Kingdom Hearts 1. Ordinary Things

**Prologue: Ordinary Things**

A nice, simple day can often turn into the most extraordinary adventure by the most basic of choices, the most ingrained of routines. We have many ways to describe our daily lives; fate, the chaos theory, a test of faith, the trail of a warrior, and so on. Each is unique and each has its own way of explanation, from the supernatural, to the spiritual, to the mathematical, to the bizarre.

Now many argue that their way is the only way, that there is no other way to call the path our lives take us. Some debate, some argue, some even wage war, but that is the way of life. One day we will find a way to accept more than one belief, one way of faith.

This story is about one such extraordinary day, one moment in a multitude of lives, where a collage of events sparked an amazing set of changes in a small village named Radiant Garden. A set of changes no one saw coming, nor could they stop it, as many tried and failed to do

Many lives were changed as well, some refused to change, and a few sought to find out what events brought about the change and found that it started with six single moments:

A family living in the same house for close to eight years suddenly moving because of a promotion being given to one of their members, a promotion that was a cause of tension for one...

A pair of mischief lovers interest in their new neighbors suddenly filling a yearning that was unknown to them before then and believed to be impossible to even happen by most...

A girl who was a quiet enigma, never speaking to anyone beyond her family members, suddenly decides to converse with a complete stranger for the first time in nearly ten years...

A pyromaniac's self preservation leading him to leave the house before he mother saw what he did to her favorite drapes, dragging his sister along in case he needed a bargaining tool...

A workaholic's single moment of inattention when dealing with his energetic, trouble seeking, ten-year-old daughter and niece, who were handfuls even under the best of conditions...

A group of rowdy teenagers deciding to travel with their moving friends in order to 'help out with things' and 'make sure they get settled in'. Read 'get in the way' and 'scope out the neighborhood'.

A collection of unique, random, every day events that have the most incredible happenstance on occurring on the same day, within the same hour, on the same street, in the same village. The chances of such happening being close to a million to one, perhaps even a billion.

This day must have been the one.

**Was** it all just random occurrences? Was it preordained? The truth may never be revealed; but the story that follows may shed some light on the question itself and, as previously stated, it was one hell of an adventure!


	2. Introductions

**Chapter One: Introductions**

Riku Leonhart _did not_ sulk.

He might occasionally brood, he pondered a few times, once or twice he even ventured into the realm of deep thinking; but, he did _not_, in _any_ situation, under _any_ circumstances, _sulk_.

"Would you **please** stop sulking, Riku?" A voice cut in his inner musings, irritated and annoyed, "You're becoming an eyesore."

Unfortunately, everyone else seemed to be under the impression that he was spending most of his time actually doing the offending action. Of course, they completely overlooked the fact that he had a perfectly good reason _to_ sulk.

Not that he ever _did_, of course.

Glaring at his older brother, Riku manfully stated, "I am **not** sulking, Zexion! I am merely using visual ways of showing how much I hate that we are moving and a deep desire to **stay here**."

"Otherwise known as **sulking**," Zexion rebutted, taping up a box marked 'Fragile' and setting it off to one side of his rapidly emptying room. "If you're going to continue to do so, at **least** be considerate enough to do so in your own room as you pack."

"I **don't** sulk! Besides, **you** would be upset too if-"

"Consider this, little brother," Zexion interrupted, his patience, having endured three days of complainants and yes, **sulking**, finally reached its end. "Leon has been working at the same position in the same shitty job for most of his life, now take into account that he has **finally** received the promotion he has worked so hard for and what does he do? He spends his first paycheck on acquiring a new house, a **bigger** house because, and I quote, 'You guys have been bitching about needing more room' end quote. Finally, take into **consideration** that he has been listening to you complain about how your 'world is going to end' because of it. How do you think that makes **him** feel?"

Riku flinched as Zexion's words hit home; he had been being an inconsiderate ass and deserved the verbal lashing. He was just opening his mouth to apologize when a new voice cut into the conversation.

