Karin Ochibi-chan: Hey readers! I'm so happy I get to put out this first chapter for this story. It took me a while to actually wright more stories since my friend was bugging me on my other story "How did I get into Kingdon Hearts by working late", but since it's summer, it's easier to update and I'm sure everyone agrees with me on that.

Pairings:

Axel, Demyx, Riku, Roxas, Sora/Namine

Leon/Kairi/Cloud

Hayner/Olette

Reno/Tifa

Yuffie/Vincent

Summary: Namine Narumi works for the lowest newspaper column in New York City. When the Newspaper known as the Seventh Heaven is evicted, she has no choice but to look for another job. Sadly, the only job for her is working for the five most wanted bachelors as their personal maid. Being a personal maid? or lose her apartment and live on the streets in the slums? Hmm... she'd take the slums anyday, too bad no one will let her!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts, never did, never will. If I did, Namine would have more spotlight

NOTE: This fic is centered on Namine! Because Namine is awesome and it's very rare to find multiple pairings for Namine so I'm contributing to this because Namine deserves love too and all the Namine fans probably agree with me on this.

Anyway, on with the story about our favorite artist

Namine Narumi- The Writer

Namine Narumi was your average, everyday person living in New York City. She lived on her own, she had a job, and she had an awesome cat, which she named Moogle.

Namine was slightly short for a 21-year-old with shoulder-length blonde hair and glasses framing her blue eyes, which held inspiration and innocence. Her clothes consisted of blue faded jeans, a black t-shirt with a big, blue, plaid madras that was old and worn out a little, but still useful to keep her warm in the cool air of New York City, and finally, to cover her dainty feet were brown worn out and dirty combat boots used for hiking up in the mountains. People often stared at her choice of clothing as she passed by them to get to work.

Namine snorted at their stares. What was the big deal anyway? It's not like she can afford the latest styles nowadays, not that she cared about fashion, but her job just doesn't pay that much for her to afford the glamorous things in life.

Namine worked for the lowest newspaper column on the food chain located in the slums of New York City. She never minded the slums, after all she used to live in a very run down apartment with her twin sister and their dad. Their mom had been long gone, leaving them for some rich bastard and left for the Uptown New York City.

Namine hated the Uptown area of New York. Everyone there was a bunch of snobs! They only cared about material things and not the important issues like global warming. As you can see, Namine is sort of an environmentalist.

Going back to the present, Namine now lived in a different run down apartment in the slums. She considered that lucky because the slums is a place where all the homeless people of New York City were most likely to be found living there. Namine shivered just thinking about living on the streets of the-not-so-safe New York.

Another reason why she hated the rich bastards up in Uptown is that they were ignorant to the world outside of their perfect bubble. There was so much violence in the world today, like the war in Iraq, for instance. The same thing goes on in the slums all the time. Gang fights, murders, guns just shooting at each because they hate the world, robberies, suicide, and women being raped. Namine again shivered just thinking about losing her virginity to someone that she didn't love. She remembered what happened to her neighbor the other day.

Olette Satsuki, her good friend and neighbor, was raped a couple of nights ago while walking home from the grocery store. Namine remembered coming in to her apartment that night and finding Olette weeping and her clothes torn. Namine would never forget the horror and nausea she felt when Olette retold her story, but she knew it paled in comparison to what Olette felt that night. However, they were both grateful that Olette was still alive. Usually women are killed after their rapist rapes them.

As Namine is left with these thoughts, she approaches the little building, probably the size of a café, and walks in. The building looked old and not well built, but it was strong enough to hold up for the people who worked there. This was the newspaper column Namine walked in every morning and out every evening. This was the Seventh Heaven, the lowest newspaper column on the scale.

The Seventh Heaven was owned by a woman named Tifa Lockheart, another good friend of Namine's, who she had known since childhood.

Tifa was an older sister to Namine. She was tall, beautiful, had the strength to rival ten men, and had the heart and determination to make the Seventh Heaven shine. She was with Namine when Namine had started writing and was the one who gave her the inspiration and motivation to continue writing. Tifa was also the person who had given Namine a job at the Seventh Heaven. Truly, Namine was indebted to her for everything she had done for the young blonde.

