WHOOO! So for the first time in my long years of life (only, like, 17 but still) we got snow before Thanksgiving! HEEEELLLL YEEEAAAHHH! In honor of that, and the AMAZING reviews I've been getting, here is the next chaptah! I think the writing is a bit choppy, but its sort of an in-between chapter anyways so oh well. And, for those of you who've been asking, AXEL FINALLY HAS HIS CAMEO! lulz. Doesn't do much, but w/e. Next chapter will be fun *evil smirk*. Riight... so go read! Nao!
HUGE THANKS to Rocket-Ship-Romance and Mum 3 for the MOST EPIC REVIEWS EVER. Boosted my writing esteem and made me lol (Personally, I think the real point behind fanfiction is to give and recieve lulzy reviews, and for that I am eternally satisfied thanks to you two ;D) AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO REVIEWED IS AMAZING. Haha, this fic is like my baby, so to know other people are getting as excited reading it as I get writing it is very very awesome.
P.S. Unrequited gay love is unrequited and gay *sigh* R&R to get rid of the aaaaaaaaaaaangst! haha.
*Thanks for the heads up on the Italicizing to those of you who kindly told me of it in your reviews XD
Appreciation was not a word to describe Roxas' feelings toward alarm clocks. To an extent, he suspected that the small digital abominations that insisted on ruining his sleep weren't supposed to be loved and adored by anyone, but he hated them still.
His clock, a black little piece of you know what with an exceptionally irritating blare, was set to go off at 6:00, just as every morning. Well, having just mentioned his hate for the clock, it was no surprise that Roxas felt compelled to express his feelings by picking up his alarm and throwing it across the room and into the opposite wall; silencing it forever.
Unfortunately, this means that he was rudely awakened to cold water on his face, thanks to Larxene, and yet another round of sprinting to school in a skirt, for the fourth time since his first day of school a week prior. His gender having been revealed to his roommate, he could enjoy the comforts of sleeping a pair of his old shorts, or without a shirt on exceptionally warm nights, and most definitely without a wig, meaning that the water-wake up didn't cause any extra time he would have otherwise spent trying to dry his faux hair.
Despite the haste of the morning, the blonde boy was beginning to enjoy his sprints to school in the heat of the morning. On this particular morning, Roxas found himself contemplating how wrong it still felt to run in a knee-length skirt. Pleats don't make it easier to move your legs, no matter what they tell you on the package.
In his first week of school, he'd formed solid, but ever-growing friendships with Larxene, Kairi and Rikku. Even Paine had come around to helping him with his homework in whatever class every once in awhile. Kairi's little sister Selphie turned out to be a bit dumb, but fun to talk to nonetheless, and Yuna was someone bright and intelligent to make what otherwise would've been a dull music class interesting and fun.
As he listened to the cadence of his feet coming down on the sidewalk, felt the wind on his face, and bag flying behind him, a dingy red tank of a car (you know, the kind that were built back when steel-enforced bumpers were a must, and square was the shape of awesome) drove past him on the one-way-street leading into Hollow Bastion. Roxas could see rusty spots on its old paint job, a tell-tale sign of its wear and possible neglect. As it passed him, window rolled down, he made brief eye contact with a strange redhead, who winked. The guy couldn't have been much older than Roxas, which had him looking twice, in spite of all the reasons not to.
He had flaming hair molded back into spikes that must have taken hours to shape, and below his rich, emerald eyes were tattoos of upside-down teardrops. This interaction, though Roxas found it compelling, was brief. Once they had passed one another, The blonde would-be girl watched it speed off as quickly as it had come into the city. The interaction should have been insignificant, like when construction workers say rude things as you walk by them, but it wasn't.
The exhausted boy managed to collapse into his desk as the bell rang. It was an improvement from some previous close calls, but not by much. As Cid struggled through the lesson, Roxas daydreamed. Pictures of the mysterious redhead he had seen on his way to school danced around in his head. Why the hell was his hair so big?
