Summer Blues
Chapter Six: Oceans Away
I woke up on my own today—it was a bright morning, the sun filtering through the window I hadn't know I'd left open last night. At first I didn't know why I woke up in such a good mood, but then I remembered... Today was Beach Day! Contrary to popular belief, even though—because my skin was so pale—most people thought I didn't go out much, I actually love being outdoors. Well, at the beach, at least. I loved the water and its calming effect on me, even during the strongest of waves. Being in it made me feel safe somewhat.
Chuckling to myself, I stretched and stood, then padded over to Kairi's room, intending to have my revenge, since I remember that she and Sora had still been on the phone even when I had fallen asleep. She must still be sleeping now. Her door clicked open quietly and I slipped in, taking note of her fairly messy room, with several clothes thrown about.
"Kairi?" I called tentatively. I was met with the sound of soft breathing and nothing more, reassuring me of her position. I approached the bed and jumped on it, grinning, and said loudly, "Wake up!"
Kairi immediately sat up, dislodging me from my position and making me teeter at the edge of the bed, but I managaed to regain my balance just in time. "What—where's the fire?" she cried, whipping her head from side to side wildly. I couldn't help it—I laughed.
"Kai, there's no fire," I told her in between bouts of giggles. "It's just me."
"That was no fair, Nami," she whined, but was already starting to get up. Wow, seriously, this girl had really good recovery skills. Well, morning person, duh. "I was having a really great dream about S—" She stopped, and flushed crimson.
I stopped laughing to stare at her curiously. "About what, Kai? Or is it a who?" I teased. "It was Sora, wasn't it?"
"N-no!" she replied defensively. "I was going to say... S-Starbucks!" She crossed her arms over her chest and was obviously fighting back another blush, which was no use at all, since her cheeks yet again colored. Oh, this was priceless!
"You just keep telling yourself that," I told her, quoting Roxas from the day before. I giggled as she glared at me and continued, "I'll let myself out. Go get ready, Kai, we're off to the beach today, right?"
"You seem awfully happy today, Nam," she noted, huffing as I got out. I just laughed as I headed for my room.
LINE BREAK
"Why are you so excited?" This was the third time Kairi had asked me this question for the last ten minutes, as we were eating breakfast. Mine were pancakes this time—yum! I speared a forkful in my mouth and chewed and swallowed before finally answering.
"I love the beach," I told her simply. "I've been wanting to go since I got here."
Kairi eyed me skeptically and sipped some of her OJ before asking again, a small smirk in her features, "This doesn't have anything with, well, Roxas... does it?" I blushed faintly when she said that, keeping my eyes trained determinedly on my plate so she wouldn't see my expression, or my coloring. Unfortunately, it might be true; some of this excitement could be contributed to the fact that I might be spending today with Roxas, but then again, I was spending it with the rest of Kairi's friends, and I was excited about that, too. I was eager to learn more about them, and I'm sure that's what I felt about Roxas too... Right?
"Nah," I replied, all too quickly. I finished my breakfast in a rush, blocking out Kairi's reply.
"You good to go?" I asked as I watched her swallow her last bite and drink the rest of her OJ.
She laughed at my eagerness. "Wow, yesterday I was asking those same questions, and now you've beaten me to the punch now. You must really be excited to got to the beach. Or see Roxas. Or both," she said slyly. I mentally slapped myself. God, she was persistent. I nearly laughed aloud. "Fortunately," she went on, "I am; so we can haul our butts over there and get some sun time."
I laughed and we went to get our bags before heading out into the warm June morning.
LINE BREAK
When we got to the beach, several of the others were already there—namely "the lovers", as Kairi affectionately named them, Tidus and Selphie, who were chasing each other laughingly; Xion, who was setting up her spot at the beach by lating out a towel and planting a big beach umbrella; Riku, who was helping her; and Olette, who was chattering away on her cellphone. Hm.
"You're early," Xion commented as they approached. Kairi laughed.
"Look who's talking, Ms. Early-Bird," she joked, getting her towel out and laying it beside her cousin's. "Is it just you guys?"
The raven-haired girl shook her head. "Actually, Sora came rushing by, shouting something about getting some food. You know him." She laughed lightly. "Hayner is on the phone with Olette right now, after she talked to Pence, who said he was on his way, and Roxas—" She cut herself off as something beeped in her pocket. Frowning she pulled out her phoned flipped it open, and read her message. She smiled. "And Roxas just texted. He's nearly here."
"Well, isn't that just perfect?" Kairi said, plopping down on her towel and winking at me. She patted the available space beside her. "Set up here, Nam."
I shrugged, setting to work, but had a small smile on my face as I did so. I breathed in the fresh ocean air as I straightened from laying out my towel, and reveled in the sense of peace that followed.
"You seem to enjoy being here," someone commented.
I turned and met eyes with a blond-spiked boy, who was grinning in his easy way at me. "Good morning, Naminé," he greeted, eyebrow quirking.
I quickly replied and smiled. "Good morning." I sat down on my towel beside Kairi and looked at her. She was grinning in her… intrusive way. Ha ha, Kairi, very funny. Wipe that grin off your face. I rolled my eyes at her and turned back to Roxas, who had set his bag down beside me.
