80 reviews? OMGOMGOMGOMG…THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!
I can only hope that my testosterone levels will return to normal after writing this one. Good God, a guy writing about a dance?
Alright guys, rant over.
Chapter 18 Part 1 of 2. Let's do this.
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING MENTIONED IN THIS STORY.
Just this story. Enjoy!
Xxx XXX xxX
Xion, a towel wrapped around her head, walked into the main room of the dorm. "Naminé, could you please go and find Kairi for me?"
The blonde lowered the hair dryer and looked around at the unexpected request. "What do you need Kairi for?" she asked.
"You'll see," Xion replied.
"That's not telling me much…"
"Just go!" Xion said, shoving the artist out their shared dorm. "And tell her to bring her dress with her!"
There was a click as the lock was engaged, just as Naminé reached for the doorknob.
The blonde stared in shock at the door. "Well, I might as well do something useful…" she sighed, heading for the elevator.
Fall Formal would start at 8:00 PM and would end at 12:30 AM. There were only two hours on the clock and counting down, so Naminé wasn't expecting to see anybody in the hallways.
"How am I even supposed to find her?" the blonde grumbled, regretting her neglect to ask that question to Xion. "ADBS is huge…"
Maybe she could ask Yuna. Naminé knocked on the door of the heterochromatic girl's dorm and was met by a frightening mask of sickly green powder and tea bags. Two mismatched green and blue eyes were set above the tea bags, so the thing could be identified as Yuna, but still…
"Can I help you?" the mask inquired in a cheery but not exactly friendly voice.
Naminé forced down the urge to bolt right then and there. "I'm looking for Kairi," the blonde said in a small voice. "Can—can you tell me her room number?"
"Room 223, floor 10," Yuna replied, before slamming the door shut.
"So hostile," Naminé mumbled, shivering.
Even-numbered floors were for girls and odd-numbered floors were for boys. It took the elevator a minute to ascend to the tenth floor.
Room 223 was several steps away from the elevator doors. Naminé timidly scurried up to it and paused to gather up a modicum of confidence, before rapping on the white-painted wood.
"Yes?" somebody called from inside.
"Can I speak to Kairi?" Naminé said as loud as she dared—that is, not very loud at all. She had no wish to incite the wrath of another primping girl.
The door was opened by the redhead. "What do you want?" Kairi asked in an even tone, her violet eyes wary.
"Xion told me to bring you back to our dorm," Naminé answered in a stronger voice. "Also, bring your dress."
"No." Kairi made to close her door, but Naminé charged through the gap, ducking under the redhead's arm. "Hey!"
Why had she done it? She had no idea.
A quick look around the room revealed that everything in the room looked like it was going to try and murder her—the bunk bed, the wallpaper, and an enraged-looking Fuu.
"Away," the red-eyed girl snarled, stalking towards the blonde.
"Fuck off, Fuu," the artist growled back.
Time seemed to come to a standstill as Naminé froze. Had she actually said that?
Judging by Fuu and Kairi's shocked expressions, she had.
"WHAT?" Fuu roared, leaping at her, fists raised.
Naminé squeaked an apology and made to back away, but something jerked her legs forward and she dived past the pounce. The blonde's fist jerked up as she passed Fuu, smacking into the red-eyed girl's shoulder and sending her tumbling to the floor.
Fuu stood up, smoldering with anger, but Naminé could also see shock written all over the other girl's face.
"How did I do that?" Naminé mumbled, even as her fists rose up into a combat position, right forward and left back.
Both girls eyed each other up for a heartbeat, calculating angles and trajectories and trying to predict her opponent's next move.
The artist made the first strike, moving so quickly she was a blur. Fuu jumped back to avoid a right hook even as Naminé's left foot flashed up at the red-eyed girl's hip.
It connected with a sickening thuck noise.
Fuu stumbled back, but quickly recovered and charged again. Naminé twirled around her adversary, smoothly crouching down as she did so, and swept an outstretched leg into Fuu's calves. The other girl fell to her knees, leaving her vulnerable for a second.
