"What did I say, huh? What did I say?" Kairi winced when Namine ripped the band-aids off to properly treat her injuries, since the treatment she received earlier was just temporary. "You know, I always knew you were going to fall, but no, since you'll, quote quote, 'never fall.'"
"Way to rub salt into wounds," Kairi muttered. They were currently in Kairi's room after Namine spotted her outside after her quick art-supply shopping. The look on her face wasn't something Kairi was delighted to see. It was first from surprise, which transformed into horror, which then converted to a look of pure anger as she started lecturing her right in front of the university. Kairi could already imagine people talking about her. The redhead getting yelled at by a blondie right in front of the university entrance. It wasn't something people see every day.
"I know that board was precious to you, but maybe finally you can take a break from it," Namine scolded. "Grandma wouldn't want you to be all battered up like this either."
"It was just a mistake," Kairi tried, but it was no use. Namine put on some petroleum jelly where her injuries were before slapping on fresh new band-aids. Kairi moved around to stretch the band-aids before swinging her legs on top of her new bed and leaned against the post.
"Thank God that guy you mentioned was in the way, or else you would've been somewhere not on Earth," Namine continued, roasting her until the very end as she put away the materials. "Flying off a metal railing, unimaginable!" Kairi pursed her lips as her sister went on and on. Namine was such a total mom sometimes. "Better thank him the next time you see him."
"I probably won't," Kairi mused, tapping on her phone. "Plus, I don't think he would be happy to see me either."
"No one would after all that, but why?"
"I think I broke his wrist along the way."
"You broke his wrist?" Kairi bit the bottom of her lip. Did she forget to mention that to her? Oops. "Kairi!"
"Well, I'm sorry!"
"Ouch, that looks like it hurts a lot." Kairi and Namine turned around to look at whoever said that and were faced by a black-haired girl standing by the open door with keys jingling in her hands. She raised an eyebrow at the band-aids stuck on Kairi before offering the two a smile and closing the door behind her. "So, which one of you two is my new roommate?"
"Oh, that would be me," Kairi responded, getting off the bed and trying to make herself look presentable by combing a few fingers through her hair. "Nice to meet you."
"Sorry I wasn't here earlier," the girl said as she placed her keys on the lamppost besides her bed. "I was out in a rush, so I couldn't stay to greet you properly. The name's Xion. You?"
"Kairi. Kairi Lockhart, and this," she pulled Namine by the shoulders, "is my sister, Namine."
"You two look awfully similar, minus the whole hair color and all." Namine and Kairi looked at each other for a split second before laughing.
"We get that a lot." Xion scratched her head in awkwardness before bending down and picking up all the stray clothes and accessories strewn all over the floor.
"Sorry that you had to come in seeing all this."
"No, it's fine. I left it alone because I didn't want to move your things around and stuff."
"All's good." Kairi was elated that her roommate seemed pretty chill and nice. She was scared she wouldn't get along with her, but that didn't seem to be it. Xion tidied up the place a little bit more before sitting down on her own bed and releasing a huge sigh.
"Gosh, I would talk more, but I'm seriously pooped out. Been running errands for my mom the whole afternoon. Need some shuteye." Kairi quirked an eyebrow up slightly.
"Your parents lives around here?" Xion nodded as she fluffed up her pillow.
"Yup. Not staying with my family though. I love them and all, but it's college life, you feel me? Space, I need some of that, so." Namine nodded her head furiously.
"I agree!" Xion chuckled before turning to the side and placing her phone by the side.
"Well, I'll chat with you guys later, maybe. Good night for now." Kairi giggled.
"Don't let the bed bugs bite."
To let Xion have some peace and quiet, the two exited out the room and skipped down the hallways and out the girl's dormitory to look around the campus. There weren't a lot of people roaming around with them. Namine had insisted to settle in a week before the year even started so that she could have a "last-minute summer vacation." Kairi didn't have any plans for the whole exploring thing, but she tagged along anyways.
