Chapter 2 - Lady Misfortune pt.2

As the alarm rang, Kairi slowly opened her eyes and tried to reach out with her right hand to turn the alarm off as usual but felt an unusual weight on it. Still not completely awake yet, she turned to see that Namine was hugging onto her hand and not letting go. As she slowly remembered the events of last night, she tried to shake Namine up but she still slept like a log.

She must be really tired. I guess I can shower first.

Kairi slowly but surely pried her arm out of Namine's grasp and slowly tried to get up, when her hand got free, she could very faintly hear Namine whine and she found it extremely adorable. Kairi grabbed her towel and clothes, went into her bathroom and began to soak for a few minutes before showering. She began yawning uncontrollably due to her sleeping so late last night and also somewhat comforting a sleeping Namine as she was having mostly crying and moving around quite frantically. However, the only thing that was on her mind was how she was going to stay awake in class. Kairi didn't want to pry into her life and even though she only just knew her, she already felt that they were close and Namine will open up when she wants to, so she wasn't worried about that at all. Now all she wants to do is lay down for a bit and enjoy the warm water.

Soon after, Namine awoke as well, feeling something was missing from her slumber. The first thing she noticed when she awoke was that she was not at her home and sat up quickly in shock. Slowly her memories came back and she remembered that she was at Kairi's place. The second thing she noticed was her swollen eyes, she was crying again. Soon the realisation hit her.

Oh fuck, did Kairi see me cry last night?

She looked around the room but there was no sign of Kairi. Namine slowly started to panic a little as she is not sure what to do when she is at someone's house.

Maybe she is in the kitchen or something, but it will be really awkward if i bump into any of her family members… I'll just shower first then.

Making her mind on what to do next, she remembered she left her towel in the toilet and just went straight in. She turned the doorknob and noticed it isn't locked.

I guess she isn't in the toilet…

As she finished her thought and opened the door to the toilet, her eyes widened as she saw Kairi lying in the bathtub, turned over when she heard the door open.

"I'm so sorry!"

Namine exclaimed as she closed the door once again. Kairi was just shocked and technically facepalmed herself when she realised that she forgot to lock the door. Once Kairi was done with her shower, she came out and signalled Namine to shower, Namine just avoided eye contact and quickly got herself into the toilet. Kairi, seeing as she had some spare time, decided to make breakfast before school. She went to the kitchen, cracked up some eggs and fried some bacon for the good old fashioned bacon and eggs for breakfast. Among her family, Kairi and her dad were the only two that could cook and since her dad and mum got a divorce recently, she is now the only one that can cook. As the food was just about done, Kairi heard her brother walk into the kitchen.

"Yo, making breakfast for your girlfriend today? Why don't you make any for me?"

"Firstly, she is NOT my girlfriend and secondly, I made your dumbass breakfast too so sit your ass down on the dining table and shut up."

Demyx just slowly moved to the dining table and sat his butt down as Kairi brought out the food, that's when Kairi remembered.

I haven't given Namine any clothes yet.

She went back into her room and dug through her clothes, thinking what Namine would like.

She definitely looks good in white, let's see…

Kairi dug some more till she found what she thought would fit her very well. A white sundress. She placed it on the bed with some undergarments and safety shorts and headed back to the dining area where Demyx already finished his breakfast and left the house.

Sometimes I really wonder if we are related.

He left his plate and utensils on the table and the area that he ate in was filthy with drops of egg yolk and some small bacon bits were on the table and the floor. As Kairi was cleaning up before she started eating, she heard her room door open and turned around to see Namine in the sundress. And she was astounded. She looked really beautiful. Kairi just stared at Namine while Namine started to blush due to the attention.

"Kairi… Do you not have anything else? I feel I stand out too much with this."

"Nonsense! You look amazing and I ain't letting you change out."

"But…"

"Please~~."

Kairi begged Namine to stay in the dress. Even though Namine reluctantly agreed, she would only do it if Kairi got into a sundress as well so that she wouldn't feel so shy, which Kairi immediately agreed to. She dug through her closet some more and found a pink sundress to match with Namine and both of them sat down to eat their breakfast before school.