Having skipped breakfast that morning, Roxas was more than grateful when the bell rang to dismiss him to lunch. Following their new ritual, the smaller blonde allowed himself to be dragged along by Rikku and even contributed to their aimless babble about the class they'd both been to, right up until Roxas turned to walk out the gates of the school and toward the dorm buildings.
"Hold up Namine, where do you think you're going?" Rikku had given a strong tug, causing Roxas to stagger, before steering him away.
"Umm, the cafeteria? To get food?" Roxas struggled to squeak as Rikku pulled him hastily in the opposite direction. "The same direction in which that redhead had gone in the morning", he recalled thoughtfully.
Rikku hyper-blasted him with a million watt smile as she replied perkily, "Nope. Larxene texted me and we're eating out today. You like pizza, right?"
Roxas leered at the taller girl suspiciously, "Sure…"
She released him as they kept walking to clap her hands excitedly, "Great! This is the best place in town; we go there all the time. Normally we only go on weekends or for dinner, but Larxene said she wanted to welcome you properly or something," some of Rikku's braids swung in front of her face as she turned towards him, "If that was supposed to be a surprise, I'm not the one who told you, got it?" she eyed him carefully to ensure the point got across.
Roxas rolled his eyes, "Sure, Rikku."
They continued to babble about everything and nothing as they approached town. The high-speed girl talk had become something of a comfort to the boy. If all else failed, he knew he could just nod at appropriate times and let her take the lead, and his lack of participation would go perfectly unnoticed.
"… And normally I would only get a salad because, you know, I don't want to get fat or anything, but he was just so persistent in ordering for me, and then forcing food onto my plate, and I didn't want to seem picky or rude, that I ended up eating half a pizza! I guess it was mostly my fault, but I swear the guys in this town are all pigs!"
Guys. The only guy that Roxas could actually picture in his head since he had gotten in there was that nameless redhead. Aside from teachers, which he would never be in to regardless of Kairi's ridiculous suggestions. He wished he knew the boy's name at least… But how did it come bother him so much? He wasn't the type of person to take interest in random people he'd never even met properly.
"Namine, are you listening?" asked Rikku skeptically.
Roxas rolled his eyes up towards her, "Hmm? Oh yeah, don't leave with guys you meet at a pizza joint because they are all pigs. Got it."
Rikku sighed, pushing open the door that Roxas had just noticed in front of them. It was called "Pizza Ray's". Cute, but greasy. Yumm.
Rikku grabbed his hand and squeezed, "Sometimes I wonder what's going on inside that big brain of yours."
"Tell me about it!" Roxas' head swiveled and turned to identify Larxene as the source of the comment. She was sitting commandingly at the head of a nearby table along with the rest of the usual gang. Bad pop music and commotion from other customers filled his ears as he waded through the crowd and towards the table.
As he drew nearer, Roxas noticed something missing. Larxene, Paine, Yuna…Oh right. Where the hell was Kairi?
"Where's Kairi?" he verbalized his question, and had Larxene jerking a thumb over her shoulder so fast it was like she'd been waiting for him to ask. The motion drew his attention to a mess of hands and red hair in the corner. She had already snagged herself a guy and was having her way with him.
Roxas looked curiously at Paine, who was seated stoically next to Larxene.
"Doesn't that bother you?" he asked, gesturing the scene of teenage lust-filled snog. The explanation from his first day aside, wasn't her blatantly making out in front of her supposed girlfriend a bit much?
Pain looked up at him calmly, "No. I have better ways to waste my time than try to convince Kairi to be monogamous with me."
Larxene and Rikku gave the sleight-haired girl a look that clearly said they weren't buying the 'I don't care' act, even if nothing they could see indicated other feelings on the matter. Roxas sat down between Larxene and Yuna.
"So, anything interesting happen today?" asked Larxene, comfortably changing the subject.
Roxas glanced at her thoughtfully. The day had been pretty uneventful after that morning. A question formed in his head, but Rikku beat him to speak before he could open his mouth.
"There's something on her mind," she declared, drawing a glare from Roxas, "I don't know what, but she's being all thoughtful and quiet. I haven't known Namine all too long, but if it were anyone else I'd say she met a boy."
