Naminé was usually hesitant when going to school. Her grades were fine and she was even doing quite well in school, her grades were up and some teachers even liked her (which only added more fuel to the bullying). Larxene was a reason why she contemplated before going to school but she knew at the end of the day she couldn't ignore her forever so most of the times, she just endured it with her will to get through the day.

But today wasn't that day.

The events of yesterday flashed through her head and her will was slowly crumbling down.

Maybe she could turn back home, and try to explain to her mom she wasn't feeling well and that she had to stay in bed?

No, Mom's too smart to fall for that trick. She gritted her teeth as her brain was scrambling for an answer. After yesterday, the thought of seeing Roxas' face just filled her with dread. Who knew what he would say after she just ran off like that, even without even giving a thanks to Roxas. Add that to the fact that she had just lost her sketchbook, and boom, you got a crappy day.

Maybe she could call in sick after finding her sketchbook.

Oh, Naminé why. She cried to herself as she covered her hands with his face. Oh, how badly she wanted to just turn around and walk back home but she still wanted to find her sketchbook. That was definitely more prioritized that her attendance. And Roxas.

Just the mention of his name in her head was enough to almost make her turn around to make sure she doesn't run into him at all. Why did her legs even run from that? How could she not even show thanks to him?

"Naminé!"

Wow. She was thinking about it so much that she could hear him calling out her name when she ran away.

"Naminé Hold up!" she heard the voice getting louder. She turned around to see Roxas running up to her, holding the strap of his bag that was bouncing up and down.

Oh no.

Oh no no no adfafasdfsdjasdfa

Naminé quickly turned around, wanting to hide her blushing face from Roxas. She started to walk faster but could still hear the sounds of Roxas' shoe soles hitting the sidewalk.

"Wait I want to talk!" Roxas called out as he finally reached up to her, grabbing her hand in the spur of the moment. Naminé's body turned around at the movement and was immediately greeted by Roxas' face right in front of her. She found herself getting momentarily lost in his blue eyes and suddenly her brain just lost all of its functions.

"Oh uh, sorry," he slowly let go of her hand. "Look I just want to- "

Naminé's mouth started to tremble and stuck her hand out, causing Roxas to stop talking. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and started to type with her shaking fingers.

"I'm very sorry for yesterday's events!" she typed and bowed lightly in an apologetic manner. Roxas gave a surprised look that made him take a step back. His head started to frantically look around to see if anyon was watching.

"No no! Please don't, you don't have to apologize," he quickly added, waving his hands around. "Look I just wanted to return this back,"

Naminé raised an eyebrow. Roxas took off the sling of his bag from his shoulder and zipped it open. He rummaged through the items inside before pulling out an object.

Naminé felt as if time slowed down as she saw the white sketchbook in Roxas' hands.

"Here," he smiled as he handed the sketchbook back to her. Her eyes sparkled as she saw her treasured book finally back to her, but instead of grabbing it, euphoria took the advantage of her, and she found herself wrapping her arms around Roxas in a hug filled with gratitude.

Roxas' face started to blush. It wasn't after a few seconds until Naminé realised what she was doing. She quickly stepped back, almost slightly pushing Roxas away with a very red face, still holding onto her sketchbook.

She was almost in disbelief. Such a shy and quiet girl actually hugged another person, a guy of all people. Did her arms and legs suddenly lost control of themselves and just did whatever they wanted? And was she really complaining about it? Her hands were slightly trembling at the fact that she could do something so bold.

"Umm... well," Roxas' voice trailed off. Naminé could feel her hair suddenly spike up. She was so lost in herself that she forgot about the boy standing in front of her.

She quickly typed on her phone.

"Thank you so much for returning this back!" she showed the phone with a smile.

"Oh, it's no biggie really, you dropped it when you ran out of school yesterday," Roxas chuckled. His eyes widened when he realised how he just phrased his got the notice when he saw Naminé's bottom lip started to tremble.

"Hey hey hey, really it was no big deal," he tried to assure. "But I gotta admit, I was just… surprised when you just uh, ran off," he said, only realizing that he just repeated the same words. "Although, why did you do that? It was quite sudden," he admitted.

Naminé felt her stomach just did a 360 at his words.

A hesitant look appeared on her face as she reached into her pocket and took out a pencil, opening the sketchbook. Roxas watched as she wrote down her message on her book reluctantly.

