Title – A Change of Schedule

Summary – /AU/ Axel: The boy who flirted with both girls and boys yet was openly gay. Roxas: The boy who was straight yet had a secret liking for boys on the side as well. Namely Axel. Throw in a party and it's drama galore. /Roxas POV/AkuRoku/Soriku/Zemyx/
Warnings – Boy Love, Cursing, Slight Sora Bashing, Major Kairi Bashing, Alcohol Use, Drug References
Recommended Song – Dirty Little Secret by The All-American Rejects
Disclaimer – I own Kingdom H—wait, shit, I own nothing. All Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Tetsuya Nomura and Squeenix.
"Roxas! Roxas! Wake up!"

Instinctively, my hand reached out, swinging around blindly for the intruder. I couldn't see them, of course—my head was still buried in my pillow as I tried to block the noises out. It wasn't working too well, and five seconds later, my alarm also went off.

Since I was usually a heavy sleeper, the music was much too loud, despite the fact that I loved the song. Plus the annoying voice that had woken me up just wouldn't go away.

After lying there through a minute of that torture, I'd had enough. Pushing back a growl, I scrambled from my bed, feet hitting the floor as I rose to my full height.

"Sora!" I hissed, staring my brother in the eye.

Well, he didn't have the courtesy to look ashamed, though he offered me a sheepish grin.

"Sorry Roxas. Mom said you needed to get up."

I let a groan pass my lips at that, and slammed my hand down on the alarm, effectively shutting it up. While Sora was a morning person, I was definitely not. Oh, right. I guess I should back up and explain some.

My name is Roxas. No last name. And the annoying prick who woke me up is my older-by-one-year brother, Sora. I'm sixteen, he's seventeen. Even though we're brothers, we don't share many similarities.

I've got blond hair that many people say resembles a porcupine, the way it spikes up on one side. However, if I'm a porcupine, Sora could be compared to a nuclear explosion, with the mass of chocolate colored spikes he has all over his head. It's amazing no one's lost an eye to them.

Our personalities differ, too; we're near complete opposites. Sora was the guy everyone liked. Not the most popular, not by far, but he was kind, always smiling, always willing to help people. Me; I'm an emo-tart. No, seriously. It's always been that way.

My brother's tons of fun, and I'm just...not. I can be open and joke around with friends, but when it comes to crowds or strangers, I clam right up. And it's hard for me to smile.

However, I'm also far more mature than Sora—and stubborn to boot. I don't take backtalk from anyone, and I've been called "feisty" on more than one occasion. My brother's just an idiot, and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

Looking at it that way, I guess it's weird that I'm the younger brother. I'm even an inch taller than him, not to mention he practically screams out "naïve and young." But, we are family.

Oh, yeah. We've got one main similarity: Our eyes. Mine are a bit brighter, so people say, but Sora and I both have these vivid, crystal blue eyes. And thus, the likeness ends. And now that the introductions are done; back to what I was doing: being pissy.

¤x¤x¤

"Sora, you don't have to listen to everything Yuffie says. She's just the one who adopted us."

My brother bit down on his now-trembling slightly bottom lip.

"It's not like she forced me to..." He whimpered, staring me down with a full shot of "Bambi-eyes."

Inwardly, I rolled my eyes. "Sora, you should have learned by now; those eyes don't work with me!"

Instantly, he started laughing. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Anyways, breakfast is almost done, and she doesn't want to start eating unless you're there, so hurry up!" He patted my head with a grin, causing me to scowl.

"Lemme take a shower and I'll be right down."

The words were barely out of my mouth before he scampered off down the stairs. For a minute, I was severely tempted to spite him and just fall back asleep on the bed, but the scent of breakfast had reached my nose, and it smelled really good.

¤x¤x¤

It didn't take me long to make my way down the hall and get into the shower. As I stood there, letting the water wash over me, I thought about our family, something I'd been doing more and more lately.

