A/N: Hello, my lovely little readers! It's lovely to see you all! (again, possibly)

Anyway, this fic was written during Camp NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writers Month) which occurs during April. It's not too bad, actually, so join up next year if you want!

It's not very long, either. About...10-11 chapters? If that? I dunno. Hope you enjoy anyway!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, unfortunately. However, I will own a KH DDD game by my birthday (hopefully) and I'm really excited for KH 3!

It was dark within the cupboard. His breathing seemed loud to his ears as he huddled against the wall, fear pounding through him. A warm arm touched his own and he jumped, then relaxed as he felt his younger twin brother hugging him.

Just as he moved to hug him back, the door was thrown open, and light spilled in. The two boys gave a shriek, then a hand reached in and grasped his brother's neck.

"No!" he shouted, leaping at the person, but they just batted him back and squeezed tighter. His brother gave a choked cry, clutching at the person's arm, and he heard himself begging the person to let go, let him go, please...

Suddenly the door was thrown open, and he looked up. The person gave a yell and dropped his brother, running for the window and leaping out. A few of the police followed, while one of them came over, kneeling beside them.

"Are you alright?" she asked, and he gave a nod before looking over at his brother, hugging him...

Blue eyes flashed open, and for a moment Roxas lay there, sweat covering his body as his heart rate returned to normal. He sighed, brushing a hand over his forehead.

'That's the third time this week...'

he thought to himself. He only ever got that nightmare when something bad was going to happen..though usually, he had no clue what that bad thing was.

Suddenly he felt something leap on him, and gave a yelp before sitting up. Blue eyes exactly like his own gazed back at him, sparkling with silent laughter.

"Alright alright, I'm up," he sighed, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. Sora followed him, padding after him as they entered the kitchen.

Sora sat down at the table, looking at him expectantly, and he sighed.

"Fine. What do you want? Usual?" Sora nodded, and he shook his head. "You're so lazy, Sora."

Roxas headed over to the cupboard, pulling out two bowls and a box of cereal. Quickly getting it ready, he placed everything back in its place before grabbing a couple of spoons and walking over to the table. He sat opposite his twin, handing him the second bowl before starting to eat.

Sora gave a smile of thanks then also began to eat. The two sat in silence for a while, chewing on their cereal.

Sora finished first, as usual. He stood up, putting his bowl on the side and pointing up at the ceiling. Roxas nodded in understanding and he grinned, skipping out of the room.

When he was gone, Roxas allowed his spoon to drop. He sighed, covering his face with his hands.

It was his fault.

He'd decided that several years ago, the day that man broke into their house and hurt Sora. As the older brother, it was his job to protect the younger, but that night, Sora had been hurt. Badly.

He wasn't clear on all the details. All he knew was that part of his throat had been crushed, making it so that he could no longer speak. Being too old to really learn sign language effectively, he had to contend with pointing and motioning. It had been difficult for him to adjust, but Roxas had been there with him all the way, constantly patient and urging him on.

Their parents, who both worked overseas in different areas, were concerned when they heard what happened, but were unable to just leave their jobs. Instead, they moved their sons to a safer area, checking up on them daily and sending over reasonable amounts of money for them to use.

Secretly, Roxas had hoped that Sora may one day regain the ability to speak, but the likelihood of that happening was extremely low.

Roxas could hear Sora moving around above him, and sighed. He needed to get ready too...wasn't fair to keep Sora waiting, after all.

The two of them had moved recently, and today was their first proper day at their new school. Standing infront of it, Roxas swallowed thickly. It seemed intimidating to him; he wasn't looking forward to the whole process of making new friends, having to get used to new classes and new uniforms and new rules. Sora always settled in pretty well, despite his 'handicap', but Roxas was a naturally shy and antisocial person. This was not fun for him.

The two of them headed into the school, having already gone through the whole 'here's your timetable have fun now kids' thing yesterday.

Roxas pulled out the sheet with their lessons on, quickly reading through it. "Okay, looks like we have Maths first," he said, glancing over at his twin. Sora looked over his shoulder at the sheet then gave an inaudible sigh before nodding, looking around in confusion. Then he looked back at Roxas, shrugging.

Roxas gave a chuckle, smiling at his little brother's actions. "It's this way, silly," he said, taking his wrist and leading him down the corridor to the class. Other students walked around them, chatting to each other and ignoring the two boys.

Reaching the classroom, they headed in and took their seats as they waited. They did this every time they moved school; get there a day early, checked to see where the free seats were, get assigned a seat, then take the next proper school day so that they weren't as obvious. It just helped not to attract attention to them.

Eventually other students started filing in, taking their seats and chatting to each other. Roxas' desk was across from Sora's, so he mainly leant over to his brother's desk, writing things into the little pad Sora kept on him. Sora gave a soundless laugh at something Roxas had written, reaching over and grabbing the pen to reply.

Someone sat down in the seat infront of them, but they ignored it until the person turned round, leaning on the desk. The two of them glanced up, meeting aquamarine eyes.

