A/N: Hi to all! This is the wonderful chapter nine. If any character seems too OOC please excuse me for it. You know how writers get caught up in their story and then accidentally mess the character up a little bit. Thank you!

Tifa: Hurry up so I can destroy Kairi! - Laughs evilly-

Me: Okay I'm scared now, and eternally scarred.


Chapter Ten: A Little White Lie

Several weeks had passed by. The competition was heating up, and already had all the teams tied for first place. Cid was beginning to worry that this might take longer than he initially expected. How was he supposed to know so many girls had a great deal of upper body strength and that the boys could actually wash clothes? His mistake. Therefore, he called a meeting today to discuss the matter with the teens.

As for the group, well you could just say things have gotten rocky between some of the friendships. Sora and Kairi had grown further apart. Sora wanted to talk to Kairi, but Kairi always had plans with Riku. Ever since that first date with him, she was all over him. Selphie and Tidus liked each other a great deal and decided to start dating for the time being.

Roxas and Naminé hadn't admitted their feelings to each other, although it was obvious that they liked each other. Everyone knew but the two were so oblivious that they didn't see it in each other. Seifer was planning to make a move on Naminé, as soon as he could separate Roxas and her for a couple of minutes or hours. Hayner and Olette had gotten together secretly that is. Nobody knew except Pence, but even he had to find out on his own.

Riku was enjoying Kairi's attention. He planned to ask her to be his girlfriend after Cid's meeting. He hoped that she was thrilled, and also that Sora would keep out of his way. He was fully aware of the brunette's attraction to her.

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine still spied on the gang every now and then jotting down notes about each person's behavior. Roxas was aware of this, but he didn't really mind. The three girls did the same thing in Alaska so it didn't really bother him. Tifa and Yuffie had become bullies to Kairi. Riku often had to bail her out of trouble. Yuffie had become cold-hearted and stern toward her older friends. Tifa's influence had changed the youth drastically. Tifa had started to casually date Zack, but had plans to cut it off.


The teens flooded into the small meeting area to see what Cid wanted. They were unaware of the problem that the blonde man faced. "Okay kiddos, it seems we have a time shortage on our hands, so I contacted all of your parents and now we have the entire summer vacation to finish up the competition!" Cid announced.

Small chats began all over in the room. Everyone was gasping, but happy about the ordeal. "That's all I wanted kiddos, remember tomorrow's a new competition!" Cid shouted before leaving the stage with his portable microphone. The room cleared and everyone went back to what they were doing before.

Sora took a deep breath and tapped Kairi on the shoulder. She turned around and greeted him with a warm smile. But Sora could tell she had been expecting someone else behind her.

"Oh, hey Sora," she greeted casually.

"Hi Kairi, I was just wondering if you'd like to…umm…hang out with me today," Sora dared to ask. He knew Riku would probably kill him for it later.

"That'd be great!" Kairi instantly replied. Sora rubbed his eyes to make sure he was awake. He pinched himself before realizing that this was reality.

"Great! Let's go!" Sora excitedly replied. He couldn't believe this. It was too good to be true.

"Oh…you meant now? Sorry Sora, I've got to meet Riku," Kairi answered with a slight frown.

"Oh, I guess that's important." Sora looked at his feet feeling as if his heart had been ripped out of him. The burn of rejection surged through his body.

"Yeah! Riku's so great! Well goodbye, Sora!" Kairi suddenly said with a wave of her hand. The excited look on her face only saddened him. Sora waved goodbye turning away and leaving the meeting area sadly. Rikku peered from behind a vase as she watched Sora trudge down the hallway.

"Aww poor guy, that's the fifty-eighth time she's turned him down," Rikku counted before she glanced over to where Riku and Kairi were. 'He must be really desperate if he's asked that many times, but they make a good couple! I support them unlike Paine who thinks Riku and Kairi look cute, not!' Riku thought. She hadn't particularly taken a liking to Riku. Yuna thought that Rikku totally despised him, but that wasn't true. He just wasn't her type.

Kairi smiled at Riku. "You wanted to see me?" she asked cutely.

"Yeah." Riku flashed her one of his smirks making her blush. "I was just wondering if-," Riku began but he was interrupted.

"Hey, Kairi!" Rikku shouted as she waved to the auburn-haired girl.

"Hey, Rikku!" Kairi called back happily. She immediately took notice of the rare serious look on Rikku's face. "What's wrong?" she asked with concern dripping in her voice.

Rikku looked around nervously. "Umm, Sora's about to jump off the hotel! Hurry before he does it! You're the only one that can stop him!" Rikku lied. Before Kairi could say anything else, Rikku grabbed Kairi's arm and hurriedly dragged her toward the rooftop. 'A little white lie never hurt anyone,' Rikku thought mischievously.

The two girls reached the rooftop. To Rikku's surprise, Sora really was up there, and he was looking over the edge too. "Bye!" Rikku exclaimed. She quickly abandoned Sora and Kairi on the rooftop. She no longer needed to be there.

"Sora?" Kairi called as she cautiously approached him. She didn't want to scare him into doing anything he would regret.

