A/N: My first story for 2011! :] Hello fellow new/regular readers! :] Most of you who have read my works before are probably wondering why I wrote a new story, instead of updating my current ones. I'm getting to that as well...it just so happens that this was on my mind and had to be written first, otherwise my brain wasn't going to work properly if I started working on the other stories. Be expecting "Someday" chapter 5 soon! :D
Kimi ni Todoke
(From Me to You)
Hollow Bastion Institution: Fall season
It was happening again…
"I love you! Please go out with me!"
Sigh.
"I'm sorry. I'm not interested in being in a relationship right now."
The blond girl shook her head at the sound of those words. "Same as always." They sounded just as if those lines came straight from a T.V. drama. She walked over to the incinerator and quietly dumped the trash from her classroom, "Some just never learn…"
Namine Sakashita, the name said it all. A young first year rated as one of the most attractive girls even before she took a step on campus. She was the ideal 4.0 student, an inspiring artist through her artwork sketches and literature, to being one of the ace players on the volleyball team. If she wasn't found walking around by herself, she was the girl who preferred being surrounded by boys over girls, no doubt because of the amount of letters that filled her locker each day. Her life was the spotlight of everything. Picture perfect.
Sigh.
Scratch that. It's all been a misunderstanding. See, I'm not a girl hater, it just so happens that I've lived in a family of brothers. So, if you happen to notice, most of my friends happen to be guys, because of my brothers. That and plus, I'd rather not deal with jealous girls who are waiting to make my life miserable.
Namine stared at her locker the morning before classes started. Her hand reached out to open the door, but hesitated. She shook her head. Either way, she had to open it in order to get her school shoes. "Calm down, Namine, inhale, exhale," she told herself as she grabbed the handle of her locker and out spewed a waterfall of love letters.
Sigh. She closed her eyes. Actually, people tend to think I'm so popular to receive a locker full of letters and gifts from boys. She glanced at the first envelope that fell onto her shoes, "But when you really look at it, they're all from girls and they weren't for me, they're all to my famous five brothers of this academy."
"What's this, my little sister got some admirers?"
She twitched at the sound of admirers, smacking her twin brother's face with the letter she was holding. "You wish. They're not even for me, they're for some brothers I know who've already had their lockers so full of gifts and letters from their own admirers that they've decided to stuff their presents in mine!"
"Whoa, really?" Her twin brother was genuinely surprised as he reached over to grab a couple of letters that were spread out on the floor, "Are there any from, Kairi?"
"Sora…" Namine restrained from smacking him across the head. "First of all, Kairi would've written you a letter using our home address, not the school's." Meet Sora Sakashita, her twin brother, a freshman at Hollow Bastion Institute; the most dense boy of all her brothers.
"Aren't you two pretty energetic this morning."
"Riku!" She glanced up in surprise. Finally, someone with brains in the family besides herself. A small smile appeared on her face. Riku Sakashita, a sophomore at their school, but he wasn't 'just' a sophomore, he's gained the title of "Prince" in his class. Huh…can't aruge with that.
He smiled, patting Namine softly on the head, "Now Sora, you can't be abusing your privileges in using Namine's locker as your second mailbox, I have letters I need to pick up too."
The blond girl wanted to smack herself, "I don't believe this, you too, Riku?" Just when she thought he was siding with her.
"Good morning, Namine!" An older girl waved at her, "Is Leon with you? I've been looking for him, I could use some help for the Garden club."
"Sorry Rinoa," The blond girl shrugged apologetically, "Even I wouldn't know where he'd be at this time." Rinoa smiled with a soft nod, bidding goodbye as she continued to ask the other students if they'd seen him. Leon Sakashita, a senior who prefers solitude over talking. "Though, I should know him better, since he's my brother too…"
"Hey what's up? We having a family reunion over here?" Great. Now it was another Sakashita brother who decided to join in on the fun. Tidus Sakashita in his junior year, famous for blitzball.
"Nothing, Tidus, go away." Namine tried to shoo him off. It was the third week of school and she didn't want this whole Sakashita gathering in the mornings to become a ritual.
"What're you hiding?" Tidus peered over her shoulder as Riku and Sora busied themselves in reading several love letters that were written to them, "Hey, don't tell me you're hiding my letters too! Aw, Namine, my own sweet sister is jealous of my fan girls?"
