Chapter 4: Tell Her Tonight

Kairi grimaced as she paid the fare for her cab and got out, closing the yellow door behind her. She pulled her coat around her as she trekked across the street to Riku's house in her three inch heels. He was already waiting for her in the doorway and smiled when he saw her. She handed him her bag as she stepped up onto the sidewalk and followed him back into his house. When he shut the door, she turned around to face him, shrugging her coat off from her shoulders.

"Well don't we look cute?" he asked, a smirk on his face.

"Do you know how hard it was to sneak out of the house like this?" she asked as she grabbed a hangar out of his hall closet and hung her coat up on it. "My mom would've killed me if she saw what I was wearing." She pulled her cell phone out of her coat pocket, "Speaking of, gimme a second while I call her."

Sora poked his head out from the kitchen, a bowl in his arm, "Rikkuuu! Is that Kairi?"

"Yeah. She's calling her mom, she'll be right back."

He walked into the kitchen, smirking a bit. "And might I say, that's a lovely little number you bought her."

"Isn't it? She refused of course saying it made her look like a hooker, in which it does. But it looked so cute on her …I just had to buy it." Sora smiled, and went back to mixing up the substance in the bowl he was holding.

Kairi came into the kitchen, having removed her shoes and put socks on her feet "God. This is the last time I wear those shoes around Traverse Town at night. You don't know how many times someone tried to hit on me." She flexed her toes, sighing. "And my feet are killing me."

"Cute socks. They clash wonderfully with your costume." Riku quipped over from the refrigerator.

"Oh shut up, Riku." She stretched, cracking her bones and flexing the muscles in her back. "I'll put my shoes back on when the party starts up."

"Why didn't you just get dressed over here?" Sora asked innocently, setting the bowl down on the counter.

She took a look at him and then at Riku, her eyebrows creasing inwardly. "…Right. Do I have to answer that question?"

Sora smiled, taking the bowl and pouring it into pans on another counter. "Guess not."

"What are you making?" Kairi asked, taking a seat at the island counter balancing her cheek against a balled fist.

"Brownies." He answered. "Mom gave me her special recipe. And before you say anything, yes I know what I'm doing. I happen to be able to cook, Kairi …unlike some people." He shot a look at Riku.

"Hey hey hey, I added just what you told me too!" Riku protested.

"Yeah, well you can't be so heavy handed when you're cooking!" Sora shot back.

Kairi glanced at the clock and then turned back to Sora, "Where's your brother?"

"He's catching a ride with Axel and Demyx. Speaking of …they should've been here by now." Sora pushed a bit his thumb in thought, and crossed around the island to where Kairi was. "I'll go call them now."

Sora came back a few minutes later as Riku was setting a bowl down on the island in front of Kairi. "They're …on their way according to Axel. Roxas was yelling about something in the background about Demyx and a chocolate cat?"

Riku snorted and Kairi sighed. "…Those two can never get anywhere without something stupid happening."

A few minutes later, the door bell rung and Kairi turned to Riku, eyebrows raised. He nodded off in the door's direction, "It's probably the retard crew, go let them in." She hopped off the island stool and made her way down the hallway and into the living room. She looked through the peep hole to make sure it was Axel, Demyx and Roxas before pulling the door open.

"Kairi!" Axel shouted, ruffling the auburn haired girl's hair. She sent a seething look his way, as he sashayed past her. Demyx followed suit, giving her the thumbs up. When Roxas was in, she closed the door behind him.

"Sorry we took so long …some people can't drive." He said jabbing a finger over at Axel was entering the kitchen, yelling out salutations to Sora and Riku. A few minutes there was a loud popping sound, glass breaking and a scream of, "OH MY GOD MY PANTS!" from Demyx and more screaming on Sora's part.

"Should we check on them?"

Kairi took one look at the kitchen and the sight the saw in front of her, and then turned back to Roxas smiling. "No."

o—o

Somehow, Demyx has managed to set himself on fire. I don't know how. I don't know why. He just did.

