Indelibility
Chapter One

axel/roxas
Endings Matter Most
disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did it'd be a Kingdom Hearts Law to ship AkuRoku.
A/N: I have been planning this story for a very long time. This full-length is lightly based off of my sister one-shots: Burning Cookies and Melting Ice Cream. I have finally managed to pull this thing out of my brain and into its first chapter. Bear with me – first chapters and beginnings are not my strong suit, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.
© square enix

I groaned when I saw my schedule.

Sora looked up from his own, a smile on his face. "What's wrong with you?" he asked. "Don't like your schedule?"

I fixed him with an irritated stare, but his cheerfulness didn't falter. "No," I replied, as blunt as I could be.

He rolled his eyes and took the paper from me. I laid my head in my hands and sighed. "All Advanced classes," he commented. "Very nice, Rox."

"This is going to be hell," I groaned.

"The price of your brains," he shrugged. "That's why I'm a healthy amount of stupid."

I looked back up at him, a grin attempting to sneak it's way past my annoyed demeanor. "Sora, you aren't stupid."

Sora isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but in no way is he stupid. Occasionally he is socially challenged, but I think that's because he's too nice. Which is not to say he isn't liked. Everybody loves Sora. He draws people in. He isn't like me, even if we are twins – we're not identical. He tends to see the best in people, even if they can't see it themselves, while I assume the worst. He rarely frowns, and I don't think he can stay upset or sad for more than two hours – and that's pushing it. I love my brother, I really do. He's almost my best friend because he's one of the only people on Earth that can stand my pessimism and eternal bad mood.

"I know," he said, holding the vowel sound out longer than necessary. "That's why I said, 'healthy amount.' So that way I don't get stuck in the Advanced classes."

"In other words, you don't try." I pointed out.

"Exactly," he agreed, looking back down at my schedule, a smile breaking across his face. "Um, Roxas, why are you in the theatre class?"

That reminded me why I was so upset in the first place. "They stuck me in there!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air. "I'm basically being punished for working so hard on my final project in Environmental Science that I didn't remember to turn in the form for what electives I wanted. Why is that fair?"

Sora smirked. "I told you to turn it in," he reminded me, pointing a finger in my direction.

"I didn't remember!" I retorted.

"You didn't even need to work that hard on it," he told me. "It was just an Environmental project."

"I wanted to get into Advanced, Sora," I pointed my own finger at him.

The brunette just smiled at me and threw my schedule back at me. "Then stop complaining," he replied. "You did get into Advanced. Besides," he nudged me and grinned. "I'll be in that class with you!"

"That doesn't cheer me up for some reason," I blinked, my lips turning down.

He stuck his tongue out at me. "You love it. And you'll have a ton of classes with Kairi! She's just like you with the, 'I want to do well in school' crap." He made quotation signs with his fingers. "I'm going to be all alone in my normal people classes." He huffed. "Why are all my friends smarter than me? You're in Advanced, Kairi's in Advanced, Riku's in Advanced… but he's a senior so that doesn't count… But still."

Riku is one of those guys in school that never, ever has to try. He is just naturally brilliant. All the teachers love him and his smarts but hate his work ethic. He constantly tries to tutor Sora and always helps Kairi if she asks. Sora never lets me tutor him because I have no patience and I usually end up hurting his feelings when he doesn't understand something. Riku has this never-ending patience with his two best friends – and only with those two. However, people at school adore him. Girls fawn over him, though he takes no notice. Guys wish they could be him, which is completely understandable because I've never seen something that Riku can't do. I think he only tolerates me because I am Sora's brother and Kairi's friend. Needless to say, Riku and I aren't the best of friends, if we can even be considered friends at all. He even challenges my pessimism. I don't think he likes me much, but the feeling is reciprocated. Luckily I'm not socially deprived enough to not have other friends.

