AN: Here is just a little one-shot that I got an idea for and decided to put up. I don't know if it's any good but..I thought it couldn't hurt to try.
I got this idea because it always seems that Kairi is so...weak. I mean she just gets captured and then sits around waiting for Sora and Riku to come and save her. I know that if that was me it would wear on my patience very quickly; she needs a little toughening up don't you think? So this is the result of my ruminations and crazy ideas, hope everyone likes it!
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Kairi could hear Sora calling her name, trying to get her attention, but she staunchly ignored him and continued down the hallway; she wanted to get as far away from him as possible.
"Kairi! Come on you know I didn't mean it that way!" Sora called out to her. Didn't mean it that way my foot! If he didn't mean it he never would have said it! She thought bitterly as she once again failed to respond to his words.
Gripping the strap of her shoulder bag so tightly it turned white, the Princess of Heart glared at anyone who dared to get in her way and school students quickly dodged out of her path when they saw her coming.
She had always been a nice, open-hearted person who was eager to help and always willing to listen. So rarely did she get truly and unquestionably angry that most people thought it was impossible for her, but today there wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that the normally peaceful almost serene female was furious...and at whom might you ask?
Sora of course.
I'm not a child! How dare he even remotely imply that I wouldn't be able to hold my own against the Heartless! Kairi fumed as she stomped down the locker-lined hallways of Destiny High searching for Riku. He may be one year older, but at least HE was more understanding when it came to things like this. Sora was so worried about her well-being it was making him inflexible and insecure.
Sora had made a serious faux pas this time and, unlike before, Kairi had no intentions of forgiving him unless he made a heartfelt and deeply apologetic concession.
Mentally Kairi could hear Namine cheering her on and congratulating her for speaking up the way she had. That show of support helped soothe Kairi's ruffled feathers and her mood lifted even more when she spied Riku's tall frame and silver hair sticking out from the crowd. Cutting through the masses of other students Kairi made her way over to him.
Leaning back to peer around his locker Riku saw her coming over and raised an eyebrow as he saw her peeved expression. With a sigh the Keybearer shook his head and slammed his locker shut, snapping the lock in place and spinning the dial around before turning to face her.
With a tolerant smirk Riku crossed his arms and looked down as Kairi walked up to him with obvious irritation marring her features, her jaw clenched and knuckles white.
"What did Sora do now?" he inquired innocently and Kairi flashed him a heated look as she responded, "There's no way you could have found out about our argument already," she finally letting her clenched fist drop down to her side as she flashed him a sour look. Not even high school gossip could fly this quickly, she and Sora had only finished arguing 10 minutes ago.
Shaking his head Riku nodded past her, "No...but from the way Sora was trying to get your attention a few moments he must have done something stupid. I thought he was going to start flying around on me from the way he was flapping his arms," he commented lightly and his amusement grew significantly as he looked down to the other end of the hallway in time to see Sora throw his hands up in defeat and walk the other way as he headed out of the high school.
Standing up straighter at those words, Kairi set her jaw stubbornly and looked up at the tall male through narrowed eyes and said, "I want you to train me. I want to learn how to wield a Keyblade...a weapon...I don't care just something!" her eyes were practically glowing she was so angry and her tone of voice made it clear she wasn't playing around this time.
Now why was he not surprised?
Settling back against the lockers, Riku examined her expression for a moment trying to determine how serious she was about this. Kairi had been harping on, and lamenting, her lack of physical abilities. She wasn't very strong, not particularly athletic, and certainly not the fastest sprinter Destiny High had ever seen either.
Holding back the smirk that threatened to arise at that train of thought, Riku thumbed his nose and coughed delicately as she glared down the hallway at where Sora had just been a few moments ago. "Are you really serious about this?" he questioned, dragging her attention back to the matter of her previous outburst.
Kairi opened her mouth to say something but he held up his hand to forestall any irritated feedback. "Are you really serious about this?" Riku repeated slowly, "Or are you just doing this because you don't like being left behind all the time?" he asked resolutely, forcing her to really consider what she was saying before making her decision.
Falling silent Kairi's brows knitted together as she thought about those words for a moment. The clatter of slamming lockers and noisy teenagers filled the silence between them as the Princess of Heart meditated on what her friend had said.
At least a full minute passed before Kairi answered, "Both I guess," was her admission. Letting out a heavy sigh she brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear and added, "I can't stand being left behind anymore while you two go off to who knows where. I mean the last time you came back..." she paused and swallowed hard, quickly looking away so Riku wouldn't see the tears that had sprung up to her eyes. Looking away considerately, Riku hummed vaguely.
Now everything made sense; Kairi's anger and frustration over the past few months all added up in his head.
