So, here is my first fanfic : ))
REVIEWS ARE NEEDED! I had to translate the whole shit from Finnish to English but I tried to fix all the little thingies I thought was wrong, so there...shouldn't be much of big mistakes. The sentence structure was a BIG problem sometimes, but anyway, read and learn and kick my ass if there are some enormous failures ^^'
There are going to be Akuroku, Soriku, Cleon, Zemyx, and little hints of Cloud and Sephyyyy (*Evil Smile*) I'm not sure about the future chapters, but there are going to be manymany pairings ahead : D
Hope you enjoy!
It was autumn. The tree leaves were falling in brilliant colors and freezing wind tore the branches around. People walked scarves around their faces so, that you could see only squinting eyes and bit of red cheeks when you really started to look at them.
It was truly cold, but you could see two male blondes striding across an empty school yard and the another one wasn't actually pleased:
"Cloud…! Do I have to? I could have waited for next semester or something. It is completely insane to go to school when I have just…" The shorter one started but the another one just walked in brisk movements towards the glass doors which led to a high school called Bastion High. It was pretty nice looking building, with lots of glass and that, but still the smaller male was resisting like he was being dragged to some prison.
When they reached the doors, the short blonde whimpered and dug his heels to the ground and the man named Cloud got finally enough. He turned around and leered at the another with really murderous intent in his eyes.
"Roxas. This. Is. A. Normal. School. Do I have to hammer it to your thick skull or something, because I don't feel like repeating myself." Cloud muttered under his breath his face inches from Roxa's. Roxas gulped and backed a few steps before answering hastily.
"But think about it bro! I have just moved here and I don't know anyone else than Sora and you and aunt Tifa. I have to be all alone in there because I doubt that I will be having always the same classes as Sora…!" Roxas whined with pleading eyes but Cloud's expression didn't falter. He just turned around again and pushed the glass doors open.
"You will be just fine. The student and the teachers are nice here and you will make new friends fast enough." Cloud strolled through the glass doors with purposeful manner to a big entrance hall which was still full of glass and all those Up-To-Date thingies hanging on the walls and the ceiling. There were big staircase leading to the upper floors and now Cloud started to climb them upwards.
In the fifth floor Cloud turned to a smaller hall where was only one door in the end (made of glass, naturally). Roxas followed helplessly after the taller blonde and waited anxiously when Cloud knocked to the door briskly with his fist.
"Yes? How can I help you?" A blonde secretarian had come to the door and looked the two boys suspiciously; why on earth would students come to school an hour before the school starts? Cloud smiled composedly to the woman.
"I'm here to see the principal. My brother is starting school here today and I need to fill all the paperwork and such." The secretarian's eyes widened when he grasped the situation and smiled more warmly.
"Oh! Roxas Shime, was it? Yes, yes come in, the principal will be here in a minute." After a forced smile the blonde disappeared somewhere amidst all the glass walls and left the two boys standing there. Roxas was bewildered. What was with the sudden attitude change? He looked at his brother who was being completely oblivious to the shorter blonde's confusion.
"Cloud?"
No answer
"Did you tell them, that our parents died?"
More silence. Roxas stared at his brother who was being absolutely uneasy with the topic and finally opened his mouth.
"I had to tell them you know…! They would have started questioning if I wouldn't have told them that I am your brother and your only relative right now…" Roxas groaned.
"I can't believe you! It isn't even their business that do we have parents or not, and you go and…!
"I didn't have a choice!" Cloud scowled at Roxas who backed a few steps. "Stop being like some goddamn brat Rox, you are sixteen years old already so start acting like goddamn sixteen years old. And by the way, when you grow up, don't you dare to start accusing me from something I did to help you get a safe life." Cloud got enough and turned away from his little brother who was gaping at him. The silence between them was very brooding and Roxas thanked god in the back of his mind when the secretary came back and waved at them to come inside.
They followed the secretary silently through many glass doors and even more hallways and corridors: The principal wasn't apparently in his office because soon they stepped to a corridor which had normal classrooms in it.
Then Roxas saw it
Through one glass window Roxas saw a very strange looking boy: His hair was scarlet red and shaped in stylish spikes on top of his head. His eyes were clear, emerald green and just under his eyes were violet tattoos, shaped as tears. His clothes were mainly black leather. He had long black coat with lots of spikes and safety pins in it and his jeans were tight and ripped artistically all the way from his thighs to his shins. Roxas wondered absently that how on earth did his pants stay put with all the belts hanging from his hips (he had by the way at least five or six of them)
The redhead lifted his gaze from whatever he was reading and his eyes met Roxas's. The blonde flinched and flushed bright pink. He didn't know why, but those green eyes made him very nervous. The blonde turned and started to walk forward only to realize that Cloud wasn't there anymore.
