"Oh my God, Sora was such a skinny dweeb back then!" Xion giggled as she swirled her coffee with the thin straw. "You couldn't believe if until you saw it."
"I see," Kairi said uncomfortably as she looked down at the table as she sipped her drink. Sora scratched his head awkwardly with pursed lips, leaning an elbow on the table and looking over the window on the side. He clearly wanted to escape, whereas Kairi wondered why the hell she got in this situation in the first place. Sora glanced over at her, hoping to catch her eye apologetically, and when he did, she merely frowned and looked away angrily.
Well, fuck, Sora thought grimly as he sighed. And as Xion went on, Sora began to wonder what the heck led to this.
~5 Hours Earlier~
Sora dipped his toe into the pool and felt his whole body undergo a convulsion as the chills traveled from feet to head. Even if he was on the swim team, no human could possibly be comfortable in this ice cold water.
"Contemplating about your next belly flop?"
"Just shut it, Wakka." He grunted in agitation when Wakka just slapped him on the back before heading over to the other edge of the pool. Sora was cool with him and all, but sometimes, he got a tad bit annoying whenever he got too friendly-friendly with him because, well, Sora wouldn't call him his buddy or anything like that.
No, that was too close of a friendship with Wakka.
As he stretched his limbs, he couldn't help but notice all the noise to his left, and with a twitch of his right eye, he watched silently at the ruckus.
"Did anyone tell you you're a devil?" Roxas said lowly through gritted teeth as he walked around the deck in punishment. He wasn't a loner, however, as Kairi joined him in the cold death march Sephiroth was putting them through. Both of them were, once again, late to class, and they've been coming late to class so often that they've began to create a reputation as the "duo that was always and miraculously came late to doom."
"You're leaving me hanging, Roxas," she said, stretching his name on purpose to make him more irritated. "Didn't I say I would help you?"
"But I never said anything about needing assistance, Kairi," he whimpered, picking up the pace when Sephiroth looked back at them. Kairi pouted.
"C'mon."
"No."
And as they pushed and pulled, Sora was frowning deeply.
And when the fuck were they so close? He looked away when Roxas's head was about to turn towards his direction and sighed.
None of my business.
"Sora Hikari, how long are you going to continue to dawdle like a fool?" Sephiroth barked, snapping him awake and scaring the living crap out of him. Sora groaned under his breath before heeding his words and taking his turn on the diving board.
"No belly flop, Hikari!"
"Shut it, Wakka."
After another horrible day of PE (Sora couldn't wait to just finish this second year and get the hell out), he found himself once again in the contemplating circle of his friends as he sat against the bed on the floor of Axel's dorm, listening to the wail of Hayner and his lack of a love life.
"This is my fourth year of being single!"
"That actually sounds concerning," Riku muttered as he played shifted through songs on his playlist. Hayner sneered at Riku.
"Says the guy who has a girl every other month." Riku raised his hands up defensively, shaking his head.
"Hey, them relationships just don't work out sometimes, but I'm a man of honor: I don't cheat."
"Hayner, you're just being salty," Axel agreed, wagging a finger at the poor blonde. "It's all a game, man, and you just haven't won." Sora snickered at this.
"Axel, who are you one to talk? Everyone thinks you're freaking ga–"
"Don't," Axel interrupted dangerously, but this only made Sora laugh even harder, "you even start, boy."
"Yeah, Sora," Riku pitched in, "Besides, haven't you heard about him and Larx–" Axel scrambled over frantically on all fours just to clamp a hand over Riku's big mouth, receiving a very strange look from Sora.
"This chicken butt has nothing to say," Axel said stoically. Sora nodded.
"Right." When Sora was about to ask Hayner for further information (for some reason, he was always the last to know about these type of things), a knock on Axel's door stole his chance.
"I'll get it," Hayner said as he jumped off Axel's bed and proceeded towards the door. The moment he did, a familiar raven-haired girl popped in with a box of sour candy in her hands.
