Chapter Text
College, man.
College.
The semester hadn't even started, and there already seemed to be a million things to do. The campus was overrun with students, new and returning, while they argued with the financial department about their right to pay their tuition in blood or tried to sort out course corrections.
They'd come today with legitimate business, but were a little bogged down. Their exploration had brought them into the path of everyone with a leaflet or complimentary merchandise, which meant Sora was now loaded down with three different fabric bags bearing the school logo. Neither Roxas nor Kairi had wanted theirs.
“So, rugby would interfere with basketball, but I could still go out for wrestling,” Sora thought aloud, engaged in battle with a sports' schedule. “Obviously Struggling is the big one, so no matter what I have to get on that team.”
Kairi spoke between checking her phone in one hand, the various team and club pamphlets in the other, and where they were going. “If I try out for volleyball instead of something like hockey, am I betraying myself as a feminist?”
A half step behind them, Roxas chose to grouse rather than be overwhelmed by how much extra they were already planning on taking on. All three of them were fresh out of high school, and he wasn't sure how well he was going to adapt to... this.
His schedule seemed more free than it used to be, but he knew better than to think he'd be less busy. Any free time Roxas could scrape out of his week, he'd probably spend recovering from the ass-kicking a new life experience doled out.
But his cousin was the pinnacle of 'jock', so Sora probably couldn't fathom going through a year without sports. Roxas wasn't convinced they were related.
With Roxas neglecting to contribute to the conversation and Sora waffling over sports teams, Kairi didn't receive an answer.
“You know what, I'll ask Namine,” she declared, texting her the same question.
They were making their way towards a large waiting area in front of the various information kiosks and registration. Sora had made loose plans to meet someone here, and he wrenched his gaze up to start scanning the throngs of students.
Watching for his ticket number to be called, Axel knocked back a soda and scanned the summaries of his chosen courses on his phone. He was positioned very awkwardly with his legs up over Riku's lap. “Is it too early to be considering dropping classes?”
“Yes.” Riku barely heard the question. While he wasn't craning his neck to look around, he was still on high alert.
He hadn't seen Sora or Kairi since he graduated, one year ahead of them. He twitched every time he saw bushy brown hair, anticipating the reunion in spite of his nerves.
“I'm already dreading Chemistry,” Axel bemoaned.
Unsympathetic, Riku reminded him, “You like Chem.”
“But I hate Vexen.”
Fifteen feet behind them, Sora spotted familiar silver hair, and his eyes went wide. “There's Riku! Riku!”
Roxas cringed. “Sora, come on, we're in public -”
“Riku!” Ignoring Roxas, Sora charged ahead. Shrugging by way of apology, Kairi sprinted after him.
Riku shoved Axel's legs, sitting up with the start of a grin. “That's him -”
“Oh, is it?”
Riku barely got up in time to turn around before Sora threw himself at him without a second thought. He hugged back, starting to laugh. “Been a while, huh?”
“No kidding. I'm never gonna forgive you for working all summer.”
“I'll never make that mistake again.” Trying not to get too caught up in holding him, Riku lifted his head and shot his smile over Sora's shoulder. “Kairi! Hey!”
Naturally, Axel was curious about the two Best Friends he had heard so much about. He shifted to drape himself over the back of his chair.
And then he stared, because he and Roxas had both noticed each other. And they'd both looked too long to pretend they hadn't.
Nonetheless, Roxas made a clumsy attempt to act like he hadn't realized it was him. It was too late to make a run for it; this would have to do.
“Hi, Riku,” Kairi smiled, coming up to them and tilting her head. She was calculating whether or not she should add herself to the pile Sora and Riku had created. “It's been too long, you jerk.”
Riku wrestled an arm free to hug her, too. She happily sank into it.
Recovering from his surprise, Axel looked away from Roxas. “So these are the best friends forever. You two are legends.”
“I should hope so,” Kairi said.
“You're Axel, right?” Sora asked.
Roxas was deeply uncomfortable. He contemplated sneaking away, but he actually did need to talk to registration to sort out some things in his own program.
“Aw, Riku, you told your friends about me? You're so sweet,” Axel gushed.
Riku rolled his eyes. “That's Axel, yes.”
“You can tell how much he loves me through tone alone.”
Sora laughed. “So everyone knows each other, except – hey, where's Roxas?”
Kairi looked up. “He was just with us...”
“Roxas?” Riku had barely noticed him. He'd kind of forgotten other people existed.
“That's really weird, he – oh, I see him,” Sora said, and pointed him out. “He's at one of those ticket vending machine things.”
