First off, major apologies to everyone reading for the extremely long wait. Not only did I drop off of FF for about two months, but I also took an extra week to get this chapter written, as opposed to my other two stories that were updated pretty much when I expected to get them done. School was hectic, but I have from now until January to do whatever. Not to say that my update rate will improve drastically, though, as I just received KH2.5 in the midst of writing this chapter and will also be starting a new project with some other people over the winter break. Anyway, for now, let's just focus on the fact that there is a new chapter :D

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

No Escape From Her Extravagance

Sun, surf, and sand. The sun was high in the sky, radiating its UV rays to bake the casual beachgoers into a pleasant golden brown. The sand was soft on the feet of whoever stepped on it, mixed perfectly with fine grains and salt from the ocean water. Gulls screeched and people laughed as they enjoyed their time on this fine summer day.

Amongst this crowd of smiling people, Sora was a little less pleased with the situation he found himself in. Glancing over at his two companions, he pursed his lips at the sight of them flirting. He had no qualms about spending time with Riku or Xion, but he liked to avoid being the third wheel, especially if Riku started taking things a bit further than an onlooker wanted to see.

"H-Hey, Riku, s-stop it, that tickles!" Xion giggled as he poked her sides with suntan lotion. "Eep! Where do you think you're reaching?!"

"What, don't you know anything about sunscreen?" the silver-haired teen teased. "You have to go a little bit under the swimsuit line, otherwise you'll get burned if it shifts at all."

Xion whacked his hand away from her posterior as he made another attempt. "I can reach that section myself, thanks. Now, if you'd please get my upper and middle back, that'd be great!"

"Well, if you insist. It's kind of a weird place for me to squirt my gooey white stuff, but I'm not opposed."

Sora sighed and did his best to ignore the following crude comments from his best friend and the retaliations from his girlfriend. Pulling out his phone, he reread the texts he'd sent out earlier asking if anyone wanted to come to the beach. Most of them said they had work or plans; a couple said that they were there too, but Sora had no luck spotting them in the crowd of half-naked people.

Kairi Lea:
No fair! I want to have a day off at the beach too! You owe me a beach date!

In truth, the brunet had sent that text to Kairi by accident. He knew she had to work today, but he'd instinctively included her in the list of people he sent the mass message to. It wasn't until after he'd hit the 'Send' button that he realized he may or may not have hell to pay for doing so. Knowing the redhead, she might take it as him bragging about the fun day he was going to have while she was stuck at work.

A semi-irritated glance over to his friends allowed a wry chuckle to escape Sora's nostrils. Yes, the first thing he associated with the word 'fun' was spending time with a couple while they…now that he looked at them, Sora couldn't even tell what they were doing, though he didn't exactly want to find out either.

Tossing his phone back in his bag, the spiky-haired teen reached into the small cooler they had and pulled out a drink. The can clicked open and he slowly laid back as bubbly liquid ran down his esophagus.

"Yo, Sora, you want to screen up?" Riku asked while simultaneously trying to stop Xion's pinky toe from going up his nose.

"I'm good for now," Sora called back without bothering to look up at them. "I'm just gonna lie under the umbrella for a while, maybe catch up on some sleep."

"Tch, you could've stayed home if you were just going to nap!"

"You could've stayed home if you were just going to "wrestle" with Xion." He felt some sand get kicked by his feet following that statement.

Riku came and sat down on the towel adjacent to him. Sora lazily turned his head to see Xion rubbing lotion onto his back while he faced the brunet. "Okay, okay, we'll go easy on you today," he sort of apologized. "Anyway, you gonna try to chat up any hotties? The beach gods are being pretty generous today."

Sora chuckled as Xion clapped both of Riku's cheeks, leaving white, hand-shaped lotion marks. "C'mon, man, you know that's not my thing. Unlike you, I've got a sense of dignity."

"Yeah, and zero confidence whatsoever. Seriously, though, it's not like you're a bad-looking guy, Sora. I mean, sure, with me here you might look like a little boy by comparison, but I'll try to face the other way so that that comparison doesn't happen too often."

