I glared down at the paper. It stared back. Maybe if I strained hard enough it would erupt into flames—like, pah magic laser vision! No one could hold that against me, right? New super powers are notoriously hard to control. Come on words! Write yourselves! Ugh...maybe if I thunk my head on the desk a few times I will be struck by inspiration…

"Cut it out, it's not that bad."

Yeah, of course you would say that, Mr. Been-Done-For-Forever-Already. I peeled my head off the desk slightly to squint over at him. He was sitting over there with that smug look in his eye. It's not my fault Quistis liked choosing the most difficult problems to put on this make up stuff. Sure, she says it's all important things we missed at some point while we were traveling but I think she picks out the hardest bits on purpose as part of some grand revenge scheme. I squished my face back down into the paper.

"I'm gonna be trapped here forever."

At least we only had to do this once a week. But it made me seriously hate Wednesday now. Death-day. It's-the-middle-of-the-week-so-now-you-die day.

"If you're trying to rope me into helping you, you know I can't."

I sat up in frustration and scrubbed at my face. "I can't believe she makes us both start over if she thinks we copied each other! I still say it wasn't cheating. Inspiring each other to come up with the right answer is just teamwork and teamwork is way more beneficial in my life than knowing how fire explosions make new islands show up." I frowned grumpily. How school can make explosions boring is a total mystery.

Riku leaned over and snatched the paper off my desk and scanned it, sighing heavily. "Sora...the names of the volcanoes aren't 'that tall one', 'lumpy nose rock' and 'oh yeah, that flower thing'."

"Hey that last one is right, isn't it? I know it's gotta be right because that one is named after the festival."

He peeked out at me from over the top of the sheet. "Other way around...and what is "lumpy nose rock" supposed to be? Did you just pull three random words out of the air?"

"No! It's that middle one with the..." I got a sudden idea and jumped up, pulling the curtain away from the window so I could gesture over to it in the distance. "That one! See? It has that funny part that sticks out to the side. It looks like a nose."

He followed the path of my finger over to the mountain range in the distance. I could tell he was trying to figure it out in his head for a minute. Not sure why he needs to think about it- its pretty obvious. See? Now he's trying not to laugh so he must see it, too.

"That's...not even a volcano, it's just a mountain."

"But it's kinda red colored isn't it?"

"Color doesn't mean anything."

So much for that theory…I puffed my face out in an attempt to relieve some of this annoying frustration. "This is impossible..."

"Seems you did get one thing right, though."

I brightened. "Really? What's that?"

"You really are going to be here forever."

Ugh…

Clack-clack

I overheard the familiar sound of the classroom door sliding open and instinctively bolted to my seat, grabbing a book at random and shoving it into my face, hoping I could pull my expression into the most convincing studious look ever. I heard light footsteps approaching my desk. Maybe if I put my hand under my chin I can pull the "A+ student" look off properly…

"Not going well, I see." A finger gently nudged the top of my book down and saw Kairi giving me a smile. Phew! It's not Quistis!

I relaxed and smiled back. "Heh...how'd you guess?"

She tapped the top of the book again with her finger. "Upside down."

Oops. I just shut it instead of even attempting to cover for myself. "Kairi...why does geography have to be so hard?"

"You said the same thing about history last week. If I remember correctly, you said 'this is the worst subject, ever!'" She imitated me. Poorly.

I crossed my arms with frustrated vigor. "Well I take it back! At least with history there was some stuff that I could connect with because it was actually, I dunno, relevant." It did certainly make things easier when some of the stuff in the lesson were things I had actually lived through. But how was I supposed to relate to all the different types of rocks? Honestly, if these rocks were so different from each other maybe they should have taught us different names for them from the beginning. I slumped over my desk again. Did I mention I hate Wednesdays?

Kairi rested her hand gently on my head and ruffled my hair, sending a shiver running up my back. When she touches me like this unexpectedly...it's such a frustrating mixture of feelings. I like it so much its embarrassing, which makes me sort of want her to stop. But...at the same time I want her to keep going. It makes me super warm but chilly at the same time, how is that even possible!? Darn it...if she doesn't stop there is no way I can concentrate on anything else, especially not this busywork. Almost like she read my mind, she lifted her hand and walked over to another desk. Once her back was turned I hastily shook my head to clear it.

