Chapter Fourteen – Ruined

Kairi couldn't believe it. Sora was here… on her birthday… at her door. She checked her ponytail before rushing back downstairs.

"I'll be back later!" She called to her brothers, who hadn't moved from the couch. Sora turned around and smiled when Kairi opened the door. He wore a red T-shirt with baggy black pants. Kairi wasn't too dressed up… she didn't even know he was coming. She was wearing a blue tank top with a long skirt that went past her knees.

"So… what do you want to do?" Sora asked. Kairi shrugged.

"Well, I figured maybe we could… go to the beach or something…"

"Sure!" Kairi said happily. Sora and her went over to his car. He opened the door for Kairi and she got in. This was like a date… yet it wasn't. Sora got in and started to drive.

"So how's your birthday been so far?" He asked.

"It's all right. I got a new game and a few CDs… just like I wanted." Kairi shrugged.

"Awesome." Sora said as they arrived at the beach. They got out. Kairi was stupid enough to not let him open the door for her, but she just forgot. The sun was setting. They started to walk along the beach. It was quiet for a few minutes. Water brushed up against the shore and back into the ocean. The moon was out. Kairi's heart was beating fast. It was just like her dreams. They decided to sit in the sand a little ways away from the shore.

'He's so… awesome…' Kairi thought to herself.

'What to talk about…' Sora was also pondering to himself.

"So how's life?" Kairi asked randomly.

"It's… all right." Sora grinned. His smile made her weak.

'Come on Sora… ask her out…' Sora didn't know why it was so difficult to talk to Kairi. He was always smooth with the ladies and always got them falling for him, but Kairi was completely different. For once he wasn't sure if…

Kairi on the other hand, was starting to get curious. Did Sora really like her? She continued to deny it. He was just a friend. That's all he thought of her.

"Um… so do you like video games?" She questioned, trying to start a conversation and break the awkward silence.

"Yeah. I play fighting games."

"Me too!" Kairi exclaimed. "Or RPGs."

"So do I!"

They both laughed. Sora picked up one of those shells you could listen to.

"You could hear the ocean… even though we're right next to it." He shrugged and handed the shell to Kairi. She gladly took it and started to listen. It was hard to hear with the waves from the ocean, but she could hear a little bit. They made eye contact, but looked away quickly. Kairi blushed.

'I hope he didn't see that…'

"So I hope you don't think this is… weird or anything…" Sora said.

"Oh no! This is fun!" Kairi laughed nervously. She really was having a great time, but she just didn't like the long periods of silence they were having. It kind of scared her.

Sora had so many things going through his mind at once. (A/N: Nothing perverted…) He didn't know if he should ask her out… or even do what Selphie suggested… kiss her. He kind of wanted to, but something just kept holding him back. He wasn't usually like this. Sora thought Kairi would've noticed that he liked her by now…

That was it. He had to tell her.

"Um… Kairi…" He turned to face her. Kairi looked at him. Her reddish eyes glowed in the moonlight, making it harder on Sora.

'She's so beautiful… argh…'

"What is it, Sora?" Kairi blinked. He was staring straight into her eyes. She started to shake a little. Even though she liked it, she was really nervous. What if it was something bad?

"Uh…" Sora couldn't find the words to say. 'No… I can't…' What was he afraid of? He had to change the subject.

"Want to… go to that fair over on West Destiny Island?"

"Uh, I'd have to call my mom. I don't think she'd want me to leave the island…"

"No, Nevermind. I think there's an arcade somewhere around here, isn't there?" Sora asked. Kairi nodded. "Yeah… down the street." She laughed a little, which made Sora feel a little better. They both agreed to go and got back into Sora's car.

Kairi wanted to ask him what that was all about back there… with the staring… and the sudden change. She decided not to.

"I'm sorry if I'm ruining your birthday." Sora said as he drove.

"No! You're not! How would you do that?"

"I don't know." He said. 'I'm not being honest with her… that's why…'

"Again, I'm having fun. I like hanging out with you. I was really surprised when you came to my door…" Kairi stopped. She was too afraid to say anymore than that. She wanted to say that she wanted to spend every day with him. She wanted to say that she had the biggest crush on him since middle school. She wanted to tell him everything… but she just couldn't. They were completely different. He was popular, and she was just a strange girl with a strange circle of friends that everyone thought was insane. Sora would never be able to…

"Here we are. I'll get the door for you." He smiled as he got out and walked around to the other side. Taking her hand when she stood up, Kairi's face reddened. They let go. Sora put his hands in his pockets while Kairi crossed her arms. They went inside. It wasn't too crowded, but there were still a good amount of people there. Sora bought some tokens and they went over to a car racing game and challenged each other. Sora won three times and Kairi only beat him twice. Then Sora jammed to DDR while Kairi sat back and watched. She had never tried DDR before, but she liked the music on it. After that, Kairi beat him in the basketball shooting game.

