four
.
.
.
The dice lands on four.
You land on a ladder again.
Move up four more spaces.
.
.
.
Kairi answers the door with an excited smile gracing her lips.
Xion cocks her head to the side with a slight grin as she takes in Kairi's outfit: tight fitting black pants and a simple white golf shirt. "Off to work?"
Kairi beams at her friend as she walks inside. "Yes. Thank you so much again for hooking me up with this job, Xi. I owe you one."
Xion raises a hand in mock disapproval. "Gurl, don't even go there. It's my pleasure." She then walks into the kitchen and places a large Tupperware near the edge of the island counter.
"What's that?" Kairi asks as she holds a hairpin in between her teeth.
"Spaghetti and meatballs."
"Can Sora even eat that much?" Kairi asks as she ties her hair into a high ponytail.
"I have no doubt in my mind that he can, but I made it for the both of you," Xion confesses sweetly.
Kairi places her hands over her heart and sighs in delight. "You are too sweet, Xion. I bet it's delicious."
"Oh, you," she says, playfully pushing away the air in front of her. As Kairi continues to get ready for her first day, Xion takes a seat on one of the stools by the island. "So have you spoken to Sora yet?"
"No," Kairi admits sullenly as she slings a small bag over her shoulder. "He hasn't made any progress with me at all."
"Then perhaps it is you who should make progress and interact with him," Xion suggests. She then snaps her fingers for dramatic effect. "Because you are an independent woman who don't need no man's cowardice," she adds sassily.
Kairi chuckles and shakes her head as she takes one last look at the mirror in the living room. "I don't know, Xi…"
"Just give him a chance," Xion pleads. "I promise you that his friendship is worth it. It may not seem like it right now, but it will be."
"We'll see," Kairi says, giving her the same answer she'd given Naminé, because that's all she can promise, really.
"That's good enough for me," Xion says with a satisfactory smile. She watches as Kairi picks up a pair of large, thick-rimmed glasses from the living room coffee table. They look like they are far too big for her face, but they actually look quite stylish.
"So I met Sora's brother last week," Kairi says as she wipes the lenses with the hem of her shirt.
"Which one?" Xion asks.
Kairi raises a confused eyebrow in her direction. "He has more than one brother?"
"He has three, actually," Xion informs, "and they're all older than him. The first set of twins include Ventus and Vanitas, and they're three years older than Sora. Then there's Roxas, Sora's twin brother, who is older than him by ten minutes. Which one did you meet?"
"Roxas," Kairi answers. "He seems really nice."
She briefly sees Xion stiffen and bite her lip.
"I was afraid you'd say that," she admits, but it was inevitable. Roxas is the fiancé of her cousin, after all. "Note: Roxas is the one you don't want to bring up when conversing with Sora."
"I figured as much," Kairi says as she puts on her glasses. She turns to Xion for approval, and she doesn't look half bad –in fact, she doesn't look bad at all. "I ran out of contacts," Kairi admits with shame, "so I'm stuck with these for now… do I look weird? Be brutally honest."
"No, it's cute. It looks… quirky," Xion admits carefully. Then adds, "in a good way" for good measure.
"Really?" Kairi asks, second-guessing herself as she looks into the mirror for the last time -or so she claims.
"Kairi, you look fine," Xion assures while checking the time on the kitchen wall clock. "Now go, you don't want to be late. It takes at least fifteen minutes to get from Sunset Hill station to Wayfinder via subway."
Kairi nods in agreement and adjusts her bag one last time before walking towards the door. She trusts Xion enough to be alone in the house. Her hand just touches the doorknob when Xion calls her name again.
"Oh, and Kairi," Xion says as she pulls something out of her purse. She tosses something in Kairi's direction and the newcomer manages to catch it in the clumsiest way possible. "Something to read on the subway," Xion explains.
Kairi looks down at the paperback book and lights up.
"Icing on the Cake" by XIV; Xion's pseudonym.
If there's one thing Riku hates, it's mornings –Monday mornings, to be specific.
He sighs tiredly as he exits his apartment building. He adjusts the messenger bag slung across his shoulder and casually throws his hands into the pockets of his dark grey blazer. He walks down his usual path, passing by the same kids that play hopscotch on the sidewalk and the same snooty fashion girls that hail cabs for work, and walks to the only place that can make his mornings:
The Usual Spot.