"I did a virtual tour of the campus online, but I didn't think it would be this big," Namine said, impressed by the whole thing. "I want to look around so that I don't become a lost duck when school starts."
"That's why there's a thing called a map," Kairi interjected, wondering how in the world Namine was able to continue walking in the heat. Namine simply rolled her eyes and continued to stroll across the pillared halls of the outdoor campus. Squeaky clean, the tiles were. Clearly, the janitors were hard at work.
"Sora, I'm telling you, don't kick the ball into garden fence, or else the dean's going to freaking kill you," Kairi heard a voice call out from the other side of the garden fence that separated them. With all the vines growing and threading through the fence, she couldn't see what was going on the other side, but by the tone of the speaker, it sounded troublesome.
"Who said I was going to kick it into the garden fence?" replied the other person who must've been the Sora the other guy was addressing. "Dude, watch this awesome foot coordination and lear-holy crap!" Kairi and Namine had their hearts leap out of their throat when something crashed against the garden fence from the other side, the clanging of chains ringing in their ears.
"Oh God," Kairi let out, taking two huge steps back from the garden fence.
"Look what you did, Sora! The dean's wife has been trying to grow that paopu fruit for months and now it's dead on the ground. Hey, look, man, I don't know you. I'm outta here," and Kairi heard footsteps running away from the crime scene.
"Hayner, wait! Seriously?" The Sora guy must've been conflicted before he started to get the hell out of there too. However, before he did, he must've seen Kairi's and Namine's silhouettes, for he approached the fence from the other side and gave it a slight tap. Kairi looked at the vined-fence and raised a brow at Namine, who shrugged playfully. "Sorry about that."
"No biggie," Kairi naturally responded, a slight humorous tone coating her words. No other words were exchanged as the mysterious guy took a run for his money and escaped the place, leaving Kairi and Namine to giggle at the strange occurrence.
"Interesting students here."
"Yup."
By the end of the day, Namine had her worth of touring the school before she called it quits and returned to her dorm. Kairi began to count the days before Namine's excitement finally ran out of energy.
While Namine was a day grazer, Kairi was a night walker. Namine absorbed the sunlight while Kairi took in the moonlight. It was better for her, to say the least. If she had an inner mythical being, then a vampire would definitely fit her type of picture.
The school's bright lights along the gravel pathway she was walking down across truly enhanced the feeling that she was at a different place far from home. Back at Destiny Island, instead of electricity, lanterns lit the roads and pavements. It wasn't as if it didn't have electricity-of course it did-but the islanders liked to keep things...natural. Kairi liked it that way too, but she would grow to get used Twilight Town's technology one day.
On the other side of the campus, where the boy's dormitory laid, a certain spiky-haired boy and silver-haired boy were with a few of their friends cramped into one, single dorm for a late night party full of gaming.
"Sora, who got you all messed up?" Axel, a flame-head said, trying not to erupt into obnoxious laughter as he jammed his fingers on a controller. Sora, who was lying across his bed, was left out on all the fun as he scrolled through his phone with his non-injured hand. "With all your clothes scratched and ripped along with that sexy broken wrist of yours, I'm starting to wonder what the hell you do outside school, man."
"Shut it, Axel," Sora growled before throwing his phone off to the side. Riku, the silver-haired boy, let out a scream of frustration when Axel killed him with a machine gun he had picked off by the side.
"You can't spam that shit forever, you pyromaniac!" Riku blasted, tossing the controller over to Hayner, who played hot potato with it before securely gripping it. Axel burst in laughter, hitting the floor with a fist to appease his amusement.
"For your information, just because I enjoyed setting fire during chemistry doesn't mean I'm a pyromaniac. By the way, I love gaming with you, Riku, you know why?"
"Why?"
