Wavering Hearts

Chapter ONE

Invisible. That was Naminé Blanc and how she planned to stay for the rest of her high school career.

She didn't mind the stigmas attached to her status: loner, freak, etcetera. She had grown used to the insults people threw her way (or muttered behind her back when they thought she wasn't listening). It was only a matter of conditioning—once they'd said it enough times and realized they weren't getting a response out of her, they settled with leaving her alone. Which suited Naminé. She just wanted to get through high school peacefully so she could finally escape this wretched, judgmental small town and live real life.

Shuffling her feet as she walked down the halls, she made sure to keep her eyes staring at the ground. It was the key technique to ensure her anonymity—people didn't see her face and tended to overlook her. Finally arriving at her media studies classroom, she entered and quickly assumed her seat at the back of the classroom. She sat in an inconspicuous area that still allowed her to concentrate on the lesson.

The only reason she'd chosen media studies as her elective was because her parents had not passed on the course selection form to her before school started and she was forced to choose between this and computer science. She was completely clueless when it came to technology. Knowing she'd fail computer science and it would look bad on her transcript, she decided on media studies. It was a new course, so there were only ten people other than her who had signed up for the class.

"Class, please be seated." The teacher was an unexpectedly young male professor who went the name Mr. Strife. He was a military veteran, so it puzzled some as to how he came to teach media studies in a nameless small school in the middle of nowhere. However, he did a good job teaching and he kept his class relatively interesting.

"Today, we will be learning about the various types of mass communication mediums made available to us in the recent decades…" Mr. Strife's voice trailed off in Naminé's mind. It was evidently another lecture-styled lesson. Not that the flaxen-haired girl was complaining. However, her previous two classes had been lectures as well, and it was taxing on the teenage brain. Her hand began absentmindedly doodling on her notebook while attempting to intake the information Mr. Strife was throwing out—

"Hey! Is this media studies?"

The cheery voice combined with a loud door slam unexpectedly woke Naminé from her stupor. Turning towards the front door of the classroom, she stared at a familiar brown-haired teen. He walked in the classroom and approached Mr. Strife with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Hikaru. I was told you would be transferring to our class today."

"Yup. Sorry for the interruption."

"It's alright. Take a seat next to Miss Blanc. Miss Blanc, please raise your hand."

Anxiously, Naminé raised her hand. She'd recognized who this Mr. Hikaru was after Mr. Strife had mentioned his last name. Of course, who in the school didn't know Sora Hikaru? He was, after all, one of the more popular boys in Pallad High. Not only was the senior boy friendly to everyone with his sunny personality, he was also incredibly good looking. That Naminé had to admit. His chocolate brown hair was always sticking out at the most random directions in a way that only someone like him could pull off. His skin was a smooth tanned hue, proof of his status as a native islander. He had a decent build as a result of playing soccer, no bulging biceps but lean muscles and—from what she'd heard while changing in the lockers—definite, firm abs. What was most eye-catching about him was, no pun intended, his eyes. They were the clearest and deepest blues that Naminé had ever seen, the type that drew you in and could either hypnotize you or drown you.

"Hey." Sora Hikaru smiled disarmingly as he slipped into the seat next to Naminé. Though he seemed harmless enough, Naminé knew his type of person was a threat to her invisible status.

However, to not seem rude, Naminé gave a polite smile and nod. Sora Hikaru then turned towards the front of the room and Mr. Strife resumed his lesson.

Unexpectedly, this Sora Hikaru became a large distraction during class. Though he didn't purposely antagonize her, his many little quirks got on Naminé's nerves. Like his tendency to tap his pencil on the table surface while waiting for Mr. Strife to toss out new information, or the way he'd lean back and tilt his chair in a precarious position, as if wanting to fall. One time Naminé actually thought he was gonna fall, she barely managed to suppress her squeak.

He turned towards her way and grinned. "Chill, I'm fine. I won't actually fall."

Naminé frowned and turned to face the whiteboard. "But you worry other people."

This seemed to pique Sora's interest. He placed his left arm on the desk and leaned over towards Naminé. "Oh? Are you speaking about yourself?"

The blonde tried to ignore him but his persistent grin was frustrating. "I'm sure anyone seeing you do that would think so."

Sora laughed and proceeded to lean back and tilt his chair once more, as if to purposely annoy her. She resisted the urge to snap another snarky comment at him and instead pleaded silently that the boy would fall and get what he deserved.

To her utmost horror, the boy did fall in the next five minutes.

"Oh my goodness," Naminé gasped, rushing out of her seat and kneeling down to check the boy's wellbeing. "Sora, are you alright?"

Sora was wincing and clutching his head, though there didn't seem to be any serious injuries. "Yeah. Hey, you know my name?"

