Hi, readers! Here's a new chapter for you guys. I have been working super hard on this chapter for the past month, and might I say I am surprised I actually managed to post it before finals.

I want to thank all the readers, favoriters, followers, and reviewers of this story. You make this story worth writing.

Also, an apology for any errors I have made with this chapter. I was in a hurry to get it up.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot of this story. Naminé's shirt is by Hybrid tees.

Casual, casual, casual…

I was looking through my clothes the next morning trying to decide what to wear. Though my color choice was limited, I still had to choose which shirt I was going to wear. And I taking longer than I would have normally because I was still pretty groggy after not getting a good night's sleep; my excitement about the appointment with Larxene had kept me from it.

I wonder how much sleep I've lost since I met Riku, I thought absentmindedly as I continued to look through my clothes.

Taking the weather into consideration (it was supposed to be pretty chilly compared to how it had been for the past couple of days), I settled on a pair of black skinny jeans, a forest green graphic tee with two marshmallows on it, one burnt and one not, with the unburnt marshmallow saying, "Haha! You got burned!", and a black jacket. I pulled on a pair of green ankle socks and black converse to complete my outfit. After brushing my hair, I grabbed my things and headed down to breakfast.

When I got to the dining room, Demyx was already sitting there eating. He was wearing the band's t-shirt for the year and a pair of jeans, along with a pair of all-black converse. He looked up at me as I took my seat next to him and said, "Morning, Nami!"

"Morning, Dem."

"You ready for the game tonight?"

"Yep," I said through a yawn, taking a bite of toast. That night I was planning on saying that I had to use the restroom right before the band was going to go out and perform pregame. It would give me an excuse to stay behind and talk to Riku about our appointment with Larxene tomorrow.

"Glad to hear it!" He finished his breakfast and roll-stepped out into the foyer while humming the opening number for the half-time show. Ah, typical Demyx.

~o~

And I had thought the school was loud on a normal morning. This morning it was so loud that I could barely hear myself think. Everyone was jumping and shouting and so ecstatic for the game against the Traverse Town Bulldogs tonight, from what I was catching from bits of conversations. I mean, Destiny Islanders were sports-crazed, too, but they were never this excited until the pep rally.

…What is it like at the pep rallies then?

I went upstairs to my locker and saw Kairi at her own locker. She was wearing a black, green, and white long-sleeved cheerleading uniform. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, tied with a black, green, and white ribbon. As she shut her locker and spun around in her white tennis shoes, Kairi caught sight of me and waved. "Hey, Nami!"

"Hey," I said, lifting my hand in a not-quite-but-almost wave (I was still feeling a little sleepy).

"You excited for the game tonight?"

Opening my locker, I answered, "Yep."

"I can't hear you!" she said in a sing-song voice.

"Uh-uh. Saving my voice for the game tonight."

"Fair enough," Kairi said, satisfied. "Oh, and Nami, could you please not mention our plans for Sunday to Roxas?"

"Yeah, sure. Why?"

"Because if he knows ahead of time he'll try to make other plans to get out of it."

"Oh, okay."

"Thanks! I'll see you later," she said and headed off to her homeroom class.

Geez, I thought, Olette wasn't kidding when she said he wasn't interested in dating anyone.

But it's not a date anyway, I reminded myself.

~o~

"Morning, Axel," I said, suppressing the urge to let out a yawn, as I walked into first period.

Axel, who was sitting at his desk, was dressed in a green t-shirt, jeans, and black converse. He looked up at me, smiled, and gave my hair an affectionate ruffle. "Morning, squirt," he said. "How's that assignment going?"

"Good. I'm going to start painting today," I replied. We had been assigned to paint a cubism portrait of the person next to us. So, mine was of Zexion, and his was of me.

"Well," Axel said, "hop to it, squirt."

Getting the canvas off the rack, I looked over my work from the past few days. Both of Zexion's eyes were on the left side of his face. He had two sets of nostrils; along with various other things I'd done to his handsome face to make it cubism-esque. I grimaced at it.

Although I loved art, this wasn't exactly an enjoyable assignment. I'd always had a dislike for cubism; I had never found it very flattering to the subject of the piece.

But it gave me an excuse to look at Zexion, so I couldn't really complain.