With people arriving soon, everyone got changed into their costumes. …Riku was a pimp, and Sora was his "lady of the evening". …How fitting. Riku asked me if I wanted to be his other "lady of the evening". …I really wish I could kill him sometimes. Roxas had been dragged into being a dominatrix. …Axel and Demyx played his "faithful slaves." I won't knock it, Roxas does look goodin leather.Though I must say, Axel looked a little too eager to be led around on that leash by Roxas. I'm starting to wonder if the entire male population that I associate with is gay.

When 9 o'clock rolled around, the guests started piling in. I hung around the front of Riku's house for a little while to divert traffic in and out of the house with arriving guests. Some of the people that came need to learn the difference of "this is a costume party" not "this is a take all your clothes off and where nothing party". God, I am not a prude. I just wish my generation had more morals than they currently lack.

A little while after the party had gotten underway, it was time for Roxas and Sora to blow out their candles, neither of the birthday boys were anywhere to be found. I found Riku and Sora eating each other's faces up in Riku's room, as if I didn't get enough of that at school during the day. Roxas however …well, let's just say that being gay must run in his and Sora's genes.

o—o

Kairi sighed as the rounded into the kitchen to get started on a fresh batch of punch finding the bowl in the dining room was getting lower fast. Wiping her hands down on a towel, she picked up the bowl up, set it down on the center of the dining room table, and took the old bowl back into the kitchen. The doorbell rang shortly afterwards. Rounding back through the crowded dining room and living room, she made her way to the front door. Checking the peep hole, she sucked in her breath a bit before yanking the door opened.

Leon and Cloud passed by her, acknowledging her silently. Following them were Yuffie and Rikku. Yuffie waved enthusiastically at Kairi as she closed the door behind them all.

"Kairi! Hey!" Yuffie said, turning around to face the auburn girl. She gave her the once over and then the thumbs up, "Cute costume."

"Thanks …you too." She looked at her and then Rikku.

"We're twin playboy bunnies, cute, huh?" she wiggled her bunny tale for emphasis.

Kairi nodded, smiling back. "Um …Sora and Roxas are about to blow out the candles soon. So …"

"Of course." She tugged at Rikku's arm and the both of them followed me into the kitchen. I was getting Roxas and Sora's cakes out of the fridge when I heard the creaking of the back stairwell. Riku was coming down with Sora, Axel and Roxas in tow behind him. Roxas was grumbling under his breath massaging a spot on his neck and Axel looked rather pleased with himself.

"There you are," Kairi said, setting down one cake on the island before reaching for the next, "come on so you guys can blow out the candles."

Riku disappeared from behind Sora, having gone to round up the party to follow into the kitchen. Sora sashayed over to Kairi and whispered in her ear, "Catch a load at Roxas and Axel. I was wondering when those two would stop dancing circles around each other."

Kairi snorted and looked toward Roxas who shot them a seething look, "SHUT UP SORA!" His hand instantly flew back to his neck to cover up the spot he had been massaging earlier.

"Oh what will mom say when she finds out both of her sons are gay..."

o—o

Before Roxas could kill Sora, the two of them blew out the candles on both their cakes, signaling that they were both officially sixteen now. Sora made a comment about how he was older than me now to which I retorted that he was still a retard, so it didn't matter.

The night rolled on, I bumped into Yuffie a couple of times here and then. A shy awkward wave here and there was all it was really. I hung around with Olette and Selphie for the rest of the night. Tidus, Hayner and Pence were to busy trying to drink each other under the table to pay attention to either girl, so that left me with Selphie and Olette for my entertainment. I spent the time listening to the gossip about the usual. Who was going out with who, who was looking cute that night, who needed a makeover, etc. Brainless girl talk was all it was really.

Axel and Roxas disappeared again for the second time that night. I don't even want to think about what the two of them were doing. Really. If they're going to become anything like Riku and Sora have become, spare me the details.

