"Let's see, I need to know minim, crotchet, quaver, semi-quaver... I need to know timestep, the origins of jazz, some tap theory... There was also something else... Oh, some ballet terms..."

Namine was currently mumbling copious amounts of dance terms to herself, covering her notes and reciting definitions perfectly. She was so lost in her work she didn't realise she was talking out loud, in the middle of math class. When Mr. Highwind came strolling past she had the right of mind to switch to her trigonometry notes, but then it was right back to dance theory.

Hayner was looking at her dubiously and elbowed Roxas lightly. "Er... is she okay? She looks like she's losing it..."

Roxas didn't even look up from his equations, shaking his head. "We've got a theory test for dance next period. She has to get 100%."

"Right," Hayner nodded, bemused. "Wait, don't you need to know that stuff, too?"

Roxas smiled knowingly. "Namine's been repeating her notes so much I know it off by heart."

Hayner chuckled, his face contorting in amusement. "Geez, she's kinda crazy about this-"

"Shh!" Namine suddenly hushed, brows furrowing but eyes not leaving her dance notebook. Hayner pulled a mock guilty face and waggled his finger in a "she's crazy!" motion, but said no more.

Roxas had to admire how passionate Namine was. For the last week she'd been studying nonstop, and during their private lesson she'd drilled the theory into his brain and quizzed him every free moment. He was positive she knew every skerrick of her notes, but she had a habit of letting her nerves get the better of her when the pressure got too high. She'd told Roxas herself the best dance exam she ever did was when she was late and had to enter the exam room straight away - there was no time for worry or second-guessing, she just went in and did her thing. He wished she wouldn't worry so much. It would be horrible if her grades suffered just because of her nerves.

Speaking of nerves, it had been a week since City Centre was revealed and Roxas was a nervous wreck. What could he possibly do? He couldn't tell Sora to postpone his perfect plans. He couldn't tell Namine to stop liking Sora. But if he didn't do anything, he'd feel guilty for not protecting Namine. He sighed, gripping his pencil hard. Why couldn't she see that Sora didn't have eyes for her? Why couldn't she see that... that he liked her?

His string of thoughts was interrupted by a loud bang. Across the room, Zidane and Blank had been interrupted from their animated - and loud - tousle by Mr. Highwind slamming his fists on the bench.

"Sit down and do your god damn EQUATIONS!"

The blonde and red headed brothers quickly sat down, though not without a snigger, and Roxas reminded himself not to worry so much for now. City Centre was still a few weeks away, which also meant a few more private dance lessons...

x-x-x

After school, Sora was hanging out at Roxas' place. The boys were camped out in the blonde's room, chatting and playing handheld games and going on the computer. Roxas was currently deep in a Mario Kart race while Sora was perusing google.

"Do you think I should shout Kairi lunch on the day?" The brunette boy asked, looking through different food locations near Radiant Garden, the place he planned on taking her. It was a beautiful garden in the middle of the city, with lots of trees, flowers and grassy areas perfect for picnics. "What if she brings her own lunch?"

"You can just ask her if she brought money for lunch," Roxas mumbled, concentrating on keeping his first place.

"I guess... what should we eat? It can't be anything too smelly..."

Roxas smiled as he crossed the victory line, then grimaced at Sora's comment. "Smelly, Sora?"

"Well, I don't wanna have garlic breath for my first kiss!" His face fell at the prospect of ruining his perfect date.

Roxas put his DS down, staring up at his best friend. "You're gonna kiss her?"

Sora looked suddenly bashful. "W-Well, I hope I get to kiss her... and I don't want bad breath when that happens. I'll make sure to bring mints..."

Eyes wide with shock, Roxas realised just how serious Sora was about his surprise date for Kairi. It seemed to be all he could think about these days... he really wanted to make it perfect. He felt a strong sense of awe for his friend, and wistful regret that he couldn't harbour that same sort of passion for Namine in the situation they were in. Boy, if he could have a date with Namine, the things he would plan...

"Have you had your first kiss yet, Roxas?"

The sudden question threw Roxas off-guard and he stumbled on his words. "W-What!? Well, um, not exactly, no..."

Sora looked mildly displeased. "I just don't wanna screw it up... what if we clunk teeth or something? What if I'm really awkward?"

"Sora, come on, this is embarrassing..." Roxas rolled his eyes. "Look, if you really like each other, it'll just happen naturally. Worrying will only make it worse."

The spiky-haired boy sighed. "I guess you're right... I just wish I could have some practice first, but I want Kairi to be my first kiss."

"You should ask Selphie," Roxas blurted before he could stop himself, and Sora swivelled in his chair, looking confused.

"Huh? Why? Selphie hasn't kissed anyone yet, has she?"

"Er... you didn't hear this from me," Roxas said quickly, "But at Axel's party last year I saw her kissing Wakka for practice."

"WAKKA!?" Sora almost fell of his seat, and Roxas hushed him quickly, but it did nothing to qualm his reaction. "WAKKA!?"

"She made me swear I wouldn't tell, but she told Wakka if he kissed her for practice then she'd do his math test for him."

Sora started laughing heartily. "I can't believe that! Selphie and Wakka!? Oh, this is gold..."

"Yeah, this was back when Selphie had a huge crush on Terra. Since he was older she wanted to know what she was doing."

"Oh Selphie, Selphie..." Sora shook his head. "I won't tell anyone, but oh man... that is too funny."

"Yeah," Roxas chuckled, remembering the blush on Selphie's face when he caught them. "To be honest, I wouldn't want my first kiss to be practice. I'd want it to be real, y'know?"

