At long last, things are turning back to abnormal. They won't stay this way for long (At least, they usually don't, but this is most likely no exception), but in the meantime...I write again! I had a horrible case of writer's block, but now I am fine. I hope. Anyway, I feel I've distracted you for long enough. First, though:
Special thanks to xWhisperWolfx, an angelic writer whose inspiring words have...well, inspired me to get back to writing. And yes, I've officially dubbed the adjective 'angelic' to you and you alone.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.
I typed this all in Word, so I hope that the serifs in the quotations won't cack the whole thing up. Now, I give you:
Chapter 7: Celestial Song and Accidental Truth
Za'afiel stepped of the bus and inhaled deeply, half empty coffee mug in hand. He let it out, then announced absently, "Smells like apprehension. With a touch of fear."
Roxas stepped down and stood beside him, looking at the white walls of the building. "You can smell fear?" He asked.
"Of course," Za'afiel replied, seemingly surprised at the question. "Can't you?"
Roxas's eyebrows furrowed in question and slight annoyance. What's with this guy? Is he serious or...?
Axel came up behind him and clasped his shoulder. "You ready?"
Roxas rolled his eyes. "It's only school. It's not like I haven't done this before."
Za'afiel took a sip of his coffee and failed to comment, instead beginning to walk towards the side entrance to the school. Axel followed, and Roxas pulled up the rear.
"Hey Z?"
"Hmm?" Za'afiel asked, mouth full of coffee.
"Is Demy here?"
The ebony boy forced a swallow and immediately grinned. "Nope. I talked to him before I moved, and he said he'd be back from Iowa by next week. But don't worry, Axel. Your boyfriend will come back to you soon enough." He laughed, his shoulders moving slightly against the weight of his black and grey bookbag.
Axel's eyes widened, but he smiled. "Shut up, you."
Za'afiel laughed as they passed through the black iron doors that looked more like a fortified fence than anything to Roxas. Beyond was the courtyard, where an arrangement of trees and other foliage had been assembled around outdoor cafeteria tables. In the center of the courtyard was a large oak, strong and quite full of life. All around the courtyard were students.
"You tell me to shut up, but you don't deny your love. How cute," Za'afiel pointed out, a smug smile settling on his face.
Axel groaned loudly. "You're insane, you know that?"
"I'm not insane, I'm a lunatic. Get it right."
"You and Saïx with that moon thing. You two are weird...speaking of which, where is Saïx?" Axel asked, attempting to steer the conversation away from himself.
Za'afiel's smile faded a bit. Roxas noticed. "He moved...to Vermont."
" Vermont?" Roxas inquired.
"Chea, because reality couldn't choose a more random place for him to go." His voice trailed off, and he muttered to himself, "I hope he can see Luna there."
A moment of silence passed between the three. Then Za'afiel asked, "So, Roxas is it?" Roxas nodded. "Would you like a tour before school starts?" He lead the other two vaguely towards a set of stairwells, one of two of either side of the inside of the U shaped building.
Roxas shrugged. "Sure."
"Axel?"
"No, actually. I gotta go find my other friends and all. You know."
"Yeah, yeah. Later, Mr. Popular." Za'afiel started up the concrete stairs.
Axel grabbed Roxas's shoulder before he could follow. "Here," he said as he handed Roxas a 20 dollar bill. "For lunch."
"Thanks."
Axel turned.
"Wait," Roxas lowered his voice and glanced up at Za'afiel, who was taking his time getting up the stairs. "What about, umm, Z?"
Axel smiled. "What about him? I know, he's odd, but he's cool. Stop worrying, it's not like he's a serial killer."
"Yeah, but..."
Axel shook his head. "Just calm down and try not to get lost, okay?" He turned and headed towards a group of people who were sitting about one of the tables. Roxas watched him for a moment, then hurried up the stairs in pursuit of Za'afiel.
Roxas soon understood the layout of the school. On one side of the U was the low numbers, the first number of the room indicating which floor it occupied. On the other side was the high numbers, and across the top of the U, from a bird's-eye view, was the building with the gym on the left side, the music and cooking rooms on the right, and the cafeteria in the middle. Behind that were the softball, baseball, and football fields, and the basketball and tennis courts.