A steaming cup of their black coffee is all it takes.
One sip makes his life worthwhile.
He lets out a sound of relief as he enters the modest little café and waits at the end of the line until it is his turn. Five minutes pass and he begins to grow anxious.
Work starts in ten, and service is unusually slow today.
After four more minutes, he begins to panic a little. Now the girl in front of him is ordering, but she is taking too long. He frowns in irritation.
"Can I get something started for you, Riku?" the barista asks with a kind smile on her somewhat tired face. How she manages to remain so patient and calm in the mornings is beyond him.
"Just the usual, Olette," he says, bringing out his wallet from the right side pocket of his oddly coloured chinos. He tries to hand her the appropriate amount of munny, but the poor girl in front of him is still rummaging through her coin purse for spare change. Riku checks his watch and sighs.
"I'll just pay for her," he says, and he gets on his tippy toes to hand Olette a bill worth a larger amount over the counter. The girl in front suddenly freezes and turns to look at Riku with a semi-shocked expression.
He suddenly feels his previous irritation wash away.
The girl in front of him is not drop dead gorgeous like the girls Sora brings home, but she's cute and has a certain character. Her frizzy red hair is tied into a high ponytail (a look that he's always found attractive when pulled off effortlessly), her thick framed glasses cover most of her face in an adorable fashion, and although her outfit is simple, it brings out her petite figure fairly well.
He is not awestruck, per se, but fascinated. He's never seen a girl like this wander the streets of the upper district before.
"Are you serious?" she suddenly asks. Riku finds himself nodding. "Well, thank you so much! I'm very grateful, uh…"
"Riku," he says while outstretching his hand and checking his watch simultaneously. He gulps. "Masamune Riku."
"Thanks, Riku," she says while tucking some red hair behind her ear. "I'm-"
"Hey, what's the hold up here?" a gruff, impatient voice asks from the back of the line. "Some of us are trying to get our morning started, so can you please cut the chitchat?"
"Oh, s-sorry," the red haired girl stammers in embarrassment. She grabs her drink, and when she turns to find the handsome young man with the luscious silver locks, pastel yellow dress shirt, sleek black tie, grey blazer, and purple grey chinos, he is already done.
"I'm-"she stops her introduction mid-way when she realizes that he is nowhere in sight. "Kairi…" she finishes, her voice barely over a whisper.
Later that afternoon, Sora finds himself in his office, desperately searching through blueprints on his numerous work desks. He growls in frustration when he, after twenty minutes, still can't find the specific document he's looking for.
He suddenly hears a knock on the door.
"Come in," he says, but it does not sound welcoming in the least bit.
Riku pokes his head through the door cautiously before entering Sora's sorry excuse for an office. He dodges countless supplies and folders on the floor before finding his best friend buried in a pile of blueprints.
"I know I've said this countless times already, but, dude," Riku starts, "you seriously need to get more organized."
Sora pokes his head out of the pile and narrows his eyes at the silver haired man. "For the record, my office is perfectly fine. Look how comfortable I am in this pile of oversized paper."
"You know, instead of getting some ass, maybe you should get yourself an assistant to help you sort things out," Riku suggests as he attempts to fish his best friend out of the mess.
"I can manage," Sora insists as Riku brings him to his feet. The younger man picks up a specific blueprint and thoroughly examines it. "So this week's presentation is in… Midgar, and I'm demonstrating the Fenrir?"
Riku shakes his head. "No, that's next week."
"Then it's…" he shuffles through another group of blueprints. "Radiant Garden with the X-blade?"
"No, that's next month," Riku chortles, though he's beginning to feel slightly more concerned about his best friend's lack of organization.
"Then what the hell are we doing this week?" Sora asks impatiently.
Riku sighs as he explains that their next presentation is going to be in their very own headquarters. Sora is to demonstrate two new keyblade models to the Guardian Corps of Bodhum called the Oathkeeper and the Oblivion, designed by the one and only Roxas Fair.
