Okay, sorry it took so long to update. Hope you like this chapter. Note: Kairi's wording, vocabulary, and thought process are influenced by a character named Darl from a book called As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. That book obviously does not belong to me and neither does Kingdom Hearts or any of SQUARENIX'S characters that appear in this chapter.

If anyone has any questions or concerns then message me, or write it down via review. I will answer them... and crap.

ENJOY!

Chapter 2 - Breathing is Key (Kairi's POV)

Ever since that sleepover, my best friend has been acting a little peculiar. One could even speculate that ever since that sleepover, I had noticed different twitches on her expressions. I have known Yuffie since we could walk, so, I can recall certain distinctions in her reactions. Like when she's terribly excited about something, she will try to hold it in yet she ends up looking like an epileptic keeping a seizure from coming on. When she's sad she appears to be subdued, and has a slight hunch to her posture; when she tries to smile she ends up looking like a damaged and cracked mask. Or, when she is awkward or nervous about something. She makes exaggerated expressions to innocuous topics. Even when looking completely blank, her left eyebrow twitches every five minutes when she's nervous. Exactly five minutes.

This was how she appeared to act during breakfast. Her mother was talking to her about some random situation at work yesterday. "… then Diane said, 'well that's why you pick up after your dog's poop'… eheherherrrr…" That's how her mother laughs, a very aloof wheeze chuckle. Yuffie seemed to think it was an extremely funny story. Her grin seemed to stretch to either side of her cheeks, guffawing, rocking back and forth and while she bangied lightly on the table. When that subsided and when her mother and I were thoroughly stunned, she regained herself. Then her eyebrow twitched. I took note, peering at the kitchen clock. It was ten o' three.

Her mother hesitantly shrugged it off, poking and shuffling at the scrambled eggs with her fork. Yuffie vigorously volunteered to cook that morning. I honestly love the girl but she has a troubling tendency to overcook everything. Her trademark you could say. The scrambled eggs were over scrambled, and they did not have that lovely gold hint, more like a warmer shade of obsidian. I would not do so, but if I ever asked Yui if Yuffie could move in with me, she would wholeheartedly accept. It would be in reassurance of the fact that Yuffie would not die of food poisoning.

Any who, her mother, Yui attempted again to strike up another conversation.

"So, school is starting in a few weeks."

"Mmm." I agreed as I looked over at Yuffie. She also was forking her delicious breakfast, her eyebrows raised in a non-existent flabbergast.

"Kairi, you been visiting any schools over the summers?" I looked at Yuffie again, goodness her expressions do change at such a dramatic rate it's hard to keep track. Her eyebrows were in alleged deep concentration, making a scrunched up pout.

I answered finally. "Yes actually."

"Really? Which ones?"

"Um, one local and the rest were slightly more far away. Destati University and-"

"Oh! Destati U? Yuffie, you toured their campus too, remember?"

"Yeeeah… after you… practically forced me…" After she said that, her eyebrow twitched again. I checked the clock. It was ten o' eight.

"Well of course, Yuffie, it is expected that you at least think about your future! I mean you haven't even seemed to give the notion of college!"

"That's because Mom, I'm going to go to DCC-"

"Iiye! Iiyeiiyeiiye! No daughter of mine is going to a community college!"

" Wha-? What is so wrong with community college?"

"Yuffie, I just don't want you to end up the way I did! Pregnant, marriage-less, with only a GED and experience in being a miserable secretary at some no-name company!"

"Hell. No. I sure as hell ain't going to be pregnant anytime soon, and I sure as hell have my future in more control than you ever did."

Ah yes, I forgot to tell you what Yuffie's like when she's thoroughly miffed. It's hard to tell, because she has the same behaviors as when she's nervous. Except for two things. When mad, her voice raises an octave, and the first two to four words in her sentences have dramatic pauses in between each other. Also, if she is holding an object, or sitting on a chair she will, I guarantee you without any inconsistency, always try to make an unnecessary noise with it. That is what she did when she dismissed herself from the table. She purposefully dropped her utensils on her plate, which made a loud clang, and pushed her seat back not lifting it so that it would scrape against the tiled floor. She walked to the doorway her back to her mother, paused then turned her head to me.

"You didn't drive here, right? Do you need a ride?" Twitch.

Ah, third's the charm. It was ten-thirteen. "Um, yeah sure. Lemme just go get my stuff." As I got up from the table, I lightly touched Yui's shoulder out of consolation, "It was nice to see you again Miss Kisaragi."

"Mm…"

The car ride was not so stress-free either. I revered in the fact that my house was only ten minutes away in car. Yet those were one of the longest ten minutes of my life.