She grabbed the desk and started shuffling backwards with it, pulling it towards ours. "Well it doesn't feel right to leave without you two so I guess I'm here to help."

Hmm...that does make me wonder, though. If Kairi is a princess of heart does that mean maybe she has some super power ability to read peoples' thoughts? I wonder if she actually can hear what I am thinking. Which would be so cool and...actually...mortifying. That would mean...the other day before lunch when she bent over all unexpectedly and both Riku and I had to quickly look away so we wouldn't accidentally see up, um...if she could read minds, then...oh man, I'd rather not focus on that right now. Besides, I gotta test this out first! I pulled my head up off the desk and concentrated hard in her direction.

Okay! Let's do this! Mind melding powers...activate! Explaaain the weaaaather. Give me the answeer to number foooour.

She finished moving the desk and sat down, her eyes making contact with mine. She leaned away a little in surprise, then blinked back, clearly confused. I refused to break contact, concentrating. Her surprise melted away, and...yeah, I definitely just saw a twinkle of something suspicious. Aha! Maybe it is working! Weather! Rain! How does a cloud foooorm? She giggled, reached over and flicked one of my bangs, breaking my concentration completely.

"What are you up to?"

Riku came over to our little desk circle and leaned down on one arm, pushing my forehead back with his finger. "He's probably trying to get into a staring contest to procrastinate, but it's not working."

I shook my head furiously, swatting his hand away. "No! I was just testing to see if Kairi could send me answers telepathically!"

He narrowed his eyes, clearly skeptical. "Uh huh...and where did you come up with that idea?"

I shuffled my feet awkwardly under the desk. "I dunno..."

"Well, I can't send help telepathically but I don't need to, do I? I'm right here." Kairi pulled out a notebook from her bag and started copying down the questions off my paper. "Would one of you kindly hold up the textbook for me so I can see?"

Riku shoved the textbook in my direction as he relaxed back into his seat. I opened it up to the marked pages and held it open and out across the gap in the desks for Kairi to use.

"So how's the festival work coming along? Only a few weeks left..." Riku asked in imitation boredom, clearly fishing for clues, still. Not buying it, Kairi just hummed a little and kept her pen squiggling crisply across the page.

"That wasn't an answer." Riku pressed.

"You know I can't tell you!"

"Tch..." He gave up and crossed his arms, glancing out the window. I get that Kairi wants to keep her oh so secret festival assignment, well, a secret, but it's kind of bugging me too, not knowing anything. It has to be something pretty important, since she was specifically called into the principal's office to learn about it and now refuses even the most basic questions. I wonder how long it's going to take Riku to figure it out, he's definitely putting some good effort in. As much as I want to know, I'm not going to even think about poking the bear that is Kairi when she gets angry. I don't want unicorns coming out of my locker, either.

"Next page please, Sora."

I spun the book around and quickly found the next section marked with the sticky paper for her.

Riku grumbled and leaned forward, tapping the desk with his fingers idly. "It's keeping you pretty busy though, so...it must be a fairly involved project."

She tapped her nose at him and smiled. "You're not getting any information out of me! It is a bit of a relief that club activities are suspended this week though. Not sure how I would keep up with everything if I had to do it all."

I felt a slight pang of guilt and lowered the book a little. "Kairi...um...I can finish this on my own, really. You don't have to..."

"Sora, hold it higher, I can't see." She gave me another view of that sweet reassuring smile of hers. She's way too nice to me…

Okay! That settles things! Battle phase starts now! This worksheet doesn't stand a chance! I opened to a fresh page in my notebook and started marking the questions I still hadn't completed with a flourish.

"It's about time you took things seriously." Riku stood, his chair squealing a bit across the ground in complaint but I kept my eyes firmly locked on my work. No time for any more distractions!

