Note from the author: Hi guys. c: I'm a terrible person for more reasons that one, and they all have to do with this work of fiction. Let me enlighten you:
Reason one: Instead of writing and finishing my other chapter fics, I'm starting a new one.
Reason two: I'm probably disappointing some of my readers because of reason one.
Reason three: This fic has a horrible theme and you'll never be able to look at poor Roxas again in the same way. You might've thought his life was terrible in 358/2 Days. This is, as a general statement, probably worse. ._. To each their own belief, though.
I'd like to finish this story by the end of the summer. Maybe I'll try doing updates every other week? Ha. We'll see how this goes. (:
I'm open for all kinds of criticism and questions! To be honest, if you say "I HATE IT" I won't be angry as much as curious why you hate it. C: So if you're going to say that, please explain? Thank yooooooou.
Pairings: Present SoraKairi. Eventual NamiRoxas.
Dissssssclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, obviously. I was pretty young when the first game came out, for the record. I was playing video games at the time, though. (:
WARNING: This story is rated TEEN for a reason. If you're expecting something fine and dandy that six-year-olds should be reading, you've got another thing coming. You've been warned. C: There is foul language, neglect, drugs, alcohol, and other things that aren't suitable for young or youngish children in this story. Thanks.
For the record, though, this chapter is quite safe, aside from a few cuss words. C;
Now! Hopefully this is the longest author's note I'll have to do! On with the story! :D
Kingdom Hearts: Contact
I. Laugh At Me
Laughter.
He couldn't help but hate hearing it in the hallway. He'd never been self-centered but he always assumed he was the one being laughed at; it wouldn't have been the first time. He wrapped his hoodie around him a little tighter, as if to fend off the possible jabs being thrown at him behind his back. He hadn't been far off the mark; he distinctly saw a finger thrust in his direction. The jacket wasn't much protection.
"Is that Sora's brother?"
"Aren't they twins or something?"
"Gross. Him? Related to Sora? He needs to pick up a thing or two about wardrobe, then."
"He's so bland, too. I sat near him in Bio., and God, he's so… awkward."
"You tried talking to him?"
"Well, no, but…"
Inwardly, he scowled and glanced over at the group of four girls, who moved over to another set of lockers to gossip. He hated girls like them, acting like they knew everything. He had yet to understand how Sora managed to be friends, or so he called them, with people like that. Despite his slight irritation (he'd gotten past embarrassment the year before. Now it was just annoying), he ducked into his classroom quickly, head down, eyes on the floor.
"Oof!"
He cursed quietly as his books scattered the floor. Without even looking up, he bent down to pick up his things, apologizing all the while. "Sorry, I wasn't paying atten—"
"Easy there, Shortstack."
Another body ducked down beside him and long fingers started picking up books as well. He looked up quickly. "Axel!" He beamed at his best friend, hallway problems temporarily forgotten.
Axel grinned. "What's up, Roxas?"
"Just going to class. You know, Pre-Cal."A grimace took over the boy's face at the mention of the class and he stood, taking his books from Axel with a quiet "thank you" at the end. "What're you doing here?"
Axel, who had graduated the year before and was now working, simply smiled, all-teeth. "Just picking up some paperwork. Figured I'd stop in and say 'hi.'" He rubbed one of his hands through the back of his red spiky hair.
"Oh. Well, hi, then." Roxas chuckled quietly and let a small grin fall onto his lips. "It's been a while. How's work and all going?"
"Pretty great, actually. Tons of stupid people, but, you know. It happens."
Just at the end of the statement, the shrill sound of the warning bell rang from the hall, and was rewarded with a long sigh from Roxas and an almost-silent curse. "Two minutes 'til hell…"
Axel laughed out loud. "It'll be alright, Shorty. You'll survive." He paused, and then asked suddenly, "You up for some ice cream this afternoon?"
Roxas's whole face lit up. "Sure!"
"Alright," Axel grinned. "See you at the clock tower after work, then. My treat."
Roxas nodded, but before he could say anything else, a flustered-looking teacher rushed in and nearly ran into him ("Sorry, Roxas! …Oh. Good morning, Axel. You better get out of here or the administration will call the cops.")
The red-haired chuckled. "I better get outta here before they call 911 or something. See ya, Roxas!"
"Yeah, bye!" But Axel was already gone. Roxas let a heavy sigh fall from his chest, and the grin fell from his face as if gravity had finally caught up with it—heavily and fast. His entire body slumped.
