Thanks for giving it a read! Eventually this will end up being a Sora x Roxas...somehow.
-Elegant
Chapter 1: The New Kid
"Rise and shine! It's time to get up for school!"
Sora groaned and groggily took in his surroundings, he longed for just a few more minutes of sleep. It honestly couldn't already be morning, let alone the day he'd long dreaded over his Summer break, could it? Trying to find the will to open his eyes, he sat still for a few more moments on the verge of sleeping once more. That is until he felt gentle prodding, and the removal of his source of warmth and comfort- the blanket was tossed aside. "Alright! I'm up!" he exclaimed, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, yawning and raising his arms in defeat. Any other day he probably would have woken up on his own, without his mother's aid, and mild to no protest- but school days were the worst.
"You can't be late for your first day of school." His mother chided him, "Breakfast will be ready by the time you get ready."
"Okay!" Sora called after her, still fighting to completely wake up. After a few more moments of sitting in his bed, and her calling upstairs for him to get up, he finally decided to move. Sliding his feet over the edge of his bed, he yawned again and stood up. Wasting no time in fixing his bed he recovered his blanket from the floor and took great care in straightening it out on his mattress. Once satisfied, he made his way over to his closet and grabbed a casual outfit for his first day. Most people dressed up special for these kinds of things, but Sora honestly had no one to impress. Besides, he didn't find anything wrong with a hoodie, baggy pants and sneakers.
Satisfied with his choice, Sora made his way to the bathroom and quickly started the shower. He let the water run for a moment or two, and adjusted the temperature accordingly, that way he wouldn't be trapped somewhere between the heat of a volcano and frostbitten from a miscalculated twist of the knobs. The only trouble was he had to make sure that it wasn't too inviting, lest he waste more of his time in the shower, and feel like sleeping again. Ah, only on the last day of Summer did one truly miss sleeping in until noon, and lazing away the rest of your days with the comfort of friends or whatever you chose to do. But dwelling on such things would get him nowhere and only delay the inevitable.
Making his way out of the shower, Sora quickly dried himself off and got dressed. Quickly brushing his teeth before making his way downstairs, he found his promised breakfast waiting at the table. "Thank you!" he smiled softly, sitting at the table and immediately digging in to his breakfast. Stealing a quick glance at the clock, he saw that time was definitely not on his side. Quickly scarfing down whatever he could, Sora brought his plate to the sink and rushed out the door. Thankfully, his mother had placed his bag right where she knew Sora'd have to snatch it up in a moments notice.
Due to how long he'd taken, Sora had to sprint to school. Pushing it to the absolute limit, he finally reached his destination, huffing and placing his hands on his thighs for support while he recovered. He made a mental note to fix his sleeping schedule. Once his breathing was back to normal, Sora made his way to the assigned classroom on his time table. To his immediate relief, he saw that at the very least his first class was filled almost entirely with friends. At the beginning of the school year you honestly had no idea what was going to happen. People came and went all the time, and friends often ended up sorted into different classes, leaving you with no one to interact with. It wasn't that he hated the idea of meeting and making new friends, it was just nice to have some already with you.
"Look who finally made it!" Riku smirked a bit, sarcastically clapping for Sora. "Right on time by the looks of it."
"Yeah, I, uh...had a little trouble waking up this morning." Sora admitted, scratching the back of his head. Giving a totally carefree smile in return to Riku's teasing, he was just happy to have made it.
"Isn't that the way it works every year?" Riku asked, because it seemed that every year right on the dot Sora always made it with a scarce few minutes to spare. He never learned that his sleeping schedule had to be fixed.
"Well, yeah." Sora nodded, laughing a bit, "But I usually have you to bail me out when it comes to these kinds of things."
"True." Riku nodded, "But I wanted to see if you could make it on your own for once."
"Did I disappoint you?" Sora asked, taking a seat beside Riku.
"Not really. It was actually pretty much what I expected of you." Riku admitted, shrugging his shoulders a bit. Sora was always so carefree, save for the first day of the school year. It lasted at least for the morning until he got back into the rhythm of things.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Sora couldn't decide on whether Riku was paying him a compliment or scolding him for his usual antics.
Before Riku could reply, Kairi chimed in. "Sora! Glad you could make it!" the redhead smiled.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm late." Sora grinned, "But I'm here!"
"I can see that." Kairi laughed, "So, did you hear?" she asked, wondering if Riku had already told Sora the news.
"Hear what?" Sora asked, completely clueless on what she was asking him about.
"There's going to be a new student starting today." Kairi beamed, the girl seemed excited about the fact that a new face was going to be joining them.
"Aren't there always 'new students'?" Riku asked, he didn't mean to come off as stupid, he'd leave that to Sora. But it was a little strange to say that they were getting a new student.
"Well, yeah, but this one's going to be with us!" Kairi clarified. "And I heard it's going to be a boy."
"Really?" Sora asked, already wondering what kind of person the new kid would be.
"Yep!" Kairi nodded, "I wonder what he'll be like."
"We won't know until class starts. Speaking of which-" Riku glanced at the clock, "-isn't that right about now?" he asked, and just as he finished the bell rang.
"You have an eerie sense of timing." Kairi commented, "I need to take my seat." she smiled at the boys and walked to her preferred seating by the window.
"I guess I should have noticed..." Sora looked around the room once everyone was actually sitting down he saw a blank space right next to him. Looking to Riku, he instead found nothing more than silence. Maybe he didn't want to get scolded by their teacher on the very first day, which was the 'smart' choice- even if it was boring to do so. Sighing to himself, he resolved to try and pay attention. Not that it really did him much good in the end, he only really maintained the simplified versions of things Riku often made up to help him. The convenience of being in the same class with your best friend consistently over the years. But he'd still need to compare their time tables to see if he'd completely lucked out and was with Riku for every class, or if he was on his own.