Larxene choked on her water. "W-what? Ro- er- Namine! Is she right? Who is he, what is his name?"
Roxas stared open-mouth at Rikku. How the hell had she found that out? He hadn't mentioned the morning to anyone; let alone Rikku. Maybe girls had ESP when it came to guys or something? It would sure as hell explain the obsession.
"I didn't meet anyone," he rolled out of his mouth in response, drawing disappointed looks from everyone except Paine, who hadn't shown any interest in this conversation from the beginning. "But I did see someone," eyes perked up in interest and Roxas began to play with his napkin to make it seem less important, like more of an offhand thought, "I don't know his name, but I've been wondering if there was a public school around here somewhere? Somewhere boys go to school?"
"Well duh," Roxas jumped. He had almost forgotten Yuna was next to him. The brunette rolled her eyes and flipped her short hair habitually, "Where do you think Kairi got that poor soul she's straddling in the corner?" Good point.
Looking around at the other girls, he grumbled to himself when he noticed that he was the shortest person at the table. Genetics were rigged. He was living proof.
"So what does he look like?" asked Rikku, still panning for gossip.
Roxas shrugged, "He just passed me in a car, so I didn't see him for very long. But he was so odd looking I couldn't get him out of my head. He had extraordinarily green eyes, red hair that I doubt is a natural color and was all spiky and huge," Roxas used his hands to try and demonstrate the largeness of the boy's hair, "and he had two tattoos under his eyes."
Everyone's eyes widened a bit in surprise, including Paine.
"Larxene, isn't that your friend Axel?" asked Rikku, bewildered.
Roxas blinked, "Wait, you all know him?"
"Yeah, basically," replied Larxene. Roxas' phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and flipped it open to find a text from Larxene.
We went to junior high together. I don't see him much anymore, but I do know he's strait as you are gay. Don't get your hopes up; he likes cute girls so you'll probably see more of him. We'll talk later.
~Lar
P.S. The hair is natural
Roxas sighed in relief. They could talk later. He didn't have to try and convince Larxene that he wasn't interested in this Axel… for now. He could explain later that it was merely curiosity about his odd appearance, and she would believe him, right?
"What's all the commotion around here?" Kairi, apparently finished with her boy toy, now stood behind Roxas, hands on the back of his chair. He flinched.
"Namine bumped into Axel. Well, she really just saw him, but she probably has a crush on him," Larxene replied. Roxas audibly groaned. This was getting annoying.
"Oh really?" Kairi's voice had gotten high pitched and strained. Roxas saw her face darken as she clenched her teeth. "I hope you castrate that fucker. I, as his sister, give you my full endorsement to do so."
Roxas furrowed his brow. What the hell was that? Once Kairi had stormed out of the restaurant, Yuna piped up, "Don't worry about her. She's jealous of her brother because he lives life carefree and her parents don't mind whatsoever, but if she did any of the things that are considered healthy behavior for Axel, she'd be nearly disowned."
"Oh," he mumbled. Roxas found that mildly amusing, but mostly just sad. The look on his face made Larxene laugh full and throaty, unlike Roxas' light and bubbly one.
Eventually they got pizza, and it wasn't long before it was gone. Larxene was the first to stand up, stretching.
Turning her thin, angular face towards the smaller blond adjacent to her, Larxene spoke first after the check had been paid, "Come on, let's get back to class everyone. Namine, guess what?"
Roxas stuffed his sixth slice, and the last of the remaining pizza, into his mouth, barely managing to mutter, "Hmm? What?" Rikku quietly cursed him for being able to eat so much and stay thin as a rail.
Larxene gave him a plastic smile as she cheered, "It's time to go to math!"
Roxas groaned. He was a lost soul when it came to math. His initial hope had been that Larxene's previously failed year would give them all a leg up, but he'd been very, very wrong.
