Hi guys! Yeah I know, you guys must be wondering, 'dude, just where the heck have you have been, it's been like, 2 effing MONTHS!'
Yeah, I know. Yeah I'm sorry. The reason that I didn't upload sooner is, well, I'm lazy (and when I mean lazy I mean, there'-a-rhino-running-towards-me-but-I-don't-feel-like-getting-out-the-because-it's-too-tiring kinda of lazy) and because life has been overall, sucking. I mean, I have some really nice friends (which study at a different school) and all that stuff, but since high school started, well, let's just say that, at least once a day, I feel like shooting someone from my class. But eh, that's just me...
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! It's kinda long, to my standarts that is, but I hope you like it!
DISCLAIMER: Yeah, cause a near-emotional-breakdown 15 year old boy tottaly owns Kingdom Hearts...Stupid. (feel the sarcasm)
Chapter 1: Sayonara and Set Off
Kingdom Hearts College Middle School survey
Subjects:...Hikari Sora and… Yagami Riku.
"So those little brats are finally leaving, huh? Did you know that once, they made me trip and hit my face right in pile of dog feces? And then, they said that it was a complete accident and just a coincidence that a dog came, inside the school, and then took a shit right over a very suspicious X MARK!..." - Tetsuya Gujirou, 40 years old, Kingdom Hearts College Elementary School's History teacher.
"Ugh, finally! Those disgusting little rascals are finally leaving! I can't believe the headmaster didn't ever expel them and I had to wait all the way to graduation to finally get rid of them. I mean, what kind of kids throw a crazy red panda in someone's locker? What kind?" – Nakazawa Aizu, 43 years old, Kingdom Hearts College Elementary School's Math teacher.
"Yahoo! Hallelujah! Finally! I'm finally free of them! No more looking out for flying water balloons, no more having to constantly check my back to be sure there's no paper stick to it, no more being attacked by a crazy red panda! I'm finally free! Free!" – Koboyoshi Genta, 45 years old, Kingdom Hearts College Elementary School's Geography teacher.
"Sooo, those littl' two are finally graduatin', ey? That's good to know. That's good to know. With tha' I migh' be able of teachin' withou' being interrupted by 600 hundred pages books tha' come flyin' from the window out of nowhere. And believe me, it's quite scary to almos' get hit by huge books. Very huge books." – Jougasaki Joe, 32 years old, Kingdom Hearts College Elementary School's English teacher.
"Ah, those boys are finally gone… No more sudden explosions in class, no more strange gases coming out of nowhere, no more strange water that makes your hair pink for three hours. Yes, yes… There will be no more… No more… Ah, those boys are really gone aren't they?" – Hayami Irina, 36 years old, Kingdom Hearts College Elementary School's Science teacher.
"Arg, those scumbags are finally leaving, right? Heh, good riddance I say. Good riddance. Those two had absolutely no respect for the Japanese language or for pretty much anything. It's good to finally get rid of students that didn't even try to learn kanji and only drew sticks figures in… Compromising positions. On the blackboard!" – Tanaka Genji, 42 years old, Kingdom Hearts College Elementary School's Japanese Language teacher.
Zexion sighed as he finished writing his reports. He had interviewed most of the teachers, but there was still one person left to interview. To be more precise, the headmaster.
Zexion adjusted his tie, closed his book with the report inside and knocked on the door. He waited for a few seconds until he heard a 'Come in!'. He turned open the door and went in.
After he went in, a sudden felling of weirdness and… fright crept up Zexion's spine. He wasn't quite sure what made him feel like that, the dark room that had all the windows closed and only a small lamp illuminating it, the strange desk that seemed to be darker than the rest of the room or even the strange paintings hung up on the wall, which all looked the same: A black swirl with some tones of purple and blue.
Zexion didn't remain confused for much time. The moment the chair behind the desk turned around and showed the man sitting on it, he knew it was him that was making Zexion feel frightened.