The classroom door opened, and their teacher stepped through. Any residual chatter that had been lingering in the air immediately died off as Zexion made his way to the front. "Good morning, class." he didn't wait for them to respond- not that he actually thought they would, in general. "We have a new student joining us today. You can come in now." he instructed.
Once more the door opened,everyone immediately tried to gain a glimpse of the new kid. Instead the vast majority just saw the faintest bits of blonde hair sticking out from a black hood. His sense of style was eerily similar to Sora's, down to the baggy pants and sneakers, save for the fact that his choice of color was far more 'gloomy'. Making his way to the middle of the room, he turned to face everyone. For whatever reason his face was expressionless, as if he didn't care what was going on around him. Which was odd, considering the girls were all commenting on how cute he seemed. Sora swore he heard Kairi and Namine commenting on that fact. On some level it seemed like it may have been an annoyance to Roxas.
Roxas didn't seem to care who his classmates were, as he vaguely scanned the room but didn't really take notice of anyone. That is, until he made eye contact with Sora. Shoot. Was he staring too much? Then again, it seemed like everyone was staring the same amount, not that staring in general was a nice thing to do. Immediately averting his eyes, Sora was sure there was no way Roxas looked at him. Hesitating for a moment, he finally looked back up, and once more they were in a staring contest.
"Is it just me, or is he staring?" Riku whispered, doing his best not to get caught.
"Eh, I thought it was just me..." Sora admitted. So, Roxas was staring at him. Maybe it wasn't the best way to make an impression on someone new, let alone so different.
"Well? Introduce yourself." Zexion instructed.
"Roxas." the blonde said his name aloud, still continuing to look at Sora. He didn't know why in particular his eyes had settled on the brunette, but it seemed like that one was staring at him the most. His gaze must have been making the brunette nervous, as he and his silver haired friend were whispering back and forth, all the while never breaking their gaze from Roxas.
"Very good. You may take your seat now. It looks like there's one left beside Sora. Sora- would you mind raising your hand?" Zexion asked, waiting patiently for the brunette to comply.
Roxas immediately recognized the person he'd be sitting by. Walking through the labyrinth of people and desks before him, he made his way to his seat. Sighing as he sat down, Roxas placed his bag under the desk and pulled out a notebook and mechanical pencil. Compulsively glancing through the corner of his eye, he caught the brunette still staring.
"Hi, I'm-" Sora started to introduce himself, but Roxas cut him off.
"'Sora', right?" Roxas asked, not bothering to look over.
"Uh, yeah. It's nice to meet you, Roxas." Sora beamed happily, doing his best to try and make this person feel comfortable.
"How do you know that?" Roxas asked, finally looking over at Sora.
"Know what?" Sora asked, staring blankly back at Roxas.
"How do you know that it's 'nice to meet me'? You don't even know me." Roxas stated the obvious, even if it seemed 'cold' to others, he didn't appreciate naive people making judgments based upon quick glance overs of himself. How did he factually know that Roxas was 'nice', and that he wanted to 'meet' him? Had it not been for the teacher saying his name, Roxas wouldn't have the foggiest clue who the weird boy was. Save for the fact that he'd been staring at him for quite some time.
"Well, I just thought that I'd...like to meet you." Sora admitted, "I never really thought about it, like you said. I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?" it was another needless thing to do. Most people did it unconsciously, and an apology with no basis behind it was positively useless.
"Because, I think I hurt your feelings in some way, and I don't want to be rude." Sora semi-explained, he didn't know why Roxas was being so standoffish when it came to everything he was saying.
"So, based upon a mild guess you think I'm offended, somehow. And that merits you having to give me an apology?" Roxas couldn't help but let out a small scoff. "A word of advice, Sora, don't apologize to people unless you specifically know why you are apologizing, and know if the given situation requires it. Otherwise the gesture seems nothing but hollow."
"Oh." Sora's smile faltered a bit, as he just decided to nod and agree with Roxas. It seemed a lot easier then sparking on an argument over nothing. Even if his feelings were a little hurt, Sora felt like he should try again at some point to be friends with him. Maybe over lunch, that is, if Roxas didn't already have other plans.
"I think that one's a lost cause, Sora." Riku gently nudged his friend to gain his attention while he spoke.
"You don't know that." Sora didn't believe on giving up just because you had a misunderstanding with someone. He'd prove Riku wrong, Roxas had to have a reason for acting the way he did. Maybe he was actually just nervous. Especially coming to a new school, seeing so many new faces, and then having to sit beside a complete stranger who was chatting him up.
Roxas could hear their whispers. Despite what they may have thought, neither one of them was very discrete. Especially with the way that Sora would periodically glance over at Roxas. For most of the lesson he ignored it, but sometimes he'd glance back through the corner of his eye, and the brunette would try to act nonchalant. Roxas pretended he didn't see anything, and Sora felt verified that he wasn't angry.
"Roxas. Would you like to come solve the equation?" Zexion picked on him deliberately as he saw the chatter between Sora, Riku and Roxas. Well, more specifically Riku and Sora, and Roxas with Sora. If people weren't going to pay attention in his lessons, then why should he honestly bother? Assigning math to students directly in the morning was always the worst. None of them really retained anything, as their focus was at the bare minimum.
Pushing his chair back Roxas stood up and walked to the front of the class without a word. He took a white board marker and promptly set about solving Zexion's board work, looking at the teacher when he was finished.
"Well...you may be seated then." it appeared Zexion was mistaken. Someone was actually listening. At least some people could multi-task.
Roxas nodded and walked past him back to his desk.
"Sora." Zexion called upon the least likely to get any equation right.
"Yes?" Sora asked, instantly sitting up straight.
"Come up here and finish this next one." Zexion instructed while he quickly wrote it out.
"Okay..." Sora stood up and took a deep breath. Walking past Roxas, he saw the blonde stare at him for a moment. Going to the front, he stared at the white board, his mind drawing a complete blank. Everyone was waiting, and Zexion was purposefully drawing it out to shame Sora for not listening to him while he was speaking.
