A/N: Hey guys! I'm back after a pretty long absence. Sorry about that. Hehe. I've just been really busy, that's all. Since graduation's in about two weeks, my schedule has been hectic lately. Anyways, I would like to thank all you guys who favorited/followed/reviewed my story. I wasn't expecting such positive feedback from you guys. Thank you so much to Sin's Punishment, Candasaurus, kuntalviv and KingdomHeartsKeyBladeMaster for reviewing, thanks to KingdomHeartsKeyBladeMaster, bec1895 and xXEeveelutionAngel-InoXx for favoriting, thanks to all you guys and DuelRoxas16, riml and twostar for following. Anyways, sorry for the long intro! :D Without further ado, here's chap 2! Oh and please, don't forget to read and review!
The young blonde groaned as he was roused from his sleep by the alarm-clock on his nightstand. He bashed the buzzing device off and sat up to pandiculate. After his morning routine, he robustly made his way to the showers.
A refreshing and energizing shower later, he got to his closet and wore his new school uniform. As he buttoned up his polo, he couldn't help but sigh.
Today was the first day of high school. Now, he wasn't dumb to be unaware of the things that happen during high school. High school is more or less the highlight of every adolescent's life out there. For in high school, everyone gets a taste of what the real world has to offer. The parties, the clubs, the alcohol, the women, et cetera.
Not to mention, there are going to be a lot of judgemental people in high school. However, this did not faze the young teen at all. He's practically used to getting booed by everyone. What's new?
In spite of being accustomed to the bullying, the blonde boy couldn't help but feel slightly frightened at the lone thought of high school. Sure he endured a plethora of criticism in the past, but high school is just a different ball game. No matter what he does, he's going to have to face his fears eventually. He won't always be protected by his family. Not Van, Ven, Sora, or even his parents can save him all the time. He has to learn how to stand on his own legs more than ever.
After getting dressed, he walked over his elder twin's bed and shook his head. There was his ELDER twin, snoring loudly lying spread-eagle on the mattress. The young blonde walked over and shook the sleeping brunette awake.
"Ugh." The sleepy brunette groaned.
"Come on, Sora. Time to wake up. School starts real soon."
The brunette groaned again as he turned to the other side of the bed. "Not now, Rox. Can't you see I'm sleeping?"
Roxas couldn't help but roll his eyes at the rhetorical question. "Well, you leave me no choice."
Roxas walked back to his nightstand to grab his alarm-clock. Some few adjustments later, he sat the alarm-clock near his brother's ear and waited.
*RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!*
Sora shot up straight from bed, eyes wide and hair tousled. He looked around frantically for the disturbing piece of scrap metal. When he found it, he annoyingly tapped it off.
"Geez bro, you didn't have to do that." Sora scoffed as he pandiculated.
"You didn't have to make it so hard for me to wake you up either. Now shower up! Mom might get pissed again." Roxas replied.
"Alright alright."
Roxas made his way down to the dining area where his mother was cooking a delicious meal for her boys. He smiled and sat himself down.
"Good morning mom!" Roxas greeted.
"Oh, good morning honey!" His mother jovially greeted back as she pecked her youngest child's cheek. "Aren't we up early today?"
"Eh, not really. Dad and the others just got up late." Roxas snickered as he automatically walked over and helped his mother set the table up.
Roxas and his mom finished just in the nick of time. When they finished tidying the table, their other family members arrived.
"Good morning, mom!" The three other brothers greeted their mother.
"Good morning, darling." Devin greeted as he pecked his wife's lips.
Mitchelle went over and kissed her boys. "Good morning to you guys as well."
"Hey, what's little Roxas doing here?" Devin asked his youngest son.
"Yeah bro, why up so early?" Ven added. Inwardly, he wanted to say something like "I bet you're excited for school, aren't you?", but he knew better. He knew that his young sibling downright despised that pathetic place of a school.
"Eh, figured that it would be a good start for the school year."
"Ah, excited for high school, aren't we? Well, I can't see a problem in that. In fact, most of the fun that adolescents experience is during high school. I can guarantee you that." Devin reassured.
"Yeah, sure, I guess." Roxas hopefully replied. He indeed hoped that it would make up for the forgettable past that he had.
"Anyways, why don't you boys eat? Don't wanna be late for work now, right honey?"