The man seemed quite old and yet, not sickly at all. In the contrary, he emanated a strange aura of power and confidence. He was bald, had a sliver goatee and frightening yellow eyes that glowed even more in the dark room.
From what Zexion could see, his attire was also quite… unusual. He wore a black and white coat a red inner lining, over a white shirt with two thin black belts and, to completely ace the 'evil mastermind' look, he had unnecessarily big white gloves.
Zexion noted he was staring and quickly regained his composure. He adjusted his tie one more time; almost choking himself to make sure he would remain calm and opened his book.
"I presume your Master Xehanort, sir?"
The man looked at Zexion, his eyes gleaming dangerously. He crossed his hands over his mouth and answered, with a maniacal grin that almost couldn't be seen:
"And you're Zexion, I suppose."
"Indeed I am, sir." He answered curtly. He didn't like talking to this man. It seemed with Zexion made just one little slip, one little act Xehanort may not like; he would be instantly consumed by the strange darkness surrounding him.
Xehanort rose from his chair and approached one of the few windows of the room. More exactly, the one behind his desk. He didn't open the curtains or anything, he simply stood there, his hand crossed over his slightly arched back and said:
"I presume you're here to make some questions about two of my students." Xehanort slightly tilted his head to the side, just enough so Zexion could see his right eye, as to remember him that Xehanort could see his every move. He would always be in control.
"Th-that is correct sir." Zexion cursed himself for stuttering "More precisely, I'm here to ask about Hikari Sora and Yagami Riku" Xehanort smile grew even more wicked when he heard those names and Zexion felt a chill go down his spine. He waited for Xehanort to answer and when he didn't, Zexion took it as a sign to continue. He opened his book and started reading.
"Hikari Sora and Takayami Riku are notorious for their childish and innumerous pranks. They've been doing so since early age and teachers are constantly complaining about them, asking for their expulsion" Zexion looked over to Xehanort, whose grin was still wide "Since Kingdom Hearts College is a school that goes from elementary school to university, most of the students will graduate from Elementary School to Middle School without doing any kind of test." He closed his book and readied himself for his last argument "Of course, that's not the case of Hikari Sora and Takayami Riku. Since they've been doing nothing but pulling pranks, we wonder if we should truly accept them at our respectable institution, the Kingdom Hearts College Middle School." He closed his eyes and sighed. Zexion didn't want to admit but, he was somewhat scared of Xehanort's reaction.
He opened one of his eyes and looked over to Xehanort, who hadn't said anything yet. He still had his back facing Zexion, but his face wasn't tilted sideways any longer and he seemed to be in deep thought about something.
Xehanort got a little closer to the window and opened the curtain, just enough so only a thin ray of light could go through. He flinched a bit when the light hit his face, but kept looking at something from the small space. He kept silence for a few more seconds until he finally spoke.
"Those two boys…" Zexion could see a slight frown form on Xehanort's face "…They're light. The purest light I've ever seen, truth to be told." Zexion started to get weary. The way Master Xehanort was talking about light made him fear even more for Master Xehanort's sanity and as a consequence, his own well being.
Master Xehanort turned back to Zexion, his grin now back to his face, and continued talking.
"You must know that our school is meant for…Special people. May they be problematic or extremely talented, we try to help both of them." He started walking around the room and stopped in front of one of the paintings. He slightly touched the frame and continued speaking "But if I were to categorize those boys, I would say they're a bit of both."
"How so, Master Xehanort?" Zexion couldn't help but interrupt Xehanort's speech "We all know they're problematic, more than most actually, but I don't see how they could be…'extremely talented'?"
Xehanort suddenly turned towards Zexion and he feared he had said something wrong, but Xehanort simply showed his grin and went back to appreciating his painting.
"That's what most people think, indeed, but truth to be told, they have a talent that only few in millions have!" Xehanort dramatized the last part of his speech with a sudden movement of his hands and turned back to Zexion, his grin still present.
