This is the second chapter of this fanfiction. I hope you guys have enjoyed it so far.
I own nothing but the idea.
"Now remember…what did I tell you, Marth?"
The blue haired boy sighed. "Be smart and diligent."
"What do I want you to be?"
"An actor, Father. Like Mother and Elice."
"What do you want to be?"
"...An actor."
"Good. Now get ready for school." The door closed softly and the teen sighed before sitting on his bed.
"Actor this, actor that…" he mumbled to himself, walking into his bathroom, which was connected to his room. He looked at himself with a sighed before taking off his pajama shirt. He fingered a scar on his chest. "I can never be anything else. I must follow the 'Lowell Legacy'." He washed his face before going back into his room. His phone buzzed. With another sigh, he picked it up and sighed again, this time in relief.
Picking u up today. Be there in 10
~ Ike
With this new shard of hope, he sped through his usual morning routine, making sure he looked decent for his father. Looking at himself on more time, he checked to make sure all visible scars were covered before he grabbed his backpack and bolted out the door. Waiting outside was the red convertible that belong to his best friend. "You picked up breakfast…" Marth started, looking at the takeout bag and cup of iced coffee sitting in the cupholder.
"I had extra time. Now c'mon! We'll be late." With that, Marth put on his seatbelt and Ike sped off.
How am I going to tell Father that I asked the theatre teacher to understudy the play!? It's a new semester, which means more work to get ready for finals and whatnot. I don't have time for theatre. Not to mention the fact that he doesn't know my friends or my girlfriend…
"Marth?"
He's going to beat me again! I already know it when he goes online to look at the list!
"Marth!" A rough hand on the shoulder brought the teen from his inner thoughts. He gasped, thinking it was his father, but relaxed once he saw Ike. "We're here."
"Oh! Thanks for picking me-"
"Are you alright, Marth? You've been very jumpy lately. It's not your dad again, is it?" The younger teen sighed, giving Ike his answer. "How long have you been dealing with this now?"
"...Since my sixth grade year. He didn't start hurting me til my freshman year."
"You're a sophomore in high school now! This has got to stop."
"I only have two and a half more years left. Once I get to college, I'm pursuing a career in art and that's finally. No more 'Lowell Legacy' anymore," he sighed, subconsciously fingering another scar.
"Lowell Legacy?"
"It's something I've deemed on my own family. My mother and sister are actors and my father's a director. I have to continue down that path."
"And you don't want it?" Ike sighed, knowing the gravity of the situation his best friend was in.
"I just don't know what to do Aiku! If I disappoint my father, who knows what he'll do to me!" He deposited his trash in a nearby trash can, placing if half-drank cup of coffee in a pocket on the side of his bookbag.
He continued to walk, stuck in his own head before he something brightly colored caught his vision. He looked up, meeting the eyes of a boy with cardinal red hair and ocean blue eyes. He gave a small smile and a wave, Marth returning the gesture with his own smile before he continued on with Ike.
"You know him?" Ike asked, turning to the younger classmen.
"...No. He must be new or something." He turned back, seeing the boy grabbing what looked to be his schedule. "Maybe I'll get a chance to meet him."
"Well I gotta go to practice. See you around." With that, the senior left the sophomore in the hallway by himself.
"So, how did first period treat you?" A blonde boy named Link, Roy's mentor, had asked him. Though they were in the same class, they didn't sit near each other.
The boy shrugged. "Chem is chem. I've never been much of a sciencey person though. Surprisingly enough, math is my forte."
Link gave an offhanded reply before looking at the shorter male. "What's your next class?"
"Um…" He fumbled around with the piece of paper before smiling ever so slightly. "Japanese III."
"One level below advanced your sophomore year. I'm impressed! I hear it's a tough class though."
"I'll manage." They stopped in front of a class and Roy gasped.
"What's the matter?"
"Is this my class?"
"Yeah…" Link replied slowly. "What about it?"
"Who's that blue haired boy? The one that everyone's crowded around." That same boy from this morning…of course I ended up having a class with him.
"Oh, him? That's Marth. He's the most popular kid in tenth grade, if not the entire school. His best friend is a senior; top athlete in the school. He also happens to be dating one of the prettiest girls in our grade."
"Oh…" Roy's heart sank a little.
"I could introduce you if you'd like. He's a good friend of mine."
"Thank you, but no thank you. You should get to your next class."
"Alright then. See you around." Link walked away and Roy walked into the class.