¤x¤x¤

Sora and I had been adopted—he at age three, and me at two. Our parents...well, I don't remember. I was too little. They died, I guess. Sora remembers them more, but he doesn't talk about it much. He's completely enamored with Yuffie. She's the one who adopted us.

I guess she took the more logical route. Both of us had vaguely known she wasn't our real mom, but she reassured us immediately she had taken us in to "be there for us."

Call it a grudge, or little boy's revenge, but I didn't take to her lightly right away. Her last name, Kisaragi, I refused to take as my own, even though I don't remember my original. And I, more or less, bullied Sora into not having a last name either.

Yuffie was pretty cool about it; she didn't seem to mind, but when Sora started calling her "mom," she was beyond ecstatic. I think that helped her some later, especially when she told me I could call her mom, too, and I shot her a glare and calmly told her I would never see her as anything more than the person who offered me a home. She would always be "Yuffie" to me. Or "Sora's mom."

Yuffie's nice enough, but I find her kind of...I don't know, crazy? She's always going on about these ninja skills, and usually acts more like a kid than an adult. But, she puts up with me. It's not like I actually give her problems, I'm just not the most—willing person.

¤x¤x¤

Turning the water off, I stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my waist. I caught my reflection in the mirror, and habit caused me to curl my lip slightly. Even though I was taller than Sora, I was also scrawnier.

That shouldn't mean much, right? Well Sora's this really...small guy, in general. He had slight muscles compared to me (read: I had none), but he was still this little shrimp. And I was worse off than he was. In fact, the only person I can think of whose smaller than either of us is Zexion—a friend at our school—but that's beside the point.

¤x¤x¤

I entered my room again and set about getting dressed. Oh, right. Suddenly it hit me that it was the first day of the year. First day of senior year. I guess that was one bonus to being smart—I'd skipped fifth grade, moving straight on to middle school with Sora. But back to my clothes.

I'd always been a quick dresser compared to Sora, who usually took his sweet time, though personally I thought his spiky hair just tended to get in the way. My pants were jet black in color; loose fitting, but not to the point where they sagged over my ass—I wore a simple belt to compensate. And over my chest went the long sleeved black shirt, with a hood attacked to the back of it. On each wrist I wore a wristband—both white, but one of them; the left; had a small embroidery of a key in its corner.

Did I mention black is my favorite color? Don't give me that shit about "black's not a color." I'm damn well wearing it either way. I pulled on a pair of plain, low cut white socks and made my way downstairs, sitting myself in the kitchen and glancing over at Sora, who was sitting on the couch and staring mindlessly at the television set.

¤x¤x¤

Yuffie was still finishing up the food; she sang out a "Morning Sora; morning Roxas!" I replied with a grunt; and Sora vaguely responded. Bored, I began tugging on my wristbands—a bad habit I'd developed over the summer, when I'd first gotten them.

¤x¤x¤

Ten minutes literally passed at a snails pace, and I wondered if Sora and I would be late for school—no sooner had the thought crossed my mind then did Yuffie set down breakfast, resulting in Sora magically appearing at the table. Without really meaning to, I looked over at Sora's attire while picking half-heartedly at my food.

My brother had always been much more babyish than I, and his clothing fully reflected that. He wore a red jumpsuit with a zipper that ran all the way down to his crotch, a blue belt wrapped loosely around his waist, and a too small blue and white vest, along with white, fingerless gloves. And his ever so famous crown charm was hanging around his neck. The charm around my neck was a four point star.

But anyways, how that looked worked for Sora—I don't actually know. But apparently, it did. He, after all, got far more attention then I did. Then again, I didn't really like attention. My brother inhaled his meal so fast, I almost felt sick watching him; he handed it to his mom with a huge grin, while I just pushed my plate forward, appetite long gone.

¤x¤x¤

Leaving the table, I went to the door and put on my shoes. They were checkered black and white in the front, but slowly faded into a pure white as the shoe continued. I glanced over at Sora's huge yellow clown shoes and inwardly cringed.

"I'm going now." I called calmly over my shoulder, almost smiling as I heard Sora scrambling to get up from the table. Remember; almost. I swung my messenger bag over my shoulder and swung the front door open, patiently waiting for my brother to come flying around the corner.

