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It took a bit for Riku to respond, and his hand tightened around her's as he gathered his thoughts. Namine was prepared to hear that she was a really good friend of his, someone he cared about but not cared for. There was a difference between the two. When he did speak however, his words took her by surprise. The petite blonde had to mentally remind herself to keep breathing and she gazed at the ground still, her eyes a bit wider as he continued to speak.

To Riku, she was the only thing that mattered, the one he wanted to protect with everhting he has. He was willing to fight Roxas for her. She was the only thing that could make him feel content and take away all his doubts. The girl blinked in surprise. It was quite a lot to take in. She lifted her eyes to look up at him, and was about to speak but didn't for Riku spoke again after taking a deep breath, saying what he felt for her wasn't love... yet. But he thought it really had the potential.

At this, Namine flushed a rosy red and forgot to keep walking. The girl stopped abrubtly from surprise, causing Riku to stop as well. She was still looking up at him and he was now looking at her with a bright smile on his face and his teal eyes lit up. Namine was in shock. She hadn't expected Riku to feel this way because the way he described it was exactly the way she felt about him. She was willing to protect him and he was the only one who could really take away her fears and make her feel safe. Did she love him? No... not yet. But she cared for him. A lot.

"I --" Namine began, but trailed into silence, not quite sure of what to say. Of course she was happy. That much was obvious. The look of shock was gone from her face and a warm smile played on her lips, her brilliant blue eyes were brighter than ever before. "I feel the same way about you, too. But you probably already guessed that." The petite blonde said, giving a quiet, musical peal of laughter.

A loud crackling noise sounded, soon followed by a booming voice as the P.A system blared to life; someone within the office was saying that all the students were to go to the Gymnasium for a pep rally after lunch. Did that mean lunch was almost over? Already? Whenever she was with Riku, it was as if time sped up, leaving her feeling as if she never spent enough time with him. She gave a small sigh before speaking. "Great. A pep rally. It's going to be so crowded." The girl didn't like large crowds of any sort, no matter what. But this was school and things like this were bound to happen. She would just have to tag along and endure like everyone else.

When Riku laughed, Namine smiled and looked back up at him. He knew she was laughing at her statement about the gym being crowded and she playfully stuck her tougne out at him before giving a light laugh of her own. The silvernette began to walk again and the blonde fell in step beside him and looked up at him again when he spoke.

"That'd be great," Namine began - desperately wishing they could do that - and she continued after a short pause, "but we should sit with the others. Kairi was worried about you and I've got to let her know everything is alright. Besides, she hasn't really seen you today; she misses you, you know. Actually... I'll tell her right now that you're alright. We can meet her out in front of the gym." The petite blonde said, a bright smile playing on her pale lips.

Speaking of Kairi, she wondered why she hadn't told the girl that Riku was okay earlier. Though she soon figured it out. It was because she'd been completely and utterly distracted by Riku. And that wasn't a bad thing. Not at all. 'Kairi?' Namine reached out to the girl and connected with her, surprised to find that the red head was by herself, wandering around campus. The blonde instantly felt guilty. Kairi shouldn't be alone. 'Riku is fine, and we're heading towards the gym. Meet us in front of it?'

Namine had smiled up at him when he agreed and then she'd looked away when she had reached out with her mind. Her brilliant blue eyes were staring ahead, not really looking at anything as she connected with Kairi. It was sometime after that that Riku stopped walking, causing Namine to stop as well.

The blonde blinked at him in confusion, having only heard his last question. She was careful to keep the link open with Kairi as she focused on Riku a bit more. "Hm? Oh, you mean how I'm telling Kairi?" She asked, letting her hand fall to her side after he dropped it and he now stood in front of her. "Oh, it's a connection. You see, I guess I am still a part of Kairi. ...If I want to be. It's sort of confusing. We have this mental link that keeps us connected. We can talk through it. Also, if she gets a really strong feeling, an echo of that feeling will go through me." Namine responded in a calm and matter of fact tone. She'd forgotten that no one else knew about her and Kairi's connection. The petite blonde peered up at him, waiting to see his reaction.

Namine could see Riku practically freaking out, though he tried his best to hide it. The petite blonde wondered why briefly and then it hit her. Of course, he was afraid that Kairi had heard everything he'd told her. The redhead would've never let him live it down. Riku said it was cool, and Namine gave a light laugh. "Riku, relax," she said, almost as if she could read his mind. "It only works when I reach out to her and all we're able to do is talk to each other with our minds. We can't hear outside things." The girl had been speaking to him as she trailed along behind him, stopping a foot or so away.

Riku walked over to the door and opened it, a smirk on his lips as he gestured for her to follow. Namine smiled and gracefully walked over and then inside of the building, pausing to wait for the silvernette.

The young woman was sitting in a lone table as she played with a few pieces of spaghetti in her lunch tray. Ever since she had enrolled into Destiny High, Hikari had been labeled as the 'loner' kid of the school, even called 'emo' from her always wearing her black coat and black sunglasses indoors. But the girl didn't retaliate or say a bad word or anyone. Come to think of it, Hikari has yet to utter a word to a teacher or a student. No one in school knew the sound of her voice, or even if she knew English for that matter. All she would do is go to her classes, sit alone at lunch times, and then disappear to her dwelling somewhere in the town.

With a slight pause after hearing the announcement that there was a pep rally, she let a light sigh escape her lips as she stood and grabbed her black backpack, slinging it over her shoulder and headed towards the crowd that was filing into the gym. With her silver hair easily visible in the sea of brunette, Hikari made her way to the bleachers, climbing up to the top seat and sat down, leaning her back against the wall behind her as the lights above reflected off her black sunglasses.

As Hikari sat at the top of the bleachers and waited for the pep rally to start, she tilted her head down and saw a particular girl with reddish-brown hair, instantly recognizing her as Kairi. One of the princesses of heart she thought. Hikari suddenly felt like she had to keep an eye on the girl. With her eyes hidden behind the black sunglasses, she kept her head forward, keeping her peripheral vision on Kairi.

“And I thought the Darkness was bad…xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxIt doesn’t even compare to this Hell.”

Riku nodded. His eyes softened and he eshaled a breath he'd been holding. That meant Kairi hadn't heard anything that he had said to her Nobody. A smile crept to his lips slowly as Namine walked past him into the building and he followed behind her. He did take her hand again but he did stand close to her, close enough to feel her warmth. It wasn't that Riku didn't want to hold her it was just he didn't want a rerun of the cafeteria. Riku remembered that he was going to be in some serious trouble if any teachers or administraitors saw him during the asembly. Riku looked up to keep a weary eye out for teachers when a small redhead came into his view.

"Kairi!" he called across the hall. He smiled when the princess turned to see had called her name. He smirked at her before a tall man stepped in front of him. Riku looked up to find the principal standing above him. Riku knew what was coming next. Suspension for assualting a girl.

"Riku, don't give us any trouble," he stated before walking into the gym. Riku stared after him dumbfounded. He was frozen there with a look of confusion across his face. He pointed after the head teacher and mumbled single word questions.

Lakayna grabbed her school bag and nodded.
"Yeah," she said in a down voice.
It wasn't that Lakayna didn't like pep rallies. She found the getting out of class without getting in trouble part fun, but not the skin on ski conact part. She'd have to learn to somehow control her power. She was tired of the pain. It kept her from getting close to anyone as friends or maybe more. She was even becoming more and more alienated from her own father because of it. She saw Lux walking ahead into the school and walked beside Axel back inside.