Ya-haw! Sorry I'm alil' slow on the update for this week! (Had some internet problem -_-") Well, wow I've got some good reviews so far! Special thanks to those who had commented on my grammatical errors (Sorry cuz' I'm still doing it!) And without further ado~ The 3rd chappy!


CHAPTER III: Battle of the Bands, Here We Come!

The day has still not ended, and already I've made new friends whom I could count on (I guess I can count on Axel too...). Our spirits were high but then Xion brought up an obvious question.

"Uh Ms. President... Where do we meet every day?" She forwarded the question directly at me.

Wait, why me? I'm not club leader material! It should be either Axel or Lightning or-or somebody else besides me! Even Naminé would do okay! (Well, maybe not since she doesn't interact much but...!)

"Oh haha, I'm not the President or leader of this club Xion." I glanced at Axel for help. He merely whistled and coughed a few times suspiciously.

Xion gave me a quizzical look. "But...Axel said you're our club president, Aqua."

"Wait-He said what now?" I was shocked! Appalled! Surprised! And any other form of word that could express my feelings right now as I gave an intense glare that could burn a hole in the back of Axel's spiky head.

Yuffie nodded in agreement to what Xion said. "It's true, see here in the form? Axel had signed your name as our leader cuz!" She gave a winning grin as she handed me a photocopied version of the blue form Mr. Auron had given us.

I took the paper weakly and read it carefully...Yup...sure enough...Club President: Aqua...Vice-President: Axel... I really want to faint right now.

I noticed from the corner of my eye a certain sneaky red-head trying to slip away quietly but with inhumane strength, I gripped his shoulder tightly. I could feel a dark, intangible aura forming around me as I stared at the guilty-looking Axel.

"Axel~ Sweetie~ Why is my name in the President box here? And why is yours in the vice-president box instead~?" I tried to ask him in a calm way, but maybe it somehow sounded scary as Naminé had seek the safety of Aerith's back.

Axel laughed half-heartedly, and it died down fairly quickly as my eyes became slits. "W-Wait! I only did it cuz' well, it was your idea newbie and it's a fair shame if I don't give you some credit for it!" He cowered as I hissed at him venomously.

"So I'm the one taking the brunt of the force when the jocks find out we made a club that's going against them, when we had planned this together?" I hissed again. This time, Naminé gave out a whimper and Aerith patted her head soothingly.

"Hey I'm the vice-president! I'm as good as burnt my ass in this plan too!" Axel objected. I sighed and shook my head. He doesn't get it, does he?

"You see, Axel, sweetie." I ran a finger through his hair in a way where people might say seductively. "When the jocks...no, the whole school sees that a new club has been established that's not under the sports or cultural department and the new kid was the one who supposedly created this club...what are they going to think about, can you hazard a guess~?" My sapphire blue eyes were burning in his acid green ones.

Axel gulped as he took a brave attempt for the most important answer in his life. "They're...gonna think you got balls?" He answered timidly.

Something inside of me snapped. "WRONG!" I twirled around and threw Axel into the air with my body, and he landed on the grass with a dull 'thud'.

The others let out an 'oooh!' and clapped their hands.

"The girl knows Judo." Lightning said, impressed.

Axel lie on the ground, spread-eagle and was staring at the blue sky. I landed slowly beside him, getting my face as close to his as possible (control the blush! ).

"See Axel, sweetie, they're gonna think of how to skin me alive over this lil' news. Imagine the new girl challenging the school order? It's like a Padawan going against the Jedi Order!" I gently pushed the strand of hair that was in his right eye.

Axel was breathing heavily for some reason, and then he let out a wolf-whistle. "I think I'm in love."

I immediately turned red from his comment. Noticing the close proximity between us, I quickly got up and adjusted my glasses. Yuffie let out a snicker while Cloud was grinning at me for some reason.

"I-Idiot..." I gave him a punch in his arm as he laughed.

"So...about the clubroom?" Xion asked again, bringing both of us to our senses.

"Oh yeah...What are we gonna do about the clubroom?" I looked inquiringly at Axel.

As if on cue, Ven jumped in front of me, grinning from ear to ear while holding a key in his hand.

"Got this from winning a dare against the archery club. Dunked myself inside a pool of gooey slime for this room-key here." Ven dangled the key in front of me.

"So that's why you're covered in slime! That's a stupid thing to do Ven!" I said crossly.

The young boy ruffled his hair guiltily as he chuckled a bit. "I wanted to do something for you guys...I couldn't find anyone so the best I could do is find us a clubroom at least." He twiddled his fingers together.

I gave an inward 'aww' but I was still mad at him for doing this on his own.

"Be proud of the lil' guy Aqua. I mean, he did it for our sake, that's cool in my books." Demyx sat beside me and strummed his guitar.

I wanted to argue with the blonde but something stopped me. The Battle of the Bands! I suddenly remembered!

"Demyx!" I grabbed the guitarist's shoulders. "We have to go to the faculty room quick! The Battle of the Bands! We haven't signed up yet and-"

Demyx held a finger on my lips. "Chill Aqua, Axel's got it covered already. He sent our form in hours ago after Auron gave us the green light." Behind Demyx, Axel gave a small wink to me.

I tried not to blush too much as I thought of the possibility. Axel's got it covered? Well, he is kinda always two steps ahead of us in these kinda stuffs so... "That was very intelligent of you Axel." Intelligent? Laaammmeee!

Axel stood up and bowed deeply. "Why thank you ma'am for the compliment." He joked and laughed. "Well, it's the best place to announce our existence to the whole school anyway. The battle's in a week so we have time to prepare." He clapped his hands.

