When the moon glows softly

I'll find you staring up at it.

Riku hated his parents, he hated this stupid island, and he hated himself. Forcing him to move to another home after fifteen years of living in the same place, growing up in that house, was one thing. It was another to ask him to pack up his life and move halfway around the world to a tiny little island in the middle of nowhere. He had no friends, no sense of where he was going, and no fucking reception!

He staggered out of the new place almost immediately after arriving, not bothering to help out what so ever, and began his search for a decent signal. Normally he would have tried his 'room' first but he loathed the new house and wanted nothing more than to be as far away from it as possible.

"Damn." He muttered to himself. The mud under his combat boots squished making him groan even more. In the city he was from, Hollow Bastion, there was very little mud and yuck. All of that was piled away in the small park and flowerbeds, and there was no way in hell he had ever gone there. Not when he had friends' houses to hang out at and the mall to buy stuff at. Riku scowled to himself wondering if the people here even knew what sidewalks were, or even a store where he didn't have to see food for cattle.

He trudged up the dirt road, hardly seeing any houses. No cars passed and he was sure if any did they would be beaten up old pickup truck, or at least nothing like his father's Porsche.

"Stupid island."

Not paying any attention to where he was going or what was in front of him, he blinked as his body collided with that of a lanky person. His head shot up, ready to curse at the person until he got a better look at them.

Their blindingly bright red hair stood pushed back like spikes on a porcupine. Green, cat-like, gazed upon him as if he were prey. "Watch where you're goin' little man." His voice wasn't mean, nor was it hate-filled, but his body said otherwise.

A lightly tanned hand appeared in front of his face. "I'm sorry about him." The other person, that Riku didn't see before, said. His eyes were bluer than the sea. And blonde spikes looked haphazard and windblown.

"Forget it." He brushed himself off, standing without the help of the blue-eyed blonde.

The redhead looked ready to pounce at his coldness to the shorter, Riku didn't realize how much taller he was until he came to his feet in front of the boy, blonde. His feral eyes gleamed with a certain hatred that Riku couldn't place. Sure he had been hated before, but this look was like nothing he's ever seen.

"I'm Roxas." The blonde smiled cheerfully. It was quite the contrast to see someone look so emo and smile at the same time. This kid wore all black, even down to his finely painted fingernails. While the redhead wore black, he didn't have an overabundance of it like Roxas did.

"I don't care." Riku frowned. The last thing he wanted was to actually make friends with some emo-wanna-be farmer hick. He wanted to be left alone to grieve over the fact he had no life here and couldn't return to his old one for at least two years.

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Come on Rox, you can't help everyone who happens to be an ass. Let's go."

"But Axel." Roxas started, but his friend wasn't so keen on talking to the stranger. Axel's lengthy body shoved pasted Riku, almost knocking him to the ground again. "Sorry."

"Whatever." Riku scoffed.

He swore he could faintly hear, after they were a few feet away, the redhead, Axel, grumbling. "This is why you should let me drive you places."

"As if."

Riku groaned. This place, these people, everything, he hated it. Then the worst thing came to his mind, as he continued the dirt path. Oh, how he would have to attend the hick school that those two probably attended. After all, this backwash town could only have one school, right?

"Are you sure you don't need a ride?" Sephiroth asked his youngest son while he watched him, nibbling on a piece of toast, out of the corner of his green cat-like eyes.

"I'm fine."

"Are you angry at me for not letting you stay with your older brothers?"

"No." His tone was nonchalant. That couldn't trick his father though, Riku knew that far too well. "I have to leave."

"They'all be here before you know it," Sephiroth spoke.

"Good for them." Riku didn't care. Although he was jealous that his three older brothers were able to stay in Hollow Bastion for longer, it wasn't by much. They were only staying to finish the year before moving to the stupid island.

"Let me drive you. We don't have to speak at all in the car." There was a hint of that commanding voice that the silver-haired man was known for. This was no longer something that would be discussed, it was now an order.

