Disclaimer: Don't own characters.
.White. is. the. New. Pink.
.One-shot.
If Naminé knew one thing, it was that today wasn't Valentine's Day.
In fact, today was March 14th- a month after the accursed day. So tell me why her friends were still gushing about it?
"Remember when Sora gave me those flowers? They're still blooming!" Kairi prattled excitedly.
"Wow, that's some quality roses! I already ate all the chocolate Hayner gave me," Olette laughed.
Selphie snorted. "You mean, I already ate it all. But I loved the bear Tidus got me. It smells of vanilla still!"
Naminé rolled her eyes, sipping at her juice as the morning bus took a turn. It wasn't like she was bitter; she just was tired of the nonstop talk of the stupid day of love… Oh god, maybe she was bitter.
At that thought, she suddenly sneezed.
"Oh, sorry, Nam. I know you didn't have a Valentine," Olette said kindly.
"It is my favorite holiday," Kairi said dreamily. "It must suck to not participate…"
"Oh contraire," Naminé said, smiling. The girls snapped their heads in her direction. "Me and a cheesy pizza shared a lovely evening with my ice cream."
The girls sighed.
"It's too much to hope that our little Nami actually had a romantic connection," Selphie sighed.
"At this rate, Naminé's gonna blow up like a balloon," Olette said concernedly.
Naminé guffed, "I'm right here!"
"You know, we should get Naminé a Valentine! I mean, it's a month late but it'll be in time for Spring Break. Plus, isn't your birthday tomorrow, Nam?" Kairi suggested.
"We can make everyday Valentine's Day!" Selphie said excitedly.
Naminé stammered but it made no difference. Olette and Selphie latched onto the idea like she did to donuts. There was no letting go of this ridiculous idea now…
Saved by the bus parking, Naminé popped up from her seat and ran off the bus to stand in front of her school: Twilight Prep. She tugged at her school uniform tie. Even though today was the start of the week long school festival, that didn't stop the staff from squeezing in some school work. They had a half day, and then Naminé had a whole list of things she had to do for the festival.
Normally, she didn't care to participate, but signups for activities were on— you guessed it: Valentine's Day. In order not to look at all the making out that day, Naminé looked down and signed her name on a few sheets of paper.
"Hey, Nam! How do you feel about Riku as a Valentine?" called Selphie.
Naminé's eyes bugged out of her head before she hurriedly shook her head. "Can you be a little quieter with this stupid idea? I don't want everyone to associate me with you crazy people…"
Selphie stuck her tongue at her before opening her mouth to retort (and probably suggest another bachelor) when Sora showed up.
"Morning ladies!" he greeted, quickly pecking Kairi on her cheek.
Selphie snickered. "No need to keep it PG for our sakes, Sora. We already know all the dirty details," she laughed as Olette giggled and elbowed her.
Sora rolled his eyes. "Speaking of changing subjects, did you know that Roxas and Xion broke up?" Sora asked.
"What?" they all exclaimed.
"Why?" asked Naminé and Olette.
"Forget that, when?!" asked Selphie.
"Um… why is that more important?" asked Kairi.
Selphie huffed. "I always know everything that goes on at this school, and yet, Sora of all people is coming to me with news. This is inexcusable!"
Naminé could almost see everyone sweat-drop like an anime at her words.
"Apparently, she and Riku might have something and so Roxas gave her the option and she chose Riku. He told me that they'd been drifting for a while anyway so he's okay with it," Sora explained shrugging.
"Hmm…" Kairi hummed thoughtfully.
"Mhmmm…" Selphie hummed as well, wigging her eyebrows.
"Mmmmh?" Olette questioned hummed.
Naminé looked at them like they grew a third head.
"It's perfect," Kairi sighed.
"And fate," Selphie added.
"What is?" Naminé and Sora asked.
"Isn't it obvious? We're gonna set Naminé and Roxas together!" Olette said excitedly.
Naminé groaned, slapping her forehead. "Guys…"
"What? It's not like he's ugly," Kairi laughed.
"In fact, we're doing you a favor. He's a nice slice of man pie," Selphie said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively again.
"And he's sweet, Nam," Olette reasoned. "Don't you like him?"
"It's not that…" Naminé sighed.
And she was being truthful, it wasn't that. Truth be told, Naminé had a small crush on the Struggle star when she first met him two years ago. She remembered their meeting vividly: her asking for a spare pencil and his quick response to give her his. It was short but sweet. However, Naminé wasn't one to have crushes for long… it got boring having a one-sided love. Besides, Naminé didn't want to be a rebound or second place. She'd rather be alone.
But she couldn't explain that to the raging hormone lover-eyed girls in front of her.
"Look, just drop it. If you want to give me a gift for my birthday, get me some new violin strings. I'm on my last set," Naminé offered, patting her violin case affectionately. "Or a cupcake."