"Namine, there you are, how are you doing on your newspaper column?" asked a tall woman in her late twenties with long chocolate brown hair and ruby red eyes shining with determination and strength. She wore a red tank top, with a brown vest, and black jeans with black boots; speak of the devil, Tifa Lockheart had made her entrance and entered the small office Namine worked in. Namine perked up as soon as she saw her.

"Hmm… Pretty good actually, so how are you doing old hag?" Namine asked. As long as both Namine and Tifa remember, Namine had been calling her "old hag" instead of being polite and saying "Onee-chan" like her twin sister and Olette did. It wasn't like Namine was being mean, it was just that Namine was… well… ill mannered. Being raised by her father since she was two-years-old caused her to lose consciousness between the genders, thereby making her become more like a boy than a girl while her twin became a proper lady.

"Why couldn't you be a nice little girl and play with dolls like your sister instead of liking bugs and playing hockey?" Tifa asked, her voice laced with humor. Namine gave her a grin and replied.

"Because I'm weird like that, that's why," Namine told her then stuck her tongue out childishly. Tifa shook her head with a smile on her face; Namine was Namine, she told herself, and Namine had the desire to be different. "And because I'm weird, I'll one day rule the world and everyone will worship the greatness of my cat, Moogle" Namine said happily while Tifa had a big sweatdrop on the back of her head; Yup, Namine was weird alright, maybe that was why she was such a great writer.

"Anyway, did you finish your column or not?" asked the brunette smiling. Namine gave her a grin, "So it's always the column, you never come in here to just say 'Hi Namine, how ya doing?' nope, you come in and say 'there you are Namine, how are you doing on your newspaper column' honestly, I feel very insulted and just for the insult, I'm not telling you what I wrote in my column" Namine ended it with a pout on her face while crossing her arms across her chest and turning away from the older woman.

Tifa smirked amusedly on her friend's behavior. Well, might as well humor the blonde woman. Tifa put her hands on her hips and gave the girl a mock stern look.

"Namine Narumi, that is no way to treat your elders, don't you have any manners to those who are higher ranking in society than you?" she asked. Namine gave the brunette a snort.

"Oh, please, if I gave respect to people higher in the food chain then I would be worshiping the ground those Uptown bastards walk on" she told Tifa while crossing her arms across her chest again. Tifa frowned at her reply.

"You know, Namine, just because your mom left you, Kairi, and your dad for some rich guy doesn't mean their all spoiled in Uptown. I mean, how would you feel if all the people in Uptown hated you for no apparent reason besides the fact that you're poor?" Tifa asked her companion.

"They do hate me hate me because I'm poor. I hear it all the time! 'hey look at that woman, doesn't she have the brains to buy better stylish clothes?' 'No, because she's poor, she probably couldn't even afford to get an education'" she mimicked a couple of voices that she had heard while walking on the street a couple of times, "I'm not deaf Tifa, and I'm not stupid, but they think otherwise, and you know why? Because I'm frickin poor! That's why! They make me sick! They don't know the suffering we go through down here while their sitting up on their mighty thrones with their fancy asses!" the blonde told the older woman angrily.

Tifa gave off a sigh. This girl was so stubborn! This girl just couldn't let her mother's betrayal go! Not that Tifa blamed the girl, she never expected Mrs. Narumi to abandon her husband and children like that. They seemed like a happy family, but she figured that Mrs. Narumi wanted more than a loving family. Namine and Kairi were only two years old at the time; so, it was pretty devastating and the fact that Mrs. Narumi left her husband in a state of depression didn't help much.

Tifa remembered when she first met Namine and Kairi. Her mother and her moved in next door when the twins were three years old. Her mother was an old friend of Namine's father so she was often over at the Narumi apartment while her mother took care of the twins and their father until he was ready to get back on his feet. She remembered meeting Kairi, who could barely talk or walk at the time, and fell instantly for the girl as an older sister. She was so cute and she always followed Tifa around and played with her. Tifa never minded playing tea parties with Kairi or any other girly stuff little girls enjoyed since she was only eight at the time herself.

As for Namine, let's just say that Tifa will never forget when she met the blonde twin. She had expected Namine to be like her auburn haired twin who enjoyed all that girly stuff and treated her with respect since she was older than her; however, that wasn't the case with the blonde three-year-old.

"Who's the old hag?" she asked her twin in perfect English as if she had been talking for years. She remembered holding her anger inside telling herself that Namine was only three and that she didn't know any better, but oh, was she wrong!

