A/N: And so here's chapter 4 brought to you by yours truly. I feel a sense of pride for being able to write this in such quick succession to chapter 3 after not having worked on this fic for a while. This chapter starts off with a short time skip from the previous one which you will read about. I also decided to incorporate some off campus fun this time. Also in case anyone was confused, Flynn, Yuri, and Sodia are seniors in this while Estelle and Ioder are juniors and Rita is a sophomore. The Academy's high school level therefore is based on 4 year ones. This does mean that most characters have been slightly aged down to fit in with the grade they're in. Be on the lookout for characters from Tales of Vesperia that have yet to be introduced here, mainly the rest of Brave Vesperia. Without further ado though, on we go.
Summary: Flynn Scifo, President of the student council and top student in his grade at Zaphias Academy never expected that he would associate with his childhood friend, the problem student Yuri Lowell after 3 years…. Or that they would be sharing a dorm together this year. How will things turn out from here on now that the Lone Wolf and Zaphias's Knight finally come to heads?
Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Tales of Vesperia or any of the characters in the game. If I did Fluri and Ristelle would most likely be canon.
Yuri's P.O.V
It had now been nearly three weeks since Flynn had even spoken to me. Despite the fact that we were now roommates and saw the other on a daily basis, he preferred to treat me as if I were invisible, finding it much less taxing than to start up a conversation only for it to end up as an argument. Occasionally I would throw out a teasing remark or a friendly jab at the blonde haired teen only for it to be met with perpetual silence. After the two week mark even this began to dwindle to little more than a few harsh words whenever he passed me by, my irritation showing somewhat clearly now. At the same time, I had yet to retrieve my knife from him, and he seemed to guard it ever more fervently from me. One would think that he feared I would stab him with it as soon as I got my hands on it by the way he protected it as if his life depended on it. I suppose I could chalk that to up to Flynn's high sense of justice.
Tonight, however, was the day that I decided that I had finally had enough. I needed some place to go that was far, far away from him before it drove me mad. It was a Friday night and the only remedial classes were typically held on Saturdays at Zaphias. Campus police weren't so diligent after curfew which was set at 10 o'clock also. That being said it was the perfect opportunity to sneak out of the dorms and hit up a local club called Vesperia. Students were forbidden from leaving campus grounds out night and I'd known some students who were expelled after getting caught going to Vesperia late at night, not that I myself had ever been discovered. I hadn't actually gone in a while though so I deemed it the perfect opportunity to stop by and pay some acquaintances a visit again. It would take my mind off things while I was at it too. That's what I told myself at least as I swiftly crossed over the front lawn of Zaphias Academy and discreetly made my way to the locked gates.
Flynn had not been in the dorms tonight, and I later learned that he had made prior plans to sleep over at Ioder's room. I was nearly surprised he hadn't went to that woman who was always all over him's room instead until I remembered that the student council president was too much of a goody two shoes to dare spend the night with a woman on campus, even if it was obvious that said woman would not have minded. I could tell from one look that Flynn had her on a tight leash and the bastard didn't even know it. The way she looked at him was like a bitch in heat and I found it hilarious as hell. If Flynn wasn't such a cherry boy he would realize this too though based off of personal experience I'm not one to talk per se.
Climbing the twenty foot tall gate before me seemed like a cake walk when I approached it. I had grown used to scaling trees that were much larger than it when I was younger. I hooked my foot through one of the bars and rested the sole of my shoe on the chained lock before beginning to pull myself up effortlessly. After a few moments of navigating my body up the gate I rested at the top of it and faced the direction of the other side that would take me out of the campus. I could see the dim glow of the street lights not that far away as well as the swaying of the leafy greenery of the trees in the area and in its own way it was breathtaking. Not breathtaking like how people describe a sunset or a cliff overlooking a lit up city but in that the other side was like a devilish temptation. It felt like freedom.