"Huh? Oh, hey Kairi," Sora replied. His voice sounded rather dull and lifeless. Kairi frowned; she hated to see him this way. She hurried over to him and pulled him into a tight hug. Sora blushed. He enjoyed the contact, but he couldn't help but wonder why she was hugging him. "Wha-?"

Kairi's sudden crying stopped him from finishing his sentence. "Sora, don't ever do that!" Kairi cried as she stared into his confused eyes. Though confused, he couldn't help but feel a strange feeling wash over him. Sora wrapped his arms around Kairi pulling her closer to him. Kairi blushed as she continued to stare into his blue eyes.

Kairi was speechless. She also felt the same strange sensation wash over her causing her to weaken at the knees. She felt as if his big blue eyes were seducing her. She'd never felt this way before, which made her feel awkward but in a good way.

Sora didn't know what to do. He was confused. He couldn't tear himself away from her. He'd lost himself in her purple eyes. He didn't whether or not to kiss her or to let her go. Instinct took over.

They closed their eyes, and they felt themselves moving closer to each other. Before they could realize it, their lips brushed against each other. Sora and Kairi kissed unaware of all that was around them. Sora eyes fluttered open; his breath hitched as he realized what he'd just done. He quickly pulled away from her feeling a mix of guilt and tingles overcome him.

Kairi's eyes widened. The fear that had been bottled up inside of her was now released. She didn't know what to do. There was only one thing she could do. She would run, far away. Without warning, she turned away and dashed toward the stairs quickly disappearing from Sora's line of vision. Sora felt a pang of sadness hit him. He sighed sadly before he also ambled toward the stairs.

Tifa and Yuffie crawled out from behind a trashcan that had been mysteriously moved to the roof. Yuffie laughed at the odd couple. Tifa grinned an evil grin as she eyed a serious Yuffie. "Ah, I see," Yuffie said before she slammed her fist into her palm, "Let's do it!"

"This will be the end of Kairi!" Tifa laughed horrendously. Yuffie couldn't help but laugh at Tifa's horrible laughter; she fell to the ground. There was such a thing as an evil laugh, but there was also such a thing as putting too much effort into the laugh. Tifa sighed as she watched Yuffie roll around on the rooftop.

"What am I going to do with you?" Tifa muttered under her breath.


Kairi ran past everyone she happened to bump into. She didn't want to be seen right now. Everything was happening too quickly for her, she hadn't even realized she liked Sora that way until just now.

Selphie and Tidus were happily chatting when they noticed Kairi running down the hallway. "Hey, Kai-Kairi?" Selphie exclaimed as she watched her miserable friend run into her room and lock the door. "I wonder what happened," she murmured sadly. She looked to Tidus who simply shrugged; he was as clueless as she was. They hoped that the next person that came down the hallway could answer their questions, and he definitely could. Selphie jumped from her seat on the bench and in front of Sora; she planned to interrogate him until he confessed.

Being the Selphie that she was, she was excellent at reading the emotions in a person's facial expression. "Sora, what's the matter?" she asked as she examined his face. Tidus walked over to the two also concerned.

"Dude, first was Kairi and now you? What's going on?" Tidus questioned in an attempt to get Sora to speak. Sora touched his lips again and shook his head. He refused to tell them anything. Selphie's eyes widened; she knew exactly what happened. There was no doubt in her mind.

"You kissed Kairi, didn't you?" Selphie exclaimed a bit too loudly. Sora turned a dark shade of red before reluctantly and slowly nodding. Selphie squealed; she excitedly pulled both Tidus and Sora into her room and slammed the door shut. She sat them both on the couch and then squeezed in between them. "Okay, give me the juicy details!" she squealed with delight. Usually she would be bugging Kairi like this, but Kairi had locked her door and was probably in tears.

Sora sighed and turned to face the other way. He wasn't in the mood for Selphie's antics. His bangs covered his face in a way that protected his eyes from Selphie's intense stares. Selphie frowned.

"Is there something wrong?" Selphie dared to ask. She didn't understand why a kiss could be so bad.

"I offended her!" Sora suddenly shouted. The room fell into an awkward silence.

"It couldn't have been that bad, man," Tidus managed to say as he stared at the back of Sora's head.

"It was, she looked at me with pure hatred and ran away!" Sora exclaimed sadly.

"I've known Kairi all my life and that isn't something she would do," Selphie explained as she stood up. She yanked Sora from the couch and motioned for Tidus to follow. "Come on, we're going to get to the bottom of this even if we have to enter her room by balcony!" Selphie cheered excitedly. Both boys nervously choked down their saliva; they didn't like the idea of scaling buildings. Unfortunately, that was what they were going to have to do.


The three now found themselves running across girl's balconies trying to get to Kairi's balcony. "There it is!" Tidus shouted; he happened to catch a glimpse of Kairi slipping inside of her room. First, Tidus hopped over the railing of Kairi's balcony and landed on the ground. He caught Selphie who hadn't hesitated to jump across. Lastly, Sora closed his eyes and jumped and ended up landing on his knees.