"Guys, guys! Anyone want waffles?" said a hyperactive voice from behind us. Sora, probably. I turned and realized I was right; Sora was indeed there, with a bag of fresh waffles in his hand. He plunked down on the sand in front of us, not even bothering with a towel as he opened his breakfast happily. Well, that explained his apparent connection with Kairi; I blinked. We all murmured "no, we've had breakfast" and watched him eat amusedly.
Before too long, we were complete and there wa a flurry of activity as almost everyone rushed for the water, slipping of their dresses or tops to reveal swimsuits underneath (for the girls), and just taking off their shirts (for the guys). I did my own part, slipping of my plain gray shirt to reveal a white tankini that matched my blue shorts. I rushed to the water, intending to jump in; which I did, with great pleasure. The water was cold, a relief in the warm weather, and I soaked in it, sinking myself into its depths.
When I came back up for air, Selphie was shouting.
"—to play?" was all I caught. Play? Play what, I thought, panicking. What is it with these people wanting to play beach games all the time?
"She asked if we wanted to play Chicken," Roxas murmured helpfully from beside me, chuckling. "You really have no choice, though, once it's Selphie's who's asking. She'll keep begging." I sighed at that, believeing him. I didn't like the game. It was too... intimate, especially since you had to sit on a guy's shoulders.
"Want to pair?" Roxas asked, drawing me back to the present again. Absentmindedly I nodded, as Selphie called out the rules—no one gets hurt, no one physically embarasses anyone else (meaning no tugs on clothing, blech, like I would anyway), no kicking or punching, just shoving; that kind of stuff. It was when I started to get up on Roxas' shoulders when it finally hit. I. Was. Going. To. Be. On. Roxas. Oh, joy. I shook it off, trying hard to concentrate on knocking my opponents under rather than the him being right there. Ugh.
At first it was pretty safe, just a few shoving playfully. However, I was still physically unfit, and so I was the second to topple down (the first was Olette, who was on Hayner, but that was purely out of luck—her back was turned), taking Roxas with me. We resurfaced, laughing. He pulled me to dry land and to the towels catching hold of ours and handing one to me. I tried not to stare at his, well, body. It was shaming to admit—even in my mind—that he had a really nice abdomen, with subtle muscles showing as he towel-dried his hair. He was lean, not buff, which I liked.
PAUSE. REWIND. Did I just say I liked it? Ugh, stupid hormones, I thought, shaking my head as I toweled myself off. Always get you when you least expect it. I plopped down on the sand, suddenly needing to sit. Roxas sat down beside me.
"Hey, Naminé," he began nonchalantly.
"Yeah?" I turned to him, tilting my head to the side.
He looked thoughtful, considering his words before he spoke. "There's this skateboardinging thing on Saturday. Are you free?"
My jaw almost dropped. Seriously? Was he asking me out? …Wow. "Uh, I think so. Why? And, uh… You skate?" I couldn't keep my voice from sounding kind of nervous.
He chuckled. "Yes, and I happen to love it," he told me, grinning in that easy way; it really was starting to become my favorite smile of his. "Will you come? Everyone else is busy, and I need some support 'cause I've been practicing for this." He looked kind of like a lost puppy, frowning cutely as he registered what he'd said.
I laughed. "So, basically… You want a cheerleader?"
"No!" he said. "I mean, yes, I guess?" He looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his head.
"I'll come," I giggled, futilely trying to supress it. He was adorable when he lost some of his composure. He seemed to realize this, though, and gave a little cough. When he spoke again, it was with confidence.
"Great. I'll pick you up, say, after lunch? About two in the afternoon. The competition starts at three." At this I nodded, and he grinned again brilliantly before going back to the water, where Sora and Kairi had claimed victory over they game. I smiled at his retreating back. I had a date! And with a really cute guy, too…
A/N: Well, there. D: I hoped that was okay. Was that too fast? I was thinking it was about time, since this was already the sixth chapter and all… Oh, and did you think that was rushed? Gah, I don't know. It's so hard. But, anyway, here's to getting to the sixth, finally! Did you know, I was just checking my mail and I found out that one of the stories I'd been watching was updated! Go check it out! Hard To Get by idiotique. Hee. Okay, so I'm promoting another fic, got a problem? XD
Thanks to everyone who's alerted! Gosh, ou guys are waaay awesome. Please leave some reviews, though, if you can, because, really, reviews are my drive, y'know?
On another note—you can skip this paragraph—I just found out something really amusing the other day. See, when I typed in my username here, Hikari Kotoba, I only knew what "hikari" meant, which was "light". I didn't know what "kotoba" meant, so, just for kicks, I looked it up the other day—and it means "words". Cool! Translated, my penname means "light words". Which is awesome! XDD K, share.
Okay, so… I'm off to write another chapter. Hee. Oh, and you have time, read my other fanfic—it's a four-shot entitled Seasons of Love. Well, you can guess what that's about. Anyway, review, PM, alert, whatever! Let me know you care! I'd love some feedback. See you next chapter! ;D
-Hikari