"And…What would that talent be, Master Xehanort?" Zexion asked carefully. The way Xehanort was speaking and moving made him think that the old had finally snapped, and was having an attack right here, right now. And of course, Xehanort first victim would be himself. Zexion gulped. He was really scared now.
"The talent…" He remained silent, to raise the tension and then suddenly extended his arms "…To make others better!" The phrase was followed by a somewhat maniacal laughter, which went just as suddenly as it came.
Zexion simply stood still, not making a simple noise. He was surprised, of course, but another feeling was stirring, deep inside his being. He quickly realized that it was…Trust. A feeling that told him the man in front of him knew what he was talking about. That Zexion could follow him and together, they would definitely win. The feeling that this man was powerful.
Zexion shook his head. It was the same feeling he got when he first met Xenmas, but even stronger. Much, much stronger. But he couldn't succumb. He swore to follow Xenmas and no one else.
Zexion took a deep breath, regaining his confidence, and asked.
"What do you mean, Master Xehanort?" Zexion's voice no longer carried the fear it had when he first entered the room. Xehanort noticed it, but simply laughed it off.
"Xenmas has gotten some good men." Xehanort sit back in his chair and rested his elbows on the table, just like he had done before "What I mean is, those two change people. They make the weak become strong, the coward become courageous…The darkness becomes light!"
Zexion frowned at this. He still couldn't quite understand what Xehanort was talking about.
"Let me show you something." He opened one of the drawers of his desk and took a brown parcel from it "This parcel contain the marks of the ten most problematic students we had the last three years." He gave the parcel to Zexion "Why don't you read it?"
Zexion opened the parcel and cringed at the numbers he saw. He couldn't believe those kids were going to graduate. If he was the headmaster, he would lock those kids, hide the key and keep them there forever, so they couldn't infect the world with their lack of intellect. Somewhat pissed with the numbers, Zexion asked, a little too arrogant.
"And? What do these numbers mean?" He slightly shook the parcel, an expression of disgust on his face. Xehanort simply laughed.
"Keep reading. You'll understand."Zexion half-grunted in disbelief, but he kept reading anyway. He didn't want to contrary Xehanort's orders. Zexion kept reading the students marks from the past three years, until he noticed something peculiar.
"What the…What is this?" He exclaimed, his voice slightly higher "How can they've gotten such marks?"
"Impressive, isn't it?" Xehanort gestured to Zexion to give pack the parcel, who obeyed. He took the papers from the parcel and arranged them on the table, so to show the marks of all students.
"From a certain point forwards, these students' marks became much better!" He randomly took one of the papers and started to study it, but without much interest "Students that used to score 7 or 9…" He paused and flipped the paper to Zexion, showing him a specific number "…Suddenly become able of scoring 82! Outstanding, isn't?" He gestured with his hands and started to laugh, just like he did a few minutes ago.
Zexion, meanwhile, was simply confused.
"How can this be?" Zexion slammed his hands on Xehanort's desk. Not very polite, but he really wasn't thinking about that "How can they've gotten so much better in so little time?"
"It's quite simple actually." He pointed towards the papers on his desk "Every single one of these kids, one time or another, came in contact with…" Zexion could see Xehanort's grin getting wider "…Hikari Sora and Yagami Riku!" He laughed.
Zexion closed his eyes and frowned. He was getting angry. People didn't just change that easily and if they did, it's not so simple to go from scoring 7 to 82! It isn't logical!
As if reading Zexion's mind, Xehanort answered:
"You shouldn't underestimate humans Zexion. With the right 'ambition' they're capable of doing anything. And those two boys…Well, they're very good at giving people their 'ambitions'!" He laughed once more and turned around on his chair "You should get going, for I have a meeting quite soon."
Zexion frowned once more, but sighed. He couldn't go against this man's logic. If those two kids are really all Xehanort makes them be, then he would see with his own eyes when they joined Xenmas' school.
"Very well then, I'll get going" Zexion straightened his back and went over the door. He opened the door and just as he was leaving, he heard Xehanort speak.
"Who knows, they might even change you and your friends!"
