+ a/n: SO FOUR MONTHS LATER… I have a lot of excuses for not updating this damn fic for so long (PLENTY of them), but I'll save you the trouble. But I'll let you know that MY COMPUTER DIED. Thank goodness I had emailed this fanfic to myself for some bizarre reason. -Dies- But, really, I'm very, truly sorry.
But anyway, thanks for all of your reviews!! They meant a lot to me, and it really encourages me to write more. I like writing for my own enjoyment too but you reviewers are like the pickles and tomatoes of my ham sandwich! -heart- Again, I am sorry for making everyone wait.
+ dsclm: 1- Kingdom Hearts I/II and the Final Fantasy series are copyrighted to Square. 2- I did NOT write or make up any contents of The Glass Menagerie; it is a play by Tennessee Williams that is also available in novel form. No, you don't necessarily have to read it to understand the references I use from it. 3- and finally, the vocabulary definition used in this chapter was stolen from dictionary dot com.
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Tuesday Affairs:02.Tuesday.Trainwreck
Namine stared at her cousin's food as Selphie nervously fidgeted in her seat. Kairi stared to the side with eyes as heavy as death, gaunt and weary possibly from a sleepless night. She might very well have been a zombie. Olette did her usual studying, but even she, the seemingly uncaring study-holic, noticed that there was definitely something up with her redheaded friend. What was even stranger to her was that Selphie didn't crack one joke or put in any silly snide comments to lighten the mood. Suddenly, in the midst of her studying, the tip of her pencil broke. The table was so silent that both Namine and Selphie heard it snap… although, they couldn't tell whether it was really her pencil that snapped, or if it was her.
"AGH!" Olette cried, making everyone in the table jump, including Kairi. They all looked at her, frightened. "THAT'S IT! This is ridiculous! I know I always complained about how loud this table was, but this silence is so freaking awkward that I can't even concentrate!" she exclaimed. Kairi then realized that those angry eyes behind those glasses were pointed directly towards her. She leaned back in defense, scared and confused as to what the hell was going on.
"W-what! What'd I do!" Kairi ask.
"I'll tell you what you're doing!" Olette began. "There's something wrong with you! And it's bothering us! Some kind of pent up tension is leaking out and it's sending us bad vibes! Selphie isn't fooling around, Namine isn't babbling about some hot jock, and I'm having a hard time studying! What the hell is bothering you, dammit!"
Indeed, Kairi was dumbfounded. She didn't know whether her friend was really worried, or if she was demanding an answer because it was a hazard to her perfect grades. She glanced at both Namine and Selphie – the look on their faces screamed 'terror' and they dared not say a word lest they pay the consequence. The three of them knew that Kairi was scary when she was mad, but they were well aware that Olette was tens times worse. The bookworm might as well slit your throat and it would've been merciful. Kairi shrugged back and shielded herself with her plastic spoon. A sheepish smile spread across her face.
"U-um… So, it's that obvious?" she asked.
"You, like…" Namine squeaked, pointing at her food, "…You're not eating. You've been, like… mashing your French fries this whole time."
Kairi looked down at her food tray. Undeniably, her french-fries had turned into mashed potatoes while her other foods haven't even been touched.
"Uh… oh."
"And you're not even looking at your food. You keep staring at—at nothing! You've been totally spaced out the whole day today, it's creepy," Selphie added. Kairi looked up at Olette again, her eyes seething with irritation.
"S-sorry," Kairi said, scratching her head. "I've got a lot on my mind and I didn't mean to—"
"THAT'S WHAT I MEAN," Olette cried. The three wanted to duck under the table. Even other students started to notice the ruckus that the school nerd was causing, but fortunately quickly brushed it off.
"Huh?"
"Your reaction! That response was weak," Olette stated. "If you were normal, you would've thrown out some fake, BS-excuse like, 'I'm just not hungry' 'Nothing's wrong' or 'I don't know what you're talking about' or something! So the fact that you're being this honest tells us that something's up! You usually lie to us so we wouldn't worry – what the hell happened to your headstrong, proud, self-sufficient redheaded self? THAT'S what I'm talking about. SO, in conclusion, just having you act like you're unable to handle whatever problem is really freaking me out, Kai!"