An irresistible force flooded Naminé's limbs and she felt her right leg rise up, coil, and spring forward with incredible force directly into Fuu's undefended back. With a moan of pain, Fuu collapsed onto her side, apparently beaten.
"Pathetic," Naminé snapped, but another voice was layered under hers—a dry, iron-hard male voice. "Wait, why'd I say that?"
"More importantly, how did you do that?" Kairi whispered in terror, pressing her back against the door.
"How should I know?" Naminé said in a nervous voice—but just her voice.
A thousand pins and needles prickled her skin and a massive pressure lifted from her, as if she'd been under the power of three Earth gravities. Pain flooded her body.
"AHHH—"
Naminé fell to her knees, writhing in agony. It felt as if her arms and legs were being ripped apart, as if the muscles and ligaments in her limbs were being stretched and stretched and stretched to the point of popping off her bones.
After a minute of this torture, her vision returned, streaked with tears. She hadn't even noticed she had squeezed her eyes shut.
Kairi looked like she was deciding between the choices of running away or helping Naminé. The blonde couldn't blame her; she'd been scared out of her wits too when she had watched the lunch brawl back on the second day.
"A little help?" Naminé groaned, struggling to get to her feet.
That snapped Kairi out of her indecision. The redhead hauled Naminé to her feet.
"Could I ask you how the hell you fought Fuu like that?" Kairi asked. She kept a hand on Naminé's shoulder, just in case.
"I told you, I don't know," Naminé replied, rubbing her noggin. She now had a massive headache, too.
"Okay…" Kairi murmured, clearly not convinced. "Then…let's—let's go to Xion, shall we?"
"Please?"
Xxx XXX xxX
"What happened to you?" Xion cried, rushing forward to balance a woozy Naminé. "Are you okay, Naminé?"
"I have no idea what happened to me," Naminé mumbled. Her eyelids were droopy and everything felt slightly unreal. "And no, I'm not okay. Do I look like I'm okay to you?"
"I guess not," Xion replied, leading her roommate towards the bunk. "Sit down."
Naminé was grateful for the chance to get off her feet. The pain in her arms and head had slowed to a tolerable throbbing, but every time her feet touched the ground a spike of fire shot up her legs.
Through the dark haze at the edges of her vision that seemed like it was going to smother her, Naminé could hear Xion and Kairi talking about something. The blonde focused and attempted to pay attention, but the other two girls sounded like they were a mile off.
"—beat Fuu—" Kairi was saying.
"How—she—that—" Xion replied.
"—don't—"
"—she couldn't—have—Fuu—"
"What're you talking about?" Naminé grumbled, her head lolling from side to side. "Yeah, I got into a fight with Fuu and I beat her. What's the big deal?"
They either didn't hear her or she hadn't said anything at all. In her delirium, some remaining rational part of Naminé thought, the latter was certainly possible.
"Can you guys even hear me?"
Kairi and Xion's heads snapped around. "Are you okay, Naminé?" they said in unison.
"I'm fine," Naminé replied, waving her hand.
"Okay," Xion declared, but she was obviously unconvinced. "Then we'll just leave you alone, then…"
"Yeah, sure, thanks…" Naminé rolled onto her bunk and snuggled into the sheets, curling up into a fetal position. A quick nap wouldn't hurt…
She felt drowsy—kind of like how she felt half an hour into a particularly boring lecture, or whenever she pulled an all-nighter. She heard things, saw things (not hallucinations), but the moment she switched her attention to something else she forgot them. Naminé could see Xion guiding a clearly reluctant Kairi into the bathroom and closed the door, but didn't really understand why.
The expression was 'in one ear and out the other', she believed.
"I wonder if Xion thinks she's gonna get lucky," Naminé giggled with a smile that looked more like a grimace.
Two sharp pressures jabbed at her temples. Painfully.
"Ow—"
The drowsiness cleared.
Naminé slowly sat up, her ice blue eyes alert and sharp. After a second she relaxed and hopped off the bed.
