A/N: I apologize for the delays lately.

o-o-o

Eleven.

o-o-o

Sora came over and stood next to Riku. His casual attitude kept me on edge; I had no idea what he would do or say next.

"I saw it, but I think this is all one big misunderstanding," Sora said as he faced them. Olette's jaw dropped and Riku just stared at him in disbelief. Even I was a little shocked. "Mr. Ishida would never do this."

"R-Right," I concurred.

"Are you blind?" Olette persisted. "They even came to my work, a pet store and adopted a dog together."

"Not true," I piped, but I couldn't say any more than that. I never intended to bring Kairi along.

"Yeah? So what?" Sora countered. "Maybe you haven't heard, but… Kairi is pregnant." Olette's face soured at the news and Riku just cleared his throat. "Because of my incompetence, I have asked Mr. Ishida to pick up the slack, but not in the way that you think. I just wanted him to watch over her. I knew he would never take advantage of her, and I think that the picture is just a misconception. I know how Kairi is, and Riku," his eyes settled onto him, "come on, you know her too. Kairi can be very persuasive." Riku eventually nodded in agreement.

"Is it your baby?" Olette challenged him.

"Yes, it is," Sora responded, sending me into a frenzy.

"You do realize that this man is giving her perfect grades, right?"

"She deserves them," Sora defended, "Kairi is very smart."

"Kairi is not—"

"She is. She has to help me with my homework all the time."

Olette clenched her fists as she tried to come up with some sort of response. "This is… this is ridiculous! You guys are so… I can't even!" Olette jammed her phone into her purse and hurried out of the classroom. Riku took one last look at me before going after her, leaving me here with Sora.

I've lied to him for months and he freaking stood up for me.

However, it wasn't over yet.

"That picture has been shared several times. Thankfully, no one has commented that you're a teacher here yet," Sora informed me as he pulled out his own phone and stared at the picture. His eyes narrowed and I was at a loss of what to say. "I've seen that look on her face before… countless times."

"Sora, I swear, I—"

"You don't have to explain yourself. I can tell that you don't want to be there. Some people don't understand body language and like to make assumptions."

This kid was astounding. I didn't deserve this.

"Whatever happens, I'm on your side. As much as I hate to admit it, I think Kairi may favor you a lot more than I thought."

I cringed at his words. So, I wasn't the only one that could see it.

"But it's all just wishful thinking on her part, right?" He gave me a hopeful look. "I mean, Kairi is beautiful and all, but you would never…"

"O-Of course not…" I trailed off. Sora formed a crooked, satisfied smile. Although Sora seemed grateful, his narrowed expressions and occasional glances suggested otherwise.

"It'll pass."

I'd have to disagree. I'm stuck with her for life.

"Sora," I started as he looked up at me, "Why would you say that you were incompetent? Why did you tell them that it's your baby?"

"To protect her, and because I am incompetent."

"Are you blaming yourself for Kairi's actions?"

"Partly."

"You really shouldn't. I have never seen anyone as headstrong and willful as you… other than myself." I didn't mean to say that, it kind of just came out.

"Really?" Sora gave me a confused look. "You had someone like Kairi before?"

"She wasn't like Kairi at all. No offense, but compared to Kairi, she wasn't even in the same spectrum. She was an angel. At first, however, she…" my lip quivered as I continued, "She didn't really like herself. There were a lot of difficult times in the beginning. I had to constantly remind her how wonderful she was. She never hurt anyone but herself. Eventually, she started opening up to me and pretty soon, we were able to spend three years together in happiness."

"Why just three years?"

"Well, she died when I was twenty-four."

Concern filled Sora's face. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"What I'm saying is, although I think that Kairi is the most difficult person to walk the face of this planet, I don't want you to give up on her."

Sora turned his head and thought about it for a moment. "I don't want to, but she obviously doesn't want me."

"Kairi doesn't know what she wants."

Sora chuckled in response, but then set his gaze on the floor again. "That's true. I could love her with everything I have and it still wouldn't be enough."

"See? There you go again."

Kairi was probably waiting for me at that store.

"She pulled me out of a rough patch, even though she was going through so many things herself. There was a time when I pushed her away, just as she is doing to me now."

"There will always be challenges in every relationship," I said.

"Yeah, but I think Kairi became worse because of me."

I straightened up, interested in what he was going to say.

"I used to do a lot of bad stuff. I hung with the wrong crowd, and I wanted to be accepted by them. I thought they would favor me more if I went along with their shenanigans, but it only brought me torment. I don't have much to be proud of in my life. That's why I want to make something of myself, and I mostly have you to thank for that aspect." Sora leaned against my desk and glanced at me. "The passion you have for teaching is amazing. I want to have that same passion for whatever I end up doing. I don't want to be remembered as the stupid kid," he paused after the acknowledgement, "that only did petty crimes in some sort of attempt to look cool. I'm way past that stage in my life."

