Summary: Brothers Axel and Riku Firehaven move from Destiny Island to Twilight Town where they are separated into different schools. At school they each make new friends, but the most unique of the friends is a blue-eyed boy. Little do they know, the boys they befriend will lead the way to an interesting life. Riku/Sora, AkuRoku, Zemyx, and others
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. They belong to Square Enix (and Disney, in the case of KH)
It Must Be Destiny
Chapter 1
Axel and Riku Firehaven sit in the back of the family truck staring out the windows with very unhappy expressions on their faces. Both of them have their hair pulled back into a low ponytail and they're wearing near identical clothes.
In the front of the truck are their parents. Their father, who shares Axel's wild red hair, is sitting in the passenger seat and is trying to give directions using a map that's upside down. Their mother, who has white hair like Riku's, is driving and having a hard time of it because of her husband's complete lack of direction.
"Oh, that's enough!" Their mother growls as she pulls off of the road and into a gas station parking lot. She parks the car and snatches the map from her husband. "You've been looking at it upside down this whole time!"
Axel and Riku continue staring out the window and pay no attention to their parents' squabbling. The two aren't at all happy about moving from Destiny Island all the way to Twilight Town, especially not with school already in session.
"Riku, will you help me?" Their mom asks.
"I don't feel like it." Riku mutters dispassionately.
Mrs. Firehaven sighs. "How about you, Axel-dear? Will you help out your mommy with directions?"
Axel doesn't even grace her with a reply. He just continues to stare out the window.
"Now boys, I know you're upset about moving, but that's no reason to ignore your mother." Their dad says. "Help her find where we're going."
"Why don't you do it, since you're so good at helping." Riku says crossly.
"Boys!" Mrs. Firehaven says in a warning tone.
Riku and Axel exchange glances before Axel reaches forward and takes the map from their mom. Together the two boys go over the map, glancing up once to figure out what road they were just on. In under ten minutes they hand the neatly folded up map to their dad.
"Get back on the road and continue to the direction you were going until you see the exit for Twilight Road. It'll lead straight to Twilight Town." Riku says. Then he goes back to looking out the window like Axel is already doing.
With the exception of slight bickering between Mr. And Mrs. Firehaven, the rest of the ride to their new house is a quite one.
They arrive at their new home on the outskirts of Twilight Town late in the evening, although you wouldn't know that by the way it looks outside. Without saying a word, Axel and Riku get their suitcases out of the bed of the truck and take it into the house. Their parents let them do what they want, knowing that whatever they say will most likely be ignored. They figure that the two will be calmed down by morning.
They couldn't be more wrong.
Early the next morning Riku and Axel trudge down the stairs still in the clothes they wore to bed. The two sit down at the table and begin to eat breakfast, ignoring their mom's cheerful chattering.
"Boys, you understand that you will be going to school today, right?" Mrs. Firehaven questions, not really expecting an answer. "And I know that neither of you know where your school is, but thankfully your father and I met two of the nicest kids last night and they agreed to show you around. And Axel, I know that you hate uniforms but your school requires one so--"
"Why doesn't Riku have to wear one?" Axel demands. "Why is it just me?"
Mrs. Firehaven sighs. "I thought I told you this already. You two are going to different Schools. Axel, you're going to Sunset High School and Riku, you're going to Twilight High School."
"WHAT?!" The two boys yell in surprise and outrage, jumping up from the table.
"You can't just separate us like this!" Riku yells.
"Especially not in some creepy-"
"-completely different-"
"-place." Axel finishes the sentence. "We don't even know anyone here! And why are we going to different schools?!"
"Sunset High specializes in the arts and Twilight High is more sports oriented." Mrs. Firehaven says as if that explains everything.
Axel just about chokes and his eyes go wide. He makes some sort of strangled choking noise before he regains the ability of speech. "You signed me up for an art school?!" He wishes the yell didn't come out so squeaky, but no one else seems to notice it.
"Yes." Their mom says. "You're an excellent artist, Axel. You shouldn't be so shy about it."
Before Axel can say anything about his art skills, the doorbell rings and Mrs. Firehaven goes to answer the door. When he's sure she's not watching, Riku pats Axel on the back in comforting gesture.
