A little short this week. I had a lot due (as in everyday I had to hand something in. INSANE!). Anyways, if anyone's reading this I hope that you enjoy Chapter 2!

Chapter 2

Sora could at first hear voices near him as he slowly came to. It turned into a voice that sounded distant at first, and then it became clearer as he woke up. For a second, he couldn't remember why he had blacked out, then the little tinge of pain from earlier reminded him of what had happened. At that moment, Sora shot his eyes open, then quickly closed them again, being sensitive to the light. He groaned and opened his eyes slower this time as to not blind himself again. As he opened them, he could see a red figure looking straight at him. When his eyes finally focused Sora realized that it was, Kairi sitting next to him as he lay on a bed in the Nurses office. Her face went from worry to relief.

"Kairi, what…?" Sora began to ask, sitting up.

"We heard people saying that something was wrong with you, and when Riku and I came back into the cafeteria, you were on the floor holding your head, like you had a migraine or something. Riku helped to pull you up to your feet." Sora figured that was him, and was relieved.

"I thought someone had grabbed my arm," he grinned. "I guess that explains why I'm in the nurses office. Knowing Riku he probably carried me all the way here." Sora gave a little laugh. He'd have to thank Riku big time for doing that later.

Kairi sat silent, giving one of "those" smiles, like she was hiding something that was bothering her.

Sora looked at her with concern, "Hey, what's wrong?" He moved forward a bit from when he had been sitting to get closer.

She heaved a sign, then said, "Do you remember saying anything just before you passed out?"

He didn't even have to try and recall. He too heaved a sign, and looked directly in her eyes. "I said Roxas," Sora replied, without hesitation.

"Why though? Was what happened to you connected you to him?"

"It could have been," Sora looked down. "I heard a boys voice call my name. I was confused by this at first, and then realized that it was Roxas calling out to me." He looked down. "I have no idea why. I thought that, like Namine with you, he was back in my heart," placing his hand on his chest. "He became a part of me." Sora looked back up at Kairi. "Have you heard Namine inside you since?"

Kairi shook her head. "No, and I'm shocked that I haven't if you have. I mean, if there was something wrong with Roxas, you'd figure that she would tie into that considering that she to is, well, a Nobody." Sora saw the look of distaste on her face as the word "Nobody" rolled off her tongue. He knew she hated using that word towards someone, but that was what someone without a heart was called after all. Her look of disgust changed to puzzle and confusion as she leaned back in her chair, most likely trying to think things over. Sora also contemplated as to why he had heard Roxas as well. He couldn't figure out why that would happen… unless.

"Mickey's letter!" Sora exclaimed aloud. Kairi looked at him confused. "Remember when we got back? Mickey, Donald and Goofy left, and you brought a letter to Riku and I from King Mickey."

He could almost see the light bulb flash above Kairi's head. "That's right. He mentioned something about Roxas and Namine in there. He said 'so long as they stay dormant, the darkness had been prevailed.' The only thing is," she cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms, "how would they know if the darkness was spreading if they're inside us? We haven't left the island since we came back."

"Good question." Sora swung his legs over the bed. "After school we should try and figure it out with Riku."

"Yeah, he might know something about it."

As the discussion wrapped up, the Nurse came into the room to check up on the spiky haired boy. After she gave him a ibuprofen for his head and felt he was alright, she sent him on his way.

Kairi and Sora left the nurse office and entered the deserted hall. They stood there for a couple of seconds unsure what to do. Sora was the first the break the silence. "I have to head to my locker to get my stuff for the next period. Wanna come?"

"Sure, and I can help you find your class," she said smiling, starting the walk to Sora's locker. Having not paying attention to Kairi's departure, he took a couple of quick steps to catch up and was walking in stride beside her. "What's left on the days schedule?"

