A/N: This fic here is mainly rated for vulgarity, sexual references, use of drugs and alcohol, notty words, reality, sex, partner switching, my retardation, confusion, lengthiness, etc., etc., and the usual. XD Parings are Akuroku, Cleon, touches of Soriku and Zemyx, and maybe some others in later chapters. A lot of one sided teenage crushes.

Yay! An update that's on time! I think… Haha, I'm not sure when they became weekly, but they are now. :)

Enjoy!

Cry For Me, Laugh For Me

Chapter Seven

Sora stared absently out of the passenger side window of Riku's car. Roxas skipped school and it was only the second day. He was worried for his brother. Mother wasn't going to be pleased and she always did dot on and punish Roxas more than the other two brothers. He also understood that yesterday was really difficult for Roxas, more so than the other two.

"What's up Sora?" Riku asked after a while. "You've been off in your own little world since about fifth period."

"Hm?" The brunet sighed and stretched his arms to the roof of the vehicle. "Yeah, Roxas skipped school today."

Riku gave Sora a side glance. "Doesn't he always skip though? What's so different about it now?"

"Well…" he groaned. Last night he had told Riku everything that happened, but had sworn him to secrecy, though he didn't say a word about Roxas' fight with his friends, he'd promised Roxas not to tell. "I think that all the stress of…" he waved his hands and arms vaguely, "everything, is getting to him."

Riku nodded, his aqua eyes focused on the road. He began to drum his fingers on the steering wheel. "Are you sure you guys'll be alright? I mean with your mother MIA again…"

Sora cut him off with a wave of his hand. "We'll manage, we always do. I just don't want Mother to do anything… rash, to Roxas. You know how it can get."

"Yeah, your Mom can be really out there." Sora nodded. "I never asked, but is she always like that?"

"Like what?" Sora's head quirked slightly and he sat to face Riku.

"Like… A robot or something," he paused a moment to think. "I mean she always addresses herself as Mother and whatnot." With a grunt he opted his voice to go slightly higher, in imitation of their Mother, "Roxas, Sora, come to your Mother, I have something to tell my good children." Sora giggled a little. "You know?"

"Yeah, she's always like that. Always has been, probably always will be."

They were both silent as they drew closer to Sora's house. Riku resumed drumming his fingers before stopping suddenly and looking to Sora briefly. "Not trying to hurt any feelings here, but have you got a hold of Kairi yet?" Sora shrugged and returned to looking out his window. "Sorry, shouldn't have brought it up. I was just curious."

"Don't worry about it," Sora muttered to the window. He scratched at his leg irritably and moaned. "I don't know how you can wear these, Riku. They're hot and itchy."

"It's not my fault that you didn't think to bring some clothes with you last night."

"It was hard to think about anything last night!" Sora said quickly and threw his hands up. He really wasn't in the greatest of moods this afternoon, a constant worry for his brothers and the hot, itchy pants could do that to a person. The two boys sat in the irritated atmosphere in the car silently for a few minutes. Neither wanted to talk, but neither wanted to continue being frustrated with the other.

"So," Riku said slowly, dragging the word out with hesitation.

"So," Sora repeated.

Riku sighed heavily. "If there's anything you guys need, just ask, okay?"

"Sure thing, Riku," Sora said in a defeated tone. Of course they'd never ask anyone, even if they really needed the help. They were just too proud a family to be asking for favors of any kind.

"Thanks." The tension in the air dissipated and the two rode the rest of the way in a more comfortable silence.

When they pulled into the Strife's driveway, Sora got out of the car hesitantly, ducking into the back briefly to grab his bag. "Thanks a lot Riku. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"You bet," Riku said with an affirmative nod. Sora slammed the car door shut and waved Riku off, just as usual.

Only when the other boy was out of sight did Sora go inside. He kicked off his shoes, tossed his bag to the side and went up stairs to Roxas' door. His breath hitched slightly as he knocked on the door, for reasons unknown to him he was scared shitless about the idea of Roxas not being home at this very moment in time. "Roxas?" he asked quietly to the door, "Roxas, are you in there?"

