Lucky Number Seven

Chapter 11

Old Faces

It had been exactly one week since Tidus left, and one week since Ventus admitted trying to break Tidus and Yuna up.

The blond hadn't talked to Kairi since, and hadn't been interacting much with the other boys besides his younger brother, who refused to tell anyone anything, rudely stating that it is none of their business.

"Come on, Roxas, just tell us what the hell's the matter with him," Hayner whined, but the blond just shook his head. "We're all dying to know!"

"I actually couldn't care less," Vanitas said monotonously.

"I stand corrected."

"Guys, if he doesn't wanna talk about it, he doesn't wanna talk about it. Stop trying to force an answer out of his brother," Kairi said, irritated.

"Man, you're really fit to be a therapist. Don't you wanna know what's going on with him? Don't you ever get curious whenever a patient says, 'I don't wanna talk about it'?" Hayner asked.

"Nope. There's something called, 'Not caring enough about you dimwits'."

"Are all therapists like that? That's not even cool, man," Axel said, flicking his lighter on and off.

"…Is Namine like that?" Riku asked, looking like a child who found out Santa Claus doesn't exist.

"Namine isn't like that, don't worry," Kairi smiled at him. "She truly, deeply cares about each one of you."

"What about you?" Axel asked, grinning madly. "You care about all of us, too, right?"

Kairi looked around the little room and at the six boys.

"Pfft, not the slightest."

"You suck."

The sound of heavy footsteps suddenly filled the room, startling the group. It was Ventus, who finally exited his room after what seemed like an eternity.

"I'm going out for a walk," he said before dashing out the door and slamming it shut.

"Ew, someone tell him to go take a shower," Axel said, grimacing.

"Great, now I've got some work to do," Kairi groaned as she got up from her spot. "I just have to make sure he doesn't jump off a cliff or anything. I'll be back in a bit."

Kairi followed the blond, hiding behind trees and occasionally people so that he would not see her. When he said he was going out for a walk, he really did mean it. Thinking she had nothing to worry about, Kairi turned around started in the direction of home, but stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a familiar voice say a familiar name. Eyes wide, she turned around, and gasped at the sight before her.

Ventus was standing face to face with a blue-haired woman, whose hand was intertwined with a muscular brunet. By the look on his face, it was pretty obvious who the two strangers were, even though the redhead had never seen them before and had only heard of them in his stories.

"Aqua," Ventus spoke softly, trying to ignore the lump forming in his throat and the prickling of his eyes. And just like that, with one look, he was reminded of all their good times together. His blue eyes shifted to the being standing next to her, and his expression darkened as he was then reminded of how he lost a relationship and a friendship all in one day. "Terra," he spat.

"Ventus," she said equally as soft, turning away to avoid eye contact. Although his face portrayed a look of anger, his eyes showed his true emotions: pain and anger.

Terra kept a poker face, trying his best to hide his emotions. But Aqua was able to see right through him, and it showed sadness. He wanted his best friend back, but there was no way Ventus would ever forgive him. It was evident that the blond still wasn't over Aqua. Terra frowned, "Ven."

"So, I see you're still together," Ventus turned away. "Funny, I kinda always thought you two would break up after Aqua graduated. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking."

"Ventus, look-" Terra began, but was abruptly cut off by his ex-best friend.

"Terra," he turned around to reveal a serious expression on his face. His eyes were red, the couple noticed. "Do you mind if I borrow Aqua for a while? I have a few things I'd like to clear up with her."

The brunet nodded, "Sure."

Ventus shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking away. Aqua gave her boyfriend one last look before running off to catch up to her ex-boyfriend. She followed behind him, taking in his new appearance, realizing how much he changed over the past few years.

He was taller now, maybe just two inches shorter than her, unlike when they were in high school, where he was almost a head shorter. He was quite muscular now, unlike the thin, lanky boy she knew back then. His voice was deeper, and his blond hair still remained as spiky as always. He looked very different from how he looked then, but the thing that changed the most, in her opinion, were his eyes. Back then, Ventus' eyes were always filled with innocence, wonder and happiness. But now, they were filled with nothingness, hate and sadness.

And it hurt because she knew it was all her fault.

Ventus stopped in his tracks, almost causing the blue-haired girl to bump into him. Neither of them said a word for what seemed like hours, when the blond suddenly said, "I missed you."

Aqua was taken aback. Was she imagining things?

Ventus turned around and looked up at her with puffy, red eyes. "I missed you."

She smiled sadly, "I missed you, too."

"No, you don't understand," his voice cracked. He mentally slapped himself for letting him emotions take over him. He wanted to prove to her that he could handle things like an adult, but his heart was betraying him. "I'm still in love with you."

