Author's Comments: I changed some of the properties of this story; keep in mind that this story will not focus completely on one pairing. Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I own Imani.
As he skimmed over the set of problems Professor Sark assigned, he had to wonder for the billionth time: What did Advanced Calculus have to do with Worlds History? When was he ever going to have to know what "x" equaled? When?
"You may work with a partner or two for the remainder of the period," Professor Sark droned.
Immediately he scooted his desk closer to the one directly on his left—the one his best friend of nineteen-ish years was sitting in. "This is like high school all over again," he grumbled.
Kairi nodded. "Tackle and compare like old times, then?"
"Like old times."
For the next half an hour he and Kairi diligently resisted the urge to tear their hair from their scalps and tugged their brains to figure out the solutions. One hand's tanned fingers typed into his calculator while the other hand scribbled in numbers and symbols and so did Kairi's and her hair was shiny and looked soft and it looked more purple than red under the fluorescent which was kind of weird but it still looked good on Kairi because anything looked good on Kairi—
Oh.
"Done!" Kairi exhaled in relief, glancing up at him with those crystal blue eyes of hers. Her soft-looking hair fluttered as she lifted her head. "You ready?"
He nodded fervently, doing his best to shake away the warmth in his face without making himself dizzy. They took turns reciting their answers, erased and rewrote occasionally, then shut their textbooks and set everything to the side once they deemed they'd answered most of the questions correctly. Advanced Calculus had little to do with Communications, either.
"I was talking to Olette the other day and she said she and Hayner had been friends since elementary school before they started dating," Kairi suddenly said.
He blinked and nodded despite musing how random this topic was.
"That's kind of cool, huh?" A dazzling smile graced her pretty face. "Two best friends deepening their relationship."
Another bout of heat singed his cheekbones and he nodded again to shake it off. Of course it was cool. He wished he and Kairi could have that kind of relationship. "It happens a lot, right? Lots of people date their best friends and then they get married—"
He clamped his mouth shut with a loud snap of his teeth. Get married? He just mentioned getting married in front of Kairi.
She didn't seem to notice—she only widened her smile. "Yeah, I guess so, huh?"
He chuckled to cover up his embarrassment and she flipped open her planner to review her week. She'd look really, really good in white…and her fingers were nice and slim, neither bony and spindly or chubby and sausage-like…She'd definitely draw attention to them if there was something to give a sparkle like a ring—
"You wanna grab lunch after this at Timeless River, Sora?"
"Yeah!" he chirruped and she smiled again. When she turned back to her planner, he let a small grimace contort his face. He doubted she'd smile as freely if she ever caught wind of what he thought about when he was around her.
He drummed his fingertips on the marble reception desk. Today had to have been the slowest day he'd ever worked. Divine Rose had less than ten customers come in this morning and only six appointments were scheduled for this afternoon. Was he really required to be here?
Twelve twenty-two, his watch read. Sure, he only had less than two hours left of his shift, but was standing around idle worth the fourteen-munny-per-hour wage he had? He figured he could go without twenty-eight munny.
…Well, actually, no, he couldn't. Damn tuition.
Just as he was about to slump onto the desk and begin banging his head, the bell above the glass front door tinkled. He raised his eyes to the walk-in…and felt his heart stop. A blond girl in a white sundress entered, her blue eyes darting around the salon. She shouldered a tote bag and her arms were wrapped around a few notebooks.
He blinked repeatedly before his lips pursed into a small frown. She was pretty—beautiful, really—but there was something about her that nagged him…Why did he feel like he'd seen her somewhere before…?
"Hello," her soft—dare he say it, angelic—voice said as she approached the desk with a small smile. "Is Luxord in right now?"
With a slight shake he both answered her question and shook the hazy daze clouding his brain. "Uh, he just went out to lunch. He'll be back around one."
"Oh, I see. Um…okay." She offered another smile before turning around for the door. "Thank you."
"Did you need something from him?" he blurted. He had to find out why seeing this girl nagged him.
"Oh no. I just wanted to say hi. That's all."
"I can tell him you came by. What's your name?"
