Sororities & Fraternities
Joint Fan Fiction by Enlightened Life & White Simplicity
Chapter 1 – Baggage and Beginnings
For most people, today would be an uneventful day filled with the usual fun-filled things which get boring after doing them for so long. But for Kairi, today was far from usual and she would have it any other day. Her azure eyes beamed through the window, feeling an aura of impending doom; the rain didn't help much either. She found herself staring at the passing people on the wet streets and feeling a great sense of jealously. Her vision followed them as they ran for shelter, laughing at the sudden downpour and probably talking about how fun their day had been. She let out a hard sigh which was followed by a hard grunt from her mother. It wasn't exactly an ideal day for either of them. Kairi squinted through her red bangs, trying to see out of the front screen but the rain made it possible. She slouched back in her seat, allowing her mind (at least) to wander elsewhere.
"This is your own fault, you know." Kairi jolted at the hard string of disapproval in her mothers voice.
"I know, but some things are worth it." Kairi retorted, ringing a finger through her auburn hair.
"It?" She snorted, "Nothing is worth my daughter, my only daughter, living in a house with those mongrels!"
Kairi gaped at her mother, appalled. "Wow, cutting to the insults already? I at least thought you'd wait and meet them this time-"
"Cut the attitude before I enrol you elsewhere!" The elder redhead shrieked, taking Kairi aback.
"Like...?" Kairi asked, curious. Her mother calmed down a little, ready to boast.
"Oathkeeper School for Superior Standard Education." She grinned widely.
Kairi felt herself fall even deeper into the leather. Superior Education? She hated it. Though as much as she loathed it, she did believe the housing would be better then where she was going to be living now. Kairi felt her cheeks flush brightly and hid them behind her coat collar. She would forever feel ashamed of the disaster that occurred less then 24 hours ago.
'Kairi, would you mind explaining this?'
'-Oh dear, don't pester the girl... she obviously wants this."
The redhead stared back and fourth between her quarrelling parents. She looked down at her mothers hand where a piece a paper was held out to her. It took a few seconds for Kairi's mind to register what this letter was.
Acceptance.
The redheads cerulean eyes lit up beaming. Shrieking excitedly, her parents cover their ears. She then began to twirl with glee, and hop around the wide opened room. Overjoyed, Kairi threw her arms up, sending the letter sky-rocketing into the air. Ignoring the awkward stares from her parents, she continued to dance happily. Although, after few moments, she finally notices the look on her parents faces. The teen suddenly stilled, facing them, trying to read their expressions. She was soon disappointed. Instead of happy congratulatory faces, she looked into the eyes of two very disappointed and furious guardians.
"Um... is something wrong?" Kairi asked sheepishly. "I... got in."
Her father sighed first, flattening his expression. "We know you did, Kairi." He zoned her, now looking like the overprotective father she recognized from her younger days. "That's the problem." Kairi's mother started towards the letter a few meters away.
"I don't want to go to one of those over-the-top schools. This college is right in the middle, it's not public, but not totally private either... its perfect." Kairi ushered sadly. "What could be the problem?"
"This!" Kairi gasped as her mother pushed the piece of paper in her face, causing her to nearly fall over.
"My acceptance letter?" Kairi gaped, "What? Wasn't the writing up to your standards, Mother?" She spat.
The taller women stared at Kairi for a moment, obviously trying to comprehend the insult. She grinned maliciously, "Of course it wasn't, but at least I can read it... unlike a certain teenager who missed out one tiny detail in the fine-print agreement."
Kairi was frozen for a moment. What could have she possibly missed that made her parents so angry? "May I see it?"
She reached for it but her mother instantly pulled it away. "You would probably have trouble reading it so listen up." The older female began:
"I, Kairi De' Alexandria Heartful, agree the conditions set above and the addition that I must be housed in a Campus Sorority while combined with a Fraternity, in the same household. If you do not wish to take this option then please acquire about Scholarship programs for the academically challenged. Please check here if you accept the housing arrangement stated above."
Kairi stood speechless, engrossed in her mistake. "I can't... believe it. I'm going to be living... there...?"
"Yes, you are!" They both answered at once.
As Kairi zoned back into reality, she could now vaguely make out an old Victorian style building in the distance. It greatly outmatched its neighbours in both height and width. The colour wasn't very attractive, dark red for the wood panellings around certain edges while the red was either oak or a misty shade of grey. It looked like it hadn't been used in a while. Kairi found herself moaning in her mind about how horrible this may be, but when she realized how much she sounded like her mother, she instantly shut up.
