Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Namine looked up briefly at Roxas, answering his question. "About a month and a half," she said quietly, frowning to herself. "Kairi met him soon after you and Sora left." Of course, I don't know when specifically; I left--no, abandoned Kairi during those first two weeks, and I haven't had the courage to ask her how they met. She bit her lip at the thought, gazing back down at the couch.

 

Roxas frowned at the information, looking up at Namine again with sharp eyes. "Well it didn't take her long to get over Sora, that's for sure." His voice was tight and downright upset, but that was to be expected. Although Roxas wasn't exactly happy with Sora right now, he was going to stick up for him in the situation.

 

Namine shook her head, avoiding Roxas' gaze. She could tell by his voice that he was upset, and she was too, though she was keeping it to herself. "I don't think it's that," she said softly, gazing at the couch. "I think she just missed him and this guy got her on the rebound." She didn't like thinking that Kairi would jump from guy-to-guy that easily, but it had happened, whether she liked it or not. And she didn't.

 

Roxas didn't move, still leaning against the wall with his hand in his pocket. "She sure has a way of showing it," he said then, referring to Kairi missing Sora. He wasn't meaning to sound so cruel, but it was just the way he was now. It was his new personality coming out, something he couldn't really control.

 

Namine looked up, surprised that Roxas was still pushing that point. He just doesn't understand how hard those two months were, she thought, trying to make sense of Roxas' behavior. "Don't be too hard on her," she said softly. "It's been a rough time." She didn't say it was a rough time just for Kairi, because it had been very rough on Namine too. The difference between them was that Namine pushed herself away from others during that time and Kairi embraced somebody new.

 

Roxas looked away, but his expression didn't change. The last two months had been hard. Of course, he wasn't going to share his experience with Namine. That would be too much at this point.

 

Namine shifted her gaze away from Roxas and back down to the couch. "...But I agree with you; I wish things had turned out differently. If I had..." She trailed off there, not daring to say the words aloud. If she said them verbally, then that would make the situation feel more real. Her flaws would be out in the open, and she didn't want that. She was judging herself harshly enough already.

 

Roxas's eyes instantly flicked back to Namine. "Had what?" he said, his voice tight and attentive. Did Namine have something to do with this? He couldn't imagine that she did, because she agreed with him that it was a bad idea. Right?

 

Namine furrowed her eyebrows in concentration, trying to figure out a way to word this so that she wouldn't feel so much guilt. "...Kairi had wanted to hang out with me, but I said no," she explained quietly, staring at the couch. "If I had said yes, maybe she wouldn't have met him."

 

"You said no? Why?" Roxas asked then, his questions coming out strictly. Namine had actually been a part of this? The boy felt disappointment wash over him, because now he wasn't sure that he could just be mad at Kairi for betraying Sora like that.

 

Namine blinked at the question, hearing Roxas' tone. She didn't want to answer that, not to Roxas, and not to herself. "Just because," she said, that being the only answer she could bring herself to give. She felt herself become more tense, the girl somehow knowing that this conversation was far from over.

 

Roxas furrowed his eyebrows a little more in Namine's direction. "You should know that answer doesn't work for me," he declared, his body tense at the discussion. He briefly wondered how Sora would feel about all of this? Knowing him, it probably wouldn't go over well with him either.

 

Namine tensed, Roxas' tone much colder than any he had ever used against her before. She could understand why; she was responsible for Kairi having a new boyfriend. Not directly, but still, she felt completely responsible. "What kind of answer do you want?" she asked, avoiding his gaze.

 

"One that Sora would deserve," Roxas replied, his voice darker as his tension and anger began to grow at the situation. Right now, Roxas was the closest version of Sora, so if Namine could give him an honest answer, it would technically be one given to Sora. That was how Roxas saw it. But he also wanted her to tell him what was going on. He obviously missed something important.

 

Namine shook her head and looked up in front of her, gazing at the wall. "...I can't give you an answer like that," she declared softly. She was beginning to think over the question herself, which she hated. She didn't like thinking over the past two months, especially not the first two weeks when things were completely awful.

 

Roxas crossed his arms, but otherwise remained leaning against the doorway. "And why's that?" he challenged, looking at Namine with hard eyes. He didn't understand what the problem was with her telling him why she said no to Kairi.

 

Namine finally looked over at Roxas, only to be met with a chilling glare. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise and she rose to her feet without thought, turning her back to him. "Because," she said, giving that one word as her answer.

 

Roxas stood up straight, his arms falling to his sides. "I don't understand why you can't just tell me," he said, staring at the back of Namine's head. "You know 'because' isn't good enough, so get on with it. Why'd you leave Kairi alone?" His tone was harder than he intended, but he didn't really care. He just wanted to get to the bottom of this and find out why Kairi's loyalty to Sora was broken.

 

Namine clenched her fists in her side, and furrowed her brows. That did it. "Because you weren't here!" she finally cried, spinning around to face Roxas. Her eyes were defensive now, but they were filled with more pain and sadness then she had shown Roxas since he had gotten home.

 

Roxas's eyes widened briefly at the outburst, but he recovered and the expression within his blue orbs returned to the sharp, hard look they held before. As he looked at Namine, though, he saw the emotions in her eyes, which shut him up for the time being.