I agree with his idea. The school hall would be the best place to...Waitaminute... I had a sinking feeling about the 'we' part.

"Umm, Axel..." I poked his shoulder to get his attention.

"Sup'?" He wheeled around.

I tilted my head slightly and gave him an inquiring look. "Umm, just by who do you mean we are going to perform during the competition?" Please don't let him do anything stupid...

"Why us of course! Demyx is the lead guitarist, Light's on bass, Yuffie's the keyboardist and I'm the drummer!" He recounted with his fingers.

"And the singer would be..." I made circular motions with my hand, egging him to go on.

"You of course." Axel stated matter-of-factly.

I face palmed myself from his idiocy. "Are-you-nuts?" I really want to strangle this red-headed idiot right now!

"C'mon it'll be fun Aqua. I heard you humming yesterday, I can tell you have a great voice!" He raised his hands up in declaration mode.

"That-was-humming! This is singing we're talking about! I haven't sang in front of a crowd since fifth grade!" I shuddered as I remembered the horrible choir piece my class made for Teacher's Day. Our Homeroom teacher practically dropped on her knees in tears, although I was pretty sure it's because we finally stopped singing and she doesn't have to go to an ears specialist after that.

"I know, Yuffie told me." Axel pointed to his back where my cousin was waving her hand at me. "She vouched for your voice though, said you were brilliant."

I stood there, aghast at the two of them and their plan. "You guys are killing me here!" I groaned. First the president thing, now this!

Yuffie made her way to me and gave me a hug. "Aww c'mon cuz', it'll be fun! Sides I know you have an awesome voice! After all, that's how you snagged Za-"

"That's enough Yuff!" I quickly covered her mouth with my hand. I was sweating profusely now. H-How could she bring him up in this conversation? Thinking about him brings back a sense of humiliation and fear that I haven't felt since my last year in middle school.

Yuffie realized she shouldn't have brought him into the conversation. She face palmed herself and wiped the sweats of my face. "I'm so sorry cuz'! Just relax okay? Just relax..." She caressed my face with her hand gently.

"Who're you guys talking about now?" Axel seemed to have watched the entire show. He was showing a 'tell-me-everything!' expression.

However, Yuffie spread her arms in-between me and Axel. "Nuh-uh, girls secret Axel. Can't tell you that." I appreciate Yuffie's timely assistance. I wasn't in the mood to talk about old flames...

Axel merely shrugged and said "Whatever." He looked at Ven, who nodded at him and went to the front of the group.

"Alright everybody, let's go check our clubroom before the dismissal bell goes off okay? The band stays here for a group meeting." Ven clapped his hands energetically and guided the group into the school.

Cloud stayed behind with us as the band huddled up together for a short meeting.

"You guys can use my equipments I got in my garage. It's been a while since anybody used them but they're still pretty brand new." He offered.

"Thanks buddy, that'll be helpful." Axel thanked the spiky-haired teen. "So we all good with our instruments? No complains?"

I wanted to voice out but Yuffie stepped on my foot lightly to shut me up. I gave her a frown as she gave a thumb up at Axel.

"Good. Practice starts tomorrow at Cloud's place. He lives on his own so I don't think we're gonna bother anybody if we make a ruckus." Axel explained to us.

I mentally jotted down Cloud's address and waited for Axel to continue.

"Got it memorized? Great, next up is our song choice. We only got one shot at this so we need a really, really one hell of a crowd pleaser of a song. Aqua, you're the lead vocalist so it's your pick. The rest of us will follow through." He concluded.

I made to protest again but Yuffie made a 'tut-tut' sound and forced me to stay quiet.

"Alright guys, this is our first activity! The five of us are gonna raise one hell of a show! We need the others to help out with stuffs too so let's get going to the clubroom." Spontaneously Axel ran into the school.

"I'm guessing he's expecting us to follow him..." Lightning rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, walking into the school.

I stayed behind as I feel like my legs are gonna fall down. In a week I'm gonna sing in front of the whole school... I shuddered at the thought. Worst of all is tomorrow... When everyone's gonna know about our club... I massaged my temple. This is gonna be a loooong week...


Aqua


I was right.

The next day a bunch of flyers went up around the school stating our new club being established. Rumours flew around the school as fast as the gossips could carry them.

It started out with the truth where all of us (which includes Axel and Lightning) plotted this out as a sanctuary for the outcasts. Then it snowballed into how we sneak-attacked Larxene at the school dumps (Lightning shifted uncomfortably at this piece of information) and I openly declared war to the jocks and that I'm currently building a secret army of outcasts to overthrow Principal Ansem (which is ridiculous but hey, that's what rumours are!).

The jocks were eyeing me with daggers in their eyes and some (Seifer and Kuja) spilled a whole can of soda on my head. They high-fived each other as the other students laughed uncomfortably, as if forced by the circumstances. The laughter died down instantly however, with the appearance of a deadly looking Cloud and a nervous Xion (who apparently had reshaped her hair into something better!).

The jerks eyed them both uneasily and before they could pick a fight, Axel and Demyx had snuck up behind them and put a bunch of cockroaches (eww!) that they were supposed to bring to the biology lab into their pants.

Both Seifer and Kuja wriggled around and yelped as the cockroaches roam around in their trousers and they had to remove them in the end. They let out a series of curses as we laughed at their misfortune.

During recess, I saw Aerith was reading by herself in the school garden. I was happy for the fact that she's finally out of the dusty library and chatted with her for a while before we walked towards the cafeteria.

