Chapter Four: In Media Res
“So, can we start from the beginning?” Sora asked, comfortably nestled in the corner of the couch with a can of Coke.
Riku snorted derisively. “I don’t even know where that is,” he muttered.
“I do,” said Roxas sullenly, glancing over at Axel, and then Sora. “It started when I left seven years ago.”
Sora’s face became shuttered as he looked away from his brother. “Oh. Of course. When you left,” he said quietly.
A tense silence fell over the four of them. Riku glanced at Axel, whose eyes flickered between the twins. Neither Roxas nor Sora would meet each others’ eyes, and Roxas sighed heavily.
“I didn’t leave to spite you, or Mom and Dad,” he finally said. “I left because I wanted to protect you all. I didn’t want you guys to get caught up in my mess, my problems.
“Marluxia was the one who found me first. We were, what, 12? No, we were 13, going on 14, the summer before high school. I was out walking on the far side of the island, and I was jumped by a gang.”
“Wait, the far side of what island?” Riku interrupted Roxas quickly with a note of panic in his voice.
“Destiny Islands,” answered Sora brusquely. Before Riku could say anything further, Sora continued, “Yeah, we grew up on the same island and never met each other. Get over it. Continue with the story, Rox.”
Riku stared at Sora with a displeased pout on his face. Roxas ignored the interjection and moved on.
“Anyway, Marluxia happened to appear on the scene right when I was really about to get my ass handed to me. He got rid of my attackers, helped me to my feet, made a stupid comment about how well I held my own, and then disappeared. That was the last I heard of him for about a week. I didn’t say anything to you because I didn’t want you to worry, Sora,” he admitted guiltily.
Sora pouted. “You told me that Kairi beat you up and pushed you down a flight of stairs,” he whined. “You lied to me! Your own twin!”
Roxas rolled his eyes. “You’re the dumbshit that believed me,” he stated matter-of-factly. “Kairi couldn’t beat up a marshmallow.”
“That’s what you think,” muttered Sora, taking a sip of his Coke.
Roxas stared silently at Sora until the pieces came together. “Wait…you can’t mean that…”
“Oh, yeah,” said Sora. “She’s an assassin, too.”
Roxas was lost in thought, the impact of everything that he'd missed by leaving home hitting him hard. Finally Axel said, “What the hell, does Destiny Islands breed assassins or something?”
Roxas, Sora, and Riku all glared at him. “Just sayin',” Axel groused, shrinking into the couch.
“So,” Roxas said, returning everyone's attention back to himself, “we went to high school, you remember right?”
Sora nodded, smiling a little at the fond memory. “I was so mad that we didn't have any classes together.”
“Yeah,” said Roxas absently. “Well, guess who was in my first block class? Marluxia, that's who. I don't know if you remember seeing him around school, but he was a sophomore, and really popular. He remembered me from that night and introduced me to all of his friends, showed me around, stuff like that. I thought...I thought they were real friends—I mean...” He glanced to the side, suddenly embarrassed to have to explain himself to his brother.
“Hey,” said Axel softly, “we were friends, right? You had me.”
Roxas's face twisted into a grimace. “I hated you, Axel. If there was anyone I couldn't stand more than Xemnas, it was you.”
Axel's face fell. “Whaaaa--? But we were best buddies, Rox! Come on, don't break my heart!”
The petite blond chose only to snicker lightly and continue with his story. “That's why I kept sneaking out so often, Sor. Making excuses not to hang out with you and Kairi and the others. I got so caught up with Organization XIII, I thought that was where I belonged. They had a way of making me think like they did, and I started doing things without questioning why. Sex, drugs, alcohol, parties. As lame as it sounds, I felt cool. Sometimes they would take me along on one of their kills, and I thought nothing of it. And then, sophomore year...”
“When you left,” said Sora, “you left without telling anyone goodbye.”