Devin chuckled. "Of course not."
"So, you boys ready for the start of your teenage lives?" Vanitas inquired, pertaining to the twins.
"For sure!" Sora replied enthusiastically while Roxas just nodded.
"I promise you guys, you'll be having a lot of fun this year."
"Yeah, just stay away from trouble and you'll be fine, got it?" Ven reminded sternly. "Don't worry though. We'll be here for you guys if you run into some difficulties. Just don't hesitate to come to us for help."
"Don't forget that we're here for you boys too." Mitchelle added.
"We appreciate it." Roxas said with a smile. He was really thankful that he was given such a wonderful supporting cast in spite of his early-life experiences.
"Since you guys are now in high school, you'll be given the chance to join some clubs/organizations/committees. You boys made up your mind yet?" Ven asked as he took a bite of his sausage.
"Not yet at the moment. Although I've already accepted the offer to join the basketball team this season." Sora answered.
"Nice one brudda! Another Helterbrand to the team! Man, this is going to be one helluva year!" Vanitas exclaimed.
Sora just chuckled nervously. Ven however, wasn't at all shy in expressing his reaction to his elder brother's comment. Since he was beside Vanitas, he kicked Van's leg under the table.
"Aw! What?!" Vanitas asked as he shot Ven a glare.
Ventus returned the ferocious glare. A second later, Vanitas realized why Ven did what he did. His gaze softened and he inwardly smacked himself for being so careless. Wow, some big brother he is.
Devin and Mitchelle exchanged worried glances as Ven silently reprimanded the older child. They knew that things like these cannot be avoided forever. It's not that Van meant Roxas harm. It's just that the young family finds it painful that they couldn't include Roxas during a conversation that centers on extra-curricular activities. They were all indeed aware of the bullying that Roxas had to endure. Which subsequently lead to them to be very VERY cautious of their words, as it may offend the young blonde.
Roxas knew what was going on through the minds of his family. He clenched his fists underneath the table. He hated feeling like this. He hated being so pathetic. He hated making his family worry about him. He hated looking like he's a fragile little lily. His parents and siblings are already dealing with their own problems. He hated adding to those particular challenges.
He really has to show up this year. Otherwise, he would kill his family from anxiety.
After a pretty much awkward breakfast, the boys went ahead, while Mitchelle stayed at home a little while longer before heading to work. Devin drove off to work. He offered his boys a ride to school, but since they insisted to walk, he let them be.
As the four siblings were walking down the streets, they conversed amongst themselves. While they were at it, Vanitas, Ventus and Sora all received greetings from those whom they passed by. Everyone constantly praised the three brothers as he/she caught sight of them. It just goes to show how much the three are adored and loved by everyone.
Everyone greeted/praised/complimented/conversed/waved/smiled at the three, while no one paid attention to Roxas. Of course, the youngest child felt that the whole walk to school was an eccentric one. Not only was he ignored by everyone, but he looked like an idiot, a lap-dog who followed his three elder siblings. For he only stood a few feet behind his siblings every time someone would walk over and talk to them.
Roxas just looked forward and kept walking to school. His siblings however, noticed his sudden silence and uneasiness. They were all worried for Roxas. Ven actually tried talking to him, noticing that Roxas went dead-silent when the mob cleared out. Roxas just smiled and didn't talk back.
When they reached school, shrieks and cheers erupted while dreamy sighs, hungry stares and girlish giggles were casted through out the compound. Before they knew it, another mob surrounded the three siblings, forcefully separating Roxas from his companions.
A few shoves, elbows and nudges later, Roxas found himself on the end of the hallway...alone. He shook his head and proceeded to his locker. On his way, he caught sight of his siblings' lockers. It appeared that Vanitas, Ventus and Sora's lockers were all beside each other. He searched for his along the vicinity, but failed to find his own locker.
After repeatedly scouring the area for his locker, he gave up and continued walking down the hall. It really befuddled him. His brothers have their lockers beside each other, while his wasn't even in the same hall as theirs? What was going on? Where could his locker be?
Roxas continued to question himself. He walked down a couple of feet and averted his gaze to search for his isolated locker. He immediately halted as he shifted his gaze. There was a small, rusty, old, broken and partly-vandalized locker. Above it, were the words "Roxas Helterbrand" engraved.