Riku begrudgingly slipped out of his seat. "Whatever." His hand hooked on to the strap of his backpack.

Sephiroth looked at his youngest before letting out a sigh. "We aren't off to a very good start to this new life, are we?"

"No." The son grunted. "Mom's way better at this stuff than you."

He couldn't help but feel a stab in his heart at his son's words. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Needless to say, after that, the ride to school was long, awkward, and silent as his father promised. Not a single word was muttered the entire twenty-minute drive. Even the radio was turned off as if to add to the horrible tension.

"Should I pick you up later?" Sephiroth waited until his on had already slammed the door.

"No thanks. I'd rather walk home. I have to get a feel for where I'm going."

A nod. "Have a good day."

Riku scoffed and turned away looking at the crowd that shuffled into the brick building like farm animals. "Not likely."

The bell chimed loudly before he could even manage to find the office. Which sadly was only a few steps in the building. Teens loitering around the door, walking slowly, or just not caring if they were in the way. Riku had to muscle his way past them all. He practically had to will himself not to be frustrated at the distinct lack of familiar faces.

After making his was passed a group of, what seemed to be, jock he fell through the doors of the office only to have a bright smile look at him from behind the desk.

"Can I help you?" The boy asked. He couldn't have been older than Riku, leaving the silver-haired male thankful to see someone taking their education (if that's what he was doing there) seriously. His bright blue eyes reminded him of someone, but a name and face couldn't be placed in Riku's mind. His unruly brown spikes made it look as if his hair refused to stay in place.

"Uh, yeah. I'm looking for principal Strife?" He bit his lip. It wasn't meant to sound like a question.

His big blue eyes widened as he jumped from his seat behind the desk. His hands landed on the light wood with a forceful 'thump'. "No way! Are you the new student? That's so cool! We haven't had anybody new here in like forever!"

"Sora!" A stern voice called from behind as the tall person made his way from the back hallway.

"Oops." The teen spun on his heels, arms folded behind the back of his head. "Hiya Cloud. You have someone here to see you. He's the new student, right? How cool is that?"

The older man put a hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"What? No way! This is like super-fantastically-amazing!' Sora spewed like it was all one word.

"Follow me Riku," Cloud said. "I'll explain things and help you get situated."

He barely nodded before the brunette pushed out the light wood door allowing him to step up and follow the older man back.

"Bye Riku!" Sora waved. "Come back anytime you need help."

Cloud showed him to the furthest room back with a simple nameplate that stated 'Strife'. He pushed the door open and motioned to his newest student to sit. "Sorry about him. He's got enough energy to power China. Even this early." The last bit came out with a bit of a sigh.

It only took a few moments for things to click. "Oh!" He voiced accidentally.

"Oh?"

"Sorry." He flushed. "I didn't realize you were the principal. You looked too young, I thought you were just helping."

"I get that sometimes from parents." Strife's face remanded passive. He plucked a sheet of paper from his desk and gave it a once over again. "I'm grateful you're father planned this ahead of time. These are all of you're classes, and I've arranged for one of the students from your first class to meet you up front. I have your agenda, you'll need it for a passbook if you wish to leave class. It also has a map of the school inside. If you need any more help we free to ask the teachers or come ask me."

Riku took both the booklet and class list from the young-looking principal's hands. "Thanks."

The silver-haired boy stood. "And if you ever need to talk, about anything, Aerith Gainsborough is the school counselor. She's often found in the nurse's office though."

"Okay." He tried to sound grateful. When no more words were spoken he took that with a sigh that he could leave.

As soon as the door opened he could hear Sora chatting away with whoever was in the front. From what Riku could hear he was really excited about having a new face to see.

"That's great." The other voice sounded slightly bored.

"Why are you being such a downer?"

"I hate being late for class."

That irked Riku. He was going to make some witty retort, after all, it wasn't his fault he was new. It wasn't his fault he didn't know that school. And it was by no means his fault that this snotty goody-two-shoes was picked to walk with him. But everything fell flat as he stepped out.

