Sora sat in his car wondering if he should do what he was thinking about doing. He wasn't quite sure whether or not it would be beyond the boundaries and or past the limit, but he doubted it would be too bad. Seeing no real harm in it, Sora just went for it and drove towards Kairi's house.

Kairi was in the middle of doing her homework when her phone rang, signaling a text message. Picking it up, she curiously opened it.

I'm sorry, my feet magically got me here again :)

Kairi widened her eyes at the message and immediately started to get herself looking presentable. Not again! Sora didn't even have to explain fully what he meant for Kairi to understand what was going on. She didn't know why Sora came to her house unannounced for the second time—was it too hard to ask and let her know beforehand?

Glad that her father was out at work at this time, she didn't have to worry about leaving the house and telling him. Kairi brushed her hair and put some force behind it, forgetting that her long hair was no longer there. Her brush swiftly slipped past her short hair, accidentally hitting her shoulder painfully in the process. It had been only three days since she cut her hair; she still had a while to get used to it.

Slipping a plain black T-shirt over her head, Kairi then swung her maroon jacket over her shoulders and pushed her arms through the sleeves. She changed her pajama pants into her black leggings before she grabbed her phone and went out the door to her room. Before she left the house, she went to her bathroom and looked at herself in her mirror to make sure she looked okay.

Kairi also couldn't get used to how differently she looked after she decided to get rid of her dreary appearance once and for all. Letting her hair down and cut short did miraculous differences. She looked a lot younger and bright. Without the glasses, her blue eyes shined against the lights of the bathroom, something Kairi never knew her eyes could do.

Feeling that she looked decent enough, Kairi rushed down the stairs and opened her front door. Surely, there in front of her parkway was Sora in his car, waiting for her to come out. Nervously putting her feet into her shoes, Kairi slowed herself down to a walk as she approached his car. At the sight of her, Sora unlocked the doors to his car.

"Hello," he said amiably as Kairi tentatively went inside his car for the third time. Yes, she kept count. He took in her appearance and smiled. "You look nice today."

"Oh. Um, thank you very much," Kairi responded quietly, finding herself never ever getting used to the nice things Sora said to her. By now, Kairi concluded that Sora wasn't afraid to say such things out loud, embarrassment or no embarrassment. He was just that forward and direct. Finding that very admirable about Sora, Kairi made a note to strive to be like him. Be direct and honest with my thoughts. Yes, yes.

"I hope you weren't busy today. I should've asked you before I came again. Sorry about that," Sora apologized, but he didn't seem too apologetic with the slightly mischievous look he gave her. Kairi say anything more than an "it's okay" before he drove to who-knows-where. A part of her wondered if it was the animal shelter again, but she had to think again when they suddenly took a turn and entered a neighborhood.

"Where are we going?" Kairi asked, unable to contain her question anymore.

"Oh crap, I didn't say where. Sorry. We're going to Roxas's house."

"Roxas?" Kairi frowned and instantly felt uncomfortable. Going to the house of someone she barely knew did not sit well with her. Heck, a house itself didn't make her feel great. "Did he invite me?"

"No, but it's okay. He'll probably be okay with it." That didn't make Kairi feel any better either. When they arrived and stopped at a very nice two-story house, Kairi almost refused to exit out of his car. A little part of her didn't like how Sora didn't tell her any of this, but another part of her kind of understood why he didn't. If he did, she probably wouldn't have exited her own house.

Sora came out from his side and looped around his car to go over to Kairi's side. Opening the door for her, he stooped down to make eye contact with her and gave her an assuring look. "It's going to be okay. They're all nice people. You're going to have fun. Swear." He made room for her to step out. "C'mon."

Kairi slowly got out of Sora's car. He closed the door and locked it before he went forward towards the front door. Kairi followed him, wondering how she was going to act the moment she saw other people.

"Hey, Sor—okay, you're here too, Kairi. What a surprise," Roxas greeted, eyes widened a bit when he saw Kairi behind Sora. It wore away quickly though as he made more room for the two of them to step in. "Come on in. We got a lot of snacks, so make yourselves at ho—"

"Xion! Put that knife down. I swear—you can't cook to save anyone's life!" an unfamiliar voice sounded in the kitchen. "Who are you trying to prove here? You'll kill them before they can judge!"