After being dragged once again back to the school, Roxas' arms were beginning to get sore. Despite getting used to the action, he still didn't get it. Maybe it was their way of taking advantage of having a friend that was so lightweight? The small blonde was still somewhat bitter about the size difference, Kairi being the only one nearly as short as him at her 5'5". God was cruel when he handed out bodies.
XXX
Vincent Valentine was an oddly quiet man who nurtured a strange obsession with cell phones. He didn't have one himself, from what Roxas could tell, but if he caught you with yours out during class he would confiscate it and analyze it the entire period. Unlike all his past math teachers, confiscated phones sat on his desk to be played with, not in a drawer full of broken calculators.
When he had walked into class, Vincent already had two phones, and was contently picking away at them. Their assignment for class-work and homework was on the whiteboard already. Apparently no teaching would be happening today!
Roxas smirked. If the homework was already on the board, they could just finish it all in class, right? He looked at Larxene to tell her his idea, but stopped when he noticed her solemn expression.
"Roxas, turn around," she said grimly, apparently having noticed his grin. Roxas looked over his shoulder and froze. No, they would not be finishing their homework that period. Not out of choice, but because unlike their teacher, none of the people in the class were robots. Behind where they were standing, on the back wall of the room, was another whiteboard. It was completely covered from top to bottom in the rest of their homework due by Friday. Jesus H. Christ.
Larxene had given up on working almost immediately and struck up a conversation with Kairi, who had gotten over her earlier tantrum about Axel. The petite redhead hadn't even tried to do the work. Meanwhile, Roxas could almost feel smoke rising from his pencil as he wrote furiously, doing the math as quickly as he possibly could and not checking back for errors.
By the end of the period, Roxas was smiling lazily. His hand was cramping and he had lead all over his fingers, but he was almost a third of the way done with his homework. FOR THE WEEK. Larxene and Kairi stared at him wordlessly as he wobbled out of the room, content to be mentally exhausted if it meant he didn't have to do math once he left that room. Not that any of his work was right. Right answers weren't really necessary until the test anyway.
"Damn, Namine. I mean, your second week in math and already you're brain-dead." Roxas didn't reply. He was too busy re-arranging geometric functions and determining log formulas in his head. Their first week had been surprisingly easy, with Vincent having decided to teach by lecturing one week, and working them to the bone the following week, with a test every other Friday. Larxene chuckled, "You know what they say Nam, everything in moderation." Roxas nodded, walking into the locker room wordlessly and moving on to the bathroom stalls so he could change.
XXX
That night Roxas came back from dinner to find Larxene reading yet another book in French. He'd learned over the weekend that she was fluent in French, having taken classes in the language since she was in seventh grade. Some day she desired to be a French pastry chef. Roxas questioned how it was possible for her to be a French chef if she wasn't from France, but she'd merely shrugged and told him she'd worry about that when someone called her out on not being French which, after her many trips to France and never once having someone do so thanks to a flawless accent, wouldn't happen.
He slid off his wig and hung it on the bedpost, thoughtlessly mumbling that he was going to take a shower. 10 minutes, squeaky clean and dressed a pair of old shorts later, Roxas emerged from the bathroom with his towel draped behind his neck, using the ends to attempt to dry some of his hair. Larxene looked up, moved from her usual reading spot on her bed to the chair in front of her desk, cell phone pressed to one ear. Roxas raised a questioning eyebrow, Larxene raised both of hers in mild surprise, "Namine, you're brother has an awesome body. Tell me, why is he single?"
Roxas sputtered as he fought for words. "What the hell are you doing on the phone with my sister!"
Larxene shrugged, "She called last week when Kairi dragged you out shopping and we exchanged numbers."
The boy stood motionlessly bewildered, "But WHY?"
Larxene smiled innocently, "To check up on you, to talk with someone who's as France obsessed as she is, and for some good 'ole shameless girl talk with someone in another country."
Roxas frowned, before walking towards her and snatching her phone up, "Nami, what the fuck?"