"Hrrmph," came the groggy reply from within.

Sora's tense stance relaxed almost immediately. "Can I come in Rox?"

"Fine, just go away," he heard Roxas mumble from inside. Sora smiled to himself and opened the door, being careful as to not let it bang against the wall.

He walked across the room and sat gingerly on Roxas' bed in the crook of his twins legs as he was curled up on his side, face buried into the pillow. "Feeling any better?" he asked when it was obvious that Roxas wasn't going to be saying anything anytime soon.

"Mmhmm."

"You know, you should get out of bed soon. You won't be able to sleep tonight if you don't." Roxas only shrugged and Sora let out a sigh. He opted for a different tactic. "Besides, Cloud said that you'd call Mother today…"

"Oh, shit!" Roxas shot out from under his blankets and stumbled towards the open door. "I totally forgot."

Sora laughed, lying down on his twins' bed. "Nice one, Rox. I'm going to change out of these things. Let me know how it goes with Mother."

Roxas nodded and headed downstairs. He grabbed the wireless phone from the kitchen and plopped down onto the couch with a miserable groan. He dialed the familiar number and listened nervously to the ringtone.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mother, its Roxas."

"Roxas? What's wrong, Mother is busy; her children should be behaving while Mother is gone."

Roxas sighed. "We are Mother. We just have a lot of problems."

She was silent for a few minutes; someone was talking in the background. "Roxas, tell your Mother about your problems."

He tried not to twitch, it got irritating, the constant formalities. "Someone broke into the house yesterday. They stole all the money you left for us. I think Cloud's going to have an aneurism."

Again she was silent, although this time there was no voice to distract her. "I have two hundred. That is all Mother can spare her boys. Tell Cloud to not worry, the bad people will be punished and that Mother will help more when she can. Until then, Roxas and Sora must remain good children. Mother loves you."

"Love you too Mother," Roxas said, trying not to groan. It's true, his mom was a freak. Honestly, who actually talked in third person anymore? They hung up simultaneously and Roxas sat up further in the couch and stifled a yawn. "Oh goodie," he mumbled to himself before flipping on the television. It was about four thirty now, and he hadn't forgotten about his challenge against Axel at six.

Sora came thumping down the stairs soon after, dressed up as he normally did, scratching at his legs every here and there. He looked to Roxas expectantly. "Well? How'd it go?"

Roxas shrugged. "She said she'd send us two hundred dollars, and to continue being 'good children', as usual."

"Better than nothing, and it should calm Cloud down too." He fell onto the couch next to Roxas, "So, what now?"

Roxas looked from the T.V. to Sora. "You remember Axel, right?"

"Uh, yeah. It's kind of hard to forget that guy. Why?"

"He thinks that he's better at Halo two than us," the twins exchanged similar looks, "he's going to be online at six with his brother Reno. What do you say?"

"I say that we show him whose boss! They won't know what hit 'um! The unstoppable force of the Keys, that's what!" Sora pumped an excited fist into the air. Roxas only smirked alongside his brother. This was probably going to be the most fun he'd had in a while. Even better was going to see Axel's face at school tomorrow; that was the ultimate victory.

"I told him both of our gamer tags, who do you want to log in as?"

Sora pondered this for a moment. "I'd have to say as KeyofDestiny. Because your gamer score is way higher than mine. You really have no life Rox." Roxas shrugged, playing outside is for kids. He, Hayner and Pence would always play online together. He sighed. He really missed them, and it had only been a day, maybe half. He wasn't even sure anymore.

"Sure thing, and I have a life, it just doesn't revolve around the beach."

They sat down on the couch and relaxed for a bit. Sora grabbed a pillow and fluffed it repeatedly. "You hungry?" he asked, most likely out of sheer boredom.

"Not really." And that was the truth, he was still content from his Panini and he just plain felt too sluggish to bother eating.

Sora shrugged, tossed the pillow aside and stood from the couch, finger tracing over the duct tape strip. "Well you might not be hungry, but I am. If there's anything you want, now's the time to tell me – as I go ever so slowly to the kitchen…" the brunet sang out as he made for the kitchen in slow motion. "You'd better hurry, or I just might not heeaaarrr you."