Flashback

"Who's the old hag?" three-year-old Namine asked her twin who probably didn't know what she was saying since she could barely talk. Tifa's eye twitched, but she held her anger in.

Easy Tifa, this girl is just a child; she doesn't know what she's saying, Tifa thought to calm herself. Her mother wouldn't like her to be mean to her childhood friend's children.

"I'm Tifa, and you are?" she asked the little girl. Just play it cool, she told her self. She expected the girl to tell her her given name, but instead she replied

"Not caring" she told the eight year old bluntly. The blonde girl turned away since she got bored of the eight year old.

"Na-na" Kairi said in a baby voice as she tried to catch up to her sister. She didn't like her twin to be away from her. Her twin always took care of her since their dad was too sad to do it. Kairi wobbled a bit and Tifa went to steady her, but the blonde beat her to it.

"Kairi, how many times do I have to tell you, don't try to walk if I'm not beside you; you can get hurt you know" the blonde gently scolded her twin.

"Sorwy" Kairi apologized and hugged her sister. Tifa silently 'awwed' at the sight before her, but that didn't last because Namine stated.

"What are you looking at, old hag?" she asked. Tifa felt her blood boil. This girl had no manners at all! She was just about to tell her off when her mother came in to the room. She told Tifa that it was time to go and that they would be back tomorrow. Mrs. Lockheart hugged the two girls and Tifa did the same, but she felt something was off she noticed as she left the door to their own room. Why was that blonde twin smiling as if she had won the lottery? Was it because her mother was here and that she was playing innocent just for her?

It wasn't until she had gone into the bathroom and looked in the mirror to find a spider in her hair…

Present time

Tifa still had nightmares about that incident. She later figured out from her mother that Namine (her mother told her Namine's name) was smarter than the average three-year-old. She already spoke English fluently and had a wide vocabulary. She also learned that Namine had been cooking all the meals, doing the house cleaning and taking care of her sister while her dad was too depressed to do those things. He still went to work and was barely able to pay the bills, but Namine did everything else that was the adult's responsibility like clothes shopping and grocery shopping. Tifa thought Namine was pretty lucky because she had done all that stuff without being mugged or get caught up in a gang fight. Not only was Namine a genius, but she had the street smarts too.

She had learned that night that she should never underestimate Namine Narumi…

Flashback

It had been a few months since Tifa and her mother had started visiting the Narumis'. Mr. Narumi was actually starting to get back on track with his life and Kairi had started to walk fully only falling a couple of times now. She kept weary of Namine though, never knowing what the little demon was up to next.

For the past few months, she and Namine haven't been on the best terms. The little devil had something always up her sleeve and it drove Tifa insane. She just didn't get it! Why was Namine always mean to her? She didn't do anything to Namine!

Why couldn't she be more like Kairi? Kairi was a sweet girl. You would never expect something mean from Kairi. Kairi was so easy to get along with, but Namine was so… so… difficult!

As these thoughts went through Tifa's mind, she noticed something under Namine's pillow of Namine and Kairi's room. She removed the covering and saw a picture of a man, a woman, and two girls. She was surprised to notice that the girls were Kairi and Namine!

"That's Mr. Narumi," she noted. It was true, if Mr. Narumi wasn't depressed all the time- despite him recovering- he would look exactly like this. Then her gaze dropped to the woman in the picture.

She was beautiful, Tifa noted. She had sparkling blue eyes and long brown hair. Her face looked as if a blemish never touched it! The woman was smiling so happily, they all were smiling happily, even Namine!

"He says I have her eyes" a voice startled her, causing her to turn around and look at the newcomer; it was Namine.

"What?" Tifa asked confused. This was the first time that Namine had said something to her without an insult being said in the sentence!

"Her eyes," she repeated, "Dad says I have her eyes," she told Tifa with a look of annoyance. Tifa's mind finally clicked; Namine was talking about the woman in the picture. She then realized that Namine's dad was right, she did have the woman's eyes.

"They're very pretty," said Tifa, which was true, Namine's eyes were a very pretty crystal blue. She couldn't help but compliment her. Maybe Namine will start to like her then.

"I hate them" she replied with contempt, startling Tifa. "I hate my eyes and I hate that woman! Because it was because of her that I have these eyes!" Tifa didn't know how to respond to that reply so she just stayed silent.

"I hate her because she made my dad sad, I hate these eyes because they remind my dad of her and thereby make him even more sad!" by now Namine was shouting.