"You?" He glared at the goth. He even surprised himself that he remembered the two on the street. He hadn't really cared for them and he was in a horrible mood that day.

"You know him Rox?" Sora leaned against the counter.

"Oh." The goth frowned. "That makes sense."

"I'm lost." The brunette whined. "Tell me!"

"I thought that you looked unfamiliar, but I didn't have a lot of time to think about it." The blonde extended his hand to Riku. "I'm Roxas, nice to meet you, again."

Riku groaned as he took the other's finely manicured hand into his own.

"Again!" Sora yelled. "That's not fair!"

If there was one thing, out of the whole morning that gave him a small bit of peace that would probably be; he shared no classes with Axel. Roxas had asked to see his schedule to see if he could help him around school. And as unwilling as he had been at first, Riku was glad he handed it over.

"Hmmm. I won't see you again until after lunch." Roxas said after the second-period bell rang.

Now if this were a movie it would be that moment where the blonde would have said 'wow look how crazy this is! We share almost every class.' But thankfully it was not. He didn't want a new bestie to share all of his lessons with. But he wasn't expecting to not share lunch with him.

"After lunch?"

"Yeah you have eight-period lunch and I have sixth with Axel. I hope you can find someone to sit with." The blonde waved goodbye as he turned and strolled off down another hallway.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" He asked himself. "I have three more classes to find someone with the same lunch that will let me sit with them."

That sucked. But he didn't want to think about it. Art. He had to focus on the art class that he has next. If anything he would just go to the library and hide there until he found someone.

"No way!" Riku heard a loud voice echo as he approached the art room. "You gotta show me after school. That sounds so awesome."

"You're being too loud." The voice came from the, obviously more sensible, person just next to the door.

"When it comes to music it's hard not to be passionate. And passion is the same thing as loud." Finally, Riku could see who was talking. There were three people, two of them just outside of the colorfully painted door, and one hidden in the doorway. The one who had just shouted had the horrifying blonde haircut that was a crossbreed between a Mohawk and a Mullet. He had a cheerful grin on his face and bright cyan eyes gleamed with joy, although Riku could only see half of his face.

There was a shorter teen next to him. He looked rather odd standing next to the happy-go-lucky blonde. He stared down at an opened book, which Riku wondered if he could even see with such long blue bangs covering most of his face, his back pressed against the wall. The third person was shielded from his sight by the tall blonde but stood almost parallel to the enigmatic teen whose eyes didn't leave the scripted words on the pages below.

"Excuse me," Riku said disdainfully. Why did he have to wait until after the bell rang for them to move?

"Oh, sorry!" The blonde spun around. "I was just leaving. See ya after class Zexy. Call me tonight Sor I really wanna play that game!" He called cheerfully as he moved away, revealing Sora in the doorway.

"Bye!" He waved back.

"See you at lunch Sora." The blue haired emo looking one mumbled. He sidestepped to miss hitting Riku as he made his way across the hall, never really looking up to let the silver-haired teen get a better look at him.

"Wow!" The brunette turned to him, stepping back. "We have a class together! I was hoping we'd get a chance to talk and be friends!"

Riku's sliver brow furrowed. "I'm not really looking for friends but whatever."

"Oh don't be like that." A big grin appeared on Sora's face.

"So how was your first day?" The dainty voice asked. It belonged to a beautiful woman with long, braided, brown hair. She wore a pink ribbon to hold it back, Riku thought it was cute how childish it made her look.

"It wasn't horrible. But it's not over yet."

"That's good." He could tell she was smiling even with his eyes closed. He lounged on the small love-seat, that faced the book filled wall, next to the light brown desk."Is there anything you don't like?"

"Having to come here instead of having a study hall." Riku tried to bit his tongue.

"Soon you won't be forced to come here anymore. Cloud was just worried how everything was going." She didn't sound mad at him. In fact she sounded happy that he was honest with her. "What class do you have next?"

