Dedicated to birth_by_geek_
Going into first grade was the most exciting thing for Roxas. He had finally moved up to the big kid's school-- there were so many new things to learn and new people to meet. While the other kids all clung to their parents' sides on the first day, Roxas rushed ahead, immediately introducing himself to the teacher. After the rest of the students assembled in the classroom, he met with all of them, as well. Since then, he did his best to maintain friendships with everyone-- he even spoke with some of the older kids despite how intimidating the others thought they were. The more people to play Justice Cabal with him the better, after all. He was always looking for more people to join his heroic cause!
So when he noticed a student he had never seen before sitting alone up against the side of the school at recess one day, he naturally felt compelled to go over and see if they wanted to play with him, too. The other kid was another boy dressed in mostly black and white with blond hair similar to his own and holds a similar faces to his own. His knees were hugged close to his chest, blue eyes all but covered by his blond and focusing on the ground beside him. He didn't seem so hard to miss-- Roxas wondered why they had never met before.
As Roxas approached him, the other boy flinched, glancing up at him nervously. "Hello!" the blond said, waving enthusiastically and offering a bright smile. The other blinked at him a few times, gaze shifting awkwardly from side to side. "I'm Roxas-- what's your name?" No response-- he simply hugged his knees even tighter, averting his gaze. Roxas tilted his head, smile dropping into a curious stare. "Can you talk?" he asked then, earning a quick shake of the other's head as a response. "Hm..." Bringing a hand to his chin, Roxas pondered a solution for this situation. In mere moments, his expression brightened. "I got it!" he exclaimed. "I'll be right back."
There was a bin full of various recess toys by the front door of his classroom. He ran as fast as he could to get there, hoping what he was looking for hadn't been taken. Much to his contentment, he was able to claim exactly what he needed.
"Here you go!" Roxas plopped down next to the other upon his return, holding a small pail of chalk out to him. "You can write your name instead!" The boy recoiled in surprise at first, staring hesitantly at what was being offered to him. Just when Roxas was sure he was going to reject the idea, the other awkwardly took the pail, picking the green piece from the array of colors. It took him another moment to shift in his position, leaning forward to draw on the patch of concrete in front of them. Once he was finished, Roxas observed the writing closely, sounding out the letters as he did. "Ve... n... tu...s" he read, smiling joyfully once he got it. "Ventus!" The other gave a slight nod. "Can you call me Ven?" Ven asked. "Okay Ven!" Roxas smiled.
What grade are you in?" Ven carefully scrawled a two next to his name. "Oh really? I'm in first! Do you--" before he could finish, Roxas's words were cut off by the sound of the bell signaling that it was time to go back inside. He huffed-- corners of his mouth curving downwards into a pout-- but jumped back up to his feet anyway.
"We have to go back--" he started in a disappointed tone, grabbing the pail of chalk once the other returned his piece to it. "--But we should play together tomorrow, Ven!" The other shrunk back awkwardly against the wall, giving a slight shrug as he looked to the ground. Roxas was hardly discouraged by this action, though, simply waving a goodbye to him before heading towards the room with the rest of his classmates.
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The next day, Ven was in the same place and position in which he previously sat. First thing this time, Roxas went up to him with the pail of chalk in hand, greeting the other with another smile and enthusiastic wave. "Hi, Ven!" As expected, the other didn't respond with words, simply glancing up to Roxas in acknowledgment before looking back to the ground. "Do you wanna meet my friends today? We could all play Keyblades Guardians together!" Ven shook his head. "Why not? They're all really nice!" But the other just recoiled against the wall into an even tighter ball. Roxas didn't understand, but he wasn't about to give up. Setting the chalk down, he sat next to Ven and pulled out the green piece from the pail. "That's okay, we can just draw today," he said as he began to scrawl shapes on the ground.
