Rosie

Axel's cheeks flushed, Demyx presumed with fury- but, instead of panicking, he just grabbed the back of the angry redhead's shirt, practically holding him back as he started forwards, after Roxas. Sure, Axel could easily have shoved him off; he was, at first glance, skinnier than Demyx, but that misconception stemmed from the fact Axel was a head taller, and actually only had a smaller waist. That was all genetics- he was deceptively strong, muscles corded in his upper arms, which might have been slim, but were definitely strong. Demyx had seen Axel in enough fights to know he was no match for his delinquent of a friend. And yet, Axel didnt bother breaking his grasp, just whirled around and punched the locker he'd previously slammed Roxas against. The blond winced, hearing Axel's knuckles cracking, an ugly, hollow noise, as he tugged them away from the flimsy metal of the locker and uncurled his fist. "You realise he was probably just messing with you, right?" "No one messes with me." Dem just grinned cheerily, tugging the taller teen after him, down the hallway. "We have Chem, man- like I'm gonna sit on my own all period. And, besides, it might be nice for you to make it to ONE class today- other than Math, but you just go to stare at Miss Aqua's freakin' boobs the entire time."

Shrugging, Demyx went to pick up his sitar, knowing better than to push her too much, especially so early into things- he just trudged across the cafeteria, only pausing to ask a straggling Senior which direction to take, using one simple word- Axel's name. The other guy knew exactly what he was talking about- one of the main benefits to Axel was that he was easily recognisable, and even if it hadnt been a Senior, they most likely would have known where to direct him. He only knew what direction his hothead for a best friend had taken, he could pretty much follow the path of destruction, so to speak- the whispers and the scattering Freshmen. Still, Axel had managed to get annoyingly far, for a change- although Dem knew he only had to keep walking. Making a low, furious noise in the back of his throat that was nearly a growl, and shoved Roxas, hard, slamming his back into the locker. Whether it left a dent in the damn thing, he didn't care. "Shut up! You obnoxious little c-" A hand caught his shoulder- thin, long fingers, worn tough at the tips. A musician's hand. Axel didn't move, seething, even as Demyx's voice came in his ear, soft, almost melodic. "C'mon, Ax, let it go." Looking over at Roxas, he bit his lip. "Um. Sorry. Shouldn't let this one off a leash. You okay?"

It gave Demyx a weird sense of accomplishment to see her actually smile. He hadn't been able to help worrying earlier that he was somehow making her worse- he'd noticed some times before that, when certain people were upset, and he barged in being all cheery and silly, it generally made them worse, or even angry- but at least he'd gotten a smile on the first day, that was progress. It also helped, of course, that she looked prettier when she smiled; it was probably because, unlike girls like Kairi and Miss Aqua, she didn't actually seem to realise she was beautiful- that was the word. She definitely didn't believe it, but she was. But, the smile didn't last, to his mingling disappointment and expectation. "S'only Chem next. Prof can wait for me, I'll walk you to class if you... if you don't mind, of course." Swinging his legs out from under the table, he stood up, tugging his bag off and carelessly tossing the strap across his shoulder. "If I walk you, and get Axel off his rampage of doom, I'll be practically on time... for me, at least." With one lengthy stride, Axel, not letting go of the other boy in the slightest, stepped past him, placing himself right in Roxas' path. His green eyes glinted with malice as he slammed his free hand into the wall, forcing them both to come to a halt. He noticed none of the kids passing by seemed to want to risk even coming within a couple feet of him. Were he not so pissed, he probably would have taken the time to grin at them like a maniac to increase the effect. "Little bitch. I'm not above dunking your stupid head in the loos, y'know."