Which, in five seconds, he did. His dark red backpack was loosely thrown over one shoulder and his limbs were flailing about in every direction as he practically pitched out the front door, barely managing to catch himself on the frame.

"Bye mom!" He shouted, earning a light "yeah" from me, and Yuffie just screamed at us to get our asses going so we wouldn't be late.

¤x¤x¤

And so began...the long, tedious walk to school. Oh, what joy it brought. I was pretty much dead silent, and Sora just chattered my ear off. Most would worry about going deaf, but I had nothing to fear.

First off, I'd grown up with Sora. I was very used to his incessant talking. Second, I'd memorized our morning—not to mention any other—schedule, to a T.

So, in five...four...three...two...

"Sora!"

Yes! Saved from having to respond to any conversation by the appearance of my savior. My brother simply blinked in surprise and turned around to see whoever was calling his name, only for his grin to grow bigger than it already was.

Truthfully, I was worried that his jaw would break soon, what with how often he smiled.

But, back to the situation at hand. I just stood there, still silent, just watching Sora run toward my rescuer and capture them in a huge hug.

"Riku!" he exclaimed happily.

Now, one thing I would never get over about Riku—his silver hair and brilliant aquamarine eyes. He could have been a model; no joke. He was paler and taller than both Sora and I, and twice as popular as my brother. Not to mention, he was also my best friend.

Riku smirked in a confident manner and patted Sora's head, his features softening some as he looked at my older brother. But then he directed his gaze toward me, and a gleam entered his eye.

"Hey porcupine."

I scowled, of course. Had I forgot to mention Riku was a fucking cocky bastard? He'd been the one to make up that lovely nickname. It makes no sense, right, that someone like me would be friends with someone so conceited?

Well, he was a special case, I guess. Not to mention; being Sora's boyfriend helped him out a ton. Oh, right, there is one other similarity between Sora and I. We both like boys.

Now, don't take that the wrong way. Yeah, Sora's fully and completely gay, with no love for girls on the side. But me, I love boys and girls. I'm bisexual...but that's created a lot of side complications, especially since no one knows the truth. Everyone thinks I'm completely straight.

So...yeah. Not very interesting, but it makes for good drama sometimes, I suppose. Riku's completely gay, too—but I admit I wasn't sure of his sexuality when I first met him.

¤x¤x¤

While most of us around here grew up together, Riku didn't move here until his first year of middle school.

He's one year older than I am. The same age as Sora. His family had moved to the Islands from Hollow Bastion; something about business. I didn't really pay much attention at first. I caught onto the fact that he had three older brothers and his mom had died giving birth to him, while their dad was completely loaded.

It was something like that, anyways. But the main thing that caught my eye about Riku was this: He was a man-whore. When he'd first shown up at Destiny Islands Middle School, he'd begun flirting with everything that had a pulse and looked good.

Which meant two certain people had gotten a lot of attention. One, of course, was Sora. The other was—oh. Think of the devil, and she will come.

"Sora! Riku!"

Yes, my name was purposefully left out of that. Riku hadn't called my name right off the bat either, but I actually like Riku. So that's a different case entirely.

All three of us—Sora, Riku, and I, stopped walking and turned toward the voice, though really, two out of three of us were less than happy for the intrusion; but it happened every morning.

Running up to us was the one person I could honestly accuse of haunting my nightmares—and I didn't want her there, either; a too short pink skirt and top, dull red hair, and boring violet-blue eyes.

She was too skinny; reminded me of one of those...stick-people drawings. Where the head is perched on a rail and the arms and legs stick out pathetically. Except her hands and feet seemed abnormally large in comparison.

I didn't think she was pretty at all, though a lot of other guys seemed to think so. She could have been prettier if I didn't know her personality.

"Hey, Kairi."

That was Riku—and I know I wasn't imagining the distaste I heard in his voice.

But Sora...poor, oblivious Sora. He just smiled and hugged her, leaving Riku and I to turn around and pretend to gag so neither saw us.

