Title: Of High School and Hearts
Pairings: Eventual Riku/Roxas. Light Hayner/Olette.
Rating: PG as of now. May increase in later chapters.
Summary: DiZ is on holiday, Riku wants a second chance, Axel's looking for his best friend and Roxas just wonders if school will ever be over. Very eventual Riku/Roxas.
Author's Notes: Spoilers for KH2, mostly. AU, but not to the extent you might think. Slash in later chapters - don't like, don't read.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Chapter One.
"Rox-as!" Hayner loudly exclaimed, nearly jumping on said teen before deciding on a simple arm around his shoulders instead. Roxas ducked under the hand reaching to muss up his hair with the ease of long practice, but Hayner continued undeterred. "One more day of school before summer vacation, right? We should definitely go down to the beach this time..."
Roxas tuned out his friend with some difficulty, shooting a long-suffering look at Pence. The slightly chubby boy gave him a sympathetic glance, but the added shrug made it apparent he was too concerned about the sanctity of his own eardrums to rescue Roxas.
"...and I've heard that the girls there are hot," Hayner added conspiratorially, and Roxas managed not to roll his eyes. With some difficulty, he extracted himself from Hayner's grasp as the other teen was hit over the head with a textbook. Olette was a lifesaver, really.
"Are the girls here not good enough for you?" she said sharply, and Hayner instantly turned sheepish, scratching to the back of his head.
"Uh, well..."
Roxas fell back to walk with Pence as their two friends continued to squabble. "Thanks for the help," he murmured sarcastically, giving Pence a wry smirk.
The other teen offered a slightly apologetic smile in return. "I'm not going to stand up to the power of Hayner's mighty leech-skills," he said. "Though you seemed to be doing quite well on your own," Pence added, barely repressing an all-out grin. Roxas couldn't help but grin back.
They wandered down the school corridors, towards the lockers near the entrance of the school. Twilight Town High was a small, brightly lit building that sat on the outskirts of town, and most people attending the school lived either in Twilight Town or in the area around it. Roxas, Hayner, Pence and Olette had become friends at the start of the year, naturally gravitating towards each others' complimentary personalities, and they had already made plans to catch up and hang out over the summer break.
Roxas smiled slightly as he turned his combination lock and opened his locker door, seeing the picture of the four of them he had pasted on the inside. Grabbing his bag, he waited a minute for Pence to finish collecting his things before they continued walking down the hall, Roxas's mind drifting to summer vacation and sea-salt ice cream.
Roxas's train of thought was suddenly derailed as he nearly walked into Olette, who was looking rather harried. "Seifer," she said, and Roxas and Pence let out simultaneous groans.
"What's he done now?" Pence asked, sighing.
She shook her head. "Nothing, yet. He's just trying to rile Hayner up, and, well." Olette turned pleading green eyes on Roxas. "Isn't it your turn this time?"
Roxas frowned, turning to Pence, who gave him a rather bland look in return. "Yeah, it probably is," the dark-haired boy said, and Roxas shot him a glare that said, 'You'll pay for that'.
"Fine, I'll do it," Roxas said in defeat, and peered past Olette to the corridor ahead. "How bad is it, again?" he asked, mentally preparing himself. Whenever it was his turn to rescue Hayner, Roxas usually went along with it to embarrass his friend and practice his acting skills. Weirdly, he found it quite easy to fake emotions. He wasn't sure he wanted to know why.
"It wasn't too bad when I left, but Hayner gets mad fast. Go!" Olette said, and pushed Roxas toward the two.
Seifer's attention turned from the fuming Hayner to Roxas as he stumbled forward into the apparent 'circle' the students had unconsciously made around the warring boys. "And what're you doing here, pretty-boy?" Seifer sneered, and Roxas gave him a bright, unnerving grin.
"Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt your little... spat," Roxas said breezily, ignoring Hayner's glare and hooking his arm with his friend's. "But I thought you should know Hayner's already taken. So, that'd be a no," he added, in case his meaning wasn't clear.
All eyes turned to Seifer, who started spluttering denials. "What – I'm not – "
Roxas, dragging Hayner away and leaving him to the mercies of Olette, shot him a smirk before following his friends.
"Roxas!" Hayner said fiercely, once they were out of the school building. Roxas gave him a faux-innocent smile, but his friend ignored it. "What'd you do that for? Everyone will be talking about it now." Hayner groaned dramatically, placing his head in his hands.
Roxas blinked at him. "They'd only be talking about it for one more day," he reasoned. "And everyone knows you and Olette are practically an item anyway."
Both Hayner and Olette instantly turned red at this, then looked at each other and started arguing again as they walked. Roxas shared a grin with Pence. "Like an old married couple, really," Pence said. "D'you think they'll ever realise it?"
"Eh, eventually," Roxas murmured, giving the two up ahead a fond look. "They'll have to stop arguing some day."
They walked in companionable silence for a while, through the streets and toward the residential area of Twilight Town. Roxas's house was closer, and they stopped at his front door.
"What did you mean by 'only one more day', before?" Pence finally asked, sounding hesitant. "Before you got those two at it again?"
"One more day... until summer vacation?" Roxas offered, staring at him oddly. He was getting the odd look right back.
"Um, Roxas? Summer vacation's a month away still," Pence said, laughing weakly as though it was a joke.
Roxas laughed as well, though he wasn't sure it was hiding the hysterical edge to his voice. "Right, right. All Hayner's talk about summer must have gotten to my head," he said, and knocked his fist against it for good measure. It hurt.
"Yeah," Pence replied, and peered at him with the same strange look before turning away. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Sure, see you!" Roxas called out after him, and turned towards his house. Half-heartedly fishing through his bag for his keys, he managed to turn the lock and step inside before he heavily leaned against the wall, hitting his head against the edge of a photo frame. "Ow," he groaned, and sunk down to the floor, legs outstretched.
The blond banged his head against the wall again, just to make sure nothing had changed. It hadn't. He glanced up at the calendar on the opposite wall, which he was certain he had crossed off the days on, and all the previously red-marked squares were a pristine white. Pulling up his knees and resting his head on them, Roxas closed his eyes and pinched himself sharply. A flash of something – dark cloaks, silver hair, laughing and fighting because there was nothing else– passed through his mind, and he quickly opened his eyes.
The calendar was still white.