A/N: Hey all! Thanks for reading! This is going to be a bit slow before any relationships form as I want them to build up genuinely and realistically, so I hope that's not scaring you off! It's all going perfect for now, right? Well maybe so, but not for too long ;)
Please review if you have the time. I'd love to know what you like, love, dislike or even hate. I hope you're all enjoying it!
After everyone is properly introduced I think you'll find that things will start to heat up :) Alas, hereby: Introductions.
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Chapter Three: Introductions
As we arrived, Kairi let go of me to knock on the door. Before her third knock, the door was opened by a tall, slightly tanned man sporting short blonde spikes in an upward fashion, held up by a pair of dusty goggles. And when I mean blonde, he was really blonde. Like, almost yellow. He wore a white shirt, braised with dust and tar, embellished by a long golden chain hosting large, army-type dog tags. He had a thick leather tool belt around his waist, over his tatty jeans that looked rather worn, hosting a few screwdrivers and pliers.
"Heya Kair- Oh? Who's this? The new student Headmaster Arkridge was talking about? Well, hey there sport!" The middle-aged man smiled, patting my brown spiked hair slightly. "I'm Mr. Icanza, but you can just call me Cid." The man winked, smirking as the tweed rod in his lip twerked upward. "Though maybe best to stick to formalities when we're around the other teachers." Cid placed his knuckles on his waist and fell back into a hearty laugh. His voice was rather rough, and his hands were a blackish shade – presumably from working with wood and metal.
"Hey Cid," I retorted casually. "My name's Sora. Sora Kanoa. Nice to meet you."
Cid shrugged, throwing his head up as he massaged his neck.
"Well I best get back to class, I have all these twerps to teach." The man uttered under his breath. "Hope to see ya in one of my classes in the coming week!"
Both Kairi and I nodded at the man as he began to close the door.
"He's an interesting fellow." I started, turning to her.
"Yeah, he's pretty awesome! To be honest I don't even really like anything about woodwork other than when we get to do our annual raft building, but he's just one of those teachers that is really nice." She paused, taking out her timetable. "We have... Literature – That's Professor Mako. He's a little... odd. There's... Miss Reke, our History teacher? She's really nice."
I shook my head with a stifled yawn.
"Ummm..." She pondered, examining her paper. "Then there's Mrs Kirin, the Maths teacher... Mr Dadry, our art teacher... and finally Professor Okiru – Science. So what will it be, Sor?" She pondered up inquisitively from her homework diary. I couldn't help but lock gaze with those soulful, misty sky eyes. I chuckled.
"I'm pretty good at Science. We'll go there next?" I piped up confidently.
"Sure! The Science department is this way."
We spent the rest of the afternoon meeting the rest of the teachers. Mr Okiru was a tall young man with what I'd like to say were upside-down tear tattoos beneath his eyes. He had spiked long red hair that reminded me of a flame, swept behind his head in a mane-like manner. He seemed really friendly, yet a bit arrogant. Maybe confident was a better way to describe him. Like Cid, he asked us to call him by his first name, Axel, or Mr A. for short. A Cheshire cat grin clung to his demeanour, a grin that I would soon to know to be notorious with the fiery red head.
"I look forward to having you in my class, Sora." He said lightly, cracking an even wider grin. "I love a skilled scientist!" Clearly the headmaster had mentioned something to him from looking at my previous school reports. With that, we moved onto the next classrooms.
Mr Dadry was silver haired middle aged gentleman. He reminded me of Riku, so much so that they could be father and son, or brothers. But unlike Riku's cheeky and outgoing character, his expression was glazed with a sinister look. He seemed nice enough, but something about him just gave me the creeps. I wondered briefly how Riku's first day without me at Destiny High was going.
Mrs Kirin was a striking blonde with hard, yet beautiful features. She sported stunning bright turqouise eyes, stronger saturated than my own. Two thin pigtails arched from either side of her hair that was framing her face, reminding me of an insect's antennae. She was curt in her words, and honestly, a bit scary.
Miss Reke was a blushing young woman that wore her auburn hair in plaits, adorned by a large bow. She seemed extremely sweet, as Kairi had suggested.
In the Literature block we met Professor Mako. He was a man in his early twenties, displaying a long fringe that covered most of his face. I was rather awed by his blue-tinged hair. He didn't speak much, seemingly lost in a huge text book laid upon his desk.
Finally having met all the teachers for the day along with a couple of students, we puffed as we finally could sit down for only twenty minutes before school ended.
"Phew!" I heaved, falling flat on my backside next to the standing Kairi. She giggled, tilting her head. After a moment she gracefully came to sit beside me, cross legged.
"So Sora," She began, eyeing me lightly from my side, "What do you think!?" She was reaching her hand over for mine now. Oh god oh god.
"U-uhm..." I stuttered, feeling my cheeks rise in temperature as her fingertips landed on top of my own. "Well, yeah! The school is gorgeous... and it was great... an-" I was a deep crimson now, stopping to gasp as her dainty hand had encompassed my own. I felt a bead of sweat trickle over my brow.