She didn't know what to say, so she decided to stay silent.

"I haven't been able to get you out of my mind these past few years. I thought about you every single day, hoping you'd come back to me, but every day just ended in disappointment. And every time I think I'm finally over you, something just has to come up and remind me of you, of us, and it brings me all the way back to square one. I'm still in love with you, Aqua. I still am, and I'm scared I always will be." He looked down, fighting the tears from spilling.

"Ventus," she began. She was going to hurt him again, and that thought alone made her want to cry. "I just realized that I was never able to give you a proper apology. So, here it goes… I'm sorry about everything. I shouldn't have cheated on you. I didn't mean to cause you any pain. But you meant so much to me at the time, and you were so filled with happiness, I just couldn't bring myself to do it because I didn't want to break you. But it seems I have so much more than I thought," she bit her lip. "I'm… I'm in love with Terra. I'm sorry, Ventus."

Silence filled the air. The blond's eyes were covered by his bangs, preventing Aqua from reading his expression.

"Aqua."

He looked up from the ground and locked eyes with her. His expression was unreadable.

Suddenly, a small smile tugged at his lips and surprisingly, he said, "Thank you."

"Thank you?" she asked. What did he mean by that?

"That was exactly what I wanted to hear. You know, I'm happy," he smiled, and in that moment, she swore she saw old Ventus again. "Because this way, I can finally let go of the tiniest bit of hope I have left of us getting back together. This way, I can finally get over you. Thank you."

Aqua smiled without saying a word.

And it was perfectly fine because a smile was all Ventus wanted.

Not too far away, Kairi pushed her back off the tree she was leaning against, and began to walk away in the direction of the penthouse.

"Ventus was right," she smiled. "He is a lot like Tidus."

When Kairi arrived at the penthouse, she was expecting to find all her boys (except Ventus, since he was probably still mending things with his ex-girlfriend) sitting around the living room, perhaps playing video games, or perhaps sleeping and lazing around. She was indeed correct and found them playing Hayner's hacked Super Smash Bros Brawl; however, two of her patients were missing.

"Where are Roxas and Hayner?" she asked.

"They went to get us some ice cream," Sora answered simply as he continued to battle against Axel. "None of us felt like getting up, but we also really wanted ice cream, so we had a tournament to decide who'd get it. Guess who lost."

"Where were you, Kaito?" Riku asked. "You've been gone for a long time; I was getting a bit worried."

You adorable cutiepie. "I… went for a walk down memory lane. I haven't been here in maybe eight years or so, I wanted to go say hi to my old friends and everything," she replied. "So, where did those two said they'd go?"

"They didn't say anything," Vanitas said, keeping his golden eyes glued to the screen. "You should be able to find them though, Destiny Islands is a small town after all."

"How long were they gone for?" Kairi asked.

Vanitas checked his watch, "About an hour. Those dicks."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go find them. What the hell happened to those two," she sighed exasperatedly, and started walking towards the door.

However, the moment she opened the door, the two boys she was going to look for were standing right there, Roxas in a position looking like he was about to grab the doorknob. Hayner was right behind him holding a plastic bag most likely containing the ice cream they went to buy. Next to the two blonds, were two girls, surprising Kairi greatly. The girl standing next to Hayner had wavy brown hair, emerald green eyes much like Axel's, and she was wearing a cute orange sundress with yellow flowers on them. The girl next to Roxas had short black hair, gorgeous blue eyes, and she was wearing a simple lilac-colored shirt with black shorts and black knee-high socks.

"Kaito, close the door, the bugs are getting in- well damn it, too late, a bee got in," Axel groaned in the background, while Kairi was still trying to get the thought of these two boys scoring chicks to register in her mind.

"That's a fly, you idiot," Vanitas said. A clap resounded from the living room. "Oh shit, it was a bee."

"That was gross, wash your hands- DO NOT COME NEAR ME, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU-" Axel cried. The sound of Thud!'s and Bang!'s filled the room, along with the sound of someone cackling. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY, STOP IT."

"All right, all right," the black-haired boy most likely left the room and into the washroom, as the sound of water running was heard from a distance.

"Kaito, close the door, don't get any more bugs in here, Axel nearly pissed himself," Sora called out.

"Uh, Kaito? How much longer are you gonna stay there?" Roxas asked, feeling uncomfortable with the way his therapist was gaping at the two couples.

Eyes wide, she pointed a finger at the girl with the short black hair. "It's you," she whispered, shaking.

"Excuse me?" the girl asked.