"Because I was afraid, you'd be like me," she held her book up, covering her embrarrased looking face.

Nice explanation. She thought sarcastically. She could probably imagine Roxas' dumbfounded look on his face and soon he would probably start talking about how ridiculous she was.

Instead, she felt a small force pushing down the book and saw Roxas' hand.

"What do you mean be like you?" he questioned.

Naminé blinked. Did he not see how Larxene's goons were treating her yesterday? She turned the book and around and wrote her reply.

"Don't you remember what happened yesterday? The way I was treated yesterday, if they see you helping like that, they'll think you're my friend,"

"So? I am your friend," he said in a matter-of-fact manner and beamed with a smile. Naminé gave a shocked look on her face.

What? She quickly turned the book around and quickly wrote her reply on the page when her hand was stopped by Roxas'.

"Stop it," he chuckled, Naminé stopped and stared at Roxas' face, but not because of him telling her stop, but because of his warm hands that was resting on top of her's. To her slight disappointment, he withdrew his hands and rested them on the back of his head.

"Is that what you're worried about? That because I'm your friend then they'll come after me too?" he questioned, to which Naminé responded with a small nod. He gave a slight chuckle and put his hands on his hips.

"Man, those girls really have nothing better to do huh," he sighed.

Naminé wrote on her book.

"That's why you should stay away from me"

Roxas read her message, read it over once more, stared at her, and started laughing out of nowhere. The blonde girl stared in confusion, but at the same time, a surprised look on her face.

"Then that's actually gonna be a problem," he said sheepishly. She didn't need to write anything, just the look on her face was enough for Roxas to know that she was trying to say "What?"

"Well, first of all, we're friends, friends shouldn't avoid each other," his face changed, "Well, unless you have a BO like Axel's when he's sweating, man does he smells bad," he teased, taking a glance over to Naminé, no reaction.

"And second of all, I want your help on something," he blurted out and looked at Naminé's face if there a reply. Her head tilted in confusion.

"Sorry but uh, curiosity kinda took over me and I may or may not have taken a look inside," he admitted.

Naminé's face stayed still as stone. Her mind was still trying to register his words.

She suddenly felt her grip on the book tightening. The drawings inside, her drawings, were seen. Her horrible drawings which she put so much time to make, her creations which she wanted to keep so badly to herself so that her pages would never see the light of day.

What if he think's they're bad? She knew she had been drawing since she was a kid, but that doesn't mean she's a professional artist, which also means that her drawings were usually for her own eyes only, there's a reason why she was so protective of the sketchbook.

Roxas quickly clapped his hands together. "I'm so sorry! I know it was an invasion of privacy," he apologized and bowed slightly, closing his eyes shut.

Naminé almost lost her composure when the top of Roxas' head entered her view. She quickly waved her hands in the air, trying to say that he doesn't have to apologise but he couldn't see due to his current composure.

So, she waited.

Might be a stupid choice but what could she do?

After a weirdly, not so short, period of time, Roxas stood up and stared at Naminé with apologetic eyes. The blonde opened her sketchbook and wrote down her message. She would use her phone, but it was small, she preferred to write anyway.

"It's fine, you don't have to be sorry,"

"You're really sure? Like super duper?" he chuckled. Namine responded with a light nod.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed. "Now back to my earlier statement, I need your help on something,"

He needs my help. Naminé thought sarcastically to herself. What could I possibly do to help him?

Roxas took her silence and confused look a motion to go on.

"See, your drawings in your sketchbook, they're… "

Oh, here it comes. What's he going to say? Terrible? Horrible? Absolutely atrocious that he wants to flush his eyes out with bleach and never see the light of day again?

"Amazing," he finished with an exhale of breath for dramatic effect.

I knew it, my art isn't even that good to begin with. Why did he have to say, wait what?

"I gotta say, you're a really talented artist, I'd say you could even try and do this professionally and go big," he cheered. Naminé swore she could see stars shining in his eyes. She sighed, wishing that he would just get to the point. Lucikly, the spike blonde seemed to get her message.

"Anyway, as I was saying," he coughed, "Since you're so good at it, maybe you could, umm, well, "he trailed off, trying to find the words, "teach? Me?" he scratched the back of his head.

His words slowly registered themselves in her head. If she could speak, Naminé would let out a loud, "Huh?" in a dumbfounded tone. Still looking at Roxas, she flipped open her trusty book and quickly wrote down her message.