"Please tell me the two of you haven't been fighting again..."

"Of course not, Kiah," Zexion replied smoothly, already returning to boxing up his things. "I was just trying to make a point, which I believe Riku has finally grasped. Right, Riku?"

Riku nodded once before turning to sister and smiling, "We better finish packing, we're going to be leaving soon."

"Alright," Kiah ordered, placing her hands on her narrow waist, "Just what did you say to him, Zexion? Not five minutes ago, he so against this move I wouldn't be surprised that we would've ended up prying him from the door and now everything is peachy keen? Spill. Now."

Studying the wisp of a thing that was his sister, Zexion raised an eyebrow. "i simply made him understand the repercussions his sulking has had on certain members of our family, that's all."

"Meaning you guilt-tripped him into moving quietly," Kiah translated, her eyes, a darker turquoise than Riku's, narrowing as she glared at her brother, "I just don't understand you some times, Zexion. Why did you do that?"

"I do not need to explain myself to you," Zexion stated, hefting some of the boxes dotted around his room and heading downstairs. "Hurry up and finish packing, I'm tired of waiting for the two of you."

Still glaring after her brother, Kiah muttered, "Says the one still boxing things up," before sighing and turning to Riku with a small smile. "It's only a couple of miles away... I'm sure you'll still be able to visit Axel and everybody else."

Giving his sister a half-hearted smile in return, Riku made his way to his room; he had some packing to do.

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_**Why be difficult when, with just a little work, you can be impossible?**_

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Demyx Strife, a stern believer in the 'getting-out-of-the-way-before-trouble-starts' approach to life, took one look at his brothers' bowed heads and conspirator smiles and flatly stated, "Whatever the two of you are plotting, leave me out of it!"

Some might think his words harsh, but he had seen that pose before and had seen the outcome of it, so Demyx believed his words fully justified.

A quartet of aqua eyes stared at him with the innocence of angels as the younger of the two stuck his lip out in a pout. "We were just talking about our new neighbors, we weren't plotting **anything**!"

Those who didn't know him would've have taken one look at the boy's wide innocent eyes and naive, cherubic face and believe anything that he said, having its double right beside him only serving to weaken their resolve. Many people had, in fact, believed him. Once.

Demyx, having lived with the boy since he was born and had, as previously stated, seen first hand what happened when he pulled out his 'angel face', wasn't fooled. "Yeah, right, Sora; probably planning another 'welcoming party' like the one you guys threw for Belle, aren't you?"

Sora's lip jutted out in even more of a pronounced pout as his twin crossed his arms beside him and muttered darkly, "It would've been just fine if the Beast hadn't shown up and spoiled it all."

"Yeah, Roxas is right, Beast messed up the entire surprise!" Sora was quick to agree with his twin, which just made Demyx roll his eyes. He knew it was bad news when Roxas and Sora agreed with each other...

Beast was Belle's husband and he was a behemoth of a man and also the hairiest one the brothers had ever seen, Sora had even said he had more fur than a beast; the nickname stuck, and everyone had called him that so much they forgot what his original name had been.

Before Demyx could ask Roxas just what the cake had been doing on the ceiling of the dining room, Naminé Valentine burst through the front door, bleached blond hair flying into her face and her breath coming out in gasps as she related her news.

"The new neighbors are here!"

Following hastily in their friend's footsteps, the trio of brothers left their argument for another time, and instead focused completely on the tantalizing news Naminé had just brought them.

"Did you see any kids?"

"What kind of car do they drive?"

"One adult or two?"

"Do they have any pets?"

Waiting until they had exhausted all their question, which took a while in Sora's case, Naminé calmly replied, "I just saw the U-Haul pull in, the driver said the owners were a couple of cars behind him. I ran to get you guys so we could meet them all together."

Nodding at the information, the group continued down the street to see just who these newcomers were. Each individual had an idea on what the family would be like; Demyx was hoping for a singer for the band he was starting, Roxas prayed for someone who understood what it was like to be missing something, Sora just wanted someone new to play with, while Naminé needed some more **girls** in the neighborhood.

