Noise Pollution
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Still don't own Kingdom Hearts. So this idea is still stuck as a fanfic. One day though, one day….
Just a warning, there will be an underage relationship portrayed here, so if that offends you, avert your eyes immediately. I do not condone these relationships in real life, but this is fiction and I can't say I don't have fantasies regarding this sort of situation. I am a total pervert. Also, a major word of thanks to my recently acquired Beta, Ahxis! Her critiques were very welcome to my inexperienced ears. You rock, you lovely person, you!
The next morning, at around five, Roxas slowly woke, rubbing his crusted over, red, puffy eyes. The previous night, despite re-opening a not quite healed wound, had been just the liberating experience that he had needed. This had granted him his first truly peaceful sleep in months.
After sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Roxas swung his legs over the side of the bed and proceeded to stand in a very lethargic manner. Brushing his lip length bangs out of his eyes, he proceeded to make his way to the bathroom to prepare for the ever impending day. While in the middle of a very invigorating hot shower, Roxas suddenly recalled that he had an errand to run after school let out, meaning that his routine of coming straight home and staying there would have to be broken. Bemoaning this fact, Roxas let a groan of anguish escape him and slumped against the tiled wall.
'Great,' Roxas sarcastically mused, 'I may have nothing urgent to do to use as an excuse to shirk this responsibility, but gimme a break. I have to go clear across the city to see another useless counselor that won't even listen if I bother to say what's gnawing at me. A day spent with lotion and a Playboy would be more constructive than any number of visits to any number of these charlatans!'
Stepping out of the shower, he gave himself a once over and deemed himself fit for "decent society", only taking roughly thirty seconds to run a comb through his eternally unruly dirty blonde locks. Following that, he outfitted himself in his standard attire of beat up black Converse, and worn, loose fitting jeans. He selected a black shirt emblazoned with the seal of The Ramones, and finally donned his practically trademark thin, drab army jacket.
Entering the kitchen at 6 on the dot, Roxas started grabbing and arranging the materials- such as flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, milk, an egg, and some sugar- needed to prepare himself a tall stack of warm, fluffy pancakes. Whilst mixing the batter, Roxas debated making extra for the sole other occupant of the house. Since he never knew when the man in question would choose to wake up, preparing food for him could result in the meal still sitting where he placed it, cold and unappetizing at that point, upon his return from school.
Deciding to throw the dog a bone, regardless of how ungrateful the little bastard was, Roxas started to mix the batter for the other set while his cooked on the stove. After flipping his, and upon seeing the surface turn to a warm golden brown, he placed them upon a plate, stacked nice and high, then proceeded to smother the towering arrangement with enough syrup to give a diabetic a panic attack, tucking in and scarfing them down in a short span of time. Savoring the taste, he rose from his seat, bringing his now soiled plate and fork along with him, and walked over to the sink to rinse off his used cutlery. While he was doing this, Roxas glanced at the clock on the wall, reading the time as five past seven. He set the dishes in the adjacent drying rack, and then dragged his feet back to his room to brush his teeth and grab his backpack.
Letting the sticky white paste cling to the bristles of the brush, Roxas got to work, scrubbing every last nanometer of his teeth that he could possibly reach for a good four minutes. Flashing himself an open-lipped grin in the mirror, Roxas was greeted by a dazzling set of pearly whites, showing how effective meticulous oral hygiene could truly be. The only downside was how rarely it graced the world. Despite a hefty amount of effort on his part, he could not bring himself to smile for no reason, which deprived him of a tool that he could use to woo all the pretty girls he came in contact with. Not that he never smiled, he just rarely found a reason to when in the midst of the unholiest abomination to ever plague the Earth: teenagers.
Shaking the mild bout of self-deprecation off, Roxas slung his backpack over his shoulders and sauntered over to the door, ready to begin his trek to school. Grabbing his house key and stowing it in his pocket, he marched to the door, but suddenly stopped in the entryway, seemingly lost in thought. Shaking his head, which seemed to be a recurring action on his part, he shut and locked the door, and then set out on his melancholy way.
Finally arriving at the entrance of the embodiment of oppression that he so hated, Roxas walked down the hallways with his usual standoffish aura seeping out into the ether around him. His ultimate destination was his favorite haunt, the library. He spent roughly every second that he wasn't in a class in that hallowed sanctuary dedicated to silence and literature. It was set up in a way that would set any claustrophobic person's hair on end, with its narrow corridors and the close proximity between each shelf. This layout made it very easy for one to conceal themselves, something Roxas took full advantage of during those times when cutting class was just the thing to do in his mind.
