"Roxas, Roxas, Roxas!" The blond felt a pair of feet come into contact with his back, and then his stomach, as he rolled over. Roxas's six year old brother Sora was giggling as he proceeded to jump on him.

"Get up, sleepyhead!" He shouted, a smile evident in his voice. "Mom says you have to get up and get ready. C'mon, slowpoke!"

The brunet collapsed on his brother's chest, poking Roxas's cheek. The blond slowly opened his eyes and glared daggers at the little boy.

"Shout anything else, and I'll throw you out the window, child," Roxas grumbled as he strained a smile. Sora's poking gradually stopped as his lower lip jutted out, pouting.

"But it's the first day of summer camp, Roxy!" Sora whined, and the blond cringed at the nickname.

The six year old slid off of his brother's chest. Roxas rubbed his eyes as he sat up to look at Sora. His big, ocean blue eyes stared back at the teen's. Sora's brown hair was sticking out in gelled spikes, and he looked dressed for the day ahead in khaki shorts and a plain red t-shirt. No doubt their mother had gotten him ready while Roxas was still passed out. The blond turned his head to look at his alarm clock. It read 8:17. Roxas looked back at Sora.

"What time do we have to be there by?"

Sora knit his eyebrows together, pouting in thought. "Uh...I forgot. But mommy knows."

Roxas stood up, stretched, and ruffled his little brother's hair lightly while Sora whined about him messing it up.

Their mother, Belle, had killed two birds with one stone this summer by getting Roxas a summer job and getting Sora to go to a summer camp. Their mom was good friends with the camp director and had put in a good word for Roxas. He was so happy he didn't have to work in his parents' book shop again. He hadn't really minded it the first three summers, but being cramped up in the humid little store for one more summer would have probably drove the blond insane. Lucky for him, his and Sora's older brother, Cloud, had miraculously agreed to man the shop at times when their parents couldn't.

Sora scampered out of Roxas's room, calling to their mom that Roxas was awake. She responded by telling Roxas to hurry up and get ready or else they'd be late. He rolled his eyes. Not even bothering to take a shower (he'd take one later, alright?), he changed into a plain white muscle shirt, a pair of light skinny jeans, and his red Vans sneakers. He evaluated himself in the mirror, and after gelling up his bed head, deemed himself presentable. And with at, he slung his pre-packed duffel bag over his shoulder and made his way into the kitchen.

Sora sat at the table. He was animatedly eating a bowl of some sugary cereal as he kicked his too short legs, sitting on a too tall chair. Roxas pulled a (far less sugary) box of cereal from the pantry and sat across from his brother.

As they ate, their mother walked in with Sora's duffel bag slung over her shoulder. Her chocolate brown eyes took in the sight of her two boys, and she smiled.

Roxas glanced at the clock and almost shot straight out of his chair. Placing his bowl in the sink and shoving the cereal boxes back in the pantry, the blond told his little brother to hurry it up and grabbed his car keys. Sora followed his brother's example and dropped his bowl in the sink with a loud clunk, as he couldn't properly reach.

Belle handed Roxas Sora's bag while he slung his own over his shoulder. The little brunet slipped on his bright blue flip flops. He ran over to their mother and hugged her legs.

"Bye, mommy!" Sora giggled. "I'll make sure to call you and daddy goodnight, and I'll call tomorrow—oh!" Belle had scooped Sora up and planted a big kiss on his cheek. He giggled again and hugged her tightly. She set Sora down and, before Roxas could protest, gave him an equally motherly kiss on his cheek.

"Mom," the blond groaned. "I am seventeen years old. I do not need my mother to kiss me goodbye."

She rolled her eyes. "Love you too, sweetheart."

Roxas made to step away, hesitated, and then quickly kissed his mom on the cheek. He hitched the two duffel bags up on his shoulder and led Sora out the front door. Their mom called farewells to them from the porch as they settled into Roxas's hand-me-down car. The brothers waved to Belle as the blond backed out of the driveway.

The car ride wasn't as long as Roxas expected it to be. The camp was only an hour away from where they lived, but the ride was only forty five minutes without traffic.

The trip consisted of Sora singing loudly (and very off key) to songs from the kiddie shows he had watched 300 times over. Roxas almost immediately regretted putting the CD on, but there was no possible way to refuse his little brother's puppy dog eyes. So he spent those forty five minutes listening to (and sometimes singing along) with Sora.

By the time they had finished listening to the CD a second time, the brothers had arrived at Radiant Garden Summer Camp. Roxas slowly pulled into the little parking lot to the right of the entrance. When he killed the engine, Sora immediately began to wrestle with his seat belt and made to reach for one of the duffel bags.

"Whoa, hey, little dude." The blond got out of the car, walked around to Sora's side, and helped him out of his booster seat. Sora immediately snatched the strap of Roxas's bag, and the blond chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Leave that here for a sec," Roxas said and he jutted his thumb over his shoulder, pointing to what he assumed was the main office building. "We gotta check in first with Mr. Fair."

Sora sighed over-dramatically and hopped down from his seat. Roxas closed the car door behind him. The little brunet tugged at his older brother's shirt. Roxas sighed, held out his open palm, and Sora grasped it as they walked towards the office.

