A Kingdom Hearts fanwork: 30 Day OTP Challenge by Ericandy, written by Raberba girl
Day 23 - Arguing (rough draft)
Summary: Seems like things didn't turn out like they planned.
A/N: This is set in that post-KH3 headcanon of mine.
o.o.o
"Whyyyy do they kill us with homework this close to summer vacation?" Roxas groaned, walking home with Xion and a backpack that felt like it contained a pile of bricks.
"We still have two weeks left..."
"This close! THIS CLOSE to summer vacation! School should be, like, getting easier, right? But noooo, science test, lab write-up, English essay, history essay, history project, makeup work she just can't give me a zero for, math homework every single freaking day, we even have homework for choir on top of practicing for the concert, then there's A WHOLE WEEK OF FINALS after all that..."
"Summer vacation's in two weeks," Xion said soothingly.
"I don't care what Isa says, I'm burning my books as soon as finals are over."
"He'll give you the doomgaze look..."
"I don't caaaaare! Man, if I was Axel - Nobody-Axel, not this Axel - I could just snap my fingers and Poof! No more homework."
"The teachers would just make you do it all over again, even if you don't have the papers..."
"Stop being right."
It occurred to her that he just wanted to vent. "Okay. You want me to buy you some ice cream?"
"Sure."
He was in a better mood by the time they got home, but then there was something else to worry about. Isa was lying on the couch, watching My Little Pony.
"...Are you sick?" Roxas said bluntly.
Isa ignored him.
"Can I get you anything, Saa-chan?" Xion asked.
"Give me my life back."
"Uhhh..."
He sighed. "Never mind. Just go about your business."
"Okay," Roxas said, heading for the kitchen.
Xion hesitated, then came around to look at Isa from the front. He was just lying there, his face completely blank like when he'd been a Nobody. She was a little relieved to see a book lying on the floor, but it was closed. Also, the ponies. Ponies. "...Saa-chan?"
"Go away."
"I didn't know you like this show."
"Leave me alone." He blinked, and a little bit of life crept back into his eyes. "What show-?" He shot upright. "What is this?!"
"The episode where Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash play pranks on everyone."
"Sacred moon-!" Isa fumbled for the remote and stabbed buttons until the TV shut off. He stared at the black screen, breathing hard. "What was...that...?"
"Saa-chan...you were watching it. You do remember watching it, don't you?" She was getting a little scared now.
"I was n-! What time is it-?" He stared at the clock. "It's been twenty-three minutes," he said in a dead voice. "That was on screen for twenty-three minutes and I didn't even notice..." He kind of tilted over like a falling tree and just lay there again, this time with his face hidden in the couch pillows.
"...Saa-chan, really, can I help, please?"
"Go do your homework," he mumbled.
"...I need help," she asserted. "I don't get it."
"Yes, you do."
"I don't."
"I'm tired."
"Saa-chaaaaan, that's the thing! You're never tired! Even when your eyes are bloodshot and you look like you're gonna keel over from exhaustion, you just drink another Potion and keep going! What is wrong with you?!"
Roxas came back into the living room, eating a sandwich. "Is he sick?"
"I don't knoooow! Roxas, come see what's wrong with him!"
Roxas came over and kicked the couch. "Oi, what's wrong with you?"
"Go away."
Kick. Kick. Kick.
Isa suddenly surged up, eyes flashing.
"Whatcha gonna do?" Roxas taunted, giggling a little in anticipation as he backed away, still trying to keep hold of his sandwich. "Gonna go berserker on me? Oooooh, who's still got a Keyblade and who's just a loser with no magic now, huh? Ooooh, whatcha gonna do...?"
Isa didn't take the bait. His expression faded, and he dropped back onto the couch, picking the book off the floor as if to read it. "I don't feel like playing your childish games. Go amuse yourselves elsewhere."
Xion and Roxas looked at each other, then back at their friend. Isa ignored them, eyes fixed intently on the book. Roxas finally shrugged and wandered away. Xion waited until she was sure that Isa was just staring at the book and not actually reading it. "Are you ever gonna turn the page, Isa?"
He did so in response.
She snatched the book out of his hand, and he glared at her. "What did you just read?" she challenged, glancing at the page to make sure.
"...Quasimodo was...showing Esmeralda around the bell tower..."