"By the way, Kairi.."

"Hmm?"

"Did I... say anything weird last night? I had a bad dream and all so I was wondering if I was sleep talking or anything."

Namine asked. Kairi did remember her mentioning someone's name. Might be an ex-boyfriend or something, so she thought. She decided to avoid it.

"Not at all, to be honest, I was out like a log due to being up so late hahaha."

Kairi chuckled. She felt bad lying but she did feel it was the right thing to do. The two finished up their breakfast and made their way to school. Since Kairi stayed quite close to the school, the two just walked from her house which was about a 15 to 20-minute walk, where a bunch of students walked by the pair as well. Eyes were definitely on them, for more reasons than one. Namine did feel naked without her headphones and wearing such an eye-catching outfit, so she clung onto Kairi's arm for comfort, which Kairi was more than okay with since she did kind of force her to wear it. As the two girls walked into school, they were turning heads and since both of them were not on headphones, they could hear everyone talk about them which honestly made Namine quite uncomfortable as she slowly tightened her grip on Kairi's arm as they went further into the school.

"I'm sorry, Namine."

"What for?"

"You seem very uncomfortable."

"No, it's fine… Just getting used to it is all, I'm already used to catcalls but this feels different."

The two girls quickened their pace and were able to make it to class where they took their seats and got ready for the lessons ahead. As their classmates slowly made their way in as well, you could see all of them turn to the back to take a look at the two girls. It was definitely different for Namine as usually people don't even want to look in her general direction in class but today they actually turned to look, but to Kairi, it wasn't anything too out of the ordinary since she was still new here. The class went on as per normal till the bell rang, signalling lunchtime. As the two girls walked to the cafeteria, Kairi was curious about one thing as her other classmates were talking about it yesterday.

"Hey Namine, are you in any clubs?"

"No? Why do you ask?"

"Some of our classmates were saying it was mandatory that we be in a club so I was wondering which one you were in."

"Ah, the same thing as before I kinda have special treatment due to my situation."

"I see…"

Damnit, I was hoping to be in a club that has at least someone I know.

"How about you Kairi? Which of them interest you?"

"I… don't know what clubs are there actually."

As the two girls grabbed their food and sat down, Namine began listing down all the clubs that were in the school. The school had close to fifty clubs and Namine surprisingly, remember all of them despite not being in a club.

"...chess, swimming, chemistry, gaming and arts and crafts. I think those are all of them."

"Wow…"

"I know right? There are a lot of clubs in the school."

"No… that is a lot but I'm surprised you remembered them all."

Namine chuckled. It wasn't often that she gets compliments but she definitely was happy about that one. After listening to the clubs Namine mentioned, there was one that stood out.

"Did you say there was a gaming club?"

"Mhmm. Our school is pretty good from what I've heard in certain titles."

"Such as…?"

"Our league team is decent, smash bros too. Our CS and Dota teams aren't doing too well from what I've last heard and they were building a new Valorant team as well."

"Do you play?"

"Used to... Don't really have the time now, do I?"

"Still a gaming club. Never heard about it before."

Kairi is still trying to wrap her head around that one. Her previous school was always trying to convince the students that gaming was bad but here they actually embrace the talents and now she wondered if she had a chance.

"Do they happen to have a Tekken squad?"

Kairi had to ask.

"They used to but I heard now they don't have anyone on the roster.."

Damnit! Thought maybe I could try out for that one.

"That's too bad... Maybe I try out for smash bros instead then."

"Fighting game enthusiast?"

Namine asked with eyes wide open

"Mhmm. My brother taught me and since then I've been kicking his ass. Never tried to play with others though."

Namine laughed at that remark and encouraged her to try. Kairi was also interested in joining and the two wanted to head over to get her to sign up but then, a guy approached their table.

"Hey, Namine! Thanks for the help on the science test. Brought you some chocolates as a thank you."

The guy passed her a small box of Ferrero Rochers'

"Thanks…. I'm sorry but I forgot your name."

Namine only helped him because her teacher asked her too but she felt great that someone was giving her something for it. Made her feel good about it.

"It's Isaac."