"Thanks, you're a real lifesaver…"

Xion giggled from behind Riku. "Play nice, boys. Besides, Riku, Sora has Kairi, remember?"

"Oh, that's right, and she's loads hotter than any of the other chicks here."

"Excuse me?"

"Love you~"

It looked as though they were going to go back into play-fighting mode, but they quickly realized it themselves and restrained from doing so, turning their attention back to Sora.

"Everyone keeps saying I'm with with her," Sora explained as he shut his eyes, "but we're not together. We talk a lot, sure, but that's also because we work at the same place right now."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't mind dating her, would you?" Xion teased.

"Well…no…but that's different than saying I want to be with her."

"Heehee, you don't need to be so bashful, Sora. You like Kairi."

"I…" he paused for a second and scratched his head. "Maybe a little, but not enough to do anything about it."

Usually, Sora would have simply brushed off such a question with a simple no, but he couldn't deny that his feelings for Kairi were starting to change little by little. As much as she annoyed and stressed him out at times, the bubbly redhead had grown on him, to the point that he was closer to her than any of his other female friends. Still, that didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

"So…" Riku began after a short silence, "you like her but don't want to ask her out? Geez, man, grow a pair and do it!"

Sora reopened his eyes and tossed a pebble at his best friend. "I don't need to hear that from you of all people. How long did it take for you and Xion to become official?"

Riku smirked and waved his hand floppily. "That's a different situation, Sora. I didn't hold off asking her out because I was too nervous; I held off because I couldn't decide if I wanted to be held down."

"You mean held up by a loving girlfriend that doesn't support polygamy," Xion added in an overly sweet voice.

"Yeah, that."

The brunet sighed and shut his eyes again. "Like I said, I'm not nervous, I just don't think of her in that way. I'm not shallow enough to ask her out just because she's attractive."

"Careful, Sora, that's a fine line you're walking," Riku warned. "It's a man's duty to go after girls he thinks are attractive! It's one of the rules in the unwritten handbook for men and bros."

"Yeah? Then what are gay guys supposed to do, still hit on girls?"

"They can hit on guys. Personally, I'd be flattered if a gay guy told me how hot I am. If he's looking at me with the same eyes as a straight girl, who am I to judge his good taste? I wouldn't let him run with it any further than that, but you get the idea."

"You know, I can never tell if you're pretending or if you really are as narcissistic as you make yourself sound," Xion mused.

"Don't try to figure it out. I've known him since we were kids and I still don't really know either." Riku seemed to ignore the laughter at his expense.

The three of them continued to chat and laugh about mundane things for the next few minutes. It had only been about a week since Sora last saw Riku, but compared to that time, this one was actually enjoyable for the most part, mostly because Kairi wasn't here to get mad at him. As long as he and Xion kept their PDA to a minimum, maybe being a third wheel wouldn't be as bad as he was thinking it was.

Once their sunscreen and soaked into their skin, the couple ran off towards the water, presumably to splash and chase after each other in the completely stereotypical fashion that couples do. Sora chuckled to himself as he tried to picture those two acting like that. What was more likely to happen was that Riku would splash Xion with way more than a few sprinkles, which would result in her giving chase to tackle him into the water. Even if they were doing the same things as all the other couples, the manner in which they did so would be a comical juxtaposition.

With nothing else to do, Sora calmly laid back and shut his eyes. He quickly became lost in thought as Xion's words bounced around in his head.

Did people really think he and Kairi were that close? Considering how much time they'd spent together vs. how long they'd known each other that kind of made sense, but at the same time it felt like no one really noticed that they had only known each other for about a month and a half. Well, that was excluding the five-month gap between meeting her and finding out they went to the exact same school. Either way, Sora wasn't sure what to make of the fact that people were already pairing him and the redhead together.

