Sora Kido was not a complicated individual.
In fact, he was fairly straightforward and clearly wore his feelings and emotions on his sleeve at almost all times.
So, any casual observer who spent a few scant hours around the young man could get a good beat on who he was and what he was all about. He was possessed with both boundless optimism and endless energy, his usual sunny disposition almost infection to those around him. The boy had numerous friends – dozens and dozens, maybe in the hundreds – but he cherished all of them equally, and would go out of his way to help them in times of need. He had a well-nurtured competitive nature grown from years of sport and play, but was never obnoxious about the desire to compete, and took both his wins and loses in stride. Sora loved to cook, loved to go out on adventures, and loved to experience new things, particularly anything that tested his skills or challenged him.
And, if someone happened to observe Sora when he was assembled with Riku and Kairi – his best friend and girlfriend, respectively – they might start to draw a new conclusion. They might notice similarities with how Sora acted between the two. How Sora was even more cheerful whenever he was with the two, but it was a more calm and focused joy than his usual over-the-top sugar rush of happiness. He was also equally as complimentary and affectionate to both friend and girlfriend, always quick to offer support or a word of advice or a moral boost whenever required. Furthermore, one could generally find Sora whiling away his time following one or both of them on whatever errand or quest they had to attend, even if offered no benefit to him, looking like a loyal little puppy dog following their master around.
From all this, a casual observer might draw the conclusion that Sora had feelings for, and was attracted to, Riku in a similar manner to how he was attracted to Kairi.
And that conclusion would be correct.
It was a conclusion he himself had only come to relatively recently, both his bisexuality and his attraction to Riku. And while there were many men and women he had met in his travels that he possessed various levels of affection for, Riku and Kairi were certainly at the apex of his love, practically equals in his heart and his mind.
The only difference was, he had been able to confess his feelings to Kairi, and they were reciprocated. The aforementioned redhead was the only person who explicitly knew of his feelings, and Sora was hesitant to confess face-to-face with Riku. One of the rare times he internalized and denied his feelings.
Those rare times were times Kairi could not stand, and had been given it her all to convince Sora to tell their mutual friend how he felt. That he would feel infinitely better in doing so, just like he did when he finally said "I love you" to her. Of course, Kairi was also convinced Riku knew or at least suspected how Sora felt – he could be quite observant and socially conscious when he wanted to be – but that was regardless of the point. Whether Riku knew or not, Sora would feel better getting this off his chest.
But despite all of her counseling and meddling and needling and prodding, Sora remain intractable. He would constantly argue it wasn't that big of a deal, that he was fine holding it in, that Riku was straight so there would be no point in confessing, that Riku got skittish in social situations at the best of times and this was incredibly awkward. Excuse and excuse and excuse. When he wanted to be, Sora could be incredibly stubborn at times, so much so that Kairi had not made any headway despite all of her attempts to help since he had told her at Christmastime.
But, Kairi could be match her boyfriend's stubbornness when the situation called for it. And she could be fiendishly clever, too.
She had a plan.
It might work, it might not. It may be fun, it may be embarrassing. But it was worth a try, because helping her boyfriend was always worth it.
My mom will be gone till tomorrow nite. Maybe you could come over & we can...
Whenever Kairi's mom was working late, or out of town, or similarly disposed, and she wanted to spend some private time with her boyfriend, she would never out and out declare her intentions, instead using vague terms and well-placed ellipses to entice Sora and draw him closer.
When he received that text which ended in those three repeated periods that said so much and so little, Sora was lightning quick to finish up his chores at home, eat dinner, and excitedly hurried over to his girlfriend's home at the cusp of dusk. He really was a little puppy dog, rushing over at the beckoning of his master.
Before arriving at the domicile, he received a second text.
Doors unlocked let yourself in, i'll be upstairs waiting...
Another ellipsis. More implied fun. Sora couldn't get their fast enough.
He knew the way to Kairi's home like the back of his hand. He knew the way from her front door to her bedroom even better. Loud footsteps heralded his arrival and announced his anticipation, running up the flight of stairs to the second floor. Take a left at the top of the landing and straight down the hall to the end. Kairi's room.