Sora cringes at the mention of his twin brother. He then attempts to find the blueprints for these weapons in a defeated silence. Riku, who does not, in any way, embrace this silence, shakes his head in disapproval. He recalls the days when Roxas and Sora would barge into his own office, unannounced, bickering about such childish and trivial things like ice cream and Nutella recipes. Sometimes, when he was particularly keen, he could even hear them through the glass walls of Roxas' office, which was on the other side of the floor. Riku would serve as the twins' mediator, and back then, he absolutely despised it because it distracted him from work.
Now, he craves that bickering more than ever.
"Hey Riku, what's the date today?" Sora suddenly asks amidst the nostalgic silence.
"August 25th," he answers after briefly glancing at his phone.
"Monday?"
"The last Monday of the month," Riku informs, and he immediately knows what is going through Sora's head. He sighs and leans against the edge of one of Sora's work desks. He really needed to get that boy a calendar, but he'd probably lose it within a week's time.
"Time, please," Sora demands hastily as he searches his pockets for his car keys.
"5:14 post meridium," Riku answers while crossing his arms in amusement.
Sora curses under his breath and attempts to stack some nearby documents into a neat pile, only to have Riku slap his arms away after thirty seconds.
"I'll do it, just start the car already," he orders, and Sora happily complies.
He runs out of his office and into the hallway where workers are already conversing and ready to head home. He runs past them despite their greetings and makes a beeline for the elevator. While he waits for the doors to arrive, the secretary, Larxene, snickers at him from her desk.
"You're late," she teases in a singsong voice.
"I know," Sora growls. He enters the elevator without bothering to look back.
The ride down is agonizingly slow, so when the doors finally open, he bursts through them and makes a mad dash for his red Bugatti, which is easy to locate because of its bold colour. He hops into the driver's seat, pulls out of the parking lot, and drives to the front of the building where Riku is already waiting for him, messenger bag strapped on and everything. He gets in the car wordlessly and remains silent as Sora speeds off towards the lower district of Twilight Town with dubstep blaring from his speakers.
A civilian that occasionally follows the speed limit should get to the border of the lower district in about twenty-five minutes, but it takes Sora only eight. The buildings immediately get smaller, the roads dirtier, and the atmosphere duller.
Sora reaches his destination and skillfully parallel parks his car in front of a cute little flower shop called "The Pink Ribbon". The name is slightly beginning to fade due to the chipping paint, but it remains readable, nonetheless.
Sora's mother has been the owner of the shop years before he was even born, and when Sora and Roxas both landed jobs in Caelum Industries alongside their older brothers, Aerith demanded that her "baby boys" visit her every month in rotation despite their busy schedules.
Ventus, the eldest, visits on the first Monday of the month. Vanitas, on the second. Roxas, the third, and her baby, Sora, on the final Monday.
Sora hurriedly gets out of the car and makes his way to the door with Riku in tow until his eyes land on something that doesn't look quite right. He knows this place, and he knows this place well enough to know that something is out of place upon first glance. Through the window of the flower shop is a girl –a girl that he, for a fact, knows isn't his mother, because he knows this girl. He has her red hair, blue eyes, and painfully familiar face engraved in his memory.
Kairi.
But what was she doing here, in the lower district, so far away from home?
Oh no, he thinks. He takes in the green apron tied around her waist and the oversized rubber gloves on her hands. No.
Out of all the stores in the upper, middle, and lower districts of Twilight Town, she just had to work at the one that belonged to his mother?
Abort mission, he says as he backs away from the door. Luckily, Kairi is too preoccupied with tending to the flowers that she does not notice his retreating figure. Abort mission!
He crashes into Riku's rock hard chest just as he's about to run.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asks firmly, crossing his arms for authoritative effect.
Sora frantically searches the area for somewhere to hide. A fire hydrant, a light post, a garbage can –anything that could conceal them from Kairi's line of sight. Sora's eyes excitedly land on a nearby alleyway. He grabs Riku's wrist and drags him into said alleyway for some Heart to Hart conversation.
"Wait, Sora," Riku pleads as they enter the abandoned alleyway filled with debris. "Before you do anything, can you excuse me while I get my rape whistle from the car?"
Sora merely leans against the brick wall and crosses his arms with an anxious expression.
"What's up with you?" Riku asks, noticing his friend's obvious discomfort.
"She works there," Sora answers as if it were the end of the world.
