I do believe I've left you guys hanging. So, without further ado, the date!
From now on, TIOS will be updated every three days, if possible. However, this story has to reach thirty reviews before I upload Ch. 10. I'm sorry if it doesn't seem fair, but I'd just like some feedback, if that's not too much.
But just in case the reviews are long in coming, here's an ultra long chapter.
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING MENTIONED IN THIS STORY OR ANY OF THE SONGS PLAYED.
Just this story. Enjoy!
Xxx XXX xxX
Naminé gave up trying to start a conversation with Xion after the fifth failure. Instead they just drove back to ADBS in silence.
The blonde wondered exactly what Kairi had done to Sora—had she broken his heart or something? And why had Xion lied to her brother about her parkour activities?
"Head hurts," she grumbled under her breath.
They had left immediately after the incident in the food court, just barely avoiding security. And now they might have to deal with whatever Kairi might tell the Headmaster.
The car pulled into its designated lot and the two girls stepped out, heading for the elevator.
"Hey, about my slapping Kairi…"
The sound of Xion's voice startled Naminé.
"Yeah? What about it?" the blonde asked tersely.
Xion sighed. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I—I wasn't thinking when I did that…"
"I'm more curious as to why you're so mad at her," Naminé said. "What did she do?"
The brunette became stony-faced. "I'll tell you another time," she snarled. Her entire demeanor changed in an instant to cheery and bright. "Not let's talk primping…"
"Hold it," Naminé interrupted. "Also, why exactly did you lie to Sora about your activities? I know you didn't want to lose his trust, but that doesn't sound like the full reason."
"There's really no way to escape your questions, huh?" Xion smiled. It widened into a shit-eating grin. "Well, okay, there's still one thing I can do…"
"Just tell me—HEY! GET BACK HERE!"
The wily brunette had bolted for the elevator. "Gotta catch me!" she cackled.
Naminé took a moment to fume before chasing after her accursed roommate. It took several minutes for the elevator to return.
Three minutes of impatiently tapping her foot against the metal floor of the elevator car later, the doors slid open and the blonde lunged out at empty air.
"A bit of anger problems, hmmm?" a dry voice spoke to her left.
The artist turned to glare at Xion, who was leaning against the wall of the hallway.
"Tell me."
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because…" Namine hesitated, attempting to compress her reasons into words. "You're—you're my friend. I don't think you should have to bear it alone."
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment. Then…
"Naminé, I've been bottling this up for two years," Xion said, obviously trying to keep her voice level. "I'm pretty sure I can handle it for two more."
"But—" Naminé's voice died as her friend walked away.
Xxx XXX xxX
Xion clammed up again in their room, immediately climbing up to her bunk and staying there.
"IT'S NOT OVER…TRY TO DO IT RIGHT THIS TIME AROUND…"
Naminé could hear the incredibly loud music from the bathroom, where she was applying a layer of lip gloss. With a frustrated sigh, the blonde stalked into the room, climbed up the ladder, and pulled the earphones away.
"Xion, at least try to help yourself," Naminé scolded.
"How?" Xion asked, glaring at her friend.
The blonde sat back on her calves. "Don't run away," she implored. "You have to face it. Tell Sora."
The brunette didn't respond.
Naminé sighed. "At least do it for a friend," she begged.
Xion didn't respond for a moment, closing her ears. Then the tears began to stream down.
"Don't cry…" Naminé gently wiped the saltwater off of her friend's face. "It'll be okay…"
The other girl grinned weakly at her. "Don't worry, I'll be fine after a good cry." She sat up. "Now you might want to get down before somebody comes in and gets the wrong idea."
The artist grinned back and hugged her friend. The real Xion—the fun-loving, crazy one—was back.
"Okay, I'll tell him," Xion murmured when Naminé pulled away. "It'll be hard, but I have to try my best and hope he doesn't take it too badly…"
Naminé glared daggers at the wall. "He better not," she snarled. "Or I'll kick his butt and stuff the wounds with salt!"