Ven didn't make a move at first, just watching Roxas as he drew. But after awhile, the other boy hesitantly retrieved the same purple chalk piece from before, starting with his own picture next to where he had earlier written his name. Roxas was overjoyed upon witnessing the other boy joining him, excited to see what he was drawing. The two of them continued their work in silence for a few moments longer before Roxas put his chalk down in declaration, looking over his piece proudly.
"I drew a dragon!" he announced. "I really like dragons-- I think they're really cool!" Glancing over to Ven then, he tilted his head curiously. "Did you draw a flower?" Ven nodded. "Do you like flowers a lot?" Another nod. "That's cool! Flowers are pretty." The other pointed at Roxas's dragon, then, taking his chalk and drawing a small heart next to it. Roxas blinked at the symbol. "You like my dragon?" he asked. Ven nodded once more, causing Roxas to grin widely. "Thanks! I draw them all the time so I'm getting pretty good at it-- I like your drawing, too!" The corners of Ven's mouth curved slightly into a bashful smile. They spent the rest of recess drawing together, Roxas babbling on about the story behind his picture as he drew it. In addition to the dragon, he drew a hero, and the two characters already had an elaborately planned backstory. Though Ven never offered any input, he seemed interested enough in Roxas's descriptions.
When the bell rang that day, Roxas waved a goodbye as he stood-- Ven waved back this time, another small smile forming as he did. Roxas was really happy with how this was turning out. He always loved to make new friends! But due to his preoccupied state of mind, he failed to notice the person behind him as he turned around, bumping into them and yelping in surprise as he stumbled back.
"Hey-- watch where you're going!" a familiar voice scolded.
"Sorry, Skuld," Roxas said quickly, gripping the pail of chalk close to him in an act of defense. Skuld was a girl a year older than him with long, black hair tied back into pigtails and a mean look on her face.
"Whatever," she huffed, giving him a scrutinizing glance. "Were you talking to Ven?"
"Yeah! He's in your class, right? Do you know him?"
"No one does! He doesn't talk to anyone, not even the teacher. He's weird," Skuld said, scrunching her nose up in irritation. "You're probably just annoying him like you do with everyone else." With that, she walked off. As soon as her back was turned, Roxas stuck his tongue out at her-- she was always so bitter and every now and then it really got to him. But this time, he knew she was wrong. Ven just couldn't talk, right? He wasn't weird, and Roxas wasn't annoying him! What did Skuld know, anyway?
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Much to Roxas's disappointment, his new friend was nowhere to be found, the spot where he usually sat completely empty again. Expression drooping into a pout, he turned around and made his way back over to the playground. The week was already halfway over, and he hadn't seen Ven since before that last weekend. Where had he gone? Thinking back, Roxas remembered how odd it was when he first met Ven-- before then, he didn't recall ever seeing the other before. Maybe there was another place he normally hung out at aside from that particular corner?
Roxas felt determined now-- he wanted to find out where the other had gone. He looked everywhere on the playground that he could possibly think of-- under the platforms, behind the slide, anywhere someone could be hidden from view-- but there was still no sign of Ven. Was there any chance he was still inside? It was against the rules to be indoors during recess, so that didn't seem likely. Leaning against the chainlink fence that separated the playground from the front of the school, Roxas crossed his arms over his chest in thought. But even after moments of pondering the other's possible whereabouts, he was at a loss. Maybe Ven didn't feel well and was in the nurse's office, or maybe he just didn't come to school at all that day. Either way, he hoped the other was all right.
Just as he finished having that thought, a flash of movement caught his eye. Blinking, he glanced over towards the distraction-- did someone just leave school grounds? His teacher always stressed how such a thing was never allowed without permission. How did they even manage to leave with all the adults supervising them? His curiosity piqued, Roxas decided to follow. He just had to wait for the perfect opportunity.