As he approached, he saw someone standing in the doorway to her room. Someone who was both familiar and strange at the same time. For a brief second, Sora thought it was Riku. The clothes were certainly a close enough match – navy blue leather jacket, dark grey jeans, and a black t-shirt – not to mention the silver-white hair, worn long to the jawline but with the bangs trimmed short. But the body proportions were all wrong; too short, not muscular enough, and a definite feminine shape was apparent even beneath the loose-fitting clothes. The final hint was in the eyes, irises a strange and bright colour that mixed royal purple and ocean blue. Sora only knew one person in all the Realm of Light who possessed eyes like this.
"Well, are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna come in?" Kairi teased. Indeed, he had stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted her, trying to conserve all his energy to puzzle out what this was. The altered and dressed-up girl flashed a cocksure grin and retreated further into her room, spurring pursuit.
Slowly, Sora followed her in, still confused and looking for an explanation. Had Riku and Kairi fused together somehow? Had his impossible dream become a reality? Was he witness to a perfect being?
Probably not. Probably something more mundane.
"Kai... what is this? What are you doing?"
"Rydia helped me style the wig. And I got the clothes from a thrift store. Although..." She began to examine herself with a unsatisfied grimace. "I don't know about this stuff. It's all too dark and plain. How Riku can stand to wear this all the time is beyond me. The jacket's nice, though."
"No, I mean... why are you dressed like Riku?" Sora had finally approached her, taking a hold of both of her hands. Besides the obvious physical differences between the two (the many, many differences), she had nailed his style and hair down pat. Kairi looked about as close to Riku as she ever would without magic. It was pretty hot, to be honest.
"Because..." Kairi coyly twisted her foot back and forth, giving Sora a knowing look, "I thought it might help you with your issues with Riku." Sora flinched.
"Kairi, I don't..."
"Sora, you do." She quickly interrupted. "You love him and you want to say something, so I figured this might help you out in some way."
Sora still resisted, looking a touch annoyed. "Well, what about you and Aqua?" He asked pointedly. "I don't see you opening yourself up to her about how you feel."
Kairi blanched at the mention of her same-sex crush. "Point taken... Well, if you want to buy a blue wig, we can try that at another date and time." She joked.
"Well, maybe I will. But this is okay, right... you don't need to do anything for me. It'll be alright." Sora tried to flash a carefree smile, but Kairi wasn't buying it.
"Sora, I can see there's something wrong. I know there's something wrong, because I know you." The wig-clad redhead removed her hands from her boyfriend's, placing them on his shoulders instead. "I can see whenever you're with Riku, there's a part of you – maybe a tiny part, but a part nonetheless – that is hurting because you don't like bottling up your feelings." Kairi looked straight at him, compassion and understanding brimming in her eyes. "I want to help you, but I didn't really know how. Yeah, this is kind of a silly idea, maybe it won't work and you won't feel any better. But it doesn't hurt to try, and if there's even a small chance this will make you feel better, I'll gladly take it."
Sora sighed, a muted admission of defeat. When Kairi got like this, when she earnestly wanted to help people she thought were in distress, there was no stopping her. He knew that, even he necessarily didn't want to her help. Didn't want to bother people with his own issues. Still... he couldn't help but admire her spirit and desire.
"You know...you're pretty amazing, right?" Sora leaned in, resting his forehead against hers. He loved her drive, determination, and earnest heart.
Kairi beamed cheerfully. "Oh, I think you've told me that once or twice before." Once more, her hands traveled, this time descending down to his hips.
"So...what now? Do I just emotion-vomit all my feelings about Riku to you?"
Kairi pulled away from him, to look at him one more time. "You do whatever you want to do, sweetheart. And I'll do whatever you need me to do to help you."
The brunet nodded along, looking down momentarily, trying to gather his thoughts. A thought – one not particularly germane or important – struck him first. "Wait... we're still going to fool around after this, right?"
"Oh, of course we are! I'm not going through all this, with mom out, and not get a little physical gratification in return."
The two broke out in a bout of laughter. Partly out of the ridiculousness of the situation, and partly out of the fact that... yeah, they were physically and amorously charged, expecting and excited, and they needed an outlet for that energy.
That outlet would be each other.