Kairi was, in short, a bitch. And a whore. But that was putting it lightly. Unfortunately, she'd grown up on the Islands with Sora and I, so it was next to impossible to get rid of her.

¤x¤x¤

Unwillingly, I admit, Kairi hadn't always been like she was. For a long time, it seemed like she'd had a thing for Sora. And while my brother had apparently reciprocated her feelings, they'd never actually gotten together.

All that was destroyed when Riku came in. Like I said before, "man-whore." He's grown out of the tendency now—Kairi grew into it, I guess.

In short, the day Riku arrived was my own personal hell-on-earth. The guy instantly went to Kairi and proceeded to, well, flirt his ass off with her. The bitch, of course, had instantly cast Sora away to go after Riku. I guess she was just a sucker for a pretty face.

But, either way, seeing Riku and Kairi flirt was just...sickening. Sora didn't really understand what was going on—he still doesn't get what occurred to this day. But that's what happens when your brother gets the athletic talent and the emotions, leaving you with the smarts and a stick up your ass.

It was kind of funny, actually. If Sora hadn't been late to school that day, things probably would have turned out differently. Whether for better or worse, I don't know, so I'll be content with what happened.

Riku, in the middle of wooing Kairi, got a nice, pleasant jolt of reality upon seeing Sora burst through the doors, papers flying up everywhere due to the force of wind blowing through.

In a way, that was almost poetic, but funnier and better to have seen when it occurred. I remember glancing at Sora for a split-second before looking over at Riku, whose face had turned an almost lovely shade of red.

But that was back when I hated Riku. I hated him for doting upon Kairi, I officially named Kairi the destroyer of worlds—well, my world, and Sora was just...Sora.

It took an entire year, but slowly, Riku started drifting away from Kairi, and getting closer to Sora. And that was when I knew: the pretty boy didn't even have an interest in girls.

And as Sora began spending more and more time with Riku, the hatred in my heart slowly began melting away.

That isn't to say I ever fully forgave Riku. To this day, a part of me still hates him for the whole Kairi incident. Hell, I don't think he's forgiven himself, either.

But I still get a small laugh every time I remember what happened the first day Riku didn't even greet Kairi. He went straight over to my brother, and I got mad. Because, like everyone tells me, I'm just a little bit overprotective of Sora.

Thus, I kicked Riku between the legs. He went down, and I specifically remember shouting "Stay the fuck away from my brother you whore!" Hey, he had been standing too close to Sora. That had been the beginning of our second year of middle school.

But, like I technically forgave him for screwing up, he forgave me for bruising his ego. About halfway through the year, Riku and Sora got together. Since Kairi was just there, Riku and I had learned to get along. We became best friends because of Sora, so I guess we should thank him.

¤x¤x¤

Not every story has a happy ending. My brother got a boyfriend...and I got an earful. Remember those complications I mentioned, about me being bisexual? This was where the problem started.

Sora, of course, didn't want to hide Riku from Yuffie—only neither of us knew if she would accept having a homosexual "son." We could only cross our fingers and pray someone wouldn't die.

They got lucky. Riku instantly charmed his way into Yuffie's heart, and Sora's just so adorable you can't help but support any decision he makes. So, my brother was allowed to be gay and happy.

I wasn't so lucky. Later that night, when Sora walked Riku home, Yuffie took great means to pin me against the wall and threaten me. It was in a loving way—I think. She assured me that she wanted grandchildren, and since Sora obviously wouldn't be giving them to her, I'd better step up to the plate one day.

Now, I guess, since I'm bi, that shouldn't have been a problem. I could still have gotten a girlfriend, gotten married to her one day, and provided Yuffie with grandchildren. Except she saw to that, too. I was not allowed to be bisexual; that meant I could very well end up with a boy one day, and Yuffie wasn't willing to take that chance.

But I, of course, found a flaw in her plan. You see, I was eleven when that event took place.

...I already liked a boy.

