sorry that this is reaaaaallly long but I wrote this a while ago and I just decided to upload it and I think I divided the chapters wrong, but here it is.
"Don't say we're not right for each other because the way I see it, we might not be right for anyone else." The Cutting Edge
There was a reason why she never went to parties, least of all the ones her friend Kairi invited her to. She was a wallflower; there was no doubt about it. Many would easily describe her as beautiful girl. Not pretty, beautiful. She had soft blond hair that was the color of the morning sunshine and soft blue eyes like the sky. Her name was Naminé Kumiko, the daughter of the one of the most renowned scientists in the world. She was a shy, humble girl, graceful and quiet. Although her beauty shined upon the world, she was hardly noticed among her classmates.
Naminé attended a very prestigious school where the most elite and wealthy heirs of families went. She had few friends there with the exception of her one best friend, Kairi. Kairi was very pretty, with dark auburn hair, sparkling eyes, and a great figure. She was a social butterfly, exactly the opposite of Naminé. The two had been best friends since elementary school and they were nearly inseparable. Kairi always looked out for her best friend, as she was usually the object of attention, but for all the wrong reasons. While Kairi tended to spend her time socializing and going to parties, Naminé often sat alone drawing. She was not bullied, but teased. No one understood her. She was simply known as the girl who always sat alone at lunch with nothing but her sketchpad. This was one of the things that the two friends easily disagreed on. Kairi tried with much opposition to get Naminé to get out and go to parties with her, but Naminé always refused.
"Naminé! You haven't gone to one single party in High School. What do you want to look back on when we're all grown up? You've got to get out once in a while!" Kair flicked her hair over shoulder, making Naminé roll her eyes.
"I'll have my drawings to look back on," she said quietly. Kairi pouted her pink lips. She obviously didn't think that was credible. "I don't want to be like everyone else. You've known me since we little, Kairi. You of all people know that I'm not like other people."
"That's not an excuse," said Kairi. "Please, please will you go with me tonight? Just for me?"
Naminé bit her lip. She really wanted to tell her no, but she knew that she had used that way too much. It had been four years; she doubted that Kairi would let her off the hook anytime soon. "Fine. I'll go with you, but that's it. I'm not going with you to any more after this one."
Kairi grinned, showing off her perfectly straight pearly whites. "Thanks, Naminé!" She hugged the blonde, making her squirm uncomfortably. Now she really wasn't sure why she even agreed to go.
"Who's throwing this party anyways?" she asked carefully.
Kairi shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know I just have the address. But who cares? It's a party isn't it? And it's going to be your first one too! You have to come over to my house tonight, 'kay?" Kairi was bouncing now on the balls of her feet.
"All right. I guess." Naminé rubbed her hands over the hem of her skirt. She was very glad when the bell rang, signaling the end their lunchtime. Kairi quickly grabbed her bag and began to run off. Then she turned around and waved back at her.
"I'll see you at six!" Those words gave Naminé a sour taste in her mouth. She reluctantly picked up her bag and left her quiet sanctuary under the small shady tree. The only thing she could think of was what she had just signed her life away for. She was definitely not looking forward to that night.
"Naminé, you look amazing!" Kairi squealed. Naminé gave a nervous glace at the mirror in front of her. It was Kairi who had chosen what she was to wear since she claimed that nothing in Naminé's wardrobe was "party appropriate". In those terms, Naminé wasn't so sure she wanted to know what "party appropriate" was.
She was wearing a short denim skirt that came a few inches above her knees and a light pink babydoll shirt with a white cardigan. Some shining silver bracelets hung around her small wrists and a matching necklace around her neck. Naminé tried not to wince. She never wore anything like what Kairi had dressed her in. She preferred white and loose dresses than skin-tight clothes and bright, noticeable colors.
Naminé looked over. She thought Kairi looked amazing, although she always did. She was wearing a black minidress and a sequined silver vest over it. She wore lots of jewelry and had perfect makeup. Kairi would have fit in for a photoshoot with models. Naminé sighed. As usual, Kairi outshone her, not with her appearance, but also with her demeanor. She had an accurate prediction that the boys would be flocking all around her tonight.
Naminé was in a daze the whole time as they drove to the house where the party was. It was not until they walked in and she saw the strobe lights and heard the blaring music that she was woken from her reverie. There were people in every nook in cranny of the huge mansion. They were sliding down the banister, hanging over the sofa, dancing on the tables, the counters, everywhere. To Naminé it was overwhelming. It was so loud she wanted to cover her ears.