Roxas watched with vague curiosity. It appeared Sora wasn't the brightest of his peers. A typical 'nice, but slow' guy. Judging from how long this was taking, Zexion really had it in for Sora. Although it finally seemed like he was going to grant him some sort of mercy. Sora seemed like he'd squirmed enough under the pressure, anyway. But most of the other students were brushing it off as 'typical Sora'- whatever that meant.
"Would you like someone to take your place, Sora?" Zexion asked, his arms folded as he frowned at his student.
"Y-yes..." Sora bowed his head in defeat.
"Very well. But next time, how about you actually listen while I am speaking, yes?" Zexion asked, before calling upon Riku to finish the equation.
Sora walked back to his desk with an air of doom and gloom. It was embarrassing being called up like that, and then not having the foggiest clue of what to do. He made a mental note of asking Riku to borrow his notes. Watching his friend solve the problem with little to no trouble at all. Although he had to wonder who solved theirs faster- Roxas or Riku. Stealing a glance at the clock, he was grateful when the bell rang and they were excused from the lesson. "Riku, would you mind...?"
"Like you need to ask." Riku rolled his eyes before handing over his notes to Sora.
"Thank you!" Sora hugged Riku, "You're a life saver!" he was so lucky to have Riku bail him out all the time. Pulling back from the gesture, he carefully placed the notes into his backpack for safekeeping.
"You owe me one." Riku said, "So, what's your next class?"
"Hang on." Sora fished it out of his bag. "Looks like...gym. With Larxene."
"Ouch." Riku winced, "Well, keep your chin up, and do your best. I know you can do it." he pat Sora on the head and walked out of the classroom.
"Wait! We don't have the same class!?" Sora called out in vain.
"No yelling in the classroom." Zexion scolded him.
"Sorry." Sora smiled apologetically. Collecting his things, he walked out of the classroom. Making his way to his newly assigned locker, he quickly placed his bag inside and grabbed his P.E. clothes. "Hey, your locker's right beside mine! Looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other!" Sora decided now was the moment to try and strike up conversation with Roxas. The blonde, however, must have disagreed as he let out a grunt and quickly grabbed his required things. "Oh, you have gym right now, too? If it's with Larxene, I can show you the way!"
Despite his indifference on the matter, Roxas had no choice but to take him up on his offer. He didn't know the school at all, and being given room numbers didn't help his situation. Following rather than walking side by side with Sora, he brushed past hoards of people making their way to next classes, or chatting for the remainder of the short 'break' they had in-between classes. Five minutes wasn't a very long amount of time, and it seemed lots of people enjoyed wasting it on things like social obligations. Periodically Sora would look behind him just to make sure Roxas was keeping up.
"We're here." Sora announced, "You should hurry and get changed, Larxene doesn't like people who are late!" he opened the door and held it open for Roxas a bit before slinking through.
Roxas didn't follow Sora into the change room, instead he went to the bathroom and changed there. He preferred the privacy a school change room simply didn't provide. Refusing to remove his hoodie, he walked back into the gym and found Sora waiting for him.
"You don't use the change room...?" Sora asked, wondering why Roxas opted out of joining the other boys.
"No." Roxas shook his head, "Never cared for them." he shrugged not really finding it a big deal.
"So, uh, we may need to partner up...and I was wondering...if maybe...you'd want to?" Sora asked.
"Is this just because you're the only person I 'know' and therefore you think I won't find someone else?" Roxas wouldn't outwardly admit he was a bit grateful that Sora had offered. It saved him the trouble of having to socialize with one of the many other students in the class. Splitting the classes between seniors and sophomores seemed like nothing but a recipe for disaster. Seniors tended to be nothing but antagonistic barbarians with ill regard for their underclassmen. As if somehow being the eldest gave them a right to be disrespectful to the younger grades. Even if it was somehow a 'tradition' they clearly knew what it was to be one of the younger grades. Maybe they saw themselves as already 'paid their dues' and decided it was someone elses turn for a little torment. Either way, he wasn't about to let them intimidate him.
"No!" Sora shook his head, "I didn't mean that at all! It's just...you're also the only person I know in here." he admitted. "And I thought it would be easier if it's you and me, that way we don't have to be alone. But if you don't want to, then I guess I can find someone else..." his eyes sunk to the floor, clearly full of hurt. Turning away from Roxas, he started to walk away and try to find a new partner. He honestly didn't know who else to approach, but surely it wouldn't be all that hard for him to find someone.
Roxas knew he'd regret saying this, but that still wasn't enough to stop him. "Wait." he sighed, "Fine. I'll be your partner."
"You will!?" Sora could barely contain his excitement, "That's great!" he grinned as wide as he could, going in for a hug out of habit.
Roxas took an instinctive step back, letting Sora face plant. "Only to make things easier for us, right?"
"Ouch..." Sora rubbed his face, "Right." he agreed. Just when he thought he'd gotten some common ground with Roxas, he took two steps back. Literally.
"Aren't you going to get up?" Roxas knew that Sora was likely waiting for an outstretched hand or something along those lines. But Roxas didn't feel inclined to do so. He barely knew this person. And he didn't really have an interest in being friends, despite what Sora may have thought of him.
"Yeah." Sora nodded, "I just...needed a second." he smiled, dusting himself off as he stood up.
"Alright class. Those of you who had me previously know what I expect." Larxene stepped out for a moment and instantly went right back into her office.
Roxas expectantly looked to Sora for an explanation.
"She wants us to do five minutes of constant laps around the gym." Sora said.
It was pretty straight forward instructions. Everyone started running and Sora was instantly the leader of the group, daring to lap people and trying to do so with Roxas. Sparking a bit of the blonde's competitive nature, Roxas amped up his speed. A few minutes in and both were neck and neck never once giving up the 'first place' spot. Everyone else had slowed down, some even went to brisk walks trying to catch their breath, but just seeing the breakneck pace Sora and Roxas maintained throughout the exercise.
