Peanut

Roxas slowly took his arms away from the computer, allowing them to dangle at his side. Her touch did wondrous things to him. He used be so stubborn... "Please," he repeated quietly, dipping his head as he looked down at the ground. "I need...to be stronger."

Roxas's eyes widened as soon as he realized what was happening. Namine was pressed up against his back, holding him with tenderness. As soon as she did that, his defenses began to crumble. "Nam," he said weakly. "Please..." Please just let me get back to it. He had to get stronger, for her.

Roxas blankly used the computer, noticing that Namine wasn't leaving. He didn't have the heart to tell her to go again; she was the reason that he was training, after all. If he pushed her away, then all this was for nothing. He set a hand on the computer, momentarily losing his balance. Maybe he was more tired than he thought.

Glancing at the computer, Roxas realized just how unfamiliar he was with the system even after all his training. He summoned his other Keyblade away and set both hands on the Keyboard, trying to refamiliarize himself with it. But at the same time, Namine was distracting him. "I appreciate you coming in," he said. "But I need to get back to it."

Roxas summoned one of his Keyblades away, but only so he would have a free hand. "Not now, Namine," he said, stepping up to her. He set a hand on her shoulder briefly as he stepped past her to the computer. He still wasn't great with computers, so this would take a minute to set up.

"I know my limits," Roxas said, stopping a few feet away from Namine and the computer. "And it's better to learn here than...a real fight. The pain's dimmed." He set the Nobodies to be weaker than usual, though their abnormal ruthlessness almost made up for that.

Roxas shook his head. "No, Namine," he disagreed, starting in her direction. The computer was close to her; he had to push a button on that to get the simulation going again. "I need to keep going." He didn't need a break from the fighting; he needed more of it. He needed more power.

"What're you doing in here?" Roxas tried again, softening his tone but not his volume since Namine was across the room. He couldn't get out too much since he was breathing too hard, but he had to ask her what she was thinking. "If the fighting continued....after you came in...you could have..." She could have gotten hurt.

Roxas grunted once again, turning his attention to the girl who came in through the door. Thankfully the session was programmed to conclude as soon as that door opened. "Namine!" he cried, witnessing the Nobodies vanish and the room grow brighter. What was she doing in here in the middle of a session?! She hadn't known that it would end when she came through that door; she could have put herself in danger.

"Minute!" Roxas grunted, taking a swing at the pesky Nobody. He had an advantage for a moment, but he quickly lost it. He jumped backward and nearly lost his footing, though that didn't stop him from charging forward again. He couldn't stop fighting now even if it was hopeless.

Roxas hardly had time to react to the voice that suddenly rang throughout the area: he had greater concerns. He rolled forward and avoided a Nobody's swinging arms, though he almost got a haircut from it. He quickly got back on his feet and spun around, barely blocking the next attack that came in. Whoever called would have to wait.

Roxas briefly cried out when the simulation hurt him, though the pain settings dulled it enough that the attack wasn't as strong as it should have been. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt. He swung at the creature and stepped away, trying to regroup himself. He had to keep fighting; he had to keep getting stronger. Not that his training so far had made much of a difference. Maybe it was hopeless.

Roxas lifted both his Keyblades and blocked an attack, grunting at the ferocity behind it. He had the simulation set to a higher difficulty than usual to push himself harder. He was definitely able to tell a difference. He pulled a reversal and swung at the back of the dusk, but even that hardly made a difference. Either he was too weak or the program was too strong, but he guessed the former.

Late that Night Roxas swung at the data in the training session, witnessing the false Nobody disappear. He had been at this for hours. He hadn't stopped to eat dinner with everyone else; he packed himself a sandwich that he could eat when he was hungry, which he wasn't. He lost his match in the coliseum so early on that day. Everyone was still so much stronger than him, and if he didn't start taking this training more seriously, he was never going to be strong enough. He'd never be strong enough to protect the people that mattered to him, though his thoughts focused on one girl in particular.

"There's that," Lightning smirked. She set a hand on Riku's knee since he was kneeling down before her, slowly rising to her feet. She could at least stand on her own long enough for Riku to get back up and support her. All in all, it was a drastic improvement from four days ago when she couldn't even function because of the pain.

Lightning shook her head, lifting her gaze to Riku. "Mine," she said upon seeing the look in his eyes. "I'm slowing down, sorry." And maybe she was--After all, she just said a few minutes ago that her legs were tired from all the walking. Riku did speed up, but she also slowed down at least a tad.

Lightning did trust him, but she also trusted his protective nature. He may have been reading into things too much. But there was something else he was doing: walking too fast. "Hold on--" she said, though it was too late. She couldn't keep up with him as he walked quickly away from the shop, despite his firm hold on her. She slipped down to one knee, fortunate that the ground wasn't muddy here and fortunate that one of her hands found the road to keep her from falling further.

Lightning looked back to the group, seeing a worker at the cafe bring out a pack of ice for one man's head. They didn't look like a rough crowd... "...Are you sure?" she dared to ask. "They don't look like..." She caught them staring before, but she hadn't seen the lust behind their gazes like Riku had.

Lightning blinked, looking over her shoulder at the table that was in chaos. And by Riku's tone, she knew that he was the one responsible. "Why did you do that?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows as she looked up at him. "Weren't they just noticing that we're not natives?" Maybe Lightning fit in more than Riku now, but he didn't have a good wardrobe for blending in.

Light looked over at Riku when he held her a little too tightly. She hadn't picked up on everything like he had--in fact, she picked up on nothing, since she was oblivious to the idea of others finding her beautiful enough to gawk. "What?" she asked him. What was that look about, and why the squeeze?

"Still shopping," Lightning groaned. However, she was distracted from those thoughts when they passed by an outdoor cafe. There were customers there despite the rain, or rather, because of the rain, since there was an awning that covered the tables. There were a few men at one of the tables, and they were all staring at her as she walked by with Riku. What, can they tell we're not from here?

Lightning groaned, though she didn't fight or argue with Riku bringing her closer to him. "Great," she sighed. "More shopping." Shopping wasn't really her thing: she hated spending money on things that weren't important. But then again, the world thought that clothing was pretty important, and even she had to agree that they were worth investing in every now and then.

Light shook her head faintly, a small smile also present on her face. "No rush," she said. They were having a good time out in this city, and it didn't look like the matches would happen today. The sky was still dark enough that it could downpour at any moment. There was no way the coliseum would risk their most epic match being ruined by a storm.

Light looked up, nodding to Riku in assurance. "Guess my legs are tired from all the shopping," she said with a weak smile. Of course, her legs always felt tired--weak. The rest of her body felt the same, which was why she slept more in the past few days than usual. But they had done a lot of walking that day, so it was natural both her legs and her body felt more tired and weak.

As soon as they were outside the shop, Lightning felt her legs start to give. "No," she said to her previous thoughts, one of her arms quickly weaving around Riku's back as she forced herself to stumble in his direction and not the other. She was better, but she wasn't quite ready for walking without that support.