"Axel, you can't believe what I just–oh, I was not expecting a full party here." Sora widened his eyes slightly before straightening himself up a little bit against the bed post. Axel looked behind his shoulder and went away from Riku when he made sure he wouldn't say a word.
"Oh, Xion, what brings you here in the boy's territory?" he asked, perplexed. She shook the box in her hands excitedly and joined the four on the floor, plopping next to Sora. He cleared his throat and slowly scooted away from her, glad that she didn't notice the movement.
"My friend imported this Traverse Town," she explained excitedly, giving the box for Axel to read. "Traverse Town exclusively, and I know how much you like sour stuff."
"Wow, you actually got it memorized," Axel joked as he shook the contents. "Sounds like a lot. Me like." He tore at the plastic wrap excitedly to get the contents out, ready to just devour all of it. Xion giggled a bit before crossing her legs.
"What are you guys up to here on weekday like this?" she asked curiously. "Are you guys starting some sort of cult?"
"What do you take us for?" Hayner said, offended. "We're not that weird. Right, guys?"
"Naw, we're pretty weird," Riku muttered, grabbing the box away from Axel right when he opened the top. "And dude, you're gonna go sugar-high if I don't watch you. Just one piece–one piece." Axel pursed his lips and accepted the one itty bitty piece of the hard sour candy that Riku held out to him. When he put it in his mouth, he instantly spat it out, landing it on Sora.
"Dude, what the fuck," Sora instantly started, standing up from his position and letting the piece fall down onto the floor. "You're freaking nasty." Axel stuck his tongue out and waved at Hayner to give him the bottle of water at his desk. Downing the thing, he wiped his mouth and glared at Riku.
"I've never tasted anything shittier than Marluxia's drunk cooking until today." Riku guffawed as he clutched his stomach, unable to keep his composure while Sora stared at the piece of candy on the floor.
"Xion, where did you get this treasure again? There's freaking cheese-flavored sour candy in here!" Riku laughed, beating the floor with a fist. "Want to try clay-flavored?"
"No, fuck you, asshole." Sora shuddered at the mere thought of sour cheese-flavored candy. That's just plain gross. Xion joined in on Riku's laughter, wiping stray tears from her eyes.
"I requested it just for this moment. Axel, don't worry, there's normal flavors in there too." Axel merely whimpered and retreated away from the box.
"At least pick up your trash and throw it away," Sora said, disgusted. He grabbed the box of tissues near the small desk next to his bed and chucked it at him before seating himself down again.
"To answer your question, Xion," Hayner said after things calmed down, "We're lamenting about how single I am."
"Can't vent your problems just to us, huh?" Riku said with a roll of his eyes. Xion quirked an eyebrow up.
"Why just now though?" Axel snorted water through his nose while Sora coughed out a strangled laugh that he tried to keep it in. Riku had his turn with Axel's grossness and stepped away from the flame-head. Hayner merely crawled into some corner to humor all of them and stayed there.
"You guys hurt my feelings."
"Anytime, bro."
"How interesting," Xion remarked. "Any girls out there?" Riku grinned.
"Actually, Axel here is getting something on with Larx–" he was once again shut up by Axel's hand.
"Say another word, and I will slaughter you for the birds to eat." Riku gulped before putting up his hands in silent surrender. Axel nodded approvingly before backing away once more, earning the great curiosity of Xion, but she decided to drop it.
"How's Yuna, Riku?" Riku coughed uncomfortably as he tugged at the collar of his shirt.
"Dumped me for Tidus, actually. Wait, why are you even asking now? That was two months ago."
"Does it look like I'm updated?"
"You're right. Well, now you are. My luck with girls isn't really the top."
"At least you got girls!" Xion rolled her eyes before turning to Sora. She blinked while he returned her look with a dubious one.
"What?"
"Nothing. Just questioning the physics of your hair once more." She waved a hand past a spike before frowning. "It never fails to amaze me. Anyway, what about you?" At this, Axel sent Riku a deranged look, and it didn't take Riku more than a second to understand what he meant. Sora furrowed his eyebrows slightly.
