5Brothers
Another KH fic. Because Vanitas interests me.
Enjoy
0o0o0o0o0o0
Vanitas was the type of guy who should never get bored. Boredom and Vanitas meant someone, somewhere, was going to become his target to relieve said boredom. Most often than not, his target was his younger brother, Sora. Sometimes he would tease Ven and Roxas but teasing a twin brother was better than an ordinary blood-related brother. Perhaps it was because Sora and Vanitas shared the same face. Or it could be that Sora's personality was the complete and utter opposite of his own. There was Sora, the ever happy, optimistic boy who trusted everyone on sight and Vanitas, a complete delinquent. They were as opposite as the north and south poles. If anyone came close to Vanitas personality, then Roxas would be it. He was just a tiny bit more cynical and more down to earth than his brothers, Sora and Ven. Likewise, Ven and Sora's personality were relatively close. Something must've gone wrong in their gene pool.
Regardless, Sora was the most fun to mess with. And that didn't stop even as they grew older. If there was any change at all, it was that Sora wasn't quite as naïve as before, considering he was going steady with Riku now. Vanitas and the whole female population of Radiant Garden High were surprised –shocked actually, when Riku asked Sora out. And Riku was particularly a well known… player back in high school. No one saw that coming. That was two years ago towards the end of their high school year. That day was remarkably fun for Vanitas. The girls spent several weeks in disbelief while Sora was flabbergasted beyond thought and honestly believed Riku, a childhood friend, was making fun of him. Sora was even convinced Vanitas had some part of it. Which wasn't true at all, though Vanitas would've loved to have thought of it back then. But he did make sure Sora tasted a bit of hell during those first few weeks.
So it was never tiring to tease Sora. And now, as he sat alone at his desk in his dorm with an abandoned book he'd been reading, Vanitas realized he was bored. He sighed and looked around his room. His roommate, Terra, was gone. Probably spending time with Ven somewhere or doing something he would rather not think of. Terra's side of the room was organized. The bed was made, his desk clutter-free, his clothes were nowhere in sight. Vanitas looked over at his own side. His bed was an utter mess, various pants and shirts were cluttered on the floor nearby. His desk was a much better place but most of the space was taken up by books he read. He had no doubt his closest was worse than his bed. It's not that Vanitas was particularly messy; he liked his room clean as much as the next guy, but it wasn't at the top of his to-do list.
"What to do, what to do?" Vanitas said to no one, leaning back on his office chair.
The chair the desk originally came with was the regular wooden chair with the long back. The chair quickly had to go. He'd stolen an office chair from the administrative building in the middle of the night. Then he snuck it home and waited until he made sure they weren't searching for it. After waiting two weeks, Vanitas snuck the chair back into the college to his dorm and threw out the wooden one. He picked up his legs and slowly spun himself, contemplating a plan. He couldn't think of anything. He sighed and stood up, walking towards the window between the two beds. He looked out at the scenery. He could see tall buildings in the distance that marked the entrance of Radiant Garden. Radiant U. was just out of town, surrounded by trees and plains.
Behind him, he heard the door open. He turned to see Xion entering.
"What're you doing here?" Vanitas asked, turning back to the window.
"I'm fine, thank you." Xion answered as if Vanitas had asked how she was. She closed the door behind her and sat down on Vanitas's bed. "Where's Sora?"
"Obviously not here." Vanitas answered. "Why would I even know?"
"You're twins," Xion answered. Then she smirked, "Why don't you use some twin telepathy thing and find him."
"I'm pretty sure any mind connection with him would be sugar-induced rainbows. I don't need that in my life." Vanitas said. Xion laughed. She had to admit, that was quite possible.
"Then let's go out. There's a new movie I want to see."
"Well then, I don't want to see it." Vanitas quickly replied. Xion pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You sound like we never went places before."
"You're possibly one of the few people I can stand being around with for more than ten seconds. Don't flatter yourself." He said. Xion laughed loudly.
"And I might be the only cousin who doesn't think you're a total delinquent and failure." Xion said as she stood up.