Little did they know that each of them was going to get what he/she wished for... that, and a whole lot more!

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_**Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself.**_

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Axel Aurelius was the first one out of the moving van, having hopped out of it as soon as the vehicle had stopped. His sister Kairi had followed at a more sedate pace as Axel gave the place a quick once over, grimacing. "You guys have to live here? What was wrong with your old house?"

"Too small, this one has more room for us all," Kiah grunted, lugging a box out of the van and onto the sidewalk. Pulling a scrunchy off her wrist and tying up her periwinkle blue hair, she directed a glare at Riku's best friend.

"I thought you came along to help us move these boxes, not criticize our new place before we even settle in. We'll get enough of that from Riku to last for a lifetime, thank you very much."

Being stuck in the back seat, squashed between household knick-knacks and listening to Riku's constant chattering, which had deteriorated as the drive went on, had put Kiah in what the family called a 'Zexion mood'.

Looking sheepish, Axel dragged a hand through the fire engine red spikes he called his hair as Kairi answered for him. "Actually, the only reason he came along was because Mom is mad at him again."

Handing a box over to Kairi because Zexion had been considerate enough to write 'Fragile' on it, Kiah crossed her arms in front of her chest and sighed. "What did you burn down **this** time?"

"Just some old drapes we had since I was a baby," Sullenness overtook Axel's features as he decided that the side of Kiah's new home would be the perfect place to take out his frustration at the injustice of the world. "They were all ratty anyway, so I don't know why she cared....."

Taking another box from Kiah and stacking it on the sidewalk, Kairi looked at her brother in exasperation. "Did you ever think that setting stuff on fire **inside** the house **might** have been a bad idea?"

Axel muttered something incoherent as his kicking increase in tempo.

"Here's another thing to think about," Squall 'Leon' Leonhart stated, making the trio jump at his sudden appearance, "The fact that if you so much as put a dent in my house, I'm going to break your leg off at the knee."

The speed in which Axel distanced himself from said house had Kiah blinking in surprise and Kairi shaking her head in resignation as Leon lugged out a box of his own from their van.

"Riku. Out. Now."

It was hard to tell who had moved faster, Axel jumping from the house like it was a poisonous reptile, or Riku leaping out of the van like he was afraid it would devour his soul. Either way, Kiah didn't have much time to reflect on it, because her new neighbors decided to show themselves by falling on her lawn.

"Um..." Kiah looked from the pile of flailing limbs to her brother and father for some help, which they gave in the form of shrugged shoulders. Gritting her teeth, Kiah looked to Axel and Kairi for some kind of idea on what to do, but they were too busy studying the wriggling mass to pay any attention to her.

"Hi," cried a voice as an arm unwound itself to wave in their general direction, "We're your new neighbors! Welcome to the neighborhood! Roxas, get off of me, you're crushing my spine!"

"I think I just coughed up my spleen," muttered a female voice toward the bottom of the knot of limbs, "...and one of my lungs..."

Nodding at Leon, Kiah grabbed a hold of the arm that had waved at them, while motioning for Axel to grab another limb as Leon lifted the person on top straight up and Kairi pulled on the girl on the bottom.

Leon ended up with a bony-looking brunet with sea green emerald eyes that grinned up at him as he was dangled upside down by the leg Leon held. "Hey, I'm Demyx, and those are my brothers down there. Roxas, Sora, say hi!"

Axel also had the leg of a brunet with the same slightly-scrawny look, although his hair was more toffee cream instead of the dark chocolate of Demyx. His eyes were a crystal blue and Kiah wasn't sure if he was looking at Axel in utter gratitude or exasperated annoyance.

"I'm Roxas, Roxas Strife," he muttered, trying to tug his leg out of the death-like grip Axel had on it. After a couple of not-so-subtle pulls, Axel still didn't get the message, making Roxas growl, "You can let go of my leg now..."

