DISCLAIMER: The following story if a work of fan fiction. The author does not own the following: Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or any other Squenix game of the sort. Other names, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, other stories, locale, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

THE WINGWOMAN

Wingman [wing-man]
noun.

A role that a male friend may assume when another friend is in dire need of help when attracting a potential partner.

Wingwoman [wing-wo-man]
noun.

A role that a female friend may assume when another friend is in dire need of help when attracting a potential partner.

Plus drama.

It doesn't bother her in the least bit.

She and Sora had been best friends since, what, birth almost? They grew up not knowing what life would be like without the other, and judging by the amount of information they knew about each other, they might as well have grown up in the same womb. Sora knew her bra size, and she knew the approximate amount of time it took for him to take a proper dump.

So why was Kairi slightly bothered by the fact that her best friend wanted to take Naminé Sato (Naminé freaking Sato) to prom instead of her?

If she were being wholeheartedly honest, she would've thought that Sora's cousin Roxas had a thing for her, but she figured that the Naminé attraction ran in the family.

Kairi nearly scoffs. What did she have that she didn't? A cute face? Kairi shakes her head. She'd been told quite a few times that they looked alike despite the fact that they weren't even remotely related.

Perhaps it was her innocent, doe-like eyes? W-well, Kairi liked to think that her eyes had a little something something. They were enigmatic, energetic, adventurous, and what man wouldn't want an adventurous side to his woman?

Kairi's hands immediately fly to her breasts. Nope. She was pretty much set in that department. Truth be told, Naminé didn't have much of an ass, either, so it wasn't that. Perhaps, then, that it had nothing to do with her physical attributes, but with what she had inside.

Naminé had unquestionable artistic talent, but Kairi's known Sora for fourteen years and counting. Not once did he ever show even the slightest hint of interest towards the theories behind visual arts. As far as he's concerned, his favourite photographer is Peter Parker and the only Michelangelo he knows is the Ninja Turtle.

Naminé is a consistent honour student, but then again, so is Kairi. She may not be in the top ten like little Miss Perfect, but she manages to crack the top twenty-five every year—and she doesn't mean to brag, but on top of her more-than-adequate grades, she's also the captain of the female volleyball and swim team. If she were to write a resume highlighting all of her qualifications to be Sora's ideal prom date, she should have the job in a heartbeat.

So why Naminé Sato?

Why?

Kairi's thoughts are interrupted by the sound of obnoxiously loud knocking.

"Kairi? Hello? You've been in the change room for like half an hour. Either you're a complete narcissist and have been staring at yourself this whole time or ninjas have fallen from the ceiling and kidnapped you. In any case, Xion's ready to kick the door down in five."

Kairi sighs. As Selphie, one of her closest girlfriends, initiates the countdown, Kairi swings the door open just when she reaches two. She is welcomed back to reality (otherwise known as a boutique to those who are sane and aren't dealing with the apocalypse) with the sound of soft gasps and applause. Outside, her girlfriends Selphie, Olette, and Xion continue to admire her dress selection while holding numerous dresses of their own.

"That's the one," Olette decides. "There's no mistaking it. That's the one."

Kairi, who had barely even acknowledged the dress inside the changing room due to her troubles within, decides to turn to the full-length mirror in the circular-shaped changing area to assess the dress. It was lavender in colour, strapless, sparkly by default, and short with a flowing skirt, much to her liking. She was the type who rather enjoyed being able to move, unlike the full-length mermaid dresses in Olette's hand that restricted any sort of leg movement.

The back was open, leaving a generous (but not too generous) amount of her skin exposed, the sweetheart bodice accented with sparkling rhinestones that cascaded like a trail of raindrops past her waistline, a thin silver belt defined her curves, and silver heels adorned her feet. She has to admit it's quite nice, but for good measure, she also checks the price tag.

Her eyes widen.

"Remind me again why I have to spend so much munny for one night," Kairi pleads. "It's not like I'm even trying to look nice for anyone. I don't even have a date to this shindig."

"Nonsense, Kairi," Xion says while rummaging through a stack of midnight blue dresses. "It's like they said in She's the Man. You don't need a man to wear a beautiful dress."

"Plus if you look like shit it'll reflect badly on you in the yearbook photos," Selphie reminds bluntly. The girls, sans Kairi, simultaneously give her a look. "What? I'm just keeping it real."

"And if I do recall correctly, you were the one who said that you didn't want a cheesy promposal," Olette reminds. Selphie and Xion back up her argument with firm nods.

"Only because it puts the girl in a position that forces her to say yes," Kairi argues. "Are you really going to say no to a guy in front of a crowd? Not likely."