"Xion?" the blonde called, placing an ear against the bathroom door.
"Yeah?"
"What're you two doing in there?"
"We're…Kairi, hold on a second, Naminé'll go much faster."
There was an affirmative noise and the door was opened. "Come in," Xion ordered, beckoning Naminé to the chair set in front of the sink. Kairi was standing off to the side with an uncertain expression still on her face.
The blonde sat down and primly folded her hands in her lap.
"Keep still, all right?" Xion warned, holding up a hairbrush. "This might hurt a bit…"
From the reflected view in the mirror, Naminé could see the traceuse lift a hairbrush and move it forward…
"GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
"A bit, huh?" Kairi's tone was sarcastic.
"Hey, you want to take over for me, be my guest. If not, hold down Naminé so she doesn't mess up her hair."
Kairi meekly obliged.
Tears of distress were leaking out of Naminé's eyes and she did her very best to not clutch at her hair, which felt like somebody had run a lawnmower down on it. She'd been scalped, she knew it. Why else would it be so painful?
"A one, a two, and a one two three…"
Once again the hairbrush dragged fire down Naminé's scalp.
"Ow," the blonde whimpered, squeezing her hands together so hard her rather short nails were cutting into her skin.
"Again…" Xion pulled the hairbrush down.
"Ow!"
After approximately five more minutes of suffering, Naminé's hair was pronounced as free of tangles.
"Which way do you want it?" the brunette inquired. "Up or down?"
"Why did we have to do it here?" Naminé whined, careful not to rub at her tortured flaxen locks lest Xion would have to brush it again. "I bet they could do it painlessly."
"One, money's scarce," Xion retorted. "Two, I could style your hair almost as well. Three, crying's for babies. No waterworks in my bathroom, oh no."
"Down, then," Naminé mumbled, cursing Xion's name with every heartbeat. "And don't kill my hair again, please."
"Whatever…"
After a quick application of the blow dryer, Naminé's hair was complete.
"Your turn, Kairi," Naminé gloated, grinning evilly as she got up.
"It can't have hurt that bad," the redhead said nervously as she occupied the now vacant chair. "Right…?"
The other two girls' only response was a wicked chuckle.
"Three, two, one…" Xion raised her implement of pain—the hairbrush.
And Kairi's scream of agony tore through the building.
Xxx XXX xxX
"You look so pretty, Naminé," Kairi mumbled, knitting her fingers together. "I wish I could be you…"
Naminé considered the redhead's words for a moment. "Me? Pretty? I guess I am, but," the blonde grinned, adjusting her dress's choker strap. "I bet you're going to be the belle of the ball."
"There's no way that's happening," Kairi replied, furiously shaking her head.
"Don't underestimate yourself," Xion advised, smiling slightly. "Every guy in there is going to be staring at you the whole night, you can be sure of that."
"Why are you complimenting me when you slapped me?" Kairi asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sorry about what I said, but I still haven't forgotten what you did…"
It suddenly felt as if the dorm's temperature dropped.
To absolute zero.
"Okay, I'm sorry for slapping you," Xion said with a tight tone. "Do you want another one?"
The redhead instantly backed up. "I'll pass."
"No violence," Naminé warned, tactfully not mentioning that Kairi had hit her. "I don't want to have to break up a fight."
To the blonde's surprise, Xion immediately submitted, just giving Kairi a glare before returning her attention to the hem of her gown.
Since when had Naminé had that kind of authority?
She tried to break the uncomfortable silence. "Well, let's go see if the guys are here, okay?" Naminé suggested, heading for the door leading to the hallway.
"Okay," Xion said tonelessly, shooting another glare at Kairi when Naminé wasn't looking.
A quick look into the corridor showed no sign of Roxas or Sora, but so Naminé stepped back inside the dorm. But just as she was about to return to Xion and Kairi, there was a loud knock at the door.
She jumped. "Holy—!"
Naminé forced her adrenaline-jolted heart to return to a steadier beat, and opened the door.