"You know, I heard that if they couldn't make this into a full house this year, they'd turn it into a Mall," The auburn elder started again, "And take a few of these houses with it. The mansion is in good shape, very good shape, but its like a ghost house."
"... G-ghost ho-ouse?" Kairi shook noticeably.
"Figure of speech."
"I see..." Kairi still shook at the thought. She turned back to the window to notice a few of the streets residents collecting their milk or papers. The car drew a lot of attention to itself. Their stares looked upon Kairi, who smiled widely at them as they passed by. Her smile immediately dropped into a sincere frown at the looks she received in return.
"Well, here we are. Your new cave." Her mother spoke, the car finally taking a stop in the large driveway.
"Well... I can tell who the optimist of this family is..." She mumbled with sarcasm, opening the car door to plop herself out. As Kairi gets herself out of the car completely, she takes a moment to tilt her head upwards, feeling the little water droplets dance down against her forehead and soft cheeks; she imagined... if the rain wasn't trickling down her spine then she would feel the sting of a hard stare right now. "I'll see you in a few weeks... I'll call, I remembered everything.. bye." Kairi continued to pull out her large bags out along with her.
"Don't come back like one of them, Kairi." She hears her mother's voice say sternly, taking Kairi aback.
The teen stood still for a moment, considering if she should bother. "One of them?" She could hear some quick footsteps behind her.
"Stuck-up and snobbish." She answered flatly.
Hearing footsteps stop in mid tracks behind her, Kairi turned around to see who it was. She noticed a girl with blonde hair and oceanic eyes, that were framed over by large reading glasses. She was petite, no bigger than Kairi. It was obvious to Kairi that she had heard the conversation between her and her mother, because the girl had a slightly insulted expression on her face. The blonde just quickly smiled at Kairi, before turning back to her own car to tell her parents something. Too irritated, Kairi slammed the car door shut. She walked over to the front right window and tapped twice, her mother rolled the window down and smirked.
"If I'm not a snob after living all my life with you, then this might be Heaven for me." Kairi whispered, just as flatly. As a response, the window quickly rolled back up, as the car hastily disappeared out of the driveway. Kairi watched from afar until her mother's car was completely out of sight.
She sighed, "She hadn't even said goodbye..."
"-God, I hate rain." An unfamiliar voice rang out. Kairi twisted around to see who it was. It appeared to be that blonde girl again. The blonde used one hand to hold a book over her head, to shield herself from the rain, as her other dragged along her belongings. Kairi realized, She's talking to herself? She giggled as she followed after the blonde. Kairi then looked downwards to her petite body and froze, noticing that the girls outfit only consists of one white dress... apart from whatever she wore below that... which was now very clearly visible.
"Oh... my... gosh-" Kairi broke into a loud laughter, making the small girl jump in surprise. Kairi's wet hair clung to her face as her head flung around in a fit of hilarity. The blonde didn't bother to turn and face her, even when she paused at the stairs; Her feet quickly hurried through the entrance of the large house, leaving behind a soaked Kairi outside, who was clutching onto her chest, trying to regain her breath from too much laughter.
The blonde hastily made her way through the large entrance hall to the front desk, ignoring the fact that she left a large water trail behind her. She was completely soaked, drenching in water from the top of her head, down to the light-blue and white sandals that she wore.
"I hate rain, so much..." The girl continued to complain to herself. She just couldn't stand it. It was one of the things she hated most in life. As she reached the front desk, she set her book down onto the counter, and placed her bags gently on the floor near her feet.
Pulling off her reading glasses to wipe them dry, so she could see more clear again, "Excuse me, I'm here to check in," Her soft voice called around for any service. The blonde then placed her glasses back on to see a girl about her age in front of her.
"Name." The low monotone voice of a girl spoke, not much expression showed in her voice. The blonde looked up to see the clerk in front of her. The poker faced clerk had short purplish silver hair, with bangs that draped to one side over her left eye; her other ruby coloured eye was visible. Her name tag read, "Fuu."
"Naminé Carolyn Snow."
The blonde answered. The clerk turned to open a file cabinet, pulling out a folder filled with papers. Trying to keep patience, Naminé rested her chin down on her palm, while her other free hand tapped her fingers gently on the desk. The clerk, Fuu, was taking a while as she flipped through a few paperwork.
Naminé was too deep into thought, that she hadn't even noticed that someone came over to wait for their turn a few feet to the left of her. The person kicked up their skateboard from beneath their feet, placing the board down gently to balance it up against the front desk. Even the sound of their heavy belongings dropping onto the floor hadn't caught Naminé's attention.
