AN: I realized I forgot to put down 'AN' in front of all my author notes at the start and end of every chapter. Whoops. Anyways, it's like 15 degrees celsius in Toronto right now and it's pretty damn cold for summer. Oh well it's Canada; what can you do? Alright, now for a few chapter comments. I was halfway through the chapter when I gave the story a second thought. Instead of writing what I thought would happen, I let the story write itself. I wonder who will guess which part I decided to change.

Also thanks to killingtex for your advice! - I tried to implement it to the best of my abilities. I hope you find it better!

Now chapter 10!

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters used in this story nor do I own the franchises Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. I also do not own the manga and anime series Bleach and Soul Eater.

Chapter 10

On that night of planning, my parents came back from dinner and they found that Sora and Roxas hadn't left yet. It was one in the morning and we were all asleep. Roxas retained that position when I was last awake so naturally my mom started thinking a lot and many speculations arose from just that one glance. As for my dad, all he said was 'My little Naminé is growing up!' Of course that warranted a stern scolding from my mom. Clearly they weren't on the same page. I looked back to that day and I remembered that my dad had mentioned that he took a picture. Kairi magically got a hold of that and now it's being circulated throughout the school population via text messages, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and she had to put it on Instagram. Once Selphie received it, she was all over me the second she got it. I got an inbox full of messages saying things like 'How did it happen?', 'Do you think he do it on purpose?', and a ton of OMG's. And in person wasn't any better. Squeals. So many squeals. I think I may have lost hearing in one of my ears. I was hoping such a development would roll over in a few days, but it lasted all week and it doesn't look like I'll be seeing the end of it soon.

Thursday came around; just one more night and it would be Halloween day. Kairi insisted that we dress up and here I was at the mall with her, costume shopping.

"Naminé! Hurry up!" Kairi called out.

I dragged myself to where she was standing; in front of Animex, 'Your One Stop Shop For All Your Anime Needs!'
I watch anime, but I'm not obsessed with it. It'd be cool if I could cosplay, but the costumes could be pretty goddamn pricey. Kairi on the other hand... well one could say she's absorbed into her anime. She recently started to watch Bleach and well let's just say she has a thing for that series.

"Let's go!" She pulled me into the store, weaving haphazardly through the aisles of merchandise, occasionally bumping into the shelves. Kairi skidded to a halt in front of the wigs and was looking at the black wigs.

"Kairi, what are you thinking about?" I couldn't tell what she was doing since her back was hunched over and she wasn't facing me. I reached out to tap her on the shoulder, but she turned around abruptly, revealing a short black wig.
She grinned and made a show of her hands, presenting her new look.

"So what do you think?" I honestly didn't know what to say since I had no idea what she was going for. If she was expecting me to know what she was trying to dress up as then her luck ran short. I sighed and scratched my head. "I have no idea what you're trying to dress up as Kai. I honestly don't."

Kairi walked into another aisle for a minute and came back with a black robe and looked at me. "Get it now?"
I recognized the look that she was trying to pull off and I was confused by her choice.

"Why Kairi? Why dress up as Rukia?" I really couldn't understand why she would want to dress up as someone who was as serious as Rukia. She really didn't fit the character.

She twirled a few strands of the wig absentmindedly. "Why not Nam? She's so awesome!" Her loud exclamation earned us a few glances from other shoppers. I covered her mouth and gestured for her to quiet down. Kairi quietly squealed, creating a muffled noise that sounded like a cross between a mouse and a bird. I kept my hand clasped over her mouth just in case she needed to continue.

"Are you done yet," I whispered harshly. Kairi wrenched my hand from her mouth in response.

"Yes I'm done. I've already found what I needed."

"Great, that means we can leave right?" I hope she didn't remember that she dragged me out here so that I could buy a costume. I feel that I've out grown the need to dress up for this occasion three years ago. Back when I was little girl, I used to dress up as a princess and Kairi would dress up as well. We would prance around the streets with tiny little pumpkin pails, knocking on every house. Kairi had the cute little girl charm that every adult could not resist and that earned us handfuls of candy while other children looked at us in envy. I didn't understand then, but I do know. I'm not sure if she still has that charm today, though I wouldn't be too surprised if she still had it.