Zexion stopped at that. He turned backwards, but Xehanort was still turned around, staring at his window. He contemplated answering something, but he didn't. He couldn't really go against that man.
And for some strange reason, he couldn't shake of the feeling Xehanort may be right.
"Such a beautiful sunset for such a beautiful farewell." The silver haired boy said.
"I couldn't agree with you more!" The chocolate-brown haired boy answered.
The boys, roughly of the same height, stood side by side in front of the school's gate. They were holding a cylindrical case, which probably contained the same graduation certificate. The silver haired one was wearing a sleeveless yellow shirt over a white short-sleeved shirt, blue long shorts and blue shoes. The brown haired one, meanwhile, was wearing a red short-sleeved open jacket over a white shirt and yellow shorts, which matched his yellow shoes.
"Can you believe we're leaving this place?" The brown haired stretched his back with a satisfied grunt "It's been six years...Quite the time if you ask me Riku!"
The silver haired one, now known as Riku, simply smiled in response.
"It really has been a long time…" He looked up towards the building "To think we would be able to graduate without any problems…Quite the feat, right Sora?" He looked towards his friend, Sora, who was now stretching his sides.
"Yeah… If I hadn't graduated, my mom would've gotten pretty mad." He started twisting around, still stretching.
"Yeah, it wouldn't have been…Why are you stretching?"
Sora looked up at Riku, who had a very confused expression on his face. Sora remained quiet for a few seconds until he went back to stretching and started speaking.
"Well, do you know how those heroes from Shonen manga always start stretching before a fight?" Riku looked strangely at Sora, but decided not to refute and simply agree.
"Yeah…"
"That's what I'm doing!" He stretched his arm behind his back and screamed "I'm reading myself for a battle!" He then proceeded with his stretching.
Riku, meanwhile, just stared strangely at Sora. While they always understand each other, sometimes, Sora would just catch him off guarded. This was such a time.
He decided to go with the simple…
"You're weird…"
"We're both weird!" Sora answered without a second thought. Riku just smiled.
"Touché."
Riku closed his eyes and felt the wind caressing his face. It was hard to admit, but he was going to miss this place. Sora and Riku had gone through a lot there and it would always be a place full of memories.
Riku opened his eyes and saw, coming out from the school entrance, every single one of his teachers, holding brooms and other things.
"Um…Sora?"
"Yeah?" The boy answered, without looking up from his stretching.
"When you said battle, did you mean against evil angry teachers?"
Sora looked up, clearly confused. Between them, the one that usually comes up with very random and strange phrases is him, not Riku.
"Wait, what? No! I mean the fight against middle school" He moved his closed fists around, as if he was fighting someone "How we've got to be more responsible and yada yada…" Sora made an annoyed face and Riku laughed at it.
"But…Where did you get 'evil angry teachers' from?" Sora asked, clearly confused, which only made Riku laugh even more.
"There." Riku pointed forwards and Sora, following the direction Riku's pointing, saw all of his old teachers, each carrying some kind of broom.
"Are they…Are they trying to kick us out or something?" Sora asked warily, without taking his eyes from the currently approaching teachers.
Riku looked at the teachers. They're gripping their brooms tightly, as if readying for a battle and had very, very angry faces. From the way they're marching towards them, Riku thought they probably weren't going to ask them to have a nice cup of tea.
"It's possible." Riku answered.
Sora was about to speak when he was interrupted by an angry shout from the teachers. More specifically, the one that had shouted was the history teacher, Tetsuya Gujirou, who seemed to be the leader of the 'Angry Teachers United' legion.
"You damn brats! Why in God's name are you still here?" He shook his brooms towards the boys in a threatening way, generating supporting screams from the rest of the teachers.
Riku and Sora looked at each other, not sure if they should laugh or run.
"Get out of here already, you little rascals!" Another scream came from the teachers. The boys took a step back and slightly bended their knees, so to run easily if needed. Riku and Sora stared at the mob of angry teachers and gulped. Things were starting to get really scary.
