Chapter one: The mating game

Roxas  (I hate everything about you) July 3000

I would like to say that my twin brother's wedding was a happy occasion. But if I told anyone such a thing, then that would be a big lie. No one seemed to be extremely happy as they piled into the small room, which was normally used as an educational room for the Nobodies. The way everyone looked made it seem more like a funeral. But this wasn't even a wedding, really; that's just what the scientists called it. It was actually called a 'Binding Ceremony.' It was a ceremony that the scientists in this facility had made up. It was supposed to make us feel more responsible about our futures with our chosen mates. You see, we didn't have a choice in who we were paired up with. Another Nobody of the opposite role was hand chosen for us at an early stage. And then if the two refused to cooperate or the scientists noticed something that may get in the way of the future relationship, the two mates were wed using this Binding Ceremony. It was supposed to seal our fate, and if we broke something as binding as… well a binding ceremony, than we would be greatly punished and looked down at by God or whatever.

I thought it was just a load of bull that was supposed to scare us; Keep us in line, if you will. The scientists wouldn't want anything to get in the way of their little re-population experiment, now would they?

I watched my twin with wary, yet sympathetic blue eyes. I think I felt his suffering. I mean, I wouldn't want to be going through this at our age; so what made anyone think that he did? We were only thirteen after all. Much too young to be wanting to think about our future mates and the intimacy that we'd have to go through with them.

But out of every face in the room, it was my brother, Ventus, who looked the most depressed. He wanted nothing to do with being a Breeder. He wanted nothing to do with his mate. Hayner. All he wanted was to be free; to decide his own future… his own mate. I agreed completely with him. The only difference between our opinions was based on who would actually act on them.

And that definitely wouldn't be me.

"Now repeat after me," said Xemnas, the manager of the entire facility, as he made Ven and Hayner face each other. He made them hold hands with Ventus' left and Hayner's right, as Ventus' free hand had to lay palm down against Hayner's stomach. Hayner's extra hand hung at his side lifelessly. "I, Nobody number twelve…"

I noticed Ventus cringe at his scientific name silently as he choked out, " I, Nobody number twelve…"

"…vow to stay forever faithful to my bearer, Nobody number eleven," Xemnas continued.

"…vow to stay forever faithful to my bearer, Nobody number eleven."

Xemnas nodded, "Good. Now you, number eleven." He turned to Hayner as the fourteen year old blond seemed to swallow thickly. "I, Nobody number eleven…"

"I, Nobody number eleven…" Hayner began to repeat in a shaky voice.

"…vow to carry all of my Breeder's children, and stay faithful to him through all circumstances."

Hayner took a deep breath, as an annoyed look began to develop across Ven's face. I only eyed him worriedly, hoping that he wouldn't pull anything today. It wasn't like Ven to listen to these guys at all. He always ended up doing something stupid, which ended in him getting induced by a sedative (a drug that calmed the patient's mental state, reducing their anxiety, stress, irritability and/or excitement level)

"…vow to carry all of my Breeder's children, and stay faithful to him through all circumstances."

Xemnas then passed them both a plate that had a piece of fluffy vanilla flavoured cake on it's paper-like surface, demanding that Ven begin by taking a spoonful and feeding it's creaminess to Hayner. Hayner was than instructed to do the same. 'Wedding' cake apparently represented fertility, so of course Xemnas would include this little tradition in their ceremony… All he wanted from them was nice, healthy babies.

At the end, when Xemnas demanded they kiss one another in one final act of binding, no one clapped… no one even smiled. Instead, every other Nobody only stood up and began to leave the room, heading back towards their dorms. And they all looked the same as they had throughout the whole ceremony.

And that was including myself…

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT STUPID XEMNAS GUY THINK HE'S DOING ANYWAY! I HATE HIM!" Ven screamed loudly, whipping his hand out to punch the frame of our metallic bunk-bed. I only sighed, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder which trembled with rage, might I add.

"There's no way I'm listening to them… even if they did force me through that stupid ceremony. They think that's gonna stop me?" I was glad that his tone had simmered down- I was afraid one of the guards would hear Ventus' furious outburst. But that didn't mean I was completely satisfied considering his expression was tense, his thin eyebrows pointed down angrily.

Our other brother (our older brother), Sora bit at his lip as he flung himself onto the lower bunk- my bed. "Don't worry Ven. It was just some Binding Ceremony. It's not as special as they say… I mean, it's not even an official wedding ceremony that the Somebody's outside of this place have. It's not legal."

"Do you think that matters, Sora!" Ven raised his tone back into an upset yell, "The government has nothing to do with this place! Xemnas is the government here! No one gives a damn whether our ceremonies are official or not!"

"Well you sure seem to," I pointed out, earning a hard glare from his narrowed blue eyes. I rolled my eyes at him, trying to prove that I was only being a tease. I would never mean that seriously… I mean, of course Ven would be upset about this. Like I'd said; plenty of the Nobodies here would much rather skip that ceremony. Hell, they'd probably want to skip this whole life. But us Nobodies didn't exactly come with a 'fast-forward' remote. Nope, just us and our so-called 'important' roles.