Our little 'black spot' had grown larger with the addition of Naminé, Aerith, Cloud, Xion and Fang. Yuffie had put up a board showing our club name (renamed 'Angel Wings' because Aerith said that angels could fly in the sky and be free, despite her having a certain fear over the sky) and our motto: We strive to help ourselves and everyone like us.

After school the girls (minus Yuffie, whom had mysteriously disappeared) had the pleasure of becoming housemaids to clean the clubroom as the boys had run off with multiple excuses (the worst being Ven, who said he got ballet practice at home).

True, Ven had given us a big help by winning a clubroom but he didn't mention the cobwebs, dusts and trashes that the archery club had left in their wake.

"This is gonna take ages." Lightning rolled her eyes. I thought she looked quite odd what with an apron around her waist and a scarf on her head (She looks like Cinderella!). I was wearing the same thing though (I swapped my hat for the scarf!).

"Don't worry, us girls can manage it if we do it together!" Aerith pumps her muscles (which she has none) and sweeps the floor with a broom.

Naminé was wiping the windows with Fang's help (Because she can't reach the higher windows) so me and Xion were left with mopping the floor...if we had a mop that is... We resorted to using old clothes instead that Aerith had brought along with her.

"So Aqua, I heard you transferred from Departure High." Xion suddenly asked me. I was caught by surprise from the girl's question but she seemed fairly curious.

"Umm yeah...I guess I haven't told you guys yet why I transferred huh?" I skipped ahead to the big question everyone wanted to ask.

Xion and the other girls shook their head.

I guess I can trust them with this lil' secret of mine. After all, aren't we supposed to be friends?

"The reason's real easy though...my old man kicked me outta' the house." I said simply.

Somewhere inside the room Aerith had dropped the broom. Everyone was quiet (whoa, I thought it was easy to understand!).

Suddenly Xion had hugged me. "Oh I'm sooo sorry to hear that Aqua! I shouldn't have asked!" She apologized as she squeezed the air out of me.

"W-What for? I'm not sad..." I couldn't lie about that I guess. I wanted to be strong so I pretended I was fine with being disowned but...I managed a fake smile anyways.

"But for a father to give the boot to his daughter? That's harsh hun'." Fang shook her head.

"If it's not too personal...Why did your father kick you out?" Aerith asked, folding her arms.

I grew quiet for a moment. "It's...something personal. Sorry Aerith..." I gave her an apologizing look. I wasn't ready to talk about that yet.

Aerith merely shook her head and smiled. "No, no, you don't have to apologize dear. But if there's anything you need just ask from us okay?" She gave me a sisterly hug, and the rest hugged me too (even Lightning, although her arms were stiff).

"R-Right, so anyways we need to get back to cleaning this room! We'll go grab a soda after this kay?" I quickly changed the subject. Everyone agreed and continued with their work.

I gave an inward sigh and stared at the dirty old cloth. No use thinking about it now. I told myself again and continued wiping the floor.

A few minutes of silence passed as we concentrated on our chore. Soon I was feeling a lot like Cinderella! Maybe I should act the part too...What was the song she sang when she was doing something like this? Oh yeah... I began humming the tune.

Hm Hm Hm,

I didn't know why but I began singing the song.

So this is love, Mmmmmm

So this is love

So this is what makes life divine

I'm all aglow, Mmmmmm

Aerith waved her hands to the others silently and pointed at me, but I was too distracted to notice.

And now I know

The key to all heaven is mine

My heart has wings, Mmmmmm

Cool, bubbles! Floating spheres that were reflecting my images!

And I can fly

I'll touch ev'ry star in the sky

So this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of

I was really into the song right now. Wow, Disney songs can be addictive!

Mmmmmm

Mmmmmm

So this is love

As I finished suddenly I heard a loud crash behind me. Aerith gave a startled cry while Lightning wheeled around, readying herself for any attacks. A window had shattered, it seems.

"Wow, did your voice do that hun'?" Fang joked and relaxed.

Guess the window was old and loose. Lightning had taken a spare old cloth and began picking up the shattered pieces.

"What?" I looked at her, confused.

"You were singing." Xion said with a smirk.

I raised my eyebrows at them. "I was singing...? Oh...!" I mentally slapped myself. I was singing the Cinderella song! I thought I was too engrossed in it that I didn't notice I was singing it out loud!

My face grew red as I muttered an "it's nothing..." and continued wiping the floor.

"Nuh-uh, I heard it too as well. You have a beautiful voice Aqua." Aerith sighed merrily.

Again, I couldn't help but to blush as the others were grinning at me. Lucky no one else heard it...


Terra


"Sigh* Xemnas was being a pain today..." I grumbled to myself. Earlier that day Xemnas had called all of the captains for a meeting again (although Sephiroth and Vanitas were missing). He wanted us to find out more about this supposedly 'new' club that's threatening to change the school's order.

Not that I care. Hey, it's just a club right? Just let them do whatever they want. Deep down though, I wish they can change this crappy ass school of ours...I shook my head.

Bullying cases are becoming more and more common (most of them from Larxene though) and there were lots of complains from Snow saying that he's not the jocks' babysitter. Poor guy has to run around the school a few times an hour to resolve a fight.

I walked by the archery club when I heard it.

A soft, sweet melodic voice.

"What?" I looked into the archery clubroom interestedly. Through the window, a blue-haired girl was singing a song (think it's from a kid's movie, whatsitcall' again?). Her voice was really enchanting, I couldn't help but to stare at her.