Not wanting to waste more time than necessary, I slipped off the gate and landed on my feet. I took a moment to look back at the quiet, lifeless scene of Zaphias Academy at night before turning away from it and walking off into the adjacent street which was equally as lifeless. Vesperia was located about a mile away from the school and as I made my way down the silent streets I thought about the first time that I had ventured out to go to the club. I was just fifteen and a freshman back then, having done it on a dare from some classmates who no longer even went to the school. I had just transferred in and found out the hard way how when Flynn suddenly up and moved to attend school here he had planned to cut all ties with me in the process and I was confused and in denial back then. Now all that was left was the feeling of being betrayed and thrown away ironically. My face was an unwelcome sight to him and so to get his attention I started acting out. The first time I snuck out felt absolutely exhilarating and yet at the same time the gnawing urge for Flynn to be there, to be sneaking out with me had haunted me the entire time. When I finally reached Vesperia at that time they wouldn't even let me in. I laughed out loud as I remember and waved the people goodbye the first time. It wasn't until the next year that I was actually able to go into the club due to the growth spurt I had which made me appear older than my fifteen year old self who was still "wet behind the ears" as they said.
"Why would you leave campus to go to some club Yuri? Do you realize that you could get expelled for stuff like this? It isn't something to brag about!" Flynn berated me angrily from behind a book he was currently reading as I thought about how this was his first time speaking to me since I started attending school here nearly three months ago.
I had purposely tracked Flynn down to the school library and told him of last night's escapades in order to gauge his reaction if he had one at all. I found him hidden behind the bookcase in the unsolved mysteries section. Reading books about crimes and other forensic nonfiction was his hobby as of late from what I could see. When I walked up to him, I watched him raise his head for a minute to see who it was before lowering it back down to continue reading. I gulped and cleared my throat to get his attention. Nothing. Still, I moved closer to him and grinned from ear to ear, feeling proud of my latest accomplishment. It was then that I told him that I had left school grounds to check out the club called Vesperia that some guys told me about. Those were the words that he replied with when I finished.
"Well it's not that I got caught so no worries. Besides I only planned to tell you and those guys. I have no intention of going around the school and run my mouth about it. That would be dumb," I corrected him playfully, enjoying the attention he was giving me for now.
"And who says that they won't rat you out when they eventually get in trouble for what they've been doing? They'll drag you down with them without a second fault and then you'll be kicked out and sent back to the orphanage. I know you don't want that," Flynn pointed out off handedly, turning another page in his book, "and make no mistake that they will get busted eventually when what they've been doing comes to light. Don't go down in flames with them like an idiot Yuri."
At the mention of the orphanage where we grew up my grin faded immediately and I tensed up. Fortunately, Flynn failed to notice this and simply went on reading. I didn't want him to see my reaction or to find out what was causing my reaction. Not ever could he find out. No, I wouldn't and couldn't go back there no matter what. That's what I had promised myself when I left. In fact, the only place from me was beside Flynn. That's what I had to tell myself. If this were no longer true then I wouldn't know what to do with myself anymore. He was all I had after all.
The haunting memory plagued me as I made my way to the club, causing me to stop momentarily and entangle my fingers through my hair. That had been over three years ago and I wondered why I had just now remembered it. I chuckled upon realizing what a kid I used to be, expecting that I could cling to Flynn for the rest of my life even as he treated me like trash lying on the ground. It was embarrassing and sad in the end that I acted and felt like that for not just me but for him too most likely. I distinctly remember that at the orphanage I had been Flynn's whole world though and how his eyes used to gleam with admiration whenever he was with me. Maybe his clinginess had been transferred to me in the end. I started walking again, doing my best to banish these thoughts from my mind.
"And yet you followed me all the way here," Flynn shot back with an amount of coolness that rivaled my anger. "What does that tell you?"
Maybe Flynn had been right on the mark when he said that, alluding to the fact that he thought of me coming to Zaphias as a means to specifically stalk him. At the time, maybe it was in fact to stalk the honor bound boy who I had once called my best friend. No, Flynn was still my best friend even if our friendship was now one sided and unwanted by him. Somehow before we graduated and it became really too late I just had to make him see that we could still be friends and that he couldn't just run away from Yuri Lowell. I found myself smirking, satisfied by the lofty idea of Flynn begging to once again be worthy of being my best friend. Then he'd tell me how sorry he was for all those years of ignoring me, the apologies flowing from those thin, slightly tanned lips of his…
"Hey Yuri Lowell! You in there buddy? You look like a zombie passing by here this late at night you know?" a voice interrupted me from my thoughts and bringing me crashing back down to reality.
