YOU ALL GAVE UP ON ME DIDN'T YOU?!
DIDN'T YOU!
-points finger accusingly-
Well, if you did...then I don't blame you. -sheepish smile- This chapter took insanely long to write. And some of you were like "wtf?" to the last chapter so you're all probably exspecting something amazing to happen on this one right? Well the fact that I actually updated should be amazing so ha! HA! I UPDATED! WHEN ALL OF YOU PROBABLY GAVE UP HOPE ON ME!
Actually no. That was a lie. Most of you were kind enough to fill up my inbox with death threats to get me to update. And because of that I adore you all. Really I do. It means alot. And OMG OVER 40 REVIEWS for the last chapter made me die of happiness. Thank you reviewers. -hugs- And I replied to everyone like...6 months late. You probably forgot that you even sent one XD.
Disclaimer: I own nothing...nothing at all...except a lot of apologies to everyone who waited this long and stuck with me and wished me a 'get well soon'.
Claimer: To Hakumei Mikomi for an Axel 'nurse edition' plushie, blockofthewritingkind for cookies and a get well present (I am better now thanks!), summonerofthesilverwolf for a cherry on top and AkuRoku sprinkles, Revalations for updating her RH fic and a Marluxia plushie along with a cookie, black vapor for a blue Freeze Pop for my ideas, and bluemoonalchemist for an emo Roxas stuffie.
And thank you Lorien Moore fore beta'ing. -insert more hearts here- SQUEE!
Detention vs Counseling
xXxXx
The first thing Sora noticed when he got home was a very grumpy Roxas. One that had just stormed down the stairs and into the kitchen, angrily opening the cupboards and then slamming them shut.
His older brother then emerged from the kitchen with a crumpled bag of chips in one hand and headed towards the couch. The blonde didn't even say a word or bother to acknowledge Sora's presence in the living room as he flopped down on the couch.
"Well, you're home early!" said Sora cheerfully.
Sometimes obliviously ignoring Roxas' mood swings – gosh, his brother could be so girly at times! - was better than dealing with it. So the brunette sat down next to his brother and turned the T.V. on.
Not that they really watched it, it was just to fill up the silence, although Roxas seemed to be doing that role right now as he angrily munched on his chips.
"So Roxas, did you…uh…I…get any homework today?"
The blond continued to ignore him as he devoured the chips. Sora stared at them. He wanted chips. No, wait. Roxas first. So ignoring the loud crunching and the smell of sour cream and onion in the air he began to prod Roxas with more questions. But that was really hard because he really wanted the chips and those were his favorite….
"Rox, how was school?" asked Sora.
"It was fine." The blond somehow managed to say through a mouthful.
"I see." Said Sora, still eyeing the chips. "Did Axel help you out?"
Roxas froze, like literal hand in bag and mid-chew. All because of that word. No not the help word, he heard that plenty of times. Like on those stupid info-commercials that recommended products that never work. It was Axel.
Something about that kid bugged him, but he couldn't think of a reason quite yet. Other than the constant staring and the possibility that the guy had turned his little brother into a school skipping druggie bad boy-okay that was probably a good reason to hate him for. Why hadn't he thought about that before?
Because he was too busy trying to hate Axel to actually come up with valid reasons, and if Roxas had voices in his head that spoke to him, they would be saying this: Awww, all that guy ever tried to do was be your friend!
Luckily he didn't have voices in his head like that. And besides, Sora had probably told Axel he'd give him a cookie if he befriended Roxas or something stupid like that. Seriously, Roxas couldn't see a reason why the redhead would ever want to befriend him. And vice versa, right? RIGHT?
"Rooooooxas?"
The blond looked up and met his brother's questioning eyes. The proper response would have been "No I hate him and he's a jerk." And then Sora would continue on smiling at the typical Roxas behavior, because that was practically Roxas' response to everything.
But this time it was different. This time he meant it right?
"Axel's okay."
Sora stared back shocked. "What?"
A chip was raised to the older boy's mouth and Roxas bit it and chewed slowly, he was trying to buy time before he put his words together-and he knew Sora wanted his chips. Ha! Like he was ever going to get them...
"I said he's okay. Because clearly Axel isn't the type to skip school right?"
Although Roxas was very talented at starting fights, he was also skilled at avoiding them - except for today where he had totally lost control - but that was a simple mistake because Axel was different, right?
The brunet was currently fidgeting in his seat. Realizing that Roxas had just put him in a very dangerous scenario. But then an idea stuck him. He could always play Roxas' game back at him!
"Yeah you're right." said Sora watching Roxas as he chose his next words carefully.
"And I was totally wrong about you not being social because you have so many friends at school."
Roxas caught the on emphasis on the word. So Sora didn't have such a great first day either? Well he certainly shouldn't have expected to.