Za'afiel smiled at Roxas as they stood outside Ms. Phalange's door, waiting for her to open it.
"Ms. Phalange? Seriously?" Roxas asked Za'afiel, not quite believing it.
"Yup." Za'afiel nodded.
"As in," his wiggled his fingers around in front of himself. "Phalange?"
Za'afiel laughed and nodded again. "Same spelling and everything."
"Okay then..." Then Roxas asked why Za'afiel had knocked on the door instead of just opening it. Z explained.
"Her door is practically always locked, unless she's not here. I don't even bother trying to open it anymore."
Roxas blinked.
"Yeah, it didn't make much sense to me either, but hey, what can you do, right? You can try it if you want." He performed a sort of half-shrug.
Curiosity getting the best of him, Roxas tried the silver handle. It turned, but did not open, just as Za'afiel had said.
Za'afiel chuckled. "Normally, I'd say I told you so, but that would be impolite."
Roxas pondered the statement for a moment, then he heard heels clicking against the floor on the other side of the door. A second later, the door opened, revealing a woman with brown hair and equally brown eyes. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun, allowing her ears to show off their black spiral earrings. She wore a black shirt under a white over-shirt, with grey plaid pants and black heels.
"Good morning!" Za'afiel exclaimed delightedly.
"Oh, hey Za'afiel!" Ms. Phalange replied, her smile revealing a perfect set of white teeth. She let go of the door and began walking towards her desk near the back of the room. Za'afiel took hold of the door and ushered Roxas in.
The first thing Roxas noticed was the smell. Or rather, the lack of smell. It didn't smell like anything.
Occupying the room were black lab tables that were arranged into two rows of eight. Each table stood over two chairs which were all facing towards the dry-erase board at the front of the room. To the right of the tables were two rooms: one which served as an office, and another, bigger than the first, in which a multitude of identical computers lined the walls.
On the other side of the classroom were two hospital beds and related equipment. In one bed was a dummy with a wig and sunglasses. It wore a blue sweat suit, the shirt of which proclaiming in white letters 'Grandma Chase'.
Za'afiel put his bookbag down on the first table, and Roxas hesitantly followed suit.
"So…" Za'afiel began when Ms. Phalange had sat down at her computer in the back of the room. "…what did you do over the vaca—?"
His question was cut off by the earsplitting sound of a bell ringing over the intercom. When it faded, leaving Roxas's ears still ringing, Za'afiel sighed. "Well, let the fun begin."
The day dragged on. After sitting through the last hour and a half in Latin, the teacher of which Roxas found more than a little eccentric, the silence-shattering bell signaled the end of school. Sighing, Roxas stood and followed Za'afiel out of the classroom, not without hearing Ms. Cabral say "Adios, bacalao," to him. He smiled and waved at her momentarily.
"Adios bacalao?" Roxas asked and the descended the stairs, making their way to the bus area. He made a mental note to never again speak a word of Spanish: he didn't have the accent for it.
Conversely, Za'afiel's tongue seemed to be perfectly adapted to it. "Bacalao means codfish. I don't remember when she started calling me that, but it stuck." He shrugged.
"Uh huh," Roxas replied, nodding and regarding the other boy with a strange look.
"What? Don't tell me that being called a codfish isn't a good thing," he said, playfully sarcastic.
"Well, it's not a compliment..."
Za'afiel laughed lightly. "Don't worry, fuego rubio, I think I can live with it."
"Umm…what?"
Za'afiel laughed again. "Nevermind."
Roxas opened his mouth to reply, but then thought better of it.
They made their way to the bus, Roxas making sure that they were on bus 2019, and sat down. There were more people on the bus than there had been this morning, and Julio, the bus driver, announced that there were two stops on the route home now.
Axel had already boarded the bus. "So how was it?" he asked when they'd taken a seat.
"Fine," Roxas and Za'afiel replied in unison. Za'afiel chuckled.
"Well, that wasn't awkward."
Roxas smiled, agreeing. Silence descended as Julio started up the vehicle and began driving away from the school parking lot to his first stop.
