Summery: Sora is light. He is all the Ghost can think of. The talented teen would almost be perfect...he just needs to be introduced to the night...His night. The music of the night. SoRi, Akuroku
Hello. And welcome to the Phantom of the Opera/Kingdom Hearts crossover thing that has been stuck in my head for a while. I already posted this and chapter two up on DA. I'm secretly a crossover whore.
I plan on finishing this hopefully soon. I'm already halfway done with chapter three. This is something that I hope to actually finish...
In a school known for there athletics (and only athletics), a drama department struggles. The theatre department of Twilight Town High School is almost as separate as it can be. Doing its own fundraisers, putting on its own plays...the only connection the school had with the Drama departments was the two credits that colleges looked for.
The current leader of the drama and music department (the music program was mostly tied with the theatre department, except for the occasional time when music would be needed for a football or basketball game), Naminé Giri, and principal Lexeaus understood this and kept to the silent agreement and lived with it, both silently agreeing with themselves that they only knew what they knew, and not bother with what they didn't know.
Luckily, the drama department was known for its brilliance and got twice as much in donations as it would normally get from city, state, or national funding. So everyone was happy.
Until Lexeaus decided to retire at the same time as the vice principal causing the panic in the backstage of the Ansem Auditorium. The new principals were teachers from a different school, and kinda skeptical about the whole ordeal, so they asked for a small performance. Nothing too big, just a scene or two to prove that the department was worth keeping and that it lived up to its expectations.
So, naturally, on a beautiful Saturday morning, everyone was freaking out.
"Hold up! Coming through!" Demyx Anderson was weaving through the backstage, carrying three violins, one cello, a horn (the violin and cello were his), and a happy ass grin on his face. He was heading toward the orchestra pit (It wasn't too big, but somehow five violins, one cello, a couple horns, a small piano, several woodwinds, and a percussion section could squeeze in it). Demyx glided through the crowed backstage with the air of someone who did this often.
It was his third trip from the cars parked in the alleyway behind the theatre to the pit in front of the stage. He usually got stuck with doing this on his own while everyone else volunteered to drag the piano from the music room in the building next to the theatre, but Demyx didn't mind. He liked doing anything to help.
He passed the dancers going through there stretching sessions, stepping on one of Kairi's shoes.
"Demyx!" He ignored Kairi's cries continuing on to his destination.
Kairi glared after him, "Ugh, he's such a klutz! I hope he drops every one of those instruments." She muttered to the other dancers as they continued their stretching.
Roxas, one of the male dancers, rolled his eyes. He shared a glance with his brother, and fellow dancer, Sora, as he leaned down easily touching his toes.
"I certainly hope he doesn't drop those instruments." Hearing the voice behind him, Roxas immediately stood up strait, ignoring Sora's snickering beside him. It wasn't that the voice had scared him, he had heard it too many times to be scared by it. No, it was more of the actual person who said it.
The female dancers had started to giggle and blush seeing the man behind Roxas. "Oh, hi Axel!" The dancers stood to attention, some of the juniors and seniors were still stretching, bending lower than necessary to impress the collage freshman.
Roxas sighed continuing stretching, making sure not to bend any lower than necessary. He didn't have to look behind him to see the stupid grin on the music major's face.
"See," Axel draped his arm around Roxas' shoulders causing the blond junior to tense up, "if Demyx drops those instruments, there'd be no music. If there's no music, you lovely ladies-" Roxas scowled at the implications in Axel's tone, "-wouldn't be able to dance." Sora snickered again at Roxas, causing Roxas' scowl to deepen.
The other girls were reduced to a blushing mess, forgetting all about the stretching that they have to do so they won't bitch tomorrow about how sore they are for not stretching! (and no, Roxas isn't mad, does he seem that way?)
"Axel, can I talk to you." The other girls were still in there fantasy land, so they didn't see when Axel and Roxas walked around a corner, but Sora did. Sora sighed as he watched to two go, trying to listen to their conversation so that when Roxas complained to him about how "stupid that a-hole is!", Sora would be able to understand what he is talking about.
"...you don't know how to deal with all of them! Especially the stupid freshmen!"
"Roxy, you've got to-"
"Don't call me 'Roxy'!"
"Roxas, you've got to calm down. Why the hell are you so annoyed at the girls? You don't have to deal with them."
"I'm the fucking dance captain! I have to deal with all of them!"
While still on Roxas' side, he couldn't help a little pity for Axel. Roxas was taking out all of his new stress on the poor assistant. Ever since Sora got that pre-acceptance into Radiant Garden Music School (full scholarship as well), Roxas had been doing all he can to even be able to apply for a partial scholarship, even though the applications weren't due in for several months. Roxas always felt the need to look after his little brother (even though Sora's younger by about two minuets).