Somehow she looks familiar... I watched her for awhile...transfixed by her figure and her voice (and the bubbles floating around her added more to the mystifying effect!).

My heart has wings, Mmmmmm

And I can fly

I feel like I could fly right now too... I relaxed and supported my head with my arms as I lost myself in her voice.

I'll touch ev'ry star in the sky

So this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of

I'm gonna be dreaming about you after this...

Mmmmmm

Mmmmmm

So this is love

Is it...? I couldn't tell...But I do know that I have to meet you right now... I pushed against the window, wanting to get a clear view of her face but it suddenly fell and crashed inside.

Oh shit. I panicked and quickly ran away from that spot before anyone catches me. I ran straight into the basketball gym (which was not far from there) and panted heavily.

"Great work Terra...Count on your luck when it comes to girls..." I groaned and face palmed myself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..." I hit my head several times.

I let out a sigh and lay down on the gym floor, spread-eagle.

Just who was that girl?


Aqua


One day before the big battle!

A group of girls appeared in front of our hang-out spot in the cafeteria. They looked like they wanted to talk to us but was feeling a bit uneasy. Axel, whom I had expected to scare them off, had joyfully invited the three girls in (In where is exactly the question as we don't own any part of the cafeteria -_-").

"Kairi! So how's it goin' with the student council stuff?" Axel dusted off a seat for the redhead and her friends.

Kairi heaved a long sigh and let herself fall onto the chair. "Really bad, didja' know that what you guys did here caused quite a storm in the meeting room? Mr. Xemnas was totally against it." She said as she unwrapped a chocolate bar.

"That dude always has something to complain about." Demyx added. He was sitting on a table and tuning his guitar.

One of Kairi's friend, a brown-haired girl who was holding a box of ribbons, blushed at the sight of Demyx. I merely gaze at the flustered girl as she opened and closed her mouth a few times, unsure on how to speak to him.

I gave a small chuckle. Someone has a crush on Demy here hehe. "So...whatcha' got there?" I asked the flustered girl. "Oooh, Demy she got a bunch of cute ribbons here!" I purposely include him in the conversation.

"Umm, these are for the band competition tomorrow...The Drama club is planning to help with the stage so we're thinking of decorating it to look more stylish." She said with a grin.

"Yeah, umm...they look really c-cute Olette..." Demyx struggled with the word. The girl named Olette blushed and nodded, both of them averting each other's eyes.

"Can't you guys ever talk without looking the other way?" Yuffie yawned.

The two became flustered and their faces grew even redder when Demyx accidentally held Olette's hand. I swear Demyx was about to faint right then and there.

"Anyways you guys ready for the battle yet? All the best kay, we'll be rooting for you." Kairi smiled at me.

I was introduced to Kairi a couple of days ago in front of the girl's restroom when a bucket of cold water fell onto me (just what is my luck with water here?). A group of girls, which I assume are jocks, were laughing at my wet look.

Kairi had appeared to my rescue, handing me a dry towel which she had brought along for gym class. We chatted a bit, until she had to leave to change her gym outfit.

"Thanks Kai...but I'm feeling really nervous now. The whole school's gonna be watching me!" It's true though, I was having second thoughts about this idea.

"Don't worry, if you ever get nervous just imagine the crowd in their boxers." Kairi's other friend, Yuna, grinned at me.

Yuna is a pretty girl in my class who's in the Music Club. She's really good at singing but she's not participating in the competition (she said that none of the cultural club members knows how to play a rock number!). She has heterochromia (to those who don't know, it means different eye colours!) one of her eyes is green while the other is blue. Tidus, a nice jock in my class, has a huge crush on her.

"I-I think if I do that, things will get worse..." I slumped my shoulders.

Axel ruffled my hat and laughed. "No worries newbie, the school's gonna be rocking to our beat after they hear us play!" He was so confident that we're gonna win this thing. "Worse that could happen is they'll throw stuffs at us." I didn't need to hear that one!

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Axel." I sank further into the depths of despair.

"You'll do fine, I've seen you guys play. You got what it takes to rock this school down. Literally." Cloud voiced out.

Everyone was looking at us with pride. It took me some time to notice that a certain Herculean boy was also staring at me. I gave him a small smile that made him nearly fall off his chair and he returned it with his own lopsided grin.

Unfortunately Yuffie caught our little interaction and smirked. "Ooh, something between you and Mr. Popularity now?"

She wasn't being snide when she called Terra that. It was his nickname given by the student body after he brought the school honour for being the first freshman to ever lead the basketball team to victory in the nationals.

I've asked Axel several times what his relationship with Terra is, and the only answer I got is "Ex-friends."

Axel's judgement of Terra aside, nobody else seemed to hold a grudge against that guy. Lightning said he's an 'okay' guy while Aerith said he's 'nice'. They don't seem to elaborate on him much.

Back to the present, I pulled on my hat nervously when Yuffie teased me. "N-No way, I haven't even talk to that guy much." It sounded a bit weird and wrong.

"You're not making sense cuz'." Yuffie yawned.

"Never mind Yuff." No use explaining it to Yuffie when she's started yawning.

Axel and Demyx had clapped their hands to get our attention and all of us looked at them.

"Alright guys, tomorrow is the big day!" Axel said to which we cheered and whistled. "We've worked, played, bled, sweated, and nearly broke our arms and one of us, our voice box (he grinned at me) to make sure our first big debut of an activity will be a success." All of us murmured 'too true.'

"We'd like to thank the culties for lending a hand in our cause" Demyx gestured to Kairi, Yuna and Olette "and without them we would've been the only band without costumes."

