Changes Through life

Chapter 1

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.