And with that she left for the kitchens for the festival prep.
"We'll keep that in mind!" Sora called.
"You know, there's 45 minutes before classes start…" Kairi said, smiling her devious smile to her comrades.
"Ooh… I wanna help!" said a voice from behind them.
"Wow, Nam, this looks amazing!"
Naminé looked at her handy work and had to agree. It did look good. The theme for the festival was "Around the World" so naturally she was in charge of France. The croissants looked crispy and buttery, the chocolate mousse was mouthwatering, and the Éclair was to die for.
"Thanks. I'm glad it turned out so good," Naminé beamed.
Yuna, head of the cooking club, smiled at her before turning back to the pastries. "Where did you have the time?" she asked. "Croissants take 15 hours! You must have been up all night."
"Oh, you know…" Naminé shrugged.
Suddenly, the bell rang, saving her from answering such a dangerous question. Naminé hung up her apron, waved good-bye, and then ran off to her locker to quickly grab her books.
However, her locker had other plans.
As soon as she opened her locker, a bouquet of red, white, and pink roses fell into her face; the loose petals scattering all over the floor. Naminé couldn't help but blush violently at the gesture, especially when hallway walkers stopped to "ooh" and "aww" at the floral mess. Naminé huffed at the petals in her face but held on to the bouquet and looked at the card.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Naminé! Sorry it's so late!" –Roxas
Naminé read the card twice. A third time. And a fourth before laughing. Then she proceeded to ditch her first period and head to the library, where she knew a certain spiky head would be.
"Nice try, but I know you wrote this," Naminé chuckled.
"What? Moi? Never!" Axel said, appalled. "It clearly says 'Roxas'."
"First, I haven't shown you the note yet. And second, your handwriting is better than Roxas'. His looks like a right handed person trying to write with his left," Naminé sighed. Then she held up the flowers. "Did Kairi get to you?"
Axel looked like he was going to deny everything before sighing.
"Demyx told her that I burnt Zexion's stupid first edition dictionary… The rest is history."
"And Marluxia was in on it too?"
"Yeah… To quote, 'Nami and Roxy would be soo cute together'," Axel said in his most accurate Marluxia voice.
"That's what I thought," Naminé said smugly. She looked at the roses, thinking. "Well, I'll take these as a birthday present, so thanks. Anything else I need to know?"
"That you should head to your second period?" Axel said uncertainly.
Naminé smiled, giving him a hug before leaving.
'Thank god I don't have Math with anyone,' Naminé thought, enjoying the silence. She still had 5 minutes before the class started.
"Hey, Nam."
Naminé looked up to see Roxas walking to the desk next to her. She smiled at him before remembering her friends' plans and turning away.
"So, I heard you're my understudy for the band show today," he said as he sat down and gathered his stuff.
"Yeah, so make sure nothing happens to you, okay? I'm a little rusty," Naminé joked.
"On that note, I'll be sure to bubble wrap myself. You know, just in case," laughed Roxas.
Naminé giggled until she noticed that he was closer to her than he was a second ago. Roxas had gotten up and knelt next to her, looking her straight in the eye. She could count the number of stripes on his tie. She could see the blue hues swirling in his ocean eyes.
"Hey…" he started.
Naminé could feel her face heat up. What was he doing? They were in a classroom!
"…you have a rose petal in your hair," he said, brushing at her hair gently.
"Oh… thanks," Naminé said stunned, noticing he still didn't back away.
"Those are nice flowers. Who are they from?" he asked smoothly.
She almost said they were from him before mentally shaking her head and answering.
"Um, they're for my birthday tomorrow… from Axel," said Naminé breathlessly.
God, the girls were rubbing off on her…
Roxas was about to reply when the door open. The magic spell lifted as the class filed in. without a word, but with a cheeky grin, Roxas got up and went back to his seat. Naminé felt her heart still beating like it was going to jump out of her chest and race down the hall. She huffed at her reaction… Yesterday, she would've been fine: calm, cool, collected. But today? A big pile of mush. Thankfully, the teacher proceeded with roll, making Naminé focus on the subject.
That was until a blond mullet teen, dressed in a toga, painted red face, wings, and a guitar, burst in class.
"Oh god…" Naminé groaned as Roxas said, "Demyx?" and wearing a thoroughly confused expression. Naminé couldn't blame him.
"I've got a Valentine gram!" he exclaimed proudly. "For a Miss Naminé!"
Naminé felt her face get as red as Demyx's painted face. She shrank down in her seat while the class snickered and laughed.
"Excuse me, but Valentine's day is over. By a month! And your toga is way too short for school restrictions!" boomed the teacher.
"Pish posh; who are we to get in the way of love?" Demyx proclaimed, nearly avoiding the teacher and reaching Naminé's desk.
"Demy, dude, you don't have—" Naminé started weakly.