Wait, we're wearing costumes now? I opened my mouth then closed it again. I lost my will to argue back days ago. They wouldn't listen to me anyways.

"So we're giving the band members a chance to take a break today, since we've prepared our song for tomorrow." Axel concluded.

I let out a sigh of relief. Great, that means I can finish my homework on time for once!

They meeting ended and Axel went to talk with Cloud about the set-up for tomorrow. I just sat there while watching everybody else talk animatedly. Then I felt a funny feeling of having a pair of eyes staring at me.

I looked around and noticed Aerith, Fang, Yuna and Kairi frowning at me.

"W-What?" Somehow I really don't like the way they're staring at me.

"Aqua..." Yuna began quietly.

"What are you gonna wear for tomorrow's competition?" Kairi finished for her.

I thought about it for awhile before giving my answer. "I thought we're all wearing costumes? I guess I'm gonna wear that too." Or Axel's not gonna shut up about it.

"No, no...What we meant was; Are you gonna wear that?" Fang pointed her finger at my hat and glasses.

"What's wrong with them?" I fidgeted.

They let out a sigh. What? Are they that bad?

"Why do you insist on wearing these atrocities? Y'know Yuffie mentioned to me once that you have a really cute face..." Without warning, Kairi swiped my glasses of my face.

"H-Hey give them back!" I protested and reached for them back.

"See? You look real-" Kairi's words trailed off as she stared at me, her mouth hung slightly open.

Again, that uncomfortable feeling of being studied like a biology bug kicked in. "W-What?" I stared back apprehensively.

"Yuna..." Kairi called her friend softly.

Yuna, who had been staring at me too, nodded her head suddenly. "On it." She flipped her cellphone and was hitting the keypad furiously at top speed.

"Aerith...Fang..." Kairi used the same, monotone, soft voice.

The two young women nodded too and suddenly, each of them went to my side and grabbed my shoulders.

"Uh, guys...What're you doing?" I feel like I'm some kinda hostage...

"Makeover." Kairi beamed.

Oh that word! The spiteful, evil little word that I absolutely loathe!

I tried to wriggle free from them, but Fang was holding me tightly and Aerith had me secured too.

"N-No, no, no! No makeovers!" The memories of my old makeovers (courtesy of Yuffie) are still fresh in my mind. I remembered when I had a crush on a certain boy in 4th grade Yuffie had introduced me to the wonders of make-ups. Unfortunately I also remembered said crush's laughing face when he saw my thick, colourful face.

I looked like a clown...and I became the school's laughingstock for a month... So who can blame me when I kicked Fang in the shins and ran away as fast as I can?

I heard Fang yelped in pain but I'll apologize later, now- HIDE!


Axel


Day of Rock people!

"WHERE in Heaven's sake is Aqua?" Demyx cried out. He was beginning to worry since our lead singer had been missing since yesterday.

I had my suspicions that the jerk squad might have tried to sabotage us but they couldn't know who our vocalist is because Aqua doesn't wear her fisherman's hat during rehearsals.

The band members were all gathered inside the clubroom except for Aqua and Yuffie. Somehow Aerith, Fang and Xion were missing too. The only females present are Lightning and Naminé.

The blonde girl was sitting on the sofa (we swiped em' from the faculty office) with her sketchbook in hand, lost in her own little world. However I did notice her peering at the clock every now and then, a small smile plastered on her porcelain face.

"Guys, seems like we're in luck today. Aside from our band there's only three others and guess what? They're all jocks." Cloud snorted knowingly and passed me the concert roster.

"Expected that. Guess none of the kids are brave enough to go head-to-head with them." I studied the rules of the competition. No underhanded tricks...to be expected... No cheating...that's the same as the last rule...No Elvis Presley impersonation...Wait, what?

"Which idiot wrote all these...?" I frowned at the idiocy of the so-called rules. "Doesn't matter, nyway' guys suit up. We're the last group to rock which gives us some advantage and little disadvantage." I clapped my hands to get the others' attention.

"Whytcha' say that?" Ven inquired, jumping up and down off a trampoline (swiped that too, from the cheerleaders' room).

"Because~ My lil' man Ven, if the others sucked that would be a good thing right?" he nodded his head as a sign that he understood what I said. "But if the others were awesome and we sucked, that'll be bad right?"

He stopped jumping to process my words, and then he grinned sheepishly and began jumping again. "Yup, totally got what you mean." Ven made backflip and accidentally landed on the floor with a dull 'thud'.

I let out a sigh. "Anyway we've got Naminé to thank for the cool designs of these babies" I pointed at our costumes or rather, suits "and we'll thank Aerith later for taking her time to make them." Where is she anyway?

Naminé had made an effort to draw out a black and white suit for us that's really quite awesome. Black suit, white shirt, black tie and black slacks that made the guys look like modern butlers (which we couldn't be since we wore earrings and other craps) and for the girls' design the slacks were replaced with a black short skirt.

"I think it's time..." Naminé said softly, bringing everyone's attention to the clock.

"Aqua's still missing! We can't go out there without a singer!" Demyx groaned and hit his head on the wall a couple of times.

"Or a keyboardist for that matter." Cloud added.

"Don't worry, she'll be here any minute." Naminé spoke, her attention fixed on her sketchbook again.

Demyx made to protest again but I held my hand up to silence him. "Right, if you say so."

Lightning, who had been silent all this while, suddenly spoke up. "Guys...while Aqua is still the main topic of our discussion...Do you think she'll be alright?" She crossed her arms and looked straight at me.

