The first week went by in a flash. For most of the students' relief some teachers spared them of an introduction speech and went straight for their class content. Just one week later it was already possible to identify the students who were part of that class.
Sora had already made friends with those who sat near him, especially a silver haired teenager called Riku. Ventus was already very fond of Ienzo - Who seemed to be a really studious guy - and they had spoken to each other once or twice. Roxas, on the other hand, limited himself to merely watch for a few days.
On Fridays they would have two Physical Education classes, then Biology and finally Sociology. There were rumors that the Biology teacher, Marluxia, was also responsible for the garden of the school and so, even before they got to know him, the boys wondered if they could get good grades by giving him roses.
Before Marluxia however they met Aeleus, their Physical Education teacher. He quickly introduced himself and explained they would have practical and theoretical classes. On that particular day they would go to the sports court on the second class and the students listened to him while he spoke of his teaching methods, everyone eager to go.
As they got there they all gathered at the center of the place while waiting for the teacher to arrive, carrying a rubber ball in his right hand.
"Today we will only do a brief warm-up but from next week forward I hope you all take what you're doing very seriously"
He threw the ball into the air then took it back "Everybody in here knows how to play Prison Ball, I believe"
The students agreed, some feeling excited, others not quite so. Among those were Ventus, Ienzo and also Xion, a black haired girl which seemed to be friends with Ienzo as well. She didn't really like sports and would always say she was too slow for those kind of games. Ienzo didn't really care that much, although he'd also rather read instead of run after a ball.
As for Ventus he wished he could avoid that class altogether. He was all in for exercises but only when he actually knew who he was playing with. He was a little tense because he didn't know his new classmates that well, which was to be expected of course, and so walked to his brother and looked to him as if asking for help. Roxas rolled his eyes.
"Relax, Ven! It's just a little game, what could go wrong?"
"All right!" Aeleus took a step forward "I want two students here to set up the teams. Do we have volunteers?"
"I'll go, professor!" Exclaimed the silver haired student Riku, his cyan eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Very well. Anyone else? Will I have to choose someone?" He said after being greeted by silence.
"I'll do it" It was Vanitas and he walked to the teacher, hand in his pants' pockets. Roxas frowned.
"I want you to play fair and square!" Aeleus warned, letting them assemble their teams. Once Vanitas was chosen to begin he looked at his class colleagues (Everyone younger than him) until he saw Roxas staring at him. Was that brat still nervous about the way he had talked to his little brother? Vanitas smiled.
"Ven" He called, motioning for him to join his team. Roxas gritted his teeth. Ven?
Ventus approached him, even more tense as he watched his brother exchange glances with the raven. Vanitas smiled even more and put his hand on his shoulder.
"Let's show them!" He said, looking to he boy and smiling. He saw how Roxas stared at him; he was still angry and that was a good enough reason to piss him off by getting this close to his little brother.
Since some students hadn't come the teams were unequal. There were 13 people with Riku and 12 with Vanitas. Ventus stood as far as possible of the other team and was relieved when he saw Xion in his team. Sora and Roxas were on Riku's.
"Let the best man win!" Riku said before the match. Vanitas nodded and handed him the ball. The whistle sounded and the game started.
The first move already sent a student to the prison. They soon noticed that the two leaders of the teams were the strongest of the class and didn't think twice before hurling the ball with force and speed. Ventus considered himself to be well protected while staying behind his teammates, but as soon as they were hit and sent to the prison he couldn't hide anymore. He never jumped from side to side as much as he did that day.
"When will this end?!" He thought to himself when the ball came flying in his direction, but it hit the ground first and then he grabbed it. The boy stared at it for a few seconds before hearing the screams of his team, now composed of only five people who hadn't been hit, encouraging him to throw it. Unsure of what he was doing the took the risk and threw it without looking.
He could barely believe when it hit Sora.
"Ahhh, come on, Ven! Seriously?"
"To the prison!" Exclaimed the teacher. Sora stared at Ventus pretending to be angry but then smiled and ran to the other side of the court, joining Roxas.
"Only a few left now!" Vanitas said with a smirk. On his side were him, Ventus, Zack and Selphie. On the other were Riku, Tidus and Kairi. They were in greater number and had all odds to win.
Perhaps due to fear of losing, however, Riku reacted mercilessly. A few moves later and there were only Vanitas and Ventus - Ven leaned on his knees, gasping - against Riku alone. As much as they tried to hit him, Riku swerved too fast for them.
"Hey, raise that head of yours! There's no way we're losing now!" Vanitas screamed but Ventus barely heard him, out of breath. It was a miracle for him to get so far in the game and he really wanted to leave, but the strength with which the ball was thrown made him avoid any contact with it. The two continued as long as they could, Vanitas throwing the object and Ventus running away from it.
"I can't take this anymore!" Shouted the blond, praying for the class to end. Vanitas cleared his throat.
"Come on, brat! Stop whining and pay attention or else you'll get hit!" He sneered, looking at him. Then he looked at Riku-
And all he saw in the next seconds were stars when the ball hit him in the nose and Vanitas staggered back already dizzy, lowered his head and placed a hand over his face, grunting. Ventus stopped moving and Riku approached him.
"Oh shit! My bad, man!" Riku said, worried. Vanitas stood still for a few seconds, the pain rising to his head. There was laughter and then Aeleus approached.
"Are you alright?" The teacher asked and Vanitas waved his hand, saying that he was. He lifted his head slowly, wiping the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. Ven watched everything and almost stopped breathing when he saw how Vanitas stared at Riku, as if about to kill him. Contrary to his expression, however, he simply took a deep breath and raised an eyebrow.
"Fuck, man. You really are strong. Damnit!"
Riku laughed nervously "Hehe... Sorry"
Aeleus instructed the older boy to stop playing to what he agreed with but not before taking to Ventus "It's up to you now!"
"W-" He looked at Riku, terrified. The teen blinked a few times in silence and then smiled.
"You can still win this one" He said, shrugging as if it were nothing. Their classmates started shouting words of encouragement at them to Ventus' despair, now standing on the center of the field. Vanitas sat on the floor at a considerable distance from the game and stood there, watching.
Just as before all Ventus did was to run from the ball and let the ones from the prison help him. Sora jumped around like crazy and even Roxas barely contained his excitement while Ventus ran and even rolled across the floor to remain intact. There were only a few seconds left before class was over and at that moment he gave up, covering his face with his arms and waiting to be hit. With that, Riku simply threw the ball in order to hit him as weakly as he could and then it was over.
"I won!" Exclaimed the young man, folding his arms. His team approached him shouting and celebrating and even Ven's team congratulated him for having endured so much. In the end, he had proven to more agile than he thought he was.
"Awesome!" Roxas said as he ruffled his brother's hair and Ventus smiled, more out of relief than happiness. Aeleus announced the end of the class and the students began to leave the sports court as they talked and laughed, everyone getting to know each other a little bit better.
Ventus still took a few seconds to breathe before going after them. Sora kept talking about how Riku had been 'so cool' and how Ventus had betrayed him by hitting him like that, making Roxas laugh. When everyone was back in the classroom and in their seats, Ventus looked to the desk next to him and frowned.
Vanitas wasn't there.