She looked over to Kairi, but she was nowhere to be found. Then she caught a glimpse of her auburn hair over the throng of people, half of which seemed to be surrounding her. Naminé was not surprised. Then she saw the familiar messy hair of Kairi's boyfriend, Sora nearby. Naminé just wanted to sink into the background since no one was going to pay attention to her.
"You seem kinda lonely there," said a voice. Naminé looked up into a pair of deep blue eyes that were as dark as a stormy ocean. He shrugged when he saw her eyes wide. "You don't have to talk to me, I just wanted to escape from my rowdy friends when I saw you."
Naminé tried to open her mouth and respond, but she found her mouth dry. The boy in front of her laughed.
"I'm Ven," he said, holding out his hand. Naminé thought it was strange he wanted to shake her hand, but he seemed nice enough, so she accepted. His grip wasn't sweaty and slightly callused, but not uncomfortably so.
"Naminé." she said.
Ven nodded. "I know who you are."
Naminé looked at him oddly. Ven put his hands up, shaking them as his eyes widened in realization.
"No, I'm not some kind of creeper or something. It's just that I know who your father is and I see you sitting under that tree of yours a lot," He smiled and Naminé got a glance of his charming smile.
Naminé blinked. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I've seen you before at school."
Ven shrugged. "I do classes at the college though, so I'm not at school very often. I try not to draw too much attention," He laughed to himself. "Unfortunately I have a handful of crazy friends to deal with, so most of the time it's not as easy as it sounds."
Naminé listened attentively to Ven. His voice was somewhat deep and he spoke almost in a monotone. He fascinated her for a reason she did not know. She had never been so interested in a boy before, and it made her feel strange inside.
"So, what are you doing here at Lea's party? I would never have thought you would come to such a crazy party."
"I don't even know who Lea is." Naminé said bashfully. Ven nonchalantly pointed over to spikes of fiery red hair over by the DJ.
"He's ones of my friends, so I kinda had to be here." Ven said, shoving his hands into the pockets jeans.
As Naminé turned her gaze from Lea's spiky hair she realized that she
hadn't answered his question. "Kairi dragged me here. She said that I had to come a party as part of my High School career."
Ven lifted his chin. "Ah, that makes sense. I'm sorry you got dragged into this. It's never as fun when you don't want to be here."
Naminé was glad that he understood her uncomfortable position and that he had a least a little sympathy for her. She felt a strange urge to keep talking to Ven, even though she had never met him. She suddenly understood that this was how people made small talk.
"Do you come to parties like these a lot?"
Ven twisted his lip into something like a wince and a smirk. "Yeah, Lea holds parties a lot, so I'm pretty much obliged to make an appearance. I probably wouldn't come if I had a better reason, though."
Naminé was surprised at his response. "What else would you do?"
The look on Ven's face at her question instantly made her regret asking. "I…I go out into the city." Ven's lips tightened as if he were holding back something.
Just then, laughing caught Naminé's ears and Kairi and Sora came over to them. Kairi's face was bright with blush and Sora was grinning, his face almost stuck in that position. Naminé was not aware of Ven's sudden change of expression, his eyebrows lowering and the shadow creeping over his face.
"Naminé! Sora and I were going to go out and take a walk. I don't know how long you want to stay, but—"
"I can walk Naminé home," Ven said quietly. Naminé looked at him. She didn't expect him to say that. Ven looked into her eyes. "Really, it's not a big deal."
"I…all right." Naminé didn't know what else to say. She couldn't really say no.
Kairi smiled her trademark smile. "Great! I'll see you tomorrow then, Naminé!"
Naminé nervously watched as the two rushed out the door. She was going to be alone with Ven. It wasn't as if she didn't trust him, but she hadn't really ever been alone with a boy before. The next thing she knew, Ven was pulling her along behind them. His grip was firm, which made her slightly nervous.
"Oh, you don't know where I live." Naminé felt uncomfortable saying this, but Ven seemed unfazed. Naminé told Ven her address. He didn't respond.
The night air was cool and it bit at the flashes of Naminé's esposed skin. The moon was out and the stars looked as if they were even further away up in the sky than normal. Ven walked fast and evenly. As he pulled her along, she felt slightly scared at his unresponsiveness and his strong grip.
"I'm sorry that I'm taking you away from the party." Naminé said, her voice quiet. She was afraid that she was disturbing his thoughts since his face was pensive and brooding. She almost thought that he would not respond, but he surprised her by turning his face to her.
"It's fine. I like my time alone. My favorite time is night, so I don't mind being out at times like this."