He yawned extra loudly, probably on purpose, and strolled over towards the door. "I need to go take a walk and stretch my legs."

Kairi huffed and I heard her twist around in her chair. "Are you seriously just going to dump all the helping on me now!? Thanks a lot..."

"Oh, I have every confidence in your success. I'm sure you'll be done by the time I get back." He answered, to our joint displeasure.

"Is that a challenge!?" I shouted after him but he only gave me a half wave as he slipped out the door. It's a challenge, all right. Well, if he's going to be that way, there's no way I'm not going to win at this. I'll finish it all in record time! I stretched my hands out in front of me and nodded decisively over to my new study partner.

"Let's do this!"

She got up and switched desks, pushing what was once Riku's right up against mine. "I'll try and highlight the most important parts to help you find the answers, okay? I'll check your work too as we go. Are these the ones you are still having trouble with?"

As she reached over me to grab the assignment sheet, her hair briefly brushed my arm and that same shiver down my spine returned. I felt an incredible urge just to run my hand through the strands, but that would be super creepy. It's not the sort of thing I could just ask permission to do, either. She was so close to me I could barely make out her familiar scent of rose and raspberry. Maybe if I just leaned a little closer...

Nope! Nope! Snap out of it! She's working hard for me and I can't let her down! While I was internally struggling, she was just waiting patiently with a smile on her face for me to answer her question. I cleared my throat uncomfortably and pointed to the middle section. "B-basically all of this..."

"Hmm?" She suddenly started scrutinizing my face. "Are you embarrassed? You're a little red."

"U..um...well..." Not in the way she thinks, but it's not like I'm going to come out and say what was actually on my mind.

"It's okay! Really! Please don't feel bad. I'm glad I can help you with this." She started rubbing my shoulder and I tensed.

Deep breaths. Deeeep breaths."T-thanks...I really appreciate it." I laughed and jabbed at my forehead with the eraser of my pencil. "A thick skull is great for defense but when it comes to learning stuff it kinda gets in the way."

"We just have to put it into a context you'll understand. Ready to show Riku a thing or two about teamwork?"

I nodded, pumping one of my arms in the air. "Let's go! Team Awes-uh...what's our team name?"

She squished her mouth to the side, clearly taking my question quite seriously. "How about something to do with rocks, given the study material? Like...we're the Team that Rocks!"

That's a bit too cheesy, even for me. She must have seen my face and waved me off with a sigh. "Fine, fine, no good. But I'm not about to spend twenty minutes procrastinating. Next idea is the one we settle on, deal?"

Ooh, serious stakes now. I ran my eyes across my homework in hopes that something would inspire me. I spotted the diagram of the volcano on my paper and snapped. "Got it! Team Victory Explosion!"

She opened her mouth to say something, paused, then just released her breath slowly. "It...doesn't exactly roll right off the tongue. Can't we-"

"Hey, you said the next idea is the one we go with!" I frowned. "But I want you to like our team name too, so that's no good..."

Kairi tapped the eraser of her pencil against the desk. "If we could find a way to combine our ideas together..."

"Like...adding a silly rock pun?" I grinned. "I've got a lot of puns, all of great magmatude, you're gonna lava 'em!" Man these were so bad...but they always were a good way to get her to cheer up.

She prodded me with the pencil, laughing. "Oh come on, stop it."

Sudden inspiration struck me. "Oh! I got it! For real this time!" I leaned forward in excitement and she reciprocated, hunching across her desk, her face looking eagerly at me to announce my discovery. Gotta wait just a liiiittle bit to build up that dramatic tension before the reveal...aaand...

"Team Landslide Victory!" I cheered, brandishing my hands in front of myself grandly, waiting for her reaction. And judging by her smile, I knew we had a winner.

I held out my hand and she quickly gave it a high five. Before she could pull hers back too far I snatched it up in mine and raised them both up into the air. "Let's Go! Team Landslide Victory!"

She burst into giggles and used her other free hand to cover her mouth in that cute way she's done since forever when she's happy about something. "Okay, okay! Now we have to do the work to live up to our team name."