Upon arriving at his special little haunting ground, Roxas immediately took up residence in one of his many cubby holes that he had established throughout the cavernous room. Though they were mostly established so he had multiple hiding places in case someone came looking for him, some of them were kept solely for their location, and he would select a location based on his mood. Today, he chose one that had a rather contented aura. It was situated about twenty feet from a window, leading it to have some level of illumination, though it was far from the brightest area he could have chosen.
Settling himself into a contented slump, Roxas pulled out his phone and, seeing as he had a half hour to kill before the first bell rang, selected Alice In Chains' 'Jar of Flies' EP to listen to, quickly losing himself in the dark and twisted, yet strangely mellow sounds that the music brought forth. Though it was nigh impossible to come out of the EP with a happy feeling in tow, he still found it strangely relaxing in a morbid way. Something about the haunted and isolated sounds of the songs, particularly 'Nutshell' and 'Rotten Apple', invoked an eerie sense of calm and clarity.
'Even though I'm far from immune from unhappy, even self-mutilating thoughts,' Roxas thought, 'It still serves as some form of empathetic release to know that others have felt this way, and far more severely. I suppose finding solace in music that could be represented visually by a large, gaping and bleeding wound is a healthier outlet than a lot of other shit I could be doing.'
After listening to this beloved collection of songs, Roxas put his phone back in his right front pocket and sat stilly and silently, twiddling his thumbs in an attempt to calm the apprehension that had bubbled up inside of him. He sat like this, head directly facing the carpeted floor, until the high pitched dinging of the school bell vibrated his eardrums. Upon recognizing the sound, he drew himself up, letting out a discontented groan in the process, and set off for his first class.
After two supremely dull classes had ended, the ever exasperated Roxas trudged along to third period. Upon entering the room, early as always, he was greeted with a bright and chipper voice addressing him.
"Good morning Roxas," Aerith said, a bright smile on her face, "How's your day been?"
"Good morning to you too, and far from stimulating," Roxas replied.
"Awww, how come?"
"It's just been a very slow, dull day," Roxas replied while taking his seat at the end of the left-most row, away from the window, 'Great…. Just great. Now she's not gonna take the hint and stop talking to me.'
"Why?
"I've learned nothing new today. Instead, I've been reviewing material I already grasp."
"Do you ever try to make yourself have an interest in the material?"
"If my interest isn't piqued organically, then I can't be interested, period." Roxas said, while running his palm down his face in a rather exasperated manner," I can't force myself to be intrigued by something. All I can do is get it done in spite of how bored it makes me."
The conversation ended there, as more students had begun to clamor around the far too small doorway. This drew Aerith's attention, seeing as she had to greet everyone, at least in her mind. Roxas responded by taking the assigned reading out of his backpack, and opening it while staying silent and blending into the background. This tactic generally kept others from engaging in conversation, but like the day before, the esteemed Hayner decided to rain on Roxas's silent, gloomy parade.
"So," Hayner said in a sotto voice while taking his seat, "Get any of it done?"
Though he had, Roxas opted not to respond, hoping beyond hope that the idiot he'd been saddled with would bugger off. This, sadly, was not to be.
"I'll bet you have," Hayner voiced from what had become a very lackadaisical posture, "Since you're such a goddamn genius, right? Nobody knows more than you, even though you never say anything unless a teacher asks you, which must mean you're better than us, huh?"
'No, I just have no desire to talk to any of you pre-judgmental douche canoes. I'm neither superior, nor inferior to anyone in here. I, quite simply, don't like you people.' This thought came to Roxas in the middle of Hayner's enlightening dialogue, making him miss some of it.
"… So, why don't you do this work yourself if you're so fuckin' perfect, you elitist asswipe? Cuz I refuse to contribute a word to this report. If you're smart, you'll do it and slap my name on it as well." Hayner then relaxed, thinking that he had emerged victorious from this little scrap.
Roxas, however, decided to give this infuriatingly cocky braggart what-for. "Or I could just inform Miss Gainsborough that you're refusing to work with me, and let her fail you."
Hayner, surprised by this occurrence, gaped for a second due to seeing the infamous mute speak. Overcoming his momentary stunned silence, Hayner puffed up his chest and did his best to look intimidating, "Right, like you have the balls to do that."
"It doesn't take much courage to sell you down the river." Roxas replied, his posture and tone radiating with amusement. "It's pretty funny that you think I'm gonna be scared into submission by that rooster impression you're doing there, though."
"Do it then," Hayner spat back in much louder tone than before, showing genuine rage in body language and by the volume of his voice, "We'll see if it's still so funny after I thrash your sorry ass."
"The funny part is that I would have cut you a break had you left me alone, but since you're acting like a complete dick, I'm not feeling very generous. So, I'm gonna tell the teacher that you're being horrifically incorrigible, and that'll be the end of it."