"Really?" Riku asks, intrigued. He walks to edge of the alleyway and sneaks a peek through the windows of the flower shop. His eyes widen at the familiar sight.
It is the same girl that he bought coffee for this morning.
He presses his back against the wall of the alleyway again, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. He never did get her name.
What an interesting twist of fate this was.
"So what should I tell my mom?" he hears Sora say a few feet away. He already has his phone out and has numerous excuses at the ready.
Riku scowls at his best friend's behaviour and confiscates his phone within the blink of an eye. In all honesty, he didn't see that much of a resemblance between Kairi and Naminé. Kairi looked like she had a completely different character to offer –something he admired upon seeing her for the first time.
"Quit being a coward, Sora," Riku scolds. "You're acting like a little boy. Man up and talk to the poor girl. You've left her alone for far too long. Would it really kill you to exchange a few words with her?"
"Yes, it would," Sora says through gritted teeth.
Riku narrows his eyes at him, and that's when the younger man sees it.
"Oh my gosh," Sora says in realization. "You've met her before."
Riku feels a slight tint in his cheeks before shaking his head in embarrassment.
"Yes, you have," Sora continues. He pushes himself off the wall in amusement and disbelief. "And what's worse is that you… you… you like her."
Riku frowns at Sora's false accusations.
"I haven't met her, not really," he explains. "I just bought coffee for her this morning because she was taking too long at the counter. I didn't even get her name."
"So it was a love at first sight kinda thing," Sora says, continuing to be ridiculous in Riku's opinion.
"No, will you stop it?" Riku asks, irritated. "She just seems different. She's not at all like her, you know. I can tell by the way that she carries herself. She has something else to offer, Sora, and that something might be good for you if you just give her a chance."
Sora huffs like a child and remains silent.
"How long are you going to keep this up?" the older man asks. "It's been over three months since she came here, and she's still around despite your terrible hospitality. What does that tell you about her?"
"That she's stupid," Sora mumbles.
"No, it tells you that she's determined to stay," Riku explains. "She's not going anywhere, Sora, so you might as well accept it and talk to her. Just because she looks like her doesn't mean she is her."
Sora sighs and rubs his temples in annoyance. He suddenly recalls his first year of university, when he and Riku shared the same Calculus I class under Professor Ansem. Sora was never a math person throughout high school, so naturally, he felt completely alone and hopeless in that class, but if it weren't for Riku's patience and kindness, he probably would have repeated Calculus I about three more times before finally getting it right.
In hindsight, it was one act.
One act of kindness that he, to this day, is still grateful for.
Would he have liked it if Riku had just left him in that pitiful hole of despair? Certainly not. And back then, Riku was patient with him for an entire semester.
All Sora had to do was say hi.
The younger man groans and slumps his shoulders.
He knows what he has to do.
When the two boys enter the flower shop, Kairi is nowhere in sight, much to Sora's relief. But before he can express this relief with a long sigh, he sees his mother walk out of the back room.
If there was one word that could describe Aerith Fair, it was beautiful. With her clear glowing skin, healthy brown hair, bright green eyes, and kind, spirited soul to match, she became a breath of fresh air in what Sora liked to call the borderline of Twilight Town's slums. She had all the features and qualities of a loving mother, and unfortunately for Sora, that also included "lecture mom".
She approaches him with crossed arms and a frown–a look that does not suit her gentle appearance. He can tell by the confidence and urgency in her steps that she has been waiting for this Monday in particular.
"Hi mommy," he says sweetly, hoping to dispel any tension in the air.
Aerith looks up at her son, who is at least half a head taller than she is, and pokes him right in the chest. Sora winces in pain.
"Don't you 'hi mommy' me," she says in a hushed, but angry tone. Riku snickers and watches with amusement from the cashier register.
"Sora Gainsborough Fair," she begins sternly. She executes his full name with perfect annunciation, austerity, and clarity: the trifecta of oh shit.
"Last week, I interviewed a lovely girl by the name of Kairi Hart," his mother begins, pacing the shop with her arms placed behind her back. "Throughout her interview, I was looking through her resume, and when I looked at her address, I found something very interesting."
Sora gulps. He knows where this is going. He looks at Riku for back up, but the older man merely leans against the edge of the counter and shakes his head with an entertained smirk.
