a/n: *pokes* ne, partner, you think you'll give our reader a hint as to what happens?
a/n2: *glares* no, they'll find out soon enough what happens.
a/n: You are so mean!
a/n2: Just being your better half darling.
a/n: *pouts* Happy Readings everyone!
Later, I woke to the sound of my stomach roaring. Turning onto my side as I slowly began acclimating myself to being awake, I began opening my eyes. Thankfully nothing was spinning anymore. A breeze from the nearby open window carried a sickly sweet scent with it as it passed by.
'Huh…? What could that be from?' I asked myself, getting into a sitting position. There on the table next to my bed, was a vase full of beautiful white lilies. They were my favorite! Reaching out, I grabbed the vase, and brought the delicate white petals closer. As I did, a small note fell from the stems. Maybe Sora really was a good guy. I mean, no one else had ever paid this much attention to me…even my so called friends from before.
Grabbing the note, I happily flipped it open and glanced over the words written in beautiful cursive:
Be careful my sweet…
I wouldn't want my precious person getting hurt…
Before I had the chance to hurt you…
"Ah…" the noise escaped my throat in one gasp. The vase tumbled from my hands - the smell suddenly making me feel sick - and smashed on the floor loudly.
Aerith came running in, her eyes full of worry as she cried, "Tamao-kun, are you alright?"
She spotted the broken vase, as I whispered, "I…I'm sorry…I kn-knocked it over…wh-who gave me those…?"
"Hmmm, I'm not sure. I left for breakfast a little while ago, and when I came back they were here." She answered, picking the lilies out of the remnants of glass carefully and placing them back on my side table. "You should lie back down and rest Tamao-kun. I'll get you something to eat-"
"No!" I cried suddenly, surprising myself. For a moment there was a stunned silence between us, before I muttered, "I-I mean…I need to go to class today."
She stood, rested her hand on my shoulder for a moment and said, "Alright, I understand. Let me clean this up before you get down."
I nodded, still averting my gaze as I listened to the sound of her heels going down the hall.
Why was this happening to me? I asked, my grip around the note tightening. Why did this sort of thing always happen to me?
My mind drifted back to the last school I'd been in. The boy that I thought loved me…betrayed me. When he learned I was gay, he made a bet with his other friends to see if he could get me to have sex with him. After he took my virginity, he asked if I'd do him a favor. The teacher had given him a bad test score, and he wanted me to sneak in and change it. I was so in love, that…I would have done anything he asked. His friends told the principal that I was going to sneak in to change my own test scores. After they caught me, I saw him standing with his friends…laughing. Everything was so confusing. I still thought that there was some misunderstanding. But I was wrong. I had been nothing but a score to him.
And after everything…now this? Tears rolled down my face to the sheets. What was so wrong with my life that everything in it had to go wrong?
Aerith returned with the broom, swept up the pieces of shattered glass, and redressed my head wound. I guess I'd needed a couple of stitches. With the bandage wrapped tightly around my head, I thanked her profusely for all her hard work, and headed for the door.
"Tamao-kun, don't forget your flowers!" she called brightly after me.
I froze mid-step. If it wouldn't look suspicious, I would have left them there to rot, but seeing as how I didn't want her to know the reason why, I anxiously took them up and strode quickly out the door. The bell for homeroom had rung a little less than fifteen minutes ago, but I still headed in the opposite direction. The bouquet clutched in my hand so tightly, my knuckles where white, I strode purposefully to the line of trees near the fountain out by the front of the school. But I didn't stop until I'd gone down the hill into the thicker part of the woods, then I fell to my knees, and dug a shallow hole in the ground with my bare hands. Once it was big enough, I shoved the revolting plants into the dirt along with the note, and hurriedly buried them.
I know it sounds absolutely idiotic, but in my mind, I hoped against hope that by burying it and forgetting all about it, it would be like it never happened. I would not hear the evil, I would not see the evil, so then I would not speak of the evil.
My task now complete, I made my way back to my classroom, rinsing my dirt encrusted hands in the fountain as I went. The day was a blur. Lesson after lesson passed through one ear and out the other. To be honest, I don't even remember now what they'd been about. All I could focus on was keeping my mind blank.
Thankfully my last teacher of the day seemed to take pity on me, and sent me on an errand to the copy room. Being out actually did seem to wake me up from my weird monochrome stupor. I walked down the empty halls, listening to the other classrooms as I passed in thoughtful silence. That is, until I heard a deep voice say reprimanding, "Fujioka-san, I gave you your warning about skipping classes last time."
Eyes widening, I peeked around the corner and caught sight of Sora's friend (that he talks so highly about) Roxas speaking with Ansem, the second year history teacher that I'd run into before. He stood, arms crossed impudently while the elder confronted him, a look of blatant defiance on his face.
"I know the Principal has already given you a task to make up for this, but I feel as if you need-"
Now here is where I'm pretty convinced that that bump on the head from last night, might have jarred a brain tumor. Because what I did next…was incredibly stupid. For some reason, I sprang out from behind the wall and started jogging over to them, calling in a voice that I can only describe as my fake/high-octane/ridiculously-nervous voice, "Oh, Fujioka-kun! There you are! We should probably hurry if we're going to get these copies done before school is out!"