"You're really fast!" Sora said in-between breaths.
"Is this the best you can do?" Roxas semi-taunted Sora, wanting a full on race.
"No." Sora answered truthfully, "I can go faster!" he was up to the challenge.
Upping his speed, Roxas gradually surpassed Sora. The brunette eventually turned the tide just as Larxene came out and forced them to stop.
"Alright. I want everyone to start doing their stretches." Larxene instructed, letting a student lead the rest.
"I think we can call it a tie." Sora said, while he and Roxas copied the person who was leading the stretches.
"Not really. I was winning." Roxas stated facts. From his perspective he was leading on their race before it was called off.
"Next time we'll see who wins." Sora vowed. At least this was giving them something to talk about. Sure, Roxas was still 'cold' but maybe he could wear him down eventually.
"Count on it." Roxas nodded. Once finished their stretches, Larxene stepped into the center of the gym to instruct them on what they were doing for the day.
"Everyone line up." Larxene instructed, going through every person lined up on the wall labeling them either as 'one' or 'two'.
Roxas and Sora respectively ended up on the same team.
"Today, we're going to play dodgeball." Larxene said, "One's on the left, two's on the right. You should all know the rules by now, and if you don't, then it goes like this: catch a ball that someone else throws and you get a teammate back. No hitting in the face. Last team or person standing wins." promptly she set up the line of pink balls they'd all end up throwing at each other. "Ready? Go!"
Instantly Sora and Roxas dashed for the center line of them, snatching as many as they could for their side. Nodding to each other, Roxas and Sora eliminated a few of the other players, but their team of 'twos' were dropping like flies. All of the balls ended up on the 'ones' side, and they were basically defenseless.
"What do we do?" Sora asked, he didn't have any idea.
"What's the name of the game?" Roxas answered with his own question.
"Dodgeball." Sora didn't hesitate for a moment on the answer.
"Then you should do that." Roxas instructed, backtracking a bit from Sora. The two of them standing together would be nothing more than an easy target, and damned if he was going to lose. "You take point. I've got the rear."
"Huh?" Sora looked over, while he was momentarily distracted, the majority of the ones tossed their balls and eliminated him.
"Great." Roxas frowned. If he was going to turn it, then this would take a bit of finesse.
"Looks like we've got this one." the largest of the ones taunted him.
"Yeah? Come and get it." Roxas taunted him right back. Still spacing backward, he only needed to evade one or two balls from their side, try to catch one, and eliminate about 10 more guys. No pressure. Seeing the big guy wind up, Roxas turned his back to the other team until he heard the grunt of when the ball was tossed. Instantly he partially ran up the wall and leapt off it with a flying kick. The ball narrowly missed him, and he earned a 'woah' from the crowd, Sora included. "That all you got?" he couldn't help but smirk.
"That's not fair! You jumped off the wall!"
"It wasn't against the rules." Roxas shrugged. Everyone immediately looked to Larxene who shrugged her shoulders as well, she'd allow it. It wasn't as if she said it was expressly forbidden or anything like that. The last ball was given to the same guy, it was clear their strategy was to have their 'powerhouse' dominate. This time Roxas stared at him head on. He was going to grab that ball. Once more seeing him wind up, he waited to see how far this one would come.
"Come on Roxas! You can do it!" Sora cheered him from the sidelines, momentarily distracting the blonde.
Or, at least, that's what the other team thought. Tossing the ball just as Roxas looked away, the blonde couldn't help but to hold his smirk. This one was going really fast, and it was game over if he didn't catch it. Although he'd hate to say it, he needed help. And there was one teammate he could really use, about now. Backing up a bit, he stretched out his hands and fumbled with the ball, it slipped out of his fingertips at first, and the force had his back hit the wall. But nonetheless, he still caught it. "Sora!"
Surprised when he called his name, Sora pointed to himself.
"Get in here!" Roxas waved him over.
Sora sprinted over and gleefully rejoined their side. "What did you want me to do?"
"Doesn't matter now." Roxas shrugged, "Pick a guy, get a ball, knock him out...and make sure we win."
"Okay!" Sora nodded, eager to prove himself to his partner. Scooping up two balls, Sora grinned, earning a little fear from the seniors they were playing against. Roxas followed suit, both of them walking as close to the boundary between teams without surpassing it. Sora glanced over for a moment, and Roxas nodded. Sora tossed his ball first, and when a guy dove to catch it, Roxas whipped his and eliminated him.
"Two birds." Roxas commented.
"8 more." Sora reminded him.
"Giving up, already?" Roxas asked, "They're not so tough."
"I won't give up!" Sora promised, "We're gonna win this!" just like he said they would.
Roxas scoffed a bit, but he enjoyed the sentiment. It seemed as if all the ones were keen on eliminating Sora, as every ball that landed on their side was tossed his way. One way or another Roxas always found some way to it away from him. Their numbers dwindled away until eventually all that stood between them was the tall senior who didn't look quite so cocky anymore. "Sora."
Instantly, Sora tossed his ball at the senior. He dodged, and Roxas pulled back his arm, faking out a throw. When the senior jumped and fell to the floor, Roxas couldn't help but to scoff a bit. Tossing his ball, he got rid of the last senior and they won. "Better luck next time, huh?" Roxas sarcastically asked as Larxene blew her whistle and declared them the winners.
"We did it!" Sora cried out happily, going for a high five, or anything really to show that Roxas appreciated their team work.
"Next time try not to get so distracted." Roxas snubbed him, denying the gesture Sora had wanted.
Sora's smile faded, and his gaze sank to the floor. Was he really a hindrance? The two of them had beaten the other team, and Roxas had specifically called him back into the fight when he could have picked anyone else to join him. The bell rang signifying the end of class and the beginning of their lunch break. Sora immediately made his way to the change rooms and made his way back to his locker. Roxas wasn't in the gym, anyway, so he figured he'd already gone back to his locker. And sure enough he found the hooded blonde putting his things away, finishing just as Sora arrived.