Grabbing his number, Roxas looked for a seat as far away from their group as possible.
He was not, in any way, ready to face this yet.
“Forget 'im,” Axel shrugged. Riku almost frowned, recognizing that Axel was being far too dismissive for Roxas to be a stranger to him.
That was weird.
Sora laughed. “What are you talking about? Roxas! Over here!”
God, Roxas wished Sora wasn't so loud. There was no way to conceivably pretend not to have heard him. Cursing him out in his head, he dragged himself around and in their direction.
Speaking to Kairi, Axel snorted, “Riku failed to mention that his boyfriend had the volume capacity of a foghorn.”
“Don't.” Riku threw him a warning look. “You know it's not like that.”
Shit, right. Axel had forgotten that might actually be a sore spot. “I kid. I know I'm your one true love.”
“Uh -” Startled, Kairi tried to decide whether or not to be offended on Riku's behalf, communicating with him with a look.
He rolled his eyes, trying to convey that this was just how Axel was. Kairi settled.
Nice to know they hadn't lost their pseudo-telepathic touch.
“I'll try not to be too affectionate with my best friend, then, don't want you to get confused,” Riku retorted.
“Or jealous,” Axel said.
Within earshot, Roxas came to stand by them. All the chairs in the area were taken up. “You don't have to keep babysitting me...”
Sora was still practically in Riku's lap. “It's only babysitting 'cause Uncle Cloud is paying me by the hour to make sure you don't get lost.”
“Shut up.”
Riku snorted. “So, you're attending HBU too, huh? Sora didn't mention you'd applied.”
“You don't tell Riku everything about me, how could you?” Roxas's tone was dry.
“What? Sure I did.” Sora's brow furrowed. “I think I did, anyway...”
Riku ruffled Sora's hair. “Dork. Good to see you, in any case.”
“Our number's almost up,” Axel interjected, calling Riku's attention to the monitor directing ticket holders to different desks.
“Yeah...” It was about then Roxas realized that Axel had decided to ignore the situation, and him. He made a snap decision of his own. “Hey, Axel.”
Surprised, Sora looked around. Axel's was milder, and he offered the barest nod as he got up. “Hey. I'm getting a refill – Riku? Drink?”
“Water would be good.”
Roxas's eyes narrowed slightly. He exhaled and looked the other way. Fine, that's how this was going to be.
“Cool. If anyone else wants something, pay up,” Axel extended a hand, accepting Riku's bill.
“I'm okay,” Kairi said.
Sora was distracted, doing mental calculations as he tried to figure out how Roxas could know Axel. He dug around in his pocket for change. “Can you get me a Coke or a Pepsi or whatever they have?”
“Sure thing.” Axel took the money and headed off to the machine.
Waiting until Axel was gone, Riku asked, “So, uh, you know each other?”
Roxas shrugged, holding in a sigh. He wished he'd just avoided them, now. “Doesn't matter.”
“Alright...” Riku raised an eyebrow.
Apparently, that mystery was no longer interesting, because Sora brightened and moved on. “So, what teams are you on, Riku? Do you stay on them this year or do you have to try out again?”
“Tryouts are yearly, but they'd be idiots to pass me over.”
“Well, now you have me to compete with, so you better watch your back,” Sora announced, elbowing him.
Riku smirked. “I'm not worried.”
“Tell me what you're going out for so I can do it, too.”
“Struggle is obvious, track, hockey...”
Axel wandered back with three bottles in hand. “Coke for Sora, water for Riku...”
“Duh – oh, thanks!” Sora twisted the cap off immediately.
“I live to serve.”
“You really don't,” Riku said.
“Yeah?” Axel purred. “I've served you just fine.”
Either that didn't register with Sora, or he was too caught up in his revelation to care. He snapped his fingers. “I got it!”
“Huh?” Riku gave Sora a strange look.
“You're the other person I know who went to Roxas's high school!” Sora declared. “I remember you mentioned it, Riku.”
Roxas's stomach sank.
He'd really hoped Sora would’ve dropped it.
“Oh -” Riku's eyes were wide as the puzzle pieces clicked into place. “... Uh, oh.”
“High school was a lifetime ago,” Axel replied.
Roxas said nothing, quietly gutted.
“Yeah! That must have been crazy, going to a school with only guys. I couldn't survive it,” Sora said.
Axel grinned. “That's adorable.”
Perhaps one of the only people aware of the sexualities of all present parties, Kairi inwardly cringed and exchanged a look with Riku. “You make it sound like a way bigger deal than it probably was.”