Selphie and Namine gaped at Olette in both fear and amazement. The girl was ever so observant and was quick and accurate with her analyzing. Things were never overlooked with her.
"Wow, you're so right, Olette!" Selphie agreed. "Kairi's unusually mellow and complacent today!
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kairi replied angrily.
"Yeah, like, totally. I would, like, know, too! Kairi's, like, not so good at the girl-talk thing so, like, for her to even, like, try is, like, amazing!" Namine intoned.
"What did you just say?" Kairi growled. Selphie laughed at Namine's comment as the blonde took a book to hide behind before Kairi could do anything. Finally, the usual liveliness started to immerse. Olette's expression slowly reverted back to monotony as she sat back down, only to continue where she left off in the textbook. She took out a pen.
"That's better," she mumbled to herself with a sigh. Kairi turned to Olette, nodding in silent gratitude before turning back to the more easy-going duo.
"But, like, really, Kairi! You can, like, talk to us if you want. That's what girls do best – talk!" Namine chirped.
"No. I don't want to talk about it. I'd throw up," the redhead snappily replied.
"Hey! That's not fair," Selphie pouted. "But that's okay. You'll tell us one day! You can't bottle up all your problems forever!"
Selphie and Namine laughed, Olette studied, and Kairi sighed at the boisterous yet familiar lunch scene. In the back of her mind however, the thought of Sora managed to linger in her thoughts, constantly poking at her like a thorn. He hadn't approached her or talked to her the whole day, much to Kairi's relief. So much about being 'friends' she thought to herself. She still felt apprehensive about what happened yesterday, especially since today was Tuesday.
- --- - --- - --- - --- - --- -
Kairi glanced at Sora almost impatiently. She couldn't help but feel annoyed – one would think that he would at least greet her the inevitable 'hello' once English class started. But no, he didn't even say one word to her, not even a flirtatious smirk or wink and already the class would be over soon. It had been almost exactly twenty-four hours – twenty-four hours – since his last words had put her under anticipation and stress. Her mind was so boggled with uncertain expectations for the rest of the day that she was only able to half-listen in class.
"When Tennessee Williams wrote this play," Mrs. Trepe lectured, "he portrayed the Wingfield's as a group of people that were just not in-touch with reality. When Amanda first hears of Jim O'Connor's last name, right away she places him into the Irish-stereotype that he is Catholic and that they should prepare fish for dinner…"
Kairi clenched her fist and nibbled on her thumbnail. Who was he to totally forget about her existence the day after they met? Not to mention the fact that he kept showing obvious interest in her. Then again, she should've known that 'jerk' and 'player' were two traits that always came hand-in-hand. It was because of those very small aspects that Kairi had finally begun to feel a tiny pinch of insult. But the frustrated teen shook her head and brushed the thought off. As much as the girl felt like his inattentive actions were attacks on her dignity, the heart of the issue was just that he simply left out the details as to exactly where they were going; and they were apparently going there by train. She took another look at him and saw that he was passing notes to his longhaired friend who sat behind him. It was clear to Kairi that Sora was not listening to the teacher at all. Then again, who was she to criticize him about that?
Finally, the bell rang. The class period ended. Unlike yesterday, it was noticeable that Sora wasn't intent on rushing out of the classroom this time. Kairi decided to play it cool and she got up from her seat to casually make her way to the door. She knew he'd take the bait. Don't even look at him – just walk. She passed by Sora and his friend, but just before she reached the door…
"Wait," Sora called out. Success. She turned to him as he got up; his friend did the same.
"Yes?"
"I forgot to tell you which train station we're going to!" he said happily with a seemingly devious smile. Sora's longhaired friend looked away with a sigh and Kairi noticed this.
"Um…" Kairi could only stare back suspiciously. Instead of retorting she decided to play along. "Yeah… I was wondering about that."
"West Destiny Station," he replied. "I'll pay for your ticket. Meet us by the front entrance."
"Get to your next class, kids," Ms Trepe said.
"Kay, bye-bye!" Sora chirped. "Let's go, Riku."
"Wait!" Kairi cried, "Is that all?"