"Axel, just shut up!"

Roxas cleared his throat.

"Um. Make yourselves at home."

"This is like my third home," Sora joked as he stepped right on in. "Right after Namine's." Kairi followed in after Sora, but accidentally brushed against Roxas's shoulder in the process—the front door didn't really have much space.

"Sorry," Roxas immediately said as he plastered himself against the wall. Kairi already had her hand over the side of her arm that contacted his. She could already feel the burn from just that one small touch.

"It's—it's okay," she managed to stutter out, telling her mind to just calm down. A spike of anxiety hit her, but she quickly controlled it with two deep breaths. "I'm okay."

"Cool," he said before he signaled her to go in and closing the door. Kairi took small steps into his house. It had a nice smell to it, something she couldn't quite specifically name. Immediately after entering, to her left was a very large living room. A piano sat by the window while the chimney was right across from it on the other side. A large fish tank sat in the center of the living room next to the TV, water illuminated with the blue light. Various pictures were hung up the wall along with other cute decorations such as wreaths and lights.

"My mom was a decorator," Roxas explained, noticing how Kairi was observing every inch of his home. "She had an artistic eye."

"I see," Kairi said softly, appreciating the layout of things.

"Sora! You're he—oh, hi, Kairi," Namine came out from the kitchen, eyes landing on the redhead in surprise just like how Roxas did moments before. Kairi gave an awkward wave, wondering why Sora had to make her life slightly bit harder. Roxas left her side and went to the kitchen where strange chopping noises were being made. He had his hands on Namine's shoulders to jokingly steer her away from the path before he disappeared behind the wall.

"What the hell are Xion and Axel doing?" Sora laughed as he tried to take a peek at the kitchen. "That doesn't sound yummy."

Namine sighed. "They're trying to make vegetable stew for Roxas's dad since he came down with a flu, but…"

"Xion, I don't think potatoes should be that big in soup," Roxas's voice could be heard. Namine grimaced.

"I don't think it's working out so well right now."

"Are any of us even cooks?" Sora chuckled as he shoved Namine to the side so that he could squeeze into the kitchen to see the mess. "God damn, Xion, who are you trying to feed here? Alligators?" Kairi tried not to laugh as everyone crowded around the girl named Xion, who definitely wasn't appreciating any of their comments at the moment.

"Why is everyone being so mean to me?" Xion whined. Curious, Kairi looked over Namine's head to see Xion just throw her knife down onto the chopping board. "Y'all seem to know what's up. How about you do it then, huh?"

"Leave it to me," Axel said, rolling up his sleeves. "I'll show you what a true cook is."

"How about," Roxas quickly took the knife away from the flamehead, "you let me do the cooking while you have fun in the living room, m'kay?" Axel and Xion gave him the pouty faces before they followed his request and went off to the living room. Catching sight of Kairi, they went over to her, something she did not want.

"Who is this?" Axel jokingly peered at her face closely, not recognizing her at all. Kairi uncomfortably took a step back. Xion smacked Axel back and gave a hand out towards Kairi.

"I'm Xion. Nice to meet you," she said with a strong smile. Kairi looked at her hand, finding it odd how she had been introducing herself multiple times this month ever since she met Sora.

"Kairi," she simply said, shaking her hand loosely before taking her hand back to her chest. Axel stepped forward again, making Kairi step backwards once more.

"You can be my sister. The red hair, you know? Axel! Nice to meet you." When he was about to get closer to her to exchange a handshake, Sora came up and sliced a hand in the air between them, blocking Axel from getting closer.

"She's obviously uncomfortable," Sora joked, knowing Axel wouldn't take offense. "Back off."

"Fine, fine. She your girl or something, Sora?"

"Pfft, you'll catch me dead with a girlfriend. Everyone calls me the nice guy, but never boyfriend material. It's a sad life I live indeed."

"Sora, that is so not true," Roxas said from the kitchen, overhearing everything they were saying. "I swear there are people who have secret crushes on you. They just don't say anything because everyone knows you're secretly dating Namine over here." Namine dropped her jaw on the ground while Sora choked on his saliva.

