CHAPTER 1: THE FIRST DAY

The first day at a new school was never a pleasant Idea for 17 year old Vanitas Void. He would rather sleep all day and go out at night, but this wasn't Twilight Town, where the city was so big that he could go anywhere and the chances of anyone finding him were microscopically slim, to none. This new home of his was comprised out of Islands. Way too small for the same percentage of escape, and way too open to hide anywhere.

As he sat in his new class seat in the back of the class room, he observed his new school uniform. A dress code was not his style. While most students wore a white button up shirt and blue tie, he wore a black shirt and red tie. The girls wore plaid skirts, while the boys wore either navy or plaid dress pants. Vanitas on the other hand wore black pants. The first day of school, and he's already facing detention for violating the dress code, but he couldn't care less if his life depended on it.

He ran his hand through his spiky black hair as he tried to stay awake. Other people were still up talking, while he just wanted to let his yellow eyes close and pass out. He couldn't grasp why people got so excited on the first day of school. He looked at the clock noticing that it was 20 minutes until class actually started. 'Might as well grab some more shut eye while I can,' he thought to himself.

As Vanitas laid his head down on his desk the class representative walked into the class. She conformed to the typical dress code for the school with a green arm band on her left arm, signifying her authority as class rep. She walked through with black hair that just barely went past her shoulders, and eyes as blue as the sea. Everyone welcomed her with a smile and hellos. She returned the greetings by smiling and socializing. "How was your summer Xion," asked her best friend Roxas. His hair looked like a mixture of spiky hair and the force of a twister which matched well with his blue eyes.

"It was terrific," Xion happily answered. She then noticed that there was a student in the back of the class with familiar spiky. That hair style looked extremely like her friend, Sora's, so much that she couldn't help but smile. "Is that Sora in the back? Why'd he dye his hair? And since when is he so exhausted that he sleeps on the first day back?"

Roxas laughed at her questions. "That's not Sora. That's his cousin from Twilight Town. His family just moved here." In Xion's eyes, a new student was another friendly face she just hadn't met yet. Though most of the time the faces she saw were still facing forward, instead of facing down on the desk. "Word is that he already got detention for wearing something that wasn't approved for the dress code."

Xion wasn't surprised. The school was very strict about following rules. Had she broken even one rule, and been caught, she would lose her position as class rep in a heartbeat. "I'm gonna say hello." She gracefully walked over to the sleeping boy with the idea that she could get him to follow the rules. She gently poked his right arm, which at first did nothing. "Excuse me." Vanitas rose his drowsy eyes to look at the one intruding apon his rest. "Hello, I'm your class rep, Xion Crown." She extended her hand in greeting.

Vanitas just looked at her blankly. What was he supposed to do? Interacting with respectable people wasn't his thing. He'd much rather have her just go away, but she just kept smiling with her hand dangling in front of his face. He reluctantly shook her hand. "Vanitas Void," he blankly stated.

Xion smiled brighter at this accomplishment. "It's very nice to meet you Vani."

"Don't you dare call me that," he snapped. Xion was shocked by his sudden outburst. Everyone in the class was now starring at the two of them. Xion never expected such a fuss over a nickname. Usually people would politely ask her not to call them whatever nickname she came up with.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to offend you."

Vanitas just scoffed at her and her apology. He laid his head back down on the desk and returned to his rest. He could feel the rest of the classroom glaring at him for snapping at their precious class rep, but he couldn't care less about it. They could hate him all they wanted. In the end, he didn't want to be in this school in the first place.

Xion got everyone to quit glaring quite easily. But she was confused as to why someone would just snap after being called a shorter version of their own name. Maybe he was just having a bad day, or maybe he was always like that. She had no idea.

Just as class was about to begin Xion assumed her duties as class rep by getting everyone to take their seats and quiet down. She'd gotten complete compliance from everyone, except for Vanitas. He still had his head firmly planted on his desk. She reluctantly walked over to him, feeling all eyes watching her. She was the kindest girl in the class getting ready to wake up a potential monster from slumber. This meant that if he snapped at her again, everyone else was likely to snap him.

She ever so slightly poked his arm again. "Excuse me Vanitas," she quietly spoke. "Class is about to start. You should really wake up."

Vanitas peeked above his arm to see the same intruder from before. He lowered his head again and through his arm muffled, "Bite me."

Xion had official conformation. He wasn't just having a bad day, he was just plain rude. Normally she would've been the kindest and sweetest girl in the room, but she was class rep for a reason. She could be the toughest as well, and as class rep could assign detention to fellow classmates. "Excuse me?! What was that? You wanna repeat that last bit?!"

Vanitas then stood up just enough to meet her at eye level. "I said BITE ME!"

"Do you want detention?!"