He congratulated himself. That was pretty smooth, asking for her name under the guise of helping her out. While helping her out. Of course he wanted to help her out.
"Namine," she replied.
He let the name roll around on his tongue. "Namine…"
Namine…Namine…Gah, he knew he heard that name somewhere before…
"Excuse me for asking," Namine gently cut into his thoughts, walking back to the desk, "but ha…have we met before?"
She was wondering the same thing? He had to have known who she was now. "I…I don't know…um…" He racked his brain for some sort of trigger to remind him. "My name's Roxas, if that helps. Roxas McCartney."
Apparently it did.
"Y-You're Roxas?" she cried, clapping a hand to her mouth. Her blue eyes widened tremendously. "Roxas from Twilight Town Elementary?"
A bit startled she'd know something like that, he hesitantly muttered, "Y-Yeah, I went there when I was a kid…"
"Me too! I remember you! You're the boy I was always paired up with for drawing class!"
He wrinkled his nose and flicked his eyes all over the salon as if searching for the memory. Drawing class? There was a drawing class? Oh right, and they were partnered to compare and give pointers to each other or something…and he was always with a blond girl with blue…eyes…
"Oh my God!" He snapped his fingers and pointed one at the girl. "Namine Snow?"
She nodded excitedly, her smile growing bigger by the second. "Yeah, that's me!"
"No way! It's been forever since I last saw you!"
"I almost didn't recognize you. You hair is different." He could feel her gaze touch on his spikes. "It looks good."
"Thanks." He ducked his head slightly before asking, "Why didn't you go to Twilight Town Middle School?"
"I moved here because of my mom's job."
"Oh…So you've been here since then?"
"Yeah…and you've been in Twilight Town?"
"Up until recently. I just moved here a few months ago because I'm going to HBU."
"Really? Me too!"
He could laugh out loud. This just kept getting better and better.
"What're you majoring in?" she asked.
"Communications."
"Oh so do you know Kairi Panettiere? She's my cousin."
"The redheaded girl, right? Yeah, I've seen her around once or twice." He let his eyes roam her pale face—her eyes, her soft-looking cheeks, her lips…"I can see the resemblance."
"A lot of people mistake us for twins," those lips moved.
He forced his eyes back to hers, stuffing his embarrassed laugh down his throat. "So what's your major?"
Namine lifted up one of the notebooks in her arms—a sketchbook. "Art."
"Sounds like you," Roxas chuckled almost fondly at her. "You were the best drawer in our class. I liked watching you draw."
"I remember having to remind you to draw your own picture before time ran out." She laughed and the corners of her eyes crinkled.
His cheeks tugged back, widening his smile. He really liked her laugh. It wasn't shrill or irritating. It was quite pleasant. And contagious. Did she laugh like this when they were in elementary school?
"So Roxas, I see you've met my cousin."
Roxas nearly leapt out of his skin when he spotted the blond hairdresser standing next to Namine. He couldn't remember hearing the bell above the door ring. Was Luxord always standing next to her?
"Hello Luxord." Namine unwound an arm from her books to hug the man. "Did you just get back?"
Luxord smirked, arching an eyebrow. "Quite honestly, I've been standing here watching you two go back and forth for the past five minutes."
Roxas blanched. Five minutes?
Her cheeks looked like they were tinged with pink. Roxas couldn't tell if it was the lighting or not, but he thought the pink looked nice. "W-Well I just wanted to drop by to say hello and then we realized we went to the same elementary school."
"Is that so? How nice it is that you two have reunited after all these years."
"Yeah. I have to get going. My class is going to start in a little bit." She backed towards the door once again. "It was nice seeing you again, Roxas."
Something sank in his chest. She was leaving already? "Yeah, you too. Maybe I'll see you around?"
"That'd be nice." She smiled one last time at him before turning and exiting the salon. His eyes followed her until she moved out of his line of sight. Whatever sank in his chest now soared high.
Namine Snow. He really hoped he'd see again soon.
She compared the reports with narrowed eyes. Once again, the test results of Mr. Ansem's examinations troubled her. Nothing about his condition made sense. Neither she nor any of the veteran doctors at Hollow Bastion Medical Center could determine what caused Mr. Ansem's peculiarities.