Shocker, Roxas likes another boy, right? Not really. See, Yuffie's idea might have worked, if she'd informed me of all this years before. The crush had only started the year I entered middle school.

Like I said; there was a reason I haven't told anyone I'm bisexual. But that's getting just a bit off track, isn't it?

¤x¤x¤

We continued walking; the minutes dragging on. It usually took a little less than an hour to get to school, but nothing was really interesting until the last twenty minutes.

And they were approaching quickly; thankfully. Kairi walked in front of all of us, leading us on—in her head. Sora and Riku trailed along a distance behind her holding hands, and me, I followed behind all of them. Which made it fairly easy to notice the looks of jealousy Kairi continued casting my brother and his boyfriend.

I'll admit I always get a laugh out of that. It was just one bonus to the entire situation.

Almost impatiently, I was counting down the time. See, we really did have a schedule when walking. Riku would appear first, followed by Kairi, and lastly...

"Yo, Roxas!"

Abruptly, I turned, out of habit. Probably because it was one of the only times I ever heard my name come first, if at all. But while this should have thrilled me to no end, the result always left me feeling cold and empty inside.

"Hey," I said shortly, feet still carrying me forward even as I kept looking over my shoulder.

I guess you could call him the harbinger of the rest of my problems. Riku had started it, and this guy wasn't going to let it end for a long time to come—too bad he didn't even know it. Or, with my luck, he did, and just wanted to torture me.

I turned my head forward as I heard a deep laugh somewhere above my head, and an arm slung itself over my shoulder.

I didn't miss a beat as I shrugged it off.

"Knock it off, Axel," I murmured, glancing up at the one who could easily be called my best friend, next to Riku.

As always, the shock of red hair greeted me first. Not dull red like Kairi's. Bright red. Hair as flaming as his sexuality. And that is pretty damn flaming.

Secretly, Axel's hair reminds me of a red Sonic the Hedgehog, the way it's so spiky yet almost swished back.

The next thing; like always, were the bright green—or were they blue? I never could quite tell—cat eyes that stared out at me, fire and affection burning in them. And, as always, I managed to convince myself the look was not meant for me.

Axel gave everyone that look. He was, of course, the most popular guy in school. Riku came in second. Naturally.

But since the three of us—Sora, Riku, and I, could be considered friends of "the great and powerful" Axel, none of us were offended that it wasn't really the truth.

Sure, we walked to school with him every day, but that was about the only time we ever got to hang out. And that was good enough for all of us, I suppose. Not for Kairi, but she doesn't count.

Axel was openly gay, but he flirted with everyone, whether he was going to take them out on a date or not. Unfortunately, he also flirted with Kairi—but as a joke. Just a joke. Nothing more.

Sadly, when Kairi would return his flirting, it was obvious she wasn't joking, even though he didn't like girls. Sora never noticed Kairi flirting with guys. How, I don't know, but Riku and I want to keep it that way.

I looked away from Axel, not missing the small frown on his face as he called out a greeting to everyone else.

Riku and Sora responded, but they were too caught up in staring at each other to really notice him. Well, of course, Axel...being Axel, he wouldn't stand for that.

The pyromaniac strode up to Sora, leaning down and taking hold of my brother's chin, forcing him to stare up into emerald eyes. Axel loved playing with fire, figuratively and literally.

"So, Sora, when are you gonna ditch your boyfriend for me, huh?"

Riku rolled his eyes and let out a groan, while Sora just blushed like mad. "U-Um, Aaaaxel, you know I'd never leave R-Riku!" Inwardly, I rolled my eyes too. The guy just loved messing with my brother.

Walking forward, I pushed Axel back away from Sora. "There are some limits to who you can flirt with, Axel." I reminded him, even though we all knew he'd been joking.

Not even pausing in his stride, Axel once more wrapped him arm around my shoulder. "Oh, well you don't have a boyfriend, Roxas. Want one?"

Instantly, I shoved him away. "You know I'm straight. I have a girlfriend."

Bet you weren't expecting that, right? Well, it's true. I do have a girlfriend. But more about her later.

