AN: Well, it's back to school for Roxy in this chapter. At first he doesn't want to go (and can you blame him?) but eventually he's alright with it. I just wanna say in here, yes Kairi is in it. And yes, she is kind of a bitch. But I am NOT a Kairi-basher. I think she's actually a sweet girl in the games (although that keyblade thing Riku gives her is retarded as all get-out. It flowery and sparkly and we don't see her use it one damn time.) I just thought that I wanted to make her Sora's girlfriend. They are a cute couple after all. And, since she was his girlfriend, she would be mad at Roxas. But Riku forgives him, because Riku's cool like that. XD Also, there's another coupling underway! HaynerxSeifer. Yes, I know it could never happen in a thousand million years, but I just really like HaynerxSeifer for some reason. Also, I completely love Zexion. Seriously, he's my second-favorite Emo Nobody. (First is Roxas, obviously) So, I put him in here as a student. I might add Vexen later, but I'm a little iffy on that. If I mention him, it'll probably be in a horrible lab explosion. To zeh reviewers!

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Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, blah blah blah I need to get of before my dad yells so this is the best I can do.


"You gonna be okay?"

Roxas shook his head slightly. Axel was walking beside him, trying to comfort as much as possible. School started that day, and the blonde was more than a little nervous. Everyone had heard about the car crash that had taken his brother's life and, like his parents, they blamed him. He had barely gotten through the last year, how he was going to make it this time even he didn't know.

"Well, uh…you'll be able to see your friends again," Axel said, trying to lighten him up.

"What friends?" Any friends he could have claimed to have last year were actually Sora's friends. They had never really liked him.

"Well, just…uh…" Axel gave an exasperated sigh. "Look, I know it's going to be hard. But just remember, you'll get through this." They arrived at the school entrance. "Alright, I don't work today so I'll be here to meet you when school's out, alright?"

Roxas nodded solemnly. As Axel started walking away, he suddenly gripped him around the waist. "Don't make me go," he sobbed, "Please. I could be home schooled or something, just please don't make me do this!"

The redhead ran his hands comfortingly through the young teen's hair. "Roxas, if you back down from this, you're just proving to them that you're a coward. I know it's hard, alright? I've been there. But if you don't face this you'll never be able to face anything else."

"I know," he mumbled into Axel's shirt, "But…"

"But nothing. Now, I'm sorry, but you're going in there whether you like it or not." He detached Roxas' arms from around his waist and gave him a small push towards the door.

The blonde glanced back. Axel was still there, smiling, encouraging him to keep going. So, taking a deep breath, he did. He kept walking until he was inside the school.

"…I heard he's some kind of crazed psychotic."

"…Me too. And I heard he crashed on purpose because he was jealous."

"…Poor Sora. Just had to have him as a brother."

"…Probably taking drugs or something."

"…Better stay away from him if you don't want to be next."

"…Freak."

"…Loser."

"…Psycho."

They just wouldn't stop. No matter how hard he tried to avoid it, everywhere he went everyone said something about him. And every word of it was bad. The worst part? They didn't even try to hide it. In fact, it was almost like they wanted him to hear it.

Checking his watch, Roxas found that it was 15 minutes until he needed to be in homeroom. But he couldn't just stay out here, so he headed towards room 415.

The homeroom teacher already had a seating chart figured out. At least he didn't have to deal with sitting in isolation, though whether that was a relief or not had yet to be decided.

When he sat down, he found a boy he didn't recognize sitting in the seat beside him. That was weird. Usually people wanted to talk to their friends before homeroom. What was even stranger was that this boy was…smiling at him.

"Uh…hello," Roxas said experimentally. There was no way to be sure whether this person was going to turn on him suddenly.

"Hi," the boy said brightly, "I'm Hayner. I just moved here."

Well, that would explain why this boy was here so early and why he was being friendly to him. Once the other kids got to him, he'd be whispering like everyone else. But that didn't mean he couldn't use the friendliness to get through today. "My name is Roxas."

"You're the first friendly face I've seen around here. Everyone's so hostile towards the new kid."