As luck would have it, another kid apparently managed to get in trouble right as he was trying to slip away. While the ones supervising the children scolded this student for whatever injustice they had committed, Roxas took his chance to get past the main gate, quickly pressing up against the front wall of the school to remain out of sight. At this point, his heart was pounding-- did anyone see him leave? Were they going to tell on him if they did? How was he going to get back in without getting caught? Perhaps he hadn't planned this little charade out very well. But pushing his worries aside for now, he remembered why he was here. He looked to the left, then to the right, searching for the one he saw exit the premises before him. Upon seeing a familiar being curled up against the wall a mere few feet away from him, Roxas's eyes widened in surprise.
"Ven?" he called out. The other flinched when Roxas spoke. "So this is where you've been hiding!" His joy upon finding the other was quick to fade, however, when he noticed it seemed Ven was upset about something-- he was curled up more than usual, face buried in his arms that were crossed over his knees. When he looked more closely, he noticed that Ven's frame was shivering slightly. "Er-- are you crying?" Roxas asked then, closing the distance between them. Ven shook his head, covering his face with his hands, but his sniffling gave it away. "What's wrong...?" The other turned away, refusing to look at him. "Don't be embarrassed!" he bent his knees in order to be more level with the other. "My brother cries all the time and he's older than you-- it's okay!" But even after Roxas's assurance, Ven only turned away even more.
Roxas didn't have a clue as to why Ven was so upset, but he did know that there had to be something he could do to cheer him up. Glancing outwards towards the grass in front of them, he caught sight of a few patches of dandelions that had popped up here and there-- the groundskeepers must not have noticed them yet. A smile formed on his face as he hopped back upright, moving to the patches one by one and picking all the yellow flowers he could find. Once he was finished gathering them, he bundled all the stems together in a cluster and held them out towards Ven. "Here!" he said, standing in front of the other now. "I got these for you!" It took a moment, but Ven managed to hesitantly moved his hands slightly, peeking through his fingers at what Roxas was offering him. After seeing the flowers, he removed his hands a little more, blinking at the gift. Roxas smiled brightly, moving the little bouquet closer to him. Ven seemed flustered-- his cheeks were pink, but that could have just been because he was crying.
With a slow and shy movement, Ven reached out, carefully taking the dandelions from Roxas. "Y-you really--" as soon as the words left his lips, Ven clapped his free hand over his mouth, looking horrified. Roxas blinked at him in astonishment not only he spoked he had the same voice as himself.
"You can talk?!" Ven shook his head again, quickly scrambling to his feet. Without wasting another second, he turned and ran back towards the playground, passing through the gate before Roxas was able to fully comprehend what had happened. "Ven-- wait!" He ran after him then, but by the time he got through the gate, the other was already gone. Roxas gave a small huff. He had so many questions-- why hadn't Ven spoken before, and why did he run away like that? If it weren't for the fact that he was quickly running out of recess time for that day, he would have looked for the other all over again in pursuit of answers. But now that he found one of Ven's hiding spots, maybe he would have an easier time encountering him again the next day.
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Roxas was already planning a search route by the time he left the classroom at recess, determined to find Ven as early in the hour as he possibly could. But before he could even make it halfway across the blacktop to the playground, a quiet call of his name behind him caused for him to halt.
"R-Roxas, um..." the voice started, small and hesitant. He didn't recognize the voice at first, so he turned curiously towards the sound. Upon seeing the one who stood there, his expression immediately brightened.
"Ven!" The blond-haired boy awkwardly shifted his weight, looking nervously to the side and holding what seemed to be a blank piece of paper in his hands. "Were you waiting for me?"
"Er, I-I was-- I'm s-sorry-- I mean..." the other winced as he spoke, shoulders tensing more and more with each word until he simply fell silent. Squeezing his eyes shut, Ven turned the paper he held around, moving it closer to Roxas as an offering. Upon seeing what was drawn there, Roxas gave an excited smile. It was a picture of a dragon-- outlined in black crayon and colored in with green. "Th-this, I-- it's--" Ven paused, beginning to look a bit frustrated. "I-I drew it for you..."
"Really?!" Roxas exclaimed, happily taking the picture from him. "Thanks, Ven-- it looks really cool!"