The corridor was completely empty.
Panic started to strangle Roxas's throat and his breath grew uneven. The bright glass walls had turned from modern to very unfriendly in a few seconds and Roxas didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.
The blonde started to jog along the corridor and tried to calm himself. He would find Cloud in no time, he would not be all alone in the school, somebody would come and help him find his way…´
"Hey, you. Blonde shrimp." An unfamiliar voice called and even though Roxas was very near to break in tears, his temper took control:
"It's ROXAS, not fucking shrimp!" The blonde turned around and gasped. It was the redhead from before. He was smirking mockingly.
"Oh, sorry Roxy, I didn't know." His smile was very weird, something close to normal but it still had a derisive edge in it. Roxas scowled but didn't care to answer and continued to walk the hallway, very aware of the redhead on his heels.
"Well, anyway, I just wanted to tell you that your bro went to opposite direction, if it helps at all."
Roxas turned and almost hit the leather covered chest of the weird guy, but contained his balance fast enough.
"Did…Did you see him?" Roxas asked, trying to get the relieved tone out of his words but it didn't work quite well. Still, the redhead's expression softened a little.
"Yeah, they walked through that glass door over there." He smiled a bit before turning around and starting to walk away. Roxas was SO relieved: he wasn't as lost as he thought he was after all. Before he turned to run to the big doors he had to do something:
"HEY! LOBSTER!"
The redhead turned
"What's with the nickna…?"
"Thanks!" Roxas smirked before the redhead could end his sentence and jogged to the big pair doors. The redhead just stood there for a moment before he shook his head incredulously.
"Anytime shrimp, anytime."
Well, it would be understatement to say that Cloud was angry when Roxas finally showed to the old copy room where the principal was. He was furious. He didn't let outa single one shout or insult, but with few words he made it quite clear that he would beat the hell out of Roxas when the time would come.
Roxas sat there over an hour listening to some old geezer's pep talk about the good environment, excellent teachers, very welcoming students and amazing future possibilities after graduation. Roxas had to really force himself to not fall asleep in the middle of the great speech and was more than relieved when Cloud came with a stack of papers and the principal had to let Roxas out of the teachers' lounge, to the corridor, which was now full of people, some of them looking Roxas curiously. Cloud came out after Roxas and after a moment of silence Cloud smiled reassuringly and patted Roxas's elbow.
"You will do just fine. Believe me, tonight you will be more worried about me beating the hell out of you and you will be more than happy to get to school." Cloud said all this with smile on his lips and Roxas grinned and waved to him when he left the school building. Roxas sighed and turned to face his first school day in Bastion High.
You know, it wasn't that bad as he thought it was. Soon he met his favorite cousin, Sora and his best friend, Riku and in no time Roxas felt like he had always been best friends with them. Sora was so natural and Riku was very polite and asked all kinds of questions about Roxas's former hometown and old buddies and the Blonde was more than happy to tell about them.
Even when Sora or Riku weren't talking, Roxas wasn't bored, not even once. Partially it was because there was always somebody to come and talk to him. These encounters were mainly Riku's and Sora's acquaintances who were nice enough to introduce themselves, even though Roxas forgot their names in a minute.
But the main reason why Roxas wasn't bored was the little 'drama' between Sora and Riku. Roxas looked at them the whole day and was sure that they weren't dating or anything like that, but the looks between them were something so confusing. Riku absolutely adored Sora and Sora looked at Riku like some little dog puppy looks his master or something like that. It wasn't friendship, no way in hell, but it was something MUCH more. But the most frustrating thing was, that how neither of them didn't seem to notice the others admiration, even if it was so evident.
Roxas had two lessons in the morning with Sora and Riku, but the third one was music, when Sora and Riku had home economics. They went in separate ways in the third floor, where Riku and Sora turned to a bright hallway, when Roxas had to climb to the fifth floor.
The blonde had always loved music, since he was for years old. His mom used to play piano a lot on her free time and Roxas naturally wanted to try too. When he was six he started to take piano lessons in a conservatoire a few blocks away from their house. Soon, the piano started to play a very big part of Roxas's life, but when he was eleven, some boys from his class started to bully him from his hobby and called Roxas 'girlish' and some made up the nickname 'Roxette'. In no time Roxas started to believe them and thought himself being all girly over a stupid piano. His mom became very sad when he quit, but didn't say anything. The bullying stopped, but Roxas still wasn't happy. He missed the smooth sounds of the piano in his daily basis and when Roxas started to think about going to the conservatoire once again, his parents died and so did his dreams. The black old piano was being sold and they moved with Cloud out of the district. Cloud went to live within his boyfriend (yes, a boyfriend, he was as gay as butterfly in a field of rainbow daisies…) and I went to live with my aunt Tifa and cousin Sora.