Namine smiled slowly turned into anxiousness as the name was mentioned. Now she remembered who the guy was and what was to come. She looked around and catching them in the corner of the cafeteria, was the three girls with Olivia staring at her. As the guy left, Namine told Kairi that they were heading to the Gaming club to get her to sign up. As the two girls walked, Kairi noticed the quick pace that Namine was walking at. When she questioned her about it, Namine didn't respond. She just wanted to get Kairi out of harm's way while she settles the girls on her own. She did not want to get Kairi involved at all. Kairi getting annoyed that Namine wasn't responding grabbed her hand and stop them in place.

"Namine! What's going on with you?"

"Let's get you to the club room first then we can talk okay?"

"Why? What's the rush?-"

As Kairi finishes her question, a loud voice could be heard calling Namine's name. Since this section of the hall was narrow, the voice echoed even louder. As the three girls walked over to the two, Namine stood in front of Kairi and told her to not get involved. As the girls walked towards Namine. Olivia placed her hand out and tried to grab Namine by the throat but was pushed aside by Kairi.

"Hey! Leave her alone."

Kairi yelled. Without another second, Olivia pushed Kairi aside with more force which caused her to fall on her butt. Not skipping another moment, Namine swung a very compact right, hitting Olivia on her jaw, causing her to be knocked down as a tooth flew out of her mouth.

"You can do whatever you want to me, but touching her was the worst mistake of your life."

Namine said with extreme anger as she took up a southpaw stance that she learned long ago. The other two girls were extremely scared and grabbed Olivia and dragged her away as they ran for their lives. As the anger slowly subsides, Namine went to tend to Kairi who was still on the floor in pain. The fall must have been pretty bad.

"Are you okay? I told you not to get involved!"

Namine scolded Kairi as she looked around the arms and legs to see if there were any other bruising or cuts that she might have gotten.

"I'm fine, my tailbone got hit though. Other than that I'm good."

Namine slowly helped Kairi up and looked around as they stood. Fear was the look everyone around them was giving, added in the rumours now was the fact that Namine could fight. Namine didn't regret doing it at all. Currently, her only friend left was in danger and she didn't think twice about defending her, even if it meant making her own reputation worse.

"Let's get you to the infirmary."

Namine held Kairi as the two walked over.

"Damn Namine, who knew you could throw a nasty right hook."

Kairi chuckled but Namine was still dead serious.

"Are you mad at me?.."

Kairi questioned.

"I'm not mad at you... I'm mad at myself. I got you into my mess again. And you got hurt for it."

"That's what friends are for right?"

That sentence hit Namine hard. She was beginning to tear up.

"I mean you would do the same for me right?"

That was it. Namine slowly sobbed to herself quietly.

"Hey hey! Why are you crying now?! Did I make it worse?!"

Kairi's overreaction to her situation made Namine laugh.

"Now you are laughing?! You really confuse me sometimes you know."

As the two reached the infirmary. The school doctor commented.

"You two again? What happened this time."

As the doctor examined Kairi, she mentioned that the fall wasn't too bad and it was more of a shock than anything which causes Kairi to not have much feeling in her legs. Other than that, very light bruising on her elbows was the other thing which can heal quickly.

"At least it's not as bad as yours."

The doctor pointed to Namine.

"I'm glad. At least she is okay."

The two girls left the infirmary and continued to the gaming club where their original destination was. The moment they arrived, Namine told Kairi to go in on her own as now more rumours will be spreading after that incident and it's best that Namine isn't near her for this. Namine just waited outside the club room as Isaac approached her once again.

"I heard about what happened."

Isaac spoke.

"Now what? You gonna finish what she started?"

Namine shot back.

"No actually, I came to apologise."

That came as a shock to Namine.

"First thing is that she isn't my girlfriend. She is like a crazy stalker."

That comment made Namine chuckle abit.

"Second, I didn't know that she was gonna hurt you so I wanna apologise for that as well."

"Apology accepted."

"Thanks. You ain't as bad as the rumours say. Stay safe."

Isaac said as he went back to class. Just as he walked away. Kairi walked out.