"Shut up, that's not it at all!"
"Don't hide it," he winked, "don't worry, I'll give you all my attention once we're at home when it's just the two of u-" he was suddenly smacked upside the head. Namine blinked before realizing what just happened.
"I won't accept inappropriate behavior." Cloud muttered sternly, still holding the folder he used to smack Tidus.
"Ouch, Cloud! Wh-"
Insert another smack here. "When we're at school, you call me sensei," the older blond added. He glanced over at Namine and handed her a wrapped up bento, "you left this at home."
"Ah," She held her hands out where he placed it softly in her hands, "T-Thanks Cloud, er! I mean, sensei."
Instead of a stern expression he once held for Tidus moments ago, he gave her a small nod, patting her head gently before walking off to the faculty lounge. She wanted to frown, because of how everyone seemed to be treating her like a little pet, but it's become a daily habit, that she decided it was no use bringing it up. "See you after school."
Namine smiled. Cloud Sakashita, the eldest brother of the family who is currently her homeroom teacher at the school and because he's one of the youngest faculty members there…she glanced at her locker, "I tend to get letters from his fan girls and…single faculty ladies, maybe a few married ones..." The thought of it, made her cringe.
"That's discrimination," Tidus winced from what Cloud had given him, "he treats you nicely, but smacks me when I call him Cloud. What a pain."
She stuck her tongue out at him, "Serves you right for picking on me." With a swing of her schoolbag over her shoulder, she quickly walked away from the group; fan girls were bound to notice them at any time, so it was better if she left as soon as possible to avoid a-
"LOOK! THEY'RE HERE!" Screamed a group of girls as they rushed over to them.
- rampage. Talk about good timing. Namine took one glance back at her older brothers who were busy trying to talk their way out and escape, but no prevail. She giggled as she kept walking to her first class, "Glad I don't have that problem…"
And there you have it, my five famous brothers of Hollow Bastion Institute, plus the extra baggage - me. A saddened expression fell upon her face as she stared at the ground, murmuring, "It would be nice to have one friend who didn't try to get to know me, because of my brothers. That would make school life at least worth going to."
But even though she thought no one cared about what she had just said, she never would've thought that a boy was paying close attention to her words as she walked past him in the hallway.
"Time to take out the classroom trash today," Namine hummed to herself outside the school building, her feet tapping the cement gracefully with every step. No one would ever be excited to do a classroom duty, but to Namine, this was her break from girls trying to talk to her about her older brothers.
"I've liked you for a really long time!"
"Eh?" She turned her head to the left where she had nearly forgotten the one part of her day that had become a daily habit. "This again?"
It was another girl from her class. She handed him a gift wrapped present, a faint blush growing upon her cheeks as she confessed, "Roxas, please go out with me!"
Namine blinked at the scene unfolding beside her. Every single school day, she would walk outside to throw the classroom trash away in the incinerator, and every school day, she would hear those similar lines from various girls who confessed their love to this blond boy. She exhaled slowly, expecting to hear the "I'm not interested in being in a relationship right now," line. These girls just didn't seem to get the message that he didn't want a girlfriend and continue to get their hearts broken. "It's like Cinderella, once the shoe fits, Prince Charming is taken."
Roxas shook his head, "I'm sorry," as Namine expected, "but I'm already going out with someone."
"R-Really?" The girl was just as stunned as Namine to hear something different this time. "Who are you going out with?"
"Ah, I didn't know that…" Namine was a bit relieved that he finally found someone, which meant that she wouldn't have to hear any more love confessions when she took out the trash from now on. Hm, guess she did take after Leon, preferring that sense of solitude and all.
"Her." The blond boy glanced over and pointed at Namine who was currently holding her class trash can in her grasp with a dumbfounded expression on her face.
The girl bowed her head, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know!" and ran off, ready to burst in tears.
Namine was just as speechless. She gave the blond boy a stern glare. "Just what did you think you were doing? Lying to a girl like that to turn her down?" What right did this guy think he had to claim he was going out with her? Or…with any girl who gave no consent to things like this…
The blond boy gave her a cheerful grin as she ignored him. That expression looked similar to someone she was well immune to at home. Oh right, her twin brother, Sora.
