Chapter 3

The morning, how he hated the morning.

The morning was always the worst part about going to school.

Scratch that, waking up at all was the worst part about going to school. If only school was such a haven that allowed us to wake up at our own desire. Well, if that were the case, Sora would be going to school at two o' clock in the afternoon everyday.

Have you ever had a sleep that felt so good you felt like you were drifting on a cloud? Then it was just abruptly ruined by some obnoxious fiend who dared trespassed in the sanctuary of your sleep?

Well, for Sora-

"Sora, get your lazy ass up!"

This was one of those unfortunate times.

After getting yelled at by his brother, Roxas, Sora got out of his bed. He took his morning shower, and got dressed in his uniform. He always wore a jacket, even if it wasn't cold out. Mainly so that he could put on his hood to cover up the fact he was secretly listening to his music in class.

He groggily trudged downstairs, preparing for the second day of school, when he was met with a sight that froze him in his tracks. It was Kairi, and she was sitting at his table.

She noticed him and gave him a wave and a friendly smile. Sora was too shocked to respond.

"Why are you in my house?" Her smile turned upside down. He looked at his mom, who was finishing up breakfast, "What's she doing in our house?"

"Oh, Sora! You didn't tell me yesterday about your little friend," Aerith cooed. Aerith spun over to her son whispered in his ear, "She's so cute! She's super super cute! I'm so happy for you!"

Sora was annoyed. On the bright side, he was now completely awake. "Mom! She's not my friend! Why'd you let her in?"

"Sora," she scolded. "That is no way to treat a guest!"

Sora rolled his eyes, "She's not a guest, she's gross!" Kairi stuck her tongue out at him.

"What are you? Five? I thought you'd be into girls by now," said Aerith.

"MOM!" Sora yelled in frustration. Kairi couldn't help but giggle at Sora.

"Oh, quit laughing you," Sora said as he took a seat next to her. He plopped down next to her and noticed her staring at him with big blue eyes. "What're you lookin' at?"

"Someone who's got Intermittent explosive disorder," she teased. Sora groaned, why was she here? Why wouldn't she leave him alone?

Aerith saw the two and couldn't help but act like a giddy school girl on the inside. They just looked so cute together in her eyes.

Soon enough, Roxas ran down the steps, but froze when he saw Kairi in the dining room. So that's what Kairi looks like in person. Holy shit, she had to be the hottest girl he's ever laid eyes on.

Sora saw Roxas staring. Time for phase one of his plan. He gestured his brother into the room. Roxas put on his best act at confidence but he failed miserably.

"M-m-morning, e-everyone," he said, trying to sound cheerful, but he was too distracted by the beauty sitting at the table.

"Oh, Sora, you didn't tell me you had a brother!" Kairi said.

Roxas sat across from her, "Yep, t-that's me," he stuttered. Her voice was angelic. This was the first time Roxas had been truly nervous around a girl in a long time. Sora had to be on drugs not to try and get some of that.

"Yeah, Kairi, this," Sora had to keep telling himself in his head that what he was about to say was for the best, "handsome young gentlemen is my twin brother, Roxas." Sora almost felt like burning his tongue for having to admit his brother was at all handsome.

"Nice to meet you," she greeted friendly, "I'm Kairi."

"Ah-ah-wha-ba..." was all Roxas could spit. Kairi giggled, getting a little deja vu from when she met Sora the first time. He was speechless as well.

"Anyways," Sora interrupted, trying to avoid from his brother embarrassing himself any longer. The more Roxas looks like an idiot, more quality time with Kairi. "I was thinking, do you two want to head up to the park with me after school tomorrow?"

Sora looked at Roxas and gestured his eyes at Kairi. Roxas understood. "Sure, I'm game," he answered.

"What about you, Kairi?" Sora asked.

Kairi gave him a suspicious look. She was no fool, she was well aware of the fact that Sora wanted nothing to do with her, so she knew he had to have something up his sleeve. But she played along, acting if she was clueless to Sora's scheme, "Sure. Sounds like fun."

"Great, it's a date!" Sora exclaimed.

Roxas was sweating. Hard. The mere presence of this girl was almost intoxicating for him. Sora was one dumbass motherfucker.

