Disclaimer: I don't own KH.

A/n: Thanks for the awesome reviews, everybody! Hang in there, you'll find out who did it soon enough. Not this chapter, but maybe the next one.

Chapter Seven: Making Things Complicated

"There." Kairi huffed proudly, stepping back to look at the small white crib.

"How's it look there?" She turned to ask over her shoulder, smiling brightly at the blonde girl seated on the bed.

Namine sighed. She had moved it all around the room, no matter what Namine had said about it. There wasn't even any guarantee that they would still live here when the baby came, but being an excited aunt, Kairi had completely refurbished the bedroom. There was a mini dresser set against the larger one in the corner, drawers empty and waiting for their next shopping spree. A matching changing table sat beside it, and today the crib Kairi had picked out had arrived, hence the frantic redecorating the bedroom had undergone all morning.

"It looks fine, Kairi, and the baby isn't going to care. She won't even be here for another three months." Namine said quietly. She was tired, she had been watching her sister rip the room apart and put it back together for days. But she did have to admit, it looked nice…

"Are we interrupting anything?" The gentle voice from the doorway made Namine jump, and she wrapped her arms around herself protectively as her sister's excited squeal pierced the air.

"Sora!" She ran across the room to jump on him when she saw him in the doorway, making Namine turn away rather sadly as they started their usual bout of hugging and kissing.

"Yea, they make me feel sick sometimes too." She looked up at Riku in surprise.

"Oh, hey Riku…" She wasn't sure if she was happy he was there or not. It meant she wouldn't have to be the third wheel again, but it also meant he would be flirting with her the entire time.

"Ready to go?" Sora asked, tearing himself away from Kairi long enough to smile across the room at the young blonde. She nodded silently and scurried off the bed to put her shoes on.

xXx

The tension in the air was almost unbearable, Namine fighting down the nervous blush once again as her sister gave her a curious glance. Everything had been going fine, and now she felt like she could just melt into the floor and die.

"So, uh, what's up with Riku?" Kairi lowered her voice and whispered in her sister's ear, glancing over at the silver haired teen.

He stood several feet away, bristling in anger as Sora sorted through a discount bin obliviously. Upon following his gaze, Kairi finally noticed the hint of red outside the shop window. She let out a giggle and Namine felt her face heat up again.

"Reno followed you here." She whispered, a grin spreading across his face when she realized Namine's distress.

"I don't want to talk to him." She said flatly. Kairi pouted slightly, but shrugged it off.

A half an hour later, she refused to meet his gaze as the small group made their way back through the mall. He was still seated on the bench across from the shop they had been in, Yuffie, Elena, and a boy Namine didn't recognize standing in a group beside him. She could feel his eyes boring into her as she lowered her face, pretending to be completely interested in the contents of the shopping bag clutched in her hands. She had only walked a few feet from the door when she felt an arm wind around her waist, and her gaze immediately snapped up to see Riku smiling down at her.

If she hadn't noticed the angry look on Reno's face, or Yuffie's shocked expression, she might have shoved him away.

xXx

Namine sighed to herself as she made her way up the stairs, her footsteps echoing loudly around her. A dim light shone from under the door at the top, and she knocked softly before gently pushing it open. Looking around the room shyly, she noticed Olette jump up from the sofa against the far wall.

"Hey, your mom said you were looking for me." Namine said quietly as the brunette nodded and beckoned her inside.

"Yea, I found this on the porch right after you left with Kairi." She said excitedly, reaching down behind her bed and pulling out a gift bag. She handed it to Namine and watched excitedly.

Namine gazed down at the bag, lifting up the nametag carefully to see her name scrawled on it clumsily. "You don't know who it's from?" She asked Olette curiously. The girl shook her head and urged her to open it.

Namine shrugged and reached inside, brushing past the tissue paper until she felt something soft. Pulling it out, she looked down at the light pink rabbit curiously.

"Aw, it's cute!" Olette said, reaching out as Namine handed it to her.

She reached back in the bag and pulled out a tiny white dress, along with several pastel colored long sleeved shirts and socks.

"Hey, that looks a lot like your old dress." Olette observed, holding it up by the shoulders to look at it. "Somebody knows you pretty well, I don't remember you wearing it to school much."