Kairi heard the commotion going on outside her balcony door. She dared to look and spotted Selphie, Tidus, and Sora standing on her balcony. Kairi sighed and fell back onto her bed. 'Don't they understand what a locked door means?' she thought slightly annoyed at the situation.

Selphie pushed through the doors and dragged a reluctant Tidus and Sora inside of Kairi's room. "Kairi!" Selphie called even though she was standing right in front of her friend. "We need some answers," she continued,"Kairi, Sora thinks you hate him!"

Kairi's head jerked up from her bed as if that was the most absurd thing she'd ever heard. "No, of course not!" she exclaimed before she hopped off of her bed and onto her bare feet.

"We'll leave you two lovebirds alone to kiss and make up," Selphie teased. She smiled and grabbed Tidus's hand more gently than she had before. The two slipped out of Kairi's room and closed her door behind them.

"Kairi, I-I'm sorry," Sora stammered nervously.

"Don't be! I'm the one who's sorry! I shouldn't have run off like that, I was just scared," Kairi attempted to explain. She nervously began to twiddle her fingers.

"Of what?" Sora dared to ask.

"I don't know, I guess just because it was my first kiss, and I actually got to have it with someone I really care for," Kairi answered gently. She felt her cheeks heat up from her confession.

Sora perked up a bit. He stared at her curiously. "Really care for?" he wondered out loud.

"Yeah, Sora…I really like you…I'm sorry if you never want to speak to me again," Kairi confessed quietly. She was almost ashamed to admit it.

"No, I really like you too," Sora replied a little aggressively. Kairi smiled and pulled Sora into another hug. He happily received it and allowed her to snuggle into his chest. He sighed contently and gently stroked her hair. He wished he could stay with her, like this, forever. But that was a fool's wish from the start.

Kairi pulled away first. She gave him a fake smile. "Sorry Sora, I've got things to do today, so how about we hang out tomorrow?" she proposed hopefully. Sora nodded nervously as he began to walk toward the door; he didn't know what to say. Kairi opened the door for him. "See you," she whispered.

"Yeah," Sora muttered questionably.

That was all he said before stepping out into the hallway. He watched Kairi close the door and sighed heavily. 'Well she said tomorrow so I have something to look forward to right?' he thought as he began to travel down the Girl's hallway. Sora began to get lost in his thoughts and he then wondered why Yuffie joined with Tifa. Some things he just didn't understand about girls. Especially their strange mood swings.

Yuffie happened to brush past him in the hallway. Sora stumbled backward and dared to look at her. She retreated giving him the 'loser' sign as she walked away; she didn't even turn around to look at him. Sora frowned and decided to forget about it. He wasn't exactly the aggressive type of guy like Riku and Hayner. He preferred to keep away from violence unless there was a specific and important reason.

Yuffie walked down the hallway obviously searching for someone. 'Now where is he,' she thought as she peered around the corner. She jumped back and took in a deep breath. 'Okay I can do this, think positively and don't mess up! Then he'll fall into your trap!' She heedlessly walked down the hallway attempting to casually walk past Riku. Yuffie couldn't stop herself from staring into his aquamarine eyes before quickly ripping herself away from the sight. She had never seen eyes that could glow like that. It was almost mesmerizing.

"What are you looking at?" Riku asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Oh, hi Riku I didn't see you there!" Yuffie lied as she nervously laughed. Guilt was written all over her face.

"Don't lie, what's up?" Riku asked. He stopped and leaned on the wall; he stared deeply into her eyes and asked, "Have you finally stopped teasing Kairi?"

Yuffie didn't know how to answer. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. She mumbled and stuttered incoherently as she looked around for an excuse or an escape. His killer glance made her want to confess every bad thing she'd ever done. She'd never wanted to do that around anyone unless she was talking to herself.

"Ah, I see," Riku murmured.

"S-See what?" Yuffie asked.

Riku smirked causing Yuffie to feel faint. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. He let out a sigh, "I wonder what I should do with you."

"With me!" Yuffie's embarrassment quickly transformed into anger. "What are you talking about, old man?" Yuffie taunted. Riku frowned; he felt his blood boil from her insult, but he decided to let it go before he lost it.

"I went through a lot of hair dye to get my hair to look like this," Riku muttered as he opened his eyes again. Yuffie fell silent; she could sense his anger. "Now what did you want?" he asked.

"I-uh, well," Yuffie stammered.

"I think I know," he joked. Riku winked at Yuffie. "See you around." Yuffie was flustered. Her cheeks were red and she was confused. She watched the retreating albino-haired boy. She sighed and banged her head on the wall.

'I just blew it.'


A/N: Uh-oh, looks like our albino-haired friend has found a new match. Just kidding. Riku would never, no wait… yes, he would. Yuna, Rikku, and Paine love to interfere, don't you think? Anyway, that one-shotI mentioned before is titled, 'A Date with Ms. Klutz'. It's TidusxSelphie sorry Yuna but I like that pairing better for Final Fantasy X but for Kingdom Hearts I like that one! So it's been uploaded and everything so if you feel like it go check it out for your dear author Aerith!