When I'm with you... I become scared.

[fortuneprince]

Who: Naoto Shirogane (fortuneprince ) and Roxas (perplexme )
What: A confession
When: January 11, 2012 - late in the afternoon
Where: On the roof of building four
Summary: After giving some more thought to everything that's been happening, Naoto keeps to her word and has called Roxas up to tell him everything she's been hiding from him.
Rating: PG

[A kiss.  A kiss is all it took for Naoto to jump into a world of confusion and she finds to be frustrating as hell.  Day in and day out she's been unable to take her mind off it, mainly because she doesn't quite understand why she feels the way she does about it.  It's never happened before.  So what does it mean?

She has an idea but...

Naoto sits down on the edge of the roof, dressed in a coat and blue scarf.  Her legs dangle over the edge and she holds a cup of hot coco in her hands.  She would have talked to him in her apartment but she didn't want to risk Rise just walking on in in the middle of it.  That wouldn't be an issue if Naoto had actually told her what she was doing but...

No.  Just no.  She'd rather talk out in the snow.

Besides... being up high like this... it's a bit more comforting.  It takes away some of that nervous feeling that's been eating at her all day--but her tummy is still doing flips.  No matter how she feels though, she can't turn back now.  She can only wait for Roxas to show up now]

Comments

[perplexme]

It's okay... [It had to be okay, didn't it? They were practically best friends, and Roxas knew that being that close to someone meant he had to be patient. He was always very patient (in his opinion, at least) with Axel and Xion. He could give Naoto the same treatment.]

So...what's up?

[fortuneprince]

[The smile fades and she looks back down again at everything below, wondering where to start. She sighs softly]

...Do you recall what happened on December twenty-first? After you had shown me the poster you made.

[perplexme]

Yeah. We went for a walk.

[fortuneprince]

Try to remember everything we did...

[Please don't make her say it]

[perplexme]

[He takes a few moments to think this over, replaying the day's events in his head. Okay, so. They met at the library. He showed her the posters. She liked them. They left to go hang them up around the village. They were walking and posting. It was cold. There were lights and mistletoe.

...oh. Oh.

...oh?]

Okay...I remember. [...] What about it?

[fortuneprince]

[Oh thank god he understood what she was trying to get to. Naoto was actually holding her breath in that short moment of silence as he was thinking. Shakily, she exhales, both hands now gripping the mug--rather tightly too.]

B-Because of what occurred I--that's why I became so confused. [Breathe] I didn't understand. In a way I still don't but... [Going quiet again.]

[perplexme]

You're confused because of the mistletoe? ...I mean, isn't that what your'e supposed to do with it? Kissing. It's just tradition.

[fortuneprince]

Y-Yes, technically speaking, that is what you're supposed to do when you are under a mistletoe. But it... [Flustering] ...it affected me in a way you obviously didn't intend for it to.

[perplexme]

[...] What exactly are we getting at here, Naoto?

[fortuneprince]

[She brings the cup of hot coco (that's surprisingly still pretty warm) up to her lips and takes a small sip, trying to wash away the dry feeling in her throat. Just continuing on, Naoto does her best to keep her voice firm but it's truly shaking]

Afterwards I was unable to take my mind off it. Day and night, the thought of what had happened lingered in my head. I wasn't sure why. The only conclusion I came to was... that I liked you. [Nervously bringing the mug down to rest her lap again, her body shakes along with her voice] More than what we are now.

[perplexme]

[He had started to say "I like you, too" before she hurriedly moved on to tack on the rest of that sentence. He paused again, blinking at her a bit to try and think this over. So...wait.]

...okay...what brought you to that conclusion?

[fortuneprince]

I... [How can she explain it? It's incredibly difficult to. With her thoughts as scattered as they are, she isn't sure where to start or even how to. So she just picks a spot]

I reflected on everything we have been through. I thought of how I saw you, what made you different than others... that conclusion seemed to be the more logical one.

[perplexme]

Yeah, but...[How was he supposed to respond to all of this without hurting her feelings? Naoto was a good friend, possibly even one of his best friends here, but did he like her?

How would he even know?]

...okay...well...what should we do about it?

[fortuneprince]

We don't have to do anything. [--She says without even hesitating. Roxas doesn't get love or anything like that. She isn't going to force him to do something that involves something he doesn't understand.

Besides, it's not like she really expected anything to come out of this. He just wanted to know what was going on so she told him.]

Perhaps we should just act as if nothing happened.

[perplexme]

No. No, we're not going to do that. [He sighed, knowing that this was suddenly going to get very complicated. He might not have fully understood how it all worked, but he did understand that Naoto was upset, and he wanted to do whatever he could to make her less upset.] That's not a good answer, and you know it. We'll just...figure something else out, okay?

[fortuneprince]

[You're right Roxas, she knows it but she would rather forget about all this than make things difficult for him.]

B-But...

[perplexme]

But what?

[fortuneprince]

I don't... [Biting her lip] ...I don't want to make things any more complicated for you.

[perplexme]

It can't be that complicated, can it? [He's thinking they can just easily resolve it and go back to being friends.]

[fortuneprince]

More than you think. [A sigh]

[perplexme]

Tell me about it then.

[fortuneprince]

Hm?

[perplexme]

Tell me why it's really that complicated.

[fortuneprince]

Well... [What's a good way to explain it]

Handling feelings such as this... it isn't something you can get through easily. Not as easily as other things. It doesn't help with the fact that neither of us are familiar on the subject.

[perplexme]

So what, we can't just learn together?