"Hi Roxas! Larxene's great. By the way, has mom tried calling yet? Oh, of course she hasn't. Anyway school's great here. Larxene told me you're doing alright too. You should stick with her, she'll be good for you. Anyways, I'm dating this guy named Reno who's three years older than me and has a happy trail that…"
Roxas barely had time to take a breath before hissing, "Oh god, Shut up! I get it!"
Reluctantly, he gave the phone back to Larxene, who accepted it gleefully.
Roxas took this as an opportunity to plug into his ipod and drown out the girl-talk that went back and forth between French, boys, and Roxas. He didn't need to know he had a nice body in Larxene's agenda, but he couldn't help but smirk when she turned back to her phone conversation, why people do that he couldn't tell you.
Within a few minutes, he was asleep.
XXX
Larxene had been right about P.E. with Yuffie. Roxas had to admit that he loved the class. Today, celebrating the record temperature high for the month of September in Hollow Bastion since the 19th century, at 98 degrees, Yuffie had decided to play dodge ball with water balloons. Larxene's class had to run six laps around the track, but when they were finished Barret let them join the game. The field's centerline was the divider for the two teams and the teachers sat on the sideline, filling up extra water balloons to keep feeding into the game.
Roxas picked up one particularly large balloon from the field. He tested its weight with one hand before chucking it at some poor soul who was miserably drenched already and complained about how messed up her hair was going to be. Roxas laughed when she turned to walk off the field and sit on the bench with the others who were 'out'.
He had still been watching the girl when another balloon collided with his face and exploded in a wash of cool water. Startled, he looked up to see Larxene laughing at him.
"Larxene! We're on the same team!" Roxas whined, but Larxene simply answered by throwing another balloon, which Roxas dodged gracefully this time. It wasn't difficult when he saw them coming. He laughed sarcastically, arming himself with a few more balloons before charging at Larxene and initiating an all-out water balloon brawl between the two of them.
A few minutes later the two of them were sitting on the field, laughing at themselves, and completely drenched. Roxas had been careful to avoid any more headshots, so his wig was still intact and looking naturally damp, if a bit messy. The rest of him? Not so much. He had been wearing a gray t-shirt and the same sweats from the previous day, this time rolled up to his knees. All of which were soaked. Larxene was wearing a white shirt and red jogging shorts. Her shirt was completely soaked and, you guessed it, see-through. Roxas hadn't paid attention enough to really notice though, and neither had Larxene because most of the girls weren't wearing shirts anyway.
Roxas sighed and stretched out to lie down on the field, soaking in the sun. Larxene did the same next to him.
"This is nice," He said peacefully. Larxene smirked, "Yeah, it is." They remained there unmoving for several long seconds before their much appreciated break was interrupted.
"Whoo! Damn, Lar, since when are you so hot? Or maybe it's just your choice of athletic wear?"
Roxas jumped. Larxene frowned. The latter sat up and turned to see three boys leaning against the rail at the bottom of the bleachers that filled the slope from the school to the field. She groaned. Roxas was looking from the boys, who he couldn't see well because the sun was in his eyes, to Larxene, who was mumbling curses under her breath.
Most of the girls, and the teachers, hadn't noticed them yet in the commotion. "You are such a letch, you know that?" replied Larxene snidely. Roxas was confused. Who were these people?
Due to Larxene's response, gradually more attention was drawn to the newcomers. The teachers were still obliviously filling water balloons on the other side of the field and noticed nothing.
One of the three figures began to walk down the stairs. Roxas gaped. Why was he here? "One of the best, but is that any way to greet an old friend?" Axel asked, displaying a toothy grin. Of the many things Roxas was thinking at that moment, the most prominent was, oh my god, his hair must make him bake in this weather!
Larxene glanced at Roxas, probably wondering what he was thinking, but placed her attention back on Axel ever promptly. She sighed and, reluctantly, stood up. By this time most all of the girls had gone from playing to fidgeting; suddenly awkward in their skimpy clothes now that the male variety had joined them. Except, of course, for Kairi, Paine and Rikku who seemed content to let it all hang out, paying an unusually small amount of attention to them for boys. Well, not really unusual for Paine, and explainable considering the familiar ties to Kairi, but even Rikku was happily ignoring them, which Roxas found strange.
