Roxas didn't seem to ever realize how precious sleep was until he had to wake up. Especially to go to school. He hated school, but he had to go. He had to be beautiful for everyone. He had been such a loser until he had begun dieting. It was the best thing to ever happen to him! He had been so very fat before the popular girls had given him tips on how to lose some weight. Soon they and the popular boys accepted him because he was beautiful. So beautiful.

Smiling at the thought, he slowly pushed the blankets from him and stood. He slept in the nude because his boxers didn't fit him anymore; he just had to get new ones. That was all. For now, safety pins to make them fit during the day and belts would do.  He got up slowly, weakly. He padded over to the full-length mirror on his closet door after pulling on and pinning a pair of boxers.

Standing there, he shuddered a bit at his appearance. He had almost thought that he was dreaming and that his reflection had been that of a skeleton. His eyes skimming over himself once, he chuckled at himself for being so dumb.

His eyes were sunken in, as were his cheekbones. He was pale. His once bright blue eyes were a dull blue-gray. The way his pelvis bone jutted, the way his shoulder blades were prominent, how he could see his ribs, how his stomach was sunken in and when he turned to his side, his spine was clearly visible...this was true beauty. His friends had told him so. He trusted them. His fingers were long and thin. He ran his hands up his stomach and chest, feeling the soft, fragile skin. Such beauty wasn't so common.

He dressed in a loose tee-shirt and a pair of khaki pants that he had to use a very small belt for. He slipped his feet into his socks and shoes and hurried out of his room. Once downstairs, he stopped in the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and smiled at his parents and his brother, who sat at the table.

“Ready to go, Roxas?” Roxas' mother asked him, shooting him a nervous sidelong glance and giving a halfhearted smile. Roxas nodded as did his mother, and she stood from her place at the breakfast table.

“Yeah. Is Riku ready?” Roxas asked, indicating to the silver-haired boy sitting next to Sora, Roxas' little brother. Riku was a foster child that his parents had taken in for a while. Riku nodded. Roxas smiled at him. He moved over to Sora' ruffling his hair. He was fourteen, just a bit younger than Roxas, who was sixteen years old. “Bye, Sora.” Roxas said with a smile. Sora looked up at him. He looked over to mother.

“Mom...” Sora whimpered in fear.

“Roxas won't hurt you Sora.” Mother merely replied, sounding as if she'd had enough of Sora's shenanigans. But she too was afraid to look at her withering son.

“Mom, is Roxas gonna die?!” Sora asked, on the verge of hyperventilating. He loved Roxas so much. He looked dead already. Sora feared looking at him ever since he had begun to change. Roxas frowned down at Sora. Sure, his brain was a bit underdeveloped, but wasn't a therapist supposed to be working on that?

“Sora, I'm not going to die...what would make you say that? I look fine. I feel fine.” Riku snorted into his cereal but Roxas ignored it. He reached a hand out to rest it reassuringly on Sora's shoulder, but Sora shied away. Roxas just rolled his eyes. “Let's just leave.” he grumbled. He went into the front hall where his backpack was, unscrewing the cap to the water and taking a swig.

He reached down to pick up his backpack, but found that he couldn't pick it up. Hard as he tried, it only hurt to try to lift it onto his shoulder. Riku walked in and lifted the backpack for him, slinging it over his own shoulder.

“I'm driving. Sora's having a panic attack, so your mom wants me to drive you while she calms Sora down.” he said. Roxas rolled his eyes once again, following Riku out the door and to the car.

“I don't see what's so scary about me.” Roxas mumbled.

“Maybe it's the fact that you haven't eaten properly in about a month.” Riku snapped. Roxas narrowed his eyes.

“It's a good diet.” Roxas replied venomously.

“No, it isn't. It's called Anorexia, genius. You look so damn much like a skeleton, it scares the shit out of Sora.” Riku argued. Roxas said nothing, only wrenched the car door open and slammed it after he was securely belted in. Riku got in, as well, after throwing the backpacks into the back seat. “Don't see why you need the seatbelt...” Riku muttered inaudibly. “If we crash, the seatbelt alone will mangle your skeleton...”

“What was that?” Roxas demanded sharply.

“Nothing.” Riku replied ”Manorexic.” He thought with contempt.