A.N. All I gotta say is if you don't like this fic, blame Domino's. I got the idea when I was picking up a pizza at one of their super-small shops…so sue me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Never have, never will…so there.
Italics: Sora's thoughts, Leon talking through the phone.
A little Italian…
Bueno magiare- Good eat. Tried to say good eating, but eh…
I hope you enjoy reading!!!
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"Finding Love in the Unlikeliest of Places"
By
Malcolm Yuy
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"Stupid weather…" breath was exhaled as a seventeen-year-old young man got back into his car. He sighed within as he wished he had watched The Weather Channel earlier that day. Now he cursed himself for not being warm enough when he was outside his car. He turned the ignition as heat began spreading throughout the vehicle.
"Ah, precious heat…" a smile spread to the boy's face as he closed his eyes, enjoying the smell and feel of artificial warmth on his body. However, his joy was interrupted as he felt something vibrate in his right pocket. He groaned as he placed a hand within the mini storage space, feeling around until grabbing his cell phone. He then looked on the call screen.
Lugiano's. The spiky-haired brunet sighed irritably as he opened his cell phone. "Yes Leon..?" he asked.
"Sora, where in the hell are you?!" a voice shouted at the other end of the phone. The young man identified as Sora sighed again before answering the voice's question.
"I just finished delivering a pizza on Manchester. Why are you acting like you have PMS?" Sora glared at his window, imagining that it was transmitted through his phone and to his boss. He swore he could hear his superior snort on the other line.
"I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that," Leon said.
"Pretend away," Sora muttered, as he was beginning to get bored very quickly. What a grouch, he thought. "So, why did you call me?" the light-haired youth asked.
"Because I need you to get back here right away. The new worker's supposed to come in and I want you to show her the ropes," Leon replied.
"All right. Just give me a minute okay? The last thing I want is another speeding ticket from your demands. My parents almost took away my license last time because of that," the brunet reminded. He heard his peer sigh on the other line.
"I'm sorry, okay? Now, will you please get your butt back here so you can instruct the new employee?" Leon asked.
"Why don't you do it?" Sora rebutted.
"Because I have to take inventory. Stop asking questions and just get back here smart-ass," Leon quipped. Sora groaned again.
"Fine, Squall…"
"I told not to call me-" Leon's voice was cut-off as the brunet snapped his cell phone shut. He sighed as he buckled up, before turning on the car lights and began to drive back towards his workplace.
"Its times like these that make wonder why I ever took this job in the first place," Sora replied to himself as he turned the steering wheel, the car turning to the left. His eyes narrowed as he regarded the traffic ahead, his car stopping behind another. He then turned to look at the passenger seat, and looked at an envelope lying on the seat. Printed in black, bold print, with a logo were the words Radiant Garden University. He then glanced back ahead.
That's why. To have money for college. Sora sighed as he changed lanes and thus turned corners, emerging onto another road. A few moments later after advancing down the street, he pulled off to the right to a very small and compact building. Off to the side was a big grey sign, a pole holding up a glowing square, showing a red and white checkerboard, and below the symbol was a green box with white cursive writing was the name Lugiano's. Sora exhaled another breath as he pulled into the parking lot, looking back up at the concrete structure sitting before him.
Welcome to Hell, he thought as shut the car off, taking his heat bag out of the back seat as he left the car, and shivering in the night air, made his way into the small pizza parlor. A bell chimed as he entered. Sora took a quick glance over his work area.
The design was fairly simple. There was a white and green tiled floor, with a huge white wall taking up most of the space between the entrance and the rest of the store. Indented in the wall was the cashier center, where an employee would stand and take orders, with the logo and name of the pizzeria, centered and etched above on the wall. Adorned on each side of the wall was the menu, and of course, there was a little empty space on the right side so the employees could walk around and out of the store if they show wished. The people who could see Sora through the cashier counter turned to see him.
"I'm back," Sora announced, as he made his way around to the rest of the parlor. Leon was tapped his foot impatiently as his arms crossed, giving his employee a cold stare. The light-haired brunet quirked an eyebrow as he noticed the look on the darker-haired one's face. "What?"