"She'll be fine. A lil' stage fright maybe, but she's got a good voice." I actually stood up for someone, wow!

"I think she has a good voice, but she's a little too...reserved...to sing this song, don't you think?" Lightning pointed at our song number.

Maybe a rock song might be a little too hard on her... "But we got no other choice. This song here is our only chance of winning the students' appeals. Sides', I think she's got more guts than you give her credit for." I gave Lightning a smirk as she looked at me confusingly.

"Another thing...I don't have any intention of insulting her...appearance...but the kids will laugh at her when she goes on that stage with her glasses and hat..." Lightning said matter-of-factly.

Another point taken... "Well, we'll be there for her after the whole thing blows over." I said unconfidently. "But maybe we can get her to take her hat off...not like anyone knows why she wore them in the first place." I gave a snort.

We've known Aqua for about a week now. Aside from her usual clumsy habits and scolding (usually to Yuffie and I), we don't really know much about her. Sometimes I caught her staring off into empty space and if my eyes weren't deceiving me that one time, she was crying while holding onto her little blue brooch. No one's seen the real face of Aqua behind that mask of her. Quite a mystery, I might say.

My train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the clubroom door. Cloud went to open it and in came Aerith.

She was beaming at us and for some reason, she seemed proud of something.

"Sorry we're late everyone! We had to do some minor adjustments to our heroine here today." She was still smiling when she said it.

"Heroine, as in, Aqua?" Cloud raised his eyebrows at her.

Us guys were looking at Aerith like she had ate a frog or something...What could she possibly change from that (I imagined Aqua in her usual oversized uniform, no offense to her though).

"Ho ho ho, you'd be surprised." She gave us a sly grin and turned to the door. "May I present, gentlemen, our rock princess for tonight's show?"

We heard some noises and a protesting voice.

"No no, I am not going out there looking like this!" Aqua's voice was obvious.

"C'mon cuz! You look good enough to eat!" Yuffie assured her.

"Whatcha' do to her?" Cloud's interest was piqued.

"The wonders of a natural beauty...really." Aerith said with dramatic effect. Now she got all of the males' attention.


Terra


"You're gonna enjoy this man! C'mon don't give me that look!" Snow laughed heartily as he patted/slammed my back.

"How on Earth did I manage to let you convince me to go to this event?" I frowned at the giant man.

The school hall was as large as a football field. There was a huge stage at the front of the hall and rows of seats for the upper wing at each side of the hall. Although Xemnas had reserved the upper wing for the athletics department, Snow had preferred being in a crowd with the rest of the student body.

I preferred that too except that the other kids seem to be avoiding us. There was a prominent gap between us and them. We're not gonna bite you guys or anything...

Suddenly, I felt someone hit the back of my head. I gave a small frown as I turned to look at a smiling Tifa who was still bumping her knuckles on my forehead.

"Hey! Good work Snow you managed to drag our lil' sourpuss out of his lair." She gave an approving nod to Snow.

"Jes' doing my job for the greater good lil' missy." He gave her a grin.

I suppressed an urge to roll my eyes. "You two were in this together. I thought it was weird for Snow to be planning anything." It wasn't a direct insult as all of us knew that Snow was the type to tackle first, strategies later.

The two high-fived each other while I stood between them, disgruntled.

"Oh c'mon Terra. If I hadn't told Snow to come get you, you'd still be in the basketball court and it's already night-time." Tifa sighed. I merely grunted in response.

"Don't gimme' that look Terra. Y'see, I got a reason why I brought you here today." Snow suddenly lowered his voice into a whisper so that Tifa wouldn't hear him. "It's about your lil' melodious bluebird."

I quickly look up to the giant man, my whole body suddenly alert. For the past few days I've been trying to find the mysterious girl who sang inside the archery clubroom. I've asked some of my friends to help me out (Tifa and Snow, among the few) and find any information related to her. Trouble is, I have no idea how she looks like!

The only thing that I do know is that she has blue-coloured hair, that's all! I thought it would be a cinch since there are not that many girls with blue hair in this school (I mean, come on! Blue hair!). However, it turned out to be quite a challenge as there were also girls who had apparently dyed their hair.

"What'd you got?" I tried to keep my excitement contained from my voice.

I didn't know why I'm so obsessed with that girl. I mean, I don't know her at all! But...That day, something sparked inside my heart. It was like a bomb that had set off, and every minute I spent my thoughts were on her.

Snow looked around to see if anybody was eavesdropping on him and then; "Well, apparently the Angels (you know, the outcasts club?) are gonna' be competin' in tonight's concert. Rumour has it (from a reliable lil' sister of someone in the club) the lead singer is a blue-haired rock goddess." He grinned again.

Maybe he was exaggerating a little bit but the info on the blue-haired vocalist interests me. I scratched my chin as I thought about the possibility...

"...I heard the President of the club has blue hair too..." What are the chances right?

Our conversation was interrupted by the host of the concert's booming voice. A beautiful girl with long, black hair stepped up to the stage with a microphone in her hand.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of Destiny High!" She waved her hand around as a sign of recognition to us. "On this very lovely evening is the fifth annual Battle of the Bands!" Her energetic voice is responded by a loud cheer. "First of all I, Garnet Til Alexandros, shall be the emcee for tonight! (...In recent events as Zidane had mysteriously disappeared...)" She muttered the last part darkly.