"I don't know what I have to do for you to get that ridiculous idea out of your head," Sora exasperated, going over to Namine to push his elbow down on her head and causing her to bend her knees. "I'll have you know that this shorty has someone she li—"

"Wow, I really want to play with your dog right now. Can I?" Namine interrupted, pinching Sora from behind as she threw his elbow off her head. Roxas gave the duo a weird look before laughing.

"Knock yourself out. Make sure he doesn't bring branches inside the house though." Kairi watched as Sora and Namine gave each other death glares before Namine went over to the sliding door that led to the backyard. As everyone happily interacted with each other, Kairi had no idea where she fit into all of this. Everyone already knew each other here—what would she even say to contribute?

Feeling a bit lonely, Kairi went over to the piano in the living room and sat down on the bench. She carefully lifted the hood and marveled at the extraordinarily clean white and black keys. Her fingers glossed over them, feeling the smooth plastic surface of the keys. She used to play when she was younger, credits to her mother who was a very talented pianist back in her day. However, after the accident, Kairi never really touched the piano ever again.

"Legit the only thing I can play is Chopsticks," Sora's voice suddenly sounded from next to her. She turned half of her body around to look at him leaning a hand against the piano as he looked at the keys. "These two fingers," he held up both his left and right index fingers, "are magic." Kairi smiled at his silliness.

"Why only Chopsticks?" Kairi inquired. Sora put the side of his hand next to his mouth.

"Don't tell anyone, but I just learned it to impress the girl I liked back in middle school. It was anything but impressive, but you gotta give me some credit for trying," Sora grinned, happy to earn a small laugh from Kairi.

Kairi had to think about it for a little bit before she decided to scoot over on the bench. She shyly patted the empty spot next to her, only to realize how little space there was on it when Sora actually sat down. Only a small space separated them between their shoulders as they sat side-by-side, making Kairi extremely conscious. Kairi scooted over so much that half her bottom was already off of the other side of the bench. However, for some reason, despite the close distance, Kairi didn't feel as wary as before. Sora didn't seem to notice as he tried to remember where to put his two fingers on the piano.

"Man, I probably look like an idiot right now because this is not how you play the piano," Sora laughed as he tried to find the right interval, only to make some gross-sounding chord.

"Um, I think your left hand goes on this one," Kairi suggested, pointing a finger to a white key. Sora tried it out, satisfied that it was the sound he was looking for. He tested it a few more times until muscle memory kicked in. Before he knew it, he had the basics of Chopsticks back in mind.

"It's all coming back," Sora said proudly as he clumsily played a few notes. Kairi shortly joined in as she played on the left side. She shocked Sora when she started to play the more complicated part of Chopsticks. Together, they played the song, both laughing along the way when Sora hit the wrong key to produce something unpleasant. "Wait, I swear I had it! Oh my gosh, this sounds like actual shit." Sora didn't realize how he cursed as he struggled to find the right note.

"No, you keep playing the wrong note next to it," Kairi giggled as she continued to point to him the right note. They both tried again, but when it started to get to the harder part, Sora just started to play random stuff on the piano, causing Kairi to just burst out laughing.

"I'm not musically talented, I'm sorry!" Sora exclaimed, glad that Kairi finally broke her mask a little bit. He liked watching her laugh—it was oddly calming. "But it seems like you know how to play very well. When did you start playing?"

"When I was young. Maybe when I was around five?" Kairi answered, returning her hands back to her lap. "It's been a while since I touched the piano though."

"Sounds pretty good despite it being a while," Sora complimented. Kairi tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, blushing a bit.

"Thank you."

When Sora turned his head to look at her, he finally realized how close they were on the little bench. He could clearly see the thousands of silky red strands on her head as it hung above her shoulders. If Sora just nudged himself to the left a little bit, their shoulders would've bumped. He had no idea why Kairi didn't completely remove herself away from him—she usually would whenever they were this close—but he didn't think about it too much. He strangely kind of liked it. It made him feel weirdly fuzzy.

"Who was the one who played good and who was the one who played not-so-good?" Namine asked jokingly as she came up to them. "I can kind of make a guess though."

"You're always trying to find a way to grill me like chicken on a stick," Sora whined. "Be a good friend and tell me I play good even if I sound like I'm punching the piano."