"Well, that's good."

"Back then, Kairi would constantly warn me about those people. She would beg me not to go out, but I would completely disregard her. I think I made her cry a lot."

"Do you feel like you have to make it up to her or something?"

"That's exactly what it is. You know, people think I'm crazy for sticking around her, but half the reason she's like that is… because of me. I want to make things right again."

I didn't expect him to pour out his life story to me, but at least it made sense. I had been wondering what Sora's story was ever since Kairi slipped up about his past.

"I'm not blind," Sora continued. "I know what Kairi sees in you, and actually, I'm glad that it's you rather than someone else."

Okay, I was convinced that this guy was either hopelessly in denial, or just plain dumb.

"Sora, you don't know what you're saying."

"Oh, but I do. I'm not telling you to be with her or anything, but maybe you can help her after all. All I want is for Kairi to be happy. This picture tells me everything."

Unbelievable.

"Thank you for taking care of her, even though you probably didn't want to."

"That's an understatement," I said, then nervously laughed it off.

I was just as bad as Kairi. A hesitant smirk stretched across Sora's face as he crossed his arms. His slightly suspicious nature didn't go unnoticed as he paced back and forth in thought.

"Could you do me one more favor?"

My lips pursed together as I awaited his request.

"I can't sleep at night because Kairi is living with her stupid, good-for-nothing father."

I knew exactly where this was going. He tried this stunt before, and—

"Please, could you just let her stay with you? I can't bear the thought of endangering her… or that child… that man should be locked up for all of the things he has done to her…" Sora winced at the thought.

"You know that she has some sort of feelings for me, yet you want her to stay at my house?"

"If it's not too much trouble…" Sora rubbed the back of his head. "I just want to know that she's safe. I know that you would never give in to her advances."

I didn't know what to say.

o-o-o

As I sat in the store parking lot, I fought with myself over everything that just happened. Before I left campus, I made sure that no one was following me. I had a feeling that Olette or Riku would just to prove a point, but thankfully, they didn't. Kairi finally came out, spotted me and started walking over. My foot tapped involuntarily as she got in, and I really didn't have anything to say. She set a few bags into the back seat.

"You know, this would have been much easier if I had your number. I was ready to go like thirty minutes ago. Anyway, I live in Sunny View," Kairi said as she buckled her seatbelt. I started heading out to the main road. Kairi realized that I wasn't responding to her. "Is something wrong?"

"They know," my voice croaked.

"Who?"

"Check your Facebook or whatever."

After a few minutes of scrolling through her phone, she gasped, meaning that she found the picture. "This has been shared like twenty times!"

That didn't make me feel any better. I had no idea why anyone would share such a picture.

"People are commenting," Kairi said. I noticed her smiling a little at some of the comments as she went through, but other times, she would only frown. "Oh, shit…"

"What?" I stopped at a stop sign and looked over. Selphie had commented on the picture.

"That's… my teacher and classmate…"

A few comments appeared under that, but I had to start driving again. "Read what they're saying," I said nervously.

"Under that, another person said, really?" Kairi read. We weren't too far from her father's house. "Another said, 'that's gross. High school?'"

"Ugh, this is just great…"

"I want to respond," Kairi said angrily. "These people are just going to assume and talk shit."

"N-No," I placed one hand on her shoulder as I turned into the Sunny View suburb complex, but then retracted it. Clearing my throat, I asked, "Which house is it?"

"3215," Kairi answered, but she was a little sketchy. These were pretty decent sized houses. I figured that only doctors and lawyers lived around here. After a moment, Kairi said, "Sora commented!"

"What?" I asked as I spotted her house in the distance. There was a man outside, but Kairi was too busy reading on her phone.

"He said that everyone should stop assuming so much. That it's nothing to be worried about…" Kairi started biting on her nails. Sora was something else. I parked in front of her house. The man, presumably her father, was clad in a black suit and looked as if he had just gotten home. His jet black hair was parted and combed back and he wore old, square glasses. He had that sophisticated look about him; professional and collected. I got a creepy vibe, but that was probably due to my previous knowledge. He glanced over at us in confusion and I immediately became ten times more nervous. Eventually, he picked up a hose and started watering the plants. Kairi rolled her eyes.

"G-Go get your stuff," I told her weakly as I made sure all of my doors were locked. "If he gives you trouble, just try your best to come back out."