Naminé didn't know what to make of Ven's statement. In a way, it somewhat troubled her just by the fact that he liked to go around the city and his favorite time was night. She felt as if she was drawing too many conclusions, but she guessed that it never hurt to be too careful.
Ven stopped walking and Naminé almost walked into him. She looked up and noticed that they were at her house. He walked faster than she thought. Ven was looking at her and she gathered the courage to look him in the eye. There was shadow over his face from the lights of her house. It made him look a little menacing, especially with his brooding expression.
"Thank you for walking me home." Naminé watched his reaction as she spoke to him. Ven looked up from his feet and met her eyes. She noticed that his blue eyes were even darker, almost black.
"You're welcome. You shouldn't have walked alone at this time of night anyways." said Ven, his lips barely moving. Naminé smiled at his response, but not as brightly as she would have in another situation. His latter sentence gave her a sense of foreboding, although she didn't know if it was intended or not.
Naminé took a step onto her doorstep. "Good night, Ven."
Ven gave her one last smile, which was barely visible from the shadows on his face. "'Night."
Naminé regretted shutting the door as she stepped inside her house. He was a nice boy, she decided, only slightly suspicious. No, that wasn't the right word. Ven was mysterious, but he certainly was enjoyable company. Was this what was alluring to boys, their mysteriousness? Naminé knew that Kairi would simply laugh at her phrasing, but she was serious. Many differences existed between males and females, and no matter how good a relationship was, there were always secrets.
Naminé made her way down the hallway, treading quietly as she passed the closed door of her father's office. He always worked late in there, getting as much done as he could in a day. She didn't dare disturb him and his work ethic, so she continued up the stairs and into her room.
After she undressed, Naminé laid down on her bed, reflecting on her unusual night. When she closed her eyes, what she saw were Ven's stormy blue eyes. As she opened them, Naminé realized that she had never actually looked at him. The whole time she had looked at his face, but never once did she take in what he was wearing. She tried to think as hard as she could and yet she could not remember anything else about him. She finally gathered that he had been wearing a long sleeved garment, most likely a coat since she had felt its cuff brush against her hand as he had pulled her along on their walk.
Thinking of their walk, Naminé couldn't get his ominous statement out her head. Was he talking from experience when he mentioned the potential dangers of walking alone at night? He didn't seem like someone to have such a haunted past, but she supposed that one never knew. Naminé wanted to trust him. She always looked for an excuse to trust anyone, and she thought that Ven was no exception.
She wanted to see him again, but her heart sunk when she remembered that he wasn't at school very much since he said he took classes at the college. That meant she wouldn't be able to see him much. Naminé sighed as she brushed a strand of stray hair from her brow. She would just have to be optimistic, which she wasn't often, and hope that she would come across him at school.
The next day Naminé was upset that she didn't get to see Ven at school. Rather than drawing during lunch she spent the time looking for his blonde spikes but to no avail. She didn't even see Lea, so she suspected that he took classes at the college like Ven.
After lunch as she was walking to class with Kairi, Naminé was bombarded with questions since she had been occupied during the party with Sora.
"So, what happened between you and Ven?" she asked anxiously, her eyes wide and expectant.
Naminé shrugged, casting her eyes down. "Nothing, we just talked."
"Naminé¸ I saw how you were looking at him. So did you two hit it off?" gushed Kairi.
Naminé sighed. "I don't know, we just talked, Kairi. He seemed nice, although he was kind of mysterious, I suppose," Naminé shouldered her bag nervously. "Kairi, how well do you know Ven?"
Kairi glanced upward in thought. "I don't know him all that well, but I know that he is known more for his friends. He's shifty, you could say, I know that Sora doesn't like him, but I don't know why that is."
"Sora doesn't like him?" Naminé was surprised. Sora was the most optimistic and energetic person she knew. She had never known him to not like anything or anyone.
"I don't know. He just kind of gives them a weird glare whenever he sees them. It's like he has some sort of grudge or something." Kairi said dismissively.
Naminé nodded slowly. "Now that I think of it, I remember Ven got kind of stiff when you two came up to us."
"You can ask him when you see him next, then Naminé." Kairi said grinning as they entered their classroom.
Naminé looked at her, a blank expression on her face. "Kairi, I don't know when I'm going to see him next. I don't even know his last name." she said, sitting down in her desk.
Kairi giggled, plopping down in the desk in front of her. "Naminé, he's in our grade. I thought you were supposed to be the wise, knowledgeable one. Strife, Ventus Strife." she answered.