When Roxas arrived outside the music class, there were already many guys who he knew already. A few of them waved and smiled at the blonde, but didn't come to talk to him. It made Roxas a bit sad, but he decided to not be bothered by it. His attention was somewhere else anyway so….
There was this one group which collected lots of nervous glances and whispers. They seemed completely oblivious to it and chatted casually from something. Still, Roxas wasn't bothered about the other people who looked at them in fearful manner, the only thing that caught his interest were the clothes.
Leather. Black leather, blue leather, red leather, piercings, safety pins, artistic rifts, tattoos…They all matched the redhead from this morningbut he was nowhere to be seen.
The group had one big (and BULKY) about eighteen years old boy, whose face was all grumpy and his hair was very weird shade of orange. He had black, loose fit jeans with three or four different sized chains and slim fit shirt, which revealed his tattooed elbows and arms.
The other was almost as bad, having an eye patch covering his right eye and scars running across his face. He had dark blue slim fit jeans and hoodie with a big knife painted to the front. He was almost as bulky as the orange-haired guy beside him.
Then there were one female in the group. She had blonde, short hair with two bug-like thingies by the side. Her clothes consisted a white miniskirt (with rifts, of course) and a strapless burgundy red top which slid down her slim waist. She had a little bit wicked expression on her face and the slim male beside him seemed to avoid her.
The male had light brown, short hair, which was styled very carefully in spikes on top of his head. He had tight, ripped jeans and a grey polo shirt. His ears were full of different piercings and jewelry. Still, he was probably the most friendly looking person in the group, maybe the only one, whom Roxas would consider to talk to without being afraid of being smacked to nose. He was laughing with the others, but maybe not so loudly.
Beside the quieter male was still one person who didn't talk or laugh with the others. He just stood there with a sour expression on his face. And MAN he was HAIRY! On his cheekbones grew a little crescent shaped beard and his hair was in dreadlocks and put in a ponytail on top of his head. He had loose leather jeans and at least seven different kinds of belts clinging against each other. His shirt had very skillfully painted picture of a tiger in it and a very mocking text in the back.
Roxas stared at them for a long time and finally turned his gaze away. They were normal persons, like he was for god's sake! It was good that the teacher came because one of the males glanced to where Roxas was, and probably guessed what Roxas had been looking just now.
When everybody had seated and calmed down a bit, the young woman started to talk with a lively voice. She was about thirty years old and seemed to know the music class pretty well. At least she talked to everyone in a very friendly tone and everyone seemed to like her at least as much as she liked them.
"Okay, I will announce something that I think you will like quite much." She smiled crookedly. "NO THEORY TODAY!" There was a moment of silence when the news sunk in before everyone started to clap their hands and yell. Roxas couldn't stop the enormous burst of laughter which escaped his lips. This class was extremely funny.
"Today will be mainly…well, playing, playing and more playing. Kairi, Naminé, Larxene and Olette are singing. Any objection? Good." The teacher started to leaf through a little diary which had all our names in it. Apparently this was normal policy. The girls stood up and went to the microphones.
"Drums?" The teacher asked from the class raising her gaze from the diary.
"Lexaeus will take care of them!" The male with a patch over his eye shouted from aback the class.
"Guitar?" The teacher didn't raise her eyes from the diary this time
"Demyx!" Many shouted with a bored tone. The light brown haired male stood up with a smile on his lips and joined the big tank-like man named Lexaeus.
"Bass?"
"Xaldin has been before so why not now?" The reddish brown haired girl named Kairi said. Xaldin stood up silently and started tuning a big black bass.
Roxas watched silently how all the instrument went to different owners and his eyes wandered to a big piano in the corner of the classroom. Many started to voice a name 'Axel' and Roxas wondered absently who that was. His mind was already exploring in the piano keys.
"Piano?"
There was silence. The whispering about Axel intensified. The teacher lifted his gaze from the list.
"Oh dear, where is Axel?" The teacher eyed the class worriedly. Many shook their heads and somebody mumbled 'Late again'
"Well, if we can't have piano in this, it isn't going to work. We have to do something else until Axel shows u..."
"I can play piano."
If Roxas something suspected, it surely wasn't this. Every pair of eyes had turned to face him and the expressions were very different. The leather gang stared at him insolently and incredulously and few of the others eyed him with great fear and admiration. The teacher was only surprised.
