High school means different things for different people. I think everyone can agree that it's where the roads diverge, you either succeed and become something or you fail and realize you've wasted half of your life.
I'm looking at my lunch, not that I'm saying it's edible. If the lunch menu is right, it's a 'vegetarian taco,' carrots and dressing dip, and a apple. I think Ms. Honk, the head cook at the school, must have diced it all up and thrown it into one slimy meal.
"Is this even edible?" I ask the guy who is both my friend and my reluctant co-hart. Many people wonder how we became friends seeing as we are so different, I'm one of them. Zexion looks at me with his hair covering his right eye. The shade seems to be a slate color, kind of a steel blue I guess.
"Only if your stomach can properly handle sulfuric acid and nuclear waste." Is his answer, he brings his own lunch. No doubt he has someone else make it because I know that creep can't cook worth crap. "Personally, I've never seen rats or flies daring enough to try it."
I nod, because now that I think about it he's right. "Maybe that's a good thing, considering how fat you are." He says it in that tone. That tone he uses when he knows he's pushing buttons and is just trying to keep a straight face while doing it. Needless to say, he's good at that.
"I am not fat you short little angry man!" I resist the urge to fling something at him, more for the sake of my fingers than for not getting in trouble. That stuff is giving off this horrible smell, I swear I could use it as a stink bomb and keep people out of the halls for decades to come.
"Of course you aren't Axel. You're just big boned." He pats my hand gently, which is kind of odd for Zexion as he isn't really the touchy type.
"I'm six foot two and I only weigh a 135 lbs! That is not fat!" I catch myself before I start really shouting, it's a sensitive subject alright. My doctor says I'm underweight, so he has me on a protein diet that tastes horrible and isn't doing me any good.
Zexion nods, then seems to notice something behind me. I turn, expecting someone from the football team to try and pick another fight. Instead I find this short little brunette kid.
"That's creepy." I can't help but say as I look at him. He's cute for a kid who had to have hit puberty sometime in the last five years. His hair is cinnamon brown, his eyes a nice shade of spring blue. He's also spaced out, he looks like he's in some kind of trance.
Zexion nods, though I can barely see him do so. The kid has dropped his lunch, everything has slid off of his tray and onto the floor just behind me. It's lucky for him that it didn't get onto me. One, that would be nasty. Two, I have a reputation and I'm not above kicking little kids butts.
Suddenly, another little kid who looks almost like a identical twin to this one comes out of nowhere. I swear, if I shaved them no one would be able to tell the difference looks wise. This one has golden blond hair though, and he seems a little more in place with the real world.
He gives us a apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. He didn't take his medicine this morning." He then grabs the brunette by the arm and tries to pull him away. Apparently said brunette is part statue, because despite the blond's efforts of pushing and shoving, he doesn't budge.
I watch for about ten minutes before I get fed up of the display. I'm hungry, broke, and the food I have looks like it's melting through the plastic tray. "I'll help." I grumble, and with ease pick the kid up. I might be a toothpick, but I'm not weak.
"Um. Thanks. You mind dropping him off at the bathroom?" The blond asks, pointing backwards with his thumb. I just shrug, feeling kind of like a pack mule.
"Whatever." Thus begins my great adventure to the bathroom. Shoving anyone that doesn't get out of my way into someone else. We arrive in one piece, and no one questions why I'm helping some random kid. Except myself.
I'm not even sure why I stick around as the kid tries to wake the other one up. Splashing cold water on the kid's face he says "Sora? Sora wake up please." That doesn't work, so he tries dunking the kid's head into the sink.
"So what kind of medication does he need anyways?" I ask, leaning against the door and locking it without drawing attention. I don't want people bursting in on us.
"He hears voices. They tell him to kill everyone because they don't have hearts and can't have emotions." The blond says matter-of-factly. "He's my cousin, but we live in the same house. We were in a hurry this morning and he forgot I guess. I hope he didn't cause you any trouble. Anyone else either."
The kid seems to be wondering the same question I am, why is he telling this to me. "I'm sorry. I guess you didn't want to know all of that." He sighs, then finally slaps Sora. Hard, and I mean there is this red streak across his face. That kid isn't as soft as he looks.
"What?! Who?! I'll rescue you Kairi!" Sora shouts, lifting a hand like he has a sword in it and charging towards the stalls. I watch, not sure if I'm amused or terrified. Roxas grabs Sora and turns him around, and to my surprise is nearly attacked.
"Sora! Sora calm down! Sora, it's me! Roxas, your cousin!" I decide I'm scared when Sora throws a punch so hard that it breaks the mirror that should have been Roxas' face. I also decide to act, because personally I'm starting to like this Roxas kid for whatever reason my brain can come up with.
I've fought three of our school's top football stars at once, I've got the scars to prove it. I've been attacked by several 'thugs' of the school as well, and the six stitches from that are still healing. I'll tell you this though, taking that Sora down is proving to be harder.
I try to get in behind him and pin his arms to him, he turns on his heels and punches at me. His knuckles are bleeding and I won't be surprised if there is a dent in the door. 'What are these two? Superhuman?' I can't help but wonder.