Then he had his own feelings to consider as well. Sure, he liked her, and he could tell that he would probably like her more as time went by, assuming things kept on going the way they were right now. It was too early for him to even think of entering a relationship with her though. Frankly, the thought of dating her seemed like it might be more of a hassle than staying the way they were now. Even if they did start going out, she would probably break up with him before long; after all, he had no experience in relationships. He'd had a few crushes in the past, maybe even had a thing with a couple of girls, but it had never evolved to the point where he could say that there was anything meaningful there.

Unable to fall asleep with those thoughts in his head, Sora stretched his arms as he sat up. As he looked around at all the other beachgoers, he suddenly began to feel rather out of place. Instead of playing in the water or laughing with a group of friends like everyone else around his age, he was just sitting alone under the umbrella. He didn't feel like a regular teen; he hadn't since the moment he turned thirteen. If anything, right now he felt more comparable to that one old guy that always stands at a beach or pool in a speedo with his hands on his hips while he people-watches. That thought alone made him shudder, but other people noticing him would probably think the same thing.

Grabbing the sunscreen, he lazily began to rub it along his arms and torso. This must be what it felt to be a side character. While everyone else was off being the protagonists of their own lives, he didn't feel like he was doing enough to fit that role of protagonist. At school everyone was aspiring to be something after they graduated, at work all his coworkers were either trying to move up the corporate ladder or were using their current job as a stepping stone, and even here at the beach everyone was having fun like normal. This was a beach episode, so why was he sitting alone on the sidelines?

"Hey, is that Sora?"

"Maybe, I don't know anyone else with hair like that."

Hearing his name called, the brunet turned around to see some familiar faces. They were Roxas's friends, but he had met them enough times to be on friendly terms with them. Even if he couldn't see them, he recognized their voices from all the times they'd hung out at his and Roxas's apartment. Trying to get rid of the depressing atmosphere he'd created, the brunet waved to them.

"It is Sora!" the blond, Hayner, exclaimed as he ran ahead from the other two, Olette and Pence.

"Hey, how's it going?" Sora greeted plainly. "If you guys are looking for Roxas, he's working today."

"Yeah, yeah, we know. We tried to get him to take the day off, but apparently he was supposed to learn something new today." Hayner put a mocking tone on those last few words.

"Hey, he's taking his work seriously," Olette said when she'd caught up, greeting Sora with a simple wave. "Heehee, besides, you don't seem to complain when he brings us leftovers from work."

"I won't complain if a chef decides to bring me free food, but I will complain if one of our best friends always chooses work over us!"

Last but not least, Pence bumbled over to where they were, slightly out of breath when he got to them. "You know he wouldn't be able to bring us food if he wasn't working, right?"

Sora chuckled as Hayner gave a disgruntled click of his tongue.

"Are you here by yourself, Sora?" Olette asked.

"Oh, uh, no, I'm here with a couple friends. I was going to take a nap, so I think they ran off into the water or something."

"Heh, couldn't you have stayed home if you wanted to sleep?" Hayner teased. Sora did his best to ignore the fact that Riku had already said that to him.

"Well, that and I didn't want to be a third wheel. Better to let them have some time alone, right?"

"I hear you," Pence sighed. "Still, third wheel is better than fifth."

"What are you saying, Pence?" Olette stammered. "We're all single, aren't we?"

"Technically, yeah, but it's not like I can't tell you and Hayner are something. Same goes for Roxas and Naminé. I'm not jealous, but it does feel a little weird when we all go to the movies or something. I always have to sit in between the four of you…"

Olette did what she could to avoid guiltily looking at Pence. Hayner just laughed. Sora had to wonder if this was how people felt when he and Kairi were hanging out with them; granted, the only time he could think of when it was only the two of them and one other person was last week when Riku came over. Considering how annoyed with his antics she had been, Sora could only suspect that Riku hadn't felt like much of a third wheel that evening.

"Haha, anyway," Hayner said, "we're going to head over to the concession stand. In case Roxas doesn't check his phone, can you let him know we'll all be at my place tonight?"