And Kairi is just this naturally likable person, which is one of the reasons she and Sora are best friends, and she's probably the only reason that Riku is still sane. She's the balance between Sora and Riku. She isn't as overly cheerful and optimistic as my twin, but isn't even close to being as moody as Riku. I don't know anyone that hates Kairi, unless they are utterly jealous of her – though I don't think those people can say they hate her. Everyone loves Kairi, and she isn't even a bitch about it. And when it comes to school, she's top in our class – while I'm in second. She works hard, and has some natural smarts to back it up, though not like the natural genius Riku possesses.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi are the dream team at school. They've been best friends since Sora and I moved to Twilight Town when we were four. The three of them just work. They work better than any of the other friend groups in Twilight Town. It's as if their friendship is God's masterpiece. I seriously wonder if He created those three solely so they could be best friends.

"Sora," I stated, earning his attention. "You could be in Advanced if you wanted to be. So you stop complaining."

He made a face. "Well still."

"Have you heard from Kairi or Riku about their schedules?" I asked.

Sora shook his head. "No, but we're probably going to dinner – oh!" He interrupted himself. "Do you want to come?"

"No," I declined. "I think Hayner said something about going out with Pence and Olette tonight."

Hayner, Pence, and Olette were three of my good friends. We hung out from time to time, though the three of them are probably better friends but I am included, and happily call them my friends in return. They went to a different elementary school than Sora and I went to, so we didn't meet until freshmen year. The three had been friends for a long time before I came into the picture – almost as long as Sora, Riku, and Kairi. They never exclude me or ever give me the impression they like me any less, I just don't feel as connected to them as they seem connected to each other.

"Speaking of," Sora said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "What's going on with Hayner and Olette?"

I looked at him blankly. "Why are you whispering?"

One thing about Sora? He's a rabid gossip.

He huffed in frustration. "What's going on with Hayner and Olette?" He said at his normal volume.

I shrugged. "I didn't know there was anything going on to begin with."

"That's a lie," He accused, pointing a finger at me dramatically. "You, Hayner, Pence, and Olette are like… best friends!"

I rolled my eyes. "Sora, what is supposedly going on? You know I don't keep up with that stuff."

"Their your friends, though. Why don't you keep up with your friends' love lives?" He paused. "Do you keep up with my love life?"

"No," I answered shortly.

Sora stuck his lips out in a pout. "Well thanks." He crossed his arms and muttered, "I keep up with Riku and Kairi's love business, and I'd keep up with yours if you had any…"

"Jesus, Sora! Would you just tell me?" I threw my hands up.

"Okay!" He leaned forward and grasped my arm. "The word is that Hayner and Olette are secretly dating!"

I lifted my eyebrows, waiting for him to continue. "And…?"

"And that's it!" He leaned back, beaming. "So is it true?"

"If I knew, then it wouldn't be a secret, Sora."

"Is that a yes?"

"That's a 'I don't know.'" I said pointedly.

"You're no help." He pouted again.

I stood up and shook my head, making my way to the kitchen. "You're impossible."

Sora hesitated and then stood to follow. "Have you talked to Naminé about her schedule yet?"

Naminé is my best friend. She is like the Riku and Kairi to my life. She keeps me balanced. We have been best friends for as long as my brother has been best friends with Riku and Kairi. She doesn't balance me out like Sora – she isn't hyper enough. Naminé is calm and collected, not headache-inducing like my lovable twin. She keeps me sane and will listen to me when the world decides it wants to hate me, unlike Sora, who just reminds me the world "doesn't hate me because it has no feelings."

Anyway, my brother is completely in love with her. And I know it, even though he won't tell me outright. I always thought that he would end up with Kairi… or Riku for that matter… or both, because that's just how close those three are. Which is probably why he thinks I'll end up with Naminé because we're just as close as the three of them. But I see Naminé the same way he sees Kairi. She's my best friend – basically my sister.

This is not to say I'm keeping up with my twin's love life. I don't obsess over other people and their feelings like Sora does. It's just pure observation.

I sent him a knowing smirk, which he didn't see. "Not yet," I told him. "I'll probably invite her to hang out with me, Hayner, Pence, and Olette though. I'll ask her."

"She's not in Advanced too, is she?" he asked abruptly. "Because then that would really be all of my friends."