I finally get Sora to settle down after tripping him, catching him by the arms before he face plants on the floor. I won't ever admit it, but it was a fluke. He happened to step back while I was stepping forward.
Roxas is panting by now, because he was part of the dance. Trying to avoid Sora's fist of fury while trying to calm the boy down. "What happened?" Sora asks suddenly, looking around with a pale face. "Why are my hands bleeding?" Roxas sends me a thankful look and goes over to his brother. I decide they can handle the rest on their own and that my day has been too weird.
"Well I've done my charity work for the year. Put that down on the calender Zexion. I do not have to do another good deed for the rest of the year." I state at my locker, Zexion is two away from me. While I struggle to find everything, he's organized.
He doesn't say anything, the only time I can get him to say anything is at lunch. That's after bugging him enough continuously to get him to speak. He's not exactly anti-social, as much as a hard shell that closes tightly and is slow to open. He'll tell you his opinion if it's strong enough though.
"So you want to hang out at my house tonight or what?" I ask him, popping open one of my shakes and guzzling it down. It's hot and nasty, so I try not to taste it.
"If you don't mind having me." He answers, shouldering his own bag as we walk towards the yellow hot dogs that people call school buses. Are buses are hunks of stinking junk. I mean that literally. They fall apart constantly and smell of rotten eggs and skunk from a senior prank years ago.
Here's a odd tale for anyone who cares enough. It's the tale of how Zexion and I became friends, and it takes place in fifth grade. I had just moved to this town, Zexion has lived here his entire life. In fact his family has lived here for generations.
First day I met Zexion, I beat him to a pulp and took his lunch money. Then I told him he was going to come to my house and do my homework. This continued for about two weeks, until the day that something odd happened. At least odd to me.
I'd stolen his money as usual, but hadn't told him to come do my homework. So imagine my surprise when I find him at my front door. Mom of course thought we were friends so she let him in. That's about the time I found out that he preferred me and my bullying to his own parents.
As far as I can tell, his parents just never give him the time of day. Unless he gets less than perfect on his report card. Then he gets shoved into his bedroom and isn't allowed to see the light of day except for when he's going to and coming from school. At my house, he gets warm cookies, Mom doting on him like he's her child, and of course a 72 inch TV with surround sound and all of that.
We're about halfway to the buses when I'm stopped. As in someone grabs me by the back of my shirt and manages to stop me. I guess it isn't as hard as I would like to think it is. I turn around, for the tenth time today knowing it's someone wanting a fight. I'm prepared to be right for the forth time.
Instead it's that Roxas kid. "I wanted to just say thanks. About earlier. I don't know what would have happened if he had woken up in the middle of the cafeteria, but I don't think it would be a good thing." He blushes, and he looks so adorable when he does that.
"I'm Roxas by the way. Roxas Heirheart Sora is my cousin. You are?" He glances me in the eye for a second before looking at the ground. For some reason, he seems kind of nervous and I can't figure out why.
"Axel." I answer. "You're welcome by the way, I have go so. Bye." I give a short wave of my hand. I am not walking a mile to my own house. Especially with Zexion already in my seat by the window.
"Um. Wait! Um. Do you want to. Maybe hang out. Sometime?" He asks kind of nervously, looking awkward. He kind of reminds me of the stereotypical cute little girl asking her dream boat out. I don't know why, I'm fairly sure he just wants to be friends.
"Sure." I answer, trading phones with him and thus trading phone numbers. I know it's a bad idea, but at least it'll keep him off of my back for awhile. I climb up into the bus, frowning at Zexion who has made himself rather comfortable.
"So what was that about exactly?" Zexion asks as we're halfway home, though I have to struggle to hear him. Everyone is loud, music is playing, stuff is flying. If it hits me, then fist will be flying.
I explain quickly who Roxas is and how crazy lunch really was. "He wants to hang out sometime." I finish up, sighing in relief as my own house rolls up. Dad isn't home, he works days. Mom works nights, but rarely because she has a nicely paying job.
"Looked to me like it was something more." He says, giving me this look. It would be more effective if I could see his eyes, but seeing as his left eye is to the window it's all but impossible.
"Oh look who it is!" I change the subject quickly as my brother walks out the front door. We're not related by blood, but because Mom adopted him. Long story. I'll just say that Demyx looks nothing like me. For one, my hair is nearly the color of blood. His is a nice beach sand color.
"Took you two long enough." Demyx says, hugging me first. I groan slightly as he nearly crushes me. Then he hugs Zexion, right before laying a sloppy one on him. Demyx goes to a private school, and goes there two hours before I leave for school. He also gets home a hour before we do.
"Aw. Did poor Demyx miss his stress toy?" I coo, making sure I get in the door first. I am bombarded by the scent of freshly baked cookies. Chocolate chip is one of them, I know I'll figure the rest out before I even get to the kitchen.
"He's not my stress toy, he's my Zexion." Demyx answers, all but picking up the poor guy and dragging him inside. "Right Zexion?" Demyx asks, pausing mid stride so that Zexion nearly runs him over.