"Then wanna make it come true and start going out with me?" In an instant, she gasped when she realized that the boy in front of her swiped the trash can from her hands, "Let me throw that away for you."
"Wha? Wait-" She followed after him. Wait no…specifically for the trash can he took from her. It was her duty and all to take the trash out and come back with the bin…for the sake of the students. Yes, that was the reason.
"I'll notify your brothers after blitzball practice-"
"That wasn't what I meant…" She interrupted him, yanking the bin out of his hands, "I need to bring this back."
"Ah, I understand, classroom duties." He hummed, humbly walking beside her as they headed towards the building. Why is he following her? She frowned at his casualness. "I get it," he continued, "it's important to you. You wanted to purposefully get my attention that way."
Namine was lucky the trash had been emptied, because the bin she was holding, fell on the cement ground with a quiet thud. "Excuse me?" She didn't know if she heard right.
He grinned, "You were too shy to come talk to me, so by taking this particular classroom duty, you'd get to see me every day, hoping I'd still dump the other girls who-"
"You're an idiot." She picked up the bin and walked away. Thanks to this guy, now there really was nothing to look forward to at school. This guy had to ruin the one, peaceful moment of her school life. Why…
He touched her shoulder, "Hey, hey, I was kidding."
"Don't touch me!" She glared, making him jump back stunned at her reaction.
"I-I…" He was surprised how a quiet looking girl would secretly have a temper attitude beneath that expression. "I'm sorry."
She blinked. She hadn't expected a sincere sorry from him, unless if it was just an easy act to pull up. She wasn't going to fall for that now. "You're forgiven." With that, she turned away, minding to her own thoughts.
Unfortunately, this led him to follow after her again as he added, "I really wasn't interested in any of the girls who've asked me out."
"And somehow you thought I cared, because?" She looked away irritably, "If you wanted to say you were going out with someone, why didn't you just pick one of the girls who asked you out?"
"Because they're girls I don't know. Imagine going out with a stranger."
He's one to talk. "Then just say no!"
"I did. Countless times," He sighed tiredly, "but that line isn't working anymore, so I had to say I was going out with someone so they'd stop bothering me."
She stared at him in disbelief. This guy…it would be best to avoid him from now on.
"You still haven't answered my question earlier."
"I have plenty of questions to ask you myself, but I decided not to bother." she huffed, steadily walking faster from him.
"Oh, come on, why wouldn't you want to get to know me?" He held an interesting gaze on his face, as he continued to walk after her.
"Could use less girl drama…" she muttered, "I'm not interested in being in a relationship."
"Wait," he grabbed her arm, hoping she wouldn't throw another fit about touching her, "you said you could use less girl drama."
"I said, I'm not interested in being in a relationship."
A smirk grew on his face, "Yes, but that was after you said, you could use less girl drama." Roxas could see her face fume at the sound of those words, "So, you're saying you 'would' accept if you didn't have to deal with jealous girls?"
"Don't be so full of yourself." She pulled out of his grasp, "You don't even know me, let alone my name, so what makes you think 'I' would go out with a stranger?" Ha, she was using his own words against him.
"Good point," he agreed, "So if we have a formal introduction-"
"You can figure my name out by yourself," she shook her head. Not like he was going to have a hard time finding out. One word, Sakashita and poof, that's how everyone remembered her.
Home Sweet Home
At least there was something she rarely ever got to enjoy after school; that was getting to walk home. Alone. As in by herself. No brothers to act like her bodyguard. She closed her eyes in distress as she walked towards the front door of the house. Of all families, why did she have to be-
The door swung open before she could reach for the doorknob. Sora grinned at her, "Welcome home, Namine!"
-the only daughter in a family of boys. Not just regular boys, but the good looking, charming, and a well-liked group of boys famously known amongst the student body that had to make her feel like the odd one out.
"I'm home," she pasted a smile for her older brothers as she walked in to take her shoes off.
"What do you want for dinner, Namine?"
She glanced up, "Surprise me, Cloud, it's up to you." The older blond shrugged in response, returning to the kitchen as she placed her shoes aside.
"Namine, the bath's ready if you want to go next."