Normally, any kid who's given an ugly locker like this would either cry or whine to his parents about it. However, Roxas isn't just any kid. He's endured enough bullying that the fact that he was going to spend his entire freshman year using this horrendous excuse of a locker didn't bother him that much. He's been through worse. Much worse than this. If this was just day one, then oh was he excited for next time.
He just sighed. He wasn't going to tell his parents nor his siblings about this "special treatment". He's bothered and burdened them enough already.
He opened the broken locker and stuffed his things inside. He skimmed through his schedule and grabbed his books for his first three subjects. When he was ready, he headed to his first class.
Fortunately, first period for Roxas was his favorite one-Math. Roxas LOVED Math. This is also the main reason as to why he is branded as a nerd. I mean, come on. Who in his/her right mind would enjoy MATH of all subjects. Most kids coin it as "the hell on Earth."
Since it was the first day of school, there is a so-called pre-test. A pre-test is basically a test which measures a student's aptitude regarding a particular subject. Roxas' teacher handed out questionnaires to her students and timed them. Roxas, being the wizard that he is, finished fifteen minutes early. Subsequently, he just doodled on his pad and waited.
When the teacher collected and checked the papers, she announced the scores of her pupils. Much to her chagrin, almost everyone in the class failed to get a passing mark. There was only one student who got a passing mark. Not just a passing mark, but a perfect mark. Yep, it was Roxas.
His teacher praised him and even gave him extra credit for his performance. Roxas thanked her shyly, while his classmates snickered at him. When the bell rang and he headed for his next class, he was suddenly tripped by someone on his way out of the door. Before he knew it, his face met the cold, hard floor.
Immediately, laughter roared around him.
"Serves you right, you stupid nerd!" A voice exclaimed as the crowd's laughter got louder and harder.
"Nerds are off-limits here you twerp!"
"Yeah, hang out with your own crowd."
"Eww, stay away from me! You might give me nerd cooties!" A female voice squealed.
"Get lost, geek!"
Roxas got up, dusted himself and tried to walk past the horde of teens laughing at him. However, two steps later, he was tripped once again and landed harder on the floor. The laughter around him increased in volume, the diversity of the insults that were thrown at him expanded and the level of humiliation was just ineffable.
Roxas felt a stinging pain on his forehead. When he blinked, he saw a dribble of red substance run down his face.
Just when he thought that his day couldn't get any worse, he felt someone roughly tug at his blonde spikes. He was forced to look up to someone. He blinked a couple of times before making out the image of the arrogant bastard who was holding his face up like a garbage bag. He was blonde, blue-eyed and very cocky in appearance.
"Go get 'em Seifer!" Someone shouted from the crowd.
The blonde pulled Roxas' face closer to his before grinning devilishly. "You better stay in your lane, you pathetic geek. What makes you think that you can go here and just act all smart? This is MY territory. And there are absolutely NO NERDS ALLOWED IN MY TERRITORY. Now," Seifer tightened his grip on his collar before speaking "I want you to run off with your little nerd buddies and never come back, got it?" He finished before he dropped Roxas' face.
As Seifer left the scene, the crowd went along with him. When the laughters and the insults died down, Roxas was left alone. Roxas slowly got up and went to his locker. He kept his head down the entire time. He ignored the stares and whispers that he ellicited from his walk. Probably because his forehead was bleeding.
Inwardly, Roxas felt so pathetic. He never felt so useless his entire life. Why does every moment have to be so hard for him? Why does every horrible thing have to be his to endure? Why him? There are a lot of cruel, cold and heartless people in the world. Why did it have to be him, a young, kind and misunderstood teenager? Why couldn't it be an evil person who deserves to be treated cruely? Why did it have to be an innocent boy?
He felt tears sting his eyes, but he forced them back. He wasn't going to cry about something like this.
Gradually, his vision started blurring. He found himself in some kind of daze. His head was spinning, he was dizzy, his vision was messed up and he felt incredibly tired. He struggled to his locker and stuffed his math textbook. When he closed his locker, he felt incredibly enervated.
He wobbled his way to his next class.
You can't pass out. You just can't. You have to be strong. You have to go on. That was the mantra that he kept repeating in his head. He figured that he wouldn't make it to Science class and that if he ever did, he would get sent to the clinic anyways. So he headed to the clinic and presented himself to the school nurse.