Kairi shook my shoulders violently and looked intently in my eyes. "Come on Nam, tomorrow's one of the few days of the year when we can act like kids without people judging us!"

I shrugged her hands off her shoulder and said, "You act like a kid every day."

Kairi sighed in exasperation. She knew that I was avoiding the real question so it looked like she was going to give it to me straight. "Naminé, don't you want to have fun for once? Not the kind of fun that you have in your own room, drawing for hours on end. The kind of fun that you have with friends and I bet Roxas is dressing up too~"

I felt my face grow warm and I jabbed back. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kairi paced back and forth between the aisles, forcing me to walk behind her. "Well, I don't know, it's clear you like him and he just might dress up as well. I'm just saying."

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion and kept my expression neutral. "I don't know what you're playing at Kai, but I'm not dressing up and that's final." I turned my back to her and walked into a random aisle, pretending to browse so I don't get kicked out for loitering. Kairi came to my side and looked at me with her puppy dog eyes.

"Why Nam? Please, do it for your dear sister?"

I shook my head and didn't say anything. I didn't want to prolong this any further so I walked towards the shop entrance. I was about to leave when Kairi called me back to the same aisle.

"What is it?" I grumbled under my breath.

She pulled out a bunch of garments from behind her back and shoved it in my hands. "This! I'm not going to tell you what it is, but I know you'll like it!"

"Right…" I took it anyways since there was no point in arguing. I'll just try it on and say I don't like it and I'd probably not like it anyways. I took the clothes into the dressing room at the back of the shop and replaced my clothes with the ones Kairi gave me. I turned to look at the mirror along one of the walls and I recognized the character that I resembled. Maka Albarn from Soul Eater. I sighed because I actually do like this character a lot and if I tried to lie to Kairi, she'd instantly know that I wasn't telling the truth.

I changed back out and stepped out of the dressing room to see a disappointed Kairi.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" I raised a hand to my face to feel for something out of the ordinary.

Kairi waved a hand in front of her, pushing the disappointment aside. "It's nothing; I just wish that I could have seen you wearing it." She clapped her hands together and smiled. "But you do like it right?"

I sighed and nodded my head. "But I don't-," I started, but Kairi dragged me to the register. "-have any money with me…" I finished quietly.

"That's alright! I have this!" She whipped out a gold credit card from one of the little pouches that she wears on her waist and grinned. The credit card was a gift from our mom when Kairi couldn't stop about all the things that she wanted for Christmas last year. So instead of picking of the numerous items on her wish list, April got a credit card for her with a $500 limit on it. She didn't use it as much as I thought she would because she underwent an hour lecture on the consequences of having a bad credit record and whatnot.

"I'll pay for it Nam. You can wait outside if you want." I nodded and walked out of the store and sat down on one of the benches in the mall.

I propped my elbows on my knees so that my hands cupped my chin. "I wish I didn't get that costume," I said aloud.

"Same here," a familiar voice replied. My eyes widen at the reply that came from nowhere.

I turn around to find whoever gave the answer, but I all I see were two other people on the bench behind mine and someone looking away from me. I turn around to look the other way to see if anyone was trying to make eye contact with me. I didn't see anyone so I turn back to the other direction and I see a shock of messy blonde spikes and a pair of familiar blue eyes. I practically jumped from my spot in surprise and they just laughed at my response. I felt my cheeks grow warm so I frown to try to mask my embarrassment.

I compose myself and I sit back down. "What are you doing here Roxas?"

He got up and walked around to my bench and sat down beside me. "I could ask the same thing to you."

"Hey! Don't avoid the question now." I crossed my arms.

"How about you answer first?" Why thank you Roxas. I can see that chivalry isn't dead.

"Being chivalrous now are you?"

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What? I just don't want to answer."

I blinked my eyes at his response. So much for chivalry…

"Fine I'll go first," I started coldly. "Kairi wanted to dress up for Halloween so she took me costume shopping with her despite the fact that I don't want to dress up, but she bought one for me anyways."

"Really now? What is it?" He looked like he really wanted to know. I could tell from his posture and his closeness to me. I didn't realize how close we were and I could feel myself burning up on the inside.

"She got me a cosplay costume for Maka Albarn," I said quietly.