"Yup," he winked. Before the duo left Riku looked at her briefly with a sincere apologetic look – but said nothing. Kairi inwardly groaned in agony when they were gone. At that moment she was sure that Sora was just playing around with her.
Alright, then, she thought, I'll play your little game for now.
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School ended at 2pm. It was half an hour passed then and Kairi was already sitting on a bench underneath a coconut tree by the front entrance of West Destiny Station. She cautiously looked around as if to make sure that no one had followed her – earlier before she left school, the teen had a hard time telling her friends, especially Selphie and Namine, that she wasn't able to spend time with them that day. Kairi wasn't concerned much with Olette, but God only knew what kind of hell would be released if the other two were to find out she was secretly meeting up with Sora. And what was worse was that Kairi knew that the pair was crazy enough to follow her. The idea of the humiliating tragedy made her shudder. She shook her head to shake the thought off and groped at the books in her bag to take out anything worthy of studying. A moment later, her vocabulary book was in her hand. Oh, good, she thought, I wasn't able to study any of the words last night. She flipped through the pages and found a word that caught her eye yet she read only a part of the definition.
Train wreck n
As a Metaphor:
Used to describe something distasteful or disastrous, yet inevitable, or something distasteful yet compelling in some form: 'You don't want to stare, but you just can't look away'. A person may be described in this way as being a 'train wreck'.
"What the heck?" the teen mumbled to herself as she raised an eyebrow. "That's not even a word. It's two words."
"What's two words?"
Kairi looked up to see Sora smiling at her. Before she could respond, she noticed a certain someone standing behind him. Another small shock overtook her as she stared. As if two words weren't enough to get her puzzled, fate had sent her two people to convince her otherwise.
"Why are there two of you?" Kairi asked.
"You mean, why's Riku here?" Sora replied. "I thought you knew he was. I did tell you to meet us by the front entrance, right?"
What the heck! Kairi thought. She switched glances with Riku, who was a bit taller than Sora and he gave her the same rueful look. Somehow she was thankful he wasn't much of a talker – maybe he wouldn't be much of a nuisance either. She put her book back in her bag and got up.
"I'll hold your bag," Sora offered. Kairi tilted her head to the side, unsure of his unexpected chivalry.
"You sure?"
"Yeah!" he insisted; Kairi let him carry it. The three of them entered the Train Station and Sora, who was leading the way, went straight to the end of the line to get tickets. In spite of the crowded scene the line was relatively short. Kairi looked up at Riku curiously. She had not heard him say one word since she saw him. From what little she knew about him, she felt like he was an okay guy.
"So…" she began, earning a blank stare from Riku. "What's your reason for coming along?"
"He's here for a different reason, although we're going to the same place," Sora explained.
"I-I see," Kairi said. Sora smiled and turned back to the counter, seeing that it was his turn to buy the tickets. Can't you let him talk for himself? She wanted to say to him. She turned back to Riku. "I'm Kairi. And you're Riku?"
"…Yeah," he replied. His voice was a deep baritone, not too low but noticeably well-passed puberty and was unexpectedly soft and gentle. But that wasn't important.
"Do you know where we're going?" she asked. Riku turned away but Kairi only cocked her head to the side further. If he recalled correctly, he wasn't allowed to tell her until they were on the train. He nervously coughed as Kairi's luring eyes only made him sweat.
"U-umm…" he scratched his head as if he forgot. Kairi waited for the answer patiently yet eagerly, obviously not buying the act.
"Let's go, guys!" Sora chirped with their tickets in hand. He excitedly made his way toward the trains and Riku and Kairi rushed to follow him. The trio approached the trainman and it was Sora who handed him all three of the tickets.
"To Twilight Town, huh?" The trainman said. "Hop in, then."
"W-what?" Kairi exclaimed. Before she could further react, Sora grabbed her wrist and before she knew it, they were sitting in the train. Riku soon joined them and both of the boys were on either side of her.
For a second, Kairi was stunned with sudden shock. There was a sudden traffic jam in her flowing train of thought and she did not know how to react.
"T-twilight Town…?" she repeated in disbelief. "Twilight Town? We're going onthe mainland – across the ocean? That's passed Deep Dive City! That's where it snows!"