"You're... you took Sora away from me," Kairi whispered softly, not loud enough for any of them to hear. However, while observing the girl, Kairi realized that she had blue eyes. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth, "Oh, shit. Sorry, I thought you were someone else. Phew..."

"Okay... uh, anyways, this is-" Hayner began.

Kairi looked straight into the eyes of the two girls, asking, and cutting Hayner off, "Did they pay you to pretend to be their girlfriends to show off in front of the other boys to boost their ego and make them look somewhat more superior?"

"Actually-" the brunette began, but was quickly interrupted.

"They paid you, didn't they. They did, I can see it in your face. Want some advice? Run while you can. Believe me, dealing with them isn't worth the money," she warned. The two girls laughed, while the two boys scowled. "Sorry for keeping you out in the sun, you all probably have more hidden freckles now because of me. Come on in."

She lead them into the living room, where the rest of the crew was, and introduced, "So, while they went to pick up the ice cream, they somehow managed to pick up girls."

"Impossible," Axel laughed. When he looked up from the screen to face them, his mouth fell open. "Now way… I…" he paused, then made an unimpressed look, saying, "They paid you, didn't they."

"I said the same thing," Kairi said, and the two blonds rolled their eyes.

"IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME, PASS ME THE ICE CREAM," Vanitas demanded grouchily. Hayner tossed him the plastic bag, and the raven-haired boy caught it with much ease. He took out the tub, opened it up, and when he saw its contents, he looked greatly offended. "It melted. It fricking melted. You bastard. An hour long wait, and this is all we get? Hell no. You're dead to me."

"Well, anyways, my name is Kaito. Nice to meet you two. Here, let me introduce you to the guys, it'll be faster this way," she smiled. "The stupid, loud-mouthed redhead in front of the tv is Axel."

"Thank you."

"The grumpy asshole in the corner over there is Vanitas."

"Screw you."

"The one shyly looking away is Riku."

"…"

"And the grinning idiot with hair that defines all gravity is Sora, Mr. Refreshing."

"Nice to meet... you..." Sora's reacted the same way Kairi did just earlier. "You're..." It took him a good fifteen seconds to realize that this girl had a different eye color than the person he thought she was. "Woah, sorry, I thought you were someone else."

Hayner raised an eyebrow, "Weird, Kaito said the same-"

"AND BY THE WAY," Kairi screamed over Hayner's words. "Roxas' twin, Ventus, isn't here right now because… well, I don't even know. He'll probably be back soon. So, what are your names?"

"This is Olette," Hayner said simply. Kairi, Axel, Vanitas, Riku and Sora made pedo faces.

"So, she's the Olette, huh?" Axel asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Hayner gave him a look that read, "Shut the hell up, Axel, or I will cut you". Olette made a look of confusion, but Axel just laughed and said, "I'm just teasing him, it's nothing to worry about. I'm Axel- well, Kaito already said that, but whatever- nice to meet you, Olette."

"Likewise," she smiled.

"And you are?" the redhead pointed at the other present female.

"This is Xion," Roxas introduced.

"You didn't tell us about a Xion," Sora said, dropping his controller, the game now long forgotten.

"Truthfully, I didn't trust you guys enough to tell you about her. But now, I kinda consider you all family, and well, she's here right now, I might as well tell you about us."

"You sound like a male protagonist in a shoujo manga."

Ignoring Sora's comment, Roxas went on to talk about his and Xion's past, "Well, Xion's a really good friend of mine. We met in kindergarten, and well… long story short, she punched me in the face and I thought she was pretty cool after that, so I approached her again and we slowly became friends. Basically, we're childhood friends. We went to the same elementary, middle school and high school, but she moved away sometime around our second year because of her dad's job. Today's the first time we've seen each other since, and… yeah. That pretty much sums everything up."

"So, are you here for vacation or…?" Kairi asked Xion.

"I actually moved here about three months ago from The World That Never Was. It's nice to bump into an old face, and meet new ones in the process," she answered.

"Did you also move here?" Kairi directed this question to Olette this time.

She shook her head, "I'm on vacation. Just taking a break from my studies."

"I see. Well, it's nice to meet two nice people in one day. You two leave good first impressions, unlike these guys," she narrowed her eyes at her patients.

Suddenly, the door flew open, and there, standing in the entrance was Ventus, wondering who the hell these two girls were.

"Okay… who are these people and what the hell happened while I was gone?"

"Hayner and Roxas somehow managed to pick up two chicks."

"They paid you, didn't they."

"Are you two sure you'll be all right?" Roxas asked, standing at the entrance of the penthouse, with Hayner and the two girls. "It's getting a bit dark."

"Yeah, we don't mind walking you home," Hayner said.