Namine smiled and put everything back in the bag before taking a seat next to her friend. She glanced around the room in interest, noticing the bare rafters of the attic covered slightly by music posters and some old Christmas lights. There was a large window at the opposite end of the room, looking out over the street below. It was a very relaxing bedroom, though Namine had only been here a few times.

"So, how'd today go? Did you get all your shopping done?" Olette asked, smiling kindly as Namine rubbed a hand over her rounded stomach.

"It was pretty fun, actually. We still have a few more things to get, but mostly we're done now." She said absently. "Reno saw us go into the mall, he followed us for a little while…"

Olette wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, he's a pretty territorial guy. But he had his chance, don't let it bother you." She shrugged slightly. "Riku really seems to like you. Of course, he always has, but I guess now that you're having someone's baby everyone who liked you before has to compete now."

Namine almost shuddered, it almost felt like she was being hunted. "I wish they'd just leave me alone…" She murmured, hugging herself as the baby began to squirm once again. Olette nodded in understanding, it seemed like boys always found a way to make problems worse.

"The end of the year is coming up, are you as ready for summer as I am?" Olette grinned, hoping Namine would cheer up with the change in topic.

The reminder of the event only a few weeks away sparked her attention, and she returned the excited girl's smile. "Not worrying about school will really help, but they've been giving us so much homework I think my head is going to explode."

Olette laughed gently, the image of their teacher excitedly handing out homework flashing in her mind.

xXx

It seemed like the tick of the clock above the chalkboard pounded throughout the room, magnified as the student beside her began tapping his pencil on his desk impatiently. There was a sharp screech as a chair was pushed back, and footsteps boomed in her ears as Selphie walked by. Namine watched as she hesitated at the teacher's desk, flashing him a flirting smile as he snatched the packet from her hands and shooed her away. Pouting slightly, she glanced back over at Namine before slipping out the door.

Running a hand through her hair, Namine looked back down at her half finished test. She bit the end of her pencil angrily, this was literature, her best subject. Why was it so hard? She read the paragraph for the third time, her brow furrowing in concentration as she tried to understand it.

"Twenty minutes left, if you haven't already, you might want to start on the essay questions now." The teacher's voice nearly startled her, and her eyes shot up to his in surprise. He gave her a sympathetic look when he saw the horrified expression on her face.

Over the next twenty minutes she managed to finish two of the five essay questions, and had hit a brick wall. She stared down at the page in distress, glancing back up to the clock nervously as she waited for the bell to ring and tell her she had failed. Flipping back to the multiple choice section, she hurriedly circled several answers just before the bell rang and made her jump.

"Alright, put your tests on my desk and I'll see you all next week." Their teacher said, turning away from them to log on to his computer.

Namine watched the three other students hurriedly place their test packets on the desk and brush past her out of the room. She clutched it in her hands tightly, approaching the desk as if she expected the teacher to bite her. Setting the packet down gently, she turned to leave.

"What happened, Namine?" He asked boldly, not looking away from the computer screen as he entered some new grades.

"W-what?" She asked, her face turning slightly red as she looked back in embarrassment.

He spun around in his chair. "You're usually the first one done. What happened?"

She gulped nervously, not quite sure herself what was wrong with her. "I don't really know. I tried, I just couldn't seem to focus on it…" It sounded stupid, she knew it did. But her teacher nodded in understanding.

"I've had some pregnant students before, I know how it can get. Makes it hard to focus. I had one girl bring in a doctor's note because she was scared she wouldn't be able to pass the test." He reached forward and grabbed her test off the top of the pile. He flipped through it, frowning slightly before tossing it aside.

"If you bring me a complete essay on the symbolism in The Scarlet Letter, I'll give you twenty extra credit points towards the thirty you're missing in your test." He said simply, giving her a serious look. She smiled happily and thanked him, rushing out of the room before her dark blush became too noticeable.

It was lunchtime, and Namine retreated once again to her table in the corner, sitting next to Sora and letting her head fall heavily on the table.

"Fail the test?" Sora asked curiously, looking up as Roxas and Olette appeared.

Namine groaned. "No, now I just have more homework…"

Olette took the seat beside her and placed a gentle hand on her back. "Do you need any help? You've seemed really out of it lately." She said in concern. Namine smiled up at her and shrugged.

"No, I can do it. I'm just really ready to be done with everything and just relax." She breathed, resting her chin in her palm.

