A/N: Whoa, my third update today. I guess I'm on a roll! XD Anyways, this is my take on Wishing-Fire's Memory Challenge. I can only use one couple and the word count should be between 150 and 600 (but it'll always be the latter, 'cause I'm such a chatter box lol). It's also my second entry at the 'Freedom' Contest over on dA. What's also important, is the fact that this can be seen as a side story/prequel to my AquaxTerraxKairixVanitas story 'Amnesia Completa.' I'm sorry if I spoiled something for you now by revealing too much. :( I'll try to update weekly, with a little bit of luck maybe even daily (but let's not get our hopes up on that). Hope you guys enjoy! :)
Thanks: M. L. Ayala, my lovely beta reader.
1. Curiosity
He was a free spirit; he did what he wanted to, when and exactly how he wanted it to.
He was free to go wherever he'd like with the least care in the world of what others thought of him. Free of being judged. It added a certain charm to him, made him look extra dangerous, adventurous even. It made her wish that she was just like him.
She, on the other hand, was practically chained to the ground with all the complicated rules she had to adhere to because of her overly strict parents. Well, they weren't even her real parents, but the mayor had told Kairi that he was too scared to lose her, which resulted in him making all these petty rules.
Freedom? That word didn't exist for them. They wanted to have security above everything else and if that meant that their adopted daughter couldn't be free like a bird, then so be it. By now, Kairi was used to it all. She had given up complaining a long time ago, knowing that it was of no use.
So needless to say, Vanitas piqued Kairi's curiosity immensely. She was attracted to the mysterious, dark-haired bad boy like a moth was attracted to a flame. He was different from all the other guys, different from Sora, his own brother too. She didn't have the words to describe it. Selphie, her best friend, had called her crazy for even trying to talk to him, but Kairi really couldn't help it!
They were currently sitting at a small table together in the middle of the auditorium, with Kairi trying to study, while Vanitas was slumped back in his seat, seeming bored out of his mind, as usual. It hadn't taken Kairi that long to notice that Vanitas was a very intelligent teen.
Kairi sighed wearily and shoved her maths book away from her as though the sight alone was making her extremely nauseous. In a way, that was exactly what maths made her feel like.
"I don't get it at all. Logarithm sucks! I'll never get the hang of this..."
Vanitas ignored her completely (as usual). He took a piece of paper out of his backpack and started scribbling down on it.
"What are you writing?" she asked curiously.
"Porn," he replied solemnly, without even looking at her.
Kairi's eyes widened incredulously. "…Really?"
The way he rolled his eyes didn't go unnoticed by her. "No, I'm not a good writer."
"Oh. Okay…"
She honestly didn't know what to say to that. Apparently, he had no problem with writing porn in public, but it was his lack of writing skills that bothered him.
"What," he said sharply when he caught her violet eyes on him.
"Nothing," came the automatic reply, because if there was one thing she had learned from spending time with Vanitas, it was that he didn't like her curiosity. At all.
Still, that didn't stop her from wanting to know more about him.
When he was done with writing, he slid the piece of paper over to Kairi. "Here."
"Oh, I don't think-" Kairi started, because quite honestly, she didn't want to find out about his writing skills (or what he'd written down).
"Read it."
With that, he got up and left her alone at the table. Kairi sighed and glanced at the piece of paper in her hand. Almost at once, her eyebrows shot up; he had written down a short explanation on logarithm.
And then he wondered why she was so curious all the time. How could she not be when he was so unpredictable?
