Chapter 5 Saturday

Updated: 11/15/2014

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Later on, Vanitas found Anika looking at some new line bathing suits. He smiled, "You ready?"

She jumped, surprised,"God, don't just pop up on me. Ready for what?"

"To find Kairi and Sora. And to fill out your application."

"Oh, then yeah," she looked down at the concrete floor and headed out the double doors following close behind him.

On the walk back, Kairi texted Anika, "Sora and I r goin movie. So cya! Don't 4get to tell Vanitas!"

Anika stopped in her tracks, on the way to the burger joint. "Ano, Kairi and Sora went to see a movie, so uhm - "

"That means he took the damn car. Baakaa," Vanitas said to himself, scratching the back of his head. He looked down at her, "We can walk to my house. It's not that far."

At that moment, thunder struck in the distance. Vanitas looked at the sky, "Maybe it'd be better if we take the bus." He grabbed her wrist gently but full of urgency.

Anika followed in a daze.

He turned back momentarily but shrugged it off and continued making his way to the nearest bus stop. About eight minutes later, the bus arrived to meet an agitated young man and clueless girl.

Vanitas hastily boarded and paid for both of them and chose two seats near the front. He gave her the window seat and watched the rain slap against the front windshield from his seat.

Anika turned to him, "Do you not like storms?"

He hesitated, "I'm cool with them." He tried to be nonchalant about it.

"Your actions speak volumes," she stated, recalling their encounter just yesterday.

He grumbled and avoided eye contact, "Nan demo nai."

"Humph," she crossed her arms.

Twelve minutes later the bus stopped a few blocks from his house and Vanitas practically dragged Anika from the bus. He ran, bringing her along in the pouring rain, to his multi story light coffee brown beach house on thick, sturdy concrete stilts. Their house stood out from nearby houses which didn't have storm worthy stilts. Nor did others have an open two car garage with a concrete storage unit to the left side of the house. Like her own house, it contained lots of floor to ceiling windows, but were reinforced by thick metal beams every few window panels. At the back of the house, a few decks could be seen outside the upper floors and a larger deck for the bottom floor that led out towards the waves encroaching the bank.

He took her up a split bamboo staircase that conjoined into one, leading her up to red colored door. With ease, he unlocked it as another thunder clap rang out. He pulled her in and quickly shut the door, locking it.

She looked at him quizzically, "Are you sure you're okay?"

He removed his drenched shirt from the nape of his neck as he made his way deeper into his abode. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. "

She stopped, halfway in, "Uhm. I don't wanna get your house all wet ... Do you have a towel?"

He nodded and turned back around towards the spiral staircase while motioning her to follow. She followed, still trying to keep everything dry.

He took her down the white hall and into a sea shell covered bathroom and reached for a pale blue towel in a basket shelf.

She grabbed hold of it and he turned to face her straight on. He seemed anxious as he absentmindedly fidled with his watch, "Uhm, if you'd like you can take a shower here, and your clothes are wet anyway so we have a dryer if you wanna use it."

*That means he'd be drying my underwear! She quickly blushed at the thought.

His own face turned red, guessing what she was thinking, "If you want, I'll give you a hair dryer for your -err- under garments."

She nodded frantically, "Yea please!" She pushed past him.

He took that as his cue to leave and rushed around the house to close all the plantation shutters, fearing the wind's force.

Anika removed her clothes and cracked the door open a smidge, and called out softy, "Vanitas?"

He gradually made his way back up, cringing at every clap of thunder, "Yeah?"

She hid behind the door, "I have my clothes."

"Un," he grabbed hold of them to take to the dryer and she shut the door briskly.

Anika turned to the small turquoise mosaic shower and hung her undergarments on the hook behind the door and stepped into the scalding heat.

She tried to sort out Vanitas' actions, considering his antsy demeanor. Was he scarred from something?*

She didn't use any of the soaps, since they weren't hers, but she did rinse herself. She stepped from the water, turned it off and wrapped the dark blue towel around her body.

She looked into the foggy mirror and grabbed the dryer to begin drying her hair and her undergarments.

Vanitas lightly knocked, "Your clothes aren't dry yet, so I brought you one of my shirts. That okay?"

Anika blushed and cracked open the door,"Yeah that's fine. Thank you."

She looked at the large black t shirt in her hands, and put on her dried bra and panties then put the shirt over her head, letting it fall mid thigh.

The mirror had defogged and replicated Anika's image, she turned to face herself and readied herself to exit the bathroom.

She hung the used towel on the hook behind the door and got out.

Her eyes wandered the large home, "Ano. Vanitas?"

He called out from a game room with no windows, "I'm in here."

She followed his voice and sat in the gaming chair next to his, watching him play Halo. "Is there a reason you have the volume so high?"

He continued playing and responded too quickly, "No."

Anika wasn't convinced but let it pass.

"Want a controller?"

"Sure." She took the offered controller and added an additional character.

Out of her peripherals, Anika noticed Vanitas cringe with each boom of thunder.

An hour later Sora and Kairi stepped into the house. The wind blew warmly into every hallway. Sora called out, "Vanitas?"

Anika stood and leaned over the banister on the spiral staircase to announce their position, "We're up here." Sora and Kairi made their way upstairs and Kairi stared at Anika's attire.

Kairi looked at her quizzically, "What are you wearing?"

Anika looked at herself, "Oh, uhm, Vanitas lent me a shirt. My clothes are in the dryer." She reddened.

"Oh," Kairi responded, mildly interested.

Anika shook her head, "Anyway, is Vanitas afraid of storms?"

A/N: Thank you so much for bearing the wait, but I managed to squeeze this chapter out right after I updated my other story Hidden Secrets. Anyway, please review!

Love Nano1012

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, any events similar to real life are coincidental. No copyright infringement intended. I do not own Kingdom Hearts.