They boys and the mob of teachers kept staring at each other, without saying anything. The silent showdown kept going for a few seconds, until the school's clock signed it was 6:00 pm and, as if it had been planned, all the teachers ran after Riku and Sora, holding their 'weapons' high and shouting threats.
Riku and Sora, however, with skills honed by countless and countless pranks, did something different.
They ran faster.
"Hey, hey! Is this really okay? Isn't this some kind of child abuse?" Sora complained as they ran from the angry mob.
"I'm not sure…Maybe you should try suing them!" Riku answered as he ran alongside Sora.
"You're right. I'm totally going to do that!" Sora shouted, determined to make the teachers pay.
"Get out of here!"
"You cursed little brats, be gone!"
"I'm making you write a five hundred essay when I catch you!"
Fuelled by the teachers' threats, Riku and Sora started running even faster. So fast that they kept running even after the teachers had stopped, and they would have kept running if Riku hadn't looked back for safety measures and hadn't stopped Sora by pulling the back of his collar, which made the boy grunt.
"Dude, what was that?" Sora asked indignantly while rubbing his neck and sticking his tongue out in a very exaggerated manner.
Riku, used to his best friend's antics, ignored him and simply pointed towards the mob of teachers.
"They stopped."
Sora coughed a little bit, just for the sake of being a drama queen, and looked at the teachers, who were staying still a little ahead the school's gate. He rubbed his neck once more and turned towards Riku.
"Why did they stop?" Sora coughed once more. He liked exaggerating things. It made him feel like a manga protagonist.
Riku just shrugged "How should I know?" He raised his hands in ignorance.
They remained quiet for a few seconds until Sora spoke.
"Do you have telepathic powers?"
"…I…Don't think so."
"Oh, good. Then you really can't know!"
They remained quiet for a few seconds until Sora spoke again.
"If you had telepathic powers, would you tell me?"
"…I'm pretty sure I would."
"Oh, good…Just checking."
After the strange conversation, both boys kept quiet for some time, silently staring at the mob of teachers who were standing on the school's gates.
Sora was about to initiate another strange conversation when the history teacher, Tetsuya Gujirou, shouted towards the boys:
"You damn brats! You better show hell to your future teachers as well!"
"Damn right! We won't forgive you guys if you go easy on them!"
"That's right! Don't let them rest even for a second!"
After the unexpected shouts, even more cheers surged from the teachers. The two boys meanwhile, stood completely still. Riku was just staring at the mob with wide eyes and mouth open, while Sora, who had his arm raised as to protect him from something, slowly opened his closed eyes and straightened himself up.
"You brats…" The history teacher started and Riku and Sora thought they saw tears welling up in his eyes, but they were far away so they couldn't be sure.
"…I'm going to tell all my next students about you!" He suddenly raised his broom, as if proclaiming something to the sky "The two boys that never pay attention, the two boys that would always disturb my lessons, the boys that would never respect their teachers…" He stopped, and Sora thought he saw the teacher hiccupping a little "…And most of all…Most of all…"
"…The two boys that became my favorite students!" The history teacher screamed, with tears rolling down his face. Alongside him, every teacher in the mob also started crying, some subtle, other very exaggerated.
"G…God, I don't believe they're doing this! Ju-Just what's wrong with them?"
Riku looked at Sora and simply smiled.
"Indeed but, aren't you crying yourself?"
"Sh-Shut up! Ju-Just shut up!" Sora sobbed. The boy looked up and, just as Riku had said, he was crying, a lot "How do you want me to remain calm like you when our teachers give us such a nice farewell? Just how?"
Riku smiled. It wasn't like he wasn't affected, but compared to Sora, the always very dramatic boy; he might seem to be really calm. Riku rubbed his eyes; they were starting to get watery. He took a deep breath. At least one of them had to keep himself somewhat composed.
Sora, who was sobbing in a ridiculous manner, rubbed his eyes and looked up, towards the teachers' direction. His eyes red and his cheeks puffy, he raised both of his arms and screamed.