Sora replied "I think it's math class. Same as the one Riku's in right now. What about you?" He hoped that she'd be there in her class. It was bad enough that neither of his two best friends were in his gym class, he didn't want to face math alone either.
"Same here!" a cheery Kairi replied. "I was hoping that we'd have the same class together." She giggled and gave a bright smile, her red hair giving a gentle toss as she turned to face him. Sora felt his cheeks slightly getting warm. Even from something small like that, it could brighten his mood and rekindle the feelings he tried to hide from her. He couldn't believe that after all that time that had passed, he still couldn't find the courage to confess his feelings for her. He was tempted to say something right then and there, while they were alone in the deserted hallway. "Should I," he thought to himself as he looked at her. He thought about the friendship that they had built over the years, and Riku, too. If he told Kairi how he truly felt and she rejected him, then that would not only make things awkward between him and Kairi, but Riku would be dragged into it too. Things would get awkward with something like THAT out in the open and their friendship could possibly cease…. Still though. He'd never know if he didn't try.

As soon as they reached his locker, Sora fiddled with the lock before him and quickly exchanged the books he had for the ones he'd need in the next class. He didn't want to back out of confessing, so he tried contemplating a plan as to how he should approach this without totally freaking her out.

Kairi could tell that Sora's mind was in another place. She placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "Hey is something up?" She had no idea how much.

Sora spun around in her her direction. "Oh, yeah. Um… it's nothing for you to worry about," he grinned, "I'm alright."

"Well, if it's about hearing Roxas then don't worry," she beamed, "We'll come up with something later when we see Riku," giving Sora what she thought was reassurance. She couldn't be more far off from the topic. It actually made him freak out more to the point where he was ready to back down. "C'mon, Sora," he thought to himself, "You've wanted to say this for a long time. Just do it!" He sighed aloud as he closed his locker door. He felt his face fluster as he looked into Kairi's eyes. Why couldn't this be easier? Sora could feel his heart pounding at a mile a minute.

Sora cleared his throat, then took in a deep breath before taking the plunge. "Kairi," he began, "I have something that… that I need to say." Sora slightly looked down, trying not to make himself as nervous as he already felt. "I've wanted to say this for a long time, and well… here goes." Sora paused as Kairi waited in anticipation for what her friend was about to tell her. "Kairi, I-"

Just as the longing words were about to leave his mouth, the school bell rang and students from every opened door flooded out into the hallway. The two friends stood in silence as people walked by. All Sora could think of was "Crap."

"So, what were you going to tell me?" Kairi asked, cocking her head to the side and leaned forward with her arms tucked behind her, curiosity pasted on her face.
Sora quickly turned on his heel and began to walk anywhere that would get him away from his locker, "Oh, it's nothing. I can tell you later."

Kairi could tell that he was lying, but she figured he'd tell her when he was ready… whatever it was (though she had a good feeling as to what it might be, though she'd never admit it out loud). Before he could get too far away, Kairi grabbed Sora's arm and pulled him back, making him stumble a bit. He turned around with confusion until she pointed in the opposite direction where there math class was. Giving one of those nervous laughs while scratching the back of his head, the two headed off to their final class of the day, side by side.

While Kairi was looking ahead, talking to Sora about something (most likely about their math class), Sora felt he couldn't concentrate on what she was saying. All he could think about was what had just transpired. Just his luck too, for the bell to ring at the worst possible moment. As he looked at her, she had a smile on her face, making one creep across his own, too. Though he missed an opportunity now, he could always try again another time. If he had waited this long, he could wait a little while longer still.

Riku scurried to his locker through the thick river of students flooding the hall. They all chattered away and stood in the middle of hall, others were trying to get out as soon as they could. Some students would stop in mid sentence to look at Riku as he passed by them. The attention from that morning had already died down by a lot, but it still loomed. Every once in a while as he headed to his locker, there'd be someone that would stand in his way to try and have a chance to talk to him. He politely maneuvered around them before they had the chance to completely block his way. He was determined to make it to his locker as fast as he could to meet up with Sora and Kairi. They had already pre-planned to have a study group, but he figured that after what happened with Sora earlier that day, they would most likely be ignoring this evenings homework (thankfully they could afford to procrastinate since their work wouldn't be due for a couple of days).

As he approached his locker, Riku could already see Sora and Kairi standing off to the side in wait, the few of the minimal decent people who tried not to be in everyone's way. Making the final strides to his locker, he waved to his friends to catch their attention. Sora caught it at the corner of his eye and waved back as Riku approached. The silver haired boy clapped Sora on the back. "So, how's the patient doing now?"

Sora chuckled, "Much better now. And hey," he gave a Riku a soft smile, "thanks a lot for carrying me to the nurses office."

