Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy © to Disney and Square Enix!

Kraig and TJ © to YamiChaos27!

Iunia and Nico and other OCs © to me!

Joy © to Njoy!

Akira © to Lucywind!


Chapter 13: First Day of School


"I'm a little nervous."

"Me too." Roxas put on his backpack as Xion grabbed her lunchbox. "But I think it will be fun."

Isa packed up his own lunch nearby. "It'll be a new experience. I think you'll like it." He tossed a little piece of lunchmeat down to Kosho.

"Will the puppy be alright by himself?"

"He'll be fine. I'll let him into the backyard and give him lots to play with."

Axel took a swig of coffee. "You two better get going soon, don't want to be late on your first day."

"Yeah." Roxas grabbed Xion's hand. "Let's go!"

The two jogged out of the mansion and down the path.

Other kids filled the streets, all heading in the same direction. Some familiar and some not.

Soon, they reached the schoolhouse on the other side of the town. It stood just outside the walls, surrounded by tall pine trees.

Roxas looked down at the paper Axel gave him a few days before. "Looks like we have different homeroom classes. So, I guess I'll be seeing you later…"

"Guess so." Xion grasped her own paper before heading off to her own class. Lots of students, some older and some younger filled the hallways. Xion's head hurt as all the noise echoed off the lockers.

The crowd moving before her made her eyes swirl as well.

Gasping, Xion stepped away, leaning against a wall. Her heart pounded as she found it a little harder to breathe.

"Xion?" She looked up to see Fuu. The older girl knelt down, putting a hand on her own chest. "In and out." She watched, waiting until Xion started to breathe easier. Reaching into her bag, she pulled something out. "Here."

She held a pair of headphones before putting them on Xion's head.

The sound muffled the world around her.

Much better.

"Thank you."

"Keep them." Fuu patted the girl on the head and glanced down at the schedule in Xion's hand. "This way."

Xion followed the older girl down the hallway to a room filled with tall desks with a sink between each seat. Charts and diagrams covered the walls.

Looking down at her schedule she read: "Homeroom- Mr. Wright, First Period- Mr. Wright: Biology I".

So this was the science room.

"See ya." Giving her a pat on the shoulder, Fuu left.

"Thanks!"

Going into the room, Xion looked around.

"Xion!" Hayner sat at the nearest desk with one of the boys from the Struggle tournament next to him. His name was… Gerrard.

Actually, she recognized everyone.

At the desk to the left of Hayner and Gerrard sat Joelle and Caetano. Pence and Auston sat at the desk in front of them. Akira and the only empty seat left sat in front of Hayner and Gerrard.

The girl walked to Hayner, taking out the headphones. "Hi."

"Hey! Looks like we're in Homeroom and First Period. You can sit with Akira."

"Ok." Taking her stuff to the empty seat, she smiled at the girl next to her. "Nice to see you."

Akira smiled. "Yeah, same to you. This is your first time at school, right?"

"Yeah, I'm nervous."

"It'll be fine. We'll all help you out."

"Thank you."

Another person walked in. A heavier-set man with pale skin, short brown hair, and eyes so dark they looked black. He smiled at the students, waving. "Class doesn't start for another five minutes, so if you need to use the restroom do so."

This must be Mr. Wright.


"Yo! Roxas!" TJ waved from his spot by the window, patting the desk just behind him. "Over here!"

The boy walked into a room covered in posters with words and diagrams on them, and some pictures of book titles.

He smiled as he saw Joy, Nico, Iunia, and Olette talking in the back, standing near a bookshelf. He also recognized Finlay.

But there was another girl he didn't recognize; a very tall and skinny girl with tanned skin, long silver hair that hung down past her waist, and deep dark blue eyes. She wore a skirt with long socks that went up over her knees.

He sat behind TJ, pointing to the other girl. "Who is that?"

"That's Cherette. She's nice enough. Don't let her catch you littering or not recycling. She's all about protecting the environment. Which isn't a bad thing, she's just really intense about it."

"I can hear you, ya know." The girl turned, glaring slightly at TJ. Her face softened and she waved. "Roxas, right? Nice to meet you. Name's Cherette, but you can call me Cherri."

"Nice to meet you too."

"Heads up! We've got a Double L alert!" Joy called from the door.

"Shoot."

Roxas blinked. "A what?"

TJ put his head down. "Just don't make eye contact, Roxas."

Despite the warning, Roxas turned around. Everyone else seemed to be avoiding eye contact with the door, well, all but Cherri, who didn't seem as disturbed.

In walked a pale tall girl, probably about Seifer's age. She wore a blue tank top that showed her midriff, a short teal and green skirt, black boots, and a spiky black necklace. Her silver hair hung long in front around her face and went down to her waist in the back. Her green eyes glanced around, landing on Roxas.