Dropping Roxas' leg like it had scalded him, Axel put as much distance between Roxas and himself without being rude, refusing to meet Kairi's inquiring gaze and instead stared at the sidewalk.

"That must make you Sora," Kiah smiled at the boy she held, transferring her hand from his arm to his palm to shake. He was the exact twin of the one called Roxas, the only difference was the slightly darker shade of hair, somewhere between the dark chocolate of Demyx and the lighter toffee shade of Roxas, and his sky blue eyes that shone with ill concealed delight. "I'm Kiah, the one holding Demyx is Leon and the one that was holding Roxas was Axel. Who is Kairi holding?"

"That is Naminé, our next door neighbor and my best friend," Sora gushed, pumping Kiah's arm up and down like he was trying to draw water."Nice to meet you, Leon, Kiah, Kairi, and Axel."

Naminé, a wispy bleached blonde with navy blue eyes accepted the hand to help her up by Kairi; who, like her brother, did not let go right away. Instead, she stared at Naminé, a look of deep concentration on her face as she muttered, "You look strangely familiar.."

Naminé blinked a couple of times as Kairi's stare got even more invasive, her nose mere inches from Naminé's own. Desperate for some way for the attention to be focused anywhere but at her, a slight shift of shadows immediately grabbed her focus as she jerked her head in its direction.

"Who is the one sulking by the van?"

Amid various giggles, snickers and outright laughter from the assembled party, Riku stomped angrily out of the dark shade of the minivan and into the bright light of the midday sun. "I am **not **_sulking_!"

Sora, for his part, had his mouth open wide on a full throated laugh like everyone else; but he was the only one that felt his jaw drop as he took in the sight in front of him. He wasn't sure if he was looking at a girl or a boy, but all he knew was that they were _beautiful_...

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_**First impressions are very important...**_

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Cloud Strife, having just returned from a long, hard day at wok, walked wearily up to the house that he shared with his cousins ever since the horrible accident four years prior that had taken both their parents and found a nasty surprise waiting for him as soon as he set foot on the walkway:

His front door was wide open and swinging on its hinges, his relatives nowhere in sight.

Showing no outward sign at the memories that the sight brought back to him, Cloud looked around and spotted one of his neighbors. Maybe he had seen something... "Auron?"

The veteran turned from exiting his house to the blond construction worker and raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, Cloud?"

Cloud jerked his head toward his house and raised an eyebrow of his own, indicating the swinging door in a silent question of where his cousins were off to in such a rush that they forgot to close it behind them.

Being the enigma's friend for three years had given Auron plenty of time to decipher what his silences meant and what each shift of his body conveyed. "They went to see the new arrivals, preferably the children."

With a nod as his thanks, Cloud made his way down the street to were the U-Haul and van had parked, intent on picking his family up when two things interrupted his plan at the exact same moment.

An angry shout about someone sulking brought him up short just in time to hear a familiar voice cry, "Look, Yunie! I can fly!" followed almost immediately by another familiar voice yell, "No, Rikku, don't!"

He didn't take time to think about about it; he just judged the distance he was from the voices and reacted, seeing a blur of motion as someone near him did the same as the two girls fell from the roof of the newcomer's house.

When he landed, he was holding a squirming mess of blonde hair and braids, the brunet across from him holding its quivering also-a-brunet partner-in-crime. There was only a few minutes of blessed silence before Rikku decided to break it with a hellcat screech.

"What did you do that for?!" Her tiny fists were hitting his chest at ultra sonic speed as she continued to yell at him, "I was trying to show Yunie I could fly!"

Cloud took the more favorable option of ignoring her instead of explaining that she couldn't fly as he watched the stranger calm down the shaking child in his arms. He didn't even say anything; he seemed to, like Cloud himself, understand the importance of silence as he simply stroked Yuna's hair until her tears quieted.

