Let me start off by saying this;

I'm different.

In complex ways.

Let me also tell you this; one of those ways is the fact I'm gay. But I haven't always been so.

And I also haven't always been running for my life and very existence next to the boy I love with guards and guns chasing us.

Nor have I always been wearing nothing but a pair of pajama pants. But, that's okay, 'cause, I wouldn't have to miss my first day of college if they didn't catch us.

Let me start over.

Cling.

The boots made an echo along the concrete walls, faint words could be heard from the room behind the door in front of them.

"Are the subjects prepped?"

"Yes sir. I finished that this morning."

The boots echoed again, and leather creaked as long, thin fingers pulled themselves into a tight fist, then creaked again as the pressure was released and the fingers extended.

"Good, good. You did all ten of them?"

"Of course."

Key jingled, their sound echoing with the sound of metal boots on iron railing for a floor.

"Wonderful, thank you."
"Of course, sir."

The boots halted, and light washed over he semi-lit hallway. Another pair of shoes, this one of leather, stepped over the threshold, turning and closing the metallic door. They turned partially, pausing.

"Oh, good evening."

"Hello, sir." The voice was low, but still young sounding. They stopped there a moment, and then the leather shoes passed by the boots.

He stood staring at the door, listening to fast steps of the other man. He could feel the cold from his core leaking through his veins. He had to hurry if he was going to help me in time.

Alright, a little further back.

He was really very late. He knew he was late, everyone knew he was late.

He was always late. The door flew open, and the class looked away from the front board. As did the teacher.

Dr. Lyson wasn't the nicest of people, nor was he the meanest. More or less, he was apathetic towards his students.

"Mr. Hitori, congratulations." Shaking some brunette hair from his face, he glanced up at the clock, and then back at the door. "Only ten minutes this time."

Blue eyes closed slowly, and he adjusted his backpack. "Yeah, yeah thanks."

"Please take your seat. We can finally begin."

The young man began walking slowly, letting the teacher close the door. As he took his seat, his backpack hit the floor with a loud clunk, and the boy next to him smiled.

He didn't have to look to see his friend smile. He had one of those smiles that you could very nearly feel, that one smile that read 'haha, busted.'

"Nice, you must have been moving at super sonic speed this morning."

"Thank you, Axel, thank you."

"Sure thing, Rox."

He rolled his eyes and pulled out his notebook, looking up as the teacher began speaking again. That's about the time he was devoured by the school day.

But he's not who we're focusing on. No, see, we're focusing on the friend, me, Axel Kiomiko.

Yeah, that's mean as a senior. I had that punk style then. I've changed it sense. Notice the spikes and tattoos under my eyes?

Yeah those were permanent, lucky I could let my hair down.

However, now I look like my brother Reno who graduated a year before me. But that's not the main idea here.

My best friend, Roxas Hitori, and I had been friends since about Sophomore year, when I moved to the Island from a rather far away place. And, so far, things have gone pretty well here. I like it, it's warm, it's nice, I like it.

But it would also be where I met the one person I would ever love, the last person I ever thought I would love, and the person who would later save my life.

We were in sixth period, the February before graduation, when we got a new student, which would suck for them, right? Not even adding the fact he was a Senior with us. He was in our last class, too. We were in a group discussion, the class divided into four people a group, and five groups. Though, our group kind of melted in with our friends group. Great group for Business class. Loud group.

Kairi always had a topic idea; Namine had an argument which made sense since they were related. Sora and Riku and I talked about thinks completely irrelevant to the conversation, and Roxas wrote the notes. We had this down pat since October. But when the teacher called our attention to the front, it wasn't for an added comment.

"Class, I'd like you to meet a new student." He smiled, turning and holding out his hand like he was showing a car. The average awkward introduction, though the kid hardly looked awkward at all. In fact, he was grinning from ear to ear. Kind of odd, but he seemed that way in general.

His hair was sandy blonde, a little darker than Roxas', but he wore it in a Mohawk, almost, with long hair in the back and buzzed sides. A mullet, I think my Dad called it. From the eighties or something, I really didn't care, it was cool to me. Then again I was the kid with liberty spikes and bright red hair.