"NO! You're just guessing!" She flung the book aside and grabbed his shoulders, trying to resist the urge to shake him. "What is wrong with you?"
He looked at her, really looked at her, for a long moment. Then, to her surprise, he took her in his arms and just hugged her for a while. "You're really worried, aren't you," he said softly.
"Umm...well, yeah. You're our friend, Saa-chan. You're acting weird, something's wrong."
"Nothing is...wrong, Xion." He sighed deeply and let her lean back. She studied him warily, and he put on a smile that she knew was fake, because it was so obvious he was still sad. "I apologize for worrying you. You said you need help with your homework?"
"I was...lying, I just wanted to spend time with you."
"...Would you like to help with dinner later tonight?"
"Okay."
"Good. What would you like?"
"Saa-chan."
"Hm?"
"What happened?"
"...Nothing."
"Liar."
He frowned.
"Your smile is just pretend. I wanna know what's wrong." She found herself reaching to trace the scars on his face with gentle fingertips, and he pushed her hand away, not roughly. "Are you waiting for Axel to come home so you can tell all of us at the same time?"
"...Yes."
She knew he probably hadn't been planning to tell them at all, but whatever. Lea could get the truth out of him. "Okay." She kissed his cheek. "We love you, Saa-chan."
"I hope you're not expecting me to return the sentiment."
"You won't say it, but I can see it in your eyes," she said with a grin.
"Get out of here. You've got work to do."
Xion went to change out of her school uniform, and paused when she saw Roxas looking at Isa's computer. "What's wrong?"
"I wonder if this is why Isa's mad..."
She looked over Roxas's shoulder. The computer screen showed a list of classes and grades. "Wait, are those Saa-chan's classes?!" she exclaimed.
"His name's there in the corner, it's gotta be his account. But really? He flunked...whatever '19cFemTheor' is?"
"It can't be! That's not Saa-chan!"
"He flunked." Roxas gave an incredulous little laugh. "Xion, he flunked. Mr. I'm-so-smart-and-better-than-you-at-everything flunked, look, it's right here."
"Ohhhh, poor Saa-chan," Xion murmured. "No wonder he's upset."
"Whatever. He takes everything too seriously."
It turned out to not be so simple...
"Saa-chan," Xion said a little later, bringing her plate into the living room where Isa was just lying there again, not-reading. "I got some math done, but I'm gonna take a little break, okay?"
"Very well," he said listlessly.
"...Do you mind if I watch Hannah Montana in here?"
He sighed, then dragged himself upright and said, "This is a communal area. Do what you like."
"Really? I thought you hated Hannah Montana."
He blinked. "What?"
She resisted the urge to throw a chunk of Pop-Tart at him. He was being so spacey, it wasn't like him at all. "I'm gonna watch a show you hate, about a girl who wears a blonde wig and sings!"
"Oh..." He looked as if he wasn't sure how to respond.
"No complaining when I turn the TV on, okay?"
"I told you. Do as you like."
She watched him closely the first few minutes, but when he finally seemed to realize what she was talking about, all he did was wince and then look more earnest about trying to read The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
She gave up and leaned comfortably against him, and was pleased to find that it was one of the times when he wasn't going to protest her invasion of his personal space. Which meant he was either feeling affectionate in response to her doing something nice for him, or he was upset and needed comfort. It had to be the latter case this time rather than the former, but Lea was usually better at handling him when he was like this. She'd wait and leave it up to him, and do the best she could in the meantime.
When the show was over, Xion turned the TV off and reluctantly went to take her empty plate to the kitchen and get back to doing homework, but was surprised when Isa stopped her.
"Xion," he said slowly. "Let's-" Then he shook his head. "Never mind. You're busy."
"No, I'm not," she said quickly.
"You have homework."
"What did you want to do?"
"I don't know...I just wanted to go out and do something; the rest of you are better at dreaming up specifics...I simply forgot that, unlike myself, you are not on vacation yet." His expression suddenly darkened. "All three of you are hard at work, I'm the only one wasting time, not earning my keep."
She wanted to reach up and wipe the self-disgust off his face. "What if we all go pick up Axel together?"
