Keru: Sooo… I really have tons of reasons why I'm starting this and not the other ones. I swear. But I'm sure you all are just going to skip straight to the story. So this is for those of you who care: it's because my writing style has changed.
I should have expected this when I started posting my stories in 2008, but meh. I do plan on continuing my other stories eventually, but they're just not top on my priority list. As of right now, I have a bunch of stories I've been working on for a long time now that I've been meaning to post and just hadn't found the time to do it, or felt it was too early in the writing to post. I am going to be going to college this next semester so I can't promise continuous updates. I do, however, promise it won't be like months between each chapter. Now that I have this huge paragraph here, I think I should stop.
WARNINGS: Yaoi. Well, technically, shounen-ai cause I don't do all the smut and stuff so sorry if you're expecting that. Swearing, maybe a bit of violence (VERY MILD I SWEAR), and lots of stupidness. Just cause.
PAIRINGS: Akuroku, Riso, Zemyx, (mild) Seiner… aaaand I'll add more as the story progresses.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I very much WISH I owned the new Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, though. I am too poor to get it now. No need to rub it in, thanks. (Thank god I already watched the whole play-through or I don't know how I would have LIVED.)
EDIT: I fixed some typos I found when re-reading this again. I also added a teeny more bit of detail. :) Soooo if anyone finds any more, please let me know! Oh, also, I changed the summary. The other one just didn't fit as well. At least, that's how I felt. Seemed a BIT too cheesy for my tastes.
Bump, Set, Spike!
Change is usually a very hard thing for most people to just deal with. Whether it be moving to a new town, changing grades, or having to stop watching your favorite show on TV because the season ended. Change is found in day to day life and yet it can still be huge obstacle for people to handle. Most people hate change and want nothing to do with it. They like the fact that they wake up in the morning every day to do the same monotonous thing over and over again. I, for one, can say I like change. But not this kind.
Roxas shuffled back and forth on his feet as he watched the office secretary shuffle through a tall, black filing cabinet, looking for his new schedule.
"It's here somewhere…" She muttered to herself as she quickly leafed through the hundreds of pages. After a moment, she sharply pulled out a singular paper. "Aha! Found it." She said victoriously as she closed the filing cabinet drawer and turned to the blond boy, handing him his death sentence.
"Thank you." Roxas mumbled, nodding his head slightly as he grabbed the slightly crumpled paper hesitantly. He turned and began to walk out of the office as he looked at his schedule.
Roxas Hartz- 11th Grade
1st Period- Pre Calculus- Leon- Room 609
2nd Period-Chemistry-Vexen-Room 400
-Brunch-
3rd Period-Psychology-Saix-Room 201
4th Period-Physical Education-Cid-Gym
-Lunch-
5th Period-English Honors 3-Aerith-Room 805
6th Period-Free Period
Roxas raised his eyebrow at the last one. Huh. He'd never been to a school before where they had a free period. Must be for clubs or something…
Looking down at the paper he then saw his locker number and code. He stopped walking in the middle of the hallway, just noticing how many people were around him.
The school was pretty nice for a high school that's been open more than 10 years. The lockers along the wall were a cobalt blue and the floor was tiled with a light grey color. There were kids all around him, some lounging on the ground or against the lockers near them, talking with their friends, and others walking around like they owned the place. Roxas made sure to remember their cocky faces so he could try to avoid them if need be. He'd much rather not talk to as many people as possible. He wasn't very social, even at his old school. The only people he really hung out with were his team.
Roxas sure was glad to be at a mostly indoor high school though. His last high school was outdoors and he remembered how much he hated walking from class to class in the rain or scorching heat. The bad thing about it though, is Roxas didn't exactly have a great sense of direction. Looking down at his locker number again, he shrugged and continued on.
It took him about 10-15 minutes but eventually he found the right one. It's a good thing he came early enough or he would have been late to his first class. Looking down at his phone, he noted he still hat about 10 minutes before class started.