"It is the same address that belongs to my youngest son," she continues. "So I asked her if my son was treating her properly, and do you know what she told me?"
Sora raises his hands over his chest defensively and waits for the painful truth.
"She told me that my son seemed like a very nice young man," Aerith says carefully.
Sora lowers his hands and looks at his mother in shock. Did he hear that right? Did Kairi seriously lie on his behalf to keep him from trouble?
Sora turns to see his best friend giving him the 'do you feel like an ass now?' look.
"I was overjoyed to hear that," Aerith continues, "So overjoyed to hear that my youngest son was being hospitable to a newcomer, but all that proved to be a lie when Roxas and Naminé visited me last Monday."
Sora looks into the narrowed eyes of his mother and cowers in fear.
"Naminé, Kairi's cousin and best friend, told me that you haven't even uttered one word to Ms. Hart since she moved in!" Aerith exclaims furiously. She begins to poke her son in the chest repeatedly, ensuring a bruise. "Sora Fair, you will apologize to that girl immediately and treat her with the proper respect she deserves. I did not raise you to treat women like this. Your father would have been so disappointed in you."
Sora suddenly remembers his older brother Vanitas pushing him on the swing set of their backyard many years ago. Vanitas, who suddenly became preoccupied with a stray moogle, left a four-year-old Sora alone on the swing set. Sora recklessly swung himself forward with so much force that he ended up falling right on his back, knocking the air right out of his lungs.
This is how he feels now.
"The dad card? Really?" he asks incredulously.
Sora's father, Zack Fair, was the archetype of a perfect soldier and a loving father. He was a first-class SOLDIER that proudly died a hero when Sora was only five-years-old. Since then, both sets of twins became very protective of their fragile mother and did everything they could to help and please her. Their father may have been gone, but his appearance and personality continued to live on within each of them somehow –Sora, especially. In their hearts, their father's job in the world was complete, and they would continue his legacy in ways that they knew how.
How Sora was acting, however, disgraced his father's legacy and he knew this.
"Yes, really," his mother responds with her hands on her hips, but before she can continue to scold him, Kairi emerges from the back room with a bouquet of fresh roses in hand.
"Oh," she says, nearly dropping the flowers when she locks eyes with Sora. "Hi."
Riku elbows Sora in the gut and the brunet manages to croak out a hoarse "hi" before clutching his stomach in pain.
"Kairi!" Aerith exclaims, her mood immediately switching to an excited one to disguise her anger. She puts an arm around her son's shoulders and begins pinching his cheek. "Obviously you know my son, Sora, and this handsome young man here is his best friend, Riku," she says, gesturing to the older man by the cashier.
"We've met," Riku says with a grin. "Double cream, double sugar, right?"
Kairi nods with a slight blush. She is flattered that he actually remembers her order.
"Sora here was just paying his monthly visit," Aerith says, continuing to pinch her son's cheek as a loving gesture. As his mother continues to ramble on about the details of her sons' monthly visits, Sora uses this time to analyze the girl before him.
Now that he gets a good look at her, he realizes that she can't be any taller than 5'2. She is a tiny little thing, but with a hint of muscle –something Naminé never had. There are bags under her eyes and she looks like she is in desperate need of a salon day, but other than that, she looks well. He finds himself feeling relieved that she managed to find a job, but there is a hint of emptiness in her eyes that he can't quite explain. She does not look sad, but she does not look happy.
Sora cringes. It's like he's looking into his own eyes.
"… but Sora never likes coming to this part of town. He claims it's too ghetto for him," he hears his mother say when he tunes back in.
He openly gapes at her.
"Mom!" he cries. Didn't he seem assholic enough?
"No, it's true," she continues shamelessly. Kairi merely stifles her laughter by covering her mouth with the roses. "I think it's a shame, really. I happen to like this part of town. I get to see people and their everyday walks of life –all Sora ever sees up there is stuck up rich people driven by time."
Sora merely rolls his eyes while Riku and Kairi nod in understanding and agreement. He escapes from his mother's embrace –headlock, really—and rubs his aching cheek.
"Okay, mom, I think that's enough," he insists.
"You're right, you're right," she admits as she glances at her watch. "You know what, I think we should close the shop early tonight."