"And your friends certainly don't cheat on tests." Roxas replied without any sarcasm.
Sora's face paled a bit at that part. Roxas had a thing against cheating and it was surprising how his brother was taking all this. But not for long!
"Yeah well, your friends were all really nice to me... like, uh … Kairi, and Yuffie, and, um ...Tifa... Aerith… Selphie..."
As an afterthought Sora added, "Who were also all girls…"
The older of the two stared back dumbstruck. Who the hell were all those people?
Well regardless of the fact that Sora had made more friends on his first day than Roxas had that entire year...goddamn it.
"Um, right. And I'm sure your friends never go out and…."
And that's where he stopped. Get high? Was that what Roxas was about to say? And wasn't that the same thing he hadn't told Sora about? When his brother was living a different life at school, Roxas was doing just the same without either of them knowing? Wait...did that mean Axel was right?
Roxas was still sitting on the couch staring blankly at nowhere in particular when his brother called out his name. He still remained unmoving as Sora did it the second time and poked him-yes the thought that Axel may have been right about something really bothered him that much.
It wasn't until the sound of teeth crunching on something crisp was heard in the air when Roxas' attention was brought back to Sora. He also vaguely noticed his bag of chips was missing.
"Rox, you alright? You kinda zoned out there," said Sora after he swallowed.
And normally Roxas would have gotten annoyed that Sora kept stealing his stuff. Or he would just simply steal it back, but right now he was just...confused? No, he wasn't...was he?
Was it possible for someone to be confused over whether or not they were confused?
"I'm not going to school tomorrow," stated Roxas suddenly as he snapped out of his daze.
Blue eyes looked up in surprise at the retreating back of his brother. "But you love school!" cried Sora, noticing the slight twitch Roxas gave as the sentence rang in the room. God, his own brother thought he was a geek too?
The older of the two turned around slowly "But not your school," he corrected, "And I'm taking my uniform back."
Sora's mouth dropped. No! Then he'd fail the rest of his exams! Not that Sora cared or anything! Because he wasn't that selfish…Okay maybe just a little- he really, really wanted to pass high school before the age of twenty if it wasn't too much to ask for.
"WHAT? But you have to go!" the brunet jumped off the couch and tried to cut his brother off before the stairs.
"NO!"
Roxas stopped at the bottom step as he realized what he just did. Yelling at Axel was okay because he was an asshole for reasons Roxas couldn't think of yet, but yelling at Sora was not cool. But upon a glance back, it revealed the other twin to be completely unfazed.
And because the day was just getting more and more complicated, Roxas decided to do something simple― like stating the obvious.
"I'm...going upstairs!" and with that he ran up the remaining steps.
xXxXx
It took five seconds for Sora to run into the kitchen, two seconds to locate the phone, another five seconds to carry the phone out of the kitchen because he hated that place, and a couple of minutes to find Axel's number.
(It should also be noted that it took Sora four seconds to pick up the receiver and feel guilty about it because he wasn't allowed to use the phone to call other people unless it was an emergency...and about half a second to get over that.)
The brunette sat completely still as he pressed the final number and a dull ring was now echoing out from the receiver.
He was just about to give up on the ninth ring when a clatter that resembled someone picking up a phone and then dropping it was heard.
After a few moments that Sora sat impatiently through, a voice presented itself. Sounding slightly distracted and with less enthusiasm than the speaker normally showed, it spoke:
"Hello?"
And with that Sora replied with his usually greeting.
"AXEL YOU IDIOT! WHAT DID YOU DO THIS TIME?"
xXxXx
The shout was lost to anyone upstairs since the only person that could hear it, had his head buried in a pillow at the time.
Need... to... think... about... something else...
Roxas rolled over and stared at the ceiling, folding his hands on top of his stomach.
What did he do the last time this happened? ...Wait, that wasn't a good thought. Okay time to think of something else, like instead of his day, how did Sora's day go?
Right, like he could ask Sora now?
Roxas sat up straight in his bed and stared at the door. He was about to go downstairs and ask Sora what the homework was (because he had a very one-tracked mind like that) when he heard voices.
It actually sounded a lot more like Sora's voice... like Sora shouting... wait, was his brother talking to himself?
Oh no, he was worried about this. He had read about how kids whose parents left them alone for long periods of time would sometimes go insane and talk to inanimate objects hoping to seek comfort.
But that seemed unlikely to happen to Sora. Letting curiosity get the better of him, the blond got off his bed and quietly moved outside his room. Walking down along the hall to the staircase he could hear indeed that Sora was talking, quiet loudly with someone.
He must be using the phone. But they weren't allowed to use it unless it was for emergencies, or when their dad called. (It was a stupid rule that Roxas made up to avoid talking to people in general).