"Oh, that," Riku responded, kind of nonchalant, "No big deal. That's what friends are for," he said while giving Sora a smile back. Then a thought occurred to him, "Wait, you were completely passed out, how did you know?"

"Riku, we've been friends for how long?" Sora gave a chuckle, then changing the subject with a serious tone. "Kairi and I might have fingered out what might have caused me to faint earlier."

"The darkness might be stirring again," said Kairi, following up.

For a couple of seconds, Riku just stared at his two friends with no response, then broke the silence with, "I thought so." He went past his friends to put his stuff in his locker, then began to lead the way out the door, Sora and Kairi following behind him. Sora could tell that Riku was really troubled by this, and he could understand even more so why. Even though they knew that the darkness would rise again, they didn't imagine that it'd only take a few more days for something to brew up once more. They all figured that for a while yet, there'd be peace and no worries. Sora realized more so how big the role of the Keyblade bearer was. The darkness would never truly settle, so long as there was a person to wield the Keybalde. It was a never ending war passed down from one person to the next. He couldn't give up though. Donald and Goofy weren't there by his side like before, but he did have Kairi and Riku, and he knew that at least he wouldn't have to face whatever was coming alone. The more Sora thought about this, the more he would picture his Keyblade in hand with Riku and Kairi by his side like how Donald and Goofy had been. It gave him hope, and-

"SORA!" Kairi suddenly shrieked, taking Sora out of his thoughts and back to reality.

"What are you doing, bringing "that" out?" Riku asked in a more calmer voice than their red headed friend, looking down towards Sora's right hand.
He almost didn't have to look to where his friends stared, but just be sure he didn't do what he just think he just did, he slowly looked down and saw the silver and gold Kingdom Key shimmering in his hand. His eyes went big at the sight of it, then he quickly shot his eyes up to see the shock on both of his friends faces. That wasn't even half the trouble. They were still in the school by the doorways to head out, and most of the student body that was left standing by the door was staring at the spiky haired boy in confusion, some muttering thing under their breaths to themselves.

Without totally freaking out, Sora turned around to face everyone with a very uneasy smile on his face, thinking about what he should say to cover up this little mess. "Umm.. yeah, this?" He pointed to the Keyblade to emphasize what he was talking about (like he needed to. It was a giant key in his hands for crying out loud), "It's, uh… something I'm working on for Halloween this year. Cosplay." He gave a nervous chuckle in hope that his classmates would buy it, little beads of sweat forming on his brow. Some "Ohh, Okay"'s and "Whatever"'s could be heard from different people departing from the scene. He felt some relief from this.

"Why'd you do that, Sora?" Kairi asked, a little more concerned now in a much nicer way than before. She looked like she was going to tear his head off earlier when she had shrieked.

Sora shook his head, "I don't even know why? I was thinking about the Keyblade and 'poof', it's out in my hand." He made the Keyblade disappear as he finished.

"Well, try not to let that happen again if you can avoid it," Riku said in a serious voice. "If the darkness really is spreading again," he looked down to Sora's hand where the Keyblade had just been, "then the last thing we need is for the Keyblade to be flashed about in the open. As it is, the darkness is attracted to it."

Sora clenched his hand into a fist, the hand that had the absence of the Keyblade. A river of guilt washing over him. How could he not have been paying enough attention to what he was doing to let something that stupid happen? He felt a hand being gently placed on his shoulder. Looking in the direction to where it was placed, he saw Kairi was attached to the reassuring hand. "Don't feel bad about it. I think that it was more of a shock to us that something like that happened out of the blue. You didn't do it on purpose, so don't worry, okay?" Her face was soft and pure with an innocent smile on her face, making Sora brighten a bit.

"Thanks Kairi," he said while placing a hand on hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. Their eyes meeting for a second. They then realized what was happening, the both of them letting go of the other in a flash. They looked in opposite directions, crimson cheeks developing.

"Alright, let's not stall any longer," Riku said while leading the way out the door, trying hard not to laugh at the bit of embarrassment that Sora and Kairi shared on their faces.
Sora shouted out, "Yeah, yeah," and followed after. Kairi followed beside Riku the whole walk there to Kairi's, avoiding Sora's gaze. A little smile would spread across hers when she'd catch Sora looking at her and doing the same to avoid her gaze in turn.