A/N: Hope you're all excited for this chapter because I sure am! Roxas and Naminé finally get the chance to meet and get to know each other – will it all go so smoothly? Read to find out!
If anyone glanced at me right now, they would probably think I was a lunatic. I was staring off into space, swaying from side to side, a huge grin on my face.
It was after dinner and I was at my computer. My day had been filled with sporadic texts from Roxas.
I had been a little disappointed when I didn't get a text during the entire bus ride to uni, but I remembered he would have been in class. He replied to my text just as I got off the bus to my other campus, to which I almost screeched and sat down at a bench even though I was already thirty minutes late for class.
"It's nice to finally know yours too. Will admit I've been hoping to bump into you on Wednesdays so I could get to know you better. Anyone who likes my shirt is alright by me."
I swear, if you could bottle up feelings, now would be the moment to do so. I don't think I've ever been so excited, nervous and giddy all at the same time.
Since we both had classes our texts were each about an hour or so apart. At first we talked about the shirt and the game series it represented, and then more about games in general and how we each thought we could easily beat each other. I'd never been much of a texter (in fact I rarely used my phone at all) but even through this he seemed genuine and easy to talk to. Plus he didn't use silly teenage text jargon and emoticons.
Finally, I suggested a better mode of communication and he gave me his email address, which was what I was currently punching into my computer. This would be a lot easier.
We exchanged timetables to see if there were any reasonable gaps for us to catch up in. When he first asked if it would be okay for us to catch up for a coffee or something sometime I couldn't wipe the dopey grin from my face. I felt a little nervous thinking about it. Our timetables clashed pretty terribly, but he noticed I had a gap from 9 to 11 on a Friday.
"I could come in earlier on a Friday and we could hang out during your break? I usually don't come in on Fridays since I only have one lecture, but I wouldn't mind."
I'd immediately said he shouldn't go to the trouble, but he insisted. I could definitely get used to this gentleman-ly type. He seemed to have a good sense of humour too, after he'd made some jokes about our games and a corny reference to the way we'd met by plucking lyrics from 'Call me Maybe', explaining "Had to be done, I apologise."
Before I knew it we'd made plans to meet at the café under the uni library, and I thanked the gods none of my friends shared that break with me because I wanted it to just be me and him. They were worse than my parents when it came to embarrassment.
I couldn't believe my luck. By pure chance I was getting to know a guy who went to my uni, liked the same things as me and seemed so genuine and sweet! Of course I was still wary since I didn't know him very well, but the excitement of meeting someone like-minded for the first time was something I wasn't going to dampen.
I suddenly remembered that Olette would definitely be wondering what was going on, but I knew she wouldn't have told the others yet.
Looks like it was time to spaz to the girls.
…
"OH MY GOD!"
I tore the phone as far away from me as possible and I swore I heard ringing in my ears. If I was going to go deaf for this Kairi could think twice about ever knowing the details of my life again.
And then she made a loud screeching noise. I buried my head into my knees out of embarrassment.
"Oh my god Naminé! You're lucky no one's home!" she exclaimed, and I'm sure she was glad she didn't have to explain that scream to her parents.
"Would you calm down woman! You're more excited than what I was!"
"Oh no, there's no down-toning this my dear Naminé. A boy has given you his number and a beautiful relationship is about to blossom! I will scream as much as I desire!"
"Kairi…" I rolled my eyes, looking over at my desk where I'd tucked the paper with his number on it in a nook on my corkboard. "Who says anything's even going to happen? I barely know him. He's still pretty much a stranger!"
"You'd better not get married before me." I slapped my forehead.
"Seriously Kai, I mean, I'm really excited, but I'm not going to get my hopes up or anything. I'd just really like to take my time and get to know him. He might end up being a good friend."
"Or lover," Kairi teased again, and I gave up there and then. "But seriously Nam, I'm so happy for you! See, good things come to those who speak up!"
I smiled to myself. "Well, I am glad I spoke up. I never thought something like this would ever happen to me."
I heard gushing from the other end. "This is too adorable! You have to introduce us once you get to know him better!"
"Yeah, yeah. It'll be easy getting to know him since he goes to our uni."
"Wait, so you texted him all day and now you're emailing him?"
"We only emailed briefly. We kind of, um… organised to meet up on Friday."
Another flurry of girly shrieks erupted from the phone. If this was Kairi after I simply meet a guy maybe I should think twice about actually dating.
"He clearly really likes you already!"
"Oh come on, he probably just wants another gaming buddy. We're just meeting up to get to know each other during an ordinary break, like our group does!"
"Does this mean we'll get to meet him during our breaks too?"