"I'm flattered." Vanitas replied as he looked away from the window. There was a smirk on his face but Xion could tell that was a smile; a very well hidden smile. There was good in Vanitas but only if you squinted real hard in a bright lit room with a magnifying glass. She smiled in return and grabbed Vanitas's hand.
"Let's go before I change my mind on the movie."
"I will torment you if it's another chick flick." Vanitas warned, glaring at his cousin. Xion merely grinned.
0o0o0o0o0o0
After the movie was over, Xion had dragged an unwilling Vanitas to the mall. He had no choice seeing as how the mall was in Traverse Town, of all places, which was a good thirty minute drive away from Radiant Garden. And they had taken Xion's car. Of course, Xion had given him the option of going back… but by public transportation. Vanitas would rather eat a bowl of nails than take the bus back to Radiant Garden. Perhaps that was why Xion had insistent they take her car. She wasn't going to let him go that easily.
The pair was seated at the food court, finishing the food they ordered. The buzz of multiple conversations drifted through the air. Xion herself was talking to a friend she had bumped into. Vanitas didn't pretend he was paying attention and looked around. For Traverse Town, having a mall was a surprisingly big deal. The town itself was rather dull in comparison to neighboring cities so having the mall, set just outside the town's border was a real attractor for business. A three story massive complex filled with all kinds of stores was certainly the biggest lure for bored teens. Vanitas sighed and leaned back on his chair as he began to consider the option of walking back to the college. Too bad he wasn't one of those mindless teens whom were easily amused by malls. As Xion finally said goodbye to her friend, Vanitas seriously thought about that long walk back to the campus.
"Alright, let's go." Xion said, pushing back her chair as she stood.
"The next words out of your mouth should be, 'we're leaving'." Vanitas growled, following suit as he took his tray to the nearest garbage disposal. Xion smirked as she threw out her leftovers.
"Not quite." She said. She hooked her arm around Vanitas's arm and led him towards the elevator.
"That's not the exit." Vanitas pointed out.
"Of course it's not."
"You're purposely doing this to me, aren't you?" He grumbled as the doors pinged open. There was another couple in there; a gangly guy who seemed awkward in his own skin and a girl with freckles doting her cheeks and neck. Xion pulled Vanitas in and pressed the 3rd floor button.
"By the way, how was your date the other night?" Xion asked.
"He was easy." Vanitas replied and he could feel the gangly guy stiffen just a little bit. A grin curved his lips.
"I'm not sure if that's good or bad." Xion sighed. "So I guess you won't be seeing him again?"
"Not unless I need an easy fuck." His eyes flickered over to the other guy and the girl. They were both slightly red in the face. He smirked and grinned slyly as he not so subtly gazed at the guy. "He's more my type. What do you say? The girl can join too, later." A sound pinged and the doors open. The gangly guy literally dragged his date out of the elevator as if Satan was right at his heels. Vanitas laughed loudly, leaning against the frame of the elevator.
"You are absolutely terrible." Xion said.
"I'm bored," was Vanitas's reply. Xion shook her head as he led her cousin to a large beauty supply store. Immediately, Vanitas put his foot down. Xion snapped back, a confused expression on her face.
"You are trying to kill me."
"Am not," Xion said as she stuck her tongue out at him. She walked around him and pushed him into the store. The light fragrance he smelled at the entrance was even stronger. He almost gagged. How could other people even stand the smell? And why the hell did they have to make the perfume section right by the damn door? Vanitas was quickly in a foul mood and as they walked past, a sales associate approached them.
"Would you and your girlfriend like to sample a few fragrances?" The woman asked. Vanitas shot her a glare that made her visibly shrink back. He stormed off, away from the nauseating smells. Anywhere was better. When he couldn't smell the sweet fragrances as strongly as before, he noticed he was in the hair dye aisle. He blankly looked at the assorted colors until he stopped. As if to answer his boredom, the box that caught his eye was hair dye that perfectly matched Sora's. The gears in his mind began to spin. He grinned and he grabbed three boxes. He searched for a sales associate and spotted one.
"Hey, where the hell are the contacts?" He asked as he approached him.