Roxas groaned. Sora did this every time he was worried that Roxas wasn't eating as a way to get him to eat. "Just get me a soda and some chips."

"I'm on it!" he chirped and went to the kitchen. Roxas settled deeper into the couch, eyes unfocused on the television. An hour and a half until six. He refocused his attention, making a face when he realized that they were watching Spongebob Squarepants. "Roxas, food!" Sora announced as he paraded back into the living room, two sodas, a bowl of Doritos and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his arms. He handed Roxas the Doritos and the Coke, keeping the sandwich and the Fanta Orange for himself.

"I can't believe you drink that stuff." Roxas mumbled, eyeing the Fanta in Sora's hands.

Sora shrugged. "It's good. Like orange soda but better."

The blond rolled his eyes. Orange soda was disgusting. "Every time I see someone drinking that I can't help but to think that they should be wearing a skin tight striped shirt with a matching handkerchief tied around their neck."

"With black skinny jeans and be named Rico, yeah, we've been over this before."

"I'm just sayin'…"

"I'm just disagreeing. Fanta is a man's drink!" Sora said and stuck his nose up stubbornly in the air.

Roxas remained silent for a brief moment, almost not believing what his twin had just said. "Uh, I wouldn't go that far… but whatever."

The twins began munching on their snacks, Roxas staring up at the ceiling instead of watching the freakishly annoying show, bantering back and forth occasionally. At 5:30 Sora got up and pulled out the 360, changed the T.V to the correct channel and handed Roxas the mic and first controller.

"Let's run a couple games while we wait."

"Sure." With practiced ease, Roxas turned on the system, logged in and had the game running. The brothers went through a few games, going over spawn points, vehicle drops, and sniper points.

Sora groaned when the third round started to load. "Are you sure he said six? Because it's getting really close and still not a word." He stretched back and sighed. "Besides, I'm bored. We've been over this like, a thousand times."

Roxas drummed his fingers on the controller in annoyance. Sora was right and if Axel didn't live up to his word… there would be hell to pay. So the blond was relieved when a friend request popped up in the corner of the television screen.

"FlurryOfFlame… that's him, right?" Roxas nodded and put on the mic, accepting the request reluctantly. Quickly they joined party chat, which consisted of Roxas, Axel and ShinraTurk, Axel's brother that he had spoken of.

"Yo blondie, ready to get owned?" He wished that he could kill the redhead.

"Stuff it."

"Hey Rox, his brother has his own 360? Weird." The brunet scratched his head and shrugged.

"Sora wants to know if Reno has his own system."

"Do not!"

There were a couple chuckles. "Yeah," Axel said, "we don't share well."

Roxas shrugged and waited as the two brothers set up their match. He didn't care. He and Sora had overplayed this game and nothing was much of a challenge anymore.

"Ready, yo?" the voice was significantly deeper than Axel's.

"Whatever." As soon as the match started he turned off his mic and concentrated on the game, just as Sora was. It was on one of the smaller maps, so the twins used the simple flush them out of hiding and snipe them – Roxas usually being the sniper and Sora the decoy.

It only took the twins five minutes to have the brothers crying out in frustration. Once the brothers had caught on to their strategy, the twins effortlessly moved into a different one. Sora would spam the use of plasma grenades while Roxas used vehicles to his advantage. The game lasted only for fifteen minutes before the brothers gave up, the timer of the game coming to an end.

Sora laughed at the scores. There had been no way the other two could have caught up to them. "I told you I'd win." Roxas said smugly into the mic once he'd turned it back on.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Axel said, trying to put it off. "At least I have a life. So, nyah!"

The brunet twin giggled. Roxas raised a brow at him. "He's so immature," he said with a laugh.

"Axel, Sora says you're immature."

"Am not!"

"Don't tell him what I'm saying!" Sora protested.

"So are," came Reno's voice.