Both girls began to giggle uncontrollably at the mental image before devolving into full-on guffaws. Laughter resounded off the walls, and boy did it sound good in comparison to the silence of less than a minute before.
The brunette was the first to recover. "Okay," she sighed. "Let's get started on your primping…"
An hour later they were finished.
"I look incredible!" Naminé gasped. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you!"
Xion chuckled as the artist grabbed her in a bear hug. "I just enhanced you," she smiled. She patted her friend's blonde head. "Just your regular beauty would have blown Roxas away even before this. Hell, it already did."
Naminé's cheeks grew red-hot and Xion began to laugh even harder. "I bet you could get him to do anything just by blushing at him!"
The brunette stopped laughing and smiled in a motherly manner. "It's nearly six. Blow him away, girl!" she cheered.
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He was waiting for her. Leaning against the railing, face expressionless but tranquil nonetheless, the wind gently ruffling his blond spikes, Roxas was the epitome of dashing.
"You look perfect," he whispered. "I think that about sums you up every day, really." He rose up to give her a quick peck.
Naminé stood on her toes and returned the kiss, letting her lips linger on his soft cheek. "You too," she smiled. She meant it, too. He was wearing dark jeans and a button-up, plaid shirt that defined his wiry but muscular frame quite well.
He smiled back. "C'mon," he declared. He headed for the elevator. "Let's get to the garage."
She frowned. "But I came up that way already!" she protested, childishly stamping her feet. "You could've just met me in the garage, then…"
Roxas turned back to her with a mischievous smirk. "Oh?" he said softly. "Then I take it you'd prefer to go down this way?"
She yelped as he scooped her up in his arms and trotted to the edge of the rooftop. Her fingernails dug divots into his skin as she held on for dear life.
"Nononononononononono—" Naminé's voice grew high-pitched with fear and she squeezed her eyes shut.
She could hear him laughing as she was set back on her feet. The blonde opened her eyes and gave Roxas a long, long, long glare.
His car was parked in lot 168. The long, curvy Mercedes-Benz E-Class was painted black and had a glossy finish; the three-pronged circle logo was mounted on the front bumper. Naminé resisted the urge to stroke the silky skin of the beautiful car, instead heading over to the passenger's seat.
"Like it?" he smiled. He popped open the driver's door.
The girl nodded before sliding into the leather seat. "Comfy," she murmured, gently patting the grey upholstery.
Roxas, on the other hand, carelessly crashed into his seat. Naminé winced when she saw that the leather supporting him was scuffed. Why was he being so reckless with this vehicle? Last she checked it cost close to fifty grand.
Luckily his driving wasn't as haphazard as his treatment of the Benz. Roxas kept to one lane until he had to switch, never once went over the speed limit, and always stopped at the appropriate signs. Naminé wasn't sure if even her father was as responsible a driver.
Is it because he's taking no chances with you?
Naminé could distinctly see the end of her nose turn a faint pink at the implications of that. It's just a date, she reassured herself, or he's always this careful.
But somehow she doubted this was normal for him, and that just made her blush worse.
The E-Class pulled up to a park. Roxas got out and opened the back door, grabbing something on the back seat. Naminé followed him to a small grove of oak trees.
"What's that?" she asked when she saw the small bag.
He grinned and began pulling out Tupperware boxes whose contents smelled so good she had to wipe away a small trickle of saliva from the corner of her mouth.
"Xiang cang." Pinkish-red sausages sat in a bed of cabbage.
"Zhong zhi." Angular blocks of sticky rice, which looked like those frozen ice cream bars she'd had in elementary school, were wrapped in tea leaves tied with string.
"Shizhi tou." Several giant meatballs—pork or beef, she couldn't tell—were surrounded with an assortment of diced veggies and mushrooms.
Naminé's first bite had her taste buds screaming for more. And more. And more.
"Where'd you learn to cook?" she inquired, her voice muffled and distorted with all the food crammed into her mouth.