"I don't know! Will it get me away from you?!"

"How's another day sound?!"

"Bring it on! I got nothing better to do!"

"Fine! In addition you can spend your Saturday cleaning the school gym!"

"What in the world is going on in here," shouted their English 11 teacher, Ienzo Zexion, or as everyone else called him, Zexion, as he walked into the room. Xion immediately stiffened up when she heard him loudly close the book he was holding when he walked in. "Miss Crown, do you mind telling me why you and Mr. Void are fighting in my classroom?"

Xion respected Zexion more than any other teacher in the school. Being in trouble with him was the worst thing for her. "Because I chose to be an ass," Vanitas admitted. Xion and the rest of the class redirected their attention to him in shock. He wasn't trying to hide that he was at fault. Everyone could hate him for all he cared, but no one would call him out and inadvertently call him a coward for not admitting it.

"I see," Zexion spoke. "In that case, you'll be spending tomorrow after school in this classroom serving detention. Do you understand?"

"Whatever," Vanitas answered calmly. He then quietly sat back in his seat. "Like I said, I got nothing better to do."

Xion felt dumbfounded. Zexion spoke calmly throughout the entire fiasco and managed to keep Vanitas in line with only a few words. "Now then class, let's get started. As most of you know I am Ienzo Zexion. Your English 11 teacher. Please refer to me as Zexion."

Xion took her usual seat at the front of the class. Every now and then she'd turn her head just enough to catch Vanitas in her peripheral vision. He didn't have his head down, but his eyes were closed and he was wearing earbuds.

Vanitas would occasionally open one of his eyes and glance at the clock. One time he actually noticed Xion looking at him. All he wanted was to be left alone, but he saw a future where she'd be the bane of his existence every time the were in the same classroom. Vanitas pulled out his I-pod and switched to some older music. He couldn't stand half of the most recent music out there. He preferred 90's and early 2000's music over the newer stuff, as it was one of the only things that kept him relaxed. The first song on his playlist, Tourniquet by Evanescence. To him good music was good music. It didn't matter how many songs or followers they had, or how old the band was. The quality was the best part to him.

When class ended Xion gathered her materials and put them away neatly in her purple backpack. Vanitas on the other hand hadn't even opened his black backpack. He'd kept his eyes closed for nearly the entire lesson. He picked up his bag and walked over to Xion. He was going to say something but Xion cut him off. "Listen, I'm sorry for the way I acted to you," she respectfully apologized. "As class rep it's my job to make sure that all students are doing their best, and that includes you, but that was still no way to behave. So I'm sorry."

Vanitas pondered over the new apology she offered him. No one had ever tried to get on his good side after an incident like earlier. "Whatever," he responded. He could tell that she was annoyed by his obvious unappreciation of her humble apology. He began walking off but stopped and turned his head a bit. "Just so you know, I saw you watching me." With that he resumed walking out the door.

Her face went a little red. She thought he'd had his eyes closed for the entire lesson. She certainly never caught him with his eyes open. She followed him into the hall to give him a piece of her mind again, but instantly lost him amongst the crowd of students. 'How could I lose a guy with hair that spiky,' she thought to herself.

Next class was chemistry with Even Vexen. Xion had no real problems with Vexen, but she did find his obsession in chemicals a little disturbing. When she walked into the classroom, she saw lab equipment already out on the tables, most of which she recognized. It all looked like materials used for making makeshift batteries. She saw Vexen over at his desk looking disappointed. "Hello Vexen. How are you doing?" There was no response from him. "Is something wrong sir?"

He let out a big sigh. "No one will be excited for the first lab of the year," he answered. Xion didn't get what he was talking about. "The school board said that I can't make anything fancy for the first lab of the year. Instead I have to downgrade the experiment severely. Making batteries is the best that I'm allowed to start with."

Xion understood the school's decision completely. Last year when his class had their first lab they applied phenylacetic acid, which a student dropped, causing let's just say, a serious problem. "Well sir, I'm sure batteries will be a great first experiment for the class."

His face lit up like Christmas. "You're sure?"

"Of course. Most of the student coming in to your class this year haven't done chem. lab classes before. It'll be a new experience for them."

"You're right!" He stood up looking confident. "Science is beautiful no matter what form it takes. The smaller you start, the higher you go!"

Xion held in her laughter. Seeing Vexen's passion for science explode was pure comedy to her. "Well, I'll just take my seat now."

"Actually Xion, I'm assigning seats this year. Here's the seating chart." He handed her a paper that show 6 rows each with 4 tables, seating two students per. "Whoever you're sitting with on the chart will be your lab partner for the remainder of the school year."