"You want ME to teach you?"

Roxas took note at the multiple lines that were drawn underneath the "ME" part. Even if it was just a writing, he could almost laugh at her shocked tone of the message.

"Yeah, I mean, if you want to, I mean. You're an amazing artist and I want to learn more. I may not look like it but I actually draw from time to time myself," he put his fist on his chest, puffing it out.

She wasn't so sure on what to say. She was still in disbelief that he asked her, of all people, to teach him. She quickly wrote her reply.

"But my art isn't even that nice to begin with anyway,"

Roxas gave an exaggerated mouth drop and burrowed his brows.

"Have you ever taken a good look at your own art?" he questioned in a shocked tone.

"Yes, and they're not perfect," she argued back.

"So? There's no such thing as perfection! Everything has its own flaws," he countered.

Well, she really didn't expect that.

But it wasn't enough for her to accept his offer. Why would he want her as a teacher anyway? There were probably many other students out there who could draw just as well, or even better, than Naminé, and they could…they could….

"Why do you even want me to teach you? I can't even talk," she held the book closer to her, her mind recalling the scar that decorated her neck. Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"So? I don't care if you can't talk or not, besides," a mischievous grin grew itself. Much to Naminé's dismay, he snatched the book out of her hands and whipped out a pen from his pocket. She took a step forward in annoyance and swiped her hands to try and get her book back, but Roxas raised it high so that she wouldn't reach it.

It was only that moment she cursed at their height difference, the latter being taller than her, she noticed her forehead just reached his nose.

He quickly wrote down something on the page before flipping it around.

"Then we'll communicate by using this then, that way we'll both be the same" He added with a smily face similar to an emoji. He brought the book down and showed his own goofy smile. She felt her face reddened and her heart suddenly beat faster at the sight, did he have this affect on any girl he met?

The same? Who would want to be the same as her?

He returned the book back to her and a buzzing noise could be heard.

"Huh?" Roxas reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a source of the buzzing noise; his phone. He tapped the screen and put it up to his ear.

"Hey Xion, what's up," he greeted his friend.

Naminé could hear the faint voice of Xion but was unable to make out what she was saying or, screaming technically. Her voice was blended with the technological tone that one. But whatever it was, Roxas' face changed dramatically.

Wait, what time is it?

She pulled out her phone. 7.28. Both her and Roxas' face was drained of colour. They (well, Roxas) had been talking for so long that they completely forgot about their walk to school.

"C'mon!" Roxas yelled, running past Naminé and to her surprise, grabbing her arm in the process. Naminé couldn't do anything but fall prey to Roxas' fats body and was forced to run alongside her. If she could, she would already yell at him for the sudden pull.

He quickly turned his head back at her. "We don't want to be late now do we?" he laughed. The sun was slowly rising up and its rays shone on them. It was as if time slowed down for Naminé, and she took one good look of his face.

How….how is he smiling all the time?

She recalled when she first met Roxas in the garden park, and then meeting him in the cafeteria. Most of the moments, it always involved Roxas laughing or smiling around. It was like he had this aura that radiated positivity around him. She only knew this boy for almost three days and yet, she was so interested.

A smile slowly crept up onto her lips.

At that moment, all thoughts about her insecurity were thrown away. All she could think about, was running along to Roxas' pull.

Maybe this day wouldn't be so bad after all. She smiled at the thought.

I take back what I said.

Her face was buried in her arms that were crossed on her desk.

Class was almost over, and it was almost time for her to head home, kick off her shoes, finish up any homework, then either bury herself in her bed or at her desk drawing another piece.

And miraculously, she didn't run into Larxene or her pals so far into the day but as much as she wanted to cheer, she didn't want to push her luck. After all, her run-ins usually occurred at the end of class, taking place near her locker. What a convenient location to get humiliated.

Besides that, she also got through the day without many problems in class. Heck, she even managed to solve a hard question during maths when the teacher asks her to write down the working on the board. And this was Math we're talking about!

Usually, almost anyone would say they had great day at school, so why was she even upset?

"Is she already with the new kid?"

"I saw them holding hands earlier,"

"That fast?"

Oh, how deeper she wanted to bury herself right now. Even without looking up, she could feel other student's glares drilling into her figure. Her head slowly moved up, her bottom lip protruding out, and looked at Roxas' empty seat at the front of the room.