"But it's the thought and the effort that counts," Xion presses.

Kairi rolls her eyes as she plops herself down on the damask patterned seat. "What's the big deal about prom anyway? Sure, it's our last high school dance, but if you really think about it, it's nothing more than a fancy version of the parties people throw when their parents are out of town with terrible and undoubtedly spiked punch, sweaty, grinding bodies galore, and music so loud that you can't even have a decent conversation with anyone.

Moreover, when the DJ finally decides to play that one overplayed Ed Sheeran song, girls like me are doomed to sit at a table alone with said nasty ass punch while her friends slow dance with their dates who are probably thinking of ways to get laid at the after party. And what's up with that Ed Sheeran song anyways? What happens after seventy? Do you just not love the girl anymore? Like, what's the point in that?"

The room goes silent until Selphie breaks it with a low whistle.

"Well," she sings, "someone must have forgotten to add some sugar into her coffee this morning because someone is bitter."

"Preach," Xion says while one-handedly praising the roof.

"Yeah," Olette agrees. "Why so edgy Kairi? You usually love parties."

"I'm not bitter," Kairi says defensively. "I just, I…" she stammers. She then begins to play with the end strands of her claret hair. "I'm just a little confused. Sora told me earlier that he wanted to take Naminé Sato to prom," she confesses.

As Kairi drifts back into the abyss of the apocalypse, the girls all take turns looking at each other as if telepathically communicating which one of them would step up and comfort their redheaded friend first. Unfortunately, no one volunteers as tribute, resulting in a clusterfuck of responses.

"But you're his best friend," Xion reminds.

"He should be taking you," Olette says.

"Yeah, that's fucked up," Selphie admits.

Kairi rests her chin on the palm of her hand and sighs heavily. "Yeah, tell me about it."

PHASE 01: THE SCOUT

DAY 1, 4:12 PM

Later that afternoon finds Kairi with the two most important men in her life (minus her father, of course). She, Sora, and the very attractive and very intelligent Riku Kenbishi, the third pea in their pod, enjoy a refreshing dip in the pool of Sora's backyard. While the boys entertain themselves with a floating beer pong table (more accurately paopu soda pong), Kairi sits back on an inflatable lounge chair, reading a book for English class.

"So I asked Xion to prom," Riku announces while successfully bouncing the miniature ball into one of Sora's cups. "She said yes."

Kairi nearly drops her book in annoyance. Couldn't she go through one conversation without hearing the word "prom" for once? She thought she'd have more luck avoiding the topic with her guy friends, but that didn't seem to be the case. To mask her disappointment, she buries herself in her book.

"Yeah?" Sora asks while emptying the contents of one of his cups. "Congratulations man. How'd you do it?"

"Sent her bouquet of chocolate dipped strawberries in fourth period," Riku answers.

"Are you trying to get her as a date or give her diabetes?" Sora jokes. He misses one of Riku's cups by a long shot.

"You're one to talk," Riku counters. "And despite its cliché delivery, it got me a date. I don't see you being able to say the same thing." Sora raises his hands in surrender.

"You got me there," the brunet admits. "But I do have someone in mind."

Behind her paperback copy of Fifth Business, Kairi's ears perk upward at their conversation. The expression on Riku's face shows similar interest.

"Really?" he asks. "Well whoever it is, you better get on that asap. The market's closing down fast my friend. Who's the unlucky girl, anyway?"

"Naminé Sato," Kairi silently mimics the same time the words escape Sora's mouth.

Riku lets out a low whistle. "Nice choice. She's hot."

Kairi's grip on her book tightens as she resists the urge to go on a shallow rant.

"Right? And by some miracle, she's still available," Sora informs.

"Then what are you waiting for? Hop on that," Riku advises. "I'm sure tons of guys have her targeted. Did you see her on civvies day? That little white dress was on point."

Before Kairi can gag, Riku stretches and excuses himself to use the washroom whilst mumbling something about eating the cafeteria's mystery meat for lunch. Sora's dog Pluto follows suit.

"Wow, you must really be into that book," Sora comments when Riku is out of sight and earshot. Even when he walks over to the edge of the chair, she still refuses to direct her attention to anything but Fifth Business—a gesture she is proud of, since Sora was standing before her in all his wet and shirtless glory.

"You're not bothered about prom, are you?" he then asks.

Slowly but surely, Kairi then lowers her book and her sunglasses with the fakest of smiles on her face. "Of course not. Why would I be?"

"Because you've barely said a word the entire time we've been here," Sora points out.