"Alright," The clerk finally spoke, pulling out a packet file. "Naminé." Fuu said with a flat tone, but continued to slowly read through the info Naminé put into the resume to herself. She paused, looking at a certain page, containing a picture of Naminé. Fuu looked up at Naminé, and back down to the picture, studying it. Even without an expression, she said, "Weird."
Naminé looked back over to the clerk. "What?" The blonde asked, confused.
"Nothing."
Completely lost, Naminé tried to shrug it off.
The clerk finished reading. "Sign." Fuu ordered, sliding the packet slowly towards Naminé, so she could sign. Grabbing a pen from the nearby pen holder, Naminé pushed her reading glasses back up in place over her eyes, as they were sliding down a bit, before flipping through the papers to sign.
"Name." Fuu repeated, which confused Naminé to look back up. She noticed Fuu wasn't talking to her this time.
"Roxas Nicholas Hikari."
A male voice answered. Naminé looked to her left, and noticed a boy with dirty-blonde spikes, that waved in one direction, along with long bangs that hovered over his eyes; His eyes revealed to have a darker shade of blue than her own. He was also completely wet from the rain, Naminé noticed. As Fuu turned around again to open the cabinet for another file, the boy averted his cerulean eyes over to Naminé. Naminé avoided his glance by quickly looking back down to her papers, and continued to mind her own business.
After a few moments passed by, It was starting to bother her, a lot. Not that she knew why he was still staring at her. Naminé could feel his eyes on her as she continued to read through the packet. She just tried her best to ignore him, but it was starting to make her feel uncomfortable to a point where she was getting more irritated than being completely soaked from the rain.
The dirty blonde continued to look over her as he waited for his own papers to sign. His cerulean eyes couldn't help but look upon her soft, pale looking face, down to her innocent, pink lips. Although the main thing that did draw his attention most... were her light-blue eyes, that were hidden behind her large black framed glasses. He noticed she was completely soaked as well... and somehow, not pervertedly, his attention was drawn downwards...
Naminé suddenly heard a snicker escape from the boy. She looked over to him. A small smile was seen on his face as he tried to contain his laughter. Naminé honestly thought he had a nice smile. But that wasn't the point. She knew he was obviously laughing at something that's related to her. He kept on staring, and now he's laughing... it really annoyed her. What was so funny to laugh about her? Her small brows furrowed, and she pursed her lips. He coughed through his laugh, trying to turn away as she caught him laughing.
"What is your problem?!" She snapped from her insecurity. His eyes glazed back onto her now cutely angered face. Roxas was taken a back, not expecting that an innocent looking girl like her can become so angry,
"Why are you laughing... and why do you keep staring at me?!" She's so blunt when she's angry...
"I wasn't staring." His voice sounded confident, but the small amount of red tint on his cheeks told a different story. She glared at him, expecting more to his answer. Roxas tried to find words, "I was just wondering... how a girl like you can get into a Sorority... that's all." He grinned, then added, "Four eyes."
That wasn't the best choice of words...
"Excuse me?!" Naminé scowled, "Who do you think you are!?"
"Roxas." Fuu said dryly, interrupting... basically saving the dirty blonde from being torn apart. Surprisingly, Fuu was unaware of what was going on. "Sign." She calmly slid over his bundle of papers.
Roxas took his papers, "I'm Roxas," He said over to Naminé, "A new Fraternity." Surprisingly, he took the pen from Naminé's hand. The pen she was using. He gave her a smirk when she scowled again. Without reading, Roxas just signed off all the pages that required a signature, and gave the paperwork back to Fuu.
Picking up his skateboard and bags off the ground, he smiled over at Naminé.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, four eyes." He waved off. Naminé glared to his back of his head as he walked away.
"What a jerk..." Naminé grumbled, "The one thing I could possibly hate more than rain, are immature boys like him..."
Naminé stormed off into the closest room to dry off, after realizing how wet she actually was; it couldn't have been raining that much. She cursed sourly to herself as she trudged her luggage past an old, oak frame, not noticing that a certain redhead had found her way into the lobby.
Having not seen anyone check in, Kairi began to pull her bags towards the large staircase, which grandly rooted out from left to right. She subconsciously released the handles, shuffling forward in admiration of the room around her. She whistled quietly. The outside didn't to it justice. Reaching the banister, she traced her finger along it and looked as though she were humming. It was as if the room was singing to her. She began to imagine a song in her mind-
"Name."
She jumped at the unexpected voice. For a moment, she thought she had imagined it.
"Name."
She swivelled around to try and see if anyone was there. Satisfied that she was alone, she sat down on the stairs and began to-
"Name."
That was totally not imagined. "Hello?"