After I gathered up a brush, paint, a palette, and water I got to work. I was so absorbed in my work that I hardly noticed anything else around me. So much so that I jumped when I heard Zexion say, "Hey."

"H-hey," I stammered, keeping my head down so he couldn't see the blush of embarrassment I could feel rising to my cheeks.

As he worked beside me on his cubism painting of me, I felt self-conscious, what with him constantly looking at me. Most girls would probably have enjoyed having a cute guy look at them, but it only made me stress out about my appearance. Not so much my clothes but my hair and face; I don't know why.

Glancing over at him for reference to my painting, I saw that he was wearing a black t-shirt underneath a green, gray, black and white plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up just past his elbows, gray straight-leg jeans, and all-black high-top converse. Zexion looked up and our eyes met for a split-second before we both hurriedly looked back down.

Way to be awkward, Nami, I thought.

Being a little more subtle this time, I lowered my head and glanced at him through my bangs. I wondered if he felt as self-conscious as I did when he looked at me when I looked at him; with his unwavering stoic expression I really couldn't tell.

I had gotten a good bit of painting done by the time I started cleaning up. I figured it would take another day or two to finish it up, so I'd probably be finished with it at least by Tuesday.

And then no more cubism, I thought happily.

Periods two, three, and four all came and went, and soon it was lunchtime. The gang was all seated around the same table we'd been occupying since Monday. Pence was wearing his band t-shirt; Olette had on her majorette wind suit; and Sora, Roxas, and Hayner all had on their blitzball team t-shirts.

As we ate I noticed Kairi glancing back and forth from Roxas to me and smiling to herself. Olette elbowed me in the side and gave me a confused look, to which I just gave a shrug. Kairi noticed this and gave Olette an I'll-tell-you-later look. Roxas didn't notice a thing.

Gym, history, and Grammar & Lit III went by in a flash and then I was in drama. I spent most of class—seated between Zexion and Kairi—watching the rest of the groups do their improv exercises. Kairi left class early after the last group went, though, with a couple of other kids who had to get ready for the pep rally.

So I was left with Zexion.

Yay.

It wasn't all that bad, though. The silence between us was pretty comfortable, actually. He just sat there with his nose in a book while I doodle in my sketchbook. Which I found kind of funny considering the awkwardness in art this morning.

After a couple of minutes, a male voice came over the PA system. "All students are to report to the gymnasium for the pep rally. Again, all students are to report to the gymnasium for the pep rally. Thank you."

"Class dismissed," Luxord said.

We all grabbed our things and made our way out the exits at the back of the auditorium. Heading down the hall to the gym, I heard something coming from the direction of the stairwell. It steadily got louder as we neared the gym. Turning my head, I saw my peers burst through with shouts and chants like a roaring black and green river bursting through a reservoir.

Instinctively, I grabbed onto one of Zexion's sleeves as we merged with the crowd; though he wouldn't get too far, I still didn't want to get separated. Squeezing us both through the door frame with the rest of the students, he led me into the gym.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the gym was my ribcage rattling, a feeling I'm all too familiar with. The percussion section was pounding out a cadence—I could see Pence with his tenor drums—and the sound waves were causing my ribs to vibrate. The sensation had been a strange the first time I'd felt it back when I was a freshman back at Destiny Island High, but I was so used to it now that it was kind of comforting.

"Hey," Zexion called over his shoulder at me over the pounding of the drums, taking my attention away from the booming beat in my ribs. "Where do you want to sit?"

I started looking around for a god seat. Students were clambering up the bleachers to either get a spot. I saw the band seated in their own section of bleachers, and Olette was waving at me with one hand and twirling her baton with the other.

Taking the lead, I went over and sat down with the majorettes and color guard. Zexion took the empty seat on the other side of me. Demyx, seeing me, smiled.

And then he saw Zexion. His smile faltered for just a split second.

Uh-oh, I thought, something tells me he's going to want to have a talk on the way home.

The cheerleaders were getting in position for the pep rally. I spotted Kairi standing in front of the blitzball players' bleachers, waving at Sora in the stands with a pom-pom.

Glancing around the gym, I saw the place was already a madhouse, and the pep rally hadn't even gotten into full swing yet. The students were working themselves into a frenzy. I had no doubt they'd all be without their voices by tomorrow morning.