"Er… actually, he's kind of just coming during my break. He doesn't usually come in on Fridays."
There was a moment of silence, and I swear I could feel Kairi's stare from afar. "Naminé, a guy you just met has relinquished his sleep-in to meet you. I think you should sit on that for a moment."
I just gave a small laugh. "I know, I know, but I guess we're both just caught up in the excitement. I'm just glad I might be making a uni friend, to be honest!"
Kairi gave up playing cupid. "Well, cute gestures aside, I am glad you've made a new friend. But I still think it's a date. Now my dear Naminé, I am off to study for a business assignment. I'll be thinking of you on Friday! Keep me updated!"
Kairi hung up before I could complain about the whole 'date' fiasco, and I just rolled my eyes. I turned back to my computer and read over the emails again, wondering what Roxas would be like.
…
I was in the café at a bit before nine, since my lecture had finished slightly early. I was clutching my phone and looking around. The café at this hour was near empty, and the quiet sounds of clinking cups and the smell of coffee surrounded me. I normally went to the piano room during this break, but today was definitely going to be out of the ordinary.
I looked out at the window behind me, watching, and when he came into view I quickly turned around and pretended to be checking my phone. I… don't know why I did that. I guess I didn't want to seem too eager.
Suddenly he was in front of me pulling out a chair. His hair was much neater this morning but his smile was just as alluring. "Hey."
"Hey!" I smiled back, putting my phone away. "Thank you for coming in just for me. You didn't have to give up your sleep-in, you know."
He shook his head with a gracious smile. "I don't mind. I wanted to see you. You seem like a really great person and I really want to get to know you."
I had to contain my excitement this time compared to receiving text messages yesterday, but I couldn't stop the corners of my lips tugging upwards. "T-Thanks. I really want to get to know you too."
He noticed I had my sketch book with me. "Hey, could I take a look?" He pointed.
"Oh, um… if you like, they're not that great," I pulled up my sketch book for him to look at.
"Come on, you're doing a course on it so you must at least think you're decent. You're guaranteed to be much better than me."
"You draw too?" Lord help me this guy was turning out too perfect for his own good.
"A bit, it's only a hobby," He went into his own bag and pulled out a smaller sketchpad.
We exchanged books and I marvelled at how even though it was just a hobby he was pretty good. He liked games and drawing and he was clever and good-looking to boot… this was all too good to be true.
"Wow, these are amazing," He looked in awe at my drawings, flipping the pages gently. When he ran out of drawings he looked up at me. "You are definitely going to have to teach me."
I giggled. "You're pretty good yourself! We could just exchange tips."
"If you say so," He said, clearly not believing my compliment, but I ran with it anyway.
"Um, since we catch the same train I'm going to guess you live around the area?" I asked shyly, hoping it didn't sound too stalker-ish. To be honest Destiny Retreat was quite a small town compared to places closer to the city, so I was quite interested as to where he lived.
"Yeah, I live about a ten minute drive from the station, but it's a long walk because of the roads," He sighed, "My family moved here from Twilight Town about three years ago."
Twilight Town… that was about a twenty minute drive from here, in good traffic. "I was about to ask why you didn't go to my high school, but I guess that sort of answers it."
He gave a smile. "Yeah, I stayed at my old school. It was further to travel but it was worth it, I really liked it there."
"What school was it?"
"You probably haven't heard of it, it's called The XIIIth School," He explained, and he was right, I hadn't. "It's a pretty small school, we had less than a hundred people in our final year. I got a scholarship to go there after taking an entrance exam." Wait a minute, this was the kind of school you needed to take an entrance exam for!? They had those kind of schools around here!? Come to think of it, I'd heard of a low-key school a little ways from here... "So what school did you go to?"
"Destiny High," I answered after snapping out of my thoughts of Roxas being a super genius. "It's a bit of an under-represented school, but a lot of my friends got in here too, and I really liked it there. Uni doesn't seem as daunting with them here too."
He gave a warm smile, and I hoped he didn't think me too nervous for wanting to have people here I knew. "You're lucky! A lot of my friends went elsewhere, but I know a few people here too."
The comment made me wonder what his friends were like, but of course I just concentrated on him for the moment. So far he was completely enthralling.
"Since we live close to each other it'll make it easier to play some retro games together!" He said in a teasing manner, referring to some of the games we'd texted about the day before.
"I hope you know you'll have a challenge on your hands," I teased right back, and we settled into another conversation.