"Yeah, no problem. Later."

Waving them off, Sora turned back around in time to see Xion tackle Riku into the water. He smirked, having earlier predicted that exact situation to occur. The two of them splashed around for a bit before starting to make their way back to the towels. Seeming to notice that Sora was looking in their direction, Riku waved to him, got distracted by a voluptuous woman passing by, and almost immediately received a whack from Xion. Seriously, the guy just never learned.

"How's your head?" Sora jeered once they were within hearing range.

"Eh, I've had it worse," Riku said nonchalantly, proving to be a mistake.

"Maybe if you didn't gawk at other girls, you wouldn't have to put up with it!" Xion huffed.

"Aw, c'mon, you know I don't mean anything by it."

"That's not the point."

Bicker, play, bicker, play; was this how relationships usually were? If that were the case, it was only further dissuading Sora from wanting to enter a relationship with Kairi. Right now, all they seemed to do was play, and he would rather keep it that way. He'd already pissed off the redhead once; he wasn't about to push his luck. Knowing how karma seemed to work, it would mean that there would come a time when the lack of bickering caught up to them and there would be no more playing. He wanted to avoid such a time at any cost.

"Sora, what do you think?" Xion suddenly asked.

"H-Huh?" he stuttered dumbly.

"Yeah, let's hear what you've got to say," Riku chided as well.

Sora stared at both of them blankly, having missed the question altogether. He could only assume that they had asked something about Riku checking out girls while he had a girlfriend. With his thoughts scrambled, he blurted out whatever seemed logical at the moment.

"Uh, I-I think it's fine if he's not planning on doing anything…?"

A snooty grin slowly formed on Riku's face while Xion's dropped into a disappointed frown. Desperate not to seem like he had taken too much of his best friend's "advice" to heart, Sora stammered out a little more to fix his answer.

"But you shouldn't do it…when she's around…I think."

It didn't make him sound any less stupid, but Riku's expression wasn't quite so smug anymore. The loud couple had suddenly become quiet, and Sora had to admit that this was much more uncomfortable to be around than when they were flirting. At least he could just avoid looking during those times, but this whole situation had an uncomfortable air to it.

"A-Anyway, I've gotta pee," he said after the discomfort proved to be too much. "I'll be back in a bit."

"You've got a whole ocean behind you," Riku mumbled.

Crude.

"I'll use the bathroom instead."

Trying to hurry off at a pace that wouldn't make him seem awkward, Sora breathed a sigh of relief when he was out of earshot. Hopefully they would take this opportunity he'd given them to make up. Knowing them, some little spat like this would get resolved in less than a couple sentences. All Xion had to do was make sure she tightened Riku's leash a little bit at a time until he was on the same level as every other guy. He had faith that she could handle it, mostly because he didn't want to have to be the one to do it in her stead.

Somehow managing to kill an ample amount of time walking to and from the bathrooms, Sora returned to find Riku and Xion acting like their regular selves, just as he had predicted they would. Glad to have the tension gone, he rejoined them under the umbrella as they finished laughing about something.

"Oh, hey, you're phone rang while you were gone so I picked it up," said Riku.

Sora ignored the fact that Riku had openly stated that he had slightly invaded the brunet's privacy. "Uh, okay… Who was it?"

"Kairi. She sounded kind of pissed and happy at the same time. I don't really know how to explain it. Anyway, she said something about wanting to meet you at the secret spot around six tonight and that she would eat your face if you didn't show up."

"Well, at least I know you're not making this up… That's not really a threat anyone else would use…or even think up…"

"Really? I thought it sounded kind of hot. Like she wanted to make out or something."

"It's Kairi, so it could mean that or it could mean that she will literally bite my face until I've apologized enough times."

Riku and Xion glanced confusedly at each other for a moment and then back at Sora. "Everybody's got something that gets them off," Riku added.

Shaking his head and standing up because he didn't want to continue this conversation, Sora scrunched some sand between his toes and looked down at them.