"Cause you suck dick at it!" That earned him a nice slap on the head. Riku gave Axel one last dirty look before he went over to join Sora, who was now fumbling with the bandage on his wrist. Riku clapped him on the shoulder before jumping on the edge of the bed and sitting cross-legged on it.
"Nice bandages you got there." Sora rolled his eyes.
"In fashion, am I right?"
"Exactly how did you even-Axel, you piece of shit! Stop it with the machine gun!" Hayner glared at Axel while he cackled evilly as he enjoyed his cheap skills. "As I was saying, how did you get your wrist so screwed up?"
"I fell," Sora deadpanned, offering nothing more. Riku shot an eyebrow up. Technically, he wasn't lying, but there was a lot he was leaving out. Sora simply didn't want to waste energy explaining the whole ordeal.
"You fell." It wasn't even a question. "You fell," Hayner repeated. Sora sighed.
"What else are you trying to dig from me?"
"Doesn't sound at all like Sora Hikari to just fall. Riku, you were there with him, weren't you?"
"Yeah, and he obviously didn't just fall." Sora yawned, kicking Riku off the bed so that he could pull the strewn blankets up to his legs. Riku stubbornly just climbed back on it. "Guys, you won't believe what happened today. There was this really hot girl, and-"
"Almost all girls are hot to you, Riku," Axel interrupted. "What else is new?" At this, Sora laughed.
"I agree with you for once, Axel."
"No, you guys don't understand. She's hot, as in, hot. Sora, you can testify, can't you?" Riku looked over to Sora, much to his discomfort. Hayner dropped the game controller and whipped his head towards Sora, not giving a damn anymore as Axel continued to sabotage his avatar with the machine gun.
"What is this juicy detail I'm hearing?" Sora groaned as Hayner jumped onto the bed with Riku and leaned in closer towards Sora. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Personal space, Hayner, personal space," Sora complained, using his free hand to push his face away. "I'm not testifying anything, so go away."
"You guys should've seen it," Riku went on. There was this girl skateboarding on this metal rail and-well, I don't know what happened, but she went flying off her skateboard and boom! Sora caught her from death, but he broke his wrist in the process." Hayner, and now Axel, looked at Sora with curious eyes, and before they could form any weird conclusions like the weirdoes they were, Sora shut them down.
"What was I suppose to do, let some idiotic skateboarder crash into her death?" Riku shook his head.
"That's beside the main point. Guys, she was ridiculously hot-"
"And you've said that a lot already. Pics for proof, or no go," Hayner stated firmly, shaking his head slightly. Sora shut his ears from the whole conversation, never interested whenever his friends started to talk about girls.
"I think she goes here too, actually. We drove her back over here like a few hours ago. I wonder what year she's in." First year, Sora thought plainly, remembering the ID that fell on the ground. Of course, he decided to keep that information to himself, since Riku would go into stalker-mode and all if he found out. Riku was a great friend and all, but Sora would've liked it better if Riku dropped his womanizing ways and settled with one girl.
Then again, if he was serious about the redhead, that would mean he wouldn't have to tag along to his stupid parties anymore. Sora smiled grimly.
Yeah, right. Riku serious about a girl? Not in million years.
"Anyways, enough about this mysterious redhead, do you guys know what the hell Sora did today?" Riku gave Sora a questioning look, which he returned with a nervous laugh. He knew exactly what Hayner was about to say.
"Do tell."
"You know that paopu fruit the dean's wife has been trying to grow since the dawn of mankind?" Riku and Axel paled while Sora groaned.
"Don't tell me he," Axel said no more when Hayner nodded his head gravely.
"This fool knocked that shit down like a coconut falling from a palm tree. I specifically told him not to kick the ball, but no, this boy doesn't listen."
"It wasn't intentional," Sora tried weakly. Riku ran a hand down his face.
"Watch. An announcement's going to go up at the start of school sometime soon with your name written all over it." Sora shrugged.
"Not like they're ever going to find out that who did it. Plus, it's just a paopu fruit, right?" Sora put his okay hand underneath his head and stared at the ceiling, wondering why the paopu fruit was such a big deal.