"I have to do try-outs but they say if I do well they might revive the Tekken team!"

"That's great news! Good luck."

But that was the end of the good news that Namine was getting. Right after that, the PA system called for Namine to get to the principal's office. Kairi went back to class and Namine went over. As she entered, The principal signalled her to take a seat.

"Namine."

"Aunty Janice."

Principal Janice Winter. The aunt of Namine, her mother's sister.

"I heard about the fight. First thing is that are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Good. The second thing is you know you knocked out her front tooth right?"

"Good. That bitch had it coming."

"Namine!"

The principal slammed her desk. As she heaved a small sigh, she leaned back on her chair.

"The parents want compensation for her medical bill."

Namine's eyes widen.

"What did you expect?"

Namine remained silent.

"I'm going to pay for it for you."

"But-"

"Listen to me first, Namine. You already have a lot on your plate since you are doing everything on your own but you can't be punching people's teeth out. There are consequences."

"I know and I'm sorry."

"I know. Anyways you have to be suspended for two weeks due to this and…"

"And…?"

"The school is looking to remove your working privileges because of this incident."

"What?"

"You know the board Namine. I may be the principal but there is only so much I can do to bend the rules for you."

"I get that but how am I going to survive?"

"You can only work during the night time then."

"That also means I have to join a club right? How will I have the time to work?"

The principal stopped talking for a bit. The silence in the air was very heavy.

"I'm trying my best to not get it revoke but I'm just telling you to prepare yourself. If anything you can just live with me and-"

"No!"

Namine raised her voice unintentionally which caused the principal to flinch a bit. Realising what she did, she quickly apologised for it.

"I'm really sorry aunty. But you know how much that house means to me. I can't just leave it."

"I know… it's a tough situation to be in."

"Is there anything I can do to change their minds?"

"Sadly there isn't. All I can say is leave it to me and i'll do my best to keep it but no promises."

Namine is heartbroken but understands the position that her aunt was placed in.

"I… understand. I'll try to find a way to survive. I'm also assuming I can't work during my suspension right?"

"...yes."

Naming just sighed as she leaned back in her chair.

"Same thing if you want to work you can only work at night since the school will be sending people to regularly check if you are home and alone."

Namine just nodded at the reality that was just casted upon her.

"Namine if you need the money..."

"No need aunty. I'll find a way."

Namine then stood up and bows to the principal, as she was about to leave, the principal spoke.

"Your mother would be so proud of you. Please stay safe."

Namine bowed once more and left the office back to the class. Classes went on as per normal till the bell rung once more, signalling the end of class. As all the students started to pack up and leave. Kairi inched her chair to Namine's table and asked her what happened as Namine was looking extra depressed. She then slowly explained her situation to Kairi who was shocked and extremely worried the more Namine spoke.

"So… what are going to do now?"

Kairi asked.

"I really don't know. My paintings can only last me a few weeks at best but the amount of time on them is about a week as well. The restaurant is paying the average wage so it's not enough to pay the bills plus the school fees if I only do the night shift. The modelling job has no new offers for me as of now. I need to find another job and fast."

"How about the club situation?"

"I'll find an easy club to get into that doesn't have much commitments. I'm not worried about that one."

The two girls just sat there in silence before Kairi broke it.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"It's my fault, if only I listened to you and just kept walking."

"Don't beat yourself up over it. To be fair I would have beaten the shit out of them either ways."

Namine was lying, she knew she would have just taken the hits if there were witnesses around but she didn't want Kairi to feel responsible for what transpired. Not a single cell in her body blamed Kairi for anything and felt that she shouldn't blame herself for it either. Then Kairi made a suggestion.

"I'll work with you."

"Huh?"

"I'll work with you at the restaurant. I'll give you my earnings and-"

Before Kairi could finish, a hand rested on top of her head.

"If you work with me, keep the money for yourself. I'll be fine Kairi, I've survived this long haven't I?"

Just something about that confidence plus her hand on her head calmed her down. Kairi instinctively grabbed Namine's hand and held it tight which caused Namine to blush.

"Tell me if you need anything, Nami."

"Sure thing, Kai."