Thank you lemontae for the lovely reviews! You're a peach! Hope you enjoy this chap!

x-x-x

"Kairi, I need your help." Roxas looked into her eyes, sounding pleading without meaning to. "I need you to help me stop Namine from liking Sora... because... because I like Namine."

x-x-x

For a moment, Kairi thought Roxas might be kidding. She pulled several different faces of confusion and wary smiles before she saw how serious his expression was. His eyes were filled with unwavering determination, a fire she had never seen before in the blonde.

"You like Namine?" Kairi finally said, slowly, drawing out the syllables to make sure she was getting everything straight. "But... you guys are so close. Like, best friends."

"That's just scratching the surface of how complicated this is," Roxas sighed, ruffling his hair. "I've liked Namine since we first met... ever since she yelled at me for playing my drums too loud."

Kairi would have chortled, but the news had still completely shocked her. Roxas and Namine had been inseperable since year 7, but she always thought it was purely platonic - like the brother-sister relationship she had with Roxas, and with Hayner and Pence. "All that time..."

"I mean, it was just a crush at first," Roxas continued, bashful, but Kairi could tell Roxas had been bottling this up for a long time, and finally telling someone was a weight off his shoulders. "But when we got closer, I knew. She's my best friend... but I wanna be with her. I think I..."

But he dared not say it, and he looked away in embarrassment, but Kairi saved him from his inner torment when she asked, "Wait a minute, does Sora know you like Nam?"

Roxas froze. He had to be extremely careful about what he told Kairi about Sora. He would never consider telling her he liked her - that was for Sora and Sora only to reveal. "Er, I mean, he figured it out. He's always asking why I don't ask her out, but..."

"It's because she likes Sora." Kairi nodded. The pieces were slowly falling together. "Roxas... Do you know... Does Sora like anyone? Does he know about Namine?"

For once, Roxas feigned ignorance well, for the sake of everyone involved. "He hasn't told me he likes anyone. But I know he doesn't have a clue that Nam likes him. You know how clueless he is."

"So clueless..." Kairi sighed, but Roxas could see the wistful longing in her eyes for said boy. "What a mess... this is like some weird love square. Everyone likes someone... except stupid Sora."

"Except stupid Sora," Roxas chuckled, his heart hammering from the deceit. "Well, and the other impartial members of the group."

Kairi shook her head in disbelief. "When we were all in year 7, I never ever would have guessed that our group would get so complicated. We were all just friends back then. But now..."

"Guess that's the problem with guys and girls hanging out. When you're that close to someone, feelings can get mixed up. That's what I'm hoping is the deal with Namine. Maybe she's just confusing friendship with liking Sora."

"Do you really think so? I've been watching her lately, and she seems pretty madly in love with him..." The redhead crossed her arms despite herself, feeling decidedly torn.

Roxas cringed. "C'mon, Kairi. We're Namine's closest friends. We need to protect her. Do you really wanna lose your best friend over a crush?"

Kairi dropped her arms, softening. "Of course not. Namie and I will always be best friends."

"Right then. I'm not saying we can change how she feels..." Roxas treaded carefully, "but maybe we can help her... see the light? That Sora isn't that suitable for her, and what she's looking for is, y'know... right beside her?" He tried, but Kairi sniggered.

"Did you pull that from a chick flick?" She teased, whacking Roxas on the shoulder, and just as she did the gang came around the corner, heading for the year 9 building. The two hadn't even realised the bell had rung.

"Where did you two sneak off to?" Olette asked, and the escapees quickly looked awkward, hunting for a valid reason.

Selphie looked positively devious. "Ooh, do you two like each other!?"

Roxas' eye twitched. Selphie was absolutely too obsessed with romance. "No! We were just talking."

"Roxas is totally too icky to date," Kairi giggled, and Roxas gave her a look. Everyone walked back to the classrooms together, but the tension was definitely palpable. On the way, Roxas shared a glance with Kairi and she nodded back to him - she was in. Maybe together, they could help Namine get over Sora.

x-x-x

Plans for City Centre were getting well underway. Each team had handed in their sample surveys for the public, had at least one interview lined up, and had started research on their hypothesis. Tidus and Wakka were eager to try and get some fast food sampling into their week, but Mr. Caelum had told them it lent no support to their research. Roxas had caught Olette looking wistfully at their group many times during team meet-ups in class. He had a sneaking suspicion as to why she wasn't to pleased to be in Tidus' group.

During class on a particularly warm Autumn day, Miss Gainsborough handed out the schedule for the week, which Sora was very keen to look at. He still had to decide which day would be his dream date with Kairi. He thought Friday would be best, considering it would end their week together on a high. He saw happily that there was free time for lunch that day, and eagerly elbowed Roxas to silently tell him. Roxas nodded, smiling, but he glanced over at Kairi with concern.

So far, neither of them had been able to convince Namine she didn't like Sora. To be fair, they hadn't really tried - their attempts were subtle and careful so as not to hurt Namine or deceit her. Roxas had tried to play down Sora during their private dance lessons, but Namine only saw the good in him (and there wasn't a lot to pick about Sora to begin with). Whenever Namine asked Kairi advice, she tried to convince her that Nam was misunderstanding his social cues, but she took everything he did as little signs that he might like her back. Nothing was working. City Centre was very close now and they were running out of options.

After class, Roxas met Kairi at her locker and they spoke in hushed whispers about what to do.

"She's completely head over heels," Kairi sighed. "What can we do?"

"I don't know..." Roxas focused on Kairi's lock, wishing he could tell her that Sora already had his eye on someone. It would make this whole thing so much simpler... and less painful for Kairi."

"It sucks, Roxas. I have to watch her try and flirt with the person who might be the one I'm meant to be with! And even worse, he might be falling for it."