"I'm gonna take a dip in the water. Might as well make the most out of today in case she decides to kill me for being a minute late."

"Hah, whipped!" Riku laughed as he stood to join him.

"Yeah, I'll let you think I'm the whipped one if it makes you feel better."

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

The sun was hidden behind the buildings around him as the bar's ladder came into Sora's field of vision. Checking the time, he was relieved to see that he was fifteen minutes early. There was never any telling what misfortune might befall him if he incurred the wrath of Kairi. When it came to her, it was always better to be safe than sorry, mostly because there might not be another chance to learn from that mistake.

The ladder creaked as usual while he carefully made his way up. Considering it had been pulled down from where it hung, he could only assume Kairi was here already. Hopefully she didn't take the fact that he showed up after her as a way to say he was late, but it wouldn't be the first time she sprung a cheap shot like that on him.

"Yay, you're here!" he heard her cheer as the top of his head poked above the edge of the roof.

"Heh, I'm not sure I had much of a choice," he chuckled dryly, "after all, my face was at risk. But you got here pretty quickly after work."

She helped pull him onto the roof with a light giggle. "Hehe, well, to tell the truth Mr. the Wise let me leave after lunch. Neku had to make up for missing a shift, so he slept for the morning and came in during the afternoon."

Sora scratched his head as he tried to put that together. "But Neku's the night receptionist. Shouldn't Shiki have gotten the day off instead of you? It'd make more sense for you to get the day off if Joshua had to make up a shift, but not Neku."

The redhead gave him a playful wink and stuck her tongue out. "Yeah, but Shiki and I decided to have a trade off. This way she got to spend the day with him and I got to have a day off. It's a win-win-win!"

"I think you have one too many wins there."

"Isn't Neku a winner too?"

Sora paused for a moment as his face twisted into an amused smirk. "Heh, I'm not so sure about that, but whatever."

Kairi gave him an odd look but quickly shrugged it off. Following her as she headed toward the skylight, they took a seat and started chatting about what they had been doing earlier, but as usual ended up going off on whatever came to mind. The brunet found himself laughing as Kairi explained how she had tried to make some kind of fancy dish at home with all the wrong ingredients, figuring she could simply substitute things that looked kind of similar. As one would expect, she nearly vomited from the first bite; rather than throwing it away, however, she wrapped it up in plastic wrap so she could stick it in the fridge and leave a note for Axel saying that he could eat it. Sora could only guess she wanted to hang out around now so that she wouldn't have to deal with him blowing up at her.

"So," Kairi said when the two of them had finished laughing at her story, "I can't remember if I asked or not, but what have you got planned for the summer?"

"Uh…nothing, really," Sora answered plainly. "What about you?"

The redhead tapped her finger on her chin as she hummed. "Mm, I've got something planned, but I'll tell you about it later. You didn't think of anything you wanted to do after graduating though? This is our last summer as kids!"

As kids, huh? Sora hadn't thought of himself as a kid since he reached double digits. "Not really; Roxas and I have been living on our own since January, and we've both been working since we started high school."

"Rrr, you know I didn't mean it like that. This is the best time to do something fun and exciting! After the summer, almost everyone we know is going to be working or going to school. Don't you want to enjoy yourself?"

"I'm not not enjoying myself; I mean, I pretty much figured that what I'm doing now is what I'll be doing for at least the next few years. The only reason it wasn't like that before was because I needed to finish school but even then I was just going enough to pass. I'll just get used to this sort of lifestyle and wait for my vacation time to build up."

"That seems so…so…boring!" She said it as if he didn't already know. "How come you're so set on a boring life? You sound like you're about to turn thirty tomorrow!"

"Well…it isn't that I don't want to do stuff, but everyone I know has different schedules and I'm not itching to go anywhere. Besides, aren't you working for the same reasons?"

"N-Not exactly," she stumbled on her response a bit. Before he could interject, she cut him off. "Anyway, what I'm using my paychecks for is none of your concern! We need to get you out of this ugly mindset of yours."