"It shouldn't be too bad. You are a good artist." Riku tells his brother.
"That's not the point." Axel practically snaps. "The point is that we're not suppose to be apart. We've never been apart. This is just…"
"Weird." Riku fills in. "I know, but there's not much we can do. And we'll still see each other every day, so its not like we'll be apart for long periods of time."
"We've never been apart for longer than six hours and we've always had the option of being able to be near one another if we wanted to! Now what will we do?" Axel asks.
"We'll call one another between classes." Riku says. "That will be better than nothing."
Their conversation ends then and there as Mrs. Firehaven leads two teens into the kitchen. One is a girl with short black hair and dark violet eyes. She's wearing a black and white camouflage shirt with a black vest over top and faded black jeans. A strip of black cloth is wound around her head.
The other teen is a boy with blond hair styled up in a mullet. His bright sea green eyes take in everything they can and his cheerful smiles tells the boys that he's a morning person. He's wearing the uniform for Sunset High, which consists of dark red pants, a white button-down short-sleeve shirt, and a tie that's orange and red swirled together.
"Hi! I'm Demyx Kaiyou!" The boy cheerfully says.
"And I'm the grand ninja Yuffie Kisaragi!" The girl yells, punching a fist into the air.
One thought runs through Axel's and Riku's mind simultaneously. 'These people are insane!'
"Boys, how about you go change so you can get to school early." Mrs. Firehaven suggests. "It would be good for you two to get to your schools early so you can be shown around. I'd hate for you to get lost during the day."
"We're not dad, mother." Riku says condescendingly before he and Axel head up the stairs to their rooms.
"I expect to see you come down in your uniform, Axel Firehaven!" Their mom yells after them. Right after she says this the phone begins ringing and she gives Yuffie and Demyx a smile before rushing off to answer it.
"Interesting family, huh?" Yuffie remarks. "Which one do you think is going to Sunset?"
"I don't know." Demyx replies with a shrug. "Which one do you think it'll be?"
Yuffie thinks for a minute before replying. "The redhead." She says. "The cute white-haired one has more muscles."
"What? Art guys can't have muscles?" Demyx asks defensively.
Yuffie crosses her arms over her chest. "Name one guy at Sunset who actually has muscles like that." She challenges.
Demyx frowns thoughtfully, mentally going over all of the guys he knows at Sunset. He grins when he thinks of one. "Marluxia."
"Damn, you're right." Yuffie curses. "Flower-man does have muscles, doesn't he? Probably from all that work outside that he does." She grins at Demyx teasingly. "I still don't think the white-haired one is the art one."
"Do you have another stupid reason?" Demyx asks, his tone joking and friendly.
Yuffie sticks out her tongue. "My reason made sense, Mr. Know-it-all. We'll see who's right when they come down."
Their conversation comes to an end just in time. Mrs. Firehaven re-enters the kitchen with a slightly annoyed expression on her face.
"Boys, hurry up!" She yells up the stairs. "I've got to go find your father and direct him in the right direction!" She mumbles something that sounds distinctly like, "That man should not be allowed to drive."
"We're coming!" Riku yells back at her.
A few seconds later the two come trudging down the stairs for the second time that morning. Riku's wearing a shirt that reads, 'Real men wear BLACK' and his favorite pair of tattered black jeans and old black sneakers. Black streaks of dye run through his hair sporadically and he has his eyes outlines in black. Around one wrist is a black wristband and around the other wrist is a metal cuff with his name engraved across it.
Yuffie curses and looks him up and down. "Damn, you can't be straight."
Riku actually looks a little amused by her remark. He raises an eyebrow and asks, "Oh?"
"What makes you say that? The fact that he's wearing eyeliner, the fact that he actually owns eyeliner, or the fact that his jeans hang too low for him to be considered straight and they cling to his waist perfectly?" Axel asks.
"It never fails to creep me out when you notice stuff like that. And by the way, you can't really talk." Riku tells his brother, minding his language with their mom in the room. "What exactly are you wearing?"
Axel smirks and looks down at his uniform. "What? Disappointed that I look hotter than you?"
"In your dreams." Riku shoots back.