He was also about as tall as Cloud himself was, spiky hair longer than his and seemed as hard to tame. He also seemed a big fan of leather and fur, as well as the colors black and silver, but the one feature that seemed to stand out about him was a holy mother of a scar that ran from the right of his forehead, down between his bright gray eyes, to the side of his left cheek.

When he had finally calmed Yuna down, he handed her back over to Cloud, and stuck his hand out before simply stating, "Leon Leonhart."

Setting the girls down, which caused them to run off-well, Rikku ran, Yuna got dragged-before they got scolded, Cloud accepted the handshake and added his own greeting. "Cloud Strife."

Nodding once, Leon removed his hand from Cloud's and, after a moment's thought, stuck his thumb over his shoulder at the mound of boxes behind him before grunting, "Help?"

Cloud sighed, but shrugged one shoulder; he was already sore from his day at work, what was moving a few more boxes going to do? He could learn a little more about his neighbors this way. "Sure."

"Is he always like this?"

"No, he's usually more laconic."

Suddenly reminded of the reason he came there in the first place, Cloud spun around to fix his cousins with a death glare, causing two of them to swallow nervously and the eldest to mutter, "I don't wanna die!" before collapsing in a dead faint.

"I guess that's one way to say welcome to the neighborhood." commented a silver haired child as she prodded Demyx with her toe. "I think I prefer the traditional welcoming party myself."

"Not with these three," Naminé muttered, before following Cloud's lead and hefting up a box to carry.

Before the silver haired girl could ask what she meant by that, there was a screech of wheels and voices as another van squealed into the driveway and a horde of teenagers spilled out

Another silver haired child leapt out of the vehicle, looked around at the randomly assembled party, Demyx passed out on the ground, and deadpanned, "Alright, what did I miss?"

_A/N: Well, here's chapter one! Nearly everybody's been introduced and are getting moved in, there will be back stories on the next chapter and maybe a little romance as well!_

_Reviews are appreciated and will be answered. Constructive criticisms will be taken into account and flames will be put out and blocked._

_Thank you!_


	3. More Introductions

**Chapter Two: More Introductions**

Sora had introduced himself, Cloud, Demyx, Roxas and Namine in short order and had been on the verge of finding out who the silvered-haired boy was when the other occupants of the car his brother-at least, Sora _thought_ he was his brother-arrived in decided to clamor out.

The first to show himself was a tall, hulking brute of a man dressed in a studded leather jacket over a black muscle T-shirt complete with a pair of leather pants and black Converse shoes. The whole ensemble was coupled with a barrage of silver jewelry and it would have been utterly intimidating if not for the shock of bright, _bright _pink hair that he was constantly flicking out of his face.

"Wow," This came from Demyx, who seemed hypnotized by the unusual hue, "Can I touch your hair?"

The only man that could give Beast a run for his money size-wise just looked at Demyx for a few seconds before growling out a "No," as he pulled out more boxes-did these people live in a _museum_ before this?-and turned to the boy beside him. "Where do you want your shit, Zexion?"

"Just set it on the corner for now, Marluxia," Zexion answered, probably smirking at the way Demyx watched Marluxia's hair bounce as he moved. "I haven't seen any of the new rooms yet."

"You at least have a basement so you can keep up with all your stupid experiments, right, Z?" The next to exit the car was a tall female with blonde hair that fell just to her jaw and, like Marluxia, was completely clothed in black leather and had an assortment of silver jewelery. However, _unlike_ Marluxia, her outfit was a skintight dress that stopped mid thigh and a pair of black heels. "I don't even know why you try, you never-"

"Drop it, Larxene," The last to exit the van was a tall male with dirty blonde hair that leaned toward the brownish side and flowed over his shoulders in two long lines. Clad in the same black leather overcoat and jeans as Marluxia and wearing the same silver jewelery that seemed a theme of the group, the only thing separating him from his companions was the surprising shock of his blue shirt under his jacket. "At least he _tries_, which is more than I can say for certain others..."

The only response he got for his ill-disguised barb was a low growl before the blond/brunet started toward the house, not even bothering to see if his friends followed.