Sora looked up at the blonde dubiously. "I'm surprised you and Namine aren't dating yet. All those private dance lessons you do..."

Roxas looked bashful suddenly and shook his head. "Yeah, well... I don't think she likes me in that way."

"Aw, you don't know that, Roxas," Sora smiled, "I thought the same thing about Kairi. You just gotta follow your instincts, like you said. Don't forget your own advice."

"My own advice, huh..." Oh Sora, Roxas thought, if you only knew the tangled web you were a part of, you'd know why me and Namine can't be together.

x-x-x

"Excellent job, you guys!" Miss Lockhart called out to the drama class. "You all remembered your lines wonderfully. Keep up the hard work, because next week I'm going to record you so you can watch it back and see how you can improve!"

The class made a collective groan, and Kairi stood with hands on hips, feeling chuffed. She'd rehearsed without her script all lesson and Sora had too, so they were able to play off of each other's performance for the first time. There were several times she hesitated on her line, though, because she was so lost in Sora's expressions and speech.

"Amazing, Kairi," Sora smiled, giving the girl a pat on the shoulder. She smiled under his fleeting touch.

"Thanks, Sora. You were amazing too. You make a great basketball guy," She teased lightly, and Sora thumped his chest proudly.

"I'm the star player! Just gotta learn to keep my head in the game," He joked, and they chuckled as they went to grab their books from the back of the classroom. "You make a grade-A academic, too. I didn't know you could sing."

"Oh, I can't, really..." Kairi felt her cheeks warming up, "But I'm happy to have a singing role."

"I'm not," Sora sighed, "It's like the equivalent of Roxas dancing. I hope I get better."

"You sound just fine, Sora."

"Well, lucky for me it's a duet, so everyone will be too busy listening to your beautiful voice."

Kairi tried to fight the feeling of butterflies fluttering in her stomach at his compliment. Even worse was the intoxicating smile he was wearing. "You're so funny, Sora. Let's go meet up with the others."

"Alright... but you know if you want some extra practice I'm happy to stay here with you during lunch times."

Kairi was about to immediately approve of this idea - a wonderful excuse to spend more time with him - but Namine suddenly flashed in her mind and she felt guilty. She couldn't try to get closer to Sora when she knew Namine had a crush on him. That wouldn't be fair... would it?

Kairi's head still couldn't wrap around the sitation she was in.

"Um... that'd be great, but maybe closer to the festival. We've still got heaps of time."

She saw the distinct disappointment in Soras eyes and once again felt that tingling in the pit of her belly. The one that told her these signals Sora was sending were clear... but she was muddled with thoughts of Namine and couldn't piece anything together anymore. Why couldn't things be more simple...?

x-x-x

Out on the courts, the gang were chatting and eating their lunch in the usual spot, the leaves on the tree slowly turning a russet hue. Kids screamed on the oval as a cricket match was going on, but the troupe were enjoying a lazy day today.

Well, most of the troupe. Kairi looked queasy beyond measure and several people had made perceptive comments about her pale complection. She'd waved them all off, but when she rose to put her rubbish in the bin, Roxas followed suite.

"Kairi, do you want to go home?" The blonde asked tentatively, touching her shoulder.

She smiled thankfully. Roxas was like a big brother to her and was always looking out for her. She dropped her rubbish in the bin and turned back to him. "I'm fine..."

"You're not fine," Roxas shook his head. "Seriously, what's wrong?"

Kairi sighed deeply, clutching at her belly and looking back towards the group, pointedly at Namine and Sora. As she stood her with Roxas, Namine was edging closer to the brunette, and he was happily conversing with her.

"Roxas... I think I did something stupid." Kairi finally admitted, looking up at the blonde. She knew she could trust Roxas, and as much as she didn't want to spread word of her crush, she had to vent her feelings out somehow, and her only confidante was not an option. "Nobody else knows this, so please don't say anything..."

"What happened?" Roxas asked tentatively, and Kairi guided the two further away from the usual spot, and out of sight. They stood on the corner of the senior's building, and Kairi could see Terra and Aqua conversing inside.

"Um... Okay, here goes nothing... I like Sora," She blurted out, and Roxas' eyes widened, "a lot. And I was going to tell Namine, but then she told me SHE liked Sora. And I pretended like it was a good thing and I didn't tell her I liked him too and now I'm kinda just in this awful situation."

Roxas softened. Namine had finally told someone about her crush. He was mildly disappointed she hadn't told him, but he knew the best friend would and should take precedence. "I know. That Namine likes Sora, that is."

"You knew? Did she tell you?" Kairi asked hurriedly. She was looking for any way out of this mess.

"Er, no, but it's kind of obvious."

"Really..."

Kairi suddenly felt ashamed. How had she not seen it too? Though she was wrapped up in her own feelings, of course... This whole situation was so confusing.

"So she doesn't know you like Sora?" Roxas asked again, and Kairi nodded solemly. "Wow, that's... oh, god..."

Roxas's head was absolutely spinning. Namine was doomed. Sora and Kairi both liked each other, even if each respective person didn't know it. Namine was going to get her heart broken if her mind wasn't changed quickly. And even worse, she could lose her best friend over it all.

Roxas knew what he had to do.

"Kairi, I need your help." Roxas looked into her eyes, sounding pleading without meaning to. "I need you to help me stop Namine from liking Sora... because... because I like Namine."

x-x-x

Ooh, Roxas let the cat out of the bag! How will Kairi react? What will happen next? Stay tuned!