Chapter Ten – I Promise

Kairi was finally released from the hospital about a week later. All the excitement from actually seeing Yuna had made her so exhausted that day that she actually fell asleep before Selphie, Namine, Yuffie, and Sora left. However, her side where she had surgery was still hurting.

Her and her mother walked into the door. Kairi's house felt like it was a little different since she hadn't been there in a week, but it was still the same. "We're home!" her mother called.

"Hi." Koru said from the other room. Obviously he was on the phone, because he didn't come to greet his sister that had been in the hospital for a week. However, Kairi's older brother Taka, came into the room.

Taka was going on nineteen. He was in college, and wasn't home much. Kairi had another brother named Kyon, but he was twenty-five and lived in Twilight Town. Coincidence?

Kairi walked with a limp all the way to her room. To her surprise, someone had cleaned it while she was gone. She didn't know if that was a good or bad thing, depending on who it was. They might've found some personal things… like her diary or where she kept her money. Kairi checked all those places and saw that they were in the same spot as they were before she left. All her textbooks were on her desk with a sheet of paper from Namine next to them. She had tons of makeup work.

Kairi returned to school two days later. Her side still hurt from time to time, but not as much. People were giving her attention that day everywhere she went.

"Kairi! I heard you were in the hospital! Are you okay?" said a girl from her English class. Kairi nodded and smiled. Namine walked into the room and hugged her. "You're back!" She squealed. Ms. Rogers was excited to see her too. Everyone was being nice to Kairi… and noticing her too.

In second period, Sora came up to her and greeted her. He was glad to have her back too. Some people in the class were clueless as to where she was, and Kairi wanted it to stay that way. Unfortunately, Selphie was in here, and she was one hyper chick…

"KAIRI!" She clang to her. "I'm so glad you're feeling better! Did that hospital treat you well? Did it?" The class had their eyes on Kairi. Her face reddened and she nodded. "I'm fine, Selphie… please get off of me…"

"I'm sorry!" She sat down in her own seat.

Ms. Martinez entered the room and called roll. "Ah, Kairi! Welcome back!" She said and moved on. "We're doing a group assignment today. I'm going to split you up…"

Kairi was in a group with Selphie, some guy named Gerald who was the class clown, and a girl named Faye. They questioned her.

"Where were you?" Faye asked worriedly.

"I was sick." Kairi halfway lied.

Selphie didn't say anything about it. She just told them that they need to start their work. Kairi couldn't agree more… she still had a bunch of math work to finish.

In gym class, Sora stayed behind everyone else and ran with Kairi. Kairi was still trying to recover from her surgery, but also wanted to challenge herself and run. She could deal with a little pain, right?

"So," Sora said in between breaths, "Felling better?"

"Yeah… my side just hurts a little."

"Maybe you shouldn't run so much. You'll wear yourself out." He said worriedly. Kairi blushed. "I'll be fine."

After finishing her laps in ten minutes, which wasn't bad because her normal record was about seven in a half minutes, she sat out for the rest of the period. Her teacher allowed it. She watched as the rest of them played flag football.

Lunch came and went. Soon the school day was over. Sora offered to walk her home, even though he lived in the completely opposite direction.

"I can go through the woods here." Sora pointed out as they walked. Kairi smiled at him and put her hands behind her back.

"So I guess everyone was really nice to you today, huh?"

Kairi nodded. "Yeah. I was surprised they actually noticed I was gone." She shrugged.

"Of course they did. In Spanish class, people were asking me where you were." Kairi looked up at him. "Really? That's weird." There was a prolonged silence.

"So… why are you so shy?" Sora wasn't looking at her.

"I don't know." Kairi responded. "I just am."

"I remember when I used to be shy. It was back in Elementary and Middle school." Kairi was shocked. Sora was shy?

"I didn't think I fit in with the other kids. Of course, Riku was my only friend back then. Tidus and I were acquaintances. Then High School came around… and everyone changed… including me."

"Obviously," Kairi laughed. Sora smiled. "Yeah." There was a pause. "You see, when my mother got a divorce… I wanted to run away.My fatherjust… left.A couple months later I heard that he had died in a car accident...and now I'm stuck with a bastard."

"Oh…" Kairi said sadly. They arrived at her house. "Well… this is it. Thanks for walking me home."

"No problem." Sora grinned and waved as Kairi went inside. He then turned around and started walking back to his house.

Along the way, Sora was talking to himself. "Man… I can't believe she can't tell yet." He was talking louder than he realized. "If only Kairi knew how much I really liked her…"

"Oh my gosh!" Exclaimed someone. Sora turned around. His eyes widened. It was Selphie.

"Aww!" She jumped up and down. "You really do like her!" Sora tried to calm her down. "No! Please! You can't tell her!" Selphie glared at him. "And why not? She's my best friend!"

"I know! Just… please… she can't know yet…" Sora pleaded. Selphie eyed him mysteriously. "Ah… afraid, are we?" She elbowed him teasingly. "Sora has a crush… Sora has a crush…" Sora's face went red. "Just please don't tell her… I beg of you…" Selphie started to whine. "But…"

"Please Selphie… promise me you won't tell Kairi that I like her." He was serious. Selphie took a while to answer, and then nodded. "I promise. I won't tell her a thing."

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A/N: Yay for Chapter Ten! Is Selphie wrong? Why doesn't Sora want Kairi to know? Hmm… found out in the next couple of chapters! W00!