I swerved around sharply to meet the dark gaze of a certain voluptuous tanned woman who I knew quite well. Her indigo hair was braided neatly into one long bang she draped over her left shoulder and her bangs flowed freely to just above her eyes. Currently, she was in a rather skimpy white outfit that exposed her cleavage quite nicely with a skirt that hardly left anything to the imagination. I waved lazily at the older woman who cocked her head at me before pursing her lips and folding her arms at me. There was no longer any doubt that she would question me about the state she found me in. I cursed my bad luck mentally as she never gave up a topic easily.
"What brings you here on this nice night Yuri Lowell? Did you miraculously turn twenty-one and bring some identification proving it to show me today?" She joked cynically, causing me to wonder exactly if it really was a joke or not.
"Darn! Sadly no identification yet Judith but you can be sure that I'm working on it," I winked at the unsmiling woman, "I just thought I'd pass by though and pay the ever lovely hostess of Vesperia a visit. Isn't that what a gentleman would do as you say?"
"Hmm yes maybe but as I recall gentlemen don't typically come to a bar late at night when they're under aged and should be sleeping now do they? I believe you are in fact the farthest thing from a gentleman I have ever had the displeasure of laying my eyes on Yuri," she responded in a delighted, amicable tone though her words were anything but.
Judith was the hostess of Vesperia and I had known her for a while now. In truth, she was the only reason I was still let into the club, taking a shine to me after my handful of prior failed attempts to get in only to be turned away. Of course, she made it quite clear every time I saw her that she would prefer it if I was legal and not breaking any sorts of laws by coming here but we came to an agreement that we would both just live with some law breaking now and it would be all worth it later. I was rather confident that Judith wouldn't rat me out to the cops for being a minor at a club and she was confident I wouldn't disclose to the cops that she allowed a minor to hang out there either. Besides, it wasn't as if I came here to get drunk, knowing that inebriation would make it a lot more difficult to return to my dorm, much less hop back up the gate at all.
"Well to be honest I am glad that you decided to show your face today. I just recently hired a new bartender around your age. I have a feeling this one lied and said he was twenty-one so that I would give him the job, but I let you come as you like already so I allowed it even with my suspicions," Judith chuckled in high spirits and I wondered how she could run a club with such a nonchalant attitude toward hiring minors.
I whistled in interest though and input suavely, "So since you hired him does that mean that I could get a job here too? Sounds like a sweet deal if you were to give me a job too Judith."
"No, sorry but I only hire those who can legally go to bars Yuri Lowell. Come back in three years and I'll think about it alright?" She smiled easily, instantly shooting down any hopes I may have had.
"Well it was always worth a shot. If you ever change your mind about that policy of yours you know where to find me," I added persistently, enjoying our current course of conversation and wishing that it remained as cordial as it was currently.
"Hmm I'll think about it," she stated sarcastically, leading me towards the front entrance of the club, "Now about that zombie like state of yours I just saw… care to explain?"
And here it comes. We stood an arm's length away from the front door from which loud music could be heard as she asked me this. I shifted uncomfortably, deliberating what lie I should tell her. Then again Judith was the kind of person that was usually extremely perceptive to prevarications. Her eyes watched me like a hawk and I averted my gaze for a moment before admitting that I had been thinking about Flynn again and about how we became roommates almost a month ago and how the situation and worsened if anything between us. I'd told Judith about Flynn (though I never mentioned his name) before and how we came from the same place. However, there was a reason that I disliked to tell her about things regarding him. She had a habit of twisting whatever I told her and…
"My, my the two of you truly do seem to be attracted to each other like the north and south ends of a magnet. Complete opposites and yet you two just can't leave each other alone. Ah how nice it is to be in the spring of your youth. I bet the two of you will…" Judith went on, the insinuating tone of her face threatening to make my skin crawl.
"No it's not like that. There's nothing going on besides what I am telling you okay? You keep making it seem like there's some kind of perverse undertone to our relationship and it's creeping me out Judith," I hissed out, glaring daggers at the older woman before me.
"You say that but then why in the world did you force the poor boy into a kiss then? Do friends regularly do that to one another in your age group nowadays because when I went to school kissing was still romantic and valued you know," she said teasingly, and I rolled my eyes because she was only twenty-six and not some old crone like she was making herself out to be.