Shaking out some tension in his body, Sora looked up at Kairi with a bright sheen in his eyes. "Before we start, though, can I ask a favour? Could you, like... do an impression of Riku? Y'know, set the mood and stuff?"
Kairi looked fairly surprised at the request, but then looked down at herself, at the way she was dressed. "Well, I've already gone this far. One more step into character wouldn't be too much of a chore."
The girl cleared her throat and began adjusting her body. Feet shoulder-width apart, she puffed out her chest, squared her shoulders, furrowed her brow, and forced her lips to curl into a grumpy scowl. Now she really looked like Riku. A younger, scrawnier version, to be sure, but the resemblance was quite striking.
"Hey everyone, look at me! I'm Riku Akiyama!" It took everything within Sora not to burst out in laughter. Kairi had lowered her voice several octaves in an attempt to mimic Riku's lower register. But not only had she gone too far, and sounded like she was trying too hard, she spoke in this halting, grunting tone that sounded ridiculous coming from both Riku or Kairi.
Still, she continued with the impression.
"I so obviously cherish my friends, but I will never say it out loud, 'cause I'm drowning in machismo in here. I'm soooo manly, so I can't show any emotions besides 'annoyance' and 'supremely pissed-off'.
"Sora, you sap! You're such an idiot. And Kairi, you're so demanding and high-strung... even though you're not, and I'm totally just projecting my insecurities on a great and wonderful person like Kairi Shiratori."
Sora was barely keeping it together. Hands clasped over his mouth, snickers and giggles escaping the cage.
"I'm the strongest there is! And I'm gonna keep getting stronger and stronger, 'til I can beat everyone and save anyone. Now excuse me, I have to go to the gym for my second five hour workout of the day. But first...fight me Tifa! Violence is the only way I feel good about myself, and I can't understand why someone wouldn't want to fight."
Now the dam broke. Sora was leaning up against the side of the wall, holding his sides, his entire body trembling with laughter. This, in turn, caused Kairi to corpse, he scowl turning into an amused smile.
For a moment, she returned to her normal method of speech. "Uh, let's see, what else... Oh!" Back to the poor impression. "I don't like potatoes! Gross!
"I really like King Mickey, but can't stand the duck or the dog!
"Get away from me, Yuffie! You're such a little creep!
"I'll deny I'm a xenophile at every single turn, even though it's totally obvious. By the way, unrelated, have you seen all the Viera and Gria women I've slept with? Not a xenophile!"
"Stop stop stop! Enough!" Sora had doubled over in laughter, desperately waving Kairi off. Her job done, she too burst out in a fit of giggles. Wiping tears out his eyes, Sora said, "Oh man... that was terrible, Kairi! I don't think I've heard a worse impression."
"My delivery may be off, but I got the character down hard!" She countered. "Think I'll start a one-woman show."
"You won't even last one show!"
There was another wave of laughter, as the two young lovers tried to collect themselves. When it all finally subsided, Kairi was looking at Sora expectantly. Right, he had something he had to do, too. Something that would prove less comical.
"Okay. Here goes something..." Sora took a deep breath, then stepped backward out of the room, into the door frame. Kairi shifted her stance, trying to obtain a body language that was both casual, and more reminiscent of Riku's than herself.
Sora felt a nervous knot form up in his heart and his stomach, trying his best to ignore it, as he looked straight ahead. Unblinking. He was trying to separate Kairi's fairly convincing Riku cosplay and the stark differences in their body types, trying to only see in the space in between the two. Trying to envision who inhabited that space. It was Riku, and wasn't Riku. It wasn't Kairi, yet it was Kairi.
Here we go.
"Riku, this is gonna be really awkward, right? But... I gotta say it." Sora scratched the back of his head nervously. He still hadn't blinked, but he could almost see the true Riku overlayed where Kairi stood. "Where do I... Uh, I guess I should start with the obvious, you're super hot. Like, I know we make fun of you for going to the gym too much, but hot damn! You're crazy buff all over, but not so much that it makes your body look awkward... You've got the perfect mass for you. And you're scars, it's such a cliche, but they just make you look cooler and more dangerous! They're perfect. And your eyes can be so soulful and powerful. When you try, you must be able to get any woman with one good look. And..." He caught himself. Sora didn't just want to go on and on about how physically attractive he found Riku. He could spend nearly forever doing that. But there was more to this than just that.