“I didn't want you to get hurt, Sora,” Roxas gritted out. “I didn't want anyone to get hurt. He forced me to kill, and even worse, I was good at it, and he knew it. Xemnas will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and he threatened you, Sora. He threatened to kill you if I didn't kill for him.”
“Then why did he let you run away?” Sora shouted at his brother in an uncharacteristic display of anger, standing up quickly to get in his face. “If he wanted you so badly, then why did he let you leave?”
“Because that's how Xemnas operates,” said Riku quietly. His aquamarine eyes met with Sora's darker cerulean ones for a moment before Riku looked away in contempt. “He let Roxas go because he knew one day Roxas would need his help again. Xemnas is very powerful, Sora.”
“I didn't know where else to turn, Sora,” Roxas nearly whispered. “I had no one, no where to go. And then one day, he showed up, and I couldn't turn him down. I'm sorry.”
Sora threaded a hand through his spikes and growled in frustration. Now that he knew the truth, he couldn't help but be even more angry with his twin. After a few tense moments, he finally hauled Roxas up from the chair and slugged him across the face.
He ignored Axel's noise of indignation, Riku's affronted, “Hey...”, and Roxas' grunt of shock, choosing only to give his brother a pointed glare before wrapping him in an awkward hug. “Don't apologize,” he said, voice muffled in Roxas' shoulder, “just promise me you'll never be such an asshat ever again.”
Roxas nodded as much as he could with his face wedged between Sora's spikes and his hand. When Sora let him go, he was still rubbing his sore cheek, reddened from where Sora had hit him. “You really have changed,” he murmured.
Sora shrugged. “It's your fault,” he said only half-accusingly. “When you left, I had to be strong for everyone, and then stronger for myself. Mum and Dad were heartbroken, all of our friends...” He trailed off, lost in thought, in memories of what had been.
“Anyway, you could almost say it's your fault I'm an assassin now, because after you left, I had a lot of angry thoughts. And I couldn't really tell anyone, because I was supposed to be the one they could all come to. And I really needed an output for all my anger, and I really, really wanted to find you, so I—”
Roxas winced. “Please don't continue,” he said lowly, looking to the ground. “It's bad enough to find out you're the same as me, I don't need to hear how it was all my fault.”
Sora opened his mouth to argue, but Axel stopped him, placing a hand on his arm and shaking his head softly. The brunet looked back and forth between the two, realizing that he wasn't the only one who had changed over the years. He folded his arms and gave a disgruntled grumble, but otherwise stayed silence and let the matter drop.
“It's already late, and we all need out energy for tomorrow, so maybe we should hit the sack,” announced Axel, nodding towards Riku and Sora. “You two can sleep in the guest room.” He crossed the room and picked up their bags, stopping in front of Roxas, who glanced at him expectantly. Axel started to say something, thought better of it, and simply gave Roxas a brief kiss on the cheek and a smile. Riku, likewise, gave him a shaky smile as he followed Axel out of the room, leaving the twins alone together.
“I—” Sora began to apologize, but quickly realized that wasn't what Roxas needed to hear right now, nor was it what he wanted to stay. Moving closer to him, he gave Roxas another hug and whispered instead, “I love you, Rox,” before trailing after Riku.
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Later, when they were all settled in and the apartment was dark and quiet, Sora looked over to where his boyfriend lay face to the pillow, breathing peacefully.
“Riku?”
Silence.
“Riii-kuuu.” Sora jostled his shoulder lightly.
“Mmnngh.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“Nnngh.”
Sora seemed satisfied with that answer. “Okay. Hey, Riku.”
“Whhmm.”
“You think Rox is mad at me?”
“Nnnngh.”
Sora smiled. “That's good. Say, now that we're both, like, 'out of the closet,' so to speak, d'ya think we'll—”
“Sora, go the fuck to sleep,” Riku moaned turning his face from the pillow.
Sora's eyes widened. “Oh. Okay. Alrighty. Good night, then, Riku.”
“G'night.”
“I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Sora turned on his back, folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.
“Riku?”
Silence.
“Sorry about shooting you in the face.”
