After the ensuing lecture by one Cloud Strife the family had their dinner before the two daughters of Cloud began to unpack and sort their more personal items. For Roxas it was her collection of accessories, books, and clothes. Now with their current situation, Roxas wondered how much she could sell any of it. Some of the rings and bracelets were hand made with organic materials, and people were always in a market for stuff like that.
"Roxas do you want this?" Sora's voice came from the door before it opened. Dressed in her Mickey Mouse pajamas, with her hair an untamed and wet mess from the bath, it's hard to believe that she was sixteen. In Sora's hands was a picture frame, namely of her, Roxas, and their entire group of friends before the Strifes left Destiny.
Xion, Kairi, Riku, Selphie, Waka, Tidus. They both left them behind; as well as all the shop owners, neighbors, and teachers that knew them in the Destiny Islands community. A dull ache came from Roxas' chest, and tears threatened to spill before she stiffened her upper lip.
No, she wasn't crying. She won't cry, hadn't cried for ten years, and she wasn't going to start now!
"Your room or mine?" Roxas asked. Sora blinked before realizing Roxas spoke to her.
"Oh, I-I was thinking we place it... Here." In the place where Sora broke the marble status of the woman's head off, the picture now stood. All of their friend's smiling faces with the two of them on one of Destiny Islands' beaches.
Ptoom.
Roxas blinked as she heard a notification pop from somewhere. Sora scrambled a bit before pulling her phone from her pocket. A Sraque Book* notification had been sent to Sora's phone before she opened it up.
The older twin nearly screamed at the picture that was sent to her, but addressed to both of the Strife sisters.
Not the same without you two.
-Kairi
A beautiful mountain overlooked sunset was framed by beautiful melds of midnight blue and fading warm red of the sun. Orange wisps trailed out into the blue, stretching until obscurity. However it was the beauty of the sunset which made Sora cry out, but it was who in the foreground.
Six others; ranging from a tall and tanned argent haired teen with iridescent green eyes, to a plucky chipper brunette whose smile lit up her face, to a tanned and broad-shouldered teen with an orange cow lick splayed prominently against the blue. In eschew of their hands was a paper lantern with a candle inside and a cloth covering on top.
Several of those lanterns were already let loose, frozen in motion as they drifted to the ever-stretching sea beyond. The "Send Off"**, a Destiny Island Tradition that Sora and Roxas never failed to partake in since their living there.
They missed it this year.
Traditionally the "Send Off" of the lanterns was meant to represent the send off of the departed to Far Off. Relatives, lovers, children, parents... Friends. Tossing the lantern was to show that the person's material attachment to the world has ceased to be.
Holding onto the lantern...
"They're not forgetting is anytime soon," Roxas breathed with a small smile. With a choked sob, Sora clutched her sister before the tears began to pour from her face. Crying muffled by Roxas' shirt, as the younger sister did her best to quell the sadness that overtook Sora for this moment.
She knew her sister wasn't taking the move entirely well. Yet Sora knew that their mother needed at least one of them to smile to give herself justification. However even Sora's smile could get chipped away after being separated from her friends and thrusted into some alien world.
Roxas brought Sora to her bed, letting her sister sleep with her one more night... Just like old times.
-0-
"Come on Roxas! Hurry up, we're gonna be late!" Sora ran through the house, still in the midst of eating, dressing, and attempting to tame her hair. At least one of those tasks wasn't going to be fulfilled, and it wasn't the eating portion.
Roxas' attention wasn't on the obvious distress of Sora or even her own mother's silent mutterings as she tried to make herself look as professional as possible. Cloud Strife herself had changed out of her cargo pants and long-sleeved shirt to a formal button down, pencil skirt, and a blazer. Those articles of clothing had been buried somewhere in the deep recesses of Cloud's clothes pile, seldom used by the woman. Today however; the single mother even attempted to tame her own set of blond spikes which dogged the family for generations in preparation for her first day at work…. At… Well that part is a mystery.
Roxas' attention was on her own clothes. Clad in only her underwear and a frown, Roxas stared at... The Twilight Prep uniform. The school's uniform was sent and received a week before the family left, and Roxas knew from her first sight of it that it wasn't going to be to her liking.
Roxas' fashion sense could be summed up in two words; Don't fuck with me. Wait, that's four words...
Roxas' standard attire normally consisted of her combat boots which up to her mid-calf, skinny jeans or ripped skinny jeans, a flannel or a hoodie either worn or wrapped around her waist, a band tee or tank top, and... Her accessories. Those past items usually being her rings, bracelets, necklaces, chains, earrings, etc. Roxas normally wore two earrings on her left ear, one on her right, a chain link necklace with a pair of keys attached on her neck, one white band and one black band around her right wrist, and three onyx rings on her right hand. It normally a pain to put on, but Roxas didn't do the whole make up or hair tame thing most other girls did, and substituted her own issues into that time slot.