Yes, it's natural. Commit it to memory, don't ask me.

He wore a dark blue hoody that, honestly? Devoured him. It hung nearly over his fingers, leaving the tips and white nail polish to be seen. The hem fell nearly to his knees, covering part of his dark cargo pants. His chucks were completely covered in graffiti and, he held a khaki messenger bag.

"This is…Demyx?"
"Yeah."

"Demyx Kingston. He'll be joining our class, please don't mentally destroy the boy. Um, lets see, I think Axel and Roxas are missing two people today." He pointed to us. "You can join them. Please inform him of the assignment."

"Hey, Mr. Lyson? If you don't want him mentally destroyed, why put him with Axel?" Sora held up his hands and my pen was deflected.

"Thank you, Hikairi. Yeah, right there," Lyson pointed again and Demyx sauntered over, pulling back a seat and sitting down, heaving his bag onto the floor. For a first day, it seemed rather full.

"Goooood afternoon." I smiled, leaning on my arms crossed on the table, glaring at Sora. He smiled. "Oh Axel, don't get mad. I was kidding."

"Yeah, uh-huh, right."

"Lay off, Axel. You look like a rapist."

"I am a rapist, Riku. I don't touch little boys though."

"Hey, hey, I'm only like five months younger than you!" I got my pencil back, and a red spot on my forehead.

"Young man."

"Okay, so we're talking about Rapists, in business class. I want to be in that category, sounds easy and fun."

We all looked up, Kairi dropping the pencil she had been bouncing on her finger. "Say what?"

"Ha-ha, least you all stopped." Demyx grabbed her sheet and looked it over, mouthing it as he skimmed. "…Okay so we're talking about the pros and cons of a small business."

"Uh, oh, uh yeah." She smiled and took it back from him, snatching my pen from me and adding his name at the top.

Lyson knew we were all kind of one group anyway. What shocked me was how he just inserted himself without asking. Not that I minded, I did that a lot. But it was just not…new kid behavior.

Criockey, we got a live one.

"Uh-huh." I sat up, then slumped into my chair. "Where you from?"
"I'm not allowed to talk to Political figures."

"What?"

"Never mind, what?" I blinked blankly.

"Where.Are.You.From. Are you stupid or something?"

"No, I'm a musician." He smiled; Roxas mumbled something like 'difference?' "I'm from a town called Twilight. It's about six hours um…. East? I dunno, that way." He pointed. Roxas perked up.

"Twilight? I used to live there before I moved in with my aunt."
"Really?" Demyx grinned. "That's awesome. When did you move?"

"I think like…what Sora, six years ago?"

"Yeah, about." Sora didn't even look up from copying what was on Kairi's paper.

"I used to live there too," Namine smiled softly.

I liked her. She was the mother figure of the group.

"Oh, cool. I get to see some Evening folk."

"You have the weirdest comments."

"You look like the Statue of Liberty in the US, and Twilight, evening, is it computing yet?"

"…Hey, don't call me political." I rolled my eyes.

"Eh."

"HOLY HELL WHAT THE FUCK?"

I fell out of my chair, taking Roxas and Riku with me.

"WHAT?"

"Mr. Hikairi?"

"Sorry Mr. Lyson," Sora looked sheepishly down at his paper, and then looked at Kairi's. "The 'heck'?"

"Sorry Sora." Kairi grinned. "It fit."

"Well then can it not fit now? Like a broken puzzle piece or something."

"What IS it," Riku snarled, grabbing her paper as he got off the floor. I stood, assisting Roxas. "Sky Enterprises; Where your fantasies are lifted?"

"I thought it was catchy!"

"Kairi, it sounds like Sora's a horny hooker." We all looked at Sora who slunk out of his chair and under the table. The class started to laugh.

"Well, lovely to get to know you all." Demyx stood, grabbing his bag. "I have to go."

The bell rang.

"See you around," And he was gone, leaving us to stare after him.

