Melee Academy of Higher Learning for Boys

Year Two

-Thirteen-

"R-Roy..."

Marth was silenced by another one of Roy's kisses, a soft moan escaped from Marth's throat as Roy decided to tease Marth with a little tongue here and there.

"Happy–birthday,–Marth," Roy said, punctuating every word with a brush against Marth's lips, his breath tickling Marth's face. He pushed Marth onto his back and climbed on top of him, his legs straddling Marth's waist, their lips preoccupied once again. Marth pressed into Roy, his one hand traipsing up the white wife-beater Roy slept in, the other pulling at the back of Roy's thigh.

"Mmm... Marthy," Roy said, repositioning his body so he was now completely on top of Marth, his head on his shoulder. The bed creaked whenever either of them moved, probably due to the abuse the bedframe had to endure from the couple night after night.

"What?" Marth murmured sleepily.

"I love you," came the reply, and Roy kissed Marth's jawline, a sigh of contentment releasing from his throat.

"Love you, too," Marth stated, and kissed Roy's forehead; his arms wrapped around Roy's midsection, his fingers lazily tracing invisible designs into the small of his back.

A ray of sunlight came through the barrier the blinds and curtain provided, highlighting Roy's hair - making it more noticeable in the otherwise dark expanse of their room - and Marth's cheek.

"Think we should get up?" Roy wondered, his voice partially muffled by Marth's neck. "It's almost five... No sense going to sleep for two more hours."

Marth said nothing, and when Roy made to break the embrace, Marth protested and instead held Roy closer.

"Stay like this," Marth said softly. "You're warm...and it feels...nice."

Roy shifted so he was more comfortable, and neither of them left the embrace for the rest of the night.

"Though I wish you would've waited until we'd woken up for school," Marth added as an afterthought. Roy didn't hear it - he immediately fell back to sleep.

-x-

"Good morni--" Link looked at the still-slumbering teens and put his hands on his hips. Marth, sleep in? No, definitely not.

Though after what happened last night, Link thought, I don't blame him for being so tired.

Because Shakespeare was just that boring, reasoned Link - who left before all of that came to light - and thought Marth and Roy threw it down, and were thus exhausted from other more interesting activities.

"Hey guys," Link said as he crossed over to their bed, "it's time to wake up." Link pulled the sheets off the sleeping couple and dropped them onto the blue-carpeted room.

Marth would have pulled the sheets up over his head, but the sheets weren't covering him and he didn't feel like retrieving them. Roy noticed the cold morning air on his backside and awoke immediately, unaware of Link's form towering over their bed.

Roy turned over and fell off of Marth; stretching, he rubbed his eyes and sat up. It wasn't until he opened his eyes that he realised why it was so cold.

"Link, how many times have I told you to knock?"

"Thirty seven," Link replied without hesitation. "That's not counting Marth. It would be well over a hundred then."

Roy swung his legs over the side of the bed and went about his morning ritual of getting ready for school.

"Kokiri Forest doesn't have doors, and I wasn't ever taught to knock on anything before entering, so..."

"But Link," Roy said, "this place has doors and you need to learn to knock before entering. Don't do the whole 'knock while entering' thing, either, because that's even worse." Roy only knew one person who "knocked while entering", and said person only did it when he was sure nothing sexual was going on.

So Link just stood there in the middle of the room and watched Roy change. "It's nothing I haven't seen before."

Roy looked at him, horrified.

"I'm a guy, too!" Link added hastily. "I have male appendages, too, even though I'm sure you and Marth forget that at times."

Roy said nothing as he hoisted his shirt - already half-buttoned - over his head.

"Isn't Marth supposed to be getting up just about now?" The Hero of Time gestured to the oblivious prince occupying the bed.

"He's exempt from the rest of his exams, Link." Roy was busy trying to figure out how to not choke himself with his tie. "He doesn't have to show up."

Link, who wasn't even caring about his uniform and how many out of uniform slips he'd get, threw his tie at Roy's head. It fell a few feet short and landed on the blue coloured sheets instead. Roy looked down at it and stared.

"If that was supposed to hit me," Roy began, "then you failed. Utterly." Roy created another loop, which finished the knot, and it was tightened, finishing the tie.

"All right, let's go," Link said when Roy was done with everything. "Don't want Peach getting on our case."

Link exited the room, leaving his tie on the floor still. Roy bent over his sleeping boyfriend and kissed his forehead.

"See you," he whispered, grabbed his bookbag from next to his computer desk, and zipped out of the door.

Marth did nothing except turn over. Apparently being awoken at almost-five in the morning was bad for Marth's sleeping habits.

-x-

"Okay, so what else was on the history exam?" Link asked Roy, shifting from one foot to the other and back again in a nervous state. "I must know or I'll be a failure at history!"

Roy slammed the locker door shut and locked it, third and fourth period books under his arm.

"I have Ganondorf for history, so the exam's probably different."

Link latched onto Roy's leg and pulled on his blazer. "I don't care! I'm desperate! Please help me!"

Roy sighed and had no choice but to try to help Link as best as he could.

"Did you study Akaneia yet?" Roy asked as he tried to pry Link off his leg. He failed at the attempt and was tempted to smack him over the head with his Algebra book.

Link released his hold on Roy's right leg and sat down right smack dab in the middle of the hallway.

"I don't remember."

Roy banged his head against the locker, wanting to wake up from his nightmare. "That doesn't help, Link."

"I know it doesn't!" Link said, frantic now. "I just wanna go hooome."

Roy stared at him, thinking Link had finally snapped from the pressure.

"Wait," Link said, seeming to abruptly stop his panic attack, "was Akaneia the place Marth came from?"

Roy was about to concuss himself. "Yes, Link, it is."

"Then yeah, we learned about it. Not much, though...we spent a lot of time on Mushroom Kingdom and sort of ran out of time."

Roy adjusted the ID clipped to his chest pocket and said, "Then I really can't help you."

Roy yelped when Link nearly pulled his pants off. "Okay, okay, what do you want to know about Akaneia?"

"Anything!" Link begged, his body almost on Roy's lap. "Anything would be better than me failing miserably with a zero!"

Roy pushed Link off of him and adjusted his pants. "All right, all right, all right. The exam I took had a lot of questions on Anri and how awesome he was, plus one or two mentionings of that war Marth fought in."

Link nodded his head emphatically, but stopped when he heard the last part. "Wait a sec."

"What now?" Roy asked, looking down at the sprawled-out-on-the-floor Hero of Time.

"Marth fought in a war?"

Roy immediately turned and headed towards the hallway connecting new building with old, Link crawling on hands and knees after him, all the while yelling, "Wait, Roy! Waaait!"

I think I just lost some braincells, was all Roy could think of.

-x-

"Here, you can have this dreaded book back." Link let go of the book and winced when it connected with the faux-wooden surface of Mr. Luigi P. Mario's desk. Mr. L. Mario nearly jumped out of his skin and through the ceiling, along with several other students.

"But history is a wonderful thing!" Luigi argued. "Especially history about the Mushroom Kingdom... There were questions on it, remember?"

"I'm trying to forget," Link replied as he turned to go back to his seat. "There were too many."

There was about ten minutes of silence before an announcement broke it like a shattered windowpane falling to the floor.

"Will Link Mekkai report to the main office? I repeat, will Link Mekkai report to the main office?"

If it weren't the middle of an exam, everyone would have "ooohed!" and made remarks about what Link did this time to get in trouble. Instead, Link was greeted by silence. Grabbing his English book off the floor and his pencil off the desk, he tripped out of the room and up the stairs to the third floor. Walking a few feet from the door, he waltzed into the main office, placed his stuff on the counter, and waited for the receptionist to acknowledge his existence.

"Ah, Link, it's been a while." Emmy was the only female wireframe who actually had a name, and that was because she was Master Hand's favourite creation. She fell into her office chair and sorted some papers on her desk before giving Link her full attention.

"I've been a good boy," Link replied, giving her a suave little smile. Link was possibly the biggest flirt in Melee Academy, for he flirted with all of the female staff. Roy always compared him to some man named Sain, who was a friend of Roy's father; Link didn't really care about the comparisons to other flirts, for he thought they were compliments.

"Until now," Emmy said, opening her filing cabinet drawer and pulled out a folder. "This is your...forty-seventh out of uniform slip, Link. You're always forgetting your tie." She placed a form on the counter, along with a pen. "You know the drill... Fill it out and hand it to me when you're done."

Link grabbed the pen - glad that it wasn't one of those uni-ball ones, for they smudged or didn't work well - and filled out the form in under a minute. He had encountered this form at least once a week, and knew every question asked on it.

"I'll need a parent or guardian to sign this slip for you... Hand it in tomorrow, all right?" Emmy took the finished form and filed it away in Link's folder.

"You don't mind if I get Zel--Ms. Harkinian to sign this, do you? I don't have a parent or a guardian."

Emmy shrugged. "As long as it gets signed, I don't think it really matters. Except that it has to be someone eighteen or older."

"Crap," Link muttered. Zelda had only turned seventeen, so she still couldn't sign for him. Who the heck do I know who's eighteen?

Link, who didn't have his five cans of caffeinated beverages for breakfast, wasn't thinking clearly. If he was, he would've thought of a solution to his problems, an answer to his unspoken prayer. His solution had blue hair, was around 5'8", and was of royal status.

And his name was literally all over the school due to the amount of awards he'd won.

This school always has to make things difficult for me.

Never mind the fact that Marth, who would be nineteen by the end of the day, signed all of his other out of uniform slips. This was because Marth was eighteen. The solution to Link's problem.

Link waved goodbye to Emmy and left the main office, passed by a sign that announced recent scholarships (of which Marth was one of them), and went back to his history class, still pondering the answer to his problem.

-x-

"Roy, do you know anyone eighteen or older?" The once-again-frantic Hero of Time slid open the door of their English class, ran through the doorway, and nearly landed right in Roy's lap.

Roy gave him an "are you retarded?" look and said, "Yes."

Jumping into his seat, Link grabbed Roy's shirt collar and shook him. "Who is it?"

Roy grabbed Link's wrists and pulled away, his head spinning and his body slightly disoriented. "Link, I knew you were a bit naive and a little on the dense side because of it, but this is ridiculous."

Link cocked his head to the side, his hands grabbing Roy's legs now. "Just tell me!"

If Link got any closer, his face would be inches from Roy's.

The position did not look right, if you looked at them from another student's point of view. Whispers about Link's sexuality were passed around the room like a game of "telephone", and rumours of Roy cheating on Marth were bound to be around the school in about five minutes through texting. Link stared intently into Roy's eyes and his grip tightened, fingernails digging into Roy's skin. Roy was backed up into the wall and ready to climb up it.

"Um, hello, is your brain working?" Roy yelled.

"No, not really," Link admitted. "I didn't have my Mountain Dew this morning."

Roy was ready to headbutt Link. "Marth is eighteen, and by the end of today, he'll be nineteen."

Link pulled away and pressed a finger to his lips in thought. Roy took in a huge gulp of air and slid down his seat, relieved that Link was off him.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because your brain isn't working correctly," Roy replied. "And must you practically sit on top of me when you ask me something?"

"If it gets you to answer me, then yes."

Roy became quite flustered. "Funny you don't do that when Marth's around."

Once again, Link leaned in to Roy's personal space. "Maybe I have a thing for you. Who knows?"

Roy nearly died.

"In any case, Marth would kill me."

Roy slowly nodded his head. "Yes. Yes he would. He would maim you horribly with Falchion."

Link drummed his fingers against his chin as he pulled away from Roy again, a creepy looking grin on his face. "I've never kissed a guy before."

Roy had no idea what to say, and was shocked speechless by Link's next action.

I don't know who Marth's gonna kill first: Link or me.

There was no way Roy could focus on his English final after that.

-x-

"Oh c'mon, it was only a little kiss!"

"Just a little, one, huh?" Roy argued. "Then why was there tongue?"

Link shrugged. "I felt like being fancy."

Roy clenched his fists and got into Link's face. "You felt like being fancy?! Link! I'm happily committed to Marth! You are not Marth. And you! You're supposed to be with Zelda! What would she think if she heard?"

Link twirled a strand of blond hair around his finger.

