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For all the sparring they did, it was rare for them to team up on each other. Usually, fights were one on one with someone umpiring and others calling out advice. Sora didn’t mind it so much. It was fun to rotate through but for some reason, today they’d decided it was three on three. Sora actually thought it had been Kairi and Lea’s idea, the two of them goodnaturedly squabbling over whose trio was the most powerful. It had then degraded into in-fighting because when did Roxas and Lea not fight? Those two were always bickering, but in that way that showed that they really did care about each other.
And then Pence had called out, “How about a lookalike battle?” which led to where they were now: Sora vs Ventus vs Roxas.
“No team-ups,” Roxas stated firmly, looking between them and waiting for nods.
“Sure, but no holding back either,” Ven teased in return.
Roxas scowled before shaking his head, a smile appearing instead and right, Hayner had said they’d been trying to teach Roxas the concept of friendly competition. He...sometimes understood. But he was still inclined to be more competitive than friendly.
“Okay, loser is a rotten egg!” Sora called, flashing them both a smile before summoning his keyblade and launching straight for Ven.
Ven yelped but managed to block, both of them then jumping aside as Roxas came in swinging, a keyblade aimed at each of them. The fighting then started for real and Ven must have really stirred Roxas up with his words or he’d had a bad day or something, anything, because Roxas was truly not holding back. But to the point that Sora had never seen him fight like this, or perhaps only that one time when they’d really fought, back when Sora was still trying to figure out exactly who Roxas was and how he was a part of him. Ven seemed to pick up on it too but instead of stopping or calling a time out, he seemed to up his own skills and Sora was knocked aside within seconds. It hurt, realising he couldn’t even come close to what his “others”, for want of a better word, could do. They had been playing with him the whole time. Sora had never had a chance of beating them in real combat, he doubted even Riku would have been able to.
The fight only stopped when Olette abruptly swore, muttering something about being late to work. Roxas had dismissed his keyblades without thought, stepping through a portal and appearing at her side before Ven even realised the fight was over. It made Sora smile, all previous thoughts getting pushed aside. Roxas was just such a good friend.
Naturally, that was probably why Hayner then pointed at Sora, Roxas following his finger with a frown and then mumbling something that had Hayner slapping him over the head. Making a dark portal, Roxas vanished with Pence and Olette, returning a few minutes later on his own, but not without a soda for Hayner, who took it with an easy grin and a press of lips to the inside of Roxas’ wrist. Sora then jumped as Roxas appeared next to him, lips pursed.
“You okay?”
“Huh?” Sora blinked a few times, holding up his hands when Roxas leant in closer. “I’m fine!”
“Really? ‘Cause Hayner said you were upset and...you did kind of look it.” Roxas toed the ground, eyes dropping. “Did I...in the fight, did something…?”
Sora sighed, bending down to catch Roxas’ gaze, grinning when he blushed at that. “Nah, you didn’t do anything. More like you both surprised me. I realised you and Ven are a lot stronger than me. Kinda hurt,” he admitted, though he was laughing.
Roxas didn’t laugh, just frowned further. “Maybe. But, Sora…” His hand reached out, clasping Sora’s tightly. “You were handed a keyblade and you did great things with it. Alone. Ven and I...Ven’s been trained his whole life for this. And me…” Roxas turned to stare at the ocean. “Xemnas drilled my skills into me, over and over. Ven went to school for...well, I guess for this and I, I was a made a weapon Sora.”
“You’re no-”
“I was.” Roxas’ tone was absolute. “And maybe it’s not okay, but I’m not gonna lie about what I was either. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t the strongest fighter that made the biggest difference. It was the person with the biggest heart. And...the person who could reach the most people.”
It was Sora’s turn to flush under the smile he was given there.
“That was you Sora. And to me, that makes you the strongest of all of us.”
“Roxas…”
Sora swallowed thickly, taken aback. Roxas just smiled, squeezing his shoulder once before turning at the sounds of footsteps. Hayner come up behind them, crushing his soda can in his hand and slinging an arm around Roxas’ shoulders. “So, about dinner…”
Roxas’ eyes narrowed. “Isn’t it your night to cook for your family?”
Hayner laid a hand over his heart dramatically. “But how can I when my boyfriend’s taking me out?”
