KH – KH

Xigbar Shizuoka was starting another year of teaching at Asuka Senior High School in Japan. He taught math, mainly algebra and calculus, but he was one of those teachers that made it fun to learn so a lot of students loved him.

When the first period bell rang, the class filed in like they normally did and sat down in their seats; ready to learn (that's how a Japanese school is after all).

"Good morning, students. I am Mr. Shizuoka, but you may call me Mr. S if you want." Xigbar started, and then passed out books. "Since it's the first day back to school, I will start off with review." He said as he started to write things on the board and talk about them.

--

After school, Xigbar was walking out of the school when he saw a student getting picked on by some other students. "Hey!" He yelled as he ran towards them.

"Oh crap!" One of the bullies said, and then he and his friends ran away.

Xigbar ran up to the other kid. "Are you alright?" He asked, and then recognized the kid. "Hey… aren't you in one of my classes?"

"Yes and yes. I'm Demyx." He said.

"Oh yeah! First period algebra!"

"Yeah!"

"Well… what are you doing out here with those bullies?"

"They started picking on me when they saw my two best friends leave together, holding hands."

Xigbar was really confused by that. "What's wrong with that?"

"My two best friends are both guys."

"Ah." Xigbar said in understanding. "Well, there's nothing wrong with that either, but I suppose there's always going to be controversy over that topic."

"Yeah…" Demyx said as he scratched the back of his neck and Xigbar could tell that he felt awkward.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just… weird talking like this with teacher."

"Well… don't think of me as a teacher then, a lot of students actually don't. Just think of me as… an adult you can talk to like a friend."

"Does that mean we're friends?"

"If you want to be, we can." Xigbar said.

"Sure! I've never been friends with a teacher before! It could be fun!"

"Great! Only the first day of school and we've both already made new a friend!"

Demyx smiled. "Yeah!"

Suddenly, Xigbar's watch made a beeping noise and he looked to see what time it was. "Oh crap! I'm late! Listen, can we continue this conversation tomorrow? I've got a doctor's appointment that I have to go to!"

"Sure!"

"Okay! See you tomorrow in class!" Xigbar said and ran off to the parking lot.

--

That night, Demyx was in his room, watching TV when his mom called him from downstairs to get in the shower.

"Okay mom…" He called back before getting some clothes and going into the bathroom to take a shower. While he was in the shower, he started to think about how Xigbar had practically saved him from being beaten up after school and he smiled. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually can't wait for school tomorrow."

--

The next morning, Demyx had driven to school early and got there before a lot of other people did. He went into the math wing of the school and into Xigbar's classroom.

Xigbar was sitting at his desk, typing something on his computer when he saw Demyx in the doorway. "Hey there, kiddo. You're here early."

"Yeah… I just wanted to thank you for yesterday. Those guys were about to beat me up and you came in the nick of time."

"Don't mention it. Happy to help." He said and took a sip of his coffee and started playing a song from his computer.

"Is that Beethoven's 5th Symphony?" Demyx asked.

"Yeah, it is. You sure know your music."

"I'm a musician, you know? I play guitar in my band."

"Really?" Xigbar asked. "I've always had such an admiration for musicians. They've got such a…a passion that you don't really find in many other people."

"Well… if you want to see me play, my band plays at the Rock Palace every other Saturday. You should come and check it out."

"I just might take you up on that offer too." Xigbar said. "This Saturday or next Saturday?"

"We're scheduled for this Saturday." Demyx said. "So I'll see you there?"

"Count on it." Xigbar said with a smile.

--

The rest of the week flew by and it was now Saturday night at the Rock Palace. Demyx was backstage with his two best friends who also happened to be the other two members of the band, Axel and Roxas. Axel played the bass for the group and Roxas was on the drums. They both noticed that Demyx seemed to be a little off that night.

"What are you so worried about, Dem?" Axel asked.

"Yeah. We've played here at least a dozen times before." Roxas added. "Anyone would be over stage fright by now."

"It's not stage fright." Demyx said. "It's just that… there's someone out there right now who I really want to make a good impression for."