"E-hem, well we also have Principal Ansem to thank as he had approved of our request to have only one teacher to oversee this competition from going...awry." Garnet chose her words wisely. "So...Give it up to our favourite Co-Curriculum teacher...Mr. Auron!" Garnet directed her hand to Mr. Auron. Despite the dimness of the hall and the flashing lights, Mr. Auron still had his spectacles on and waved lazily back to us.

"Aaaaannnddd now! The moment you've all been waiting for! Without further ado, here's our first band of the night!" Garnet's voice was drowned by the roars of the audiences.

After many agonizing minutes later...

"I swear I'm gonna bust those guys' asses tomorrow..." Snow grunted sourly as he rubbed his ears gingerly.

The crowd seemed to agree with Snow as some of them were muttering darkly and most of them looked bored. The bands that had gone up the stage so far were pretty horrendous, except for Seifer's band.

They had performed '21 Guns' really well, and the crowd seemed to have enjoyed it. Only thing is, they don't lift the crowds' spirits up at all. I don't go to rock concerts much but I at least know that this competition was a dud.

"Umm...uhh..." Garnet was at total lost as she quickly read her cards. "Oh yeah! Alright guys, this is the last band for the night!"

At her words, I quickly straightened my back and gave my fullest attention to the stage. C'mon, hurry up...

"Alright guys listen up cuz' things are about to heat up! They're the revolutionary bad-ass...Err, sorry Mr. Auron." Garnet gave an apologizing look to Mr. Auron as she had used cursed...sort of...However Mr. Auron merely laughed and nudged her to continue on. "Right, well these guys are the real deal people. Outcasts that are changing the school! (A few of them are my friends actually) Give it up for...The Angel Wings!"

This time, the crowd did went into a frenzy. Any sign of boredom or sleepiness was gone the instant the band members stepped up onto the stage from the back hall.

I recognized Axel the second he got up there. He was giving the crowd his usual grin and egged on the crowd to scream louder.

TIfa had folded her arms and bit her bottom lips nervously. I was feeling a bit anxious too.

"Axel..." Tifa said his name quietly.

Demyx was looking quite at home on the stage despite his usual nerves and Lightning made no expression whatsoever towards the crowd. The last member to go up the stage was Yuffie, who was waving her hands.

No blue-haired girl. I tried looking at the back of the stage but it was too dark to see.

The band members nodded to each other and the lights went out.

Some of the kids screamed out of shock while others cheered louder, as if figuring out this was part of their show. A single light came back on after that, and a new figure had taken the main spot in front of the other band members.

The spotlight focused on her. She had her backs turned to all of us as she held a single arm up into the sky.

Her right hand holding the microphone, she slowly raised it to her mouth.

"...Let's do this people..." She muttered.

Before we knew what hit us the lights immediately flashed on again and the band had started their song. Their music blasted across the hall, and into the neighbourhood I might add.

"It's her! Snow! That's the girl!" I said excitedly as I stared at the blue-haired vocalist.

I knew I was right, I just knew it. My heart was telling me that I'm right.

But as I looked at her it turned into a stare. She was gorgeous!

Her wild, blue hair matched her blue eyes perfectly. She had an exceptionally nice figure and her thighs were...whoa, I'm gonna sound like a dirty old pervert if I continue...

Her face was a beauty unlike anything I've ever seen. It was tensed though, but she looked really awesome. She had the same outfit as her female companions, the only difference is that she was wearing a sleeveless vest and her shirt was unbuttoned at the top, showing her bra's black laces. Her tie too was loose and her mini-skirt looked as if they were ripped. The effects on all the males were apparent as they gulped and some looked like they were spellbound.

She lives in a fairy tale

Somewhere too far for us to find

Forgotten the taste and smell

Of the world that she's left behind

I know this song! Paramore!

It's all about the exposure the lens I told her

The angles were all wrong now

She's ripping wings off of butterflies

Keep your feet on the ground

When your head's in the clouds

Her expression became tenser, and her voice grew louder.

Well go get your shovel

And we'll dig a deep hole

To bury the castle, bury the castle

Go get you shovel

And we'll dig a deep hole

To bury the castle, bury the castle

She snapped her fingers and the other band members muted their instruments.

Ba da ba ba da ba ba ha

And they continued their playing again.

So one day he found her crying

Coiled up on the dirty ground

Her prince finally came to save her

And the rest you can figure out

But it was a trick

And the clock struck twelve

Well make sure to build your home brick by boring brick

Or the wolf's gonna blow it down

Keep your feet on the ground

When your head's in the clouds

Well go get your shovel

And we'll dig a deep hole

To bury the castle, bury the castle

Go get your shovel

And we'll dig a deep hole

To bury the castle, bury the castle

"Sorry! Coming through! Sorry!" I pushed past the other kids to get to the front row.

Well you built up a world of magic

Because your real life is tragic

Yeah you built up a world of magic

This time she gave us a pained look. The lights dimmed again and a single spotlight was on her now. She was walking slowly to the front and walked down the stage stairs.

If it's not real

You can't hold it in your hands

You can't feel it with your heart

And I won't believe it

But if it's true

You can see it with your eyes

Oh, even in the dark

And that's where I want to be, yeah

Her eyes were locked onto mine for a second. That intense, flaring gaze burned into mine as I felt we shared a connection for that one moment. Then she looked away and got up to the stage again.

Go get your shovel

We'll dig a deep hole

To bury the castle, bury the castle

Go get your shovel

And we'll dig a deep hole

To bury the castle, bury the castle

She had dropped the microphone onto the floor and gave us that same intense look. Axel had gone to the front this time, and raised his hands for the upcoming battle cry. The crowd heeded and began chanting;

Ba da ba ba da ba ba da

Ba da ba ba ba da ba ba

Ba da ba ba da ba ba da

Ba da ba ba ba ba ba ba

The mysterious vocalist had joined in too, without her microphone her voice blended in with the crowd and her band members.