"I dunno," he said quietly. "I don't know."

Roy crossed his arms and exhaled forcefully, his head turned away from Link.

"Are you telling me you're gay?"

Link threw up his arms, his gaze towards the sky. "I don't know! Why don't you tell me?"

The campus was nearly empty, everyone fleeing the area before a fire started, and Link would be the one burned.

"Did you..." Roy could barely speak now, whether it was from anger or embarrassment, he couldn't tell. "Did you like it?"

"Like what?"

"The kiss, dumbass. Did you like the kiss?"

Link shrugged again. "...Better than Zelda."

Roy sighed. He just wanted to crawl into a hole and die right then.

"You and Marth kissed for a while before you and him decided to...become a couple, didn't you?"

Roy, who was about to walk home, immediately turned back around. "You're not saying that..."

Link inhaled and held it for a bit before exhaling quickly. "I... Well, it depends on what you think I'm saying."

"...You're not saying that you...like me, are you?"

Link averted his eyes; Roy's gaze was so intense that Link thought his eyes would burn if he looked any longer.

"Dammit, you do." Roy sounded less angry and more upset. "Oh, Link, tell me you do so at least I know."

Link still said nothing.

"I..." Roy opened and closed his mouth several times, thinking over his words carefully, while looking like a fish in the meantime. He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned around so he was facing the street, away from Link. "I have to tell Marth what you did. And you have to tell Zelda."

Link made to say something, but Roy cut him off.

"Marth won't be too angry with me, since it wasn't my fault... But I can't say the same for you with Zelda."

"Roy, I..." What to say, what could he say? "...I'm sorry. I..."

Roy's chuckle was coated with an edge of bittersweet. "At least I'll know who to blame if my relationship is ruined."

And with that, Roy walked away, unable to deal with the situation any longer, lest he lose any valuable time. Link reached out for Roy's shoulder, to try to get him to turn around and talk to him more, to tell him more about the situation; his arm fell to his side instead and he shivered.

My life completely sucks right now, Link thought. Not only could I possibly ruin two relationships - mine and Roy's - but I've probably ruined my friendship, too.

-x-

Marth was nearly scared half to death when the door of his room was suddenly thrown open. Grabbing Falchion's sheath from the nook between his bed and the night-table, he was half-way through with unsheathing it when he saw Roy standing there in the doorway.

"Roy?" said Marth, sliding the blade back into the metal scabbard. "You look distraught. When did you get back--"

Marth got off his bed and walked closer to Roy for a better look. Roy's hair was wet and matted down against his forehead, his cheeks, the side of his face, and his clothes were soaked.

"Marth..." Roy's voice was unsteady, though he tried so hard to keep it as calm-sounding as he could. He sniffled and wiped his eyes with his wet sleeve.

Marth closed the door at once behind him, took Roy by the shoulders, and steered Roy onto his bed, sitting him down at the edge.

"What happened." It was an order to tell, not a question. Marth went into the bathroom for a split second to get a towel and draped it over the shivering boy's shoulders. "Tell me what happened."

The mattress sunk a bit as it held the new weight, and Marth took the end of the towel so he could dry off Roy's face.

"...Something happened."

Marth took a good look at his boyfriend and saw tears streaking his face. "I surmised as much. I want to know what happened."

Roy sniffled again and told Marth what had happened in English class, about the awkwardness that permeated the classroom, about the rumours that were probably going around the school, and the argument that happened on the campus. Marth listened intently and Roy choked, unable to say anything more.

"Roy," Marth said, his voice soft. "Just calm down, all right? Nothing bad is going to happen to us." To prove his point, Marth took Roy and pressed against him for warmth; he pressed his forehead against Roy's cheek, something he always did so Roy would listen to him.

"B-But he..."

"He did," Marth finished for him, "but that's just it - he did it, not you. You have nothing to be guilty about. Everything's all right, Roy..."

There was a thick silence in the air, broken only by the hum of Roy's computer and the muted voices from the floor below.

"No, it's not." Roy's voice was muffled against the fabric of Marth's shirt as they sat on the edge of his bed. "It's not okay. This totally ruins your birthday, this will probably be the end of 'us', and...I don't think I could look at Link the same way again."