"O-over by the eye-makeup." He replied, slightly stunned. Vanitas quickly walked towards the back of the store and he strolled by the make up until he saw the display case for cosmetic contacts. He searched until he found the row displaying the blue-colored contacts. Behind him, he heard hurried footsteps and not a moment later he felt Xion's hand on his back.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"Perfectly fine." He replied, not taking his eyes off the case.
"You've lost it." She sighed as she shook her head.
"I lost it years ago. Help me look for the right shade of contact." He said. Xion hummed as she watched him.
"Why?"
"Cause I feel like an outcast with these damned devil eyes of mine." Vanitas answered, completely deadpan. Xion quickly covered her mouth as she tried not to laugh too loudly. She stood beside him and browsed through.
"What are you looking for?"
"Something that matches Sora's eyes," He replied.
"Why?" She cautiously asked.
"No particular reason." He said. Xion knew he was lying. She looked at the boxes in his arms. Whatever he was planning, it wasn't good.
"If I help, I'm dragging you to that store overflowing in pink."
"Fine." He quickly replied. Xion blinked, taken aback. She was sure he was going to object vehemently. Vanitas was definitely planning something.
0o0o0o0o0o0
When Vanitas entered his dorm around ten at night, Sora was there on his bed. So was Ven but he was sitting on Terra's bed. Vanitas ignored them as he threw his bag of cosmetics into his closet. He sat down in his chair then finally focused on his brothers.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Good to see you too." Sora said with a smile. That was Vanitas's way of greeting. "Where'd you come from?"
"Xion kidnapped me to the mall." He said, kicking his legs up onto his bed.
"What movie?" He asked.
"The slasher movie. I laughed." He said. Sora shivered. He'd seen the movie himself. His stomach couldn't handle it.
"But you're back kind of late. What else did you do?"
"I was forced to eat crap poorly heated food, dragged along the whole damn place, smelled horrible perfumes, and another movie."
"So you had fun?"
"It was okay." Vanitas said. They continued in that manner, Vanitas rudely answering and covering up his side of the conversation while Sora carried on as if Vanitas was holding up a normal conversation. Ven listened to them, in amazement that they could understand each other.
"I don't think I'll ever understand how you two carry on a conversation." Ven said.
"It's the same with you and Roxy." Sora said.
"Yeah but our conversations… flow better."
"And ours don't?" Sora asked as he looked at Ven.
"Not at all." Ven replied. Sora grinned and he hopped off Vanitas's bed. He made his way over to Ven and sat down beside him. "Where's Roxy, by the way?"
"With Axel somewhere," Ven said. "Why aren't you attached to the hip with Riku right now?"
"He's working," Sora replied. "I don't think his boss will like that."
"My turn. Why are the two of you here?" Vanitas asked.
"I'm bored." Sora replied.
"Go be bored somewhere else." Vanitas said. Sora grinned and he walked back to Vanitas's bed. Vanitas glared at his twin but Sora was the only person immune to his glare. Vanitas sighed as he stood up and sat down on his bed. "Get off. I'm going to sleep."
"Not yet. I want to hear about your date."
"And this is where I'll leave." Ven said. He had no desire to learn about Vanitas's sex life. A date defined by Vanitas was usually the one night stand kind of dates. "I don't want to hear the details." Sora chuckled as Ven left, heckling his brother as he went. While Sora was distracted, Vanitas lifted his leg, firmly planted his feet against Sora's back, and kicked him off the bed. Sora tumbled off, landing on his rear with a heavy thud. He groaned in pain and rubbed his sore ass as he glared up at Vanitas.
"Hey! What was that for?"
Vanitas shrugged as he stripped to his boxers, "I'm going to sleep."
"No you're not," Sora refuted. He climbed back up on Vanitas's bed and faced him. "It's way too early for you to sleep."
"How about, you're annoying?"
"And you're not?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow. Vanitas stared at him before he pointedly looked away. He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed.
"What do you want to know? He was an easy lay. And the girl last night wasn't any tougher to get into her pants."