"You scared me, you id—" Her breath caught in her throat as she stared, wide-eyed, at the tuxedoed man—not boy—standing in the hallway.
"Hello, Roxas," Naminé said nervously, feeling warmth course from her collarbone all the way up to her forehead. "Y-you look nice."
Roxas grinned and nodded. "Thanks Naminé," the traceur said, stepping into the dorm. "But you look absolutely dazzling."
Stop blushing, stop blushing, stop blushing!
Naminé swallowed, hard, and managed to stutter out a noise of gratitude.
The other blond smirked. "I love it when you do that," he whispered, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Blushing, I mean."
The kiss was brief but tantalizing, only a teaser of the real thing. When the two blondes disengaged, Naminé's face was a vibrant shade of tomato red.
"PDAs?" Sora's voice called out from behind them. The brunette, clad in a jet-black tux nearly identical to Roxas's, stepped into the room. "I thought you two were above that!"
"Shut up, Sora," Naminé ground out, clenching her fists.
The earthen-haired boy just laughed. "I'm kind of jealous of you two, actually," he sighed, leaning against the wall. "Wait a sec, where's Xion?"
Now that she thought about it…
"Xion…?" Naminé called.
There was a bang followed by a loud yell of "I'm not going out there!" that came from the bathroom.
Sora frowned. "That didn't sound like Xion," he observed, raising an eyebrow. "Was that—?"
The bathroom door flew open and Kairi rushed out, covering her head just as an unpleasantly familiar hairbrush bounced off of it. "What was that for, Xion?" she yelled.
And then the redhead froze as she realized who else was in the room. "Um, hi…Sora…"
Both Sora and, as Naminé looked around, Roxas's faces were burning crimson. The blonde felt a little pang of jealousy as she returned her gaze to the redhead.
Kairi, simply put, looked incredible. Her long, silky hair had been left down, and it flowed down her shoulders and back like a scarlet waterfall. Skillfully applied rouge and makeup hid the bruise on her jaw, and the mascara at her lashes gave the effect that her violet eyes were glowing.
The dress she had chosen was a simple, elegant design—light red and ankle length; detached sleeves covered her slender arms and the healing cuts there. The two straps crossed over, curving around the sides of Kairi's neck from the opposite shoulders. It flared out slightly at the hips and cinched at the waist, accentuating its wearer's every concave and convex.
Naminé felt like a guppy next to a blue whale. That Kairi was wearing classy high heels and she was wearing mere flats didn't help.
"Wow," Sora choked. "Y-y-y-you—."
Roxas, suave charmer that he was, recovered first. "What this illiterate boy here is trying to say," the blond smirked, clapping a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Is that you look simply stunning, Kairi."
"Thank you Roxas," Kairi mumbled, looking down at her feet.
"You can thank me for dolling her up," Xion remarked, flicking off the light switch as she strode out of the bathroom. "Naminé didn't help one bit."
"I refuse to participate in the torture of another human being," Naminé retorted. "I never knew how much getting my hair brushed would hurt."
"Whatever you say," Xion said cheerfully. She gestured into the hallway. "Shall we?"
Xxx XXX xxX
Now, you may have noticed that exactly where the Formal was to be held has not been mentioned.
Naminé stopped dead in her tracks when she realized that, and began repeatedly smacking her forehead in frustration.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Naminé, what's wrong?" Roxas said in alarm, separating his girlfriend's hand from her noggin.
"Where's the dance going to be at?" Naminé asked.
Roxas raised an eyebrow. "You were hitting yourself over and over because you never found out where the Formal was going to be held?"
"Pretty much…"
"Wow," Sora chuckled, derisively rolling his eyes. "In any case, you'll see when we get outside."
The group was heading towards the garage, where the parents would enter the school. Xion had suggested boarding the elevator ten minutes early to avoid the inevitable clustering that would clog up the elevators.
"Roxas, are your parents coming?" Naminé asked.
The traceur's face instantly darkened. "No. My dad's too busy."
She noted that he didn't mention his mother at all, but Naminé decided not to press the issue.
"What about yours, Kairi?"