However, the way Sora was yelling into the phone, Roxas highly doubted that it was their father they were talking to.
"What do you mean you guys got in a fight?!"
Roxas paused on the first step of the staircase. He felt like a spy, pressed against the wall―trying to eavesdrop on whoever Sora could possibly be talking to.
"And then you just let him walk away? Why didn't you say sorry?!"
Sorry? For what?
"Oh you did? ...Uh, then you should have said it again!"
Wonder who he's talking to... I've never heard Sora yell at someone before.
"You did that too? ...Five times? Uh, well then..."
Who is he talking about?
"Wait, did you use an 'I message?' Ya know, those things they teach us in homeroom where it's like 'Roxas, I feel sad when you call me names and don't wanna be my friend' and stuff..."
The aforementioned blond nearly tripped as he lost footing on the stairs at the sound of his name. THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT ME?
"Oh don't worry about it. Those don't work for me either, but… I dunno... this is weird, Roxas and I used to be so close..."
Roxas slowly found himself sitting down on the stairs, the wall causing his shirt to rise up as he slid down with his back. He let his head fall back as he listened intently to the rest of the conversation he didn't want to hear.
"... Like I could tell him anything, and he would tell me everything! But now it's like we barely talk. And if it's something that happened, maybe something I did or something else that upset him - I mean, I wish he would just tell me!"
The worst part was that he wasn't even surprised.
Try as he might, Roxas was unable to evoke a feeling of shock or realization as the conversation progressed. But Sora had never told him anything, and every time his dad or that goddamn Axel brought it up he just ignored it. So why couldn't he feel surprised?
"I thought maybe...maybe switching places might work, you know? Maybe meeting new people would get him to open up a little more...I don't even know what got him to change in the first place. And I'm his twin brother!"
And here comes the part where Sora tells the listener how his dear old brother has no friends. How he has a doting girl following him everywhere as his closest companion. How his little brother on the other hand has plenty of friends who tried to be nice to him and he just shunned them away.
Because that's exactly what Roxas did. And that's exactly what Roxas didn't want to hear.
Not now, and not coming from his brother.
He didn't know how long he sat there, leaning against the wall slumped against the steps. Roxas couldn't bring himself to get up, so he just blocked out his brothers voice, until he heard:
"Okay, I gotta go."
Something in Roxas' mind told him to get up and get moving before Sora came up the stairs. But another part of him wanted to know whom Sora was talking to, whom Sora had told all his problems to instead of his older brother like he used to― because his older brother was the problem.
Would Roxas finally be able to confirm that his suspicions were right? And as much as he wished they weren't, he knew nothing could surprise him now. And in an ironic way that surprised him.
The answer was yes.
"Bye, Axel, thanks for listening."
xXxXx
After that, Sora placed the phone back he tiptoed quietly into his room. Hopefully his yelling hadn't attracted his brother's attention? Because if Roxas had and Sora was forced to lie again― well let's just say Sora wasn't much of a liar, as was proved by Riku.
But when the brunette rounded the stairs he found...
...nothing.
There was no body there. A sigh of relief escaped Sora, for some reason he had felt like someone was listening in to him throughout the entire phone conversation.
And when he climbed up the stairs he found nothing in the hallway. And nothing in his brother's room but Roxas lying on his bed. If his brother was asleep then Sora had nothing to worry about. A heavy sleeper like him would be dead to any noise.
And when he was awake he was dead to the world.
But that thought was quickly forgotten as Sora went back to his room, maybe to study for his final exams ― since it looked like he would be taking them now.
xXxXx
"Bye, Axel, thanks for listening."
Yup, it was definitely Axel.
Axel was ruining his life, and Axel was driving him crazy, and Axel wasn't even here.
But at least Roxas was starting to understand why.
"...thanks for listening."
Understand might not have been the right word. 'Admit' might be, because here was a perfectly good reason for Roxas to hate Axel and feel terrible about it, because it was his own fault.
Thanks. For. Listening.
Axel was there when Roxas wasn't.
Axel was the one that Sora proverbially ran to, the one that he confided in. The redhead was like a second older brother to Sora.
He didn't want to admit it at first. Because admitting he was wrong… would mean he was wrong. And if he was wrong, then that meant Axel was right. And if Axel was right then all of hell would freeze over and all the fangirls with their yaoi would reign instead. Even if none of them knew what the question was in the first place. But that's the beauty of 'theoretical or hypothetical or maybe it actually is a real question' questions.
But in the end it all came down to one thing: Axel was replacing him and Roxas was going to do something about it.
xXxXx
When Sora woke up he noticed two things.