She knew he'd like the idea, but he usually had such a poker face - she wasn't expecting his expression to visibly light up so much. Though his voice was still pretty much a monotone when he said, "That is a good idea. Let's do so."
o.o.o.o.o
Lea looked satisfactorily surprised when he found them all waiting for him at the end of his shift. "What the-?! You guys came to pick me up?"
"Axel~!" Both of the younger ones hugged him. He laughed a little as he put his arms around them, then looked up at his old friend. "Isa? What's going on?"
"Nothing."
"...You look like you need a hug."
"..."
"Oh my gosh, you do need a hug?!"
"No," Isa mumbled, but didn't resist at all when Lea came to put his arms around him.
"Oi. Oi. What happened?" Lea demanded.
"Isa flunked," Roxas announced, just a little gleefully.
"What?!" Lea yelped as Isa glared.
"I'm sorry, Saa-chan," Xion said. "Your laptop was open, we saw it when we passed by..."
Isa rested his forehead on Lea's shoulder and didn't say anything.
"It was only the one class," Xion added. "He made good grades in all the others."
"Dude! It's not the end of the world!" Lea laughed.
"I know," Isa mumbled again.
Lea shook his head and patted his friend's shoulder. "C'mon, buddy, let's go get some ice cream."
"No. It's too close to dinner."
"Come on, Isa, we're not little kids who're gonna spoil our appetites! Both of them eat like horses, anyway."
"The Keybearers are not the ones I'm worried about," Isa said, with just the smallest hint of the old spark in his eyes.
Roxas laughed. "You're the one who never wants to eat anything after ice cream, Axel..."
"Hey!"
It was fun to leisurely make their way home, laughing and talking and watching Isa seem to very quietly cheer up. Then they all trooped back into the house and Lea flopped down in front of the TV to unwind and Roxas moved his homework in there to join him, and Xion went to help Isa in the kitchen and watched him slowly wilt back into gloom again.
"Saa-chan? I can take care of this on my own; do you want to go and hang out with Axel?"
"No."
"...Why not?"
"Because dinner needs to be made, and I've wasted enough time today."
"...Isa, go sit with Axel."
"No."
She studied him. "Are you still upset about your grade?"
He slammed the measuring cup back down on the counter. "It's not just the grade, Xion, it's everything. It's everything, all right? I've taken more than my share of your time, it's your turn, it's your turn, you're finished indulging me and that is acceptable to me and I'm perfectly willing to give way to your wishes now. All right? Now stop pestering me."
She stared at him. Then she went and got Lea. "Axel, there is SOMETHING WRONG, you have to talk to him."
Lea stopped laughing at whatever Roxas had just said, and sighed. Then he gave her a tired smile and kissed her forehead and said, "Fine, I'll talk to him, but you know he's just being grumpy again."
"Axel, he's really upset. He really is. I don't know what to do."
"I told you we should get him a puppy," Roxas said.
They all trooped into the kitchen, where Isa seemed to be banging cooking supplies around harder than was necessary.
"Yo. Isa."
"It'll be another half an hour or so, you'll have to wait."
"No, I'm not hungry, I meant- *sigh* Isa, I've told you before, it's okay to not be perfect, right?"
Isa whirled, scattering rice all over the floor. "You think it's just a matter of having unreasonable expectations of myself? I failed the class, Lea. That means I didn't earn the last three credits I need to meet graduation requirements. They don't offer that class in the summer, Lea! Only in the fall or spring semesters."
There was a pause.
"Are the three of you really that stupid?" Isa said in exasperation. "I'm not graduating this month after all. Don't you understand? I'm out of time. If I can't re-take that class in the summer, then I can't earn my degree - but I want to make it quite clear that I have resigned myself to this, and will stay faithful to the agreement we made. Although I am extremely displeased about the wasted time, effort, and munny, I want to assure you, since you seem to find it important, that I harbor no ill will toward any of you whatsoever."
"Waaaiiiit," Lea said. "You can't graduate without that class?"
"No. Obviously. I didn't exactly have the leisure to enroll in non-mandatory classes," Isa said coldly.
"But why don't you just take it next year?" Roxas said in confusion. "You said you can take it in the fall, right? Just take it again and pass it and whoo, you're graduated."
"Yeah," Lea said. "I bet it'll even be easier at the Twilight Town college."