"That is an odd question you're asking me," he said uncomfortably, hoping she would take the hint–she was really starting to bother him right now. However, she only tilted her head slightly in confusion–Sora didn't know if she was doing this on purpose or not. Before she could say anything that could've potentially stabbed him in the chest, Hayner and his obnoxious self jumped in once more.
"Sora, I've seen you with hottie before, quit lying," he said slyly, returning back to the circle of friends. "I see you with her all the time now."
"Pardon?" Sora honestly did not know what he was talking about, but everyone else seemed to get Hayner's drift.
"The redhead! I saw you guys at a cafe just last week, don't you lie to me." Sora widened his eyes.
"And how do you know that?"
"He's not even denying it!" Sora pursed his lips before taking out his phone to somehow get the attention off of him, but with Hayner, that was quite impossible. Axel and Riku stared at Sora while Xion let out a small hum of thoughtfulness.
"We're just friends. And for your information, Selphie and her blonde sister were there too. It was a celebration for her freaking cat's birthday. Mr. Periwinkle or some shit like that."
"He don't got just one girl, but three!"
"Hayner, can you shut the fuck up?" Riku laughed before patting Sora on the shoulder.
"He's just sad that he has no interaction with the female species. Don't let his saltiness get to you." Sora nodded in agreement before smirking at Hayner, who merely returned back to his corner of darkness.
"This is my roommate we're talking about right?" Xion said. What freaked Sora out was how cautious and unnerved she sounded.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you dormed with her," Axel commented. "How is she?" At this question, Xion pursed her lips grimly, but she merely waved it off with a hand when Riku asked what was wrong.
"Oh, it's nothing," she said dismissingly, faking a lighthearted tone that everyone could detect. "Nothing at all."
""Doesn't sound like nothing." Xion sighed.
"It's just that she's not really what she is outside the dorm," Xion shook her head, "but no matter, no matter, isn't that everyone? Everyone has a hidden side, y'know, so." Sora gave her a weird look.
"Oh, really," Sora said, a bit confused. He did a split-second analysis of Kairi's clumsy. Doesn't seem like she's hiding anything. However, Xion adamantly nodded her head.
"She's kind of rude," Xion explained, tone sounding very reluctant. "It's really hard to talk to her sometimes. I've tried to be friendly with her, but I guess she doesn't really want to be friends with me. She's a little bit mean, but–oh, sorry, I'm going on a little vent here." Xion apologized quickly at the end before waving her hand to dismiss it once more. "Never mind what I say. Anyways, give me a piece! I haven't tried it." She quickly changed the subject and replaced her sullen expression with a happy one before reaching over to Riku and grabbing a piece of sour candy from the box. Sora continued to frown slightly at Xion's words and tried to match her description of Kairi with his, but it wouldn't work. Is Xion reading her right? Kairi wasn't the type of person to be rude.
Scratch that–she was an annoying witch to him all the time. What do I know?
Of course, Sora couldn't just dismiss the whole thing as easily as Xion did, and to make it a bit more complicated for him, his phone decided to vibrate at that moment. Looking at the screen, he blinked at the text message Kairi sent him.
It was her chat box with the Vanitas guy–her ex-boyfriend, he finally remembered–she had mentioned here and there. She hadn't said anything about him ever since fight they had, so Sora was a bit caught off guard at the subject being brought up again. Reading the thing, he raised an eyebrow slightly at what he saw.
Vanitas had asked her for the password of the Netflix account they had shared–rather rudely, Sora added–and the response Kairi gave him was quite appropriate.
It's right up your ass. Check again.
Sora snorted in laughter as he texted her back.
You sure showed him where it was.
"What are you smiling about there, Sora?" Sora quickly shut it off before Riku could see who he was talking to before shoving the phone into his pocket.
"Nothing." He hated it when his friends started to make things bigger than they actually were.
"Oh really now?"
"Yeah."
