Hey everyone! I'm so glad I could finally finish It's My Life. I've had this idea for a while now, and I've been waiting to share it. I hope you enjoy it and leave a review for me!
Pairings: Roxas/Namine, maybe more, I don't know yet.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts II.
Wake Up
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"...Roxas? Roxas! Wake up!"
A rough punch in the arm woke me up from my daze. I stumbled forward, only to nearly drop the instrument I was holding. I caught the guitar before it fell from my grip.
Oh. Right. Band practice.
"Roxas.. That was your time to scream.. we would have been perfect if you'd just..." A voice trailed off from behind the drum set. The brown spikes of hair bobbed up and down as he tapped one of the drums lightly, looking just the least bit irritated.
"Dude, if you want to be our screamer, you can't keep falling asleep on stage!" Another punch was thrown, but I dodged it this time.
"Sorry, Axel, sorry." I replied, rolling my eyes. My redheaded friend was always referring to his basement as 'on stage'.
"Roxas, what's on your mind, bro?" A hand went on my shoulder comfortingly. I looked over to find the bass guitarist, Demyx, looking me over with concerned green eyes.
I quickly swatted his hand away. "I'm fine." Yeah, right. That was BS. "Let's get back to work," I replied unemotionally.
"Yeah," I stole a quick glance at the lead guitarist, Riku, who looked quite bored.
Axel grumbled quietly although I caught onto some profanity. I ignored it. He, however, made his way back to where the microphone stand was placed. "Whatever. Let's start again."
Right on cue, Demyx strummed his shiny blue bass guitar. Riku played a few cords on his black and silver guitar. Our drummer, Sora, banged on the drums as hard as he could, and finally, I screamed into my own microphone. After my eight seconds of screaming, Axel took over and began singing.
We were playing almost perfectly.
"So, what was up with you at practice?" Sora asked. Practice was over, so we were heading home. We had left our instruments in Axel's basement simply because it was less of a hassle. I looked at my brother and sighed.
"Look, it's nothing you should worry about." I hoped that response would be enough to shut him up.
Sora gave me a sad look, but he dropped it. Instead, he informed me of what I feared. "You know, if you slip up one more time, Axel'll probably kick you out of the band. This is the third time it's happened. I can't help but agree. Roxas, you play well, and we need a screamer like yourself. But if you space out like that, it's not going to be pretty."
I sighed. "I know, I know. It won't happen again. Alright?" I told him, looking at the ground. I could feel his eyes watching me.
"Alright... but if you want to talk, I'm here." He replied softly.
My head snapped up quickly and I glared at him. His bright blue eyes were identical to mine. "Don't concern yourself with my issues," I snarled, a little too harshly.
The brunette flinched, but glared back. "Don't talk to me like that."
I looked away, fuming. So what if he was a year older then me? That didn't change much. We looked the same. Our hair color was different, but everything else was the same. I could talk to him however I wanted to.
We didn't say anything after that, though. Our walk back home was certainly uncomfortable as the silence surrounded us. My eyes were glued to the sidewalk as to avoid Sora's gaze. He didn't seem interested in talking. Finally, after what seemed like ages, I caught sight of our familiar plain white house. Once we entered our household, Sora called loudly, "Mom! We're home!"
"God, don't be so loud," I mumbled, plugging my ears.
"That's your job, right?" Sora grinned. Back to his usual self. He was such a happy guy. He couldn't hold a grudge for even twenty minutes. Why couldn't I be like that?
I ignored him and trudged up the stairs, heading for my room. My mother passed me as I was going up. "Hello, Roxas. How was practice?" She asked sweetly. She reminded me so much of Sora.
"Good," I said quickly. "I'll be in my room." I reached said room as I finished my sentence and entered it. I shut the door and locked it. Once I was alone, I could really think. And my room was perfect for that. I glanced around the semi-small room and noticed my mother had cleaned it. My bed was made up, the posters on my wall were straightened, my dirty clothes were now clean and folded in a neat pile on top of my bureau. I found my stereo next to the bureau on a stand. I switched it on, and turned the volume up.
I flopped on my bed as soon as I heard the music come out of the speakers.
"Damn," I grumbled. "Damn!" I shouted as the song being played screamed in my ears. I'd almost blown my chance of staying in the band. I frowned. Then I flipped on my back and thought about it from a different angle. I knew I was decent at playing guitar, but I knew my real talent was screaming. The band, Unlucky XIII, needed a guy like me. They couldn't get rid of me, could they?
With a new sense of confidence, I sat up and smirked. No, they couldn't get rid of me. I was their savior. Without me screaming some lyrics and helping Riku with the guitar sounds, they were nothing.
No, no, no. I allowed myself to fall back against the bed. They were something. But I completed them. No way would they win any competition without a screamer and a second guitarist.
But I had another problem. It wasn't about Unlucky XIII and it's members. It was about me. It was the reason why I'd been so spacey lately. The reason why I almost got kicked out of the band. My band. My sole purpose for living.
The reason was everything.
Life, school, family, my peers. I felt so depressed, like I hated everything. Everything and everyone. I didn't understand. I wasn't angry. Nobody had done anything to me. I was just so lonely. I felt isolated. Not even Sora felt close anymore. We had been best friends throughout life even. Since the day I was born, really. But it felt as though he were slipping away, along with my friends and everyone else.
I needed to find out why I felt this way.
I wasn't about to go ask my mother. She'd probably send me to counseling. I didn't need a stupid counselor. I just needed an answer.
So far, the only thing that didn't feel separated from me was music. Music had become my life, my soul, everything. My posters were of rockstars. I had a million CDs scattered throughout my room. I bought a music player with my own money when my birthday was just around the corner. I simply loved music.
That was why I couldn't get kicked out of my band. Without it, I didn't think I'd be able to survive. I needed to find the answer to my depression before my music sanctuary scattered apart.
So? How'd you all like it? I hope it was good.
I wrote this chapter while continuously listening to Hawthorne Heights's 'Life On Standby'.
(R.I.P Casey Calvert, former member of Hawthorne Heights.)
I was going to give more detail about the music in this story. Like when Roxas turns on his radio, perhaps he'll be able to identify the song? Or maybe in the future some lyrics will appear? What do you guys think? I chose not to because some people dislike that. But I'll hold a vote.
Also, you might be wondering why Roxas isn't the lead singer. Simply because I think it's more interesting if he's a screamer. And I know Axel being the lead singer is really quite random, but I like it.
Thanks for reading and please leave a review!