Mrs. Firehaven puts her hands on her hips and gives Axel a look. "Axel, that is not your uniform."
Axel's smirk grows wider. "Yes it is. I just tweaked it a bit." He is telling the truth; he really is wearing the uniform. It's just that underneath the white button-down shirt is a long-sleeved shirt that has red and black striped sleeves and his dark red pants are ripped at the knees. Like Riku, his eyes are also outlined in black.
"I would have done the black streaks through my hair but someone," He glares at Riku, who just smirks. "Stole my temporary dye. You so owe me, Riku."
Riku shrugs.
Mrs. Firehaven sighs. "I don't have time for this!" She exclaims. "Go to school! I have things to do and a certain husband to locate."
Riku and Axel leave with Yuffie and Demyx before their mom changes her mind and makes them go change clothes or wash off the dye or make-up. It's happened before.
Yuffie and Riku arrive at Twilight High School early; much earlier than normal people get there, but that's fine since the school campus is huge and it will take Yuffie a while to show him around.
Yuffie spreads out her arms. "Well, here it is! Our grand school of Twilight Town!" She drops her arms to her side and turns to face Riku. "We'd better go get your schedule before I show you around."
Riku opens his mouth to say something, but Yuffie grabs his arm and drags him to one of the buildings before he can even say one word. He just lets himself be dragged along as he's learned on the trip to school that trying to talk Yuffie out of dragging you around is like trying to convince Axel that fire is not the greatest thing in the world.
"Wait until you meet my friends!" Yuffie says excitedly. "I think you'll get along with most of them just fine."
Riku tunes Yuffie out as the raven-haired girl continues to talk about whatever comes to her mind. 'I wonder how Axel is doing…'
Axel steps out of the tunnel trembling while muttering something about 'damn tunnels'. Demyx steps out after him, just as cheerful as ever.
"Well, this is Sunset Terrace." The blond says. "Now we've got to get over to the school." He notices Axel's trembling and cocks his head slightly to one side. "Hey, Axel, are you okay?"
"I fucking hate tunnels!" Axel spits out. "Hate them."
Demyx makes a humming noise. "You should have told me. I would have taken you to the Station instead and we could have taken the train here." He smiles at Axel. "We'll take it tomorrow, if you'd like to."
Axel glares at him, feeling that the answer to that question is obvious. "We had better. So…" He looks around the unfamiliar part of town. "Which way?"
"This way!" Demyx says, pointing to the right. "We go toward Sunset Hill and then make a right and jump across a few roofs and then hop down a few blocks and crates to get to the school."
"And that's safe?" Axel asks incredulously.
"Completely!" Demyx chirps. "And besides it's the easiest and fastest way to get there." He says seriously. "And my friends and I have gone this way for years and have never had any problems. Well, except for the time Sora fell off a wall. Or the time I fell through an old crate and pulled Zexy with me. Boy, was he mad at me for that. He didn't talk to me for the rest of the day! Not one word!" He frowns for a millisecond before his bright smile is firmly back in place. "Now lets go! We don't want to be late!" He gestures for Axel to follow him and then starts walking.
Axel follows Demyx, wondering just what he's getting himself into by being with the energetic blond. He glances up at the sky. 'I wonder how Riku is doing…'
End Chapter
Shiro: Ooo, lots of little subtle things to pick up. One of them's an important thing and the other one isn't too important. I wonder if anyone will pick up on either of them...
Bast: I think that someone might pick up on the important one.
Shiro: (shrugs) Wouldn't surprise me. Anyway, I just want to say that I absolutely adore Yuffie and Demyx. They're both so energetic! (well, who really knows about Demyx. He seemed pretty energetic in the little time we got to see him in the game.)
Bast: Energetic?
Shiro: (nods) So, any questions? Feel free to ask away! You may not get a straight answer if I feel its too soon to reveal something, but you'll still get an answer. (smiles)
IMPORTANT NOTE! It may be a while before this is updated, since my computer has been acting up lately. This is the first time in weeks that I've been able to get on and post anything. We're trying to figure out the problem, but so far we've come up with nothing. If I'm lucky, it'll work properly from now on and it was just some strange glitch. But with my luck... well... that's not likely.