The blonde girl resisted the urge to facepalm. He was hurt but all he could think about was how she knew his name?

"Are you hurt?" she asked, ignoring his question. She felt slightly guilty since she'd somewhat caused his accident, or so the conscientious girl thought. The boy seemed fine, besides being slightly shocked, though he kept caressing the back of his head.

"Is everything alright?" Mr. Strife asked, approaching the duo on the ground. "Mr. Hikaru, are you hurt? Do you need to go to the nurse?"

Sora got up and stumbled a little, resting his hand on Naminé's shoulder. "No, I'm fine. Just lost balance." He propped his chair in upright position and slipped back into his seat. "Sorry for the interruption."

"Don't lean your chair; it's dangerous," Mr. Strife warned as he returned to the front of the classroom. Sora nodded and slipped his hand off of Naminé's shoulder. The blonde immediately felt a burden relieved off her chest and settled in her seat as well.

The rest of the class passed without any disturbances. When the bell rang, Mr. Strife assigned homework (a graphic organizer of the mediums of communication learned in class today—she'd need to get notes from a classmate) and dismissed the class. Everyone began getting out of their seats and chatting with their friends—next period was lunch. As Naminé moved to approach one of the girls she knew relatively better in the class, she felt a grasp on her wrist. Turning around, she realized it was Sora Hikaru.

"Yes?" she asked.

He grinned his trademark smile. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

Naminé resisted rolling her eyes. They'd been in the same school for five years yet he didn't even known her name. Well, she was a grade younger than him. And she was invisible, after all.

Perhaps her pause was what prompted Sora to speak up. "Unless you want me to address you as Miss Blanc." He smiled cheekily in a manner that, depending on Naminé's mood, would make her either want to coo at him or slap him.

"Naminé," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Sora nodded. "Naminé Blanc," he said experimentally. "Nice meeting you."

"Umm…yeah," Naminé said, feeling the awkwardness creeping upon them. She turned around, ready to go again, but realized that the girl she'd wanted to copy notes off of was nowhere to be found. She resisted cursing at Sora, knowing he did nothing wrong. Exiting the classroom, she approached her lockers.

"Hey, I also wanted to ask…" It seemed like Sora Hikaru was the type of person that couldn't stand silence. They were presumably approaching the same destination (their respective lockers), so they were taking the same route and walking side by side.

"…notes for class? I wasn't quite paying attention, so I have no idea how to do the homework."

Reminded of her own failure to obtain class notes, Naminé huffed exasperatedly. "I wasn't listening either. I was gonna ask someone else in class for them, but you detained me."

She hadn't meant to sound hostile, though that was probably how her tone turned out as. Sora, however, didn't seem the least bit apologetic or guilty. He shrugged it off easily. "That sucks. Well, I'll ask someone else then."

"Why are you even in this class if you aren't interested in media studies?" Naminé asked out of curiosity.

"I could say the same for you." The same cheeky grin that prompted ambivalent feelings. "Anyways, I was taking sociology but the teacher was tired of failing me so he kicked me out."

"Oh."

"So, you? Why are you in the class when you're obviously not interested in mediums of mass communication?"

Naminé shrugged. "It was either this or computer science. I know for a fact that I would fail computer science, so I chose media studies."

"I see." The duo continued walking in silence down the halls. Soon, they arrived at their lockers.

"Well, it was nice talking to you," Sora said. Naminé nodded as she stopped at her locker. She was about to say something when another figure popped out in the corner of her eye.

Red hair. Slender body. Skinny shoulders. Wide eyes. Ski-slope nose. Plus the aura she exuded. Naminé was sure who it was before the figure entered her direct vision.

"Y—yeah," Naminé responded to Sora's words distractedly, her eyes fixated on the beauty gracing the halls of Pallad High. Naminé could feel her jaw stiffen and her fingers unconsciously clench into a fist. The corners of her mouth twisted downward and her back immediately straightened. This was the automatic response Kairi Flannigan compelled out of Naminé, even without making—

…eye contact.

Sora had said something, but Naminé wasn't registering his words. Her attention was completely fixated on the approaching redhead. Decked out in a low-cut blouse and short pleated skirt, Kairi was pulling off the naughty schoolgirl look pretty well.

"Hey Sora. And…Naminé, right? It's nice seeing you." Kairi smiled her picture perfect smile that showed her row of brilliant white teeth. For years, her and Naminé's relationship had been at a stalemate. Not that Naminé minded. The blonde knew that in a year and a half, she'd be out of this town and wouldn't have to see Kairi ever again. Anyways, it was Kairi's disregard that allowed for the blonde's current invisibility. As for Kairi's reasons for leaving their relationship alone, Naminé would perhaps never know.