"Okay, breakfast is ready," Aerith said, setting down plates for the three. It was eggs, toast, and bacon. A typical breakfast made by a typical mom.

Well, as cliche as it was, it tasted divine. Kairi couldn't believe how good it was. "Wow, this is really good Mrs. Hikari!"

"Thank you, sweetie!"

Sora began looking at her oddly while chewing on his toast. Kairi noticed and gave him an odd stare back, "Quit looking at me like that, you look like a troll."

"I'm just trying to figure out why you couldn't eat breakfast at your own house," Sora said irritatingly.

"So that we can head to school together. Duh!"

Sora groaned. Like he wanted that.

Kairi felt like something was missing. There was Sora, Roxas, Mrs. Hikari, but nobody else.

"Um, Mrs. Hikari," Kairi began, getting the attention of the young woman, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but where's Mr. Hikari?"

All three of them gulped in unison, which was pretty creepy.

"Um," Aerith began. "We're divorced," she excused.

"Oh, that's too bad," Kairi felt bad. She should have kept her mouth shut.

"Yeah, and you had no business bringing it up," Sora said.

Kairi felt worse now. Maybe his father was the thing that made him such a grouch? Something still felt unanswered.

"Hey, c'mon, give her a break," Roxas defended for Kairi, "it's not like she knew or anything."

Sora ignored his brother as he finished off his cold glass of OJ.

"Why are you being such an ass-" Roxas stopped himself right there. He almost forgot his mother was still in the room. "Jerk face," he covered.

Sora just puffed and got up. He picked his bag off the floor and started to the door. Kairi felt a little guilty, she had no intention of upsetting him. She felt like she had done something wrong.

"Hey," Sora yelled at her. Kairi looked up and saw him waiting for her by the door, "you gonna sit there all day like an idiot?"

Kairi sighed and got up, tossing her bag over her shoulder, "I'll see you later, Roxas."

"Sure," he responded. He felt bad for her, it wasn't like she did anything wrong. Sora was just being a little dickhead right now. But he wasn't mad at Sora either, he knew why Sora was really mad, and even though Sora acted like it, he could tell he wasn't mad at Kairi.

The two had a silent bus ride to school. Sora just listened to his music while Kairi just wallowed in silence.

The two got off the bus and started heading off to school, Sora walking ahead. Strife Academy was right down the street. Kairi decided to break the ice.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I shouldn't have brought it up earlier, about your father. I just wanted to help you, and help you get through-"

"Well you're not fucking helping," he quickly interrupted, stopping dead in his tracks. "Why don't you get it? I don't want you around. Why won't you leave me alone? You. Are. Annoying."

Kairi was shocked at his sudden anger, it almost frightened her. But she was going to stand her ground. She walked up behind him, "Sora, I'm sorry, just...just tell me what's wrong." She touched his shoulder trying to comfort him but he quickly rejected her offer and turned around, his face full of angry and his eyes watery.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled. "Stay away from me! Be friends with my brother if you want to, but keep me out of it! Leave me alone!"

Sora couldn't take it anymore. He started running away, and Kairi was too shocked to do anything. She didn't mean to upset him, but perhaps...perhaps Selphie was right. Maybe Selphie and Riku were right, maybe she should have just left him alone.

Never had her feelings been so hurt by anyone, and all she wanted to do was just help. I guess you can't help everybody.

Kairi felt like a zombie as she made her way to class. She stumbled across Selphie who had a sympathetic smile on her face. "Hey, kiddo. You okay?" asked her best friend.

"You were right," she admitted.

"Huh?" asked Selphie. Some elaboration would be useful.

"About that boy. His name is Sora, and you were right. He just wanted to be left alone. I thought I could help him, but he ended up...not wanting my help."

Any other day, Selphie would have gloated with the 'I told you so's' right about now, but she could tell Kairi was really upset. "I'm sorry," Selphie apologized.

Kairi put on a weak smile, "Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong, you just tried to warn me, and you were right."

"No, I'm sorry that you got hurt. I knew he wasn't going to be fun, but I didn't think he'd be that bad."

"It's okay. I don't want to think about it any more. Let's just go back to class. I'll sit with you and Riku today." Selphie gave her a sympathetic look again. Kairi thought her friend would be all giddy, "What?"