"Ugly?" Sora chuckled at her choice of words. "Middle-aged, working class people everywhere just died a little bit."

"It's not ugly on them, it's ugly on you! Geez, Sora, we aren't even twenty!" The redhead hopped up to her feet and pointed fiercely at his face. "That's it, I've decided!"

Sora waited for about a minute for her to announce what it was she had decided on. It seemed she wasn't going to, as she just continued standing in the exact same pose while he stared back up at her. Leave it to Kairi to confuse him for the sake of emphasizing her point.

"…And what exactly is it you've decided on?" he asked in a slightly hesitant voice.

"I've decided–" she paused for effect, "that you are coming along on my trip with me! No questions, no buts, and no excuses!"

Yet again, there was another silence, though this one left Sora with a more genuine feeling of confusion. He darted his eyes back and forth before focusing on her again, half expecting the simple action to get her to elaborate, but he was once again met with that same facial expression and finger pointing at his face.

"I think…we need to rewind this conversation a bit…"

This time Kairi seemed to be confused by what he meant. "Um…okay? That's kind of a funny request but I'll give it a shot. What did I say again…? Oh right: geez, Sora, we aren't even twenty!" She hopped on the spot. "That's it, I've decided!"

"…I didn't mean rewind like that."

With a sigh, Sora stood up momentarily so he could guide Kairi into the spot she had been sitting a few minutes prior before sitting back down.

"What's this trip about?" he asked once she had settled in. "I won't bother saying you can't force me to go, but at least let me know what you're talking about."

"Oh, haha, oops," she chortled, lightly knocking herself on the head. "I said I was going to mention it later, but it kind of slipped out. Actually, I was planning on inviting you normally, but now you don't have a choice.

"My family and Naminé's family co-own a big beachfront property on Destiny Islands. We usually go every year, but neither of our parents could make it this summer, so they're letting us go on our own. I figured I would invite you since it'd be weird if it was just me hanging out with Nami and Roxas all by myself."

"Huh, Roxas is going?" Sora said after taking a moment to process that last part.

"I'd assume he is. We'll probably end up bringing more people, but my guess is that she'll ask him first."

That made sense. Despite Roxas's constant insistence that he and Naminé weren't an item, even their other friends already knew about it. To be fair, Sora wasn't really in a position to call his brother out on his relationship, considering everyone was also making the exact same claims about him and Kairi.

"I can probably go, but will your parents trust you to bring guys over when there aren't any adults around?"

"Ugh, well, that's the downside to all of this," she grumbled, putting on her most exaggerated grumpy face. "They said we can bring a bunch of friends, but Axel and his friends are coming to 'supervise' too. It's a big house, so we can probably keep our distance, but it would've been nice if he wasn't going to be there."

Sora still didn't fully understand the enmity the Lea siblings had for one another. From what he could tell, Axel seemed to be a fairly amiable guy, if not overly lax. Regardless, having Axel there might prove problematic for the brunet as well.

"Oh, if Axel's going, then I'm not sure if I can come along," Sora said.

"Oho? Were you planning on doing dirty things while there were no adults around to keep us at bay?"

"Why did I know you were going to think of it that way…? What I meant was that I'm not sure if I can go if my boss is going to be away at the same time. It's not like we both need to be around, but I might not be able to take a vacation at the same time as him. Even if that wasn't how it was, do you think Mr. the Wise would be okay with both of us taking time off at the same time?"

Kairi pondered the problems for a moment, but somehow it didn't seem like she was thinking too hard. After a few seconds of thinking, she just smiled and shrugged. "We can always get Axel to send a couple of temps over while we're away, right?"

Sora smacked his palm against his forehead. It wasn't that they couldn't do that, but it seemed a bit odd to send a temp to replace a temp for a few days. Now that he thought about it, was he even allowed to take vacation time as a temp? It didn't seem like either of his bosses would mind it, but it was still a question that was worth asking.