"Um, yes I do," he said with a fierce attitude. "You guys are cute together. Now to the song!"
"Song?!" Naminé squeaked.
Demyx then placed his foot on the seat of the empty desk, as to only show off his excellent thighs, and balanced the guitar. He started playing:
"Sugar is sweet, but you are sweeter.
Chocolate is so good, but you are great
to be a pal, a friend, or even a date.
You are not just anybody, you are somebody
I want to be around.
So come looking for me
when Valentine comes to town!"
Naminé sank even further into her chair, her notebook rising to cover her embarrassed face. The girls in her class cooed while the guys continued to snicker and whoop.
"Wow, someone really likes you, Nami," Roxas chuckled, looking unfazed.
'Kill me now,' Naminé thought miserably.
"Okay, Demyx, you're done… Please go put on some pants," Naminé pleaded.
"Actually, there's a second one…" Demyx explained.
"Oh for heaven's sake!" the teacher shrieked, running out of the room. Probably (hopefully) getting security.
"I'd say you got 'bout 45 seconds, Dem," Roxas stated.
"Right!" he said as Naminé groaned again.
"Don't encourage him!" she snapped, but Demyx already started to sing again:
"R is for Relishing Romance,
O is for Outstanding Osculate,
X is for X-rated Xylophone—"
Naminé slapped her forehead at that last line ("Really? Xylophone?") But thankfully, security stepped in and dragged Demyx away before he could finish his horribly transparent song.
"See you at the festival, Nami!" he called out, winking at her.
"Huh. Crazy day…" Roxas commented.
Naminé sighed heavily. "You have no idea."
"Kairi, you gotta stop this. Please, I'm begging you," Naminé pleaded. "I can't take much more of this."
"Oh, boo. Love is a struggle, but it's okay. This last one is fool proof," Kairi said optimistically.
Finally it was time for the festival. Naminé was dressed in her casual wear, snacking on some cookies. But even the cookies weren't helping with her stress. She didn't want the "fool proof" plan to involve her anymore. Couldn't some of this embarrassment go to Roxas? Why only her?
"So this next plan actually involves Roxas since we're trying to get him to ask you out," Kairi explained.
Naminé sighed in relief. It was like she could read her mind. "Oh good," she said, turning back to her cookie.
"In position, Selphie?" Kairi said into her phone.
Her phone beeped back.
"Hell yes! Let's do this!" Selphie's voice said back, a little muffled.
Naminé raised an eyebrow. "Do you have an app for turning your phone into a walkie talkie?"
"Yes. Isn't it cool? Only 99 cents!"
"Kai, why don't you just call Selphie?"
"…Because this is cooler…" Kairi said slowly, like she was trying to explain this to a child.
Naminé rubbed her temples, counting to five.
"Anyway, want to see the plan in action?" asked Kairi, pointing over at the opposite booth.
There was Selphie in an even more ridiculous outfit of Cupid. Naminé groaned, not sure if she wanted to watch the rest of the plan unfold. But she didn't have a choice; Selphie pulled out her bow and an arrow and shot it at Roxas' knee. He, who was talking to Sora, looked down at the suction arrow completely puzzled, before pulling it off.
Naminé looked at Kairi. "So, that's the grand plan? Seems tame compared to my torment."
"Plan B, Selphie," Kairi walkied.
"Roxas! You got hit by the arrow!" Selphie practically screamed as she ran to him before "accidently" bumping into him and they both came crashing down into the booth. The booth, not built to support two adult bodies, came smashing down. The crash could be heard from the other side of the grounds.
"Oh god…"
"Too much, Selph! Abort! Abort!"
"Hey man, you okay?"
Naminé hurried over with Kairi and Olette, and saw Roxas' ankle twisted under Selphie's back. Naminé helped Selphie up but the damage had been done. Roxas winced as he gingerly moved his ankle.
"Hey, you okay?" asked Naminé, bending down to get a better look.
"Yeah, it's not broken like last year…" Roxas sighed, recalling the bitzball incident where he broke his leg in three different spots, including his ankle. "It's just sore. I'm sure it'll be okay."
"Rox, I'm so sorry!" Selphie whined, rubbing her arm where she fell.
Naminé offered a hand. "Try to stand. You've got the show in 15 minutes, remember?"
"Show?" squeaked Selphie, Kairi, and Olette.
"Yeah; Roxas is going to perform for the band. It's a solo, right?" Sora explained.
"It was… It's Naminé's now," Roxas sighed. He got halfway up before Sora had to support him.
"Why Nam's?" Selphie asked, confused.
"I'm his understudy… I told you last week, guys," Naminé sighed.
"So much for fool-proof…" Olette whispered.
Naminé took out her violin carefully from its case. As she ran her fingers along the wood, she sighed. When she signed up, she didn't think she'd have to actually perform. She didn't even know what Roxas had been planning to play…
Oh, well. The best performances were improved, right?