To prove to her best friend that she bore no ill will towards prom, Kairi shuts her book and sets it down beside her. "Sora, I have absolutely nothing against prom." It wasn't a total lie. She just had a slight issue with whom he wanted to take to prom.

"Are you sure?" he asks with suspicion.

"Sora, I'm a big girl," Kairi reminds, although she has trouble entirely believing the words that come out of her mouth. "I'm pretty sure I can handle a little high school dance."

"Okay good, because now that Riku's gone, I wanted to ask you something," Sora says while scratching the back of his head, and if Kairi hadn't spent years encountering that gesture, she never would have known that it was something he did when he was extremely nervous.

"Kairi," he starts softly. When he takes one of her hands into both of his, Kairi's heart suddenly drops to her stomach. Had Sora suddenly changed his mind in the span of mere minutes? Was the world going to return to its proper state of equilibrium? If that was the case, she should pretend to read books more often. This gesture was, if anything, a hint of light, a spark of hope.

"Yes," she finds herself whispering out loud.

"Wait, what?" Sora asks as he releases her hand. At this, the fountains and Disney music going off in Kairi's mind come to an abrupt end.

"Wh-what?" the redhead stammers in embarrassment. "What were you going to ask?"

"I was going to ask you to be my wingwoman," he says. "You know, like a wingman, but a girl."

Its all Kairi can do not to let her jaw drop to the floor. First Sora had the nerve not to ask his own best friend to prom, and now he wanted her help to get the other girl? If the girls thought the former was fucked up, the latter was even more so.

"So did you pop the question?" their mutual silver-haired friend asks when he slips back into the pool. When Sora nods proudly, Kairi finds herself frowning. They had planned this.

"Why can't Riku do it?" Kairi whines while pointing at said subject. "He's much more experienced than I am at this wingman business, and he's actually a guy."

"But I already asked Xion," Riku reminds. "You can't have a taken man manipulate the target."

"She'll immediately know something's up," Sora finishes.

Kairi's shoulders slump. "Sora, I don't know…"

"Kairi, please," Sora pleads, his eyes twinkling. Kairi nearly crumbles beneath his puppy dog gaze.

"Don't even try that," she warns.

"Try what?" Sora asks, feigning innocence.

"That," Kairi specifies. "That puppy dog thing. I used to like it. Note the past tense."

Sora's cute façade immediately collapses at the presence of Kairi's authoritatively crossed arms.

"Fine. Anything it takes, your majesty," Sora offers with a bow.

Kairi pretends to tap her chin in thought. "Well… my services don't come cheap, Mr. Akiyama."

Riku shakes his head with a grin as he takes the vacant spot beside Kairi, effectively sandwiching her in between him and Sora.

"Wow," Sora says. "So my best friend is a gold digger. All right then. How many jars of Nutella?"

"Five," Kairi answers swiftly.

"Sounds doable," Sora replies. "You've got yourself a deal."

"It's nice doing business with you, Mr. Akiyama," Kairi says. Who was she to deny her best friend's happiness? She then offers her hand for a shake, but she'd be lying if she didn't feel even the slightest tingle down her spine at the feeling of his warm, tanned hand against her own. She immediately pulls away when such thoughts are brought to the surface. "So, uh, what exactly are the steps to be a successful, er, wingwoman?"

After Sora hops onto the second inflatable lounge chair available, Riku dramatically spins him around 180 degrees for effect. Sora then faces Kairi with his hands clasped together in a mischievous fashion.

"I'm glad you asked. To be a successful wingwoman, you'll have to follow through with three stages," Sora starts.

"The first is phase one, where you have to be the scout," Riku informs. "The second technically has two parts, but they're both very crucial. The first half focuses on you becoming the inside woman."

"Phase two-point-five, respectfully, is the icebreaker phase, where you introduce me," Sora says. "In phase three, you leave everything to me. Are you writing this down somewhere?"

"Yes sir," Kairi answers as she jots his words down in her phone. She had no clue that the wingman business was so… official. "First phase: the scout."

"Yes, the scout. This is the stage where you creep the target, otherwise known as Naminé, on Facebook to ensure that she's not a total psycho," Sora explains. In the background, Riku's cellphone vibrates.

"Be sure to also look for conversational topics cause you'll have to approach her in the second phase," Riku advises after getting out of the pool. "Also watch out for things she and Sora have in common. You'll want to bring those up."

Kairi snorts. "Sure, but I highly doubt he and Naminé will share plenty of common interests. Like really now, does Naminé look like a bigger comic book dork than Sora?"