"It's about time you got back here, I was beginning to think you'd never return," Leon stated. Sora just placed his hands on his hips.
"Well I'm here aren't I? You should have more faith in me," the spiky-haired young man retorted as his blue eyes looked at eyes as steely and blue as his own. His superior sighed.
"That's the problem. I do," he said. He then turned to the side for a moment, before refocusing his attention back on the young lad. "Well, since you're here now, I might as well get the new worker ready to work. Kairi!" Leon exclaimed. A petite girl with dark red hair emerged from out of nowhere as she stood beside Sora. The young lad turned to examine her for a moment, before turning to look back at his boss.
"Now Sora, as I told you over the phone, I want you to train her, got it? And I want no slacking you lazy bum," Leon stated. Sora sighed.
"Okay…" Leon then turned to look at the auburn-haired young lady.
"And Kairi, if Sora here gives you any lip, just tell me all right? I'll be more than happy to fix whatever's up his ass for you," the shaggy, spiky-haired brunet smirked. The girl just nodded.
"Okay sir."
"Good. Now Sora, Hayner and Pence should be returning from their routes soon. And if anyone calls to place an order, I-"
"-I know, I know, you want the orders ready for them to deliver. Don't worry Leon, everything will be okay. I haven't botched a delivery yet, have I?" Sora asked. Leon groaned.
"That's what I'm afraid of." He then turned to view the back of the store. "I'll be in the back doing inventory. I better not here anything that will make have to come back, understand?" Sora nodded. "Good." Then, with an abrupt pace, the stoic young man left the two teens alone in kitchen. Sora turned to face the young woman before him.
"What's his problem?" Kairi asked. Sora slightly blushed as he looked towards the back of the store.
"Oh, Leon? Well, besides calling him by his real name, which, I can tell you is Squall by-the-way, there was this one time I pulled a prank on him…" the brunet trailed off as he wiggled a finger.
"Like what exactly?" the auburn-haired girl's violet-blue eyes stared into Sora's own blue ones. Sora stuttered as he tried to find an answer, struggling to keep himself from getting lost in the depth of her eyes.
"Oh, it was nothing much…except this one time when I made a pizza pie explode in his face. It was hilarious," the brunet admitted.
"I could imagine," The red-haired girl giggled as she imagined an image of the brown-haired young man with tomato sauce, some pepperoni, and cheese smothered all over his face. Sora couldn't help but laugh with her as he imagined the picture as well.
"Do I hear laughing?" Leon's voice echoed from the back. The two quickly stopped as they looked towards the end of the store.
"Um no, nothing Leon, it's nothing…" Sora trailed off.
"Whatever. Just get back to work," the voice muttered. After Leon's voice faded from their ears, the two lightly laughed for a few seconds. They then stopped.
"Okay, seriously, here's what we do around here. When we get a phone call, or when someone walks in and orders, we take their order on the computer. We take in their last name and phone number, and we then print out a sticker with their information on it. Most likely, their address will show up when the sticker is printed. Next, we paste the sticker to one of our empty pizza boxes, see?" Sora pointed, his finger indicating stacks of empty boxes on the other side of the store. Kairi simply nodded.
"Great. Next, we place the ones with orders on the shelf here," he indicated, the two turning to look at a two-sided white shelf that was a few feet away from the pizza oven. "And then, we make the pizza. See the instructions pasted on the wall?" Sora asked, pointing towards the wall near them. Kairi nodded as she saw the pictures of the pizza being made in various stages. The brunet smiled as he looked at her.
"It's quite simple really. First, you need to put on an apron." He handed her a white apron, and together, the two placed them on themselves. "We already have the pizza dough pre-made, so first we take one out, and knead it. Then, we add the tomato sauce, and sprinkle on the cheese. Then, we add whatever toppings the customer asks for," Sora instructed, as he pointed from one picture to the next. "Understand so far?" he asked. Kairi nodded. "Good. Next, according to how the customer wants the crust, we roll the end of the dough to create it. Then, we place it on a metal plate, and place it in the oven." The two then walked over to the pizza oven.