Roxas sat back as the brothers began to argue. His eyes wandered to the clock. It was almost six twenty… Cloud would be home in about ten minutes. "Hey, we've got to go. Dinner and whatnot. Later." The blond powered off the system before he could get a reply.

Sora's eyes went wide for a brief second. "Oh! I almost forgot about dinner. I'll get on that right now. How about Hamburger Helper? Quick, easy, cheap… three of Clouds favorite things!" Sora said with a smile.

"Cloud likes things to be easy?" Roxas asked suspiciously.

Sora nodded. "Well yeah. It's easier than being hard."

"Uh, right. Never mind." Roxas almost wanted to laugh at his brother, but before he could Sora burst out in chuckles.

"Ha ha Roxas, I get it. He likes "easy" things and "being hard" ha ha, jerk."

"You said it, not me." Sora punched his twins arm and Roxas just shrugged it off like usual. "Anyway, cook. I'll clean."

"Roger roger." The older brunet began fishing out ingredients, utensils, and the all too familiar box of Hamburger Helper. "You know Rox we eat this stuff like, three times a week. Won't we get sick and die of malnutrition or something?"

Roxas shook his head. Opting to stay silent and quietly clean house before Cloud got home from work. He always chose cleaning over cooking. It's not like he was a neat freak or anything. He just wasn't that great of a cook, even if it was just Hamburger Helper.

The brothers worked in silence, listening to the television show in the next room. God he hated Spongebob. By the time dinner was sitting to cool Cloud had finally gotten home. The older blond slammed the door shut behind him, stopping a second before turning around and checking the door and handle. Sighing, he tossed his schoolbag into a chair and sat at the table, elbows resting on the hard surface while rubbing his temples. There was a grimace set firmly onto his features.

"How was your day, Cloud?" Sora asked as he came up behind his older brother, massaging his shoulders tenderly.

"Fine," the older Strife said. Neither twin said anything to prove otherwise. Roxas went to the cupboards and grabbed the customary plates and cups, being careful not to make any clatter together. Sora finished giving Cloud a quick rubdown, fixed his collar and went to the stove.

"I made dinner if you're hungry?" Two pairs of ocean blue eyes trained onto the tall blond.

Cloud sighed, "Yeah," he said, defeated. He picked up his plate and handed it to Roxas who handed it to Sora. It had become a routine. Sora filled the plate, handed it to Roxas who handed it back to Cloud, who grabbed the next plate and so forth.

When the brothers had finished, the all sat down and ate in silence. None had the urge to say anything – until Roxas had recalled his talk with Mother.

"Cloud," he started uncertainly, he didn't know how Cloud would take the news, and two hundred really wasn't all that much when you thought about it, "I talked to Mother today."

Cloud tensed. It was obvious he had been thinking about it all day, but wasn't sure if he wanted to know the results. "And…?" he asked hesitantly.

Roxas sighed. "She said she'd wire us two hundred tonight, but won't be able to give us any more until later."

The news seemed to please Cloud to a point, he must have been expecting the worst. "Alright," the eldest said shortly, "I want you to pick it up tomorrow after school." Roxas nodded. That was the end of that conversation.

When dinner was finished and the dishes cleaned the three brothers split up to do their own thing, Cloud watching TV, Sora on the phone with most likely Riku, and Roxas to his room. He filled out his planner like usual, and then lay out on his bed. He felt tired, but awake at the same time. And for once, he couldn't wait to go to school. He wanted to see Axel, the look on his face when the redhead admits defeat… Just the thought of it tugged a smile on his lips.

"Hey, Rox?" Roxas looked up his pillow to see Sora standing in his door, the phone receiver buried in his shoulder. "Do you want to come with me and Riku to see a movie?"

Roxas pretended to think for a moment. Of course he didn't want to go, especially if it was just going to be the three of them. One, he'd be a third wheel or something, because whenever Riku was around Sora tended to get absorbed completely into the other teen. Second, Kairi wasn't there to keep him occupied either, she tended to get excluded as well, although not as much as he did. "Thanks, but no thanks; I've got homework to do."

