Love. It's a strong word, and it's become overused in these days. Look at those two teenagers; aren't they in love? Look at those two dogs; aren't they in love? Look at those shoes; aren't you in love with them? Actually, those shoes are hideous, but that's not the point. Crap, I forgot the point.
The point is that today was my first day with my new job, and I was getting nervous, leading me to think about broad topics. I took in a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever came at me. I closed my eyes and opened the door to the building, rushing in and apparently bumping into a blond woman carrying several cups of coffee. Guess what fell on me? Trying my best not to curse because of the burning pain, I had a feeling that today wasn't going to be a good day.
Sora and Kairi kissed once again, now outside the cafe they went to for lunch. Pulling apart, Sora grinned at his girlfriend, recognizing the taste of her strawberry lip gloss.
"You're awesome," he whispered to the redhead, causing her to giggle.
She pushed him lightly. "You're awesome. I have almost want to have sex with you right here, right now."
"...please don't," a voice behind them begged.
Roxas decided to spend the day with Sora and Kairi, unaware how they are still in the honeymoon stage. He almost wanted to throw up the lunch he just ate and leave, but he really had no plans for the day. Kairi gave Roxas an apologetic look before shrugging.
"Sorry, Roxas. We kind of forget you're there sometimes."
"I can see that..."
Sora decided to pull out a flier from his pocket and showed it to Kairi, obviously excited. He informed her that there was an anime festival in town that week and that he planned to take her that. His girlfriend cheered and planted another kiss on him, making Roxas feel uncomfortable once more.
"Oh no, please, I don't feel uncomfortable at all," Roxas said in a sarcastic tone. "In fact, just make-out and have sex right in front of me. I won't vomit at all." Once the kiss between Kairi and Sora appeared to deepen, Roxas regretted saying anything at all. "No! Stop! Argh...Naminé just has to have work today...bleh."
After kissing Sora again, Kairi noticed her right arm was noticeably lighter than it was a few seconds ago. She turned and saw a man running away, clutching her pink purse. The redhead's jaw dropped at the scene before her.
"Who still steals purses these days? Geez!" Kairi fumed.
Sora sprinted toward the man, looking back at Kairi as he ran. "Don't worry, Kairi! I'll get it back!" To the man he was chasing, he added, "STOP RUNNING SO FAST!"
Roxas sighed as he watched Sora run, turning to Kairi. "...Sora's running after the wrong guy, isn't he?"
Kairi nodded, her pink cheeks displaying her embarrassment. "Roxas, can you go after the guy instead? About 1000 munny is in there."
"No problem."
Roxas managed to corner the their into a dark alleyway, finally able to retrieve Kairi's purse back. He couldn't help but wonder when this alleyway appeared in this part of Twilight Town. He also wondered if it looked exactly like the ones in movies on purpose. The lighting seemed to have become more dramatic, and he could have swore he heard music playing somewhere.
Suddenly, Roxas and the thief heard a loud voice from above, only to see Sora was on the roof of the building beside them. Sora held a straight face. "Give my back my girlfriend's purse!"
"...how the hell did he get up there?" Roxas wondered out loud.
Sora then pushed off the ground beneath him and jumped down, flying towards the thief. Unfortunately, Sora didn't realize how close the dumpster was to the thief and ended up landing on top of the numerous trash bags. Roxas and the thief stared at the dumpster, in disbelief.
"I think he was aiming for you," Roxas muttered. He sighed and quickly came closer to the man, giving him a one punch knockout. "Geez, we should have done this earlier."'
From the dumpster, Roxas could hear Sora groaning. "I think I hit my head on this old radio thing. Hey, it's still on..."
"And that's where the music came from," Roxas deduced.
Turns out the woman I bumped into was Larxene, my new co-worker and who I recognized to be the woman she stabbed me with a fork that night Xion told me I got the job. The tall, slender blonde frowned upon seeing me, obviously displeased I was now working here.
"Looks like they'll hire anyone these days, even annoying little girls like her," she whispered to the male with flaming red hair next to her.
"Come on, Larxene, you can't be that harsh. She's just a newbie, and we could use more interns to get us a cup of coffee," the redheaded male reasoned.
My legs were shaking now, and I crossed them to help keep me standing. I really didn't want to ask Larxene directions to the boss's office, but I was completely lost in this huge building. "A-ah, Larxene, c-can you tell me where the boss's office is? I was told I had to talk to him..." Damn my stutter.
Her icy blue eyes narrowed. "I can tell you where it is, but that doesn't mean I will." She turned away and headed toward the elevator, smirking. "Come on, Axel. I need you look over some photos for me."
I sighed sadly as I looked around the room I was in that had several rooms I could enter. The redhead addressed as Axel surprisingly stayed behind a bit and pointed to the ceiling. My eyes followed his finger as he raised it, trying to understand what he meant.
"His name is Xemnas, alright? X-E-M-N-A-S. Got it memorized? Next floor, second door on your right," Axel informed me.
I nodded and thanked him quietly. Louder, Naminé, louder! Now he probably thinks I'm inconsiderate because I didn't thank him loud enough. I sighed as I ran to the next elevator and went up to the next floor.