Destiny, huh?
He laughed.
~.~.~
"Good afternoon, fellow gifted students of Twilight University. This is your dean speaking." Kairi let out a large groan of complaint, along with Xion, as their slumber was awoken by the annoying speaker by their left side. Whoever installed an announcer in the dorms had a price to pay. "It is quite early in the morning, but this is a reminder that picking up schedules is later today, as well as a welcome party for the entire new upcoming freshman later tonight. Another fabulous year is about to begin."
"Yeah, right," Xion muttered, voice muffled by the pillow on her face. Kairi reluctantly got up; once she was woken up, there was no chance of falling back asleep.
"That is all, I believe. Oh, and on a personal note, to whomever... damaged the garden fence during the afternoon three days ago," at this, a familiar twinge struck Kairi, "I hope you realize that we are undergoing thorough investigation right now. That is all."
"Oh my God, sucks to be that person," Xion said with a shudder. "Someone must've touched that always-green paopu fruit of his or something." Kairi cocked her head to the side questioningly for an explanation of this mysterious fruit. She remembered the Sora and Hayner guy making a big deal out of it, but she had no idea it was such a gigantic fuss.
"Who cares about a damn fruit?"
"Right? Apparently, the dean's wife does. A big sucker for romance." Kairi furrowed her eyebrows a bit.
"Romance?" Xion nodded, admitting defeat to the sun as she pushed the blankets off of her and made a way towards the closet.
"There's a whole folklore behind it. They say the paopu fruit connects the fates of people who encounter it together. When shared, their destinies become intertwined. Sounds like something, huh?" Kairi laughed.
"Cute, but cheesy," she said with a smile before joining Xion in preparing herself.
She learned that Xion actually wasn't a first year, but a second year. With that, she allowed Xion to show her around with her insightful knowledge.
"Over there's the make-out corner," Xion stated informatively, bluntly pointing at a spot that was at the far end of the school. Kairi blinked rapidly as she saw couples getting it on rather early underneath the large palm tree. "If I were you, I would stay far away from this area." Kairi, who found it bizarre, blinked one more time before she processed what Xion said and coughed awkwardly. Xion sure liked to lay things out there.
"Is it really designated as that?"
"I shit you not, that corner's for all the couples who want to smack faces with each other. Okay, next!" Kairi couldn't help but be dragged by Xion's pace as she showed Kairi unique places. Kairi made a mental note to show Namine the same tour sometime later.
"And over there is the druggie hangout, behind those trees." Xion made sure to stay far away from the place she was indicating to with a finger, so Kairi wasn't sure what she meant by that.
"What?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. No college is complete without the circle of addicts. It's where all the crack heads enjoy their poison," Xion said, waving a nonchalant hand as if what she was saying was a typical thing. "But I'm sure you won't encounter any of them. They like to hang out in their own secluded area in the campus no one ever dares to venture in, so you're safe." Kairi gulped nervously.
"Alright, then."
Besides the weird places Xion showed her, some were actually helpful. She showed her which shacks to buy from and which ones to avoid. The school surprisingly had a lot of club-ran food shops, but that didn't mean they were all good. Xion also gave her advice about certain social groups, and Kairi tried to pay attention, but she wasn't really interested in that stuff.
"A lot of people are nice, but some are just plain bitches. Better stay away from them before they get a nab at you. You may never know; those closest to you might kill you one day." Kairi sighed; she couldn't have agreed more.
After a while, Xion received a phone call from one of her friends. She had to leave Kairi to wonder the campus alone. However, before she left, she made sure Kairi knew where to go to pick up her schedule.
"Look, cross fingers with me," Xion ordered before she went off. Kairi slowly raised her hands and did what Xion was doing. With closed eyes, Xion began to mutter things Kairi didn't get the context of. "Please don't let us get Sephiroth as our PE teacher, please don't let us get Sephiroth for our PE teacher, please, please, please." Xion then clasped her hands over Kairi, clutched them tight, and did another mental prayer before releasing them and sighing a breath of relief.