"After placed in the oven, you wait until it makes it over to the other side. By then, it should be fully cooked. We then check to see who ordered it, and place it in the appropriate box. We then cut the pizza into the appropriate slices, close the box, and then go to deliver. And that's about it in a nutshell," Sora explained. He huffed as he closed his eyes.
"As for the appetizers, we just pull them from the refrigerator and heat them up with the high intensity microwave," he pointed over to a microwave, situated right by the cooling unit. Kairi nodded. "And that's it. Now, we just wait." The brunet leaned against the shelf, his hands gripped against it. Kairi just looked at him.
"I've seen you around school before, haven't I? You're the funny guy in class," Kairi said. Sora opened his eyes as he looked back at the girl in surprise.
"Oh, me? Well yeah, I guess I am…aren't you the girl who answers all of the questions?" Sora inquired. Kairi lightly giggled as she shook her head.
"No, that's Naminé, a friend of mine. But I do answer most of the questions," she readily admitted. Sora smirked.
"The blonde?" Kairi nodded. "..Oh yeah, I remember now. My brother just started dating her," he said.
"You're Roxas's brother?!" Kairi yelled. Sora looked at her incredulously.
"Isn't it obvious?" the brunet asked. The auburn-haired girl pondered for a moment as she looked at the spiky-haired teen. A small smile then came onto her face as she slightly nodded her head.
"Now that you mention it, I can see the resemblance…you two have similar facial features and the same eyes…"
"That's because we're twins," Sora stated.
"Identical, or fraternal?" she questioned.
"Identical at one time until genetics began playing a role. Our hair got lighter, but his became a full blond, while mine is still brown, see?" the spiky-haired youth pointed to his hair. Kairi nodded in agreement. "And of course, so we could be recognized from one another, we also styled our hair differently. And that's the way it's been ever since I could remember."
"I see. Fascinating," the girl stated. She then looked away as she glanced back at the pizza-making instructions. Sora took this moment to glance at her.
She's really pretty, he thought, even though they both looked dreadful in the company uniforms, which consisted of a dark green golf shirt with the company logo and name on imprinted on the right side, with matching caps adorned on their heads. Personally, Sora didn't know about Kairi, but he just hated wearing hats. However, his occupation demanded that he had to wear one. Of course, other than the shirts, they could basically were any type of pants and shoes. And currently, Kairi was wearing jeans with a dark wash, with a spike-studded belt, and Converse sneakers. He smirked at the sight of the belt.
Rock on Kairi, rock on… he then decided to speak up.
"So Kairi…"
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"Gah, I'm so hungry…" Kairi whimpered, as she and Sora were in various positions throughout the store. Weeks had passed as the two got to know each other, and not only did they discourse with each other a lot at work, but it was beginning to bleed out into school as well. Over the past few weeks, their acquaintance had transformed into a budding friendship.
The redhead turned to look at Sora. "Is there anything to eat here?" she asked. Sora just laughed. They were alone again, as Leon himself was making a delivery, giving the brunet some much needed peace. Again, Hayner and Pence were also delivering, leaving the two here by themselves.
"What do you mean 'is there anything to eat here'? This is a pizzeria for crying out loud! We make food!" the spiky-haired young man exclaimed. Kairi groaned as she banged her head against the table.
"I know, but I want something more than pizza pies and breadsticks. It gets less appetizing after selling them constantly," Kairi replied as she looked ahead at the wall. Sora then crept up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Then I have an idea. Why don't we make our own food? I'm hungry too," Sora said. The redhead turned to face him.
"Are you kidding me? I want real food. Thanks, but no thanks Sora…" she trailed off. The marron-haired boy rubbed her shoulder for emphasis.
"Oh come on Kairi, why not?!" He then sighed as he closed his eyes. "Okay, what about this? How about I make it all? All you have to do is sit there and look pretty," Sora suggested, pink creeping into his cheeks as he realized his choice of words. Kairi blushed as well as she looked at him, before raising her eyebrows at him.