"Hey, Roxas..." Sora waited to see if he gained the other male's attention.
Roxas looked at Sora but remained silent. Waiting for him to say whatever it was that he felt needed to be said. Maybe he was going to argue that Roxas' previous statement was wrong, and that he was just as much a part of the team as he. Surely there had to be a limit to Sora's patience and kindness, all people eventually give up their endeavors if they see the situation as hopeless. This person should be no different.
"Do you wanna...and feel free to say no...but do you want to join my friends and me for lunch?" Sora asked. He knew that it was definitely a long shot.
"No." Roxas didn't even seem to think over the proposal.
"Well, if you change your mind we'll be sitting in the courtyard." Sora left the offer open, smiling a bit at Roxas before he left. Making his way to the courtyard, he sat down at their usual table, waiting for his friends to join him.
"Sora!" Kairi called, being the first to arrive and waving while she walked over.
"Kairi!" Sora smiled, "How'd your second class go?"
"I think it went pretty well." Kairi thought aloud, "I had a few friends in there, so it went by pretty fast. Riku was there as well, which I guess means you two got separated. How'd yours go? Did you have any familiar faces?"
"Yeah, he went off and had to do his own thing. But I had a lot of fun!" Sora wondered how he'd begin to tell her about some of the cool stuff Roxas did during their dodgeball game. "Actually, no. The only person I knew there was Roxas. Luckily we ended up on the same team, and if you could have seen some of the things he did! Everyone got knocked out of the game, including me, there was 10 guys left on the other team, he turned his back on a guy with a ball and when it got thrown at him he jumped off the wall and it missed him! That's not even the best part! He caught a ball, brought me back into the game, and we ended up beating the other team, with it just being me and him!" he could barely even contain his enthusiasm on the matter, still ecstatic on their victory over the senior team.
"You really like him, don't you?" Kairi asked, smiling. It was cute that Sora had a new friend he clearly idolized on some level. "Oh, speaking of, isn't that him right over there?" she asked.
Sora turned his head and saw Roxas. "Yep."
"Why don't you invite him to come over?" Kairi asked, "I'd like to hear if he talks as fondly of you."
"I asked him if he wanted to, but he said no." Sora frowned a bit, looking a little down.
"Maybe he's shy?" Kairi offered, it seemed like a plausible reason.
"I'm not so sure about that..." Sora trailed off, wondering if what Kairi said was true.
"Sure about what?" Riku asked, sitting at the table and adding himself into the conversation.
"If Roxas is too shy to join us for lunch." Kairi spoke up before Sora could.
Riku snorted lightly. "You're still hung up on him? If he hasn't come around by now, Sora, why would you want to bother?" although, to be fair, it did seem just like him to try and befriend someone no matter their treatment toward him.
"Is he mean to Sora?" Kairi asked, incredibly confused by the situation.
"Is who mean to Sora?" Namine asked, she didn't think that those words actually belonged in a sentence together.
"Roxas." Kairi and Riku said in unison.
"Really? I can't see why he would be...did you do something to upset him?" Namine asked Sora directly. Finally cluing in that they'd all been ignoring him for the past few moments.
"I don't think so." Sora shook his head, there was honestly nothing was coming to mind when he thought about it.
"He didn't." Riku said, "Or, at least, that was my take from this morning. It kinda just seems that he's had it in for Sora from the get go. Or maybe he doesn't like anyone." he shrugged his shoulders, "Is it really bugging you, Sora?"
"Not really." Sora fibbed a little. Of course it actually did hurt his feelings a bit to be disliked by someone he was trying to befriend. And everything that he did just seemed to make his and Roxas' situation worse. Making him angry definitely wasn't on his list of things to do, and he honestly hoped that they could be friends at some point or other.
"Well... how about this, if he comes, he comes. And if he doesn't, then, it's his loss, right?" Kairi asked, trying to cheer Sora up.
"Sure." Sora nodded, "How'd your guys day go?" he needed the distraction. Even if he absentmindedly stared at Roxas, who was sitting alone in the courtyard. His expression was still blank, so Sora couldn't decide if he liked his solitude or not. A few people approached him, but he clearly turned down their invitations/offers. Judging from the looks on their faces, it must have been a little bit harsh. Maybe Roxas just wasn't a 'warm' person. Some people had a hard time expressing their emotions, and it seemed possible.
"Sora!"
"Hmm?" Sora asked, staring blankly at his friends.
"You want to go over there, don't you, Sora?" Namine asked, motioning toward Roxas.
"It's okay if you do! We'll understand." Kairi chimed in, smiling softly at the spacing out brunette.
"You guys won't mind?" Sora didn't want to just abandon them. Even if they said it was okay, he wanted to make sure that it absolutely was.
"Yeah. Go on ahead." Riku nodded. Sora wanted to try and make a new friend, and while Riku didn't fully understand it, he would do his best to support the situation. Even if it just ended in Sora getting verbally abused by a brat.
"Thanks guys! I owe you one!" Sora stood up and strode over to where Roxas was sitting. "Mind if I sit down?"
"Does my answer actually affect what you'll do?" Roxas asked. Sora seemed pretty keen on defying whatever it was that he had to say, so at this point, it didn't really matter what his answer would be. Even though it definitely would be 'no'. Why did being the 'new kid' prompt so many people to try and be friendly? Was it because they found him attractive? Did he look like a charity case?
Sora didn't know if his question actually merited a response. Taking the semi-pass from Roxas to sit, he did just that. "Do you like being alone?" he asked.
Roxas frowned a bit at the question, "Why?" it seemed that basically all he could do when it came to Sora was 'answer' a question with a question. Even though that was an evasion and made him seem defensive about everything.
"I'm curious." Sora didn't know what else to say, "Sometimes...people say that they need alone time, and they mean an hour, a day, however long...but some people just don't like the company of others, do they?"