Kairi wanted to leave the two alone to talk. She noticed how even when she was right next to Sora, not once did Namine look at her. Her eyes solely remained on Sora's, never sparing Kairi a glance. It was as if Kairi was just part of the thin air around them. Feeling that she was unwanted, Kairi simply stood up from the piano bench and wandered away to the kitchen where Roxas was still cooking. From the corner, Kairi could see Xion and Axel playing with the dog near the backyard entrance.

"Finding nothing to do?" Roxas asked when he spotted her figure. Kairi gave him a small smile, not wanting to respond using words. "There's nothing much to do here anyway, so I don't blame you."

"No. I just feel slightly… uncomfortable," Kairi confessed.

"Why? Because you don't know anyone? They're all nice, don't worry." Kairi's mind wandered back to Namine, not really believing Roxas's words completely, but remained silent anyway. Seeing how awkward and out of place Kairi looked, Roxas tried to help her by signaling towards all the stuff he had left to cut for the soup. "Want to help me out?"

"Um, okay." Roxas left his station at the chopping board to go over to the huge pot of broth, letting Kairi take over the cutting of the vegetables. She tested the knife handle in her hand before she went to work, surprising Roxas by how fast and uniformly she cut them.

"Do you cook at home?" he asked.

"I do," Kairi quickly chopped the carrots into thin slices, "For my dad and I." Roxas definitely didn't miss how she didn't mention anything about a mom, but he didn't ask.

As Kairi helped Roxas with the mechanical things, she couldn't help but notice how there were small pictures of their family everywhere she went in the house. One was sitting right next to her in the corner too in the kitchen, which was an odd place to put a framed picture. She stopped her chopping to examine it, and that was when Roxas started to explain.

"Putting pictures of my mom around the house makes us feel like she's still there, so. It's a bit weird, but it helps," Roxas said from behind her, seeing how she was looking at the oddly placed picture. It was a photo of them in Twilight Town, where they probably visited for vacation. The picture was taken at the infamous train station of Twilight Town known for their fast conducting. "No one has ever questioned it though. Family pictures are unquestionable."

"It doesn't… hurt to have her pictures everywhere?" Kairi asked. Normally, she wouldn't ask that type of sensitive and private question, but her curiosity needed to be quenched. She also used to have pictures of her mother and the family around the house, but she had to take them down herself because she didn't want it to cause her father too much pain. For him, seeing a picture of his wife always reminded him of how she was no longer in this world.

"It was hard at first," Roxas admitted, "But why would I want to erase my mom from this house? Remembering her should be the least I could do."

"Ah, I see…" Roxas and his dad were very different from Kairi and her dad. It made Kairi a bit jealous. She looked at another picture by the kitchen table. Seeing her gaze, he went over to pick it up so that he could show her closer. It was a photo of them at what seemed to be a BBQ party as their house. The three of them posed underneath a banner that said "Happy 6th Birthday" as the parents carried the little Roxas together in their arms.

"I don't want people to see my hideous photos of when I was younger, but it's all we have, so," he joked, settling it back down on the table. Kairi shook her head.

"It's happy. This house."

Roxas let out a lighthearted laugh.

"Thanks."

Sssss!

"The pot!" Kairi yelped, pointing to the over-boiling pot of soup. Roxas quickly turned off the stove and moved the pot to another place, grimacing as he saw the spilled contents all around the stove.

"This is what happens when I get distracted," Roxas muttered as he took a towel and wiped around the hot area. "I don't pay attention."

"It's okay, it happens to me too."

"Wow, Kairi, you know how to cook too?" Sora's voice unexpectedly entered the kitchen. The blond and redhead turned their heads to face the brunet who grinned as he watched all the action happen. "You know how to do everything. You're perfect."

"That's not true," Kairi said, already feeling the embarrassment rising up her neck. Sora just kept saying things she wasn't used to. "It's a little thing."

"Tell Xion it's a little thing."

"You think I don't have ears, don't you?" Xion hissed, popping up from beside him. Roxas raised an eyebrow at the two, pleasantly surprised that Sora and Xion were already getting along despite not knowing each other that well. This was Sora he was talking about anyway.