"Really? Fine, if you insist…" Sora grinned triumphantly as he lightly patted her shoulders.
"You won't regret it, I promise," he said. Kairi sighed.
"Somehow, I doubt that," she said. Sora snorted.
"Hey, I deeply resent that. And if I wanted to, I'd reply to your insult."
"Humph. I guess Leon is right. You are a smart-ass," Kairi retorted. Sora just pushed her lightly on the back.
"Hey!" Kairi turned around to face him. A smirk was on her face as her violet-blue orbs gazed into his.
"Gotcha," she giggled. The brunet just shook his head.
"I swear Kairi, one of these days I'm going to get you back," he said.
"Yeah, right…anyways…weren't you going to get the work on making our dinner?" she asked. Sora nodded.
"Yeah, so could you please back away?" Kairi scoffed as she got up from where she sat.
"Fine, I'll just sit by the cashier," she said. The brunet smiled.
"Good girl. Now if you just sit back and relax, you'll see a master pizza-maker in action," Sora said, rolling up his sleeves and putting on an apron. Kairi giggled, following Sora's movements as he began twirling and kneading the pizza dough, before placing it on a pan to be made. He then took a soup ladle, took some sauce from a huge tub, and dabbed it all over the dough, before moving it around in circles for consistency. He then added a little more and repeated his earlier motions, before adding the cheese. He then turned up to look at her.
"What toppings do you want?" he asked.
"Uh, just pepperoni and sausage if you don't mind," Kairi commented. Sora smiled.
"Not at all." He then cut off some pepperoni from the links, and spread an even amount over the pizza, before adding sausage bites to the mix. Then he turned to her again.
"And the crust?" he asked.
"Thick. I like thick," the rouge-haired girl said. Sora grinned.
"Me too," the brunet replied. He placed the pizza on a metal pan, and then rolled the ends up to form a thick model for the crust to dry. He then moved the pan to the oven. "Now we just have to wait ten minutes. Would you like anything to drink while we wait?" Sora asked. Kairi looked thoughtful for a moment before answering.
"Won't we get busted for this?" she inquired.
"No, we're allowed to eat our own food here," Sora answered. She simply nodded her head.
"A Sprite then, if you have it," she said. The spiky-haired youth nodded.
"Okay." He went over to the Coca-Cola refrigerator and grabbed two twenty-ounce bottles, one being Sprite, and the other, some good old Coca-Cola. He even went the extra distance to open the bottle before her before extending it at her. Kairi hesitated as she examined his hand.
"Don't worry, I won't bite. Hard…" Sora said. Kairi giggled as she quickly snatched the bottle of Sprite away from him.
"Please…" she rolled her eyes as she took a swig of the nice, cool liquid. The marron-haired young man followed suit as he took a sip of his Coke.
"Mmm. Refreshing," he said. Kairi simply nodded as she continued to drink her beverage. The minutes passed by as they were positioned in silence, Kairi sitting at the counter, and Sora leaning back against the shelf, swigging down his Coke. She then turned to face him.
"Is Riku coming in today?" she asked. The boy simply shook his head at her question.
"Nope. I looked at the schedule for today, and Riku definitely wasn't on it," he answered. Kairi frowned as her violet-blue eyes looked away from Sora's.
"Oh, okay…" Sora tilted his head at her reaction in curiosity, but also, as part of him would not like to admit, in slight jealousy.
"Why? Was there something you wanted to talk to him about?" the brunet questioned.
"Sort of," Kairi muttered.
"Like what? Do you like him or something?" Sora asked. Kairi blushed as she turned her head away.
"N-no, nothing like that…" Sora wiggled a finger as he looked at the back of her head. Currently, the back of her company baseball cap covered her hair, from which he guessed was kept in a ponytail. He sighed. He then decided that he didn't like seeing her wear a hat either. It concealed her hair, which he considered to be absolutely beautiful.
"Then do you like someone else then?"
"Maybe, but you'll never know who," Kari said tunefully as she smirked. Sora just returned her smirk.
"Really now? Maybe I can weasel it out of you!" the brunet exclaimed, as he began to jump on Kairi. She began laughing as the boy began tickling her sides.