I regretted telling Judith about the kissing incident from three weeks ago now. I still didn't even know why I did It myself and letting her in on it would only cause her to hold it over my head as evidence to prove her bizarre theories. The last thing I wanted was to have her trying to explain to me that we couldn't be friends when that was the very thing I was trying to accomplish. Her advice to me last year had been to write Flynn a love letter for god's sake. Not only was that highly unhelpful but it made me worry that Judith was into "that" kind of thing.
I opened the doors to Vesperia, and upon doing so was met with a wave of loud music that nearly threatened to burst my eardrums. It was louder than usual oddly enough and I glanced over in Judith's direction and mumbled that her DJ was beginning to go death apparently. She laughed at this and replied with a skeptical "maybe so". Looking beyond the doors, the dance floor was brightly lit with an array of neon lights as the crowd danced wildly among them, both in pairs and individually. The air smelled of body heat and alcohol as always and I welcomed the familiar smell like an old friend. Judith patted me on the back before walking off and leaving me to my own devices, but not before telling me to stop by the bar and say hello to her new employee before I left. She wasn't the type of person to want to introduce me to someone nor had she ever done so before so it seemed oddly strange. Knowing this, I somewhat moodily decided to make that first on my priorities so I would not have to do so later when I was beginning to tire and wanted to head back to the dorms. Not doing what Judith said was not an option…ever.
I made my way to the bar, which was not surprisingly filled with people seated in stools. Of these people I could automatically point to the few who were passed out drunk and others who were soon to be so. What really caught my attention was the sliver of blonde hair I saw in the corner of my eyes. I turned my head toward the direction of the blonde hair, which belonged to the bartender that had his back turned to me. His blonde hair was cut short and spiked upward, much like Flynn's. He was wearing a white, long sleeved shirt and black jeans, with a black apron tied around his mid-section. His back could almost be considered broad, being a little more muscular than myself. I stepped closer so as to get a better look at him, not wanting to interrupt him from his current activities. He seemed to be preparing a cocktail for one of the patrons at the moment.
"What will be your order sir? I'll be with you in a moment," the bartender asked without warning, his commanding voice so familiar. So unmistakable that my eyes widened upon hearing it and my jaw dropped despite not knowing if he had directed the question to me or someone else, "Sorry if I startled you. I'm quite good at recognizing when someone is coming up behind me. You see I…"
The bartender turned around slowly to take in the sight of me, though as soon as our eyes met all words ceased. I found myself once again gazing into cerulean blue eyes which had by now widened in surprise and apparent horror upon the sight of me. The person that stood before me I knew quite well, yet never in a thousand years had I ever expected to meet him here, especially not now when he would not even talk to me. And yet somehow I stood face to face with my blonde haired, blue eyed roommate in a club owned by an older woman I'd met during my nightly escapade to Vesperia.
"Flynn? Is that really you?" I stammered out in disbelief, coming closer until the only thing separating us was the literal bar where drinks were served, "Tell me this is some kind of a sick joke and that I am not seeing you here right now."
He swallowed hard and appeared to debate whether or not he should say anything at all before finally answering, "No Yuri, it's not a sick joke. You're really standing here and seeing me because well… I work here right now."
I reflected over his words carefully, and more than the discovery that Flynn worked at Vesperia, more than the fact that he was most definitely also breaking some rules here that he had previously reprimanded me for all those years ago, and more than the fact that in a way the thought of us both being out of the dorms together finally came true I understand something else. What I understood was that Vesperia was no longer a place where I could be free from my thoughts about the blonde who stood just a few inches away from me and yet felt as though he were a lifetime away. I took a seat over in a stool that happened to be available, my face resting in the palms of my hands and sighed dejectedly. I pulled out a fifty dollar bill that I hadn't planned on spending today and laid it flat on the table.
"How about taking this money and making me as many screwdrivers as I can afford then Mr. Bartender since I'm a paying customer and all," I ordered nonchalantly, all excitement at being out now gone.
And as much as I knew he didn't want to, as much as he wanted to chastise me for drinking, he still served me.
And so now Yuri has some delicious dirt on Flynn. Of course, Flynn is not happy about this at all. I wonder how things will turn out now that Yuri can gloat over this small victory. Next chapter is going to once again be in Flynn's point of view though I must admit I've had a lot of fun doing Yuri's side. You'll also get to find out what other things took place during those three weeks that Yuri wouldn't know about. As always read and review and until next time.