"Thank you, Vexen, but I know better to let Larxene's comments bother me," Zexion grinned as he watched Demyx's hand get swatted as he tried to touch Marluxia's hair without the boy seeing. It obviously wasn't working out that well.

"Now, which one of these room has the most room?" Vexen was gazing at the house as if he were mentally dissecting it, "Zexion is rather messy in his experiments and will need the extra space..."

"There is a really good room on the left side of the house," Namine spoke up, still looking uncomfortable under Kairi's gaze, which had not let up since she had met the girl, "Let me show you around."

Darting around Kairi, Namine made her way over to Vexen and began to show him around the house, the man following her with a calculating look etched across his face. Sora, suddenly feeling worried about his friend, followed her inside to make sure nothing happened to her.

That scare they had last summer was bad enough...

* * *

_**I am Nobody, Who are You?**_

* * *

Leon and Cloud had managed to work well together, moving around each other and lugging the boxes in as if they had been doing it for years instead of just a few hours. During a break, the stoic brunet decided to ask something that he had been wondering about.

"The kids yours?"

Setting down the water bottle he had been drinking out of, Cloud wiped the back of his hand across his face and hefted up another box as he made his way to the house. He propped the door open with his foot and waited for Leon to follow him.

"No."

Many others would have pressed for details, but Leon was well versed in hearing the underlying tones in people's voices and Cloud's voice had told him to drop the subject, so he did.

"How long have you lived here?"

"Four years," Once again, Cloud's voice said to drop the subject and drop it fast. Leon's brow furrowed in frustration at the fact that he seemed to be asking all the wrong questions today...

"Which kids are yours?" Cloud had obviously decoded that it was his turn to interrogate Leon as he grabbed yet another box, Leon scrabbling to pick up the slack.

"The silver-haired kids belong to me, the redheads are my kids' friends," Leon answered, waiting a few seconds for Cloud to either ask another question or ask for more details about his kids.

Cloud seemed as well versed in reading the tone of someone's voice as Leon was and changed the subject just as Leon had for him, something that raised Leon's esteem for the oddly spiky-haired blond.

"Why'd you move?" The last box had been moved into the hallway of the house and now Cloud was sorting through them, stacking them in piles due to the names written on the sides.

"Job promotion," Leon settled down next to Cloud and began to help, taking extra care with the boxes that Zexion had marked "Fragile'. The kid would throw a fit worthy of Tifa being chocolate depraved if any of his lab equipment was broken...

Cloud gave an noncommittal grunt as he passed Leon a small box that had 'Private. Do **NOT** Open!!' written on it right as Namine, Sora and a strange man wandered over to where they were sitting.

"Hey, Sora," Leon called, catching the trio's attention as Cloud tried to figure out if the look the guy was giving Namine was the reason Sora was on edge, if the way he was grinding his teeth loud enough for Cloud to hear from where he was sitting was any indication. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Vexen," Namine answered, Sora was too busy mouthing at Cloud, '_**He's **__**not**__** my friend!**_' which just made the blond's protective instincts jump up a couple of notches: Sora was _everybody's_ friend! "He's a friend of Zexion, the older brother that arrived in the van."

"Hm-hm," Cloud muttered, standing up and pulling Namine next to him in one fluid motion, causing Vexen's face to morph into one of slight confusion before smoothing over to one of blank uninterest so fast Cloud would have missed it if he wasn't looking.

Leon looked at Namine sandwiched between Cloud and Sora, a bewildered look furrowed between her brows, before pointing at the front door. "Vexen, get Riku and Zexion in here to pick out a room."

Arching one eyebrow at Leon, Vexen shrugged a shoulder and made his way out the door, avoiding brushing by the brunet with the death grip on the small blonde he had been eying earlier.

Smart boy.

"Thank you," Cloud's voice drew Leon's gaze back to the blond in time to see him run a hand through Namine's hair as Sora nodded his thanks beside him.