"Anyway, this topic is no longer up for debate!" the redhead announced enthusiastically. "Sora, you are coming on this trip no matter what, understand?"

"S-Sure…"

Despite his lackluster response, saying that he wasn't excited at the prospect of going on vacation with Kairi would be a lie. Of course, Kairi's order for him to come along meant nothing since he still had to check with his bosses, but if they were okay with him going, then he would actually have something to look forward to. She had neglected to tell him when this trip was happening, but that was something he could ask her about later. For now, Sora was just happy that he would have some more time to spend with this bubbly, stressful, fascinating, unbelievable, silly airhead of a girl.

"Oh, you should invite Riku along too!" she added. "It'll be more fun with more people, right?"

That was true, but it would all come down to luck if Riku could get off from work, and knowing him he would bring Xion along. It didn't sound like Kairi was going to limit the number of people going, so he let her know that the two of them were sort of a package, to which she simply accepted.

"Just out of curiosity," the brunet mused, "how many people are coming? You're probably bringing along some other friends too, aren't you?"

"Let me see," the redhead responded and began counting on her fingers while mouthing the names of people. "…Ten…eleven…twelve including us. Well, that's assuming everyone we ask can come."

"Whoa, twelve? Doesn't that seem like a lot of people?"

"Mm, wait, let me count again… You and me…plus Nami and Roxas…those three…Riku and Xion…Axel and his buddies; yup, that's twelve! We also may or may not meet up with some friends while we're there, so there could be a whole bunch of us hanging out."

When she told him it was a big property, he assumed she meant that it was big enough to fit two families, but if it was big enough to accommodate twelve or more people, this place must be huge! It did make sense now that he thought more about it, though, considering that Naminé's father was the manager of a four-star hotel and Kairi's parents were traveling businesspeople with enough money to support their kids' living expenses while they were away for most of the year. Still, he was almost nervous to see how big this beach house was now.

"Sora? Hellooo, Sora~!"

He blinked in surprise when he noticed Kairi's face right up in his own, practically touching nose to nose.

"Uh, sorry, I spaced out there," he chuckled weakly. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around how big this beach house of yours is."

Kairi grinned from ear to ear, looking almost triumphant that he was so dumbfounded by the mere thought of how great her property could be. Not that she had any reason to be acting this way; she wasn't the one who had purchased it, after all. Still, her head didn't seem to be swelling, nor did her nose start to grow, so it seemed that she wasn't taking too much pride in this.

"Haha, I'm sure you'll be amazed when you see it!" she stated proudly. "It is pretty spectacular, even to me."

Scratch that thought about her not seeming too proud.

"Riiiight," Sora responded skeptically. "Anyway, when exactly is this trip supposed to be happening? I have to see if it'll be okay for me to go."

The redhead scrunched her face at him as those words hung in the air a bit. "Sora, I told you that you don't have a choice. You are coming no matter what!"

"O-Okay, sure, but that still doesn't answer my question."

"You don't need to know, I'll just come kidnap you one day and we'll be on our way!"

"What about my clothes?"

"I'll grab some stuff out of your closet."

"My toothbrush?"

"I'll grab that too."

"Riku and Xion?"

"Them too."

This was getting a little ridiculous. "What about Roxas? Couldn't I just ask him when the trip is? Even if he doesn't tell me, I'll probably still notice him packing away some clothes and stuff."

"Um…" She hummed to herself as she tried to think of another silly excuse not to tell him. "I'll make sure Naminé doesn't tell him the right date and then we can kidnap him too!"

Sora let out a deep sigh, but couldn't help himself from smiling over her usual antics. This was such a typical thing for them to do. Going back to how Riku and Xion always seemed to bicker and play, Sora hoped that this was what bickering with Kairi was like, because it pretty much seemed like playing anyway. Maybe that's how those two saw their bickering as well, but he would have to ask them about it some other time.