"I don't know, Sora." I replied, looking in the food pantry. "I haven't talked to her yet. But she's probably taking some. She doesn't care much about the Advanced courses though. You know her and her art."

Naminé is a wonderful artist. I swear, she's going to win awards and shit one day.

Sora nodded. "True," he acknowledged. "And I'll always have Hayner and Pence to keep me company. Because Olette is in Advanced too… probably."

I smiled lightly and went to open a cabinet. "Probably." Olette was a stickler about school. She was third in our class. It gave me great satisfaction to be beating her because she was even more uptight about schoolwork than I was. It drove her crazy, and it was always entertaining to watch Hayner and Pence tease her about it.

"At least two of my friends are stupid with me!" he said cheerfully.

I abandoned the cabinet opened the refrigerator. "You've got Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie too." Another trio at school, though hardly an unbreakable one. They are best friends, but Selphie is friendly with everyone and enjoys interjecting herself into others' circles, Wakka is the quarterback and spends lots of time with the jocks, and Tidus is similar to this, though he doesn't play the big sports like football; he mostly plays Blitz ball and a few others. I don't really keep up with sports.

I don't know what it was about threes in my town, but it is full of them.

"And don't forget about Seifer and his posse," I reminded him.

Sora made a face. I think the only people in the world Sora hates are Seifer, Fuu, and Rai. It goes without saying that those three are awful, and yet somehow they almost own the school. "Yeah… that doesn't help, Roxas." He replied sourly, though instantly cheered up and saw the bright side. "But Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, and I will have loads of fun!"

I shook my head and then realized I was still standing with my head in the fridge. I closed it and sighed. "Why don't we have any good food?" I asked.

"Story of my life," Sora laid his upper body on the island counter dramatically. "Any time I'm hungry, there's never anything I want. Why is the world so cruel to me?"

This is when Sora's phone went off in the living room. He made a noise resembling a squeak and dashed into the other room to retrieve his phone. "Kairi sent me her schedule!" he called to me.

I trudged back into the room to join him. "And?"

"All Advanced of course," he replied, his eyes glued to the screen. "AND SHE'S IN THEATRE WITH US!"

I flopped onto the couch as he jumped up and down in excitement, holding the phone to his ear. "Kairi!" he cried happily into the phone. "We've got theatre together!"

I picked up my phone from the coffee table. There was a message from Naminé about her schedule. We only had Advanced English III together. I sent her a message back telling her this and asked if she wanted to join Hayner, Pence, Olette, and I.

"…with Riku?" Sora was asking Kairi. He paused for her response. "I'm coming right now—" She cut him off and he waited for her. "Oh okay! I'll see you in a few minutes then!"

My phone buzzed twice. Hayner texted me and told me to meet him at his house. Naminé replied, accepting my invite. I told her to meet at Hayner's house and stood up to go get my shoes. "I'm headed out," I told Sora.

He nodded. "Riku and Kairi are headed over right now," he said. "And Riku doesn't have any classes with me or Kairi." He pouted and then made a face. "But he did get stuck with the same theatre teacher as us because he's taking the film class. Why is Riku taking a film class?"

"Why are you taking a theatre class?" I countered, slipping my shoes on.

"Because I like it!" he retorted.

"Well Riku probably likes film!" I said, fixing him with a look while I threw my jacket and scarf on.

"You're taking a theatre class and you don't like theatre!" Sora pointed out.

I shrugged, wrapping the scarf around my neck. "Think about it though," I replied. "Film kind of suits him."

Sora made a face. "I dunno… I guess… maybe," he allowed.

"Okay," I let my arms drop to my sides. "I'm off." I headed for the door, grabbing my skateboard from the closest under the stairs.

"Bye!" Sora called after me, settling himself on the couch and snatching the remote. "Leave the door unlocked for Riku and Kairi, I don't want to get up!"

I waved in compliance, though he couldn't see me. I dropped the skateboard behind me as I turned to close the door, leaving it unlocked like Sora asked. I stepped on the board and hopped off the porch to head in the direction of Hayner's house. Riku and Kairi were driving down the street in Riku's car about to turn into my driveway. I waved politely and Kairi waved back with a smile, and Riku gave me a half-nod.