"Sora, stop! Sora!" she couldn't help but continue to laugh as he ravaged her. She then decided there was only one thing she do to stop him.
"OW! What was that for?!" Sora grabbed his right foot and began messaging it. He then blew on it for emphasis. Kairi just rolled her eyes at him.
"Oh, stop whining you big baby, it didn't hurt THAT much," she replied. Sora sighed in pain as he dropped his foot.
"Yeah, whatever…I better check on the pizza now," he said. He then sauntered over to the oven, and voila, the pizza was on the other side, fully cooked as it looked deliciously edible. He turned over to look at her. "Could you open one of the unlabeled pizza boxes please?" he asked. Kairi acquiesced to his request as she walked over, took a pizza box, walked over to the other side of the shelf that was facing the oven, and opened it. Sora flashed her a smile.
"Thanks." He then lifted the metal tray, carried the pizza over to it, and slowly slid it into the box. He then took a nearby pizza cutter and sliced the pizza four times. "Now it's ready to eat," he stated. Kairi smiled in relief.
"It's about time."
"I know. Hey, do you want to take the table by the window?" Sora asked, pointing his head towards it. Across from them sat a little table, with seats for two, with a glass window behind it, and a glowing, neon green sign that said Lugiano's backwards in reverse from their point-of-view displayed above the table. Kairi nodded, and together, they took their drinks, some napkins, and pizza over to the table. They then sat down, and Sora opened the box sideways so they both could have access to the Chinese-Italian dish. He then raised his plastic Coke bottle towards hers.
"Well, as the Italians say, buono magiare!" The two tapped their bottles in toast, before digging into their pizza pie. Both smiled as they enjoyed the food immensely. After Kairi had eaten one slice, she turned to look outside. She imagined that it was probably cold outside, if it was cold as it looked. The sky was black, save for a few stars that dotted it. She then turned back to focus upon her companion.
"Hey Sora, would you consider this a date by any means?" Kairi questioned, her violet-blue spheres looking at his. Sora finished swallowing a bite of his pizza as he trained his blue eyes upon her. He then looked up in thought.
"I don't know…I guess it depends. Why? Do you consider this a date?" he asked hesitantly, as he felt heat creep onto his cheeks. Kairi blushed as she looked away.
"N-no, not really…" Sora frowned, obviously disappointed by her remark. He sighed.
"If you say so…" he trailed off. Kairi's eyes then darted back up to meet his. She could read the disappointment in his eyes as he focused on eating his portion of the pie. Sora then noticed something touching his left cheek, and paused, just as he was about to take another bite of his pie. "Huh?" He then saw her hand touch his left cheek out-of-the-corner of his eye. He then placed his piece of pizza on a napkin before him. He then glanced into her eyes, and blushed as her gaze caught his.
"I just wanted to say thanks, you know…for everything…for teaching me the ropes, and being friendly when you didn't have to," the auburn-haired girl stated, a small smile forming upon her face. Sora stuttered to respond.
"Uh, you're welcome…" Sora trailed off as both he and the girl before him just continued to stare at one another. It was really beginning to scare him.
"Kairi…?" She then began leaning in, and the spiky-haired brunet couldn't help but continue sitting there in shock as her face moved closer to his. Pretty soon he could feel her breath on his cheek, and his mouth hung slightly ajar as he noticed that her lips, her ever-so-inviting-looking-lips were advancing towards his own. Sora closed his eyes in advance.
Is she going to kiss me? He asked himself. Currently, the marron-haired young man was hoping she would. He swore he could feel a hint of her lips as they were about to brush his. However, before the two could fully come in contact with each other, the fates intervened.
Ring! The entry-bell jingled, announcing the entrance of a potential customer as they made their way towards the counter. Kairi immediately stopped what she was doing and blushed as she hurried her way over to the counter, leaving poor Sora sitting there, stunned. He hung his head low as he looked upon the food he had created for them earlier, as he blocked out the chatting that Kairi was having with the customer.
Or not, apparently, for the person who entered made their way to the back.