"And what was that for?" Kairi questioned quizzically, more freaked out than before.
"You don't want to know," Xion explained grimly before departing. "Send me a picture of your schedule so I can determine your fate!" Kairi simply nodded her head in amusement as she watched Xion's figure disappear into the crowd of incoming freshmen. Kairi faced forward in the direction of the tables and booths where all the scheduling was happening and took a deep breath.
"Moogles, have mercy on me." Maybe this year, her string of teachers won't be as horrible as they were back in high school. Don't even go there, Kairi.
~.~.~
"Give it, give it to me," Axel beckoned, reaching for the flimsy schedule in Sora's hand. He held it away from his reach warily.
"Wait, I didn't even look at it yet."
"That's the whole freaking point." Sora sighed and surrendered his schedule over to Riku and Axel, who grabbed at it excitedly. "Who do we have this year out on the dish?"
"You know what?" Sora ruffled his hair and twiddled with his crown necklace. "I'm alright with whoever I get this year as long as it's not-"
"For the love of God, you got Sephiroth again?" Axel cackled with immense laughter, slapping his thigh to somehow calm it down. It was too much to bear for him, for his laughter started to become silent wheezes for air. Riku bit the bottom of his lip, trying to suppress his chortles as well. Sora's eye twitched as he snatched the paper out of Axel's trembling hand and scanned through his classes to confirm the horrible truth.
"What the actual fuck," Sora cursed before crumpling the schedule and stuffing it into his pocket. "This is a terrible joke."
"I never heard of anyone in history ever to get him twice in a row. I think someone's pulling the strings on the system here, my buddy."
"You're not making it any better, Axel." Sora shook his head and cleansed himself from his disbelief before releasing a glum sigh. Riku patted his back for support, but it wasn't any use-unless it could get him out of the demon's class he hated so much last year.
"Welcome party, Sora, we still got a welcome party to attend. Great food, great chicks, and great-"
"Like Sora's even interested in any of that," Axel said with an eye roll before taking out his phone to check who kept messaging him. Sora wiggled his broken wrist and looked at inquisitively.
"Think Sephiroth would give me a couple of days on the bench for this thing?" Riku spluttered in disbelief.
"Keep dreaming, fool. Didn't you see poor Tidus last year?" Sora licked his lips nervously.
"What?"
"You don't even want to know. Maybe Tidus could tell you one day, but I high doubt it." Sora rubbed the side of his face with his free hand and looked up into the bleak blue sky.
"Wonder who's going to suffer with me this year."
"Definitely not us."
"Shut up. Anyway, I'm going to get some shuteye before the welcoming party. I'm going to use your room, Riku." And with that, Sora left Riku and Axel behind and lazily went back towards the dormitory. Riku ran a hand through his hair. Typical Sora. He then looked over at Axel, whose face was slightly etched with concern.
"What's gotten you all ugly?" Axel scratched his head, eyes darting between his phone and Riku before handing it over to him.
"Roxas just texted me his schedule." Riku blinked at the screen and gave it a quick scan through before groaning when he saw what Axel meant.
"Great year, am I right?"
~.~.~
The evening quickly came. Kairi waited for Namine outside her door, tapping on her elbow impatiently as the clocked ticked away.
"Namine, what exactly are you doing in there?" Kairi complained, banging on the door to catch her attention. Putting her ear near the door, she heard a lot of shuffling behind it.
"Hold your horses! I'm getting ready!"
"For what?"
"My roommate Selphie said that you have to look glamorous or something for this welcome party!" Namine shouted through the door. Kairi poked a finger to her cheek as she casted her eyes over what she was wearing. Regular skinny jeans with a plain pink blouse. She obviously didn't put much thought to it.
"And why must we do that?"