Roxas' eyes widened in surprise. "That's cool! You wouldn't believe what Sora made me get just because he wanted to dress up one last time before next year."

Sounds like Sora's a lot like Kairi. "What did you get?"

"A Soul Evans costume," he grumbled.

I covered my mouth while I giggled. "I can imagine you wearing that. Are you going to bleach your hair as well?"

Roxas covered his head with his hands. "Bleach my hair?! No way am I ever doing that!"

I laughed at his panicked expression. "That's good to know. Your hair is too nice to be bleached." I reached up to remove his hands from his head and I promptly ruffled his blonde spikes.

"Hey!" He pushed my hand off his head and pouted. "My hair is messy enough the way it is," he muttered. He crossed his arms and tucked his chin to his neck, but I still continued to ruffle his hair playfully. I stopped for a moment realizing something.

"Roxas, does this mean we'll have matching costumes?" He looked up and smirked.

"I guess we do," he paused and added, "…partner." He wrapped an arm around me and pinched my cheeks. I felt my face turn red from our close proximity.

"Payback!" He ruffled my hair and swiftly ran into the costume shop. His exit caught me off guard and by the time I chased after him, he was nowhere to be seen. Kairi just finished paying the cashier at the register and waved me over. She held out a bag to me which contained my cosplay gear.

"You know you could have waited outside for me Nam." I ignored her comment and cut straight to the chase.

"Did you see Roxas come in the shop?" I looked over her shoulders, trying to seek the trickster blonde.

Kairi raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Roxas was here? Is Sora here as well?"

I sighed. This was no use. I walked past Kairi towards the shelves of merchandise to hunt down Roxas.

"Naminé! Meet me at Scrooge's when you find him!" Kairi called.

I dismissed her reminder and continued to roam between the aisles. All the merchandise was really distracting and I couldn't concentrate my focus. There were jackets, wigs, robes, props, make-up kits, accessories and numerous other items hanging from the shelves and racks. I had the uncanny feeling that someone was trailing me so I turned around only to see no one. I looked left and right to make sure and even peered beyond the products on the shelves to see if anyone was peeping. Satisfied that no one was there, I walked to the empty space between the two rows of aisles. I made my way to the back of the shop and peered down the aisles to search for Roxas and sighed. No sign of the spiky blonde anywhere. I turned to walk down on far side of the shop. I let my hand drag behind me across the wall. That sneaky bastard. But a good looking one at least. I couldn't stay mad at him too long because of that stupid smile of his. I felt a hand grab my wrist that was on the wall. I let out a yelp, but a hand covered my mouth. The person spun me around and pinned me against the wall, but I let my hair fall in front of my eyes. I didn't want to see who the assaulter was, but their grip wasn't vice-like.

"Hey cutie," I heard the figure growl. I peeked between my strands of hair and I saw black covering messy blonde hair. My first guess was Roxas, but he didn't sound like that and neither did he call me that. His breath reeked of cigarette smoke and my natural recoil to the stench was pushed back against the wall. Suddenly, I felt a hand run up and down my arm. The rough skin of the figure's hand snaked along my arm and down to my waist. I tried to wriggle free, but I was pinned tightly against the wall. I couldn't turn my head and all my efforts to scream were reduced to a mere muffled squeal.

"You have such soft skin…" The figure's hand wandered to my thigh and stroked my pale skin. I silently curse myself for wearing a skirt today. Not that it mattered. It's not like I had the foresight to predict such a predicament. I continue to struggle and squirm in his grasp and I felt my head becoming light and my vision becoming blurry. I fight to stay conscious and I try one last thing before I pass out. I open my mouth just enough to bite the palm of his hand and the figure let out a hiss. I felt his grip on me slacken and I wriggle free from his grasp. I run as fast as I could out of the shop and into the mall interior. I didn't know where I was running, but I just kept running as fast as I could away from that monster. I finally stopped when I bumped into someone.

"Naminé?" The voice of concern caused me to look at the person I just ran into. Roxas. "Are you okay?"

Sometimes he could ask the stupidest questions, but at that very moment I couldn't care less. I let the bag that I was holding fall to the ground and I wrapped my arms around his torso. I sobbed into his chest, muffling my distressed voice. I felt one of his arms wrap around my waist and the other stroking my hair. His hand ran through my hair and his voice poured out reassuring whispers into my ear.