Allowing this to keep going, Sora proposed a hypothetical to her. "Let's say you manage to get by without telling anyone when we're going. Couldn't I ask Axel? He is my boss, and even if he was in on your charade, do you really think that you and Naminé could successfully pull off a kidnapping?"

Apparently she hadn't thought about Axel, as she quickly lost the smug expression she had been wearing throughout this back-and-forth they were having. Sora watched with amusement as she tightly shut her eyes and pressed her pointer fingers to the sides of her temples. If he didn't know any better, he would guess that she was trying to attack him with some form of psychokinesis. Even she wasn't so childish as to try something like that, though. He was about ninety percent sure of it…or maybe eighty-five.

"I know!" she blurted suddenly, looking like a lightbulb just lit up over her head. "I'll threaten to force-feed more of that gross thing I made today to Axel! He definitely won't tell you then!"

"And the kidnapping?"

"I'm stronger than you are!"

"I kind of doubt that."

"Bro, do you even lift?"

"…'Kay, let's just say you and Naminé somehow manage to kidnap Roxas and me. Do you really think you can overpower Riku?"

"Heehee, Riku's a perv. All I'd have to do is flirt with him a little and he'll come along without any questions."

"It's terrible, but I know that would probably work… Xion would be pissed if she found out, though. You play dirty, Ms. Lea."

"I do what it takes to win!"

Before their playful bantering could go on any longer, the sound of the ladder creaking stole both of their attentions. After a few short moments, Demyx's head popped up over the top, and he looked a little bit peeved; though, this was still Demyx so he was wearing that signature awkward smile of his.

"Hey, guys, I know I said you could come up here whenever you wanted, but keep it down, will you? You're disrupting the performers."

They both glanced at one another and sent apologetic looks back at him. "Sorry, Demy," Kairi said in a cheerfully apologetic way. "We got a little carried away talking about the Destiny Islands trip."

"Oh, is Sora coming along too?"

"Yep, he doesn't have a choice now!"

Demyx looked fairly confused over what that was supposed to mean and glanced at Sora, but the brunet could only give him a shrug in response.

"Cool, cool," the blond bar owner said somewhat indifferently. "Guess I'll see you in a couple weeks, then. But seriously, keep it down now."

"Demyx!" Kairi shouted. He had already descended back down, and didn't bother responding to her shout.

A short silence ensued, the only sounds provided by the musicians below and the cars in the distance. Sora cleared his throat, hoping that the girl beside him wasn't too peeved over the fact that Demyx had ruined her plan with a single sentence.

"Hehe, so it's in a couple weeks, huh?" Sora laughed. "Should I…forget that I heard that?"

Slowly turning towards him, the redhead sighed, but quickly readopted her earlier demeanour with an angry smirk. In an attempt to seem intimidating she jabbed one finger into his chest and used her other hand to cup his chin. More than intimidated, Sora simply felt confused.

"Make sure that you do, or I'll eat your face!"

And with that unclear threat, Sora did what he could to erase Demyx's words from his memory. At least he had the trip to look forward to.

Hmm, well, this chapter certainly turned out odd. I don't think it was bad, but it did take a bit of rewriting, specifically near the end and halfway point. Maybe it's just me, I dunno, I'm still trying to get back into the swing of writing after that hiatus.

Anyway, I've sort of got an idea of how long this story is going to be now, though it's not for certain. It's either going to be twenty-one or twenty-three chapters (so look at that, we aren't even halfway through yet). I don't usually do this, but I'm going to ask this to you guys directly: would you like to see more Riku and Xion, or should I keep the attention solely fixed on Sora and Kairi? I could go either way, but it's nice to hear where you guys stand on that. It wouldn't push Sora and Kairi's relationship to the side by any means, but you would get to see some more development on the other two. Anyway, I'll let you guys tell me in your reviews and I'll see what the consensus is plus what I feel like doing when I start writing the next chapter.

Thanks to relena soulheart, Painted With a Palette, and WitsWithMe for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and please review!

–GengaJupite