"What is it?" Xion asked as she came closer to see what was going on. Sora backed away immediately. When he realized how unnatural his movement was, he cleared his throat and stood up, dusting his pants in the process. Unable to take Xion's influence over him, he decided to escape.
"I'm going to go out now."
"What, why?" Xion asked. He gulped when a disappointed face graced her features but shook his mind out of it as he texted Kairi.
"I have an appointment." Xion raised an eyebrow.
"When?" He clicked the send button.
"Made one just right now." Riku, Axel, and Hayner winced at his bluntness while Xion stared at him in slight surprise. He grabbed his windbreaker and gave them all a wave before shutting the door. Leaning against it, he heaved a huge sigh and rubbed the back of his head, wondering if he looked like a wimp in front of his friends, but he couldn't care less at the moment.
When Kairi texted her confused confirmation, he instantly felt bad for just using her as an excuse to get the hell out; he just really didn't want to be in the same room with Xion, despite having "made up" with her too.
"Kill me."
When he reached the school's cafe, he was a bit taken aback to already see her there just sitting at one of the tables while swinging her legs under the table. When she spotted him, she waved to get his attention.
"Why do I have the honor of getting called to your presence?" she joked as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. "It's cold and I don't want to anything besides locking myself up in my dorm."
"Sorry," he apologized, freaking her out a bit. He sounded quite genuine about it.
"I was just kidding," she replied slowly. "What's gotten you so uptight?" Sora leaned the side of his face against a hand as he looked at her before shaking his head slightly. Xion's words impacted him more than he liked, and he knew he shouldn't mind them that much as Kairi gave him that innocent look she always gave him.
But this was Xion he was talking about.
"Nothing much. Anyways," he signaled towards the phone on the table with his eyes, "How are things with him?"
"Oh, the asshole that deserves to get attacked by piranhas?"
"Yikes. Sure, we can refer him as that."
"I think I'm done with him," she said with a roll of her eyes. "It took way too long, but I think I can safely say that I've kicked his ass to the curb real good now after simping for a good three months since college started. I think the distance from helped too. I might have to bite back my words if I see him again, but we're literally tens of miles away–not gonna see him anytime soon." Sora raised both his eyebrows in small surprise.
"Oh, really now? What's with the sudden change of heart?"
"Pfft. Sudden? I think not. I went on a road of purification for the mind, Sora."
"Uh huh. And?"
"And I think I have reached enlightenment." Sora cleared his throat awkwardly. Sometimes, Kairi was a bit weird sometimes. Just a little bit.
"Alright, good for you," he turned to look at the light gray skies outside the window besides them, "Would you like to enlighten me with this enlightenment? 'Cause I think I need it too." Kairi pursed her lips, instantly figuring it to be about Xion, before taking a sip out of her cup of hot chocolate again. She then shrugged and offered him a small smile.
"I don't know, it kind of just came out of nowhere, to be honest. Your encouragement," Sora played with the cuffs of his shirt when she reminded him of the embarrassment, "kind of helped me a lot, and I started to just think about all the bad things in the world about him." Sora laughed at this.
"Besides the fact that he kind of cheated on you?"
"Don't even start, but that isn't even the worst of it." Sora grimaced.
"There's more?" Kairi shuddered as she went through everything in her mind. Sora shook his head. "If it's cancerous to bring it up, then don't."
"No, it's okay, let the world know. He was a huge playboy, but I think you already know that."
"Looks the part too. That guy's smoking," Sora admitted after seeing a photo of the guy. "Reminds me of a certain someone too," Sora joked. Kairi, who knew who he was referring to, laughed before shaking his head.
"Riku seems like a good-natured guy. But Van. Ugh, he just did a lot of bad things, like horrible grades and scumbag-personality and partying and clubbing and just stuff in the hood." Sora grew more interested, not because of how much of a bad boy her ex-man was, but because of how the redhead even fell for the guy in the first place.