Tifa didn't know why the girl was telling her this, but she was willing to listen. Her gazed drifted back to the picture, but Namine's next statement caused her to look up.

"You look almost like her, you act almost like her, You bitch! Why can't you just leave! I can't stand it! You drive me crazy!" the blonde shouted angrily at Tifa.

Suddenly, it all made sense now. That's why Namine didn't like her! That's why Namine constantly insulted her and called her names. That's why Namine looked at her with hatred. Because she looked almost like the woman in the picture!

But that didn't make sense! Why would Namine hate her because she looked and acted like someone in a picture, that is until it finally all came together when she remembered Namine saying

"I hate my eyes and I hate that woman! Because it was because of her that I have these eyes!" the words repeated over and over in Tifa's head.

"That woman… is your mother, isn't it?" she asked the child. The child seemed to look at her with surprise for a second, but she then gave her the impassive look she always did.

"Took you long enough, old hag!" she told the eight-year-old as if she wasn't just shouting a minute ago and crossed her arms. "Although, I doubt that woman really deserves to be called a mother," she said.

Tifa then felt guilty. Of course Namine would be sort of traumatized from her mother's departure and be a little mean to others because of it. She had to remember that Namine was smarter than Kairi, she was not ignorant like Kairi and knew exactly what was going on around her. Tifa realized that she was not dealing with the mind of a child, she had to talk to Namine like she would talk to anyone and not someone who is younger than her and is believed to have less knowledge. She sighed and knew what she had to do.

"Well, I can't say I understand because you know what? I don't. I'm not one of those people who's going to tell you sentimental crap and fill your head with lies. I swear to you that" Tifa told her with a smile, "So if you want to rant or cry or tell me anything. I'll be honest with you and treat you like a person and not a child, okay?" she asked Namine.

There was silence in the room, but what surprised the eight-year-old was that Namine had approached her quietly as if she was wondering what would happen if she was going to do her next move or not.

Little arms encircled Tifa's waist and a head nuzzled into her stomach. Tifa was speechless.

"That would be nice, old hag, but remember no sentimental crap, just the absolute truth, okay?" she asked the brunette. Tifa noticed that "old hag" wasn't said with loathing, it sounded like endearment.

"Nothing but the truth" Tifa replied with a smile. On that day, an odd companionship was born. A companionship that changed into friendship that changed into sisterhood.

End of Flashback

"Hello, old hag! You still in there?" a hand was waving in her face and Tifa slapped it away in surprise.

"Wha?" she asked confused. She noticed Namine looking at her with worry, but it soon turned to irritation. To show said irritation, she threw her hands up in the air as if to say 'I give up' and said.

"Mou! I just told you on what my column was on and you weren't even listening to a word I said! It was a total complete waste of my breath! Is your flashback more important than your best friend or something?" Namine asked Tifa. Tifa just kept quiet and stared at her best friend/little sister; how did she always know when someone had a flashback?

"How do you do that?" asked Tifa. It truly astounded her on how Namine could always pinpoint someone having a flashback. One of her many weird traits, she supposed.

"Do what? Rant?" asked Namine confused. Did Tifa get in too deep in her flashback or something?

"No, know when someone's having a flashback?" asked Tifa shaking her head. She could still not believe this girl used to be such an angst child.

"Oh, that's easy! I have this thing called a flashback sense so whenever someone has a flashback nearby I can kinda sense it in a way!" Namine grinned at her reply. Tifa sweatdropped. Yes, it was very hard to believe Namine was such an angst when she was just a child.

"Well, anyway, you're wasting my time! I have to get writing, y'know" Namine said as she ushered her boss out of her small cozy office. "Go bother the other employees" she told Tifa.

"Aw, but bothering you is so much fun!" Tifa said before Namine shut the door on her face. Tifa shook her head in amusement as well as the other workers who worked in the small newspaper shop. Namine was doing much better off than when she had first met her. These days she was happy-go-lucky combined with clumsy-dense-person-with- no-common-sense at times. She was still a smart ass with ill manners unless it really counts and she likes to play with people's minds a bit, but Namine didn't contain only hatred for the world and scorn at everyone like when she was younger. It was like Namine was an adult who became a child in a way instead of the other way around like her twin sister Kairi who was a very intelligent and mature woman.