I honestly couldn't give a damn about my role.

That's right. All Nobodies were born with a role. Much like everything else, we didn't have a choice on what that role would be. But mind you, neither did the scientists. We just turned out however.

I'd already skimmed their names, but the two possible roles that a Nobody could obtain was either that of the Breeder or that of the Bearer. Our race, which was a group of artificial experiments, though still quite biological may I add considering we contained all the necessary organs to reproduce, were created because of the crisis that the normal people -the Somebody's- were encountering. The world wasn't exactly the healthiest place, and the female Somebody's were having a lot of trouble reproducing and giving birth to healthy, deform-free children.

So that's where the scientists came in. Of course being science freaks, those dorks had to come up with some way to preserve the human race and fix the growing issue. So they decided to be completely ignorant and create a bunch of 'perfect,' artificial people; People who would have a greater success rate with a healthy pregnancy. That's right; Nobodies. With us, gender didn't make a difference, only the role did.

If you were born as a Breeder, then you were meant to engage your mate, which was a hand chosen bearer, in intercourse during their time of sexual maturity- a time period known as heat. This time is when one knows that the Bearer can carry the Breeder's children.

And of course, the other role was that of the Bearer. These Nobodies got all the fun parts of the mate selection process. At an early age, the Bearer was already chosen a Breeder who they would be mated to. The two didn't have to interact until the next stage popped up; The stage known as the first heat. Heat was a fever-like state that Bearers endured. This let one know that the Bearer's reproductive organs were fully developed and that the Bearer was ready to carry a Breeder's baby.

And the sucky part was that once heat happened, the only way to stop it was to have sex.

The Scientists did that on purpose no doubt, just to make sure that everything ran smoothly. And of course, the Breeders just somehow knew (a sense maybe) when a Bearer was going through heat. And I must say, it drove them absolutely crazy! Even if that particular Breeder wasn't mated to you, their lust brought on by the 'heat' would make them want you- even if they didn't like you or care about you otherwise!

It really sucked, and it just got the Breeders sexually aroused.

And once the first heat occurred, it would keep happening until the Bearer became pregnant. During a pregnancy it would stop though. But once the pregnancy period was over, it started all over again.

Thank god the first heat wasn't supposed to occur until between the ages of fourteen and seventeen.

As you may have guessed through my melodramatic explanations, I was indeed a Bearer. I know… it sucks. I was just glad that I had another year until this hectic 'heat-sex-pregnancy' cycle happened to me.

Just like my brother, I wanted nothing to do with this process or my mate. They could both go to hell. Not that I even knew who my mate was. They'd already been chosen for me (a long time ago) but I'd never been told. They normally told you once you were thirteen.

Oh, wow. What a coincidence. I'd recently turned thirteen! (Total sarcasm, right there)

I'd be told soon then. I'd be taken into an office that resembled that of a doctor's, examined just to make sure I was perfectly healthy before I'd be expected for my first heat, and then I'd be introduced to my mate- the Breeder who would be bound to me for the rest of my miserable life.

…Yay… I could hardly wait.

Just as I'd predicted, I was called on in the same week as my brother's Binding Ceremony. A guard burst into my room early that morning, demanding that I head towards Xemnas' main office right away.

Sora peeked over his bed, which was the top bunk, while Ventus remained asleep at my side. We shared the bottom bed.

"Hurry up, number thirteen!" the guard urged me firmly, pulling me up from my bed as I blinked groggily. It took another five seconds for me to awaken fully. My blue eyes widened in realization as I stumbled out of the guard's hold, making my way towards my dresser. I pulled out a pair of dark coloured jeans and a plain white t-shirt. I slipped out of my pajamas and pulled those on, grabbing a black and grey coloured hoodie before following the guard out of my room. I turned around to stare at Sora, who continued to peer at us from atop his bed. Before I disappeared from his view, he gave me a reassuring smile, knowing what this calling involved.

And like I said, I'd realized what it was about too. Now I would finally be told about both my mate and the condition of my body; whether my health was up to the average standards of a Bearer my age or not.

I sighed lightly, continuing to follow the guard down the narrow halls. I was actually growing curious about my results. I wasn't completely sure about all of the Nobodies who inhabited this facility. I only knew rumours. I'd heard that in total there were thirteen; with me being number thirteen. My brother Sora was number ten, and he'd mentioned once that he was mated to Nobody number eight. Sora was taken away from our room to see him every now and then, but I'd never met him.

And of course my twin; Ventus was coded with the number twelve considering he WAS the older twin out of the two of us. So besides Sora, me, Ventus, and Nobody number eight, I only knew of one other. And that was Ventus' newly bound mate; Hayner, who was number eleven.

Hmm, so maybe it was true. Maybe the numbers did only reach up to thirteen. No one else I knew was a higher number then myself.