"Uh-oh," said Demyx, worry flickering across his face as he glanced over only to witness Axel stalking out of the cafeteria, managing somehow to look both intimidating and like a child who'd lost his temper at the same time. Although the redhead's retreating back was to him, Dem knew the look on his face from what was years of experience- like thunder, absolutely furious. He stifled a snigger, though, knowing Axel wouldn't be as stupid enough to hurt anyone. He was barely off probation as it was, and wasn't very inclined to get screwed over enough into going back- and although it never usually went well when someone baited him, it could possibly go far enough for him to have to intervene. He just faked a theatrical sigh and turned back to face Namine, drumming his fingers against the lunch table. "Nah, I'm not worried. I don't really care about popularity- if everyone pokes fun, let 'em poke fun. Usually get along pretty easily with them, anyway, so I dont see how just keeping you company here is gonna change anything." He honestly believed it, too- maybe he was just naive, but he really thought that doing stuff like this could only improve things. He didn't mind losing a few jerkasses who were previously his "friends" didn't matter to him. And he was pretty certain that Axel, the only one whose opinion he actually gave a damn about, wouldn't turn on him for something so little- he'd promised to stick by him, thick and thin- part of the reason why Demyx was so unconcerned about bullies. Axel, however, stormed through the hallway after the younger blond, long legs and the seperating crowd giving him enough of an advantage to catch up near the music room- shit, that reminded him, he had a damn peer-to-peer session up there last period, ugh- and he grabbed Roxas' shoulder. "Do not firetruckin' walk away from me, brat."

At the push, Axel's eyes flashed for a moment, and he moved as though to shove Roxas back, probably hard enough to knock him out of his seat (and off his damn high horse, he thought) but he just managed to stop himself before he actually acted, instead leaping off the table and grabbing the younger guy's wrists, grip so tight he knew it was probably painful for Roxas- but, of course, he wanted to teach him a lesson. And, he decided to utterly ruin the impact of the push by moving close again, holding the blond's wrists at his shoulder height. "I know exactly what it means. I'm not a dumbass, no matter whatever shit gets said about me. I just choose not to follow such a awesome rule.." Demyx rolled his eyes, leaning his chin on his hand, pressing his elbow into the desk. "You're just fine as you are, Namine. You don't need to watch your weight. Don't worry 'bout any of that stuff- you really dont have to. And you don't have to hide all on your own, either- I bet no one would object if you walked right on over and sat down with Kairi and that lot. None of them are that bad, from what I've seen of the little punks." He just laughed at her point about college- he didn't really have a defense, since it was pretty much dead on true.

Axel made a low hiss, swatting fairly ineffectually at Roxas' head- of course, if he'd meant to hurt the kid, he could have done far worse, had he meant it to hurt. Narrowing his eyes, knowing they'd darken wonderously, he leant further against the desk, throwing Roxas, and, by extent, Kairi and the rest of the table, a filthy glare. His reputation tended to proceed him in these situations; even the Freshmen had heard not to screw with him, and it was new, in fact, pretty fresh, for anyone to actually challenge him. Leaning far enough over so that he was right over Roxas, he let his normal smirk stretch over his lips again, knowing it would probably just make him look more menacing. "Well, aren't you a snarky little punk," he retorted, saying each word slowly, deliberately- he noticed at least a few on the table shrink back, and satisfaction swelled up in his chest at the reaction. Just how he wanted. But, it seemed the blond kid- he knew his name was Roxas, since Kairi was a complete chatterbox and he'd been forced to hear every detail of her life while they were dating, particularly about her friends- was gonna be a tougher nut to crack. And that was a hell of a lot more fun. Smile widening to a grin, wide enough to flash teeth, Demyx finally dumped a bag of chips and a somewhat crushed sammich, on the table, scooting the chips closer to her. "Eh, it was only Gym. I skip it anyway. And, trust me, no one'll screw with me. I'm just that awesome." He laughed softly to himself, leaning back in the seat and stretching his legs out under the table- just trying to make it obvious how relaxed he was, in the hopes maybe it'd rub off on Namine some. "And you're probably hungry, right? I mean, you're not eating anything, and I've got more than enough since Axel's decided to waste his last couple dollars on smokes again and won't share with me."