“But, like, no girls?” Sora looked at her fondly. “No you?”
Kairi's smile was slightly frozen, and she teased, “Maybe you would have actually gotten some work done.”
Sympathetic to Kairi's plight (since he was the other one privy to everyone's orientation), Riku had to resist the need to bury his face in one hand. “We still would've been friends, I bet.”
“Worked for me just fine,” Axel claimed. “The dating pool at an all-boys school is incredible, when you have hips like these.”
“You're so vain,” Riku snorted.
“Why not? You think I'm pretty, right?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Riku rolled his eyes and took a swig of water.
Sora's brain had stalled. “Huh?”
Axel was still opting to pretend Roxas didn't exist. The guy had no reason to care how he acted with Riku, anyway. “You know that if you don't /tell/ me how attractive I am once every few hours, I wither.”
“I'll tell you all about how pretty you are later,” Riku said.
“That sounds promising.”
Kairi held in a giggle, but couldn't help but smile. She hadn't seen Riku so comfortable flirting... ever, actually. When he came out in high school as gay, it was with an edge of aggression and defiance, like he had prepared himself to lead a crusade fighting for his right to be who he was. Now, he just seemed like he fit. Like he'd finally realized he could just be who he was.
But also, she wasn't sure if his flirting was a joke, or legit. She didn't want to laugh if there was something serious between them.
Sora, however, was laughing it off, pretty sure Axel was too ridiculous to mean it. He'd also kind of... not realized what Riku had meant, back then, and glossed right over it. “What about me, Riku? Am I pretty?”
Abruptly decided Sora was on his own here, Roxas muttered something about his number being called and turned on a heel. Axel started to laugh.
“Uh-...” Caught off guard, Riku hoped he hadn't just turned red. “Don't you start...”
The blush was not what Sora had expected. He'd thought Riku would shove him or something, not... that. His laughter faltered. “Kidding, man. Obviously.”
Kairi fought the powerful urge to put Sora in a headlock until he lost consciousness.
“I think you're pretty,” Axel offered.
“Sora's straight,” Riku reminded him.
“Oh. That only makes you marginally less attractive, don't worry.”
Sora looked blank. “... What?”
“What, 'what'?” Axel grinned.
Riku caught Kairi's eye. She covered her mouth with one hand, appropriately despairing.
“Oh, you're actually-... ah geez, sorry,” Sora fumbled, embarrassed. “I just thought 'cause you were messing with Riku... My bad.”
“I do more than mess with Riku,” Axel said.
Riku could have smacked him, but he knew how that would escalate. “Sora doesn't need to hear about that.”
Still obliviously eager to hear anything concerning his best friend – or a friend of his best friend – Sora asked, “Hear about what?”
“Why wouldn't he want to hear about your sexual exploits? They're a mark of your success. You're doing a great job at this whole 'college' thing,” Axel said.
Riku gave in and buried his face in his palm. Sora's colour drained slightly.
“Uh...”
Kairi leapt to her feet, phone in hand and desperate to save the day. “Namine's on campus, want to go meet her?”
Somewhat distantly, Sora replied, “Nah, I'm good... you go.”
“I've got to hang around here, but tell her hi for me.” Riku sounded a little muffled, and not at all deeply betrayed that Kairi would leave him to this. She gave him a shrug and a wide-eyed look that said 'I tried'.
“Yeah, I will. See you!” Guilt pierced her through as she gathered up her stuff and took off.
“Bye...” Sora still sounded a little vacant and overwhelmed.
“We should really change the subject,” Riku shot Axel a pointed look. “Sora doesn't need to hear about my love life.”
“Aw, love?”
“Sex life,” Riku amended.
“Ouch. I was genuinely touched, for a second,” Axel frowned.
Going from pale to bright red, Sora was lost for words... until he let out a shaky laugh.
It was then that Axel realized Sora hadn't known. “I'll go check on our numbers, see if we're up soon.”
Yup, he was going to avoid the hell out of this conversation. Up and off he went.
Getting nervous, Riku fought to keep his cool and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Fine, I'm fine, uh-... What?”
“You seem-...” Riku sighed, glancing uncomfortably away. “I didn't know whether or not this would be weird for you.”
“What's weird? Why would it be weird?” asked Sora, distinctly being weird.
“We never really talked about this. I know Roxas is gay and that's never bothered you, but this is kind of different...”
“So...” Sora hesitated. “You are gay. For sure.”
“Uh. Yeah,” he confirmed.
“That's okay!”
He'd said that a little too loudly. It was still weird.