Everyone looked at him. "Twilight Town?" Roxas and Xion echoed at the same time.
"Yeah. Pffft, after doing time at Radiant Garden University, no way they won't let you in."
"Lea," Isa said in exasperation, "I hope you're not seriously suggesting that I earn my degree in Twilight Town."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Lea! There is a reason I wanted to graduate from a university with a reputation like Radiant Garden's! Graduating college in Twilight Town isn't much better than graduating from high school in the Garden!"
"Considering you're a high school dropout, I'd stay that's a step up..."
"I hope you're not trying to make light of the destruction of our homeworld fourteen years ago."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
"Wait, wait, wait," Roxas said. "What are you guys talking about? Isa's not gonna go to college in Twilight Town, are you?"
"Certainly not."
"Why not?" Lea demanded. "You can get in easy, take that class, and - like Roxas said - whoo, you're done!"
"I didn't mean Twilight Town!" Roxas insisted.
"Lea," said Isa, "it's not simply a matter of 'getting in easy.' There's an application process and a plethora of fees, not to mention the small matter of HAVING TO RE-TAKE HALF MY CLASSES. There's a limit to how many credits can be transferred, Lea! It would mean at least another two years of school. Honestly, I've had enough, I can't tolerate anymore. I have to graduate from the Garden or not graduate at all."
"Yeah, see?" Roxas said triumphantly.
"I'd rather let these last three years go to waste than settle for such an unappealing alternative. My deepest regret is that the years were wasted for the three of you, not just me."
"But why does it have to be a waste?" Xion pleaded. "If you can't change colleges, why don't you just take the last class again here, in the fall?"
Isa stared at her.
Before he could speak, though, Lea exclaimed, "What do you mean, take it here?! We're going to Twilight Town, remember?"
"What?! Why?!" Roxas burst out.
Lea stared at him. "Did you forget, Roxas? Three years in Radiant Garden, and then we move to Twilight Town. That was the deal."
"No! I like it here!"
"Axel," Xion said, "I mean, that's what we said, but it's just one semester. We can stay a little longer and let Saa-chan graduate, right? And then we can leave after that."
"NO!" Roxas yelled. "I don't wanna leave!"
Now all of them were staring at each other in helpless, confused frustration.
"Roxas, it's Twilight Town," Lea said. "I thought you wanted to move there! You love Twilight Town, that's our place! You hated it here, remember?"
"Yeah, like ages and ages ago. This place is awesome. I'm not gonna pick up and leave and never see the Garden again. I can't leave my friends, we made plans! I wanna graduate here, too, and I have to have the skater's park, and there's no waterfalls there, and-"
"Roxas, you can skate all over the place in Twilight Town."
"Yeah, where it's all crowded and people call you a crazy hooligan. Skater's park is different, they built it FOR US."
"Roxas," Lea said in disbelief, "are you seriously saying that you want to live in Radiant Garden FOREVER? Seriously? Are you seriously saying that?"
"He's been here for three-quarters of his life," Isa murmured thoughtfully. "No surprise that it's come to feel like home to him..."
"I like the Garden."
"So, what, you hate Twilight Town now?" Lea said angrily.
"No...I still miss it sometimes, but...you know, I'd miss the Garden more," Roxas said uncomfortably.
"Rox!" The betrayed look on Lea's face hurt - for a moment, until it turned crafty. "C'mon, don't you want to see your little friends again? Hayner and Pence and Olette, didn't you say you miss them?"
"Well...yeah, I miss them...I mean, it'd be cool to see them again. I'd like that." Roxas's face hardened again. "But we live HERE now, Axel. I wanna stay."
"Gah, why are you so stubborn!"
"Can't we decide this later?" Xion pleaded. "I mean, I want to go back to Twilight Town, too, but I'm not in a hurry or anything...we have a whole semester to figure this out, right?"
Now Lea was turning that disbelieving, wounded look on her. "Whaddaya mean, a whole semester?! We were supposed to hit the door as soon as you finished your finals for junior year."
"But we don't have to, Axel," she said in frustration. "Sacred moon, we can wait a few months for Isa, can't we?"
"It's a whole 'nother semester!"
"It's one class!"