Scoffing, Axel was surprised to realise that he didn't feel annoyed at the obvious dig- he was pretty much used to it by now, and most of the stuff that had happened was old hat to everyone now, including him. He dug around in the pockets of his black jeans for a moment, utterly aware and uncaring of how they rode down his hips when, retrieving what he wanted, he leant against the edge of the table, nearly sitting on it. For a moment, he didn't look up, eyes half-lidded as he lifted the cigarette between two fingers, not even taking the care to watch as he found the zippo and lit up. Taking one deep drag of it, he plucked it out of his mouth to shush at the younger students there, grinning around the long, pale finger held to his lips. "Haven't ya heard? I'm on the straight and narrow." He snorted, then coughed sharply, twice- the smoke going down the wrong way. "Meaning, I'm not settin' anyone on fire... on purpose, at least." He knew the blond wasn't going to see, but still threw a halfhearted glare at Demyx's back- muttering a "damn mushy idiot" under his breath as he took another drag. Not only was Demyx oblivious to his friend's snarkiness, he was doing very well at utterly ignoring the stares and whispers- he just flopped down in the seat beside her, smiling back at the idiots who were rude enough to stare- it would have been friendly, had his eyes not held a glint of something a bit more menacing, standard I'm-a-Senior-bitches-stare-and-die hints he'd learnt from the others with ease. People at the very least seemed a little more uncomfortable, and he set to rummaging through his bag, sheets dropping on the floor as he rifled through it. "Hey, Nami," he said, perfectly casually, glancing over and smiling properly. "Thought you'd want some company. I'm not gonna eat you, jeez, really- stop looking so freaked already."

(( It's okay. xDDD )) Zexion didn't particularly react, but as soon as the blond Nobody had disappeared into the portal, a small smirk slipped onto his face as he followed- though thankfully Saix either didn't see, since he did suppose his hair provided an effective curtain, shielding most of his face from the older man's view- that, ot he simply chose not to comment. Either way, Zexion was glad to enter the portal uninterrupted- Until he actually came out on the other side, and wrinkled his nose in sheer revulsion. Not his usual reaction to a library, but still- Saix had to have known, that bastard, the Superior indulged him with more than enough information on the other members to be able to pull a stunt like this. How dare he? Zexion didn't have to prove himself with this, he didn't have to prove himself at all, he was number VI...! Outwardly, he didn't show his initial surge of fury, only gripping the book harder in his hands, and allowing a slight frown to pass over his face. "Wonderful. This could take a while- at least you can expect me to know the content of some of these books, although not all of them are of interest..."

They'd barely gotten in before Axel had made a beeline for Kairi and Roxas' table, dragging Demyx along for the most part- not that he made it obvious, since he sauntered over at such a pace it looked like he was just stopping because the table was there, not because he particularly wanted to see any of them. To Demyx, Axel totally failed at keeping his cool and his exaggerated attitude was really obvious; but no one else really seemed to see past the swagger and the cockiness enough to notice he craved gossip like the bitchiest girl would- he was much like that in other ways, too, but tried pretty hard not to show it. While Demyx? He didn't try to be anything he wasn't. Didn't see much point in pretending not to care. "So, what's happening, kiddies?" Axel drawled, smacking Demyx on the arm when he noticed his friend's attention starting to waver. The other guys who'd come in with them huddled around Axel, practically magnetized- had Dem been watching, he would probably have found it funny. Then again, it worked like that- Axel was pretty intense to have around. He tended to pull you in. However, Dem wasn't even looking, even when Axel hit him- he was squinting slightly across the cafeteria, trying to work out if that girl in the corner trying to hide was- Yeah, crappy eyesight or not, it was definitely Namine. Sparing the others a quick grin, he strolled off, away from the group- somewhat purposefully for a change, right over to her.

The bell rung what felt like way too soon into the period- but Demyx just groaned and stepped away from Cloud, who'd been helping him figure out some of the harder chords; the older blond clapped him on the shoulder, and he couldn't help but throw him a grin. Sure, it was barely returned, but his guitar tutor wasn't generally a smiley guy and it didn't set to dampen Demyx's spirits in the slightest. Until, well, he dug his crumpled schedule out of his bag- it was hard to find, since it was just stuffed in with the hundreds of sheets he'd managed to accumulate across the year so far. And, when he did check what had had 4th period, his heart sank. Gym. Ugh. It wasn't that he hated gym- okay, really, he did, actually- but it was just something he'd never been good at. He could run fast, sure, but was rarely inclined to do so, and his upper body strength was practically laughable. He preferred to just stay away from excercise whenever he could avoid it, and, well, Mr. Terra liked to push his students to their full potential. Which was probably why, after a few lessons with him, Dem had started playing hooky to get out of it all- so, as he was trudging down the hallway, he just ducked through the clusters of people to grab a handful of familiar checked shirt- Axel. "Hey, I don't feel like Gym right now..." he started, falling into step with the redhead as he actually caught up. Axel smirked. "Yeah? You never feel like Gym, slacker. Good for you I'm feelin' grabbing some shit to eat already." And Dem could pretty much always count on Axel to skive with him.