Leon waved away the comment, mentally reminding himself to inform Riku, Kiah and Zexion to be careful around the platinum blonde who was obviously under some very close scrutiny in this neighborhood.

Now, the only thing Leon had to decide was if he should find out _why_...

* * *

_**You can't expect to hit the jackpot if you don't put a few nickels in the machine.**_

* * *

Roxas wasn't normally a twitchy person; he could stand still far better than most and he could hold his body in poses for Namine for hours on end, but this waiting was starting to get on his nerves and he was beginning to pace around the patch of driveway that wasn't currently occupied by a pair of redheads, his brother trying to feel another guy's head, this silvered haired kid watching the house as fervently as he was, or the pair of nut-jobs with another silver haired boy arguing by their very pink van.

"Relax, kid, before you wear a hole in the lawn," The weird redhead who's name Roxas had forgotten and had been staring at him when they first met was eying him again, which gave Roxas a pinching feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him shift uncomfortably. "If you're so damn worried, why don't you walk your happy ass in there, find out whatever you need to find out and get rid of the ants in your pants?"

"Be nice!" The redhead's sister elbowed him in the side, giving him a sharp frown as well.

"I can't help it, Kairi," His retort was slightly diminished by the fact that he was rubbing his side with a pout on his lips, "He's driving me nuts!"

Growling over Kairi's order to 'just leave him be', Roxas tried to push away the feeling that something was about to go very wrong. It wasn't just that the new girl had been in the house ever since they arrived-he had been told she was very particular about where each and every one of her things were put, so that explained way she had yet to reappear-it was that Sora was in there, his baby brother, with a man who was looking at Namine like a tasty treat...

_Cloud is probably freaking out right about now, but the one I'm really worried about is Sora... _His brother looked three seconds away from throttling Vexen and Sora wasn't normally that violent to someone he just met. It must be one of those things that Sora 'just knew' about; like the fact he knew that Beast was going to propose to Belle a week before the behemoth even thought of buying her a ring, or how he knew that Erick would steal Ariel away from Demyx's band, even though the ebony haired man hadn't intended for that to happen.

Finally giving into the redhead's advice to get the 'ants out of his pants', Roxas walked up the pathway to the house and was just about to open the door when Vexen decided to walk through it, stopping just in front of Roxas to study him intently and invasively.

"Two sides of the same coin..." The blond/brunet muttered, soft voice cutting through all the chatter going on all over the lawn as he leaned as close to Roxas as Kairi had to Namine, "A fractured coin, cast by a broken heart... and a need for love... How very tragic for you."

"Vexen?" The silvered hair boy that had caught Sora's eye as well, but for a good reason this time, called out to his friend with a confused note coloring his tone as he stepped forward, "Was there something you wanted?"

"Leon wants you and Zexion to come inside and pick out your rooms, " Vexen replied, his eyes never leaving Roxas' face as he continued to study the shorter man, making him feel even more uncomfortable than before. "Zexion, the perfect room for you is on the west side of the house, you'll know it when you see it."

"Thank you," The one that got Sora's attention voice had a definite note of command to it and, to Roxas' surprise, Vexen immediately averted his gaze and made his way around Roxas to start unpacking the van that he came in.

The one that ordered Vexen off walked up to the door and gave Roxas a grin that he somehow didn't like even more than Vexen's stare. How the hell could he not like a **smile**? "Sorry about him, I'm Riku Leonhart, by the way... What was your name, again?"

"Roxas," He knew he answer came out short and snappish, but there was something about this guy he didn't like. Maybe he was having one of Sora's 'senses'... "Roxas Strife."

The redhead that had been staring at Roxas the entire time decided to add his two cents worth again as he puffed out his scrawny little chest and boasted, "I'm Axel, kid. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"

From the way Riku had rolled his eyes, Roxas figured Axel's little speech was a common occurrence with him, so he just shrugged his shoulder and answered, "Yeah, you're named after part of a car. Got it."

