a/n2: Just me up here this time. Teddy (the lazy jerk) wouldn't give me the quippy banter he insists we put up here, and this needed to be updated, so here I am. Hello sir that we wrote this for, I saw you reviewed, glad we could get in touch again. Alright enjoy yourselves.
Warnings: Sex, Violence, and Language.
So here I am, sitting in my relatively empty dorm room in the center of this hell-hole that's called school and I ask myself, why was I the one that had to be cursed with such bad luck?
The past 48 hours has turned my life into something of a joke, and right at the moment, I feel like every sound is making my head pound. Maybe I could hide in here until I die of starvation? No…I had to go to class. Otherwise, Grandma actually might march up here in person and really make me wish I was dead.
Are you wondering what my plan is to escape from my predicament with the Principal? Well, when I figure it out, I'll let you know. Until then, you're gonna have to deal with my description of my pitiful first day (which of course is nothing spectacular). Basically, I got lost looking for my room, had to get help from a janitor that acted like talking with me was the disappointment of the day, finally went to class, realized that I was completely behind, couldn't find a place to sit at lunch, stuck out like a sore thumb without a uniform, and finished the day with more classes that I didn't understand in the slightest.
My life was doomed. And my headache had amplified to epic proportions. I took my backpack up from the ground by my feet and stood. In front of me was the line of trees by the fountain that I had passed this morning. Already, they were familiar to the point of my hating them. I needed to get some pain meds before I was even going to think of my meeting the Principal at the pool house later for my punishment.
The infirmary, I found, was a great deal easier to find than my classroom had been. Maybe it was a sign of misfortunes to come, I thought bitterly. Situated only a few doors down from the front entrance, I saw that the nurse was sitting placidly facing away from the doorway, looking intently at a vial full of some sort of liquid. She didn't hear me as I entered, so I coughed lightly and said, "Excuse me…"
She started and spun around in her chair. She couldn't be any older than late twenties. I blushed as she stood, her figure clearly being shown off by her tight skirt and billowing blouse (even under her white lab coat), and strode over to me asking kindly, "You're new aren't you?"
I nodded, not trusting my voice at the moment. Her smile made her clear blue-green eyes shimmer as she said in a soft voice, "I'm Aerith, head nurse at the academy."
"Nice to meet you…" I replied politely, starting to regret coming to get pain killers. "…I'm Tidus Tamao."
Her slim hand motioned to the seat opposite from hers as she sat back down. I complied as she asked, "What can I help you with Tamao-kun?"
"…got a headache…"
After that, she gave me two pills and sent me along. Secretly, I think she could tell I had something else I was stalling about to get to. So, grudgingly, I made my way to the pool house on the outskirts of the campus grounds. The entire time, I thought wildly of anything that might help me get out of doing manual labor for what was looking to be for months of my life. But alas, I came to the door, pushed it open, and saw the Principal leaning precariously over the edge of the diving board. Two other boys were also there. Their blue eyes focused on me as soon as I stepped in.
Nervously, I shuffled in and crossed my arms, waiting for instructions, careful not to look at the others too much.
"Alright boys," the Principal began. "You will be required to clean, and repaint the school's pool under the supervision of your teacher's direction, Leon Lionheart."
I looked around for our supposed supervisor and saw no sign of him. This small factor did not seem to faze our Principal.
"Since one in our number is new, I shall provide the introductions. Tamao-san, this is Sora Higari and Roxas Fujioka. I hope you three work well together!" he said, heading in the direction of the door.
"Ah, wait Sensei!" I called. "How are we supposed to know what to do?"
He turned back, hands in his pocket and said with a smile, "You'll figure it out!"
Crazy old man. He waved merrily and called over his shoulder as he strode out, "Don't mess up! See you!"
A bead of sweat ran down my brow as I realized that I was now alone with two kids who I didn't know and were here because they got in trouble with the school. Nervously, I glanced over my shoulder to the first one who I think was Sora. He was a little taller than me, with brown hair that went beyond my own definition of unruly. The other boy, who I think was Roxas, was also taller but his blonde hair had an air of precise placement about it. Both of them had large cerulean eyes, the only difference between them being that Sora's had more innocence than Roxas', who had a cool calculating stare.
I cleared my throat uneasily and asked, "S-so why are you guys here …?"
"Hmph…" the blonde answered, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
The other kid ignored Roxas and said good-naturedly, swinging his legs as he sat on a pile of old rotten boxes, "Maaah…I guess my grades haven't been doing so well! I tend to sleep a lot in class, hehe!"