Sora made a 'tsk'ing sound before putting the phone back up to his ear. "He said that he couldn't - has homework." Sora's face scrunched up at something Riku said. "Yeah, well, whatever. I'll see you in a few." He hung up the phone and sighed. "You sure you don't wanna come? You really look like you could use some time away."

The younger blond shook his head. "I'm good, and I really have to do this homework, since I missed most of class today." Sora nodded, trying hard not to pout. He was only trying to help. "Thanks though," Roxas said softly, knowing that Sora had meant well, "I appreciate it."

The brunet gave a grin. "It's no problem! I'll see you when I get back. Later Roxas."

"Later," Roxas called after his brother. When he was sure that the other was gone, he went back downstairs to grab his backpack and hauled it back up to his room. He spent the next two hours on his homework and skimming ahead in some of his texts in classes that he thought he had might have missed something important.

It wasn't until later that night when Sora returned home did he stop working. "Hey Rox," Sora said giddily from his door once again. "I reeeaaally wished you could've come with us to the movie! It was awesome! I mean there was action and explosions and loud music and more explosions and awesome!"

Roxas raised an amused brow, "Riku gave you too much sugar," he pointed out. Sora shook his head, making Roxas sigh – it was so obvious. "What movie did you see anyway?"

The question made the brunet pause. "Uh…" he trailed off, putting his finger to his chin thoughtfully. "I'm not really sure," the oldest twin said at last, "but it was cool!"

"Right, well it's half past nine. I'm going to bed, so go away."

Sora pouted. "But Roxasssss, it's not even that late!"

The blond gave a tired yawn, he didn't care how early or late it was he was tired. "Well, if that's the case," he said a small smirk forming on his lips, "then you should have plenty of time and energy to do your homework too."

"Err…" the brunet gaped like a fish at the sudden idea, "Well actually," he gave a fake yawn, "I'm really sleepy too, see ya in the morning Rox!" And with that he ran off to his room.

Roxas just shrugged at the display and changed into a pair of pajamas before shutting off the lights and crawling sleepily into bed.

oOo

When the twins got to school the next morning, they were greeted by Riku at the front doors.

"Riku!" Sora nearly bounced into the older teens arms, instead stopping short, a large smile on his face. "You're at school on time!" the brunet observed.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, Axel wanted to ask me something, but he hasn't showed up yet."

"Axel, huh?" Sora said slowly, scanning the crowds behind him.

"Speak of the Devil…" Roxas and Sora said in unison as soon as the redhead could be spotted, walking with another redhead around the same height and a ponytail at the nape of his neck. The twins wore identical smirks of satisfaction as the pair approached, making Riku nervous.

Soon the two redheads caught sight of the twins. Quickly Axel whispered something in the other's ear – Reno, Roxas assumed – and sniggered when Reno stuck his nose up and marched past the twins, Axel on the other hand laughed good-naturedly and walked up to the trio, giving Roxas a pat on the back when he was near enough.

"Yo guys, what's up?" Axel draped an arm around Riku's shoulders.

The smug looks didn't leave the twins faces; they stared hard at Axel just waiting for him to admit defeat. Axel on the other hand was doing his best to not give in. He knew what they wanted, but he pretended not to.

"Axel…" Riku said at last, breaking the strange silence, "Whatever did or didn't do, admit it. They won't stop until you do, trust me on this."

The lanky teen looked to his friend. "How long can they keep it up? Honestly? Minutes, hours…?"

"Weeks," Riku said with a sigh, "that's the longest I've ever managed."

Axel seemed to ponder this seriously; finally he heaved a heavy sigh, "Fiiiiiine! You win, I lose, boo-hoo." Sora immediately broke out into a brilliant grin, while Roxas looked positively smug. "Twins… go figure."

"So Riku," Sora went on saying, "did I tell you how Roxas and I completely destroyed Axel and his brother in Halo?"

"Well, no... Not that I'm surprised but…"

Sora's grin only seemed to get wider, "C'mon! I'll give you an in-depth explanation of how we wiped the floor with them…" The brunet boy led the taller away continuing to talk animatedly to the other.