One, he wasn't in his bed. And two, he had fallen asleep at his desk on top of his homework which meant… he had gotten no work done.
Great. Now he was definitely going to fail that exam.
The brunet sat up, pulling the sheets of paper stuck to his forehead away and straightening his back. He was still a bit sore from sleeping slumped over like that for the night.
He checked his watch- about half an hour left to get dressed and go to school and fail his exams. And that's exactly what Sora was about to do when something attacked him. It hit him right in the face, causing him to fall off his chair and land on the floor with a very loud thud. But what was louder was his scream
"Aaaaaaaaarggghfft!"
Minutes later Sora realized that the thing that 'attacked' him, was no longer 'attack'-ing him. He pulled the material off his face and noticed that it was considerably soft to the touch and resembled Roxas' uniform.
Blue eyes gazed toward the doorway, the direction that the clothes had come from, and saw a very confused looking Roxas. The boy had his arm stretched out in front of him, palm up in what looked like an underhand throw position.
But what was incredibly noticeable about him was the way his mouth kept twitching as he tried to register what was going on with a screaming Sora on the floor who incidentally had bad catching techniques.
"Ummm…" Sora looked at the uniform now held safely in his hands, then back at his brother in the doorway.
Roxas opened his mouth, and then closed it. "…."
The brunette was absolutely sure his brother had planned on giving him some sort of apology, or brotherly speech about how 'Sora could go to Roxas' school after all and he would be the good caring older brother who would still cheat for him.' But anything Roxas must have planned on telling Sora probably escaped his mind by now - at his little brother's failed attempt to easily catch the uniform thrown at him.
So Roxas ended up doing what he did best, backing out and stating the obvious.
"I'm going to school." And with that, the blond left in the general direction of the stairs, a confused expression still plastered on his face.
When he was gone, Sora looked back down to his hands with a smile. Well, that could have gone worst. And besides, he'd bet Roxas's apology speech was probably bad anyway.
xXxXx
Axel stared long and hard at the math problem in his workbook, placed on his lap. He tapped the pencil held between his fingers against his forehead. One, because on those rare occasions the repeated action helped him think, and two, because it was now helping him ignore Larxene's shrill questioning.
"What do you mean he isn't coming today?"
The redhead scribbled some illegible answer down. Axel had a theory that they couldn't mark him wrong if they couldn't read it.
Not giving up, Larxene continued her interrogation, but with a different approach. She uncrossed her arms and placed them on her hips, when she spoke her voice had picked up a lighter mocking tone.
"What exactly happened yesterday Axel? Did you scare little Roxem away?"
Green eyes never left the paper as he spoke, but the voice had picked up an irritable note.
"Okay, first of all. The kid's name is Roxas. Go memorize that. Second, he just hates me and that's that. I don't know why he ran off, he just likes running away from problems or something like that."
Speaking of problems, this one particular math equation was starting to bother him. Luckily, he was so absorbed in doing his overdue homework that he hadn't caught the smug look that appeared on Larxene's face.
But when Axel finally did look up, any trace of it was gone. The pyro also noticed that Demyx had already joined the group and was standing beside Larxene. Funny, why hadn't Axel noticed that sooner?
"Hey, Demyx… what's division?"
The musician brought his attention down to the ground where Axel was sitting. "Uh, I think it's when you take a really big number and then make it smaller."
A frown presented itself on Axel's face. "I thought that was subtraction?"
"Yeah, but division makes the number get smaller faster."
"So it's like subtraction on steroids?"
"Yes, like subtraction on steroids."
"Ah."
Larxene shook her head as Axel quickly grasped the concept of division, and made up answers that seemed reasonable for every question. "Okay, I'm done." And with that he stood up as well.
"Since when did 170 divided by 5 give you 2?"
Axel whirled around at the voice behind him. He was met with a short smirking blond kid that greatly resembled…
"Roxas?!"
The blond looked up because of the height difference, returning Axel's gaze of disbelief with a smug looking one. He replied nonchalantly, making it almost impossible to pick up on the air of humor in it. He was trying so hard to make this work; he just had to if he wanted to make it up to Sora, even if it meant getting along with Axel.
"Oh, good, you've memorized it." Roxas replied. The slight twitch Axel gave was almost worth it. Almost. Instead it was his ridiculous reaction that made Roxas stick with his plan.
Axel's jaw must have fallen all the way to the ground and one of his eyebrows reached his hairline as his mind processed all this. Did Roxas just make a joke? Like actually said something… that wasn't mean… but filled with humor?
Roxas using humor… humor being used by Roxas… was that even possible? ...Was the world ending now? ...Wait, did that mean he did his math homework for no reason?
Well that was certainly a drastic change from the angry, mean, anti-social, (Axel's list could go on…) Roxas he knew. Seriously, either Roxas was up to something or he was bi-polar. Although, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing was still yet to be determined.
