BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Sora awoke with a shout and tossed in his bed, startled. He glared at the blaring angry alarm clock that sat on his bedside table with flustered sapphire blue eyes as it read 7:30 in bold red letters. He slapped the snooze button with so much excessive force that it bounced off the stand and onto the floor. The boy rubbed his hand into his face as he groaned. Then he heard a loud knock at his bedroom door.
"Sora, Riku's waiting for you downstairs! You're going to be late!" he heard a woman say. With a groan, the boy had begun to rise from his bed, but his feet, which were entangled in his blankets, resulted in his downfall. He tumbled from the bed, feet still remaining betwixt the blankety madness as his upper body met the floor. Sora groaned and huffed loudly. As he begun to untangle his feet he heard another knock. "Sora, are you awake?"
He made quick work of the blankets and flew to the door, opening it. A middle aged woman with light brown hair tied into a ponytail and dark blue eyes stood exasperated. She sighed and stepped to the side. "You may want to hurry." she warned as she nodded to the clock. Sora turned and stared at the clock that now found refuge in a pile of shirts on the floor. It read 7:43 in bold red numbers. With a gasp, he pushed past his mother and quickly ran to the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a blue tube of toothpaste and his matching blue toothbrush. He poured a good amount on the toothbrush and began to brush.
"Sowwy mahm. Ah reawwy did trah to leep bu ah cou'nt!" Sora yelled from the bathroom as he quickly brushed his teeth.
The woman chuckled as she strolled downstairs. "This is why you shouldn't pull all-nighters on your studies." The boy finished in the bathroom, placing everything back where it belonged. Then he ran back to his messy room to quickly change into his uniform. He found a gray muscle shirt first and put it on. Then he found a clean white short sleeved button down shirt and threw it on. After that, he rummaged around for his sky blue plaid slacks, which he found in the corner of his room. Sliding them on, he fastened his belt, grabbed his tie off of his desk and flew out of his room with his black school bag and crown necklace in hand. He ran down the stairs into the kitchen and stopped at the table, grabbing a piece of toast and quickly sprinting to the living room. He draped his tie around his neck as he slipped his black sneakers on and ran out the door. He would've kept running if he didn't hear a metallic clink on the ground. As he turned to pick it up, he watched as a hand grabbed it for him. Sora actually took the time to slow down as he watched the boy. The male in question was about two inches taller than himself with short shoulder length silver hair that spiked out slightly, the evidence that his hair had been cut recently. He wore the same uniform as himself; a white short sleeve button down shirt, of which was untucked, with a sky blue plaid tie. His slacks matched his tie and his shoes were generic black sneakers. His bag was the same black Destiny Island High School bag that they received during orientation. He wore a simple silver wristwatch on his left wrist that gleamed slightly. Aquamarine eyes met deep sapphire as the boy held out his hand, Sora's crown necklace inside.
"You may want to keep an eye on your stuff, Dummy." the boy childed. Sora huffed with toast in his mouth and grabbed it from him. He scarfed it down and fastened the necklace around his neck.
"You don't have to be a dick about it, Riku." Sora pouted. Riku chuckled and patted the boy's unruly dirty blonde spikes as he stepped off of the porch.
"It's my personal mission to antagonize you early in the morning." he said back. "Hurry up or we're gonna be late." The blonde rolled his eyes and followed behind him. He wiped his mouth from any remaining breadcrumbs and stared at the sky. It wasn't a bright sunny day like it normally was on the islands. There were plenty of semi dark clouds in the sky that was enough to make any person grab an umbrella. These clouds looked completely ominous. "So, Sora, enlighten me. Your mom said that you were up all night studying. What exactly were you studying?" Riku smirked.
Sora snapped out of his thoughts and sped up to the silverettes side. He had begun tying his tie slowly so he could do it correctly. "You know damn well that I don't know how to study. It's just an excuse I use when I can't sleep so she doesn't bug out."
Riku nodded. "Riiiiiight. So what was it, really?"
"Well...I saw another star fall last night." he answered honestly. He finished tying his tie and was now staring at the silverette. Riku's playtime smile immediately disappeared.
"Where?"
"At the island." Sora said, pointing towards the beach. "I went to go check it out." Riku sighed.
"Really, Sora. I thought we agreed on this. No checking out stars without us. We have cellphones for a reason."
"I know, I know. But something didn't seem right with this one and it was late. I didn't want to bother you guys…" Sora pouted.
"You know for a fact that we don't care, dude. So that's no excuse." the silverette said. "If you find another star, call us immediately."
Sora pouted. "...Alright."
Riku stared into the morning sky, admiring the dark clouds. "After all…" Sora glanced up at his friend with cautious eyes. "If you somehow get separated from us, Kairi would drop everything to go searching for you, no matter the risk."