"I wasn't kidding about my boy hunt, Kairi." Oh, so that's why.
After another while, Namine finally stepped out. Kairi let out a low whistle; her sister decked out. With hair curled and white dress drifting at her knees, Namine definitely wasn't kidding about touching up. Namine giggled at her sister's reaction and twirled around.
"Selphie lent me this! Isn't it cute?" Kairi cocked a suspicious eyebrow instead jokingly.
"I want to meet this roommate of yours soon." Namine took a few steps around Kairi and scrutinized her with her blue eyes, making her feel a bit uncomfortable. "What?"
"Kairi, why are you so ordinary looking today?" Kairi's mouth dropped opened.
"Excuse me?"
"Do you want me to do your hair? I mean, it's kind of quick and-"
"No, I'll pass." Kairi wasn't in the mood to even attend the whole event. Xion insisted that she should, since it was a huge tradition the school always held for students to party hard and waste all their energy before the start of the school term.
"Make new friends, y'know?" Xion had said earlier.
Sure.
Namine pouted slightly before smiling and stepping back to examine her sister holistically.
"It's okay, you're pretty enough." Kairi rolled her eyes before ruffling her little sister's hair affectionately, much to Namine's agitation.
"Thanks, kiddo."
"I'm only younger than you by eleven months, don't call me that." The sisters laughed before they made their way towards the pavilion where the whole thing was taking place. Already they could hear the gentle booming of the music that vibrated against the floors. Kairi wasn't really used to parties; she never did attend anything bigger than prom in high school.
However, much to her relief and surprise, the whole thing was quite calming and non-wild. People with plastic cups filled with juice-or what she hoped it to be-stood in their own little social circles. People casually talked, and nothing too out of the ordinary was happening besides the human tower that was undergoing a process of construction over at the side.
"No, you have to make sure your shoulders are firm and stable. The shoulders!" Kairi made sure not to be anywhere near the whole ordeal.
Near the adjacent side to them, Hayner elbowed Sora repeatedly in an animated manner, causing the boy to choke slightly on his drink.
"What?" Sora hissed, swatting Hayner's hand away. "What's gotten you all jumpy?" The khaki-blonde pointed excitedly at a direction to which Sora gave an indifferent glance towards.
"Is it me, or is that girl smoking?" Sora lazily roamed his eyes around to see who exactly his friend was talking about before landing his eyes on a certain redhead, who was looking around like some lost but fascinated sheep with a blonde that looked strikingly similar to her. He couldn't help but notice how plain she dressed, considering the fact she wore something ridiculous while skateboarding.
"Ah," Sora let out accidentally as a sort of realization, but Hayner took it as a sign that of interest and circled an annoying arm around his shoulders.
"I'm totally digging that blonde right now. Think I can hit her up?" Sora shrugged him off roughly before turning around, not wanting to get involved with Hayner's terrible habit of picking up girls.
"Ask Riku. He'll be your partner in crime."
"You're right." And Hayner went off trying to find the silver-haired boy who was probably on it already with the girls. That was what the whole welcoming thing was for: getting to know other people.
"Sora!" In response to his name, he turned around and was met with a heavy shove to his side. He was about to throw a big one at who he assumed to be Axel, but froze when he realized it was not him at all and had to cast his gaze down slightly.
"Xion," he voiced out, suddenly uncomfortable. However, the girl didn't take notice as she fist-bumped the side of his arm in a happy manner. "It's not nice to greet someone with a push."
"Don't get so grumpy," she giggled. She made eye contact with him, only for him to avert his gaze over to the ridiculous human pillar that was being made right next to the table of punch. Idiots. She frowned before putting a finger between his eyebrows to unravel the tension it held, causing him to stiffen immensely. "Don't tell me you're still uncomfortable." He bit his bottom lip before returning his sharp gaze at her.
"Not really." Xion didn't look convinced, but she let the matter slide anyways and looked around.