The drenched boy sat dumbly on his butt and waited for something to happen. The other two boys had begun to scramble down the stairs in order to catch up with Axel. "Sora, wait up!" chastised the taller one. He had silver hair and muscles that seemed sculpted by gods, Roxas noticed. Clothes wouldn't hide them, but the sleeveless shirt he wore made them obvious. The other, apparently his name was Sora was very attractive, if not Roxas' type, but rather than muscled, he was thin and very boyishly cute. AAAND for once Roxas wasn't the only guy shorter than Larxene. He felt himself smile at that.
"Axel, come on! We aren't supposed to attract attention or else Demyx will get in trouble!" Sora was tugging on Axel's arm as if it would eventually make him move.
Larxene had moved up to a comfortably close talking distance from Axel. "Why are you goofs here? Hey Riku, Sora, long time no see." Sora grinned and waved, Riku mumbled an awkward hello.
"What, I can't come to see my best girl for a visit?"
Larxene frowned. "Axel, we're seniors. I haven't seen you since sophomore year when you tried to get me drunk and sleep with me at a party. Why the hell are you gracing us with your presence now, since I know it's not for old times sake?"
Axel's eyes narrowed, letting off a mischievous twinkle, "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Larxene groaned again. "Hurry up and get out of here before we all get in trouble. I don't want to run more laps today."
Axel cocked his head curiously. "Come on, Lar, that's no fun! Where's the you I used to know and love?"
Larxene gave her blank-face smirk and placed her hands on her hips, "Who said she's gone anywhere?"
Axel raised an eyebrow, "So you've found some new scandal to get your hands dirty in?"
Larxene laughed, Roxas twitched. This was getting slightly weird to listen to, especially from a sitting position.
Axel stepped forward and picked up Larxene in a hug, making her squeak. "I miss you, let's go get pizza sometime. Seriously. But…" Axel set her down and looked to Roxas, "for today, there's someone else I want to talk to."
Larxene froze. Roxas looked at her, asking questions with his eyes, but she simply stood and watched, studying the scene from a distance.
"Umm, are you referring to me?" asked Roxas, not sure what to say. Axel grinned and put his hands on his hips. He looked kind of like Larxene doing that, only rather than looking girly, he just looked sexy and hinted at what wonders his clothes could be hiding.
"Time to hit the showers, ladies! Don't want to be late to 7th period, do you?" bellowed Barret. There was a collective groan rising from the classes, no doubt wishing they could play with water balloons all day.
Axel cursed and Riku grabbed his shoulder, "Come on Axel, let's go before we cause any trouble."
"Yeah I know," he replied, but instead of turning to leave with Riku and Sora, he stepped closer to Roxas, looking down at him with a strange look in his eye. "I'll see you next period, so don't think this conversation is over yet." He winked and Roxas blushed. What the hell was he saying? He didn't go to this school, how could they see each other next period? Roxas watched the three boys climb the stairs. More specifically he watched Axel. It wasn't sexual, so don't get any ideas, but Roxas was curious about the way he walked. Were those hips he spied?
Larxene offered him a hand. He took it wordlessly. "Roxas, be careful." He looked up. Larxene was staring at him analytically, apparently trying to read into his reaction from this encounter.
"Be careful of what?" he asked distractedly. Girls had begun heading up the stairs and back to the showers, chatting about the cute boys who stopped by for a visit.
"Axel likes you, I can tell. Just be careful for me, will you?" she asked. The question was rhetorical so Roxas said nothing. There was some underlying emotion in it that Roxas couldn't quite understand, but he dropped it. What was Larxene so worried about with him and Axel? He might be gay, but just because some hotshot redhead takes an interest in him didn't mean he liked him back. Why couldn't girls understand that being curious about a stranger and having the hots for them are two completely different things?
As for Axel's apparent interest in him, he would just have to go to his next class and find out. What was it again? Oh yeah, music. Wait, music? What the hell could Axel have planned for music class?
R&R for hot cocoa and Santa's beard!