Olette seemed somewhat worried, but didn't push the matter further. Taking a seat across from her, she slammed a math book on the table and dug around in her bag for a pencil and some paper.

"Well I still haven't finished the review for the math final, and it's due tomorrow. We were supposed to turn it in today, but she gave us some more time when no one seemed to understand any of it." She said miserably.

"You think that's bad, wait until next year when you get a separate final for algebra!" Sora said, frowning down at the worksheet in front of her.

The cafeteria was quickly filling with loud, hungry students, and the Namine's head began to pound. Holding her hands over her ears, she closed her eyes and tried to relax. A hand brushed up through her hair and stroked down to her shoulder, and she looked up in surprise to find Kairi beside her.

"Hey, I'll walk you home." She said it quietly, in a commanding tone. Namine smiled in relief and took the hand she was offered, letting the older girl lead her away from the table.

xXx

The sun beat down on the grassy lawn, casting a beautiful glare around her as she stared down at the thick book in her lap. She felt a certain sadness at the sight of it, but a great relief at the same time. Opening it slowly, she smiled down at the images on the shining paper. Her first high school yearbook, Kairi had insisted.

"Hey Namine."

She looked up to see Axel looming over her, his silhouette outlined by the glaring sun. She sighed calmly, not watching as he sat down beside her.

"How have you been?" He asked, smiling over at her as she tried more or less to ignore him.

"Not too bad." She said simply, forcing herself to return the smile. He nodded for a moment and looked away.

"Have things gotten any better with your parents?" He was determined to get some attention from her.

She shook her head. "Not particularly." She said flatly.

He watched her for a moment, the certain hint of sadness evident in his eyes. "So, um, I was hoping you might sign my yearbook." He set it on the grass in front of her, looking hopeful as she stared down at it.

"Oh… Alright." She said softly, picking it up and opening the cover. Her bright eyes widened for a moment before her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Axel… You don't have any signatures in here. Not even Roxas..?" Namine looked up at him as he stared down at the grass he rolled between his fingers. He nodded down at it and flashed her an empty smile.

"Yeah, I haven't been very social this year. You're the first person I asked." He immediately looked back down at his hands, turning away from her slightly.

Namine watched him sadly, it all seemed so strange. His brother had gained a lot of popularity over the school year, and he didn't want it. But Axel had always been extremely social, he was practically friends with everyone.

She hid the blush that rose up in her cheeks and scribbled her name at the top of the page, along with a message about the past year. She smiled and closed the book, handing it back to him. He took it carefully and set it on the grass next to him, bracing a hand over it protectively.

Namine swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed herself up to her feet.

"Um, I have to go." She said quietly, noticing he couldn't quite look her in the eye. "So, maybe I'll see you this summer?" He smiled up at her and nodded, waving briefly as she started to walk away.

"Yea, good luck with that kid." He watched her disappear around the corner of the school and sighed.

xXx

It had been nearly two weeks since school had ended for the summer. Bright morning sunlight glared in from the window across the room as Namine stared up at the ceiling. Her brow furrowed slightly as she shifted, vaguely aware of the dull ache in her stomach. Glancing over at the clock on the wall, she noticed it was barely past six. Something had woken her up.

Sitting up carefully, she glanced around her. Kairi was sleeping soundly beside her, blankets pulled up tight around her shoulder as Namine moved. Her hands were shaking slightly and she stared at them absently as the muscles on her stomach constricted sharply, drawing out a pained gasp. Throwing the blankets back, she noticed the bloodstained sheets, the sight making her eyes widen in horror.

"Kairi." She called out shakily, her eyes not leaving the crimson sheets as her heart began to pound sharply.

"Kairi!" She shrieked when there was no response. Her startled sister shot out of bed, blinking in shock as she tried to wake up.

"What is it?!" She asked hurriedly, her gaze finally falling on the bloodied sheets as Namine's hands began to shake harshly.

She immediately threw herself out of the bed, pacing the room in a panicked flurry before the door flew open and they looked up to see Olette standing in the doorway.

"What happened? I heard you scream." She asked quickly.

Namine stared over at her in terror, tears starting to run down her face. Kairi began to wring her hands and quickly walked over to the worried girl in the doorway.

"Go wake up your mom, we need to take Namine to the hospital!" She cried.

End of Chapter Seven