"Uh… yeah. Surprise!" Sora cheered sheepishly. Kairi stared at him dumbfounded and he nervously cleared his throat. "I-it's not that far off… This is an express train so we'd get there within an hour and thirty minutes, maybe two hours – regular trains usually take 3, or sometimes even 4 hours."
"Th-that IS far off," Kairi said. She cast her eyes at her feet and there was a long pause. She dared not look at him – If anyone were to see her face they would automatically be able to tell that she wanted someone's head on a platter. Then an idea popped in her head; there was still enough time to run out of the train like a madman, claiming that nothing had ever happened and denying her studentship in any of Sora's classes: an automatic F on the English project, but what else mattered? That seemed like the easier choice. But no – her logical senses got the best of her and her conscience said it would simply be uncalled for, save for being called crazy. The tips of her ponytail touched the back of her neck, slightly moist with a bit of sweat. Sora looked at his friend awkwardly. Riku sighed and covered his face with his sizeable palm.
"If it makes you feel any better, we're stopping by on the outskirts of Deep Dive City… to a place called Traverse Town, to avoid a crowded train," Riku suggested. In spite of Riku's efforts, Kairi did not react. Then again, did the brunet really expect him to make things all better?
"I'm sorry… I was scared that if I told you where we were going, you'd refuse," Sora pouted. Kairi heard the upset undertone in his voice and almost started feeling sorry for reacting the way she did. She was able to glance up at him to see non-other than his exaggerated pouting lips and his wide puppy dog eyes, casting that all too-overused adorable face. She cringed. She almost fell for that trick, too. "You're acting like we're going to a different country. Besides, Twilight Town isn't such a bad place – by the time we get there there'll be an amazing sunset!"
Kairi stared at Sora with a look of subtle agony as he gave her a firm and pleading gaze. Their eyes were locked in a silent battle as Riku sighed in his own distress, wishing he weren't so much a part of any of it. At that moment, the three slightly jerked from side-to-side, as there was sudden motion. Pretty soon, the train had begun to move forward and they were well on their way to Twilight Town. Kairi exhaled and looked away in defeat.
"Well, it's too late to back down now," Kairi said.
"Are you mad at me? Aw, please don't be mad… I'm really sorry. I just wanted to finally get to know you," Sora said with the utmost sincerity. The redhead saw his expression to be truthfully earnest, thinking that he was acting like a whiney kid who desperately wanted to get something from a toy store.She was a bit surprised to see this kind of attitude coming from Sora, who was usually portrayed as someone who kept his cool. As strange as it seemed to her, seeing him like this cooled her down somehow.
"I'm not… mad," Kairi replied. "Just surprised. It's not common for anyone in Destiny Islands to go as far out as Twilight Town for weekly reasons… I guess I got a little freaked out. I mean it's a little suspicious…" she said warily.
"What? You make it sound like we're kidnapping you," Sora grinned.
"Then tell me – is this really what you do every Tuesday?" Kairi demanded, "And why the heck do you go all the way to Twilight Town?"
"Family reasons – the both of us. Right Riku?" Sora said. Riku confirmed it with a nod. "In fact, Riku goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and sometimes he even stays there for the whole weekend. Me, I just go on Tuesdays."
"Hmm, wow," Kairi replied contemplatively. Then she noticed the other people on the train, all of which were staring and glancing at them. Looking at Sora on her right and Riku on her left – well, how couldn't they not see two incredibly good-looking guys? And being the lucky girl to be squished in between them, Kairi couldn't help but feel envy coming from the other passengers. It was just like school – Sora and Riku, the notorious duo, the hottest most popular and most suave guys known in the school, always noticed and always adored. It was Sora who usually did all of the smooth-talk and it was Riku who just stayed by his side with equal amount of attention. The redhead glanced up at Sora who sat happily next to her. In fact, what with his infamous reputation she found it very uncanny that he had not pulled off any of his flirty remarks to her yet. As for Riku, well, whatever was going through his head, he always followed after Sora. She thought that perhaps this was all an elaborate trap to some kind of humiliating destination or prank, or even worse, something truly grave that would cause harm. She was a defenseless girl after all, in spite of her tough exterior. And there were two of them she would be going up against.