"You're just as bad as Riku was in high school. Only worse," Sora said. "I wonder where you went wrong." Vanitas growled as he launched a pillow at his twin's smiling face. Sora's voice was briefly muzzled before he pulled the pillow down to his lap.
"I could say the same too you," Vanitas replied. "The level of naivety you had was questionable." Sora pouted and he looked away.
"Well, excuse me for trusting people. At least I give them a chance, unlike you." Sora said.
"There's only so much trust you can give a person before they take advantage of it." Vanitas said. He stood up and walked over to the large dresser with the mirror attached. That was the only thing he and Terra shared. "That was why Riku cheated on you back then."
There was a quick flurry of the rustle of bed sheets before he could see a tanned hand swing towards him. He was slapped, Sora standing in front of him with his hand raised, fresh tears brimming along his eyes. Vanitas raised a hand to his stinging cheek. The brunet glared at his twin, not saying a word. He didn't need to. His eyes said it all.
You're a dick.
Sora stormed off, slamming the door behind him. Vanitas stayed rooted to the spot, his hand still palming his red cheek before he clenched his teeth. He swore and punched the wall beside him. A knuckle cracked but he didn't feel it. The door opened and his roommate, Terra, walked in. He took one quick glance to realize something was wrong. It didn't take a genius to realize Vanitas was upset.
"You okay?" Terra asked.
"Fuck off," was his answer as Vanitas walked out of the room. Terra sighed but didn't stop him. It was best to leave Vanitas alone, something he learned very quickly in their year sharing the room together. Ventus, on his way to Terra's room, had seen Vanitas storm off. Even in only his boxer, he was still threatening. Ven jogged towards the room and walked in.
"What happened?" He asked, closing the door behind him.
"I don't know. I asked him and he told me to 'fuck off' before he left." Terra said. He set his bags down and pulled of his work shirt. "Why don't you go find out?" Ven shook his head and he took a seat at Terra's desk.
"The only one who can approach Vanitas when he's like that is Sora." Ven said. "I mean, I think I did a pretty good job of calming him down the last time he flew off the handle but Sora is better at it than me. He knows how to handle him."
"Maybe they got into a fight," Terra said. "I saw Sora run past me from this direction but he seemed upset." Ven hummed thoughtfully. It could be. He sat down on his bed and tilted over until he had rested his head on Ven's lap. The blond looked down and smiled.
"The two of them are always fighting, aren't they?" Terra asked. Ven shook his head.
"Not always," He said. "I mean, it's complicated… sort of. The point is, Sora can calm Vanitas down better than Roxas or I." Ven ran his hand through Terra's hair. He leaned down and softly pressed his lips against Terra's.
"So, how was work?"
"Better now that I'm here instead of there."
0o0o0o0o0o0
Vanitas sneezed as the cold breeze whipped around him. It probably wasn't a good idea to have escaped to the roof in only his boxers but he wasn't about to turn back to his dorm. His pride didn't allow it. He stared at the partial visible moon. Most of it was obscured by passing clouds. He kept his mind blank, preferring to waste the time by thinking about absolutely nothing. It was working up until he heard the door open. He ignored it at first. There wasn't any need to go see who it was. Vanitas was obscured behind a shack housing electric equipment. It wasn't until he began to hear insistent giggles from a girl that he began to lose his focus.
"You sure we should be up here?" The high pitched girl asked.
"We can leave," suggested a male's voice. The girl giggled again. Vanitas grinded his teeth, his patience close to snapping. All it took was one last giggle from that annoying high-pitched pixie voice to snap the thin wire of his patience. He stood up and growled, running full speed towards the guy. The girl, who was standing in front of him, noticed and pointed, her words lost. He turned around but was too late as Vanitas grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. He threw the guy down onto the gravel foundation of the rooftop. With his fist pulled back, he started to rain punches on the guy's face. Every pull back, his knuckles came back just a little bloodier than before. The girl begged him to stop, the guy defended his face as best as he could, and Vanitas kept wailing on him.
"Vanitas!"