"Nah, we're good," Xion said, turning around and walking off. She waved a hand, not turning around, "Good night, guys."

Olette settled for a more polite goodbye, "Good night, you two. It was nice seeing you again, Hayner." She hugged him, and he hugged her back. When she let go of him, she gave them one last time, then ran off to catch up to the raven-haired girl.

The two blonds re-entered the house and walked into the dining room, where everyone else was.

"Now that the two hotshots are back, what would you like for dinner?" Vanitas smirked.

"Shut up," Hayner scowled. "You're just jealous cause you know that the only girl who'd ever love you is your mo… ther…" He blanched.

Upon hearing this, fire appeared in Kairi's eyes, and she immediately stood up and punched him across the face because holy shit, you do not make any mom jokes around this sensitive child.

Hayner went flying across the room, and no one even dared to check up on him because he damn well deserved it.

"Get down on your knees and say sorry," Kairi ordered with a straight face on, making it a lot scarier than ever.

The blond got down on his knees in front of Vanitas and bowed down repeatedly with one hand over his bruised cheek, screaming, "Sorry!" over and over.

"Don't ever say that again," Kairi glared.

He gulped, "Understood."

"Oi, Kaito, we're out of juice, mind buying some?" Axel asked from the kitchen, his head in the fridge.

"Why can't you buy it?" she scowled. And why did he ask her to buy it? He had four other choices (four because Riku was busy being a wife and cooking them dinner, and psh, why should Kairi be a choice?). Vanitas was literally just lying on the couch doing who-knows-what on his phone, the twins were having a Disney marathon, Hayner was taking samples of tonight's dinner (if there would even be a dinner because Hayner's a fatass) and Sora was literally doing nothing. Axel was just too bias.

"You know he won't get it even if you begged," Sora laughed. He then stood up and started making his way to the door, "I'll come with you, I feel like buying something myself."

"You don't need to come, just tell me what you want and I'll get it for you," she said. "Just pass me some munny or pay me back."

"No, really, I feel bad making you go on your own."

"Sora, I really don't mind going alone."

"Well, I'm coming no matter what, too bad," he crossed his arms childishly. He was as stubborn as always. It felt nice to see a bit of his younger self shine through. "Geez, I don't know what I did, or what Kairi told you about me, but I'm seriously starting to believe you hate me."

Upon hearing that, she felt immensely bad. She had been treating him slightly differently from the rest of the group, and she knew exactly how it felt to be the least favored. She was treating him the way her parents treated her, even though she swore she would try her best to never let anyone she knew feel that way.

She stood up and walked past him to get to the entrance of the penthouse. Sora looked down sadly, believing full well that his therapist hated him, until…

"Sora, you coming?"

Sora and Kairi walked side by side, down the empty streets of their childhood's hometown. It was pretty humid that night, but the misty, sea salt breeze of Destiny Islands was enough to cool them down.

"Sora," Kairi said all of a sudden, almost startling the boy. He looked down at the shorter boy. "I'm sorry for making you feel that way. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, and I especially didn't mean to make you feel like I disliked you. I was just thinking about my cousin and everything she told me about you and… you know…"

He smiled, though some sadness can be seen through it. He ruffled her hair, "Don't worry about it. I feel much better now that you cleared it all out," he said. "And… I'm sorry for everything I did to Kairi."

She smiled sadly, recalling their past.

"I didn't mean to hurt her; I honestly didn't. I had to because of… reasons. It was either hurt her or watch her get hurt, but in the end, they both happened and I was the one who suffered the most. If you ever get a chance to talk to Kairi, please let her know that I'm really sorry. I know that "Sorry" is tossed around a lot these days, but I really, really am sorry. She deserves a proper apology, but she said that never wants to see me ever again, and if that's what she wants… then, I'll do as she says. Seeing me will probably bring back a lot of bad memories anyway. Hell, she probably forgot about me by now," he laughed sadly. "Sorry for rambling. She means a lot to me."

Kairi looked up at him with the saddest eyes.

You really do love me, don't you, Sora?

She clenched her fists. After a sad confession like that, she really wanted to tell him the truth. Maybe she herself, as Kairi, can also give him a proper apology.

"Hey, Sora…" she said in her Kairi voice.

I'm gonna tell him.

"Hey, Kaito," the brunet suddenly burst out, cutting her off unintentionally. He didn't hear her for he was too deep in his own thoughts. Kairi assumed this, and sighed.

"Yes, Sora?"

Maybe some other day.

"Has Kairi mentioned me over these past few years?"