"You know he's exaggerating about the credit thing, right? Because he always does, he's not gonna have to re-take half his classes, he always makes it sound like a bigger deal than it actually is because he just haaaaas to always get his way-"
"Excuse me, I'm the one who always 'has to get his way'?" Isa said icily.
"Are you accusing me of something?" Lea growled.
"Merely your insufferable insistence on always having the last word and getting everything you want regardless of how it will affect other people-"
"Oh, I'M the one who always HAS to get everything I want?! Well, I'll tell you what I DIDN'T want, Isa, and that was SLAVING AWAY FOR THREE YEARS so that you could get your precious flaming TOTALLY USELESS COLLEGE DEGREE instead of getting a REAL JOB like SOME PEOPLE in this room-"
"Oh, so dead-end employment with few benefits and no future is your definition of a 'real job,' rather than a fulfilling career you could actually use your talents for-"
"I never finished tenth grade and I turned out FINE, just like YOU would've if you hadn't INSISTED on chasing after the perfect life you never had and'll never get because you've never, ever accepted the fact that we'll never be normal, Isa, you can't just lose your freaking heart and have fire dancing at your fingertips for a decade, then come back and just expect everything to be same as when we were freaking stupid kids who didn't have a clue what we were getting into-"
"Are you fighting about munny again?" Roxas suddenly realized.
"Axel!" Xion wailed, nearly in tears, "I told you, I still have so much from the Organization, I can give you as much as you need-"
"WE'RE NOT TAKING YOUR MUNNY," Lea & Isa thundered at the same time.
"Don't yell at her!" Roxas roared back, stepping in front of Xion as if to shield her. "You two think you're always right and you're always in charge and you can always push us around, but you DON'T! We're your friends, not your lackeys! You're not the boss anymore, Saïx, and you don't know as much as you think you do, Axel! Just because we're younger than you and stupider than you-"
"I never said you were stupid, Roxas!"
"-you can't just keep deciding things like we don't matter and acting like you're too good for us to help! I wanna throw this munny at your freaking heads and I hate you and you're so stupid and I-"
"Let's have a boss battle," Xion suddenly suggested. "That used to make us feel better when people were mad at each other in the Organization..."
"Can't," Roxas said with a mocking look at the other two, "we'd just kick their butts."
"You think I can't take you just because I lost my fire?" Lea snarled. "Just let me-" He seemed to wilt a bit. "Let me go...dig my chakrams out of the closet, ARGH sometimes it's a pain being human..." Isa was silently looking at his empty hand, as if thinking similar thoughts about Lunatic. Roxas's smug expression faded, and he considerately did not summon his Keyblade.
"We could get jobs," Xion suggested. "Roxas and me."
"No," Isa and Lea said in flat unison.
Roxas flared up again. "Why not?"
"You are to focus wholly on schoolwork while you are still students, you do not need unnecessary distractions," Isa said, at the same time Lea stormed, "I'm working my tail off for all of us, okay? You guys finish school and I'll take care of everything else, that's how it's supposed to work."
"What'd you say?" Roxas said in confusion.
Xion shook her head. "Then I'll LOAN you munny. Pay me back, whatever; just don't use this as an excuse to be all miserable and keep whining and fighting with each other, because I HATE it when you guys fight and I HATE seeing you both so tired and worn-down and I hate, hate, hate when everyone's so miserable and angry and biting each other's heads off when we're supposed to be a FAMILY! Families are supposed to love each other, not keep hurting each other!"
"Life Lesson number six billion whatever," Axel said wearily. "Family members sometimes like to tear each other apart."
"No doubt," Isa added slowly, "because one can more successfully hurt a family member without losing the relationship entirely, as opposed to hurting others with whom there is a less fundamental bond."
"What are you saying?" Xion said, now crying in earnest. "Families hurt each other more than friends do...?"
Roxas put an arm around her. "You guys are jerks," he told them. "Maybe we don't want to be your family anymore."
"Roxas, it doesn't work like that," Lea said quickly. "When you're family, you're family for life, you can't just get rid of us. That's why we have to go to Twilight Town together, we can't just leave people behind."
"Why do we have to go to Twilight Town at all! We just stay and let Isa finish school and then everyone's happy!"
"Not everyone's happy! You may love it here, Roxas, but I don't! All I see in these streets is a life I'll never get back, a childhood that was over a long time ago, memories from the most horrible day of my life! There's nothing for me here."