"Uh, I didn't exactly practise the right thing..." Demyx blurted out upon entering the music room. He knew full well he'd been supposed to learn and practise some boring chords and riffs and stuff- and, of course, hadn't bothered when he could be making his own up. He didn't like just copying other music, no matter how classic it was or how much he needed to in order to be able to play properly. Maybe he should have just been teaching himself, it would have been so much easier without instruction or being nagged for not learning "the right way". Unlike the sitar, he was yet to totally master the guitar, to his disappointment- they were similar, and the guitar was definitely easier to lay, but he wasn't allowed as much freedom and it bothered him. "Whatever, Dem," sighed his teacher, leaning back in his seat. Cloud was a little different from the others, in that he was weirdly informal- and also weirdly unsociable. The guy was quiet, but seemed nice enough and even let Demyx use his first name, which was pretty cool. Luckily for Dem, he didn't really freak out at his lateness, either, and even though he didn't speak much, he still... wasn't cold. And Demyx was grateful for that, since the older guy would otherwise have been pretty intimidating- he wasn't tall, sure, but he was pretty built up, and looked like he worked out; something Demyx was secretly very envious of. "Just play the damn thing." Grinning, Demyx abandoned his sitar near the door, bounding over to grab his less-favoured guitar; less favoured didn't mean unloved, though. It was a nice way to pass a period, that was for sure, even if sometimes he messed up, his fingers slipping when his train of thought trailed and his concentration slipped.

Unable to help himself, Demyx hissed a curse under his breath, disbelieving, when he caught sight of the bruises- even from that tiny glimpse, he could tell they were serious. Dark, ugly ones, that he couldnt help but imagine blossoming all over her pale skin; which explained why she hid so much of it. But before he could say or do anything, she had rushed out. He'd been close to grabbing her, trying to prove to himself it maybe wasn't as bad as he thought, but he'd stopped himself when he thought that it might hurt her- or that she might freak out. See, the thing was, now he really had to know, no matter what. Unwillingly, he knew, she'd really gotten him interested. Partly, he knew he was helping her because... well, because that was what he did. He dragged people up, or down, whichever direction they meeded, just for the kick of seeing them look a little better, feel a bit better than before. It probably didnt last long, but in the past his influence had worked; which was why he guessed Professor Ansem had picked him for this. But he could see it went deeper than Namine being upset and weird and trying to off herself for attention, like some of the nastier rumours he'd heard had claimed. And he was determined to find out what was the cause, so he could at least try to help. Yeah, he wanted to help. And he had his guitar lessons, which were leisurely enough, so the teacher rarely nagged at him if he was late and hardly pressed him to work. It was usually the highlight of his day, but he still trailed there, deep in thought for once, wondering about... well, about what she'd said as her parting gift. His little mystery.

"The hell? You're not a freak show, Nami. Granted, people are jerks, but... no one thinks that, I'm sure." So he'd told a little white lie, he could let that slide. The guys he was particularly into hanging out with (though Axel was easily the only one he genuinely trusted) definitely wouldn't think that, at least- not because they werent jerks, which some of them undoubtably were, but because it was a little close to home, and nothing to be a bitch over. Sadly, that view didnt stretch over to most of the student body- Demyx wasn't naive enough to even start to believe that. Still trying to take care, he flipped over a few more pages of her art, trying for something a little more substantial than denying her every insecurity- he had a feeling that if he kept trying that, they'd be there for years. "D'you have an outlet for when it gets bad?" He managed to ask after a few seconds' thought. "When something's bothering me, music works- jamming or deafening myself, both are pretty awesome for a distraction. D'you ever draw stuff that way? I think they called it venting or somethin'." Biting his lip, Demyx tried to keep looking at her- half wishing he magically knew what to say, rather than just doing what felt like pulling stupid ideas out his butt.