I would say one of the highlights of the night had to be when Demyx pulled another feat of amazing proportions and set himself on fire ….again. This time it was his hair. He never …fails to amaze me.

Sometime later Yuffie came by and asked me if I had seen Rikku, and when I told her I hadn't she looked a little pissed, but thanked me and walked away. Getting bored of Selphie and Olette's mindless banter, I decided to head to the kitchen to see if Riku and Sora needed me for anything. However, I heard a familiar voice shouting coming from down the hallway and decided to follow it to make sure everything was alright. I found the door to the study cracked open and in also, the speaker of the livid guest.

It's was Yuffie.

o—o

Kairi stopped in her tracks, blinking confusedly as she heard yelling over the loud music coming from the front of the house. Stepping down from off the back stairwell, she made her way down the hall toward the study where she could hear escalating voices coming from.

Kairi, was not one for intruding on people's privacy, but this sounded bad. Walking quietly alongside the wall, she pressed her ear against

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"…Yuf …it's not what it –"

"OH HELL IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"

"Calm down …you're blowing things …"

There was banging around, before Rikku called out, "Yuffie! Stop it!"

"This is what you do, Rikku? This is what you do after nearly a year, Rikku?"

"She …she …"

"No, save it."

"Yuf …Yuf, don't do …please, talk too …" Rikku was pleading with her now.

Another thud, and this time, Yuffie was by the door, opening it a bit, "I said, save it." The door flew open, and Kairi pressed herself up against the side of the hallway as Yuffie rushed past her and out the left back door toward the patio.

A few minutes later Rikku came out, looking red in the face. Her face was puffy, her eyes still moist from tears. Another girl followed out girl behind her, a little bit taller than she was with dark grey hair and eyes so goldenly rich, they almost looked red. She looked right then toward Kairi's direction. She turned around to look at the grey haired girl, and nodded, "I'll …meet you in the front, okay, Paine?" Paine made a silent gesture and left out of Riku's house, slamming the front door behind her. "Do what you need."

"Hey …hey, you're that girl, from English …classss, right? …Kai …Kairi was it?" Her words were meshing and slurring together. Kairi wrinkled her nose up, smelling the faint liquor that still lingered on the girl's breath.

Kairi nodded, eyebrows creasing inwardly.

"Have …have you seen …Yuffie?" Rikku paused, then shook her head, "Look …never mind …you didn't hear anything …did you?" she looked at her warily, wiping at her eyes.

"No …I." Kairi began, but shut her mouth promptly as Rikku cut her off.

"Like it matters if you did …ohhh, what have I done." She moaned, before shaking her head again. "Look, if …if you see Yuffie. Tell her …too call me, okay? I …I want to talk. …I want to sort this out…" She cocked her head to the side, "You'll …you …you can do that for me, can't you?"

"If I see her, I will." Kairi muttered, backing up a bit from Rikku who only drew closer.

"Thanks, Kai …Kairi." She sniffed, wiping at her eyes. "Oh, I'm a mess. …Guess it's time …for me to leave then. Tell Riku …great party …it was fun while it lasted, and say happy birthday to the …birthday boys, for me, kay?" She turned around, wobbling a bit on her heels and sniffing away.

When she left, Kairi turned around and poked her head into the kitchen where Riku and Sora were, "Hey, um …Riku?" she wrinkled her nose when Sora and Riku broke apart from their make out session to stare at her. "Rikku said …'great party' and Sora, she says happy birthday. Her and some Paine girl just left out together."

"Wait, what?" Riku asked, breaking apart from Sora who followed him just as eagerly for an explanation.

"She said –"

"No, repeat what you said about her and Paine."

"They left together. What are you, deaf?"

Riku looked at Sora warily, then Sora smiled back at Riku. Riku caught on, smirked at Sora and then smirked at Kairi who was standing there with a pissy expression on her face.

