?” he interrogated, placing a few of those packets on his stomach. Roxas shook his head, shaking a little even thinking about the things Seifer did to him.

                “Alright… I won’t pry,” they stayed silent for a while, until it became unbearable to Sora.             

                “Do you want to play a game?” he asked with a soft smile. Roxas nodded and shifted to get up, but fell back from the great toll it took.

                “I seem to be having a hard time getting to the TV,” he explained, smiling past the pain. Sora frowned a little, then grinned again when an idea popped into his head. A hand crawled under Roxas’s legs and another under his neck. He carried him bridal style to the floor in front of the TV.

                “There! That was easy!” he exclaimed, proud of his accomplishment.

                “Sora… I can barely see the TV,” it was then that did the brunette realize that he was laying on his back. He carried the blonde again, he pushed a rolling blue chair from under the desk and brought it to rest in front of the TV. He set him down on it, Roxas felt the pain pang up for a while but eventually became comfortable with the new position.

                “How am I going to play with this,” he said, pointing to the cold packet he held with one hand. Sora flashed him another smile, he walked over to his desk and produced a roll of masking tape. He strolled over to the confused blonde, then proceeded to wrap the tape around his head. Roxas couldn’t help but blush at the closeness.

                “There! All better! Now is there anything else you need my king?” he jokingly asked, bowing a little. Roxas let out a giggle that was a higher tone than normal. Sora turned on his PS3 and pushed in the game disk containing a Call of Duty game. He picked up a black controller for himself and handed a silver one to his companion.

                “You’re so going down!” the brunette taunted, placing himself on the floor next to Roxas.

                “In your dreams!”

1 hour later       

                “Sora… how come I never see you here whenever I argue with Vanitas?” Roxas asked, while they waited to be put into a game lobby.

                “I don’t stay at home all the time, I have Riku and Kairi and blitz-ball practice,” he explained. “Why would you be arguing with Vani?”

                “To tell you the truth, I do it for Ven.”

                “Why would Ven want you to argue with his best friend?”

                “Best friend? What are you talking about?”

                “Vani says he’s his best friend. Or am I thinking of another Ventus here.”

                “How long has he been saying this?”

                “He says it started back in 3rd grade.”

                “But that’s when the asshole started bullying him!” Roxas argued, he clamped his mouth shut when he realized what he said, “Oh my… I’m so sorry!”

                Sora chuckled, “It’s okay, I love my brother but sometimes he can be pretty mean. So your saying they’ve never been friends?”

                “Until now,” he explained, “It started when I accidentally forgot about you; sorry about that again.”

                Sora waved the apology away like a bad stench, “You don’t have to apologize anymore! But anyways back to the game!” he announced, as the map Hanoi loaded onto the screen.

“Hey Sora, does this means we’re friends now?” asked Roxas, chewing on the chips brought in by Aerith.

                “Of course!” he answered happily, sticking his hand in the bag. Roxas smiled contentedly to himself.

Four hours later

                “Hey Ven!” greeted Vanitas, ushering Ventus in the Fair household.

                “Hey Vanitas, where’s Rox?” He questioned, taking in all the visible aspects of the home.

                “Follow me, they’re in Sora’s room,” he took hold of Ven’s wrist and ran upstairs stopping at a blue door. “Just go through there.”

                Ventus nodded and thanked him, he opened the door and saw his twin; beaten up but taken care of. This wasn’t the first time he saw this, but the shock never wears off from seeing the closest person in your life hurt. “Oh my… Roxas! What happened? It’s that Seifer isn’t it? Oh when I get my hands on him I’ll…”

                “Ven calm down! Sora and Vanitas took care it! And I’m fine now thanks to them.”

                Ventus’s expression smoothed, he looked at the brunette who was now turning off the game system. “Thanks for helping Rox, I really appreciate it.”

                Sora gave him a genuine smile, “No problem.” Ven returned the gesture with a grin of his own as he placed Roxas’s arm around his shoulders and dragged him back downstairs.

                “See ya Vanitas,” he said, pausing to look at the ebony haired boy watching a nature documentary. He waved his hand in understanding and the Strife twins exited the Leonhart sanctuary.