There was a long pause.
"Na-"
"Oh, for Twilight's sake, just give the clerk your damn name already!" A frustrated voice demanded from afar, catching Kairi off guard.
Kairi blinked a few times, still unable to find to the sources of either voice. A loud rustling noise was suddenly heard a few meters away. The confused teen cocked her head in interest, loosening her tense shoulders. She back-stepped a little, popping around the corner to pry. A girl not much older than herself stood before her. She seemed bored... or just generally unmoved; with her pale eyes glancing emptily on the redhead; light grey hair complimenting them. Her clothes were very bland, navy blue secretary clothing which fit tightly around her already small frame. She noticed the girls name tag, "Fuu."Their eyes locked for a moment before the dismal girl pointed to the desk, hinting for her to check in.
"Oh." Kairi mentally face palmed. She paced sluggishly over to the counter, grabbing the first pen she found. The girl had also followed suit and took her place, in all her slug-like glory, at the other side. As Fuu asked for her name, she took a short time in getting out sheets of paper, and presenting them in front of Kairi. Kairi stared at the sheet in front of her in anguish, reminding her of her last mistake.
"Um... where do I sign?" She stupidly asked.
"Name." Fuu whacked her own pen on the paper, leaving a large ink blob where Kairi had to sign. Kairi winced but signed.
Fuu grabbed the papers and disappeared behind the wall. Kairi tried to look over to see what she was doing, but could only see her handing the paper to a seemingly much taller person. Fuu's head suddenly shot around to face Kairi, causing her to tumble backwards. Her body hit the floor with a hard thumped sound, followed after by a loud gasp. Kairi's eyes shot open. That gasp didn't belong to her, and... it sounded moist. Curious as she was, Kairi couldn't help but wonder who she had startled.
"Um, hello?" Kairi called, hoping for an answer.
"Go away!" The voice cried, sounding very upset.
Kairi didn't give up, "Where are you? Are you okay?" She had left her bags behind, as she began to walk towards where the voice was heard.
"That jerk..." Kairi heard a girl mutter to herself, sounding more annoyed than sad. Finding herself standing in front of a large door... She decided to peek inside, seeing many tall book shelves, packed tight with pages upon pages of different documents. She walked in, feeling a little too giddy about this room. When her eyes drifted onto the wallpapers, and up towards the ceiling, she felt butterflies explode within her. Stars. Millions of them; scattered across a gleaming cobalt sky illuminated by a moon shaped lamp shade which hung royally in the center, as if the very stars were bowing to it.
Kairi's jaw dropped abruptly. "Wow..."
"The person who created that was an artist... he believed that being in a wide, beautiful surrounding could make one's imagination feel much more... alive." A voice spoke quietly, with a well trained accent, "This is one of the main reasons I agreed to come here."
Kairi turned to look over her shoulder, spotting the blonde girl from earlier... the girl who had very soft blonde hair and light blue orbs, that were hidden behind her black framed glasses. Realizing that she was also the same voice that was upset a short while ago, Kairi walked up to her.
The innocent blonde was comfortably sat on a black beanbag with a large book on her lap. It appeared to be very thin, so Kairi suspected it to be a drawing pad. As Kairi walked closer, she realized that the girls eyes kept drifting to the unoccupied white beanbag by her side. She took the hint and walked over to sit down. Kairi decided to start conversation,
"Do you like reading?"
The girl brushed her blonde bangs from her face as she scanned Kairi. She smiled shyly and clutched her pad, "Y-yes... I do, very much so. Though, I prefer to draw." She sniffled, obviously still upset.
"I see, that book seems important to you," Kairi started, feeling suddenly awkward, "May I ask why you were upset before? Were you the one who yelled at me?"
The girl answered simply with "I'm sorry."
Kairi wasn't sure if she wasn't able to answer, or if she was really apologizing.
"Don't be... it helped." Kairi smiled sincerely,
"I'm Kairi."
"...N-naminé," Naminé introduced herself, glancing over to Kairi with slight fear. She appeared to be very shy. "Nice t-to... meet yo-you!" Trying her best to appear friendly, she gave a crooked smile; yet to Kairi, it looked very pretty.
Awkward...Kairi started to fidget, unable to really handle the uncomfortable atmosphere.
"Anyway, Well... I, uh..."
"Its okay-"
"-AHHH!!" Both girls heads shot up in surprise... hearing a painful yell from the lobby. It set the awkwardness into rewind as they both charged out of the door to find out who it was. Kairi ran out in head, feeling awfully tired for some reason. Naminé trailed shortly behind, still wet from the rain. The redhead remembered her companions predicament and stopped short.