We talked, or rather he talked, for an hour and a half. I was always naturally shy and quiet and I thanked my lucky stars he was so chatty. We talked about general things like what we liked, what we didn't like, our families, friends, hobbies and anything that stemmed out from those topics. Every now and then we'd have a little chuckle over a small joke or story during conversation, where I could get another look at his smile. Other than finding out he'd moved to our area and that's why he went to another school, I also found out he was fairly athletic, he loved countless things I loved, and the most mesmerising thing I learnt was that he could play an ocarina, a key item from the game that brought us together.
"I'll play for you sometime," He smiled, and I just blushed, looking forward to it.
From time to time, and I don't know if it was just me or if he noticed it too, it would fall silent for a moment and we'd exchange these time-stopping glances, where he'd look me straight in the eyes and for that moment I felt an indescribable feeling. Okay, maybe it was just me and the silly things Kairi had planted in my mind, but I wanted to believe those glances were genuine moments between us.
I was lost in one of his explanations (engrossed in his intelligence) when all of a sudden I found my table surrounded by familiar faces.
"Hey Nam," Terra waved, Olette following right behind him. Her eyes widened and she gave me a knowing smile. Riku trailed behind them but headed straight for the café to get some food.
"H-hey, guys!" I smiled, and they decided to sit at our table. I had no idea these guys had a break at this hour. I was normally still in the piano room or elsewhere. I didn't mind, but I hoped Roxas didn't mind them interjecting our little meet-up.
Riku came back with a croissant and playfully raised his eyebrows at me before giving a warm smile to Roxas. "Hey Nam! Introduce us to your new friend!"
"Ah- right!" I wasn't used to introducing people at all. "Um, this is Roxas. Roxas, this is Riku, Terra and Olette."
"Nice to meet you," He said kindly, shaking the boys' hands and smiling at Olette. I had to giggle at his formality. "Naminé's told me a bit about you guys."
"Oh, really? Only good things, I hope!" Riku teased, sitting down with his snack. Terra, as usual, pulled out his laptop and Olette just sat there with her hands in her lap, unable to wipe the knowing smile from her face and trying to catch my eye.
"Yes Riku, I told him all about your amazing 'teaching skills'," I teased right back, referring to when he tutored us last year. If you could call it that, because most of the time we just talked for 45 minutes and spent the last bit of the hour on actual mathematics.
"Hey, you passed maths, right? Proof of my expertise." The silver-haired boy nodded with pride.
"So Roxas, what are you studying?" Terra asked, probably more an attempt to shut Riku up than anything.
The surprisingly wonderful thing that happened was that Roxas got along swimmingly with the others. He even got Olette to speak up, and not in the quiet and reserved voice she usually used around strangers. Soon the boys were talking about maths, which allowed Olette and I a chance to talk without being heard.
"He seems really nice," She nodded enthusiastically, with a genuine smile on her face. I couldn't help but feel completely overjoyed.
"He does, doesn't he? I'm having a lot of fun getting to know him," I added, noting the last two hours had gone by in the blink of an eye.
Wait, two hours? It was just about eleven o'clock and the both of us had classes. I hadn't realised just how quickly time had flown by.
"Um, Roxas, we'd better go…"
"Oh, eleven already?" He looked a little disappointed. "Guess we'd better head off. It was really great meeting you guys!"
"You too!" Terra and Riku called out, and I waved to them all as we headed out of the café. Olette gave me one last smile and I knew she'd be telling Kairi and Selphie all about this.
We were heading separate ways outside of the library, and he turned to me with a smile.
"I'll see you later."
"O-Okay!" I stammered, and we headed off. I turned back to glance at him for just a second as he walked away. I wondered if he did the same as I turned back.
In the middle of my studio class hours later, I checked my phone (something I didn't normally do, but my overexcitement was beginning to cause a new habit) and noticed a new message had just come through:
"I had a lot of fun today. Let's do it again sometime!"
…
Preview
"He'll probably get bored of me soon enough."
"I'll teach it to you."
"That kind of wrecks things."
"You're bad at phones."
…
A/N: Ahhhh subtle fluff everywhere! I feel almost as happy as Naminé writing this xD Don't worry, there'll be more reactions from the girls in the next chapter! I just wanted to focus on Roxas for now. I hope you're enjoying their cute little exchanges and getting to know each other! A lot more to come next chapter!
Also, I don't know how many of you paid really close attention but the ocarina is going to play a fairly big role in the story. A few of you may be able to guess which game I'm hinting at that was the logo of his shirt ;D If not, I hope you can just roll with the ocarina thing without it sounding too strange. It's a legitimate instrument!
As always, don't forget to check out Fiction café on my profile and please leave a review on your way out! Thanks and much love!