"How did you," he took held out a finger, "and him," he took out another finger from his other hand and put them together, "even hooked up in the first place? You're kind of a goo–"
"Goody two-shoes, I get it," she growled. Sora held up his hands indignantly before gesturing her to answer him. "I don't know, he was really nice to me."
"What if he was just nice to you because he just wanted to have a good one in bed with a hot girl?" Kairi gaped at him before clearing her throat, hiding her embarrassment behind her scarf. By the look on his face, he clearly did not realize how he just indirectly called her hot.
"That's what I thought too, but we managed to stay together for a good two years and I still have my v-card, so. Yeah, I don't get it either," she giggled when Sora gave her an incomprehensible look. "Parents never did find out I had a boyfriend 'cause I hid him real good. They still think I've never had a boy in my life before. My sister found out, and boy, she was scary, but everything's alright now I guess. I didn't really think anyone was wrong until I found him at a club just hooking up with a chick that is now his girlfriend." With every word she said, Sora could hear the anger rising. Before she could burst, he kicked her feet softly with his to snap her out of it.
"He's a dick, that's all that matters now," he said cheekily. Kairi huffed and blew her bangs.
"You're damn right he is. That's why I just–ugh. But I think the main thing I finally just," she threw her hands up exaggeratedly in a mock table flip, "was that, slowly, I just thought about him less and started to think about y–" Sora leaned back in his chair slightly in surprise when she suddenly clamped her own mouth with her hand.
"What were you about to say?" he asked curiously, having not the slightest clue about what she almost confessed. She shook her head furiously and flushed a bit.
"Nothing. Anyway," Sora rolled his eyes at her fail to change the subject. Before she could continue to blabber about whatever–he had accepted his fate as her personal vent machine ages ago– he naturally took the cup of hot chocolate out of her possessions and took a sip out of it.
Just because he can.
"I've actually never tried the school's cafe before," he admitted as he licked his lips. "It actually tastes okay." Kairi widened her eyes and immediately swiped it back.
"Get your own," she whined as she hid her face in her scarf once more.
Sadly, she found herself unable to treat Sora the way she used to for various reasons. Sora, who did not feel any different towards Kairi, blinked at her sudden docile nature and laughed.
"What's with you? You're kind of fidgety today."
"Get your eyes checked." Sora chuckled before reaching over the table and tugging her scarf down from her face with a finger.
"I can't really hear you if you just cover your mouth. I'm sorry to tell you, but it's kind of the only thing you can form words with." Kairi glared at him.
"Wow, you're so smart," she said sarcastically. "Do you know what you have a PhD in?"
"Do tell."
"Being a smart aleck. Anyways, why did you call me here? Something bothering you?" Sora formed an "o" with his mouth before giving her a very unconvincing smile.
"I just wanted to see my best friend in the whole wide world."
"Just shut up." Kairi knew better than to believe the lie he was giving her, but she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Before she could throw another witty comment at him, an unexpected someone just randomly popped in between them.
"What the, Sora, I legit just saw you fifteen minutes ago!" Kairi looked between the two, took in her words, and put two and two together, figuring out immediately why he suddenly called her to the cafe. Kairi visibly saw him stiffen in his seat as Xion walked up to their table. "What a surprise!" Sora tried not to sigh.
"What brings you here?" he asked.
"I need caffeine, and my coffee machine broke, so I cannot conjure up any more." At this, Kairi grew a bit confused.
"It is?" she blurted out without much thought. The last time she checked (which was this morning) it was working fine. Xion looked over at Kairi, and Kairi couldn't help but feel that it was the first time Xion even took note of her presence. She uncomfortably averted her gaze from Xion's and returned to her hot chocolate.
"It is," Xion responded cheerfully–a little bit too cheerfully. Kairi inwardly made a face. There's nothing cheerful behind a damn broken coffee maker.
She really had nothing against Xion–totally. The more days she spent with Xion alone in their room, the more wary and uncomfortable she was with her. At first, Xion was friendly, and Kairi didn't mind to befriend her, but now things were different. Besides the odd staring Xion did (Kairi doubted she knew that she knew about the stares she gave her, or else she would've stopped by now) and the cold and fake attitude she always regarded her with, what made her extremely irked was why she was doing all this to her.
