A/N: Yeah. You guys are so freaking lucky I love you. I haven't even begun to write the eighth chapter, and I'm already giving you this. Of course not it'll take longer to get chapter five out, but I wasn't going to update until after the new year, so it's not like it was going to be anything new. I just didn't want you guys to go forever without me updating since you seem to like this.
Thus is the reason I didn't give you heads up on everything and replying to your reviews blah blah…yeah!
Anyway! Here's chapter four.
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Call me a fool and it's what I am- K.L. (Me)
"Axel! What is this?" Ansem yelled, looking over the grade report in his hand. Ruxy, his wife, dropped her fork at her husband's out burst, glaring at him for yelling at the table and then glancing to her stepson. Larxene just ate quietly, watching her pale brother stiffen in his chair. She groaned inwardly, pressing her head into her hand.
It was something that always irritated her. The way her father spoke to her little brother, like Axel was in the army and had a strict law to abide by. Axel was his youngest child and only son, and sometimes her father spoke to him as though he was nothing more than an ant. But what irritated her more was that Axel allowed it.
Axel put down his fork onto his barely eaten off of dinner plate. "I don't know, dad." He said, but, really, he did. It was his Chemistry report for that week.
"It's a B!" He said confounded. "Why do you have a B in Chemistry?"
"I failed a big project." Axel mumbled.
Ansem's eye twitched. "Why did you fail the project?"
Axel laughed, nervously scratching the back of his neck. Larxene put her fork down from her hand, folding her hands in her lap as she watched her brother and father. Ruxy joined her father in glaring at the thin redhead, upset for reasons unknown as well, that her stepson had failed. Larxene had a sneaking suspicion that her mother didn't want the children she had or, rather the stepson she had gathered, to soil the name her husband had made for them.
"I, uh…I set the project on fire." Axel said quietly, not daring to meet the burning gaze of his fathers green eyes. He sighed, not even trying to defend himself when his father began yelling at him, furious with his son for setting yet another thing on fire and probably costing Ansem more than a stupid boy like him would ever see in his life if Axel kept up like this.
Axel fiddled his hands, like he used to when he was a small child. When his father had finished he gently scooted away from the table. "Dinner was good, mom." He said, before exiting. Larxene snapped her attention to his plate, which barely had two bites taken away from it, before watching his retreating back, feeling her heart break as he gingerly pulled his hair out of his face and tied it, something he only did when he had felt useless.
It seemed like he always felt useless these days.
"I swear! That boy." Ruxy said, exasperated.
Larxene took a sip of her cup, washing away most of the angry words with the cool lemonade that was odd for the cold October month they were in. However, a few of the bitter words escaped from her red-stained lips. "If you're so ashamed of him," she spat at them. "Why didn't you just send him to the gypsies when his mother died?" She pushed her plate away. "I'm going out."
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Riku walked to his uncle's office, thankful for once that Aerith had given him a ride to school, even if it had been an hour early. He had three books in his hands in preparation for first hour when he would have to try and make up his homework from the day before. He had his paper and pencils in his bag, which was slung over his shoulder. He was so tired. He had gotten home at ten past one, and after walking like four miles to catch a bus to walk another half a mile to his home, he honestly didn't feel like doing the Sex Ed. Report on five reasons babies are stillborn. He didn't feel like doing anything other than sleeping…maybe eating, if he felt like it, but most definitely sleeping.
He opened the door to the office, nodding at Selphie, the office aid, and opening the door to his Uncle's office.
"Riku, sit." He said quietly, and Riku obeyed almost gratefully, happy to be sitting again, though he knew he was going to get chewed up one wall and down the other. Xemnas took a deep breath. "You left after third hour yesterday." He said as a statement rather than a normal question. "Why?"
"Mr. Vexen told me to leave his classroom. I figured if I was just wandering the halls that one of your retarded security guards would tell me to leave campus like they always do when I'm kicked out a class."
Xemnas scribbled something on the paper not even glancing up when he talked to Riku through tight lips. "Riku this is ridiculous. You give me no choice. From this point on you have exactly three strikes, and when they run out you're going to Maleficant's."
"What?" Riku jumped suddenly awake and hurt at the fact that his uncle would do this to him and he couldn't even look up from his papers to tell him the ultimatum.
"I don't think I stuttered. And that includes your fights with Mr. Wise so I'd suggest coming to an understanding or transferring out of his classes." He looked up at his nephew. "I won't count you getting thrown out of class, because honestly you'd be out in a day and a half. But fights, failure of any class, or even the failure of one test, and you will be out of my school." Xemnas said vehemently.
Riku stared at him with an open mouth. "Uncle, that's not fair." Riku breathed.
"Riku, it's plenty fair. I have turned more blind eyes for you than should be legal." He whispered. "You are spiraling out of control and I have to do something!" He wrote something else before he looked to his nephew again. "From now on when you get kicked out of class you will report to my office where you will spend the rest of the hour. After, you will go directly to your next class. Understood?" He barked.
"Yes." Riku bit out angrily, standing, and shouldering on his bag before picking up his books.
"Oh and Mr. Vexen wants to see you." He said as Riku made for the door. "Don't disappoint me."
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"Mr. Vexen?" Riku said blandly, feeling the weight of his uncle's words set into him. "You wanted to talk to me?"
Mr. Vexen stopped writing the day's notes on the board completely, and turned to face him. "Yes. I wanted to talk to you. I assume you're uncle has already spoken with you?"
Riku dropped his books onto the desk and let his book bag hit the ground lifelessly. He watched to floor, not wanting to look up to meet the eye of the teacher who had the most faith in him. He flopped lifelessly into a seat, drawing designs into the desk with his finger. "Yes sir."
"You realize that this had to happen, don't you?" Walking over to stand in front of Riku.
"Yea…" He stopped tracing designs, feeling his lips tighten into thin lines. "You told him to do it didn't you?"
"I brought up the fact that you were getting more crass with every passing day." Vexen said. "But I won't deny I didn't try to change his mind about the decision." His cold sage green eyes rested on his student. "I've been having conversations with your other teachers," He began pulling a seat up and sitting closer to Riku. "They say last year you were beating all the students in your class by far, that you understood everything with little ease, and that you aced everything handed to you."
"Sir, that was last year. This year is much more difficult. It's senior level." Riku tried to argue trying to hide the fact that it was because he had a night job.
"I don't thing that's why you're slipping up." Vexen snapped. "You're teachers tell me you've been doing all your homework in their classes, that you always seem to have at least two other books than is needed, or that heaven-forbid, you don't have any other work you're sleeping in their class. I myself have seen this and I know that you have not gotten above a B on anything you have turned in this semester."
"I'll do better, sir. I promise." Riku tried, not liking where this conversation was going at all.
"I'll make sure of that." Vexen said, going back to his board to continue his notes. "I have taken the liberty of switching your seventh hour class to my plan. You do not need Music Appreciation, but you do need to pass your other classes. In addition to this, you will spend an extra hour with me every afternoon in your own personal study hall."
"No! Not every afternoon." Riku protested loudly.
"Why not?" Vexen asked, continuing to write something over quantum theory and numbers.
"Because…" He hesitated, afraid that he would be interrogated if he continued, but he needed out. He needed out bad. "Sir, I have a job."
Vexen stared at him. He wasn't stupid; he knew that students with jobs got special wavers. "Why aren't you in the worker's program?" He asked.
"I, uh…I just got it." Riku said, strongly.
Mr. Vexen shook his head, not interested in fighting the truth out of the stubborn teen. "Fine, then you will come in the mornings, an hour before school starts."
Riku sighed, his plan thwarted. "Sir, surely knowing I have a job you could be more lenient and just settle with seventh…"
"How long does this job keep you? Anything later than ten and they should be reported." Mr. Vexen snapped.
Riku paled at the thought of him having to explain everything to his teacher, who would tell it to his uncle, who would freak and tell everyone, and ruin him and his plans. Riku shook his head hard. "No, sir. I'm just trying to get out of the extra work. Morning's are fine with me." He said resignedly.
"Good. Now you obviously have homework. Finish it." He said referring to the three books Riku had hauled with him. Riku looked to the clock, grumbling when he realized he had half an hour before school actually started.
Damn, you Aerith.
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"Hey, Riku." Riku looked up from his Chemistry book, even though he was in Calculus.
"What is it Sora?" He asked tiredly, playing the morning over and over in his mind.
"Can you stay after school with me for a while? I need help on my Calculus." He asked.
Riku wanted to say no. That he was busy, but it was Sora, and Sora was too clueless when it came to Calculus to be left on his own. "Sure"
"Thanks Riku. I know you're busy."
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Axel laid his head down in his arms, sighing sadly as his long red hair brushed against his side from where it was tied back. Roxas rubbed his back, comfortingly. "You okay?"
"I had a bad night." He mumbled into his arms.
"Want to talk about it?" Roxas asked.
The tall redhead sighed. "No. I don't even want to think about it."
The blond nodded. "Okay. Well, hey! I'm going skating after school. Wanna come?" He asked enthusiastically.
He sighed again. Anything to get away from his thoughts! "Yeah, whatever."
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A/N: There is nothing between Riku and Vexen accept maybe an understanding that Riku can do better and if it kills him Vexen will make him do it. Ha! So take that.
Anyway the next chapter won't be out until the new year (giving me plenty of time to write two chapters), so don't expect anything soon. I love you!
InnocentGuilt