And then...Axel came along last year to help out Naminé with the music department by conducting, teaching music...
"You know what, Roxas?"
"What, Axel?"
"You're sounding incredibly...jealous."
Sora knew the exact moment that Roxas was in love.
"Sora!" Snapped out of his thoughts, Sora turned to see Miss Giri walking quickly towards him, hands full of papers. A big red bag fill with even more papers hung on her shoulder. She was wearing her lucky purple rimmed reading glasses, only reserved for opening performances...but Sora guessed that today needed as much luck as ever.
Sora smiled at her sympathetically, "Good morning, Naminé."
She stopped in front of him, barely able to look up from her papers as she regarded him, "Sora. Please come with me." She began walking at a brisk pace that Sora knew better than to complain about. "You know Sephorath, one of our biggest sponsors?" Sora nodded, he could hardly forget his molesting stares when the business man came to their shows, "His son's here to study or observe...I don't know. Anyway, I need you to keep him out of my hair for the next few hours." She continued before Sora could answer, "I'd ask your brother, but he seems busy with the girls. And besides, you could do everyone's routine and sing every part here, including the harmonies." She offered him a quick smile.
Sora smiled at her. They now were alone, walking the empty hallway that led to Naminé's office close to the lobby. Naminé kept muttering all the things she had to do around the theatre for today, increasing her pace, and glancing continuously at her watch.
Suddenly, Sora felt chills travel up and down his back. He felt the goosebumps appear on his arms, but as he looked back and forth throughout the white walls of the hallway, there was nothing looking back.
Left. Walk ten feet. Right. Another ten feet, and we're there.
Sora looked down at Naminé's hands when he heard a small jingle. "You locked him in your office?"
"I didn't want him wandering around today." She said not unkindly, just a little like...like she was tired.
"Maybe...maybe you should take a little break?" Sora couldn't help the way that turned into a question.
Naminé answered by stabbing the metal key in the keyhole in the cold metal door. "I have to keep this theatre running, Sora."
He looked down sheepishly, "Yes ma'am."
She sighed looking back to him, "I'm sorry, Sora. Today's just...busy." They stood in silence. Both of them loved the theatre. Loved music, preforming, singing, dancing...they wouldn't give it up no matter what.
"Well, Sora, this-"
Riku was waiting in the small office. First he had sat in the chair, but felt a little weird behind a desk with papers for various scholarships to various schools and post-its littered all over the desk with sarcastic memos that seemed like the only form of entertainment for the head of the Drama Department.
So he felt just as content by looking at the various certificates, pictures, playbills, news paper clippings, and trophies placed among the walls. There was so much stuff plastered everywhere, that it was hard to tell the original color of the walls.
It was mostly the pictures that caught his eyes. Four years of performers smiling, laughing, all in various costumes, make-up. Every play from Les Misérables to Rent to that special performance of Spring Awakening over the summer. High Schoolers were in all costumes, all types of make-up...but all so happy.
Riku walked along the walls, scanning the photos. Several kids dressed as forks or spoons...three girls were in ballroom dresses posing like Charlie's Angels...What Riku began to notice, though after he kept looking through all the pictures, were a pair of twins in almost every type of costume. The first time he saw the duo was in a pair of mice costumes, arms slung around one another, looking like they were fourteen and not a care in the world. He looked past them, moving on towards the next, and a strange feeling of nostalgia.
The second time he saw the two in a picture (they were looking like little pick-pockets from the late eighteen hundreds), he nearly shouted in recognition. Sora and Roxas! The Leonharts! His gaze shifted from Sora to Roxas, from Roxas to Sora, spending a little more time looking at Sora.
Riku chuckled to himself. His little papou, Sora, all grown up...
He began spending all his efforts looking for the twins in photos. Oh, in the two tuxes! They both looked liked dorks in the eighties. Sora looks cute in those glasses. Sora making faces at a bored looking Roxas. Sora happily dancing across a stage...
"-is Riku. Just keep him out of the way, will you?" This last part was just whispered to Sora as Miss Naminé opened the door.
Sora looked at the boy in Naminé's office. He smiled at him politely offering his hand, "I'm Sora Leonheart." He heard Naminé leave, closing the door behind her leaving the two teens behind. Sora blinked as the silver haired boy stared from him to his hand looking slightly confused, and a little disappointed as well.