"…You know," Roxas said more to himself than us. "He seems a little weird."

"Nah duh, dipshit." Riku was promptly hit in the shoulder.

"So we'll meet at the play island in an hour, right?"

"That's what Kairi told me," I shrugged, kicking my locker and it bounced open. "Need a ride?"
"Nah, Sora got his car back. Finally."

"And why haven't you?"

"Because I'm failing Calculus."

"Oh. Well, maybe you should try not failing Calculus." I smiled, pulling out my Trig book. "Just maybe."

"Oh shut up," He sighed and turned away, waving over his shoulder. "Later Spike."

"I hate you."

"I know."

After Roxas vanished into the crowd of people, I went back to packing my things and searching for my keys. I didn't expect someone to hold them up in front of my face.

"God DAMNIT don't do that," I snarled, looking behind me. I had to look down a bit.

As per usual. Sucks being like six foot seven. Your neck gets tired of looking down.

Okay, maybe Six six but same difference. I'm still to tall.

"I'm sorry, next time I find your keys, I'll make sure to keep them and walk around the parking lot clicking 'unlock' and 'borrow' your car instead."

The new kid.

He dropped them into my hand and tilted his head. "You're tall."

"Wow, I never noticed. And if you touch my Spider, you're going to hell in a hand basket."

"Oh, nice, Spider." He shrugged, leaning against the locker next to mine.

"How did you know these were my keys?"
"I saw you drop them when you fell." I rolled my eyes and shut my locker door, turning to walk away. I got about seven feet before he called out to me.

"You going to the little island thing after this?"

"How do you know about that?" Turning, I was met with a calm smile.

"Kairi invited me."

"No wonder. Yeah, I am."
"Sweet, see you there."

"…Uh, okay.' He turned and walked towards the teacher's parking lot.

I turned and started outside, letting the meeting drift out of my head as I began to think of other things. My precious black Spider greeted me as I turned on the engine.

That roar was almost as good as sex. Oh, I loved this car.

One hour and six tee-shirts later, I was back in my car and heading towards the docks where I met up with Riku and Namine.

"Hey," They started over as I got out, locking the door and shoving the keys in my pocket.

"Hey. Where's everyone else/?"

"What, are we not company enough?" Riku smiled and I shoved his shoulder.

"Hardy har, no really."

"They're already out at the island," Namine piped up, smiling. "We're waiting for the little boatman guy to get back."
"Ah, I see." Shrugging, I took a seat on the hood of my car and pulled out a cigarette.

"That's going to kill you," I looked up, sticking the thing in my mouth.

"Yeah well, I'm going to die anyway, what's it matter now?" I looked away and put the flame to the tip, hovering my hand close so the breeze off the water didn't put it out. After a second, I got it lit. I was being glared at.

"What?"
"It's just nasty." Namine wrinkled her nose. "No wonder people tell me you smell and in some case, taste, like smoke."

"You didn't know he smoked?" Riku looked down at her, baffled.

"Nope, no clue."

"Wow, Nami. You're almost as observant as Sora is," I smiled, pulling the stick from my mouth and letting a small wave of blue-grey smoke ooze from my mouth.
"I'm not that bad. Am I?" She looked horror struck, Riku laughed.

"No one's as bad as Sora."

"'Cept Sora." I shrugged.

"'Cept Sora what?"

We turned, looking at an old blue Chevy. The paint was graying, but it was running well. Demyx smiled, shutting the door and pulling a jacket from out of the back.

"Sora's really unobservant." Namine smiled. "I like your swimsuit." He looked down at the white suit with blue Hawaiian flowers and smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah…Sora. Um, who's Sora again?"

"The spiky brunette who's more blonde than anything else." Riku grinned.

"Right, okay. And you're…"

"Riku. That's Namine and—"

"I'm Axel, commit it to memory." I grinned, watching Riku roll his eyes, then looked back. Pushing the Cigarette to the side of my mouth, I leaned up off my car and tilted my head. "The one who destroys minds."