"There you are. Found him, Lani!"

In came another girl, this one wearing a patterned orange shirt and a sweater top. She wore a dark brown shorts under a half-skirt, brown boots, and a two-toned headband. Her dark brown hair framed her almond-colored face and dark brown eyes.

They made a direct path to Roxas.

Roxas saw TJ flinching as they approached.

The taller girl, looked Roxas up and down. Why did feel like a predator scouting out prey?

"So, you're one of the new students. What's your name?"

"Roxas…"

"Roxas." Said the second girl, smirking. "Nice name. Kinda hot."

Huh?

"And with an appearance to match." The silver-haired girl leaned on his desk, getting very close to his face. "My name's Yunalesca, handsome."

Uhhhhhh.

The other girl leaned on the other side of his desk, winking. "I'm Lani(1)."

"Nice… to meet you both…"

What kind of greeting was this!?

They were all in his space!

Yunalesca smirked. "Since you're new, maybe we could show you around, and… get to know you a little better."

"Um, well… I think some of my friends were going to do that, but if you want to be friends that would be cool. Though… could you please back up?"

Both of their faces soured as they straightened up.

"Seriously?"

"Let's go. This one's cute, but he's an idiot."

"Hey!"

Without another word, they left.

"What was that?"

"Dude!" TJ turned around as the others approached. "You friendzoned them so hard! Great job!"

"I did what?"

Olette sighed. "You don't know them, do you?" He shook his head. "That was two of the clique known as the Lucky Ladies(2), at least that's what they call themselves. They think they're the best thing every made and try to flirt with every guy and date as many as possible. You dodged a bullet."

Wait.

"They were flirting with me?"

Nico and TJ laughed. "You didn't know!? That's amazing!"

"They were really weird and it wasn't comfortable at all. If that was supposed to be flirting, it wasn't working."

Cherri snorted out a laugh. "Oh my gosh."

"What?"

"You just sound like you're dissing them, but I know you're just being genuine." Olette smiled. "Don't worry about them, just avoid them. They're jerks and just want you to date them and follow them around like a cat in heat."

Iunia sat down at the desk next to Roxas. "Yeah. They're popular and rich, and they all have parents on the school board, so they think they can get away with anything they want. Yunalesca is probably going to kick Gerrard off his seat of Cheer Captain this afternoon; he took her spot last semester and she's sworn vengeance on him. Lani is the President of the Academic Decathalon." She glanced over at Olette. "Good luck with her around."

"Yay me."

"There are also two more girls in their little group. If you see a chick with spiky blonde hair, wearing like a TON of pink, avoid her. That's Leblanc(3), President of the Drama Club. Oh! We should warn Xion."

"Yeah. Leblanc will try and destroy Xion's confidence if she thinks Xi is a threat to her."

Roxas paled. "Why!?"

"They're jerks. Leblanc doesn't want anyone else being the lead actress in anything, and if anyone seems to be doing better than her, she destroys them." Cherri sighed. "I'm in the club too. You just learn to take a back seat and don't step on her toes. I can keep an eye on this Xion girl if you want."

"Thanks, Cherri."

Iunia sighed. "And then there's Dona(4), President of the Debate Club. She's the best at destroying people verbally and getting whatever she wants. We just need to avoid them."

Great…

Even a normal school had terrible people. Just great.

The bell rang as a woman with black hair and brown eyes walked in, clapping her hands. "Alright everyone! Take your seats!" She smiled. "My name is Miss Bram. Welcome to the first day of school!"


"Xion, what's your next class?"

The girl looked at her schedule. "I have history with Mrs. Burton."

"Aw man," Hayner sighed, "I have math."

Akira giggled. "Our schedules are a little different. I have English next."

"Come with me!" Joelle hooked arms with Xion. "I have history too."

Xion nodded, putting in her new headphones as they stepped into the hallway. It wasn't far to the next class where a woman with blonde hair and brown eyes behind glasses waited. Probably Mrs. Burton.

"Roxas!"

The boy looked up from his seat, smiling. "Hey! Xion!" Jogging over, she sat next to him. "How was your first class?"

"It was nice. Mr. Wright is fun, and biology sounds interesting. What about you?"

"I had English first. Miss Baum is nice, but it sounds like a lot of reading."

Mrs. Burton clapped her hands. "Make sure you go to the restroom before class starts."

"I'll be right back." Xion stood up and headed into the hallway.

Going into the bathroom, she paused as she heard voices.

"Did you meet the new boy?"

"Sure did. His name is Roxas."

Roxas?

Xion glanced around the corner and saw a girl with silver hair, a girl wearing lots of orange, a girl wearing lots of pink, and another girl with fishnet leggings.

"So?" Asked the girl in pink.

The silver-haired girl sighed. "He's handsome, but he's a total idiot. He thought we wanted to be friends or something."