The only female member of the group watched with mild amusement.
If this kept up without her interference, there would be a 97 percent chance that someone was going to say something stupid and mess up the temporary tranquility of the group.
Or that Axel was going to say something smart but make it sound stupid and screw everything up anyway.
And as much as she would have loved to step back and watch it happen, Larxene wasn't that sadistic, so she broke the silence and spoke.
"Not that I care, but let's get to class."
xXxXx
8… 13… 29…
Sora frowned at the lock in his hand. He had been trying to get his locker open for the past ten minutes. Unfortunately, he hadn't planned on going to school today after yesterday's incident. And although he was thrilled Roxas had actually agreed to keep the switch-up-in his own Roxas sort of way― Sora wished he had at least remembered to bring his right stuff. Including his combination paper.
Maybe the last number was 28?
The brunette was so concentrated on getting his locker open, that he hadn't realized he had spoken the words out loud until someone replied to them.
"Actually it's 24. But you're still pretty close."
The voice had completely caught him off guard. Maybe it was because he was up late last night attempting to study, or because he was still amazed Roxas had bothered to talk to him that morning, or maybe it was because he was absolutely sure the last number was indeed 28.
But whatever the reason, none of them could justify the loud shout of surprise he gave as he jumped about a foot into the air. He whirled around to find the identity of the person behind him, relief flooding through Sora.
"Kairi!"
The redhead smiled and she tilted her head in a teasing matter. "You're awfully jumpy this morning. Did someone figure out your identity already?"
A sheepish smile was her response as Sora lifted a hand behind his head. "No, actually…"
He paused in his wording. He couldn't exactly tell Kairi about how his brother nearly killed him this morning by throwing his uniform when his guard was down. Then she would think he was a totally idiot, if she hadn't figured that out already.
"I… kinda got in a fight with Roxas yesterday."
Concern flooded Kairi's eyes. "What happened?"
"Um, I'm not really sure. I think he just had a bad time at my school." Sora literally had to do the tongue-in-check maneuver as he lied. The brunette was positive Roxas had an awful experience at Destiny High. Even Axel had seemed apologetic on the phone, something that never happened before.
"But I think its okay now. 'Cause, I'm still here and Roxas seems fine about going to my school this morning," finished Sora.
Kairi smiled. "Well, that's good."
The lock finally opened with a click as Sora tugged on it. Well, it was 24 after all… With a cry of triumph, the brunette bent down to retrieve his books. When he had turned around again, his arms were filled with binders that Kairi noticed he didn't even need. But she kept that to herself with a smile, no need to lower Sora's self esteem.
"Uh hey..." started Sora staring at someone behind Kairi. "There's that... Selphie girl again."
The redhead's eyes suddenly widen and her voice dropped down low. "Don't make eye contact."
Sora immediately stopped and turned towards Kairi. Whoa, did he miss something?
"And don't wave at her either!" she cried, pushing Sora's raising hand down. When the brunet shot her a questioning look, she explained.
"Roxas doesn't even know Selphie exists. So act like you don't know her." said Kairi with an apologetic smile.
Oh shit. Roxas. He was totally messing up Roxas' image! Urgh, how stupid of him. His brother would never go around waving and acting all friendly with others like normal kids...and here he though Kairi was just being jealous, heh.
"Damn, she already saw you." And before Sora could even ponder this new side of Kairi, he was already being pushed away. "Don't worry, I'll handle this." And with a final smile, Kairi had shoved him away.
And right into Yuffie.
"NINJA-AMBUSHED! MANEUVER ATTACK NUMBER SEV-! Oh, wait, it's just you So...Sooooxas...uh...Roxas. Yeah let's go with that."
Sora muttered an apology and glanced over his shoulder at Kairi and Selphie. The girl from yesterday's lunch group was now scanning the crowds of students, probably looking for him. Crap.
"KAIRI, HIYA!" exclaimed the hyperactive girl. Kairi silently braced herself as Selphie attacked her. "Hey! Wasn'tRoxashere? Whyisn'thehereanymore? Wheredidhego? Wheredidhego?"
The brown haired girl looked around in every direction as Kairi frantically tried to distracted her. "Oh, it was...just your imagination Selphie! He's not here. You must be high on sugar again silly."
From a few feet away, Sora poked his head out from behind Yuffie-who was now Sora's self-proclaimed ninja shield. It was weird, seeing the quiet girl from yesterday acting all bouncy now, and he thought she was shy!
"Hmm, Kairi's acting kinda weird today..." murmured Yuffie to herself.
"What?" asked Sora, he had barely picked it up.
"Nothing." said Yuffie, smiling and turning around so her back was still shielding Sora.