Once class was over, Axel and Xion were already there, bugging Roxas to follow them. When he stood up after the teacher left, it was clear that he wanted to hear Naminé's answer for his help, but they practically dragged him off, leaving her having to make a mental image of him at his desk.

Somehow, that mental image of him made it worse for her right now.

Not only was her and Roxas late to class due to their 'meeting' on the way to school (eventhough they both got off the hook, but one being also a new student and one never being late before), they arrived at school with hand in hand

Even outside the school building and there were quite the number of students who witnessed the teens panting heavily from their run to school. And this was a high school filled with teenagers, of course word spread like wildfire. Already during first period, she could see occasional glances at her by her classmates.

And then it was much worse during cafeteria. She was already tired, thinking of the stares and murmers she would get when she was dining in a large room where majority of the school population would have their lunch, so she made sure to be discreet, by staying in her seat.

Even Roxas didn't seem to take the chance to talk to her during lunch time. Understandable, the students around him could already hear his belly rumbling anyway.

She turned her head to the window to see her other problem. The dark gray clouds, the clear sight interrupted by the water droplets on the window, her other problem. She signed in annoyance, she could already hear her mother's "I told you so" rambles, this time about not keeping a small extendable umbrella in her locker.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, the black screen greeted her with an image of a battery cell with one red cell left flashing.

Great. Not only did more rumors of her just probably begun to spread, but her phone picked a right time to have a low battery so she couldn't even contact her parents.

Reluctantly, she stood up and grabbed her bag. Well, she can't mope around forever now can she? She walked out of the classroom and went straight for the main doors. Another convenient day for her to not stop by her locker.

Everything was going so well today.

She opened the doors of the main entrance, and the loud noise of the heavy downpour rang in her ears. There was even a small puddle forming at the side of the road. She could already imagine herself going home, taking a nice hot shower and relax on her bed to watch the heavy rain like a movie.

Unfortunately, she would have to take a small part in the movie, the part where the character had to run through the rain. An idea which she dreaded so so much right now.

She slowly lifter her hand and extended it beyond the roof and the water kissed her hand, a lot. She had to mentally prepare herself.

C'mon Naminé you can do this. She took a deep breath and stared into the rain.

Silence.

She extended her hand again, then withdrew it.

I can't do this. She covered her face, wishing so hard so that she wouldn't do this. As much as she knew it was probably the only way, just the idea of feeling her wet clothes sticking to her body was so…. cold.

She prayed hard that someone would come her aid already.

"Naminé?" she heard an all too familiar voice and turned around, seeing Roxas' face. She found herself eyeing the umbrella he had in his hand. Looking at its size, she assumed that it was only meant for one person.

"Oh, you're waiting for your parents?" he questioned. Naminé shook her head.

Did he forget about this morning? It looked like he wasn't event trying to find a way to hear an answer from Naminé. She thought he probably forgot about, considering the fact she knew Axel and Xion had been almost hogging him most of the time at school.

Speaking of them, she noticed they weren't with him today. She took out her trusty book.

"Where's Axel and Xion? I thought they're always with you?"

Roxas pretended to have dramatic heartbroken look, putting his hand on his chest.

"Wow," he fake croaked while closing his eyes, "You knew me longer than them and you already care about them more than me,"

He opened one eye to see if there was a reaction. The corners of her mouth perked up and she rolled her eyes at the joke. Little did she know, that was more than enough for Roxas as he widened his eyes.

"See that's better," her confused face showed him that she had no idea what he was talking about. "It's better if you smile," he responded by grinning widely.

It seemed like it was becoming a normal thing for Naminé to blush at his words. Why is it that almost everything he does, her body just ignores her mind and decided to press a button that would make her face red. She tried her best to get rid of the red on her face but it seemed that he paid no mind to it.

"Detention," answering to her question earlier, "something about Axel messing up real time and somehow he managed to drag Xion into it," he chuckled. "And I'm not going to wait an extra hour for them, especially since I really want to get home now," he turned his head towards the rain.

He looked like he was entranced by the downpour. The clattering noise of twater droplets hitting the concrete sidewalk was creating background music for them.

"Oh wait, back to the original question," he started out of nowhere, "Since your parents aren't picking you up, do you at least have an umbrella?"

She sighed as her mother's words spoke in her head again. She shook her head at him, who's eyes widened, but something was telling it wasn't in awe.

"So you don't have anything to keep you dry from this?" he waved his arm frantically at the rain. She shook her head. He was about to speak up again when a buzzing noise filled the air between them, coming from him again.