It was then that Kairi flounced over—right on cue. And I took this as an excuse to walk faster, away from them.

I didn't want to watch what would happen. It was the same thing every morning.

"Well hey there cutie. How's your morning been?"

Kairi, of course, giggled and responded with some jumbled statement I didn't bother to listen to.

I could handle Axel hitting on everything that moved. I could even handle him messing with Kairi. He was like Riku had been, in that aspect, but the fire-starter was far from a whore.

What I couldn't handle was Kairi. You know why? Because Axel and Kairi are cousins. Like I said, Axel flirting with Kairi; that was a joke. Kairi flirting with Axel? That wasn't.

That's how much of a whore Kairi is. She wants in Axel's pants, and they're cousins. I'm too disgusted to even throw up.

And, following the schedule, like I always did, I found myself passing by Riku and Sora, leaving Kairi and Axel in the back of the line while I ended up in front of everyone else. Only ten more minutes to get to school.

¤x¤x¤

The first few minutes when Axel showed up were fine. I didn't mind him. But after ten more minutes, Kairi would be hounding him, and it wasn't...fun anymore.

¤x¤x¤

Axel and I had grown up together. Back then, popularity didn't matter, and we were best friends. He told me he'd gotten held back in pre-school. I'm not sure how. Maybe he failed nap time.

Either way, he was eighteen—older than any of us, but a senior in high school. Just like most of us were.

For a long time, Axel had been a grade ahead of me. Once, he asked me if I'd like for him to get held back so we could be in the same year. I vehemently denied him from doing so.

Aside from the fact that I'm far from an idiot, you could say that was what inspired me to skip a grade ahead.

This was, of course, to Axel and Sora's delight. At least, Axel had been excited at one point. Having missed fifth grade, I guess I learned too late that that's the grade where people get divided between "popular" and "not popular."

Sora and Axel were popular. No one knew what I was. I guess...that was around when I started seeing Axel differently. The way he spoke, his body language; everything. But hey, I was ten.

At that point, I hadn't known much about "gay," "bisexual," or "straight." However, I did still like girls at that point. Only, I liked Axel, too.

The bomb drops! Yeah, Axel is the guy I liked. And still like. And yeah, I still have a girlfriend. So why don't I return the attention Axel so lavishly piles on me? A lot of different reasons, fact that he flirts with everyone aside. Yuffie, too. She's a problem.

I wasn't really around for Axel's sudden popularity boost. I'd been a grade behind at that point, and he'd never mentioned it.

So it hurt twice as much when I was all but pushed aside in middle school. Why did I start liking him after that? I don't know. If I could go back and change it, I still don't think I would.

Don't think that Axel fully ignored me. He did still talk to me; just not as much. Not as often. Whether he wanted to or not, I don't know. But whenever I'd approach him, or vice versa, a crowd would all but carry him away.

And even though I saw Axel in a "new light," I never told him. Shortly after we'd drifted apart and I technically became best friends with Riku, Axel had made a shocking announcement.

We'd been eating lunch in the cafeteria—Sora, Riku, Kairi and I—when the pyromaniac, on the other side of the lunchroom, got up on one of the tables. This of course, got everyone's attention.

And then it came. He stood there, looking proud, and then randomly shouted, "I'm gay!"

Needless to say, this shocked everyone. But in the end, it only served to gain him more popularity.

In a way, I was jealous. Before all of this, before popularity meant anything, I'd been one of the few Axel talked to. Out of our small group of friends, he dedicated the most attention to me. Yet, as we grew older, that attention began spreading to others.

He'd been one of the only people I could open up to. So when he was all but gone, I didn't bother trying anymore. I'd always been quiet, so no one could really tell the difference anyways. I told Riku a lot of things, but it wasn't the same.

¤x¤x¤

I ripped myself out of my musings, only to realize I was standing in front of our high school. Sighing, I tugged on my wristbands again, and a cast a glance over my shoulder. As usual, I was a ways ahead of the others. But they'd catch up.