I don't think I ever did anything to this girl.
"What were you guys talking about?" she asked. Kairi tried not to roll her eyes. None of your business.
"Stuff," Sora replied vaguely, much to Kairi's relief. Xion let out a hum before laughing.
Ten minutes passed, and Kairi found herself sitting across from both Sora and Xion as she listened to Xion's stories about their high school life that she had no interest in. Xion had taken the empty chair beside Sora without even asking and plopped right on the table with them as if they were all old pals. She watched at the corner of her eye how Sora just scooted to make space for her, but otherwise showed no complaints. It didn't take Kairi another second to realize how tight Sora was wrapped around her finger.
"I think I have pictures of him in his dark days," Xion declared as she took out her phone out of her pocket. Sora merely took it out of her hands when it surfaced and stuffed it in his own pocket.
"Can you stop showing everyone?" he complained. However, his tone was not as harsh as it should be. Kairi narrowed her eyes at him. You should be angrier if some weird bitch is flashing your photos without your permission. "Do you like making fun of me?"
"You were so adorable back then with the metal-framed glasses though," Xion gushed. She then turned towards Kairi to look at her. "He was a huge geek back then. Always stuck in his room with his computer. Roxas and I always had to drag him out whenever we had to go somewhere. Oh, speaking of Roxas," Kairi looked warily over Sora once more. Now he looked worse than before, but he still didn't say anything. "Do you know him, Kairi?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah," she answered out of obligation. Someone get me out of here. "He's in calc with me." She could feel Sora bumping his feet with hers in the form of an apology, but that didn't help lighten her mood at all.
"Now that I think about it, I see you two together quite often. Didn't know you guys were friends."
"Is there a problem if we were?" Kairi replied coolly. She was starting to grow sick of Xion's busybody self, something she didn't realize before because she barely talked to her.
Not like she wanted to anyway. Xion simply shook her head and flashed a smile before placing a hand on Sora's arm and tugging on it.
"We should go somewhere together someday, like the old times. Just us three! I have a lot of ideas. There's this concert I really want to go to. Oh, and also the place we used to go on dates a lot." The more Xion talked, the more Kairi grew ticked. Sora remained silent the whole time, not at all opposing Xion's ideas. He merely sat there listening to everything she had to throw at him. Remembering Selphie's explanation about their relationship months before, Kairi couldn't help but be angry for him.
"Dates?" Kairi mentioned unintentionally. She mentally punched herself in the gut. Xion looked over at Kairi again with the same look of slight annoyance–Kairi wasn't damn blind–before smiling that irritating ass smile of hers again. Give me a fucking break.
"Sora and I used to date," she answered naturally. "But we decided being friends was the best choice." Bullshit. Selphie told me something else. "Now we're just amigos."
"I guess," Sora said just to play along. He fumbled with his phone to distract himself, but Xion just continued to talk. Kairi put her cup of hot chocolate down on the table, restraining herself from chucking it at the girl. Sora, do you just let this girl walk all over you like this, holy shit.
"Do you still hang out with that Selphie chick?" Xion said, and the way she mentioned Selphie was not to Kairi's liking. Sora frowned.
"Yes, but why are you asking?" Xion shuddered before slapping his shoulder playfully.
"That girl has something against me or something. She's crazy and wild, and I just remembered she hung out with you sometimes."
"She's not crazy or wild," Kairi muttered under her breath, but she had no intention of going unheard either. Xion glanced at her before continuing.
"Every time I pass her, she just gives me death glares for no reason! It's kind of unnerving sometimes. Do you think you can tell her to ease it off?" Sora fidgeted in his seat as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sure, I guess." This was it for Kairi.
She downed her hot chocolate, slammed it down on the table, and stood up, shocking Xion and Sora.
"I think it's my time to leave," she said plainly. She gave Sora a look, who only gave an apologetic one back.