"I haven't seen you here before…Who were you again?" The teacher smiled friendly
"Roxas Shime, miss." More murmurs. Somebody whispered the name 'Sora' and other mumbled lowly 'new student'. It started to piss Roxas off.
"OH! Now I remember! This is great! Now we have two piano players in class!" She smiled again and that smile made Roxas a bit scared: Oh dear…
Suddenly Roxas realized that he had notes in front of him and he had been planted in front of the piano. Panic kicked in. Hey come on! He hadn't heard the song in his whole life and they assume that he can play it just like that? He hadn't even touched piano keys in over three years. His hands started to sweat and he bit his lip. It is now or never. If he would screw this up now, it was no use in dreaming about start playing the piano again. This would set the course.
Lexaeus started a rhythmical drumbeat. Soon after that Demyx followed Lexaeus with his guitar and his fingers seemed to dance completely on their own on the strings of the guitar. Xaldin started plucking the bass and the pale blonde girl named Naminé started the lyrics wit her bell-like voice.
Roxas's turn was nearing. He kept his fingers on the keys and breathed deeply before pressing the polished keys down and letting the music take control.
Breathing was hurting like hell in the redheads lungs. He had run like crazy from the school cellar to the fifth floor like his life would depend on it. His nerves were already at their limit. Holy crap he hated the principal. Always accusing Axel from something he might not have done (well, this time it had been him, but still!) Who needs those trash cans anyway? On the school yards they were only in the way and they were used mostly to pressure demolition. And, well well, Axel has to be the only one who gets caught doing it. Yes, his nerves were totally at their limit and in the middle of the principal's speech about refunding the goddamn trashcans he decided that he had had enough and took the liberty to hurry to music class.
Axel stopped halfway the fifth floor corridor when he thought he was far enough from the stupid principal and gasped for air. The classroom was only about ten meters away and finally Axel started to really process all the things he heard:
Lexaeus played the drums: Nothing new. Demyx fiddled the guitar: Still nothing new. Xaldin plucked the bass: Well that was something new but nothing significant. The thing that drawed Axel's attention wasn't the new way of singing, or the suspicious sounds that evidently came from Xigbar and all the percussion instruments he had had in his hands. It was the completely new sound. Sound that belonged to Axel only, but which had been revised to something completely different. The rest of Axel's nerves broke down and he charged to the classroom his mind full of rage from something that was his!
It was an amazing feeling.
After Roxas's hands flew on the keys all his uncertainty disappeared. He barely looked at the notes, he just listened all the tunes from his beloved instrument and noticed even the slightest mistakes in the tone of the piano. His mind was overwhelmed and he didn't even notice how other instruments stopped playing.
"Roxas!" The pale blonde girl, Naminé, whispered with a terrified tone and Roxas flinched abruptly and started top look around what was with the big commotion.
The first thing Roxas noticed was that the teacher wasn't there. He must have left to copy room, so that all of the student would get the notes. And the second thing he noticed were the emerald green eyes, which were cold and bleak when they stared at the small blonde in front of the piano. Roxas gulped when the familiar flush came to his cheeks and suddenly he felt very dumbfounded. The redhead's hair seemed to catch fire when he started to walk towards Roxas and a devilish smile spread across his face while his eyes remained cold. Roxas's warning bells started to ring when the male stopped right beside him.
"You're on my spot, shrimp."
Roxas's inner instincts started to analyze the situation very fast when the threatening atmosphere landed on top of him: The redhead was about twice as tall as he was so fighting wasn't an option. He could always run, but Roxas would rather get beated to death than run for his life. AND he could punch the redhead to face before he figures it out and run AFTER that. Shit, he was screwed…
Roxas stood up very smoothly and straightened to his whole length and stared to those cruel, cold eyes deciding very fast what he would do next.
"Fuck off."
The redhead stared at him for a moment which felt like an eternity. Then Xigbar, Lexaeus and couple of others bursted out laughing. The redhead grinned to them and turned back to Roxas:
"Fuck off, huh?" His grin grew even wider and revealed his white teeth. That was the last thing which Roxas registered, before he was smashed to the ground. He struggled when pair of strong hands kept him in place, but stopped when he felt a warm breath in his ear:
"I don't care who you are, why are you here and where do you come from. I'm just going inform this to you: That piano is mine. If you are ever going to touch it, I will rip your fingers out, one by one. Got. It. Memorized?" The pressure in Roxas's wrists disappeared when the bell rang and everybody rushed out of the classroom. Roxas just continued to lie there when abashment kicked in. He lifted his gaze when he realized that somebody stopped in front of him: It was Demyx.
"Here is your bag." He handed the bag to Roxas who stared at him in wonder. Didn't Demyx wander in same groups as the redhead? "I'm very sorry about Axel's behavior. He isn't normally like that; I think he was just a bit shaken about the fact that there are others that can play the piano." Demyx smiled a little and walked out of the classroom, leaving Roxas sitting on the floor, astounded.
The school ended and Roxas had found Riku and Sora in no time. They decided that they would go to the centre of Hollow Bastion and buy some school stuff for Roxas. Roxas wasn't exactly in the mood for shopping, but he needed some distraction from the previous class's accident wit Axel. Roxas needed clothes anyway
"Could we stop by a few clothing stores? I'd like a new hoodie or something, I need new clothes…" Roxas asked from Sora when they were putting their books in their lockers on the bustling corridor. Sora smiled at him.
"Sure, I and Riku can show you around. That way you will be okay on your own the next time you come to the city." Roxas walked with his cousin to the main entrance and to the sunny yard. Riku was waiting there with two other males, which Roxas recognized instantly.
"Cloud! Leon!" He shouted with a surprised tone. His brother grinned widely and ruffled Roxas's hair. Leon started to laugh when his boyfriend started to wrestle with his younger sibling. Riku and Sora laughed also. During their match Roxas's bag flew open and all his stuff spread all around the ground.
"Well, what are you planning? I and Leon just got out the university and were thinking about coming to visit you." Cloud said a bit breathless.
"Sorry, but we were thinking about going to the town centre. I need new clothes." Roxas said from the ground where he was collecting his stuff to the brown shoulder bag. Suddenly he noticed something: His mathematics book wasn't there. Roxas furrowed his brows. He hadn't left it to the math class, that's for sure. But he had done his homework while sitting on the corridor, waiting for the music teacher to come…Roxas stood up
"Hey, I left my math book to the fifth floor, I'll go and get it." Roxas interrupted something Sora was saying and hurried through the main entrance once again, and ran all the stairs upwards.
Finally in the fifth floor he slowed down a bit and searched for the plain-looking little book and spotted it almost immediately on the floor just beside the door of the music class. He walked towards it, when something caught his attention.
It was the sound of a piano. It was most definitely sound of a piano, but something made it very different. The sounds were tender, but somehow at the same time they were brisk, almost harsh. Roxas listened for a long time and decided to take a peek from the door slot. Roxas's breath hitched when he saw it.
Axel's red hair was shining brightly from the sun that shone right to them. Roxas couldn't see his eyes, but he followed his fingers instead. It was worth of watching. They danced in the keys, the touches so light, that Roxas wondered why the sound was still so loud. The music had taken a turn and was faster than before. Roxas closed his eyes and let the music drown him. The blondes every thought was swallowed when the tunes just floated to his head. Roxas tried grasp the melody, but he could have as well tried to keep air in a jam jar: When you thought you had it, you realize that you don't know that did you really get it. It fascinated Roxas and it took many long seconds before he figured that the music had stopped and Axel stared at him blankly.
Oh, the shame. Roxas blushed completely scarlet and mumbled an apology. He turned to leave but heard a low chuckle from behind him. Axel was smiling crookedly from his place in front of the piano and Roxas gazed at him expressionlessly. The redhead's eyes had grabbed his attention completely and the blush stayed persistently on his face. Axel turned back to the piano and changed the notes in front of him to new ones.
Roxas sunk to the nearest chair and listened quietly. This melody was purely sad. It was absolutely sad. Roxas could feel the heavy atmosphere in the notes and closed his eyes once again. He felt like he was being in a boat in the middle of dark ocean. There weren't light anywhere to be seen, but suddenly the accent of the sounds changed and Roxas didn't feel like he was all alone. Still there wasn't any light to be seen, but a warm feeling spread to Roxas's heart and he felt like he was safe, like he had gotten a friend stand beside him to the boat.
Again it took many long seconds Roxas to recover from his trance when the song ended. Axel looked at him with a weird expression on his face and smiled a bit after a minute.
"You are crying."
Roxas stared at him for a minute and then wiped his cheek a bit: holy crap he really was crying! The blush on his cheeks deepened and he wiped the rest of the tears away quickly. Axel stood up.
"I didn't think that I would someday find somebody as attached to music as I am." He smiled crookedly to the dumbfounded blonde in front of him and walked past him.
"I play here everyday on the lunch break and after school, if you are interested in listening to me."
Roxas was left there, and the blonde was pretty much confused.