Roxas rolled his eyes but didn’t protest. He gave Sora a wave before shrugging Hayner off, only to then link their fingers together. Their disappearing through a portal lined up with Riku coming to his side. “Everything okay? Roxas looked serious.”
Sora positively beamed, Riku taking half a step back. “Roxas is great!”
Sora provided no further explanation. Not like he needed to anyway. He’d said all that he needed to.
***
Sora had soon made up his own mind about what the saddest part of Roxas’ life was. It was, quite simply, that Roxas went to school six days a week. And worked at the bistro sometimes. Sora struggled with a five day school week with no job, let alone a six day school week. He didn’t know how Roxas had time for any fun but he never complained. Maybe after spending so long in the Organization, having even a day off was luxury? Sora didn’t know and, for all his bravery, he was too afraid to ask.
But, that was very much why he had been called to handle an out of control heartless in Twilight Town. Isa and Lea spent a lot of time at Radient Garden while the “kids were at school” as Lea called it, and the Wayfarer trio were already neck deep in their own mission. So Sora took it on, assuring Riku and Kairi he had it before shooting off. He arrived in Twilight Town to find the heartless wasn’t just a few shadows but rather an actual darkside. Sora didn’t swear, but he did grit his teeth. This was going to take some work.
He managed to lure the creature out of the tram common and away from the majority of people but it was still rampaging through town and if he didn’t stop it, there was going to be damage soon. As he was pushed back towards the sandlot, there was something of a flash along the ground and Sora didn’t know what that meant. Just as suddenly, a swarm of Nobodies rose from the ground, Sora yelping and jumping back. They didn’t attack him though. No, they turned as one and threw themselves at the darkside.
“What in the world?” Sora muttered.
There was then a loud howl from the darkside and Sora saw the two keyblades lodged in its shoulder. That only meant one thing. And sure enough, Roxas was there seconds later, still dressed in his school uniform and looking harried but…
“Roxas?”
Sora would never admit that his voice trembled but it did because Roxas...Roxas was...his teeth were sharpened to points, the whites of his eyes a solid black, and darkness pooled at his feet. At his voice, Roxas turned to him, eyes flicking over before almost seeming to decide he wasn’t a threat. A finger then pointed to their left and, oh...the darkside had nearly reached the usual spot, the hangout Roxas and friends so often frequented. Had he...set up a protective barrier or something? Could Roxas do that?
“Mine.”
The voice was a hiss and then Roxas was shooting forwards. Sora called out a stammered “w-wait!” before charging in after him because as if he was going to let Roxas do this on his own. They fought together, Sora, Roxas, and Roxas’ nobodies, because that’s what they had to be. The advance guard to keep his friends safe until Roxas could get there. Sora had never seen Roxas fight like this. He didn’t use magic - couldn’t, really - but it was one thing to see him swing a keyblade, another to see him literally bite and tear through vines and tentacles that tried to restrain him. Sora always argued that Roxas wasn’t a monster, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a Nobody.
The darkside eventually fell, Sora wiping the sweat off his forehead as Roxas dismissed his Nobodies with a wave of the hand. He then straightened, head whipping around and if he’d had ears that could move, Sora would be sure they’d be pricked right now. Roxas then grinned, teeth flat and smooth once more just as Hayner and Xion came running down the lane.
“Shouldn’t you be in school?” Roxas teased.
“And so should you!” Hayner replied, pulling him into a headlock. “You just...jumped out the window in the middle of gym.”
Sora feigned a hurt look. “You don’t trust me Roxas?”
Roxas pouted, folding his arms and looking the other way sulkily. Hayner rolled his eyes while Xion took in their location, making a soft “ah”. “They got too close to his territory.”
The words were pitched so low that only Sora could hear, but Roxas’ scowl deepened behind her. Did Nobodies have super hearing? Sora needed to look into that. “Think so,” he said with a breezy shrug. “There was a light and then Roxas appeared not long after that.”
Xion smiled knowingly. “Between you and me, it won’t be long before Roxas has the whole world marked as his. His nobodies will keep the heartless away.”
“But who’s going to keep the nobodies away?” Sora asked.
Xion grimaced. “That...that I don’t know.”
***
“Mind if I join you?”
Roxas looked up from his homework in surprise, Sora smiling awkwardly. After all, he’d be the first to admit, it was rare that he came to Twilight Town rather than Roxas come to the Destiny Islands. Rarer still that he’d come at an unplanned time, unannounced, and with textbooks shoved under his arm. Roxas gave him an appraising look before kicking out the chair opposite. Sora’s smile became a tad more natural, taking his place at the dining table. Roxas’ watched him from behind his hair as Sora flipped to a blank page and found a pen.