I sagged a bit in my chair. "Oh...right." Almost forgot about that part...still, with Kairi helping me I'm sure it will go much faster. I don't want to keep her too late after school, either, so time to get started. I looked down at the first troublesome problem, and started to reread it, hoping it would make more sense the fifth time around. Before I could finish the first sentence, I heard Kairi lightly clearing her throat and I glanced back up at her. She was shifting in her seat, like she had something a bit uncomfortable on her mind. I tilted my head at her, wordlessly encouraging her to open up.

She gave me a shy smile in return. "Um...do you think I could have my hand back?"

Wha-? My eyes shot down to my left hand which was still clasping hers tightly and I immediately released it in panic. "S-sorry! I, uh...I didn't..."

Oh great. Good job there, hand! I don't even know what sort of excuse I can use for that. I didn't even think about it, it just happened. Something about holding her hand just felt sorta normal and nice that I completely forgot what I was doing. Why is it that my body just does all these stupid things without my permission!? Luckily she didn't seem to be taking it too badly. She just had a relatively neutral look on her face as she gathered up her pencil again.

"It's fine, it just would be a little hard for me to write with only my left hand. I haven't quite mastered using them both like Ven."

I laughed a bit nervously, but since she really didn't seem to mind too badly I guess it wasn't worth worrying too much over right now. I checked the time and nodded to myself. Right, enough time wasted already! Concentrating starts right now!

I slammed my pencil down onto the paper and made a second note of the time. Done in record time! And, since Riku still wasn't back yet I guess that means we won! Team Landslide Victory has truly lived up to its name today!

"Kairi! Guess what I-"

My voice caught in my throat as I saw her. She really must be overworking herself—she was passed out cold on the textbook. I wonder what could be so important about Kono Fes this year that they are working her so hard. Maybe I should go complain to the principal...except then she would probably get mad at me for meddling and start telling people I liked putting sugar on my rice or something equally horrible.

It's hard not to worry, but I know her. If she really couldn't handle it she would say something. She pushes herself really hard, but she knows her limits. I'm going to put tons of extra effort into her present tonight to make sure I can finish it in time for the festival, though. I just have to make sure I don't end up overdoing it and falling asleep in class again since that just makes everything harder for her in the long run. It also might end up making me give away my secret if she gets too suspicious about why I'm sleepy. But if she gets a secret to keep for the festival, than I get mine, too! It's only fair.

She's never been ungrateful about presents, so I know she's going to like it, but...that still doesn't make me any less nervous. Maybe I really should run the idea past Namine first. She'd know if it was good, right? No...Kairi would definitely find out about it that way. Can't tell Xion either. Even Olette wasn't safe. I'd tell Aerith or Tifa but that whole town isn't safe because Yuffie likes spying on everything and jumping out saying something like "Har, har, I got ya! Master Ninja strikes again!" And telling Yuffie is...nope. Definitely not Selphie. Argh! I don't know enough girls!

I sighed a little and glanced out at the rapidly lengthening shadows outside as twilight started fading into dusk. Oh well...I reached over to gently wake her but froze, my hand left hanging indecisively in the air. She must be really tired if she feel asleep here. She always complains about how she'd never be able to sleep in these chairs and yet…

She sighed deeply, moving to nestle her head against the desktop. Great! Now I'm jealous of furniture. That same shiver kept coming back. Why do I keep getting this feeling even only when I look at her? Maybe it wouldn't hurt, to just keep watch for a minute or two...only a minute...

Everything about her is so...indescribable. The way her hair falls over her face, that smile as shes dreaming, those little sighs she has every now and then, everything so...perfect. Perfect and absolutely untouchable. Aaargh! This is like the most wonderful torture ever conceived. She's so close and yet there's nothing I can do. What do I even want to do? I almost can't bear it any more.

There is definitely no one else that makes me feel like this. And it's only gotten worse. At first I could ignore it for the most part, but now it's getting to the point where I'm accidentally trying to hold her hand of all things. She's not as good as Riku at figuring things out, but she's really clever too so at this rate she's bound to suspect something soon...