"Why?" Kairi asked, giving me a strange look.

"Because… you're going to stay with me."

"Really?"

Kairi seemed a little afraid to get out of the car, but she did so anyway. I rolled my window down a tad so I could hear any sort of interaction between them. Kairi hurried up the lawn.

"Who is that?" Her dad asked, but she ignored him and went into the house. He turned off the water and started coming toward me. Shit. I kept my window cracked as he stood next to it. He leaned over and examined me. I tried to pay him no mind, but this was really uncomfortable.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"A friend," I said instantly.

"Well, are you just going to sit there or get out and greet me like a real man?"

I'd rather not risk death, but I felt like I didn't have a choice. I held onto my key as I stepped out of the car. I was about to take his daughter away, and he would have my license plate and everything. He observed me as he put his hand out.

"I'm Mr. Hikari. You've probably heard of Hikari Real Estate," he boasted as he gave me a firm handshake. Great. I had identified myself as a friend, and it had to stay that way.

"I'm… Hayner. I go to school with Kairi," I said. Hayner was a student in my class last semester.

Now that I think about it, he and Olette were great friends.

Whatever, it didn't matter.

I wondered what was taking Kairi so long. How much stuff could she possibly have? Then again, it's only been a minute, but being around her abusive father was making time drag. He was definitely intimidating, despite his calm demeanor. The way he talked was gentle, but suggestive as he scanned every inch of me. As far as I could tell, he didn't like me at all.

"Kairi's a very sweet girl," Mr. Hikari said calmly, throwing me for a loop. "Where will you two be going?"

"Oh, you know, just out with some friends… probably to the beach or something."

This guy was weird…

Thankfully, Kairi came out a moment later, rolling a huge suitcase along with her. She had a purple bag strapped to her shoulder. I really wasn't sure how I was going to do this, but I hurried over to her and took the suitcase.

"What is going on here?" Her dad asked as his voice rose.

"I'm leaving this shithole," Kairi said as she threw the bag into my backseat. I quickly set her suitcase into the trunk and swung around to my car door, however, her dad blocked me.

"Kairi is an adult. You can't stop her," I told him sternly as I opened the door and slammed it shut. Sweat rolled down my face, and I couldn't blame it on the warm weather. I tried to think of a way to speed out of here without him seeing my license plate, but that was impossible. Regardless, even if he did end up calling the cops, there was nothing that they could do. Kairi gave me an astounded look as we sped down the road.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because I don't want my child… or the mother of my child… to be in danger." Sora and I were in agreement there. No matter what, I had to put my child first.

"Thank you," Kairi said quietly as she faced the window.

I checked my mirror several times as I made my way home.

o-o-o

Kairi didn't hesitate to note how close I was to Sora's house once I pulled into my neighborhood. Parking in my driveway, the realization hit that my life would be a lot different from now on—not that it wasn't already, but actually letting Kairi live with me for who knew how long was a huge step and I wasn't really sure how it would go down. Key in hand, I rolled her suitcase for her as I walked up to the front door. Kairi stayed quiet.

"Before I open this door, I will have to set some ground rules." Kairi waited for me to continue. "Obviously, you cannot tell anyone where you are staying. You must clean up after yourself at all times. I'll have some chores for you to do, but it won't be anything too strenuous. I keep putting my life on the line, and I expect you to at least be grateful for it."

"I am," Kairi said. "I know you're having a tough time."

She was so confusing.

"Yeah. Alright, then."

I unlocked the front door and let her in first. Caesar perked up from the couch and ran to us. She immediately went over to Caesar and hugged him, letting the dog lick her face. I shut the door and set her suitcase aside as I sighed deeply.

I couldn't believe this. What was I doing? I felt like every time I came close to getting caught, I only did something worse. It was bad enough that our picture was basically going viral on the internet. In fact, I wondered if her dad had seen it yet. I leaned against the door and watched as Kairi interacted with Caesar.

She was so happy, despite everything.

"Well? Aren't you going to give me a tour?" Kairi asked as she lifted herself up.

"I suppose, but we need to let Caesar out," I said as I ushered the dog to follow me into the kitchen and toward the back door. I let him run into the backyard and then turned back to Kairi. She was observing my fairly dated kitchen, running her hand smoothly across the laminate countertops as she walked around.

"The forks and stuff are in this drawer, cups are over there and plates and bowls are in that cabinet," I explained as I pointed each thing out. Once we were done with the kitchen, I told her about how I loved preserving electricity and suggested that she pay attention to the amount she used. We headed down the hallway, and I really didn't plan on showing her what my room looked like behind the closed door, but before I could stop her, she turned the knob and looked anyway.