“Since when do you do homework?”
“Hey!” Sora cried, affronted. “I do it!...sometimes.”
Roxas chuckled, jotting down an equation before starting to work through it. “Still, you don’t do it with me and I’m...well, I’m still working on the basics so…”
“I just had some questions,” Sora admitted, highlighting a section and starting to go through the dot points under it. “Which you totally don’t have to answer.”
Roxas’ head cocked to the side. “Okay...But why? What’s so bad of you to ask?”
“I don’t know if it’s bad,” Sora admitted sheepishly. “And that’s the problem. I just...are you comfortable about being a Nobody?”
He’d expected a pause, maybe a startled look, but Roxas didn’t even flinch. “Do I have a choice?” he said blandly. “I am one. I can’t change that.”
“No, but...Okay, I’m going about this wrong.”
“Big surprise there.”
“Stop!” Sora whined, earning another laugh. “What I mean is, Roxas, the other day...you looked different. And you were stronger.”
Roxas tugged at his uniform’s collar. “I may have a human vessel but it’s still a disguise, I guess. And holding a disguise, it weakens me a bit. But it doesn’t make me weak,” he ended adamantly, shaking his pen in Sora’s direction warningly.
Sora held up his hands. “I didn’t say it did. I just...if you are stronger like that, then you and Ven aren’t really tied, are you? Why not use those powers when sparring?”
Roxas looked at him as though he’d just asked what one plus one equalled. “What?” he said defensively, folding his arms.
Roxas sighed, abandoning his homework and giving Sora his full attention. “Maybe I don’t want to be seen as a monster.” Sora’s mouth opened but Roxas shook his head shortly. “I’m not human and I’m okay with that and you are too. And so are Hayner and Olette and Pence and even Lea and Isa. And Kairi too and even Ven I think but...sometimes people aren’t okay with me not being like them. And I understand. Sora, you’ve let one of the creatures you hunt become your friend. Why shouldn’t that concern you?”
“Because you’re not like that!” Sora argued.
“I could be,” Roxas said easily. “I don’t want to be, but I could be. And the less opportunities I get to remind people of that, the better. Have you seen, Sora, the way Terra and Aqua look at me?” Sora froze, because he hadn’t. “They suffered a lot because of the darkness and I’m made from the darkness. Every dark portal I make reminds them of what I am, how close I am to being an enemy, to being the thing that hurt them. And I understand,” Roxas emphasised, like he needed Sora to know that, “But…”
“It still hurts,” Sora finished softly.
Roxas smiled sadly. “Yeah. And, Riku too, sometimes. I wasn’t nice to him and how I looked the other day, he’s seen me like that. Fought me like that. Lost you because he couldn’t beat me when I was like that.”
Sora...Sora had never known that.
“And so I keep that part of me to myself. If I pretend to be human long enough, maybe they’ll believe it.”
He went back to his homework like nothing had happened while Sora just sat there with his mouth hanging open. He then rounded the table, yanking Roxas’ chair back and fixing him with a level stare.
“You don’t have to be human for them to accept you,” Sora snapped, perhaps the most scathing he’d ever been. “You just have to be you. Whatever form that takes.”
Roxas’ eyes didn’t well up and he didn’t sniff but his bottom lip certainly trembed and he hurriedly looked away. Sora’s heart broke, jumping onto the table and pulling Roxas up into his arms. Roxas stiffened before exhaling deeply, head tucked against his neck. Sora tightened his grip, pressing a kiss to Roxas’ hair.
“New rule, no one is allowed to think badly about anyone made from me.”
Roxas snorted, though his hands tightened in Sora’s blazer. “Talk no jutsu indeed.”
Sora didn’t know what that meant but he didn’t care. Not when he was holding Roxas as tightly as he was and his nobody was the most content he’d been in a long time.
***
So maybe Sora waited until he knew Aqua and Terra were on a mission and maybe he made Ven swear to silence but it was absolutely worth it to see Roxas hand defeat to him seconds later, teeth flashing and eyes glowing. Ven had then accused him of cheating and Sora had laughed uncontrollably while Roxas looked borderline offended. Best afternoon ever.
***