I definitely can't hide this for much longer. Maybe I can't any more. I have to tell her how I feel. I'll...I'll tell her now! I'll wake her up and-

No. No, no, no. Don't be stupid. How utterly unromantic would that be? She'd never appreciate that. She said she's got this perfect guy in mind, this perfect moment...ugh, that isn't me, that couldn't possibly be me! If I confess everything she'll just get upset like she did with Irvine, and...

I dropped my arm hopelessly, puffing air up at my bangs in frustration and watched her rest, completely unaware.

I wonder how much we can remember of what is told to us while we sleep. I remember Quistis saying something about that being a way to study. You could have someone tell you the information while you slept and then somehow it would get into your mind and you'd wake up knowing it but not really knowing it. Then I guess if they gave you a test you could answer the questions right or...something like that? I don't really remember. But maybe it's true that if someone tells you something while you sleep you pick up on it a little, but won't really remember it, not entirely. It could be worth a try...right?

But what if she wakes up?

I leaned in closer towards her, feeling my face heat up as a few strands of her hair lightly brushed against me. I could barely hear anything over the banging sound in my ears, the thumping growing faster every second. I slowly, ever so slowly opened my mouth just a crack.

"Kairi…?" I whispered so quietly I couldn't even hear it myself.

Stillness. Nothing. I decided to test it out again.

"Can you hear me?"

No response. Okay time to really see if she wasn't just pretending.

"Kairi, you're late to tennis practice." I tried, a little louder.

She stirred a little this time, moaning. I pulled back, no doubt blushing pretty heavily, watching her hand clenching slightly around the edge of her skirt until she ultimately fell still again. Hopefully I didn't just give her a bad dream. Sorry about that.

I took a few deep steadying breaths. If saying that did give you a bad dream, I hope maybe this gives you a good one. I took a deep breath, and kept my voice fairly low. "Kairi...I...need to tell you something."

Nothing else in that room mattered anymore- just her tranquil face smiling in her sleep. I've been so scared to tell her a thing, but at least knowing she is asleep made my fear that little bit more manageable. "Kairi...you're my light. You always have been. I-I know I'm..."

Why couldn't I stop my voice from shaking!? I just tried to push through, determined to finally speak up. "I-I'm just a stupid boy who stumbles my way through things. I was never really a-ament to-mount-" I paused, for a moment, trying to stop the nonsense from getting worse. Once I felt my voice settle, I started again. "I was never meant to a-amount to anything special and I know I'm ignorant about lots of stuff b-but there's one thing I will always be sure of, more than anything else."

I took another deep breath. Here it goes, I guess. "Kairi, I li-"

Clack-clack

The door. I jolted upright away from Kairi's sleeping form, my face still burning as I turned to see who was entering through the doorway. Riku was stopped still in the frame, holding it open with his arm stretched straight out, staring back at me with this really weird look on his face. It was almost like he was kinda mad about something. Did something happen to him outside? I must have bumped into Kairi slightly when I was startled because she was obviously waking up now. She mumbled something incoherent and rubbed at her eye with one hand, covering her yawn with the other.

"Mm? Sora?" She lowered her hands and drowsily smiled at me. "What happened? Was I asleep?"

I laughed a little, hoping the color had drained from my face somewhat. "Yeah...for a bit. It seemed like you needed it."

A slight panic brushed across her features and she started grabbing at the papers on the desk. "Oh no! I really was asleep!? Why didn't you wake me up!? Your work is-"

"All done! Ta-da!" I brandished it over towards her and she snatched it up, scanning my answers carefully.

As she did so, I leaned to glance back over at where Riku was still frozen in the doorway. Something was definitely off with him. Don't tell me he heard what I was saying…? How could he from all the way over there? I really hope he didn't hear me. Uuugh…

"Hey...uh...are you mad about something?" I asked, hoping the answer was no.

Seeming to snap back into reality, Riku stepped through the doorway and finally dropped the door, letting it slide shut with another clack. "Just a little."