The blonde shifted backwards into his coat a little more (if that was possible), readjusted his books, and headed for the back of the classroom to take his seat, a tightness in his chest reminding him just how much he missed the days when Axel was still in school. There hadn't really been too much to worry about then. He'd had two good friends and was generally protected from the snickers because of his senior friend (that wasn't why he was friends with Axel, but it sure was nice that came with it). But then Xion moved and Axel graduated.
Suddenly he'd become all alone, and had become very aware of the massive shadow his elder brother (who was only older by six minutes, thirty-seven seconds, mind you) cast over him. He'd also noticed that he seemed to be at the center of all of his brother's "friend's" jabs and mockery. He supposed it had always been like that, but before he hadn't noticed because it hadn't mattered.
But that was then. He couldn't change things; he still had another two years of high school left*. He refused to let the other students mess with his future; he would graduate and he would become… whatever it was he was going to be. And he would do it well and there was nothing that would stop him.
Nothing. At. All.
-AU- Kingdom Hearts -AU-
"Hanging out with Axel today. Don't wait up or anything."
Roxas and his twin were very different in more ways than one: in appearance, in attitude, and as people altogether. The younger one was blonde and had baby-blue eyes, though these were the only physical differences between him and Sora. He was low-key; he'd become a very independent person, but he needed someone to tell him when was doing a good job to believe it. He tended to keep his feelings bottled up, and society saw him as strange and, somehow, weak.
"wuznt planin on it hangin w/ kairi 2day"
His twin, on the other hand, was the epitome of "popular." He knew everybody, and if he walked—or more like sauntered—down the hall, all you could hear was: "Hi Sora!" "Hey Sora!" "What's goin' on, Sora?~" He was outgoing and everybody knew how he felt, that emotion usually being "happy."
"Tell Mom if you get home first, though, please?"
Despite all their differences, though, they were still twins, and generally acted like them outside of school. Because of their social differences (that Sora seemed very oblivious to), though, they weren't in contact much in school. That, and Roxas took a math two ranks higher than Sora and all honors classes, while his twin remained in Geometry, barely passing ("GOD. ROXAS. HELP ME. PLEASE. I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS BUT THAT CRAZY OLD BAT LADY'LL KILL ME IF I DON'T TURN THIS INNNNNNNNNNN!"), and in all basic classes.
"if shes thre. k"
Roxas sighed and shoved his phone back in his pocket, grabbed his books off his desk and set off towards the doorway to go to his locker. He was ready to get out of that mandatory hell-hole.
"Hey, Roxas! Could you wait a moment?"
His wants would have to wait though, it seemed.
"Yes, Ms. Heart?" ((Saw what I did there, right? :'D))
A paper was suddenly shoved towards him from the hands of his very frazzled-looking pre-calculus teacher. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
He stared blankly at her, and then down at the paper. "Tutoring?"
"Yes! Please. PLEASE. I've got a girl who came in from a different town in Algebra II and she's brilliant, but I just can't teach her everything that we've already covered AND teach all of the kids who don't know what we're doing now. She doesn't have very much to learn andI'm not asking a lot, just one or two days a week, I'll even give you extra credit, but you were so good in Algebra II and—"
Roxas held his hands up, eyes a little wide, to his rambling teacher. "Okay, okay." He looked down at the paper. "It's fine, I don't have anywhere to be on Tuesdays."
The relief was evident on the poor teacher's face. "Thank you, Roxas, thank you. Can you start tomorrow?"
The blonde grinned a little shakily. How could you say no to a crazy smile like that? "Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow."
He excused himself and walked out the door towards his locker. "Her name's Namine, by the way!" Came the voice after him.
Namine, hm? Where have I heard that before?
*Yes. He's a sophomore and is in Pre-cal. He took Algebra I in 8th grade, geometry his freshman year and Algebra II his first semester sophomore year because… because he could. ): Let's just say even if he isn't a whiz in math he enjoys challenges. SO. YEAH.
.
Okay. Obviously this wasn't terrible or anything (other than kids being mean to Roxas. But. You know.). I'm just taking my time getting to where I want to be, 'kay? It'll happen! Dx Just don't be bored with this chapter. It wasn't boring, was it? ): I hope not.
Thanks for reading!
This lonely little
button needs
a great big hug.
You can fix this
problem, can't
you? Don't let
it be a sad button, because
sad buttons are a crime
that nature can
sue against.
Thanks!
(: