Chapter XI (2,553)
Almost there…come on…reach...! His fingertips just barely brushed the side of the bag of flour and Roxas gave up with a pained sigh. Normally it wouldn't have been any trouble at all to get the flour down from its place in the cupboard, but the past few days had done little to ease the soreness in his back. The few spots that had been bleeding were mostly healed, but the swelling wasn't gone yet, and his back still looked like he'd been used as a punching bag by a professional boxer. If he had to miss P.E. too many more times because he couldn't manage to run or stretch, it was going to show in his grade and then his G.P.A. would go down. Roxas could handle a little stiffness and soreness. He couldn't bear the thought of his grades dropping without being able to do anything about it.
Shaking his head, he told himself to focus on what he was doing, not worry about a class he had later.
"Do you need help, Roxas?" a sweet voice asked from behind him, and he reluctantly nodded, moving aside so Namine could get the flour down. They were supposed to be making chocolate crescents, but so far Namine had gotten most of the ingredients and utensils out, considering almost all of them were stored in cupboards and on shelves higher than their heads. Roxas couldn't manage to reach very high without having to grit his teeth against the pain in his back, so Namine had insisted he let her take care of it because she didn't want him to hurt himself.
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help," Roxas apologized for the eighth time that class as he measured out how much flour they would need. "I know it isn't fair that you have to do some of my work."
Namine smiled and lightly touched his shoulder with one slim, pale hand. "It's fine, Roxas. I don't mind helping, and it wouldn't be fair to ask you to do something that would hurt you." He could still feel her fingers on his shoulder even after she moved away and started cutting the chocolate into small pieces, and his cheeks were warmer than usual as he watched her. Roxas had never paid much attention to girls before—his grades and Sora had always come first—but he enjoyed spending time with Namine over the past few weeks and it made him happy to be around her. She was just so sweet and kind…he wasn't surprised that he was starting to get what he suspected was a crush on her.
"Quit loitering and get to work," a gruff voice sounded from just behind the blond boy, and Roxas jumped, startled.
"Y-yes, Coach Xaldin," he stammered, hurrying to help Namine despite his back's protests. He still wasn't used to the fact that Coach Xaldin was the Home Ec. teacher, although it made sense if he thought about it more as health class than Home Ec. Even so, the thought of Coach Xaldin wearing an apron and oven mitts was enough to send Roxas into fits of laughter, and when he had described the image to Sora, the brunette had been doubled over for at least five minutes.
Under the watchful eye of the coach, Roxas and Namine worked side-by-side to produce a batch of chocolate crescents, cleaned the dishes while the desserts baked, then waited with bated breath as Coach Xaldin selected one and took a bite. He chewed thoughtfully, as if the food would tell him the secret to life if he took long enough to eat it. Roxas' jaw twitched impatiently, but he made no other indication of his annoyance with the teacher.
"A-," Coach Xaldin finally declared, and Namine and Roxas shared triumphant smiles. "The bread was just a little under-baked. A few more minutes in the oven and they'll be A+ crescents." Namine wasted no time in grabbing up the pan of remaining desserts and putting them back in the oven. She set the timer to three minutes as the coach moved onto the next pair of students and tasted the crescents they had produced.
"Good job today," Roxas complimented his partner, gingerly leaning back on the counter. Even that little pressure ignited a flair of pain. "You deserve that A more than I do."
Namine blushed prettily, smiling. "Please, Roxas, you deserve it, too. You're just as good at cooking as I am, you know."
"Thanks." He offered an uncertain smile, too shy to tell her of his feelings yet wanting her to know. I'll just wait for a better time. Home Ec. class isn't exactly the best place for that sort of conversation.
She was still smiling at him. He used taking the crescents out of the oven as an excuse to look away from her, disguising his blush with the heat from the oven. Bending over pulled at the sore spots on his back, but he was too busy thinking about Namine's smile to notice.
"Why don't you want to talk about it?"