"You probably don't know this, but Kairi can get pretty defensive sometimes when people try to steal her friends." Sora was only listening to Yuffie half-heartedly as his attention was still on the scene before them. "It's not her fault or anything, but don't let her boss you around either."
At that Sora raised an eyebrow but didn't question it any further. He tried to glance over the ninja's shoulder but was blocked again. "And Selphie, is she always...?"
"That pycho?" asked Yuffie. The brunet may have not used that choice of word to describe the hyped girl, but that worked too. "Yeah, she's always sugar high. Drives her boyfriend crazy."
Sora was always a bit put off by how Yuffie could be so bluntly honest.
"Except she's always quiet around your brother though, cause she liiiiiiiiiikes him."
Really, really goddamn honest.
Sora was about to just leave the conversation at that. Talking to the girl was exhausting. But a sudden thought occurred to him. Maybe he could used Yuffie's small attention span and her blunt honesty to his advantage... but he was going to have to be sneaky about it. Mwhahaha, manipulative Sora time... erm. Wait, he didn't just think that aloud.
"So, do a lot of girls like Roxas?"
"You bet! He's quiet... anti-social... a loner. He's like a mini less hot version of my Squally!"
The brunette paused a bit to ponder that comparison. It kinda made his head dizzy so he pressed on. "And, does he like any of the girls back?"
Yuffie was still watching Kairi successfully distracting Selphie. "Not that I know of."
Sora took note of this. If acted now, he could use Yuffie's own distracted state in his plan! "What about guys?"
At that Yuffie turned around, looking Sora square in the eyes with a semi-serious look on her face. "What about them?"
Sora looked a bit distaught at this. Whoops, should have been subtler. But then again... what was he really asking Yuffie here― was he really suspecting that his brother was gay? Was he really going to admit that his brother was hiding something from him?
"Well, uh... do any of the guys... does Roxas... is Roxas... uh..."
And maybe he could have finished his sentence right then and there and gotten it over with. And maybe Yuffie would have answer it to with a "Duh he's queer, can't you see all the girls flocking towards him?!" or a "No he's not gay just because he still hasn't hit puberty and thinks all girls are icky." But at the last minute, something caught his eye.
A flash of silver, actually. Like you know those flashes that happen in romance novels and teen soap operas that totally distract the main character and puts them back on track with the plot? Yeah, this was one of those flashes. Damn those flashes of silver!
They were really distracting, and Sora subconsciously moved his ingenious "Is my brother a queer?" plan to the back of his head. That could wait. He needed to know more about Riku first and why his twin hated him so much, and what kind of shampoo he used to make his hair flow like that.
"So uh, Yuffie... what's the deal between Riku and Roxas?" asked Sora, his eyes following the senior as he moved across the hall. For some reason he was really hoping Riku would stare back. Just glance his way and acknowledge his exist or something. Anything!
Sora couldn't see it, but the seriousness on Yuffie's face was immediately replaced with amusement. Has Sora taken an interest to his twin's archrival? Could the Great-Ninja-Yuffie use this to her advantage? Oh, yes, she could.
The ninja chose her next words carefully. "Didja know they used to be best friends?"
Blue eyes were widened as Sora whipped his head around to gawk at Yuffie. "WHAT?!"
Okay, maybe her words weren't exactly... the best choice. But it got the reaction she wanted nevertheless.
"Yup." She continued, a twinkle in her eye. "They used to be real close friends and all. But then something happened and now they barely talk. And when they do it's just quarreling."
"What happened?" asked Sora, his eyes were once again trained on Riku. The silver-haired boy was making his way towards the group - they were standing next to the English classroom's entrance. Hurrah for convenient positioning!
"Dunno." Replied Yuffie trying to conceal the excitement in her voice. "They just...stopped hanging out. I think that was around the time Kairi transferred here."
Sora's eyes widened again as the information processed through his mind. "Kairi, huh?"
Oh, something was up, alright. Something between Sora and the other boy, Yuffie just knew it! She had suspected it the moment Sora had asked about his brother's sexuality ― it was quite obvious. And now Kairi was too busy to stop her! Here was her chance to wreak some organized chaos...
"Yes Sora?"
The two of them turned around to seek Kairi. Standing there without Selphie and looking at Sora with a smile.
Shit...Yuffie hadn't acted fast enough. The ninja was about to turn around and head into their English class, defeated, when the same flash of silver appeared in front of her. Geez, she briefly wondered how Riku could walk around school without having mobs of shampoo commercial workers ambushing him.
Riku headed into class, without sparing anyone in the group a look. From her right she could see Sora's face fall, only adding more to her motivation. And guess who was behind Sora? Seifer, of course!