"Gym. It's the last one."

"Do you have any friends that share it with you yet?"

"I wouldn't call them friends. But two people I've met today have it with me." He answered.

"That's nice. Are they friendly?"

"Overly friendly."

She laughed. "One of them must be Sora."

"Yeah."

"Who did you sit with at lunch today?" She changed the subject after a few moments.

"I checked out the library. I wasn't the only one in there, but I didn't sit with the kid or ask his name."

"I have a pretty good idea who it was." She chimed.

"You really know everyone here?" He asked opening his eyes to look at her. She had an arm on the desk next to her, she must have pulled her seat around to face opposite of the love-seat, her chin placed firmly on her palm as she looked at the blind-covered window.

"Most of us grew up together here. That's why some are so excited about having you here. Some see you as a new friend waiting to be made while others see you as a strange outsider." She paused to look over at him. Her smile faded a bit. "It will get easier."

"Ms. Gainsborough?"

"Just call me Aerith."

"Okay, Aerith." He paused to bit his lip. "...Nah never mind."

She eyed him with suspicion. "You can come here anytime to talk if you need to."

He nodded to her. "Yeah." Riku stood. "Thanks."

At some point, during his long walk home, Riku wished that he had taken his dad up on a ride home. His boots were all muddy, after all the time it took to clean them after his angry adventure to search for a good signal (which he found in the attic of the new house. It was instantly claimed as his room.), now they were dirty AGAIN!

"Damn it!" He shouted after sliding down another hilly part and having the dirt splash up on his face.

"Issues?" Somebody said.

"Yes!" He wiped the dirt from his eyes and pushed his hair back. In front of him stood a short little blonde. "Roxas?"

"Hey." He gave a small wave. "Need a lift?"

"Huh?" Riku said. It wasn't until he looked over at the dirt road that noticed the shiny red car. At first he was stunned. Where was the pickup truck? But as his eyes flickered over the the driver seat he saw the deep green glare staring his way. "No. I don't think it's a good idea."

Roxas looked over. "Don't worry about him. Just hop in the backseat."

He wanted to disagree, but the look from Axel told him he shouldn't. Did he want him to get in or leave them be? Riku really couldn't tell. "You sure?"

"Yeah." He hummed. "If I didn't make Axel stop Sora would have."

Riku rolled his eyes. Just what he needed, an over friendly pest to pick and pry about his every thought ever occurrence since he moved in. It seemed like something the brunette would do. "Thanks." He muttered hopping in.

It was unexpected. There was no giant smile or twenty billion questions. There was a simple 'hello' before the brunette gazed down at his science book.

"He has a big test tomorrow." The blonde explained. "Don't mind him. Where do you live?"

He blinked. "I'm not sure. Where are we?"

Axel laughed. "Seriously?"

"Axel!"

"Sorry, he's so new it's funny."

"Hey, it's not funny," Riku shouted.

"It is."

The silver-haired teen folded his arms over his chest in a huff. "You don't know how it feels. How I feel right now."

"Sure I do."

"Yeah right." He peered out the window. "Oh hey, this looks familiar."

"That's good," Roxas commented.

"That's my dad's car. You can let me out here." He pointed at the Porsche. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem." Axel grinned.

"Anytime." The blonde nodded.

"See ya." Sora looked up with a smile.

He shut the car's door and made his way thru the overgrown grassy yard to the porch. The door opened before he could even make it up the first step, to reveal his father.

"I was just about to come looking for you." He said eyeing the car that started along the road again. "How was your first day?"

"Long." Riku pushed passed him. "Very long."

Sephiroth cleared his throat. "Is- is there anything I can get for you?"

"No."

The father looked dispirited. "Sorry, you'd probably rather talk to you're mother about things like school."

"Yeah. She's always super cool about it. Don't worry, maybe one day you'll be half as cool as she is."

Sephiroth winced. "Maybe."