And she had been working on a new song…
The curtain rose and polite applause sounded. Naminé held her instrument confidently and walked out on stage in her dance shoes. She saw her friends' faces in the crowd along with her teachers; even Roxas was sitting and waiting. She looked behind her to see the full orchestra waiting for her cue.
Then, after a nod, Naminé started to play.
She was playing "Passion" by Utada Hikaru but in full orchestra and her lead strings, it sounded completely different. Naminé moved as she played, closing her eyes, and feeling the music. Trying to become music.
She was glad for the horns and drums, for it was easier to dance to a straight beat instead of just strings.
Halfway there and Naminé was just thinking that she could do it when one of her violin strings snapped. Her eyes flew open as she felt the lowest key was gone. However she kept playing— the rest of the song in a higher note. The show must go on.
"Wow, Nam, I had no idea you were so talented!" Selphie gushed.
"You know, a girl got famous on YouTube for dancing and violin playing? You should video your performances! You were better than her," Olette suggested.
Naminé grinned. "Thanks, guys. But I don't think I'm there yet."
"Oh, nonsense. You were epic!" Kairi beamed. "Oh, but sorry you had to perform in the first place."
"Yeah…" Olette and Selphie agreed sadly.
Naminé smiled. "It's okay. Maybe next time you should just let things happen naturally instead of forcing it?"
Before they could answer, Sora hurried over.
"Hey, Nam… Brilliant up there," Sora huffed out.
"You okay?" Naminé asked.
"Yeah… yeah. Roxas asked if I could get you for him," he said, straightening up.
"Oooh…." Kairi and Olette cooed.
"The arrow worked!" Selphie exclaimed proudly.
"It's probably because I took his solo, guys. Jeez…" Naminé snapped.
They'd never learn.
Naminé walked over to the nurse's office quickly. She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. When she reached the nurses, she knocked before entering.
"Rox? Sora said you wanted to see me?" Naminé asked.
Roxas was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. He looked so peaceful that Naminé felt guilty for interrupting. But when she stepped in, Roxas sat up to look at her.
"Hi."
"Hi…" Naminé responded. Her eyes shifted to his leg. "How's the ankle?"
"Fine," he shrugged. "Nurse iced it and gave me a pain pill. Said I can probably walk on it tomorrow."
"Oh good," she said in relief.
It was silent.
"Beautiful performance. Seriously, I couldn't have done better," Roxas complemented.
"Thanks," Naminé said bashfully, blushing. "I'm sure what you had planned would've been better though."
"Well, maybe more in tune…" Roxas allowed. "What happened?"
"Oh… yeah, I snapped a string halfway. I'm too rough on my cords," Naminé chuckled.
Roxas laughed softly. "Well, good thing I got these this morning then," he said, pulling out a small box with a white bow on top.
Naminé walked closer with a questioning look on her face. "What's this?"
"Sora told me your birthday is tomorrow. Plus, today is White Day so…" Roxas said, handing her the box.
"Yeah, but like… in Japan…" Naminé said.
"Just take the gift, Nami."
Naminé looked at the box (which looked like a jewelry box) before popping open the top. Inside wasn't jewelry (thank god) but a new set of violin strings. Naminé was stunned.
"Thank you," Naminé said sincerely.
"Sure, no problem. Happy birthday," Roxas said, rubbing the back of his head.
Naminé grinned before leaning over and planting a sweet kiss on his cheek.
"This is just what I wanted. Really, thanks," she said, holding the box to her chest.
Roxas, with a dust of pink staining his cheeks, nodded. He looked too choked up to speak so Naminé made for the door.
"Hey, Nam?"
She turned around.
"Are you doing anything tomorrow?"
As she thought, Naminé realized she didn't have any plans. She shook her head.
"Did you… want to hang out? I don't know, do something fun together?" Roxas asked.
"For my birthday?" Naminé joked. "I don't know…"
"I'll get you a bacon cupcake with a candle," Roxas offered.
Naminé grinned. "I can't say no to cupcakes… It's a deal.
.End.
A/N- So, I know I've been in and out but I'm kinda dealing with somethings in RL. I actually have a story idea that I think I'll use my drama to write it out. On that happy note:
Happy birthday to me!
That's right, Like dear ol' Namine, (in this story anyway), my birthday is tomorrow: May 12th.
And since I have to work and everyone's busy, I'm not really looking forward to it. So this is my birthday present to myself. I actually wrote this on V-day but got busy and completely forgot. My bad.
Anyway, hope all the mother's out there are having an awesome holiday. I was actually born on mother's day so I was my mom's first gift. My excuse for not getting her a good gift in the coming years...
Please leave a review if you liked this! :D or if you just wanna say hey or wish me birthday wishes. Your words always make me smile!
Thanks for reading,
~Ice