"Ah, yes, the rapist."

"Hey. Hey now, that's not cool."

"Well, it sort of stuck with me." He smiled, resting a hand behind his neck. "I've pegged you as such. Not that you don't look the part."

"What?"

"You kind of do," Namine added thoughtfully.

"Thanks, Nami. Thanks a bunch."

"Pedophilic too."

"Nobody asked you, Riku."

"Hey, you kids going to the island?"

We turned to the other new addition, an blonde guy a bit older than us. Cid? I don't remember now.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, we are." Riku smiled.

"Coo'. Get in then."

Namine bounced over and he helped her in, Riku following after, myself, then Demyx jumped in softly. The boatman pushed off from the dock and started humming, leaving us to our whims.

"You know, that's going to kill you." Demyx looked quizzically at me. "My Dad died from lung cancer."

I took it out of my mouth and looked at it, then looked up. "Yeah-huh." I felt the smoke roll off my tongue as I spoke. "Sucks for you."

"Not so much, he died when I was two."

"Oh God!" Namine covered her mouth. "I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's cool. My Mom got re-married to this cool guy named Adam. I don't mind that much. But I moved away when I turned eighteen to live on my own here. I'm going to got o the community college down the road from the mall."

"And you know this already?"

"Yeah, I applied last year and got in, but I didn't want to miss my senior year. I kind of regret not graduating now."

"Why?" Riku smiled. "You're with us!"

"Ha-ha, yeah I guess." He shrugged and looked down, looking thoughtfully at his sandals. "I dunno, but the move and now I'm on my own which is hard, plus my job…it's a little overwhelming."

"Jeeze."

"Hey," I looked up from my daydream and tapped some ashes into the water. "Why did you decide to move in like, the middle of the year, your senior year, and move in on your own?"

"Huh? Oh, I don't know. I was tired of the house and it rained a lot there, but I do sort of miss my friends."

"Well, you got us now." Namine smiled. "Don't worry about friends."

"Thanks."

"Okay kids, off the express." We smiled and hopped off onto the sand, turning and waving before heading up the beach towards the small island with the old paupu tree. We could already see Sora and Roxas going at each other with a pair of dark sticks. And of course, Roxas had two. Couldn't fight with one for some reason, said it through him off balance.

"Hey guys," Kairi grinned, waving.
"Hey, thanks for leaving us!"

"I'm sorry, but Cid was in a hurry and we couldn't wait any longer!"

"It's okay," Namine smiled. "We found Demyx too!"

"Oh! Cool! Hey Demyx."

"Hey." He smiled and waved, then leaned towards me. "Who's…?"
"Kairi, she and Namine are sisters."

"Why didn't Namine go with her to the island?"

"Well, they DO have separate lives. Namine went to see her pedophiliac boyfriend. Now if you think I'm like that, see this guy. I'll look like Willy Wonka."

"Willy Wonka was a pedo, Axel," Riku laughed, running ahead a bit to dodge my hand.
"Marluxia is NOT a pedophile, Axel." Namine sighed.

"Namine, the guy's like, what, forty?"

"He's twenty two, thanks a bunch."

We continued to jabber on, but I let Namine ahead of me to talk to Demyx. Plus I didn't want to speed-walk, so I ambled along behind.

Honestly? At this point, Demyx wasn't going to be my favorite person. And, really, there wasn't anything to dislike about him. He joked, but, I didn't know him well enough. Or maybe I didn't want to. I don't know, he just wasn't giving me the good 'vibes'. But then again I'm the one smoking so, oh well.

Oh and, if you were wondering, I haven't stopped yet. It doesn't do anything to me anymore. But that's where this story leads to, so yeah. Bare with me here.

AN:

Hi. LOOK. NOTES AT THE BOTTOM. O:

Um.

Yeah.

Weird story, weird writing. I don't know why, but the style of writing in this isn't my average style.

Then again I'm not used to writing with so many characters at once, but I have roleplayed sixteen at once so, I think I can handle this.

ZOMG. SHOES AT THE BEGINNING.

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