Déjà vu.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Sparing a glance at the caller ID.

"What's up Dad," he answered. He once again turned his head towards the rain. "No it's fine, you don't have to pick me up….. yeah….. I still have the keys to the house and the umbrlla… yes I'm really sure… right…. See ya later," he spoke into the phone before handing it to Naminé here.

"Was just my old man making sure if I could get home clean and dry," he explained as he looked towards the umbrella. Naminé lifted her eyebrow, since when did she ask for an explanation?

He took one more look at Naminé, then at the rain, then back to his umbrella.

"Guess Ill be heading home wet then," he said as he handed the umbrella to her. "Here," he offered.

At first, she felt gratitude knowing that someone went out of their way to offer something to her. This was the guy who stood up for her despite barely knowing her at all.

But wait, he told his father that he didn't need to be picked up, if he didn't have the umbrella, then the only choice he had was to…..

Her eyes widened as she frantically waved her arms while shaking her head. She did that for awhile before taking out her book and a pencil.

"No I can't take that! You need it!"

"You need it as well, how can you go home wet from head to toe?" he grinned.

"You're gonna get wet from the rain too you idiot"

Roxas just gave a "meh" look with a small grin. "A little rain really won't hurt anybody,"

A little? A dumbfounded look appeared on her face as she could already feel water droplets hitting her legs from the heavy rain. The cold feeling making her slightly shiver.

"Really it's fine," he assured as he brought the umbrella closer. Naminé took a step back, still refusing to accept his offer by shaking her head repeatedly. Roxas sighed at her reaction.

Why was he even doing this for her? She had to admit, there was a small twinge of gratefulness at what he did for her the other day. But this, she thought it was ridiculous. How can anyone think to walk under the rain without any umbrella like that?

She could already mentally facepalmed herself for that last thought.

"Well, if worse comes to worse," he took a deep breath. Without saying anything, he walked forward, closer to Namine. A little too close, she thought.

He reached down and grabbed her hand. She felt her face warm up at his gentle touch. He turned her hand over and placed the handle of the small umbrella into her palm. Before she could react or do anything, he immediately darted past her and out into the rain.

She widened her eyes and opened her mouth to call him back, but, she couldn't. Nothing came out.

"See? It's fine!" he called out. The rain already making his usual spiky hair into a a wet mess. The strands of his hair were pointing downwards due to the weight of the water, making him look like he had bangs. Just 2 seconds in the rain and his shirt and blazer was already we. He was struggling to see clearly because of the water that was coming down fast on his face.

He wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt to clear his vision to see Naminé repeatedly making hand motions, trying to tell him to get back under the shelter.

"My dad gave me that Umbrella!" he shouted so that his voice could be heard over the clattering on water droplets, "Be sure to return it back next time!"

And with a wave of his hand, he turned around and ran to the direction of his street. Naminé stood there dumbfounded while holding his umbrella.

A million questions ran through her head, but most of them, were tied to one word. Why? It was the question that repeated itself in her head ever since that day at school.

What was so special about her that made him wanting to help her? Even as going as far as throwing away the only thing he had to keep him warm and dry in the rain. Well, not exactly warm but still.

Her grip unconsciously tightened on the handle of the umbrella. She tilted her head down at the umbrella. The canopy had a golden-yellow color that reminded her the color of a certain boy's hair. The mental image of his smile flashed when she closed her eyes.

Huh? Her face flushed as she felt her heart beating faster. The familiar warm feeling she felt before washed over her. It was a strange feeling, but yet, it wasn't something she was complaining about.

It felt…. nice. But, what was that feeling?

She felt something fly past by her head, snapping her back to reality. She ntocied the small bird fly from the dry and into the heavy rain.

Unknowingly to her, a smile slowly crept itself onto her face. The mental image of his smile still present in her head. With one glance at the sky, she could only imagine how he'll feel after running through the rain like that.

She took off the velcro sticker and extended the handle of the umbrella. It was long, enough for her to hold it up and rested her hand by her chest. She clicked the button and the umbrella opened.

She was right, it was big enough for just one person. Making sure her head was well protected under the canopy, she took slow steps to the rain. As she slowly emerged out, the clattering noises got louder and louder but surprisingly, it didn't bother her.

With that, she continued to walk in the rain, making a small reminder in her head to return the umbrella to it's owner.