Tifa again shook her head, but Namine still did have some hatred still left in her like she had shown today, but Tifa knew that she couldn't take all the hatred away. No, that task would befall on someone else's shoulders. Someone who would care for Namine and love her for the rest of their life. She sighed again- she had been doing that a lot lately, she noticed- and felt herself remembering something she told Namine-

"Don't even think about going into another flashback!" Namine's voice came through the door and everyone in the room laughed, including Tifa. Yes, the Seventh Heaven was more like a family than a newspaper column. The small staff and the small work building became a second family in a second home. Everyone knew each other and everyone got along with one another like a real family did. Namine was the youngest on the newspaper column so everyone tended to dot on her from time to time and find Namine's… um… uniqueness to be very amusing and spirit lifting.

"Sorry, Namine" replied a laughing Tifa. "I promise not to have any flashbacks from now on," she promised the blonde. She could actually hear the blonde pouting and huffing.

"That's better" came Tifa's reply, and Tifa left her be while she went to her office as well. Only Namine and Tifa had offices while everyone else worked in the main room. No one objected or hated this because Tifa was their boss and they really admire and appreciate her and they felt Namine definitely deserved it because she really was a talented writer despite her young age. They often said she could go into the publishing business with her work and publish novels, but Namine being Namine said embarrassed that they weren't that good and that she should just stick to the newspaper business, which always disappoints her coworkers because they think she is capable for so much more. Everyone knew how hard it was for Namine since she was currently having financial problems and stuff. Her sister Kairi, who was living somewhere near Uptown New York City, offered to help, but Namine declined saying that it wasn't her responsibility to pay and that she was the younger twin of them. Younger twins don't dot upon the older twins, she told her and patted her head like a mother would to her child. If Namine had gone into the novel business, she would probably be living in Uptown by now, but they shook their heads sadly. Namine hated Uptown; even if she did get rich, she would never set one foot in Uptown as long as she lived and they knew it. It was a shame because that girl didn't deserve the hardships of poverty.

Suddenly the little bell at the door chimed signaling that someone had entered. He was a man with red hair in a ponytail, a silver ring in his right ear, and dressed a little classy to be from the slums or near the slums like they were. He cleared his throat and spoke making some of the females swoon

"Where might I find Tifa Lockheart?" he asked. They all pointed to the office on the right of the main room. The plank on the door said 'Tifa Lockheart'.

"Thank you" he said and went to knock on the woman's door. Tifa came a few seconds later looking at the man in confusion and surprise evident on her features.

"Can I help you…" she looked at him in surprise.

"Reno, Miss Lockheart, may I come in?" he asked her acting completely professional. Tifa, not wanting to make a scene, moved aside to let him in her office, but just before shutting the door, she said to the people in the main room.

"Don't you dare try and eavesdrop" she told them. They all had a look of disappointment clearly stating they were going to do just that. It seems some of Namine has rubbed off on her other employees. She was going to have a talk with that girl later.

After she shut the door, she gestured Reno to sit. He complied and his posture was something you wouldn't expect from a sophisticated man, but then again, sophisticated men didn't have piercing.

"So, what do I owe the visit, Mr. Reno?" she asked as she folded her hands on her desk.

"First of all, don't call me 'Mr.' I'm the same age as you doll face, and don't act like this is the first time we've seen each other either, Tifa" he told her with a look of irritation.

"Well, no offense but that's the past now Reno, you and I have nothing to discuss about what went between us years back. Now tell me, what did you really come for?" she glared at him. She was in no mood to reminisce old times with him. Reno sighed and ran a hand through his red hair. He did that when he was frustrated she told herself as she remembered all the times he did that before she could even stop herself.

"Well, it goes like this…"

Karin Ochibi-chan: Oooh, what's he gonna tell Tifa? how do they know each other? How come Namine can sense flashbacks? Why am I asking you guys this when I already know the answers to these questions. Anyways that's all for now!

Chapter 2: Preview

"WHAT?" Namine exclaimed and Kairi was sure China heard her twin. "Are you crazy? did you happen to hit your head? I can't- no, I won't do it!" she shouted. Kairi sighed at her sister's stubborness.

"Namine," she began, "This is the only way, since you refuse to let me help you, this is the only option" Kairi explained to the whining blonde who had anime tears streaming down her face at the moment. She began spluttering like a blabbling idiot.

"b-b-but..."

Well, that's all I can give you guys. See ya next time!

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