I continued down the sidewalk, prepared to enjoy the remaining week of my winter break.

xxx

It took me a bit of time to get out of bed when my alarm went off for the first day back to school. While I am a morning person it would take me time to get back into the swing of things. Regardless of how tired I was, I got myself out of bed and into the shower.

When I was getting dressed, I heard my parents call a goodbye to me, wishing me a good day at school. Then, of course, they hastily told me to wake Sora up. That would fall to me.

Sora is not a morning person. It would be amusing how little of a morning person he is, but it isn't. Sora is the heaviest sleeper I have ever known.

I walked into his room, none too quietly. "Sora," I said. There was no response. Maybe this time he'll finally be dead. "SORA!" I shouted at him with no result. I slammed the door to his room and the picture of him, Kairi, and Riku shook on the wall, but Sora didn't move. With a huff, I stormed over too him and shouted in his ear. This produced a slight shift, as if he were uncomfortable with the way he was laying. The lack of result was, as it is every morning, extremely frustrating. So I took a deep breath, grasped on to my twin's arm and pulled him off the bed.

"HEY!" Sora exclaimed, struggling his way out of his blankets.

"Oh good, you're awake," I replied sarcastically. "We've got school and we're leaving in twenty minutes. Hurry up." As I turned to leave the room I heard him mutter something under his breath about my methods of waking him up. He should try it some time. It's like trying to wake the dead.

I ate breakfast and even heated up a PopTart for Sora. He was such a girl about getting ready and there was no way he'd have time to eat before we had to leave. When it was three minutes before we had to go, I called up to him. I grabbed my coat and my skateboard, which I threw in my backpack despite the fact that it would stick out at the top. I had work after school.

I work at a quiet, little coffee house downtown, which is about 15 minutes away from my house. I skateboard there from school and then skateboard home. Sora and I were going to get a car soon, but we'd have to share. Sora is an incompetent driver, but he'll probably be using it far more than I will, that social butterfly.

Sora ran down the stairs shouting apologies at me while he threw on his coat. "Let's go, let's go!" he called, grabbing the breakfast I laid out for him.

Together, Sora and I walk to Hayner's house every morning to get a lift to school. Our parents leave long before we do to get to work, and Hayner lives on our street, so it all works out.

At school, we departed to our respective first classes. Mine was Advanced English III, the one and only class I had with Naminé. Kairi and, of course, Olette were also in the class with us. We seated ourselves together at a table decently close to the front of the classroom. We compared schedules with each other and I found out that Kairi and I shared all of our classes and Olette was in two with me: Advanced English III and Advanced Psychology I.

The first day of new classes is always a drag in high school. We are retold what to do and what not to do for the umpteenth time and then told that, "This class is not difficult if you just do your homework." For those of us in Advanced courses, we are told, "This is not a regular high school class. You're in Advanced and at a college level. I will not be holding your hand through this. Do your homework and keep up with the reading, and you will succeed in this class." Same old shit.

It was a relief to get to lunch. Our school is not very large, so we have an all-school lunch as opposed to other high schools that rotate lunch periods. I always sit at the same table with Naminé, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Occasionally Selphie, Tidus, or Wakka will join us, but it's rare. Riku will oftentimes run off campus, as he's the only senior, and bring back lunch for himself, Sora, and Kairi; or he'll just have to bring it for Sora, who forgets his lunch or lunch money at home more often than not. Today, everyone is here comparing schedules and talking about classes. But Sora, Kairi, and I are the only ones that will have to suffer through Theatre.

"It's going to be fun, Roxas," Sora said for the millionth time since I first saw my schedule. "We get to act." He struck a pose.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Mr. X is really cool," he commented. "I have Film first thing in the morning."

"What do you do in that class?" Kairi asked, tossing a grape in her mouth.

He shrugged. "It's only the first day. We haven't done anything yet," he told us. "He told us we were going to study some films and possibly make a short one of some kind by the end of the semester. And he's really chill on the first day. He's cool, you'll like him."