"Aw, so soon?" Xion asked. Kairi rolled her eyes–this time, she wasn't scared to hide it before pushing her chair in.
"Duty calls." However, before she left entirely, she decided to bring something along with her.
"Whoa, not the hood, not the hood," Sora stuttered as Kairi lifted him off his seat by tugging the hood of his jacket up. The chair screeched as he stood up suddenly. Remembering something in his pocket, she boldly slipped her hand inside it–much to Sora's surprise–to retrieve her phone and give it back to her roughly.
"We're both going to go, thanks for small talk," Kairi said with a fake smile before dragging Sora out of the cafe, leaving the raven-haired girl to just stare at them from behind.
"Wait, Kairi," Sora let out, staggering to keep up with her pace as she now dragged him by the arm. "Slow down, what's gotten you so grumpy again?" She stopped at an isolated place and turned around to look him in the eye. She searched his face to see if he understood what was pissing her off so much, but there was no hint at all.
"Are you always like that with her?" she blurted.
"Like what?" Kairi gestured with her hands towards the cafe in exasperation and rubbed her forehead.
"You're fucking whipped, dude. Has anyone told you that?" Sora mouthed a silent "oh" before turning his lips into a straight, grim line. He awkwardly shifted his feet on the floor.
"I didn't expect you to join the crew too."
"Wow, so I'm not the only one who sees it?"
"No, you're not." Kairi sighed.
"You can't just let her walk over you like you're some welcome mat you wipe your feet on when it's a rainy day!"
"Okay, that's a bit extreme there." Kairi put both her hands on his shoulder and shook him, and he just allowed her to vent her anger–there was no stopping a rampaging Kairi.
"You have to man up and not let that bitch–yeah, that's right, I called her a bitch. It's clear as day that she's one. Don't," she gave him the death glare, "even deny it." She didn't give a shit whether or not Sora was offended or not because he needed to see the damn light. "Don't let her just tie reigns on you like that. I don't know if you can detect it, but the way she talks to you is as if you're some sort of obedient, stupid puppy."
"Easier said than done," he muttered as he grabbed her hands and pulled them down to stop shaking him. "And what the hell do you mean 'obedient, stupid puppy'?"
"Exactly what I mean, obedient, stupid puppy." Sora glared at her.
"Don't get me wrong, I kind of get the gist of it too. I'm not blind."
"Then why?"
"It's hard!" he burst, astonishing her a bit. "You should be the one who should know it the best right now, since, well, yeah." He cleared his throat, not expecting himself to just say it out like that. Kairi gave him a look of sympathy. He bit his bottom lip before sighing.
Unexpectedly, he bent down and let his forehead rest on Kairi's shoulder, causing her to stiffen up immensely.
"It's pretty hard. I'm tired. At least you don't see that dick every day. Nor are you considered good 'amigos' neither." Kairi, who felt her blood rush through her veins, wasn't sure on what to do–this close proximity was shutting down all her logical thinking–so she did what she did best.
"Get your germ-filled head off my shoulder."
"I use top notch shampoo, for your information. Plus, your best friend's heart is kind of in a volatile state right now."
"I'm not your best friend, you freak." She laughed before awkwardly patting his head, but not without noticing how soft his hair was despite the spiky look they adorned every day.
"Pity you."
"Pity me."
"Is there a sad and tragic story behind all this?"
"You're sounding like Selphie right now."
"I think it's rubbing off." Sora laughed as he lifted his head and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"Why would I want to explain my life story to a stranger?" he jested.
"I thought we were best friends." Sora ruffled her head in mock affection, successfully creating a mop on top of her head, before stuffing his hand back inside his pocket and walking ahead of her towards a bench. She followed suit and sat at the opposite end of it.
"I'm always trying to avoid her," Sora admitted. He sighed and leaned back on the bench as he sat with a leg crossed. "Doesn't really work out when one of your buddies are best buddies with her."
"You mean Axel?"