Naminé leaned forward towards Kairi. "Strife? That's an interesting last name."
"More like ironic." said Kairi.
The bell rang just as the last students entered the classroom. Naminé sat back in her seat, thinking to herself. Ventus Strife. So Ven was short for his full name. How comes she had never heard of him before? Maybe he transferred later in our school years, thought Naminé.
Even later that day she couldn't stop thinking of him. It was strange, for never before had something not related to art or academics been stuck in her head for so long. Naminé self diagnosed herself that something was wrong with her, but she just didn't know what. She didn't find a somewhat solid answer until the next day when she finally saw him.
Naminé noticed him from her spot under the tree. He was with his friends during lunch, laughing and looking much happier than he had been at the party. Lea was to his right and a kid with a dirty blonde faux hawk was in front of him. She couldn't help herself and this time fully looked at the mysterious boy from the party.
Ven was wearing the school uniform that was required, but it wasn't messy like his companions'. His pants were slightly baggy and his shirt and jacket were neat only with wrinkles at the elbows. His shirt collar was not very neatly creased however with the corners almost turned up and his tie lay flat down his chest. Naminé noticed that Ven was very slim with a thin torso. She also noticed that he was short compared to some of the other boys at the school. He wasn't much taller than her, rather about the same height as Sora. Lea was much taller than him while the other boy stood only a few inches over Ven. Naminé couldn't believe that such an attractive looking guy had found interest in her at a darkened party.
She didn't realize that she was nearly staring at the small group until, almost by coincidence, Ven turned her direction. Naminé didn't have enough time to look down at her sketchbook, which was slanted away from her, when his blue eyes met hers. It almost felt like time froze for those few seconds until Ven's lips tweaked upward into a smirk-like smile. Naminé's breath hitched in her throat as he began walking over. She felt even more nervous when she saw the looks Ven's friends had on their faces.
"How are you, Naminé?" Ven asked cordially. Naminé tore her eyes from Lea and the boy with the faux hawk and looked up at him. He was giving her a full smile now, as if he knew what expression the other two had on their faces.
"F-fine, I've been good. How are you?" Naminé stammered.
Ven rubbed the back of his neck. "I've been OK."
In order to avoid an awkward silence, Naminé continued conversing. "I didn't see you yesterday." Naminé then realized how discomfiting the statement was and averted her gaze from his.
"I had class then. I take classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays." he said, a smile curling on his lips at her comment.
Naminé guessed that he had given her the days that he wasn't at school for a reason. Or was that just her imagination?
"Uh, who's your other friend?" she asked.
Ven waved his two friends over, making Naminé's heart pound. He was going to introduce them to her? She had never been around so many boys at once, especially all alone.
"This is Lea, as I pointed out at the party," Ven mock-punched the red head, who held his hand out for Naminé. She shook it and tilted her head up to look up at him. He had a long face and two peculiar green inverse tear tattoos under his eyes that brought out their bright green hue. His eyes carried an uneasy look, almost dangerous. It made her nervous. "And this is Dyme." Naminé gave a small smile at the blonde, who grinned at her. He had a lax appearance coinciding with his obvious easy-going attitude. His blue eyes were round and innocent yet he held a very teen-angst demeanor.
"Nice to meet you." said the two in unison, making Ven roll his eyes.
"Idiots," he muttered, making Naminé giggle. "I−"
The bell rang, cutting Ven off. His eyebrows lowered so he almost looked angry, but then he turned back to her.
"I'm glad that I got to see you today, Naminé. Maybe we'll see each other more often." He gave her a smile which sent a strange feeling through Naminé's body. Ven held up his hand in a silent farewell before he, Lea and Dyme turned and walked off.
Naminé sat on her bed facing an impossible decision. She felt the sweat in her palms as she held her rarely used cell phone in her hand. Kairi's name was already projected on the screen, a button away from contact and yet Naminé couldn't bring herself to call her best friend.
What she really needed to do was talk to Kairi about…boy troubles, something that Naminé had never had to face. Naminé never thought that she would come to this, and yet she could not stop thinking of Ven. It was a strange feeling; one of facination rather than curiosity, longing than infatuation.
When she thought back to when she met Ven at Lea's party, Naminé realized that she hadn't felt the "spark" Kairi always said she felt with Sora. No, it was more like something being pulled from her body, her soul, maybe? She didn't know, but it felt like something had been released from her, as if she had found something she hadn't known she had been looking for. It was hard to explain, but that was the only way Naminé could even attempt to describe it.