"Osu! We'll be sure to make our new teachers see hell on earth!" He let out a war cry and the mob of teachers screamed back, as if cheering him on, which is strange, since the boy just said he would show hell on earth to his future teachers.
Sora finished his war cry and looked at his teachers, well, ex-teachers. His breath slightly ragged because of his scream, his heart thumping hard, he couldn't help but let a strange feeling of sadness take place in his heart. He looked towards Riku and from his eyes, Sora was sure he was feeling the same. An emotion that neither of them had expected to come up during their departure.
"I'm going to miss them."
The silver haired boy, still staring at the teachers, quietly answered.
"Me too"
Riku and Sora would miss all the teachers. Just like the teachers would miss Sora and Riku. They had built a relationship that wasn't easy to come by. Sure it was a relationship built over pranks and detentions, and the occasional red panda attack, but still, it is something they would always be proud having.
"Come on Riku, we got to get going."
Sora turned around showing his backs to the teachers, his eyes shadowed by his hair.
Riku looked towards his best friend and silently smiled. Sora really didn't like showing that's his sad. He hardly ever did a good job at it, so it was always fun to watch.
Riku turned around.
"We do but, how about a last farewell?" He pointed to his digital watch, which marked 6:27 pm, a slight smirk forming in his face.
"Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that!" Sora whipped around, the sadness suddenly gone from his face. He looked towards the teachers and raised his right arm, with the hand forming a fist.
"Hey, you old hags!" The teachers looked half-surprised half-angry with the sudden shout "It's been fun, but we've got to get going! But don't worry, we'll be sure to annoy our future teachers like there's no tomorrow!" Sora finished his shout and grinned. The grin that every single one of those teacher, would surely miss one day.
The teachers were about to speak when they're interrupted by a sudden spray of what seemed to be water. After further inspection, they noticed it was actually red paint spraying off from the school's irrigating system. Shocked, angry, soaked wet and painted red, they turned around just in time to see the backs of Riku and Sora running towards the sunset and hear the easily recognized laughter which signalized a plan well done.
Meanwhile, Riku and Sora ran as fast as their legs could allow.
"Haha! That's awesome! Can't believe we pulled it off!" Sora shouted, a smile on his face.
"I know right? That one was quite the challenge!"Riku smiled, satisfied with himself "I had to hack into the school's irrigating system, discover the best moment to activate it and I also had to put just the right amount of red paint… While you, my dear friend, did absolutely nothing!" Riku accused. Sora simply smirked back.
"Hey, I was the one that got the paint!" He answered with such proud which actually made it seem like an important task.
Riku laughed "True that!" Sora laughed as well and stared towards the sunset. As they kept running, he couldn't help but feel a little sad.
"You're right Riku. Six years really is a lot." He sighed.
"Told you so!" Riku answered. They remained quiet for a few seconds, letting the fact sink in. They were no longer little kids. They're growing. Maturing, even.
But even so, Sora couldn't stand serious conversations. So he did what he does the best. He changed the subject.
"Come on Riku! My mom is making her special cookies!" Sora exclaimed happily as he ran faster, getting further away from Riku.
"What? You should tell me those kind of things earlier!" Riku answered as he sped up as well.
And thus, the two boys ran towards Sora's house. But as the same time, they ran towards something even greater. Running away from their old school, they ran away from their time as little 'kids'. They ran towards a new time in their lives. A time of learning. A time of maturing. A time of growing.
And yet, even more than anything else, they ran towards unknown possibilities, mysteries to be uncovered, and a whole new life.
They ran, towards the future.
…
And God knows what the heck is waiting for them!
Aaaaaaand that's it for now! Now it's another two months and you guys will get a new chapter! FAZZUCKYEAH! (haha, I kid, I kid...or do I?)
Hope you guys enjoyed it, cause I sure did. Also, you see that 'review' button? Click it. It feeds my SOUL!
Just kiddind...Or not.
BOOYAH!