"That's because people tend to get in the way, Sora. There are things that you can do alone, that you can't if you have companions. Sometimes it's better to be alone." Roxas genuinely believed that fact.
"How do people get in the way...?" Sora was intrigued by what Roxas had to say. Clearly he had a lot of cynicism toward others, but why? "And...you know, there are things that you can only do with other people. Being alone sometimes can be nice, but it's also lonely. I don't know what I'd do without all of my friends by my side."
"Just trust me, they do." Roxas didn't seem in the mood to talk about it, least of all with Sora. "Maybe. But even people you consider 'friends' can betray you at a moments notice." he was talking about a deeper, underlying issue, but Sora would probably miss that fact. Staring off into space, he thought about 'friends' and honestly, he didn't miss having people with that label by his side.
"You really think so? I could never think of Kairi, Namine or Riku doing something like that. We've been friends for...as long as I can remember." Sora never thought they had underlying intentions or their own hidden agendas. They never seemed like those kinds of people.
"People like you get taken advantage of in a heartbeat. You think nothing but good of others and that's your downfall. Someone like you would never see it coming. Maybe you're right about them, and maybe you're wrong. But is it really worth the gamble?" Roxas had yet another label to add to Sora; naive.
"To me, it is." Sora nodded without hesitation. "They've all given me memories to cherish, things that I didn't know I was missing until they showed me all the different possibilities out there. I wouldn't give up what we've been through for anything. I don't think I could regret meeting people, because you have to meet them for a reason, right? Even if it is a bad person like you say, it's a lesson that I'll have to learn."
Roxas wanted to say more, but what was the point? Sora would only learn when that person came by him. Someone always wanted to take your 'light' and dull it to the point that you couldn't hold on to ideations such as 'hope'. "Why do you keep bothering with me, Sora?" he decided to change the conversational topic altogether. Roxas treated him like a nuisance from the get go. And now, Sora was still trying to invade his world. Talk him into the fact that he somehow 'needed friends'.
"I don't know." Sora thought about it, and he still didn't understand why.
"It's things like this that make your gestures seem hollow, Sora." Roxas commented, standing up and preparing to leave the table. "I'm going to save us both the time and effort, and assume we share the next two classes."
"That depends...do you have English for your third, and art for your fourth?"
"Uncanny." Roxas sighed, their lockers were side by side. He sat next to Sora in Math. Partnered with him in Gym. Next thing he knew there'd be something tying them together in English, and a project or something that'd force the two to do something. If this was someone's idea of a joke, then it honestly needed to come to an end. He was ready for the punchline.
"Wait, really?" Sora was surprised that they shared every single class.
"Apparently." Roxas didn't seemed thrilled at all by the prospect, but they had to hurry up if they were going to make it. The bell rang and that signaled only two more minutes before they were 'late' to class.
"Come on, let's go." Sora cleared his garbage and quickly tossed it away in the trash can. Moving swiftly, he and Roxas made their way to either ones respective locker.
Roxas grabbed out his backpack, seeing as the day was already half over, there was no sense in leaving it behind. Besides, he wasn't about to lug around heavy textbooks any other way. Quickly glancing at Sora, he saw the brunette doing the same. Waiting semi-patiently for Sora to be ready, Roxas shut his locker door and secured it with his combination lock. "Can we hurry it up?" he asked.
"Sorry!" Sora compulsively gave him an apology, momentarily forgetting that Roxas hated receiving them. But this time he actually knew why he was apologizing to Roxas. "Sorry for wasting your time..." he added the last bit hastily, hoping that would be enough to tide him over.
"Let's get going." Roxas completely brushed off his apology, though it seemed his words had resonated within Sora.
"Okay." Sora promptly took the lead, him and Roxas basically sprinting through the hallway to ensure they made it to class on time. Considering their teacher was DiZ and he wouldn't be happy at all if they were tardy. Barely making it through the door and to the only vacant seats in the classroom Roxas and Sora were panting a bit.
Roxas thanked the fact that in the following school days he wouldn't need Sora to lead him to these places.
"Settle down class." DiZ's voiced boomed over everyone else who had been chattering away, save for Sora and Roxas. "Let's get down to business, shall we? Your assignment that will be due by the end of this session is a two page double spaced journal entry. The subject matter will be left up to you. If need be, you may consult the person sitting next to you for a subject that you find appealing. But I expect that you won't try and turn in something that would be deemed inappropriate. Doing so will result in you staying after class to completely redo it." he was absolutely no nonsense when it came to his classes, and by now they should know exactly what was expected of them. Other teachers may put up with nonsense, but he wouldn't in the slightest.
Sora was happy to hear that he could ask for help, he wasn't sure what to write about. "Roxas, what are you-" he stopped mid-sentence when he saw Roxas already writing.
Glancing over at Sora he sighed a bit. "I'm guessing you need help figuring out what to write?" Roxas asked.
"If it's too much trouble then don't worry about it. I can figure something out." Sora didn't want to be a bother.
"Write about something that you want, Sora. There has to be something right now that you can think of. What is it right now that interests you the most?" for Roxas picking his piece was entirely easy. Maybe it would be seen as 'dark' but that was just the way he liked it. The unadulterated truth seen through his eyes, experienced by him, and no editing to make it seem like all smiles and sunshine. As much as people loved to paint pretty pictures of the world and the people in it, that just wasn't a realistic dream. There were always those out there who made you painfully aware of how 'unfair' things in this life could be.
"I think...I've got it! Thanks, Roxas!" Sora smiled, instantly capturing the ideas he had in mind.
Roxas guessed he was writing something simple, like a high school crush. If anything, his money was on that red haired girl he was sitting with at lunch. Maybe the blonde. Not that it really mattered, anyway. It was none of his business. And so long as it got Sora out of his hair, then everything was good. About halfway through their allotted time Roxas was finished and decided to give it a title. Quickly writing in his neat printing, he was satisfied.