Axel ran a hand through his fire-red hair, then said, "Hey, Z?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you sing for me?" Axel said, scratching his ear. Roxas smiled, knowing he only did that when he was shy about something.
"Somehow I knew you'd ask. Sure, I'll sing, but what?" He asked, shrugging. His dark eyes reflected the light from the windows; Roxas couldn't see his pupils at all.
"Surprise me."
Za'afiel smiled, took a deep breath, and sang.
"When you walk away,
You don't hear me say:
'Please, oh baby, don't go.'
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight
It's hard to let it go."
His voice was beautiful. The notes and words blended together in seamless harmony, playing elegantly upon the melody. Roxas was entranced, surprised by a sound he could not describe as anything short of…what? Wonderful? Amazing?
While Roxas scoured his mind for an adjective, Za'afiel continued:
"You're giving me too many things
Lately you're all I need
You smiled at me and said,
Don't get me wrong I love you
But does that mean I have to meet your father?
When we are older you'll understand
What I meant when I said 'No,
I don't think life is quite that simple'"
Celestial, Roxas finally provided. Yes, Z's voice was celestial.
"When you walk away,
You don't hear me say:
'Please, oh baby, don't go.'
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight
It's hard to let it go."
Za'afiel stopped singing just as Julio pulled the bus to its first stop. A few people smiled and spoke a few admiring words before as they passed the boy with the celestial voice. He, Axel, and Roxas were the only ones left on the bus.
When Julio started the drive to the second and final stop, Za'afiel turned to Axel.
"How was that?" he asked.
Axel smiled. "You definitely haven't lost it, that's for sure. What do you think, Roxas?"
Roxas blinked. "Oh! Umm...it was great."
Z nodded. "Thanks."
"Where did you learn that song?" Roxas felt a little sheepish in asking, and redness crept into his cheeks.
Za'afiel thought about it for a moment, then answered, "I...really don't remember. It might've been my mom, I guess."
A moment of realization hit Roxas. "That's who it was!" he exclaimed, momentarily forgetting his surroundings.
Za'afiel blinked, confused. "It was my mom?" he asked, puzzled. Axel went into a fit of laughter, the reversed teardrops beneath his eyes losing themselves in laugh lines.
Roxas realized his mistake. "No! Sorry, was thinking about something else. A friend of mine was humming that song after...nevermind. Just, Sora was humming it, but when I asked him what song it was, he said he didn't know."
"Oh, my bad."
Axel didn't let it go so easily.
"Sora, eh? How is he doing?" he asked, obviously suggestive.
Roxas rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't know; I haven't called him yet."
"Still? It's been a while now."
"It's been what? A couple of days? Damn, give me some room; just because we go at it one time doesn't mean—" He instantly shut up.
Axel stared at him, wide eyed and mouth agape. A few seconds passed, and finally he stated slowly, "You didn't."
Roxas sighed heavily and closed his eyes, mentally cursing his big mouth.
"You did! Oh my gods, you did! I can't believe this! Oh shit, he did it. He did it. Ooh shit..." Axel went about this way for a few minutes. Roxas groaned.
Finally, Julio entered their neighborhood and made his way down the long road to the bus stop.
Axel still wouldn't stop. Roxas, hating every minute of it, looked over at Za'afiel. Z was watching Axel flip out, shaking his head but smiling. Then he glanced at Roxas. Their eyes met, and Roxas forced himself to speak up. "Umm..."
Za'afiel raised an eyebrow.
"...I'd really appreciate it if this didn't leave the bus." Roxas attempted a half-smile.
Another awkward moment passed between them, Axel's repeating "Oh shit...oh shit..." making up the background. Finally, Za'afiel nodded.
"Of course. Reputation is practically everything here," he said with a wink. In a slightly lower voice, he asked, "Was he cute?"
Roxas couldn't help but grin. "Yeah," he replied, embarrassment colouring his face red.
Z chuckled. The bus stopped and the door opened. Axel, who refused to stop smirking, led the other two boys off of the bus.
Julio didn't wave goodbye.
Poor thing. Oh, I nearly forgot. I've set my homepage to a LiveJournal account type thing. Check it out if you ever get the chance/want to (okay, I've only got like three posts...I'm working on it though!).