Marth kissed Roy's forehead once, twice, three times, and held Roy closer to him. "It's not going to ruin 'us', Roy. If anything, it ruined Link and Zelda's relationship."

Marth moved Roy so he was at arms-length, his hands still on his shoulders. "Roy, look at me."

Roy sniffled and did so; Marth's eyes were not full of anger, but of concern, of love.

"I love you more than anything else in the world, Roy. Nothing is going to change that. Yes, I'm not happy that Link kissed you, but that wasn't your fault, you expressed your dislike for it, and you made sure it didn't happen again."

Roy's hands were limp in his lap and he bit his lip, unsure of what to say. His eyes, however, held another story entirely, and asked the question Roy didn't know he sought the answer for.

"I'm not angry," Marth continued, pulling Roy a little closer now. "I'm not angry at you, but at Link. It wasn't your doing, all right? Everything's going to be okay." He pressed Roy's face to his chest, and Roy grabbed onto Marth's shirt like a drowning man clinging to a rock in the current, his body shaking with sobs.

Marth pressed his fingertips under Roy's chin, directing the sixteen year old to look at him. When Roy did so, and after he calmed down, Marth kissed Roy with so much passion, Roy wasn't even sure why he doubted Marth loving him.

"I'm going to talk to Link about it," Marth said when they pulled away.

"If I hear the crunching of dry-wall, I'll know it was Link being thrown through the wall."

Marth sighed. "Is that what he thinks I'm going to do to him?"

Roy shrugged, the mood lightening slightly. "He knows you'd kill him if he was caught."

Marth ruffled Roy's still-wet hair. "Go take a bath or something to warm up. I'm going to let off some steam down in the arena."

Roy mumbled an "all right" as he stared at the floor, the towel around his shoulders dripping wet now from the moisture. Marth left the bed, grabbed Falchion from the sheets, and walked out the door.

-x-

"Why does this always happen to me?" Link muttered, Master Sword slung over his shoulder. "I always do something utterly stupid. What am I gonna tell Zelda, anyway? Oh, I can just see it now..." He imagined Zelda turning into some weird dragon-like monster with glowing red eyes and chomping on his flesh...

Link opened the door to the training arena and stared out into the black expanse that turned into the field of their choosing. Marth was tinkering with the controls of the arena, trying to figure out what stage he wanted to have his practise match take place on.

Link walked down the steps, passing by the bleachers that held spectators from everywhere you could imagine, and the VIP boxes, which was where the other Smashers sat to see battles. He jumped down the last few steps and hit the asphalt, a small cloud of dust forming from his landing.

"I guess I'm not alone here." Link scratched the back of his neck.

Marth turned around then. "Guess not." How straight-to-the-point Marth was. "I guess Master Hand screwed the booking up."

"So... So how's Roy? He was sneezing all the way home 'cause it started to rain and..." Link made a few useless gestures with his hands. "I hope he hasn't caught pneumonia."

Leaning against one of the arena walls, Marth ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh.

"Roy is understandably upset, but he was a little better when I left to come here."

Link stared at the ground. "I...I didn't mean to... It just sorta...happened."

Marth nodded. "Go on."

Link looked a little less suicidal at Marth's urging. "Y'mean you're not gonna throw me out the window or impale me with that sword of yours?"

Marth let out a hollow-sounding chuckle.

"I don't like causing unnecessary drama; in fact, I don't like causing drama period. I'm not going to say I'm going to kill you or turn this into a soap opera. Roy specifically said what went on, I believe his word, and I'm here to listen to your side."

Link plopped his rear down onto the asphalt. "So you're not pissed at me?"

Marth's eyes narrowed. "On the contrary, I am very pissed off. I'm very good at hiding it, because tempers gone awry lead to nowhere."

Link dropped the sheath of the Master Sword onto the ground then. Marth wasn't going to let Link off so easily.

"You've made Roy blame himself, and it's not his fault."

"I know that," Link said, fidgeting. "I know it's not his fault. I dunno why he's taking all of the blame."

"You could have ruined our relationship, Link. I hope you realise that."