The redhead smiled, "She has. Believe it or not, they were mostly good things. You'd expect all the pictures you took together to be deleted, right? Well, she kept them. She'd look over them from time to time, she admitted. She hadn't been in a relationship after you; her answer often being, "How do I get better once I've had the best?" She hadn't listened to Simple and Clean since your breakup because it reminded her too much of you. She still has your sweater in her closet. She'd wear it on your anniversaries. And there are a bunch of other embarrassing things. I can't name them all, sadly."

"And how are all those good things?" he asked, confused. They stopped walking, as they reached the corner shop.

"You're so stupid," she slapped her forehead. "It means she misses you, idiot."

She entered the shop, leaving a confused brunet behind.

A three-liter jug of Arizona iced tea and two bags of barbecue-flavored chips later, the ex-couple was on their way home from the little shop.

"I have a question for you," Kairi said, munching on some crisps. "Why did you break up with Kairi anyway?"

"I mean no offense when I say this, especially since you're my therapist and all, but I intend to only tell Kairi. I just wish she'd talk to me. I tried to explain it to her back then, but a slap to the face was all I got. I even tried to get Selphie, a friend of ours, to tell her, but when I tried to explain the story, she called bullshit on me and kicked my balls."

"That last part was unnecessary."

"Too much info?"

"Too much info."

"Sorry."

They continued to walk down the road, when they reached the end of the street. A woman around their age seemed to be looking through a map under a lamp post. Kairi scowled upon seeing her. That girl looked just like her, except more feminine and fashionable. The stranger had long red hair, chocolate brown eyes and a slender figure. She was wearing an open-zipped white elbow-length hoodie over a red crop top, a black mini skirt and brown knee-high boots. At her feet were two suitcases; she was probably new to town, or maybe moving back.

"Damn it, dad. At least send me a limo or something. Do you really expect me to find my way?" she muttered to herself. "Ugh, I'm gonna get lost. It's been years since I've been on this stupid island."

"Hey, uh, do you help any help?" Sora decided to ask, much to Kairi's dismay. She had a bad feeling about this girl (or maybe it was the jealousy burning inside of her that didn't want Sora to approach this cute girl because shit this girl looks just like her and he may have just found his new Kairi).

The girl looked up at him with an annoyed look on her face. However, that look softened and turned into one of infatuation. She smiled, "Sora Hikari."

The brunet was taken aback, "How do you know my name?"

Kairi rolled her eyes. Probably just another fangirl.

"Don't you recognize me, Sora?"

He scratched the back of his head, smiling apologetically, "Sorry, I only know one redhead, and her name's-"

"Kairi Sakashita," she finished. Sora's eyes widened. Who was this girl? She was obviously not Kairi. Sure, she had the red hair and the slim figure, but her eyes weren't blue (and besides, Kairi was standing right next to him, he just didn't know it).

Sora and Kairi remained silent. They did not know how to react to this. Who was she?

"It's been so long since I've been here," she said, sighing. "I also haven't seen my family in a while. I really wish they came to Shibuya with me. But you know parents. They just want what's best for you."

The ex-couple looked at her weirdly. She just kept talking and acting like they knew what she was talking about when they absolutely had no clue.

"Oh, I never gave you two a proper explanation, have I?" she asked, giggling. "I left this island to attend college in Shibuya. They didn't have my program here, so I had to move in with my aunt to take my course. I really wish my parents came with me; I really missed them these past what, five years? Longer?"

"Why didn't they come with you?" Sora asked. He did not want to make her feel like she was talking and no one was listening.

"They have duties here, but what can I say…"

Kairi was getting bored and was feeling a bit left out. She wanted to go home as soon as possible otherwise there would be nothing left to eat, but as she was about to bid the stranger goodbye, the mysterious girl said something that neither she nor Sora would have expected.

"It's tough being the mayor's daughter."

Sora and Kairi's eyes widened.

The redhead smirked, "Remember me now, Sora?"

The moment she said those words, all bad memories of the past came flashing in both Sora and Kairi's minds.

"It's you."

Shiki Misaki.

A/N: I'M ALIVE.

Damn. How long has it been? A month? I'm so sorry! D: I blame school and laziness, bleh.

I'm actually laughing really hard right now because literally all of you thought that the mysterious girl from Sora and Kairi's past was Xion. Well, I don't blame you, but I've received a bunch of PM's saying things like, "omg why do you hate Xion she was such a good character why did you make her such an asshole in your story what's wrong with you", so... epic fail LOL. By the way, I hope you guys are fine with RokuShi and Haynette cause there might be a few hints of those ships here and there. ;)

IMPORTANT: I WILL BE CHANGING MY PEN NAME VERY SOON. It will be Kaorei. I just wanted to let you all know so that you won't be confused. :)

Please kindly leave a review!