"Where's your usual gang? You look like a loner from afar."
"Can't you say it in a nicer way?" he joked, taking a sip of his punch. He jerked a thumb over to where Hayner was. "There's one idiot over there." There he was over at a distance underneath a lamppost, trying to spark up a chat with the blonde girl he was referring to earlier. Sora would be lying if Hayner was hitting it smooth; the blonde looked so uncomfortable that Sora slightly pitied her. He needs to drop it.
At the very, very back of his mind, he noted how the redhead wasn't there anymore.
"Hayner does realize he doesn't have the skills for girls, right?" Xion mused, watching the whole thing with Sora. Sora placed a hand over his face when he witnessed the terrible scene of Hayner trying to offer her a cup of punch, only for some to swish out of the cup and nearly splash on her pure white dress. The blonde took a small step back in surprise while Hayner apologized profusely.
"I'm so embarrassed that I'm friends with him." Xion clapped Sora on the back in an assuring way with small chortles of laughter before she had to attend to the phone that was ringing in her pocket. At the corner of his eye, he saw who the caller was, tightened his jaw, and looked away.
"Yo, what's up, Rox'?" Pause. Sora heard the mildly panicked voice on the other end of the line. "Axel did what? Oh, hell no. Yeah, yeah, I'll be right there." She ended the call and looked at Sora sheepishly. He merely sighed.
"What did that idiot do this time?"
"Strip poker."
"Well, that's not that bad, considering it's Axe-"
"In public."
"Oh." Sora grimaced before waving good bye to Xion even before she even excused herself. "Good luck."
"I need it," and with that, she whisked away to go tend to the wild pyromaniac, leaving Sora alone once more. He swirled the remaining liquid in his cup as he watched her figure shrink before sighing.
"I wonder where Riku is."
Kairi was in the middle of picking food onto her plate when Namine suddenly returned back with her arm hooked on Kairi's. Kairi turned towards her and chuckled.
"Whoa, Nami', back so early?" Kairi teased. "What happened with that one guy? Hayner?" Namine shook her head and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear.
"He's nice, but..." Kairi continued to get food on her plate.
"But?"
"He's kind of too clumsy. So, uh, had to scooch on out of there. He almost spilled punch on this white dress that isn't on mine, so I said I had to make a beeline to the bathroom."
"Must be rough attracting guys, isn't it?" Namine clicked her tongue at her sister, slipping her arm out and reaching towards her own plate of food.
"Like you're the one to talk. I don't know if you've noticed, but people are giving up their time to look at you." Kairi didn't bother paying attention to those around her to even notice. She let out a hum and twirled a few of her red locks with a finger.
"Redheads are rare, don't you think?"
"Kairi, you obviously know that's not what I'm talking about." She merely shrugged in response and poked at a piece of chicken with the spoon that was available.
She knew Namine was just looking out for her, but sometimes it got a little bit too much. Love wasn't on the top of her agenda, and wasn't going to be anytime soon. If only Namine could understand that, then she wouldn't have to deal with her constant nagging whenever they touched upon the subject.
Who's the older sister here?
"Food here is different," Namine noted. Kairi thanked the gods that she finally switched the subject. "It's more..."
"Unhealthy?" Namine laughed.
"That's the right term." Kairi poked at all the fried food and wondered if it was a trend here in Twilight Town.
As the two ate their food near the stands, they watched as the night became darker. With the pavilion only illuminated by the tall lampposts surrounding it, the welcoming party began to grow more chaotic as people started to jam to the increasingly roaring music and grow more intimate with each other near the dance area. Kairi made sure to stay far, far away from that.
"Party hard, study harder," Namine stated ironically as she munched on pea pod-which was the only thing healthy that they offered, even if it was a bit too salted. "Actually can't wait to start school."
"That's you," Kairi said with mock disgust. "I never saw anyone else sniff new textbooks with delight. I'd rather burn mine."