Roxas had noticed Sora seemed to be giving him the evil eye, the look he gave when he was furious with someone. Ominous music played in the background of the dim-lit, setting a very dark mood between the two. Kairi entered the living room with a sigh, turning on the lights and pressing 'stop' on the mp3 player Sora took out.
"Sora, playing music while giving the evil eye isn't cool; it's stupid. Can you please stop that?" Kairi said to her boyfriend. To Roxas she added, "Roxas, sorry if he's bothering you. He's just a bit upset."
Sora pouted, folding his arms. "See, Roxas? Look what you did! You're making Kairi fall for you and your...great-at-getting-theives-ness! You're trying to steal my girlfriend! How dare you! I challenge you to a duel for Kairi."
"...eh?" was all Roxas could say.
Kairi leaned over to Roxas, whispering quietly. "Just play along with this, alright? Sora is just grumpy he couldn't get my purse and wants to blow some steam. Go easy on him if you guys do really duel."
Sora gasped now, almost disturbed. "You two are sharing secrets and gossiping now? Unbelievable."
"And I always thought Naminé was the crazy one," Roxas muttered.
Kairi giggled. "We're all a bit weird, but that's what make us interesting, isn't it? Naminé's crazy can be a bit more obvious though."
After being asked to get coffee, I took the cup and headed toward the creative team's meeting. The creative team was of the people clients came to and explained how they want they product advertised. The team then would brainstorm ideas and come up with a advertisement that would properly sell. At the moment, they were discussing how to sell:
"A pen?" one of the members of the team exclaimed. "How the hell do we think of an advertisement for a plain old pen. There isn't even any cool features to it."
The man with long blue hair and a scar on his face sighed. "What the client asks for is what we must create. The pay is at a suitable amount as well."
I searched for the man named Vexen who asked for the cup of coffee. The spotted the man with platinum blond hair at the far end of the table. I held out the cup toward him, hoping I accomplished my task. He looked at me wit ha displeased expression.
"I asked for cream, and I don't see any cream here," he told me, obviously irked. Under his breath, I could hear him mutter, "Interns..."
I pretended not to hear him and quickly ran out of the room to add cream. Running toward the break room, I thought about what the creative team was discussing. Pens. How do you make a good advertisement for pens? I was adding the cream to the coffee when it hit me. I had an idea.
"I should write this down before I forget," I mumbled to myself, reaching for the nearest pen and paper. After writing it down, I smiled. "They're sure to accept me if I offer a good idea during their discussion. "
Once I was back into the room, I handed Vexen his coffee with a smile. Without any expression of gratitude, he took the cup from my hands and sipped it, then motioning me to leave. I took a few steps away from him before digging my pocket to find the piece of the paper. Strangely, it wasn't there. No problem, Naminé, because I remember that the idea was...
"I have an idea," Larxene said from her seat close to Vexen's.
She then said it; she was offering up the same idea I had for the advertisement. I was going to dismiss this as coincidence before I realized she was holding a tiny slip of paper in her leg-stabbing hands.
After the meeting, Larxene came up to me discreetly, smirking with pride. She spoke in a condescending tone I expected to hear from her. "You thought of that idea didn't you? It's a very good one, and I bet you were surprised that they all agreed to it. You must be so proud." She crossed her arms. "You shouldn't be because it's mine now."
"B-but I was the one...the idea was..." I could barely say. "Can you at least...?"
She rolled her eyes at me. "God, just finish a damn sentence already. Do you have the constantly annoying me with that personality of yours? Your ideas are your only redeeming quality. Here's the deal: you tell each of those ideas to me, and I won't get you fired. Interns are easily disposable anyway. Plus, I hear unemployment is hard to deal with these days."
I couldn't speak, nor could I look at her. I could only stand there as I heard Larxene cackle and leave the room.
I hurriedly ran to the park, where Roxas and Sora were apparently going to "duel." I saw a group of people gathered in an area, Kairi standing near the center and shaking her head. Upon seeing me, she greeted me with a smile as she beckoned for me to come over. I ran toward her, waiting for her to explain the situation.
"Sora seems like kind of serious about this duel, so I'm getting a little worried," Kairi sighed.
"Of Sora hurting Roxas?" I asked.
Kairi shook her head. "Sora's been studying from his comic books for hours before this. I think Roxas might be the one hurting Sora."
"Girlfriend stealer!" I could hear Sora shout.
"I didn't even attempt to take her from you; she's still yours, Sora!"
"GIRLFRIEND STEALER!"
"...how old are you again?" Roxas scratched his head, sighing. "Honestly, Sora, you're really being a pain in the ass right now. Just stop this already. Let's talk about this as adults and act our age."
The next sound I heard came from Sora's fist as it rammed into Roxas's face. Roxas fell back a bit, covering the injured spot with his hand. Sora's angry face immediately showed some regret after hitting his friend. Roxas continued to stand still, wiping his face with his hand.