What happened next could only be described simply as this: Kairi conveniently looked the other way, Yuffie attack Seifer, and blamed it on Sora. Oh the mayhem.
xXxXx
Meanwhile...students at Destiny High were having their own disaster.
"OH MY FUCKING GOD IT'S RAINING INSIDE THE SCHOOL!"
Yes, that kind of disaster. Larxene had seen the look of loathing on Roxas' face as they entered the school. She had seen the way he tried to hide it by being friendly with Axel. And then she had seen the way Axel had been trailing awkwardly after him. She had seen it all.
"Whoa, shit. Sorry Larxene!" cried Demyx as he slipped on the wet floors of the hall way, promptly crashing into her.
Okay, so she hadn't seen that.
But besides all of this, you're probably wondering what happened right? Well it was all elementary, my dear... nobody. Roxas was up to something. Larxene was so sure of it! And it was up to her to make sure that whatever it was that was destined to happen... happened. And what better way to get Axel and Roxas together, than this!
"Larx, if I were you I'd hide that dagger." said Marluxia, helping her off the ground. She did so.
A few feet away Roxas was standing under the fire sprinklers staring at the pyro's misfortune. "No Axel, water isn't going to kill you. And if it does than it's not my problem."
Axel could only stare back at Roxas' coldness. Didn't he understand what water did to a pyro?! He was practically melting! MELTING!
But instead of saying anything about his current state of matter, Axel whimpered.
The blonde looked slightly taken back. No! His plan was to corner Axel and tell him to stay the hell away from his brother! That his family was none of his business and Roxas was Sora's older brother, not him! But then some idiot had to hit the sprinklers and cause the school to go into a state of panic during the fire drill. And school just started a few minutes ago, too...
"Well," Roxas started unsurely, his friendly facade now dead.
Axel did kind of look...pitiful. Underneath all the pouring water droplets with his spiked red hair starting to droop and his black band shirt clinging to his skinny form as he wrapped his arms around his body― trying to shield himself from the water that was everywhere. It was really cold and Roxas found he was hugging himself to stay warm as well. But Axel was shivering and he seemed to be shaking violently for different reasons.
And in case if you were wondering, Roxas was not checking Axel out. He was merely observing that Axel indeed looked different when he was wet.
"S-shit. For once, I didn't st-start the fire this time!" said Axel between deep breaths as his teeth clattered.
Roxas almost felt sorry for him. Almost. He could still hate him and feel bad for him at the same time, right?
And if people weren't running around and slipping in the hallways as water rained down on them from the ceiling, they would have stopped and noticed the scene before them. With the group of trouble-maker-kids standing next to the fire alarm lever with a dagger wedged in deep. It was quite obvious who had started the sprinklers to come on during the drill. And for once it really wasn't Axel.
"WHICH ONE OF YOU SHIT HEADS STARTED THIS?!" cried a blue-haired man.
Roxas stopped glaring at the soaking wet Axel that had started to hyperventilate, and noticed the angered teacher in front of them. Had Roxas been a regular student he would have immediately recognized the man as the vice principal and backed away slowly like the rest. Instead he just noticed that the man had strange pointy ears and a scar in the shaped of an X on his face. Wow, those pointy ears were distracting...perhaps he was an elf in his past life.
Larxene quickly threw a dagger at Axel, blunt side first as to not hurt the teen.
"Ow!"
The cry of pain directed the man's attention at Axel as he growled out his name.
"Axel. I should have known, you're in for it now punk."
The redhead's eyes widen as he spluttered. "W-what?! That's crazy Mr. Sa-saix! I hate w-water! Why would I-" but he was interrupted halfway. It was known throughout the whole school that the vice principal had wanted to expel Axel ever since freshmen year.
Saix's orange eyes peered menacingly at Roxas.
"Alright, then. Maybe it was your pathetic partner in crime." At this Roxas had to suppress a sneer. He was not Axel's partner in anything, and he was damned if he let the pyro continue influencing his little brother.
xXxXx
It was a quick ninja-star thrown at the back of Seifer's head, causing his beanie to fly forward. The beanie-crime alone was enough to anger to Seifer, but when the blond boy turned around to see Yuffie jumping up and down and pointing at Sora frantically, it put his anger on a whole new level.
"You punk! I told you not to mess with me!"
A fist was making its way fast at Sora's head. "Wait, what are you talking about?! I didn-"
"Yes he did! Yes he did! It was totally him! You can trust a ninja."
"Yuffie, what's going― SORA!"
xXxXx
Axel found himself self-consciously moving in front of Roxas. Shit, if the vice principal was staring at the blonde any longer he might be able to recognize that it wasn't Sora. And then they'd really be in trouble.
"No, s-sir, it was me," muttered Axel through clenched teeth.