Destiny Islands High was incredibly lax when it came to a school dress code, though there were some regulations. Of course, during the summer months, people literally came to school in bathing suits because it was hot. Destiny Islands let their students have free rein when it came to their clothes.
Twilight Prep was exactly the opposite.
The school mandates however that no student could wear excessive jewelry; meaning no rings and only one pair of earrings at the behest of the Student Morals Committee, and one necklace. The school uniforms were also enforced by the school's administration and the dress code was strongly enforced, apparently.
Roxas' uniform, and by extent Sora's, uniform consisted off a white buttoned-down blouse with a light blue tie. Following so, either a cardigan or an optional sweater-vest for the warmer months could be worn. In the front breast pocket for the cardigan and for the sweater-vest, the Twilight Prep emblem of a stylized heart was stitched on. This initial discovery wasn't so bad for Roxas, then there was... The skirt.
A flimsy loose thing barely the mid of her thighs. A white and blue plaid patterned… Shift of cloth rather than an actual article of clothing. It went "swish-swish" clothes that are supposed to cover one's lower regions shouldn't do that!
Roxas has never worn a skirt. Her mother has never made her wear a skirt, and likewise avoided wearing them herself. Sora only wore a skirt at the behest of Kairi when she went over to the other girl's home, but usually stuck to wearing shorts. Roxas has been asked, in very vulgar manners, to wear a skirt by those of questionable nature (Those conversation usually ended with her needing to be restrained by Riku as she shouted obscenities and bloodied and wounded miscreants).
To wear a skirt of her own was a big step for her.
"Roxas? You alright?" Cloud's voice came in as her mother's head poked through the doorway. Roxas nearly blanched at how her mother was dressed. A pencil skirt, a steel blazer, white collared shirt; Cloud even wore her glasses that she seldom used and a pair of sapphire earrings that Roxas once scrounged at a flea market years ago.
"Mom… It's a skirt…" Roxas replied with a look of disdain on her face.
"Suck it up. If I have to do this, you got to as well." The older woman gestured to her own pencil skirt, which clung to her tightly and reached to her knees. "Wear this then." To emphasize her point, Cloud tossed Roxas a package. Examining, Roxas felt herself grimace when she saw that her mother had tossed her a packet of stockings; numbering at seven.
At the very least they were black, with some having two white stripes encircling the entrance. But still, to Roxas, stocking meant that she was actually thinking of going through with wearing the skirt in the first place.
"Oh for Gaia's sake!" Roxas nearly screamed as her mother tore into her room with a look of cold determination on her face.
"M-Mom! Stop! I can dress my—Kyah!"
Five minutes of a one-sided struggle later, Roxas meekly exited her room now wearing her skirt along with the pure black thigh-highs. She rubbed her knees together at the feeling of the bareness that came without wearing her skinny jeans.
"Roxas, you're finally done?" Sora came tumbling out of the bathroom, a piece of bread in her mouth as she pulled on a pair of bike shorts. Roxas glowered, wondering if that was a gift from Kairi and if the red head knew about their future fashion situation.
"Yeah…" Roxas sulked before her sister handed her a melon bread. She glumly took it and began to munch on it as Sora finished up getting ready. She completely gave up something her hair, no surprise there, and moved to pull her phone off its charger and into her pocket.
"Got everything now?" Roxas asked as Sora smoothed down her skirt. Roxas took the time to now look at her sister. Unlike herself, Sora was able to dress herself. A cleanly tucked in blouse lead to her skirt with the bike shorts just barely poking out from beneath the hem of her skirt, while the tie was tied snugly against the collar. Sora went with the sweater-vest, it clung snugly to her comparably large bosom.
Roxas was inherently glad the cardigan was loose enough to mask her own curves, lacking they might be. Even more so, because of the struggle between herself and her mother, Roxas' shirt was untucked and slightly ruffled, while the sleeves of her cardigan was stretched almost over her hands. Her tie was loose against her unbuttoned collar and even her stockings were uneven as well, one going a little higher on the thigh that the other.
"You two stay safe now, okay. I'm gonna come back late tonight, so you're gonna have to make do with dinner yourselves," Cloud said. Her voice carried from up the stairs as Roxas finished lacing up her boots.
"Bye mom!"
"Bye!"
Roxas closed the door behind her before she and Sora found the golden bricked paths… Not as a catchy as yellow brick road, but if what that girl said is true, it'd help Sora not get lost to and from the school.
"Twilight Town sure is more crowded," Sora noted as she and Roxas stuck close together, mindful of the growing sidewalk crowds.