He had barely stepped into the classroom however, before the teacher came in, storming into the classroom with a loud voice. "Alright, everyone in your seats! We have a new student joining us." Roy gulped as his teacher's eyes locked onto his soul. He then looked down at the paper. "Elroy Pherae?"
"Yes sir, but I go by Roy."
"Take a seat next to Marth, please." He sighed, ignoring the teen's reply. He looked around with another sigh. It just so happened, the only empty seat was next to Marth.
He reluctantly sat down before the teacher continued. "Well, Mr. Pherae, my name is Itsuki Higashi, but you will address me as Mr. Higashi unless speak to me in Japanese which is a must in this class. If you fail to accomplish this, I am not afraid to drop you down, especially seeing as you are a sophomore. Any questions?" Roy shook his head, confusion in his eyes. "Good. Now, as this is the first day back from a long break, all I am asking you to do is write about what you did over the break. And, thank me later because this is the last time you will do so…you can write it in English." There was a collective cheer before Mr. Higashi set a fifteen minute timer and a hushed whisper went over the class.
"So Pherae, huh?" Roy looked up to see that Marth was the one who had asked the question.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"You wouldn't happen to be related to Eliwood Pherae, would you?"
"He's my dad," Roy replied, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
"My father said that Mr. Pherae often talks about a boy my age, but he'd never let me meet him. It's nice to actually meet you."
Roy smiled, relieved at the turn of the conversation. "Likewise…Who's your dad? I haven't seen many teens come around."
"Cornelius Lowell-"
"Like the director?!" Roy whisper cried, and Marth blushed before nodding. "Oh…I'm sorry if you don't like hearing that-"
"No, no…it's alright. Just only a select few people know. Please don't tell anyone."
"Your secret's safe with me, Marth."
"Thank you, Roy…you don't mind, right?"
Roy stopped writing again. "Mind what?"
"Me calling you Roy, I mean, with your name being Elroy and all-"
"No, it's cool. I prefer it over Elroy. It sounds too formal."
"Mr. Elroy, Mr. Marth, you seem to be doing a lot of talking over there. You're down to five minutes."
"Arigatōgozaimasu (Thank you, Sir)," Marth replied, continuing to write his paper.
The two were silent for the last five minutes before the timer went off. "Alright, you have your paragraph?" There was a collective grunt of approval from the class before Mr. Higashi continued. "Now…you all have the remainder of class to translate into conversational Japanese. Your time starts now." There was a collective groan before the class went silent.
Roy leaned over to Marth, who was busily writing. "Does he always do stuff like this?" Marth only nodded in reply before Roy sighed.
After about ten minutes, he had translated his paragraph and was now stretching out a hand cramp. He sighed before he looked at the time. There's still fifteen minutes of class left. How bad would I look if I turned it in now?
"Can you write kanji?" The voice startled the red haired teen and he looked at his partner, grinning mischievously.
"Yeah…why?" He whispered back, making sure the teacher wasn't looking.
"Our next unit is learning how to write Japanese instead of writing it conversationally. If you show him that you already can, you'll be on his good side, I promise."
Roy nodded before looking back at his paper, rewriting the entire thing in kanji.
Before he even knew time had passed, the bell rang, signalling the end of second period. "Alright, whether you are finished or not, turn in your papers!"
One by one, the entire class turned in their papers, Marth and Roy being the last two. They set them down on Mr. Higashi's desk and started to walk away before he cleared his throat. Both sophomores gulped before turning. "Kanji? Is this some kind of joke or do you actually know how to write it?"
"We both know, sir," Roy replied, looking at the blue haired teen before continuing. "I'm not sure about Marth, but I've been speaking and writing Japanese as long as I have English. My father spoke it and taught me."
"Same situation as Mr. Marth, I see," he replied offhandedly before dismissing the both of them, but there was clear amusement in his eyes.
Roy's two periods before lunch, history and writing had been a drag. He had seen Link again in his writing class and met two twins, Robin and Reflet, in history, who were both amazing at it. It now came time for lunch.
He was navigating the halls with the aforementioned twins, though he was still in his own mind, halfheartedly conversing with the two. "So what does your dad do, Roy?" The female, Robin had asked after an uncomfortable, awkward, silence.
"He's a lawyer. I'm not quite sure about the specific cases he'll take though."
"Like that whole kidnapper case?"
Roy looked at the snow haired female in confusion. "How do you know about that?"
"It made the news. 'Eliwood Pherae: An Unlucky Case or a Rigged Escape?' I personally think it was rigged-"
"Believe me, it was. I was there. But in any case, that's why we moved up here."
"For that one case alone?" Reflet asked, stepping into the lunchroom.