"Tamao-san wasn't it? Do you expect me to believe that Fujioka-san here was helping you and not skipping out on class?" the silver haired man asked, gazing down at me.
Man, I was so transparent! Me and lying was never something that could get along very well. With a big stupid grin on my face, I nodded fervently, and quickly deposited half of my stack of papers into Roxas' unsuspecting arms. Ansem looked back to Roxas and asked darkly, "Is this true?"
Roxas, glancing between him and me, nodded. By now I was sweating bullets. Being around these guys, plus lying was making me so on edge! I still can't believe I did something as idiotic as this! Just when I was preparing for him to send me with Roxas to the Principals office, Ansem said, "Alright…off you go, then."
"Ehehehehehee, thank you very much!" I said (still in my weird voice). "Excuse us!"
I started leading the way as fast as I could down the hall. Before I rounded the corner, however, I heard Ansem call, "It was good to see you again…Tamao-san…"
In the moment that I glanced back over my shoulder, I felt my heart stutter to a stop. Piercing amber eyes…the same as the ones I saw the other night looked right through me. Could it be…? I was starting to feel dizzy again. I actually forgot Roxas was even with me until he said accusingly, "What the hell did you do that for?"
He suddenly shoved the half stack of papers back into my arms and came to a halt. Stopping as well (I couldn't very well answer his questions while I was walking away), I felt my face grow hot with anger. I wasn't sure if Sora was absolutely nuts, or if this guy he told me all those nice things about was really one and the same. All I knew was that the one glaring down at me now was a complete jerk. Keeping my voice calm, I answered through gritted teeth, "You're welcome for saving your ass."
In my mind, I could see the sparks crackling between us.
"…thank you." He muttered to my great shock. For a brief moment, we stood there in the awkward silence. His face remained as stony and unpredictable as ever, but then he said, "I guess Sora was right about you…"
Leaving it at that, he started off down the hall (in the opposite direction of the printer). What did Sora say about me? Clutching the papers to my chest I called after his retreating back, "What's that supposed to mean?"
When he turned back, I felt the breath catch in my throat. His hair caught the afternoon light, and shone like a star, his eyes were clear and smiling, like two pools of liquid sapphire. Ashamedly, I full-out gaped. He called back, "You really are a surprising guy!"
Throwing a casual wave at me, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and started off down the hall.
So, I know he's a jerk, and a delinquent, but…damn, he was beautiful. Still with a blush on my cheeks, I made copies and hurried them back to my teacher just as the bell was about to ring. I was still in a sort of daze when I finally got to the pool house. To my utter shock, I found Sora there working alongside Roxas.
"Hey, Tidu-chan, how're you feeling?" Sora asked jovially, bounding over to where I stood. Roxas followed, a small smirk playing on his lips as he took in my reaction. The brunette seemed to notice and wrapped his arms around my shoulders exclaiming, "Isn't this great! Roxas said he'll help us from now on! Let's try our best, okay?"
"R-right…" I muttered, blushing once again. This time because of how close Sora was.
Changing out of my uniform, I went back out and started helping the others paint the walls, which is harder than you think it would be by the way. For some reason, I couldn't get my roller to spread the paint evenly across the wall. Just when I was starting to get frustrated, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders.
"You need to do it like this…" Roxas muttered, his hot breath brushing past my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. He took hold of my hands and steered my paint roller down the wall expertly.
"Thanks," I said (a little more breathily than I would have liked) as he walked back to his place next to Sora.
After another half an hour of painting, I started feeling dizzy, so Sora forced me to sit and sip on a pop until I felt better. Watching them, I noticed that both of them seemed to take on new qualities around each other. Sora seemed less air-headed, and Roxas wasn't as stand-off-ish. They must be really good friends.
"How…do you guys know each other?" I asked quietly.
Sora glanced down at me from his spot on top of the ladder and grinned, "We've been friends since we were in elementary school!"
"Sora was the one that got the others to stop bullying me," Roxas added, not looking away from his task of bordering. That took me by surprise. Given the impression he gave off, I would have expected that statement to be more like, 'he got me to stop bullying'.
"You were bullied? Why?"
"Roxas' family didn't come into their fortune by inheritance, they earned it." Sora answered angrily. "The other boys make fun of him because he's 'new money' as their parents say."
Roxas shrugged, "That's why I don't like going to class very much."
"You mean they still pick on you?" I asked in disbelief.
"Not all the time…"
"At least not when I'm around, right Rox?" Sora called happily.
Neither of these guys was turning out to be who I thought they were. Tucking my knees up closer to my chest, I smiled to myself. I was a little happy that I was getting to see this part of them.
For the rest of the evening, I sporadically worked and rested, talking happily with the others as I did. At one point, Sora came over and hugged me tightly crying, "I'm so happy we got to know you Tidu-chan!"
I was too. Believe it or not, I think this was the first time I'd ever felt like I'd made real friends. Locking up and leaving was the hardest thing to do. I honestly wanted to stay there forever in our little separate world. I waved goodbye when I headed down my dormitory hall to my room. Once inside, I fell on top of my bed and sighed contently. Soon after, I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
a/n: I just love this story so much! I am a new Tidus fan! Yay!
a/n2: See you in the next chappie.