Yuffie's car was an awkward little thing. It was a bright tangerine orange, and it was a Ford Pinto. It was the ultimate shitbag. Everyday I am ecstatically grateful to see her face. Not just because I have an immense crush on her, but with the way she cooks and what she drives. Every time I saw her I thought, 'Goodness! She's still alive, and appears to have all of her limbs intact too!'

The inside of the car, was a marvel to behold. Apparently the last owner thought it to be a genius idea to replace the interior with bright lime-green shag carpeting. The wheel was not spared either, but instead of lime green it was the color of a deep sky blue. This car was awkward, could burst into flames at any bump, and was an unfortunate magnet for bright colors. Yet this quirky thing stole Yuffies heart... I'm not exaggerating you know. I was with her when she first peered upon its divine presence.

It was like any other Saturday. We were driving to the movies, making small chat when suddenly…

"KAI STOP THE CAR!"

Her tone was so serious, and so alarmed. I at first assumed that she glanced upon an out of control car that was going to side - swipe us. Yet as I quickly checked my surroundings I didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"What? Why?"

"Just… PULL OVER."

"Do you have to… pee? Yuffie I don't-"

"Just DO IT."

"Jesus! Fine!"

I managed to pull over, onto a side road. I barely turned the ignition off, before she sprung out of the car. I watched her as she sprinted down the connected sidewalk, and stop at what I could only perceive as an orange blob. I jogged my way towards her. The closer I got, the more vivid that orange blob became. The more vivid it became, the dots started connecting until everything settled in, like a light headache evolving into a raging migraine.

"My god, Yuffie… Really? I mean really?"

"I. Am. In. Love!" It showed too, like some morbid cartoon. Her hands were raised chest level, and cupped together. Her eyes were wide, sparkling and spellbound. I didn't know how I felt about this. Slightly irked because at this rate we weren't going to make it in time to see the beginning of the movie. Yet it was slightly adorable, the way she loved something so ugly.

Anyways, it was only five hundred bucks, and she already managed to save up two hundred dollars already, from doing some vigorous lawn mowing. She hoarded the rest from her mom who dipped into her own college trust fund. Then within one week she had her own little quirky shit car.

And this is how we got here. In her Pinto, driving me home. At this point, in such a small space the awkward air she was giving off was getting pretty stifling. She tried feigning it off though, by distracting herself with the ignition… because it wouldn't turn on. Not that this was really uncommon. I mean she bought a shit car. Of course it's going to have problems. Yet with her hunched over the wheel, putting so much motion into turning on the ignition (with her eyebrow twitching spastically). The whole body language of it just seemed desperate.

Any-who, after about ten minutes of that, it finally choked into life. Away we went. My house was merely ten minutes from Yuffies by car. Yet it was honestly the longest ten minutes of my life. The whole awkward vibe, it was almost palpable.

I did not see Yuffie for the rest of that summer. Before you say anything, of course I tried to call to hang out with her. Yet every time I called she would be tied up in some non-existent errand or other. The first time I tried contacting her, her cell phone went straight to voice-mail. Every time I tried calling her home phone her mother instead would answer, saying she was busy, or in the shower, et cetera.

"I can leave a message though, and Yuffie can call back then!"

"Uh, yeah sure that'll work. Thanks…"

"Of course! Have a good day, Kairi-san!"

"You too, Miss Kisaragi..."

This scenario happened … let's see… about ten times. Not once did she call back. It was all getting blatantly obvious that she was avoiding me. It is true, Yuffie can be busy. Yet never has she been this busy. I mean this is Yuffie we're talking about. She's the queen sloth.

Also… She's talked of her private life before and the methods she uses to rid the creepy exes in her life are suspiciously similar with how she's communicating with me right now.

Did it worry me? Of course! She was my best friend! I also loved her more than most friends should. A combination of those three facts sure as hell did not mentally benefit me. I was also quite baffled. What did I do that one night that could cause her to give me second looks? I never confessed to her, and I was not inebriated. I never did anything stupid, I always watched myself, what I did what I said… So that no residual emotion would come torpedoing out.

To distract myself from this issue at hand, I started vigorously looking for a job again. I had one previously before the summer, it was a little flower shop just down the street from our school. Yet before long I had a terrible allergic reaction to one of the establishments top selling flowers. Due to the possible fatality of my reaction I would not be able to work there.

I spent at least four weeks job searching, but due to the recession, the market was a no go. No one seemed to need a high school student working full time. By the time school rolled around, I hit the bottom emotionally. I was not looking forward at all to the first day.

"Kairi!" Friends, though, have a wonderful tendency of making dull, brick, government buildings feel a little more welcome.

"Hey Sora!"

"Kaaai~! It feels like so long since I've seen you!" I am a person who takes her personal space very seriously. There are exceptions though, like when Sora gives me a bear hug, glomp, or just drapes his arms around my neck and hangs like a ragdoll… which was what he was doing at that specific moment.