Nonetheless, to maintain appearances, Naminé gave a small smile. "Yeah. It's nice to see you too."

The two stared at each other for a while, as if sizing the other up. Then, Kairi uncharacteristically broke away. She looked Naminé up and down, as if observing something on the petite blonde's body. The redhead then seemed to contemplate something for a moment.

Finally, she spoke. "So, how's your brother? I haven't seen him in town recently."

Something in Naminé tipped. Kairi was obviously looking for trouble, purposely mentioning that topic in such a nonchalant attitude. However, the blonde knew better than to cause a scene in a public place with Kairi Flannigan. Suppressing the tendrils of anger curling in her stomach, the blonde managed a smile.

"He's fine. While we're on the subject of family, how's your mother?" Naminé knew she'd touched a nerve when she saw something flicker through Kairi's eyes. The usually composed girl had lost control for a split second. That split second was enough for Naminé to confirm that she had hurt her as well.

"She's fine," Kairi spat. She then turned to focus on Sora. "Sora! How was class? I can't believe Mr. Tatum actually kicked you out of sociology. Class was so boring without you today."

Sora shifted uneasily. "Yeah. My class was fine. I share it with Naminé."

"Oh." The red-haired beauty's attention was once again placed on Naminé. "How…pleasant."

Naminé carefully observed the dynamics between Sora and Kairi. The last time she checked, they had been together and happily dating. While Kairi was behaving as usual, Sora seemed uncharacteristically tense and uneasy. Had they…?

"Well, I unfortunately have second period lunch this semester. So I still have class. Have fun at lunch, Sora," Kairi said. Before Sora could say anything, Kairi leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. This seemed to startle the brown-haired teen who stared not starry-eyed but almost…resentfully at the redhead. His next gesture startled both Kairi and Naminé.

He threw his arm over Naminé's shoulder. "You have lunch this period, right?" he asked, addressing the blonde. Still trying to process his aberrant actions, Naminé nodded almost robotically. Sora grinned. "Alright, we'll go to the lunch then. See you, Kairi," he said. Before either girl could say another word, Sora had dragged Naminé away from the lockers towards the cafeteria.

Once they covered substantial distance away from Kairi, Naminé pushed Sora's arm off of her. "What are you doing?" she exclaimed, thoroughly puzzled and slightly infuriated.

"Hey, chill. It's not like I kissed you," Sora said, holding his arms behind his head. "Are you afraid of people touching you or something?"

"No!" Naminé exclaimed. What was even more maddening was Sora's complete nonchalance towards his prior actions. "But what the hell was that?" she exclaimed, uncharacteristically cursing.

This seemed to inform Sora of Naminé's feelings. "Whoa, I'm sorry. If I had known you were so anti-touch, I wouldn't have done that."

"I'm not angry at that!" Naminé exclaimed. "I'm angry at the fact that you're still mocking me with your words!"

"What?" Sora asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Ugh, there you go again!" Naminé cried. "You aren't even aware of how condescending you are!"

"Well, are you gonna tell me what exactly I'm doing wrong or do I have to keep on asking?" The derisive tone in his voice had, if anything, intensified.

Naminé huffed. "You're an idiot. I don't need to deal with someone like you now." Pulling herself together, she turned around and began stomping down the halls to the cafeteria. She was thoroughly infuriated and just wanted some time alone with a good meal.

Lunch passed by quietly. Naminé sat in her usual seat: an isolated table in one of the corners of the cafeteria where usually no one would look. It was also strategically located to give her a complete view of the cafeteria. She watched as Sora came into the lunchroom and look around for someone or something. As his eyes turned towards her direction, Naminé buried her face in her baked potato, hoping he wouldn't notice her. By the time she looked back up, he was seated with his usual posse at the large lunch table in the middle of the room, which consisted of a bunch of jocks, some of their girlfriends, and a few other populars that ran in the same circle. Of course, the only way to maintain their superiority and establish it as the status quo was to enforce it through peer pressure. That's why the A-listers herded together. Naminé herself had no interest in the high school social hierarchy, but it was something she came to observe while she was bored out of her mind.

For a moment, she thought she'd caught Sora's eye. However, even if she did, nothing was transferred through that split second of eye contact as both turned away quickly. Naminé sighed. She didn't know what about the boy had brought about such a big response out of her. If she'd acted like her usual passive self, she'd probably be no more than his seatmate during media studies class, a mere speck on his radar. Perhaps it was the weather, or the unwarranted encounter with Kairi today.

All she knew was he'd brought out something in her that she herself was not even aware of.

A/N: My first Kingdom Hearts fanfic. I know Namora isn't a commonly explored couple, especially in longer fics, but I think they're cute and I want to experiment. Please review and share your thoughts!