[KH] Stepsiblings AU: His Eighteenth

Stepsiblings, a Kingdom Hearts
fanfic series by Raberba girl

His Eighteenth (rough
draft) [censored version]

Summary:  Roxas & Saïx's turn. Companion to Her
Eighteenth and Fire & Moonlight: Much Better.

A/N:  Saïx's POV.

This little
"Eighteenth" mini-series is an AU - I can't see it happening in the
main Stepsibsverse, but at the same time, I can't figure out how to make it not
happen, either. o.O

o.o.o

I don't plan on ever
trying to publish it or even let anyone read it, but this summer project,
started on a whim, has caught more of my interest than I expected.

I was so absorbed in
writing that I no longer even registered the noise of the coffee shop, and
certainly did not detect my brother's approach until he had pressed his hands
over my eyes and started sing-songing, "Guess who's not breaking the
ruuuules today?"

"How many times have
I told you all to stop smudging my glasses," I said, pushing him away and
taking them off to clean them.

"Saïx, you are the
most not fun person ever." 
He paused.  "Scratch
that.  Father and your grandpa are
worse."

"Thank you for
amending your insult to be more accurate," I said, then stood up to
embrace him.

For some reason, we ended
up just standing there with our arms around each other for a long time, before
I finally frowned and tried to pull away. 
"All right, Roxas, I'm glad to see you."

"I missed you,"
he mumbled into my shoulder.

"You've made your
sentiment rather clear, there is no need to continue demonstrating."

He grinned as he leaned
back.  "You've been missing me a
lot, too."

Had I forgotten
to--?  No, my Shield was still active, so
how...?

His smile softened as he
clapped my shoulder.  "Doesn't
matter whether you Shield or not, I can still tell."

"I find it rather
irritating that you three still seem to be able to read my mind," I
grumbled.  "Did you get my
message?"

He frowned, pulled out
his phone, and tilted his head in mild interest.  "Huh. 
One missed call.  From you.  You left a voicemail."

I closed my eyes in
exasperation.  "Don't bother
checking it.  The bottom line is that the
repairs won't be done until Thursday because those workers are incompetent
idiots, so we can't stay at our house tonight after all."

Roxas gazed at me with a
tranquil, uncomprehending look on his face.

"Roxas.  We can't stay at our house.  I highly doubt that you have enough money to
contribute to a hotel stay, and I know Axel doesn't.  At the moment, we have nowhere to sleep
tonight."

"We'll figure it
out," he said carelessly.

"Roxas!  You and Axel both, why are you always so - so
lackadaisical about everything?"

"Saïx, I'm
eighteen.  I'm an adult now.  I can see you and Axel and Xion together
whenever the heck I want.  I'm pretty
much floating on cloud nine right now, and all your Saïxness just kind of
sounds like blah blah blah to me.  All I
can think about is how awesome it is that I'm standing here with you and not
having to keep looking over my shoulder."

We stood there for a
while, I trying to determine the best response to this, he simply watching me
with a little smile on his face.

I finally remembered that
I had not yet actually congratulated him on today's milestone.  "Happy birthday, Roxas."

"Thanks, Sai."

"You do have a point
about the new convenience in the four of us socializing together."

"Yup."

"...Stop smiling
like that, it's unsettling."

"Yup."

"Roxas."

"Blah blah blah,
Sai."

I sighed.  "I'm going to call Xion, she seems to
have more of a head on her shoulders than either of you two idi--"

[. . .]

He winced and reached to
cover my eyes.  "Ow, Sai...."

"STOP SMUDGING MY
GLASSES."

"Stop doomgazing
me...."

[. . .]

"People are
staring...."

They were.  I pushed his hand away from my eyes and
seized his arm to force him outside where we could find somewhere more private
to talk, but it occurred to me that some of our observers might misconstrue the
situation.  "Get outside," I
hissed.

"Promise you won't
hurt me...."

"Those manipulative
eyes DON'T work on me now get outside."

He grinned again, though
in a self-defensive way this time, and set his hands against my shoulders.  "Please. 
Please, Sai, don't be mad at me."

"I am furious
at you."

He drew in a deep, shaky
breath.  "I...really, really don't
want you to be mad at me...." 
Something flickered across his face. 
"Hey, it's my birthday. 
You're supposed to be nice to me."

...That was a valid
argument.  I could feel my roiling
emotions settle down somewhat, and heard my brother release a quiet sigh of
relief.

"You are not off the
hook," I warned.

He grinned again in a way
that would have melted Axel's heart. 
Roxas ought to know better than to use his tricks on me, but I suppose
it's become a habit for him.  "I am
for now.  You have to be nice to me at
least for today."

"Until
midnight."

"Heh, you're such a
stickler...."

"I'm calling Xion
now, so that we can make a plan like responsible people do and not let
today go to waste."

"Sai, we could eat
dinner at Bloaty's Pizza Hog and spend the night on park benches for all I
care.  I'm eighteen.  It's over. 
We can be together forever now."

"What happened to
the sentimental talk of 'being together in our hearts, no matter how far we're
apart' and such that you all kept spouting?"

"Have to tell each
other something to keep from going crazy, yeah?"

I knew it.

"C'mon."

"Just seconds ago, I
was the one urging us to leave...."

"Well, now we can
actually go since you're not mad at me anymore."

[. . .]  "I suppose I'm not.  [. . .]"

"That's okay.  You [only have to love] me.  That's not gonna change, right?"

Why do they always try to
get me to make embarrassing statements in public places?  They act like they don't notice, but sometimes
I think they have to be doing it on purpose. 
"You are my younger brother. 
That is what is never going to change, no matter what our
circumstances are."

He smiled again, this
time in a way that did not disquiet me. 
"Brothers all the way."

"It's impossible to not
have that memorized, it's been said so often among us," I said, and he
laughed.

o.o.o

Author's Notes:  Bloaty's Pizza Hog is a reference to the
cartoon Invader Zim. XD

Censored for the exact
same reason Her Eighteenth was censored. 
It's not squicky, it just made me headdesk.

I think I have at least
one more drabble in this mini-verse, a tiny one, then that should be it.