"There's nothing to talk about, Kairi."
The redhead moved in front of the moody boy and put her hands on her hips, blocking his path. "Liar."
He glared. "What exactly do you think I'm lying about?"
"I think you like him. Like-like him."
"What? No, I don't."
"Do, too. I can tell. You've never acted the way you act around him around anyone else. Come on, Riku, you know you can tell me," she tried to persuade him. The conversation began when Kairi had ambushed the reclusive athlete outside the locker room, and she had yet to make any real progress. Sometimes that boy could be frustrating beyond belief.
Riku brushed past her, on his way to his room to study. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh yes you do!" She had to hurry to keep up with his longer strides. "He wasn't there to workout with you today, was he." It wasn't a real question and she didn't bother to wait for a reply. "I saw him and Roxas leave campus, and I've never seen you less focused on a workout than you were today."
"I didn't know you liked to watch me work out, Kairi."
She ignored the mocking tone of his comment. "So I'm guessing you missed having him with you. Right?"
"Maybe," Riku hedged, seeming not to notice that his pace was forcing her to almost jog. "What's it matter, anyway?"
"What if I told you he likes you back?" She smiled when Riku's stride faltered for a moment before he continued as if it hadn't happened.
"What do I care if he does?"
Holding back an exasperated sigh, Kairi grabbed his arm and forced him to stop and face her despite his glare. "I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me he doesn't mean anything more to you than a workout buddy."
They stood facing each other for several moments, neither moving, then Riku turned away with a huff and continued on, his hands shoved deep in his pockets and his shoulders hunched slightly. He didn't bother to look back to see if Kairi was following him or not, and he didn't care. Why was she so interested in how he felt about the younger boy, anyway? It wasn't like his feelings mattered, and he was certain she'd been lying when she said Sora liked him, that she'd only been trying to trick him into revealing something he'd rather keep to himself.
When no footsteps sounded behind him, Riku relaxed his posture and settled back into his usual stride. Kairi could think whatever she wanted; he wasn't about to confess anything to anyone, especially not to Sora, and if that was what she wanted then she was in for a long wait.
Elbows touching and walking in step with each other, Roxas and Sora explored the streets of the town just down the road from Kingdom High Boarding School. It was their first time outside of campus since school had begun, so they were curious about what the town, which unsurprisingly was called Kingdom, had to offer. So far it consisted of cozy neighborhoods and small, locally owned shops ran primarily by extended families. The twin boys had never been in a town like it before and found the whole place to be fascinating. It was nothing like the cities they were used to, full of bustling traffic, people on cell phones and that ever-present smog. Kingdom was quiet, clean and peaceful. It was easy to see why the school had been built nearby. With Kingdom for shopping and entertainment needs and the beach only an hour away, the students had little to want for.
"Good thing Mom and Dad decided to send us here," Sora commented as they walked down the street, enjoying one of the last warm evenings they would have that fall. His eyes moved over every store window, searching tirelessly for a "Help Wanted" sign.
"Yeah. I prefer this to last few places we lived."
"We should go to the beach with Kairi and Namine this weekend."
"But we can't drive," Roxas reminded him, a hint of regret coloring his tone. The idea of taking the girls to the beach was an exciting one and he knew they'd have a good time. If they had a way to get there.
Sora groaned, slumping his shoulders and dragging his feet dramatically. "Oh, if only we had been born a year earlier so that we might have licenses and be able to take pretty girls out on dates!" he wailed as clutched at Roxas' arm while a few locals out for afternoon walks stared in alarm. The blond boy's cheeks flamed as he waved at the strangers and smiled to show that nothing was wrong.
"You're making people stare at us!" he muttered, attempting to pry Sora's fingers from his arm with little success.
"Better they know we're nuts now than find out later," the brunette whispered back, grinning. Then he ruffled Roxas' hair before letting him go and continuing down the sidewalk, whistling to himself as if none of it had happened. Still flushed, Roxas took a moment to shake his hair back to its original shape before following his overly-energetic twin into a small shop.