Demyx only smiled at her, until she asked... well, that. He'd known it was probably coming- he knew she'd been working up to ask, or at least it seemed that way. Grin fading, he stared blankly down at the sketchpad for a moment, pretending to be looking back at the drawing while he worked for an answer, struggling for the right one. Ansem had told him a little of what had happened, of course- the barest minimum, since apparently the guy thought Demyx could put the rest of the pieces together himself. Given what he'd managed before, that did seem likely- though he knew it was probably expecting too much. He was no Sherlock Holmes- he had the music thing down, but no way could he work out all the details by himself. Rumours helped, too, he supposed. He was used to ignoring them, since most of them were a bunch of crap made up to hurt or belittle kids, but when he'd actually asked, he'd managed to dig up... a tiny bit more. Turned out Axel had dated Kairi as a junior, when she was on freshman year, and the asshole actually still talked to her sometimes. Talk about a direct link. "I know what you tried to do, yeah. Axel found out from Kairi, and, trust me, it's gotta be somethin' special for seniors to listen to sophomore gossip, you know?"

Rolling his eyes, Demyx just reached over and patted her lightly on the shoulder- barely touching her, of course, he didnt wanna come across as some touchy-feely pervert, but he still wanted to let her know that he got it. "Hey, chill out, okay? I chose to be here, and not just to get out of a dumb lesson. I like helping people. Freaky, I know." He grinned, tucking a wayward blonde streak behind his ear and plucking the sketchpad from the table. Immediately, he started leafing through it, and only was a few pages in when he turned to look at Namine in sheer and utter disbelief. He slapped the back of his hand against the drawing for emphasis, as he said; "You kidding me? These are awesome- you're a great artist, silly!"

Demyx snorted. He couldn't help it, and it struck him right afterwards that she might think it was rude or gross, but by then it was way too late to take it back, and so he just explained himself the best he could. "Important? It's math, I suck at it." Shrugging, he dropped into the seat beside her, dumping his bag and sitar on the floor nearby. And then, something weird happened to Demyx. For pretty much the first time, he wasn't so sure of what to say. If there was one thing he was good at, it was talking- usually about rubbish, but so long as his mouth was moving and words were coming out, it still counted, right? Total verbal diarrhea half the time, that was all it was. But at least he was never at a loss for words. Well, until now, at least. He was just wary about how to actually go about all this- worried about looking like a pretentious jerk or, well, like a total idiot. Luckily, he was neither, no matter what some of his classmates said. At least Demyx finally found something to say when he caught himself staring at Namine and quickly dropped his gaze to the sketchbook she was clutching. "So, you... draw and stuff?" He asked, gently prodding the pad with a finger before pulling it away to twist a ring on his thumb as he spoke. "I wish I could, but I can't draw, like, at all. Not even straight lines and stuff."

Demyx couldn't help it, his smile widened when he noticed the blush staining her cheeks- it actually brought some colour into her pale face, made her a little less ghostly. He stepped further into the room, a bit of a saunter to his step, as she introduced herself; and, to his amusement, she looked just about ready to let the seat swallow her the entire time. Still, the look on her face- that godawful insecurity in her eyes- kept him from feeling too cheery. He held her gaze for just a moment, noticing the clear blue of her eyes, lighter than he was used to seeing around. They were very pale, like the rest of her, really, but they were still pretty- a gorgeous crystalline blue, untroubled water. Though they were far from untroubled, obviously. He could see that right off the bat. "Nice to meet'ya, Namine. I'm Demyx DeCayce," he enthused, holding out the hand he'd waved with as he finally got across the room to her."And, hey, I'm super late, but I promise, I don't bite." What the hell was he doing, trying to shake a girl's hand? He wasn't a businessman, for Christ sakes. Demyx didn't really know how else to go about greeting the adorable blonde in front of him, though- he could hardly just burst in and bring on the cheer-up brigade when she didnt have a clue who he was. It would probably have freaked her out if he had- woyld have freaked anybody out. Kicking himself, Dem nearly withdrew his hand, but didn't see much point in giving up, and so kept it as it was, trying to seem friendly and sympathetic at the same time.