Link nodded emphatically. "'Course I do. But I didn't--"

"I know you didn't mean it." Marth sighed again. "I'm not very good with words, but I...I want you to apologise to Roy for what you did, for lack of a better idea at the moment."

"But I did and he wouldn't listen to me!"

"Then wait for him to calm down. You owe him that, for making him go through something like that. Especially when he doesn't like you like that."

Link nodded. "I think Roy knows how sorry I am but... I'll apologise to him again once he's willing to stop shouting at me."

Marth idly looked at his watch. "Did you talk to Zelda?"

Link looked to the asphalt then. Must Marth bring that up now? Link hadn't thought of a way to confront her about the issue yet.

"Err...no. No, I haven't." Seeing Marth about to say something, Link cut in with, "I'll tell her eventually, I swear."

"So you're just going to have her go on, oblivious, while you go on your merry way?"

Link wished Marth wouldn't look like he was staring into his soul.

"...Let me wait until school's over, at least. Then I have time to think."

Marth kicked away from the wall, Falchion's sheath clattering against the stone wall.

"If you don't tell her, Roy will, or I will. She deserves to know as soon as possible."

Link walked over to Marth and tried to size him up - a little difficult since Marth was a few inches taller than Link - with his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Let me handle the situation, Marth. Go comfort your boyfriend."

Hoisting the sword-belt over his shoulder, Link stomped up the stairs of the stadium while Marth watched, shaking his head the whole time.

When will you learn, Link? When will you learn?

-x-

A few hours had passed since Marth and Link's quasi-confrontation. The bedroom was dark, the room filled with complete silence, and all was still. Roy, exhausted from the events that unfolded, was fast asleep, his school clothes thrown wherever, his pajama pants were on backwards, and Roy's shirt was still around his neck. It was like he passed out while getting ready to sleep.

Marth opened and closed the door and hoped the floorboards would be silent for once. (I really should get Master Hand to fix that, Marth thought when a floorboard he stepped on creaked ominously and quite loudly.) He walked over to his bed and placed Falchion back in its place by the bedpost. He took off his day clothes, threw them in the laundry basket, picked up after Roy (because if Marth didn't, he would go insane from thinking about it all night), and slid into bed afterwards. Marth was wondering if Roy would "sneak" into bed with him tonight, or if Roy was going to stay in his own.

"Roy?"

No answer. Marth turned onto his side, his head supported by his arm.

"Roy."

A grunt. "Wha' d'you w'nt..."

Marth patted the empty space beside him. "Come over here."

Roy turned over in the bed a few times, untangled himself from the sheets, and got up, almost falling over from tiredness. He walked over to Marth's bed and sat down on the designated spot, slid under the covers, and turned so that he wasn't facing Marth.

"Stop blaming yourself." Marth pulled Roy closer, rested his chin on Roy's shoulder, and kissed just below his ear.

"I'm not," Roy replied. "I didn't do nothing wrong." He turned in Marth's arms after moving Marth's head away, wrapped his arms around Marth's neck, and snuggled close. He didn't care that Marth was a little sweaty from practise.

"You're not gonna leave me, are you?" Roy asked, his voice sounding uneasy.

Marth chuckled. "Of course not."

"What about Link? What did you do?"

Marth kissed Roy's mouth gently as he stroked Roy's cheek. "He's still alive. I just lectured him on what he did."

"...Are you and him still going to be on speaking terms?"

Marth thought of his response. "...We are. I can't say the same for him and Zelda at the moment, but yes, we are. It might be a bit awkward, though... At least, for a while."

Roy straddled Marth's leg and grinned, though it was hard to see in the darkness. "I'm glad you found a way to salvage the friendship."

"I did it for your sake, you were friends with him longer." Marth kissed Roy again, this time much more deeper than the last.

They didn't speak of the issue any more, their minds on other things.

"I'll take you out for your birthday tomorrow," Roy promised through another yawn.

"I'll hold you to it," Marth said.

"I know you will."

-x-

Author's Notes: Ooh, drama! I bet you weren't expecting something like that to happen! I wonder what Zelda's gonna do to Link after she finds out...poor guy's been through enough because of Marth's lecture... You'll just have to stick around to see what happens next!