"Whatever you say Demyx." Zexion says wisely. He's obvious smart, he's learned quickly not to argue with Demyx on such things. Though he makes the mistake of looking up when he says this.
"Are you wearing eye liner again?" Demyx asks, his demeanor totally changing. He's staring as if Zexion has grown a third or forth head and maybe some snake tongues as well.
"Why yes Demyx. I am wearing eye liner." Zexion answers rather sarcastically. We both know where this is going, I sigh and shake my head. Doing a WWZDIIWM or a what would Zexion do if it was me.
So I go into the kitchen to enjoy cookies while Demyx and Zexion argue the finer points of being gay. Don't ask me about it, I'm straight. So I don't understand why Demyx doesn't want to make out with a guy who wears makeup. He has no problem with making out with a guy, it's just the makeup thing. "I might as well just make out with a random girl!"
"Oh! Zexion dear!" Mom cries because the poor guy isn't getting a break. She's seen him, which means instant death. Well, it actually means getting his cheeks pinched and her commenting about his hair. "Oh. Did you do something to your hair honey? It looks nice?" She runs her fingers through it after relinquishing his face.
"No Mrs. Trinity. It's the same as it was last week." He answers, forcing a semi-fake smile on his face. It was more real when Demyx was hugging and kissing him, even when Demyx was arguing with him. He's still a lot happier now though than he is when he gets to schools in the morning.
"Oh? Well we're having chicken, and mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes, and green beans." Mom lists dinner on all ten fingers and then three toes. "So are you staying for dinner honey?" She asks, handing him a cookie with a 'eat it or die!' look.
"So fatty, you want to tell me the deal with you and Roxas? He going to be your prom date?" Zexion asks me after supper, I'm playing Hero Guitar with Demyx. Kind of like Guitar Hero, except there are various other string instruments that can be played. Including sitar of all things.
"I don't think so big foot, that kid has to be a freshman. Maybe he skipped a few grades as well. No way either of them are older than thirteen." I smirk because I know I've landed my hit. Though that smirk doesn't last long when Demyx elbows me.
"Don't call my Zexion that." He growls, kicking my butt both in the game and in the real world. "You call Zexion names and I'll tell everyone in your school that you wet the bed until you were fifteen."
I hit him in return. "I stopped doing that when I was eleven thank you very much." Zexion decides to move away, apparently he smells a fight coming on.
"So? Who are they going to believe? You, the horrible bully with a reputation? Or me, the cute and innocent little brother who no doubt gets treated worse than they do?" Demyx smirks, and I think Zexion is smirking as well.
"Why do you keep asking about that anyways?" I finally ask, sighing shortly after in defeat. "Roxas just wants to hang out, he's just grateful that I helped him with his psycho brother or cousin or whatever that Sora kid is supposed to be." I glare at the scores.
Before Zexion can say a thing, Demyx interrupts. "Wait a minute? Roxas? As in Roxas Heirheart? As in The Roxas Heirheart?" Demyx asks, speaking about the kid in the same way most people speak when they learn their favorite band is coming to their school.
"Um...I guess?" I ask, because my brother has me by the collar and is staring at me as if I said I'd taken his favorite sitar and hidden it in a dumpster somewhere in town. I know how that looks and feels, because I have done that before.
"That kid is like a freaking billion air! He's the only son of Thomas Heirheart, that guy who invented that thing for the military! You know, I forget what it's called. He's a billion air though! Second richest person on the planet!" He's breathing hard as if he just ran a marathon.
"If he is so rich, than why is he at my school?" I ask, looking to Zexion. He's in his own little world, maybe he's doing his homework in his head. I've seen him do that before. He has photographic memory, and it's freaky to watch him go.
"He and his cousin Sora go there to teach the advanced classes in mathematics three times a week instead of taking classes. Kind of a way to get some extra points on their records. They've been doing it since last year, so I don't know how today was the first time you've seen him." Demyx leans over and kisses Zexion on his cheek, bringing the steel haired boy out of his daydream.
I sigh, knowing that the game is over. So after turning it off, I take a different chair. "So how exactly do you know all of this? You're his friend or something?" I stretch, because I've gotten stiff sitting for so long.
"No. I just manage the people who leave the school during school hours." He grins at me. "Unlike some people, I'm responsible and everyone knows it. I don't leave puppies out in the pouring rain with no shelter, food or water." He blows me a raspberry.
"Oh shut up." I growl, best comeback ever I know. "That was a one time thing, and it was a accident. I didn't even know he was outside." I stand up, deciding I don't want to watch my friend and my brother make out.
"You didn't notice that Kali had run away five months ago until this morning." Demyx calls after me, though by the sounds I can tell he won't hear anything I have to say now. So I retreat to my bedroom, wondering what I was thinking when I invited Zexion over on a Friday.
Hello fellow Kingdom Hearts fans. So this is the first fan fiction I've ever put on the internet. Hope you enjoy reading it, though I'm not sure how often I'll update or where it's going as of now. Reviews are appreciated of course, even if it's just to say your favorite/least favorite part.