"Man," Sora took a deep breath, "You beat me again. You're pretty good." Kairi giggled. She liked beating Sora in games.

"Hey, are you hungry?" Sora asked, pointing to the food court. Kairi nodded and they went over to it. He bought some chicken nuggets, fries, and all the other good stuff that could be fattening that we loved so much. Kairi felt kind of bad that he was spending more than ten dollars on her in one day, but decided not to argue.

It was going on eight thirty. Kairi couldn't believe she had been hanging out with Sora for over two hours and didn't even notice it. He didn't seem to notice either. They returned back to Sora's car.

"Uh, Kairi…"

Sora was going through his little inner conflict again. He had to tell her tonight. There was no way out of it.

"Yeah?" She sipped her soda that she brought with her.

Sora stopped the car and parked over in what seemed like an abandoned parking lot. He let out a big sigh and sat back in his chair, looking over at her with the same aqua blue eyes that stared at her before.

"I… need to tell you something…"

Before Sora could say anything though, there was a knock on his window.

"Sora? What are you doing here?" It was Tifa.

'What the Hell? Why would she be here?" Sora rolled his window down.

"I tried calling you at least five times. How come you never returned any of my calls? And who's that?" She tried to look in and see Kairi, who looked away.

"She's my friend… and I've been busy."

"Look, Sora. I still love you, and I'm not going to let that girl get in the way. You are mine."

"Correction," Sora said, "I used to be yours. I don't want to talk about this. Leave us alone."

Kairi remembered a year back when she used to see Sora and Tifa together all the time. Of course, she was jealous, but right now she just wanted to kick the shit out of her.

"Don't get smart with me, Sora." Tifa demanded.

Sora started his car and tried to roll up his window, but Tifa stuck her hand through and grabbed his shirt. He didn't want to smash her hand… even though he thought about doing it. Kairi got out of the car.

"Kairi! What are you doing?" Sora called after her. Kairi stood right in front of Tifa.

"Leave him alone!" She commanded. Tifa looked at her and started laughing. Sora got his key and got out of the car.

"I can do whatever I want to him." Tifa pulled Sora closer and kissed him. Sora immediately pushed away. Suddenly Kairi wasn't thinking. She tackled Tifa to the ground and punched her in the face three times.

"Whoa!" Sora yelled out in amazement. After about ten seconds of watching Tifa getting hit, Sora pulled Kairi off of her. However, Tifa was really pissed now. She pushed Kairi into a wall and punched her in the face as well. Kairi tried to get Tifa off of her, but her grip was too strong.

"Bitch! I will make you pay for what you did!" Kairi was knocked to the ground. Sora tried to break up the fight, but wasn't successful. Tifa pulled Kairi's hair. Her ponytail had fallen out. Kairi had a bloody nose. Tifa's lip was bleeding. This was the first time Kairi had ever been in a fight.

Riku was walking along when he heard some screams. Immediately he rushed to the scene. He saw Sora, and Kairi and Tifa going at it on the ground. Him and Sora nodded at each other and pulled the two girls away from one another. Riku held onto Tifa with all his might as Kairi glared and cursed at her.

"STOP THIS!" Sora screamed. Everyone was silent. Tifa broke out of Riku's grip and started to walk away.

"You will pay, bitch!" She called.

Kairi was about to break down and cry. She never planned on getting into any fights. She felt like a failure. She had stooped to Tifa's level. Tears rolled down her checks as she fell to the ground. Sora and Riku kneeled down on each side of her.

"Kairi… don't cry…" Sora pulled out a Kleenex and tried to wipe the blood off of her face. Riku patted her back. For once, Sora and Riku didn't even care that they were working together.

"I shouldn't have done it… I'm sorry…" She sobbed. Sora hugged her. Kairi wrapped her arms around him. She still felt like crap, even if Sora was holding her.

"This was the worst birthday ever…"

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A/N: Sad ending! Aww!