And then something caught my eye. It was a hand-painted black, green, and white banner. There were painted ravens all over it, and it read:

Let's do the Bulldogs an unkindness!

"'Let's do the Bulldogs an unkindness'?" I asked Zexion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's a play on words," Zexion answered, matter-of-factly. "You know that phrase 'to do someone a kindness'?"

I nodded. Who hasn't?

"Well," he continued, "a group of ravens is called an unkindness. So doing them an unkindness references our future victory over the Bulldog while at the same time being a raven pun."

Huh. That's a pretty educated pun, I thought. I had to hand it to whoever had come up with it, because it was much more original than "Let's go team!"

It's way better than anything I could've come up with, anyway.

"Hi, everyone!" came a high-pitched female voice that echoed through the gym. I turned to see a girl with long, auburn hair standing in the middle of the Raven emblem at the center of the gym holding a microphone. "Shiki here! How's everyone doing today?"

There was a thunderous roar that drowned out the "woo!" I had let out. I wasn't even sure if Zexion had made a sound.

"Awesome!" Shiki chirped. "Everyone ready for the game tonight?"

More thunderous roaring.

"Coolness, guys. Now, how about we get this pep rally underway with a performance form the band and cheerleaders?"

Cheers all around.

"Take it away, guys!"

The band began playing "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond. And, might I say, with an amazing amount of enthusiasm. The cheerleaders danced along to a little routine with the music, light on their feet. Once the song was over, there was thunderous applause.

"Excellent as always, guys! Now," said Shiki, "who's up for a little class-versus-class showdown!?"

Roar!

On second thought, their vocal chords would destroyed before the game even began.

They ran a wheel-barrow relay race. The winners? The seniors. Typical. I had to give them props for that whole somersault-switch maneuver, which had saved them a butt load of time.

"Way to go, seniors!" Shiki cheered.

There were boos and hisses from the other classes, including most of the band. I heard Zexion give a monotoned boo, and I laughed. He looked over at me, and I thought I saw the corner of his mouth twitch up a little bit.

Shiki just giggled.

"And now the fight for the Spirit Stick!" she exclaimed. Another student ran up and handed her a black, green, and white shimmering rod. "Which class has the most pep? We shall see."

Shiki turned toward a section of the bleachers. "Freshmen, you're up first!"

The cheerleaders went over to the freshmen section of the bleachers. And they cheered, "T!"

"T!" the freshmen echoed.

"T!"

"T!"

"H!"

"H!"

"S!"

"S!"

"TTHS!"

"Let's go Ravens!"

This chanting went around to all the classes. While it was the blitzball players' turn to shout the chant (theirs being the loudest so far), four of the band kids got up out of their seats and stood in front of the band bleachers. The drum major, Pence, a sophomore boy, and a freshman girl—representatives of all four classes.

"Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores! You know the cheer," said the drum major. "Freshmen! Just follow our lead."

The cheerleaders were heading our way. Upon seeing the four band kids standing, they all exchanged knowing looks, and the squad stood back, watching with expectant eyes.

"What's going on?" I asked Olette.

"Just make like a freshmen and follow our lead; you'll catch on fast," she answered cryptically.

I nodded, still confused. I looked over at Zexion. He just shrugged.

Then the drum major raised his hands above his head, flicking them down at the wrists. "Gimme a T!" he shouted.

"T! You got your T, you got your T!" I shouted along with Olette and the rest of the band.

Pence did the same thing as the drum major, forming another "T", and shouted, "Gimme another T!"

We shouted back again, "T! You got your T, you got your T!"

I think I see where this is going.

The sophomore took a wide stance, bending his legs and bending his arms up at the elbows, making an "H." He shouted, "Gimme an H!"

"H! You got your H, you got your H!"

The freshman, turned sideways, had her arms together, bent up at the elbows, hands flicked down at the wrists. She was standing on one leg to make an S-shape. "Gimme an S?" she shouted with uncertainty but received approving nods from the upperclassmen.

"S! You got your S, you got your S!"

Now, this next part of the cheer went like this:

Everyone: Now hush! You don't want us!

Girls: Do ya, do ya?

Boys: No!

Girls: Do ya, do ya?

Boys: Not really!

Girls: Do ya, do ya?

Boys: No!