He flinched—a motion so slight she wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been looking into his eyes. "My mom taught me," he mumbled, staring down into his plate.
She winced; Naminé could sense when she struck too close to a nerve just as well as her shrink father. The matter Roxas's mother seemed to be especially sensitive to the blond traceur.
"Well, whoever she was, her cooking skills are incredible," she commented. She smiled in an attempt to cheer him up. "Was she a chef?"
A slight smile that didn't quite reach his lapis irises curved his lips. "For a time."
"Where?"
He tensed. "A…restaurant."
It was apparent she wasn't getting anything more than that from him. "Was that where she met your father?"
"Yes…"
"You didn't have to answer that, you know." Her eyebrows crinkled in concern.
"Why not?" he frowned.
"I can tell it's a touchy subject."
"It is." He sighed at some sad memory. "You don't have to know."
"Why?" Naminé asked.
Roxas's expression morphed into something resembling a genuine smile. "Because…you're too pretty to understand such deep stuff."
"Hey!"
He laughed as she whacked his head.
Xxx XXX xxX
Naminé couldn't quite discern what was in front of her. Was it because of the low-light conditions?
Or was it because she was attempting to deny reality?
"I can't sing!" she hissed.
Roxas smirked. "C'mon, you wimp," he teased. "You don't know until you try!"
Their next stop for their date—she no longer blushed like an idiot when she thought that word—was a music bar of some sort. And there was the problem—she wasn't too sure how good her singing was.
The artist simply hoped she wouldn't have to find out.
"Roxas!" a familiar voice coming from beneath the familiar mullet shouted. Demyx raised an eyebrow at the sight of the girl on his colleague's arm. "And…Naminé?"
"Yes, we're on a date," Roxas growled. "No need to embarrass us about it."
Demyx grinned. "Wasn't going to, man," he chuckled. He motioned them towards a two-person table. "C'mon in—there's plenty of room on stage!"
"You work here?" Naminé said, puzzled. She'd been under the impression that almost all of the XIII were high-school or college students.
"Yep," he replied cheerfully. "Don't need the big bucks, so I didn't go for them."
She'd planned on majoring in architecture or art and making a career out of either; Naminé couldn't even begin to imagine how having a dead-end job could still make a person content.
"Wow…" she murmured as she and Roxas headed for the indicated seats.
Demyx headed for a door marked 'Employees Only'. "Be right back," he whispered, pointing at the stage, before disappearing through the door.
Seconds later, five people—two girls and three guys, Demyx included—stepped through a hidden entrance on stage. Cheers and whistles of approval serenaded them all the way to their designated positions. Naminé noticed for the first time that the place was packed.
"They must be good," she muttered.
"Very," Roxas replied with a smile of anticipation.
And they were. The blondes listened, mesmerized, as the five singers on stage rocked out to a song Naminé recognized as Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life." The female lead's voice mimicked Amy Lee's soft crooning near-perfectly.
…
"Wake me up!"
"Wake me up inside!"
"Wake me up!"
"Wake me up inside!"
"Call my name and save me from the dark…"
"Bring…me…to…life…"
…
When the song was finished the combined applause and cheering managed to disable Naminé's hearing for a few seconds.
"Alright people," Demyx boomed into the microphone. "We got our buddy Roxas Takahashi here today, and he's back to sing your eardrums out!"
More cheering exploded as Roxas stood up. He walked towards the stage, and with a squeak of horror, Naminé realized she was along for the ride.
"I can't sing!" she protested again.
He ignored her and climbed onto the stage, dragging her with him.
"Oh, we've got a guest too," Demyx grinned. "Give it up for Naminé Miyamoto!"
There was a bit of cheering and applause, but most of the audience was staring at her in curiosity instead. Naminé had never suffered stage fright, but now…
The other two guys in Demyx's band disappeared into the hidden entrance and came back out lugging podiums like the ones politicians used when they made speeches. The podiums had lyric papers set on top so Naminé and Roxas could read what they were supposed to sing.