A hand gripped his wrist. With near animal strength, Vanitas threw the mysterious guy over his shoulder. He stopped his punches to see who was dumb enough to stop him. His breath caught in his throat as he recognized the figure. Sora groaned as he slowly propped himself up. Vanitas looked down at the guy. With the amount of blood gushing from his nose, it was probably broken. He could hear the girl behind him sobbing. Vanitas stood up and walked off back to where he was sitting before. The girl ran to her boyfriend and helped him to his feet, quickly getting the hell off the roof. Sora stood up and he walked towards Vanitas. He sat down beside Vanitas and they sat in silence.
"Vanitas…" Sora trailed off. He looked down at his palm and he twiddled his thumbs together. Sora glanced towards Vanitas then back.
"Don't say anything." Vanitas said. Sora blinked as he looked back his twin. "Listen, I flew off the handle back there." Sora shifted his gaze away. He meant their fight in the room, not for nearly breaking a guys' face in. The brunet stayed quiet. Talking about what had happened between Sora and Riku nearly a year ago was a sensitive topic for Sora. Not that he like talking about it, it certainly wasn't his favorite topic, but he hated the bitter aftertaste. Vanitas leaned back against the wall, tilting his head back as he covered his eyes.
"Shit, Sora, you know I suck at this." He said.
"I still want you to try." He said. Vanitas didn't have to look to feel the small smile that was gracing his twin's lips. A smile of his own curled his lips.
"You are absolutely evil."
"Vanitas, do you remember what you did back then?" He asked. The smile was gone but not completely. His voice, however, was strained. The clouds shifted over and with the moonlight, Vanitas could see slight trembles throughout Sora's tanned arms.
"Refresh me 'cause I don't remember." Vanitas said.
"Of course you remember," Sora said. "You said you were going to seduce Riku."
Vanitas chuckled. He did remember that. "Oh, that. Well, what with Riku being the confused whore, it didn't go exactly as planned."
"Thank you for doing what you did." Sora said. Vanitas looked at his twin. His gentle smile made him look away. He scowled, deciding he'd rather stare at the dark skyline than his twin's face. Sora stood up and walked over to Vanitas.
"Let's go inside, Vanitas."
"Do I have a choice?" He asked.
"No, not really." Sora replied as he held out his hand. Vanitas shrugged as he grabbed Sora's hand. His twin helped him up.
"Well, I'm only going inside because my balls might fall off from the cold."
"Have I ever told you you have a pleasant vocabulary?" Sora asked.
"Fuck yeah." Vanitas purposely said. Sora laughed as they walked down the stairs.
"Y'know, you kinda stood that girl up." Sora said. Vanitas shrugged then yawned.
"I don't particularly care." Vanitas said. Sora shook her head, feeling bad for the poor girl. The brothers arrived at Vanitas's door. Sora smiled fondly at his brother, already forgiven him. Vanitas pointedly looked away and he could hear the chuckle escape Sora's lips.
"Have a good night, Vanitas." Sora said. Vanitas shrugged as he opened the door. Sora went his way and Vanitas closed the door. He flicked on the lights and walked over to his closet. He took out the bag of hair products and dumped them on his desk. Three boxes of mahogany hair dye and a pair of blue contacts were set on his desk.
"See… I told you Sora can calm him down."
Vanitas looked behind. Ven was gazing up at him from Terra's bed. Vanitas gagged and he looked away.
"Are you trying to melt my retinas?" Vanitas asked as he sat down.
"So, he started the fight?" Ven asked.
"It was mutual." Vanitas replied. Ven shrugged and he turned back towards Terra. Vanitas stared at the products. He pushed them away and he decided to forget about his plans. He stood up, walking to their door and turned off the lights. Now, the only source of light came from the window. He sat down on his bed and stretched his arms above his head.
Sora really was the only person who could calm him down. Perhaps it was the twin thing. Or like Xion, Sora could see well past his highly built guard. Ven and Roxas could but they kept their distance. Vanitas sighed and he brushed the thoughts away from his mind. He did the mistake of glancing over to Terra's bed and saw slight movements.
"If you two start fucking, I'm beating you within an inch of your lives." Was his only warning to the couple before he decided to sleep.