The redhead jerked, startled, and looked at Naminé. "My what?" Kairi said.
"Your parents. Are they coming?"
Kairi shook her head. "They…"
"I won't ask," Naminé cut in. She had no interest whatsoever in Kairi's family life.
None. Nada. At all.
The elevator's floor dial slid to Garage 2, the guest garage. Sora and Xion were out first, followed by a slightly less enthusiastic Naminé and Roxas. Kairi hung back.
"Come on, Kairi," Naminé called, waving the redhead forward. "My parents won't bite."
The other girl took a step but hesitated. "I just feel as if I don't really belong here…"
And then Sora was somehow at Kairi's side, reassuringly hugging her. She didn't shove him away, for some reason.
"Don't worry about that, Kairi," he said quietly. He smiled. "This'll all work out, trust me."
"Naminé!"
Everybody whirled around, searching the vast garage for whoever had called out the blonde's name. 'Whoever' turned out to be a six-year-old boy sprinting towards Naminé.
The artist laughed and rushed forward, picking the boy up and twirling him around.
"Ven!" Naminé shouted, hugging her little brother. She turned around, still cradling Ventus in her arms. "Guys, say hello to my little brother, Ventus."
"Hey there, Ventus," Roxas grinned, stepping forward and holding out a hand. "I'm Roxas. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too," Ventus echoed with an eerily similar grin. "Are you Naminé's husband?"
Xion and Sora howled with laughter as Naminé and Roxas's complexions darkened into shades resembling that of ripe strawberries. Even Kairi gave a little chuckle.
"You…could say that," Roxas choked.
"Yeah," Naminé mumbled, setting her little brother on his feet.
"Who're the rest of your friends?" Ventus asked, pointing at Xion, Sora, and Kairi. "That girl is pretty."
"Me?" Xion beamed, ostentatiously gesturing at herself.
"Her," Ventus said, pointing at Kairi. It was Roxas and Naminé's turns to guffaw as Xion scowled in obvious jealousy.
"Thank you," Kairi murmured with a slight smile, kneeling down to give Ventus a peck on the forehead. "You look handsome yourself, little guy."
Ventus instantly turned bright red (eliciting snickers from everybody except Kairi) and looked down at his shoes. "Th-thank you."
"Ven! Where are you?"
"Mom! Dad!" Naminé shouted, waving furiously at her approaching parents. "Over here!"
Ryo was dressed in an immaculate dark green business suit; Jennifer had on a flowing dark blue gown.
"Hello, Naminé," Jennifer said, smiling. "Who're your friends?"
"She's Xion," Naminé said, nodding at the brunette. "And he's Sora, and she's Kairi."
She turned to her friends. "Guys, this is my mom and dad."
"You girls all look beautiful tonight," Ryo commented. "Especially you, Miss Kairi."
Kairi smiled shyly. "Thank you, Mr. Miyamoto."
"And you boys have dressed up well," Jennifer said.
"Thank you, Mrs. Miyamoto," Sora and Roxas grinned in unison.
"Well, the ballroom should be readying to ascend," Xion murmured.
Naminé gave the brunette a confused look. "Ballroom?"
"You'll see," Roxas said with a half smile. The traceur gestured at the elevator. "Let's go."
Surprisingly, nobody was going down to the garage as of yet. The group entered the elevator and Sora jabbed in the first floor as their destination. Naminé noticed that Ryo and Roxas were pointedly staring at each other with guarded expressions.
"I presume, from your proximity to my daughter, that you're her boyfriend?" Ryo inquired.
The traceur nodded. "Roxas Takahashi," he said, holding out a hand. "I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Miyamoto."
His tone was formal, rehearsed—as if he was interacting with a business associate or just somebody important.
Ryo nodded. "And exactly what is this story about your having a date other than your girlfriend?"
Sora held up a finger. "That's where we come in," the brunette said. "You see, my sister and I never wanted to go to this Formal."
"But our father ordered us to, and he ordered us to bring partners of the opposite gender," Xion continued.