"That's just you, Kairi," Namine shot back before grinning. Kairi smiled in return and continued munching on pea pods with her sister, determined to just stay back and watch the craziness unfold before her eyes.
However, this peaceful thought broke when Kairi looked behind Namine's head to spot a figure that was too familiar. Squinting her eyes into the darkness, she took an intake of breath when she realized who it was-she could spot that silver-hair from a mile away.
It was the same guy who witnessed her devastating skateboard mishap. Oh no.
"Shit," Kairi cursed. Namine, with raised eyebrows, turned to look at what had gotten Kairi all shaken up, but Kairi prevented her from doing so by spinning her back to face her.
"Kairi, what's wrong?"
"Uh, nothing," Kairi said hurriedly-she did not want to encounter the guy for various reasons. After that life-scarring experience of nearly smashing her head open on the streets, Kairi would like to avoid any more reminders. Her mind slowly started to connect the dots to form a deadly revelation.
If that silver-haired dude was here, that meant the guy she broke the wrist could possibly be here too.
She definitely did not want to see that.
"You know what, Namine, I think I'm going to go back to my dorm," Kairi muttered, piling a ton of food on her plate for dinner tonight. "My party mood is exponentially decreasing."
"Wait, Kairi-"
"If you need me, just call me. You know I respond fast to calls."
"What exactly is the rush? It's like you saw a ghost or something?" Kairi grimaced.
"Just avoiding the reliving of bad experiences."
"What?" Kairi gave a thumbs up, feeling a bit like some sort of burglar for just snatching a crap ton of food the way she did just a second ago, and patted Namine's shoulder with a free hand.
"Hope you hit it off well with guys. Don't jump into bed too early, if you know what I mean."
"Kairi!" She wasn't planning to stay another second longer as she noticed how much closer the silver-haired guy was.
"Wait, Kairi-"
"Bye, Namine." Kairi turned around to head back towards her dormitory.
And when she thought things couldn't have gotten worse, it got worse.
"Kairi! Be-!"
Plop!
"-hind you..." Kairi yelped in surprise when she rammed into something not movable through and, in a flurry of surprise and shock, felt her plate of food mash against something that was definitely not behind her the last time she checked. She felt the Twilight sauces sink into some parts of her blouse the instant she collided with whatever was in her way, cringed when she felt a few drip onto her white shoes and cursed when the plate of food she hoarded dropped onto the ground in a complete mess.
"Holy shit, I am so, so sorry," she gasped in utter devastation as she frantically looked around for napkins-she could feel a lot of eyes on her now as she scrambled for something to wipe with. "I wasn't looking at where I was going, and-" she paused and was flabbergasted when she finally had the nerve to look up to see who's outfit she fucked up this time.
She never wanted to crawl into a hole so bad.
"Sora! I finally foun-and what the fuck happened here?" Kairi hid behind a hand as the silver-haired boy finally made his way towards the whole fiasco. She could already hear Namine going over to the other side of the table to rip a few paper towels as Riku took in the whole scene.
Sora slowly reached his free hand towards his chest and, with a sharp swipe, flicked whatever he could off his clothes, only to realize that it wasn't just solid particles of food on him, but liquid too.
"Really?" was all he said-and he didn't even look at her-but that was all it took for Kairi to flinch and fear for her life from now on.
Kairi Lockhart, I think you just made a new enemy.
Ahhh Chapter 2! I don't know, I had a hard time writing this chapter because I'm so bad at writing the beginning and setting the plot and all the essential stuff TT_TT I felt this was very clunky and want to rewrite it but maybe some other time HAHA. *looking forward too much to the middle than in the beginning actually*
Feedback is mucho appreciated! I would love to read them! *motivates me too* hehehehhehehehhe okay hope this was an enjoyable one to read for all of you :)))
p.s. sorry if it's slow :( i hope pacing is alright. if not i can pick it up! hehe :)
p.p.s happy holidays to everyone ! c: