DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or any of their characters.
Author's Note: Alright, here's Chapter 2! I hope you enjoy! This story was originally on my Quizilla account, but I've decided to remaster it. Also, there's swearing and mentions of underage drinking in this chapter, just a warning.
"Serenity, hurry up! We're getting kind of impatient out here!" Rikku whined, banging loudly on the door of the upstairs bathroom. Rolling her eyes and sighing, the raven-haired girl gave her reflection one last look-over in the mirror before walking through the door to face her cousin and new friend.
"Finally!" Yuffie grabbed Serenity's arm in her firm grip, and pulled her down the stairs, Rikku following closely behind. Judging by the coy looks they were sending her, Serenity felt that there was something that they were keeping from her.
"Why do I feel like you guys are up to something I don't know about?" Rikku gasped, sending her younger cousin a look of mock shock. "Come on, Reni. You know me better than that!" Rikku patted her cousin on the shoulder before opening the front door, allowing her cousin and best friend through.
"Rikku, don't act like you don't prank me all the time." Rikku giggled as she locked the door to the house, and turned back around to hook her arm through Serenity's. "Aw, that just hurts my feelings." Serenity laughed along with her older cousin and new friend.
Things weren't looking so bad.
...
The group of three girls walked around the blocks that surrounded Serenity's new home, Rikku and Yuffie pointing out anything that was significant. Reaching the town square, the two girls pulled Serenity in front of a small bar.
"This is the Seventh Heaven bar. A lot of the kids from school come to hang out here, including us!" Serenity nodded in interest, curious to know what the inside looked like. Out of the corner of her eye, the raven-haired girl saw Yuffie stare at something across the street for a second before breaking into a wide grin.
Serenity turned to them when Yuffie quickly elbowed Rikku in the stomach. "Ow, Yuff! What was that for?!" Yuffie nodded her head in the direction she was staring, and Rikku's expression quickly morphed to one of joy when she saw who her best friend was looking at.
Across the street, a blonde-headed boy sat on a bench fixing one of the wheels of the skateboard that sat across his lap. He looked to be about 17, the same age as Serenity.
Quickly forgetting about how annoyed she was at Yuffie, Rikku tugged on her younger cousin's arm, leading her across the street, Yuffie skipping closely behind. "Roxas! We have someone we want you to meet!"
Hearing his name called, the young man raised his gaze from his skateboard to face the three girls heading in his direction. He slowly stood up from his seat when the girls reached him. Rikku jerked Serenity forward in front of her, sending her soaring into his chest.
Damn her.
Serenity hated it when her cousin embarrassed her like that.
Serenity quickly pulled herself away from the young man and turned to glare at the two girls who were giggling behind her. Rikku shrugged innocently when she saw the annoyance within in her cousin's eyes. Serenity turned back to face the young man, his face a soft tinge of pink.
'He must be shy,' Serenity quietly thought to herself.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, the blonde cleared his throat. "I'm Roxas Strife. It's nice to meet you." He held his hand out for Serenity to shake and she politely reciprocated. "I'm Serenity Williams. Pleasure."
He nodded and the two of them withdrew their hands. Serenity noticed with growing curiosity that the two girls behind her were being strangely silent.
They were never quiet.
What were they up to?
"Will you be going to Destiny Islands High?" Roxas cocked his head, curious. "Yes, she will!" Rikku walked up to place both of her hands on her younger cousin's shoulders, grinning all the while. "Great! I'll see you on Monday, then?"
Monday?
As in NEXT Monday?!
Nerves bubbled deep in Serenity's stomach. She had no idea that she would be attending school that early!
"Yeah." Serenity smiled and nodded, watching as the boy bent over to pick up his black and white skateboard, blushing when it slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground. He coughed, embarrassed, before bending over to pick it up again. "Cool. Well, I guess I better get home. I'll see you at school."
"Sure." The boy set his skateboard on the ground and rode down the street, sending Serenity one last wave before he was out of sight. The raven-haired girl turned to face the two young women behind her, each one of them with a mischievous look glued to their face.
Yuffie walked up and placed her arm around Serenity's shoulder, giggling. "You think he's cute?"
"I knew you guys were up to something! You're already trying to hook me up and I've only been here a day!" Serenity gave her cousin and friend looks of annoyance, before starting off down the street, having no clue where she was heading.
"Wait! We were just messing with you!" Rikku and Yuffie hurried along behind the annoyed raven-haired girl.
...
"This is the local café! Rikku and I always come here for coffee!" Yuffie gestured to the quaint little building that sat off of the west side of the square.
"It's the best place to recover from hangovers." Rikku leaned in to whisper in her younger cousin's ear, causing her to giggle. "You're a little young to be drinking, don't you think, Rikku?" Serenity crossed her arms and smirked as Rikku held the door of the café open, allowing Yuffie and Serenity to step through into the building. "You can't learn if you don't make any mistakes."
Serenity laughed as she was led to a table in the corner and sat down. Grabbing the menu and seeing something that looked rather appetizing, Rikku offered to get up and order everyone's food. When she walked away, Serenity could tell that Yuffie was about to burst if she didn't say what she wanted to say soon.
"Spit it out, Yuff."
"You never answered my question," Yuffie commented, folding her hands under her chin and sending the raven-haired girl a mischievous smile. "About Roxas."
Serenity rolled her eyes. "Yuffie, I just met him. I'm not in any position to judge anyone yet." Yuffie looked aggravated that the slightly younger girl was avoiding the question. "That doesn't mean that you can't think he's cute! You don't find him attractive at all?"
Serenity sighed and sent a sly smirk in Yuffie's direction. "Well... I didn't say that." They laughed together until Rikku arrived with the food.
...
When everyone was finished eating, a conversation between Yuffie and Serenity was interrupted when Rikku quickly choaked on her drink. "You okay?" Yuffie worridly eyed her best friend. Serenity raised her eyebrow, curious. Rikku wiped her mouth and pointed to the door of the café. "Look!"
Looking in the direction of the café entrance, a boy with large, red spiky hair and bright green eyes came into view. Serenity noticed that he also had two strange marks under his eyes.
Yuffie stood up from her seat, and placed her hands around her mouth. "Axel!" Serenity blushed and covered her face when she realized that the entire café was now looking in their direction, including the red-headed boy. Serenity looked back up from the table just in time to see the boy smirk and start towards the three of them.
When he reached the table, he sat down in the fourth chair, across from Serenity and next to Rikku.
"Hey, babe. The name's Axel, got it memorized?" Serenity blushed a deep crimson when she realized that he was talking to her. He winked when she caught his eyes.
"Axel, you're embarrassing the poor girl! Just ignore him, Serenity." Rikku scolded, giving him a soft slap on his left arm. "It's okay. I think it's cute." Axel said, causing Serenity to blush deeper and look away in embarrassment.
Yuffie glared at the red-headed boy and sent a hard punch to his arm. He jerked away and tried to rub the pain away. "Damn, Yuffie. What was that for?!" He glared at the now snickering girl. "For hitting on my friend! You're not allowed to hit on her!"
Axel looked to Serenity again and smirked, clearly about to say something else before he was interrupted by a new arrival at the table: a boy who looked similar to Axel in appearance, with a long, red ponytail and goggles strapped to his forehead. He placed a hand on Axel's slender shoulder. "Come on, bro! What's taking you so long with the drinks?!" He clearly looked annoyed.
"Calm down, Reno. I got distracted." Axel assured the boy next to him, smirking. "Oh, what a surprise..." Reno sarcastically muttered, crossing his arms and copying the smirk Axel was giving him. Reno turned to face Serenity when he heard the giggle that passed through her lips.