"Burn her, Sora, burn her!" Axel cackled as he popped up at the kitchen as well. Namine followed behind. All four seemed to have run out of things to do for them to invade the kitchen again.

"I told you my house was boring, but no, you guys insisted to come here," Roxas said with a roll of his eyes as he got a spoonful of soup and handed it to Kairi. She looked at it weirdly, wondering what he wanted her to do with it. "We should go somewhere else besides staying holed up in here." When he didn't feel the spoon getting taken away, he looked over at her questionably. Realizing what he wanted her to do, she hesitantly took the spoon out of his hand and tasted it.

"It's fine," she said awkwardly, putting the spoon back into the sink.

"Cool." Roxas turned off the stove again and half-closed the pot with a lid. Kairi didn't notice how Namine was staring at her with an intense gaze as she attempted to help Roxas wash the dishes, but he shooed her away with a hand. "Sora, go show her around or something. This house is uselessly big. Don't," he narrowed his eyes when he saw Sora's light bulb light up above his head, "go inside my room."

"Oh ho ho, we won't, sir. Kairi, come with me!"

"Wait, it's okay, I don't want to intru—"

"Let's go upstairs!" Sora had already run off towards the stairs, leaving Kairi to have no choice but to follow him. She didn't want to go anywhere without him since she didn't know anyone here. Quickly climbing up the stairs, Kairi spiraled around until she reached the second-floor halls.

The plain white walls were heavily decorated with more pictures. This time, it wasn't just photos of Roxas's mother. There were also pictures that showed Roxas in high school. One she noted was of him holding up a very large trophy with his team carrying him, smiles contagious as they won championships. Others showed him and his dad having some quality time together with friends, such as fishing. It indeed was a very homey house.

"Come over here, Kairi," Sora urged as he motioned towards a direction with his hand. Kairi found it tiring trying to catch up to Sora's fast pace. First, she got dragged to Roxas's house unwillingly, uncomfortably stood in the presence of people she didn't know, got into a silent feud with his blonde friend, found herself cooking in an unknown person's house, and now, she was just invading Roxas's entire household. Sora didn't seem to notice her extreme reluctance as she entered the room he wanted her to enter.

"What room is this?" Kairi asked, looking around. She frowned. A bed with blue sheets. Trophies and medals put on shelves. A backpack by the desk filled with notebooks. The one place Roxas told them not to go into.

"Roxas's room," Sora answered cheekily as he flopped onto the blond's bed. Kairi this time refused to take another step inside. "Don't be afraid. He's just kidding when he said this place is off-limits. Nothing in this house is really off-limits besides, duh, his parent's room."

"You must be very close friends with Roxas," Kairi commented as she still refused to go inside any further. Sora gave a thumbs up as he leaned his back against the wall as his legs dangled off the edge of Roxas's bed.

"We can say that, sure," Sora chuckled. "Sorry, there isn't much to tour around here, but Roxas didn't actually mean to take you on a tour." Kairi raised both her eyebrows, not sure what Sora was hinting at. When he saw her confused expression, he rolled his eyes jokingly. "Roxas knew you were uncomfortable, so he probably wanted to give you a chance to get away from it."

"Really?" Kairi didn't know Roxas could be that observant.

"This is Roxas we're talking about. I'm pretty sure he knows how boring his house is. There's no reason for a tour. Come, sit. It's okay, he won't mind. We'll chill here for a while until you feel more comfortable. Let's talk. It'll be Sora and Kairi's thirty minutes."

For some reason, Kairi doubted she could ever say no to Sora if he asked so nicely. Mentally apologizing to Roxas for intruding into his room, Kairi sat on the edge of Roxas's bed. Seeing how she won't go any further, Sora scooted so that they could be at the same level.

"I know I suddenly put you in an uncomfortable situation, but I just want you to get used to it. Make new friends," Sora apologized. "I hope you're not feeling too horrible."

"I'm okay," Kairi said, not wanting Sora to feel bad. She knew he was just trying to get her to go out more. "Your friends seem nice. I just don't know them too well. They don't really seem comfortable with me either…" Again, she thought about Namine. Sora shook his head.

"You're fine. They're probably not used to you either. They're good people, so don't worry about it. I'm uncomfortable too. I don't really know Xion and Axel well."