"Your thoughts, Dr. Flynn?" she quietly asked the other doctor in her office.
His coat rustled beside her as he reached up to rub his forehead. "I'd say he had dementia, but his cognitive ability is as sharp as mine," the young doctor muttered. "No disorientation whatsoever and he passed all the tests with flying colors."
"Any suggestions as to what we should try next?"
"Have you tried a behavior neurologist?"
"We've tried two."
"Third time might be the charm."
Despite the tired smile his lightened tone brought upon, she sighed wearily and finally put the reports down. "Perhaps we'll need to sleep on it more."
"I thought you didn't sleep."
She thought of droopy blue eyes and her smile grew. "Zack guilt-trips me by refusing to sleep unless I'm sleeping, too, even if he's just come home from a long shift at Seventh Heaven or night classes."
Dr. Flynn's smirked, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets. "So, Dr. Gainsborough…when do I get to meet the lucky guy?"
A glance at the clock on the wall told her their shifts were over for the night. Two pairs of green eyes met as she shrugged off her own coat and hung it on the back of her chair. "Are you free now?"
His eyes raked the angular man up and down, taking in his fire truck red hair, acid green eyes (lined with thin black pencil, no less), and triangular tattoos with an amused smirk. Aerith didn't mention that her best student looked like a rave hopper. It was refreshing, to say the least.
"Axel, this is my boyfriend Zack," Aerith said as she took a seat on one of the cracked leather stools.
"So you're Axel Flynn, huh?" he drawled, reaching over the counter to extend a hand to the guy. "Aerith talks about you a lot. A lot. I gotta remind her I'm a jealous man otherwise she'll go on and on."
After shaking his hand, Axel reached back to scratch the back of his spiky red head somewhat sheepishly. "Even I don't think I'm worth talking about that much."
He scoffed, "You kidding me? You're the youngest intern doctor at HBMC. 'S a pretty big deal especially since Aerith taught you."
She smiled, rolling her emerald eyes before asking, "Is Imani working?"
"She's in the back. Lemme go grab her." Zack strode the length of the counter until he reached the kitchen door, wiping his hands on his jeans. He pushed it open and found the girl sitting on her soda bottle crate stack, rolling her eyes at something Miles or Mike or whatever-his-name-is said on the radio.
A smirk tugged at his lips. "I don't see how listening to that sap nearly every night doesn't make you a secret hopeless romantic."
"You're forgetting who you're talking to," she deadpanned.
"Fine. Deny it." He held up his hands easily then jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Aerith's here. Thought you might wanna come say hi."
She settled into the corner further. "Give me a minute to continue being a secret hopeless romantic."
Zack's smirk etched deeper into his face. "She brought Axel Flynn with her, too."
He watched smugly as her jaw dropped and she leapt to her feet. "A…Axel Flynn? The Axel Flynn?"
"Maybe," he said with a shrug and a wink before turning around to head into the bar area again. "Only one way to find out."
As he emerged from the kitchen he heard Imani exhale sharply—exasperatedly—behind him and let a chuckle slip from his mouth. He loved messing with his favorite cousin.
Aerith's eyes landed on the girl following him out. "Hello, Imani."
"Hi," Imani answered, coming to a stop right next to him and jamming her thumbs into the pockets of her shorts. Her eyes flicked to Axel's…lingered there until her smile began to fall…then quickly tore back to Aerith's. "W…What's up?"
Zack eyed the girl with a quirked eyebrow. He hadn't missed that stutter…and she only stuttered whenever she felt flustered or nervous (a little-known, nearly untraceable habit he'd learned over the years). She was never flustered or nervous in front of Aerith.
"Axel," his girlfriend began, "this is Imani Brisce. She's one of my freshman students."
Oh, but Aerith came with a certain redheaded medical prodigy tonight.
"A future colleague, huh?" Axel's lips pulled back into a slightly feral grin aimed at Imani. "What field are you looking into?"
Her round face looked as if it was taped back by the cheeks into a stiff smile. She cleared her throat and murmured, "Cardiology."