"Keep an eye on your bag, and your… You know what, hand me your phone." Sora complied, handing Roxas her phone before the younger sister slipped both into her bag. Then shouldering it once more, Roxas made note that even that small lapse in blindness, and suddenly Sora was being pushed ahead of her despite trying to stay with Roxas.
"The city… Is so… Stuffy…" Sora breathed once she and Roxas reunited in a less busy area of the path.
"Like mom said, suck it up." Roxas checked her phone to make sure they were actually heading to the school. It seems like what the girl said was correct, follow the path and you'll make it there.
"Is that the school then?" Sora pointed out. Roxas looked up and saw tall golden structures with ornate rooves and stained-glass windows. It was gaudy, it was pious, it was what Roxas expected from "the most prestigious high school in the Kingdom".
Oh look, there's even a gate keeper… Roxas noted looking at the person whom stood in front of the school gates. Tall and imposing, the man whom stood as "Gate Keeper" had long ebon stands pulled back behind his head and curled side burns following the concave of his jawline. Standing stock straight in a uniform consisting of a double breasted slate jacket, pants, boots combo, the jacket had the emblem of Twilight Prep on the front just below the throat. What looked like a solid iron rod held loosely in one hand to his side, Roxas would have thought the man was a painted statue had he not sneezed and made walking students near him nearly scream.
The two Strife sisters approached him, to which the man's orchid eye narrowed as an eyebrow quirked up. Roxas noted that his grip on the iron rod tightened, as well as the blue silver gauged ear cuffs on one of his ears. That earing actually looked pretty stylish…
"You two aren't students here."
"Do you recognize everyone who passes?" Sora asked incredulously.
"Yes."
"We're students here," Roxas reached into her bag to pull out her handbook. She opened it up to the profile page of it. "Er, well new transfer students."
The man narrowed his eyes even more, setting his iron rod on the ground hard enough to make a dull echoing noise. Sora approached him once more, eyes alight with curiosity that Roxas should have forseen.
"Wow, can you really hold that?" Sora asked looking at the solid iron rod. The man smirked.
"Yeah, care to try to see if you can?"
"Sure!" The man held the iron rod length wise at Sora's height and both of Sora's hands wrapped around it
"Sora, no—" The man let go.
"Oof!" Sora nearly flipped forward at the heavy weight of the iron bar. It had to be more than forty pounds alone. The Gatekeeper laughed heartily, nearly doubling over as Sora struggled to not fall over. Roxas pocketed her handbook before moving to help Sora. She grunted when she realized the full weight of the rod, but eventually lifted it up along with her sister and had it stand on its end on the ground.
"Yo Xaldin, whatcha got there man?" Roxas turned to see a rather rought person walking towards her. He was dressed very similar to the Gate Keeper, or Xaldin; the same slate double-breasted jacket, pants, and boots, however he had a red bandanna wrapped around neck and covering the front of his chest. Roxas also noticed that this man had a scar which ran near up on his chin and near his mouth, and wore an eyepatch over his right eye.
"Xigbar." The Xaldin greeted. "These two must be the new students that Headmaster Ansem was talking to Mansex*** about." Roxas wrinkled her nose, who on Earth would name their child "Mansex"?
"Got it bruh. Can I get you anything else? Some fries or a shake?" Xigbar shot back.
"How about my boot up your ass?" he shot back. Xigbar smirked and finger gunned the guardsmen, making "psh psh" noises before turning to Roxas and Sora.
"So, you two must be Sorax and Rora."
"Roxas and Sora."
"Shit close enough." Xigbar comically widened his eyes before he relaxed his features. "Aight kids, well we were really expecting you two to show up tomorrow, but that's, like, life I guess. Come on then, let's get you set up with ol'Mansex at least."
"Who the fuck is Mansex?" Roxas asked aloud. Xigbar began to laugh.
-1-
"Hello, I am Xemnas Saisho, Assistant Headmaster of Twilight Prep." Roxas resisted the urge to say, "you're Mansex!" to the man in front of her. Tanned and tall, the words which rumbled out of the man seemed to make the ground quake as eerie amber eyes stared forward at the two. Though he seemed large and imposing, there was a soft smile on his features that seemed to mitigate the fright of his appearance. Roxas also tried to not stare at the ornate katanas which rested just behind the man, resting sheathed on a stand. They seemed honed… Very honed.
"Are you Mansex?" Sora asked out of the blue. Roxas wondered if this was the moment when she would become an only child.
Xemnas however didn't seem all that excited at the prospect at being called "Mansex", and instead seemed like that calm serene smile on his face froze as his eyes flickered to Xigbar, desperately trying to restrain his laughter.
"Excuse me one second," Xemnas stated. Walking around his desk, he began to walk towards Xigbar, who had finally gotten control of his daighphram, and nearly screamed as Xemnas began to move towards him.