Axel looked to Roxas, a strange expression on his face. Roxas on the other hand was as close as he'd ever been to laughing outright. "What was all that about?" the redhead asked finally.

"In many ways," Roxas said, his smug smile twisting oh so evilly, "Sora is like a dog. Loyal, obedient, easily trained…"

The redhead gave a long whistle. "Geez Rox, your own brother? I mean, I figured you were a sadistic little bugger, but wow, just wow."

The blond looked up at Axel. "So what? We were ten at the time anyway… Why would I scold him for having a quality that benefits me so well?" For a brief moment Roxas stared at Axel, expecting an honest answer.

Axel barked out a laugh. "Do you think… maybe… you could 'teach' Reno a few things for me?"

Roxas rolled his eyes before heading into the building, becoming more and more accustomed to Axel tailing him closely. "To be honest," the blond started as he began to weave through crowds, "I still haven't heard you say what I want to hear. Not that it matters."

The redhead tilted his head curiously at his shorter companion. "And what, exactly, is it that you want to hear from me?"

"Just that I was right."

"About…?"

Roxas smirked lightly. "About being better than you at Halo."

"You're still stuck on that?" Axel whined. He pouted at Roxas as they made their way up the first flight of stairs. When the blond showed no sign of giving in he sighed. "Fiiiiiiine! You're the real God of Halo! Happy now?"

"Very," the blond replied smugly. The pair sat on what was now quickly becoming their bench, a little ways from their first period.

"So, what now?" Axel asked, "There's still about twenty minutes until class starts." The taller looked down at his watch to double check, confirming his assumption with a nod of his head, shaking the rippling spikes of his hair.

Roxas just shrugged. "We-"

"Raooooo! Roxie! Whatcha doin'?" Both Axel and Roxas looked up to see the energetic Rikku approaching them. She was in the same get up as usual: tight white tee, a short pair of bottoms, strangely decorated boots and a matching navy blue underwear set.

"We're just chillin' before class starts," Axel supplied with a grin. He really did like Rikku; she was a fun and interesting person – without a doubt.

Rikku's blue green eyes sparked with interest before she plopped down next to Roxas. "I thought you were a sophomore, Roxie. Nekrd?"

"What?"

"What what?" Rikku shot him a confused glance; he could feel Axel give him the same look from behind.

"What is "rao" and "nekrd"?"

Instantly Rikku's mouth made a little 'o' shape. "You don't know Al Bhed?" Roxas shook his head negatively. "Ohhhhh, I see! That's right! You're not from around these parts! Uv luinca!"

At Roxas' bewildered look Axel spoke up. "Just around here is an area of town that is mostly populated with Al Bhed that err… migrated – if you can call it that – here a few decades ago. They were a nomadic tribe… technologically bent people, still are too."

"Oh," was all that Roxas could think to say. "I've never met an Al Bhed before… I didn't know about them…"

"Pshaw!" Rikku flipped her hand at him in a girly manner, "You've met me, right?" Roxas nodded. "So then you've met an Al Bhed! Although I'm not a nomad or whatever, I was born here, but we still practice our language and culture back home."

"I had no idea…" Roxas trailed off, trying to wrap his mind around this radically new idea. An entire race of people that he had no clue existed until now…

"Either way," Rikku said with a dismissive shrug, "aren't you a sophomore, Roxie? What are you doing on the third floor?"

Axel spoke up for the thought filled blond. "He's in Chemistry this hour. He's taking a lot of junior level classes."

"Ur oayr! Paine and Yuna mentioned that at lunch the other day." She gave Roxas a wink. "Which reminds me, you're going to have to explain to us why you were gone yesterday later."

"Alright," Roxas said at last, finally finding his voice, "I'll see you at lunch."

"Caa oy drah! See ya then!" she called out and left the two in her wake.

"Hey," Axel said, his voice bordering on a whine.

"What?"

"How come she can call you Roxie and I can't?"

Roxas couldn't wait for the day to end.

oOo

I love Sora. :)

Thanks for reading everyone! :D