"What a loser." Laughed the with fishnets.

The girl in orange crossed her arms. "Honestly a hot face like him is wasted on that brain."

"Hey!" Xion stepped out, glaring at the girls. "How dare you talk about my friend like that!"

The girl in pink crossed her arms. "I don't recognize you… wait. You're the new girl in the Drama Club. Aren't you? Xion?"

"Yes…"

"Then you're new and don't know how this works." She approached. "I'm Leblanc, the club president, and these are the Lucky Ladies. We rule this school. That's Dona, Lani, and Yunalesca. Remember our names, and learn your place."

Huh?

Xion flinched, shrinking back a little.

"Not so tough now, little mouse." Dona laughed.

Yunalesca approached. "How this works… you do what we say or stay out of our way. Don't, and we promise to make your school like a living hell." She looked at the sink behind Xion. "So, let's make an example, girls."

Xion, still in shock, didn't expect Leblanc and Dona to grab her shoulders, pushing her down into the sink as Lani turned on the water.

Xion sputtered, pulling back with all her strength as water cascaded around her head and shoulders.

"Get off me!"

Casting Aero, the other girls found themselves shoved back as Xion ran out of the bathroom.

What kind of place was this!?

This was a school… this wasn't…

Why were there people like them!?

"Xion?"

A pair of hands grabbed her shoulders. She looked up, water still dripping from her bangs, into the eyes of a familiar woman. Miss Maddie, the principal.

"Xion, what's wrong? You look scared. Do you need to go rest?" Xion knew Isa met with Miss Maddie, and so she was aware that things were new for her and Roxas.

The girl shook as she started crying.

"Come on, Xion. Let's go to my office."

The woman stopped by Xion's classroom, the girl not noticing as everyone in her class peaked to see the sobbing, wet girl.

"Xion…"

The principal put an arm around the girl and led her to her office.

A nice warm room with a soft couch and a few stuffed animals. Xion immediately grabbed a stuffed cat and hugged it.

The principal waited at her chair until the girl calmed down a little. "What happened? Were you overwhelmed?"

"Why did they do that to me…?"

"They?"

Xion wiped her eyes. "Four girls, they were saying mean things about Roxas. I told them to stop, and they threatened me and then pushed my head in the sink and poured water on me."

Glancing up into Miss Maddie's eyes, she saw a fury in them.

But one not directed at her.

Standing up, she pushed the door open, calling out to someone. "Have Yunalesca Fletcher, Lani Lee, Leblanc Moyo, and Dona Milo report to my office NOW!" Turning around, she took a deep breath. "Xion, thank you for telling me. I will take care of this." She knelt down. "Do you think you're ready to go back to class? If not, you can go wait in the nurse's office."

"I want to go to class."

"Ok. Let me know if you need anything, ok?"

"I will."

Miss Maddie led Xion out of her office. "Mr. Lucius, could you take Xion back to her class?"

"Sure." The vice principal smiled at the girl and walked with her back to class.

Xion went in and sat down, everyone staring at her.

And the moment their teacher stopped talking, everyone swarmed around her.

"Are you ok!?" Roxas grabbed her arms gently. "You were crying."

"What happened?"

The girl felt herself shrinking down again.

"Give her space!" TJ called as Joy came over and handed her a tissue.

Auston crossed his arms. "I have a guess. Actually it's four guesses."

Everyone flinched.

"Did you meet the Lucky Ladies?"

Xion nodded.

"We were planning to warn you about them. Sorry…"

Roxas pulled Xion into a hug. "Did they say mean things to you?" The girl nodded. "It's ok. We won't let them hurt you again."

Joelle huffed. "They can screw with me all they want, but you're like super nice! They need to back off! Next time they mess with you, tell me and I'll take care of them!"

"Yeah."

Xion wiped her eyes, glancing around.

She couldn't help but smile a little at her new friends.

They made her feel safe.

Maybe those four were not the normal here. This, this comfort felt normal.


At lunch time, Roxas, Xion, and their friends all sat together. The doors slammed open and Joy came sprinting into the room, skidding to the stop at the table.

"Guys!" She looked at Xion. "You just did the most amazing thing!"

"I-I did?"

"Yeah! No one ever tells the teachers about the Lucky Ladies, because usually they either scare the people they bully, or sneak around the rest of us so we have no evidence, but you told the principal! They ALL got detention!"

"WHAT!?"

"No way!"

Xion flinched. "I didn't…"

"No! It's a good thing!" Iunia grabbed Xion's hand. "They finally got punished for their actions, and on the first day of school too!"

The girl blinked.

She'd told Miss Maddie… she didn't mean for this to happen.

But it was a good thing.

"But," Nico looked around, "that means the rest of us need to keep an eye on Xion. Those four will be out for revenge. I know Fuu is your friend, Xion, and she's in the Drama Club. I'll tell her to watch out for you."