The last time he and Sora had left had been to prevent a wave of Heartless that had been bearing down on Traverse Town. Sora had been badly wounded at one point, leaving Riku to do basically all of the fighting by himself until King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy arrived as backup. They had managed to win in the end, but not without serious casualties on the part of the two Keybearers. Sora had been unconscious for several days while Riku had been near death and been forced to stay in the hospital back here in Destiny Islands for several weeks.
Every day when Kairi came to visit them, he had seen the guilt plastered all over her face every time she tried to look at him.
"I should have been there..." Kairi's whisper abruptly shook Riku from his ruminations. Looking down at her he watched as she took a deep breath; brushing a tear from her eyes as she continued, "If I was stronger I could have been there to help, and the next time you both have to leave I am NOT staying here to twiddle my thumbs," her firm tone made it clear that such an act would be undertaken with or without her friends approval.
Crossing her arms Kairi nodded to accentuate her decision, "What's the point in being a Princess of Heart if I never DO anything?" she argued once again and she did have a valid point with that one.
Knowing that he would probably regret this later Riku pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily, "Fine. I'll personally train you, but it's not going to be easy and I'm going to work you to the bone. So once we start don't whine that I'm too hard on you," he warned sternly, but that didn't keep Kairi's face from lighting up at his agreement.
"Really? You'll actually show me how to fight?" Kairi asked hopefully and the tall teenager nodded slowly in confirmation. Her grinning expression showed how please she was with roping Riku into this scheme of hers.
"Yea! Oh, Riku your the best. I promise you won't regret this," she said ecstatically giving him a quick hug before hurrying off towards the exit. "Meet me at our island in two hours!" Riku shouted to her and she turned around, a satisfied smile still plastered all over her face as she waved back to show that she heard before slipping through the crowd and out of the building.
"Hah!"
Kairi grunted in surprise as she, once again, found herself face down in the sand, Riku's knee in her back and Way To The Dawn pressed against the back of her neck. She grumbled to herself as the offending male chuckled and leaned closer to whisper in her ear.
"Give up yet Princess?" Riku questioned with great emphasis on that last word. Amusement colored his voice as she began struggling against his iron tight grip.
"I thought you were supposed to be teaching me...not kicking my butt with every technique you can think up," Kairi shot back testily. She was grateful that he was willing to do this for her despite Sora's personal concerns on the matter, but so far it felt as if Riku was simply emphasizing all of the things she was doing wrong rather than actually teaching her anything.
Riku chuckled again before releasing his grip on her wrists, removing his knee from her back he backed up a few steps to give her room. Rolling over Kairi sighed and squinted against the afternoon sunlight as she looked up at her "trainer" who was casually flipping his Keyblade from one hand to the other. Putting her head back down she admitted defeat.
"Alright, that's enough. I need a second to catch my breath," Kairi told him, wincing with pain as she sat up. When Riku said he wasn't going to go easy on her, he sure hadn't been kidding.
I did ask for this though so I can't complain. I need to build up my strength and learn how to protect myself so that Sora and Riku don't have to worry about me as much. They already have so much on their shoulders; they certainly don't need my weaknesses weighing them down even more, Kairi reflected, closing her eyes for a moment as she rolled her neck backwards to get all the kinks out of it. She heard a shuffling sound and lifted her head to see what Riku was doing.
Sticking his Keyblade down in the sand Riku sat down cross-legged across from her, leaning back against his weapon as he patiently waited for her to get back up. Staring at him for a moment Kairi moved one hand to her sore shoulders which seemed to have borne the brunt of Riku's attacks, not that her hands were much better. Both of her hands were an angry red from the way she had been gripping her flower tipped Keyblade. The force of Riku's weapon connecting with hers had forced Kairi to tighten her hold lest she find her blade suddenly skittering away only to sink below the waves.
Lifting the yellowish-gold Keyblade in her right hand Kairi stared at it for a moment before lowering it and asking, "Do you really think a Keyblade is best for me? I mean I can use one because of the fact that I'm a Princess of Heart...but do you really think that it's the best choice?" she eyed him curiously; maybe talking would distract her mind from the sorry state her aching muscles were currently in.
Riku turned and stared out over the ocean as he considered that, "Hmm, your probably right. I gave you that Keyblade to defend yourself with while we were in The World That Never Was, but that was really just meant to be a temporary fix until we all got back here," he admitted as he turned back to face her. Shifting his posture he uncrossed his legs and bent one, resting his elbow on it as he leaned forward slightly.
"You need to learn defense more than anything...and Keyblade's are offensive weapons," Riku began and then paused briefly and rubbed his neck. Kairi was lost in thought and it took her a moment to notice his silence, "What is it?" she asked, "It's not like you to not say whatever's on your mind," she added and he gave a snort at her words.
"Gee, thanks you sure know how to make me feel better don't you?" Riku rolled his eyes as he stood up and held a hand out to her. Smiling unrepentantly Kairi accepted the offer by grabbing his outstretched limb and standing up. Brushing the sand off herself she waited for her Riku to finish his thought.
Just as Kairi suspected it was only a moment before Riku said, "No offense, but your never going to have the one-on-one fighting skills that Sora and I have. Defense is the style I think you should focus most on," he explained as he stepped back and picked his Keyblade up from the sand. Doing so also conveniently put him out of range should Kairi take it upon herself to retaliate with physical harm for that comment.
Slinging it across his shoulders Riku frowned as his eyes were drawn to Kairi's body. He knew that several of his hits had made contact when she failed to guard herself in time. The dark bruises already spreading across her right shoulder and all up and down her left leg said that the tall teen had obviously done some pretty good damage.
Riku's eyes clouded with worry as he watched Kairi take a step, only to stop with a painful gasp as she reached down to massage her injured limb. After a moment of silence Kairi looked up and saw his concern.
Quickly she shook her head, forestalling any comments, "I've been through worse before and will have to deal with the same in the future or at least until the Heartless are gone," Kairi chastised, giving him a stern look as she put her hands on her hips, "Besides while I could have convinced Sora to train me..." and she paused for a moment as her lips pulled up into a sly smile, "...I wanted you to help with this because I know you won't go easy on me. I may be a girl, but you'll do what needs to be done to toughen me up," she informed as Riku smirked and tilted his head slightly.
Confused by his expression Kairi leaned away slightly, "What? Why are you giving me that look?" she demanded and he merely shook his head, "Just reminds me of Namine every time she got angry at me. She would stand just like that and stare me down like your doing now," Riku responded as he shrugged the matter off and nodded his head towards the docks. Kairi kicked as much sand out of her shoes before hurrying after him.
"You going to be able to get back okay?" Riku glanced significantly at her arms and hands to make his point. Swallowing what she wanted to say Kairi instead nodded in confirmation, "Yeah, I think I can manage," she responded, not wanting him to know just how badly her limbs hurt right now. How Riku and Sora managed to do all of that fighting was beyond her; she hadn't even been at this for an hour and yet already her body had been telling her to quit after just 20 minutes.
Riku's cocky grin only widened, "Hmm, just wait until tomorrow morning," he said confidently and Kairi flushed and she crossed her arms and looked away in clear embarrassment, muttering under her breath about "stuck-up warrior's with overinflated ego's.
Chuckling at the fact that he had manage to get a rise out of her, Riku added, "I'll let you have tomorrow off, but after that it's back here every day after school, not complaints or excuses," was the firm warning he gave her as his Keyblade flashed before disappearing. Kairi did the same and massaged her hands as her taller friend frowned and rubbed his jaw, "Geez, woman I think you might have actually cracked something up there..." he garbled as he felt around for any broken teeth.
Rolling her eyes at that Kairi sniffed and brushed past him, "Nice try, but even I know that I've got a long way to go before I do any damage to anything or anyone," she retorted and Riku gave a helpless shrug, "Well, you can't say that I didn't try right?" he offered as his tactic failed.
They walked across the bridge in silence until coming to the dock where their boats were tied up. Kairi took a breath before saying, "Do you think Sora will change his mind?" the sudden question caught Riku off guard; his footsteps stuttered for a moment before he laughed loudly.
Grinning at her Riku shook his head, "Change his mind? Please,Sora will show up if only because he feels left out," the question clearly amused him and Kairi moved to defend her absent friend, but then reconsidered and shook her head, "Sorry to say but you do kind of have a point with that one," she conceded and Riku nodded in satisfaction as he motioned for her to go ahead of him.
Kairi moved to climb down into her boat, but turned around suddenly at the last minute, nearly clipping Riku's chin with her head. Leaning back in surprise he exclaimed, "Hey! What are..." Riku was cut off when she leaned up and gently kissed his cheek, lingering there for a moment before resting back on the soles of her feet.
Riku raised an eyebrow as Kairi smiled warmly, "Thanks for your help today. I promise I won't drag you down," she vowed as he smirked confidently in response, "With a thank you like that maybe I should have agreed to this earlier," he said facetiously as she punched his shoulder playfully before stepping into her boat and coiling the rope..
As Kairi rowed back to the main island she couldn't help but smile despite her aching, screaming back muscles. It would take time and effort, but next time her boy's went off to save the worlds she would not be left behind.
AN: So was that bad? It was probably bad...but I thought I would try my hand at a one-shot, maybe I'll try another one in the future. Meanwhile, reviews and constructive criticism are welcome and thanks for reading!