As they walked through the door, Roxas sighed in relief as the air conditioner hit him. It was a good 80 degrees outside. It wasn't a smart move to wear jeans and closed shoes. Nice job, Roxas.

No one was at the desk, and the blond peered around "Hello?" He called. "Mr. Fair?"

Suddenly, Roxas heard footsteps, and an older man appeared from the doorway behind the desk. His kind smile reached his sky blue eyes. He had laugh lines on his face and closely cropped black hair. The man sported a Radiant Garden Summer Camp t-shirt and khaki shorts.

Sora instantaneously hid behind Roxas's legs as Mr. Fair looked down to him and smiled. "Hiya boys! You two must be Roxas and Sora. Your mother has said many great things about the both of you." He held out his hand for Roxas to shake. "It's nice to finally meet you both!"

The blond seventeen year old had flushed at the compliments their mother had given him, and returned the handshake. "Same here, Mr. Fair."

The older man waved his hand as if to dismiss something. "Please, you boys can call me Mickey." Roxas smiled at how casual Mr. Fair—ahem, Mickey—was.

Sora was still hiding behind Roxas. Mickey came around the desk and crouched in front of the little boy. Sora attempted to hide his face more into the back of his brother's leg, but kept an eye on the camp director. The man offered a soft smile.

"Hiya, Sora," Mickey greeted him softly. Roxas's little brother chanced scooting away from behind his wall just a little bit. He looked up at Roxas, and the blond nudged him lightly with the heel of his foot.

"H-hi, mister," Sora mumbled. He quickly ducked back behind Roxas's legs again, hiding his face from Mickey. The older man rose to his height and shrugged his shoulder a bit at Roxas, as if to say "It's a start". He walked back behind the desk and pulled what looked like a spare key on a lanyard to something from a drawer.

"Here ya are, Roxas," Mickey chimed as he handed him the key. "That's your key to the boys' cabin. The girls have their own cabin across the path from yours. My daughter, Xion, would more than likely be willing to show you two around. If not, I'm sure someone else wouldn't mind. I'll be here for a little bit longer if you boys have any questions."

"Alright, thank you, Mr. F—Mickey," Roxas nodded as he gently nudged Sora out of the building. The two made their way back to the car, but before they could, a girl with short black hair spotted them and waved to them.

Roxas stopped in his tracks. He wasn't sure if it was the summer heat or not, but he thought he was blushing.

The girl—who he assumed to be Xion, as she looked similar to Mickey—had a slim build and pale skin, with midnight black hair and shockingly electric blue eyes. She wore a plain black tank top, white flip flops, and blue denim shorts that went down to her knees. Xion was obviously very pretty. Roxas swallowed hard as she stepped over to the brothers.

"Uh, hi," Roxas stammered as he rubbed the back of his neck. "You're Xion?"

"Yup," she smiled at him. "I'm guessing you're Roxas, and he must be Sora. Welcome to Radiant Garden!"

"Th-thanks." Roxas wanted to hide. He was pretty sure Xion could read his mind at that moment, and Roxas didn't feel like making an ass of himself in front of a pretty girl. He was about to ask if she could possibly show him and Sora around the camp when he heard someone greet Xion from behind him. He turned to see who the hell had interrupted his chance to talk to this living, breathing deity, but Roxas immediately took back what he thought when he saw the source of the voice.

This guy was quite the sight; two little kids (who Roxas guessed were campers) clung to his lanky limbs and giggled. He didn't look amused, and his leaf green eyes reflected his mood. Purple teardrop shaped tattoos brought out the green of his eyes and accented his brightly dyed red hair. His spikes seemed to defy gravity, and in that moment, Roxas's mouth went dry. Forget thinking of Xion as a deity; this man was clearly from some other realm way above that of humanity.

"I could use a little help getting these monstrosities off of me," Unearthly Green Eyes sighed as the kid on his leg only clung tighter and giggled. Xion only rolled her eyes as she walked over to help disentangle the little boy from his leg and the little girl from his back. The two kids stood off to the side of Unearthly Green Eyes, but their little attention spans quickly changed tracks when they both laid eyes on Sora.

The little boy, who's hair was silver and his eyes a pretty shade of sea green, pointed at him. "Hey, Kairi, he's a new camper!"

The little girl, now named Kairi, blinked her violet-blue eyes and smiled brightly at Sora. "You wanna play with me and Riku?"

Sora looked up at his older brother for an okay. Roxas nodded at him and nudged him forward towards the other two kids who were about his age. Kairi and Riku didn't even hesitate to grab a hold of each of Sora's hands as they tugged him away from the counselors.

"So, you must be the new guy." Roxas tore his eyes away from the shrinking figure of his brother, and was meet with the face of Unearthly Green Eyes. Roxas was pretty sure he audibly gulped. "What's your name kid?"

"R-Roxas. Roxas Strife, mister, uh..." Way to go, the blond mentally slapped himself upside the head. That is totally the way to go about talking to a hot stranger.

"The name's Axel, got it memorized, kid?" The blond nodded vehemently in response, pressing his lips together to keep him from saying something extremely dumb. He also prayed to those gods on the same plane as Axel that he couldn't see just how red his face was.

"Let me show you around, Roxas." The blond in turn bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from shouting at the sound of Axel saying his name. He only nodded in response and trailed behind the red head who, Roxas could've sworn, had a smirk on his face, leaving Xion forgotten.