"Wait!" She called, distracting the confused blonde. Kairi began to strip off her coat, looking over Naminé in the process. Naminé backed off a little, glaring at Kairi.
"What are you doing?!"
Kairi stopped, looking up to stare at her, dumbfounded. "What... what does it look like I'm doing?"
Naminé blushed. "Um, I'd rather not answer."
The auburn haired girl giggled slightly and stood upright, holding her coat out to Naminé. "Here. You need it more then me," She scanned her again, "Much more."
Naminé finally looked down at herself and her eyes stuck for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something but it only came out as random muttering. Kairi shook her coat a little, smiling that no water dripped off it. Naminé closed her eyes and bit onto her bottom lip, snatching the coat from Kairi.
"Thanks..." She turned to face Kairi, only to find her already running ahead. She started to shuffle after her, feeling more then a little embarrassed. Kairi ran into the lobby and froze, guilt washing over her. She stared at a large pile on the floor in front of her, consisting of papers, her luggage and... a spiky haired boy? who appeared to be rubbing his head in pain?
He looked up to Kairi, instantly blushing, "Oh.. hey... I'm really clumsy, you see, and um-"
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Kairi cut in, rushing to offer him a hand. She smiled to him bluntly, making him blush.
"What? Why are you sorry?" He asked. She pulled him up and instinctively let go, rushing as she picked her belongings.
She turned back to him, remembering that he asked a question. "Well, this is all my stuff..."
The boy placed his hand back on his head, rubbing it in a nervous fashion, "Well, why is it all out here?" He grinned a little, taunting her.
"Because I went to talk to Naminé." Kairi replied simply.
He had started to pull at his brunet spikes, fixing them. "Who?"
"Nami-" Kairi spun around to look for someone, but she was no-where to be seen. The redhead groaned irritably, feeling like an idiot. She clenched her teeth, ready to look for her. She started back towards the door when the boy gripped her shoulder softly, pulling her back. Her neck twisted to see her luggage again and she flushed. "Never-mind, its nothing." She arced around to pick her things up. The brunet beside her mimicked and she glared at him.
"What are you doing?" She catechized, furrowing her brow.
"Cleaning up my mess." He answered flatly, avoiding her gaze.
Kairi stared at him for a long time, hoping to frighten him away from her things. He didn't even blink. Defeated, she shuffled away from him, trying to pick up as much as she could, by herself.
"This isn't your mess." Kairi said resolutely.
The brunet looked sheepishly at her, "Heh.. wasn't this all nicely stacked up before I stumbled into it?" He outstretched an arm across the piles of luggage, showcasing it. "This is my fault."
There was a long awkward silence between the two. The only sound was the jingling of Kairi's bedroom armaments as they were placed back in their proper places. Kairi twitched nervously, finding it hard to maintain her posture.
"Stop." Kairi stood up, finally annoyed.
Surprisingly, instead of cowering in fear, he simply looked at her and smiled. "Well, I'm Sora!"
Kairi gaped at him, taken aback. "Wh-what?" She asked quietly.
"Sor-ahhhh." He pronounced slowly, moving his mouth into a small 'o' position at the same time. Kairi looked at him as if he was crazy. When he noticed her gaze, he winked vividly in her direction. She gasped lightly, still shocked by the strange subject change. Sora turned his back to her and started again.
Kairi stopped momentarily and spoke up, "Kairi," before instantly going back to work as if she had said nothing.
Sora dropped a pair of jeans in surprise. "Excuse me?" He asked in a rather high pitched voice.
Both teens stopped moving and turned to face each other. Their eyes locked for a moment, allowing both to see the confusion fogging each others minds. Kairi opened her mouth moderately, making Sora's eyes widen in suspense. She moved closer, as if to whisper in his ear; Sora's breathing got heavy and rigid, making Kairi giggle.
Kairi smiled lightly and pushed him back, quickly standing up to look down at an even more confused brunet. His mouth was slightly hanging open. Kairi tilted her hand and smirked even wider. "Didn't you hear me?! I said, we're done! Now please stop staring at me and help get these up the stairs."
"Oh," Sora shook his head, scolding himself, "Right."
Kairi ran ahead, carrying many more bags than Sora could handle. Her grin was the widest it had been all day as she faced him again. "Well, lets go!" She ran up the stairs and out of sight. Sora stared after her, still in a perplexed gaze.
He smiled meekly to himself. Uttering silently, "Sure thing, Kairi."
Word for thought:
"Remember even though the outside world might be raining,
if you keep on smiling the sun will soon show its face and smile back at you."