"You remember what Mr. Newburn said yesterday, right? Where you sat yesterday is your permanent seat until further notice."

Damn, she was right. That was going to make things pretty awkward. Ugh, why'd Sora have to be so childish?

They headed into class, and Kairi noticed that Sora looked like crap. It was obvious he had been crying, since his eyes were bloodshot.

Kairi took her seat next to Sora, and he didn't move a muscle. Kairi tried to keep her attention away from him, but she couldn't help but give him a couple of glances.

"Hey," she started. As she expected, he didn't acknowledge her. "Okay, I know you're mad, and you don't have to believe me, or accept me, or anything, but I just want you to know that I'm truly sorry."

Sora looked at her for a moment, but he couldn't say anything. The words wouldn't come out. They refused to. Man, how'd everything go so sour so fast? At this time yesterday, he almost thought he was in love with her, now he can't bare to look at her.

Mr. Newburn walked in, "Alright, class, take your seats."

Everybody obliged to his wishes, and class had begun.

The whole day, Sora was avoiding her. Which he did a pretty good job of doing despite having almost all of his classes with her. He always found a way to weasel away from her if she tried getting near him, such as excusing himself from class or just getting lucky when Kairi was pursued by boys.

Kairi was still feeling bad about the whole situation. She felt like something needed to be done. She wasn't going to let Riku or Selphie get the win, not this time.

She had to find out what was troubling Sora, even if he hated her for it. Nosy? Yeah, she'll admit it. But she's not being nosy for the sake of being nosy, she wanted to help. No one should have to suffer, even if he was being kind of a jerk.

Kairi had a feeling it had something to do with his father. It had to be something deeper than what she was told earlier.

"Um," Aerith began. "We're divorced," she excused.

But that couldn't be true. Was a simple divorce enough to bring somebody pain? Just about everybody she knew had a mother and father who were divorced at some point. No, this was something deeper than a divorce, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

There's only one thing that could make someone bitter if it's about a family member. Well, there were actual quite a few things, but Kairi had a hunch...yes! Of course! How could she not see it before?

The day ended and she knew what she had to do, even if he hated her: she had to find Sora. Kairi walked out to the spot where she and Sora waited yesterday, and she expected to see a spiky-haired brunet sitting there, but the bench was empty.

She then noticed a 42 bus riding down the street leaving its exhaust behind.

Great, now she'd have to wait another twenty freaking minutes for the next bus.

After what felt like an eternity, the bus finally arrived. Her hopes went back to its previous state when she remembered the bus takes about forty five minutes to get back home, and then the ten minute walk down the street. This was going to be painful.

But time was on her side as it seemed she got to her street quicker than expected. Perhaps it was just the anticipation of seeing Sora that had gotten to her.

She sped walked down to Sora's house and knocked on the door, praying that Sora answered. But it was only Mrs. Hikari.

"Kairi? What brings you here?" asked the beautiful woman.

"Is Sora here?" Kairi asked.

Aerith shook her head. "Sorry, he just left to go get himself a drink from the corner store."

"Oh," said Kairi in disappointment. Now she'd have to wait even longer.

"Kairi, I think you should come inside. There's something I'd like to tell you."

Didn't have to tell her twice. Kairi walked inside and sat at the dining table, and soon Aerith joined her. Roxas was no where to be seen, though. Must have been in his room.

"Kairi," Aerith started, "I know Sora was a tad...rough earlier when you brought up his father. But you see... the reason is-"

"He's dead, isn't he?"

Aerith nodded her head in response. Smart girl. "Yes, and it's just a picky subject for him, so I'll try to make this quick before he comes back."

"Okay," Kairi understood.

"Where do I begin? Have you ever heard of SOLDIER?" Kairi nodded. "Well, Sora's father was Cloud...Cloud Strife."

Strife? Like..."The Strife that the Academy is named after?"

Aerith nodded.

"He was your husband?"

Aerith nodded again, "Yes. Cloud was one of the most well-respected ones at SOLDIER, and even though he acted like a tough guy on the outside, he was a real sweetheart in the inside."

Kairi inwardly giggled. He sounded a lot like Sora already. But something was confusing her. "Wait, if Cloud was Sora and Roxas' father, why is your last name Hikari?"

