Chapter 1
The Love of Friends
Roxas woke up that morning with a kink in his neck. Upon rubbing it in an attempt to make it feel better, he immediately got a leg cramp.
"Owww! Ow ow ow ow!" he mumbled, trying to remember that trick Pence taught him about fixing leg cramps easily. "Was it 'hold it close to your body until it goes away'…" he said to himself aloud as he tried it. Piercing pain shot through his leg. "….Guess not." He then held it to his chest and even though a bit of the pain grew, it slowly faded. He swung his legs around the side of his bed and sighed heavily. "Looks like today is going to be a great day…"
He proceeded to get dressed and go about his morning rituals of brushing his teeth and hair, eating some Lucky Bites ™, and putting on all his jewelry. His mother reminded him to be home for lunch and that she loved him. He nodded, returned the favor, finished tying his shoes and headed out the door.
Hayner and Pence were already in the Usual Spot when Roxas arrived, and (of course) they were talking about summer vacation and all that it entails.
"Sup guys." Roxas said, waving tiredly.
"Hey dude" and "How are you today Roxas?" said/asked Hayner and Pence respectively.
"Meh…Off to a bad start this morning so far, but I guess I shouldn't complain" he replied. "Where are Olette and Namine?"
"Your guess is as good as ours" Pence added. "They may have gone out shopping today. You know how girls, especially Namine and Olette are about shopping." The three teens laughed.
"Yeah," Hayner laughed "I just wonder where they get all the money!"
"Ah, one of the many things a man will never understand about a woman among many others." The three laughed heartily again to the entrance of Namine and Olette, seemingly thousands of shopping bags in hand.
"What are you three laughing about?" Olette asked, ending her conversation with Namine.
The boys looked at each other, the bags, then each other again and burst out laughing. Hayner fell off the washing machine he was sitting on, Roxas had to lean up against the wall, and Pence fell horizontally along the sofa.
The girls simply stood there at the entrance, dazed, confused, and altogether lost. The laughing continued for several minutes until Hayner, somewhat crying, explained what they had talked about briefly before the others entered the Spot. The girls proceeded to beat their insulters with their shopping bags.
Hayner-HP-00/25 MP-20/20 Pence-HP-00/20 MP-30/30 Roxas-HP-00/30 MP-20/20
"Humph…That'll teach you to make fun of us." Olette said, rather matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, grow up guys." Namine added, winking and giving a peace sign.
"We just wanted to drop this stuff off before we went back out. See you boys later! 3!" said Olette, waving goodbye.
"We'll be back later today, say three or four hours from now." Namine finished. "Bye!! 3!"
What was left of the Usual Spot would hurt your eyes to look upon. The boys were severely beaten and unable to move. Seemingly helpless piles of skin and bone scattered about the floor, the boys really had no hope of survival.
"W-w-why did we pick a fight with them, again?" Hayner asked.
"I-it was y-y-your fault, i-i-idiot!!!" Pence quickly reminded him. The boys collected themselves and resolved to sit around a TV for the rest of the day, besides lunch and dinner. Hayner described it perfectly as one of the best ways to spend the summer days, especially because of air conditioning, soda, and junk food. Not to mention friends; possibly Roxas' best friends ever.
He knew that he could tell them anything that may be concerning him, and even though some of the events in the past were particularly troubling, he was able to share them and free himself from the torment they wrought upon his life. He even confided his love life with his love-interest Namine, the groups 'newest' member. Something about her just made him feel complete, as he told the group, and he needed to find a way to get her into his life. Of course, he still respected Olette as a friend and a woman, but was open about the fact that he didn't have extensive feelings for her. He valued his friends more than anything else in the world. Asking him if he would die or suffer for them would be a severe understatement. But for now, his acknowledgements would be shown to them through a good pwning in Super Smash Brothers.
The girls once again strode in, leaving the boys speechless. They didn't carry a single bag.
Pence was the first one to work up his voice "Where are all your bags? You've been gone all day since you last stopped!"
Olette smiled femininely "Oh, they're outside."
"We figured you may not want all of them in here because it would make breathing kind of hard." Namine added.
The boys stared at them in disbelief. "I…don't even…want to…know…." said Hayner, finally. They seemed to be beyond paralyzed by the images of piles upon piles of shopping bags they visualized to be just outside the cloth door of the Usual Spot.
"Ugh…Boys…" Namine sighed "Well, while you get your grips on reality Olette and I will be dropping this stuff off at home and then we'll be back to hang out, k?" They sat there for a while with no answer, and eventually took the boy's daze as a 'yes'. They headed out the door and separated: Olette, up the hill and Namine, into the woods towards the mansion. They dropped their stuff off and then met back at the local diner to get some food. Normal girl talk ensued before, as, and after they ate and on the way back to the usual spot.
The subject of summer came up and they began discussing their final plans.
"So what else do you want to do this summer Namine?" Olette prodded.
"I'm content just hanging out at the Usual Spot until I have to leave…" she replied.
"What!?"
Namine looked confused. "What? You didn't know that I was transferring to Destiny Islands Prep?"
Olette responded to this by grabbing her arm and running her into the Usual Spot. When they suddenly burst in, the boys dropped their controllers and looked up to her. She stumbled as Olette let her go and quickly fixed her hair.
"Tell them!" Olette insisted.
"…"
"…Well?" Pence asked.
"I-I'm going to be going to transfer to Destiny Islands Prep at the end of this summer." Namine admitted.
"WHAAAAT!?" the boys shouted. "When were you planning on telling us? What about the rest of the summer?"
Namine's face turned fifteen different shades of red and she quickly turned away.
Roxas was the only one that hadn't said anything. He simply looked at her with his ice blue eyes. As they were barraging her with questions, she looked over her shoulder to Roxas and their eyes met. At almost the same time, a tear fell from each of their eyes. For Roxas it was his right, and Namine, her left. Time seemed to stand still and they just lied in each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity.
The others argued and talked indistinctly as they sat/stood there. It was as if their world had been grayed out and the only two people anymore were themselves. Roxas thought to himself "This isn't right…But at least she'll be with Sora, Riku, Kairi and them…I just don't want anyone to hurt her…I wish I could be with her…"
"But you are Roxas…You will always be with me because we are joined at the heart. Don't worry about me, I can handle myself here. Hee hee, just help me explain myself to them. You know I'll always be with you."
The rest of the night was spent in tears and sorrow, as the news of Namine's departure grew more elaborate and ornate. The friends vowed to enjoy their time together until summer ended and make sure that Namine was set for her new life on the other side of the galaxy. When the group decided to leave the Usual Spot, they all walked Namine home and hugged her goodbye.
The walk back seemed excruciating for the teens. Losing a member of their posse was something they never expected and could not deal with it. They resolved to get some sleep and face this the next day. Little did they know what was in store for them and how this one little act of changing as learning environment would ultimately change their lives.