Kairi looks startled. "Are you sure, Mrs. Fair? I can still put in some orders, or arrange more bouquets in the greenhouse-"
"No, dear, I think we're done for today," Aerith insists as she takes one last glance at the shop. "You did wonderfully today. Get your things from the back room and I'll start closing up."
Kairi bows respectfully in gratitude before scurrying into the back room to gather her things.
The instant her new employee is out of earshot, Aerith sends her son another look.
"Well, are you going to drive that girl home?" she asks. Sora knows her tone well enough to know that this is not actually a question. It is a demand.
Before Sora can respond, Kairi walks back into the shop with a grey cardigan in one hand and a small bag in the other.
"Thank you so much for everything, Mrs. Fair," she says gratefully.
"You're very welcome. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning!" Aerith says with verve. She then elbows her son discreetly.
Sora groans and looks at everything but his housemate. "S-so, Kairi…" He comes to realize that this is the first time he's said her name out loud. "How do you plan on getting home?"
"I take the subway," she answers swiftly.
Sora shivers in disgust. To him, the subway is a hellhole; a center for disease; a gum-infested wasteland. It is a merciless, dog eat dog world down there. People will not hesitate to make you feel uncomfortable or shove you out of the way. It was not a place for tiny little things like Kairi.
From his peripheral vision, his mother is giving him the look. He squirms under her piercing gaze.
"Would you like a ride home?" he finally blurts out.
Kairi blinks twice. Even Riku can see the surprise in her eyes.
"Um, that would be great, actually," she says while rubbing her elbow anxiously. It's starting to get rather dark outside and she did not want to travel alone on her first day.
"Okay," Sora says, unable to think of anything else to say.
"Okay," she repeats.
Sora clears his throat and turns to his best friend. "What about you, Riku? Need a ride home?"
Riku sees the desperation in Sora's eyes and nearly laughs. His best friend is now putty in his hands.
"Nah," he says, and he immediately senses Sora's discomfort. "I think I'll take the subway home."
Sora growls as Riku shares a quick hug with his mother.
"Always a pleasure to see you, Mrs. Fair," he says, and she waves at him one last time before he calmly exits the flower shop with his hands in his pockets.
Sora and Kairi both share individual hugs with Aerith before leaving the shop in an awkward silence. Sora leads his housemate to his car outside and is about to walk to his side of the car when he feels his mother's eyes on him. He gulps and slowly turns to see her staring him down from the doorway. He sighs and walks over to Kairi's side to open the door for her.
"Thank you," she says as she enters the vehicle. He hops into his side and sighs as he presses his back into the leather seat. He hears Kairi let out a low whistle beside him.
"Nice car," she says.
"Thanks," he says.
They bask in an awkward silence afterward. From his peripheral vision, he sees Kairi twiddling her thumbs anxiously. He looks down at his own hands. He surprises even himself when he realizes that they're shaking.
His father's smiling face suddenly flashes into his head for a brief moment.
He sighs.
"I'm sorry I've been ignoring you for the last few months," he confesses, and for some reason it feels as if a huge weight has been lifted off his chest. "It was very immature and inconsiderate of me. I apologize. Having a housemate just overwhelmed me."
"It's okay," Kairi says. She's smiling. "I understand."
Silence takes over once again, but it's not as awkward as before.
Sora suddenly begins to shake his head and chuckles. They're acting like teenagers.
"Hey, can we just forget all of this and start over?" he suggests with hopeful eyes.
Kairi's smile widens. It looks as if a beacon of hope has been lit right before her very eyes.
"I'd like that," she admits as she tucks some claret hair behind her left ear.
Sora offers his hand to her in a welcoming gesture. "Sora Fair."
She accepts it almost instantly. "Kairi Hart."
Well, that was certainly a lot longer than I expected. As of now, the word count slightly exceeded 5000 words! I considered splitting this chapter into two, but decided against it. Hope that was a smart decision.
Special thanks to codeninjathe, SoraxKairi7 and Amulet Misty for reviewing the last chapter and to those who put this story on alert! Also, thank you to the people who have this story favourited already. I'm glad you're thoroughly enjoying it so early. I'm sorry for any grammar errors, please kindly leave a review to tell me what you think, and I'll get started on chapter five!