"Why didn't you callllll meeeeee… I missed yooou…" I start feeling awkward though, when he looks up at me with an expression similar to that of a wounded kitten.

"Aaaaaah… aha… I-I'm… sorry Sora, I just, I was just bus-

"Oh don't give me that bull crap Kai! You were probably being all angsty and anti-social again!"

"Or…" Oh, goodness that voice anywhere could only belong to the other half. "Kai-Kai was probably trying to find more time to spend with her Ninja Doll, hm?"

Riku, is my best friend. Yet he often finds a sadistic pleasure in subtly jabbing his friends mental bruises. I have blown up at him numerous times, and gotten myself into arguments. Yet he always wins, and surprisingly without any profanity uttered. No one in this school (especially the homophobes that grace it with their divine presence) has ever won a verbal battle against Riku. Not even Larxene, though she was close.

So from now on, whenever Riku tempts me, I ignore it. Which was what I did, and also pry myself from Sora's titanium grip. "Get off!"

I guess my tone and strength was a little too forceful, because I suddenly saw concern replace their amused faces.

"…?"

"…"

"… I need to get my schedule… before class starts." With that I headed inside, ignoring the worried beckoning behind me.

I made my way down the hallway towards the main office. My stomach fluttered nervously. Even though I was confused, and wanted to confront Yuffie, I was still afraid and awkward about running into her. I feared that if I said hi to her, she would flat out ignore me. Or if we greeted each other, and struck up small chat, she would start to feel uncomfortable, which in turn make me more uncomfortable. It was all exaggerated imagination, yes, I'm aware of that. Yet when dealing with emotional affairs I couldn't help thinking irrationally. This wasn't the case though. I successfully got to my destination without any inconveniences whatsoever.

The secretaries were as thrilled as I for the new year to start (I hope you did note the sarcasm in my tone). Though, they were much more merciful with me than other students. I guess I have a magical aura about me which makes others shimmer.

"Grade and last name?"

"Twelfth. Sakamoto"

She peered through the files. "Kairi?"

"Yes."

With that she handed me my schedule, and I headed back out, glancing at my schedule as I did so.

Shakespeare P1 Ansem, Paul W3407
Calculus P2 Gottfried, Luxord E410
Sociology P4 Gainsborough, Aerith W4025
Photography II P5 Shinra, Rufus W2091
Physical Activity P7 Highwind, Cid Gymnasium

Suddenly, I felt a tug on my shoulder turn to a sharp, slightly painful pull back. That which was defined whirled and blurred. "What the?"

"Y'know, Lady Bug, you should look ahead when you're walking."

… The voice felt chillingly familiar, yet confusing, since I thought the owner of that voice had graduated last year.

"… Larxene?"

"Whuh buuuh? Blahxene? Uh, yes it's me Kairi."

Dear god there she goes again, going on with her little mind fucks. She must be at the school again just to torment people. Why can't this year go by any faster?

"What the hell are you doing here?"

For a few seconds she avoided eye contact, perking her lips into a weird smirk-pout hybrid. Then she answered, "Meh, I failed a couple classes and I didn't really… see any point in taking summer school if I was just going to fail." She chuckled, shrugged, "So, I decided to just be a part time student for this year." Nodded in self-confirmation, "not like… I'm the only one either."

"Oh, really? Sure you're not just saying that to compensate for your insecurity?"

"Ohohooooooh! Look at Miss Senior with her big vocabulary!"

"Pssh, your fault. You left yourself open."

"Ha, I think I like this new Kairi. Much more feisty."

"God I hate you."

"You love me. You - " Riiiing.

"Whatever I have to go, my first class is in the other building."

"Mhm. See you love muffin."

I tried my hardest to make a menacing glare towards her before I left. She didn't take it too seriously… obviously.

I practically power walked towards my destination, glancing at my schedule again.

Room W3407

As I walked, I kept my eyes focused on the floor beneath my feet. I did not want to confront Yuffie yet. I wouldn't know what to say, and I wouldn't know how she would react. The fluttering in my stomach came back with a vengeance. It almost made me a little nauseous. Gah, let this day be over with soon!

Just as I looked up to behold Room W3407 closing in rapidly, I was met with another moving object yet again. I almost fell back, but I managed to keep my ground…. Green… hoodie…. Slowly the blurry lines became sharper, as I noticed the jet black… hair…

Standing in front of me.

Oh.

Fuck.

Oh, hurrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. Chapter 2 is overrrrrrrrrr. Also, I had difficulty doing the whole schedule bullcrap. I would put large spaces in between each label but after I saved the website would always scrunch them back together. Oh well.