We all lived on Destiny Islands. But it's fairly small. You could walk from one end to the other in maybe...three hours, tops.

The school we attended, Oblivion High School, also had kids from other nearby cities and towns pouring into it. So instead of only having the Island kids, Oblivion swarmed with people from Traverse Town, Twilight Town, and Hollow Bastion.

It made the school somewhat crowded, but a lot of people liked the setup. It meant, from the instant you stepped through the door freshman year, you could have a fresh start with ¾ of the crowds. I hadn't bothered trying to be popular, but Riku, Sora, and Axel's popularity had just increased. Of course.

¤x¤x¤

I stepped through the double doors, finding myself in the hallway. We had about five minutes to get to class—which meant getting my ass moving. But, all according to schedule, Axel popped up next to me.

He put his hands on my shoulders and leaned down—he was far taller than both Sora and I; then again, we were rather short—placing his lips against my ear. "Don't worry; you're still my number one, Roxy. Got it memorized?"

While I'd just shove him away outside of school, in the hallways was a different case entirely. I couldn't deny that his breath on my ear felt nice; but I always suppressed the urge to shiver.

I shoved my elbow back, catching him in the gut and causing him to catch his breath as some of the wind was knocked out of him, but I wouldn't let him go with just that. While he was recovering, I turned around and kicked him in the shin before walking away.

¤x¤x¤

I guess it's not a very nice thing to do to the boy I like. But incidents like that happened with Axel more than half the time. Whether or not he actually liked me was not in my knowledge. I doubt he did. But still, it's fairly hard to pretend you don't like boys when the one you—again, the one you like—won't leave you alone.

¤x¤x¤

Making my way to class, I was through the door and in my seat seconds before the bell rang. Sora and Riku had all their classes together—it was amazing what Riku could convince teachers to do—but I only had lunch with them. Several others I knew were faces that showed up randomly throughout the day. But we all had lunch together.

¤x¤x¤

Class officially started...and I proceeded to pay absolutely no attention. I was smart, and I knew what was going on, so it didn't matter much. The day pretty much whirled by until noon came around.

¤x¤x¤

Heading into the cafeteria, I blew off the food they had, sitting down at a table near the back next to Riku. He took great pains to sit at our table, and part of him had my pity. Of course, it showed me exactly why I didn't want to be popular.

Sora showed up next, sitting across from Riku. Even though people liked him, girls didn't chase him down and attempt to drag away and rape him like they did his boyfriend. Riku had never brought that up, ever. But it had happened.

I did save him from getting raped, though.

My brother handed me a simple brown bag—and I practically dove into it. Yuffie always provided us with a bagged lunch, because cafeteria food literally made me sick, and I was cheap and told Sora not to spend money at school.

Demyx and Zexion were the next to join us; Demyx across from me and Zexion next to him. They shared a meal. The two were best friends, and Demyx was poor, while Zexion was richer than Riku, even. Both lived in Hollow Bastion, so the only time I saw them was at school.

Demyx was a blond-it's-actually-light-brown haired chatterbox musician who played the sitar. Zexion was a slate-hair-colored-it's-not-emo-hair-but-it-still-covers-one-eye quiet intellect. And yes, he and I got along famously. Both of us were smart...and both of us didn't talk. Not to each other, or anyone else.

Next to approach us was Kairi. Excuse me while I hurl up what little of my lunch I've eaten. Thankfully, she didn't sit next to me. However, our next arrival caused me to stand up.

She was petite, but not in that disgusting "Kairi way." Her light blonde hair and cerulean eyes showed how sweet she really was. In fact, I even forgave the short white dress she was wearing—it was longer than Kairi's outfit anyways.

I took her hand, pulling her close to me. As I wrapped my arm around her waist, I smiled lightly at her. "Hey, Naminé," I murmured, kissing her cheek.

Yeah, Naminé was my girlfriend. She smiled in return and both of us sat down, my arm now around her shoulders.

¤x¤x¤

Don't get me wrong. I do love Naminé. But not...that way. She does love me though. She lived in Twilight Town, but circumstances had required her to start attending our middle school in eighth grade.

Naminé was also a very shy girl. Somehow, she'd managed to befriend me, and over the summer, she admitted to me that she liked me. Even though Naminé was my best girl-who-was-a-friend, I just didn't like her that way.

So I told her. Gently, of course. And, true to her sweet nature, she was okay with it. Oh, right. One person does know I'm bisexual. Naminé.

I'd felt bad about rejecting her, so I'd generously explained my situation to her. She knows I like Axel, she knows about Yuffie—she knows everything. She keeps it a secret, for me.

And in thanks, by the time freshman year rolled around, I introduced Naminé as my girlfriend. Everyone fell for it, obviously. We do play the parts pretty well, if I say so myself.

¤x¤x¤

Lunch was always a fairly slow event. I offered Naminé some of my food; Riku and Sora were staring at each other while Kairi attempted to interrupt; and Demyx and Zexion continued glancing at each other. For the record, those two liked each other.

Not that they knew, of course. Demyx had been in love with Zexion for as long as I'd known him, and sometime during sophomore year, the latter had realized his feelings for his best friend.

Now...if someone would just make a move...

¤x¤x¤

I was distracted from my thoughts by the bell ringing. Oh, Lunch was over. I got up, tossed the rest of my food in the trash, kissed Naminé on the cheek again, and made my way to class.

¤x¤x¤

I honestly felt bad for my "girlfriend." She was stuck with the misfortune of being Kairi's half-sister, though the two didn't live together. She was also Demyx' younger sister, but he'd been kicked out of the house a few years back.

So now, her brother lived with Zexion, even though the two weren't actually dating. And she lived with her mother in Twilight Town, while I was stuck with the tragedy of having Kairi nearby.

Next you're expecting me to say Zexion's related to Riku, right? Well, everyone else seems to be interconnected in some way, but that wasn't the case. Zexion was an only child, and Riku's brothers had already graduated.

I'm sure you have a headache now, right? I'll lay the cards flat on the table.

Naminé and Demyx are brother and sister. Kairi is their half-sister. Kairi is also Axel's cousin; Demyx and Naminé are also cousins of Axel, and Sora and I are brothers. Those are all the family relations anyone has to each other.

Yeah, my life sucked. It's like one big cliché soap opera. And I hate those things. But really, my life isn't too bad. Even though I swear I'm not exaggerating about any of it.

¤x¤x¤

I arrived in class and put my head on the desk. Science was probably my easiest class, so Professor Vexen paid me no mind. He knew I'd get everything right even if I didn't focus.

¤x¤x¤

When the bell finally rang to let school out, I was one of the first one's out the door.

I bolted down the steps, narrowly avoiding crashing into Axel. But before he had time to register the fact that I was even there, I was gone, headed for home.

Sora normally went to Riku's house after school. While I wasn't particularly strong or sporty, I tended to run the entire way home.

And that is where I found myself forty minutes later, exhausted and out of breath, as usual. I collapsed onto my bed—Sora wouldn't be back for hours and Yuffie was at work, so I just pulled out my homework and started working.

¤x¤x¤

By the time Sora came home, my work was done, and I was fast asleep.

¤x¤x¤

When I woke the next morning, the exact same thing happened—with one difference. I took a shower, got dressed, had breakfast, and began walking to school. Riku caught up, and then Kairi, but before Axel showed up, the bitch dropped some unpleasant news.

"I'm having a party!"

Author Notes: Bam! It's finished! First chapter anyways. This is kind of like a cliff-hanger/half-way point. And this is my first story technically, too. Anyways, I decided to post this chapter up, see the type of feedback I would get. I was considering posting it on AkuRoku day, but hell, I decided now, obviously. Er, I'm pretty much a review whore. If you decide you like this and want to favorite it, please review, because it's really just...well, nice of a person to do. If you hated it, review too! I don't mind. The next chapter will be posted up on AkuRoku day more than likely, regardless of feedback, but I'd like reviews nonetheless. Thank you for reading!