Probably expected someone...better? Sora didn't really understand what was going on with this kid, but blushed a little nonetheless. He looked down awkwardly at a patch of the ugly, yellow shag carpeting on the floor, setting down his hand awkwardly.
"Um...I'm Riku." Sora looked back up to see him smiling back at him, but there was still a small twinge of sadness in his eyes. "Sorry, guess I'm just...having an off day or something." He chuckled kinda nervously.
Sora felt his smile return, the awkward atmosphere leaving as soon as it came. "It's okay. Today's been an off day for everyone." He offered his own little laugh, hoping to relax the handsome teen.
He began to notice how close Riku was to the pictures, "Looking at the photos?" He walked over, glancing at the photos from "The Wedding Singer." Sora couldn't help the snort that escaped his lips. He and Roxas looked like a pair of dorks their sophomore year.
"Yeah...That you?" Sora nodded with a groan, hiding his face in his hands. He heard Riku laugh beside him. "You look cute." Sora was glade his face was buried in his hands. It hid the blush that he currently had.
Riku, currently, noticed how embarrassed Sora got, and smirked. Same old Sora...
Sora, on the other hand, had never met someone...so...so...forward. Roxas' stare was enough to scare guys and girls away. Not that he thought Riku was flirting with him or anything...because why would Riku be flirting with Sora? They just met right? Unless Riku was just a flirt or something...yeah, that was probably it...
Sora cleared his throat looking up from his hands. "Um...we should probably be going. Just to, um, look around I guess?" He almost visibly winced as that formed into a question. Stupid nervous habit...
The two made there way out of the small office, walking out of the office.
"So...have you lived here all your life?" Sora relaxed as Riku made the attempt for small talk.
"No," he smiled up at Riku, "my brother and me moved here after my father died. We used to live on the islands." Sora said wistfully. He couldn't really remember too much about his childhood, but still remembered the warm water, tall palm trees, and long nights.
"Your daydreaming."
Sora snapped back to reality. He could feel another blush coming on. "Sorry." He muttered.
"You looked adorable."
Sora looked back up to Riku, only to see he was turning around the corner, blue-green eyes twinkling. "Don't just stand there, come along," A wink, "little papou."
Something about the phrase made Sora do a quick double-take in his mind about it. It was familiar...Really familiar. But it was sweet. And kinda cute.
Smiling a little to himself, Sora took a step forward, towards Riku and the light.
Snap!
Sora felt himself jump, looking back at the noise. A light had gone out in from of Naminé's office, dimming the light slightly. A nervous laugh escaped him. Sora took another tentative step forward.
Snap!
Sora began walking faster. Trying hard to get away from the darkness
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The darkness was growing
He had begun to jog along the hallway.
Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!
Suddenly, the hallways grew longer, darker. The darkness was catching up. Ready to catch him, bring him back with it. The light was growing dim, he needed to escape. Hurry, hurry. Almost there. The dark was catching up, and the fear came with it.
...Too late.
Sora shut his eyes.
"Didn't know you missed me so much." Sora opened his eyes at the playful voice, blinking a little in the light. Riku was looking down at him, smirking and his eyes doing that twinkling that they do. He was holding on to the silver-haired. Kind of tightly too...
"Sorry!" Sora made sure of the two feet of space between both of them. "A-a light went out in the hallway. I have this...this stupid fear of the dark. Um...I'm sorry, for all that..." It sounded ten times stupider when he said it out loud, and it sounded stupid in his head to begin with.
Riku kept smiling in that way. Like he already had known this, and was waiting to the explanation to be over so the all-knowing grin could live up to it's name and prove-
"Sora!" Interrupted from his thoughts, Sora looked to see Roxas running toward him. He didn't seem to pay any heed towards Riku. "We're about to start. C-can you go on for me?"
"Roxas, you sure? You have that solo memorized backwards and forwards. You could probably do it your sleep."
Roxas turned around, looking behind them. Sora followed his gaze. Axel was helping one of the girls stretch, grabbing her leg and resting it on his shoulder. The two looked like they were talking and laughing, and occasionally Axel would glance at Roxas with his green eyes.
He quickly turned back to Sora, "Please, Sor." Sora thought he saw his brothers eyes begin to tear up. Well, it'd give me a chance to talk to Axel...
"Yeah," he offered Roxas a small smile, "just make sure Riku's okay here."
"Riku?" For the first time, Roxas' eyes flickered up to the teen who'd been watching the entire scene.
Sora took the slight flicker of emotion in Roxas' eyes as confusion. "Just make sure he doesn't burn down the stage." He joked before running off to get ready for the part.
The two watched him go, a silence settling before them, neither sure what to say.