Laughing aloud, the brothers made their way past the affronted redhead into the house just as their sister and Namine exited it, talking about something that Roxas would've expected from the girls, given the circumstances.

"Are you sure there is a good art shop around here?" The new girl was asking, tucking a stray strand of her ponytail behind her ear as she paid rapt attention to every word coming from Namine's mouth. "I've been to a few of the 'best' art shops and I already had most, if not all, of what they had..."

"Oh, don't worry, Kiah," Namine was also paying close attention to the girl beside her, completely oblivious to the fact that said girl's brothers were looking at the two in utter bewilderment. "Radiant Colors, while not very imaginative, definitely has the best art supplies and is constantly getting new stock. You'll find everything you need there, trust me on this."

"Excuse me," The older brother-Zexion-interrupted with what looked like a ghost of a smile pulling at his lips, "but we need to get in the house now. Could you two perhaps continue this discussion elsewhere?"

Wearing matching blushes, the girls moved out of the way so that the boys could get inside and Roxas decided that he would follow them, helping move in a few boxes while he was at it. That way, they'd be moved in sooner and he could get away from this strange family with their strange friends...

* * *

_**I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.**_

* * *

"Come on!"

"No."

"You know you want to..."

The only response he got to that was a long glare that had him swallowing shakily before he was giving his partner-in-crime a wide grin that had the other man narrow his eyes in suspicion.

"Okay, I know you don't **want **to," The first speaker waved away the comment as if it was of little importance before his grin grew wider and his friend's unease was kicked up a notch, "but the question is; how long do you think you'll be able to stand me whining at you before you give in?"

This got him one of those glares, the glare that said there would be a very slow, painful death in store for him if he keep up this pestering attitude, but it wasn't as affective as usual because their were only a few seconds silence before the first voice started pestering his mute companion again.

"Come **on**!!! _**Please**_?!? Please, please, please, please, please-"

"Shut up."

His friend chose not to hear him, "-please, please, please, pretty, pretty, please, please-"

A nervous twitch was starting to appear under his left eye, but due to the dark shades he always wore, his companion didn't see this danger sign and continued to bother the man.

"-please, please, please, pretty, pretty please, please, please, please-"

"**Alright, **alright! We'll go, just quit bugging me!"

"A-ha! I win!"

This time the annoyance got a fist to the back of his head that left him blissfully silent for a few minutes. It was sad that he couldn't make it last longer without killing his 'friend'... Then again...

"Hey, guys!" A new voice interrupted his thoughts of murder just as his companion was stirring, "What are you do-? ...Why is Reno on the floor? What did you do to Rude now, Reno?"

"I didn't do anything, Tifa," Reno sprang up from the floor surprisingly fast for someone who had been groaning in pain not two minutes beforehand, giving Tifa his signature 'whipped dog' look. "I was just trying to get Reno to see Cloud and he hit me!"

"Let me guess," Tifa put her hands on her hips and shook a few strands of her hair out of her face, "You were doing your 'I'm going to keep repeating the question until Rude says yes' routine, right? The one that **always** annoys the hell out of him and the one that **always** gets you hit at one point or another?"

Reno's face pulled into a pout, as Tifa walked past him to greet her other friend, who returned her embrace with a nod. "I wouldn't have had to if he had just said yes the first time I asked..."

Shaking her head at Reno's familiar antics, Tifa clapped a hand on Rude's shoulder and offered a compromise. "Why don't we all go see Cloud? I hear that some new neighbors just moved in, we can check them out while we're at it."

"Alright!" Reno cheered, throwing his arms in the air in a gesture of victory that had Tifa shaking her head again as he darted out the front door, "I call 'shotgun'! Are we taking your truck, Tifa, or mine?"

Sighing, Rude followed his friend at a much more sedate pace, locking the door behind them and smiling at Tifa's immediate answer to Reno's question:

"Of course we're taking my truck; we'd probably end up stranded halfway there in your hunk of junk!!"


End file.

Kingdom Hearts, Adventure, Romance