Sora pondered the boy's words for a moment as he walked slower. "That would definitely be a problem. She doesn't have enough training with the keyblade…hey, wait a minute! You said Kairi would go looking for me. Does that mean you won't?! What would you do?" he shouted as he stopped in realization. Riku unleashed a hearty laugh from his belly as he continued walking to the school. He glanced at his watch and his laughing stopped, his eyes widening.
"Oh shit, the time!" He said. He glanced back at Sora. "We only have five minutes."
Sora's own sapphire blue eyes widened as he flew past the boy. Riku blinked as he stared at his friend.
'Since when could he run that fast?' he pondered.
Sora turned to the boy a few feet been behind him. "HURRY UP! YOU SAID WE ONLY HAVE FIVE MINUTES!"
Riku smirked and walked up to his friend's side. "Why don't we make it a race, for old time's sake?" Sora's brow furrowed at his proposition. "If I win, you have to train with me after school for a whole month. From 4:15 until 9:30. No timeouts. 1 break."
Sora's eyes widened for the second time that day but then closed as he thought. When he reopened them a moment later, he held a fiery determination. "Alright, but if I win, you have answer my question from earlier. What would you do if I suddenly went missing?"
Riku nodded. "Alright."
They both bursted through the door of the classroom, huffing and panting heavily. Sweat dripped from their foreheads as Sora dropped to his knees on the floor, his bag by his side.
"So...who...won?" Sora panted. Riku shook his head and stood up straight from his hunched over state.
"I...wasn't...looking..." Sora huffed as he stood up and rolled his shoulder. A hand clasped onto his right shoulder, making him jump. He turned his head to another boy in uniform. His spiky blonde hair nearly covered blue eyes that held deep bags underneath as he stared at Sora.
"H-hey man…"
"Holy shit, Tidus. What happened to you?" Sora gasped.
"T-tell me you did the h-homework…" Tidus stuttered as he released his friend.
Sora chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry dude...I didn't do it either..."
The boy then looked back to Riku. "H-hey Riku…?"
"Don't ask me." he childed. Tidus dropped his head in defeat and stumbled back to his seat. Riku stared at Sora.
"... What's his deal?" Riku asked. Sora shook his head.
"I don't even know…"
"Sora! Riku!"
The boys both looked towards the classroom to the voice. A girl with shoulder length light brown hair that flipped outwards dashed over to them from across the room, her bright green eyes shining with excitement. Her uniform was the same as the boys with the exception of the skirt, of which was the same sky blue color and stopped two inches from her knees. Her footwear consisted of black knee high socks and the standard white school slippers. She latched onto Riku's arm with a grand smile.
"Morning you guys!"
"Good morning to you too, Selphie." Riku nodded. Sora smiled and waved back.
"Hey do you know what's wrong with Tidus?" Sora asked. The bubbly brunette nodded.
"He was slacking off for quite some time, and the blitzball coach is on his ass about it. He said that his grades doesn't show any improvement in the next week that he'll be cut from the team." she said quickly.
Both Riku and Sora nodded their heads. "I get it now.." the silverette concluded.
"On a different note, oh my god! You both just HAD to have heard the rumors! Please tell me you heard them?! Did you hear? Didja? DIDJA?" the girl screeched. Sora scratched his head as he shared confused stares with Riku.
"Um...no? We just got here." Riku sighed.
"WE'RE GETTING A TRANSFER STUDENT!" she squealed happily. They both blinked in surprise.
"A transfer? In the middle of the year?" Sora asked.
"YEAH! THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" she said, gripping the boy's arm harder. Riku jerked slightly. He was about to say something to the overly jubilant brunette when he saw another girl approach them. She was the same height as Selphie but had bright sea blue eyes and shoulder length auburn hair. "Ah! There you are, Kairi! Tell me, did you-"
"Hear the rumors? I did." she said calmly, smiling at the girl. Then she looked to the boys. "Morning."
"Morning Kairi." Sora said with a smile.
"Morning. Hey, do you mind?" Riku muttered as he pointed to the girl on his arm.
Kairi sighed and she pried the excited girl's hands off of her friend. "OK, Sel. Calm down."
"Who is it?" Riku asked, massaging his arm. Kairi shrugged her shoulders.
"No one knows. Their name wasn't even added to the roster yet. It'll be a surprise for all of us." she finished. Just before either boy could ask another question, the classroom door slid open with a dark brown haired male teacher in a navy colored suit entering. His name tag read Mr. Obari.
"Alright settle down in your seats. I'm taking attendance." the man said. The group by the main door split up into their own individual seats along with the rest of the class and stood in front of their chairs. Mr. Obari bowed to the class as the class bowed back to him, after which all the students sat down. The man then cleared his throat as he ran through the names on the attendance sheet. "Alright. Good morning, everyone. Allistar Tidus." A meek "here" was said as he raised his hand. The man shook his head. "Harada Riku."