"Sora?" the person inquired, saying the brunet's name. The spiky-arrayed youth looked up, as his eyes met a familiar one's. He immediately forced a smile towards his companion.
"Oh, hey bro, what's up?" The person, now identified as Roxas, returned his sibling's smile with an identical copy of his own.
"Eh, not much. Leon called to remind me to take over Kairi's shift since hers is just about over. And I was visiting Naminé too…jackass," Roxas sighed annoyingly as he sat where Kairi was previously seated. "So, did anything entertaining happen here?" the blond asked. Sora raised an eyebrow towards him.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Oh, you know what I mean, and I know you're not one to just stand around and follow protocol," Roxas said. Sora just grinned as his brother leaned closer, lowering his voice to a low decibel. "-especially with her around," he added, smirking as he jerked his head towards her with that statement. Sora just chuckled.
"You're one in a million Roxy," the spiky-brunet said. Roxas smiled.
"And that's why I'm your brother." He then turned to face Kairi, who had her back turned towards the entrance. "Hey Kairi, shouldn't you get going?" he asked. The redhead turned back to face them.
"Oh yeah, that's right, sorry guys," she said. She then moved to untie her apron. Sora quickly got up and moved behind her.
"Here, let me help you with that," he offered, taking the strings and untying them for her. He thought he could feel Kairi smile at him, even though he couldn't see her directly.
"Thanks." The strings then came undone, and he lifted the apron over her head as he removed it for her. He then folded it in his arms as he looked at her.
"Well Kairi, I guess we won't be seeing each other 'till Monday. Have a good weekend," Sora said, offering the young lady a smile. She returned said smile.
"You too Sora," she said. She turned to face his relative.
"Roxas." She acknowledged, greeting him as well. Roxas nodded his head in agreement, and then she turned to face the brunet.
"Well Sora, thanks again for the meal. It was delicious," she said. She then slightly raised her feet, and pecked him on the cheek.
"Wha?" Sora didn't have enough time to react as Kairi hurriedly left the building, leaving him standing there, speechless again that night as Roxas sat there at the table, in uniform. He blinked his eyes for a few moments as he felt the slight wetness that Kairi's kiss left upon him. He couldn't help but smile stupidly in response.
"Dude, all I gotta say is, it's about time," Roxas said, chuckling. Sora just glared at the blond.
"Shut up." Roxas just rolled his eyes.
"Whatever." The phone then rang, and Sora answered it. After getting in the order, he then began working on the pizza, while Roxas continued to sit there, looking outside the window. And as Sora concentrated on kneading the dough, he smiled as he thought back to the moment the auburn beauty kissed him.
I think I'm in love…
Despite working at different times, with different faces,
Sometimes one can find love in the unlikeliest of places…
- Fin -
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I hoped you enjoyed this oneshot. And for all you Naximas fans out there, I just had to throw in a little bit. At least Roxas made a cameo. Sorry for those of you who wanted Riku to show up, maybe he'll show up in my next oneshot (probably not).
Also, sorry for making Squall a cold-hard…pain in the butt, but once I thought about him as the boss, I just had to make him a ticked-off character. Sorry to you as well Squall fans, but I had fun messing with him…
Again, I got the idea when I was waiting to pick up a pizza at Domino's. It came to me as I sat there on the little red metal benches, thinking to myself, "Hey, what if I wrote a Sokai that took place in a pizza parlor?" and this basically…wrote itself. I wrote this all in one setting, and then went back and did few changes.
For those of you who want to read more from me, I have a new multi-chaptered Sokai out titled Portrait of a Young Woman. Check it out if it interests you, and leave a review too if the moment strikes you. I plan on releasing the next chapter of that one soon (Sunday).
And for you Sokai/Namixas fans, I plan on writing a Namixas oneshot too…it'll be entitled The Laundromat, although I don't really know when that will come out (probably sometime soon)…just hope to create some buzz for it, get you interested…I also plan on writing a Humor/Romance Namixas, a multi-chapter as well…
Well, as always, thanks for reading, and until the next fic, ja ne!- Malcolm Yuy