"You must really like cleanliness," Kairi concluded. "What a boring room."

"Yeah, anyway, this will be yours," I said as I opened the door to the guest bedroom. Some of Lilah's toys were scattered across the floor. Kairi noticed them.

"Who was previously in here?"

"My four year old niece stays over sometimes."

"Aww, you didn't tell me you had one."

"Well, we've never really had a proper conversation."

Kairi grinned widely. "There will be plenty of time for that from now on, right?" Not giving me a chance to respond, she went over and fell onto the bed. She let out a longing sigh as she focused on the ceiling.

"Should I leave you be?" She countered my question with another sigh as she shut her eyes and placed her hands on her stomach. Silence filled the air.

"Ventus, do you think we'll make good parents?"

Her question threw me off guard. "Uh, I hope so?" She didn't reply as she sat up and stared at me from the edge of the bed. Her unsteady gaze made me feel a little weird, so I just shrugged it off and tried to play it cool.

"You're ashamed, aren't you? You can't stand to look at me."

"I-I never said that," I swallowed as she walked up to me.

"You think I'm nothing but a whore. I just know it."

"Kairi, we've been through this. I don't."

"You're lying. You don't want me here."

"If I didn't care about you at all, would I have brought you to my house?" Realization of what I said didn't hit me until after the deed was done, and here I stood—at a loss as this broken-hearted woman processed my words. It took a moment, but after she straightened up, she had a response.

"What is your wifi password? Also, I'm going to need your phone number."

Taken aback a little, I just simply put my hand out.

"What?"

"Your phone."

"So, you don't trust me with a password?"

"It's nothing too personal." Her face scrunched at my response as I put the password into her phone. After that, I dialed my own number and called it. She was already in my house, so something like this was way overdue. I dropped the call after I felt the buzz in my pocket and then gave it back to her. She said nothing as she looked at it.

"There, now you have my number. However, please, do not call or text me unless it is very important."

"Okay."

Surprised that she wasn't putting up a fight, I adjusted my posture. "There's not much more to this house. The basement is off limits, though. Please, stay out of there."

"Why?"

"There are some things I would rather not bring back upstairs," I paused and grimaced as Namine's name ran through my mind. "Anyway, I have some work to do, so just… hang out or whatever."

"Something smells," Kairi noted as I walked out. I stopped for a moment, but then decided not to bother. Stepping into my bedroom, I locked my door and made my way over to the bed. I just wanted to nap, but I knew that I couldn't.

Why couldn't I ever say no?

o-o-o

I hid behind the barriers of my bedroom door, sullen as I lounged in my desk chair. It was nearly ten. My head was pounding with nonstop thoughts of what if this, what if that, and it was driving me crazy. I stared at the papers in front of me and tried to focus on grading them, but my mind drew a blank. Everything was blank. The impact of social media was frightening. I went through and read all the comments for an hour before I finally couldn't take it anymore, and people were still talking. By this time tomorrow, I had no idea of where I would be. How would my students act? What if they hated me now? Not only was I thinking about the effect this would have on my job, I was worried about Kairi, too. Would they bully Kairi even more? Gosh, the girl has been through enough, and believe it or not, I didn't want her to be upset.

I needed an escape…

Glancing at the picture frame that I always kept faced down, I debated on picking it up. If I could just see her, I would probably feel a million times better. Namine was my light in the never-ending darkness, and I depended on her to fix me. Clutching the frame, I shook as I went to flip it over.

If I could just see her… I could alieve everything…

My jittery hand stopped midway and I let the frame fall flat onto the desk. I couldn't do it. Even my mind couldn't conjure her smiling face.

I could no longer hear her these days.

"Namine, I miss you. Where are you?" I whispered as I absentmindedly stared at the ceiling. My hands dangled at my sides as I slouched in the chair. It wasn't the most comfortable of positions, but right now, I didn't care. All I could think of was Namine. Shutting my eyes, I desperately tried to picture her, but I only got bits and pieces—her blonde hair, a white dress, but never a full image. Not even her heartwarming smile could save me. I tried to stop the tears that begged to get out, but it was no use.

Namine was truly gone. She had been for nearly six years now.

I didn't want to accept it. As I sat up in my chair, I heard a knock at my door.

"What?" I managed, my but sadness was pretty apparent.

"Are you busy?" Kairi's voice echoed. I got up and opened the door, only to turn away when I saw that she was wearing nothing but a purple lace nightgown.

"What do you need?"

"I was lonely."

"Kairi, if this is how you're going to act—" I stopped as soon as I felt her weight on my back. She didn't wrap her arms around me this time, but she was upset nonetheless.