...All Demyx knew was that he was seriously late now. First, he'd headed to Math on autopilot, and then after Axel stopped drooling over Miss Aqua long enough to remind him where he was supposed to be going, it was already quarter of an hour into the period. Supposedly, in order to avoid people talking about him again, Professor Ansem had totally failed to explain to Demyx's teacher that he was supposed to leave. Either that, or she was too worried about the fact Axel, who sat in front of him and for all purposes hid him from view, was flicking a zippo lighter awfully close to his own hair and was ogling her chest. But when he did realise, Demyx threw himself to his feet, grabbing his sitar and his bag and trying to explain in hushed tones to Miss Aqua where he was supposed to be. She only smiled and quietly assured him he was free to go, but a few wolfwhistles- probably courtesy of Axel and other like-minded perverts- came up. Okay, Demyx wasn't blind, and he couldn't deny that their math teacher was kind of hot, younger than a lot of the other teachers and... er... endowed as she was. But he didn't know, he just didn't feel the whole teacher-lusting vibe. Besides, he was 99% sure she had something going on with Mr Terra, their gym teacher- and he could probably beat off any admirers in about two seconds flat. He just shook the stray strands of hair out of his eyes and strolled out of the room, hoping he could guess the way. Passing by the door entirely at first, he had to double back on himself, eventually getting the right door and swinging it open in one somewhat overdramatic sweep of his arm. Demyx peered across the room for a moment, staring at the girl sat, cradling a sketchbook- she was younger than him, clearly, and paler, more fragile than he'd expected. Then again, he didn't know just what it was he'd been expecting. And she was pretty, he got that right away- not in a buxom, look-at-my-body Miss Aqua way, but a sort of... sweet, delicate way. She looked like if you so much as stared at her too hard, she'd break, shatter- Even so, Demyx grinned in what he hoped was a reassuring way, waving with the hand not supporting his sitar. "Uh, hey there."

He'd been strolling out of homeroom- Demyx never rushed anywhere, he just ambled in whatever direction he was supposed to go until he reachedthe room, no matter how far away it was- when someone crashed into him, practically running from the opposite direction. He fumbled his grip on the sitar case's strap for a moment, but thankfully didn't drop it- instead turning around to stare, searching in the crowd for the person he'd walked into. All he'd seen was a brief glimpse of blonde hair, and he guessed it was a girl from how small they'd been... but the rush of people had already closed in again, hiding her. And, since he really wasnt that bothered, Demyx didn't bother to shout or cause a fuss over getting an apology- he bumped into kids in the hallway all the time, big deal. Most of them tended to duck out of his way now he was a senior, and the hallways always cleared for Axel, so, recently, it had been less likely. Still, he just carried on, wandering in the vague direction of History. He was late. Of course; old habits definitely die hard. At least Professor Saix seemed used to it by now, only sighing and hissing a pretty snarky "Oh, good evening, Demyx" under his breath as he practically shoved the younger male at his seat. Demyx knew better than to complain about the push- Saix was actually pretty scary- and just cheerily greeted the teacher, flinging himself into his chair and pretending to be oblivious to the cutting side to the remark, and the teacher's glare. He shut up when he was told to, at least- he wasn't stupid enough to argue with a teacher; as a rule of thumb, he didn't really argue with anyone. Daydreaming for pretty much the entire period, Demyx didn't even come back down to reality when the teacher was snapping his name- or even when the girl behind him delivered a sharp kick to his seat. Eventually, the professor just gave up, as all his teachers did- and everything was blissfully uninterrupted until the bell went, shrill and piercing right through his fantasy. Oops. He'd dreamed the period away again.