Sora took another deep breath, and continued. "You're... I know you can be a real grouch sometimes. You're angry and violent and rude and you find it hard to trust people. You're not this perfect angel, you're a person. But I think you're a great person. Amazing, even! You're so strong, physically and mentally and spiritually. You're noble and compassionate, so focused on what you want and what you're going to do. You love all of us unconditionally, even if you'll never admit it aloud, but your actions say more than you ever could. Every time, you go out of your way to help me and Kairi and everyone else, and don't even want so much as "thank you" in return. But I want to do more than thank you! I want to help you, to take your burdens, carry your sins... tell you how much I admire you. How much I respect you...
"How much I love you, Riku. How I've always loved you..."
His palms were sweaty. His legs were shaking. His heart was racing. But he had said it.
He said "I love you, Riku".
Maybe it was to his girlfriend dressed as a facsimile of Riku, but it was finally a step forward.
Sora finally blinked, Kairi returning to focus in his vision. She was looking at him expectantly.
"Well? How do you feel, Sora?"
"Better? The same?" He shrugged. "I'm not really sure." He honestly felt like collapsing and sitting in silence for a little bit, he felt so drained. "But I did it...thanks, Kairi." Sora gave her a sheepish look. "I don't know many people who would do something like this to help out their friends. But, that's something I love about you." Sora took a few steps over to his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her ribs in a loose hug, pressing their bodies against each other. "You always go out of your way to help others. You're amazing and wonderful and I'm so lucky to have you."
"And I'm always happy to help anyone who wants my help." Kairi forced herself even closer to Sora, the tips of their noses touching. Only the barest of distance separated the two. "And I'm lucky to have you, too." Sora's breathing was shallow and hurried. A combination of emotional exhaustion and amorous anticipation. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her lips. "Now, I do believed my earlier texts implied some fun, tonight?" Her tongue ever-so barely slipped out between her sealed lips in taunt, oh so tantalizing close.
Sora took the bait, erasing the tiny gap between the two. Their bodies pressed together in embrace, lips parting in a deep kiss. Hungry. Heated. Wanted. Welcomed. Their hands explored each other's bodies, traveling over well-explored peaks and valleys. The two danced and twirled and twisted, swaying in motion with their lusts and loves and desires. Kairi was the one who took control, maneuvering Sora so his back faced her bed, and then roughly pushed him away, dropping him atop it.
The wig-clad girl quickly leaped over, straddling Sora across the waist, hands on his chest, casting a predatory gaze at her lover. "So, tell me Soraaaaa..." Kairi's hands slipped under his shirt and ran up and down his toned, smooth chest, her fingernails very, very gently grazing his flesh. "Are you actually gonna get that blue wig, just for me?"
"I just might, Kai..." Sora replied in a low voice. Kairi bent over, once again coming face-to-face with him.
Sora was a person who was very easy to read. You could quickly discern who and what he liked and loved in life. Indeed, he had affections and feelings for many, many people. And odds were, he would never people to express all these emotions, and these things her felt may or may not be reciprocated. But he was blessed enough to have someone who he loved, who loved him, and who he could confide anything with. He was fortunate enough to always have this person at his side.
"And maybe, I'll get a corset and some thigh-highs to complete the illusion."
Sora would always have Kairi with him. Kairi would always have Sora next to her. In friendship, and in love.
Nothing would change that.
This ended up being a very "write in the spur of the moment" story, mostly based off of a pair of stray thoughts I had, of Kairi doing a bad Riku impression, and of Sora asking Kairi if she could wear a wig in bed. And, hey, here we are, this thing was written. But I also don't need much forcing to write SoKai and I wanted to do a little more fluff, so there. Not much to it, just wanted to write it.
But, regardless of my thoughts on this odd creation, what are yours? What did you like or didn't like? What's your take on Sora and Kairi's relationship and Sora's jumbled mix of feelings? I'd love to hear them, so please leave a comment if you'd be so kind!
Enjoy and take care, everyone!