"H-HIE! I-I-It wasn't me!"
"Sh, don't worry about that Xigbar."
"I-It was Xaldin! He told them!"
"Why would Xaldin tell new students such a distasteful thing. No, only one person continues to say such a name to ALL the students he meets."
"V-Vexen?" Xemnas wrapped an arm around Xaldin's neck before walking outside his office. "OMAYGKAHSDGLKHASDOFHJLASDJFLFJHHHHJ!" The sound of hard impacts and a bloodcurdling scream of pain was heard before the door to the Assisstant Headmaster's office opened once more, to show a calmly smiling Xemnas dusting his hands and straightening his suit.
Roxas looked just passed him to see Xigbar, face implanted in a wall and unconscious. A message written on the wall just besides his head read "worth it" with the tail end of the "t" trialing to where his finger rested on the wall.
"Now with that distraction out of the way, I would like to once more formally welcome you to Twilight Prep; Sora and Roxas Strife." Xemnas bowed deeply before the two-followed suit. "Now it is rather difficult to get the scholarship to go to this school, however you two beat the odds and have done what very few, if any, other prospecting applicants have done in the last twenty years and gotten your entrance scores past the mark which is the bare minimum for attending this school, in fact you two are the only two who were able to do so this year."
Roxas didn't know what to be more amazed at first. The fact that Assistant Headmaster Xemnas made it seem like getting into the school was like the lottery, or that he said all that without a single pause to breath.
"Thank you!" Sora smiled brightly. Leave it to Sora to bash through any sense of delicacy or decorum. Xemnas smiled before sitting down in his chair.
"As I said before, it has been extremely far and few between when there was actually a transfer student allowed to enter Twilight Prep. Most of our students come from… Well off, families and are able to enter our school through the more conventional system of admittance, though this means that your efforts and dedication for your own education is even more forthright, the actual scholarship comes with certain… Attachments." Xemnas clasped his fingers over his face as he regarded the two girls in front of him.
"Eh?"
"In order for you two to maintain your scholarships, I must ask you two to place within the top fifty of student scores." Roxas and Sora blanched at the words that came from Xemnas. Yes they may have made it to the school, but that only came from the extent and effort from the tutoring of Honor Roll students, Riku and Xion. "This… This is not my requirement, but rather the school's board of education had decided to place this unnecessary shackle to the ankles of their, and I stress the board says this not me, less important students. How students whom attain the right to go to this school through merit alone make them lesser, I shall never understand."
Roxas and Sora still lay in shocked silence, eyes wide at the many proclamation the Assistant Headmaster had worded. Xemnas, feeling the awkward air begin to set in, cleared his throat once more.
"Right, I also know of your… Peculiar family circumstances. I trust your mother was escastic when she learned of your acceptance here?" Roxas' blood froze at the mention of both their mother and the implicit knowledge that Xemnas had of their household situation, how much though was the nagging question in her mind. "Fret naught, only I and a select few, privileged and trusted individuals know of the situation of your family; the Headmaster, both of your homeroom teachers, as well as the school's nurse to name some of the few."
Relief color Roxas' face as she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Xemnas openly smiled, glad that he could give her some piece of mind. Then there was a knock on the door.
"It's Saix, sir."
"Come in." The door opened up to reveal a student wearing the Twilight Prep uniform. A tall student with pale blue hair spiked up fringe and long mane sweeping in front of his ears and stretching even longer behind him. His most peculiar characteristic however was the "X" shaped scare on his face, from the middle of his forehead, over the bridge of his nose, and ending an inch below the caruncle.
"You wanted to see me sir?" His voice was gravely, almost like he gargled stones for his life. Roxas had a bad reminder of
"Yes Saix, these are our two newest students; transfers from Destiny Island. I trust you can show them to their classrooms. You have their schedules, correct?"
"Yes." Saix pulled out two folders from under his arm and gestured to them.
"Good, lead them to there." Saix nodded before opening the door and moving to stand outside it.
"Girls," Sora and Roxas turned to see that Assistant Headmaster Xemnas was begginging to speak again, "I do truly hope that you'll like the school. Not all of our students are… The spoiled and decadent individuals whom clog our media with drivel and waste, there are some genuinely good people here that I hope you will connect with." Then the door closed, leaving Roxas and Sora to be guided by the tall imposing figure known as Saix.
"Saix, what class are you?" Sora asked innocently.
"Third year," the man replied gruffly.
"You're only two years older than us? But why do you look so old?" The undiluted words streaming out of Sora's mouth made Roxas' own blood freeze as Saix froze in his step.
Godsdamnit Sora…
"I… You… Do I really look old?"
Is this really… The most prestigious school in the Kingdom****?!