"Well, it's a little more complicated than that but-"
"Hey, Roy!" The three teens turned at the sound of the voice and saw Marth jogging towards them.
"We're going on ahead. We both agreed to tutor in the library during lunch. See you soon." With that, both of them were off, leaving Roy to himself in the room.
"So I see you met the twins."
"Yeah, a nice bunch, if not a bit odd."
"It's a nice odd though. They mean no harm."
"Of course!" Roy surveyed the lunchroom and the many lines he had to choose from. "There's so many options."
"I'll take you to my favorite place." He grabbed his hand and they set off to a sandwich shop with no line.
"Well, if it isn't Marth Lowell back here again," the lunch lady laughed, smiling at the teen."
"You know you have the best lunch options in my opinion," Marth replied, looking up at the menu. "I'll take my usual."
"And for your friend?"
"Same thing."
"Alright then." She disappeared behind the counter before coming out with two trays. "I've added them both on your tabs. You gentlemen are both good."
"Thank you ma'am!" Roy replied and he couldn't help but smile.
They walked to the lunch table, talking of trivial nonsense before they both came to a table with four people; three guys and a girl. "Everyone," Marth announced to the table. "This is Roy. He's new here." The two sat down and Roy shyly waved back. "Roy, you already know Link I assume. And these two are Pit and Ike. The girl is Cadea."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Roy replied.
"So what's the rest of your schedule look like?" Link asked, trying to finish chew a portion of a salad he was picking at.
"After lunch I have archery, then law, then art."
"Well, those are all classes with at least one of us," Ike, a senior with indigo hair replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Pit and I have archery after lunch," Link replied, waiting for the rest of the group to finish off.
"I take law seventh period," Ike commented with an uncharacteristic smile.
"And Marth and I take art eighth period," the girl, Cadea, replied before looking at Marth.
"Well that's reassuring. So what do you guys do here? Like, how I do archery and whatnot?"
"Pit and I both do archery and I play the flute in band," Link replied, patting a black case sticking from his backpack.
"I'm cheer captain, so it takes up most of my time." Cadea replied and Roy nodded.
"I do theatre and track," Marth replied and Roy almost choked on his water.
"You do track?"
"Is it that big of a surprise?"
"No! I mean…I'm not trying to be rude but…" By now, he had turned as red as his hair and the whole table laughed.
"It's fine, Roy. I get that a lot. I'm in athletics but I only do track so most people don't know. I'm not Mr. Jock over here." He pointed at Ike, who quickly swatted up younger man's hand away.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Varsity Football-" Pit started.
"Varsity Basketball…" Cadea continued.
"Cross country," Link added, counting on his fingers.
"And we all know that he's doing track and field." Marth finished, looking at Ike with pure mockery in his eyes. "Wanna try me again?"
"I'm sorry that I haven't broken the school's track record…how many times again? Three? Four?"
"It was three, Ike Greil, thank you very much!" Marth snapped back, pouting a little before turning back to Roy. "What about you?"
"I only do archery, but I'm pretty good if I do say so myself."
"Well, we'll find out soon." Link looked up at the huge clock on the wall. "We have five minutes of lunch left."
Roy's day had continued normally. He had proven his worth in archery, showed off his knowledge in law and even displayed some of his previous work in art. All in all, it was a great day.
He walked through the crowded hallway, trying to reach the door until he spotted Marth. He walked up to the teen and tapped his shoulder, resulting in a shocked flinch from the latter. "Oh…it's just you, Roy. Forgive me. You just startled me."
"Are you alright, Marth? You look like you've seen a ghost or something." Roy's brows furrowed as he watched his friend try to laugh it off.
"I'm quite alright, thank you. I'm just waiting on Ike. He said he left something in the locker room."
"Okay…"Roy replied slowly, not buying the bluenette's story.
"Is there something you need? You look quite concerned yourself."
"Oh right! So, you know that art project?" Marth nodded in reply. "Well, I told the teacher that I had started something similar at my old school, and I was wondering if I could come over and you could look at it to see if it's right."
"Of course! I'd love that," Marth replied, relief in his eyes before they heard a car horn. They both look up and Roy shifted his backpack on his shoulders.
"That's my dad. So how about at six?"
"I'm okay with that. I'll see you soon, Roy." With a wave, the redhead walked to his dad's car. Marth was hiding something just now. It's as if he's terrified to go home. I hope he's alright.
Roy is definitely on to something...But I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Look out for more. Comment, like and tell your friends cause the more the merrier!
See you guys l8tr!