I wasn't sure if he was talking to all three of us, or just Sora and Kairi.

"I'm glad that I'm taking Gym instead," Hayner piped up, leaning back in his chair. "That way, I'll get into shape – more than I already am," he quickly added arrogantly. "And beat Seifer's ass in the Struggle match this summer."

Olette huffed as she began to gather her trash. "The Struggle match is so stupid. If you wanted to be hit with bats, I'll more than happily do it for you."

"They aren't bats, Olette," Hayner replied. It was hard to tell if he was feigning hurt or if he was actually stunned by her words. Pence snickered as he ate his last cookie. Even Naminé cracked a smile.

"When is the Struggle match?" Sora asked, grabbing a bunch of chips from the bag he was holding.

Hayner turned to Sora, elated that someone was showing interest in his favorite pastime. "June," he replied. "A week after school lets out."

Sora licked the chip cheese off of his finger and contemplated. "I was thinking about entering this year," he confessed. When he saw Riku lift an eyebrow at him he immediately went defensive. "Shut up, Riku," he snapped, though it had no malice behind it. "I could totally win."

"I'm sure you could, Sora," Riku nodded, but everyone heard the sarcasm.

My twin narrowed his eyes at his best friend and went on eating, turning deliberately back to Hayner. "As I was saying," he said, shooting a quick look back at Riku who was stifling a smirk. "I was thinking about entering this year, but I'm not sure how it works exactly."

"I could train you," Hayner quickly offered. "I'm trying to make Pence and Roxas join this year too!"

"No," I said immediately. "We've had this discussion and I'm not doing it. I'm with Olette. I'll beat you with my own bat for free." The Struggle match was pointless to me. Just a bunch of guys hitting each other and trying to gain points after they pay a fifty-dollar entry fee with a heaping reward of bragging rights and a trophy. Hayner always came out with quite a few nice bruises and never a trophy. "And besides, there's no way I would let you train me," I added. "You never win."

Pence snorted into his drink while Hayner frowned. "It's not my fault that Seifer takes so many cheap shots," he muttered indignantly.

"Well I'll train with you, Hayner," Sora offered. "We'll both enter this year. One of us has got to win."

Riku leaned over and whispered something in Kairi's ear. She hit him lightly on the arm while trying not to smile. Sora shot them both a look and the three of them entered into a conversation with each other that usually involved playful banter between Riku and Sora with Kairi being the self-appointed referee. Hayner started to talk adamantly to Pence, attempting to make him join the Struggle match while Olette rolled her eyes and opened her book for English to begin the reading work for tonight.

"How has your day been since English?" Naminé asked me absentmindedly as she concentrated on her sketch.

"Full of school and things I already know," I replied, finishing off my sandwich. "What are you drawing?"

"Us," she answered. "That is, all of us. In Art today we already got started on our first individual project."

I leaned over her shoulder to see what she was drawing. It was the eight of us sitting at the lunch table. "What's the assignment?" I asked as she began the shading on Kairi's hair.

"A moment with our friends," she responded. "And this is where all of my friends gather at one time." She paused. "You know," she continued turning to look at me. "The eight of us are never together outside of this lunch table."

I gave her a look. "You know why that is," I told her.

While we were all friends, we had our best friends as well.

She nodded. "I know." She went back to shading Kairi's hair.

"This is really good," I told her. "When did you start this?"

"At the beginning of lunch," she said nonchalantly, tilting her head at an angle to observe her shading work. "It's just the pencil drawing. I'll colour and everything at Thirteen."

Thirteen was the coffee shop that I work at. Naminé likes to come in and draw. She said the environment is relaxing and easy to work in. Why this is different from her quiet and orderly room at home, I have no idea. Don't ask me, I'm not the artist. I can't even draw good-looking stick figures.

"Who is that?" I heard Olette say breathily.

Our entire table turned to where she was looking. Without having to ask, I knew exactly who she was talking about. A tall redhead was walking through the lunch area. And when I say "redhead," I mean this guy had hair that rivaled Ariel's from The Little Mermaid. That was a bit of an exaggeration, but, honestly, not by much. This wasn't the only thing that drew attention to him. He had dark upside down teardrops tattooed to his face.