Kairi didn't stand idly by anymore, now recognizing how serious the situation was. She marched up to her boyfriend and bit her bottom lip, taking his hand into hers. "What's wrong, Sora? You aren't like this at all, and I've known you since we were kids. This isn't you – a guy who punches one of his friends just because he gave me my purse back. You're not the clingy, jealous boyfriend that makes sure I don't have any friends who are of the opposite gender. What gives?"
Sora looked away, holding onto her hand tighter. "I love reading comic books, you know. Those superheroes that possess awesome powers that let them help other people and allow them to meet some really cool guys. They have powers to protect their love interest too, but sometimes they really mess up. Green Lightbulb once found his girlfriend's corpse stuffed inside his fridge..." He shuddered at the memory of that issue. "Anyways, the fact that I really fail just getting my girlfriend's purse back from some stupid thief makes me think I don't have any superpowers. I can't protect you from anything, and what if I find you stuffed in my fridge?" Sora stopped himself and shook his head. "Figure of speech! I just want to be able to control the weather like that guy in Ordinary Freak or maybe even fly up into the sky to make sure you're always going to be okay. I want to be your superhero."
"Really?" Kairi's eyes were fixed on Sora, her cheeks turning red. "Sora, you're already a superhero to me, don't you know? As cliché as it sounds, your superpower is that you make me happy." The redhead took in a deep breath before uttering her next words. "I love you. You don't need to try to beat up Roxas to prove anything. You're my superhero, and in my eyes, you're flying higher than anyone can possible dream of. Don't ever think different. Don't change."
As Sora and Kairi embraced each other tightly in front of a group of disinterested random strangers, I could hear Roxas clearing his throat, trying to get my attention. I turned to him and quickly went to make sure he was okay. Roxas assured me he was fine and asked if I had a washcloth on me. After replying no, he shrugged.
"Looks like you're still helping Sora and Kairi deepen their bond," I joked.
"Not intentionally," Roxas chuckled. For a moment, I just looked into his eyes, temporarily forgetting our surroundings. "We haven't really...ah...spent time together since Xion was here and you got that job, so..." his voice trailed off.
My heart seemed to beat a bit louder now, much to my annoyance. What if he hears it? I smiled unconsciously, trying to think of my answer. It's okay to say anything because it's Roxas, right? He's different from Vexen or Larxene.
"Roxas, are you asking me on a pity date?" I asked, playfully.
Roxas stifled a laugh as his cheeks slightly turned pink. "I don't think I want two pity dates on my record with your though. Kinda pathetic right?"
"How about I ask you on the pity date this time so it all cancels out? Then we're both pathetic, and two pathetic people cancel out to make someone...not pathetic?" I said, thinking my thoughts out loud. "Roxas, will you go on a pity date with me?"
Roxas spoke in a sarcastic tone, "It's a guy's dream to hear those words. So, where to on this pity date?"
"Want to go get some ice cream?" I suggested, pointing to my right where the new Freezingstone opened up. I then dug into the bag I had on me. "Wait, I think I still have my camera with me. We should definitely take a picture before we go."
Roxas nodded and pointed to a random lady passing by, suggesting I ask her to take a picture of us. I agreed and went up to the woman with the short, light blue hair who seemed to be at least ten years older than me. For some reason, my legs felt heavy and I struggled to open my mouth in front of her. The thought that hit me was she might think I was annoying for suddenly taking time out of her day to take some stupid picture. Maybe she'd give me the same look Larxene gave me. Maybe by stopping her from continuing her path, I would cause some sort of butterfly effect that would only lead to sorrow for her. I hate myself for even considering coming up to ask her.
Roxas must have noticed I didn't say anything to her, so he went ahead and asked her himself, leaving me a bit frantic we caused some sort of butterfly effect. He took the camera out of my hands and placed them into hers. He then turned back to me, asking if I was alright. I nodded as convincingly as I could, trying to bring his attention back to the photo. I felt fingers brushing against mine and the heat that followed along with it. Roxas was holding my hand. I then saw a flash of light in front of me.
Roxas quickly let go of my hand and ran toward the woman, thanking her and taking the camera back. My face was probably tomato red at that moment, my body unable to move temporarily. Roxas began to walk to Freezingstone by himself, bringing back my ability to move my legs. I ran toward him quickly, hoping not to be left behind. Roxas doesn't always say the nicest things to me, nor does he try to be a superhero like Sora or something. However, these gestures from him just seemed to brighten my crappy first day of work.
A/N: Kinda sped through with editing, so tell me if you see something that should be fixed. I almost missed a your-you're mistake! Anyway, I guess you could call it the beginning of the Naminé-Work arc, which is about three chapters including this? I haven't even started writing the next chapter yet, which needs some sort of inspirational spark at the moment o3o So I don't know when the next chapter comes out. My plan for it to be about Naminé's troubles (+ Roxas/Naminé moment) and Sora & Kairi moving in together.
Random notes: 1) I probably will never say what the idea is cause...I can't even think of one XD I'm so uncreative. 2) Sora mentioned a guy who controlled the weather in Ordinary Freak, a story on her by . Hm...who exactly made it snow again? CoughSoracough. So he's referring to himself? 8D