"'Fate of the False'...?" Sora quizzically said the title aloud.
Instinctively Roxas shut his notebook and glared at Sora. "It's not for you to read." he snapped. Scowling as he made his way over to DiZ, Roxas handed in his assignment. Being sure to remove the annoyed expression from his face, lest he get into some form of trouble. He wasn't looking to make 'waves' at his new school.
"You're sure that you're finished?" DiZ asked, "There's still plenty of time left. And you have a chance to reconsider."
"Thank you, sir. But I'm sure that I'm done." Roxas felt that he captured everything he wanted to.
"Alright. Then you may take your seat and do whatever you like for the remainder of your time." DiZ instructed him.
"Yes sir." Roxas went back to his seat and checked over homework from their earlier math class. It had been already finished but he checked it again just to be entirely sure. Once satisfied that it was done correctly, he didn't know what else there was left to do. Art probably wouldn't assign them anything. Glancing over at the clock, he saw that there was little to no time left. Sora was still writing away, and he wondered if he'd actually finish or be punished and stay the extra time. Homework seemed to be his nemesis.
"Finished." Sora was glad to see that he'd actually managed to get it done. He thought that maybe he'd have to stay after school just like DiZ had promised, but he was relieved not to be. Giving his entry a simplistic title 'Wish' he made his way to the front. Handing it over to DiZ he sat carefree at his desk, glad that he'd done something for the day.
Roxas wondered how someone who was more than likely to spend his Summer in school could be so carefree. Although it was just his first day, he already learned that Sora was basically inept in any class that wasn't Gym. And maybe this class. But a journal entry was nothing to sneeze at. Were it something like an essay then that would show if Sora could actually do something difficult. Glancing a the clock, he was glad that yet another class had come to an end. Silently following Sora to their last class, he picked a seat near the back. It appeared art would be a communal thing, as instead of just singular desks there were tables. Roxas wasn't at all surprised when Sora sat right next to him. Maybe he thought that this class would be devoid of his friends as well. Studying all of the new arrivals he couldn't help but to notice that blonde girl who hung around Sora walked in.
"Namine!" Sora called her over, waving and grinning ear to ear that one of his friends could join him.
"We have another class together, how exciting!" Namine smiled, sitting beside Sora. "Oh. Hello, Roxas." at least she'd be able to gauge what the 'problem' was by sitting this close.
Roxas just gave her a slight nod.
Sora and Namine shared a look, and she definitely noticed that he was a bit standoffish just from that little display. But it wasn't exactly 'mean' so much as leaning toward 'rude'. Not that she really took any offense from his lack of vocal response. "So, what class did you come from?" Namine decided to strike up conversation with Sora and hear all about his exploits from lunch til now.
"English." Sora smiled a bit, "We had to write a pretty long entry but Roxas helped me pick out a subject."
"Oh he did, did he?" Namine saw the blonde doing his best to ignore the pair, even turning his head away. Maybe it was just like Kairi thought- he was embarrassed for some reason. "What did you decide to write about?"
"It's a secret." Sora said a bit cryptically, "I can't tell you, sorry."
"Why not?" Namine was surprised to hear that.
"You're not supposed to tell a wish since it won't come true afterward, right?" Sora asked.
"Well, that is true. Hopefully it does come true." Namine wished him well in whatever it was that he desired. Truth be told, she could sort of guess what it was that Sora wrote about.
"Thanks!" Sora couldn't help but to smile at his friend, and Namine returned the gesture in kind.
"Alright class. Today is going to be a free reign project. Use whatever media you like to create something unique." Marluxia instructed all of them, walking over to his desk and sitting down.
"What are you thinking of doing, Namine?" Sora knew that if anyone could excel under these conditions, it'd definitely be her.
"Hmm. I think something with water colors Sora." Namine thought that was her strong suit. She also loved shading with the pencils and blending so many different techniques into one piece. "What are you wanting to make?"
"Uh...I don't know." Sora said truthfully, "What do you think I should do? I mean, he said we could do anything but I don't know what I'd like to make." he was feeling very indecisive about their free reign project.
"Maybe try pick a favorite memory?" Namine suggested, "That way it's something special, and something only you can do Sora."
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!" Sora smiled thankfully, leaving Namine to do her work. Shutting his eyes for a moment, he pictured one of his favorite memories from his childhood. The sand beneath him, waves lapping up on the shore, the deformed palm tree he liked to sit upon and rest from play. The beautiful sunshine cascading down on everything. Although he wasn't the best at drawing, Sora tried to recapture that moment. Concentrating so hard that his brows knitted together, he drew, erased and kept on struggling to get it just the way he liked. It was far from perfect but it was the best that he could possibly manage. Moving on to coloring, he asked Namine for tips on how to improve.
"You want to start like this, Sora." Namine stood up and went behind Sora so as to look over his shoulder and have a better view of the situation. Put a water color pencil in his hand, gently dipping it in the water and guiding his hand to color in the sun. "And if you really want to make it appear more dramatic, then you move while it's still wet. Kind of...like this." grabbing the red and yellow she still guided his hand, blending bits of the red into orange and the yellows, making it look like a fiery sunset.
"Thanks Namine! You're the best!" Sora honestly didn't know if he could get the hang of things just by watching her little demo, but he'd do his best.
"No problem! And your drawing's really good Sora! How old were you when you went there?" Namine asked, the boy in the picture seemed pretty young.
"I was only five...so ten years ago." but even so, he could still remember it all so vividly.
Roxas saw the display between 'friends' and honestly had to wonder if they were a 'thing' or not. Glancing at Sora's work, he found it to be simplistic and very 'innocent'. Somehow, it seemed very 'Sora' in that aspect. Always finding the light in everything. Feeling someone's gaze upon him, Roxas immediately looked away when he saw that Namine had caught him staring. He had his own work to finish anyway. Wasting time on observing Sora and his friend wasn't going to get him anywhere. Roxas traced over the basic outline of the hooded figure in his drawing, shading in the darker areas with his pencil. His eyes weren't visible, but his nose, mouth and chin were left uncovered by the hood. Fixing up whatever he felt needed fixing, he took an eraser to what was once the white background of his page and carefully erased stray pencil marks.