Roxas hesitated. "I'm not so sure he-"

"Hey, you guys!" Hayner called out, the rest of the gang waving them over. They approached the pair with vigour. "Let's head to the usual spot."

Selphie put her hands on her hips and leaned in close to Kairi. "Are you guys sure there's nothing going on between you two? You've been spending a LOT of time together lately."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Please, Selphie. We know you're just making sure nobody gets together so you can be the first of the group to get a boyfriend."

The brunette poked her tongue out in jest. "Come on, the school could use a cute new couple! Terra and Aqua have been going out for aaages."

"Alright, enough of this lovey dovey crap," Hayner wailed, making gross faces. "Let's get something to eat!"

x-x-x

With term 2 well underway, Roxas was finally getting used to dance class. He actually did quite enjoy the hip hop lessons, and the warm-ups were quite to his liking too. Jazz and ballet were a disaster, but luckily only lasted a few weeks. He wondered what today had in store as he watched Namine and Selphie stretching before class.

"Okay guys! Exciting news!" Miss Lockhart entered the room quickly, a stack of cd's in hand. "We're gonna start choreography for the end of year create festival!"

Selphie and Namine shrieked in delight. Roxas let out a groan.

"First, there's the group number. I've got big plans for this piece, it's going to be amazing. The song we're dancing to is called 'So Stupid'. It's a lyrical piece with pops of jazz and hip hop, perfect for everyone's style. Now, I've been watching you all very closely and I've seen some fantastic improvement in you all. I've decided there are going to be special solos within the group dance to let you all shine. But in keeping with the theme of the song about love and betrayal, I want a main guy and girl in this dance."

Namine immediately perked up (more than she already was, if it were possible), bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"I've decided to run a little audition for these roles. So today, I'm gonna teach you part of the choreography for this dance, and then you'll present it back to me and I'll judge who's fit for the role. Okay boys and girls, in position and watching me!"

Namine was in her element. The style was perfect for her; she picked up the moves quickly and felt perfectly in sync with the teacher. She didn't exactly relate to the lyrics of the song, which were about a boy who felt stupid for loving a girl who betrayed him, but she thought of Sora as she danced and how proud he would be to see her on stage. And perhaps while he did, he could think about how very not stupid it would be to date her! As well as that, she'd get to show off her moves to her classmates, and really shine. She put her all into this lesson.

Roxas was also trying extremly hard. Namine had taught him a lot on their private lessons, and he didn't want that to go to waste. He was still a bit clunky and slow, but he was a million times better compared to the first lesson. He could dance in time, with relatively accurate moves, and his face turn to one of hard concentration as he danced. Of course, he was also watching Namine from the corner of his eye. She really did look beautiful when she danced.

Miss Lockhart stopped the music and the students flopped to the floor, exhausted. She had pushed them all to their limits today. Even Namine and Selphie were doubling over and panting.

"Excellent! Excellent work! I'm so proud of you all! You all gave it 110%. I wish I could make you all leads, but you'll each get a solo component in the group dance for your amazing efforts."

"Great..." Roxas sighed, and Namine thumped him on the chest.

"Hey! You've gotten so much better. You should want to show off your moves."

Roxas shrugged. "Or I could give you my section and you could have double the solo time."

Namine nodded contemplatively. "That would be nice..."

"Oh Nam," Selphie shook her head. "You really should ask for a solo."

Miss Lockhart looked over her notes and nodded. "Alright, everyone give a big congratulations to our female lead, who works consistently hard at her craft and always has boundless energy and knowledge for dance... Namine!"

The class clapped with vigour and Namine could hardly believe it. She'd worked hard, but there were so many other talented girls in the room! She couldn't wipe the smile off her face and continually said, "Oh, thank you!". Selphie hugged her friend hard and Roxas beamed beside her.

"Now, the main male lead is someone I've been watching very closely," Miss Lockhart started again, and the clapping died down. "He's shown the biggest improvement out of all the boys and his dedication has really impressed me. This role goes to... Roxas!"

The class once again clapped and cheered. Neku patted the blonde on his back and Selphie shrieked in shock. Namine was so proud she leaned out and hugged Roxas tight. And throughout it all, Roxas had a face of utter disbelief. He felt proud as punch, but a wave of anxiety came over him as he thought of being centre stage. Then as Namine hugged him, he was overcome with nerves. He didn't realise he could feel so much in a split second. He'd be doing on-stage partner work with Namine! He wouldn't let her down. He couldn't. Not after all the hard work he'd out in. He finally cracked a lopsided smile and managed a quiet "Thanks,", and was about to hug Namine in return, but she had retreated her arms to clap for him.

"Right, class is almost over, but next week we'll add more choreography to the dance. Amazing stuff, kiddos!" Miss Lockhart cheered, fist-pumping the air. Everyone left the classroom with a buzz of excitement, and Namine and Selphie were positively cooing over Roxas.

"See! We told you you could do it! You're amazing!" Namine gushed, bumping into the embarrassed blonde on their way back to their lockers.

"You have to sign up for So You Think You Can Dance. You're the lead!" Selphie in turn gave a few small punches to his arm in excitement.

"I couldn't have done it without you two..." He said sheepishly, brushing blonde locks from his eyes. "Thanks a lot."

"It's our pleasure," Namine beamed, her feet hopping as she recited the dance as they walked. "I just can't wait! The create festival is going to be amazing!"

"It will be with you as the lead," Roxas smiled. Selphie cleared her throat and Roxas chuckled. "And you'll get a solo part too, Selph!"

"You know it!"

Roxas sighed, the weight of everything going on disappearing just for a moment, and he basked in Namine's happiness. He was so thankful he'd tried his hardest for her sake. Even if everything didn't work out... at least he could make her happy.