"This is where it gets complicated," Aerith smiled. "After we had kids, Cloud faked his death and was labelled K.I.A so that he could help me take care of the kids at the time. He was so respected for his actions, that an Academy was named after him, the one you attend. Sora was really close to his father. Not only his father, but his uncle Zack and his aunt Lucrecia. They always spent time together. Cloud was the best father you could ever imagine, he took Sora to basketball games, since Sora always had a thing for basketball, and he and Zack would always teach him how to play baseball and basketball. But one day, the four of them were riding out to a game, and Sora was ecstatic. He always wanted to go to see a live basketball game, but," Aerith sighed, and when she spoke again, her voice was beginning to crack. "There was a freak accident, and everybody came out dead, except Sora. With a miracle, he only came out with a fractured elbow, but Cloud, Zack, and Lucrecia...they died right in front of his eyes."

Kairi was starting to feel even more bad for Sora. She knew he must have gone through something, but nothing nearly as bad as this. She couldn't imagine seeing death at such a young age.

Aerith continued, "Sora was traumatized by the event, and he was only eight years old. But he never cried, which scared me. He just turned bitter. The once cheerful, happy-go-lucky little boy I once knew was gone. Roxas was upset too, but eventually he learned how to be himself again. But Sora never fully recovered. Could you blame him? The death happened right before his eyes. I can't imagine how scared he was. Sora used to be the best, brightest young boy you'd ever meet. He was kind, caring, and generous. He's still like that, but he refuses to show it nowadays. He still thinks I don't notice."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he's always thinking about others before himself. It may not seem like it, but Sora is far from selfish. He just acts like he doesn't care about anyone, but in reality, he wouldn't harm a fly. I remember one time, and this was after his father's death, when we were walking back from the store to get some ice cream, Sora noticed a young girl no older than four running in the middle of the street, and Sora didn't even think twice about running in front of her and taking the hit of an oncoming car. He ended up breaking his leg. He looked pretty bad and he ended up having to have it in a cast for a long time, and he sure must have been suffering. But I remember he told me, 'as long as that little girl lived to smile another day, he didn't care if he himself had died'. That's just the kind of person Sora was-no, is. I could name a million other stories about him, but I'd be talking for hours. I know he may be a little rough around the edges, but I do hope that his exterior doesn't scare you away Kairi. You're the first friend he's had since third grade, because nobody will dare take the time to get to know him, because he just seems like a downer on the outside, and I can tell he he's too shy to do anything about it. By the time he reached ninth grade, he wanted to go to Strife Academy, in honor of his father. But he couldn't go there with the last name Strife, labelled on him. Problems would surely arouse, whether it be from other kids or teachers, good or bad, Sora didn't want to deal with it. So, we changed our names to Hikari, which was my surname. Don't let the boy fool you, he's a special person. One of the most kind and caring individuals I've ever known, and I'm proud to be his mother. Please, Kairi, don't give up on him. As soon as I laid eyes on you, I knew, you were the one. You can be the one to bring out the old Sora again, the real Sora. Can you promise to do that for me Kairi?"

That's what Kairi had in mind from the start. She had just went from feeling sorry for Sora, to now feeling sorry for him and gaining respect for him. If only she had known all this earlier. But she was determined to make sure Sora had at least one person he could call his friend. After hearing what Mrs., or Ms. Hikari had just said, she had to.

Kairi nodded her head, "That's what I had in mind to begin with."

Aerith smiled, "Oh, thank you, dear," Aerith cried. She and Kairi shared a hug.

"I have to go find him," said Kairi.

"You don't want to wait for him?" asked Aerith.

"That's the boring way of doing it," Kairi said with a wink. Kairi then sprinted out of the door to go to the corner store.

She was a little familiar with where that was. Kairi and her sister walked up there last week when they first moved into the new house. She must not have ever seen Sora since he likes to be locked up in his room so much, and probably didn't pay it any thought.

She finally made it to the store and looked around. Nope, no spiky hair in sight. She ran up to the man at the counter. "Sora Hikari, where is he?"

The man at the counter popped the bubblegum in his mouth before answering, "You just missed him about three minutes ago."

Kairi had a feeling he'd say something along those lines. She thanked him and ran back out. She had to catch Sora fast. She knew running out to find him instead of just waiting on the porch of his house was dumb, but she was tired of waiting for him, she needed to see him, now.