Suddenly, Kairi barely heard something in her right ear. Looking up, she saw Sora with his head slumped over, as there was no headrest. Kairi stared: was he sleeping? And although it wasn't too loud, his snoring was still audible. She turned to Riku to find him leaning on the side bar (as his seat was the closest to the doors), about to fall asleep as well.
The girl sighed. Kidnappers typically wouldn't fall asleep on the job let alone drop their guard. Kairi sighed once more and decided to get a book out to kill some time, remembering that Sora had her bag. She turned to him and saw that he was practically cuddling it as if it were some teddy bear. Cursing under her breath, she tugged at her bag carefully, trying her hardest not to wake him up (in spite of her disliking him). She tugged and tugged, but to no avail – he was hugging the bag too tightly. In her annoyance, she finally yanked…
…and then yelped, as Sora's head fell and plopped right on her shoulder.
Then Kairi's thought process stopped; her whole body froze and her ears became momentarily deaf as the beating of her heart thumped loudly in her ear, certain that it was loud enough to even wake Sora up. But he didn't and she felt numb all over except for the warm spot on her shoulder that he breathed upon. She inhaled his scent: sweet and unexplainably pleasant and definitely the trigger that made Kairi blush at that very moment. When she took notice of the other passengers giggle at them, muffling about how cute the 'couple' was rather loudly, Kairi only clutched her bag in utter embarrassment, wishing she could scream. It was all her fault really, for jerking the bag and bringing Sora down with it. Fine, keep the damn bag, she thought and she let go of it in defeat. As if in response, Sora snuggled up closely against her neck as his hair brushed against her cheek. The redhead froze at this, throwing her gaze downward to hide her flushed face. Kairi wish that her hair wasn't tied up so high and she wondered if he was really just faking all of this. But the gentle snoring confirmed that he was surely asleep; regardless, she suddenly wanted to punch him.
In spite of her anguish, the teen didn't seem to consider to just push him softly back in place. Perhaps it was because she felt sorry for him lacking a headrest while Riku had at least a pole to lean on, or maybe it was because the other passengers seemed to watch their every move. Whatever the reason was, Kairi ended up letting him rest on her shoulder all throughout the ride. She found herself too occupied putting up with him to find something else to do.
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"Sorry we fell asleep on you, Kairi!" Sora said half-asleep as they stepped foot into Twilight Town.
"It's okay." It was just you who fell asleep on me, Kairi thought. She couldn't help but wonder if she saw a tiny smile on his face when he yawned; needless to say, he was still holding her bag.
The first thing that caught Kairi's eye was the sky – the sunset was amazing as ever, as Sora described. She couldn't help but gaze with admiration at the scenery. Sora noticed her fascination and his smirk widened.
"Welcome to Twilight Town, Kairi," Sora said to her.
"I… never knew the sunset here would look this different from the beach setting I'm used to," she gawked. Sora gave her a moment to admire the scenery but looked over at Riku who was getting ready to part ways with them.
"Oh. Bye, Riku!" Sora said. Kairi's view swerved over to Riku, who was waving goodbye toward them; her jaws dropped.
"WAIT!" she cried. "Are you telling me you're leaving us…!?"
Riku nodded.
"WHY!" Kairi demanded.
"I told you already," Sora said, "that Riku and I come here for separate reasons."
"You said for family reasons!"
"Well, do Riku and I look related to you?" Sora chuckled pointing at his face. "It's just US two working on the project – Riku's not in our group."
"Bye," Riku said to them and he left in a rush, probably before he felt responsible for Kairi's distress. She let out a long sigh before casting a glare at Sora.
"First you don't tell me where we're going, then you don't even tell me Riku was riding with us – and now this?" she asked.
"I thought telling you Riku's business wasn't important. Let's go?" he replied with that all-too-friendly-welcoming-and-charming grin of his. Kairi needed to punch someone – maybe attack an innocent Twilight Town Civilian – anyone but Sora, who, by now, became somehow untouchable to her. She didn't know why she tried staying nice to him – maybe for the sake of her English grade. In spite of her frustration, the two moved on and walked through the streets of Twilight Town. It was more crowded and had a more suburban feel to it than Destiny Islands.