"Lie," Kairi blurted out without thinking. Sora didn't expect her unexpected reaction and laughed.

"Lie? I swear I'm not lying."

"But you get along with them so well…" Sora shrugged at this.

"I mean, it's not like we hate each other or anything. Roxas's friends are cool—we just don't have opportunities to hang around the same place though, since Roxas actually has two friend groups. Us and his Organization."

"Organization?"

"They're just trying to be cool, having a group name and all," Sora mocked disgust, earning a giggle from Kairi. "Xion and Axel are also from the Organization, so that's why they know each other. Oops, I kind of left Namine down there, since she isn't really close to the Organization either, but I'm sure Roxas will make her comfortable somehow. He's a good host."

"Yeah, he's nice," Kairi agreed. She really appreciated how he treated her normally and talked to her normally. "And I think you're just naturally a friend guy."

"Thanks, I get that a lot."

The two fell into silence, but the two already got used to it enough to not feel as awkward anymore. Kairi looked around Roxas's neat room and felt strange to be in a boy's room. Heck, she was sitting next to a boy too. She hadn't realized it before, but she was slowly getting used to talking and being near males in general. If she looked back at her old self, even hearing a boy's voice shook her from the inside. Now, she was able to hold decent conversations with them, especially with Sora.

If Kairi could name only one reason for this phenomenon, she would have to say that Sora was slowly gaining her trust. Sora wouldn't do anything to harm her—that was the only thing that allowed her to move forward.

Kairi was too busy looking around Roxas's room to notice the cellar spider that was creeping up the blankets and entering the bed. She only did when she felt a weird ticklish feeling on her hand. Looking over at what was making it feel that way, she was not afraid to scream when she saw the huge yet harmless spider touch its long legs on her hand.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" Before he could even say anymore, Sora felt her push her back against the side of his body as she tried to get away from the spider. She wildly flung her hands to make sure it was completely off of her and also made sure to kick at the blankets as a natural response.

"I hate spiders, oh my gosh, it's here somewhere!" she yelled as she shuddered and wiped her hands against each other repeatedly. Kairi only snapped out of her frenzy when she felt hands squeeze her shoulders.

"Kairi, it's okay," Sora whispered, completely contrasting against her loud voice that could probably be heard from downstairs as well. "I don't see it anymore. You probably crushed its pitiful soul."

It was at that moment that Kairi realized what position she was in with Sora. She squished Sora right against the back of the bedframe while her back was against his chest during her attempt to create distance between her and the spider. His hands were on his shoulders trying to calm her. Kairi didn't think twice and quickly got away from him, but fell off the bed in the process. She painfully fell to the floor, earning a concerned Sora coming over to her side. If this was under normal circumstances, Sora would've laughed at Kairi's epic fall to the floor.

"I-I'm okay," she stuttered, feeling the places where Sora touched her. For some reason, it didn't burn like how it did when she accidentally bumped into Roxas, but she still felt antsy and jittery just thinking about it. The little bubble of anxiety still rose from her stomach from inside, but she was able to calm it down when she saw Sora's look of regret.

"Sorry."

"I'm actually o-okay," she assured, sitting up from the hard-wooden floor. Sora saw the spider that caused her so much panic and slapped it with one of Roxas's textbook that was on the ground. He beat the floor with it two times to make sure it was completely dead before he tossed the book aside.

"Roxas will have a dead spidery friend when he uses that math book," Sora said with a grimace. He had hoped that that joke would make her laugh and make her forget about what just happened, and it did. She stared at the flat and squished spider's body on his textbook and burst into chuckles as she relaxed herself and smiled.

"Sorry."

"You're good. Is your butt feeling okay?"

"Yeah."

"You should let me see that side of you more often," Sora chuckled, giving her an eye-smile. "It's refreshing." Kairi let out a hum in question.

"What are you talking about?"

"'I hate spiders, oh my gosh!'" Sora imitated her voice too, making her feel so embarrassed. She turned red on the spot. "That was some attitude I heard there! I loved it. I'm excited to learn more about the things you hate."

"Please don't," Kairi requested politely, making Sora stick his tongue out at her. Kairi fixed her hair and tried to make it all neat again, making his attention shift to it. Her red hair. He really liked it.