After running for so long, she finally caught Sora on the porch of his house. Just as he was about to put the key in the front door, he heard something behind him. He turned around and saw Kairi breathing hard.

"Kairi...?" he asked. He didn't even think about the fact that he was supposed to be ignoring her. She looked really sick at the moment.

Kairi then started taking her steps towards him, but she was so tired, she could barely speak. "Sora..."

Kairi then collapsed on the ground. Thoughts of ignoring the girl and staying away from her were all thrown out of the window at that moment. "Kairi!"

Sora dropped his bag of drinks and ran up to Kairi, and held her up in his arms.

"Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!" he yelled. (Reference alert)

Kairi's eyes opened and she let out a few coughs. Sora helped her up.

"What happened?"

"I was looking for you...I ran from the corner store trying to find you..."

"You ran all the way from the store? Are you an idiot?! That's a fifteen minute walk, you could have fainted running that much!"

"Okay for real," she interrupted. "What's wrong?" She already knew, but she wanted him to say it.

Sora was taken aback by the sudden switch in relevance, but he put on his tough guy act once more. "Nothing, it's just..."

Kairi eyed him intensely as he tried to avoid eye contact, "Just? Just what?" Silence ensued, mostly due to Sora's stubbornness. Once again, it was up to Kairi to start things back up, so she decided to tell him. "Your dad, he's gone, isn't he?"

Sora gave her a fake chuckle. "So you know..."

"Your mom told me," she admitted.

"It's just, I'm...trying to be strong okay?" Kairi's confused face told Sora to enlighten her. "Been trying to not let myself be reminded of them, especially about him." he was referring to his father on that last part. "It would just be...too painful, okay?"

Sora turned around and grieved. He couldn't believe he just told her that, but she deserved an answer. She earned it.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sora," she began. "It's okay to let your emotions out. You'll just get sick if you don't."

Please, as if he hadn't heard that one from the books. "Tch, you sound like my mother."

"Sora...it's okay. Everyone cries, I'm not going to think any less of you." Kairi was truly concerned. If he kept his emotions in like this, he was going to be a wreck of an adult later in life.

Sora's eyes started getting all teary. Damn it, why did Kairi have to be so overwhelming?

He turned his face to her, revealing the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. Kairi didn't like seeing him this way, but if he didn't go through this, he might become suicidal later in life.

"Sora..." she said.

"Kairi, my uncle...he left me...my aunt did, too...and my father...even he left me," Sora sniffled. "Kairi...why does everyone keep leaving me?"

He felt abandoned, the poor thing. "Sora..." was all she could respond.

Sora collapsed to his knees, and hovered over. He finally began letting out the held back tears from the past seven years. It was a long awaited moment for him. The tears themselves were induced with many emotions, sadness, anger, pain, all jumbled into salty water snippets manifested from his eyes. Kairi was even a little teary-eyed and she hugged over him as he cried. He finally let the tears flow.

Sora was hysterical, "Why?! Why did he leave me?! Why does everyone keep leaving me, Kairi?! Why does everyone hate me?! Why?!" He was weeping uncontrollably now, and Kairi was never so proud of him before.

"I don't hate you," Kairi admitted. Even though he was being a jerk, she was far from hating him. If anything, she admired him at this point.

Sora hugged her back with his head still buried beneath her. "Kairi, please! Please don't leave me! Don't leave me all alone..."

"Shh," she said, rubbing his back. "I won't. I promise."

"Don't leave me...Don't leave me..." Sora whispered.

She smiled. He finally trusted her. She could sleep at ease now, knowing that Sora was okay. She didn't know why, but she felt the need to find out what was bothering him, and she had done so. Sora had done so much to avoid her, and in the end, irony did its job. The one person he kept telling himself he hated was the only one there to comfort him, the only one who he felt comfortable around to let out his emotions in front of. Maybe Kairi wasn't as bad as he thought, she was there for him despite all the things he had said to her. She was a true...friend. He had a friend, something he hadn't had in a long time. Kairi didn't care about anything else anymore. She didn't care about the words, the threats, the past. As long as Sora would be okay now, she was okay. Nothing else mattered anymore.

"I'm not going anywhere."