"New kid?" Pence offered.

Riku shook his head. "That's Mr. X's Teacher's Assistant," he told us.

"Is he going to be there during Theatre?" Sora asked.

The silverhead shrugged. "I don't know," he answered.

"You didn't like him," Kairi continued for him.

Riku didn't answer except with another shrug. We all knew that meant no, he didn't like this guy.

"What's his name?" Sora asked.

"Axel," the oldest of us answered. "He's supposed to be here for a while. Something for a teaching class."

Olette paused. "Well he's gorgeous." Kairi nodded in agreement.

Hayner watched the guy walk out of our sight, as if sizing him up. "How is he gorgeous?" he asked.

"Did you see his cheekbones?" she asked, setting aside her book. "And his hair. Those tattoos even worked on him. How many people do you know that can work face tattoos?"

"I don't know anyone with face tattoos," Hayner answered shortly.

"His eyes were amazing," Olette continued, as if she hadn't heard him. "He's so tall too. I love tall guys."

"He's too skinny," Hayner frowned.

"I'm thinking about transferring into Theatre," she said, leaning back in her chair. "He'd make it worth it."

This is when Selphie joined our table, right before Hayner could smart off about this Axel guy again.

"Did you see that guy?" she gushed, pushing Kairi lightly aside so they could share a seat. Riku rolled his eyes at the brunette energizer bunny and leaned away. "That was the most gorgeous man I have ever seen in my life. His eyes, his hair, his tattoos, his height, his cheekbones, his jawline," she ranted. "Perfection."

"How did you see all of that in the twenty seconds he was in here?" Hayner gaped at her.

Selphie ignored him. "I want to jump his bones right now," she said, lowering her voice and leaning forward toward the center of the table. "He's so effing hot."

"You know," Sora said, lifting a finger matter-of-factly. "I don't get you, Hayner. The guy is attractive. Now that I think about it, I agree with Olette and Selphie."

The table paused and everyone, save Naminé who was too involved in her drawing turned to look at him. "Something you want to tell us, Sora?" I asked, a smirk playing at the corners of my mouth.

"Screw you," he said with a smile. "I'm just saying, I can see it." I didn't miss the look he shot towards Naminé to see if she had heard his comment or if she was agreeing with anything Olette and Selphie were saying about the new guy.

Selphie shook her head and continued, "He's now the most attractive male to ever have walked into this school. Sorry Riku," she shot at the silverhead.

He lifted his eyebrows and his lips stiffened. Kairi laughed into her hand at his face as Selphie continued her tirade about the redhead.

When the bell rang, it was like a sound from the heavens. I couldn't have been happier to get away from that lunch table. I said hurried goodbyes to everyone and Sora, Kairi, and I headed off to the first Theatre class of the semester. That's when I began to wish I were back at the lunch table.

"God help me," I muttered.

Sora shot me a look. "Will you stop complaining?" he chastised me. "All three of us are together. We'll have a great time. And Riku said that Mr. X was cool, and Riku never likes anyone."

"The world hates me," I returned.

"Roxas," Sora huffed. "The world does not hate you. It—"

"Doesn't have feelings, I know," I finished for him.

Sora just rolled his eyes playfully before running ahead to greet Wakka and Tidus who were apparently in the class with us. Kairi gave me one of her all to knowing looks, a light smile playing at the corners of her mouth, and shook her head. "What?" I asked as I sat down.

"Why the hatred for Theatre?" she questioned, taking a seat next to me while routinely placing her jacket on the seat next to her for Sora.

"I don't hate it," I answered. "I just don't want to be involved in it. Standing in front of people and… acting… It's just not something I feel inclined to do."

She nodded. "It's not for everyone, is it?" She watched Sora interact with the two other boys. "Sora should be good in this class. At least he'll have one class in this school that he can stand going to," she commented fondly. I briefly wondered if Kairi had feelings for my brother. "Riku on the other hand," she continued before I could give it too much thought. "Would be terrible. But I think he'll be great in film. He's told me more than once that he loves it, which is something you never hear him say."