Uh oh…

He flicked at my forehead but I dodged back in time for him to miss. He clicked his tongue at me and folded his arms. "But only because it looks like you beat me to the finish line."

I inwardly heaved a huge sigh of relief. So, he's just upset that Team Landslide Victory is awesome, huh? I can live with that! I couldn't hide my grin and he attempted to flick his finger at me again.

"Oh well, I suppose that's better for the both of us that you're finished. It's fantastic how simple you are to motivate sometimes. He is finished, right Kairi?"

Yeah, yeah, yuck it up all you want. I know I got a victory today. Besides, I know I did a good job. It was written all over Kairi's face. She was positively beaming.

"Yeah! Looks great! I'll go turn the papers in for you guys while you get packed up! Meet you down by the shoe cubby!" She scooped up my work and fished Riku's off the spare desk, humming happily to herself as she did so. What was she so giddy about? I didn't even get to finish what I was trying to tell her, so I doubt it was that...

I closed up all the books and helped pack her pencils away for her in her case. "You feeling okay?"

She giggled. "Yeah! It's so funny but for some reason I feel like I could just fly right now. But I have no idea why."

Riku abruptly spun around, I guess to start packing up his bag or something. "Maybe you had a good dream..."

Kairi looked absolutely radiant. "I bet I did! I wish I could remember it, it must have been fantastic. It didn't start that way, though. From what I remember, I was being bombarded by rogue tennis balls and I couldn't find my racket for the longest time. When I finally did, it kept shrinking until it was completely useless and then I lost it altogether!"

I laughed, picturing her swinging around a tiny ant-sized tennis racket. Maybe that would be a fun version of tennis that someone could make, where everyone had to use doll equipment. But I had no time to mention that now, as she continued her story with enthusiasm.

"After I wasn't able to find my racket I just used my Keyblade instead until everything was...I don't know. Different. Because it changed and...I think I was flying! Or completely wrapped up in the air. I felt so comfortable...and everything smelled like the tea olive trees in full bloom..."

"Maybe you were riding on a big fluffy sheep, flying to the moon!" I suggested, but she just shook her head.

"Whatever it was, it's left me in a great mood. And besides that, I'm so proud of you! Thanks for working so hard to get everything done."

"I couldn't have done it without your help. Team Landslide Victory wins!"

She was still prancing around, completely giddy and I couldn't help but feel my grin widening just looking at her.

"Mm! So I guess you deserve a reward for winning, right?" She bit her lower lip for a moment then unexpectedly bounded up to me, wrapping her free hand around the knot of my loosened uniform tie. She yanked on it hard, lurching me forward. I didn't even have time to register that I was falling before she had already braced herself against me. Her lips, pressed gently against the side of my cheek.

And time absolutely froze.

That wonderful familiar smell of roses and raspberries filled my senses and I trembled, spluttering out nonsense. She pulled away slowly, lingering just a moment in the space between us. I could still feel her touch. Her voice, barely a murmur near my ear.

"Well done, you silly bum."

Even as she released me, giggled and floated her way out of the room, I could still feel the sensation of her lips against my face. I couldn't move. I didn't want to.

Ow! Something heavy thumped into the back of my head and Riku was giving me a sour look.

"Are you done staring into space? We've been stuck here long enough, let's go already."

I felt indescribable joy bubbling up from the very soles of my shoes and I couldn't stop smiling. I felt like I had way too much energy and needed to go run a few laps around the school track or something before I could even process anything else. Riku threw his arm over my shoulder and he sighed heavily into me, punching down onto my head with his other hand. I saw a slight smile also creep its way onto his grumpy features. "Geez, you're hopeless..."

I laughed and slipped out from under his grip, snagging my school bag from the back of the chair. I felt like I could do anything. This was the best victory I've ever had, hands down. "I am totally never going to lose to you again!"

"Oh, we'll see about that!"

I could hear his footsteps chasing me and I had to duck to escape the first swipe he made at the strap of my book bag. I never thought I would ever believe this but now I've decided: I love Wednesdays.