When the other boy didn't make any indication that he was going to reveal his own back story, Sora grinned and pointed with his thumb over his shoulder and said, "And that guy likes to skip out on classes too much!"
"Shut up…" Roxas replied, eyes blazing. He pushed off from the wall, strode past both of us, reserving an extra special glare just for me, and muttered, "I'm out of here."
His shoes crunching against the dirty concrete floor receded until it was only Sora and I left. Awkwardly, I stood there. Should I try and make friends? Or…will it end up like last time…?
"Hmm…well then, guess I'll be going too!" Sora said, jumping down from his perch.
"Ah, what…? You're just gonna leave?" I asked, gaping over at him.
He merely smiled again and waved, also disappearing out the door. So that's how I was left alone in the pool house. I stood there for a moment, disbelief clearly legible in my features. And then I asked myself, why did this kind of thing always happen to me? Anger flared up, making my head throb. I kicked at a crumbling box, which sent it scattering across the floor in a dozen pieces.
"Damn…always this kind of thing…" I muttered, the sting of tears making my voice thick.
Automatically, my feet started carrying me to the one place where I knew no one could bother me: my room in the dorms. But my Grandmother's voice in my head sneering made my entire body freeze.
"You're such a disappointment, Tidus! Always lazy! Always such a handful!"
My hands clenched into fists. I always made the choices in my life that led to everything going wrong for me. For once, I was going to do the opposite of what I wanted to do. Determinedly, I spun on my heel and stomped back into the pool house. Glancing around, I saw that the first task that needed to be dealt with was the fact that this place was filthy.
It took a while, but I managed to find a broom and a garbage bin. Needless to say, I didn't get very far all by myself, but at least it was a start. It was strangely therapeutic. Not for my headache, but for me. As I left the pool house, I had the feeling of being satisfied. A hard day's work on the first day of school in a strange, new place does a lot for someone. But sadly, it doesn't go so far as to do your homework for you.
When I woke up in my dorm room the next morning, I realized to my horror, that I had fallen asleep without doing my homework! My palm smacked resolutely against my forehead. Great, just what I needed right now.
Desperately, I scraped all my school things together, changed hastily into my uniform that had been conveniently placed in my room the night before, and rushed out into the hall. In a few minutes, I stood panting outside the magnificent study hall on the east side of the main building. I had an hour to do my math, write a few paragraphs for a history project, and read two chapters in the Bram Stoker novel Dracula.
I didn't have time to feel sorry for myself. With as much determination as I could muster at seven in the morning, I powered through my work. And when I stepped through the door into homeroom, it was with an air of triumph. Of course, I would pay for my speediness later when all my teachers decided to pick on the new kid. Apparently skimming through two chapters of a ridiculously dull book didn't give you enough information to answer detailed questions about said book.
At the end of the day, I was exhausted. And to match my mood, the weather decided to take a turn for the worse. Rain drummed mercilessly against the roof of the pool house as I sat once again alone in the middle of the run down room.
"Decided not to even bother showing up this time…?" I muttered under my breath, throwing my backpack down.
I was so irritated, that I almost forgot my new game strategy and started cleaning the place again. But at the last second, I stopped myself, took a deep breath, and went back to my backpack. I plopped down on a pile of wood that I'd put together yesterday and started on homework. After the disaster that was today, I was not leaving this till the last minute again.
After I was through with that, grudgingly, I began on repairs. There was a stack of new tiles by the door, along with grout that would match the old ones on the walls. First, I began by changing into different clothes. No matter how much I smiled thinking of the look on Grandma's face when I told her I'd already ruined my school uniform, I did in fact like it. So once I was in a pair of old sweats and a t-shirt, I began scraping off the cracked tiles.
It didn't take long. The good portion of my evening was spent throwing away the old ones, and putting the new ones on. Clearly, I was no expert titlist, so I had to reference the small guide booklet that came with my supplies for a while. The moon had just surfaced over the trees when I made it out of there. Once again, I was satisfied with my work. I was pleased to find that it didn't take me very long to fall asleep once I'd made it back to my dorm room.
The next morning, I was tempted to stay in bed. All the muscles in my arms were screaming every time I moved them. Pressing tiles into grout while it set took more effort than I realized. Cursing under my breath, I went to the infirmary to get a heat pack on my sore arms before the day started.
Taking my backpack with me made me want to cry (and not in a manly way let me assure you), but I forced myself to sling it over my shoulders. Aerith was already at her desk when I opened the door. She spun around in her chair, much like that first day I met her, and smiled welcomingly.