The nurse panicked upon seeing the bloody Roxas. She immediately pulled out a first-aid kid, asked Roxas to sit on a nearby stool and treated his bleeding forehead. Roxas silently complied and waited.
"There, that should do it." The school nurse told him as she finished bandaging up Roxas' forehead. "Just keep it dry and don't touch it so that it won't get infected, okay?" Roxas just nodded robustly. "Anyways, if you're worried about class, don't be. I'll write you a pass. Just present it to your teacher, yeah?" The nurse got up and scribbled a note from her desk. A few minutes later, she handed Roxas the small piece of parchment.
"Thanks, Miss...ughm..." Roxas trailed, not knowing how to finish the sentence.
"Aerith. Miss Aerith." The mocha-haired nurse answered with a warm smile.
Roxas smiled back in appreciation. "Thanks, Miss Aerith. Well, I'd best be going now."
"Yeah, be careful, Roxas. You sure you don't want me to inform your parents about this? Mr. and Mrs. Helterbrand wouldn't be too happy about this, you know?" Aerith inquired.
Roxas kept his smile and just shook his head. "Nah, I'd do it myself. I wouldn't want to bother you with something I can handle."
"No, it's nothing, really."
"No, I can manage, ."
Aerith just sighed worriedly. "Fine. But please, please take care of yourself. And stay away from trouble, got it?"
Roxas chuckled at her motherly tone. "Of course, miss. See you later."
Roxas grabbed his books and scuttled to Science class. He handed the slip to his teacher, explaining his unusual tardiness. His teacher just gave him a nod and asked him to take a seat. As he made his way to his seat, he earned giggles and weird glances. He just ignored them and continued walking to his spot.
The rest of the day went by with Roxas avoiding everyone else. He ignored every student he passed by, he ditched his brothers during lunch and he just stayed on the bench outside the school building during free period.
All day, there was only one thought in his mind-he had to stand up for himself. He realized that he could no longer keep quiet. He has to stand up and say no. He can't keep absorbing all the bullets when his armor's already busted wide open.
But how was he going to stand up and fight? He isn't as strong and muscular as Vanitas. He isn't as cautious and shrewd as Ventus. He isn't as amicable and out-going as Sora. How was he supposed to defend himself?
He felt so pathetic. He felt so useless. He felt as if he wasn't even man enough to defend himself. No wonder he gets bullied all the time. He started to feel sorry for himself. He tried so hard to hold back the tears from falling the entire day. He didn't want to look even more pathetic than he already is at the moment.
The day eventually ended, much to Roxas' delight. It was an average day for him academically, for he scored perfect marks in all of his pre-tests and participated well during discussions in spite of his fragile condition.
Before he headed home, he went to his locker and kept all his books. As he was doing so, he caught sight of some crimson-colored writtings on his plain white shirt. He furrowed his eyebrows and hastily grabbed the shirt. When he unfurled the piece of cloth, his eyes widened, tears threatened to cascade down his cheeks and his mouth agaped.
In his extra white shirt(which was meant for P.E. class), were the words "GET LOST NERD!" written in red ink.
He so badly wanted to scream out in frustration. He wanted to cry, but he forced back the tears. What in the world did he do to deserve this?
He stood in the hall for a long time, just trying to compose himself. When he realized that there's nothing he can do about the situation, he neatly folded his shirt and stuffed it back in his locker. He fixed his things, grabbed a pair of shorts and headed to the gym.
If there was one thing that would help him relax, it would be the hardwood.
School hours were over, but the gym doesn't close until the late hours of the evening. And since the janitor was an acquiantance of Roxas, he could come use the gym whenever he wanted to. That's what he exactly did.
Roxas turned on the lights, stripped off his shirt, wore some sneakers and grabbed a basketball from the locker room.
He indeed, had a lot of stress-relieving to do.
A/N: Well, that concludes the second chapter of From Zero to Hero. I'm really ecstatic over the fact that you guys have been reading my story. Please, please continue to read and review. Don't hesitate to ask any questions and/or leave your opinions regarding my story. Please let me know about your thoughts and insights. Reviews keep me going, because it really makes me feel that you guys appreciate this story of mine. PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! Have a good day, and thank you!