"It's okay; you're safe now." His arm remained around my waist, but he guided me towards the mall exit.

"Let's get you home."

The rest was all a blur. I found myself sitting on my couch back at home and Roxas sitting in my dad's Lazyboy. I looked down at my hands and I saw a mug of hot chocolate. I didn't really feel the heat that was emanating from the cup. I looked at the clock that was on the wall behind Roxas. He turned around as well. It read 6:30pm. I tried to rack my brain for details about what happened the last few hours, but nothing came about. A voice cut through the still air. It kept on calling my name. Naminé, Naminé, Naminé…

"Naminé?" I shake my head and my hearing becomes clear. It was Roxas who was calling out to me. He waved a hand in front of my face.

"Are you okay?" A look of concern was etched on his face.

I tried to speak, but something was holding me back from doing so. So instead, I just gave a nod. Roxas gave a sigh of relief and leaned back in the recliner.

"You know you gave me a scare back there. You just randomly came running up to me in the mall and you had this look of panic and fear in your eyes. Then you just started crying and crying and I did the only thing that I knew what to do: I hugged you until your crying started to weaken. Then I just took you home."

My temporary amnesic symptoms alleviate and all of my memories of the past few hours come rushing back at once. I could hear the figure's words, smell his breath, and feel his coarse hands and merciless grip. I felt my forehead throbbing from his suffocating hand. I ran a finger over my lips and I felt a crusty spot right below my lower lip. I looked at my finger and on the tip of it was dried blood. Roxas glanced at me and gave a confused look.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked softly.

I stared at my finger tip for a minute or so before answering. "There's some blood on my lip. I think… I think it was… from when… when I bit his hand," I wavered.

"Let me get that for you." He got up from his seat and walked into the washroom and came back out with the same handkerchief that he used on the first day of school to wipe paint off my face. I smiled fondly at that memory. That day started uneventful, but turned out alright. Just like today.

Roxas sat down beside me and faced me with the moist handkerchief in hand. He gently wiped off the dried blood off my lip and laid it on the coffee table.

"There. All gone," he said quietly. I blushed and yawned shortly afterwards. I like the little things that he does. He always tries to be there for me. I wish I could be there for him when he needs help most.

He shook my shoulder. "Are you feeling tired?"

I rubbed my eyes in response. "Yeah. I'm exhausted. I don't want to talk about what happened today. I just want to sleep on it."

Before I know it, I'm lifted from the couch. "Roxas, what are you doing?" The way he carried me was comfortable. My head was cradled in his elbow and he propped my legs up by holding me from behind my legs.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He answered playfully.

He carried me up the stairs and stopped at the landing. "Okay, now to find your room."

"It's the door with my name on it."

We walked past Kairi's room and Lightning's room and stopped by my door. It had an ornate name plate with my name engraved in it. Roxas nudged the white, wooden door aside with his leg. This was his first time in my room so I was anticipating a response of some sort. Hopefully one that wasn't embarrassing.

He looked down at me and smirked. "Nice room you have." He was probably referring to the paintings that were framed and hung all over the walls of the room.

"Thanks," I reply sheepishly.

He laid me on my bed and sat tucked me in. Is this actually happening for real? I was feeling tired, giddy, and scared at the same time. All of these emotions exhausted me. My eyelids were feeling heavy and I let out a loud yawn which I tried to stifle, but to no avail. Roxas chuckled lightly and dragged my chair that was tucked beneath my desk over to my bed. He sat down and held my hand lightly.

"I'll stay here until either of your sisters or your parents get back, got it?"

My eyes widened at the mention of my sisters. I really didn't want them to know about what happened today. Not to mention my mom. Hell would ensue. I looked at Roxas and my hand that he was holding.

"Does my sister know that I'm home with you?"

"Not yet. I can call and tell her that you're home."

"Thanks." I give his hand a squeeze and he squeezes back.

I leave my hand in his and I let my eyelids close, drifting off to a dreamful sleep.

AN: So if you found the point in the story I decided change, tell me in a review and you shall receive cyber-cookies! Not the tracking ones.

And as for the mysterious figure (unintentional reference to Birth by Sleep), I shall decide what happens to him. -Cue sinister lightning-

Until next time~

-Icey