"I am surprised to see you here so early Tamao-kun, but what can I do for you today?"
With as much care as I could muster, without it looking like I was a weakling complaining of muscle pain, I slipped my backpack off my shoulders. And with dignity I asked, "Could I get a heating pad for my arms please, I think I worked them too hard yesterday?"
She nodded pleasantly and instructed me to sit back on one of the infirmary beds. I did as she asked and waited patiently as she brought back three pads. Placing two on my arms and one on my shoulders she said, "It's nice you get to spend time getting to know some other students while you work."
I glanced up at her quickly before looking away and mumbling, "Yeah, I guess…"
Why didn't I just tell her that they were a pair of lazy jerks? It would make my life a lot easier if they actually came and helped out. But no, that would make me out to be some whining newbie. I might not be the strongest, smartest, or funniest guy around, but I did have principles. No matter what, I wouldn't rat on someone. Even if they really, really pissed me off or deserved it.
Thankfully, she did not bring them up again. Instead she left me to myself and went back to the paperwork on her desk and sat silently. While I sat there, I let my head rest against the wall behind me and closed my eyes, letting the sounds of the early morning sooth my aching head.
A chorus of birds chirped joyfully in the clump of bushes outside the open window. The air was still warm enough outside that we could still enjoy a day with the window ajar, but I didn't know for how much longer. Halloween was approaching, and with it, autumn. Soon, the leaves would be falling from the branches, and the winds would pick up, bringing cold and rain and misery with it. So for now, I would bask in the sun's warmth, and the wind's gentle calm.
"Are you feeling any better Tamao-kun?"
I started slightly. When had I fallen asleep? I stole a quick look up into Aerith's kind eyes and blushed. She was smiling again, but this time with amusement. She patted my shoulder and took the pads away saying, "You should be heading off to class now, it's almost time for homeroom."
"Th-thank you very much," I stuttered, scrambling to my feet and taking up my backpack. The weight hurt my sore muscles only slightly, which I was thankful for. I gave her a short bow before walking as fast as I could out of the infirmary.
She had been right. Students were crowding the halls heading for their first periods. I followed the throng, keeping my head down, which was a stupid thing to do, knowing my luck. So as I rounded the corner of the hall, I ran straight into someone.
Papers scattered everywhere as I fell down. After a moment of shock, I felt my face begin to heat with embarrassment once more. I cried out as I began scraping the papers into a pile, "I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!"
"That's alright young man," a deep voice answered, making me shiver with surprise.
I tilted my head up slowly and finally looked upon the man before me. The important air around him was a dead giveaway to him being a teacher. But what I first noticed about him was the intensity behind his amber eyes. There was a smoldering power that I couldn't quite explain. It was somehow…frightening. Everything about him suggested that he was not an average man; tall, with long silvery hair falling gracefully over broad shoulders that framed an unnervingly beautiful face. I gaped up at him, clutching the papers in my clammy hands. He smiled down at me, adjusted his small wire framed glasses and knelt by my side, also picking papers up from the ground.
"I believe you are new to this school." He stated, straightening the stack into a neat pile.
I looked away before his eyes had another chance to meet mine and mumbled, "Yeah, just started a couple days ago…"
"I hope you like it here…?" he asked, rising once more to his feet. I followed, nodding and handing him the last of the papers deftly.
"I am Ansem Wise, the Second year history teacher." He said, the words reverberating in my ears. "On behalf of our school, I would like to welcome you."
To be polite, I looked up at him again and forced myself to smile. Those eyes bore into my own with intense attention. I bowed quickly and muttered, "Thank you Wise-Sensei, I'm Tidus Tamao. I'm sorry, but I really must get going to class, excuse me."
He stood aside as I began past him and called good-naturedly, "Just Ansem, my boy. Wise-Sensei makes me feel old."
I looked fleetingly over my shoulder before disappearing into my classroom. He was still there, watching me.
As I sat in my desk, I took in deep breaths. What in the worlds had that been about? I asked myself in a panic. My hand clamped hard over the spot where my thundering heart was pounding in my chest. How could a teacher make me feel so petrified? Steely amber eyes rushed to the forefront of my mind and I visibly shivered. I hope I never run into him again, I thought opening my book with shaky hands as the first lesson began. Something about that guy made me feel…terrified. And I didn't like it one bit.
a/n2: Hope you enjoyed the newest installment, we'll see you in the next chappie.