"There's your mom," Xion whispered, sniffling. "And your brothers and sisters, your other family-"
"I mean, yeah, there's them," Lea said uncomfortably. "But, Xi...you're my family now, you know? People grow up and leave home and start new lives. You're my new life now, the three of you. I'll miss Mom and everyone...I really will...but I'm not...living for them anymore...you know?"
"There should be a way to live both places," Roxas grumbled. "Stupid corridors, I wish they still worked, then we could go back and forth whenever we want..."
"The dark corridors are the same as they always have been," Isa said in a sulky voice. Lea nudged him, and Xion poked Roxas, and they both went quiet.
Then Lea sighed and said in a pleading voice, "Roxas, Twilight Town really means a lot to me. Whenever things got really bad in the Organization, that's where I'd go, that's where I'd get the closest to feeling happy again. All those sunsets together, all that ice cream, everything we talked about...doesn't it mean anything to you?"
Roxas shifted uncomfortably. "I miss it, yeah. I like Twilight Town, you know? A lot. I just...don't really wanna live there anymore. Not if I have to give up the Garden." He gestured with the arm he wasn't holding Xion with. "This is my new life, Axel, you know? You guys, and being here - I'm growing up, too. I left the old place and now I'm here, and...maybe I can leave for a little bit, but I can't give it up forever, Axel. You know? Not forever. It's like...like a little piece of my heart is here, or something...have you ever felt like that?"
Lea shook his head, smiling a little. "Yeah, Rox. I know what you mean."
"There has to be a way," Xion said hopelessly. "It's not fair to make Isa work so hard for so long and then he won't even get what he worked so hard for...it's not fair."
"Hey, no one made him nearly kill himself with school," Lea said.
"A mistake," Isa grumbled. "Though I do not agree with you about the value of a college degree, Lea, I do regret now thinking it was something I myself should have aspired to."
Xion raised her head. "Isa, you're not giving up, are you?"
"I see little choice about the matter. I told you, I have resolved myself to it."
"Isa! You're ONE CLASS away! Don't quit now when you're so close to finishing!"
"We made an agreement," Isa said stubbornly. "Three years."
"Who cares about the 'agreement'! No one's gonna make you fight a Dustflier because you couldn't finish college in three years! Axel, tell him he's being stupid!"
Lea fidgeted. "Will they really make you re-take half your classes...?"
"Xion, I'm tired," Isa said. "The workload I took on was too much, even for me; I had not taken that into consideration at the beginning. At least being a Nobody dulled the effects of overwork, but I no longer have this benefit. I can hardly stomach the thought of an extra semester, and to transfer to another institution is unthinkable... I was counting strongly on being permanently finished with school by the end of this month, and am honestly loath to endure even one more class."
"Then take next semester off and rest up and finish in the spring!" she yelled. "Then me and you and Roxas can all graduate together!"
"Noooo!" Lea wailed. "That's a whole 'nother year...!"
"And then we just go to Twilight Town after all, right?" Roxas complained. "Which was exactly what I didn't want to do?"
"WHY ARE YOU ALL SO SELFISH?!" Xion screamed. She threw Roxas's arm off her shoulders and turned her back on all three of them and marched out the door with angry tears spilling down her cheeks.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: ...hopefully in my Sora/Xion Day fic on January 30th. *sweatdrop* Though if it gets invaded by too much AkuSaiRokuShi, I might just use it for the "Making up" theme of this challenge, I dunno. Whatever. In any case, there will be a Part 2, regardless of what series it ends up in.
Lol, glaring mistake in one part, but I liked the line too much to try to fix it... *sweatdrop* Maybe no one will notice... Or maybe some of these post-canon AkuSaiRokuShi stories will just be slightly AU from each other. *sweatdrop*
I love SaiShi. ;; I mean, I love AkuRoku and AkuShi and SaiRoku and SaiRokuShi and every single combination of my OT4 (platonically XD; RokuShi's the only one I can tolerate as romance), but SaiShi is the weirdest because they hate each other so much in canon and it never occurs to anyone to do them in fandom and so many of Xion's fans hate Saïx and Saïx's fans hate Xion...but fluffy SaiShi is so amazingly adorable to me. ;;
Complete: 5/30