She was quiet and wavering at first, but slowly Naminé's voice grew stronger as the seconds passed and the tune grew more lively.
"Heh, not again…This wasn't supposed to happen to me…" Naminé sighed.
Roxas took over. His voice was amazing; small wonder why the audience had gone wild over him. "Keep rockin', and keep knockin', whether you be Louis Vuitton it up or Reebokin'…You see the hate they're serving on a platter…"
He paused for a moment. "So what're we gonna have…desert or disaster?"
She began again. "I never thought I'd…be in love like this…" She turned to look at him for a moment to see that he was looking at her. Both of them blushed and turned away.
(Naminé)
"When I look at you my mind goes on a trip…Then you came in, and knocked me on my face…"
"Feels like I'm in a race, but I already won first place…"
"I never thought I'd fall for you as hard as I did (as hard as I did, yeah)…
"You got me thinkin' 'bout our life, our house and kid, yeah…"
"Every morning, I look at you and smile…'Cause boy you came around…"
"And you knocked me down…knocked me down…"
"Sometimes love comes around (love comes around)…and it knocks you down, just get back up when it knocks you down (knocks you down)…"
"Sometimes love comes around (love comes around)…and it knocks you down, just get back up when it knocks you down (knocks you down)…"
(Roxas)
"I never thought I'd hear myself say…ya'll go ahead, I think I'm gonna kick it with my girl today (kick it with my girl today)…"
"I used to commander-in-chief of my pimp ship flying high (flying high)…"
"'Til I met this pretty little missile…that shot me outta the sky (ooh, shot me outta the sky)…"
"Good to know I'm crashin', don't know how it happened, only that it feels so damn good…"
"Said if I could go back and….make it happen faster…Don't you I would, baby, if I could…"
"Miss Independent, oh to the fullest, the load never too much, she helpin' me pull it…"
"She shot the bullet that ended that life, oh I swear to you the pimp in me just died tonight…"
"Girl, love—"
(Naminé)
"Sometimes love comes around (love comes around)…and it knocks you down…"
"Just get back up when it knocks you down (knocks you down)…"
"Sometimes love comes around (love comes around)…and it knocks you down…"
"Just get back up when it knocks you down (knocks you down)…"
(Roxas)
"Tell me know can you make it past your Caspers, so we can finally fly off into NASA…"
"You was always the cheerleader of my dreams that seemed to only date the heads of football teams…"
"And I was the class clown that always kept you laughin', baby we were never meant to be, we just happened…"
"So please, don't mess up the trick, hey young world, I'm the new Slick Rick…"
"And they say I move too quick, but we can't let this moment pass us…"
"Let the hourglass pass right into ashes, let the wind blow the ash right before my glasses…"
"So I wrote this love letter right before my classes, 'How could a goddess ask someone that's only average for advice, OMG, you'd listen to that bitch?"
"Whoa, this is me, baby this is tragic, 'cause we had it, we was magic…"
"I was flyin', now I'm crashin', baby this is bad, real bad, Michael Jackson…"
"Now I'm mad, real mad, Joe Jackson…You should leave your boyfriend now…"
(Naminé)
"Say you gotta put the good with the bad, happy and the sad…"
"So will you bring a better future than I had in the past…"
"Oh, 'cause I don't wanna make the same mistakes I did…"
"I don't wanna fall back on my face again…"
"Whoa, whoa, I'll admit it, I was afraid to answer love's call…"
"Whoa, whoa, and if it hits better make it worth the fall (Baby, love comes around!)…"
(Together)
"Sometimes love comes around (love comes around)…and it knocks you down…"
"Just get back up when it knocks you down (knocks you down)…"
"Sometimes love comes around (love comes around)…and it knocks you down…"
"Just get back up when it knocks you down (knocks you down)…"
"Won't see it coming when it happens, hey…"
"But when it happens you're gonna feel it…"
"Let me tell you know, said when love comes and knocks you down (knocks you down, knocks you down)…"
"Won't see it when it happens, but when it happens, you're gonna feel it…"
"You'll see when love comes and knocks you down…"
Naminé had occasionally looked at Roxas, wondering if the other meant his words, wondering if the other really felt the same way she was feeling towards him.