Ba da ba ba da ba ba da

Ba da ba ba ba da ba ba

Ba da ba ba da ba ba da

Ba da ba ba ba ba ba ba!

She was panting heavily and her hair was in a mess, but it made her look hotter. Her chest was heaving up and down as she gasped for air. Axel had roared with joy and was hugging her joyfully. The other band members followed suit, and for some reason had covered her as they brought her backstage.

The crowd roared in displeasure as they wanted to see more of the mysterious singer. I joined in too, I mean; "Encore! Encore!" We chanted together.

However, Mr. Auron had gone to the front of the stage and held his hand up. The crowd instantly grew quiet. Not a single sound was heard.

"I understand that you kids...particularly boys..." The girls gave an 'hmph!' "...are excited from that last show however it is already late and I expect us to be done with this by midnight so..." He looked at Garnet, who had prompted to take the microphone from him.

"Yes well...The votes are in people! I mean, you guys do know that we're using a voting system to decide the winner right?" Garnet held the card in front of her and; "Well no surprises here! The winners are the Angel Wings!" Her words were drowned by an ear-splitting cheer by the crowd.

It was obvious all the boys wanted to see that girl again, even me.

However, instead of the band members coming up the stage, Mr. Auron had took the trophy in their stead, saying that he will give it to them later as all of them had retreated to their clubroom (wherever that is, none of us had any idea).

The crowd booed but were quick to desist as Mr. Auron gave them a sharp look.

Garnet gave the closing speech and finally, the Battle of the Bands had ended.

I made my way back to Snow and Tifa, who were waiting for me at the exit. Tifa was scowling at me for some reason while Snow was grinning broadly at me.

"What-were-you-doing-just-now?" Tifa pursed her lips as I shrugged.

Snow nudged me in the shoulders and asked me "So, what'd you think?"

I gave him a smile and he understood me. I have to find that girl.


Aqua


OH MY GOD

I had just performed, live, in front of the whole school, just-like-that!

I was sitting alone in the hallway of the backstage. The others were celebrating inside the clubroom but I had made my way back to the school hall unconsciously.

"I had really enjoyed that..." I muttered to myself. Really, it has been a long time since people looked at me that way... I shuddered as I was reminded how perverted boys really are at their age. Hormones, pfft.

The lights were already out except for the dim hallway lights. I looked past the curtains and onto the empty hall. I smiled a little bit as I remembered their cheers.

Oh well, time to head back...As I turned around suddenly a boy appeared from the door I had used to enter just now.

I was alarmed and quickly turned around but the boy shouted "Wait!"

I stopped in my tracks, my heart beating rather fast now. Oh my God! Someone's here!

I tried to stay in the shadows as I didn't want him to see my face. I turned around cautiously, and looked at him.

My mouth fell slightly as I recognized the figure; Terra!

It was definitely the Herculean boy as no one else in school has muscles like those.

I was puzzled but I kept my mouth shut.

He was shifting nervously in front of me, and was ruffling his hair as if trying to tame the unruly spiky hair of his.

"You uhh...Sang really well just now..." He began. I stayed quiet and observed him.

"Y'see, well...It wasn't the first time I hear you sing..." He went closer as he spoke.

I gave him a frown as I registered what he had said. This wasn't the first time I sang?

"I uhh...Heard you singing in the archery clubroom the other day..." He ruffled his hair nervously.

I gave myself a mental slap as I remembered singing that Cinderella song. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"...And I couldn't get you off my mind after that y'know? It's like I was under a spell or something..." He laughed a bit.

I raised my eyebrows at him. Wait...Is he doing what I think he's doing?

"I really wanted to see you again and well..." His voice trailed off as he was a few feet away from me now.

No way, is he confessing to me?

"I-I'm sorry!" My instincts kicked in and I bowed deeply to him. I turned around and quickly fled the scene.

"W-Wait! At least tell me your name!" Terra ran after me.

I knew I couldn't outrun a jock but I used the darkness to my advantage as I slip quietly to the stage and ran to the school hall's exit.

"H-hey, wait up!" I heard Terra's voice from the stage.

I gave a squeak and stumbled to the floor painfully. Ouch... I quickly got back to my feet and scrambled out of there.

I found an empty classroom and hid inside there. I leaned against the door and buried my face into my lap. I can't believe the school's most popular guy just confessed to me!

That'll be the headline for my status update in Facebook... I smiled a little from my joke.

Calming myself down, I instinctively rummaged through my pocket for my brooch. I dug deeper and felt something was wrong.

I frowned and searched both my pockets, and then emptied my vest pockets too. My brooch! It's gone! I panicked and searched my whole body.

I searched again but couldn't find it. Defeated, I slumped my shoulders and tried my best to stay calm. That brooch was very important to me...a precious gift from an old flame...a reminder that I should get stronger...

It had been a wild and splendid day but...now it's all ruined...

I bit my lips as I sobbed and teardrops escaped me.

"Zack..." I whimpered his name softly, crying inside the empty classroom.


Attention! I need you guys' help this time! If you guys are following my story pls give me a review and tell me this important A!: Who do you wanna see Aqua in a romantic relationship with? I've put in some hints for several of the available bachelors (Axel, Terra, etc.) But I think I can get a better story plot with your help! So pls! Help me by reviewing or sending me a mail in my inbox! Ya-haw!