He gently put in his code and popped the locker open, surprised to already see all his books in his locker. Huh, sweet. He thought to himself. This place definitely gets an A on services. He then pulled out his Pre. Calculus and Chemistry books and stuck them in his black and white checkered backpack. Trying to zip up his backpack with one hand, he shut his locker with the other and turned around only to bump straight into someone and stumble back against the row of lockers.
"Ah, s-sorry." Roxas stammered as he pulled at his plain black V-neck shirt.
The silver haired boy who he ran into looked down at him before smirking. "No worries, shrimp."
Roxas frowned instantly. "I'm not short, I'm fun size." Looking a little more closely, Roxas realized just how hot this guy really was. He had straight, silver hair that went a bit past his shoulder blades along with bright aquamarine eyes that seemed to almost glow. His face was very defined as well; high cheek bones, chiseled jaw, a perfectly straight nose, and soft pink lips. After figuring he had oogled his face enough, Roxas glanced down a bit to see him wearing a black zip-up vest that was perfectly snug so you could see how defined his chest was. Might as well not wear a shirt at all with that chest. Roxas thought. NO! Noooo you will not hit on the first sexy guy you see, Roxas. BAD. Deciding he had better stop before he got too much more carried away, Roxas quickly looked to see he was wearing a pair of loose jeans that hung low on his hips and a pair of white sports sneakers.
Thank god this all happened while the silver haired boy was laughing. "I like you. You new here?" Roxas nodded and the silver haired boy stuck out his hand. "Riku Tanaki. Senior and co-captain of the boys' volleyball team."
Roxas' eyes lit up a bit as he shook Riku's hand. What luck. "Roxas Hartz. Junior and hopeful to get on said volleyball team. Any way you can let this shorty try out?"
Riku smirked. "Depends. You any good?"
Roxas raised his eyebrows a bit. "Depends. What's your definition of 'good'?"
Riku nodded. "Fair enough. Hey, what's your first class?"
"Pre Cal."
Riku raised an eyebrow. "Oh, a smarty eh? Guess we won't have to worry about grades with you then. Teacher?"
"Leon."
"Me too." Riku said and began walking down the hall. Roxas took that as his cue to follow him and jogged a little to catch up. "So, answer me this. Have you played on a team before?"
Roxas nodded. "I was captain of my team back home."
"Position?"
"Libero (1)."
"Hmm… we need one of those still too." Riku mumbled to himself, though Roxas could hear it clearly. "Do you spike (2)?"
Roxas rolled his eyes. "I may be short but I can jump."
Riku nodded. "You still haven't told me if you're any good or not."
Roxas sighed. "Let's just put it to you this way without ruining too many surprises." Roxas smirked. "My last school played year round (3)."
Riku smiled. "Well then, I can't wait to see your tryouts."
He smiled back. "When do you want me to come and try out? I'm free whenever."
"I'll have to talk to our captain about that. If you want you can come during your 6th period to watch us practice. We're also a club so we start practice then and go till around 5, depending on when our next games are." Riku told him as they both walked into their classroom.
Roxas nodded. "Okay-"Just as he spoke, Riku was pounced on by a brown haired blur.
"Riiiiikuuuuuu!" A familiar boy with shaggy brown hair wailed as he kissed Riku's cheek.
"Hey, Sora." Riku greeted, smiling as he ruffled Sora's hair. "Look, I have a new soul for you to harass."
Roxas gave him a look before Sora turned to him, a look of delight on his face. "ROXAS! I missed you." Aaaaaand there's the glomping.
Roxas rolled his eyes. "I saw you like an hour ago, Sora."
Riku frowned. "Wait, you two know each other?"
Sora nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! We're cousins! Remember, Riku? I told you my cousin was moving in with me cause of what happened with his parents."
Roxas avoided Riku's gaze. Should have known Sora would tell someone something in relation to it. Roxas nodded over toward the teacher who was sitting at his desk. Riku nodded and Roxas walked away.
Riku turned to Sora. "Oh, well, Roxas wants to try out for our volleyball team-"
"REALLY ROXAS? Yay! Let him join Riku! He's really good! Like, even better than Axel!" Sora said jumping up and down while nodding his head vigorously.