"You're pretty."

Kairi blinked at him. Sora simply let out an "oops" as if not intending to let that slip out of his mouth at all, but it didn't seem like he regretted it as he smiled at her. Kairi felt bad that she never said anything nice about him in return. Her eyes scanned his profile quickly before she said something she thought sounded so stupid.

"I like your shirt."

It was Sora's turn to blink at her. His eyes looked down to remind himself what he was wearing: a simple navy-blue long-sleeved shirt that fit his body very well. However, there wasn't anything special to it—it was just a plain shirt. There weren't any words are designs on it. Just a simple plain long-sleeve.

"Um, thank you," he snickered, knowing how much effort it took for her to even say that. Kairi covered her face with her hands, embarrassment just choking her like water now. She allowed her side to fall back to the floor as she covered her face, wondering how Sora could be so smooth in saying that type of things.

She heard a thud next to her. Kairi opened her eyes to discover herself lying on the floor face-to-face with Sora. His blue eyes twinkled kindly as he joined her little sprawl on the floor, hair brushing against the floor. Feeling that she might feel uncomfortable with him just staring at her, he closed his eyes, hiding away their brilliance.

"Roxas's room smells nice for a guy," he muttered. "Doesn't smell like sweaty socks like others. It makes me sleepy. Can smells make you sleepy?"

"Maybe," Kairi said softly, observing his features closely while his eyes stayed closed. His clear sun-kissed skin contrasted against her pale one. His nose stood tall while his eyelashes hung a bit longer than most guys. His spiky locks fell over his eyes gently, caressing the bridge of his nose and his eyebrows. Kairi never found a boy attractive before, but Sora might be a first.

Kairi didn't know what came over her, but she stretched out a hand towards the side of his face, curious about how soft his skin would feel like. Her heart rummaged against her ribcage—she didn't even know if it was out of anxiety or excitement at this point. Slowly, her fingers glided over his cheek, barely touching the surface of it. If Sora felt it, he didn't show any indication that he did. His eyes remained closed and unmoving.

When her hand softly cupped the side of his face, she knew he felt it, but he still didn't open his eyes. Rather, he let her do whatever she wanted without making her feel conscious with his stare. Kairi could barely breathe as her heart hammered like a drum in a rock band. Her chest felt full as the sparks erupted from her stomach and invaded her entire body, clouding her mind as she traced her fingers on his cheek.

What are you doing, Kairi? she thought to herself.

"You're making me go crazy," Sora finally said, eyes slowly opening to look at her. His eyes swam with an unknown emotion as she took her hand away the moment she heard his low voice.

"I'm sorr—"

"So did you guys run out of things to do and decided to just lay on the ground for God knows why?"

The two of them instantly scrambled to their feet when they heard Roxas's amused voice by the door.

"There was a spider," the both of them said at the same time, not making Roxas's suspicion any better.

"A spider," the blond deadpanned. Sora pointed to the math textbook on the ground. Roxas had to peer closely at it before groaning.

"Not the textbook, man, not the textbook." Roxas took a tissue from the box sitting on his desk and wiped the dead spider off his textbook before throwing it into the trashcan, shaking his head in disapproval. "And what's with my horribly messed up bed over here? Did you guys have like a tussle or something?"

"There was a spider," the both of them said at the same time once more. Roxas stared at the two as if they were conjoined twins before he closed his eyes and sighed.

"We're watching a movie right now. Feel free to join us—or not." Before Sora could even protest about what he meant about that, Roxas was already out of his room and down the stairs.

"We should get going. I'm going to call outs if it's a horror movie though," Sora chuckled, voice returning back to normal, but Kairi could still hear the nervousness behind it. "Let's go."

"…okay."

The two climbed down the stairs to meet everyone in the living room for a movie. However, during the entire movie, both Kairi and Sora couldn't stop thinking about what transpired between them.

This is a strange friendship.

I need sleep, so here's an update XD

Always appreciating my readers immensely. Always remember that!

EDIT: I JUST SHAT MY PANTS WATCHING THE KH3 TRAILER SOMEONE RESUSCITATE ME HOLY FUCK SOMEONE BRING ME BACK TO LIFE RIGHT NOW