"Nice. That goes hand-in-hand with neurology."
He forced down his other eyebrow from arching up to meet one already raised. Zack felt his ears itch at the husky edge in Axel's voice and the alarms going off in his head. Was he flirting with his little cousin? In front of him?
Well, Axel didn't know they were cousins, but still…
Zack saw Imani shrug nonchalantly and at once the tension building up in his neck and shoulders lightened. For once, he approved of her attempt to play cool. He readily supported the walls she put up to block her fluttering insides and her trembling knees. (He wasn't sure how many walls she had, but as long as they were all up, he didn't care.) Good thing the counter sat between the two of them, too. Maybe he could run to his apartment and bring back that bulletproof shield for Imani—
"Zack, I need a scotch on the rocks."
He tore his eyes away from Imani to glance at the other waitress on duty tonight. Reluctantly he turned his back to the group of people to grab a glass and a bottle of scotch.
"O-Oh my God, you're Axel Flynn, right?"
The cap dug into his calloused hand as he twisted it off.
"Yeah, and you are…?"
"Larxene Gray. I'm a junior at HBU."
The amber liquid splashed over the ice cubes in the short glass with tiny clinks.
"Do you know Demyx O'Donohue?"
"Yeah, we've got a class together—"
Imani was best friends with Demyx. Where was she…?
Blue glanced to his right just as the kitchen door swung shut. A frown pulled down the corners of his mouth. She reached her limit.
He quickly glanced at Axel and saw him shift on his stool to face Larxene a little better. They talked with the ease of long-time friends, smiling and laughing. Neither seemed to notice the disappearance.
Fine. Larxene and Axel could become better acquainted. He didn't need to worry about Larxene. She knew how to take care of herself.
Setting the cool glass on the waitress' tray, he asked Aerith and Axel, "Drinks for either of you?"
Briefly Axel broke from his conversation with Larxene to shake his head. "I'm driving."
"Water, please." As he poured her a glass, Aerith wondered aloud, "Where did Imani go?"
Another glance at the kitchen door. "She probably had to take care of something. She'll be back."
When he set her water before her, Aerith locked eyes with him, her brow furrowed. Is she okay?
With an upward flick of his eyebrows he gave her a look before striding back down the length of the counter, assuring her he'd go check on the girl. He made sure to shut the kitchen door before stepping over to Imani's corner. She tapped her finger on her knee in time to the ukulele strumming of the song playing on the radio—his and Aerith's song.
Suddenly a rush of nerves poured down on him from his head and dripped to his toes. Work and school had completely erased it from his mind…crap. It was tomorrow. Tomorrow. Oh God, it was tomorrow.
"So…it's tomorrow."
He swallowed thickly, crossing his arms to keep them from quivering at his sides. "Yeah. You and Teef can manage the place alright by yourselves, yeah?"
She nodded. "Meg will be here, too. Don't bother yourself over us."
His nerves sizzled, forcing his fingers to twitch and his muscles wouldn't stop fidgeting. "It's not supposed to rain tomorrow, right?"
"I don't know. I didn't watch the news."
Panic whipped up a whirlwind in his mind. What if it rained? What if she didn't like any of it? What if it wasn't romantic enough for her? What if she said—
"There's that shack, right? You can still see everything from there even if it does rain."
Oh God. His plan was going to fail. He was going to fail tomorrow. He was going to bomb it—
"Zack, you're overreacting. The Prince of Awesome says it's bad to let your anxiety control your actions and decision-making."
Several loud laughs erupted from outside the kitchen—a high-pitched squeal, a gentle giggle, and a harsh bark. He jumped a few inches into the air, hastily gripping the counter to still himself and catch his breath. "B-Before I forget," Zack grunted, "keep your guard up when you're around that Axel guy."
She blinked and scoffed. "Why? You're expecting me to fall for him?"
"I'm serious, Imani."
Their song played during the pause Imani took to study his stern glare. "I'll be careful," she told him quietly.
"Good." With a sigh he snatched Imani's wrist and pulled her up. "Come on. Aerith's worried about you."
Author's Afterthought: Please leave a review! Thank you for reading!