Riku grinned, glancing over at Roxas who was preoccupied with the teacher. "Really now?"
Sora nodded and looked at Riku as seriously as Sora can (which isn't much in this situation). "Really."
Sora pulled Roxas by the hand into the gym. "Come oooon, Roxas!"
Roxas, only slightly listening to his cousins words, looked around in delight. Man, it feels like it's been a lifetime since he's been in a gym with the nets up. He saw five other guys rallying back and forth between each other while they waited for things to start. The nets were already set up and there was a huge basket full of nice volleyballs just waiting to be passed around. Roxas could feel his muscles twitching already in anticipation of playing a game.
Sora dragged him up to the duo. "Hey guys! I'd like you to meet my cousin Roxas! He's gonna try out for the team today."
A blond mullet haired guy stuck out his hand. He was wearing a light blue t-shirt and a pair of black basketball shorts that had a logo of a white elephant. "Hey! I'm Demyx. I play front left (4)."
Another blond with short shaggy hair that stood up, waved. "Hayner. Back up setter (5)." He had on a black tank top and the same black shorts as Demyx. Must be the school PE outfit shorts or something... God I hope that's not our mascot.
Roxas nodded to one and shook the others hand. "Roxas. I prefer to play libero."
They grinned. "Awesome. Our other one wasn't that good."
Roxas gave them a small smile.
"Hey, where's Axel?" Sora asked.
"He said he'd be here a little late. Told me he had something to do." Demyx said as he began bouncing the volleyball on his head like a soccer ball.
"Hey Roxas, you wanna join us today in playin' before Axel gets here?" Hayner asked.
Roxas shrugged. "Sure. Let me just get changed." He said, and Sora walked with him over to the changing rooms to do the same.
Just as the boys walked into the locker room, in walked a red head already in gear. "Alright! Sorry I'm late!" he said as he put his bag against the wall.
Hayner groaned. "There goes playing around a bit before practice."
Riku walked out of the locker room laughing. "Oh, hey Axel. I think I got us a libero." Sora ran out quickly after him.
Axel smirked. "Sweet. I know 'em" he asked as he began leading the stretches.
Sora shook his head. "Nope! He's my cousin. He just moved here yesterday."
Axel nodded. "Alright well where is he now?"
"Right here." Roxas called and they all looked off to the side to see him doing his own, different stretches.
"Well then, why do you come join us?" Axel asked, smirking.
Instead of answering, Sora spoke up. "Roxas doesn't do these stretches. He says they don't properly stretch your muscles and that you're more likely to pull a muscle with these."
Roxas flushed slightly. "Sora!"
Axel narrowed his eyes at Roxas. "Alright then, blonde. Show us there so-called 'Better stretches'."
Roxas sighed, definitely not wanting to be in the spotlight. It reminded him of back home, with his old team. "Alright, well first I usually start off with stretching out my legs. Lunge walks. It's where you lunge down with each step you take." Roxas said as he demonstrated, everyone else following along. "Make sure you go down to a ninety degree angle and don't let your knee touch the ground." After a few more seconds of lunge walking, the guys began groaning in pain.
After that he showed them other warm ups like "karate kicks", "chicken walks", "sumos", "Spiderman's", and "the world's greatest stretch" before pausing and giving the team a tiny break.
Riku bent over, sweat trickling down his face as his boyfriend beside him bounced happily on his feet, not tired out or out of breath in the least. "Geez, Sor, where does he get all of this stuff?"
Sora shrugged. "Well he was captain of his old team. Oh! And not only that but one summer a year ago he went to Japan and trained there for three months. And they worked him hard."
Riku's eyebrows rose in surprise. "What, was he rich or something?"
Sora laughed. "Far from it actually. He worked three jobs for two years to earn the money to go on that trip."
They both looked over to see Roxas helping Demyx get the correct positions for "the world's greatest stretch". "Kid knows what he wants, eh?"
Sora nodded, then looked over to see Axel leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, glaring at Roxas. Nudging Riku and nodding over towards Axel, they both walked over to their captain.
