Dusks in the Twilight

Pence came bounding up to me as I left the school grounds. He pulled at the hem of his baggy sports shirt. 'Hayner's pissed with you, but he'll come round.'

Everyone else had pretty much dispersed so we walked downtown together. Twilight Town always had this kind of buzz at this time of day, where the shops were still open but winding down and all the school kids had been let out. The sun was just starting to cast long shadows down the paved streets and you got this sense that the day was still to be had.

'Why's Hayner pissed with me?'

Pence adjusted the sweatband round his forehead. 'Because he likes Olette.'

'So?'

'Olette likes you.'

'You heard me earlier. I'm gay! What do I care?' I fiddled with the silver, pointed cross on my zipper.

Pence frowned at me as we passed McDuck's store. 'I know. But he's jealous that she likes you instead of him.'

'Oh.' I stopped walking.

Pence shrugged. 'You want an ice cream?'

I frowned at the sign for sea salt-ice cream. 'Sure.'

Pence passed me a blue ice cream lolly.

'Thanks,' I said around a mouthful of sweet-salty delight.

'He'll come round. Don't worry.'

'We're best friends. I'm not worried.'

'I gotta get home,' said Pence. 'See you out tomorrow?'

'Sure. Skateboard's not gonna ride itself.'

Pence nodded at me before we parted ways.

I checked the ice cream stick for the word 'winner' as I skateboarded into the woods. No luck. I threw the stick away. The woods themselves were bordered with the grounds of an abandoned mansion. I'd taken the long route in the hope that I would avoid my classmates.

The sound of giggling made me stop in my tracks. I looked around the great oaks, the carpets of wild flowers and the shafts of light breaking through the canopy.

A small group emerged from behind a couple of large trees. It was Seifer, and his gang: Fuu and Rai.

Seifer folded his arms around his broad chest. 'Litterbug.'

I waved a hand dismissively. 'Whatever.'

'Hey. You pick that up, faggot.'

'What did you call me?'

Seifer was hot on my heels, breathing down my neck. 'We're the Disciplinary Committee and I'm telling you to pick that lolly stick up, faggot.'

I gave him a good, hard shove. He was taller than me, but I knew how to use my weight – lower center of gravity and all that.

He hit the ground with a thud. Instead of getting up he looked to his pals. 'Well? Get him!'

I tried to run but Fuu was surprisingly swift as she caught me and held me in a headlock.

Rai's fist connected with my stomach. I felt a sharp pain and struggled as much as I could against Fuu's grip.

Rai informed me with a deep voice, 'You'd better wise up, ya'know.'

I tried to wriggle free but Fuu's grip was tight, dammit!

Seifer got to his feet. 'Let's teach the faggot a lesson.' He approached me. Heavy boots clomping on the ground, fists at the ready. I steeled myself, but all of a sudden Fuu let me go.

I raised my fists. I was ready for a fight. 'You giving up already?'

Seifer's eyes widened at something over my shoulder. His mouth dropped open and they all ran away. Then I saw it. A silver-colored creature warped across the forest and advanced at me, unbelievably fast. Its barely-human form was undulating. It had pointed arms and sharp-looking feet. Its bright, silver body glinted under the sunbeams as it went for me. It hit me square in the chest and it fucking hurt. I could see some sort of emblem on its head as it rebounded—it was like a heart and a cross. Sharp pain spread through my chest. The thing came at me again, striking another blow across my face with its freakishly-long arm, this time knocking me to the ground. One side of my face quickly went numb. I got onto my knees and I could feel blood running down my chin. Shit. I was sweating like a pig and panting and I could hear it soaring towards me.

I saw twin wheels of metal glint out of the corner of my eye. Two sharp, red-silver chakrams went flying past and connected with the creature. They had been thrown by a hooded figure, dressed in all black. He ran over and hauled me up by a gloved hand. 'Get out of here, buddy.'

I dusted myself off. 'What is that thing?'

'Fucking dusks,' he commented, not addressing me directly.

The next silver dusk caught us both by surprise. The figure ran for his chakrams. I held my hands out in front of me – a futile attempt to keep the creature at bay. I felt a tingling in my fingers and a huge, silver key appeared in my hands. The blade was surprisingly well-balanced as I held it steady before me. It was at that point that I knew I had gone fucking crazy.

'Roxas!' the figure shouted, 'Don't do that! Put it away!'

He knew my name? I looked to the blade in my hand. Slash. Slash. Slash. Before I knew it I had lashed at the silver monster and it burst into a confetti of colored orbs.

The mysterious guy's tone was insistent. 'Drop the keyblade and run!'

Keyblade? The word was somehow familiar. I watched him as he shifted his weight between his feet. 'You called me Roxas! Who are you?'

'That hurts, buddy, but I can't tell you.'

'Seriously?' I pointed the blade - the keyblade - towards him. 'Who the fuck are you? Some kind of stalker? Just leave me alone!'

'Ugh. Wish I could.' He seemed to pause a second, before he pulled down his hood. Long fiery-red hair flowed around in sharp points and contrasted with his aquamarine eyes. 'You really don't remember, do ya?'

I felt the weight of the keyblade in my hands. 'Huh?'

He winked at me. 'The name's Axel. Got it memorized?'

I dropped the blade to the bed of leaves and stared at him blankly. 'Why would I remember you? I've never met you!'

He shook his head. 'You don't know how much I've risked coming here. Your nose is bleeding.'

I wiped it with my arm. 'I know.'

Two more silver things glinted in the distance. Axel turned to them almost immediately. He had sharp senses, like a hunter. 'Get out of here, Roxas.'

I went to pick up the keyblade. It vanished from the ground and reappeared in my hand. I gripped the yellow handle tightly. 'I can fight.'

'No. Get out of danger!' He threw the first chakram. 'Go now!'

I dived past him and slashed at the oncoming dusk. 'Not a chance!'

It felt right. I had never felt so alive. Forget about the humdrum of high school, or even scuffles with Seifer's stupid gang. Fighting for real. It felt so good. It felt so...me.

Axel took the left one and I took the right. We fended them off together until they were nothing but winking orbs of dust in the ground. Axel collected his chakrams.

I studied the keyblade's rounded, silver edge and its yellow handle. It had a chain running off it, with a Mickey Mouse emblem dangling on the end. Suddenly it dissolved out of my hands and I questioned whether it had even been there.

Axel was still stood beside me. He grabbed hold of my shoulders. I noticed the teardrop-shaped markings under his eyes. 'You need to stay out of trouble,' he said.

'Are you kidding? I wanna do that again!'

He gently rubbed my nose with his sleeve. 'You need to get cleaned up. Promise me you'll go straight home?'

I looked him in the eye. His expression was stoic and unyielding. I didn't feel like I could mess with him without ending up with a chakram lodged in me someplace. 'All right,' I said.

'You promise?'

'Yeah, okay. I promise. Jeez,' I replied as I walked away. 'Who are you anyway?' I asked. I looked over my shoulder, but he had gone.

Naminé's words bothered me as I cleaned up in the bathroom sink. There was a lot of dried blood on my face, which made the water go pink by the time I was finished. The pain in my chest was still there but had faded to a dull ache. I shrugged off my white jacket and chucked my black undershirt in the laundry basket. I watched the plastic fish swimming round my lamp aimlessly as I sat on the bed.

You're heartless.

Dammit, Naminé. Why did you have to be so harsh?

You're a nobody.

It ticked me off. In fact, it bugged the hell out of me. All right, so I was different. Maybe I loved in a different way. Heck, maybe I felt differently, but that didn't make me a nobody did it it? I still had a heart, right? I could still be a somebody...right?