"I'm afraid to go to school. People are going to pick on me. Olette commented and told everyone that I was pregnant, and now they're saying that it's most likely yours… and some other mean things." She grasped her phone tightly.

Pulling away from her, I turned around and placed my hands on her shoulders. Tilting my head, I looked into her tear-filled eyes and tried to come up with something.

"I'm worried too, but we're just going to have to deal with it. Eventually, we should really tell Sora what's going on."

"No fucking way!"

"If you won't, then I will. I'm tired of keeping this from him."

As much as I didn't want to lose my job, all of this lying and drama was really stressing me out. I didn't want to have to make up stories anymore. Maybe Vanitas was right—maybe it was time to fight this.

"I don't think you realize what Sora is capable of," Kairi warned, sending a chill down my spine. What exactly did she mean by that? Perplexed, I couldn't say anything. Kairi's eyes lowered. "Sora must not know. Not yet." She gloomily headed for the door. My sympathy got the better of me, so I sent Caesar her way. She glanced back at me.

"He will keep you company any time you need him."

"Okay."

o-o-o

Returning to class the next day was frightening. Kairi found another way to school and left way before I did, which I was thankful for. However, this picture had already been seen by possibly thousands of people, which meant that at least some of them knew who I was. This was exactly what I was afraid of happening.

I noticed people whispering and watching me. It's like they just knew everything, and I was a victim in their childish gossip. Entering the History building, I walked through a hallway full of passing students, trying to keep to myself as much as possible. Just before I made it to my classroom, a hand cupped my shoulder, startling me. I looked back and saw Aqua standing behind me. She seemed concerned, but I was in no mood to talk. I just wanted to get through this week and then finals and be done with it.

"Ven, you've been really distant lately. What is going on?"

Had she not seen the picture?

"Oh, uh, I've just been really busy." I felt like I had used this excuse several times in the past few months, and she was starting to question it.

"We're all worried about you. Even the President has asked me, but I couldn't tell him."

"Oh."

Again, I wasn't very talkative. Fear lingered as Kairi walked right past me and into the classroom.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me," Aqua consoled.

"Okay."

The chatter subsided as soon as I walked in. I didn't even bother to look up; I knew that they all of at least seen or heard of this damn picture. I wasn't really sure how Kairi was taking all of this. For this first time this semester, Olette was absent, which was a little bit of a relief, but I still couldn't shake the thoughts.

"Quiz time," I said as I pulled some papers out. I knew I was being distant. I knew I wasn't the happiest camper right now.

"I didn't know that we had a quiz," Pence called out.

"Check your syllabus." Once I was done passing everything out, I went back to my desk and fiddled with a pen. This was the longest class I had ever had. I ended it twenty minutes early simply because I couldn't take it anymore. Kairi said nothing to me as she headed out.

So much for fighting.

"Mr. Ishida?" Riku's voice hovered over me. I looked up and noticed that everyone else was gone. "Could I talk to you?"

"Yeah, but make it quick. I'm not feeling well."

Rude, maybe, but I was in no mood to deal with any of this.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could confide something in you."

"Riku, I'm not a counselor. If you need one—"

"It's about Kairi. I think I may be the father."

Time stopped as soon as those words came out of his mouth. My jaw dropped as I straightened up in my chair. Riku's eyes were glued to the ground in shame.

"R-Really?" Was all I could manage to say.

"Yeah, it was back when she and Sora broke up for like a week. That was February, right?"

I nodded slowly.

"Kairi and I did some stuff. The condom may have broken…"

A raging jealously overcame me, for reasons I couldn't fathom. Kairi told me that there was absolutely no one else on this planet that could possibly be the father, but now I had this idiot standing here and telling me this? I was appalled; disgusted and queasy all at the same time, and I had absolutely no idea on what to say to him.

"I really like Kairi. I thought that was pretty obvious, but I couldn't help but consider the possibility. When I saw that picture of you two, I'll admit, I thought something was up, but actually, I don't think that you would do something like that."

"T-Thanks," I said, still trying to contain my anger.

"I think I'm going to let Sora know. Could you be there when I talk to him?"

Fuck.

o-o-o
o-o-o

A/N: Kairi's dad is totally not based off of Zachary Quinto from American Horror Story or anything. Anyway, that chapter was pretty packed, don't you think? Review!

I think I should take a moment to explain why I'm so busy: I'm looking for a new job. I also work here and there, and I'm trying to move out of my parent's house pretty soon. I don't have enough time in the day anymore, and it took me about a week just to finish up this chapter when generally it would take me about two or three days.

Sorry about any future delays! Please leave your feedback below!