"Here." Riku responded.
"Kahlua Wakka."
"I'm here, ya." The redhead said. The man continued to go through the roster of students one by one, stopping when he reached Kairi.
"Tachibana Kairi."
"Here." The girl quietly said. She waved a bit to get the man's attention. When he nodded, she stopped and put her hand down.
"Tilmitt Selphie."
"HERE!" she squealed. The entire class flinched from her high pitched voice.
"Sekihara Yuri."
The bluenette didn't say anything. He raised his hand for a few seconds then quickly put it down. Mr. Obari quickly saw and marked him down.
"And Yamamoto Sora."
"Here." The boy said lazily. With the attendance done, closed his grade book and placed it in his bag. Then he leaned forward on his podium.
"Alright. Now you all probably heard this already from the rumors being spread, but we do have a transfer student starting today." he said. The entire class erupted into murmurs and whispers as he continued. Selphie glanced at Kairi with a huge smile. "I expect you all to show her the great hospitality we islanders hold." As he finished his sentence, a knock was heard at the door. "Come in."
The whispers had stopped as soon as the door opened. A girl stepped through and closed the door behind her, then strolled up to the side of the teacher's podium. All eyes were on the girl as she stood next to the teacher. Riku watched the new girl with a slightly bewildered gaze. From his seat at the back of the room, he could tell that she stood at Kairi's height, possibly a bit shorter, with long black hair that had streaks of cobalt blue. The blue color also was dyed on the tips of the bangs that framed her face. Her forest green eyes complemented her porcelain colored skin nicely. Her body shape was very healthy, with no flab or scars to mar her body. The girl was like a porcelain doll...
And she was staring right at him- almost glaring even. It was like a test to see who would look away first.
Suddenly, the boy felt weak. His head had begun to throb and his vision blurred, with small white patches developing in his sight. He gripped his head in his right hand. As his vision swirled around, he saw a woman with short choppy dark blue hair like his own silver hair standing in the place of the girl that glared him down. She smiled at him and then disappeared, leaving him even more confused. Selphie glanced back to Riku but her smile faded when she saw him. She tapped on Kairi's shoulder and gestured her look back. When she did, her expression matched the girl next to her.
'What's wrong with him…?' she asked herself.
"Please introduce yourself to the class." Mr. Obari spoke. When they heard the man, the girls' attention returned to the front.
"Gessekai Tarin. Please take care of me this year." she said as she bowed, strands of her hair slipping off of her shoulders. Her voice was soothing and calm as she spoke. As she stood back up correctly, she scanned the students, her gaze ultimately landing on Sora. The boy smiled softly and waved, but the girl simply blinked and looked away.
"Now all that's left is to find you a seat." he said as he glanced over his roster. "Hmm...there's an empty seat right next to Tidus Allistar. Mr. Allistar, would you please raise your hand?" The boy's hand and head shot up. Tarin stared a moment at the boy before she moved. Then she quickly and gracefully strolled to her seat and sat down, retrieving her book she needed from her bag and placing them on her desk. She found that her desk was in a rather good condition. It wasn't rickety nor vandalized with writing, gum, or doodles, which was a relief. She scanned the room again from her seat. To her right was a desk that the "Tidus Allistar" guy sat at and then a row of windows looking inwards to the hallway. To the right of her in the back and front corner of the room were the doors. She was already planning her escape.
"Turn to page 394 in your literature textbooks."
The class did as they were told and the lesson began. Tarin slipped a strand of hair behind her ear and nibbled on the tip of her pen. She wasn't focused on the lesson, or rather she couldn't focus, what with the entire class practically ignoring the lesson that was given and watching her every move. Some of the boys were throwing notes her way trying to get her attention while the girls glared at her for no particular reason other than to glare. Kairi, who was two desks to the left of her, glanced over to Tarin every so often. Sora's seat was closer to the front of the room, so he could only look when the teacher was facing the board. Tidus spent the entire period staring at her while Selphie, just a desk left of Kairi, was fidgeting in her seat, eager to get a look. Wakka, sitting a desk in front of the bubbling brunette, was nonchalant about stealing peeks. Riku, however ignored her altogether. Once their eyes met before the start of class, the boy felt that something was sketchy about her.
When lunchtime came around and Mr. Obari left the room, Tarin was surrounded by students left and right, asking questions as curious people do. Many of them asked questions about her previous home, to which she answered easily.
"I lived on the mainland." she memorized.
However some of the girls in the class asked more personal questions; most along the lines of provocative.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Are you a virgin?"
"Would you consider yourself easy?"