"Where's Yuffie?" Riku asked.

"I don't know …outside?" Kairi asked, shrugging. Riku crossed over from where they were standing to peer out of the window over the kitchen sink, "She looked pretty hurt. …I was just about to go and check on her …but Rikku stopped me and …well, here I am."

"Go on, Kai." Sora said pushing her toward the back door that led outside.

"GO AND GET YOUR WOMAN!" Riku called dramatically from the kitchen once Kairi was in the hallway.

"SHUT. UP." Kairi yelled back.

She pulled open the back patio door, slamming it as she went. Looking for Yuffie outside, Kairi saw the lone Japanese girl sitting over by the pool, swiveling her toes in the cool water. She sighed, pressing her face into her hands. She took her bunny ears off, laying them down on the grass beside her as she ran her hands through her hair taking in deep breaths to calm her shuddering body.

Descending the stairs of the patio, Kairi tried to be as quiet as she could without alerting Yuffie any. However, her shoes resounded loudly off of the polished wood and she cursed silently when she saw Yuffie looking at her questioningly from over her shoulder.

"Hey." Yuffie mumbled turning around to look at Kairi as she got nearer.

"Hey." Kairi responded. She paused, and then leaned down by Yuffie, "Um …are you okay? You … you know …"

Yuffie waved a hand, "I'll live."

Kairi sucked in her breath, looking around for something to say. She turned back to look at Yuffie who had turned back around and gone back to swishing her feet around in the pool again.

"Do …do you mind if I?"

Yuffie shook her head, "No, go right ahead."

Kairi kneeled down by Yuffie, stretching her legs out sideways as she reached to take her on shoes off, flexing her sore toes and letting out a sigh of relief as she pushed them both away from her. Kairi massaged her three inner toes inspecting them closely. They had gotten quite red over the night and were sore as all hell. She'd duly noted in her mind to kill Sora for making her wear them.

"Not one for heels either, hm?" Yuffie asked her.

She turned around to face Yuffie briefly before turning back to her toes. Swerving around she shook her head, "No, not really."

Yuffie smiled, "Me neither. Let me guess, Sora suckered you into wearing them?"

Kairi sighed, "Unfortunately, yes." She looked at Yuffie's feet submerged in the water, "Does it help any?"

"…Somewhat. …Though I'm thinking we'd have more luck by the jacuzzi …permitting it was on." She withdrew her wet feet from the water, placing them in front of her, "I'm going to have blisters in the morning, aren't I?"

Kairi laughed, "You and me both." She plugged her feet into the water. "Hey it's better than nothing, right?"

Yuffie turned to her, brushing her hair out of her eyes, "Yeah …"

o—o

I spent the rest of the night by the pool with Yuffie.

I wasn't really missing anything. I wasn't really one for loud parties anyway. Besides, everyone was drunk of their asses by now and the party would be winding down soon anyway.

But back to Yuffie …I have to admit …talking to her was kinda nice. And this is coming from me, you know, anti-social Kairi. And I'd never think it, but the two of us actually had a lot in common. And here I was thinking I was the only one in this world who liked peanut butter, tomato and ham sandwiches!

Our conversation had been interrupted by her cell phone going off. She told me she had to go because her ride back home was leaving. We walked back into Riku's house so I could get her a towel to dry her feet off with. When we were in the front of the house, she waved to Cloud who was over by Leon's car. He called too her, and she told me to hold on a minute as she ran over toward him.

A few minutes later she returned, smiling so wide that her eyes had turned to mere slits and I noticed for the first time that night that she had a small little dimple on the left side of her mouth. She stuffed a piece of paper into my hand and waved goodbye to me before heading back over to the car and getting in. After Leon's car had left, I stopped watching the end of Riku's driveway and turned my attention to the paper in my hand.

I unraveled the paper, and blinked at what I saw.

Her number was scrawled there in messy handwriting and under that she had written ...

Call me.