Hayner then surprised Roxas by actually taking a swing at him. This proved ineffectual, seeing as Roxas ducked the blow, then rose from his seat and backpedaled in an effort to establish some distance. This caught the attention of the rest of the class, along with Aerith. The class sat and watched as Hayner kept swinging and missing, and Roxas just kept dodging and backpedaling. During this, Aerith had run out of the room in a mad dash for the Principal's office.
Roxas, in the midst of all his dodging, was formulating some sort of plan to prevent him from receiving a violent blow. 'Well, someone seems pissy. Great, now I have to avoid either receiving or delivering a blow. Please keep missing.'
Continuing to dodge the torrent of blows being rained upon him, Roxas accidentally kicked someone's backpack in front of him. Hayner, not noticing this, tripped over said backpack while attempting to deliver a haymaker. This, along with Roxas avoiding the punch, caused him to faceplant into a nearby student's desk, bloodying his nose and knocking him out in the process. Of course, Aerith and Principal Strife didn't enter until after Hayner had slumped onto the floor. They took one look at the scenario: one boy lying unconscious, showing off a clearly broken nose, and another, completely unblemished boy standing above him. They reacted as most adults would, ushering Hayner to the Nurse's office, and forcefully escorting Roxas to the Principal's office.
After being interrogated and thoroughly punished, Roxas stepped out of the office with a rather pissed-off expression plastered on to his face.
'Fan-fucking-tastic…. Two weeks of after-school detention, starting tomorrow. All for skillfully avoiding some slack-jawed idiot's attempt to pulverize my face. You'd think the justice system in a high school would be much more exemplary.'
Grumbling all the while, Roxas made his way back to English, though he'd only be there for roughly ten minutes. Knocking on the door, he braced himself for the inevitable staring and whispering that his presence would be a catalyst for. After Aerith had answered the door, throwing a very disappointed look his way, he made his way to his seat, ignoring the musings of his ever so predictable classmates. Upon sitting down, and adopting his usual thousand yard stare at his desk, he heard Aerith delivering some last minute news.
"… So that's what you have to look forward to tomorrow, class. On a final note, Roxas, since you and Hayner obviously don't get along; you two will be switching partners. Seeing as Hayner is currently detained, I'll just inform you. You'll be partnered with Xion, and I really hope you won't end up knocking HER out."
Hearing that his partner had been exchanged for another, Roxas let a glimmer of relief wash over his face for a few seconds. This rare display of emotion was doubled when confusion swiftly replaced it.
'Xion…? That name doesn't ring any bells, and that's odd. …Oh!' Roxas's face lit up with all the evidence needed to show that he just had a 'Eureka!' moment. 'She must be that new transfer student that was supposed to arrive today… Well, great. Now she's definitely going to think I'm some kind of lunkhead douche who punches people willy-nilly. At least she's not Hayner, I guess.
He began to survey the room for the lone unfamiliar face of his new partner. Within a few seconds, he zeroed in on an unfamiliar face that was two rows over, and a few seats up. As a result of her placement, Roxas could only make out the corner of her face. Other than noting her mid-neck length black hair and pale skin, the angle she was at was too disadvantageous for him to glean any more details.
The bell soon rang, and the classroom became a madhouse as a result of overzealous students clamoring to be the first one out of the door. Roxas, thinking such enthusiasm was wasted on such a simple task, approached the door at a much slower pace. Somewhere between his seat and the door, however, he heard an unfamiliar voice coming from his right side.
"E-e-excuse me," said the mystery person in a wavering voice, "Are you Roxas?'
Roxas turned his head to the right, and took in the girl that stood before him. She was roughly three-quarters of a head shorter than him, and dressed simply in black jeans, cobalt lo top Converse, a leather bracelet with the words 'A Perfect Circle' emblazoned on it, and, to top it all off, a black T-shirt with a rather intricate design of a blue, gothic heart. What was most striking to him, though, were her eyes. They were dark blue, like the ocean, and held a vibrant depth that was easy to find oneself trapped in. Roxas also observed how her eyes flitted to and fro, like she was waiting for something to lunge at her at any moment. Once she began twirling her hair in an anxious manner, he decided to spare the poor girl the awkwardness.
"Uh, yeah, I'm Roxas… You're Xion, I take it?" he said as he awkwardly extended his arm in an attempt to offer a handshake.
"Uh-huh," she replied as she shook his hand with trembling fingers, "I just wanted to s-s-see how you wanted to do things for the project, and I didn't know if I'd see you again today, and I have no way to contact you, and I didn't want to have to wait 'till tomorrow, and-
"Whoa there, relax," he said as he put his arms up in an attempt to appear non-threatening, "I'm not gonna bite you or anything.… We should try to continue this conversation later. D'you know where your next class is?"