Everyone: No, I don't think so!

The band and cheerleaders erupted into cheers. Glancing around the gym, I saw the freshmen staring on, stupefied; everyone else just glared at us.

"Looks like we have a winner!" Shiki shouted, handing the Spirit Stick over to the drum major.

The drum major, letting out a victory screech, ran to the center of the gym and back, parading the Spirit Stick around as if it were a mace. The band played "The Imperial March" from Star Wars as he did this. And all the while, the other students were booing us.

Such love we have for each other, I thought sarcastically.

"Now," Shiki said, "before we wrap up this pep rally, can I get a caw?"

Caw?

Suddenly the gym erupted in caws, and I froze, chilled to the bone, my heart pounding from its newfound place in my throat. It was an instinctive reaction; I couldn't help it. Those caws sounded so life-like it was scary. It was like everyone was a raven in the guise of a human. I half expected them to start morphing into black, feathered fiends. That's how real they sounded.

I was sitting there trembling, my fingers locked around the edge of my seat, when I felt a hand on the small of my back. It startled a little at first, but then it began rubbing my back comfortingly. I turned to Zexion and saw it was him who was rubbing my back. I blushed a little. I must've seemed so silly, having practically jumped out of my skin over some bird calls. He didn't say so, though.

I was brought back to the pep rally as Shiki said, "And I'm going to hand the mic over to Principal Crescent."

Shiki handed the microphone over to a tall man with long silver hair. He was wearing a black suit with a white button-down shirt with a black tie. He had a serious expression on his face and seemed pretty intimidating. Everyone else seemed to think so too, as the gym became silent in an instant.

So this is Riku's dad, I thought.

"Everyone will remain seated until you are dismissed," he said in a deep voice. "Band!"

The drums beat out a cadence as the band exited. Zexion and I followed them out. Olette was sort of prancing down the hallway to the beat of the music and managed to get me to join in with her. Olette were busting our guts with laughter as we did this, and Zexion just followed behind us with what almost seemed like an amused look on his face. He parted ways with us before I got a good look.

Oh, so close.

~o~

Demyx had been silent on the shuttle to the station, which was strange because normally he was such a chatterbox. He was only ever silent until we were alone when he was about to give me a stern talking-to.

Once we got off the shuttle and into Demyx's van and started heading back to the mansion, Demyx began, "So…"

Oh, boy, I thought, here we go.

"…who was that guy you were with, Nami?" he finished.

Of course.

"His name's Zexion. He's one of my friends," I answered.

"'A friend,' huh?" he repeated. "Do normal friends who you've only known for a couple of days try putting the moves on you?"

He was talking about when Zexion had rubbed my back. So he'd been watching us. Great.

"He wasn't 'putting the moves on me,' Dem."

"Uh-huh, sure he wasn't. Just promise me you'll wait until the relationship is serious before you try to—"

"Demyx!" I could feel my face flushing.

"Promise me!"

"I promise. Geez, Dem, you know I'm not into the whole idea of sex-before-marriage, anyway." Your first time is supposed to be something special. I'd prefer it being with someone who I'm truly in love with and wholly committed to than just some guy who I might end up breaking up with eventually.

"I know. It's just some times in the heat of the moment people lose control of themselves, and I don't want you doing something that you're going to regret."

"You talking from experience here, Dem?" I teased.

"We are not discussing this anymore." Now it was his turn to blush.

Giggling, I turned my gaze out the window. My thoughts drifted to the appointment with Larxene. And then to Riku. Tomorrow we would see her and maybe get some answers to point us in the right direction.

We'd be one step closer.

Yeah, so another filler chapter. I apologize for that. I know everyone probably wants some more action to the plot line, but all things must be done in moderation. There will some action coming up in the next two chapters when we get to meet Larxene. Fun times! Yay!

Also, this a Happy (early) Birthday present for one of my friends. You know who you are.

And for my marching band buddies, I hoped you liked all the references I made to the pep rallies at school. :) As a graduating senior, I'll miss you guys. T.T

So how did you guys like it? Leave a review to let me know. Reviews are the fuel for the fire that is my drive to write.

Still asking for opinions on who you think the murderer is. It's still pretty early on in the story, but I just want to gauge my predictability.

Until next time!

-Muffcakeloverxiii