I stopped in front of the door to the office, my palms beginning to sweat as I took in a deep, long lasting breath. I didn't extend my arm out to wrap my clammy hands around the doorknob until a loud, impatient grunt came from the security officer who stood behind me. I stared back at him sheepishly, quickly swinging the door open and rushing inside.

I cringed at the sight that awaited me.

Xemnas sat behind his desk, shuffling through some papers. But what caught my eye even more was the tall, lanky, redhead who stood beside him. I knew who this guy was… He had to be my mate. Immediately, I began to feel even more enthusiastic about my future. Even though I didn't want anything to do with this weird guy, I couldn't help but allow my curious eyes to drift over his figure. I took him in- nearly every detail. His vibrant green eyes seemed to be doing the same thing with me, though he looked a little more interested about this then I did.

"Hello Roxas. How nice of you to join us," Xemnas commented, looking greatly irritated.

I swallowed thickly, hoping that he'd just continue. I wanted this to be over already.

"Sora may have already warned you about this considering he is older than you are, but you are here to finally meet your future mate. May the both of you be blessed with perfect children," Xemnas finally continued as I shifted my weight awkwardly.

Taking in a sharp breath, I said, "Is that it? Can I just go back to bed now?"

"Um, no you may not!" Xemnas snapped defensively, "This is an important time in both a Breeder and a Bearer's life. Please treat it with some respect, Roxas…"

The redhead smiled at me hopefully, his eyes never once leaving me since I walked into the room. I only gave him a 'what?' kinda look, rolling my eyes afterwards in response to Xemnas. Did he not yet know that I didn't give a damn about this damned project? I wanted nothing to do with it. Shouldn't we have had the right to participate or not? Though… like Sora said; Xemnas was the government here. He created life for us. I'm pretty sure he could take it away just as easily if he really wanted to.

Xemnas tried to fight away his intolerance towards me, glaring at me, though an attempt of a smile clearly plastered on his face. "Please Roxas… We both know that it would only make things more difficult if you started acting like your bad-of-an-influence brother. Let's please avoid another 'Ventus' outbreak."

"…Whatever."

This guy definitely didn't get it. First of all, I was NOT like my brother. I wasn't THAT out of hand… maybe just a little stubborn. And perhaps I showed a bit of a sarcastic attitude frequently too. But that wasn't like Ven. Ven just acted on impulse.

"Good…" Xemnas paused awkwardly as he glanced up at the redhead with what looked like an apology- probably towards my 'un-bearer-like' attitude. "So… ummmm, Roxas; would you like to introduce yourself?"

I sighed. It wasn't that hard to have caught my name already… Like, he'd said it so many times already. "I'm Roxas…" I said, beginning to grow quite annoyed myself, "Now can I go?"

"Roxas!" Xemnas hissed. But he soon gestured towards the redhead as he said in a deadly whisper, "Do you want to go through what Ventus participated in today? Cause I doubt you do. So if you want to avoid the wedding ceremony I suggest that you get your act together."

After that, I did decide to shut up. I guess the better I listened, the faster I could get out of here… Honesty though, I just wanted out of here. I couldn't be in the presence of my Breeder for one more minute. It reminded me of what was to come way too much… and I didn't want to think about it.

After he noticed that I was listening to his request, Xemnas gestured towards my tall mate-to-be.

The redhead approached me, taking a few steps closer as he smiled somewhat shyly. I only continued to stare at him with the same expressionless face. I didn't want to show any emotion to him. I wanted to make him hate me. Maybe if I seemed cold and uninterested, he'd back off or request for a new mate. Though I didn't know if that was even possible… I'd never heard of people actually requesting a switch. It was more like an arranged marriage kinda thing; No choice. But maybe there could be exceptions…

"Hey, Roxas," he began, "I'm Axel."

I rolled my eyes. Or at least I wanted to. But if I did that, Xemnas would only make this more difficult; or more like I'd be making it more difficult for myself. So instead, I merely muttered, "It's a pleasure."

As if he couldn't read my insensitive tone, Axel beamed at me in response as Xemnas' glare only burned into me harder. But the big-boss man cleared his throat anyway, preparing to continue with his stupid speech about us. "Alright… so the both of you know what to expect when it comes to your future relationship?"

Future relationship? More like a forced future relationship.

"Yep," I nodded, trying to keep any negativity from my voice- which was pretty hard.

"Good. Then you are aware that even though the two of you have not reached the point where you need to engage in sexual activity, you will be required to visit one another every so often. You may be an arranged couple, but that doesn't mean you can't have time to get to know one another before you reach sexual maturity, Roxas."

I rolled my eyes at the directness. He just had to direct the whole explanation to me, didn't he?

Soon after, Xemnas dismissed us, sending us back to our dorm rooms with our roommates. I knew once I entered my room where a curious Sora was waiting, I'd be pummelled with exciting questions. Sora may have found this whole 'mate selection' thing to be wonderful, but I didn't exactly agree with him. The only reason his opinion was so different from mine was because he actually liked his mate. Sora could talk about how he couldn't have been given a better mate all day.

But I was totally different.

I hardly even got to speak with my chosen mate… But from what I saw of him, I already hated him.