"Hey!" Sora yells, taking offense. "They're like really well drawn frozen action movies, okay?"

Riku chuckles while reading the text on his phone. "Anyways, that was the birth giver. She wants me to pick up some groceries before dinner pronto, so I'll catch you guys later?"

"Later," Kairi responds.

"Make sure to tell your mom I said hi!" Sora exclaims when Riku is already halfway towards the back door. "And that I had a great time with her last night!" He narrowly dodges the pool noodle thrown in his direction.

Sora shuts the door and, after changing into dry clothes and giving a brief but concise explanation of the following phases, Kairi and Sora sit shoulder-to-shoulder on Sora's living room couch with his laptop in between them.

"So you have Naminé on Facebook, right?" Sora asks as he pushes the creeping device towards her.

Kairi thinks for a moment and briefly recalls adding her as a friend that one time they shared that one class together in sophomore year. She types in Naminé's name on the search bar and all her juicy information for creeping pleasure displays itself.

"I'm in," Kairi answers as if she had hacked into some top-secret database.

"What do we got?" Sora asks.

"Well, apart from the obvious, her birthday is on March twelfth, she used to live in Twilight Town, and she teaches art classes part time," Kairi starts as she scrolls through Naminé's profile. "Wow, lookie here. She also likes comic books, volunteers to paint props for the school's musical backdrops, has a puppy named Picasso, and she spent her March Break in Atlantica."

"Ooh, scroll back up to the bikini pics," Sora requests jokingly. Kairi forcefully hits her shoulder against his and both of them simultaneously look at the other from the corner of their eyes and giggle.

Kairi inwardly sighs. It was no natural, being so close to Sora. And the way he'd looked at her just then? Effortless. Perhaps that's why it stung when he told her that they'd have to be apart for such a memorable occasion. They were the best of friends.

Sora had taken other girls to school dances, but this was prom, and regardless of the cheesy theme (A Night in the Clouds, like really now?), terrible punch, and sweaty bodies, it was the one that would stick with her the most. It was the last time she was going to be surrounded by her friends before they packed up and flew to chase their destinies. Sure, they could visit each other every now and then, but on the final night, she wanted to remember having fun with said friends and being by Sora's side, and as selfish as it sounded, she didn't want Naminé in the picture. Literally.

But no. She couldn't—wouldn't—let this bother her. At the rate she was thinking, she might feel something for him, and that was even worse. Life wasn't like the movies, and she refused to succumb to such a cliché and overdone plot.

"So what's the verdict?" Sora asks after a few moments of silence. Kairi snaps out of her reverie and realizes that she's done about a page worth of half-assed research in the last twenty minutes.

"I think she's the furthest thing from a psycho," Kairi concludes. "March twelve makes her a Pisces, whom of which are imaginative, devoted, and compassionate. The fact that she has a dog named Picasso, likes comic books, paints backdrops, and teaches art classes obviously means she's passionate about what she does, and since she's travelled all the way to Atlantica, I think she's fairly adventurous."

And what man wouldn't want an adventurous side in his woman, Kairi bitterly recalls from her change room debacle. She inwardly sighs. She couldn't help that one.

"So am I in the clear? No previous employments as a seal clubber or chainsaw murderer?" Sora asks for further confirmation. Kairi nods, but the gesture is executed with obvious distaste.

Sora claps his hands together and rubs them together with a mischievous grin on his face. "All right then. It's time."

For what? Kairi thinks. To consume two out of five Nutella jars Sora so generously promised in one sitting?

"Phase two," Sora answers excitedly, and Kairi groans.

It was time to get a spoon.

tbc

Fun fact: Initially, I too also failed to see the importance of prom in my senior year.

A/N: Surprise, surprise! Kyorii's had something up her sleeve. I know prom season has passed, but what can I say? It's nice to get back into the high school scene despite finishing my second year of university. I've had this idea for a long time now, but it's only now that I finally got around to making it a thing. You may also see some familiar paragraphs from my other stories swimming around here somewhere. They originally came from here.

I'm really using this story to get back into my writing groove since I've been really rusty lately. The concise style that scriptwriting demands has really taken its toll on my original style and it has yet to return to me completely, so I'm hoping that with some practice, it'll find me again.

I hope you enjoyed the first installment of The Wingwoman! Please kindly leave a review to tell me your thoughts and/or feels, I apologize for any grammar errors I may have missed, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!

xoKyorii

PS. To those of you who know and are concerned that I have plenty of incomplete works, don't worry if you think I'll leave you hanging with this one. It may cause a TW delay, but three out of four chapters are already complete and will be posted throughout the next two weeks or so.