"Who is it? Is it a record dealer?!" Axel asked excitedly.

"No."

"Oh… then who is such a big shot that you want to make such a big good impression for?"

"Look for yourself. He's sitting at table nine."

Axel peeked to see who it was and laughed. "You want to make a good impression for Mr. S?"

"Don't laugh, Axel!" Demyx said, blushing. "This happens to be a big deal for me and I do want us to play good tonight!"

"I'm sure we will… as long as one of us doesn't forget to… start playing or anything like that." Axel teased.

"You do something like that, and you're not getting anything tonight!" Roxas yelled.

"Aw come on, Roxy… you know I'm only kidding." Axel said.

One of the guys who owned the place came up to them and said, "Two minutes."

"Okay… here we go." Demyx said and took a deep breath.

A couple minutes later, the same guy went on the stage and said, "Hey everyone! Ready for the opening act?"

"Yeah!" Almost everyone in the audience said.

"Well, here they are: The Three Bold Souls!" The guy said, and the curtains parted to show them standing there ready to play, but it never happened.

--

The next morning, Demyx woke up in his bedroom to see Axel and Roxas there too. He didn't remember much of anything from the previous night and asked, "What happened? Did we play alright?"

"We didn't play at all." Axel said.

"What?!"

"Yeah, you fainted, Demyx." Roxas said. "Axel and I brought you home."

"Guess you really do have stage fright still. Guess we'll have to wait a little longer before any record dealers will be stopping by our doors…"

"Axel, will you stop thinking about our future careers for two seconds?!" Roxas yelled and looked at Demyx before sitting next to him on the bed.

"What about Mr. S? What did he do?" Demyx asked.

"When you fainted, everyone could tell he was really worried about you. He had jumped up on stage and was trying to wake you up." Roxas explained. "He said he was a little sad that he didn't get to hear any of our music, but he said that he understood and that hopefully he could hear it some other time."

Demyx slumped and said, "This is all my fault…"

"Hey! It's cool, man!" Axel said. "So what if you didn't get to make the big good impression on him that time, you'll do it next time!"

"Axel is right!" Roxas said. "They'll always be a next time!"

--

That Monday after school, Demyx stopped by Xigbar's room and saw him straightening out the room and putting chairs upside down on the desks.

Xigbar then saw Demyx and smiled. "Hey there."

"Hi…" Demyx said. "Listen… I just want to apologize for Saturday."

"You still on about that?" Xigbar asked and laughed. "It's fine. I'm not mad about it or anything."

"Oh, I know. I just… I wanted to show you how well we could play and I just had to go and faint when that's never happened before."

"It's alright, kiddo." Xigbar said and walked over to Demyx. "They'll always be next time!"

"That's what Axel and Roxas said too."

"Then that only proves my point." Xigbar said with a kind smile.

"Well… here." Demyx said as he handed over a folded up piece of paper that was sealed together with a little music note sticker.

"What's this?"

"I wrote down the lyrics to the song that we were going to sing that night. I want you to have it."

"Thanks. Can I put it on the board?"

"If you want to."

"Alright, I will." Xigbar said with a laugh and hung it up on the board, unfolded. He then read the lyrics and smiled. "Looks like a beautiful song. Did you write this yourself?"

"Yeah."

"It's great! …I wish I could hear the music for it though."

"…I have my acoustic guitar with me. I could play the general background of the music for you."

"Great! I'd love to hear it!" Xigbar said so Demyx got out the guitar then started playing, and soon started to sing also.

When the song was over, Xigbar was clapping and almost crying. "That really is a beautiful song. You have a gift."

"Thanks. I think of music as… a release of emotions. What someone is feeling can be written into a song and let out through music."

"That's really poetic of you." Xigbar said. "Do you ever think of being a professional musician?"

"Only every day of my life."

"I think you'll make a great professional someday. You are very talented and I'll defend to the death that I'm right about that."

"You're too kind." Demyx said, slightly blushing.

KH – KH

I'm going to stop there for now, but there will be more, I promise you that! I hope everyone enjoyed this first chapter of hopefully… a great story!

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