Sora glanced over at Roxas' work and was surprised to see how amazing it was. Was there nothing that he couldn't do? Looking at Namine's he was equally blown away by it. The things that she could do with her fancy pencils never ceased to amaze him. When he was just about finished, she showed him how to tweak the water and add in yellow/white to make the sunset also reflect on the waters surface. Letting their works dry for a bit, they smiled down at their accomplishments.
"I think I'm ready to hand it in." Sora said happily, one less assignment for the day.
"Yeah, me too." Namine agreed, standing up and grabbing her work.
Sora and she walked over to Marluxia, who instructed them to hang it up anywhere in the classroom. One of the things he liked to do is keep the works from all his classes on display. He'd get around to marking them later on. Just as they were picking spots Roxas showed up and tacked his up before either of them could properly choose. Staring at the finished project in awe, Sora wanted to know how someone could think up something like that.
"It's a pretty captivating piece isn't it, Sora?" Namine asked, smiling as she put hers up, and offered to do his as well.
"Yeah. It's...really good." Sora concluded, he wished he could be that good at drawing. Handing his over to Namine it just didn't seem right when she put it up in between hers and Roxas'. His seemed absolutely beneath the perfection Namine and Roxas had made.
"Yours is good too Sora." Namine tried to keep his spirits up. He seemed to feel a little indifferent of her placement for his work.
"But it's not as good as yours."
"Art isn't about 'good' it's about expression and feeling. It doesn't matter what people think, so long as you like your work. That memory made you happy, didn't it? It's a precious thing to you."
"Yeah, you're right." Sora nodded, "Thanks."
"No problem." Namine checked the clock, "Looks like class is over." the bell rang just as she announced that.
"I guess so." Sora was sort of glad the day was finished. At least now he could go home and majorly procrastinate in doing his homework. Gathering up his things, he made his way out of the classroom. "I'll see you later Namine!"
"Bye Sora!" Namine waved him off.
Sora walked out the exit that was conveniently right next to his art class. He'd survived the first day, and that was a feat all on its own.
"Just when I thought I'd gotten away..." Roxas sighed, commenting dryly on the fact that Sora had still managed to follow him even after the school day had ended.
"Hmm?" Sora looked around until he finally saw the blonde, "Oh. Did you think I followed you? Sorry. I was just...making my way home."
"Oh." Roxas seemed a bit surprised at that fact. So he'd been wrong. Well, that was a pleasant surprise. Walking past Sora he decided to go home as well. There was no point in loitering around the school. Besides, he was in a new town and may as well get to know his surroundings a bit more. Hearing Sora's footsteps behind him he chalked it up to the fact that they were just heading in the same basic direction. Hopefully not entirely.
"So, uh..."
By now Roxas knew that Sora was going to ask him something. "Just say it." he wasn't in the mood for people who didn't say exactly what they wanted to. Mincing your words got you nowhere.
"That picture from class...how'd you do that? It was so cool!" Sora really loved the odd figure in Roxas' drawing. Something about it was just so mesmerizing.
"You weren't watching me the entire time?" Roxas asked. More times than he'd like to admit, Sora and he had caught each others eye contact throughout the day. So he assumed Sora had seen him do it from start to finish.
"No." Sora shook his head, doing his best to match Roxas' quick pace. "I was so busy making my project that it was all I could focus on. And then Namine helped me, and we both ended up finishing around the same time. But when I finally saw yours it really looked amazing!" giving his praises to Roxas he hoped he wouldn't get angry.
"It's nothing special. Just a pencil and attention to details. Not unlike your color picture you did." Roxas didn't really see how Sora could be so into his picture. It wasn't anything interesting to him and it didn't really stand out from the get go. He drew the first thing that came to his mind; isolation. And it wasn't at all a bad thing on his end. He rather enjoyed being alone.
"Yours is way better than mine." Sora's wasn't as well drawn nor detailed. Even with Namine's help it still seemed overly simplistic.
"Peoples skill always vary." Roxas shrugged it off, why did he care?
"That's true." Sora agreed, "I just wish I was skilled at things like this. You seem like you're good at everything! Especially that really cool thing you did in the gym!"
Roxas was surprised at the sudden compliments flooding his way. "Wishing isn't enough. Setting goals for yourself and applying time and effort is the way to go." offering Sora advice was about the best he could do. "You really liked that stunt in the gym, huh?"
"It was the best thing ever!" Sora honestly didn't think he'd ever see something that cool ever again. "I also don't think they'll want to rematch you again."
"If you say so. But I don't really think it's that big of a deal." Roxas had some martial arts training that definitely won out in this case. Well, 'some' was putting it lightly. He'd learned multiple over the years.
"Maybe not to you! But they'll definitely remember it! I know I will!" Sora would be talking about this day to his friends for a while.
Roxas scoffed lightly, "Do as you like." hands in the pockets of his hoodie he walked side by side with Sora in silence. Turning to go left, he felt a bit surprised when Sora actually wasn't going the same way.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow!" Sora smiled and waved at Roxas.
Finally going their separate ways, Roxas let out a gentle sigh. Maybe Sora would get over his little obsession with him in the following week. However, that didn't seem to be a very likely situation. As stubborn as Roxas was, he wondered if he could hold out against Sora. He seemed determined that they be friends, and almost nothing he said or did seemed to deter that fact. Walking the remainder of the way home, he was grateful to finally be alone. Flicking on a few lights, he walked around the apartment he lived in. Sitting on the couch he absentmindedly wondered if people really were going to gossip about the whole dodgeball fiasco.
Somehow, it seemed like he'd already blown his plan to go unnoticed in the school.