"Yup. Knew each other since, I don't know, middle school? So I always have to see her, or else I'll feel bad if I just force Axel to interacting with her."
"Tough to be in the same circle of friends as your ex."
"Yup." He shrugged nonchalantly as he watched the light gray clouds shift through the sky slowly. The wind began to pick up as the sun slowly inched its way down in the west. "Nothing too exciting to say. That's about it." Kairi feigned a yawn.
"Boring," she stretched jokingly. "I was expecting some drama-filled back story."
"My love life isn't as dramatic as yours, Chicken Klutzy." She attempted to kick his leg, only for him to lift his leg up to dodge it. By now, he knew all her violent tendencies. "Of course there's more to it, and it's still not as dramatic as yours, I think. I just don't want to tell you."
"Why not?" Kairi was never the type to stick her nose into someone else's business, but for reason Kairi still didn't want to admit to herself, she just wanted to know about Sora and his...past relationship.
She just wanted to know.
"Because you don't need to know." Kairi froze. Sora stood up, ending the conversation at that. "Anyway, thanks for your time. I better get going. You should too"
"O-oh," she stuttered dumbly as she stood up with him. She shivered when a frosty breeze rustled past them, sending chills through her body. He glanced at her before chuckling softly. He took his hand out of his pocket and handed her what seemed to be a hand warmer.
"Here. You look like a walking block of ice." Kairi, who could barely utter a word, took it silently. Immediately, the warmth of the hand warmer spread through her hand and up her arm, instantly heating her up. She eagerly stuffed it in her pocket and adjusted her scarf as she muttered a thank you. With her other hand, she gave a weak wave goodbye towards him and watched him head off to wherever he needed to be. When he was completely out of sight, she heaved a large breath and fell back into the bench, feeling a bit dejected.
For a split second, a pang had crossed her heart at his response. She didn't know if she was thinking too much into it, but the way he said it sounded distant; it was as if he was drawing a fine line between them and the extent of their friendship. And now that she thought about it...
She barely knew anything about Sora.
And for the first time ever, it dawned on her that whenever the subject hit upon him, he made sure to raise the wall between them.
"He didn't have to say it like that," she muttered to herself, feeling the hand warmer in her pocket.
Despite the time they spent together as casual friends, she realized how much–or, rather, how little–she knew about Sora. As she recollected her memories, there was never a moment where he talked about himself; it was just her talking to him about her problems, and he just kindly listened to all of her stupid rants. Never had he disclosed anything about himself, and when he came close to it, he would just cut it off, like he did a few moments ago. And when she tried to think of things she knew about him, she came up with a handful of things.
He's a second year. Roxas is his brother. He's captain of the swim team. His ex-girlfriend is Xion. His best friend is Riku. He's good friends with Selphie. He doesn't like his spiky hair.
...
Was there anything else?
Wow, I don't know anything about him. The sad thing was that he never personally told her any of these things himself–she just leeched/inferred this information out from the people and things around him. However, it wasn't her fault.
Because Sora just didn't want to share more than he had to about himself, especially to her, some redhead who broke his wrist while skateboarding, because she "didn't need to know."
Remembering what Namine said, Kairi wasn't sure if her idea about getting along with Sora was a good idea anymore because she could already feel herself falling into the trap she didn't want to fall into for a second time.
She felt within her pocket again.
"It's warm."
Hi guys! The two-week update again sorry guys *tears* I was pretty busy with school and phew! I wanted to write more, but my writing spirit dies at around 3 AM (I shouldn't be staying up this late but) I can safely say that I'm not sure if the story is coming out the way I want it! I always re-read it and try to read it as, well, a reader for the feel of it and to see if the message is clear, but it's so hard when at the back of my mind, I know I'm the one who wrote it HAHAHA how does it feel for you guys?!
Ty for all my silent readers and my reviewers once more. You guys give life to this fanfic :))) Ty for making it this far with my amateur writing!
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter 3 I'll try to pump the next chapter out a.s.a.p hehe :)