"Sora doesn't remember you, does he?" Riku nearly jumped hearing the voice next to him. He looked down at Roxas' blond spikes, only to find him still looking after Sora.
"No," he replied, "he doesn't."
This didn't seem to surprise Roxas in the slightest. "There's a lot he doesn't remember."
"Like...?"
"That time we all went fishing on that small island and he got us all lost. Or that one time there was that meteor shower and we layed on the sand watching it." A smile now graced Roxas' features.
"What about that time I had to carry him home after he twisted his ankle when we were jumping off those rocks?" Riku was smiling as well.
"Or when we were all scared to jump off the high dive at the pool, so we did the whole 'on the count of three' thing, then pushed you off instead." The two laughed. Riku closed his eyes imagining the smaller, naïve Sora, always happy to see him, big blue eyes always bright...
His eyes opened again as he felt Roxas hugging him tightly, "I missed you so much when we had to go..."
Riku hugged him back. "I missed you guys too."
"Sora will remember. The memories are there, they're just hard for him to think about."
"I know he will."
"Just keep flirting with him and he'll realize it."
"I know...wait, what?"
He looked down at Roxas who chuckled, winking at him. "I saw you. I remember you moving on from me to Sora after I punched you in the face. Of course Sora didn't get it then, but the message is loud and clear now."
"They're here!"
"Someone get Larxene!"
"Is everyone ready?"
"Where the hell is my violin?"
The semi-panic atmosphere was no longer there as a more chaotic one shoved its way into the theatre.
Riku looked towards Roxas on what to do. Roxas rolled his eyes at the slight fear and confusion in his eyes. "Come on, let's find some seat for you to sit in."
"Why do you do this to him, Axel?" Sora was sitting off the edge of the theatre, ignoring everyone running around behind him.
Axel was tuning up one of the violins, his back to Sora, "But he's just too fun to tease."
Sora sighed, "Axel. Flirting with the other dancers isn't teasing. Not for Roxas."
"Well, he deserved it this time."
"I'm going to stop helping you if you keep doing this to Roxy." He moved to get up.
"Wait, Sora." Axel had finished tuning the violin, setting it down carefully before turning to Roxas' brown haired twin. "You know I've filled my community service quota a long time ago." Sora nodded, Axel had told him this when he wanted his help for getting Roxas. "All I need is one date, and I'll convince him. But, c'mon! Remember when he made out with Demyx at that opening night party? Right in front of me!"
Sora rolled his eyes, "He was half drunk and thought it would make you jealous." The tactics the Axel and Roxas used on each other were pretty stupid.
"That's really why I flirt with all those girls!"
"He was nearly in tears. What did you say to him?"
"...Something bad..."
"How bad?"
"...He'll hate me if I don't apologize."
Sora found his blue eyes rolling again, "Wait until the preformance is over, than apologize." His gaze went past Axel, looking at the stage and seeing Roxas leading Riku to a good seat. "See, there he is." He smiled as Axel turned around scanning the seats critically for Roxas.
"Who's the kid he's with." He heard the hard note in Axel's voice, and frowned.
"That's Riku, Axel. He's Sephorath's son and here cause he likes plays and wanted a closer look at our theatre." The two looked at Roxas and Riku talking and laughing with each other...Sora couldn't help the slight jealousy that appeared on his face seeing how happily the two were getting along.
"They're pretty chummy, huh?"
"They just met. Roxas is just being polite."
The two continued to look them, both of their eyes widening as they hugged in parting. Axel turned to Sora, his green eyes glaring at him, "Friends?"
Sora glared back. "They just met today, idiot." But in his head so did we, and I didn't get a hug... Sora looked back at Roxas in time to catch his eye. Roxas and Sora looked intently at each other, and Sora knew that Roxas had no intention to do anything with Riku. Sora tried not to look relieved, but apparently it didn't work as Roxas smirked, turning back and saying something to Riku. As they both laughed, Sora felt his face turn red as Riku looked back at him.
Axel was still slightly pissed about the way Roxas talked to Riku to continue looking at them. "I'm gonna prepare the orchestra. Tell Roxas to meet me after the performance." As Axel tied his hair up, Sora took that as his clue to leave, getting himself up, disappearing behind the curtain, and doing some final stretches on his arms before meeting up with Roxas.
Roxas came up to him, smiling happily, "Hey, Sora."
Sora smiled back, "You look ready to do your solo."
"Hell yeah."
The music started up.
The curtain rose.
The show has begun.
AAAANNNNNNNNNND AWAY WE GO! Hahaha, I crack myself up...