The way Sora, Riku, and Kairi talk about each other has always fascinated me. When Sora makes a comment about Kairi, he instantly follows it up with a similar comment about Riku, and the same can be said for Kairi. I only assume that Riku is this way, but I wouldn't know as Riku and I never have had an individual conversation like this. I wonder what it's like to be that close to two people. I'm close with Naminé, sure, but she's a bit of a loner like me – though loner might be the wrong word. Probably more like, she's into her art. Regardless of what you call her we work well together. We can carry a conversation but still enjoy just the company of the other without words. It's relaxing to be with her.

I think the reason I'm not attracted to Naminé outside of the platonic, and similarly why Sora is not attracted to Kairi that way, is because we're too alike. Naminé was, technically, my first girlfriend. It didn't last long and never became physical beyond a kiss or some handholding – though I don't think that counts. But that was in 8th grade. It wasn't serious and I think the relationship lasted a total of three days. We thought that, as best friends, we should at least give it a shot because who knows what could come from it. In the end, it was nice to know for a fact that neither one of us felt that way. Maybe Sora and Kairi should try dating and see what happens, despite the fact that my twin is currently "crushing" on Naminé.

"Roxas," Sora addressed me as he went to take his seat when the teacher walked in. "I think you're the only one in this room that doesn't want to be here. Wakka and Tidus both seem pretty excited."

"Okay, time to shut up and listen," came the gruff voice of our teacher. He was facing the whiteboard, writing his name. "I'm Mr. X and this is Theatre I." He turned to us and the first thing I noticed was his huge scar on his left cheek. Not far behind that was the eye patch he wore over where, presumably, his right eye used to be.

"Hey Mr. X," the jock, whose name I think was Kilden, said. "Are you a pirate or something?" His fellow teammates snickered.

Mr. X smirked at him. "I guess you think you're super clever, kid," he said, walking up to the desk Kilden had seated himself at. "As if. Do you know how many times I hear that in one day?" He pointed at his eye patch and leaned down to stare at the jock with his good eye. "It's hysterical, to think I'm a pirate because of this, right? No. Maybe if you had come up with something actually funny, I'd laugh with you. But you went with the obvious." He leaned back and sighed. "Kids these days. They're all idiots."

Riku was right. I did like this guy.

"I think your scar is cool," Sora piped up. "It's like your Harry Potter, except on your cheek."

Mr. X looked up at eyed my twin before cracking a smile and chuckling. "Not sure what that was supposed to be, but I haven't heard that one before, kid." He went back to the desk in the front of the room and sorted through few papers. "What's your name?" he asked, glancing at Sora.

"Sora Davery," he answered proudly.

"Well, Sora Davery, you've made the top of my list." He turned to Kilden. "And you're name?"

"Kilden," he answered, obviously humiliated.

The teacher looked through the list of names. "And Kilden Sanford has made the bottom."

"Should you really be saying your favorites?" Kilden asked immediately, throwing his hands in the air.

Mr. X looked at him for a moment. "That's two," he replied, holding two fingers up. Kilden went silent. "Fortunately for you, Kil, I won't be doing a lot of the teaching this semester. I was lucky enough to get a TA and his job is to do my job under my guidance. Unfortunately for you, I can't seem to locate him."

As if on cue, the door to the classroom opened and in walked the redhead. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized, though he didn't sound too sincere.

"This, students, is our TA for the semester. Axel, introduce yourself." Mr. X stood aside and leaned against the wall by the whiteboard.

The redhead came into the room, tossing his bag on the floor beside the desk. He gave a half wave to the classroom. "Hey guys, I'm Axel Walsh. If you call me Mr. Walsh I'll cut you in half," he added cheerfully. "It's just Axel."

Three sentences in and I already didn't like this guy.

One thing I can say about this class? Mr. X didn't waste time on the dos and don'ts. He told us, "If you haven't gotten the rules already, then I don't know how you're sitting here as juniors. Break the rules? You get punished. Don't break the rules? That's good. The end. Let's get to work."