In defeat, Naminé fell back onto her bed. Ven probably saw her as a girl he met at a party, nothing else. She wasn't special, no matter how many people told her she was, or unique, or other appraising words. She was different, and Naminé knew it. She couldn't even describe herself in hardly a complimentary way. Who would even want to be with her?
It was a few hours later when Naminé woke up. She hadn't even realized that she had drifted off to sleep. She reluctantly stood up and dragged her feet across her room. She stopped in front of her mirror and couldn't help but stare at herself. Naminé flattened the hem of her white dress self-consciously. In one word, she thought she was plain. If someone looked into her closet it would be full of mainly white, some gray, and a few black clothes. The colors enhanced her already extremely pale skin. Her blonde hair almost clashed with the bleached white dresses she wore. Kairi's words echoed in her head, monochrome freak. Of course she would never tell that to her face, but Naminé knew if they weren't best friends, that's what she would be thinking.
That was what most of the school probably thought of her. Naminé's eyes ran over her skinny body. No one ever talked to her except for Kairi. She got along with nearly all of the teachers, and yet Ven still approached her at school. But why? It was puzzling for Naminé, something she questioned nearly ever hour ever since she met him.
She was tearing herself to pieces over a boy. She was falling apart. Soon she would be as good as a ghost; no one would notice her, not even Kairi. She would simply blend into the crowd so that not even Ven would pay her attention.
Naminé felt like she had a drizzly gray cloud drifing over her head for the rest of week. What made it worse was that Kairi was hanging out even more with Sora than before. Naminé sat at lunch, alone with nothing to stare at but her sketchpad. She hadn't drawn anything for days. She felt empty.
"Are you all right?" Slowly Naminé lifted her head only to meet the eyes of Ven. He was bent over so that his eyes were level with hers. Surprisingly, they were full of concern and emotion.
Naminé couldn't answer, as her throat was too dry. She felt a barely audible squeak escape from her lips as Ven's fingers touched the sensitive skin under her chin, lifting it so her face was directly facing his.
"I've heard that you've been having a rough week. Does that have something to do with me?"
Naminé wanted to shake her head, but it was small and hardly a motion. "Why do you care? Why do you care about a girl like me?"
Ven seemed taken aback at her statement and sat down next to on the cold stone bench. Naminé only just suppressed a shiver as his fingers left her skin.
"Should I not? If you think that I see you as just a girl I met at a party on a Monday night, then you're wrong." Naminé saw in his eyes that he was dead serious. The look in his eyes immediately told her that she could not oppose his statement.
"But—"
"I think you're lonely," Ven's voice was soft but it was also cold and somber. "I think that you've wanted someone to take notice of you, to cure you of your loneliness, but you've been so alone for so long that you can't absorb the fact that they just might want you to take them in as well."
Naminé's eyes were wide as he spoke, his last few words rushed like a secret spilling from the soul. It was a cool day, but Naminé didn't know if Ven's cheeks were white from what he had just told her or from the temperature.
"But you have friends. You go to parties and hang out with people. How could you be lonely?" Naminé dared to ask.
Ven's face fell slightly. He hesitated before responding. "They're not…I met them at where I work. If you think that I'm a free social roamer then you're wrong," He squeezed his hands together making his knuckles turn a sickly pale color. "I know you don't see it, but really I'm a lot like you, Naminé."
Naminé didn't respond. For a second she caught a glimpse of a small, lonely boy whom she realized must be how Ven felt on the inside. The sight was familiar in a melancholy way; it was how she sometimes pictured herself.
"You don't have to push everyone away so quickly, Naminé. I know that's how you survive; it's how I used to operate, but I learned that it's no way to live," Ven reached forward and touched his thumb against her cheek. "I'd like this as a way to propose a sort of friendship between us, Naminé. So, if you will accept?" His voice was nearly a murmur and it washed over Naminé like winter's breath, dry and icy.
Abrupty, Ven leaned back and rose from the bench, keeping his eye on her. "I can't really say think about it, but I'll wait. Act with actions, Naminé. It's the only way things get done in this world."
And then, he left. Naminé sat there alone once more, both puzzled and euphorious. He would wait for her. She felt like she was falling into limbo and she couldn't get out.
The weekend passed in a blur as Naminé tried to do anything to keep her mind off of the impending decision Ven presented her with. Every time it did cross her mind however, Naminé tried to convince herself that it really wasn't a difficult decision. It wasn't as if he had asked her to marry him, no it was nothing like that. He had simply asked her if they could develop a platonic relationship.