A bell chimed as the brunette opened the door, looking around curiously. "Hello?"
"Come in!" a cheerful woman's voice called from the back of the store. "I'll be right with you!"
Looking around curiously, the two boys shuffled in and stood just inside the door, amazed by the merchandise displayed around them. It wasn't like any store they'd ever encountered before, and they'd been in quite a few odd shops in their time.
"I'm not sure if I want to work here or if I'm terrified of the people who shop here," Sora whispered.
Roxas opened his mouth to reply but before he could, a slim woman with black hair appeared from the depths of the store.
"Hi! I'm Yuffie, what can I do for you boys?" She smiled, one hand on a cocked hip. Roxas and Sora couldn't help but stare. The woman was dressed in tight-fitting yellow shorts and a blue tube top with knee-high socks and mid-calf boots. Her short black hair was held back by a headband. Several moments passed before Roxas realized what the woman said and nudged Sora forward.
"Um," the brunette blinked, obviously still startled, "are…are you hiring?" His tone was meek and half-apologetic, like he was afraid to be wasting her time.
The woman blinked. "Oh! Of course! Did you want to apply?" She didn't wait for them to answer before retrieving an application form from behind the front counter. Sora just nodded and took the form, trying his best to offer a polite smile.
"Thank you."
"No problem! You can bring that back whenever you're finished filling it out! Feel free to look around." With another friendly smile, she turned and went back the way she'd come, humming to herself. Once she was gone, Roxas turned to Sora and let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"Well, I wonder what sort of things you'd do if you worked here."
Sora swallowed hard. "Probably polish the daggers." With one last glance around, he turned and exited the store, Roxas following close behind. The light from the setting sun seemed oddly bright after the dim shop, but the twins welcomed it. The woman had been friendly and the shop was in no way a frightening place, but Sora knew it would take some getting used to if he was to work there.
"Come on," Roxas murmured, slipping his hand into Sora's and pulling him down the street. "We should get back before they lock the gates." And, hand-in-hand, they made their way back down the road towards school.
Zexion sat at his desk, homework forgotten, as he watched Axel stare moodily out the window at the darkening courtyard. He knew he should say something, but he also knew that there was nothing he could say that would help, so he maintained his silence. Still, he hated the strained silence that filled their dorm.
"How bad was it?"
The silence returned as Axel formulated an answer. "Bad enough." His hands gripped the window sill so hard his nails were digging into the wood and his shoulders were tense as if he expected an attack; fury practically radiated from him. "She threatened him. I thought I could just ignore her like usual, but she said that if I didn't do what she wanted, then she'd 'get rid of that blonde kid' to 'persuade' me." His grip on the sill tightened until his knuckles popped. "I couldn't let her do anything to him because of me." Turning to the blue-haired senior, he all but pleaded, "There was nothing I could do! She knows I like him and the bitch is using him against me!"
"Axel," Zexion said calmly, getting up and moving to stand in front of his red-haired friend. "Don't torture yourself over this. Don't let her get to you. The blonde's a smart kid—he can take care of himself. You worry about you."
"But it's my fault she's after him," he pointed out. "If it weren't for me then she wouldn't even know his name."
"There's nothing you can do about it right now. Why don't you just talk to the kid before she has a chance to try anything?"
"He doesn't know who I am," Axel muttered, turning back to the window. "And he probably doesn't want to know, now that I got him in trouble. You know what that bitch probably did to him. He'd hate me if he ever knew who I was."
Zexion didn't argue with him because he knew the other senior was most likely right. He'd noticed the blonde freshman sitting out of P.E. and acting like he was in pain. "You have to try. Otherwise you're letting her win." As Axel thought that over, Zexion returned to his desk and began working on his homework again. Axel turned back to the window.
"I guess you're right," he admitted after a few moments of quiet.
Zexion grinned. "Aren't I always?"