"Believe me; I'd trade you any day." He sighed. "Likewise on the first friendly face thing."

They started talking, mostly about random stuff like sports or movies. Before they knew it, homeroom had started. Students started filing in reluctantly, groaning about summer being over and whatnot. Roxas recognized a few of them, but none of them were friendly faces.

There were four other people at the table. Sitting across from Roxas was Riku, Sora's best friend. Although, he suspected there had been more. He had woken up frequently to Sora sneaking out the window and whenever he looked he could see him running off with the platinum-haired boy.

Next to Riku sat Zexion, the school's famous Emo-brain. Roxas didn't know him personally, but had heard a lot about him last year.

On Hayner's other side sat, oh joy of joys, Kairi. Now, Roxas had nothing against Kairi personally. She actually had something against him. Why? Because she had been Sora's girlfriend. Although, if that thing with Riku was anything to go by, it was all for show. He waved slightly and gave a small smile, but she just glared and looked the other way.

The last person to sit at the table, on the opposite end, was Seifer. He was the school thug, though he never actually beat anyone up. Mostly, it was just for show.

Roxas felt a tap on his shoulder and warm breath on his ear. "Hey, who's that at the far corner?" He smiled slightly. "That's Seifer," he whispered back, "School tough-guy, yadda-yadda, why don't you ask him yourself if you're so curious?"

Hayner blushed slightly.

"Hey, um…Roxas?" Roxas looked up in alarm. It took him a moment to register that Riku had spoken to him. That was a surprise. In the entire time Roxas had known him, Riku had never spoken to him unless absolutely necessary. "Yeah?"

"Um…" He bit his lip thoughtfully, "I just want you to know…what happened with your brother…well, I'm sorry. I know how close you two were and I know you must have gone through a rough time."

Now that was a big surprise. Nobody had ever thought about how painful it must have been for him. Everyone just blamed him. And Riku, of all people? Shouldn't he be the one who hated him the most?

"Y-you don't…hate me?"

He sighed. "I did at first. In the beginning, I blamed you for taking Sora away from me. But…it was an accident. And you were his brother. It really must have hurt you to lose him, you knew him better than anyone." He glanced over. "Right, Kairi?"

She glared at him. "You go ahead and pass off Sora's death like it was nothing. But remember, you were just his friend. Sora and I were in love." Roxas saw Riku wince slightly, but Kairi didn't notice because she had turned away. So, he had been right.

"Well, thanks for that. Sora was really lucky to have a friend like you, Riku."

The platinum-haired boy just nodded, looking down at the table. Roxas knew that had probably been a hard thing for him to say, since it was obvious a part of him wanted to blame it on someone.

The bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom. Hayner tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, what was that about?" Roxas shook his head. "Please don't ask now. I'll tell you later, if I get a chance."

He looked like he was going to press it, but decided to keep quiet. As they walked side by side, Seifer brushed against Hayner's arm, causing him to jump slightly. Roxas caught a smirk on the taller boy's face and knew that it hadn't been an accident.

To Roxas' delight, Hayner had almost all the same classes. The gods must have decided to cut him a break. And, double bonus, the classes he didn't have with Hayner he had with Riku. The platinum-haired boy had started being very friendly to him. For the first time, Roxas considered him a true friend.

Before he knew it, the first school day was over. While he had actually enjoyed it, he was glad. Just because he had been around friends, that didn't make the whispers go away.

When Roxas stepped outside, Axel was there, just like he'd promised. He was walking with Hayner, but he abandoned him to fling his arms around the tall redhead.

"Hey, Roxy! How'd your first day go?"

"It went great! You were right; it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Thanks for making me go."

"Anytime. Now, are you going to introduce me to your friend or what?"

"Oh!" He had almost forgotten about Hayner. "Right. Sorry. Axel, this is Hayner. Hayner, Axel."

The both nodded in acknowledgement. "So, are you his…brother or something?"

Roxas rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "No, it's…a bit of a long story. I'll tell you some other time."

"Oh…okay. Guess I'll see you tomorrow then."