One girl asked to touch her hair, something she immediately disapproved of. Tarin was up to her neck in people and couldn't get out. Suddenly, she heard a girl yell loudly towards the front of the room. All Tarin could see was a sliver of red hair behind the horde of her classmates. When their attention was disrupted by the "red girl", she used the opportunity to excuse herself to go to the bathroom. She stood and walked around the group, smiling fakely and brightly as possible. Once she opened the door and closed it behind her. She made a run for it. She ran down the stairs to the lobby, only to find that another group of students were looking to interview her as well; a school paper from what she heard. Before they could notice her, she ran back up to the second floor. Gripping her chest, Tarin quickly made her way up to the roof of the school, opening the door and breathing in much needed fresh air. She walked over to the gated railing and stared over the island. It was surprisingly dark for 11:30 in the morning, the clouds growing darker by the minute. The girl would've imagined that it was about to rain, and if it was, she certainly didn't have an umbrella. She inhaled a moment's worth of air then released back into the atmosphere.
"Moving to this off kelter island was a mistake." she muttered to herself. "It's all way too much to handle..." She slipped a thicker strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. She relaxed quite a bit before she heard the door to the roof open and close. The sound caused her to stiffen up again. Did other students follow her up to the roof? Or did that select group of students chase after her? She inwardly groaned, hoping that no one would bother her. And yet she heard footsteps approaching her.
"Um...hey, are you alright?" A girl's voice called.
Tarin groaned again spun around on her heels. "What do you want?" she barked. The trio flinched.
Kairi watched the girl carefully. The blackette was in fact very pretty. Kairi could compare her to a TV idol from her stance alone.
Tarin stared back at the trio. The dirty blonde boy that she saw in class smiled softly at her as did the girl. The most noticeable thing on her was her deep auburn shoulder length hair. And the last boy, who was taller than both of them had silver hair and the brightest aquamarine eyes she had ever seen. She remembered those eyes. She had glared them down last period. And those eyes cautiously watched her.
"No need to be angry. We just came to see if you were alright." The blonde said softly. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.
Tarin raised a brow at his words. "What...? Why would you do that?"
Kairi moved a step closer and gave the girl a genuine smile. "We were worried that the class had interrogated you a bit too much. This island never gets any transfer students so you're basically the new toy that everyone wants to play with."
"So? What's your point?" Tarin frowned.
"We thought a friendly presence would help you feel more relaxed." Kairi continued.
Tarin remained unimpressed with the trio. "And yet it has the completely opposite effect..."
Kairi held out her hand. "I'm Tachibana Kairi. And these are my closest friends." She pointed to the blonde. "This is Yamamoto Sora." The boy waved. Then she pointed to the taller boy. "And this is Harada Riku. You're more than welcome to sit with us at lunch. My friends and I aren't the touchy type. We know how to keep our hands to ourselves."
Tarin said with a sigh. "Look...I think it's sweet that you decided to check on me and invite me into your little group. But I REALLY would like to be left alone. I don't want to be bothered." The blackette's glare had softened up ever so slightly. But a skeptical frown remained right where it was.
Kairi's face darkened just a bit as her she dropped her hand. "Oh... Alright. I see. Well, if you change your mind-"
"Doubt it." Tarin cut her off. She sidestepped the group, then quickly walked to the door of the roof and opened it, walking through. When the door closed, Kairi sighed and blew her bright red hair out of her eyes.
"Well that was like pulling teeth..." she sighed. Sora nodded and Riku glanced back at the door.
"Yeah it was...are you sure she was suspicious, Riku? She just seemed like a really annoyed girl on her first day at a new school." Sora asked the boy.
Riku nodded. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure. Something isn't right with her. When I first saw her, she glared at me for no reason. And the moment she did, something happened. It was like she was trying to hurt me somehow. But then I saw a woman with blue hair."
"Blue hair?" Sora asked. Riku nodded again.
"Wait! Was it short blue hair?" Kairi asked. Another nod from the teen. "I think I know who you're talking about! You mean Aqua!"
"Aqua?" Both boys said in unison. They both looked at each other with very confused stares.
"That's her name. I remember back when I lived back in Radiant Gardens as a small child, maybe four or five, she saved me from a group of heartless." Kairi smiled softly. "She told me that I was very special and...that whenever I'm in trouble, the light will always protect me."
Riku smiled softly. "She told you that, huh?"
Kairi nodded and giggled. "Yeah. She was very sweet. And really strong. She even had a keyblade."
"But that just begs the question..." Sora pondered aloud. Both teens' attention were recaptured by the blonde. "Why would you hallucinate and see Aqua when you looked at Gessekai-san? And why didn't that happen to us when she looked at us?"
"Good question."Riku sighed. "I say we find out what we can about her. Hell, it might help you if you decide to go on your mission." Riku said, looking at the unsure blonde. "If even a small detail might help you free them, you'll take it wouldn't you?"
Sora thought for a moment then looked up, facing his friends. "Alright. Just as long as we don't force her." Riku however shook his head.
"Sora, you realize that if time's running out, then we have to."