"Pence and I can help too. Our moms are running the club." Olette offered. "Don't worry, Xi! Those bullies won't touch you. We won't let them!"

The girl felt herself smile.

The day started rough, but she felt the support around her.


"Welcome home!"

Isa smiled as he heard Axel call out. Standing up from his desk, walked down from his office.

Roxas smiled, waving.

Xion came in a little quieter.

"How was school?"

"I had fun," Roxas smiled, but he glanced back at Xion. "Xion had it a little rough today."

Isa came downstairs at this. "What happened?"

Xion flinched a little. His gaze seemed hard, but she could tell it wasn't directed at her. "I… had some problems with some school bullies today."

"Bullies?" Isa knelt down, looking into her eyes. "Did they hurt you?"

Xion bit her lip. "They were saying mean things about Roxas and I told them to stop, so they pushed my head in the sink and put water on my head. I got away and they got detention. But they were mean, and everyone says they'll try and take revenge."

"But everyone is going to take care of Xion! They won't let those girls mess with her."

Axel and Isa glanced at each other. Isa put his hands on Xion's shoulders and pulled her into a gentle hug. "I'm sorry. The first day of school should not go that way. I'm so sorry."

"I didn't think there would be people like that at school. I thought I was safe from people saying things like that to me."

Isa patted her head. "There are bad people everywhere. What happened when they did that to you?"

"I used magic to push them away, and I ran. Miss Maddie was there, and she asked me what's wrong. After I told her, she asked for them to come to the office. The others said no one tells the teachers about them because they're either scared or they don't have evidence."

Isa knelt down, looking into her eyes. "You did the right thing. Look at me. If someone ever does that to you again, or hurts you in ANY way at school, tell me and tell a teacher. Even if kids say that you telling the teachers is wrong, you understand me?"

She nodded, leaning into the hug. "Thank you, Isa."

Axel looked down at Roxas. "You know, let's go get something sugary and fun. Do we want the usual, or do we want to mix it up a little?"

Xion smiled. "Let's mix it up. I want some chocolate."

"Chocolate it is then."

Axel and Roxas headed out as Xion went to her room, immediately grabbing her stuffed bear. Isa followed. "I'm sorry…"

"Why can't people just leave me alone?"

"I don't know." He sat beside her.

"I want Jiminy to come soon. He's coming soon, right?"

Isa nodded. "I know. He'll be here soon."

Xion sighed. "I want to like school. This won't ruin it for me, will it?"

"We won't let it. Your teachers and friends have your back. You have more support than a lot of people do. We have your back, I promise."

"Thank you…"


The next few days went by with no incident.

Xion saw the bullies in the hallway and class, but every time she locked eyes, one of her friends stepped up to her side.

She felt their warmth and care all day.

And it warmed her heart.

And then one morning, a knock sounded on the door.

Axel, coffee in hand, opened the door to see Scrooge. "Good morning."

"Morning, laddie. I have someone here to see all of you." Holding out a hand, a little cricket stood on his palm.

"Hello, Axel. Nice to see you again." Jiminy hopped up onto the man's hand. "I'm here to help."


Footnotes:

(1) Yes, these girls are based on Final Fantasy characters. Yunalesca is based on the FF10 character by the same name. Lani is based on the FF9 character of the same name.

(2) Yes, I am doing the "mean girls" stereotype. 4 girls, all in a group that are just a bunch of jerks.

(3) Leblanc is based on the FF10-2 character of the same name.

(4) Dona is based off the FF10 character of the same name.


VAs:

Isaac Wright- Cory Yee (The Beholder, Gorou, Hermes, Shinobu Miyako, Inupi/Seishu Inui)

Cherette Bulluomo- Sarah Miller-Crews (Lumine, Angela, Roxanne, Layla, Peggy Carter, Lunari)

Yunalesca Fletcher- Kari Wahlgren (Celty Sturluson, Saber, Haruko Haruhara, Kitana, Mileena)

Lani Lee- Mela Lee (Rin Tohsaka, Rena Ryuugu, Tiki, Kanata Ubuyashiki, Sharon Kruger, Ishtar)

Astrid Bram- Ratana (Leonie Pinelli, Yae Miko, Ishtar, Jade, Bello, Lianshi, Isis, Chibi Inu Amaterasu)

Raleigh Burton- Anne Yatco (Nobara Kugisaki, Raiden Shogun, Rosalie, Six Eyes, Mia, Marinette's Mom)

Leblanc Moyo- Masasa Moyo (Bumblebee/Karen Beecher, Leblanc, Lisa Hamilton, Psylocke)

Dona Milo- Candi Milo (Dona, Nora Wakeman, Astro Boy, Dexter, Shantotto, Zadavia, Coco)