Naminé shook her head, sending her stray hairs flying from her stress over the matter. He had cared enough to ask her straight out if she wanted to be his friend. Then why was she having such a hard time with the decision? What had shaken her was that Ven had figured out what she had been afraid of admitting to herself: she was lonely. But it made her feel better when he had told her that he was the same way. She was not alone.
That was what had frightened Naminé in the first place. The whole time she had thought that she was alone in the world, and yet she wasn't. What she wanted was someone to bring her out of her darkness and understand. For years that's what she had to face on her own. Her father did not know what it felt like. He loved and supported her, but he also worked so much that they did not often have time alone together. Kairi may have been her best friend, but Naminé knew deep down that if they had not been friends from such a young age that they wouldn't be friends at all.
Naminé did not expect at all to meet the one person she needed to understand her at a Monday night party. She also did not expect that person to be someone like Ven. And yet here she was, contemplating what to make of him. How could she push him away one he was on the one that she had been looking for since so long ago? Naminé knew that she couldn't. It would be ridiculous if she did and then who knew if she'd be able to find someone that understood her as well as he did later on?
Naminé was walking to school on Monday when she reached her decision. It took the entire weekend to reach it, but she finally decided that she had to stop avoiding it. She knew that anything that she tried to run away from would always come back as a curse.
Naminé slowed her breathing as she thought through her final decision. She was not one who took risks, but always played it safe. The decision as not a safe one, and she was not completely comfortable with it, but there was no way around it. She dipped her head down and stared at her feet as they moved along the sidewalk. Naminé felt dizzy from all the considerations she had gone through during the weekend. She started when she felt a firm grip on her shoulder.
Naminé's hair whipped over her shoulder as she saw who had touched her. It was Ven. His icy blue eyes struck her once more and a small smile curled on his lips.
"Good morning, Naminé." he said calmly. She watched as he stuck his hands into his deep pockets.
"Good morning." she replied quietly. At her response, Ven's smile grew even more. Then in a second it was wiped off his face.
"Did you consider my proposal?" Ven asked, quickly getting to the heart of the matter.
Naminé couldn't help by sigh, thinking of all the time she had spent on it. She looked up to his face and was surprised that he looked crestfallen.
"I should've known you wouldn't want some stranger coming directly to you. I'll just leave then and−"
"No!" Naminé grabbed his arm as he had begun to retreat from her. "If you think that I was going to say no, then you were wrong. I-I thought about what you said about me, and you were right. I realized that I've been waiting too long for someone like you to understand me. I've always wanted someone who was like me."
Ven's eyes widened a fraction, then he relaxed, his eyes warming. "You accept?" His voice sounded shocked.
Naminé laughed. "Yes, I accept."
Ven smiled and glanced down at the sidewalk. "I'm sorry if I'm so formal. It's just that I didn't want to give you a bad impression."
Naminé gave him a smile. "You were trying to impress me?"
Ven looked at her slyly. "Did you think I was?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I barely know you."
"Well then how about we have a more proper introduction?" Ven held out his hand. Naminé took it and shook it. "I'm Ventus Strife, but everyone calls me Ven. My father calls me by full name when he's being stern with me. And you can joke about my last name since I suppose it kinda goes with my life."
Naminé nodded. "Naminé Kumiko." she replied simply. Ven gave her a bright smile, one that fit in a strange way on his face, as if he didn't smile like that very often.
"What do you mean it goes with your life?" Naminé dared to ask.
Ven's eyes grew dark. He looked away from her. "Let's just say that my life is hardly normal by any standards." His tone was cold and told her that he didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"You're very mysterious, Ven," She said quietly. "I want to learn more about you, but if you keep locking things away within you I can't help you extract the things that hurt."
Ven met her gaze and it had bone chilling steel in them, as well as a watery blue that held the look of a sad young child. "I'm sorry if I seem to push you away. It's just that I'm not ready to delve deep inside me yet."
Naminé didn't know what to say. Ven was recessing deep into himself and building up defenses around him and he wouldn't let her in. She respected his privacy, but at the same time she knew that together they could solve their insecurities if he would just open up. Naminé felt that she was up to it since she now had someone to connect with, but she was worried about Ven.
As they continued on to the school, she couldn't help by notice that he seemed almost haunted by something, but she didn't know what. With is head dipped down she saw how the shadows crossed his face, giving him a look that worried Naminé. She tried to erase the thoughts from her head, but she couldn't; he was still a stranger to her. Was it really safe to trust him?