Today was not his day. He didn't start the damn fire drill. He didn't even start a damn fire in general! Not that he was planning to, of course. And here he was practically shielding the kid that hated his guts. He owned the blonde no favors, but if he didn't protect him from Saix, Sora was likely to get in trouble as well. And he was doing this for Sora, not Roxas.
Saix glared at Axel, but with a slight smirk this time. The redhead flinched... not to mention Axel didn't really want Roxas to go through a detention with the vice principal. Yes the kid had a stick up his ass, but no one deserved an angry Saix.
"Alright... detention for you mister Axel." And Axel could have sworn that Saix was dancing inside.
"Wait!" cried Larxene. She grabbed Roxas from behind Axel (ha, her plan was already working) and shoved him in front as well. "He helped! I saw him do it, Saix!"
If it wasn't for the water falling everywhere blocking his vision, Roxas might have seen the evil smile on Larxene's face. "W-what?!" He exclaimed, but to no avail since he was already standing in clear sight of the authoritative figure.
The vice principal's smirk got wider. "Perfect. Detention for both of you... Axel and Sora."
Larxene inwardly cheered. Yes, operation 'get Axel over Demyx so they could be a happy family again' was working!
Saix then turned around to her. Whist he hated Axel for his misdoing, he admired Larxene for her sadist nature...she would make a good pupil one day.
"Good job, miss La-" Saix was immediately cut off as Demyx, who was dancing underneath the water sprinklers singing "DANCE, WATER DANCE!" bumped into him, almost causing the blue-haired man to stumble.
"And detention for you too, DEMYX!" he screamed.
Demyx stared back as he stopped dancing.
Larxene restrained herself from killing Demyx who had just COMPLETELY ruined the plan... oh well. This could be interesting.
And all Roxas could do was glare at Axel. He had never been in detention before. Ever.
"I hate you."
xXxXx
"Well, I never asked you to save me!" cried Sora.
He knew he sounded pouty, and he knew it was a ridiculous excuse, but he couldn't think of anything else. He had also expected Yuffie to fully blame him for attacking Seifer when the teachers came. He had even expected for Seifer to pack a punch back. What he hadn't expected though was for Riku to come and save him... again.
The silver-haired teen turned his head around to glare at Sora. The two had been dragged to the counselor's office after Yuffie switched the blame onto Riku as well. And what happened to Seifer? He got sent to the nurse for the rest of the day― free of all classes. Life wasn't fair...
Sora shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Riku's glare intensified. He briefly wondered how much longer they were going to have to wait in the office before the counselor came. He just hoped he wasn't like Saix back at his school.
That vice principal would destroy anyone in his path. Roxas wouldn't stand a chance. Luckily he told Axel not to do anything stupid like start a fire that would get them sent to detention… he just hoped the pyro would listen.
"I still hate you," grumbled Riku, crossing his arms and moving his gaze to the opposite direction of Sora.
Sora opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it when he realized there was no reply to that. He crossed his arms and legs as well, turning to the side to stare at the opposite wall.
Well... it could have been worse.
And from Sora's blind side, Riku chanced a glance back. All the while wondering why he had indeed pulled Seifer off of Sora… and then proceeded to beat the shit out of him. That was completely unlike himself. And it had happened so fast. He sighed.
Sora caught it and turned around. But when he did, the aquamarine eyes were already facing the other way, boring a hole into the plain white wall of the counselor office they would be staying in – for the rest of the day.
Indigo: Wow, I got some plot done. I'm so proud of myself XD. And the set up! They will be alone in a room together. So you KNOW some AxelxRoxas and RikuxSora fluff will be happening...AND YESH ZEXION NEXT CHAPTER! I SWEAR! With Zemyx love on top. Oh, and Saxor I'll answer your question later in the story cause it's like...plot XD.
And from when I was sick, Hakumei Mikomi suggested the idea of a "Nurse Axel" in a review which was read by black vapor who told this idea to her friend -Roxas.no.13- who drew a picture of our beloved Axel in a nurse outfit which can be found on her site here: http://www(dot)sheezyart(dot)com/view/1090925/
And oh yeah, if the idea of Axel in a nurse outfit pleases you, then Ankaris123 has a one-shot called Teh Horrooorrr. IT HAS AXEL IN A SKIRT! Which was a one-shot, but then I pestered her and she added another chapter. And I wouldn't do that unless I really liked it. So go read it...now.
And And And, I have written another akuroku! Called Attention Attention, so read it, review it, and I'll love you forever. No really, read it!
Wow, I feel like a billboard. (To place an ad here...jkjk XD.) But um, if you're this far, thanks for reading Switch It Up and all my rants. Lorien Moore, thanks again for beta'ing!
REVIEW!