“I know – I mean, is it?” Riku looked a tad concerned.
Sora laughed, pulling back a bit and giving his arm a playful slap. “Of course it is. You're my best friend, dude.”
Riku relaxed marginally. Sora wouldn't lie, at least. “Couldn't get rid of you if I wanted to.”
“You got it. So, what other teams are you going for?” Sora took Axel's vacated seat.
Grinning, Riku was happy to return to chatting about sports.
“That sure was a thing.”
Axel stretched, and stretched hard. His back arched in a way that almost looked painful. “You sound underwhelmed, and I know that can't be the case because I am super good at sex.”
Sitting on Axel's bed and combing out his mussed hair with his fingers, Riku rolled his eyes. “Wasn't talking about the sex. I was talking about earlier today.”
“Ah, yeah – awkward,” Axel agreed. He lazily scanned the floor for his boxers. “I thought you said you were out in high school. How did Sora just not know?”
“I was talking about you and Roxas, not me and Sora.” Riku paused. “But while we're on the subject, lay off him a bit, okay? Sora just has these ideas about... what people are like. He doesn't mean anything by it, he just forgets that not every girl is a princess and not every guy is a knight in shining armor. I don't think he really understood that other sexualities exist until Roxas had his big coming-out fit.”
Axel remembered that. Roxas had tried to run away from home. He'd been in ninth grade; Axel, in eleventh. The plan had been for Roxas to lie about his age and work odd jobs until Axel graduated, then they were going to go abroad, never stop traveling.
Of course, Roxas had been spotted breaking into the clock tower and was picked up by the police. His father had been extremely unimpressed.
Good times.
They would have been good, at least, if the memories weren't kind of tainted.
“What about me and Roxas?”
“Is he... y'know. The ex?”
Axel rolled over onto his front, forgoing his boxer-search. “If I blow you again right now, will it come off as suspicious? I don't want it to look like I'm dodging the question.”
Riku dropped a pair of underwear on the back of Axel's head. He grabbed at them. Ah, there they were.
“He's the guy, yeah,” Axel conceded. “I don't know, though, I thought it was surprisingly... not uncomfortable? Or, less uncomfortable than expected? I didn't know he'd be coming to Hollow Bastion, though.”
“Are you gonna be okay?”
Axel buried his smirk into his pillow. “Aw, you're worried about me. You really do care.”
Riku shoved him in an attempt to roll him over. Axel laughed.
“I'm serious,” Riku insisted. “I know I missed the worst of it, but what I saw was pretty bad. You've been a good friend since I started here, so, yeah. I do care.”
“Gay.”
“Shut up. I just want to know if there's anything I can do to make this easier on you.”
Axel turned over onto his back. “Honestly? Not really. And I don't mean that in the brooding, depressing 'there's nothing you can do' way. I'm good. It's been two years since he dumped me – I'm over it, now.”
Riku looked him over critically. “... I invited Sora to Marluxia's start-of-term party, and said he could bring along whoever. So, we might see Roxas there. If you do need me to interfere or keep things from getting... I don't know, bad... I'll be there.”
Axel reached up to ruffle Riku's hair, just to aggravate him. “You're being too sincere. It's creepy.”
“Fuck you, I just got the tangles out. And I look out for my friends.” Riku grimaced as he started the process of smoothing his hair out again. It was getting way too long.
“This is probably where Sora got the 'knight in shining armor' thing from,” Axel snorted. “That's you to a T.”
Riku smacked him with another article of clothing. His own boxers, this time. Axel put them on over his own.
“Now you're gonna have to walk around without underwear. How embarrassing for you.”
“You do that all the time,” Riku pointed out with an arched eyebrow.
“When I do it, it's sexy,” Axel corrected. “Seriously, I'm fine. It sucked to be single for the first year of college. And... over the first summer. And for a while into the second year. That's a long enough time to mourn my high school relationship for, don't you think?”
Riku was quiet for too long.
“Which isn't the same as mourning a relationship that hasn't happened yet, might I add.”
“And never will,” Riku said. He looked around for more clothing to hit Axel with and came up with nothing. Where the hell had his shirt gone? His jeans?
“He's cute, though,” Axel added. “So painfully hetero, but very cute.”
Riku gave in to a laugh. “Yeah. That's Sora for you.”
Emphasis on 'pain'.
Maybe distance had been what Axel had needed to get over Roxas, but he was right – nothing had ever happened between Riku and Sora, and that meant distance had only strengthened his longing.
Still, he was too glad to have his best friends back to let unrequited love get him down.
He'd get over it.