He uncrossed his arms and moved away from Axel, coming to stand next to Serenity. "Well, hello." He sent the raven-haired girl a seductive smile following his greeting. "My name's Reno. That idiot over there," he pointed to Axel who looked insulted, "is my brother."
Serenity laughed when Axel hit Reno upside the head and the two of them broke out into an argument. Yuffie rolled her eyes, exasperated, and pulled Serenity up out of her chair. "Sorry to cut this meeting short, boys, but we have to take Serenity shopping!"
"For what?" Reno asked, curious. Axel moved from his seat at the table to stand next to his twin. "For uniforms, of course! We have to get her ready for school!"
"You're gonna go to Destiny Islands High?" Reno asked, eying Serenity. She nodded in confirmation. They smirked at her in unison. "Well, then, Cutie. We'll see you there, got it memorized?" Axel asked, tapping his temple with his index finger.
She nodded and politely smiled at the twin brothers before allowing Rikku and Yuffie to lead her out of the café.
Alternate Scenes:
Roxas:
Roxas walked down the sidewalk on his road thinking about the encounter he had with Serenity. He definitely thought that she was attractive, but she would never go for a guy like him. Girls like that liked guys who were confident and sure of themselves, not shy and insecure. He cursed the way that he was as he walked through the front door of his house and plopped himself down on the couch. He sighed and muttered to himself as he flipped on the television.
"Talking to yourself, bro? Maybe you should get checked out." A blonde boy that looked almost completely identical to Roxas smirked as he walked into the living room. Roxas sent his twin brother an annoyed look before looking back at the television. "Shut up, Ven."
Roxas felt the couch sink in on his left. Roxas glanced in his brother's direction to see him staring back at him with an amused look. "What's got you so distracted?" Ventus asked as he relaxed back into the couch. "Nothing," Roxas answers, watching the television intently.
Ventus raised his eyebrow and shook his head. "You're a terrible liar, bro. Sometimes I don't think we're related, much less identical twins." Ven admitted, chuckling to himself. Roxas didn't answer his brother, falling deeper and deeper into his thoughts.
He was sure that he didn't want Ventus to know about Serenity yet. His twin brother would just have to wait until Monday.
Axel & Reno:
Axel stepped into the kitchen of his house and watched, amused, as Reno stuffed his face. After several seconds, Reno spotted his brother leaning against the wall, watching him.
"What?" Reno asked, innocently, his mouth stuffed full. Axel shook his head and chuckled as he made his way to the fridge, pulling out a drink. "Nothing. You're just a pig, got it memorized?" Axel replied, smirking widely before he took a swig of his drink.
Reno glared at his brother before swallowing the food in his mouth. "Well, at least I'm not a player, got that memorized?" Reno retorted, smirking when Axel choked on his drink. "I'm not a player!" Axel yelled, wiping his face clean.
"Are too."
"Am not!" Axel yelled, feeling the element of fire starting to form in the palms of his hands. Reno eyed the flames his brother was radiating and smirked even wider, knowing he touched a sore spot.
"Well, I'm sure Serenity thought of you as one when you flirted up a storm with her today." Reno laughed when he saw surprise overcome Axel's features, but he became confused when surpise morphed into a sly smile.
"Well, yeah, I was flirting with her, but how would you know that? You didn't even know Serenity existed until you walked up to me to ask about the drinks, right?" Reno quickly dropped his amusement, causing Axel to smirk. "Or maybe, you saw me flirting with her and got jealous. So, naturally, you just had to step in..."
Axel threw his fist up in the air when he saw Reno's cheeks slightly light up. "I knew it! Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks she's attractive, bro." Axel commented, throwing his empty can away and swiftly exiting the kitchen.
When he realized he was by himself, Reno sighed and shook his head in disbelief.
He had just gotten outsmarted by Axel.
Author's Note: I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Review me and let me know what you think! I'm always willing to listen to ideas! Next chapter will be out soon!