Then the song ended and she stood there, clutching the microphone, with sweat plastering her flaxen bangs to her noggin as well as any glue.
The audience stared at the duo, openmouthed and wide-eyed.
She grew nervous. What if they hadn't liked it?
Screams of glee boomed within the room, resounding off of and even shaking the walls. Demyx and his band joined the celebrations, hollering and pumping their fists in the air.
The artist glanced at Roxas to see him grinning at her. She flashed a grin in return.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I can safely say that that was the one of the best renditions of "Knocks you Down" I have ever heard!" Demyx shouted into his microphone. "Give it up again for Roxas and his girl Naminé!"
More cheering erupted from the frenzied audience. It grew ever louder when Roxas drew Naminé into his embrace and their lips met in a passionate kiss.
The kiss was her first—it wasn't anything like what she had read in chicklit. Oh, no, it was one hell of a lot better.
And as a bonus, she didn't blush!
Xxx XXX xxX
They drove back to ADBS in a contented silence, not an awkward one. They could never be awkward with each other now, not after such a perfect date.
Naminé fell asleep along the way but woke up to find the massive walls of the boarding school looming over the Mercedes. She checked the clock to find that it was still only eight thirty; curfew was still an hour away.
"Thanks for an amazing time," she smiled. "Now I know I can sing."
"Better than Xion?" he joked. Both of them laughed.
An idea struck Naminé.
"Um, Roxas?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"Could you teach me how to…ummm…parkour?"
There was deadly silence. When next Roxas spoke, his voice was low and serious.
"Are you sure?" he replied.
She was surprised by such an inane query. "Of course I am," she scowled. "I wouldn't be asking you to teach me if I wasn't, right?"
"True," he admitted. "But the road will be long and hard. You might fall down and you might want to give up."
She shook her head, her blonde locks flailing away at the leather behind her. "I might fall, but I'll never give up," she stated in a cool tone. "I never give up."
Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Okay, then."
Naminé was surprised by his sudden agreement. "What do you mean, 'okay then'? Shouldn't you be attempting to discourage me because it's supposedly too dangerous?"
"If you truly wanted to, you'd take the chance," he answered. He smirked. "And you've made it perfectly clear you're not joking about this. So, yes, I'll help you learn."
Xxx XXX xxX
Whew! Seven pages long on Word 2007—almost twice as long as normal.
I also think my masculinity is in doubt now, considering that almost all of my stories are from female protagonists' points of view. The date also seemed a bit simple, to be honest... (and uncreative, I mean I've seen musical dates in other fanfics)
Review, please! And don't mind my low self-esteem!
Some belated and well-deserved credits to my reviewers:
Komuro: Thanks for all the reviews! And Namine's outfit at the party was a bit sexy; I am a guy, after all! XD!
Runix56: You pulled an all-nighter just to read my story? Thank you, thank you, thank you!
puppylove98162: I'm going to have to tease you more, but that's only to build the suspense.
Kairi Granger: All will be revealed about Kairi. In time...
Wrath lover: Now I'm kind of on the fence for a Namixas love triangle, but there'll be plenty more with other characters, trust me.
xXanimefoolXx: Don't hurt me. Please?
Alphakoka: Don't worry, because I write and update pretty fast compared to other authors on this site.
Guest Reviewer: Who's the brunette? One clue: "Tongue Twister", by Divine Wolfe.
artista: Sora's no competition for Roxas, but he is for Seifer. Heck, anybody's competition for Seifer.
meandor711: Lots and lots and lots of development are in coming; these chapters were only setup for that.
midnight-heart: Thanks! I try to be as creative as I can.