Xion observed the chart and found her name. Row 2, table 3, left seat. She then noticed the name set next to hers. The person who would be her lab partner for the rest of the year, Vanitas Void. She prayed she was wrong, but when she looked over to where she'd be sitting, her fears became realized. There he was, leaning back in his chair with ear buds in his ears, and with his eyes closed, again. 'Why,' she wondered. 'Why did it have to be him? All he does is sleep!'

She wanted to protest being his lab partner, but she knew that once Vexen made up his mind, unless you had higher authority than him, it would not change. She eased her way over to her new seat as the other students started to fill in the classroom. He hadn't moved an inch since she sat down. Class was about to begin and he was still keeping his eyes closed. If she listened well enough, she could faintly hear the music blasting in his ears. She knew that she couldn't just let him sleep again, so she decided to wake him up. She extended her arm to wake him.

"Poke me again, and it'll be worse than last time," he bluntly stated, without even opening his eyes. Xion practically jump when he spoke. There was no indication that he was even aware of what was going on around him.

Vanitas opened his eyes to see his new lab partner looking away from him. He was not looking forward to this. Now that her grade depended on him actually being in class, he knew that she wouldn't just let him sleep. That's the way it was in his head. If you surviving, or in this case passing, depends on using someone else, you'll use them without hesitation. "Look," he continued. "I know that you'll basically give me hell for sleeping if your grade in specific is on the line. So at the very least, I'll work with you here."

Xion wasn't sure what to say. It sounded selfish but also truly sincere. What was with this guy? One second he was a total jerk, and the next he's actually courteous? Was this the same person she just had a blow out with before her last class? No. It had to be an alien clone made to trick people into believing that he was a decent human being.

"All right class, settle down," Vexen said trying to get the class to be quiet. "Class." No response. The class kept their conversations going. "Class if you would quiet down."

Nothing was working, until everyone heard a loud whistling sound. Xion looked to her lab partner to see that it was him. "Shut up," he said blankly.

The class immediately quieted down. "Thank you Vanitas," Vexen said. "Now, for all who don't know, I am Dr. Even Vexen, or Vexen for short, and I'm your chemistry teacher. For today, we'll be making batteries from the materials I've left on each of your desks. Instructions for which will be on page 4 of your chemistry books. Do this correctly and you'll receive an A+ for the day. The team that finishes an exceptional battery first will receive extra credit for later in the year. Nonetheless I wish you all good luck. Begin."

Xion reached for the book in her bag. When she pulled it out, she noticed that Vanitas was already working on the battery. "What are you doing," she hissed.

"Our assignment," he answered. "The sooner we get it done, the sooner I can get back to doing my own thing."

"You need to read the instructions first." Vanitas didn't stop working, even with her hounding him on reading the instructions first. "Why won't you read them?"

"We're making a battery, not a rocket ship." Xion looked into the book and compared the instructions with what Vanitas was doing. Surprisingly he was performing the assignment perfectly. "Hand me that copper over there."

"Okay," Xion complied. She felt unusual not reading the instructions before working on the assignment, but found that this actually was working quite well. The two of them worked perfectly together. Xion had done this experiment back in 8th grade, and now it was all coming back to her. The class was going to be 50 minutes long, but within 20 minutes, they were already done. "Excuse me sir. We've finished our battery."

"Already," he questioned. He walked over to their table with a small machine. "This will test the output of your battery. If the light turns from red to green, then it means you've made an exceptional battery." Xion was a little nervous. What if it wasn't made right and she just wasted 20 minutes making a dud. 15 seconds had gone by and to her surprise, the light changed. "Perfect! That's an A+ as well as extra credit for later down the road. You never know when you'll need it."

People from Xion's first class just starred at the two of them in disbelief. They had all been thinking the same thing Xion had. The same guy that treated her like crap earlier was directly responsible for getting the work done the fastest, and perfectly?

"Um," Xion began to say with a smile, "thank you for helping me Vanitas. Thanks for putting your classmates first."

"Shut up," he replied as he leaned back in his chair, putting the ear buds back in his ears. "I didn't do it for you. I did it so you'd stay off my case while I catch some more shut eye." He then instantly played more music, drowning out all outside noise.

"What did you just say to me?" Vanitas didn't open his eyes or respond. "Helloooooo!" She was clearly getting frustrated. She could feel the other students starring at her. "FOCUS ON YOUR OWN WORK!" Every student immediately went back to their own assignments.

Vanitas peeked at the display of anger radiating from his own class rep. The display actually amused him enough t make him slightly chuckle. No one in the class seemed to notice.

A/N: I had the idea for this story recently and was too excited to wait to make it. So here it is. I'm gonna try to work on Heart Of Freedom simultaneously with this story. Any way let me know what you thought of the first chapter of this new story in the review box! And Happy Holidays to all!