"Y-you think so...?"
"Yeah!" Ven smiled shyly at him for a moment before looking away again.
"I-- um-- I'm sorry I ran away from you yesterday... Y-you were being so nice a-and I thought I..." he fell quiet, defensively holding his hands together against his chest.
"It's okay!" Roxas broke the silence. "Why were you crying?"
"Er, well..." with a nervous glance towards where all the other students were playing, he shook his head, looking down to his feet. That's when Roxas remembered that, for whatever reason, Ven didn't like speaking to people. Maybe he would be more comfortable if they were farther from everyone else.
"Do you wanna go to over there?" Roxas asked, pointing in the direction of the corner they first met in. "It doesn't look like there's anyone else there." Ven looked momentarily relieved. He gave a small nod.
Though a week had already come and gone, traces of their chalk drawings from earlier still remained. Ven sat down against the wall, hugging his knees close to him as he usually did. Roxas joined him, holding his gift carefully as to not crease it.
"Was somebody mean to you?" Roxas continued their conversation.
"Not really... I just-- it was my..." Ven sighed.
"Was it Skuld?" Roxas asked next. "Because she was mean when she was talking about you!"
"She was talking about me...?"
"Yeah! She said you're weird-- but she's wrong!" A slight smile appeared on Ven's features for a moment, but it disappeared just as quickly. Glancing down at the flower he had drawn, Ven's expression rested in a somber state.
"Skuld doesn't like me. Well-- er-- no one really does..." his voice decreased in volume as he spoke.
"Is that why you don't talk?"
"N-no, it's because... Wh-whenever I-- um..." Ven closed his eyes, resting his forehead on his arms. "I can't... I can't talk to people. I-I always m-mess it up..." Hands curling into fists, his frame shook slightly as his words wavered. "A-and then they think b-badly of me a-and..."
"I don't think badly of you!" Roxas spoke up suddenly. "You're a really good drawer and it was fun to draw with you!" He didn't know why people were so mean to Ven, but he didn't want him to start crying again because of it. Roxas didn't see anything wrong with the other-- it was unfair that he always seemed so upset. Ven lifted his head slightly, glancing over to Roxas.
"Really...?"
"Uh-huh!"
"O-oh..." He relaxed slightly, sitting up a bit straighter. "Um-- R-Roxas...?"
"Yeah?"
"Why did you start talking to me...?"
"Because I never saw you before, and I wanna be friends with everyone!" he paused. "Well-- almost everyone." There was no helping the meanie older kids.
"M-me too... Er-- I wanna be friends with e-everyone too..."
"There's no one else you talk to at all?"
"Um-- no not really I'm usually alone..."
"You're Alone Ven?" Roxas blinked.
Ven nodded "Yeah I don't really want talk to anyone. I'm mostly by myself. I'm usually in the library during recess. I usually draw quietly whenever I'm there." Ven paused for a moment. "Yesterday-- well, the-they-- the teachers found me... Th-they were really mad..."
"So that's why you were crying!" The other nodded.
"Im not allowed in the library anymore... B-but I'm-- u-um... I don't know h-how..."
"How to play with the other kids?" Another nod. "I can introduce you to my friends myself!"
"I-I'm not... so sure about that..." Ven looked back down, seeming even more nervous than usual. "S-sorry..."
"That's okay-- we can just play together for now until you feel better about being outside with everyone," Roxas suggested then. Standing, he extended a free hand out to Ven. "There's still some time left before we go back to class. Let's go to the swings!" The other looked up to him, unsure. But despite his uncertainty, Ven reached out, grabbing Roxas's hand and standing up after him. "If anyone tries to be mean to you, I'll stop them!" That last comment earned a small smile from the other.
"Th-thanks..." he replied. It seemed as if Ven was beginning to feel a little better. Roxas smiled back at him, genuinely happy. He made another friend! Even if it would take the other awhile to play with everyone else along with Roxas, he didn't mind-- the triumph of meeting a new ally was rewarding enough.