"Thanks, Riku," She gasped when she noticed that he walked downstairs, hair dripping wet as he stood there with a towel around his neck, shirtless, wearing regular dark jeans as his attire. She almost wanted to throw her schoolbag at him, "Go put a shirt on!" She fumed. Oh how the fan girls at school would kill to see her brother like this.
"Namine's blushing," she could hear her twin brother tease her, "I wonder why?"
"Shut up, Sora," she glared at him. Stupid boy. To think twins were always in in sync and understood each other. She stared at him; Sora definitely had to be a mismatched twin from another family. "Forget it, I'm going to my room."
"Alright, well, don't stay there for too long, we have a guest in the house."
She froze. They usually never invited other people to their house. Maybe on rare occasions, but nothing special seemed to be going on. She tilted her head in confusion, trying to think of who it might be.
"I don't know if you know him since we just started school here," Sora added, as if he for once knew what she was thinking about, "hey Roxas! There's someone I want you to meet."
"Roxas?" She repeated, her heart beating nervously as she watched Sora motion over his new friend from the kitchen to where they were standing. That name sounded familiar…no…she shook her head, it had to be a different Roxas.
"You're name's Namine?" She glanced up to see that her instincts were correct. Unfortunately, it was THIS Roxas she met earlier today. Namine gazed at his cheerful expression; he was pulling off that look again. He really knew how to get on her nerves.
"Uh…" Sora gave his sister a weird stare since she hadn't responded back, "Well, I guess she's nervous around people she's never met before. Namine this is Roxas Kozuka, Roxas, my twin sister, Namine." He patted both their shoulders, "Have fun getting to know each other." Sora grinned.
"So I found out what your name was." Roxas had an all knowing smile on his face after the brown haired boy walked off to call the others down for dinner.
She looked away, "That's cheating."
"Not if I happened to be on the same school blitzball team with two brothers, Tidus and Sora. In fact," He chuckled, "I found out from the other guys on the team that you're related to them. No wonder those two were the only guys who didn't talk about you during practice."
Namine crossed her arms, disinterested. That wasn't new for her, people always found out once they heard the Sakashita brothers had a sister. "So you discovered my name, if you think that's enough to get to know me, you're wrong."
"Oh?" She couldn't tell if his smile was a way of mockery or him being genuinely interested, "Why's that?"
"Maybe if my brothers all like you, then I'll know you're not-"
"Hey Roxas!" Tidus gave him a what's up nod and a high five, "You in any hurry? It'd be cool if you meet my other brothers. No offense, Namine. Stay for dinner!"
"You sure? I don't want to be of any trouble…"
"Nah, we've always got room for a guest of honor," Tidus grinned, "I bet Namine's glad to have someone else join us for dinner besides us for once." The older boy tousled with the girl's hair and winked, "Right, Nami?" She swatted his hand away as he laughed in seeing her reaction.
"So I've got Tidus and Sora down, just three more brothers for approval right?" Roxas asked her cheerfully, holding an imaginary list.
"Forget it." She walked off. He was doing this on purpose, making her life more stressful than ever. If he was going to stay for a while longer, she was going to make sure she was going to sit on the furthest, opposite, anywhere but near, him seat.
Even if he 'was' dubbed, "Guest of Honor."
Chapter One/End
A/N: This is the kind of story, where I take the time to write, read, reread, review, edit, repeat and finally upload it! But then there's that sinking feeling of wondering if the story was captivating at all...hahaha, but I'm happy to have written it.
This plot has been on my mind ever since I've been reading the manga, "Me and My Brothers" by Hari Tokeino - I love it :) Part of the confession scene in this story is from her manga, volume 10... I think? I'm not sure, but her series inspired me to write this up, so it's somewhat based on her work. Namine is a lucky girl to have brothers that care about her :] (even if she likes to disagree...) Huh, imagine that! Going to a high school where there was a family who had a child in each high school grade - that'd be pretty cool. Oh, and having someone related to you that works at school - not a parent. :) I'm not quite sure why Cloud ended up being the sensei, but I believe it'll make sense in the future...I hope.
I would appreciate reviews, suggestions, comments, random stories, jokes, criticisms (that would help me, not simply because you dislike it, then don't read it!), recommendations, smiles, hellos, etc. Anyone who reviews will be mentioned and thanked kindly in my next chapter. Thank you! :) Hope to see you again. Happy 2011!