"Just great?" She had turned towards me now. My heart felt so light that I felt it was going to burst through my chest and float away into the sky. I turned away, trying to hide the embarrassing glow lit upon my face.
"Well, the teachers were cool, and I like the lockers... and you're cool... I mean." I could see a slight smirk playing upon her lips out of the corner of my eye. Gosh I am such a dork. How could I be so obvious with her!? She was clearly enjoying it.
She casually removed her hand, placing it back on her knee.
"Well! I'm glad you enjoyed it!" She said happily, closing her eyes and tilting her head slightly into that adorable grin she does so well. I finally breathed out, having forgotten that I actually needed a flow of oxygen.
"Yeah, me too! To be honest I was a little scared of it all." I grinned back goofily, cocking my head full of chocolate spikes back at her. The deepened blush upon my cheeks finally subsided.
"Scared? Why? Everyone here is scared of Destiny High, not the other way 'round!" She tried not to giggle at me.
"Well, y'know. Expectations on me and stuff. It's been a bit hard this last year." I sighed.
Her sapphire eyes peered soulfully into my own, expressing a deep form of sadness and understanding. She had understood, to some extent. Her father had left them for another man on the mainland. She used to go every second weekend to go see him, at her father's expense, however he had stopped paying for the visits as of late; or so my mother told me. Anger entwined with the sadness in her eyes.
She paused.
"Yeah..." She redirected her vision to the sky, leaning back on her arms behind her. "It's been a stupid year for everyone, really."
We sat like that for some time, a slight awkward tension between us. I was daydreaming, looking for figures in the clouds when the end of school bell finally chimed out throughout the school's yards. I hastily stood up, reaching for Kairi's hand to help her up.
"Shall we go back to the lockers? I must admit, I kinda forgot where they are!" I chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood.
"Of course!" She attempted to smile in return, though this smile only ended up being more broken than the last. She refused my hand and helped herself up.
I quietly followed her to the locker area, where she then went off to her own without a word after leading me to mine. I sighed, digging in my pocket for my locker key. I opened the locker quickly, grabbing my barely touched school bag and slumping it over one shoulder, before closing it again. I turned to find a familiar face in front of my own.
"Oh... Hey Yuffie." I sighed lightly, putting some attempt into my voice to sound enthusiastic. I had just about blown it with Kairi, why would I even bring up all this stuff so soon? "How was class?"
"Good." She paused, studying my hand holding up my bag strap. "Hey, can you do me a favour?"
I felt my heart sink. Oh god. Is she going to ask me to back off Kairi? I mean, I already managed to stuff that up for myself already!
"What's up?" I managed to reply, still feeling a bit down from the previous events.
"Can you uh... Walk Kairi to the ferry? Usually I do it, but my parents want me home early today as I have to help my little sister with her homework... First day and all, y'know?" She asked somewhat shyly, though her folded arms made her come across cold.
I felt the pit in my stomach lift.
"Oh! Sure." I smiled. My mum had told me I would have to walk home today as it is as she had to work late and couldn't get time off. "Maybe next time I can come with you guys, too?"
The dark haired girl paused, trying her best not to scrunch up her nose.
"Sure." She finally replied. "Oh, and welcome to Destiny Grammar, Sora." She pinched my cheek lightly as she walked past me to go out the gates. As she finally left my sight, I let myself grin. I hurried towards Kairi's locker.
"Oh, hey Sora!" She managed a crooked smile. "Well, I'm heading off... See ya tomorrow?"
"Well, actually I was gonna ask if I could walk you to the ferry? My mum won't be home till late and I wouldn't mind the company... and uh-" I blushed, "Yuffie asked if I could, too."
She seemed a little disappointed. I mentally smacked my forehead with my palm. Way to make it sound like it's a chore, Sora!
"Um, sure." She outstretched a hand for me to take. My lips trembled nervously as I reached out and took it into a firm hold.
We walked silently down to the docks, taking in the deep sea-salted air as a windy breeze fell upon us. She never let go of my hand, not once the entire way there.
We neared the wharf, the sounds of waves crashing against the pale sand filling our ears. I stopped, turning to look at her as she wistfully did the same, catching her hair in her hand.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I can be a bit dull sometimes." I sighed, my gaze downcast to the concrete path.
She peered at me before suddenly pulling me into a very tight hug.
"Why are you apologising?" She whispered against my chest. She let go of her hold, knotting her hands loosely behind her back as she often did as a child.
"Don't be, silly! See ya tomorrow, Sor?"
The horn for the ferry sounded before I could reply, indicating five minutes before departure.
"I better go!" She chuckled, quickly planting a kiss upon my cheek and turning around to leave for the ferry. I held my cheek, feeling the heat from her warm breath, watching her skip away. Time seemed to slow.
"OH. Hey, Kairi!" I exclaimed. "Don't forget to ask your mum about tomorrow!" I finished, waving.
"I won't!" She giggled, hopping on the ferry.
I waited until the ferry had left and was almost out of site before I finally turned to walk home. I felt at peace for the first time in years, and I hungered for more from those sweet lips that had embellished my cheek. Life was good.