"Hey, look over there," Sora said. Before Kairi even looked to where he was pointing, he grabbed her hand and started walking toward an ice cream parlor. "Want some ice cream? My treat."
"No, I'm okay," Kairi replied.
"Aw, come on. I'm just trying to cheer you up," he said. Kairi's stern look didn't change. She won't let his charm win her over this time. "Look, if you let me buy some for you, I'll answer any questions you ask." Kairi face almost lit up.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yeah!" he turned to the ice cream man, "One Sea Salt ice cream, please."
"Hey, I didn't say yes yet…"
"But you were going to, right?" Sora paid the ice cream man and thanked him, giving the ice cream to Kairi. She hesitantly took it, unsure of how to react.
"…Why are you so weird?" she asked. Sora just smiled.
"Come on, let's go," he said and he walked forward.
"Wait," Kairi said, following after him. "You said you would answer any question I asked – you ddn't answer that first one."
"But I don't know the answer to that one, so I can't answer it."
"Okay, fine," she grumbled, licking her Popsicle stick. She wasn't sure if she was still angry with him, or thankful for the ice cream, or suspicious. "Where are we going?"
"To the place I go to every Tuesday."
"That's too vague," she complained.
"It's – where I work. My family's place, if you will."
"Huh? Don't you live in Destiny Island?"
"I live with my cousin."
"Um, oh. Why?"
"Complicated family reasons that I hardly understand myself."
Kairi raised an eyebrow but decided not to even pry into it. She thought for a moment as she licked her ice cream a few more times. It was a strange, tangy, salty sweet taste; almost perfect for thinking mode.
"Um, okay… wouldn't your parents think it's weird that you're bringing home some strange girl?"
"Oh, not at all," he said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Uh, why?"
"They're not around anymore."
"Huh?"
"They're dead."
Kairi stopped short. Sora stopped a few steps after her and looked behind.
"What?" he asked.
"I… I'm so sorry," Kairi said. "I shouldn't have asked." She waited for him to mumble an 'It's okay' and to give her a pained, depressed look. Instead, his reaction was the opposite.
"Aw, don't worry about it! You didn't know anyway," he replied with a grin. "I wouldn't have let you do this if I knew you might hit a sore spot. Don't think anything of it 'cause I really don't care."
"Uh… okay." Kairi didn't know what to say – he really did seem like he didn't care. Or maybe he did. She suddenly felt her heart go out to him as they walked on with an awkward silence, although Sora didn't seem anywhere near uncomfortable as Kairi was. She thought if this was how he acted with everyone he talked to, including her cousin, Namine. It never really appeared that way, though, since his flirtatiousness was quite apparent in his expression and body language. It was almost as if he was a totally different person from what Kairi had conceived him to be. For a minute there, she almost thought that he wasn't that bad as she thought. She looked up at him; he was undeniably good-looking, almost irresistible and found it hard to tear her sight away from him. A flush on her cheeks developed and she looked downward.
"You're kinda quiet," he said as he stopped in his tracks.
"Err, I'm sorry." She gobbled up the last of her Popsicle stick and threw it away in a nearby garbage can.
"Do you have any more questions for me?" he asked.
"No, not really," she replied.
"Okay, good. Cause we're here."
"Huh?" Kairi looked up; all she saw was a huge hotel with big texts that said, "Kamaya Inn". She was confused at first and it didn't hit her right away. "You mean this hotel? Why are we at a—?" Suddenly it came at her – hard. Her heart beat started to race as she glanced at Sora with a frightened look; his innocent heart-filled smirk suddenly had a new, cynical, conniving meaning to it and all she could think of was tomorrow's Twilight Town newspaper headline saying, "Destiny Island Girl Raped and Murdered at Kamaya Inn By Male Classmate."
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+ a/n: THE END.
No, I'm just kidding. Um, I decided to make the chapter… a bit extra long for you guys, since I haven't updated in months and all. And, hahaha, look, Kairi thinks she's about to get raped. smiles
Again, I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart for not updating sooner. I'll reply to reviews later (sorry!), but really, thank you SO MUCH for reviewing. I also notice that my DeviantArt advertisement drawings are work. Harhar. XD
PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW.