Riku smirked. "Jealous he's taking your lime light?"
Axel looked over at him, scoffed, and turned away. "As if."
Sora smiled knowingly. "He doesn't want to steal your spot, Axel. He was his own teams' captain for 4 years before this. He doesn't want to do that anymore."
Axel rolled his eyes, irritated. "That's not why I'm pissed, Sora."
Sora gave him a look.
Axel sighed. "Well that's part of it, but I'm more mad at myself for not being mad at him because he's so damn cute." He growled.
The other two's faces flashed surprise before Riku gave a small chuckle and Sora giggled. Just then, Roxas looked over to see Axel glaring at him out of the corner of his eye.
Roxas fidgeted, wondering what he did wrong. Damn it. First day here and already someone doesn't like me. What the heck did I do? Roxas sighed to himself. After having a mini debate in his head, Roxas slowly began to walk over. Only one way to find out I guess.
As soon as Roxas was close enough, Sora glomped Roxas, making the slightly smaller teen smile. "Ah, hey Sora? Could I talk to Axel for a moment please?" he whispered so only his cousin could hear.
Sora nodded, then suddenly turned towards Riku, grabbed his hand, and ran away, tugging the taller boy behind him.
Axel blinked in surprise and turned towards Roxas, who was looking at him hesitantly. "Um, I know we don't really know each other but I was wondering if you could at least tell me if I did something to make you hate me?" Roxas muttered, shuffling his feet nervously.
Axel however, was too stunned to even move. Out of all things he expected the blond to say, that certainly wasn't on his list. Before Axel remembered to respond though, Roxas interpreted the silence.
"Ah, sorry, I guess if you hate me you wouldn't really want to talk to me at all either. I was just wondering what it was so that maybe I could make it better somehow, or fix it. Was it because I took over doing stretches with your team? I-"
Axel's mouth, finally catching up to his brain, decided to interrupt. "NO! No-no-no-no-no! I don't hate you."
Roxas opened and closed his mouth few times before replying, "But I did something wrong?"
Axel shook his head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. Sorry, I'm just a dick who glares at people 'cause he puts stupid thoughts in his head about a person, he doesn't even know, that aren't true."
Roxas' brows furrowed for a moment before realization crossed his face. "Oh," he paused, looking up at Axel slightly. "Well judging by all the nice things I've heard your team says about you, I doubt you being a dick is true."
Axel smiled. "Heh, well I have my moments I guess. Thanks."
Roxas shrugged, turning back towards the teens playing a small game of volleyball. "They really like you, you know."
Axel hummed, understanding, as he watched Roxas stare at the active boys on the court. "You miss your team?"
Roxas thought for a minute before shaking his head. "No," I miss my life.
Axel frowned, then walked closer to Roxas and put a hand on his shoulder. "Alright then, ready to try out?"
Roxas looked up at him, blue eyes surprised. Then he smiled and nodded. "Ok, what do you want me to do?"
"We're gonna play a game."
(1)Libero: A defensive specialist position added to the game in 2001. This player wears a different shirt than his/her teammates and plays only in the back row. Sometimes can play up front too.
(2)Spike: An attack, also known as a hit.
(3)Year round: Year round schools basically just play all through the year. These players are usually really good.
(4)Front Left: Position on the court where you stand after ball is served.
(5)Setter: A player who is responsible for getting the second ball to the hitter by setting it with the hands or bump setting with the forearms.
Keru: I think I'll stop there for now. If you want a better visual of those stretches they do, I'm sure you can Google them and they'll pop up somewhere. They're a bit complicated, some of them, and I feel like it would be rather lengthy and confusing if I were to try and explain them.
Otherwise if you have any questions feel free to leave it in a review or in my PM box. I usually respond to reviews quicker though. XP
You notice anything spelling or grammar wise let me know too please! And let me know what you think about the story too! Are you excited about the next chapter? What do you think will happen? Let me know! See yah!
P.S: I really like reviews. But, I mean, who doesn't?