"Ummmmm….. Trigonometry with Mr. Leonhart," she said after looking away for a second while lost in thought.
"Oh, me too. Do you need someone to show you where it is?"
"Ummm…" she said as her eyes started moving uncontrollably once again, "Yeah, I guess…. B-but only if it's not an inconvenience-"
"Don't worry, it's not," Roxas reassured her, "But we should make haste, cuz we're gonna be late in a little bit."
With this, the two teens made their way out of the door and into the wild blue yonder of a bustling school hallway.
As the final bell rang, signaling the end of yet another dreary, boredom-filled, suicide-inducing day, Roxas felt a sense of righteous freedom envelop his very essence. However, not long after, a familiar sobering reminder that he would be forced to attend the soul-crushing institution known as high school the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, ad infinitum.
Roxas stood up, and made his way over to Xion's desk. In a massive coinkydink, it turned out, they ended up having the same third, fourth, sixth, and eighth periods together, and had been talking fairly regularly during lulls in the teacher's long-winded speeches about nothing really in particular. As he drew closer, she turned her head in his direction, and gave him another good look at her eyes. Roxas observed that they weren't looking every which way in nervous delirium, and she appeared much less high-strung. Hell, she even had a hint of a smile on her pretty face.
"So…" Roxas began in a very suave manner,scratching the back of his head nervously, "Do you wanna, like, trade numbers or anything for the sake of convenience, or something…?" 'Smooth, Roxas. SMOOTH.'
"Yeah, okay," she said. They then swapped numbers, like teenagers do. "I-I'm gonna try to read as much of the book tonight as I can, and then I'll blow you away with my astounding insight and knowledge on it tomorrow!" At this she finally let shine a goofy beam of a smile.
"Yeah, you go ahead and aim for the stars there, Missy," retorted Roxas dryly, "I'll be sure to catch you when you spiral out and plummet back to Earth." A teasing, lopsided grin that had inexplicably appeared on Roxas's face during that remark served to punctuate his statement.
"I'm gonna make you eat those words, you cocky person, you!" said Xion whilst slinging her backpack over her shoulders and moving to walk with Roxas. They moved throughout the halls, chatting amiably about this, that, and the other thing. During their leisurely bid for freedom, many a student stopped to stare at the infamous wallflower actually talking, smiling, laughing, joking, the whole shebang. After seeing what was surely a sign of the imminent apocalypse, they then noted that he was talking to the new chick. Watching Undesirable Number One actually speaking with more than his derisive glances would be a spectacle that the entire world should be clamoring to feast their eyes on, but seeing him conversing with someone belonging to the Double-X Chromosome Club just made the gossip that would ensue all the more juicy.
Ignoring the slack-jawed gazes of some of the more overtly gawping Rhodes Scholars, Roxas walked over to the main entrance with Xion close behind him. After crossing the threshold to the outside world, they separated for their respective routes home: riding the bus for Xion, and walking home for Roxas. As he trudged along to reach the tram station, he mused on the events that led him to make Xion's acquaintance.
'Well… Never figured I'd actually meet someone who was legitimately cool at that hellish abyss,' thought Roxas as he crossed a vacant street, inching ever closer to his destination, 'Still, it's kind of sad how nervous she was when she first approached me. It's like she had seen a ghost, a zombie, a werewolf, and a vampire having a weird orgy, and then watching the demonic love-child from that unholy union be born. Like something or someone was going to lunge out and take a chunk out of her. I'm glad she was able to lighten up after a bit, though.
At last he had reached the station, and thankfully he had enough Munny to get him a ticket to the Tram Common area. Swiftly purchasing his way to Mr. Therapist, Roxas climbed aboard the tram and took a seat. He surveyed the surrounding area, and noted that it was surprisingly barren. Roxas attributed this to the fact that it had not yet reached five o'clock, which would spell doom for tram-goers everywhere when working men crowded them like exceptionally tightly packed tuna. Shaking his head to rouse himself from his momentary retreat into thought, he noted that the few other passengers included a pretty blue-haired girl and nobody else really worth committing to his ever expanding memory bank. After looking for a few seconds, and realizing that pretty was an understatement in this lady's case, he came to the conclusion that she was simply stunning. Gorgeous, even. Fighting with his more lascivious line of thought, Roxas opted to not stare gapingly at this beautiful woman, and instead diverted his eyes to the window. When the tram finally took off and descended into the tunnels, he found plenty of things to stare at. Plenty of things, indeed.
A/N: Well, this chapter was an exercise in pulling teeth. I assure anyone that still cares that the next update should only take a couple of weeks. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, and stay tuned for more! Read, review, enjoy, and I'll see ya next time!
-TheNotSoTalentedPoet