"I was going to take Kairi, but…" Sora glanced nervously at the redhead.
"Somebody else asked me out first," Kairi said quickly.
"So now, Sora's taking me and Roxas is taking Xion," Naminé finished.
Jennifer raised an eyebrow. "Quite a setup you five have."
"So is this a pity date?" Ryo asked.
"NO!" the five juniors shouted simultaneously.
"It's—" Sora.
"—not—" Naminé.
"—a pity date, it's—" Roxas.
"—assisting me and—" Xion.
"Sora!" Kairi finished.
"Let me get this straight," Ryo said. "As I understand it, Naminé, you and Roxas are taking Xion and Sora as dates to this…formal…so that they could please their parents?"
The artist nodded. "That's the gist of it."
"Some father you kids have," Jennifer muttered.
"Almost everybody who meets him comes off disliking him," Xion admitted.
"Excuse me," Ventus said slowly. "But you've only talked about your daddy. Where's your mom?"
Silence.
"That's…now that I think about it, you've only ever referred to your father whenever you talked about your parents, Xion," Naminé recalled.
"And I've only ever seen your mother like…what? Three, four times?" Roxas remarked.
Xion and Sora looked distinctly uncomfortable at the mention of their mother. Jennifer shot Naminé a warning look; Kairi dug a finger into Roxas's arm.
"Never mind," both blondes said quickly.
Thankfully, the elevator floor counter morphed to a 1 and the doors opened.
The group walked out the door just in time to see—
"HOLY SHIT!"
"Naminé!"
"How did—?"
—a building rise out of the ground.
Xxx XXX xxX
No idea if hair brushing can actually hurt that much. As for Naminé's drowsiness, that will be cleared up later, pardon the pun.
Well, what'd you think? I'm usually not comfortable with writing long chapters (I can't check the quality as well as in a normal 4-pager), but making you guys wait this long (nine days. NINE) was a bit stressful. Plus, I don't know what to make of this chapter. Is it good, is it bad, have my skills gone downhill?
Please let me know with that blue button ~1 cm from the bottom of the text!
And yes, Chapter 18 will be in two parts. I'm planning ~16 pages for the full chapter.
Arc 2 reviewers! Thank you guys so, so much for your continuing support! You are A-MAY-ZING!
Komuro: Like the summary says, the Namixas will be pretty tempestuous.
maxeyn: Kairi is a bitch no longer, finally.
Goddess of Discord and Heaven: No seriously, where'd you find the Pokémon reference?
riceball793: Yeah, tough and badass Naminé's taken up too much of the airwaves and kind and sweet Naminé needs some fresh air. ^^
Bittersweet Apathy: Oh yes, fantastic. Even more so when you consider that, you know, Roxas was literally on top of Naminé when he said that? XD
NAV1109: Seifer. Must. DIE.
Wrath lover: Well, I hope Chapter 16 cleared up for you as to why Xion forgave Sora so easily.
king of hope: They will. Hopefully. Oh who am I kidding, they will.
Truth-Unspoken: One of my friends has an obsession with Portal memes. She says "The cake is a lie!" every time one of us says we lied, and that's how I got the idea. ^^
Runix56: I hope these chapters were worth waiting two weeks for!
XShiori-chanX: Yep, Xion certainly is a ray of sunshine throughout most of the story, isn't she?
One Sky-One Dream-One Destiny: Well, I'm glad that "Jump" made your day.
Ciel Denali: I had a bunch of ideas for messing with Naminé's character, but the more the merrier! Thanks!
XLeftOnTheLineX: More cute Namixas scenes incoming. :3
smileydomino: I did not like writing bitchy Kairi. DID NOT. I certainly hope nobody here does.
puppylove98162: Well, I hope this chapter is everything you wished for!
poohbearlover95: Their dad is…well, you'll see.
Guest Reviewer (Random KH Fangirl): Thanks! :P And Riku hasn't appeared yet, but he's a-coming. Patience, please!
For the third time, THANK YOU ALL!
Have a wonderful day!
~SB~out~