He had us get into groups between two and four. Sora, Kairi, and I automatically paired up. In these groups we were to come up with a list of things we were expecting to get from this class. Mr. X wasn't promising us anything, but he said it always made his job easier if he got some ideas. He was giving us the rest of the class period to do this, which was over an hour. He told us the first day of class was his lazy day, which meant it was our lazy day too. Sora, naturally, was ecstatic about the assignment. He designated himself the scribe and then began to write down different ideas, most of which were idiotic.

Mr. X walked around to each group and paused at our table, glancing at our sheet. "Learn to dance like they do on Broadway," he read, followed by a chuckle. "Sorry, Sora, I don't dance. Good effort," he added as he moved on.

The TA was more thorough than he was. He stopped and had conversations with each group. Some conversations were longer than others, but it seemed like he was trying to learn everyone's names. His stop at the all girls' group two tables down from us was especially long. The girls were overly giggly and one of the sluttier ones, Andra I think, touched his arm. Didn't they know this guy was probably about four or five years older than we were? Nonetheless, he seemed to enjoy the attention and flirted right back with them.

By the time he arrived at our table, I was already fed up with him and his cockiness. He swung a chair out at our table and settled down. "Hey guys," he greeted.

Sora lifted his head and was the first one to respond. "Hey! Your name is Axel, right?"

"A+ kid," the redhead responded, beaming at my twin. "What are your names?"

"I'm Sora," my brother responded.

"Kairi," was Kairi's followed response.

"And that's Roxas," Sora interjected. He knew me too well. "He's not a people person, I wouldn't bother with him."

I glared at him and gave Axel a forced half smile. I don't know what it was about this guy, but hearing the, "wouldn't bother with him," seemed to spark his interest.

"Not a people person, huh?" he asked, turning towards me. "What are you doing in a Theatre class?"

"Don't get him started," Sora replied for me again. "He forgot to turn in his elective form so he got stuck in here. He's been grumbly about it forever."

"Grumbly?" I asked bluntly, raising my eyebrow at my brother.

"He speaks!" Axel exclaimed. "And here I thought you had your tongue cut out and this guy was here to speak for you."

"You've known me for two seconds," I responded, my lips turned down in distaste.

Axel grinned. "Nope, tongue definitely still intact."

"I'm his brother," Sora told him, pretending as if I hadn't spoken. "More specifically, twin."

"Twin?" Axel asked, finally turning away from me. "I would not have guessed that."

Kairi laughed lightly. "Tell me about it."

Axel leaned towards her. "You aren't related to them, too, are you?" he asked throwing looks at Sora and me.

"Definitely not," she responded, smiling happily at him.

"That'd be weird." He pulled back, nodding as he went. "You two do look alike though. Except the hair. And the attitude."

"Attitude?" I asked skeptically, narrowing my eyes at the guy.

Sora smiled. "That's Roxas' mad face," he told Axel.

"I can see that," Axel nodded. "Him and his 'tude."

I blinked, disbelievingly at Axel. This guy was in college, wasn't he? "You're a child," I remarked, leaning back against my chair away from him.

"Oh, there it was again." His grin grew.

Luckily, the bell rang, saving me from this menace. Wordlessly I grabbed my bag, which I hadn't had to pull anything out of for this particular class, and headed for the door. I wasn't going to wait for Kairi to walk with me because it would involve being near this guy longer than I wanted to be.

"See you tomorrow, Roxy," he called after me.

I halted, the other students walking around me. I turned back to the redhead, who had a satisfied smirk on his face. This college redhead. They had let this arrogant idiot be a TA at our school. What was the world coming to?

Sora was laughing loudly and Kairi had a look of amused shock. Roxy was not something people called me. I did not have any tolerance for that nickname. I wanted to kill Axel where he stood, and I think he knew it, which made his grin all the more wide. I walked out of the room and headed to my final class, Advanced Psychology I. And when I say walked out, I more or less stormed out.

This was going to be a long year.

.