They were early, and, as expected, Axel was pissed about it. Maybe it was just that Demyx didn't understand- he'd never particularly relished the idea of being a juvenile delinquent, and didn't see the appeal of trying to get in trouble. Sure, back before he'd been able to get a ride, he'd missed the bus all the time and had been late constantly; but that was just because he was pretty lazy and couldn't be assed running for the stop each morning, not because he intentionally wanted to piss anyone off. Then again, that laziness didn't keep him out of trouble any better than Axel's playing up did. He forgot to do homework assignments, a lot. Sometimes, he didn't show up at all. And he didn't exactly pay much attention when he was actually in class- but he got by. Sure, he might never get in college, but Professor Ansem had promised this... counselling, whatever it was, would count for him and might give him better chances. The best thing about being lazy? Sooner or later, people stopped expecting much of him academically, which was just awesome. Teachers didn't push him for work, didn't give him detentions for being late- especially since he'd shown his strengths were more with people than with math equations or science investigations. And, for once, he was actually gonna be on time to homeroom- something that surprised even him. Maybe he could get some practise in before school started, for a change- playing in his breaks and lunchtimes was a bore once it all settled into a regular pattern. But today seemed alright- he just had to sleep through History first period, do the weird session thing, and then he had a guitar lesson. After all, he had to learn more than just the sitar- not many people appreciated it, and as much as he loved the sound... it wasn't rock 'n' roll enough. Okay, maybe he should worry more about the second period... problem. It would've been nice for someone to help with out- but they'd just assumed he could deal with it, apparently. They'd barely even told him what had happened- the barest details, presumably since they reckoned he'd fiigure it out along the way. ((They're getting shorter, I promise! [/shot] I always post walls at the start of a 1x1, I don't know why. xDD))

"The red light isn't a suggestion, ya know," Demyx called from the backseat, his shoulder bouncing hard against the car's interior as Axel took yet another crazy swerve. Before he started getting rides with the redhead, Dem had never truly appreciated just how many stomach-lurching turns there were en route to the school- in fact, every morning it was a challenge to hold onto his breakfast. It beat walking- he lived way too many blocks away for that to be possible, even without counting the fact he was lugging his precious sitar (in its case, obviously) back and forth to school each day. But even so, he'd rather Axel didn't get arrested for reckless driving, and longed for the day he'd actually be able to pass his test and take the wheel. Even now, completely unqualified, he was sure he'd be less likely to kill them than Axel; and, best friends or not, a guy couldn't help but be a bit freaked when every morning felt like a brush with death. As soon as the car screeched to a halt, lying diagonally across three parking spaces in the lot (Axel's favourite method of parking), Demyx flung the door open and jumped, carefully tugging his cased instrument out afterwards. Swinging the strap over his shoulder so that it rested against his back, he yawned, running a hand through the dirty blonde streaks of his hair. It stuck up rebelliously no matter what he did- his fault for cutting it himself, he guessed- but he kind of liked it like that. And, the best part? No one had questioned him on the mullet idea- they'd just assumed it was part of his weird music obsession and moved on. See, Demyx dreamed-- no, Demyx was gonna be a rockstar. Someday, he'd get there, but for now, he considered just about everything as practise. Nothing really fazed him- bright and cheerful and bouncy as ever, he only stepped in when things got really serious... but he was good at calming people down. Even school had noticed that- after the incident with Axel, they'd treated him differently, like he was some awesome miracle worker. And, at Professor Ansem's request, he was apparently now a therapist. The thought was nearly laughable- c'mon, he was practically still a kid, Senior or not, and he'd always imagined therapists as middle-aged women with way too much time on their hands. Still, he was good at talking to people, he guessed, and he could act enough of an idiot to charm pretty much everyone into a smile. It was part of the reason why he was met with so little resistance- no one screwed with a guy who could laugh everything off. And, even better- he got out of Math to do it.

Yay! <33 I'm perfectly happy with Demyx.

I'm interested! <3 [/shot] If you'll have me.

(( -shameless bump of doom- ))

Why make a question thread when most of the answers could probably be found in the discussion thread, or even just by looking up a news article about all the disaster going on? But... 1. I presume that not every single inch of Japan has been "hit". I know a LOT of it has been affected, and have heard about the worst areas more than the nation as a whole. 2. Honestly, SE tower is not the worry here; what about all the other buildings in danger, or that have already been destroyed? 3. There would probably be some kind of notice if Nomura was dead. An official one. Screw Wikipedia, and think more of all the OTHER PEOPLE who are in so much danger or are actually dead right now. 4. Uh, yeah, Nomura's location is hardly important, given the scale of what's happening and the fact that TWO BULLET TRAINS full of passengers are completely missing? 5. I know it was in the thousands this morning, or so I heard. Simply googling this would get you an answer. 6. How can this matter right now, seriously? Oh, never mind the completely horrific state of the country and all the people dying, lololwhen's KH, what about our video game needs? Who really gives a firetruck? It's selfish to even think about it. No offense or anything.