"You're the new kids, right?" he said.

They nodded, Roxas gazing at him uncertainly while Sora offered him a bright smile.

"I'm Riku Takano. You're...Sora and Roxas Strife, right?"

They both nodded again, and Riku looked like he was about to ask some more questions when the teacher walked into the room.

"Alright class, settle down. Everyone, get your books out and I'll call the register..."

The class was quiet, turned in their seats to look at Sora. He'd gone bright red, gaze directed at the floor. Roxas couldn't help seething, glaring at the ignorant teacher.

"Sora, please stop holding up the class. If you don't know the answer to the question, just say so. Do you know?" she asked.

Sora nodded slowly and she sighed in frustration.

"Then tell us what it is," she said.

Sora went even redder, shaking his head as his body trembled. The teacher scowled.

"And why not?" she asked angrily.

Roxas hated what he had to do, but it wasn't like Sora could tell them. He thought the teachers had been told...apparently, one had been missed. They hadn't wanted to draw attention to the fact so early on, but...

He stood up, standing between Sora and the teacher. Her gaze grew angrier.

"Roxas Strife, sit down, I am not asking you for the answer, I am asking Sora.."

"He can't tell you," Roxas interrupted bluntly, and she briefly looked confused before giving him an angry scowl.

"And why not?" she asked.

"He can't speak."

Sora flinched, a hand raising to his throat as tears entered his eyes. The teacher was silent for a moment as this sunk in, then she went white.

"Oh. Oh," she whispered, clearly remembering something. Roxas glanced back at Sora, saw how distressed he was, and decided she really wasn't worth their time. He really didn't care if he got in trouble at this point.

He grabbed his bag, getting Sora's as well before helping his brother stand and leading him out of the room, ignoring the whispers and stares. They quickly headed for a bathroom, making sure nobody was in there before Roxas dropped their bags and turned to his twin.

Sora gazed at him with his cerulean blue eyes, tears filling them. He gave an unhappy sigh and opened his arms. Sora took the invitation, practically throwing himself into Roxas' embrace as his body shook with tears. Silent sobs escaped him, tears soaking through Roxas' shirt.

"I'm sorry Sora," he murmured, hugging his younger brother tighter.

Sora shook his head, his silent way of saying it wasn't Roxas' fault, but Roxas would always blame himself, and they both knew it.

"If I could find a way to make it better, I would. I'd give anything to give you your voice back," he whispered.

The two remained like that for a while, Sora slowly calming in Roxas' arms. Finally he raised his head, meeting Roxas' gaze and giving him a watery smile.

Roxas smiled back, hugging him tightly before drawing back. "Are you alright now?" he asked.

Sora gave a little nod, rubbing his eyes. Dried tear tracks were obvious on his face, but he couldn't be bothered to wash them yet.

The door suddenly opened and they both stiffened, turning back as two other boys entered the room. They caught sight of the boys and went still for a moment.

The one on the right Roxas recognised as Riku. His gaze flickered between the two boys, as if realising that they were intruding on something personal.

The other boy Roxas had never met before. He looked a little surprised, but his confident smirk made Roxas' blood boil. His green eyes glowed like a cat's, and his red hair was wildly spiked behind him.

"Well, if it isn't the two newbies. Heard the little cutie can't speak; that true?" he asked.

"Lea," Riku hissed, elbowing him in the side. He turned to the two boys apologetically. "Sorry about him, he can be a bit of a jerk sometimes," he said.

"Ouch Riku, I'm hurt," the boy, Lea, drawled sarcastically. Then he leaned against the wall, gazing over them. "Seriously though, you can't speak?" he asked, looking at Sora.

Sora curled in on himself slightly, and Roxas stepped forward to defend him, when Lea raised a hand.

"Hey, I don't mean to be rude. It's kinda cool, actually. I mean, okay, probably sucks, but it's a little unique quirky thing that makes you special. Got it memorized?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "I really am sorry about Lea. I think he was built with a 'how to insult someone' feature."

Roxas looked between them, then gave a frown. He looked over at Sora, silently asking him a question.

Sora hesitated, glancing back at them, then nodded slowly. Roxas reached down wordlessly, picking up their discarded bags.

"Well, nice talking to you," he said as the two of them walked past, heading out of the bathroom to find a more private place to talk.

As the door closed, Lea looked over at Riku with a smirk. "I want the blondie," he said.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Well, don't freak him out and don't be rude to his brother then. You really won't get far if you do, believe me."

Lea shrugged. "Not my fault he's my type."

"You know the saying; all good things come to those who wait," Riku reminded him.

Lea gave a grin. "And I certainly have been waiting a while to meet that cutie," he agreed.

Riku groaned, face-palming. "Why am I friends with you..?"

A/N: So, how was that? New twist! Sora can't speak! ...Instead of Roxas barely speaking in the other fic...

And yeesss, this will be AkuRoku. However, it will also be implied Sor/Kai. I'm trying a new approach, people - not all yaoi pairings, but not all straight pairings either.

Review?